Isn’t it cool that at any moment you can choose to be different?
No matter how tired, fed up or out of ideas you are, you can- at any moment- choose a new story. Adopt a better physiology. Heck you could even just smile.
Every single second presents us with a new opportunity to live into exactly the reality that we want.
Don’t miss too many of them.
Not in the measure twice cut once way (though I think that’s a pretty good suggestion too)
If I’m at the gym and I don’t make a proper note of the weight and the reps (or even the exact incline of the machine) it sends a signal to my brain that this doesn’t matter.
No matter what the numbers say (sometimes they may dishearten you) it’s important to measure always. It’s better to have the certainty of where you truly are and have your brain feel that satisfaction of ‘being on the path’ than to remain ignorant because it’s easier.
Don’t sell yourself short. Measure always.
I filmed a loom video lesson today and I had the slides ready but I didn’t think I’d perfected the content quite yet.
I decided to push ahead anyway and film the lesson, I was in a playful and light mood after all.
The lessons turned out great- far from perfect but they convey what they needed to.
This teaches me that being in a good mood beats being perfectly prepared.
And I’m not talking about food! Being selective about our social media use isn’t a new idea, but I’m having some success with some of my little rules so I thought they’d be worth sharing.
No apps: I don’t have any social media apps on my phone- (only exception is Tik Tok and YouTube- see below for their rules.)
Do not disturb default: The normal mode for my phone is do not disturb. That means that nothing interrupts me unless I want it to. When I have time to check my phone, I physically have to check for any messages or phone calls. It’s incredibly freeing being on my own clock like this. It does seem unusual to me that we should be interrupted all day at any time simply because technology now allows it. I don’t think it’s natural to be at everyone’s beck and call.
Email: This is definitely my weakness so I have to be strict sometimes. All of my work is attached to emails so there are seasons when I’m in and out of email all day BUT I take a leaf from Tim Ferriss’ book here. He teaches to batch email, that is check it and deal with it only twice a day- 12pm and 4 pm. You’ll be amazed at how quick it actually is. The alternative for me was checking it sporadically throughout the day and that wasted so much time and energy. Batching is where it’s at.
Delayed gratification: As mentioned above, I do have YouTube and Tik Tok on my phone. They’re there because I upload my daily video to both platforms. I found this was a bit of a flaw in my plan, because I’d go on to upload ad get trapped. Worse still, I’d go on before I’d made my video and check to see how many likes or views my previous video had. This wasn’t helping me. New rule! I can only go on these apps ONCE per day and that’s to upload that days video. This means I’m using it to produce rather than consume AND I get the added treat of seeing how my previous video is going. It’s win win.
Today I was picking up a drive through hot chocolate and the car in front of me was taking a long time.
Like, abnormally long.
I’m not sure why exactly, but I think it was some coupon dispute.
Now I had perfectly timed this hot chocolate pick up so I wouldn’t be late for my acting class, reasoning that a drive through would be faster than going into a cafe. How wrong I was.
I could feel the strong temptation to be annoyed as this conversation dragged on in front of me and cars piled up behind me.
I heard myself think “How could she do this!? Doesn’t she know I’m late!?”
Hilarious I know, but I had caught myself making a linkage that didn’t exist. Her needing to sort this coupon thing out and my being late actually had no correlation to each other.
We have a real tendency to link things like this and I think it’s not only funny but also good to nip in the bud. Especially if the linkage tells us a story that upsets up.
Two things existed: she was taking ages and I was running late. They only relate if I make them. And I only get upset if I let myself get upset.
An hour of power is a sequence of actions you can take in the morning to start your day right. If the name sounds corny GOOD, that means you’ll remember it!
Here’s an hour of power sequence you can try:
30 minute walk
10 Minute yoga
10 Meditation
10 Minute Journalling
Change and rearrange as needed- but it’s quite a fun prompt for oneself: what can I do for an hour in the morning that would make the rest of my day awesome?
If you’re in a situation you’re not enjoying, try ask yoursef:
“What would make this moment barable?”
Then ask: “What would make it good”
And finally “What, within my power now, would make this an outstanding experience?”
I remarked to my friend today how much I’ve been enjoying reading and he said “Yeah, you know all the plates of life are spinning comfortably when you can read consistently”.
I liked it. Reading for me has been one of those things that seems to drop further and further down the list. In recent days I’ve noticed how much of a recharger reading is. It resets the mind, takes you out of life for a second in a very relaxing way.
And maybe you don’t have to have the ‘ all plates spinning’ in order to read.
Maybe it’s the reading that gets the plates spinning.
There is this arc that happens each day when I create my daily film.
Beforehand, if I have no clear idea- I’m about an inch from deciding ‘no more’. My brain is VERY good at reasoning why today is a good day to stop and that the whole project was pointless anyway. There’s no need to push through and make something today; it is more important to rest.
After I’ve fought those demons and manage to scrape together a beginning of a whisper of a something of an idea; I’m on the train, in the game, fanning the flame.
Then I make it! It’s not perfect, but it’s a thing! Suddenly I’m aligned again with all the reasons I’m doing this in the first place! I remember that it’s not about being perfect but it’s about gettin a ‘rep’ in, and here it is, my precious rep for that day!
And so I am immediately obsessed with this little thing that I made. I watch it over and over again and enjoy the little seams and details only the maker can see.
I love my little time capsules.
I often second guess whether to follow through.
But I tell you what, I always feel glad for having made something.
Just because something is awesome or has gone really well so far, doesn’t mean it’s about to get bad.
There’s a belief among actors that if opening night is great, the second night will be a bad show.
But in reality, every show and every event in our lives is it’s own universe.
It can be great and then great and then great again.
They don’t have to relate to each other.
