head on

The Thief of Joy

 

COMPARISON is the thief of joy !!!

Heard this the other day, and it reminded me.

We are all different. We all have different journeys. We set goals, and work our way towards them. Some of us get there quicker, and easier than others – or so it seems. Some of us take our time, and still get there in the end. What we must remember is we each have our own journey to reach our own goals.

I am the first to admit, although I try not to, I most certainly do look at others and think WHY CAN”T I?? If she’s so successful, why can’t I be? If she can run so fast why can’t I? She’s a great parent, how come I’m not? Then I do stop, tell those monkey voices in my head to just shut the …. up, and look at how great I really am. I’m successful in my own right. I can run as fast as I want to (I’m not running anyone else’s race). My kids love and respect me.

We honestly need to stop looking at others and comparing ourselves, and stop consistently asking ourselves if they can do it, how come I can’t? We all can, we have to do it in our own way, in our own time. And enjoy the journey. Appreciate what you are doing for yourself. Love what you are doing for yourself. And keep doing it. You will get there!

 

Need a helping hand to get there, then contact me.

 

Start kicking up your heels,

Sam

Stuck in a Rut?

are you stuck in a rut

Are you a Rut Dweller? I heard this term recently and it really made me think. Am I a rut dweller? I have my routines, sure, but does that make me a rut dweller. I don’t like to think so, so I thought I’d look into it more.

Routine doesn’t make you a rut dweller. Phew.

So after some digging, it has been shown that a rut dweller is someone who is not moving forward in their life, and in order avoid feeling bad about themselves they lower their standards just a little bit more. They are also a master of distraction. They love to watch sports and reality TV because they can then live vicariously through the stars. Now I’m not suggesting that every person who sits and watches sport is a rut dweller (I mean I like to watch the odd grand final, or car race)– but it gets you thinking doesn’t it. Are you sitting down to watch TV, rather than taking the time to sit down and reflect and examine your life because you don’t want to experience that hopeless feeling?

Do you know that life could be better? But don’t do anything to change things? A rut dweller looks at people who are achieving and says, “I could have done that.” But didn’t.  They’ll also say things such as, “I should be out there, I should be doing this…I should, I would, I could.” But never really does it; they just should, should, should. (That word  ‘should’  should 😉 be removed from our vocabulary – but that’s another blog 😊 ) A rut dweller doesn’t make excuses for themselves, though, or blame others for their ‘failings’; they resign themselves to the fact (well, it’s fact to them) that this is just how things are and then go back to checking the TV guide.

And would you like to know the saddest thing about a rut dweller? The first time they hit a wall or run into some sort of obstacle, they quit! As soon as they become overwhelmed or frightened, they stop; they quit. There’s no blame though; they don’t blame other people or circumstances; they just quit. And you know what they say about quitters? I’ll remind you. Winners never quit. Quitters never win. So, in effect, a rut dweller is not a winner – but you knew that didn’t you?

Does any of this resonate with you? I mean all of us, at some stage or another, has found themselves in a rut. It’s just who you are that determines how long you stay there. For some it is a short time, others a bit longer, and for some unfortunately it is the life they have chosen.

If you do not like the life you have chosen, or the rut you are dwelling in, I have a few suggestions to help you climb your way out.

  1. Firstly, and importantly understand that a rut is not a permanent place, it’s a temporary one. It’s just a small obstacle in your overall journey of life. If you take this view of your circumstance, you’ll be much more motivated to make the effort to get yourself back on track.
  2. Learn to grow; upgrade yourself and your thinking. Go to a seminar, read a new book – try a different genre form the one you usually read, read inspiring books – autobiographies are great or try a new hobby -something simple to start with. You might just learn a new skill, and meet new people.
  3. Literally take a new route to work – or maybe on the way home (you do not want to get lost on the way to work).
  4. Try a new coffee shop, or a new restaurant.
  5. Take some time, reflect, and think of one action you could do that would improve your life. Even by just a little. (And I am not talking – win the lottery!) What is an action you can do? Write it down, and commit to doing it!
  6. Raise your standards and take small steps towards improving yourself. As John Bytheway has been credited for saying “Inch by inch anything’s a cinch. But by the yard, it’s hard.” Little by little is the way to start. You do not want to overwhelm yourself at the get go.
  7. Find the courage to get back into the game of life. Be brave and put yourself out there and see what can happen. Look, you won’t know how things will work out, but until you try and if you keep putting those universal laws to work for you, you will succeed.
  8. Gather people around you who will help you achieve your goals (or the small steps you have chosen) and steer clear of those who will hinder you. Always surround yourself with others that are moving.

We have often heard the definition of insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting it to come out differently. I’m more inclined to say it doesn’t even need the ending of expecting it to come out differently. Just doing the same thing over and over again, and staying in a rut, that is (to me) the definition of insanity. Live your life. Get up. Climb out. Be a rut dweller no longer! Be happy to move onwards and upwards! Now if you need help with this, contact me – I can help.

Okay, I’ll finish now and leave you with a thought by a great man. “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” ― Albert Einstein

Think on it!

Start kicking up your heels!

Sam
x

Dodging Potholes

 

woman running

I went for a run today. Ran 5km! For me that is an achievement. I set myself a goal and boom – made it!

But that is not what this blog is about today. I just wanted you all to be impressed that I achieved my goal 😊 I’ll revisit goal setting again another day.

Now whilst I was running, I passed a few other runners – not overtook them, we just passed each other, they were coming my way. And you know what I noticed? They all had their heads down looking at the ground in front of them. Why? To avoid potholes? To avoid a crack in the pavement – or something even worse?

When I run, I run head up with a smile on my face and looking ahead (I hope people driving by wonder what I’m up to). No head down for me.

It got me thinking: that’s what a lot of people do, when running, or walking, or just moving in the direction of life – head down and concentrating on where to put their feet. But what does this achieve? Not much, except you’ve dodged the dog poo, or the pothole.

Honestly though, if you had your head up, and looked in front of where you are going (walking or running) you’d see the world around you, as well as that pothole, or crack, or poop that was coming up in front of you, and you’d be able to plan your steps accordingly.

Are you seeing where I’m going with this?

Do you look ahead with a smile on your face and look for challenges ahead so you can plan your journey? Or do you have your head down unaware of what is going on around you, or coming up, until you are right on top of it?

If this is you, you’ve probably left it way too late to be able to deal effectively with the presented challenges. When challenges jump at you, they are often met with surprise and a knee jerk reaction. And how effective is that? It’s not.

If your head has been up the whole way, and you saw the challenge coming, you can meet that challenge head on with a game plan.

Your ability to succeed when faced with a challenge, no matter how difficult, lies in your head space – your mental attitude. It’s often easy to have a positive approach to life when things are going well but you need to adopt the same principles when faced with adversity.

Here are a few hints that I have found to have helped me when I am faced with challenges.

  1. Remember head up – face it. Face the challenge and act. Putting off a challenge will not make it go away. In fact, it will only make it bigger. And this is true of big challenges, as well as the small ones. The most important thing you can do is face what’s in front of you head on.
  2. Look at the challenge, assess the situation, your resources, and your abilities, and then act. Your action may include enlisting help from others, but it will be your challenge to solve. The sooner you take up the challenge, the quicker it stops being a problem. Don’t look for the easy way out or some wise words that will show you the way. No one ever solves your problems for you, only you can decide for yourself how you will process the situation.
  3. Let go of the potential outcome, the stress of hanging on to the outcome is what turns a molehill into a mountain. Once you shift your focus to the thing you’re doing, instead of the result, the most intimidating parts of the challenge start to disappear.
  4. Most of all, learn to be grateful for the challenges in your life, because they make you stronger. They do, honestly. There is a reason why certain challenges seem hard to you whilst others breeze right through the same situations. Challenges are opportunities to grow. By facing your challenges—even if you fail—with full presence and awareness, you will find most challenges are not challenges at all. They are messages to help you learn and grow. And that is what we are put here on this earth to do – learn and grow.

So, keep your head up. Smile. See what’s ahead and organise your way to meet those potholes head on. And just keep running. Meet them head on.

And remember if you need a hand to help you with your potholes I’m here to help. Just a click away.

Start kicking up your heels,

Sam