Observe Archives - Page 51 of 69

Pure Joy

Posted on April 17, 2021

Birthdays are awesome when you are young. They tend to have new elements each year. In addition you enjoy getting older. They’re pure joy to watch too. I just had that feeling again with my son turning 12.

It was great to see his enthusiasm for the day ahead. Then throughout the day, he was smiling, laughing, energised, and fully enjoying himself. Despite the lockdown limitations, and this being his second lockdown birthday, he seemed to love it. And it was pure joy to see him embrace it and enjoy the day.

We will celebrate across the weekend as he opens gifts and cards and receives lovely messages from friends and family near and far.

As you get older, the enthusiasm can switch from looking forward to a birthday to being thankful to have reached it. Either way, we should try to remember that every one is an event to cherish. In addition to every day in between them.

Looking at the smile on my sons face today reminds me how fortunate we are. Count those blessings. Enjoy even the troubling times together. But most of all, be grateful for those sounds of laughter, energy and enthusiasm. It is amazing how quickly 12 years can swoosh past.

Savour it. It’s pure joy.

Action Observe Reframe your thoughts Think About It

Ask These Two Questions

Posted on April 16, 2021

What do you hope the outcome of your actions will be? What might be the outcome of your actions? Ask these two questions of yourself each time you post on any social media. In addition, you can reflect on these questions after any conversation or physical action you undertake.

Assess the outcome of your actions from your supporters perspective and also your critics. Get the actual outcome. Do not only use your biased or ego-driven opinion.

I felt this concept was timely to address today. In part due to yesterday’s blog post and also due to a tweet I saw earlier today. Finally, it fits in with Section 6, Review, of my forthcoming book, Achieve Anything.

The tweet was from a woman who was not pleased that, and how, someone on the set asked what her role was. The question seemed to be a benign set of words but tone and context would have been helpful to more fully understand.

I didn’t question or comment on the tweet as I only like to add positive comments. This one didn’t feel like there was one available. Or it might not have been seen as such, and that is not my intent either.

I did wonder, for far too many minutes, what her intent was. So many potential ideas, yet few of them positive. Apart from what seemed like some self-indulgence and a viral tweet (80k likes on a 2k account).

Before her, or your, next communication to the world, perhaps one could ask these two questions.

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I Want To Know

Posted on April 14, 2021

Why do we get curious? Curiosity can be a great thing. It’s instrumental in how we become aware. Curiosity also killed the cat. I want to know so many things. There isn’t enough time to learn all that there is to know about everything.

What is it that drives us to pick up a newspaper or turn the news on the radio or TV? Is it curiosity? Could it be a simple habit we’ve developed?

Perhaps it is our desire to fix things that seem to have gone wrong. Although, it could also be the desire to be a part of social events. It can be a way of connecting with others through a shared topic. Additionally, we can all have an opinion on the event and therefore feel able to comment on it.

It seems odd that we want to know so much about people and places we are unrelated to. In addition, it is rare we can do anything constructive to help the situation either.

So maybe next time you reach for the remote, paper, or a device to search up the news, just stop. You are trading away your life minutes to find out about other people. And you are unlikely to ever encounter those people.

It feels like a funny trade of time. Any thoughts why? I want to know.

Action Observe Think About It

Too Many Options

Posted on April 13, 2021

Baskin-Robbins ice cream serves 31 flavours. They’ve introduced 1,300 flavours since inception in 1945. Too many options can slow down your thought process and ultimately your success.

It can be helpful for a consumer to have just one option. At best, you could offer them two or three options. A bit like Apple does with its iPhone offering, its laptops and its computers.

Once people have more options than that, they start to be paralysed by indecision. Often, they start to questions their choices and review their short list of options.

One thing I learned growing up in the countryside was that if you had only one option nearby, that was the best one. Moreover, no second guessing was involved. Finally, if people wanted to eat, skate or play tennis, there were only a couple of places to do that.

I love exploring and trying new things. Just ask my kids about the variety of flavours I bring home. Pineapple covered in yogurt and popping candy comes to mind.

There is a lot to say about the simplicity of one or two choices. Restaurants with 75 items on the menu seem a bit crazy. This is not just endlessly challenging for the consumer. In addition, the kitchen has to keep enough of each item in case it is ordered. And it can’t have gone off when it is selected.

Too many options is an unnecessary indulgence.

Action Observe Reframe your thoughts Time

Get Organised

Posted on April 12, 2021

Have you ever been unprepared for an event? Some events happen every year. At the same time! Get organised and get your systems in place.

There have been occasions when I am not as prepared for a day as I feel I should be or could be. Let’s say it is a calendar event like a birthday, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas, taxes, school terms, etc.

We all know that these things are coming. In fact, we know as soon as one finishes that we have 10 months to prepare for the next one. Which gives us two months to execute exceptionally well. In theory.

And if you really think about it, you have years to prepare for all the annual events. Given they always happen on the same day, it is pretty predictable when Christmas Day will be 37 years from now. And taxes that year will likely be due on the same day that year as it is this year.

There really should be no surprises. I’m telling you this as much as I am reminding myself. And the preparation for each event is usually going to be the same. Allow time to get the tax documents together and go through them with your accountant. Do them now at the beginning of the period rather than scrambling at the end. It will even take less time to do it now.

Get organised.

Action Observe Progress Reframe your thoughts Time

Focus On The Thing

Posted on April 9, 2021

Gosh it can be hard to get clear and focused sometimes. There are so many interesting things in life. You need to focus on the thing that brings you closer to your goal though.

You need to be clear where you are heading. Then do only those things that get you there. Remove all the extraneous distractions. Once you do this, you will move forward so much quicker.

This week I am reminding myself of the things I need to reduce or stop. There are many things not on the path to my top goals. Some are fun or enjoyable though. Which make them more difficult for me to remove from my day.

However, in order to win and achieve the goal, I need re-focus and commit.

Is there anything you have been aiming for but not really putting the required time or focus into getting it done? Are there too many emails, requests, unnecessary things, keeping you away from the achievement you want most?

This was coming, but today’s Quote Of The Day Show podcast episode really underlined this idea for me today.

Sometimes the Knowing-Doing Gap comes in, sits down and wedges itself between you and your goals. Get back to doing what you know you are supposed to do.

Focus on the thing.

Action Observe Time

Awaiting Perfect Conditions

Posted on April 7, 2021

We all can do pretty well when all the stars line up. Life is so easy when all the stop lights are green. However, awaiting perfect conditions may be a fools errand. It’s pretty rare to have exactly ideal conditions for anything.

It is usually far better to strike while the iron’s hot and not wait for everything to be all in order. It can be difficult to know the precise best time to make your move. However, with some action immediately, you are likely to be in the best position going forward.

If you go to bed late, you can’t always wait until you have your eight hours sleep. You may have to get up after 5 hours and just get through the day like that. Maybe you would feel better getting more sleep. However, you probably have other matters to tend to. The ideal conditions are a nice to have that most of us will not see.

Imperfect results can be the results of acting now. But it is usually going to be the best you can get sorted anyway. And given that life is short, you don’t want to waste the bulk of it awaiting perfect conditions.

Action Observe Reframe your thoughts

Dig Your Heels In

Posted on April 6, 2021

That can feel sooo good in the middle of an argument. It may not be good but the adrenaline rush and everything works. Dig your heels in deeper as the discussion / argument continues to gather apace.

Generally speaking, we people like to be right about things. The funny thing is we are already right about our perspective. The challenge comes when other people have a different perspective. We can get quite animated explaining to people how our perspective is right and their perspective is wrong.

At this point, you could just walk away. You know you are right from your perspective. In addition, you have little interest in the other persons perspective. You just know they are wrong. And you are frustrated that someone’s lived experience could have got them so far off the correct track (i.e. your current perspective).

Again, best to walk away and reassess your own view of the world. No need to dig your heels in to press the matter. Few people seem to crack with greater pressure applied. You just don’t see it very often or ever.

Sometimes you feel you must win the battle and so forget about the larger purpose of life – Joy.

Don’t dig your heels in.

Financial Observe Think About It Time

Feeling like Spring 2000

Posted on March 31, 2021

Anyone else got that deja-vu thing going on? Stock markets near all time highs and some stretched valuations. It’s feeling like spring 2000.

The Deliveroo IPO was not in line with City expectations. This immediately made me think of a similarly hyped IPO from March 2000. It was the IPO of Lastminute.com, the dot.com seller of discounted travel. Although it’s initial day was much better, it turned south very soon after. Things continued to unwind through April and into May. Actually it continued for a full year. From the 14th March 2000 IPO through to 14 March 2001.

The NASDAQ peaked in March 2000, coincidentally. It then went on to fall 78% over the ensuing 31 months. The descent ended in October 2002.

This all came on the back of a very unique year, which was the last year of the Millennium/Century/Decade. We’ve also had a very unique year in 2020. That seems more circumstantial, or not relevant at all. But I thought I would throw it in there.

Anyway, after the bull market in the 90’s, there was a shake out. Maybe we are seeing the start of a shake out now again. We have had about a decade of bull market activity, so theoretically markets are due a correction.

It may be just me, but it’s feeling like spring 2000.

Action Observe Progress Time

Getting Distracted

Posted on March 29, 2021

What do you do when you can’t seem to focus? What is your remedy from wandering, scrolling, staring or getting distracted in some way?

This evening has seemed to be one of those times. Despite getting some things done, I did not get as many done as I could have. There were a few things on my mind, for starters. Then I got caught in an interesting scroll on Instagram for 10 minutes.

Writing out my to do list for tomorrow kept taking longer as I remembered many things that have slipped by me over the last week. While it is productive to do the list, sometimes the time taken to do it feels like wasted effort. It feels like I could have done one of the things rather than write a bunch down.

Then there was the wandering around the house to find the children and remind them it is bedtime. The third time round the house was starting to seem more like an exercise session with a stair-master. And since each round involved passing through the kitchen, there was the compulsory look in the fridge and cupboard for more food I wasn’t even hungry for.

Don’t get me started on replying to international and local text messages. I know better. Though I am also trying to reply more quickly rather than forget and take 2-3 days. Oh, the precarious balance.

Uh-oh, I’m getting distracted.