Scott's Thinking - Page 195 of 217

Your Two Week Sprint

Posted on August 17, 2020

Let the games begin! What habits could you start? What changes could you get underway? Your two week sprint starts today! In 14 days you will have lived through what is probably the oddest first 2/3rds of a year in your life.

Your goals may be all over the place, like the airline industry. Or they may be laying in tatters after having achieved them all and then some, like Amazon.

Whichever it is, there are only a couple of weeks left in August before the world tries something it hasn’t done in 102 years. During the 1918 Pandemic the world tried to get back to normal over the summer and through the usual autumn activities. Back to work, school and life in general.

Now what can you commit to for the next two weeks? It’s not forever, its simply your two week sprint. Get yourself in decision mode. Make an unbreakable commitment to yourself. Resolve to do your 14 day habit to put you on the road to ever greater success.

We’re coming into the home stretch of this zany 2020 year. Get yourself into great shape in at least one area you’ve been thinking about all year. My sprint has goals and habits focused on food, fitness, finances, fun and non-fiction.

What are you going to achieve during this sprint?

Gratitude Observe

These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things

Posted on August 16, 2020

Do you have a list, or lists, like this? Somewhere that you group all of your best stuff? ‘These are a few of my favourite things’ could be the heading.

Over the years I have written these lists of favourites. Some I have kept as I find them interesting to look back on. It’s fun to look at what ‘old me’ liked. Though I guess it could be seen as ‘young me’ instead. Or maybe even ‘previous me’.

I’ve created the favourite list for songs, albums, photos, destinations, movies and activities. Of course there are other lists too. You could have favourite memories or actors, musicians, foods, restaurants or books. It all depends on what you like to collect, curate, or catalogue.

Sometimes I’ve made a quick list. And other times it is more thoughtful. I know that some lists I have misplaced and others I have thrown away. Perhaps this has been the case for you too.

When I look at a selection of my favourite photos from years ago, it can feel quite distant because you see the changes. However, if I play a song from 35 years ago, I can feel myself in the moment. I am transformed.

What are some of the lists you have made? How do they make you feel?

Action Progress Reframe your thoughts Time

Wake Up To Awesome!

Posted on August 15, 2020

It gets easier to do anything that you practice and want to improve. So from now on, always wake up to awesome! Since you can choose to wake up and feel awesome every morning, why wouldn’t you?

Of course there are some exceptions. For example, if you are not used to waking up thinking it can be an awesome day, it is hard to think that it will be. But you have a choice. It may not be easy in the beginning – few things usually are.

However, we can continue to press on and improve ourselves in areas we wish to. And of all the areas we could improve, one might consider the first 6 to 60 minutes of the day would be quite important. It starts you off positive and keeps the day framed in a positive glow.

And it doesn’t need to take too long either. You can do Hal Elrod’s Miracle Morning in 6 minutes. If you can’t find 6 minutes at the start of your everyday…. Well, I just won’t believe you really want it bad enough. Send me an email and I will help you. It won’t even cost you anything.

So remember the following:

Tomorrow, and everyday day hereafter, you are going to wake up to awesome!

Action Progress Reframe your thoughts

Remove All Non-Essentials

Posted on August 14, 2020

Empty drawers, cupboards and boxes from your house. Let others use those items you no longer have a reasonable use for. Remove all non-essentials. Don’t leave it for your kids to sort through when you are ill or pass away.

If you declutter your space, you will also declutter your mind. The more things you have, the more time you spend on maintaining those things. For that trade off to make sense, those things must bring you large amounts of joy.

Otherwise, you will be trading your very precious time for ‘meh’. What kind of life is that?

The best thing to do is to stop bringing new-to-you things into the house. I had a bad habit of collecting newspapers and magazines many years ago. With the exception of a slight retest of my discipline a year ago, I have been on the wagon for several years. This has kept piles of paper at bay.

Next, whatever you deem worthy and does make it through the front door (back door or even windows – I know you’re crafty), needs to be put in its official place immediately. If you can’t find a place, you are not serious about it and it must be returned or given away immediately.

Finally, remove all non-essentials. Once a month, get rid of a few things off your shelves, out of bookcases and boxes. In six months, you can send me a thank you letter.

Observe Think About It

Nature Is So Natural

Posted on August 13, 2020

Nature is a law unto itself. It does what it wants and there aren’t any consequences for it. Nature is so natural. It’s lovely.

Nature is one of those things that many people simply refer to in the positive first. There is a lot of talk about getting outside, getting back to nature and being in the great outdoors.

When saying such things, I assume most people aren’t thinking about hurricanes, rattlesnakes and Great White sharks. They are more likely to be thinking about stopping to smell the beautiful roses, petting wild (but friendly) ponies and lovely hikes, in nice weather, on well maintained trails.

Nature can be stunning, fascinating and wonderful. It can also be harsh, severe and unyielding. Nature is not politically correct. It is territorial. It can be monitored and in some cases tamed. However it always remains wild and unpredictable.

Earth, wind, fire and water can cause untold damage and significant loss of life. Nature is not playing around. You may lull yourself into a false sense of security but to your own demise if you are not careful.

Nature is so natural. There is no hidden meaning, motive, pretence or shenanigans. It can give and take. You have been warned.

Think About It Time

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.

Action Reframe your thoughts

Look Where It Should Be First

Posted on August 10, 2020

When looking for files, phone numbers, keys, glasses or information, look where it should be first. It might be there. If it isn’t, make a note of where you thought it should be. Then, when you find it, put it where it should be. Then you’ll find it easier next time.

Sometimes I’ll start looking where I think I saw the item last. Other times I head for where somebody says they saw it (or they think they did). Boy do we laugh when I find the item in the eighth place I look. This would have been the first place if I had simply ignored all other impulses and input.

Do you ever do that with general information? Ever casually wish you knew the answer to a question or had more information about a subject? Despite some of the most used phrases being, ‘Google it’ and, ‘Check the net’, sometimes I just don’t.

Occasionally I assume the topic is too difficult to search. Or even that no one would have searched this before. And I might even wonder if maybe there just won’t be any information on the topic.

However, I‘ve always been pleasantly surprised at how easy, predictive and plentiful the searches and results have been. So I search everything now.

So whether it is physical or theoretical, look where it should be first.

Action Reframe your thoughts

Put Things Back Where They Belong

Posted on August 9, 2020

Ah, yes. How much time would this save people during their lifetime? If everyone put things back where they belong, life would be a little easier.

How many tense minutes have you lost over the years trying to find things? Sometimes it’s the car keys and sometimes people forget where they put their phone or their credit card. Glasses and sunglasses are another crowd favourite.

And don’t get me started on the number of times people forget where they put their drink. Of course the bottles, cans and glasses that are half full are always found by the host during clean up when everyone has left.

Poor filing, either online or in traditional filing cabinets can be a major source of wasted time. This is particularly true for those still using a plastic bag, drawer or corner of their desk or bedroom floor for filing their critical documents.

I’ve become mildly obsessed over the years with returning things to “their spot”. I believe it is ideal that everything has its proper or best place. Then that thing should be returned there immediately after using it.

Do not place it anywhere else, even just for a minute. It has the potential to languish there in that new, unfamiliar spot.

Put things back where they belong. This is a key path to happiness, success and calm.

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.