All posts tagged goal

The Thinker

The Thinker2One of the goals I’ve set for myself is to become a better writer.  How does one do that? Why by writing, of course.  In our society, it has never been easier to write.  Most of us don’t even need pen and paper to do it.  Many of us have a computer at our disposal with a word processing program already loaded.  What could be easier?  It’s not the act of writing, though, that is the difficult part, I find.  No, the hard part is the thinking.

I can’t remember who pointed it out to me, but if you call to mind the famous statue by Rodin The Thinker, you’ll see what I mean.  Look at his pose.  He’s a bit twisted and doesn’t look terribly comfortable.  I think that may have been intentional by Rodin.  Thinking is hard.  It’s not for the faint of heart.

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Hurry! Hurry!

Hurry! Hurry!  Is it just that time of year or is it always that way?  I find that when I rush, rush, rush, I enjoy life less.  Is that true for everyone?  How does it happen?  Am I trying to pack too much in to one hour, one day, one week, one year?  What if I just said, “No. I will do less today.”  I’ve tried this and it requires quite a bit of self-discipline.  What happens, though, when I do less, is that I’m less rushed.  When I’m less rushed I can slow down, smell the flowers, and think.  I’m freer to enjoy the moment.

If we’re all rushing around (and I’m making an assumption here that I’m not alone in this behavior) doing, doing, doing, then when do we stop to think and to enjoy?  What are we rushing for?  Does the person who accomplishes the most win?  Is there a prize?

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Failing Forward

“Failing Forward” is one of my favorite sayings.  If I’m not failing, then I’m not trying anything new.  Even if I don’t get the first down, but I move the ball a few yards closer to my goal, I’ve succeeded.  Did I get a touchdown? No.  Did I get a few yards closer to where I want to be? Yes!  Even if I fail spectacularly, if I’ve learned something from the experience, I count it as a Win.

Failing Forward.  I’m hoping to do more of that.  Eventually…eventually…I’ll get to where I need to be.

 

Habits

I’ve been reading lately about habits; how to get rid of bad ones, how to encourage good ones.  The author, James Clear, seems to be a master of…well…mastering habits.  He used a specific example that I love and wanted to pass along.  He said he used to be a non-flosser.  He said that he wanted to change that habit and make a habit of daily flossing (hooray!) so what he did was to change his environment.

Rather than keep his dental floss tucked away in a drawer or in the medicine cabinet, he placed a bowl next to his toothbrush and filled it with flossers.  He attached the new habit he wanted to start (flossing daily) to an existing habit (brushing teeth).  That way, whenever he brushed his teeth before bed, he saw the flossers next to his toothbrush and voila!  He always remembered to floss after that because he was already in the habit of brushing his teeth.

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