Knowing What You Want

Thursday May 21, 2015 #727

“Unhappiness is not knowing what we want and killing ourselves to get it.”

~Don Herold

It is important to occasionally sit back and reflect on how you are living your life and how and with whom you are spending your time.  The speed of today’s life and the increasing demands on our time can easily create a situation where we can go for months or even years without authentically and critically assessing if what we are working so hard at is something that is aligned with what we really want and with what nurtures us.  Spend a little time today to think about this in your own life, and regardless of your conclusions, also schedule your next “appointment” with yourself no more than 4 months later to start a habit of regular reflection to ensure all your hard efforts remain aligned with your purpose and goals.

Slow Down and Breathe

Thursday May14, 2015 #725

“There is more to life than increasing its speed.”

~Mahatma Gandhi

It seems that with every year that goes by, we find ways to increase the number of things we are trying to do, using technology, our own initiative, and the pressure of a world that demands we do more.  However this easily turns in to 12 hour days and/or 7 day work weeks.  It would be naïve to think that most people can just slow down, but you can choose to control aspects of your day or week.  While you may not be able to unplug from the fast pace of most of today’s careers, you can choose to carve out time to allow for quiet reflection and enjoyment of moments with key people in your life, and pursuits that bring you joy.  Even if it is 30 minutes of reading or exercise, or walking on the beach with your partner or child – your mental and physical well-being depend on unplugging and being present to recharge and allow joy to seep into your consciousness.

Self-Compassion

Thursday April 23, 2015 #719

“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.”

~Jack Kornfield

Picking up on Tuesday’s guest post, a bit more on self-compassion:  So how well are you treating yourself today?  Take a moment and reflect on your talents and what you bring to your family, your community and your work associates every day.  Reminding yourself of these virtues is not self-indulgence.  It is a healthy counterbalance to your inner critic and will likely inspire you to bring even more of your best self to the present moment, enriching the people around you and brightening your own day.

Reflecting on Success

Tuesday February 3, 2015 #699

“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.”

~Peter Drucker

A standard and important practice in business and in our personal life is to follow a failure with reflection, seeking to understand the cause of the failure and planning to do better in the future.  However, an even more effective practice which is rarely done is to reflect on what caused a success.  Instead, we tend to move on quickly from success without much thought other than, “I sure did great!”  It is actually far more powerful to learn from success.  Just as it is rarely fully about you when you fail, it is almost never fully about you when you succeed.  There are many factors that lead to a particular result and the more we can seek to understand these factors, the more likely we can improve our performance in the future.

Bits of Pleasure & Beauty

Thursday December 4, 2014 #684

“You’ll never find a rainbow if you’re looking down!”

~Charlie Chaplin

It is important to focus and put in the hard work necessary to achieve and contribute to our potential.  However, it is also important to give ourselves a few breaks to allow reflection, and to give us time to enjoy and learn from our co-workers, friends and family.  In our intense busyness, we miss not only rainbows but thousands of other bits of pleasure and beauty all around us.  By all means, work hard.  But not so hard that you miss out on life.