CategoriesGratitudeObserveReframe your thoughts

“Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)”

The world has changed. Completely. 2020 will be known as a pivotal year in human history. And it has only just begun! With more and more countries reducing people’s daily activities, and several countries going into full lockdown, the landscape is changing rapidly.

As with anything that changes, especially if it seems like it is getting worse, we feel nostalgic and sometimes sad for our loss of what was. How good we had it back then; back in 2019.

That’s when this song starts playing in my head. A power ballad by American glam metal band, Cinderella. “Don’t know what you got (Till it’s gone)”. It was released on the 21st May 1988: like an early birthday gift to me.

Although a love song, its melancholy piano, soaring guitar and anguished vocals have frequently reminded me over the years to appreciate all the amazing things we have. Every day.

It’s so easy to appreciate what has gone – though it’s then too late. Yet, it can be quite difficult to appreciate things in the moment. Mostly, this is because many of us are not practicing appreciation everyday. You’ll have more joy in your life if you strengthen this ability on a daily basis.

So today, more than ever, it’s important to appreciate how delicately balanced life and the world is. As people are going through hardships with the loss of loved ones or working through unforeseen financial challenges, be kind, be patient and be tolerant.

Take a few minutes right now to stop everything, close your eyes and appreciate the life you have right now. When you are done reflecting, you can even make a list of 10 things you appreciate in your life right now. Then keep this with you to review daily as the challenges of the days ahead unfold.

Being able to breath without a respirator might be one. The simple act of walking might be another. The ability to buy milk (the money you have, the shop nearby, the milk being in the shop, someone having milked a cow at 5am – remember, I grew up on a dairy farm).

Breathe it in and enjoy it now.

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CategoriesActionProgressReframe your thoughts

Rise Like A Phoenix

Life is going to throw stuff at you. There will be days filled with uncertainty, bleakness and enduring pain. Your head will spin. Your thoughts will collide.

You are not down and out. You will overcome this. Stand up and straighten your back. Lift your shoulders and your head. ‘Bring it on’, I say. You’re in this for the long run. You can handle the speed bumps of life.

Whether it is work related, your relationship, your finances, the coronavirus, your fitness levels, or perhaps all of them are crashing at once, you can still rise.

Know that you will persevere for however long it takes. You will not stop until you have risen back up and spread your wings. You will feel the sunshine on your face again and life will be wonderful.

Keep your eyes on the future. Know it gets better. Believe you can rise up from the ashes of past glories and rebuild again.

Quickly restart and soar!

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CategoriesActionHealth & FitnessReframe your thoughts

You Did It!!

You never really believed you would do it. Some friends said it would never happen. Somehow you were able to plug away at it, in your spare time and you made it quite an achievement. A fantastic accomplishment.

Remember to give yourself a pat on the back and to stand tall for every little and large achievement in your life. It’s important to set goals and work towards them. However, you need to remember to celebrate often. Whatever that looks like these days (wine, meditation, favourite chocolate bar, gym time or a snooze button).

When you sign up to something, it is important to move it forward and to see it through. It makes you feel good that you accomplished something.

I recently mentioned that I was giving ? soon. Well, today was the day. It all went well, I am happy to report. I feel a little lighter and someone will have the benefit of my A+ blood to help them through whatever difficult time they are having. It was a nice feeling to donate. (Well, not the pin prick on the finger or the needle going in the arm, but those were overshadowed.)

I celebrated with some lemonade, some club bars and a lovely packet of salt & vinegar crisps. Perfect.

With what’s going on in the world, get out there and do something life changing. Let me know what it is!

Life saving activity in under an hour. No training required. Who is next?
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CategoriesActionFinancialObserveReframe your thoughtsThink About It

Coronavirus End Game

7.8 billion people infected. 264 million COVID-19 related deaths globally. Of which, 80% were over 60 years old with more than 75% of those having an underlying health issue.

These numbers represent the end game – the potential worst case scenario, at current trends, given the World Health Organisation mortality rate, if every person on the planet where to be infected.

Should the media and its readers really be counting up by ones and tens for each new country, each new city with a confirmed case and each new death? The sooner we can accept that this has the potential to create extremely difficult times, the sooner we can move on and keep what is good, still going.

By that I mean that if we do have the tragic human toll either way (sooner or later), let’s not have a disastrous financial toll too. This is because the financial toll could lead to all sorts of other challenges and human suffering as companies go bust, people lose their jobs and incomes, and then payments for cars, houses, rent, food, medicines etc aren’t made. Then we would have a very harsh economic challenge as well as rising mortality numbers.

In my thoughts, there are three ‘Best case’ outcomes:

  1. Find a cure in March or April 2020: Then all is good. (If not, economic challenges will become severe and worsening)
  2. We quarantine it out of existence such that not one single person has it and then we go back to normal (This could be several months, or more, as we don’t know exactly who has it and there is a carrier lag due to a 14 day incubation period)
  3. We accept it is happening and carry on as normal while changing some habits (no handshakes, wash hands frequently, minimise contact with others while we carry on as normal). We would continue to fly, meet, attend sporting events and conferences etc., while being more cautious, especially around older people.

A fiscal stimulus will not solve this alone. If people are staying home from work and social events – out of concern or government mandates, and they are not producing or consuming as much as before – for the same reasons, then economies will quickly start to falter as airlines, hotels, university sandwich shops, retailers and banks fail, one at a time, in ever rapid succession.

Perhaps we should be carrying on while accepting that there will be significant deaths. If we don’t, and if we don’t find a cure or quarantine it out of existence, the descent into exceptionally hard economic times could be imminent. This could come with severe societal shocks due to high levels of insolvencies and unemployment, a credit freeze and growing crime and unrest.

In addition, there is no amount of stockpiling you can do that will get you through to the end of this, either: unless a cure is found in March, latest April. If supply chains slow down, the real impact will be many months away, not weeks.

This may become our generational thing to get through like all those who had to endure WWI, The Spanish Flu, The Great Depression, WWII and/or the Cold War. Except for the destruction of the wars, this might be all those wrapped up in one. Or not. No one knows how exactly this will all play out.

No one wants to be the person or family infected. But then no one wants to be hit by a car, be told they have cancer or have a heart attack. These are all random events that can impact us or our families and friends at any time. Yet we still go about our days: despite knowing any number of things could send us off to meet our maker. We simply take precautions. We look before crossing the street and eat healthy and exercise. Now we’ll wash our hands more too.

Yes, it’s a little more scary than the other main ways to pass, mainly because it’s new and there is uncertainty.

However, we need to keep calm and carry on. Otherwise, we could make matters far worse.

Accept the end game as a worst case, wash your hands well and frequently, tell important people what you should (sooner rather than later), eat well and exercise so your body is at its best – in case you need to do battle with this virus (or any other life, or lifestyle, threatening situation).

Hopefully the incredibly clever people around the world will discover a cure in the weeks to come. Hopefully it is quarantined out of existence. Hopefully everyone develops an immunity to it.

Regardless, the end game is that 7.55 billion people should survive this flu virus. Odds are you’ll be fine. Most families, however, will be impacted in some way. Be empathetic. Be kind. Be generous where you can.

Just keep calm and carry on.

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CategoriesReframe your thoughts

“Change Your Thoughts And You Change Your World”

It sounds so easy. But it can be so difficult. Part of the challenge comes when you try to change your thoughts, maybe to something more empowering, but you have a hard time seeing something from a different perspective. It’s like when we asked, “Is fire good or bad?”.

It is particularly hard to change your thoughts when your current thoughts are so entwined with who you actually are or how you self-identify. For example, if you self-identify as a Democrat, you may not be able to see the good in any Republican policy or in anyone who self-identifies as a Republican. Accepting something or someone you have spent your time disliking can be a challenge, even if the policy is good or the Republican is an excellent person.

Change your thoughts and you change your world.

Norman Vincent

Try to understand, and even accept, other people’s perspectives. Understand that your understanding of a person’s position helps the world get closer. Being closer to others makes the world a better place. It is a small price to pay, shifting a little from your hard line self-identity, for greater communication and global understanding.

See the world in a different way. Accept that it could be a better way. Try living with the shift in your thinking and your world.

Give people a reason to change their thoughts and then allow people to change their mind.
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CategoriesActionProgressReframe your thoughts

Do Not Stop Until!

Do not stop until ! You reach your goal.

Your goal could be as simple as walking 10 minutes every day for the rest of your life, or as complex as developing a mission to land people on Mars before 31 December, 2024.

Today’s goal may be to make 7 phone calls. If you’ve only made 6 and the day is ending, you need to be quick and make one more. You won’t go home until the 7 calls are completed. This will help you build determination, grit and a spirit for completing things. This in turn will help you build your confidence.

Until is a powerful word, which I took more notice of when Jim Rohn used it and discussed it many years ago.

For me, I will not stop writing this blog until I have written and posted at least 365 blog posts in a row. I will write, and post, each day from 10 January 2020 until 10 January 2021. I will not stop until I have done this. I assume I will carry on after that even.

What are your daily or weekly goals for which you will not stop until? Post your replies on Twitter with #AchieveAnything

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CategoriesActionObserveProgressReframe your thoughts

Your Mind Is More Powerful Than Google – Be Very Careful

Type a question into Google and it will search, very quickly, and find the answer for you.

Your brain works the same way for questions. Your brain will search for the answer.

So be careful what question you ask it, especially out of frustration. For example, sometimes we use self talk, like, “Why am I so stupid?”, after having done something that seems a little silly to have done (Like forget our keys in the house, leave our tickets on the counter, or miss an appointment.)

Your brain is now required to search for, and find, an answer, or five, that could be correct, just like Google does. (Hopefully you don’t get 17,563,897 responses in one millisecond for that question!). Like Google, your brain tends to find answers that have been given frequently, recently or that others think is correct.

It does not mean it is correct, and the source of the answer may be a bit suspect (your sister or brother, that old boss who was a tyrant, your difficult classmate when you were eight years old, or an ineffective teacher from your past).

So please be very careful what you say, or ask, out loud, or under your breath. Your brain is compelled to give you an answer to that question. Rather, ask those slightly rhetorical questions that you would love to hear the answer to. Perhaps, “What makes me such a great friend?”, “How kind am I?”, “How can I set up my environment to succeed next time”.

Your brain is super powerful. Use it for good and to support you. Try preparing and practicing a few helpful questions right now, and then again throughout the day. Selecting better words, in a better order, and forming better questions, will be life-changing. Go on, give it a try.

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CategoriesActionHealth & FitnessProgressReframe your thoughts

Your Body Is A High Performance Machine

So treat it like one.

Make sure you eat well, and just enough. Not too little or too much.

Get enough good sleep, consistently. Seven to eight hours per day is ideal for most people.

Water it. Eight glasses per day (ish).

Exercise it. Get it to move around. Quickly. Slowly. Use all the different muscles, big and small. Use it or lose it.

Exercise your mind too. Stretch it with new ideas. Sit with thoughts that might be uncomfortable and understand why. Think good thoughts. Practice being grateful. For everything you have and are.

Your body is a high performance machine. Treat it like one.

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