Think About It Archives - Page 54 of 61

It’s All We’ve Known

Posted on August 12, 2020

Isn’t it odd how there wasn’t anything before this life we know. At least for most people, it’s all we’ve known. What came before?

There has been lots of debate about what comes after your time here is done. However, I don’t hear a lot from people discussing what came before. Certainly I don’t recall anyone mentioning their experience(s) before conception.

How odd, I thought, as I walked across a field yesterday. This life is all we’ve known. We’ve known other towns, other friends and other times. We’ve known the history of our society through ancestors and written pages, magazines and myths. But we don’t know our own personal history.

As we get older, we extend our own personal history. But it is only the history of ourselves here on Earth. There is nothing before that, for us at least.

For example, we may be on the equivalent of level five of pac-man here on earth, but we don’t know the game we were playing before pac-man. It’s all we’ve known.

Have you any stories or theories of who, or what, you were before you were here on Earth? Think about this and let me know. It’s rather fascinating.

I look forward to reading your ideas.

Observe Think About It

Life Is Undulating

Posted on August 11, 2020

Life does not seem to be a straight line in any area of it. For the most part, life is undulating. There are peaks and troughs to be enjoyed or endured.

Sure, there can be the occasional steep cliff or snakes and ladders moment. Although those are very memorable, as they tend to be quite emotionally charged, they are usually quite rare.

I thought about this quite a bit while we were cycling through some trails in the New Forest this afternoon.

When we were cresting the top of a hill after a long climb up it, it all seemed worth it. As we rolled on and down into another little valley, there was almost a giddy jubilation. Cycling fast along a trail, or down a hill, can feel so freeing and exciting. One might even say exhilarating.

So prepare yourself to work hard and persevere through the ups. Equally, ensure to enjoy those days of excitement. When everything is easier, especially the big, meandering, enjoyable down hills, life seems grand.

There you have it. Life is undulating. Enjoy every piece of it. You only get one. Maybe even cheer and scream as much with those larger uphills as the smaller, downhill ones.

Observe Think About It Time

A Time And A Place

Posted on August 8, 2020

Everything belongs somewhere at some time. You might think of the Spacetime continuum when you read this. Having a time and place is natural. Though not everything will exist in the time and place of your preference.

At one moment a bowl will exist in your cupboard. Then it will be moved to the table for cereal or soup. It may then find itself in the dishwasher before being returned to the cupboard.

It may be your favourite bowl. However, someone in your house may have used it. So perhaps it wasn’t where you wanted it to be when you wanted it there. Let’s say it was dirty and in the dishwasher when you wanted to use it.

This is the way life is. Everything has a time and a place. But it may not be according to your desires. Besides, there seems to be too many places on Earth and in the universe for you to dictate where every single item should be and when.

So at those moments you find yourself trying to control too much with your Jedi capabilities, it’s time to let it go. Where focus goes, energy flows, as Tony Robbins says.

So put things in the best place you can at this time. Accept things are in the best place, if you can’t change them. And focus on the exact changes you wish to make.

Action Gratitude Think About It

Here To Help

Posted on August 7, 2020

Perhaps our highest purpose is in helping others. Even if you set out to simply make money, you usually need to help others to do it. We are here to help others on their journey.

People assist others whether through charity, providing a service or product or at random moments. If someone looks lost, you give them directions. When someone has been hurt, you will come to their aid or find someone who can.

And although you can look at many things as ‘only doing it for the money’, that is just a viewpoint. Most people aren’t brutally honest with themselves about their own motivations. How do they think they can assess what someone else is thinking?

Landlords help people find homes to live in. Car companies help people get around. Computer companies help people have access to information, communication and speed. Restaurant workers assist people in getting food and drink without the effort of sorting it themselves.

Think of almost any job and you can see how the person’s work aids other people.

There is a spectrum of people that moves from totally not helpful to exceptionally helping. But apart from allowing for a handful of super hard core non-helpers, everyone else helps to some degree. They do so with time, effort, money or kindness.

How are you helping people today?

Action Think About It Time

What’s Next?!

Posted on August 4, 2020

To keep a good pace going, you need to make decisions and move on. Decision velocity is important. Asking yourself and others, ‘What’s Next?!’ is a good way to keep things flowing.

It’s short and easy. It’s clear and concise. Ask this question as soon as you’ve finished your last item. Make this a habit. When you’re working, don’t let a second drift by without you starting on the next item.

You will build up quite a rhythm. You will also notice you get a lot more done. When you are asking yourself great questions like this, your mind can focus. It knows the answer to ‘What’s next?!’.

Your mind will sort, measure and assess what the options are and then let you know what is next. This is great because there is a natural flow and prioritisation to it.

It’s also a good signal to your mind, and to others, that the previous topic has been closed. You’re done with that and moving on. It feels engaged, decisive, and crisp. It feels like good leadership.

I like it better than, ‘Shall we move on’ and some of the other phrases out there.

Give it a try a few times today. Test it and see how you like it. Hopefully, it will work for you as well as it has for others.

Whats next?!

Action Financial Health & Fitness Think About It Time

Plan Ahead

Posted on July 27, 2020

It’s a good idea to look out beyond the hour, day and week. Some people plan important events years in advance. When you plan ahead, it changes your perspective on life, time and prioritisation.

Our life insurance broker rang me today. He wanted to check that I was happy with the cover we had. Was it the right amount, coverage and term (length of time)? All seemed fine.

However, it did get us running a few scenarios. How old would we be in 10, 20 and 30 years? We also needed to calculate how old the kids would be on those dates. The other point to consider was specific life moments falling in those time periods. Big events we considered were; helping with the children’s university costs, business start up costs and/or potential wedding costs.

Planning ahead does make you confront some brutal truths. In particular, it reminds you that you will either be much older one day, or the alternative. And you should consider that ‘much older’ comes with more than simply more candles on your birthday cake. Your health and wellness is likely to change somewhat.

You plan ahead for things that you want such as holidays, concerts and sporting events. So you should also plan ahead for those events that are inevitable, like ageing and the alternative.

Do it now.

Gratitude Think About It Time

I Like Hanging Out With People Like Me

Posted on July 26, 2020

It always depends on the moment and what I am interested in at the time. However, I like hanging out with people like me. It seems like a natural feeling.

When I listen to rock music, it’s more fun if I am with people who enjoy the same bands. It’s less fun if the people with me don’t enjoy the bands or music genre. And certainly it is not very enjoyable if they simply criticise it or complain about it.

When I go running, I prefer to go with people like me. I prefer to go with people who like running. And ideally they are ready to go in the early morning which is what I prefer. Additionally, it is better going with someone who runs a similar distance and pace too. Though I’m happy to be pushed to go further and faster.

Whether it’s food, sport, holidays or almost anything I can think of, I like hanging out with people like me.

And those people are oftentimes different people for each thing. This is great because they can bring other aspects into the mix too.

It’s great to get different perspectives. But when I want to enjoy myself, I like hanging out with people like me.

Financial Gratitude Think About It

Winning £1 million

Posted on July 25, 2020

It has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Most people would be pretty pleased with that sum of money. Winning £1 million seems to be the magic number for a lot of people.

Songs have been written about having a million dollars. People talk about how life would be different if they could just, ‘win a million’. And many people have dreamt about what they would do if they had a million dollars, pounds or euros show up in their life unexpectedly.

Although today £1 million wouldn’t put you in the exclusive group it would have in 1970, it is still an exciting amount of money to most people. Even for someone who has a net worth of £30 million (i.e. assets less liabilities), this amount would probably be warmly received. This is in part because those assets might produce £3 million in income. So an extra 33% more would likely be welcome.

What would you do if you had £1 million turn up in your bank account? Whether it was from an inheritance (long lost Auntie?), a lottery ticket or some fascinating philanthropist doing things differently.

Wouldn’t winning £1 million be an exciting thing? Would you do something exciting and novel? Or something sensible and pragmatic? Perhaps you would do a little of both.

Well, I hope you get to find out sometime soon!

Observe Progress Think About It

The Half Year Highlights

Posted on July 14, 2020

We need to keep track of our wins and celebrate them. So get out your journal, or any piece of paper, and your pen. The half year highlights need to be listed out.

We are in the midst of Q2 earnings season. This is when companies reveal how they did in the second quarter of the year (April, May, June). Granted, this year has been a little different so far. But the announcements coming out are making interesting reading, especially when comparing to Q1 2020 or Q2 in 2019.

Every quarter, corporations note down their key accomplishments and share them. You should also get into this habit. Though you do not have to share them. However, you should be honest with yourself. It is easy to make excuses, develop reasons and blame circumstances. There is no need to do that. You are better than that.

So if you have your monthly goals list, you can compare against that. If for some reason you did not set out your goals in late 2019, you can simply note down your highlights to date.

Be clear and specific. For example, I can note that I have written this daily blog every day since I started on 10th January (on target). In addition, I have had readers from 50 different countries (well above target). Finally, the family has successfully come through this initial Covid period (on target).

The half year highlights should also be celebrated ?. Presumably you have worked hard and been disciplined to achieve these milestones and make progress on your goals. Even if you weren’t quite on target, you will have sacrificed time and effort to get your results. Celebrate them and work harder and smarter in the next quarter.

Good luck!

Observe Think About It

Your Dominant Tribe

Posted on July 11, 2020

Have you ever found yourself torn between two groups of people? It could involve friends, family, associates or others. Your dominant tribe will usually shine through when you are in this position.

Imagine yourself walking along the road with four good friends that you haven’t seen in awhile. You are heading to a restaurant to have a fabulous, fun, dinner together.

You pass by the local concert hall on the way and notice one of your favourite bands is playing and it starts in 30 minutes. Two of your friends are super keen on the concert but the other two need to eat and head off.

Now you have many different forces tugging on you and pulling you in different directions. Will you go with the concert-goer tribe or dinner-going tribe?

There will be emotions at play as well, such as the guilt of spending time with one couple of friends instead of the other. There might also be the fear of missing out, either of a great concert or an exciting catch-up over a delicious meal.

Sometimes these moments of decision are easy and at other times they can be quite difficult. Reviewing the decision the next day can be instructive as they help you understand the forces in your life. Your deepest values tend to shine through in these moments.

Your dominant tribe is not always so obvious when core values are put to the test.