Go Outside

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“Go outside. There is bliss in the silent expanse of nature.”

—Brendon Burchard, American Motivational Author

Image from Flickr by Moyal Brenn

Image from Flickr by Moyal Brenn

I write this post on a Saturday morning in early November in Michigan. Saturday is a quiet time, a time for me to slow down, reflect, and fully appreciate my life and the world around me.

In just under an hour, I have had the good fortune to see an amazing sunrise, a brilliant blue sky, and the bright yellow, orange, and red leaves still on the trees in my neighborhood. Albert Camus once said “Autumn is a second spring, when every leaf is a flower.”

EXERCISE:

How and in what ways can you more fully experience the silent beauty and bliss of nature, today, and throughout the year?

the winds of change

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“Sometimes in the winds of change we find our true direction.”

⏤Author Unknown

Tornado Image from Flickr by Ignis

Image from Flickr by Ignis

Have you noticed the increase in super-storms in recent years – storms with winds over 150 miles per hour and distinctive forces with serious, sometimes deadly consequences? Following these events we always see the resilience and tenacity of people, rebuilding and renewing their worlds.

The pace of life and the winds of change throughout the world have picked up speed because of social, political, and technological factors. How are you surviving, or better yet, thriving, in these dynamic times?

EXERCISE:

What inner work related to your vision, values, beliefs, and talents will  you do today? How will your internal Gyroscopic Guidance System help you find and continue on your truest path regardless of what storms come your way?

what a tangled web we weave

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“Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”

—Sir Walter Scott, from the 1808 poem Marmion

 

Spiderweb Image from Flickr

Image from Flickr by 55Laney69

Watching the media circus around the recent presidential election, I noticed an increase in fact-checking news segments.

Outright lies, deceit, half truths and, of course, gross exaggerations had many of us tangled up emotionally, stressed out, and completely disgusted.

Perhaps you are troubled by various levels of deceit in your personal or professional worlds. How do you handle these matters? How do you untangle the knots, or better yet, never tie them in the first place?

EXERCISE:

Where would more honesty, integrity, and good old-fashioned truth-telling and character set you free from the tangled webs many weave?

Friday Review: Goals

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FRIDAY REVIEW: GOALS

How high do you set your goals? How diligently do you pursue them?  Here are a few goal-related posts you may have missed. Click on the link to read the full message.

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“A good goal is like a strenuous exercise. It makes you stretch.”

 

 

 

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“The man on top of the mountain didn’t fall there.”

 

 

 

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“It is better to be a lion for a day than a sheep all your life.”

 

 

 

 

The answers inside you

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“Remember, all the answers you need are inside of you; you only have to become quiet enough to hear them.”

—Debbie Ford, author of The Dark Side of the Light Chasers

Quiet Zone sign

Image from Pinterest

Take a moment to reflect on your day so far.

How much quietness, peace, serenity, and tranquility have you experienced? On the other hand, how much stress, chaos, multi-tasking, and general noise have you experienced?

If you have plenty of quiet time, you are one of the lucky ones who have time to think and reflect on the important questions life may be asking.

If your life fits more with the second category, you may be unable to hear yourself think.

EXERCISE:

Find a special location in both your personal and professional worlds to spend just ten minutes per day in quiet reflection, to discover the important answers to the questions life is asking.

judge the whole

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“By a small sample we may judge the whole piece.”

—Miquel de Cervantes, 16th Century Spanish Novelist

image of a hand holding a bite-sized cupcake

Image from blackboard blog

When was the last time you dined at a smorgasbord, buffet, or pot-luck dinner? What was your strategy to identify and determine the tastiest items available?

If you are like many people, you might take a small sampling of many items, knowing that if one bite was tasty, a bigger helping would be even more delicious.

Sometimes, however, when we only have a small sample of something such as a book, a TV show, or a person we’ve just met, we get an incomplete view. We can jump to premature and false conclusions about the entire experience or person.

EXERCISE:

Where in your personal or professional worlds is it appropriate or inappropriate to judge the whole piece by just a small sample?

How things should be

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“Reality is the other person’s idea of how things should be.”

—John M. Shanahan, author of Hooked on Phonics

image from consciouslifenews.com

image from consciouslifenews.com

As part of my Personal Excellence Training, I teach my clients to coach themselves, with a technique I call The Pivot Point. The first part of this tool is to help my clients assess the “current reality” of the situations in their lives.

The challenge for most, at the beginning, is that they often believe that their perception of reality is shared by everyone around them.

EXERCISE:

How open are you to the possibility that the people in your personal and professional worlds perceive “reality” quite differently than you?

measure your life

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“How will you measure your life?”

—Clayton M. Christensen, Harvard Business Professor

Image of Book "How will you measure your life?"

Today’s quote stopped me in my tracks and caused me to sit down to examine its profundity. I then watched Mr. Christensen’s TEDx Boston talk from 2012, to see what this Harvard Professor had to say.

This is a question we must all answer for ourselves, based on many factors. I looked at the personal and professional achievements that measured me against others, and more importantly, against myself. My conclusion here was that personal development and growth have always been measuring sticks for me. What became more of a priority for me was the measure of family, and the development of close, collaborative relationships. In this area, contribution and making a difference in people’s lives was paramount.

When Clayton stated, in his talk, that God does not employ accountants and statisticians, I wondered what I’d like people to say upon my passing. This caused me to set about my efforts far more intentionally, so that I might fulfill my purpose.

EXERCISE:

Explore setting up a discussion group within your personal and professional communities to ask and answer this question for yourself.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, and what you discovered.

Friday Review Preparation

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FRIDAY REVIEW:  Preparation

How well do you prepare in your personal or professional worlds? Here are a few preparation-related posts you may have missed. Click on the link to read the full message.

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“I will prepare and someday, my chance will come.”

 

 

 

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“Life is like playing the violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on.”

 

 

 

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“You can’t reach for anything new if your hands are still full of yesterday’s junk.”

 

 

 

 

finite number of heartbeats

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“I believe every human being has a finite number of heartbeats. I don’t intend to waste any of mine.”

—Neil Armstrong, American Astronaut; First person to walk on the moon

Image of Neil Armstrong

Image from pics-about-space.com

As a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut. The idea of great adventure, testing oneself, and having “the right stuff” was right up my alley.

A highlight of this dream was to watch Neil Armstrong take his first step on the moon in 1969, going where no man had gone before (I stole that line from Star Trek!).

For me, Armstrong set a strong example of using each and every heartbeat to accomplish something extraordinary. He continued to contribute in many ways until he passed away in 2012, at the age of 82.

EXERCISE:

What important and energizing personal and professional goals are you working on or plan to begin? Make sure they pass the “get your heart pumping” test.