Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday – Relax week

Tags

enjoy, Have Fun, Relax, Rest, Slow Down, Take a Break, Time off, vacation week

I promised to take a week off each quarter and have failed miserably, so this week, I’m doing it! I’ll be reading and doing some of my tasks daily, but most are going on stand by. The first reason is I’m a little burned out by the hectic schedule I’ve been keeping to stay occupied–the other, I hurt my back late last week and just want to take it easy and relax until this thing sorts itself out.

So this week, as part of my vacation, I’ll be catching up on some Netflix, Amazon, and read more than I normally do. I’m still on the hook for 60 books and have finished 43-44 of them, but want to hit this one early this year, so I can enjoy the holidays and potentially take the entire month of December off, to really enjoy the holiday season, my favorite time of the year.

I’ll keep up my blogging too. I enjoy interacting with you, and like posting my little things each day, since some of you like certain content days, some of you like other days.

Have a great week, everybody!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Slow Down

Tags

Action Planning, Decision Making, Mind Mapping, Planning, Slow Down, spirituality, Time-table

Image by Biljana Jovanovic from Pixabay

“Anger does not solve problems – anger only makes things worse. I go by the old saying, ‘Don’t make important decisions when you’re angry.'” – Lionel Sosa

Whenever I am emotional or panicked, I make horrible decisions. The original problem compounds with all the bad decisions I make in these emotional states. Have you ever experienced this?

 

What I learned, painfully I might add, is to take some time to let the shock of some emergency subside. After I calm my emotions down, I make better decisions and my planning is more solid. The solutions I arrive at solve the problem.

Planning is simple when you think about it. You brainstorm, weigh your options, and choose the path that is likely to meet your objectives. Here are the steps I take to put together an action-plan:

 

 

First, I do some research. My research will provide books, YouTube videos, tutorials, and even online courses I could take to learn how to do something or give me ideas what other people have done in my situation. Next I brainstorm.

When I conduct research and begin digging into the content, I gather a bunch of ideas. These ideas are gathered from these resources and compiled with my own ideas. All of this goes into my mind mapping software. The mind mapping software I use is called Scapple. I enjoy using mind mapping software because it allows me to organize all of my ideas and add even more, once I can see my problem graphically and can see the gaps in my planning.

Next, it’s decision time. In most cases, my mind mapping exercise will show the best course of action, based on time, expense, and capability criteria. Some solutions will take too long; others will cost too much. Other solutions will require me to know how to do something that I don’t know how to do and are rendered useless.

Now that I have my solution, I’ll outline the action steps I take from my mind map. This outline will help me put my action steps in order. Then, all I have left to do is to estimate how long each step will take to determine when I will have my project completed.

When I have completed this exercise, my stress levels drop considerably. I am relaxed because I took the time to decompress and think through the problem at hand. I learned, the hard way, that rushing into a solution without thinking through it, normally results in more bad decisions and more problems.

When confronted with a problem, take the time to think through it. Weigh your options. Then, implement your plan on your calendar, time-keeping, or to-do software. If you are panicked or pissed off, decompress before making a decision. Meditate, do a workout, or listen to some soothing music. Once the emotions are gone, you will make better decisions.

I hope this helps you in some way. I wish all of you a terrific Saturday!

Until next time…

Dave

 

 

Daily Ramblings – Spiritual Saturday – Lessons When Things Go Wrong

Tags

Blame-game, Fault-Finding, Lessons, Pay Attention, Relax, Slow Down

“When something appears to go wrong, look for the lesson in it for you instead of finding fault with anyone else or even yourself.”—Harold Klemp The Language of Soul

Things go wrong. We put the best plans in place. We have the right tools. We have the time allocated. Then, things go wrong.

So many variables. So many things to weigh and measure. So many things.

When things go wrong, it is easy to get upset, blame others, blame ourselves, or just blame lady luck. What if there was a lesson in every experience? Why waste time on emotions or play the “blame game”?

Have you ever run out of gas? You’re cruising along, everything is on track, and beep, beep, beep, the gas gauge begins blinking and the closest gas station is a long way away.

First reaction: I can’t believe my ___ forgot to fill up the tank. I told ___ to do it yesterday.

OR: I can’t believe I forgot to fill up the tank.

Lesson: Pay attention and slow down.

Have you ever had one of those days where you had one accident after another? I had one of these days a few months back. The first was breaking a coffee cup. It was totally accidental. I was reaching for something on the counter-top, I wasn’t paying attention, and CRACK! A little later that day I was walking up the stairs with my laundry and didn’t lift my foot up far enough crunching my toes into the step above—OUCH!!! The final one was when I dropped a letter on the floor, picked it up from under the table and misjudged the edge of the table. You guessed it—BAM! I smacked the back of my head on the bottom of the table as I was lifting my head. At that moment, I stopped. I waited. I reset. The lesson: Pay attention to what you are doing and slow down.

This is just one example. Sometimes the lessons are very simple. At other times, they are harder to figure out. The key is to really look. The lessons are there. Whatever your lesson is, it is waiting for you to discover it and learn from it. If you do, you’ll find that your life will run just a little smoother.

We all have crazy days, where our minds are spinning at all the things on our plate. These are the days to pay attention and slow down. What’s the added lesson here? Learn how to say no, plan your days ahead of time, and do not overfill your day with too many things. You really don’t need to get as much done in a day as you think, and the overwhelm you’re feeling is normally because you tried to wing it, forgot about planning anything, and avoided being mindful about your calendar.

I hope all of you are enjoying a well-deserved weekend with your family. I’m enjoying the wonderful weather today in Michigan, just got back from a great cardio routine and some time in the gym’s sauna, and about ready to begin another session of learning at Hillsdale.edu.

I wish you well today! Enjoy your time off, enjoy time with your loved ones and pets, and hope you take some time to really savor how great this life is.

Until next time…

Dave