Has anyone ever received emails from LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. saying “here are a few stories/articles/blah blah that you may like”? I usually just hit delete and move on with my day, but today was different. I decided to read through the email and open up eye-catching material in new tabs (a habit I picked up as to not hit the back button). I wanted to take the time to share with you some thoughts and quotes from what I read this morning.
1. Effort in = Effort out
“Sometimes a tendency for capable people to add additional poles of the same height to the tent. We end up with 10, 20 or 30 poles of the same height, somehow hoping the tent will go higher.”
- Greg McKeown
An interesting quote apparently known as the camping metaphor which I feel can relate to reaching a plateau, stagnant or doing a lot of work and seeing no results. There may be times when you feel as if your not reaching your goals. You may in fact be “adding additional poles to your tent” by adding more mediocre workouts. The quantity may be there but the quality or intensity of your workout may be inadequate from lack of effort and motivation. You need to get into the correct positive mental mindset before the success starts!
2. Your Daily Outlook
The CEO of LinkedIn, Jeff Weiner, presented some of the lessons he learned from a mentor about leadership and management in an interview in the New York Times. He lists the five rules (in bold) to happiness as follows:
1. Living in the moment. Think “Ferris Bueller” and stop and smell the roses. Each moment in life is not meant to be sped by by the seasons and holidays. Slowing down should help reduce some of that stress that is caused by doing 1,000 tasks at a time.
2. It’s better to be loving than to be right. He goes on to say “and if you’re in a relationship, you know how challenging that can be.” I immediately think of the old adage about “one mouth and two ears” and how that simple statement could save a lot of problems with our relationships.
3. Be a spectator to your own thoughts. How does the way you think and react look like to others. Think to yourself “Would I be eating this many cookies if my dietician or trainer was here?” When you become emotional
4. Be grateful for at least one thing every day. Make everyday Thanksgiving. Be grateful for what you have instead of ungrateful for everything you have not.
5. Help others every chance you get. If a friend or family member is trying to lose weight, don’t make it harder for them by giving them plates of cookies and desserts for the holidays. On a more serious note, help those less fortunate by donating to charities and volunteering.
3. Procrastination
The work-as-procrastination excuse set forth by Gretchen Rubin. I love what she says, “I’m also wary of the related tendency: busy-work-as-procrastination ex-cuse. Re-formatting a document isn’t writing! Unfocused reading onthe internet isn’t research!
I know for a fact that I do this pretty much all of the time. I’ll be “checking email” like I’m expected a $1 million dollar check to show up or adding projects to the to-do list skipping over the less exciting ones.
Your Turn To Share
Have you heard any of the “5 Rules of Happiness” before? Do you procrastinate and have a great example? Please share with us!
