25 years of marriage, a special birthday, completing a marathon or simply getting through another 24 hours without a drink, are all great reasons to celebrate, reflect, pat yourself on the shoulder or be happy within yourself.
When is your next important milestone?
Most people don’t dig too far down. There isn’t time, even if there is sufficient interest. So who ever creates the headline, creates the narrative.
Starting can be hard. But if you start something, be committed to completing it too. Like buying something on credit, you have to eventually pay the price. If you do a job, follow up until it is finished correctly.
Yes, it can be mundane doing admin, invoicing, paperwork, forms etc but they need to get done. So do them.
Follow up in sales is often how you win the deal. People remember great follow up. They remember poor performance and neglect too.
Speak to people. Listen to people. Seek first to understand. Life can be tough. You don’t have to make it worse for them. #bekind
In all things, be mindful of moderation. Exercise, food, entertainment time, alcohol, caffeine, spending and work are all optimally experienced in moderation.
Sometimes we go overboard. It happens. But we can learn to moderate ourselves. At Christmas, enjoy a few snacks, one plate of food and two or three drinks over the day. More than this might have you feeling bloated, anxious or unwell. In addition, you not be pleased with your progress on longer term goals if you’re setting yourself back a little.
By all means, have fun and enjoy. Just see if your enjoyment can be maximised within a comfortable boundary.
The next two weeks will be challenging on so many fronts. Moderation is key to making the best of the holiday season.
It feels easier in the moment not to be disciplined. You can shrug it off. Believe that you will do it later. You think you’ll get back on it again later in the week.
After a few weeks of great daily self-discipline will be the opposite. It’s harder in every moment. Though it gets easier with practice. But it is definitely harder to start. But the longer term benefits are great. If for no other reason than you can count on yourself to achieve when you say you will.
Usually though, we find other things in our way and don’t get back to it. A few weeks of that and we won’t feel so good about ourselves. It’s self-inflicted though.
If you find it hard to count on you, who else can? But you have the control to change it all around. Only say things you are actually going to do. Don’t over-commit. Set timers to help keep you on track. Be pleased with each commitment you stick to. Those are powerful building blocks.
Self-discipline is key. And that key will unlock all the doors you can imagine.
Sometimes speed is the only thing that matters. When you need to get things done, moving fast is key. Rest at your leisure.
Try to sprint through your work day and personal admin. Get through it as quickly as you can. If you linger, you are just wasting precious moments of your life in limbo.
One of the best tricks to use is to imagine you are going on holiday tomorrow. Since you will be leaving at 6am, there will be no time to complete anything in the morning. Therefore, you will need to get those things done today and tonight. Along with packing, of course.
Adding this pressure is good. Firstly, you trick your mind into assuming you need to get things done. Secondly, your priority list will shift around. Many things you don’t need to do will fall by the wayside. Those critical items will be squeezed in. You will type faster, have shorter phone calls and keep on point in all communication.
Think of each 15 minutes as a sprint. Set yourself a milestone to reach in that 15 minutes. Set the timer on your clock, phone or computer. Then, dash for the Done ✅.
Surprise yourself with how much you can do. Oh, and it will feel great having completed so much. All those lingering items just gone from the list.
Moving fast is key.
Have you ever walked into an empty building? Perhaps your office building on the weekend or school during summer holidays. People are the key. Otherwise those quiet, soulless locations just echo with memories past.
People create the buzz, the energy and the excitement. It is their being that breathes life into a situation or place. Although locations can conjure up strong memories, the strongest ones often involve people.
I recall walking into my secondary school, during the summer after graduation. My footsteps echoed in the halls. After 5 years there, it seemed like I would bump into someone. But there was nothing. Just the ghostly quiet and silent cacophony of days gone by.
There was a deep sense of melancholy and a yearning for those days again. The friendships and silliness. The final and laughter. The challenges, struggles, wins and memories. Those halls are filled with people who will live in your mind forever. They are frozen in time. Slow motion. Black and white. Fast forward, Colour. Echo.
Best friends or sworn enemies, there was a place for everyone. And without anyone, there was just a building. Empty rooms and hallways. The place had seen tens of thousands of student faces over the years. But ours were the only ones that lived in our minds. friendships for a lifetime.
People are the key.
With so many varying factors in any given situation, it is often hard to say what led to what. What makes the difference?
Like watching those coin pusher arcade games, you never know which action will bring the result. It looks like everything is on the edge and the next coin will bring the jackpot. Despite never seeing someone win at one of those machines, don’t be disheartened. In life, that level of persistence and optimism can pay off handsomely.
Whether it is buying a house, emigrating or building a career, you need to keep trying and pushing through. Sometimes it takes an extra phone call or document or meeting. However, you won’t necessarily know which one will move you forward.
After the event, if you are fortunate enough to get there, you may look back and think you see the key moment. Though it may simply be a memorable moment, not a defining moment. All the other little things, combined together may have been more important than that memorable event.
All the grinding on the pitch, gaining meters, wearing down the opponent and getting field position may have been the critical work. The final play to get over the goal line was brilliant, necessary and euphoric, but set up by all that came before.
It may seem obvious, but what makes the difference?
