Getting out of the Grind

I have been painfully reminded of perhaps the most important thing to plan for my life and anyone's life on a weekly basis. Pretty much, I got caught up in life with responsibilities. Probably never happened to you before, right? WRONG! I can't believe how easy it is to get caught up in our lives and forget to do the most important thing in our lives (which I'll get to in a minute).

So this is what happens if you forget that oh so important idea... I bet this will be TOTALLY unfamiliar (ok It'll probably be really familiar... it just happened to me today for crying out loud!). You wake up barely on time and make it to class and go through your day jumping from one commitment to anther and slightly stress out about a future/past event instead of being in the present. And then bouncing from one thing to another, you end up coming home fairly late and don't have time to really time to do anything because it is bed time. Then you wake up and repeat the process...

But this is what you gotta do... (and yes I'm going to make you press the more button to find out!)

Develop your own Study Regimen!

"My father taught me always to do more than you get paid for as an investment in your future." - Jim Rohn

The reason why I haven't been blogging as much recently is because I'm immersing myself in reading, listening, watching, and learning. If you couldn't tell, we live in the most abundant period of time that has ever existed. Never before has there been so much easily attainable information on virtually every subject at so many of our fingertips. The vastness of the internet and printed word is truly incomprehensible. Therefore, we can truly learn and become masters of any subject out there. All we must do is decide what we want, develop a plan to achieving it, and then go to get it. :)

List of Six

Do you ever struggle to plan out your day? Have you ever over-planned your day only to see it completely fall apart before your eyes? Have you ever made a 10+ item To-Do List only to become completely overwhelmed and discouraged? Have you ever accomplished a large number of things on your to-do list only to become disappointed with all the unaccomplished ones?

Well... SO HAVE I! :) Planning... is not the easiest thing. Balancing your daily schedule with the flexibility needed to survive is immensely challenging. Sometimes it seems easier to avoid making a clear plan of the day to avoid 'failing'. While you can't miss without an explicit target, you can't hit it either. However, planning out your days (weeks, months, etc) in advance isn't for the sole purpose of accomplishing the tasks. Even the best planners don't get everything done. The point of setting daily intentions isn't to hit all of them; it is to grow as a person in the process. 

Instead of beginning with a long-term plan, it is best to start small. How can you expect to plan your life if you can't manage to consistently plan and follow through on a day or week first? :) My choice daily planning system was shown to me by my mentor J Brad Britton (same person as Gratitude). This simple and effective tool is called the "List of Six."

Expressing Gratitude to Teachers

After going over my last post on Changing Perspective, I realized that I loved the part about expressing gratitude (as I did to my friend in a phone message) so I decided to edit and expand it into a full post! :)

I believe whole heartedly in practicing gratitude at the end of the day, but expressing sincere appreciation to others is even more powerful. A mentor of mine named J Brad Britton once said, "Silent gratitude is like wrapping a gift and never giving it." Can you imagine that? How could you have a terrific present for someone who has truly impacted you life, but you give them the present? Worst of all, appreciation is one of the few truly significant needs that all people feel. To find out you are needed, important, and appreciated... It is one of the simple deep needs that everyone has. I know this first hand because I love it so much when people tell me how much I'm appreciated. Saying "Thank You" is a great start, but going out of your way to express gratitude is even better. The simplest form of gratitude is to send emails to teachers or mentors that have made a significant impact on your life. To give you an idea of how you can express your gratitude most effectively, I have a couple examples from my life that may give you some ideas. :)

Changing Perspective

Whoa... Gratitude. It is powerful... As I am going to bed doing my nightly Evening Gratitude by writing in my Gratitude Journal, I decided to switch it up. Instead of strictly giving gratitude, I recently had been writing primarily about my day. I did include some things I felt grateful for in it, but it wasn't being as effective as I thought it would be. Instead of being overcome with truly grateful feelings, I was going through the motions just to get it done. And to make matters worse, tonight I was about to write about all the things I want to improve on from today. I felt like today wasn't my best because I've gotten behind on many things, hence the gap between blog posts, and was going to write out my frustrations.

But then I remembered that despite all the things I need to improve on and am struggling with, there are still things to be truly grateful for. Rather than dwelling on my failings like I really wanted to, I forced myself to write about what I'm REALLY grateful for. Changing perspective, seeing your life from another angle, is one thing I try to use to keep my focus off of myself and my problems (which causes depression) and instead recognizing the gifts I have in my life. If you are ever having trouble with expressing gratitude, ask yourself what I asked myself: "What am I really (honestly and truly) grateful for?"