Coaching Videos & Tips - May 2 2019 No.601
ALERTNESS AND AVOIDANCE
We all know that, when we're "in the zone" we do what we need to do with aplomb, we do it effortlessly. But there's a flipside to this... and that's what this video explores.
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You're thinking too much. I must have used these words thousands of times at this stage. We think about what we've done, how we did or didn't do it properly and how we can undo or redo the past. For pity's sake, we even analyse our own meditation and tie ourselves in knots fretting about whether or not we could have done it better or differently. It is inevitable, as you read this, that you've already been thinking too much today.
So, take a moment to stop thinking. Actually, take a few moments or more... get outside in the air or, if you're already outside, appreciate where you are. See, feel and hear where you are. Take in a couple of big deep breaths and smell where you are. In doing so, avoid the inevitable temptation to think about what you're smelling!
You should be grateful for what you have. In the 1960s Ireland in which I grew up that phrase actually meant "you should settle for what you have"... but I don't mean it this way. Without being morbid about it, there are people at whose bedsides we have sat who would be eternally grateful for just a little longer, a few more years, months or even weeks.
Be grateful for each wonderful breath you take, for each sound that arises and passes (the birds are singing outside as I write this), for all the good things and good people you encounter every moment of every day. The birdsong I heard a moment ago, I will never hear again... in each moment we are experiencing the unrepeatable as the arrow of time moves inexorably forward. That means you need to be present in the moment, free of the kind of thought that I've already mentioned above in today's "Quick Tip".
Be grateful for all the challenges that life throws at you - they are an opportunity for you to shine, for you to accept the one great challenge that faces us all... that of taking charge of our own state of mind. When you rise to that challenge, all others become surmountable - and often with little apparent effort. Be grateful for all that less-than-good pepole you encounter... they're just normal crazy people who don't know they're normal and crazy. Some of them, on the other hand, may be a little worse than that. Embrace the challenge of dealing with them appropriately, learning as you go. And, if you feel you have to be brave to stand up to or handle one of these "difficult people", then understand that, if you're in control of your state of mind, "bravery" comes easily.
Be grateful for being you. When you are you can be there for those who love you, for those who need you. Be grateful for this here and now.
A few weeks back (you may have noticed) I advertised my online workshop, The Psychology of Success, on Facebook. As we were setting up our advertising campaign, my son, David, who works for a social media ad agency, warned me to be ready for the abuse that's part and parcel of our online world.
I had someone hound me, claiming that Willie Horton is not my real name, someone else telling me he counted three double chins on the "fat ba***rd" in the video and another claiming that I could only talk about success because I was a baby boomer... and all any baby boomber needed to be successful was to be "white and not a retard".
Apparently, according to David, I've had an easy ride. Apparently it is a feature of our modern age that Normal Crazy People are even crazier when they get online.