Is Your Star Falling?

Even once you accept and get past the awareness of every behavior being a choice, self-doubt doesn’t simply float away off into the ozone. And similarly, pats on the back, “Go get ‘em, Tiger!” coaching, and double booze drinks can feel like gasoline drips flaring up out of your emotional bed of glowing embers.

Even when you know that every circumstance—regardless of intent or time period involved—is the result of a conscious or unconscious choice, you will not necessarily feel reassured about your own sense of stability. You’re more likely to hibernate, or beat yourself up, or do or say something stupid.

Your concept of yourself as a leader or as a mover and shaker, or as The Wizard of Oz, is bound to crumble to some degree at some point (or points) in your life. You are, after all, human. And emotions, after all, are not logical.

So, did this post’s four-word question headline catch you in time, or have people around you already been suggesting vacation destinations and urging you to “chill,” “get out more,” or “get out of Dodge”?

How can you turn this around?

• First, stop whining, bitching, complaining, blaming, punching walls, and—if you’re a thrower—you may want to consider a temporary switch from glassware and your fine china, to Styrofoam.

• Second, question your intents and motives. Ask yourself what’s at stake? Your survival? Your health? Your ego? Your relationship? Your business? Your career? Your family? All the money you have in the world? (Hint: If any of these were probable, you wouldn’t be reading this now.) How about “HAPPINESS”?

• Third, accept the fact that, considering the odds, it’s not likely your upsets are permanent, never-ending, all-inclusive, irreversible, or literally Earth-shattering. It’s probably just that your brains are scrambled eggs and your musculoskeletal system is JELLO. So, think substance!

Pretend your flight is overbooked and over-cargo’d and you need to toss your baggage off the plane in order to get where you’re going. Go ahead. Toss it! If it’s not life or death, just let go. You’ll be surprised at how liberating that can feel.

Next, decide the three most important things to you in your life and list them in order of importance. Then add the next seven items. There you have it . . . your “TOP 10.” This list alone warrants a brief time-out celebration (Uh, sorry, no shots or drugs — just a few whoop-de-do’s will be fine!)

Now, unless you’re on the edge of a cliff, racetrack, or a quicksand pit, take a step back! Look at where you’ve been these past two minutes. Think about where you need to go and what three different ways there are to get there. Take one. GO! If it doesn’t work, you still have two shots left! And one will work!

Congratulations on catching your falling star and for coming a long way (Baby!) from this blog post headline. You may want to consider one last thought:

“A word to the wise is sufficient.”

(Origin unknown . . . but if you are, it is!)

“I’m Sick of Worrying!”

     An important followup note on last night’s blog post topic: “Worry” as noted comes from being too over-focused on the FUTURE, which ignites weapons of self-destruction fuses and pulls the pin out of expectation grenades that inevitably breed disappointment, followed by negativity, depression, stress…

     This is all true, but as I re-read the post, I see that I failed to include being too overly-focused on the PAST as a worry trigger as well. Consider getting caught up in giving either too much attention to future plans and expectations, or in over-and-done-with past events, as “partners in crime.”

     These “bad guy partners” are out to get you, and you can stop them short, before either one ever gets close to delivering harmful effects to you, your family or your business. Success means simply that you need to exercise more of your brain power to deliver increased personal awareness and increased self-control to your SELF! (Considering Einstein reportedly only ever used 10% of his brain power, just imagine what’s possible.)

     Thinking about the past can be productive, relaxing, and instructional, but not once it reaches the point of dwelling on past events. As with allowing future thoughts to become worrisome, our balance and stability as humans is equally threatened by dwelling on the past. 

     The past is over and cannot be changed. Worrying about and dwelling on it is a nonproductive (actually counter-productive) waste of time and energy. Conscious or unconscious, the fact remains that paying over-the-top attention to either the past OR the future—instead of the (much-healthier) present—is a choice.

     To get past the “points of destruction” in your mind, you need to be a detective about yourSELF. Figure out what it is that trips your circuit-breaker, that gets you “lost” in past or future thoughts and issues. Once you know what your “trigger” is, then every time you are aware of it coming to the surface, let it serve as a reminder to pinch yourself or feel your pulse or heartbeat, or take a deep breath…and return yourself to what’s going on right in front of your face.

     Oh, but that’s hard and I don’t know how to do it! It’s hard if you CHOOSE for it to be hard. You can just as easily CHOOSE for it to be easy. As for how to do it, just start paying closer attention to your own behaviors…how you respond and react to others, to situations.

     Keep track of your words and actions. Write your observations down someplace and review your notes every few days. Keep asking yourself what you are learning about yourself right this minute.

     You’ll surprise yourself. And odds are you’ll far exceed your own expectations of what you believed to be possible for your own physical, mental, and emotional health and happiness. Try it. You’ll like it! But don’t wait too long. There’s no time like the present!      

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Input welcome anytime: Hal@TheWriterWorks.com (”Businessworks” in the subject line) or comment below. Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals, good night and God bless you! halalpiar              # # # 

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