Flywheel

Habit is like a flywheel, it is hard to inculcate at the start.  The more you make it turn, the easier it gets.  Once it becomes easier, it is easier to do and becomes automatic.  The idea is to make a habit out of good practices.  Make a habit of best practices......hmmm..... good for organizations too.

I think it was in "Good to Great" that Jim Collins talks about the flywheel effect.  It takes about seven years for the good companies to become great.  Once the flywheel is turning well, the organization takes off!  I have to re-read this portion of the book.  I think I have it on CDs so I will take it in my car today.

Shatter me

Break bad habits by replacing them with good ones.  Make your habits your friends instead of your enemies.  Good habits make us move towards our goals, bad habits prevent us from reaching our goals.

The sooner we realize the difference between the habits that allow us to reach our goals and the habits that prevent us, the sooner we activate our success mechanism.  The success mechanism is a series of automatic responses that allow us to access our higher powers of the mind.

Indecision about the small stuff reduces our time available for the important stuff.  Time is precious, use it for the important stuff!

Slow thinking morning

For some reason, I awoke with a very positive frame of mind.  My thoughts are very present and in the moment and I feel at one with the world.  My coffee is weak and that does not bother me though I do notice it.  It is important to notice and observe and accept and feel okay with it.

Maybe that it is the feeling of success, is to be okay with everything just as it is.  No thought of the future and what needs to get done.  Or maybe that is a slowing down of thinking that will help me tackle the day to come and solve problems as they arise.  So is that confidence?  Yes it is.

On this slow thinking morning, I am feeling confident about my abilities to face up to the world.  I am proud of me and I will face the world with my chin up.

Multiple Boards

Life is often like playing multiple chess boards.  All you have to do is make one move at a given time on each board.  As long as you focus on the board in front of you and follow the tactical rules of chess, the plan for each board develops and within that board the nuances of the game will unfold.  Each board unfolds differently depending upon the response of the other player.

Often, a shoddy beginning (opening) to the venture (game) creates obstacles to later move.  If you are a grandmaster, you take precautions in the opening to avoid difficult situations in the middle game.  Same is true of strategy in life.  If you begin a journey with a good understanding of how the subsequent steps may develop then you prepare for those situations in advance and position yourself accordingly.

On each board, you strategize during the opening and then your next moves become tactics dependent upon the responses.  As long as you are paying full attention to the board that you are on at present, you are likely to be able to make a decent move on each board and therefore make good moves in progression on all the boards.

If you confuse the boards, you get into a tizzy and mess everything up.  Do not get overwhelmed by multiple boards in life.  Focus on one at a time.  

Life in Layers

We seem to have to gently lift one layer in order to access another layer.  Most of time, we are not even sure that there is another layer.  Like transparent Scotch tape that is too thin to see, we have to guess that there is a layer and start gently scraping the surface.  Not too hard, just in case there is no other layer, and we end up scratch the original surface and damage it.

Hard to know when we reach another layer in a relationship.  Suddenly there is a breakthrough and we feel the world move.  These are the choice points in our lives that happen when we are genuine and feel that what we have to do is the only thing which is right.  No second guessing the decision, you make the choice, thinking it will help one person and that the other person will just have to accept it and hope that you will have both relationships hold strong at the end.

I forgive unconditionally, will you do so with me?  I hope so.  Life is meant for love not grudge and regret.  Life is beautiful, it is up to you and me to appreciate it.  There is a layer that you have not seen yet, look for it.  Once you find it, the magic will be yours too.