You Need Perspective

 Life can get really stressful and demanding…

It can be helpful to ask, “Will this really matter in 5 days / 5 weeks / 5 years / 50 years from now?”

Perspective is a beautiful thing! 

Serendipity

 Don’t plan your life in too much detail or you squeeze out the space for serendipity to occur. 

Like leaving space (opportunity for boredom) to develop creative ideas… we need to leave space in our calendar and bring curiosity to discover all sorts of  serendipity that the universe has for us. 

You Just Never Know

 Memories are made most often when we least expect them… 

A lot of our best memories are t about expensive holidays / presents, but about meaningful times during random moments together… you can’t plan for them, and for the most part don’t recognise the moment when you’re in it.

So each moment should be savoured and enjoyed… because you just never know if it’s a moment that will make memories! 

What’s Worse Than Failure?

““Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.7.7.NIV

If we don’t put ourselves out there because of fear of failure / rejection / etc, then the answer will always be no… and we would have just rejected ourselves and caused failure. 

There is no worse failure than failing to try! 

Where am I holding back? 

Creative or Reactive

 Does life just happen to you? Are you simply reactive? 

Or are you looking for ways to create opportunities? 

It reminds me of the story of two shoe salesman sent to a village in Africa. 

One salesman sent a telegram back to his office saying, ‘Returning home. No one wears shoes here.’

The other salesman sent a telegram back to his office saying, ‘send more shoes, no one wears shoes here!’

A positive mindset and some creativity can produce amazing results! 

Do You Really Want It?

 We have exactly what we are happy to have…

If we truly weren’t happy we would have done something about it. 

If we deem the cost too high to ‘change’ and put extra effort in, to sacrifice for our goal / dream, then we never really wanted it. We have liked the idea but we have exactly what we are happy to have…

Today prophesies your Tomorrow

 What we do today creates our tomorrow… 

Too often we give up when we don’t see immediate results and we stop doing the very thing that is bringing us success. 

Create amazing tomorrows! 

Death Meditation

 Confronting your own death and the death of loved ones brings a clarity of what’s truly important. 

We tend to be running so fast on the hamster wheel of to-do’s and achievements that we lose sight of what matters. 

I’ll never forget, after being fired from my second pastorate position, breaking down and crying. I wasn’t crying over being fired, but over how I neglected my kids during my time served there. In my focus on serving the church, I lost sight of those closest to me. 

In the end, it’s your family and close friends at your bed side. And they’re there not because of your achievements but because of love.

Buddhist monks have a practice called death meditations… 

I have practiced these especially while preparing for my dads death.

Death is not only a natural part of life, it’s important as it brings focus.

Live in the moment. Be here now. Be more and do less.

Rose, Rose, Thorn, Bud

 Heard a great gratitude game for the family: 

ROSE - here you share a small thing that you’re appreciative/ grateful for in your day

ROSE

THORN - share a negative from today - point here is to acknowledge the negative (not for everyone to fix it)

BUD - something you’re looking forward to in the future

An alternative is:

HI - same as rose

LOW - same as thorn 

BUFFALO - something weird that happened today

Life is for Giving!

 I just watched A Christmas Carol with Jim Carey. 

I loved the line when Ebenezer Scruge says to Marley’s ghost, “but you were a good businessman’

And Marley replies, “Business, my business should have been mankind and community…”

Our life is about making other lives better!

And as Scruge learnt how to do this joy returned to his life!

A candle that lights other candles looses nothing yet gains light / joy.

A man who squeezes tightly to the sand in his hand ends up squeezing all the sand out of his hand as he tries to hold onto it all… life is for giving! 

Planning To Fail?

 Connection takes intentionality. 

If you fail to plan then you’re planning to fail. 

What would happen to my network if everyday I took a few mins out to connect with someone? 

No man is an island, and no man can succeed alone. 

Remarkable?

 If my work isn’t worthy of a 2nd take, of making a remark, then it’s boring and won’t be noticed. 

How am I doing remarkable work?

How am I taking remarkable photos? 

How am I creating remarkable memories with loved ones? 

We All Have 24hrs

 Everybody has the same 24hr period in a day. The question is what will you do with yours?

This isn’t a prod to get as much done as possible… but a prod to get the truly important things done. 

Have I connected and added value to people?

Have I actively practiced my values? 

Have I grown?

These are great questions to ask…

The Power of One

 Often we can get information overload and walk away making no changes and therefore not growing…

When you come across an interesting podcast / book / course… look to apply one thing in the next week… 

It’s amazing the power of compounding little changes over time. It sustainable and sticky. 

Try and change a bunch of things and you’ll make no change at all. 

What is one thing you want to apply this week?  

No Man Is An Island

 Have you ever stopped to consider that one can never attain purpose, fulfilment, without others being in the picture. Even most goals require others. 

If you are the centrepiece of your story, if it’s all just about you… then your story and your world are very small indeed… and yes, your story sucks!

It’s in connection, in helping others, that we make a life. 

How are others entwined in my story?

Am I the be all and end all of my my story?

How can I live in a bigger world? 

Comfort

 An excellent question to ask oneself on the regular is how comfortable am I? 

We have such a strong desire for comfort… however, growth and peak health is only found I. The uncomfortable. 

Am I comfortable in my spirituality / relationships / personal growth / work / etc?

Where do I need to get uncomfortable? 

Serendipity

 Serendipity = an unplanned fortunate discovery.

It’s important to plan and work towards creating memories, reaching goals, networking, etc. but often our greatest memories, strides towards accomplishment and connecting comes via serendipity. 

It’s not either or, but both and that we should strive for in our lives. 

So plan, and also be open to the moment and the unexpected treasures it brings with it. 

Movement Creates Clarity

 Like trying to turn a car that isn’t moving… trying to find clarity while taking no action is just not going to happen. You’ll always be filled with self doubt and feel paralysed not knowing what action to take. 

But, should you take action, the momentum creates clarity, and even if you have to make a u-turn, it’s much much easier because you’re moving already. 

Weekly Evaluation Questions

 Here is a list of questions to ask yourself as you evaluate your past week:

1. What self care activities did I practice this week?

2. What made me feel alive this week? 

3. What distracted me this week? 

4. What were my wins?

5. Who have I connected with? 

6. Knowing what I know now, what would I do differently? 

7. What is my focus for next week? 

What Is Purpose?

 Purpose must consist of 3 elements:

1. It must help others

2. I must be good at it 

3 It must energise me

If any one or more of these elements is missing, you will feel a blackhole of emptiness that refuses to be satisfied with anything and everything else.

Don’t Be a Zombie

 “Where there is no vision, the people perish...”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭29‬:‭18‬a ‭KJV‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/1/pro.29.18.KJV

When people loose vision / hope / meaning there is a great black hole of emptiness in your life. 

But once you find a vision / meaning / purpose then you are energised and enlivened. 

Creation Requires Planning

 Creating memories and good times requires planning and forethought / fore planning. 

Am I creating time to plan for planning and thinking? 

Will 20% Get YouThere

 The Pareto Principal states that 20% of our effort produces 80% of the result.

Question we need to ask ourselves is what is the 20% of my tasks that produce 80% of my results 

And to take it even further, what is the 20% creating the 80% of my results to the answer above? 

Now commit to expending your effort there…

Words Have Power

 A co worker today said as he finished the shift, “Thanks for all your help today. I really appreciate you.”

Those words were so meaningful. 

Never underestimate the power that your words of encouragement carry. 

Become proactive in giving this gift to those around you. 

Get an Ox!

 Life is a lot less messy without attachments…

Without kids and pets and causes you care about… 

But it’s all empty without the mess!

“Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭14‬:‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/59/pro.14.4.ESV

Self Leadership

 The hardest person you’ll ever have to lead is yourself.

We are very good at ‘reasoning’ our way out of doing what we should. 

We are very forgiving when we don’t do what we preach. 

What are you doing to lead yourself and how are you holding yourself accountable? 

Non-Zero Days

 It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the amount and complexity of tasks / projects.

To overcome our tendency to procrastinate we need to break these down in small bite size chunks and then practice non-zero days. 

GTD taught me the power of breaking a task down into very small bites. 

Eg. Get Sel a Christmas present. 

This can be broken down into several steps: 

1) brainstorm what I’ve heard her say she would like

2) narrow the list down to 3 possibilities 

3) find out where I can get these items

4) find out the price 

5) get the item

6) wrap the item

7) hide the item

Non-Zero days

The idea is to do something… anything towards the goal… 

And the bonus is once we start, we’ve gotten over the hardest hurdle… starting.

Once going you may keep going and get a chunk done 

Or

All the little bits soon add up to a lot! 

Either way… a big win! 

Attitude Determines Your Altitude

 I’ve always considered myself a very positive person…

So I’m always taken back when someone suggests I need to watch my attitude… like when a customer comes in and they’re negative regardless of. How you greeted them or tried to help them…

But how did they get to this place? Bad service. So I can’t be a victim and think they will always be like this. I need to empathise and then act to change their mindset. 

Victimitice is very dangerous and takes away your power to change circumstances and create opportunities. 

 

I have also noticed when I’ve had a bad sales day and have seen two attitudes in me… 1) the victim… the woe is me, why didn’t I get any sales today… and guess what… that’s how the rest of the day goes too! 2) I haven’t sold yet, but I’m gonna nail these last few hours… and 9/10 times I do amazingly! 

Attitude determines altitude. 

I can always choose my attitude!

Experience Isn’t the best Teacher

 Simply gaining “experience” doesn’t teach you anything.

There are plenty of people with one year’s experience repeated 20X… they simply aren’t learning and growing. 

Only evaluated experience leads to growth. 

We need to plan time in each day, each week, month, term and year to evaluate and plan. 

It’s All Good

 During meditation you can have days when you feel like you’re in the zone… you’re going deep and can feel tremendous benefits to your meditation. 

Other days, your body releases stress - you’re constantly fidgeting and your mind is all over the place… it feels like you’re only in the ‘shallow’ end of meditation.

But ‘shallow’ or ‘deep’… you’re getting wet! 

Either way there are benefits to your practice. 

Stop judging and just be… here, now. 

Resistance

 You can be perfectly ok, and then the minute you tell yourself that you want to meditate, then all of a sudden you become restless, and unable to focus. 

Tell a kid it’s bed time and they become hypo. 

Whenever we commit to strive towards a goal, all of a sudden we find all manor of resistance manifesting. 

Push through. Because on the other side of resistance is our goal. 

Expecting resistance and accepting it is half the battle one. The rest is grit. 

Atrophy

 Use or loose it. 

It is amazing how quickly atrophy sets in. 

In what areas have I atrophied in? 

If you’re not moving forward… you’re moving backwards! 

Fail Forward

 Failure is something that we try to avoid like the plague.

And yet all successful people know that failure is something to be embraced. It is a teacher. It means you’re trying something new. It means you’re growing and learning.

That is of course as long as you’re evaluating what happened and how you can learn from the experience. 

Failure is what will move you forward, as long as you’re willing to embrace the lessons it has to teach you. 

Permission to Play

 What makes you come alive? 

So often we don’t do the things that make us feel alive because we are so busy with our ‘responsibilities’ … but this just wares us down and makes us into zombies who simply go through the motions…

Without play, without doing those activities which make you come alive, your ‘tank’ becomes depleted… you have nothing to give. 

One of the most important actions you can take for your ‘responsibilities’ is to give yourself permission to do those things that refresh and refuel you… those things that make you feel alive. 

So give yourself permission and go and plan time to play!

The Big Mo

 The key to moving forward is to build momentum. 

Small wins build on each other to create an almost unstoppable momentum. 

A brick under a stationary train can prevent it from moving. Yet, that same train while moving can easily smash through a 1 foot thick concrete wall. 

Small wins build… so get some some builds u der your belt…

Slow And Steady Wins The Race

 Often we try and change too many things at once. 

And without focus we simply fall into old routines. 

Instead of trying to implement multiple steps, pick one step, and get the reps in. Once you’re comfortable then add the next step. 

Slow and steady wins the race. 

Atrophy

 Use it or loose it. 

Fitness, muscle, creativity, any skill…

But with exercise / use… we can keep growing! 

What areas have atrophy set in? 

Gold At Your Feet

 I went on a trail I’ve been on 100’s of times and challenged myself to find new things to photograph…

I found so much, including a new trail along a stream that I’ve passed so often…

What adventure or new solution is waiting to be discovered right where you are? 

The Gift

We celebrate birthdays by giving presents… 

We celebrate another year on earth…

But do we realise that we are the gift to this world? 

How can I move through each moment bringing a gift to the world around me… causing joy? 

A smile. A kind word. A helpful hand. Service. Generosity. 

I am a gift to this world…

Small Steps Accomplish Big Visions

 We are wired to love big vision and big success that come with pursuing those visions. 

We believe the go big or go home… hustle till you drop slogans that permeate society. 

But every journey must begin with a single step, and is made with a next step. 

Too often we believe that only big steps count. We join the gym and try and lift the heaviest weights… and feel broken for the next week making a trip back to the gym less palatable…

But what if we valued small, achievable and sustainable steps. What if for the first few times of going to the gym your goal was just to go, look around and familiarise yourself with the place. You’re building a habit and getting wins under your belt which creates momentum. 

What if instead of trying to write a book over a weekend you set a goal of writing for 15mins each day. That’s doable. And doing creates momentum which creates achievement of your goals and vision. 

What small step can you take next? 

Stuck? Just Move!

 There are many times when we get stuck in life. Perhaps we’re unsure of the next steps… perhaps what we thought  was the way, isn’t. 

Just like a car, you can’t turn (change) without movement. As they saying goes, 

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”

Perfectionism and ego wants us to only take steps that are guaranteed to succeed. 

Without movement, we will always be stuck where we are. So just step. Move. Movement reveals the way.