Action Archives - Page 164 of 169

Whatever It Takes

Posted on April 19, 2020

When was the last time you had your back to the wall? Did you come out fighting? Would you do whatever it takes? I think we are seeing more of this way of thinking every day during our lockdown.

Front line and essential workers are doing it. Manufacturers are too, by switching to make essential items. Massive shifts are happening everywhere for individuals at home and at work.

Two great and inspiring rallying cries are, ‘Whatever it takes’ and ‘Bring it on’. Keep these phrases in your mind as you decide you need to overcome the difficult situations ahead of you. Scrunching up your face and clenching a fist in a bit of a rebel yell pose helps when you utter these phrases.

Like many sports, our U13s rugby season, where I am one of the coaches, was cut short. However, the London Scottish club suggested we host our End of Season Awards online. So we did that today.

Everyone had a bit of a, ‘whatever it takes’ few days as final arrangements were organised, links were checked and sent out, operational discussions had, awards shortlists were developed, discussed and decided and then call structure and full content were created.

Use these phrases in the days, weeks and months, or even years, ahead. It is always good to have some raw power words at your disposal.

We were certainly in ‘whatever it takes mode’ as we raced against the clock ensuring all the final pieces of the puzzle came together, including getting the players on the call. It turned out really well from my perspective, and from the feedback of others. Which is great for all the boys. We wanted them to have a good end of season, or the best we could, given the circumstances.

Action Gratitude Reframe your thoughts

Waste Not, Want Not

Posted on April 17, 2020

I eat what is on my plate, so I don’t take more than I’ll comfortably eat. Waste not, want not is a phrase that I reflect on frequently. I really don’t like to waste resources, whether it’s food, financial, energy or products.

Having grown up on a farm, I am clear how much energy and resource is used to create milk and then get it to your fridge. The amount of tractor fuel required to cut, rake, bale and transport hay to a barn for storage is significant. There is also an amount of energy consumed in running a barn, such as lights, milkers and gutter cleaner.

We would then have a milk truck collect the milk and bring it to the factory. Here it would be processed and packaged and shipped to a store near you. You can then simply pick the milk off the shelf, take it home and pop it in the fridge.

I have seen people then drink some but not all of it. If it then sits out and gets a bit warm, some people will throw it down the sink. I find that tragic, as I know how much has gone into getting that milk there in the first place. It seems like a complete waste of our earth’s resources. I would rather drink it, chill it in the fridge again before consuming it or use it some other way.

I think like this for all resources. Whether it is using all the toothpaste in a tube or all the ink in a pen, it makes good environmental sense.

Waste not, want not, is a proverbial saying that was first noted in 1772.

Perhaps these unusual times will encourage us to be more appreciative of each resource we have and use it more efficiently.

Action Gratitude Progress Think About It

Can’t Wait To Celebrate

Posted on April 15, 2020

Are you someone who can’t wait to celebrate when you get good news, big or small? It’s a great way to live. Celebrate every little success and every big one too. Don’t just wait for the big moments though. Sometimes they never come, or they don’t come soon enough and you’re not around for the party.

You can celebrate with a smile, fist pump, high five (with your family or when wearing gloves), fancy dance, arms over head, music, a favourite food, drink or person or whatever you fancy. Just be sure to acknowledge the good news or success. It’s a great feedback loop.

Celebrating successes, large and small, yours and others, builds confidence and brings joy to your soul. You’ll walk taller and feel more powerful. And it can be sooo easy to do. Try it.

Don’t wait to celebrate. There is not just one big finish line. Be delighted with your every step forward. It’s practically a miracle you are making any progress at all. Have you ever stopped to think about how many little tiny things have to go absolutely, stupendously well just for you to get out of bed, eat, digest and physically move your body to your work place?

Maybe this lockdown era will help us all appreciate all the little conveniences, daily miracles, and successes a little more. Remember, you don’t know what you have, until its gone. Ask anyone who is finding lockdown difficult or has recently had an accident and found their body parts not working so well.

Decide from today that you can’t wait to celebrate. Train your brain, from today, to find at least three reasons to celebrate every day. Maybe you’ll get up to 10 times a day by the end of the year. You’ll feel better for it. And so will everyone around you.

Action Gratitude

Success And Happiness

Posted on April 14, 2020

These two words create such excitement, expectation and desire, as well as so much stress and disappointment. Success and happiness are often confused or thought of as one and the same, but they are not.

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is liking what you get.
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Decide what you want and go get it. However, once you do, you really should enjoy that success for a little while before you go out again. Let it bring you joy. Let yourself be happy. Give yourself permission.

Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
Abraham Lincoln

Even in these unusual and often challenging times, try smiling more. You can make a world of difference to someone by just smiling. You’ll also find that it will help to bring you more success and happiness. Win win.

Action Reframe your thoughts

Reading For Pleasure Or Knowledge?

Posted on April 13, 2020

What are you reading? Why are you reading it? Reading is an investment in time and yourself. Are you reading for pleasure or knowledge or both? I often find I am reading for both. Though that wasn’t always the case.

When I was 12-ish, I don’t recall reading much outside of school requirements. Contrast that with today where I read a lot. I am a consumer of knowledge and generally useful facts. I read at a decent speed but slower if it is media.

Media influence:

For media, I am constantly questioning the angle and information that they are providing. For example, if a journalist gives the figure in percentage terms, I ask myself why they didn’t provide the raw number, or both. I have the same thought if they only give the raw number.

It’s more exciting reading if the Dow ‘drops 2,000 points’ rather than 6%. It has more impact on people who remember the Dow at 8,000 and know that a 2,000 point fall would be massive. Whereas 6% is rather commonplace in a volatile market.

When shown a graph, why did they chose the start date and end date they did? Does it support their story better? What if you shifted the dates they gave you and selected other dates 10 or 15 years earlier? Would the story they are telling, to influence your thinking, look different if they used different data?

Brain Training:

Be careful what you allow into your mind. Reading is a way to train your brain. Make sure you are consuming healthy, mind-strengthening prose. Make sure it doesn’t just make you feel good or affirm your biases. Ensure it stretches your mind and adds value to your life.

This weekend, I started re-reading ‘The Great Crash, 1929’, by John Kenneth Galbraith (another fine Canadian). I forgot he had such a keen sense of humour and great insight into the human psyche. Given the very sobering topic, he makes it oddly enjoyable to read. It really does remind me that ’it’s all the same, only the names will change’. History does repeat itself, so learn from it.

Have a look at what you are reading. Are you reading for pleasure or knowledge, or both? Shift your focus a little if you want different results.

If you are looking for some useful books on personal finance, personal development or weight loss, send me an email at scott@scottsthinking.com and I would be happy to give you a few of my favourites.

Action Progress

Of Course It Is Uncomfortable

Posted on April 9, 2020

Most people find new things a bit awkward or challenging. If it is exactly your type of thing, maybe not. Otherwise, of course it is uncomfortable.

You could be learning how to ride a bike, solve a Rubik’s cube or do your times tables. Maybe you want to start a business or circumnavigate the globe, but you are not sure how.

Well, first you have to think you can. Next, you will have to prove you want it bad enough. This will become obvious as you will then have to learn some different things. Then you will have to do some different things too. This is rarely easy and of course it is uncomfortable. However, you must press on, as it is the basis of how you #AchieveAnything.

Of course there is more detail, it will be difficult and there will be diversions. There will be plenty of diversions. Like reading this post right now. Get yourself back on track and focused!

Believe, be curious, be done. Repeat. You will get closer to the outcome you want, if you actually work toward it. Put the effort in and thrive.

Action Progress

Do It Right, Now.

Posted on April 7, 2020

Just get on with it. Make a start. It doesn’t need to be perfect. You just need to start. Or re-start. Do it right, now. Not later.

Right at the start, you should just get going. It might be a little messy. That’s ok, as long as you get going. As you progress along though, you should want to up your game and do a reasonable job of it too. You wouldn’t want to continue being a bit messy once you got going or you’ll be adding to your jobs to do later.

For those things you have got moving along, try to do them as best you can. It doesn’t make sense to come back to them later.

If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?
Coach John Wooden

If you have 30 minutes of time you could release from your schedule at the moment, try to get some tasks done you’ve been putting off. Do it right now or do it right, now. Either way, just get on with it and do something.

Action Progress

You Can Do Something

Posted on April 5, 2020

There is a lot of opportunity to get involved. Start looking for your impact zone. You are amazing. You can do something.

I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; I will not refuse to do the something I can do.
Helen Keller

What is the something you can do today?

Action Think About It

If You Think You Can, You Will

Posted on April 4, 2020

Thinking is a fascinating activity. The inner workings of the mind and all that activity inside the brain. It can be like a Genie’s lamp. Whatever you wish, if you think you can, you will.

Try to visualise ‘thinking‘ actually happening. What do you see? Not the brain. That is where the thinking happens but it is not thinking itself. Do you see thoughts or ideas? Do you see words, or pictures or gas and synapses firing?

Regardless of whatever it is you see thinking as, it is happening. The untapped potential power is incredible. You simply need to decide what you want and your mind can start organising the steps to get there. It can be like having a very efficient concierge.

Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right,
Henry Ford

If this is true, then why do we ever think something won’t work or that we can’t do the thing we want to do? If you go forward confidently, it follows that, ‘If you think you can, you will’. We would all get much more done that way.

I recall preparing for the first year out from school, that I took off to travel, and also my move from Ottawa, Canada to London, England. At those times, I thought I could and I did. There wasn’t hesitation and I didn’t think about couldn’t. Though there were many that thought about that for me. I simply followed the steps my inner concierge laid out for me.

Pick some things you would like to do this year. Decide that you can, and you will, do whatever it is. Write the ideas down quickly. Then let the concierge in your head start making a plan and preparing a path. Soon enough you’ll be on your way.

Don’t look back. Stay focused. Remain confident and resolute. If you think you can, you will.

Action Gratitude Reframe your thoughts

Feeling Low – Where Do You Go?

Posted on April 2, 2020

What are the best resources for resilience? When you are feeling low – where do you go? To whom or to what do you turn to? There are some great resources out there to help pick you up, re-energise and re-focus.

Certainty of outcome:
Right now, we are in such a unique moment in time. It feels like the whole planet is on the same page, or at least reading the same book. Sometimes, as with a riveting book, I’d love to sneak a peak at the last few pages. Seeing how this plays out, and when, would provide everyone with some certainty. It would probably give a lot of people a level of comfort and let them relax into it a little more.

However, just like every book or movie, we won’t know how it ends until we get there. We need to live through the twists and turns with resilience knowing there is an end and it will be fine.

Perspective:
Looking back four months ago, you may not have realised how amazing your life was then. As I wrote recently, we often don’t know what we’ve got til it’s gone. This is probably one of those moments for a large portion of the population in so many countries already.

Feeling low – Where do you go?:
To re-energise or re-frame things, some of the best tips I have, that work for me are: Going for a run, writing something positive in a journal, listening to a favourite couple of songs rather loudly and singing along, or writing what’s on my mind to ‘get it out’.

A great book to read, and write in like a workbook, is Dale Carnegie’s classic, ‘How to stop worrying and start living’. It’s got some incredible stories in it and great lessons and tactics to use too.

There are also some amazing resources online. These are based in the UK, but please add any from your country or others you think would help. Free therapy or counselling through the NHS. Info for Children and young people.

Helping Others:
If you can spare a minute, please answer the question, ‘Feeling low – where do you go?’. Click on the title of this post and scroll to the bottom of the page and leave your best tips in the comments.

With readers from across the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and dozens of other countries, maybe we could get a little compendium of top tips listed. It could help people, from around the world, to better deal with the new normal.

Knowing that you may may have helped someone get through their day will pick you up too, and hopefully leave you smiling.