Morning Mindfulness - Two Positive Minutes To Start Your Day

I am sure most of you have heard a saying, “When in Rome, Do as Romans Do.” In Russian we have a saying, when living with wolves, howl like one. It basically means the same: blend in with traditions of the place where you live. But have you thought about the flip side of this famous statement?.. Episode 161 - hpln.org/when-in-rome-other-side/   

Communication is so crucial for any business and for personal life. So unless you plan to move to the desert island, I’d suggest you learn how to to connect to people. And here’s a skill I found to be the most crucial when I am talking to people. That skill is…   Episode 160 - hpln.org/best-conversation-skill/

Last time I started talking about communication mistakes I’ve made. Today we have another one, and it’s a biggie. Oh yeah! The question is, how important am I? Especially if I study a lot, get more degrees than a thermometer. Gosh, I’m smart. For sure I have to be leading the conversation. Right? Not quite.   Episode 159 - hpln.org/important-communication-rule-about-me/  

When I was growing up, I had never been a popular kid. Total introvert, homebody, a certifiable nerd. I won’t go into full story today, but you can imagine that even in such a slow pace 20th century, relating to people was the hardest thing for me. I had straight “A’s” at school, and I read every book I could find in the library on a subject I was studying at the university. But I did not have any friends. Do you know anybody like that? Episode 158: hpln.org/communication-mistake-number-1/

To become successful, I need to grow myself, but I need to have a self esteem before I invest into my education, but self esteem comes out of success. You see how it circles around? Not easy to break out! Trust me, I’ve been there too!..

I was listening to John Maxwell, and later I bought his book, called “15 Invaluable Laws of Growth”. In this book he’s talking about number one law responsible for any kind of success, whether financial, business, spiritual or personal. That is the Law of... Episode 156 hpln.org/achieving-success-in-any-area-of-your-life/

As my coach told us, “set the strict rules, but develop a soft implementation plan.”  It works for setting goals, for developing business systems, for communicating with a team, etc. We have to develop flexibility, whether we are driving in the car or moving towards our goals.

I read a great book by Terri Savelle Foy called “The Leader’s Checklist”. She is talking about setting core values. She’s talking about acronym TIES: Timeliness, Integrity, Excellence and Smiles. Those are her core values. Do you have yours? Episode 154: hpln.org/core-values-importance-of-predictability/

We forgive others not because they deserve forgiveness, but because we deserve peace.

Have you noticed that cats don’t waste their energy? They like having a good time, all right, but if they don’t like something, they’ll ignore you and whatever you have to offer. Animals can teach us many things.. well, I’m talking about myself here. Just got to be smart enough to learn. 

I have this tendency to trust people, to give them a chance. And unfortunately I’ve been stung by those who I thought were close friends. Almost drowning in the River of Life, I’d think, WHY? And the answer is in the fable: because this was their Nature.

Do you know what you really want? I met so many people who can talk about their goals, but that’s not what they are looking for. Let’s say for example, I set goal to make more money. Why? To buy a new car. Why? I can’t care less about cars! I just need to get from point A to point B faster and safer. Why? And this can go on and on, until we get to the bottom of it. Find your real reasons behind what you do.

I made some decisions that later I looked at thinking, “where did that come from?” It came from the delusion, programming caused by the environment, close friends, media, whatever, Matrix perhaps. And our mind can rationalize anything we do, because at the moment we think of that idea as the greatest thing in the Universe. Is it? 

Yesterday I promised to elaborate on prioritizing and categorizing daily tasks. This is what worked for me really well, especially when I was going to the university full time, training 3-5 hours a day and reading the whole bunch of books at the medical library. Busy enough? Oh yeah, I studied English on the top of that. By myself mostly.   I would begin with setting priorities. Not numbers as usual, but rather, identify immediate need, must do, should do, want to do, like to do, wish to do...

Perhaps the main and most important concept of Mindfulness is being in the present moment. However, our mind has this habit of drifting away from NOW into the past or future. And I am guilty too, I admit. With multiple projects in life, we simply forget to be present. I am giving you 5 simple steps that help me to develop a habitual mindfulness.

Have you ever been judged for things you’ve done? Or for something you were accused of but have not done? Now, what about you judging somebody? Passing judgment is a natural human response to everything. Even if somebody is judging us, we immediately return the favor: like, how dare you judge me?    I’ve been on both sides of the fence, and trust me, this is a trap you don’t want to get into, regardless which side you’re coming from.

Many years ago, my teacher said to me, if you take all the languages in the World, every song, every piece of music, they all sound so different. However, they all have a common denominator. They have a component that is universal to all of them. That component is silence. You remove the silence, and all that music and languages will become just a white noise. It won’t make any sense. 

Quite often people don’t succeed not because they are weak, but rather because they have too many choices. And that is paralyzing their actions. Trust me, I’ve been there too. And even now sometimes I find myself staring at this metaphorical four legged stool or chair.

Today I will suggest we throw a coin. Shall we? You can use a coin in case you need to make a very important decision, and you have two seemingly equal options to select from. This is where coin comes into play. (This is not a play, but rather a psychological trick... try it!)

Many years ago I heard a saying, “If you have one clock, you know the time. If you have several, then you’re always in doubt.” I totally agree! I see people get stuck in so called analysis paralysis.