Coaching Videos & Tips - April 30 2020 No.650
YOU'RE JUST CAN'T HELP IT, CAN YOU...
You might be saying to yourself, oh here he goes again saying that the normal mind does this, that or the other to us (not for us!) - but that's so far from what today's video is all about. You're not going to be able to help yourself being everything you'd love to be, if...
NEW!... (OK it's almost New - we started this last week) you can now download the audio of today's video - simply right click and save to your device - Download Today's Audio!
Discipline is challenging for most of us. So, if you're finding that your mental exercising is not as regular as it should be... build it into your morning routine - whilst your exercise should never be routine, building it into your routine gives you a far better chance of doing it every day.
Yes, "regular as it should be" means every day. That doesn't mean that you beat yourself up if or when you miss a day. But, if, say, you missed this morning, that doesn't mean you pick it up again tomorrow... pick it up now. There's no time like the present.
Yes, we've reached (kind of) a milestone: 650 editions! And, don't forget, on this auspicious occasion, you can browse all previous 649 editions in The Archive!
I've posed a question right at the bottom of today's Normal Crazy People - and it leads me to another: what did you think was indispensable six weeks ago that, now, seems either trivial and worthless or, perhaps, is even totally forgotten at this stage?
And, what have you discovered that has enlarged your understanding of what life - your life - is or should be all about?
We don't often get to "pause for thought" in our lives. But we've been provided with this opportunity over the last few weeks and, if we take what we've learned from this experience forward, could it change the shape and course of our lives?
I don't know that answer to that last question for you. I don't even know the answer for me - for the simple reason that how we behave ourselves in each here and now constructs our experience of life and our version of reality there and then. All you and I can do it to consider the foregoing questions now and let our calmer minds inform us as to what the real answers are: not just the usual (normal) answers such as "the best things in life are free"! We need to inherently know the answers at a deeper level because, when we do, they have more of an impact on our moment-to-moment behaviour moving forward.
So, here's a second Quick Tip for today... it's a Slow Tip actually because you need to give yourself a little time for this: move more slowly through these days and notice: notice what gives you joy (yes, it's a really under-used word); notice what you "need" for a great life (and what you don't need at all) and, above all, pay full attention (that's what real noticing is) to the special moments that you have with your loved ones even if, in many cases, we cannot give them that big hug that we'd love to give them.
No doubt you've noticed how people's behaviour is being amplified by "lockdown". Decent people are behaving, well, decently and the indecent...
We've seen the most unlikely people behave in the most wonderful way - confirming the old adage that you should never judge a book by its cover. And, yet, as normal crazy people, we always do: categorization (or pigeon-holing) is one of our most fundamental cognitive shortcuts - one of the key ways in which, on Autopilot, we never really know what's going on.
Others, as you will have noticed, simply don't give a damn - not about themselves but about the vulnerable and, in grander terms, the greater good. But we won't laugh at their behviour today - it's not funny.
What we do need to consider, though, is what good to we want to take forward in our lives from our current experiences.