Personal Strengths – Page 7

Is Your Day Filled With Chaos?

If life always went as planned, we would be bored. But we don’t enjoy days filled with chaos either. You probably, like me, experience both routine and hectic days.

William Braithwaite, an American writer, said, “It is simplicity of intention that gives consistency to life.” True. We never intend to have a chaotic day. We plan for productivity. We plan for success. Some days we win and some days we lose that battle.

When my day is filled with turmoil, there is one trick that always lets me regain control. It is simple, and very effective.

I just step back and take a look at the day’s struggles with a longer term view in mind. I put aside what I am trying to accomplish today, and think about my goals for the month and the year.

It can help release today’s pressure by revealing that today is only one day in my longer term plan. Irregardless of today’s outcome, I see the bigger picture, and then I can reset today’s goals. It also resets my attitude, my energy, and my focus.

Next time you find your day going badly, give it a try!

Are You Getting a Daily Dose of Wisdom?

Man was not born with wings, but we invented the airplane. Man was not born with gills, but we invented the scuba tank. Man was born with a creative and curious mind, and free will. Great discoveries and inventions have come to people that continued to learn and challenge the world.

I think it is a privilege to be able to learn, explore, and dream. As a life long learner, it seems easy for me.

One of my daily habits is setting aside time for learning. If you are reading this, then it may be a habit of yours as well. I often wish I had more time to learn, because there is much to discover. Here are some areas that keep me interested in growing.

Work: Increasing your work competence is always a great idea. No matter what your occupation, there are innovations that can be studied.

People: This category can be useful for everyone. You can learn about personalities, leadership, behavior, health, or even mental thought processes.

History: We have a rich world history from which to learn. You can choose specific eras, or geographical areas, or critical events. It is a great way to put things in perspective.

Nature: Do you have interest in the natural world that surrounds us? You could learn more about plants, animals, weather, and space.

Technology: Technological advances in the last twenty years have changed this world. You could learn more about information technology, science, or even medical advances.

Basic Skills: This is the category that I think helps us learn about living. It includes a wide variety of topics that make life easier, or more enjoyable. Things like plumbing repair, growing a vegetable garden, cooking, music, or a hobby.

Whatever your choice of learning in this world, consider setting aside time every day to learn and grow. Spending only fifteen minutes a day will add up to over 90 hours in a year. Invest in yourself. If you are not, who else will?

Stop the Blaming and Use These 5 Concepts to Improve Your Results

We can all get sucked into the blame game from time to time. When the results you achieve do not meet your plans, it is easy to blame something else besides yourself.

Consistently evaluating your results without blame is a process that can become a useful habit. When I am reflecting on results, here are five points I consider:

1. Preparation. We can’t rely on luck for success. We need to prepare for opportunities and actions. My favorite question: “How could I have prepared differently that would have affected my results?”

2. Resources. We often overlook all the resources available to us. We like to accomplish things on our own. But we should consider other people, equipment, tools, supplies, and information. My favorite question: “What data could have led me to a better result?”

3. Effort. When we don’t succeed a lack of effort is the first thing that comes to mind. When we evaluate effort we need to assess the time and energy we applied to the activity. But we should not overlook other aspects of effort. My favorite question: “How could my effort been more effective?”

4. Critical Decision Points. During reflection we often second guess our decisions. Through this process we can increase our ability to develop future strategy and success. My favorite question: “What decision did I make that changed the course of my result, and why did I choose this solution?”

5. Timing. Your level of success at any endeavor can be affected by timing. Taking action at the wrong time, even if it is the correct action, can lead to disaster. We can reflect on how events unfolded, and if there would have been a better time to take action. My favorite question: “What critical action should I have delayed, or taken sooner, that would have resulted in greater success?”

These are just five different ways to help you improve your ability to reflect on results. I use them, and they work. They help me continuously improve my efforts and results. Feel free to give them a try the next time you reflect on your goals and results.

The Same Old Thing Is Not the Answer

It was a Wednesday evening. My wife and I had just returned from our church. Elliot, our Cocker Spaniel, usually greeted us at the door every time we came home, but tonight he didn’t. We found him lying on his bed, and we could tell immediately something was not right.

I checked the house to see if he had gotten sick, or for any clues about why he was not behaving normal. I found nothing.

We could tell Elliot did not feel well, but did not know why. He wasn’t injured. So we assumed, that he probably ate something that he should not have. We let him rest and kept our eye on him.

About midnight, he started having problems breathing. You could tell he was in pain. We didn’t think it warranted an emergency trip to the vet in the middle of the night, so we just tried to comfort him the best we could. Eventually, he went to sleep, and so did we.

The next morning my wife left for work, and I was left with Elliot. He seemed to be getting better, but was still moving very slow.

Day by day he improved and after a couple of days we thought he had recovered. Then he had a relapse. Then after a few more days he recovered again. Then another relapse.

We finally decided to take him to see a doctor. They kept him for several hours, and ran multiple tests and x-rays. They found a slight injury to his back, and prescribed pain killers, and rest.

Let me tell you, it it hard to get a dog to rest. Yes, dogs rest all the time. Their energy comes in blasts. It was difficult to keep him quiet, when he was ready to play.

It took a few more weeks, but eventually Elliot fully recovered. We will never know what caused his injury. We think he must have fell from the sofa when he was sleeping.

Before he went to the doctor, the weeks we spent trying to let him heal himself were ineffective. Every time he started to feel better, he would become active and aggravate his injury.

There are many situations in life that I find the same. When we are not succeeding, and we keep trying to solve the problem the same way, we end up making the situation worse.

For Elliot there was a simple solution. For most of us, sometimes the change we need is not so obvious. But we know if we keep doing the same thing, we are not going to solve our the problem. Many times we need to get outside help, just like Elliot did.