Be Brave Not Safe

Coincidentally this phrase (Mind Like Water) has recently come up in 2 separate contexts:

1. In response to my post on “Do you flow like water, or a brick” a reader referenced “Mind Like Water” as quoted by Bruce Lee, in their comment.
2. As I continue listening to the audio program recommended in the post “How to Maximize Efficiency Towards Goal Achievement” this phrase (Mind Like Water) is constantly reinforced.

As a result, I am inspired to launch a series of posts on this theme.

The goal: help others setup a foundation from which to build a life of effortless abundance.

Doesn’t that sound way too good to be true?

Well, it (a life of abundance) will certainly not be handed to you. And, it doesn’t come for free. You WILL have to work your tail off.

Seems like a contradiction, doesn’t it? Effortless abundance from working your tail off?

The reality is that many people are already doing so (working their tail off), but literally going around and around in circles in the process. What if ALL your efforts were highly focused and moving you daily towards the end you seek? And, you enjoyed the process along the way? THAT, is the effortless abundance I’m referring to.

Yes, there will be obstacles and set-backs. But, we can meet these obstacles and set-backs (that WILL definitely emerge) while proceeding forward with “directionally correct” motion. And, making the necessary adjustments along the way.

Realize this: “Most” people who have the life you admire arrived there, not by luck, or chance, or because it was handed to them. They did it through discipline and hard work.

If you’d like some (abundant life), read on 🙂

This series of posts is all about creating habits that will reward you richly, and is based upon the principle: We either discipline ourselves or someone else will. The choice really is ours.

The topics to be covered include:

• Emptying the mind
• Developing the mind
• Mind the finances
• Mind the career
• Mind the balance

Before we get started on this journey, a question…Do you notice the common thread, in the topics above? The mind! Our mind is a powerhouse and everything starts and ends with mind.

Have you heard the quote: As you think, so shall you become.

This has been attributed to many, including: James Allen as well as Bruce Lee (the latter perhaps getting it from the former). And, you will find a similar quote in the Bible: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he – Proverbs 23:7 (KJV)

In fact, James Allen wrote a short book (more like an essay) on the topic “As a Man (or Woman) Thinketh” which (for absolutely free) you can:

• Read by clicking here
• Listen to, by clicking here

In closing, take a couple hours over the next few days to read or listen to the above. In the coming days and weeks look for the posts, promised above, to provide details on how to have “Mind Like Water” leading to a life of effortless abundance – which results from focused discipline and hard work.

Do you have goals and dreams you are striving to achieve? Has it seemed like a continuous struggle?

Are you often over-whelmed, even stressed out, by the onslaught of daily tasks and activities that you must balance in your personal, family and work life?

It doesn’t have to be that way.

In the spirit of the above, I recently mentioned a recommended reading (7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey) to one of my clients. In response she shared a recommendation: (Getting Things Done, by David Allen).

Shortly after hearing this recommendation I acquired the audio version of Getting Things Done and am finding it to be an absolutely outstanding program!

I’ve been on the path of personal development for a long time. Even so, Getting Things Done offers a great refresher on tactics I’m familiar with and use, as well as many new insights that have really hit home for me.

What I’ve learned is that, at a high level, the methods for achieving high-levels of productivity and goal achievement always involve (at least) 2 major components:

1. Knowing / defining exactly what we want in all areas / aspects of life.
2. Tactics for managing all the detailed tasks and activities in life.

The purpose of this post isn’t to offer a book summary, but an encouragement to read the book or listen to the audio edition, both of which are available at Amazon.com by clicking here.

Coincidentally, a recent motivational quote that showed up in my inbox provides the method to bridge the gap between our dreams/goals and our handling of the daily onslaught of distractions.

You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically, to say “no” to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger “yes” burning inside. ~Stephen Covey

So, the starting point is defining what that bigger “yes” is. The goals and dreams burning inside. From there we simply need to lay out the steps it will take to get there – and then execute.

The challenge emerges when reality hits (every minute of every day)…

• The boss drops by to hand-out a new assignment
• The baby cries
• The roof leaks
• A friend or co-worker asks for an assist
• A police car pulls down the driveway (what now?)
• An upset customer calls
• The voice mail indicator is on
• 42 unread emails are sitting in the inbox
• And, so on…

While each of the above must ultimately be “dispositioned” they do NOT all require immediate attention. But, if we don’t have a fool-proof method for managing all these things we stress out and, ultimately, things end up falling through the cracks.

Getting Things Done describes, in detail, highly pragmatic approaches for managing our daily lives with reduced stress, while ensuring we remain on track to achieve our major goals and objectives.

Some might say: “Achieving high levels of productivity and success is for…someone else. Not me…”

Please don’t sell yourself short!

Think about it this way.

Society evolves based on the learnings of people who have gone before us. All we must do is apply proven tactics and strategies that are available to anyone. Programs such as Getting Things Done masterfully outline how we can more effectively operate on a day-to-day basis.

If you’d like to maximize efficiency towards the achievement of your goals and dreams simply make the investment in yourself.

The reality is that if we are still on this planet we remain a work-in-progress.

Go for it!

Several days ago my wife (Cindy) got a scare. She was passing through the basement and heard a rustling sound in my office. Thinking one of our sons may have been working in the office, she hollered: “HELLO, HELLO?!?!”

Nobody was there…

She then thought it may have been a recurrence of a situation that happened 10+ years ago when a squirrel managed to get into the house; my office specifically. It tore the place up trying to get out.

Assuming this may again have been the case, she quickly shut the office door and ran upstairs to get one of our sons.

Our youngest son (Evan) escorted her back downstairs to seek out the source of the noise. They found nothing. I heard the story later that day.

The following day, on my way to the office, I heard a rustling sound. Upon entering my office, I could still hear the sound, but it was behind me, in the basement.

Turns out there was “something” inside the bag of birdseed sitting by the backdoor. I called to my wife to share my finding and she agreed that that was the sound she had heard the previous day.

I then took the bag outside to release the uninvited guest and found that it was a mole which had somehow gotten into the house. And, smelling the yummy birdseed, crawled its way into the bag.

Vicious looking animal isn’t it? Actually, our find was only about 2 inches long. And, if you didn’t know, moles do have eyes, but they have very poor eyesight being underground most of the time.

The reality is that this “creature” used its sense of smell to find food. Unknowingly, it became entrapped by the very thing its sense was overwhelmed by. That is, it could smell its way to the food, but could not smell its way back out.

Are we like this? That is, do we get twitterpated over a single thing (thought, idea, emotion, person, event, toy), resulting in a headlong dive into a situation and unknowingly become entrapped by it? Let’s not lie to ourselves. We’ve all done it.

The question becomes: did we learn from it, or is this a recurring theme in our life?

As a fully functioning human being we should use all 6 of our senses. “6 senses?“, you might ask.

I’m not going into psycho-babble here…Yes, we have our 5 “physical senses.” In addition, we have a brain that processes and analyzes all sensory input (what I’m referring to as the 6th sense here) and we can/should use that brain to then make decisions before plunging headlong into the next entrapment.

As outlined in a prior post (Question Everything), we can ask ourselves the following question, as we consider our response to any invitation, opportunity or decision:

In light of my past experiences, current circumstances, future hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing for me to do? – Andy Stanley

Moles don’t have the capability to ask such a question. We humans do – if we choose…

Hope you enjoy your day!

p.s. – After releasing the mole onto the snowbank I realized I probably should have executed it, as it is now back to its primary duty of destroying my lawn…