My friend and fellow blogger Pooja over at Life’s Fine Whine posted this quote yesterday. I felt this is one that strikes home, and is important to embrace if you’re living focused on growth.
Speaking for myself, it’s easy to expect that enacting positive life changes will all feel like smooth joy. No, often, it starts out HARD! Whether a diet, new exercise regime, training for a new role for work…with any of these changes, we start out needing to work hard in order to overcome our life’s inertia.
Today was busy. Did a few more modules in my Google Project Management Certificate, as well as two projects in my 50 Projects in 50 Days course. This on top of spending my morning as part of my church’s tech team (our crew that manages sound, media presentation, and live-streaming). Also, my wife and I zipped up to the Everett Farmer’s Market (one of our favorite things). And we managed to cram in a walk (thank goodness the smoke from the fires has been washed away).
Today’s projects included Event Key Code, where you can type a key and get the underlying code. Also, I got the “FAQ Collapse” project done. This one we click on the down arrow, which changes the background color and expands out the box to show the answer (to answer dad joke).
For Project Management, we dove a bit deeper into starting successful projects. This all-important phase is where many projects are made or broken. Mastering the tools to ensure projects are successfully completed is critical to my future, and probably yours, too.
As my current project wraps up at the end of the year, I’m starting to scope out my possible next steps. There is the potential that my role will continue, perhaps even become full-time. But there’s no guarantee! And I like to hedge my bets, as the adage goes. What do I want to do next? That’s a great question! Ideally, I’d do something within IT, though I’m keeping my pride in check. I’m still being actively recruited as an executive assistant, which is what most of my career has entailed. For a dying career, it’s interesting how much energy recruiters have funneled my way. Anyway, I’m exploring and please let me know if you come across any leads.
I hope your weekend met your expectations. And that you got some rest. Time to call it a night and get ready for another hard-charging week!
I found the article (from Medium) above insightful. It speaks to a challenge that I find tempting: blaming external forces for my challenges. The line ‘“I’m just a messy person” excuses you from taking responsibility for the mess’ really strikes home. It reminds me of the power of self-talk, of those mental scripts that I often don’t even think to check. They happen so automatically that I’m not aware. For years I’ve known about this, and yet I still find these scripts running in the background. And I will continue to create new ones, to take responsibility for what’s in my mind, and seek forward motion.
What about you? Are you aware of such thoughts, and how corrosive they can be? Give the article a read and let me know what you think.
garbage in my brain
insecurity’s drivel
damaging my dreams
So many negative feelings. Why things lije self doubt dominates our brain cycles eludes me. But I seek to overcome this.
A few months ago I made the decision to live move effectively. I’ve been feeling stuck for some time, with the associated feelings of powerlessness and frustration. I’m not a fan.
I’ve understood for decades the power of the mind. That we can actively, proactively engage our thoughts and change the way we interact with the world. And that doing so is powerful and game-changing.
I was stuck in some old frustrations: regret, guilt, getting overwhelmed with all the potentials. All come from fear. All weren’t rationale. All held me back. And I got sick of it.
I’ve also known that what I feed my mind impacts my energy, my focus and my drive. I’m now shifting what I put into my head. What I watch, listen to.
I’m reading more. Such works as Good To Great, The Power of Habit, The 4 Disciplines of Execution. Every day I want to grow. Every day I want to be better when I go to bed than I was when I woke up.
I’m starting my day with a focus on motivation, on positive energy. This week, I’m opting for motivational videos (the one below is what I watched today). It does feel a bit silly right now, even with all I’ve studied showing the truth to doing this. When I get past the notions of “what others might think”, though, I feel better. The day feels lighter, and have more energy. It’s easier to say “no” to the things that hold me back.
The funniest part in all this: “what other’s might think” has done nothing for me. It adds nothing to my life. And, really, in the end, what have I to loose?
One day at a time. One action at a time. Each moment, each step, each day moves me forward. And that’s where I want to be.
This morning I woke early. It was not planned (generally isn’t).
I brain-dumped on how I could be managing all my projects better. All the things I think I could do better.
I realized how weird it might be to get excited about this.
Remember: I’m focused on growth. I don’t want to be focused in maintaining an illusion of perfection. If there are no challenges in my life, I’m not challenging myself. I’m not growing. I have no interest In staying in that state. Now, I admit that there’s something to be said for a stresses existence. And there are times I wonder why I do THIS to myself.
I want to grow. I want to do better each time. That doesn’t happen by sitting around congratulating myself.
So, yeah, I’m pretty stoked about my analysis. There are things to grow. Success leaves clues. I spent time looking for them.
