You’re smart.
You have a plan.
You have a vision.
You move through life making decisions and feeling in control of the direction of your life.
AND you know that stuff happens that sends you off in new directions on a pretty regular basis.
AND often, it’s long after you’re pushed off track that you look back and see that what happened was exactly what had to happen. Continue reading
I was walking Grace this week and decided to take one of her favorite paths up behind Crescent Beach. The path alternated between open dry grass in the sunny areas, and a mix of snow and ice in the tree-shaded areas. I was carefully choosing my steps with Grace off-leash when I heard voices up ahead. I could see a couple of moms with little kids so I clipped on Grace’s leash.
Just as the leash clicked, Grace spotted their dog and with a “woof” of greeting, took off at full tilt with me riding behind her, on my butt, across what turned out to be a particularly icy stretch of path. Continue reading
There are so many ways to get good work done. Getting grounded in a hygge atmosphere can bring you back to simple pleasures in life that are easy to miss in our over-planned, e-driven world. Hygge (hoo-gah) is a Danish word that has many, many layers – each one more inviting than the next.
I just finished reading Meik Wiking’s Little Book of Hygge. Here is Mike’s “Hygge Manifesto.”
How many of these elements can you invite into your life, praise them for being in your life, and talk about how cool they are to have in your life?
Atmosphere
Create an atmosphere at home and at work that’s warm and inviting. With lamps that create pools of light. Candles. Great music mixed with times quiet enough to listen to the weather outside. Natural wood and colors. Vintage furniture. Plenty of books. Plump pillows. Continue reading
“The future has an ancient heart.”
I love this line from Italian writer Carlo Levi. The thought is that you are who you are from the moment you’re born, and the future reveals what’s always been there.
If you’re struggling with where you’re headed, look back at where you were when you were 5, 10, 15, 20… Continue reading
Do you have something you really want to do but never seem to make time for? Here’s a simple idea: Set a deadline.
Right, you say. I’ll just break it if it’s my deadline.
How about this?
If you’re having trouble staying focused on a project you started but can’t seem to finish, step back and think about what you’re doing. Is this something you really want to finish? If it is, then look at the situation because maybe that’s the problem. We think of ourselves as being consistent in how we work, but in truth, we shift gears on a pretty regular basis depending on the environment we’re in.
To get your best work done, you want to be jazzed up about what you’re doing AND you want to be energized about where that project takes you. Continue reading
If you place electrodes in a rat’s brain and put him in an unfamiliar maze with a piece of chocolate hidden at the end of a path, you see an amazing thing about how habits affect your brain. I’ve personally never tried this, but Charles Duhigg talks about it in detail in his AWESOME book The Power of Habit.
But back to the rat. The first time he’s in the maze, he wanders through, sniffing the walls and working his way down the path. When he finds the chocolate he happily settles in for a quick snack. All this time, his brain activity is high. He’s learning something and his brain wants to capture every minute. Continue reading
Organizational Zen is about knowing the work you want to do, and then getting it done. You don’t have to organize the world. You just want to start and finish the good work that’s bubbling up inside you.
On the road to Organizational Zen, make sure you’ve got a handle on these organizational basics.
When you’re thinking of BIG things you’d like to do in this lifetime, block out some quiet time, do a little quiet breathing (in through your nose and out through your mouth helps you think more clearly!), and make a couple of lists.
Set the lists aside and go about your day. These need to cook for a while. Continue reading
Organizational Habits 