Power of giving
March 26, 2008 8:57 pm
During college, I spent the majority of my spare time volunteering: soup kitches, convalescent homes, half-way children homes, homeless shelters, charity drives, park cleanups, battered women shelters, tutorting kids - you name it I helped out.
At some point I realized the true value of volunteering was not in what we did, but in the individual connection made with people. In the mind-set of giving, that is a subtle message that other people matter.
In a world where people are obsessed with pushing others out of the way to grab the most satisfying life, there is an incredible power in putting others ahead of your own achievement… and ironically, the joy of helping others may be what brings you the most satisfying life.
Million dollar project
March 25, 2008 7:04 pm
A couple weeks ago, I had a thought. Wouldn’t it be grand to have $1 million in a trust fund? Not for me - but for charity, such that I could make an impact on projects that I felt passionate about.
After talking to friends about what I could do to raise $1 million dollars - one me realize that this might be driven by a desire to feel important, not really a desire to help people. And truth be told, I had no idea how I would exactly use the money if I had it.
The place to start is with a cause. With a specific end in mind, one can focus on finding the appropriate resources. It also gives a tangible purpose on the difference being made (which is focused on others), as opposed to a general being-a-nice-guy (which is focused on myself).
Turning Point
February 25, 2008 11:09 pm
Life is a funny set of challenges, pushing us to grow and discover.
It seems a mysterious playground at times, but at others it seems anything but in a work environment that is filled with pessimism and irritation, and surrounded with negative world news. I find myself living in a world which seems driven by a strange obsession with money as measure success, which does not appear to be as fulfilling as society likes to portray.
Stuck in a mess of conflicting belief systems, it is not always easy to stand up to this confusion, face your fears and forge your own, true path.
But at the end of the road, on your deathbed, don’t you want to at least be able to look back and say you had the guts to give it your best shot?
Priorities
September 24, 2007 10:06 pm
When I was self-employed, I used to be a workaholic. I was constantly putting my obligations and work at the center of my attention, and filling in the gaps with my relationship and personal development. I never thought to take care of myself. I didn’t even take time to veg out and watch TV or go to the movies. I just didn’t have enough time.
So, I find it interesting, that returning to work as an employee, it is much easier to manage my priorities. It helps to have a finite working day, and boundaries where I can work hard during the day, and have my evenings and weekends to plan for my personal use. It’s made me realize how much I’ve neglected my own health and well-being.
I’ve started establishing regular sleep patterns, placing exercise and free time to myself as a priority. The miracle of direct-debit means I no longer worry about uncertain finances and I can actually budget my expenses. All together, my stress is reducing dramatically and my energy is returning.
Who would have thought?
Waiting for the right time
July 20, 2007 11:23 pm
At a recent social gathering, the topic of what dreams we want to accomplish kept coming up. There were varying degrees of clarity of what each person wanted to achieve, but what really struck me was that there seemed to be a common thread of “I know I want this, but I’m not ready yet… it’s not the right time.”
I wonder how many great dreams go unrealized because people are just waiting for the right time. This seems to be an convincing trap, when in reality what you need is a kick in the butt to take a step towards realizing your dream, and then to take another.
New horizons
July 19, 2007 9:38 pm
Change is inevitable. Change is constant.
— Benjamin Disraeli
Nothing quite like a new job to remind me how quickly life can change.
I found myself enveloped in the London Business School course, “Creativity & Personal Mastery” as the teaching assistant for 10 weeks, and emerged to find myself in an exciting new job providing me with an opportunity to apply my technical skills in a new industry.
As I am adjusting to my new routine, I think it is the perfect time to delve back into exploring methods of getting the most out my day.
Mindfulness and observing thoughts
April 24, 2007 9:54 pm
The first step to working with unproductive thoughts is to become aware of what thoughts you are having. Just as when you are speaking, if you wish to eliminate filler words such as uh, um, or and - the first step is to catch it happening.
Here is exercise to observe your thoughts from the insight meditation center:
During the next week, spend a two-hour period tracking the kinds of things you think about. Find some way to remind yourself every few minutes to notice what you are thinking. Are the thoughts primarily self-referential or primarily about others? Do they tend to be critical or judgmental? What is the frequency of thoughts of “should” or “ought”? Are the thoughts mostly directed to the future, to the past, or toward fantasy? Do you tend more toward optimistic thoughts or pessimistic ones? Do your thoughts tend to be apprehensive or peaceful? Contented or dissatisfied? This is not an exercise in judging what you notice, but in simply noticing.
I think the last sentence is key: don’t be discouraged by your thoughts, just notice what comes out. If you get discouraged, realize you are creating negative thoughts… about having negative thoughts. And then e-mail me. I think it’s really funny, and it will brighten my day.
Unproductive thinking
April 23, 2007 11:29 pm
So much for exploring the journey. I like to write for my empty bucket because it is an excellent way to explore topics of personal transformation, and having a daily post forces me to sit down and think. I didn’t post last week as I got swept away with anxiety and unproductive thoughts.
Or more correctly: thoughts that kept repeating that I was being unproductive.
This is strange because I have been accomplishing a lot. My mental chatter just doesn’t understand - my thoughts keep repeating that I am not being productive. Do these thoughts serve me? No. It wastes a lot of time.
This week I am going to examine my mental chatter.
Defining the journey
April 16, 2007 10:22 pm
The course, Creativity & Personal Mastery, taught by Professor Srikumar Rao begins next week at the London Business School. I will be the teaching assistant for the course together with a colleague of mine.
The course is an experiential journey, and I am looking forward to helping the students get the most out of the class.
One of the first assignments is to produce a personal essay. It serves as a short snapshot of where one is right now… a starting point. Later in the course, we turn our focus to our ideal job: something many of us spend a lot of time looking for, but often don’t spend much time attempting to create or describe. The ideal job, or even ideal life is the end point.
What comes between the start and the end is the journey. It is essential to understand where you are and where you want to go to be able to figure out the best way to get there. Defining a path provides direction and clarity about how to act.
This week’s topic is about getting the most from the journey - looking at the starting point, the end point and everything in between.
Smearing beliefs
April 14, 2007 11:10 pm
We see the world through our belief systems. Often when we seek change, we pretend to believe such a change is possible - but dig deeper and we don’t. It reminds me of a quote from the movie What the Bleep Do We Know?:
“It’s a wonderful idea, positive thinking… but what it usually means is that I have a little smear of positive thinking covering a whole mass of negative thinking.”
If you want to manifest something in your life, you need to not only believe it is possible, but believe it is already coming into being. And truly believe. I can pretend to believe I can fly… but I know physics doesn’t work that way. I can believe I can win the lottery… but I still know the odds are very slim. I can’t truly believe either.
I think manifestation is most effective in small steps. Looking for small changes in your life that are achievable and then focusing on them. When you truly believe, you start acting as appropriately, and you naturally make it happen.
