No Day Without A Thought

Just finished watching Inside Out and even though the final part of the movie is really light weight, the movie overall has some meaningful - maybe a bit too simple put - illustrations. (Yes, it's meant to be a kids movie, I know.)

Main points I came around #disclaimer.

1. Everything comes from within
You should not focus on external stimulation, but get in touch with yourself first and analyze.

2. You alone decide how you perceive / safe a moment
You can control your thoughts and you should start doing this.

3. The more of a feeling you have the more you internalize it
By deciding and leading experiences in your life to associate them with positive emotions you will add marks for this feeling which will eventually have the upper hand in the future, because it is dominating on the record.

4. We all have our pillars in life, make sure to always fill them up
Let it be family, sports, friends, work, pleasure, traveling, creativity, ... we all work differently (and still so similarly though). Find the pillars which give you the most joy, balance, strengths, ... and enrich them, actively work on adding more experiences to them. Yes, I said 'actively work', because that is again a decision and doesn't always happen automatically (#makeitahabit).

#disclaimeroff

Have a good night everyone.

Nothing big today (especially considering that is more than the most recent days anyway).

Today I have been back to yoga and can't be more grateful. It is just amazing and already after one time  the effects immediately kick in. Calmness, structuring your thoughts, being more balanced, mindfulness, awareness of your body, how amazing breathing can be, and how great life and all its components are.

This might sound a bit esoteric and like dreamland to some people, but it is truly satisfying to be in touch with those feelings and emotions (again or just a step further).

Plus, I am just looking #zeitgeist and realize once more that we are all going through the same struggles and have the same thoughts, doubts and desires.

Like the phrase: 'Don't worry what other people think about you, they are busy thinking about themselves.' / 'Most people don't listen with the intend to listen/understand, but to answer.'

When you figure out yourself more and understand yourself, motivation and origin of your thoughts better, you can and will become a better person for everyone around you. People are attracted to this kind of person. Be such a person and have a positive impact on the people around you.

Yoga is a great way. Take time for yourself. Invest in yourself and make personal growth and development serious; with whatever structure that works for you.

Namaste.

Ever wandered why people treat you a specific way? Where is it coming from how they treat me? Is the behavior towards you exactly the behavior you want others to act like or rather not?

Well, most likely they sense how you treat yourself. Do you take care of yourself and your body? They will notice and ask you if you want a glass of Cola or not (super simplistic example).

If you are always the person who changes her mind to go clubbing and joins the group last minute, well, your friends will most likely call you and ask if you want to go out again. Or maybe cancel, bc no one was sure you show up anyways.

You can also set your own boundaries not only with actions, but simply expressing your borders. 'Hey, it was not cool to let me wait for so long and then canceling. It's fine when things changed on your site, just let me know earlier.'

Consciously or unconsciously, you will set the boundaries of how people interact with you and not only on base of how you are with them, but also how you treat yourself.

After my streak of 2.5 weeks or so of daily writing the whole purpose of this blog started to pay off.

- I had no problem in starting to write even though I didn't think the post completely through.

- Still, I always had many topics in mind, as I began to pay more attention to my thoughts and being able to formulate them more clearly. Especially, as I also took time during the day to stop and think.

- Writing had a priority and I always took the time, even though when it was already late, instead of just taking the easy path and heading to bed directly.

Now, two months after I stopped, it feels harder and the effects have been gone almost entirely. I feel a higher barrier of starting. I somehow give it a higher importance that this has to be great, since it is a blog post that will go out to the world. Before, I managed to write just for writing, the process of expressing my thoughts. Now it is kind of back to the level of that it needs to be right, well thought through because I feel vulnerable. (Yes, another benefit was that I also began to associate myself and be honest with my feelings. Because that is just how I feel and I shouldn't feel ashamed by it, but rather acknowledge them and where they are coming from. Plus, not only expressing them in my mind, on this blog, but also other people and not being afraid of how another person would think.)

Being right should not be the goal. That's why I am right now happy to overcome this hurdle. Writing is just a valuable tool (just like yoga, going for a walk or many others are) and I want to have the habit back. Even though calling it habit - on base of having it done for 2.5 weeks - is a too strong word. But experiencing that the positive effects of it disappear so fast, makes me want to dive into it again even more.

This also applies for so many other parts in one's life. Sports, eating healthy, meeting with friends and so forth. Habits take time to be entirely internalized. And even then there is a chance of falling back to old habits when not being aware of it. Consistency is the key. You don't start by breaking a behavior when you don't follow it once. But as soon as it is more than one time, then the break starts. Stay consistent and you will see the benefits appearing.

Progress follows consistency.

I feel many has been written about this topic, but it was not until recently that the importance of focus occurred to me - again - finally again.

Why to I quickly want to share my point of view?

Because nothing else matters when you want to move forward and get work done. Yes, you can do a hundred of small things during the day and you would kind of feel productive and that you achieved something today, but you also know that you actually didn't take a step in the right direction.

It just doesn't feel right. 

On the other side, you also apparently have no time to do the important matters, since you have to get rid of the small time intense points.

Who says you do have to do this?

What will happen, if you rather focus on the things that actually will make a difference in your future and don't mind the little issues? Will the big picture not look better when the big topics get tackled and out of the way, instead of the no difference makers?

Eisenhower has a nice matrix for this and the main realization for me at this point was not to focus on quadrant 3 (not important but urgent), as I feel I spent too much time recently in there which won't be - again - a real difference maker.

How to achieve focus?

- Pick the most urgent topic you have on your plate on focus only on this. Most likely, it is the point you've been procrastinating for a while. Get it done.

- Plan time for other important difference maker activities in the near future

- If another task is also necessary/worth doing => delegate it.

- If not, no one should do it (or not for now).

Outcome for me: first, get enough sleep again to have a clear mind. Then put together a list of what is there to do, what should be done, where I can be the most help and only focus on them, saying no to the others.

Just started doing this again yesterday. What you will allow, will continue. If you, and only you, focus on the unimportant stuff, guess what, you will do then. Stop now, go do the important things.