Observe Archives - Page 68 of 82

It Is Done!

Posted on February 5, 2021

That feels so good. That moment when you have completed the task. You cannot control it anymore. It is out of your hands. It is done!

It is an exciting and glorious feeling. When all the tension and build up can drain calmly from you, it is a tremendous feeling. Some feelings will be of relief and some will be of pride, confidence or joy.

Think back to when you have completed a big project. Or even think of a little one that you felt was important and worthy of your time. Maybe it was after completing an exam, driver’s licence test, or first overseas trip. For many, the feeling of relief is large after a public speech.

There is often an adrenaline rush and then a calming moment of satisfaction. In addition, you know you do not have to do it again soon, so there is peace in your heart.

I felt the calm satisfaction on Wednesday evening when I completed my first YouTube Short. Thanks to Alex, Roxane and Jaime for guidance on technical aspects. Thanks also to the many people in the YouTube and social media rooms in Clubhouse who gave great information. Also, a thank you to the How To content creators on YouTube. In particular, Sean Cannell’s comments in Clubhouse and his videos at Think Media. Naturalvita Tutorials also had a good tutorial.

It is done!

Gratitude Observe Think About It

Sometimes It Is Who And Not What

Posted on February 1, 2021

Who says someone can be more important than what is said? It seems a little odd to me but it happens. Sometimes it is who and not what that makes all the difference.

Do you remember your parents telling you something and you didn’t believe them. Maybe it was when you were a teenager. Or perhaps you were in your 40’s. They said X and you did Y.

Having your own children is the cosmic giggle from the universe. Now the shoe is on the other foot. You will be imparting brilliant, relevant and fascinating advice, or information, and it will fall on disinterested ears.

However, a friend of theirs will say the same thing and it will be all high fives and wow. If you’re nodding to this, remember you did/do the same thing to your parents. You may dismiss your parents as being from a bygone era. In doing so, try not to dismiss the pertinent advice they are giving for your benefit. Listen carefully.

If your best mate told you the same thing, then do it when your parents mention it. And give your friends due time while considering their view. Oftentimes friends can dismiss a point of view because they think their friend has no idea. However, an expert in the field might say the same thing and you will quote them all day long.

Sometimes it is who and not what.

Financial Observe Reframe your thoughts Think About It

Your Money Pays For Their Vacation

Posted on January 30, 2021

Make sure you only buy things that are essential to your life or for true happiness. Remember that when you spend, your money pays for their vacation, not yours.

Think about that for a minute. You buy two large pizzas for £25 and that is a fair exchange. You receive two large pizzas with toppings of your choice and they receive the payment they wanted. However, think one level deeper.

When you buy the pizzas, your bank account goes down and their bank account goes up. You have less cash for your vacation and they have more cash for theirs.

Quit giving your money to everyone else so they can have your vacation.

You could buy two large pizzas at the shops for £10. Then put the £15 of saved money into two other accounts. The first £7.50 could go into your vacation fund. The other £7.50 could go into your long term strategic investment fund.

You get to eat the pizzas and you build up your vacation and investment fund accounts. Sure the pizzas may not be quite as delicious from the fridge. And there would be some effort in cooking them. However, you would still have the nutrients and additional funds in your core accounts.

From one simple example, you would have almost £800 across your accounts in one year.

When you’re about to spend, remember, your money pays for their vacation.

Observe Reframe your thoughts Think About It

Aren’t You Curious?

Posted on January 28, 2021

That rich woman. That powerful man. How did they get where they are today? What path did they take? Which hurdles did they overcome. Aren’t you curious?

Notice the couple with a great relationship. Observe the family that plays and laughs together. Hear the love in their voices, projecting kindness from their heart.

Wondering why things are as they are, is a great skill to develop. Everything seems to be here for a reason. The sun to warm and the rain to cool. Gravity is there to hold things down. Rivers flow into seas. It all seems a little convenient. You may want to change the setup and the system, but perhaps you just don’t know why it is how it is.

Start with this way of thinking and you’ll find it effortless. But if you didn’t, there will be work to do. Attempts to put others down for their successes, or feelings of jealousy or envy, are not useful.

Get curious about their mindset and the path they have taken to this state and place. You too could have the same if you followed the natural path and process. All journeys to a destination have a beginning, middle and end.

Aren’t you curious about the process required to achieve anything?

Observe Think About It

Like Minded People

Posted on January 27, 2021

This is what we are all looking for. We want to find people we can relate to. Those people that think like us are golden. Like minded people make life easier. We don’t need to think. We can just float together.

This is an awesome experience. We can talk for hours with like minded people. We feel good about the experience. There is a flow to the conversation. We speak the same language. The words we select are from the same patch. And the order and tone we use is so simple and totally fluid.

It is easy to lull ourselves into a false sense of security that everyone thinks like us. Then someone uses a word that isn’t from our patch. Or the tone dips instead of rises. Occasionally we notice the words are positioned in an odd order to our expectations. Screech! Hand brake. What was that?

We pick up on these subtle nuances. There is a sense something is a little off but we may not be able to put our finger on it. Our backs get arched a tiny bit as we prepare to switch to defence. Who is the infiltrator, the odd one out? Why are they here? I hope they don’t bring their like minded people into this chilled oasis.

Comfort versus thinking and learning…

Observe Reframe your thoughts

Live And Let Live

Posted on January 25, 2021

It is easy to try to tinker with the lives of others. Sometimes we want to make unsolicited suggestions to other people. Live and let live is not just a useful proverb, it is a philosophy I try to follow. And sometimes I am successful….

Why do we do this? There are many different reasons. There always are. Let’s look at a few examples.

We can start with easy things like our favourite colour. If I like blue and you like green, I think nothing of it. Although, I might ask you why you like that colour, or which shade you prefer. However, I am unlikely to try to convince you that you would be better off liking blue.

Now lets look at favourite music. Clearly there is an incredible array of music to choose from. You might find classical to your taste. I prefer Rock. There is not a lot of crossover. So if we are on a car journey, we may need to take it in turns or find a compromise, like pop music. We may try to sway each other to change musical taste out of convenience. However, it would be rare to see a full on switch.

People perceive things differently. This could be part DNA and part environment. And there may be many other reasons. But as long as the other person is not hurting anyone, live and let live.

Action Gratitude Observe Reframe your thoughts

When The Stars Align

Posted on January 24, 2021

You push and grind and patiently wait. One part of the puzzle is all it will take. Twisting and turning until everything’s fine. That’s when the stars align.

I love the visual I get when I think of stars aligning in space. I see maybe 10 or 12 massive bodies of matter moving into a straight line with millions of miles between them. It’s quite awesome to behold. It’s like giant tumblers inside a massive combination lock.

All the tumblers need to be in the correct position for the magic to happen and to unlock the mystery. When the stars are in just the right position, the world is your oyster.

It is such a wonderful feeling to have everything working out. Think about how many millions of things have to be working together for an amazing day to happen. Your arms, legs, heart, head, speech, movement, temperature, community, etc must all be in ideal conditions. Simultaneously!

That may be why it feels so special when those types of things happen. Whether it is for a minute or a whole day, it is simply the best feeling. Everything is in unison and giving off a glow. It might convince some of a magical force in the universe.

There is a powerful beauty when the stars align.

Action Observe Progress Reframe your thoughts Time

Looking Back

Posted on January 23, 2021

Did you spend your day well? What about your week? How well did you spend your time in 2020? Or 2019 for that matter? Looking back is a useful exercise, especially if you do it well before the final curtain.

There are days that seem to slip through my fingers. Like yesterday. I had planned out the whole day before going to bed the night before. From my alarm ringing in the morning, until my head hit the pillow in the evening, I was scheduled.

But some random events threw me off course in the morning. Then the afternoon was all playing catch up. But then a couple of other unexpected situations arose. Some of these I could have averted with slightly better communication and time management. However, the others were just a little dose of, “That’s life”.

I really only got back on track at 7pm. Yet, I had missed so much in the day. Even with decent planning, you can be blown off course occasionally. But try to resist. Set your environment up in a better way. Then you can stick to the plan and make great progress.

This is a good analogy for life. You don’t want to get to the end of a time period and wish you had been more efficient with your time and more focused with your intent.

Looking back helps us look forward.

Action Observe

Changing Teams

Posted on January 19, 2021

The way people shift from group to group fascinates me. Not only due to the values based decision making but also the prioritisation. Changing teams is an interesting study.

Let’s use a simple example using sport. Let’s say I start following baseball. Somehow I become a supporting fan of a specific team, like the Pittsburgh Pirates. While watching I will become even more engaged with some players more than others. I was a huge fan of Willie Stargell, MVP of the 1979 World Series.

I then decide to go to a game that sees them square off against the Chicago Cubs. This happens to be my friend’s team.

So throughout the day, I feel closest to my friend. This friendship deepens as we head to the ballpark to watch our favourite sport of baseball. But in the stadium our allegiance shifts. He cheers vigorously for his Cubs while I cheer for the Pirates. My priority is now to my team and he feels the same for his team.

Let’s say Willie then hit a home run. My friend is unhappy and lets me know it. I defend Willie. The conversation moved from big picture to individual from the start of the day until now. Friendship, baseball, game, team, player.

We leave the ballpark and head home. Some soccer fans are celebrating the result of their match, on the streets. My friend and I are laughing again as we got over the game, remember our love of baseball and unite against the soccer fans and their chosen sport.

Changing teams again.

Financial Observe Time

Education V Entertainment

Posted on January 18, 2021

This battle for our minds was brought up a few times in a room I was in on Clubhouse on Saturday. Education v entertainment was a good way to express the point.

How you spend your time is important. What you do with it is your business in a free society. So you can choose to educate yourself further or you can decide to enjoy the vast array of distracting fun things to do.

Fun things satisfy our desire for that moment. Though it takes longer to get a result when learning. So which one will you choose? Which one is more important overall?

The great thing about education is that you get to keep the knowledge. With entertainment you keep that memory of fun. Though sometimes we forget about the fun we had.

I believe the folks talking about these two words would like more people to be educated. That’s a great ambition. Though it can be difficult. Being entertained is so nice. And it is usually easier than trying to learn and become educated.

We, as the adults of the world, need to help children getting accostumed to learning. Hopefully they will enjoy it most of the time too.

Education v entertainment. On balance, which one are you focused on?