How strong is the voice of your conscience? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.
“When a man is wrapped up in himself, he makes a pretty small package.”
“Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.”
Image from Pixels by Lukáš Vaňátko
How often do you wake up in the morning with a strong sense of peace and calm?
What percent of the time do your thoughts spring into action with all the to-dos for the day, before your feet even hit the floor?
When do you first check your phone for texts or emails that have piled up overnight?
How many truly important messages do you receive each day, and how many do you consider clutter of junk?
Although we are now well into summer, there is always time to do a bit of spring cleaning.
How would some forced separation from your ordinary ambitions that clutter your various inboxes help you right size your life?
Where would unsubscribing and removing various barriers to your aliveness make the biggest difference?
Where can and will you begin today?
Image from Unsplash by Kenny Eliason
We are all works in progress if we choose to be.
From the day we are born, we have the capacity to take in all types of inputs and mix them with our previous experiences. This ongoing journey helps us become a better version of ourselves.
When it comes to our prized abilities and qualities, we all likely have some level of competency.
What qualities and personal characteristics do you value most?
How would you rate yourself in these areas?
Where can and will you choose to focus your attention and efforts today?
Image from Unsplash by Aidan Hodel
As a young boy, Arthur Brooks was fishing along the shore without success. After a while an elderly fisherman from the area came along, and noticed his frustration that nothing was biting.
Today’s quote was the wisdom offered, indicating that when the tide recedes is when all the plankton and bait fish gets stirred up, making the game fish crazy and willing to bite at everything.
How might this idea relate to your life?
Where do the tides in your personal and professional worlds seem to be headed out to sea?
How could this be a time where things are getting stirred up with new possibilities to catch a big one?
Where in your life are the falling tides offer you some new fertile opportunities?
How can you avoid the mistake of not having your line in the water?
Image from Unsplash by Ravi Perchik
Our grandson Weston has been taking swimming lessons at a local aquatic club since last fall. Over the past few months, we’ve noticed a plateauing effect on his progress. His weekly 30-minute classes have a single instructor and three other students, thus limiting his individualized attention.
With the warmer weather, he now swims outside on a regular basis with the family and gets many more hours of personal attention and wrinkled fingers. To our delight, his progress has taken a giant leap and he is quickly moving from a guppy to a dolphin in his abilities.
Where do you demonstrate the greatest level of focus?
How does your single-minded attention impact your experience of these events and your ability to perform at your best?
How committed are you to your commitments? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.
“Stay committed to your decisions but stay flexible in your approach.”
“When we do what we have to do we are compliant. When we do what we choose to do we are committed.”
Image from Amazon
What are your definitions of work and play? Consider examining the numerous activities throughout your day to determine the ratio of one to the other.
Which of your efforts are both enjoyable and productive? What duties do you dread and often avoid altogether for more pleasant pursuits?
My grandson Weston loves to play, and within minutes no one would ever recognize that the house was cleaned moments earlier. Getting him to clean up and put things back where they belong is no fun for him or mom and dad. Making clean up a game where numbers, colors, shapes, and toy categories are identifiers helps immensely, especially when his efforts are timed.
How can you gamify and add a bunch more fun to some of your more challenging or distasteful tasks? Consider reading Brian Tracy’s book, Eat That Frog for more ideas on getting things done.
The satisfaction equation looks so simple. All we need to do is acknowledge all we have, divide it by our wants, and make sure the result is a number that puts a smile on our face when we brush our teeth before bed.
We could easily do a fast status check and feel OK, or we could do a more thorough analysis to optimize our results. Consider digging deeper here and actually do the math.
Take two separate sheets of paper with the headings What I Have and What I Want at the top. Place these sheets in a location where you will see them throughout your day. For the next few days, jot down items on each list. Keep asking yourself What Else? before you move on to other matters.
Before you do the division problem, consider how a little addition or subtraction might increase your satisfaction.
Image from Unsplash by Jose Vazquez
Over the past several months, I’ve added the CALM app’s “daily move” to my morning routine. With the years adding up, I’ve found these 5-7 minute exercises helpful in soothing my creaky joints and muscles.
Many of the movements — based on yoga, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong — have helped me enter my day with greater energy and focus.
Where and how could you include various forms of slow movement to your day and benefit from the reunion of your mind and body?
Consider trying CALM‘s daily move for yourself and let me know what you think.
Image from Unsplash by Elisa Ventur
To what degree do you feel like you are at a breaking point? Where are the levels of personal and professional stress having a negative impact on your physical and mental health?
I recently visited the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York. Of particular interest was a glass breaking exhibition in which various types of glass were put to the test. Over the years of use and development of this miraculous material, engineers and scientists have come up with numerous processes to make glass far stronger and resistant to breakage.
Where are you being tempered and heat treated through various life experiences? How can you view these events and the stories you tell about them as opportunities for greater growth and resilience?