Two weeks ago, the US presidential election tipped our world and left many of us feeling anxious, uncertain of the future, and way out of balance.
Here are a few thoughts to help you get your balance back, focus on the good in the world, and be honestly grateful this week: Continue reading
When you have a million things to do, everything feels important, and whatever’s next on the list gets done. You may have an edgy feeling that you’re missing out, that there’s something you should be doing, but who has time to think about it, right? You’re getting stuff done, so go go go.
Then you wake up in the middle of the night. You glance at the clock. It’s 4:00 AM. It’s quiet and dark. You can’t go back to sleep and start to think about things that never intrude on your busy days.
How do you spend your time? Do you choose with focus and intent? Or are your days more random?
When you’re surfing the net or watching TV, is your energy up, or down? When you stop, do you feel lighter or heavier? Are you learning something? Sharing something?
Do your activities make a difference in your life or in the lives of others? Are you using your time well? Does what you’re doing affect you at a soul level? Continue reading
As an actor, I like playing roles – the weirder, the better! When you play someone with a strong personality, with a distinctive accent or a certain gait, it’s easy to slip into the role and become the character the author created.
In life, we play a mix of roles without thinking much about it. Each one can have its own look, and each comes with expectations – some that you impose on yourself, and some that you think others expect of you.
You may be open with your spouse but guarded about who you are at work. Or maybe you play the role of “spouse” at home and are more open and unguarded at work. Your parents and siblings know you better than anyone. Or do they? Are you “you” around them? Or a version of “you” that they’ll understand and accept? And maybe with one friend you’re a goof, and with another you’re a listener and problem solver. Continue reading
Having a passion in life helps you resist the urge to waste time. Writing is my passion but it took me years to develop it into a habit.
What I learned along the way was that for me to write a novel, I had to treat writing like it was a job. It took time, intent, commitment, focus, and prioritization to turn an idea for a historic story into a book.
Here are my big take-aways that can be applied to any new habit.
Organizational Zen is about being organized in a way that brings you peace. It’s not about trying to nail down every aspect of your life, to be neat as a pin, or to always be perfect and in control. And it’s not about trying to organize others – you’re concentrating on your own good work.
Organizational Zen is about deciding how you want to spend your time, then prioritizing and focusing on what you’re doing.
Here’s an exercise I learned in Lissa Rankin’s book Mind Over Medicine that gives you a visual of the essential things you need in your life to feel balanced.
I did some thinking about what the rocks are in my cairn and came up with a long list. Continue reading
If your life was a play, is it something you’d go see?
If your life were a play, would you live it differently than you are now? Continue reading
If you find yourself complaining a lot, it’s time to stop. Complaining is a waste of your time and other people’s time. If you don’t like something, try to fix it.
If you don’t know how to fix it, that’s awesome. That’s your challenge! Study the stuff that bugs you to see if you’re complaining about things that really matter to you. Or is complaining just a bad habit?
A few things of note: If you’re complaining about a person and you’re doing it behind their back you’re not going to change anything. Continue reading
At the end of one of the first talks I gave on Organizational Zen, a participant said he understood that if he wanted to stop wasting time it would be great to have a larger goal in mind.
It’s just that he didn’t have any bigger work to do. He had raised his children and run a successful business, and as a retiree, felt like no one needed him anymore. He asked how he should spend the last years of his life.
Oh, my. No one can answer that question for you; it’s something that comes from inside and only you can bring it to life. Continue reading
Organizational Habits 