Do you thrive on white knuckle rides? Do you prefer the excitement, lurching and speed of the mechanism?
Some people don’t like rollercoasters. The intensity is not for everyone. Where some people feel the thrill and adrenaline, others are simply flush and terrified.
How do you like your life?
We listen to a wide variety of people to get different views. It’s easier, though, to choose opinions of our friends or of people who hold similar values or perspectives.
This may be more palatable or comfortable in the short term, but it may ruin you in the mid to long term. You are best to distance yourself from your emotional connection and really assess the issues with a clear and logically or rational mind.
It’s best to use data, trend analysis, forecasts and different, and even opposing, perspectives. Do you want to be accurate or just feel good and hope for the best?
Listen to intelligent arguments and then make up your own mind.
PS. Apologies for the delayed blog posts from the last few days (systems glitch) which all got sent at once in yesterdays email. Some good stuff in there! I hope their absence made you warm to them even more.
These can be just as wonderful as sunny days. They are just different. And it depends what you’re doing. Enjoy both!
Today’s note was inspired by our wonderful stay at Withyfield Cottage at Merrion Farm. A mix of sun and rain, and good timing, helped make this an excellent time away.
If you don’t know, you need to pay more attention. Yes, it goes quickly. But, you can do much more with it if you pay attention to it.
Two tips to improve your time use. First, take a piece of paper and jot down what you do every 5 or 15 minutes, for your whole day. Write the time and a few words. For example, 09:00 at desk, opened 10 emails, replied to five. 09:15 went for a coffee. At the end of the day, see where you could tighten things up a little.
Secondly, write out what you need to do and when, the night before. For example, 08:45 make coffee and take to my desk. 09:00 – 09:45 complete house financing. 09:45 – 10:15 make three calls to potential clients.
If you do the second one, you can compare it to the first tip. You’ll see where, when and why you are getting distracted and off track. And for how long.
With this greater awareness, you can make some adjustments to improve your timing and effectiveness.
After 1,000 blog posts, today seems like any other day. It was a great milestone to achieve and I celebrated the moment but now life goes on.
You can understand how astronauts, Olympians, professional athletes and big stars can have some mental health challenges when their time at the top is all over.
Once you’ve walked on the moon or flown in space, how does everyday life compare? It’s as good as it gets. And then it’s over. Then you need to find joy and appreciation in other things. Everyday life is simple. Enjoy its simplicity.
Thank you to all those who sent me congratulations on the 1,000 blog post milestone. I’m grateful for your encouragement and support.
You need to spend one or the other. Which will it be?
Do you value your time more than money? Or money more than time? Will you stand in a long queue to buy a cheaper item? Or do you just say no or pick it up elsewhere?
We have a lot in common with them. I never really thought so, but now I do.
We are surviving through some challenging times. They are still ahead on the really crazy stuff like 6 years of WWII, The Great Depression of the ’30s and the invention of amazing things. They had tv, cars and moon landings. We have smartphones, low cost airlines and Mars missions.
If you factor in the Covid years, The Global Financial Crisis of 2007/8/9 and now the Great Recession ahead during the 2020’s, the adults of this era are notching up some impressive survivor moments.
Appreciate what we’re going through in our collective experience and minds. There’s some hardship in our lives and we should recognise that.
You’re in a discussion and there is a dispute. Either you’re not looking at the same fact or you’re interpreting the fact differently.
It really helps to look at the same fact at the same time. Then you can discuss it from different perspectives. After that, consider the importance of that particular fact to each person. If it is weighed differently, it will be seen differently.
Finally, if someone changes the subject away from that one fact you’re engaging on, they may have realised your point is more valid but don’t want to admit it. Just smile inwardly.
Often we want to speak or do. Sometimes ours best to just observe. You can learn a lot from active and intentional observation.
Calm your mind. Take some slow deep breaths. Let judgments pass and expectations drop. Remain indifferent to the words or actions.
Just observe.
And then you learn something new. Maybe you stumble upon a new idea or you hear something differently then ever before.
The quote attributed to Albert Einstein springs to mind, “The more I learn, the more I realise I don’t know”. Something similar is also attributed to Socrates. Mark Twain and most parents have also said something along those lines, especially in the direction of their children.
To learn more, pause. You should pause more and consider what is being discussed. Does it make sense to you? What about to people who think differently to you? How could you see this differently if you wanted to learn something rather than celebrate being right?
10 billion people have walked this Earth. Every single one of them have had different experiences and interactions. Until we’ve seen everything through 10 billion lenses, we still have an opportunity to learn new things.
