5 ways to eliminate distractions and do your best work

I like Amber Rae’s 5th way…

If you have to, do not be afraid to be unavailable, unreachable, and hard-to-get-ahold-of. Because in a month, you’ll be back and with hellfire momentum, and they’ll forget the weeks where you were MIA because you were focused.

This very moment, you can change your life. There has never been a better moment, and never will be, to take a stand, do what matters, and alter the course of your life.

It’s Go-time. Rock!

Source: 5 Ways to Eliminate Distractions and Do Your Best Work [BLOG] « Positively Positive

Go to the source if you’d like the other 4 – it’s worth the trip!

Avoid/Reduce Problems of Outside Distractions (management-me.com)
How Can I Steer Clear of Distractions and Focus While I Work? [Ask Lifehacker] (lifehacker.com)
Are we being Driven to Distraction? (melrichardson.wordpress.com)
3 Ways To Stop Multitasking & Stay Focused To Be More Efficient & Productive [Windows] (makeuseof.com)
Distractions from Purpose. (danielnaborsjr.wordpress.com)

March 31, 2012 1

6 lessons for living fearless and free

Terri Cole shares her thoughts on living ‘fearless and free’ here…

Here are a few truths I have learned about transforming fear:

1. Fear Is a Feeling, Not a Fact

This is great news and comes as a surprise to most clients. We change our feelings all the time, so we can change the fear feeling also! Mortal fear is the only informed fear. If your life is in danger, the fight-or-flight response is adaptive and necessary. However, most of the time when your flight-or-fight response is activated, you are not in mortal danger. You can have an initial fear response, recognize you are not in mortal danger, and calm your mind to create clarity.

2. Your Mafia Mind Is a Bully

Your fear mind, or “Mafia Mind” as I call it, operates just like the real mafia. Instead of extorting money, your Mafia Mind extorts joy and potential happiness from your life by threatening you with what might happen. A lot of things might or might not happen, so harness the power of your intention to create what you want to happen.

3. Be Here Now

Present moment awareness is essential to stop fearful thoughts from becoming reality and dictating decisions. Never mind what was and don’t be a fortuneteller. This present moment is unique—there has never been and will never be another. So let go of the, “well this is what will happen because that’s what always happens.”

4. Meditation

A dedicated daily practice of stillness and silence strengthens your “be here now” muscle. Living more in this present moment will decrease fear-generated “future tripping” into what hasn’t happened and “past tripping” into what no longer exists.

5. Exercise Gratitude in Motion

A Johns Hopkins University study indicated volunteering as little as two hours per week increased feelings of happiness and decreased feelings of depression in volunteers. I made volunteering a mandatory experiment for clients struggling with fear and anxiety and found positive results. Fearful obsessing is very isolating. Sharing your gifts with others is the fastest way to get out of your head and into living.

6. Nourish Your Noggin

Seek help from a licensed professional. Years of my own psychotherapy before and after my year of fear created a safe space for my healing.

You have the power to free yourself from the mental prison that fear creates. Anything worth having is worth working for, and you deserve to live fearless and free.

Source: 6 Lessons to Living Fearless and Free [BLOG] « Positively Positive

Go to the source if you’d like to read the rest of her perspective…

March 30, 2012 0

Quincy on prioritization…

“When you have a number of disagreeable duties to perform, always do the most disagreeable first.” Josiah Quincy

via Quote Details: Josiah Quincy: When you have a… – The Quotations Page.

March 24, 2012 0

Expose Yourself To Your Deepest Fear!

“Our deepest fears are like dragons guarding our deepest treasure.”

– Rainier Maria Rilke, was a Bohemian-Austrian poet.

“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”

– Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors!

“There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they’re necessary to reach the places we’ve chosen to go.”

– Richard Bach, is a best-selling author.

“If you let it, life can become a simple pattern of staying in your comfort zone and never wandering out into the unknown to see what lies on the other side of its horizon. Today is Monday, the first day of the week; change your patterns, even slightly today, so that a new world can find you. Do ONE thing that scares you today, ONE thing that makes you a little nervous, ONE thing that you never thought you would do. If you do ONE thing every day you will have done 365 NEW THINGS in a year! Today, don’t try to tackle everything, but please do ONE thing!”

– Jackson Kiddard, author & polymath.

via Today’s Quotes: Expose Yourself To Your Deepest Fear!.

March 16, 2012 0

How To Escape? Understand, Really Understand The Rules of Life.

My blogging buddy David Kanigan turned me on to another great blog by Nicholas Bate. Here’s a sample…

Is there a simple idea we can use to help us re-focus, re-invent and ‘escape‘ from the distraction?
Yes: the Rules of Life. You know there are rules; you always have done, ever since you were a child. In science there are rules e.g. Newton’s Laws of Motion, thus: ‘to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction’ or step out of the rowing boat at the edge of the lake and the boat will ‘fly’ the other way. In relationships there are rules e.g. The Golden Rule, thus: ‘do unto others as you would prefer them to do unto you’ or keep being mean to your assistant and they will leave to work for someone else. In work there are rules, thus: mess up this quarter and you’ll not get a bonus. And in life there are rules. What is a rule? It’s a guideline: it tells you the consequences of your action. It helps you get to where you want to go as efficiently and effectively as you can. The trick is to know the rules and then you can use them because you can’t fight them: they are independent of you. When you are driving a car, for example, it’s best to work within the local laws. If you don’t, you have problems, and those problems might be a fine for speeding or even perhaps an accident. But within those rules there is still plenty of scope for a great journey: you might wish to slow down and enjoy the scenery. You might care to journey a little faster on one stretch of motorway and eat up some miles. It’s exactly the same with the Rules of Life: they don’t limit; they empower.

Source: How To Escape? Understand, Really Understand The Rules of Life. Rule 1. – Nicholas Bate

Go to the source if you liked the excerpt and read the rest of Nicholas’ article…

March 14, 2012 0

"How Do I Avoid Be Dragged Down By Difficult People?"

Gretchen Rubin has some good thoughts on the topic over at The Happiness Project…

If you want to read more about this resolution, check out…

Quiz: Are you a “Tigger” or an “Eeyore”?
Quiz: Are you the one that everyone finds difficult?
9 tips for dealing with difficult relatives.
Make people happier by acknowledging that they’re not feeling happy.

Source: The Happiness Project: “How Do I Avoid Be Dragged Down By Difficult People?”

Great use of video blogging as well, wouldn’t you say?

March 7, 2012 1

The Million Dollar Question

Million Dollar Question

Expectancy theory states, that which we focus on expands. If we continue to allow ourselves to focus on problems, we will actually have more problems. Conversely, asking and answering the question—what is one thing I can do differently that could make this better?—within sixty seconds of a problem arising, literally causes our level of optimism and success to grow.

Any time you catch yourself thinking about what is going wrong in your life, be relentless about asking this question (what is one thing I can do differently that could make this better?). Keep asking until you identify a potential solution to your problem.

The mere identification of a potential plan for a solution is helpful, as it breaks the negative cycle of thought. You will obviously need to put energy into the execution of the solution, but the essential first step in getting started is realizing that something can be done to improve any situation.

Source: The Million Dollar Question [BLOG] « Positively Positive

Go to the source if you’d like the rest of author Jason Selk’s perspective. I’m trying to apply this to a situation that happened yesterday; I received a horrible, hurtful, hateful email full of shame and blame from a friend. The worst part is that I actually have to consider whether or not some of it is true, and if so, what should I do about it. I’ll have to think about what Jason says…

March 4, 2012 1

Prayer doesn’t work

One of my favorite Christian writers, Jon Swanson, reposted some very pithy content a few days ago…

I’d like to return this Valentine’s Day card.”

I can help you with that. … Um, you know that this has writing on it, right?

“Yep. I wrote that.”

You can’t return cards that have been used.

“Two weeks ago, I was in here. I bought a sweater. The first time I wore it, the sleeve started to unravel. You took that back.”

Yep. The sweater was defective. How’s the new one?

“Great. Thanks. Now, about that card?”

But you can’t return cards that have been used.

“The other month, I was in here. I had a toaster. It didn’t heat up. You took that back.”

Yep. The toaster was defective. Were you able to find another one?

“I went to another store and they were able to give me what I wanted. Now, about that card.”

But you can’t return cards that have been used.

“I wore the sweater. You took it back. I used the toaster. You took it back. Why are you making a scene about the card?”

It’s different. You can’t return cards that have been used.

“But it didn’t work. I wrote in it. I gave it to my wife. And it didn’t work. So I would like a refund.”

What do you mean, exactly, that it didn’t work?

“Isn’t that a little personal? I mean, you have pictures of men handing women cards and the women smiling. And pictures of men handing women chocolate and the women smiling. And I won’t even start to tell you what happened when other stores showed pictures of men handing women diamond bracelets. But it didn’t work.”

You mean your wife didn’t smile when you handed her the card?

“It was more of a snort.”

When was this?

“On the 16th. I got it when they were marked down.”

Source: Prayer doesn’t work (a repost) | 300 words a day

Ponder that for awhile…

Prayer doesn’t work (a repost) (300wordsaday.com)

February 10, 2012 0

Get Out of the Nest

Image via Wikipedia

The mother eagle teaches her little ones to fly by making their nest so uncomfortable that they are forced to leave it and commit themselves to the unknown world of air outside. And just so does our God to us.
— Hannah Whitall Smith

Sometimes, the pressure comes from within us. Sometimes, it’s external. That job folds. The relationship stops working. Alcohol and drugs stop working. What am I going to do?

Oh, I see. God’s teaching me to fly, again.

Thank you, God, for pushing me out of the nest.

Source: January 31: Get Out of the Nest | Language of Letting Go

January 31, 2012 0

See How Much Courage You have

Image via Wikipedia

Everyone is in awe of the lion tamer in a cage with half a dozen
lions— everyone but a school bus driver.

Unknown

You may not be a great warrior. You might not lead explorations to the North Pole or climb Mount Everest. But you still need courage.

Courage lies in the simple things as well as the grandiose. It’s fun and easy to speculate about how we would respond in our fantasy lives – climbing that mountain or leading knights into battle – but what about now?

Do you have the courage to live your life, to walk your path every day, right where you are?
Sometimes, it takes more courage to do the ordinary things in life than it does to walk to the door of the airplane and jump.

It takes courage to get sober, to stay sober, to get up every day and go to your job, support your family, pay the bills, and walk the path that you have been given to walk. We all need courage to do the thing that scares us and sometimes to do the thing that doesn’t scare us, over and over again.

God, please grant me the courage to do the right thing in my relationships, in my job, and in my spiritual growth. Please give me the courage to live my life.

Source: January 8: See How Much Courage You have | Language of Letting Go

January 8, 2012 0

Merry

This post by John Gruber of Daring Fireball is so good for where I’m at right now it took my breath away…

Late last night, inspecting Santa’s handiwork, a simple thought occurred to me. A decade or so from now, when, say, I’m waiting for my son to come home from college for his winter break, and, when he does, he wants to spend his time going out with his friends — how much will I be willing to pay then to be able to go back in time, for one day, to now, when he’s eight years old, he wants to go to movies and play games and build Lego kits with me, and he believes in magic?

How much then, for one day with what my family has right now? How much? Everything.

The truth is, I’m the luckiest person in the world today. I hope you are too.

Source: Daring Fireball: Merry

As the father of 6 boys that range in age from 24-7 this made me pause and think about both ends of the spectrum having experienced them both now. How about you?

December 26, 2011 0

Don’t ask what the world needs

Image via Wikipedia

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

– Howard Thurman, was an influential American author, philosopher, theologian, educator and civil rights leader.

Source: Today’s Quotes: Go Through The Rite Of Passage!

December 19, 2011 0

Don’t lunge at the gerbil!

In ‘The Language of Letting Go’ Melody Beattie shares a story…

“One day, my son brought a gerbil home to live with us. We put it in a cage. Some time later, the gerbil escaped. For the next six months, the animal ran frightened and wild through the house. So did we—chasing it. “There it is. Get it!” we’d scream, each time someone spotted the gerbil. I, or my son, would throw down whatever we were working on, race across the house, and lunge at the animal hoping to catch it. I worried about it, even when we didn’t see it. “This isn’t right,” I’d think. “I can’t have a gerbil running loose in the house. We’ve got to catch it. We’ve got to do something.” A small animal, the size of a mouse had the entire household in a tizzy. One day, while sitting in the living room, I watched the animal scurry across the hallway. In a frenzy, I started to lunge at it, as I usually did, then I stopped myself. No, I said. I’m all done. If that animal wants to live in the nooks and crannies of this house, I’m going to let it. I’m done worrying about it. I’m done chasing it. It’s an irregular circumstance, but that’s just the way it’s going to have to be. I let the gerbil run past without reacting. I felt slightly uncomfortable with my new reaction—not reacting—but I stuck to it anyway. I got more comfortable with my new reaction—not reacting. Before long, I became downright peaceful with the situation. I had stopped fighting the gerbil. One afternoon, only weeks after I started practicing my new attitude, the gerbil ran by me, as it had so many times, and I barely glanced at it. The animal stopped in its tracks, turned around, and looked at me. I started to lunge at it. It started to run away. I relaxed. I said. “Do what you want.” And I meant it. One hour later, the gerbil came and stood by me, and waited. I gently picked it up and placed it in its cage, where it has lived happily ever since. The moral of the story? Don’t lunge at the gerbil. He’s already frightened, and chasing him just scares him more and makes us crazy. Detachment works. Today, I will be comfortable with my new reaction—not reacting. I will feel at peace.”

‘Don’t lunge at the Gerbil’. That’s quite a motto…

Beattie, Melody (2009-12-15). The Language of Letting Go (Hazelden Meditation Series) (pp. 344-346). Hazelden. Kindle Edition.

November 30, 2011 2

Letting go of worry…

Image via Wikipedia

“What if we knew for certain that everything we’re worried about today will work out fine?

What if.. .we had a guarantee that the problem bothering us would be worked out in the most perfect way, and at the best possible time? Furthermore, what if we knew that three years from now we’d be grateful for that problem, and its solution?

What if. . .we knew that even our worst fear would work out for the best?

What if. . .we had a guarantee that everything that’s happening, and has happened, in our life was meant to be, planned just for us, and in our best interest?

What if. . .we had a guarantee that the people we love are experiencing exactly what they need in order to become who they’re intended to become? Further, what if we had a guarantee that others can be responsible for themselves, and we don’t have to control or take responsibility for them?

What if. . .we knew the future was going to be good, and we would have an abundance of resources and guidance to handle whatever comes our way?

What if. . .we knew everything was okay, and we didn’t have to worry about a thing? What would we do then? We’d be free to let go and enjoy life.

Today, I will know that I don’t have to worry about anything. If I do worry, I will do it with the understanding that I am choosing worry, and it is not necessary.” Source: November 28: Letting Go of Worry | Language of Letting Go

Crank it!!!

November 28, 2011 0

Dump it

thues 3 — Image by thierry llansades via Flickr

Sometimes, we don’t have one clear feeling to express. We have a bunch of garbage we’ve collected, and we just need to dump.

We may be frustrated, angry, afraid, and sick to death of something all in one ugly bunch. We could be enraged, hurt, overwhelmed, and feeling somewhat controlling and vengeful, too. Our emotional stuff has piled up to an unmanageable degree.

We can go to our journal and write this whole mess of feelings out, as ugly as it looks and as awkward and ungrateful as it feels to put it into words. We can call up a friend, someone we trust, and just spifi all this out over the phone. Or we can stomp around our living room in the privacy of our own home and just dump all this stuff out into the air. We can go for a drive in our car, roll the window down, and dump everything out as we drive through the wilderness.

The important idea here is to dump our stuff when it piles up.

You don’t always have to be that healthy and in control of what you feel. Sometimes, dumping all your stuff is the way to dean things out.

God, help me understand that sometimes the only thing preventing me from moving forward in my life is hanging on to all the stuff that I really need to dump.

via melodybeattie.com

Stop Being a Sponge (toddlohenry.com)
Acting As If (toddlohenry.com)

October 10, 2011 0

Become What You Want To Date or Marry

ジンジャー&レモンマートルティー 2011.9.16 — Image by Poran111 via Flickr

Written from a women’s perspective and full of wisdom…

#1 – Look in your relationship mirror

If you’re in an unhealthy relationship or with someone that is not fulfilling you, look in the mirror. What do you see in them that you yourself own? [sic] If they’re cold and distant, well maybe you share that quality in your life, or perhaps are accepting that quality because you feel you deserve it. It’s important to understand the reason why we attract people who are not satisfying us and better yet, why we stay.

#2 – Mate “Must-Haves”

Time to get out a pen and piece of paper…it’s “list” time. You’re going to make a list of all the attributes that are a “must” in a future mate. Make two columns on a piece of paper. Title the left column “must have qualities in a mate”…and then start listing them (i.e. family oriented, hardworking, funny, etc.) Once you’re done, turn to the right column and title it – “qualities in me”. Then go down the list you made for your mate and check off those traits that you yourself have. Those traits that are left unchecked, if they’re really important to you, then work on creating them in your own life (for instance, if you want a man who is sensitive, yet you hold your feelings close to your chest, work on opening up). After you’re done with this list, run it by a friend for an objective view.

#3 – Be realistic

Let’s be honest, you’re not going to be able to tell if the man you just met (whether online or in person) has all of your must-have mate qualities upfront. Give it time…after a few dates you will see if you start checking those must-have traits off the list. Also, while looking out for those traits, be open to other qualities that may be attractive to you as well. It’s also important to know that one mate will not obtain ALL your must-have traits. So pick 3-4 that are truly must-haves and leave the rest for ‘nice-to-haves’.

It’s crucial in this process of finding our life-long mate to be aware of the qualities you find attractive in someone else that you can also find them in yourself. First and foremost, you need to be that ‘person’ for yourself!

via thedailylove.com

“First and foremost, you need to be that ‘person’ for yourself!” True dat…

September 16, 2011 0

Just Be You

One of the amazing things about life is that every day we get a fresh start. Every day we get the opportunity to learn a new lesson, grow a little more, deepen our connection to life, to each other and to our own spirit.

Sometimes, the desire to expand can cause us to forget that which we already are. While it is important to continue evolving, learning and growing, being too focused on this can get in the way of our ability to be present and enjoy what we have.

via thedailylove.com

Featured article via Thedailylove.com : Why it’s important to love yourself (theselfloveblog.com)

September 10, 2011 0

One last bike ride in Galena

Taken with picplz at The Galena Territory in Guilford, IL.

All week long I’ve been blogging about the joys of family vacationing at Teddy Bear Place in Galena, IL. Yesterday, I went out for one more killer [almost literally!] ride around Lake Galena in the Galena Territory…

August 13, 2011 0

Need a vacation?

Take a 134-hour cruise from Bergen to Kirkenes in 5 minutes…

Now get back to work!

Norway in a Hurry (neatorama.com)
Half of Norway Glued to Cruise Ship Live Feed (newser.com)
Hurtigruten’s 134-Hour Live Broadcast Hit in 148 Countries (seatravel.wordpress.com)

July 12, 2011 0

via youtube.com

Is it coincidental that the only auto maker that wasn’t bailed out by the government is also the most innovative? If I were buying a new car today, it would be a Ford…

Posted via web from e1evation, llc