Moving toward makes us feel alive. If we don’t like where we are, move. Move on. Get out of the way or we’ll get run over.
Moving toward is a subtle shift that gives us a reason to be excited. Contentment comes from moving toward what we want. It gives us something to anticipate which creates more energy. When we say, “let’s move toward xyz” it sets a goal and inspires action. Whatever we are meant to do, move toward it. No one owns our next move. Let us find things that inspire us to move toward something great today. Those that know more usually have less desire to say more. Those that know more focus on their vision and plan. They don’t have anything they need to prove. They leave the chatter to others that think out loud which is often an indication they have not collected their thoughts in advance.
Why overshare our opinions? More words are not a signature of intelligence. Great communicators and thinkers are articulate, focused, and clear. The more we know the less we need to say. We say more by actually saying less. Let us say less, do more and mean more today. Once we experience anything, good or bad, we are influenced by that experience and we can never go back to the way we were previously.
It is the memory, the creativity, and the growth that comes from our experience that brings greater meaning in our lives. To be alive is to live out our experience. What is the alternative, to be dead or squelch the experiences from our life? We become more alive because of what we experience. Let us thank the powers that be for being alive and experience life to the greatest extent today. The new superpower is concentration control. With information at our fingertips, knowledge is abundant. Social media and technologies create disruption.
Previous time management techniques are obsolete. Now, it comes down to who can get into a focus zone of mental engagement and allocate their attention – not time - in the most effective way. Directing our attention on the most important thing and ignoring the trivial many supersizes our power. Let us use our mental energy and control what we concentrate on with our valuable time today. It’s natural to want to have “the last word” in any conversation. But notice those that are willing to let it ride where they resist the need to be right and prove their point by having the last word.
Chances are they are mentally tough. They are more secure in their beliefs. They have no need to prove their worthiness. Their strength shows in being able to suppress their ego. Wisdom is the maturity to know that confident silence is more compelling than having the last word. Let us be content with our own word even if it’s not the last word today. An opportunity cost is what we give up when we choose one option over another.
Every decision has an opportunity cost. Doing one thing makes us sacrifice the opportunity to do something else of value. Example: We have one hour of free time a day and our choices are to focus on personal growth or chores – we choose chores - the opportunity cost is the value we would have received from gaining a new perspective or skill. We can’t have it all. There are no free rides. It all comes with a cost. Let us consider every decision we make as a trade-off opportunity today. The only person that we spend our entire life with is ourselves.
From our first and last word, we have ourselves as company. Whether we communicate verbally to ourselves or talk silently, there is always this internal chatter going on. What we say to ourselves shapes who we become more than anything else. Why wouldn’t we master this conversation? Who we are is what we say we are when no one is around and we are talking to ourselves. Let us talk to ourselves like we talk to the one we love the most today. When we focus on the miracle that breathing is, how can we not be grateful for our lives today? Without it we would be lifeless.
The act of breathing clears our mind of all distractions. Sometimes all we need is a breath of fresh air. When we regulate our breathing, we can control our mind. When we are aware of the power of breathing, we know we must breathe out as we come up for air. It’s the link between our mind, energy and body. Let us take every breath as a gift and have faith that all things will come our way today. We ask ourselves, how could this have happened?
That could be the question for everything that happens. Read the fine print: “There are no guarantees in life.” But that’s what makes it exciting. What if everything stayed the same? What if everything was perfect? What if we didn’t need to change the way we’ve done things in the past? We wouldn’t evolve. We wouldn’t be innovative. We wouldn’t be as reflective. We wouldn’t be as grateful as we are at this moment. Let us guarantee one thing and that is to take nothing for granted today. Influencing others and building relationships usually comes down to the most basic principle: Making others feel outrageously secure when they are around us.
There is no reason to brag, flaunt our possessions or success, be self-serving, point out the flaws of another, make light of another if they make a mistake, opt to hold back information, not lend a helping hand or gossip. True influence boils down to having everything to boast about but deciding to not show it off. Let us take the high road and choose to serve others first today. |
TransformationsTransformation Archives
September 2023
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