Be Inspired
Post written by Leo Babauta.
You are overcome with laziness and procrastination, feeling unmotivated, stuck, can’t get started.
You are not alone. This is a commonality in the human condition, and the solution is elusive, never standing still and not wanting to be easily caught.
You are not alone, but in this union with your brothers and sisters, there is hope. I’m among you, and I have found a few meager solutions. And if I can solve this problem, so can you. If others have beaten it, you can.
These are ways I’ve found inspiration.
one: This morning as I sat down to write I had some ideas for posts but wasn’t excited about any of them. So I asked on Twitter, “What are you having problems with that I can help with?” Several people responded with things like laziness, motivation, procrastination, getting started. Having something to help with inspired me to write.
lesson: Inspiration can come from finding a way to help others.
two: My eight-year-old son was looking bored, and I asked about a (short) novel he’s been reading. He showed me the book and I challenged him to read four chapters today. His face lit up and he got to reading.
lesson: Creating a challenge can be an inspiration.
three: I have problems with procrastination, just like anyone else. I usually solve it when 1) I crystalize in my mind what I most want to be doing right now and what is most important; 2) I clear away all other distractions; and 3) I get started. As I began writing this post, I closed all other browser tabs (bookmarked ones I want to read later) and opened only the “new post” page in WordPress. Then I clicked on the “fullscreen” button so that everything but the writing box disappeared. Then I entered “Presentation Mode” in Google Chrome, so that everything else on my computer screen faded away. Now it’s just me and these words.
lesson: Clear away everything else and just create.
four: In the morning I sometimes feel lazy when I’ve told myself I want to exercise, stretch, or meditate. I don’t feel motivated. So instead of motivating myself to do something that might take 10, 20 or 30 minutes, I just focus on the smallest action: starting. To meditate or stretch, I just need to put my butt on the pillow (on the floor). To exercise, I just need to lace up my shoes and get out the door. Once I start, the rest is easy, and I’m always glad I did.
lesson: Get your butt on the pillow. Don’t wait for motivation, just start. Motivation will come.
five: As I began to write this morning I heard what sounded like opera music streaming through the walls from my neighbor’s house. What a lovely sound to write to! I immediately began playing some opera of my own, and the uplifting beauty infused my act of creation.
lesson: Surround yourself by inspiration. Music, art, great books, fascinating people.
six: When I feel lazy and don’t want to do anything, I remind myself of the gift I’ve been given. I live an amazing life, and to be given the joy of this world and the people around me, is a complete and utter miracle. Then I ask myself, “Is this how I want to use this miracle?” What a complete waste of something so perfect, so profound, to spend the little time I have in this life on pointlessness and laziness. I don’t mind doing nothing, if it is a nothing that makes me happy. But I also want to create, to help people, to be compassionate towards others, to do something fulfilling and joyous. And so I do.
lesson: Be grateful for the miracle of your life, and ask yourself how you want to spend it. Then get to creating, to making lives better.
seven: I read blogs by fascinating people doing inspired things. Often they will write about something they’re working on, and it sparks an idea in me, makes me want to do something really cool too. Yesterday this happened and I’ve spent hours now dreaming up something big. It might never happen, but that’s not the important thing. Because I surround myself (virtually) with inspired people, I’m more likely to be hit by inspiration.
lesson: Don’t wait for inspiration to strike — you have to meet it halfway. If you want to be hit by lightning, go out in a thunderstorm with a metal rod. Scream at the thundering gods, daring them to strike you.
Awkward? When You Don’t Know What to Say (post by Kirk Weisler)
When you don’t know what to say…
Your insecurities might kick in…causing you to think you should say something. I’ve been here before…filling the awkward void with words that occasionally make the void even more awkward. The problem, if there is one, is typically rooted in a lack of confidence. Confidence doesn’t come from ”knowing just the right thing to say”. Confidence comes from knowing that you don’t have know just the right thing or to believe that there is a right thing. Confidence comes from knowing you don’t have to say anything at all. In fact confidence even allows you to say….”I’m not sure what to say about that.”
If your words don’t improve upon the silence… then enjoy the silence.
A great blog post about “Overcoming the “I don’t know what to say syndrome” can be read by clicking here.
The post began with this quote that I really liked.
“There is no such thing as a worthless conversation, provided you know what to listen for. And questions are the breath of life for a conversation.” James Nathan Miller
It seems to remind us that great conversations are not built on a foundation of speaking…but of listening. As Stephen Covey so wisely and frequently taught…”Seeking first to Understand” is one of the greatest gifts we can bring to any relationship…and any conversation.
My son Jacob recently made a short youtube video that I think highlights this principle in a very clever way. In a moment of teenaged awkwardness… he blurts out just the right or wrong thing…? You decide.
Make it a great day…and say what you need to say…which may be nothing at all.
– kirk Out
Evaluate
Sometimes you have to evaluate WHO brings you happiness and WHO doesn’t.
Spend more time with those who do. And don’t allow the others to steal your time.
~Author Unknown
Sleep Like a Baby
Posted: 17 Sep 2012 07:56 AM PDT
Post written by Leo Babauta.
Problems sleeping can be a major drag on happiness — if you can’t sleep well, you can’t function as well during the day.
Today a reader asked, “I want to spend less time rolling in the bed, and more time sleeping. I wanna be a baby again. Help!”
I love the image of being a baby again — in my head, it conjures up not only sleeping peacefully (though in reality many babies don’t), but growing magically young again, care-free, without the worries that normally plague us and keep us up at night.
I don’t have the magical pill that will make you young again, but I can offer some help with sleep. I’ve changed my sleeping patterns a number of times, and know that it can be difficult. Sleep is a deep part of the body’s rhythms, and it’s one of the harder habits to change. That said, it’s changeable.
Sleep Problems
Let’s take a quick look at some of the problems that keep people rolling around in bed (not in the good way, pervert):
- Not tired yet — your sleeping pattern is set so that you usually sleep later, so if you go to bed earlier, you’re not tired enough to fall asleep.
- Too tired — it’s possible to be so exhausted that sleep is difficult. This tends to be a problem less often than “not tired enough” though.
- Worries — you’ve got something spinning around in your head, so the sleep doesn’t come. Sometimes it’s replaying something that’s happened, or things that someone said, and other times it’s worrying about something coming up, or planning.
- Computers — if you’re on your computer (often in bed), you might be tired but have a hard time sleeping because your mind isn’t unwinding.
There are other issues, but I’ve found these to be the most common. Let’s look at how to help with them.
Formula for Becoming a Baby
So how do we solve the problems above and become baby-like in our sleep? I don’t have all the answers, but here are some of the things that have worked for me:
- Exercise. A good hard workout or run, bike or swim will get you nice and tired. A good yoga workout is a wonderful way to do that, as you learn mindfulness at the same time. Even if the workout is early in the day, I often go to bed with a tired body, and look forward to the rest. Don’t workout right before bed though.
- Get up early. You can get your body to shift its sleeping schedule by slowly getting up earlier. Try 15 minutes earlier than normal for a week, then another 15 minutes. If you get up earlier, you’ll be a bit tired during the day, and when it comes time to go to sleep, you’ll enjoy the rest.
- Establish a bedtime ritual. It takes time to unwind the body and mind. At least an hour before bedtime, start slowing down. Turn off the computer. Floss & brush your teeth. Put away things you were using in the evening. Lay down and read a book (not on your laptop). This kind of ritual helps establish in your mind that it’s time to sleep, and your body takes this cue and begins to prepare itself.
- Keep your room only for sleeping. Don’t eat, watch TV, use your computer, or do other kinds of activities in your room (OK, perv, just one other activity is OK). Keep those activities in the living and dining rooms, so that when you go to bed, there’s just one thing to do. Be sure to make the room dark when you go to sleep too — your body reacts to light.
- Focus your attention. Once you’ve done your bedtime ritual and unwound, and your body is nice and tired, you need to quiet the mind. My trick for doing that: close your eyes, and visualize what you did first thing today. That might be opening your eyes and getting out of bed. Then visualize the second thing you did — let’s say you peed and washed your face, or drank a glass of water. Then you started the coffee but first had to grind the beans. Visualize these tiny steps in detail. I never get past the first hour before I’m asleep.
- Change slowly. Be patient with sleeping changes — they are difficult, because when we are tired, our mind doesn’t have the discipline to stick to changes. Our body and mind want to do what they’re used to doing. But if you change a little at a time, and forgive yourself for “messing up” (there’s no messing up, actually), then you can make changes.
I hope this helps. I will admit that I don’t always sleep soundly — sometimes I have trouble sleeping, but when I use these methods, I can usually cure the sleeping problems.
Sleep is a blessing that I wish on all my friends, all of you included. It’s a much-needed rest that helps us to be truly awake once the glorious new day has come.
Being Right About Others (post by Kirk Weisler)
My wife has a favorite saying that goes like this… “You can be right, or you can have relationships”. The point is not that we shouldn’t seek after what is true, what is best, and what is right…but that we shouldn’t sacrafice relationships on the alter of ego and our need to show others how they are wrong and how we are right.
Still there are many wonderful things we can be right about that don’t damage relationships or individuals and that instead build them. Do you believe that people can become more than they are? If you do …you are RIGHT! Treat people as they are and they will remain as they are. Treat people as they may become and they are much more likely to become more. That is something worth being right about. I think people are awesome – people like you – do you agree?
Make it a great day… by being your totally awesome self!
Kirk Out
Sitting is killing you! Get off your butt, change your life! (post written by Chip Eichelberger)
Sitting is killing you! Get off your butt, change your life!
How much of the day are you sitting or not moving? For many it is 30, 40 or more than 50 hours a week. Dr. Peter Katzmarzyk, a researcher at one the nation’s leading obesity research centers says that sitting, not weight or exercise, is a key factor in determining a person’s overall health. According to Katzmarzky,
“The evidence that sitting is associated with heart disease is very strong. We see it in people who smoke and people who don’t. We see it in people who are regular exercisers and those who aren’t. Sitting is an independent risk factor.”
Marc Hamilton is a physiologist and professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La. As he told Men’s Health, “a man who sits 60 hours at a desk job but still works out for 45 minutes a day five times a week still has a sedentary lifestyle.”
David Agus, MD reports, “if you sit at your desk 6 hours a day is the equivalent of SMOKING a pack and a quarter of cigarettes!” It should be obvious now that TV watching is strongly associated with obesity and weight gain, independent of diet and exercise.
Yikes! Those three quotes should get our attention. The question is what can we do about it now?
Commit to a minimum number of days a month you will get 30 minute sessions to get aerobic sessions ideally in the morning. Aerobic means “with oxygen” – aerobic exercise is crucial to building your heart/lungs and immune system. Track your commitment and LIVE IT on the Get Switched On Energy Schedule on the mirror in your bathroom.
If you work in a typical office situation try these ideas:
Rethink your office – Start having some meetings where you are walking and talking rather than being in a conference room. For some it is literally possible to put a treadmill in your office. I have a Crescendo mini trampoline in my office, (9″ high/36″ wide) that easily stands up and takes very little room. Jumping on this for at least 5 minutes several times a day will make a huge difference in your energy level. Turn on some music and get jumping.
Motion creates emotion!
If you move you will also feel better and can quickly change your attitude from positive to negative.
Leverage technology – On your next con-call can you be taking a walk at the same time? Use wireless technology to get out of the office when possible to move and get some sunshine. Use a wireless headset that allows you to move and stand when you are on a phone call.
Change your routine – Take more small breaks during the day to manage your energy better. Get up to move and stretch or a few yoga positions, walk up or down the stairs, park far away and walk instead of as parking as close as you can, take the stairs not the elevator, get off the bus one stop away and walk the rest of the way, some can ride a bike to work. Bring a small cooler to work and have healthy munchies with you all day and less access to junk.
At home – if you have kids, this should be easy. Play with them outside, invent games, jog, ride bikes, jump on the big trampoline, take walks, play tennis, WALK when you play golf, do your own yard work, do exercises/push up contests during commercials when you watch TV. Have a daily walk alone or with your spouse. To make it aerobic you will need to move quick enough to elevate your heart rate.
Instead of watching all of the football game, try listening to the first half on the radio on a long walk and watch the second half.
I guess it comes down to this – how long to you want to live?
What quality of life to you want to have when you get there? Are you on track now? If not, make some changes to get moving! Keep me posted on your progress.
Please tweet this to your followers and post on Facebook. You might save a life!
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