I listened to this episode this morning. It is worth sharing with as many of you as possible. Talk about a game changer!
“Jim Kwik, his real name, is a leader in brain performance, mental fitness and memory improvement. After a childhood brain injury left him with learning challenges, Kwik created strategies to dramatically enhance his cognitive performance. He has since dedicated his life to helping others unleash their true genius and brainpower.”
When is it too much.
When is having a goal to earn more money, and then more money, so that you can keep purchasing more things (which require you to earn more money) too much?
I was listening to a co-worker as he was sharing his thoughts on staying or leaving our work environment if he is given the choice to go work elsewhere, and his primary motivator wasn’t whether the move would be beneficial to his well being. It wasn’t whether the move would fit his future self or any goals he may have set for himself. His primary motivator was, would he make more money at the other place?
He listed how many televisions he had in his house and how the 52 inch just doesn’t seem big enough any more. He spoke about the gaming consoles his children had in their play area in the basement. And how he had to figure out how many lights he would have in his new house before he moved in, all the while stealing glances at his apple watch. Then he talked about having to see a spinal doctor for his back pain, how he was diagnosed with diverticulitis as well.
This man works at least 2 jobs as does his wife. And yet he wants more money to buy more things which require him to make more money to buy more things.
When is it too much?
This is the question we should all be asking ourselves. Don’t wait until your health suffers to decide it might be time to put a stop to the train heading full speed for the cliff. Things are just things. They will not make us happy. And striving for more things will not make us happy.
Remember, it’s the journey not the destination.
I am developing an interest for the idea of Minimalism.
Minimalism resonates with how I want to live my life. How I want to arrange my possessions. Minimalism is not a far stretch for how I have always envisioned my life. I have always felt drained in an environment where there is too much stuff taking up too much space.
This way of wanting to arrange my material possessions, this way of wanting to organize and purge items in my environment, is what led me to looking at my email inbox and the 10,000 emails I found. I mean, why not start there?
Keep in mind I have had the same email account for the past 12 years. I did not expect to find hidden among the Gmail labels, 10,000 emails. Quite a few of the emails were from email lists I had signed up for in the past, and then never found the time to read. Reading some emails brought up many tangled memories from the past. Some were from a friend who took her life 9 years ago. I kept those. Some were from an ex who lives in Singapore. We tried to make a long distance relationship work. And we did for 7 years. I kept those emails too.
Try it for yourself. Look at all the email you have accumulated in your inbox. See for yourself how many emails you have not had the time to read and are taking up space. Delete them.
So many things take up space in our physical and mental places. I pared my email down to 800 from the original 10,000. I am still working on removing more of the clutter.
And I’m working on removing or going through the multitude of items my Dad left behind after he passed. He collected everything. Piles and piles of things. Rows and rows. Rooms and rooms full from the floor to the ceiling. Empty boxes? Sure, we have those by the dozen. Jars? Too many to count. Nails and screws and nuts and bolts? So, so many of those..
The struggle is real.
I watched a Netflix documentary yesterday, which I highly recommend to everyone reading this:
You really have to check it out. And do it before the clutter sucks all the happiness from you. Believe me, it will.
And remember, it’s a journey, not a destination.
Going back to the idea of goals and what you (or I) would do if you knew you would not fail, I think where I and maybe you become tripped up is, we are not specific enough.
I always like to joke and tell people that when I suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury years ago, I had been asking for some time off, a new hairstyle and to lose weight. I should have been specific in my request and stated – but not at the expense of a life threatening injury. Right?
When I went to college I knew I wanted to earn my degree, That was a goal I had in mind. But to get to that goal I had to pass certain classes. And in order to pass those classes I had to complete assignments. And in order to complete those assignments sometimes I had to do research and that could mean going to the library or otherwise gathering information.
You see how this works out right?
We can set goals for what we want to achieve for ourselves, but if we don’t break down the steps and concentrate on the beginning, on the details, we are highly unlikely to achieve those goals.
And I want all of us to achieve our goals.
Not really off topic but, I am currently reading, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by: James Clear.
I am actually listening to the book on Audible. Atomic Habits is likely one of the best books I have encountered in my lifetime. Check it out and see for your self.
I plan on writing more about the book, how it is resonating with me, and my progress implementing the steps outlined in the book at a later date.
And remember, It’s a Journey not a destination.
This post is not really a follow up on the previous post, rather I was thinking about something and I wanted to throw it out there to see what others might think.
I bet many of you are familiar with this quote, “What would you do if you knew you would not fail?”
I recall reading that quote for the first time many years ago. After reading it and mulling it over in my mind, I found I could not answer that question. Heck, I could not even plan an answer or guesstimate or any other amates one can think of.
It felt like such a big question. One that carried so much weight to it. I felt as though I were failing just by not having the answer to the question. Talk about not even getting out of the starting gate on that one.
Dear reader, when you read that quote, does it spark enthusiasm and drive towards a new goal, or idea? Or are you like me, finding yourself tripping over the letters before you even make sense of the question?
Or have any of you used that question to propel yourself forward into fresh adventures throughout your life? Please share if you have.
Perhaps there are some of us who find they are blocked before we even plan an action, and there are others who take the leap of faith and run with it.
This dear readers will require further exploration, don’t you think?
My previous post was about Blockers.
Today we begin the work of acknowledging these blockers and start designing a plan to break through these blockers.
The first step is acknowledgement. Read that again. Acknowledgment.
I believe if we don’t look that black hole of an abyss, that blocker, straight on, then how can we ever have a chance at reaching any goals we set for ourselves? It is as simple as that. The beginning is at any rate.
Let’s say, as an example, that you have been thinking about finishing your college degree, but something is blocking you from even starting that process. Or perhaps it’s an entire herd of some things. I mean like, maybe they are all congregated into one gigantic pile of stuff and you can’t even separate them to sort them out to begin with. Hey, I have been there, and it is tough. It can feel like there is a mountain in front of you and you don’t even know where to begin the climb because all you can see is that peak way up in the clouds. And it looks like a rough hike up a treacherous trail to the land of unknowns.
Time for some hard truths.
So here is the nitty gritty truth. There are no guarantees. None. We all have a finite time on this earth and no one has the inside edge to know when their time will be up. And you say to me, hey why did you put that in here, I thought we were talking about blockers? because I want you to know, just as I know, that no matter how we plan our paths, that no matter what we do, success is not a given. I wish I could sprinkle some fairy dust on you and all your dreams would become your wished for reality, but that is not how this works.
How it works is to first acknowledge that there is something blocking the path.
Second, we take baby steps towards figuring out how to go around, go through, or go over that something.
Because the only sure thing we have in this life is, we will never succeed if we do not try.
So my challenge to you is, grab some paper and write some of your goals, or your wishes, or whatever you choose to call them. Then stare at those words written on that page and become really familiar with them. Put the list in your pocket and take it out when you can. Maybe add some more and take some off the list.
We will touch on whether they are really your goals, or your wishes, or what you think you should do in a future post.
Remember, dear readers, it’s a journey, not a destination.
I have been taking a class for the past 9 weeks now, and at the start of each class we all begin by speaking about our blockers or what has been blocking us as we learn.
It’s weird because I had never before been asked what my blockers were.
Dear readers have you ever thought, what is blocking you?
And by blocking it can be something simple as:
What is blocking your path?
Or it could be, what is blocking you from achieving your goals?
Or what is blocking your happiness?
This is a topic we will revisit often and one we will (the we being all of us on this journey together) lay out some plans to deconstruct our blockers. I believe we can do just that. Deconstruct and then use the tools we have (or the tools we will begin acquiring in this process) to build a path through any blockers which might pop up on our journey.
And to do just that, we need to record our thoughts. This can be done using your computer or recording your thoughts in any manner that moves you. Just get them out into the open. Let them see the light of day. Because until you see these blockers for what they are, you cannot create a path through them.
Remember dear readers, it’s a journey not a destination.
We, you and I dear readers, are going to take a trip down a Rabbit Hole.
Or through a tunnel.
Or whatever dark, unknown scene you concoct in your mind.
You choose.
But, it won’t be scary. Or maybe it will be in the beginning. But over time we will find our way and in this process we will, yes the we I write of is you dear reader and myself, we will find our way to points of interest ahead. Perhaps these points are a long line of way posts from your past. Or maybe they are signs that you have yet to see, waiting along the way in your future. This is where the adventure begins and every good adventure begins someplace at some time with some unknowns waiting.
It has been said before and it shall be said again.
It’s a journey not a destination.
Let us journey ahead, shall we?
I haven’t forgotten about this place. Writing here is like that thing I know I need to do, and yet it is also that thing that keeps moving around on my to do list.
This week I started my journey walking 10 minutes each day at lunch. It does not matter that I used to bike 12, 25 or 50 miles without any issues. Or hike miles without any issues.
What matters is I am starting again.
I have taken the first steps.
I am not looking at a mountain peak so much as right now
today
this week
I am starting at the bottom and looking at my feet
as I begin the new journey upward
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”
A door and its frame 