How easily do you adapt to changing circumstances? Here are a few adaptation-related posts you may have missed. Click on the Quote to read the full message:
“Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.”
“You will not stop a steamroller by standing in front of it, but by letting it run out of steam.”
“Nobody in the history of the world has ever washed their rental car.”
Image from Unsplash by Sam Carter
Throughout our lives, we have been taught we have to “go along to get along.” Fitting in, being one of the gang, and literally being “with it” has made us sheep in many of our communities.
Take a moment to identify all the personal, professional, and community-based groups that herd us together. Consider all the new digital communities that foster similar practices and beliefs.
Where does being a sheep actually work for you and serve your best interest? Where does it clearly not support your most genuine self?
In what areas of your life is it time to act like a lion versus a lamb?
What bold, courageous or simply contrarian thing will you say or do to say goodbye to these shepherds?
Have you ever watched the procession of countries an the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games? Summer or Winter, you will definitely see thousands of athletes from hundreds of countries, each with their own languages, cultures, and traditions. This makes it appear that we are separate and distinct from one another.
With technology, we are in a hyper-connected world, with increasing evidence that through economic, social and environmental factors, we are all in the same boat. We sink or swim together.
Consider reading the latest edition of The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, or his latest book, Thank You for Being Late, to explore your own place in this global boat.
Image from SpaceSys
When you settle under the covers and reflect on your day, what factors bring you satisfaction and put a smile on your face? What represents a day well spent to you?
Most people would say learning something new, and making a positive contribution are keys to living a meaningful life.
What do you intend to learn and contribute today, to make for a much brighter tomorrow?
Image of SS Edmund Fitzgerald by NewsMax.com
As a citizen of Michigan, I greatly appreciate our five Great Lakes, the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world. The lakes have been traversed by native people since the dawn of time, and by western man since the 17th century.
Thousands of ships have sunk in these waters, and an estimated 30,000 people have lost their lives as a result. The most famous was the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, which sank in a Lake Superior storm in November, 1975, with the loss of the entire 29-member crew.
What personal and professional waters are you navigating these days? What stormy or rocky events are causing you to take on water and giving you that sinking feeling?
How and in what ways can you bail any water that has entered your worlds, and begin sailing toward calmer, more prosperous seas?
Image from ultimatecarwashanddetail.com
Are you familiar with the “Endowment Effect”?
I wasn’t either, until I learned that it is our tendency to undervalue things that aren’t ours, and to overvalue things because we already own them.
Do you, like many people, have drawers, closets, or even entire rooms filled with items that you haven’t used or worn in years? What are these items worth to you, and what might it be costing you in having them take up space in your world?
Consider what you would actually pay for these items, if you didn’t own them already.
Imagine that you are planning to change your place of residence. The two criteria I’d like you to consider as you go through the things you own are:
What would stay, and what would go?
What actions will you take based on your answers?
The law of natural selection makes it clear: those who adapt survive. Those who don’t, don’t. Here are a few adaption-related posts you may have missed. Click on the links to read the full messages.
“There are people whose clocks stop at a certain point in their lives.”
“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
“Every success story is a tale of constant adaptation, revision, and change.”
Image from thoughtleadersllc.com
Do you know someone who unleashes anger, judgement, frustration, and upset on you or others from time to time?
Once they’re on a roll, there seems no stopping them, but there is one technique that can take the steam out of them. Choose to demonstrate interest in them by listening even more fully to their issues and concerns.
Use well-structured open-ended questions and layering to gain a greater depth of understanding. With this technique, you will likely help them quickly run out of steam.
Where and with whom could you try this technique, to create more work-ability in this important relationship?
Image from znanje.org
Over twenty years ago I attended a seminar with almost 200 other people. The session leader posed the question:
Why do most people wake up in the morning?
After the audience provided all the expected responses such as to go to work, or to start the new day, he shared his own thought, which was:
People wake up in the morning because they did not die in their sleep.
When the shock of his answer dissipated from the audience, we began a most interesting and engaging inquiry into what it means to be fully alive. Common aspects of being “fully alive” included traveling, learning, extraordinary relationships, spiritual pursuits, and making a bigger difference in the world.
What adjustments and changes are you willing to make in your life to cause you to enthusiastically and energetically bound out of bed each morning?
What one action will you take immediately to build this into a life-changing habit?
Image from Flickr by Roger Jones
Who do you know personally or professionally that is exceedingly stubborn, rigid, set in their ways, and rarely budges in their thinking and actions? These are people who almost never produce new and better results because they are living examples of Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.
Who are the people you know that are open-minded, flexible, and even playful—people who “dance” with life, always exploring and creating new possibilities around them?
Where in your world is it appropriate to stand firm? Where is it time to be more flexible and dance to the music of your own life vision?