My Blog

The Power And Importance Of Habits

10/21/2020

I have been quite inspired by the book I am reading at present, Atomic Habits by James Clear.

I didn't realize the power that lies within habits and the compound effect that occurs when they link together. James is helping me to realize that in order to be the best version of myself, I must have the proper system in place -- a system of small, yet powerful habits that link together to produce astronomical effects.

And those astronomical gains don't come overnight. They take time. In fact, they take more time than we believe they will or should. And it is in this period of time, The Plateau of Latent Potential as James calls it, where many people give up. Because they don't see the results they desire and are expecting to see.

However, it is crucial that we maintain our good habits, and that we realize that although it may take longer than desired for us to see the fruits of our labor, we must not give up! Once the gains begin to come, they are highly likely to come on strong because they will be linked to, and the compound interest of, a powerful system of effective habits that are set up to support ongoing success.

What habits do you have in place? Are they setting you up to fail or to succeed?

Sleep And Why It Matters

10/14/2020

We live in a day and age where there is so much to do. We are busier than ever. And our sleep often suffers because of it.

But does it have to? Can we make adjustments to our schedules to plan for a good night's rest?

Sleep is often overlooked, but it shouldn't be. The benefits of getting quality sleep are tremendous:

- we feel less stressed
- we are less irritable
- we are able to focus better
- we are less tired throughout the day
- our body has time to rest, recover and heal -- this is essential in getting the maximum benefit out of workouts

And those are just a few of the many benefits associated with getting good sleep.

So let's make time in our schedules to sleep. And let's make time in our schedules to sleep well.

Are you sleeping well?

Communication 101

10/7/2020

I am constantly working on refining my communication skills. I believe that asking ourselves the following questions can improve our communication with others:

What are we communicating?
- When we communicate, we should know what point we are trying to get across to our audience.

Why are we communicating?
- Are we aiming at humoring our audience by telling a funny story? Are we attempting to persuade someone to do something?

Who is our audience?
- Are they a group of doctors? Is it a family member? A friend? Three local politicians?

What are their expectations?
- What are they expecting to learn, hear, or gain?

How are we communicating?
- In person? Through a screen? By speech? Through text message? Via email?

When we can answer the above questions confidently and with certainty, our communication with the outside world will become clearer.

The Value In Other Opinions

10/1/2020

Opinions different than my own. I used to shy away. Rebel against them. Get mad and agitated at them. Why? Because they may go against my beliefs, and I used to feel as though they were a personal attack on me.

But they're not. And they're not a personal attack on my beliefs either. They just represent another viewpoint. Another vantage point. Another perspective. And by evaluating another way to think or another approach, we challenge ourselves to think in new ways and we become wiser.

So let's welcome other opinions. We don't necessarily need to change ours, but let's keep an open mind.

There is a book called Doesn't Hurt to Ask by Trey Gowdy. In it, Gowdy discusses the art of persuasion. His career spans across politics and law, two fields that previously I had little to no interest in. His approach to persuasion is very logic-based and fact-focused, an approach that I have not traditionally used throughout my life.

That would explain why, years ago I would never have picked this book up (had it been published at the time). But, today is a different story.

Did I agree with every aspect of Gowdy's approach to persuasion? No. Did I resonate completely with his style? No. Could I find value in what he was saying? YES. Did I learn new things? YES. Did it cause me to re-evaluate my own approach? YES.

Is it therefore valuable to approach the world with open ears and open eyes, and to learn about and consider new ideas? ABSOLUTELY.

Do you seek out opinions that differ from your own?

Think About...THOUGHTS!

9/25/2020

Thoughts. We all have them. Some of them are rational. Some of them are not. Some of them are crazy. Some of them are not.

The beauty of thoughts is that they are just that - they are only thoughts. They do not require action. It is up to us to determine WHICH thoughts require action.

And that is why it is so important for us to be AWARE of our thoughts. This way, we can determine when we need to take action and make plans to do so.

One way I do this is through meditation. I sit in a quiet location, usually listening to some calming music (I like binaural beats - theta waves). This allows me to relax and observe the thoughts and sensations that I experience, and to be more present and focused.

What do you spend most of your time thinking about?

Once we are aware of our individual thoughts, we may notice some patterns. By observing these patterns, we can learn about our thought processes. How and why we think about things. How we arrive at decisions. How we interpret the world around us. And so on and so forth.

Understanding not only our individual thoughts, but how they string together to produce patterns and processes is incredibly interesting and useful.

What are your thought processes like?

How To Spend Your Time Wisely

9/16/2020

We all have 99,453,293 things to do each day. We're busy. We don't have time for anything. And with the rise of technology we are only becoming busier.

We can and should make the time for important things in our life. But how do we determine what is important?

This comes down to our character, our core values and who we are. When we carefully evaluate these items, we are better able to determine how to spend our time in meaningful and effective ways.

Once we've analyzed ourselves and figured out how best to spend our time, let's make it happen. I have found using a task list and a calendar to be particularly useful. If there's something that must get done this week, but I don't get to it today, I simply shift it to another day this week.

You know those items on your list that you KNOW would make a positive impact on your life? But you keep putting them off. Finding excuses. STOP MAKING EXCUSES and PUT THEM ON YOUR CALENDAR because they are arguably THE MOST IMPORTANT tasks, and by accomplishing them, you will drastically impact the course of your life for the better.

I used to spend my time mindlessly plowing through my to-do list. I now take the time to re-evaluate that list to make sure that my tasks are prioritized in a way that aligns with my goals and values.

How do you spend your time? What are some things that you know would positively impact your life but you keep putting off?

The Importance of Decision-Making

9/9/2020

We make decisions every day. We often don't even think about them. What to wear. What to eat for lunch. What to do with our free time. And so on and so forth.

The above decisions are the more trivial, day-to-day decisions. They are less important than decisions such as what line of work we choose to partake in, where we decide to live, etc.

The larger, strategic decisions often require much thought. They usually produce situations where we must make smaller, tactical decisions.

Our tactical decisions should align with our strategic decisions.

Though our decisions should be carefully thought out, we should not wait too long to take action. We cannot actually follow a path until a decision has been made. And the longer we take to decide, the more time that passes that we could be using to follow that path.

Decision-making is something I struggle with. I appreciate the many paths that life presents and often find it challenging to select just one. Although it is good to have options, it is wise to decide on a path so that we can focus our energy and achieve great results. This is something I have been actively working on.

What strategic decisions do you have to make in your life? What tactical decisions must you make? Do your strategic and tactical decisions align?

Opportunity Cost

9/2/2020

You could most certainly live a life of mediocrity. Go to a job you don't enjoy. Deal with people you don't like. Etc. But what's the opportunity cost?

The opportunity cost is that you could be using the time you're using to accept and deal with the things you don't love in your life to CREATE THINGS YOU ACTUALLY DO LOVE AND WANT IN YOUR LIFE!

You don't need to live a life of scarcity. You can live a life of abundance instead.

You can choose to follow your passions.

You can start planning your dream trip.

You can take the road less traveled.

Now let's examine the opportunity costs of NOT taking action on at least one of the above ideas. Decades from now, you may look back on your life and wish you had done one/all of these things. By the time you realize this, it may be difficult to make changes. So, I urge you to TAKE THE ABOVE ITEMS AND THE OPPORTUNITY COST OF IGNORING THEM SERIOUSLY. It's your life and you'll make your own decisions. All I ask is that you think about what I wrote :)

How To Figure Out Your Life Purpose

8/28/2020

Were we put on this Earth for a reason? Some would say "yes". Others would argue "no". I would answer "yes".

For the purpose of this post, let's go with my line of thinking. And let's ask ourselves a few questions to gain clarity:

- What are you passionate about?
- What do you spend your time thinking about?
- What do you spend your time doing?
- What problems do you actually enjoy solving?
- How are you making/will you make this world a better place?

I asked myself these questions and came to the following conclusions:

- I am passionate about travel, learning languages and learning about cultures
- I spend my time thinking about these things, and doing them whenever possible
- I enjoy solving the problems that hold people back from being able to do these things

I therefore believe that my life purpose is to provide the following value:
- To educate the world on how travel can transform our lives
- To show others how learning languages can foster genuine and meaningful relationships
- To help people realize that by better understanding other cultures and groups of people, we eliminate ignorance -- which in turn eradicates fear, hatred and violence -- leading to a more peaceful planet for us all!

What's your life purpose?

Words: White Magic Vs. Black Magic

8/13/2020

Our words. They are magical. They can be used as white magic or black magic.

Our words have the power to inspire. To uplift. To motivate and encourage.

Our words also have the power to disparage. To bring down. To weaken and to destroy.

When I was younger, I used words as black magic. I expressed negativity. I complained constantly. I gossiped. I spoke poorly about others. I didn't have nice things to say. I didn't realize the effect that my words had on others. And to all those who were affected by my black magic back then, I owe each and every one of you an apology.

As I grew older, I became aware of the power of words. I began using white magic and experiencing its effects. I saw the power of using words to motivate and inspire. To support. To empathize. To encourage. This, I have found, is a much more useful, helpful, and synergistic form of magic.

So let's use our magic for good and not for evil!

Think deeply for a moment, do you cast spells of white magic or black magic?