CategoriesActionProgressReframe your thoughtsTime

Plan In Detail

You can start with a generalisation. When you imagine an amazing future or visualise the realisation of an incredible dream, it can be big and broad.

But then you need to get deeper into the detail. Like planning a holiday, you start with skiing, beach or camping and then add the key details next. You need to know where, with who, when and how. You’ll also need to know how much so you can have the right cards with you or funds in place.

After the big details are in place you need the next level details. You’ll need to know which airline, which gate, which row and which seat. Maybe even what to bring with you on board and what you can’t bring.

The more precise you can be with the details, the more likely you’ll get what you want. I understand Queen Elizabeth II was very keen on the details. She understood the importance of the slightest thing.

You don’t need to be royalty to dress and present yourself well. And focusing on the details can be done by anyone.

Upgrade your skills in this area. Put the effort in. If you’re currently a five in the detail department, learn how to become a six or even seven. Search it up on the internet. Watch some videos. Practice. Get better at it. Your life will improve in many areas and you’ll be surprised at the benefits you find around you.

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CategoriesActionObserveProgressTime

Era’s End. And Also Begin.

The Queen’s passing marked the end of an exceptional era. I stood at the side of the road Monday and watched her cortege pass right in front of me. Like time, The Moment passed and more moments after that.

But time stops for no one. Things continue to progress. This happens whether you want the event in question to be happening or not.

It really did feel like the end of an era though. It has been an exceptional era that kept getting better. Many people did not want it to end or they believed it never really would.

The Queen was a common thread in a lot of people’s lives, both in the UK and around the world. This may have helped us feel more united in our grief and the uncertainty for the future.

Now our new future begins. With a new King, we will begin a new era. We don’t know how this era will go, nor do we know how it will end. But we do know a new one will begin after this new one. And on it will go.

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CategoriesActionGratitudeProgressReframe your thoughts

Appreciate What People Do

It is so easy to gloss over people’s contribution or even ignore it or joke about it. You are a better person if you see someone’s contribution, no matter how large or small and regardless if you think it was enough or how you would do it or want it.

Give people some kudos. Do it as often as you can and for whatever you can.

Monday is a day people can do this when referencing The Queen. Appreciate all that she did and didn’t do to make the world a better place. Such leadership from a 26 year old woman, in a very different world in the 1950’s.

Your appreciation will make you and the world around you better. Find the good in people and things. You’ll be happier for it.

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CategoriesActionThink About ItTime

Start Simplifying

Remove things from your life. Narrow your focus down to a few things that are very important to you.

Remove items you don’t need or that aren’t bringing you benefit or joy. This might mean cancelling a newspaper subscription or tv package. It could also mean stopping an activity that is a habit but no longer as enjoyable.

Simplify your wardrobe, your files, your bookshelf, your schedule, your social media/communications and your thinking.

Keep removing items until you feel calm and more able to enjoy the things that really matter.

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CategoriesActionHealth & FitnessReframe your thoughtsTime

Get Good Sleep

Take an evening and go to bed by 9pm. Stop getting more things done. Turn off the entertainment (tv, phone, etc). Just go get yourself to bed and have a great nights sleep. You’ll feel great in the morning: Refreshed and pleased with your self discipline.

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CategoriesActionFinancialHealth & FitnessReframe your thoughts

Remember To Smile

This one thing will win you more friends, interviews, promotions, sales and romantic relationships than just about anything else you could think of.

Smiling is fun, contagious, exciting, uplifting and joyful. Is hard not to smile if someone smiles at you. So if you train yourself to be the first to smile, you’ll get people smiling back.

Since our body state helps inform our mental state, if your body is holding a smile, you are more likely to be happy inside too.

So remember to smile, all the time, every day. Not just in photos.

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CategoriesActionGratitudeObserveProgressReframe your thoughts

Believe In Yourself

Look what you have achieved so far in life! You’ve mastered walking, socialising, some sports, learning, reading, eating, toilet time, tests, exams, paying bills, earning an income, holding a job, dealing with stress and travelling somewhere new.

Of course, you’ve managed to do all sorts of other things too! And just because others have done it, doesn’t reduce the validity that you did it too.

You are an amazing group of cells doing quite exceptional, though sometimes mundane, things. Things a giraffe ? couldn’t even imagine doing. So well done!

Now everything else is quite simple. So go make it happen. I believe in you and you should too!

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CategoriesActionFinancialThink About ItTime

What Will Be Your Legacy?

Events define people. Actions speak louder than words. And, what people broadly say about you when you are not in the room is your defining brand (for that group of people).

Have you given it any thought? What would you love your legacy to be? Will it be raising a wonderful family? Reaching certain heights in your job, career or business? Will it involve charity work or a specific level of philanthropy?

It is never too late to consider this concept, nor too late to take some actions to bring you closer to the legacy you would like to have or leave. Time will continue to march on though. So you best get on with your thoughts, plans and actions so that you can complete your legacy in your lifetime.

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CategoriesUncategorized

Update Your Thinking

Sometimes we hold on to our thinking from 20 years ago and believe it serves us well – like a worn out old shirt. Or we don’t even notice that we haven’t adjusted anything in 5, 10 or 20 years.

Should a 35 year old think about life the same way their 15 year old self did? Maybe. But why not put those thoughts and ideas through a little rigorous testing and see if they can withstand the scrutiny. Come at it from different angles.

Are you clear in your thinking? Have your values shifted at all? What is your highest and most important value? When you were five it might have been that your teddy bear was the most important thing in the world. Now it may be your spouse, child, parent or dear friend.

You may have thought the idea of free everything was brilliant. However now you understand the multiple levels involved in the phrase, “There is no free lunch.”

Remember that shifting your views can be uncomfortable. Growth and change can create discomfort. But stick with it. You don’t have to change your thinking, but do be honest with yourself about your thoughts and values. It may surprise you that your thinking has evolved. Or maybe more so that it hasn’t.

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CategoriesActionProgressThink About It

How Big Is The Problem You’re Solving?

Is it washing the dishes or just making it through the day? Do you want to have a job or maybe a longer term career? Would you like to solve climate, world hunger, global peace, space exploration or poverty?

Note how many hours per day you are actively progressing on your big problem. Are the daily “to do’s” getting in the way? How long have you kept telling yourself you’re doing something when you’re only thinking of doing it?

Stop telling people what should change and start making those changes happen. Don’t give yourself an easy ride filled with reasons and excuses and, “you don’t know how hard it is” comments.

Get uncomfortable. Mix things up. Make 10 phone calls. Make this happen.

Stop living small when you’re dreaming big. Take baby steps and then break into a run as soon as you can. Become Unstoppable. You too can change the world. Make it a problem worth committing to. Now go do it.

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