Action Archives - Page 146 of 162

Play With Intensity

Posted on December 8, 2020

Do you participate or play to win? Do you get what you can or do you train, practice and excel? Play with intensity, whether it is everyday matters or a World Cup type event.

Those who excel play as hard in training as they do in the league finals. When they step on the pitch, they are competitive. They are competing against themselves to improve their skill, speed or stamina. A personal best is always close in their mind. It doesn’t matter if it is in training or match play.

You can laugh and carry on when you are off the pitch and the game is done. However, it is best to train your mind to be focused from the moment you step on the field of play. This applies to your sports as much as it does to your studies, your career, and even your relationships. Aim to improve every time you turn your mind to that subject.

There is always room for improvement. But someone who is always hustling, trying and putting the extra effort in, will be more valued than others who do not.

If you do not possess natural talent towards something, then it is even more imperative that you play with intensity. It will be noticed.

Action Think About It

Making The World Better

Posted on December 6, 2020

It is quite simple but often made more complex than it needs to be. There are two big challenges to making the world better. First, you need to pinpoint what better means. Secondly, you need to define the scope of the world.

The easy answer to those challenges, for many people, is to make things better from their own perspective and do it everywhere they are aware of. Awareness usually radiates out from their family, friends and relatives to work colleagues and people they interact with daily. Though, when pressed, they may think in terms of their city, country or continent and then all the people of the world, including fishermen on remote pacific islands.

This is where it can become more complex. When people try to make things better for people who are an afterthought or they know very little about. What would better mean? Could it be better health or lifestyle? Would more time with their family be better?

There are a lot of people who try to improve everyone and everywhere else. What if the answer was staring them in the mirror? Perhaps it is as simple as improving our own lives, within the context of making the world better.

If we used less resources and we were kinder, more understanding and accepting of diverse or dissimilar viewpoints, could the world become better through unintended consequences and the ripple effect?

Action Gratitude Observe Reframe your thoughts

Winning Is Everything

Posted on December 5, 2020

Winning is often seen as the ultimate goal. To win something can show competence or dominance. When winning is everything, you can go a little mad.

It is amazing how we, as people, can get caught up in winning. There is a lot wrapped up in its significance. Victory is particularly important when your life is on the line. In days gone buy, triumph in a duel, or a shootout at high noon, often meant the difference between life and death.

If you have to fight til the death, there is so much more on the line. Think of military battles where people were killed on the field of battle or became a prisoner and suffered torturous conditions until they succumbed. Or consider losing in court, in the thousands of years before now, when death was often the prescribed result. The stories of Socrates, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and Anne Boleyn come to mind.

Fewer contests or situations exist today where winning is so important and losing could be fatal. However, sometimes, some people act as if victory is the only acceptable result. And because of that, they put winning ahead of fair play, sportsmanship and the rules. Cyclist Lance Armstrong and sprinter Ben Johnson come to mind.

Have you ever wanted to win, or support the winner, so desperately that you would even accept a little cheating? Think back to taking a test, playing or watching sports, an election or referendum.

Sometimes you go mad and winning is everything.

Action Progress Reframe your thoughts

Today Will Be Different

Posted on December 2, 2020

Yes it will and no it won’t. Every day is unique despite being broadly the same. Today will be different for those looking for differences. And, it will be the same for those looking for similarities.

Broadly, today is just like yesterday. The sun rose in the east, crossed the sky and set in the west. It will tend to get warmer and lighter in the middle of the day and be colder and darker in the early and later hours. There will be roughly 24 hours in the day. (Technically a day consists of 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.0916 seconds.) But the point remains that it is the same length of time each day.

Now for the differences. It may be colder or warmer and the sunrise and sunset may be about a minute different, depending on how near you are to the equator.

Now, as for you, you have choices. You can decide whether you want the day to be the same old, same old or to be different in some ways. For starters, you could set your waking device to wake you 10 minutes earlier. You can decide to be the most positive and enthusiastic person you know. Additionally, you could start a new exercise regime today or order better food from the shops.

The detail of today will be different, unless you decide to let it be the same.

Action Observe Think About It

Get Out Of The Way!

Posted on November 29, 2020

The only thing stopping you from achieving what you want right now is you. That is it. You need to address the obstacle in your mind and get out of the way!

It’s easy to think that someone or something else is responsible for our lack of expected progress. We had ideas and dreams. There was a general path that people had followed before us.

Like most Hollywood movies, things are supposed to get back to, and certainly end, better than they started. Sure there would be little bumps in the road but they are handled reasonably well by our able script writers, the actors and the director.

Real life is a wee bit different. Especially the bit about timing. We have no idea where we are in the equivalent of a two hour movie. Are we near the end or the middle?

Regardless, you have some challenges in your mind that need a little bit of your attention. If you are procrastinating, understand why. If you’re struggling to move forward, look into your thoughts. Be honest with yourself. Write these thoughts somewhere safe. Dwell on them until you have some good, hard answers as to why you are not travelling in the direction, or style, you thought you would be.

Then you you need to make some adjustment and move from being uncomfortable to unstoppable.

Build good habits and get out of the way!

Action Goals, Results & New Thinking Reframe your thoughts Time

Have A Good Filing System

Posted on November 27, 2020

Do you spend time trying to find things? It does seem crazy, at times, how long it can take to find an item. Have a good filing system and that can change things.

We used to have an ok filing system. Now it is much better. I can recall times where I spent 10 or 15 minutes looking for one piece of paper. That rarely happens anymore. When you have a good system and you use it properly, you can save yourself a lot of time and aggravation.

It is good to have a strong process and system for physical filing as well as digital filing. Then it is particularly important that you stick with the process and system as much as you can. Of course there will be moments when you don’t replace a folder or file right away. Additionally, you may not get to the filing room straight away so you create a new pile.

If this happens, be sure to correct this as quickly as possible so that the system doesn’t fall over and you can’t find things again. This also helps to keep things looking tidy in other areas of the house or office.

It can take some time to set up a good system. However, when you weigh it against all the time you will save looking for things, it will be worth it.

Have a good filing system.

Action Health & Fitness Progress Reframe your thoughts Time Weight

Up Your Game

Posted on November 25, 2020

Whatever you are doing is not good enough. Your potential is well beyond your current activity. It is definitely time to up your game.

On Sunday I went for a run and it was a gorgeous day for it. I decided to go around the whole of Richmond Park. By the time I’d returned back home, I had completed 16 kilometres (10 miles). It was a great run. I felt good, the scenery was excellent, the air was fresh and clean, not too many people out and I listened to a great book called Psycho-Cybernetics.

Ten Years ago I ran in a race called the Cabbage Patch 10 – a 10 mile flat race. As a sprinter with forays into 5 km and occasionally 10 km, that 16 kilometres was very tough. My legs were aching for days. I even had an ice bath after to reduce swelling.

However, in the intervening period I have upped my distance, stamina and perception of the distance. So much so, I was simply running along on Sunday, enjoying the experience, and decided I would stretch my run from 10 km to 16 km. In addition, a couple hours after I returned, I went for a family walk for almost two hours.

This is just one area I have built resilience and made a definite improvement in my life. I am working on others.

It’s time to up your game.

Action Observe Reframe your thoughts

Superstitions

Posted on November 22, 2020

Last week it was Friday the 13th. In 2020, for that matter. Did you approach that day any differently than others? What are superstitions and why are they so super?

A definition from Wikipedia is, “a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation”. In addition, it says, “an irrational abject attitude of mind toward the supernatural, nature, or God resulting from superstition.”

That doesn’t sound so super. It actually seems a little dismissive and belittling. This is interesting because so many people believe in certain superstitions, even if it is just a little bit. These ideas usually involve luck or prophecy. Generally they mean doing something for another thing to happen.

Actions you might do to try to impact a particular outcome are: cross your fingers, toes or legs, pray, or arrange your house according to Feng Shui. Some people will also carry a lucky charm, wish upon a star or not shave for days. Another popular idea is to have a lucky number, shirt or hat.

It can be easy to laugh at people with superstitions. Yet, we often overlook our own little desire to influence the universe, in our favour, when we seek higher force intervention.

Just because you don’t understand something, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist or isn’t relevant. Without a little irrational thinking we might not have electricity, mobile phones or heart surgery.

Perhaps superstitions are super in some way.

Action Financial Reframe your thoughts Weight loss

Making Adjustments In Our Life

Posted on November 19, 2020

Conscious changes can be difficult to make. Not all of them of course. But making adjustments in our life can be quite difficult and mentally challenging.

A few examples of things many people try to do, and often struggle with and stop are, losing weight, quitting smoking, drinking less, waking up early, meditating, exercising, saving and finding a better job. There is a formula for each one of these, though few people want to follow it.

Often people want to do it their own way. Or they will adjust the body and not the mind. You can simply quit smoking, but if you still see yourself (your self image) as a smoker, you are very likely to pick up the habit again.

Changes that happen naturally are sometimes easier to accept. Examples are growing up, ageing and progressing through primary school. So try to make things happen naturally or set up your environment so it feels natural.

Remember to modify your self image so you can accept the changes before or while they are happening. For example, immerse yourself in the daily thought that you are an early morning person and soon you will find waking up early is a breeze. Set up your environment to assist with this with a good wake up system and earlier bedtime.

Making adjustments in our life is worthwhile and easier than we want to acknowledge.

Action Reframe your thoughts

Stand Your Ground

Posted on November 18, 2020

Life can be difficult. Challenges can be overwhelming. Self-doubt can creep in and undermine your convictions. You must stand your ground for your beliefs. Don’t fall victim to the peer pressure or perceived expectations.

“This is for the ones who stood their ground”
Bon Jovi

I have a few favourite songs that are great power anthems for the mind in times of adversity or uncertainty. One of them is Bon Jovi‘s It’s my life. It’s a fabulous song to get enthusiasm flowing and determination locked in.

Sometimes you need that extra oomph to propel you over the line. It will remind you that you’ve got to fight on for what you want and believe in. You can feel the power of the crowd behind you, even if the world seems to be against you.

The song conjures up images of people who decided to fight, or push back, despite cultural norms or expectations. People like Rosa Parks on the bus, Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, or Tank Man in Tiananmen Square.

It is also a fantastic driving song. Especially at night, in the summer, on smaller roads, with the top down. But watch that speedometer.

“You better stand tall when they’re calling you out. Don’t bend, don’t break, baby, don’t back down”
Bon Jovi

You won’t always be vindicated but sometimes you just need to stand your ground.