That’s it. Watch and enjoy watching. They’re quite lovely.
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Category: Think About It
The Friendship Litmus Test
Do we have to agree on all topics to be friends? Can we only be friends with people of a similar political persuasion? Or maybe friends must be of the same religious beliefs? What about climate differences, gender, guns, homeschooling, pro life or pro choice, covid policies, SCOTUS assassination attempts, or special military operations in other countries?
Can you be friends with people who hold a different view? Or is friendly as good as it gets? Or is friendly just a step too far? Are they the enemy? Does diversity of thought scare, anger, frustrate or disgust you?
Can other people have diverse thoughts but only those you approve of or could warm to?
Are we being naive to think we can be friends with people who hold different thoughts to ours? Or should we simply revert to micro tribalism and only be friends with those people who think exactly like us on every topic? If not, how should we treat our friends who have different or opposing thoughts to us?
Do you actually do this?
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We Are Decision-Makers Too
We are included in the term decision-maker. We may not set policy in government, but our decisions influence who will be forming the government.
And we decide who we hang around with, where we work and live, when to pay our bills and if we want to improve our skills or market value to increase our earnings.
We decide what’s good to eat, what fitness level we want, what time to leave the party and where to put the cereal in the cupboard.
So be careful with that macro pointing stick. While the government of the day can direct broad. policy, you control thousands of more important local and personal decisions.
If you are not delighted by where you find yourself today, start looking to improve things straight away. Only you can do it. You are your own super hero. You might better start acting like it.
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Decision-Makers Not Covid
I keep hearing or reading that Covid did this to us in relation to finance, mental health and the economy. It’s easy to say and rolls off the tongue without having to think much about it.
But was it really Covid? Is it really Covid still? Covid is a virus that can get into your body and might impact it. Many people may never experience it while others may have no symptoms, mild symptoms or severe symptoms. In a very small percentage of cases, it can even be the primary cause of death.
As a virus, it does its thing. But Covid doesn’t print money, adjust interest rates or make rules about lockdowns, essential businesses, social distancing, or travel policy. Nor does Covid determine the economic situation in any country. It is not a producer or a consumer.
Just like fire, Covid just is. It is individual people’s reaction to it that impacts other things in life.
If you like, or don’t like, where you or your country is at right now, then let the decision-makers know. It was, and is, them that are making decisions about your city, region or country. Don’t let them say it’s Covid. It’s not. It’s their reaction to it, so it is them.
Decision-makers around the world made different decisions and still the covid outcomes we’re similar. Some people were infected and a range of health outcomes occurred. The virus is still here but now there are a host of other unintended consequences to deal with because of decisions made and still being made.
We could all be a little more accurate with our words. The decision-makers have led us to this spot, good or bad, not Covid.
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Excellence Is A Rare Trait
Excellence is wonderful to experience or watch. It is rare though. Due to the amount of effort one requires to reach a state of excellence, most people settle for good or occasionally great.
To strive for excellence is to work harder and longer than you ever thought. And then push past that too!
Do you have it in you to reach excellence?
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Build Toward Great
What if politicians outlined their common goals, and their differences on key issues, and then worked toward those common goals while being mindful of their differences?
Imagine how much progress could be made! Especially if people didn’t mind whose name was on the statute, or statue.
If people just tried to improve the most lives in the best ways, we could leapfrog a lot of wasted time.
Who might be up for that?
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Climate Conundrum
People like stuff. People also like to move their bodies from one place to another. People also like foods and drinks that are manufactured or transported over long distances. People also want to live as long as they can or want their loved ones to live their longest life possible.
These things are all part of the conundrum. We like these type of things but it is these things that have a significant impact on pollution and climate.
We want to eat bananas and strawberries out of season. So we ship them in from some country like Chile or Egypt. These food items can perish before arrival so need to be moved quickly. Oh, and maybe they need a little refrigeration. This all means using a lot of fossil fuels to get these items to our fridge. And the single use plastic bag or punnet they come in can’t be great either.
But we need these foods when we want them.
Then, sometimes they go off or are half eaten and thrown away. They are brought half way around the world by ships, planes, trucks and our car, to be jettisoned because of a little bruise on it or we just don’t fancy the whole thing.
Think of all the useless trinkets and junk we purchase or are given. And all the wrapping and how that was all made and shipped to us. Also consider all the waste and single use items in doctors offices and hospitals. Hospitals are great because they help save, prolong or improve lives. But they mustn’t be great on the plastic and industrial or contaminated waste scale. Especially with all the full body PPE of recent years.
But we want our favourite foods or a plastic bottled drink when we are out. We need the stuffed toy or plastic flowers to demonstrate our love. We must take holidays that require an airplane travelling 1,000 to 10,000 miles, each way. We want hospitals and all the good they do.
However, we also want “the world”, the government, big companies and other people to reduce their carbon emissions and help with the fight against climate impact. The conundrum is that getting “them” to do something is a nice idea. But really, they will just create environments to reduce your usage through policy and pricing – which most people would complain about. You could do the right thing yourself, but most wont. At least not in a meaningful way. The power is in our hands every day, but most people are unwilling to make the material personal sacrifice.
And that is the climate conundrum.
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Book Update: #1 Bestseller!!! ?
My thinking has been very much on my book for the last 24 hours. So I’m sharing my success with you. Especially as many of you reading this have helped make this happen.
Sunday night, after writing my previous blogpost, I did some more poking around online. I discovered that Achieve Anything had reached #1 on three Amazon bestsellers lists in Japan!!! The first time I’ve seen the book reach #1. Super exciting!
Yes, it’s not the Sunday Times Bestseller List, but I still have that to come. Importantly, I am celebrating reaching another new milestone in my book / author path. So I’m doing as I say, because Step 7 in the book is Celebrate ?.
So now I’ve been on 14 best seller lists in 7 countries (US, UK, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, India and Japan) with three of those being #1 spots in Japan.
So thank you all for buying the book, sharing the book, putting a rating or review on Amazon, giving me feedback, liking or sharing my reel or other activities that may have helped achieve these brilliant milestones!
Goals ahead: Record the audiobook this week. Heading into the studio with Zoe Tuesday. Encourage more people to add a rating or review on Amazon so I shift from 20 5-star ratings to 50 soon (go put one up!). Reach #1 on more Bestseller lists. Let’s go!
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What Is Good Advice?
Usually you know what is right. You just don’t want it to be so.
Often we ask advice from whoever is around. But if you go to someone specifically, it is often because you know they’ll tell you what you want to hear; even if you know it’s what you need to hear.
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I Love Summer Days
Those days you can wear shorts and a T-shirt and feel warm all day and never chilly. The ideal recipe begins from 21C, mostly sunny, 43% humidity and only a 3-6 mph breeze.
This is fabulous weather for me. It can still go warmer. It can go all the way up to the early 30s; especially if there is a lovely swimming option nearby.
Enjoy it every day it’s here!
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