How many times do we react, loudly, to distant potential threats around us? Kids do this a lot, my son in particular. It burns out those who support them and even they themselves. They get stuck in a pattern of reacting to everything to their own detriment. Prioritize based on the real dangers and consequences, and take action to get to an ideal outcome.
Why do we care about what other people think about our hobbies? Well, they probably don't. They may think it's funny or unusual, but they don't care. I care, though. Why am I willing to sacrifice my enjoyment over an imaginary judgement?
We learn from everybody around us, but only if we open ourselves up and trust the teachers around us. My son was incredulous that I could learn from him, and when I explained how I was surprised that he felt our conversations were merely "practice". Now I worry I am failing as a parent to think my most precious interactions are seen as only practice.
What's the difference between recognition and achievements? How do the two motivate differently, or worse, demotivate. What can be taken away and what stays with us? I have a lot of questions here.
I've previously talked about the Eisenhower Matrix of Important vs. Urgency, and now I'm talking about how to work towards those identified goals. This involves asking important questions to know who benefits and how, and finding ways to strip out anything unnecessary so most of your effort creates value.
It's a terrible feeling to remember some exciting bit of knowledge but forget entirely where you read it or who wrote it. After years of being angry at that feeling, I began applying different techniques to what I read to help remember more about what I read. These are my top 3 techniques that helped.
The environment is the medium in which we exist. It is the canvas we paint our life's work on, but it is not immutable. We can change our environment, and changing our environment changes the situations we experience in our daily life. What can we do to improve our situations and problems? We can try to fix the situations themselves, but they're bound to return again and again. Change your environment for long lasting happiness and peace.
2015 was an unexpected year on several fronts, but a good one. Upon reflection I've realized quite a few things I've done poorly at, and devising plans to improve. From my relationships with others, to writing and holding on to goals and not giving up, I'm feeling good about 2016.
Being stuck in a rut, battling procrastination takes up so much energy. It creates feelings of guilt. 5 minutes can help this. It won't solve it immediately, but over time it gets easier and this small, daily investment and exercise will improve capacities and build a better perspective.
Why do we have limits? Sometimes the limits are only in our head, other times they are real constraints for good reason. Discover the underlying reason for any limitation on your path to expertise, and succeed in new way with distinction.
I'm trying to formalize my approach to breaking down goals and working towards them in smaller, more easily discussed and understood chunks. This is what I came up with.
My son asked my why start now, when in college they'll teach him what he needs to succeed and learn core competency. That was a tough question to answer in a way that connected him to his goals, and was easily understood. This post is helping me understand it better.
