Stress is something that can easily raise its head when life becomes busy. Recently I was sent this via email and it struck a chord with me. Here it is for you to also enjoy:
A young lady confidently walked around the room while leading and explaining stress management to an audience; with a raised glass of water, and everyone knew she was going to ask the ultimate question, ‘half empty or half full?’….. she fooled them all… “How heavy is this glass of water?”, she inquired with a smile.
Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.
She replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you’ll have to call an ambulance. In each case it’s the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.” She continued, “and that’s the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won’t be able to carry on.”
“As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we’re refreshed, we can carry on with the burden – holding stress longer and better each time practiced. So, as early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don’t carry them through the evening and into the night… pick them up tomorrow.
Whatever burdens you’re carrying now, let them down for a moment. Relax, pick them up later after you’ve rested. Life is short. Enjoy it and the now ’supposed’ stress that you’ve conquered!”
A video about the Law of Requisite Variety – how the person with the most flexibility of behaviour has the best chance of getting the best results. Watch it to find out more.
We’ve all heard the phrase: “Knowledge is power.” (And of course, we associate power with success). Yet, this is 100% false.
Knowledge is not power.
For the world finds itself overflowed with highly educated people who remain broke. And right now, as you’re reading this there’s someone sunbathing on his or her own yacht as they thank themselves for dropping out of high school.
But real-life examples of successful dropouts aren’t what exposes the myth that “knowledge is power.”
A French dude named Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis did in 1889 (you’ll see how in a second).
But first, let’s dive into fundamental physics.
Physics 101:
In physics, a fundamental lesson concerns itself with power.
Defined, “power” is the rate at which energy is converted. And the lesson continues on to define two forms of energy:
Potential Energy (which is the energy stored in a system — like your mind or body)
Kinetic Energy (which is energy driven by action).
In physics, potential energy doesn’t equate to power; it’s merely potential power.
The true form of power that everyone seeks is “Kinetic” power. A concept that French physicist Gaspard-Gustave de Coriolis uncovered in 1889. The word “kinetic” stems from the Greek word kinesis, which means motion. “Kinesis” is the same root as in the word cinema (referring to motion pictures).
So basically, true power (kinetic energy) is driven by action or application.
Thus, Knowledge is really “potential energy” (or “potential power”).
Whenever you hear anyone use the phrase in the future, kindly guide them through that physics lesson. If they look at you like you’re insane, take it as a compliment
Recently I received an email that had me thinking about how I spend my time. And the email offered to share with me a simple perspective shift that could help me clarify my priorities in life.
You may spend time on a variety of different activities in the course of a day. Some of these will only take up small slices of time, like 15 or 30 minutes. However, over the course of a year or longer, these small slices can really add up.
Here’s a little table showing how many 8-hour days you’ll devote to certain activities over the course of 1, 5, and 50 years based on how much time you devote to them in an average day. Eight hours is a typical workday for many people, so this will give you an idea of how much “work” you’re investing in these tasks over time.
Per Day
Per Year
Per 5 Years
Per 50 Years
10 min
7.6 days
38 days
380 days
15 min
11 days
57 days
570 days
30 min
23 days
114 days
1,141 days
1 hour
46 days
228 days
2,281 days
2 hours
91 days
456 days
4,563 days
For example, if you average 30 minutes per day processing email, you’ll spend the equivalent of 23 8-hour days processing email this year. That’s equivalent to 4.6 weeks if you worked 40 hours per week. This means that you’re investing more than one full working month out of each year, just processing email. And over the course of 50 years, you’ll spend the equivalent of 4.6 working years doing nothing but processing email (assuming 50 work weeks per year at 40 hours per week).
And how easy is it to spend 30 minutes or more per day on email?
If this jolts you a bit, then it’s time to reassess how you’re investing your time. Do you really want to spend the equivalent of several years out of your life processing email? Checking Facebook? Watching TV? Would you deliberately dedicate 5-10 years of your life to any of those activities?
Having a long time perspective can sharpen your daily decisions. Wasting 15 minutes here and there may not seem like a big deal, but if you get into the habit of doing this every day, it means you’ll waste the equivalent of 2.3 years of your life over the next 50 years. Do you really think it’s wise to discard all that time as worthless?
What do you think? Does this perspective have you re-thinking how you spend your time… or not?
Two Dutch researchers did a study in which they had groups of students answer forty-two fairly demanding questions from a board game you may have heard of, Trivial Pursuit. The first half were asked to take five minutes before the game to think about what it would mean to be a Professor and to write down everything that came to mind. Those students got 55.6% percent of the questions right.
The other half of the students were asked to first sit and think about Soccer Hooligans. They ended up getting 42.6 percent of the Trivial Pursuit questions right.
The “Professor” group didn’t know more than the “Soccer Hooligan” group. They weren’t smarter or more focused or more serious. They were simply in a “smart” state and associating themselves with the idea of something smart, like a Professor, made it a lot easier to blurt out the right answers.
Now, the difference between 55.6% and 42.6% may not seem like much but it is actually enormous… Getting over 50% or under 50% is the difference between passing and failing!
So, the question is: What, if you were to think about being like it, would most boost your results in a given situation? Before golf maybe you want to be thinking about how Tiger Woods would be thinking (About the golf game, not what happens after!). Before you speak in public maybe you want to be thinking about how your favourite public speaker would be thinking. Before you make that sales call maybe you want to think about what would be going through Zig Ziglar’s mind. It may only make a small difference, but the small differences can quickly add up – especially when it comes to differences in mindset!
Where are you at with your social circle? Do you have all the friends that you want? Could you do with some higher quality friends? Recently I received an email from a friend I haven’t spoken to since my days at University. She has a question that I thought you may enjoy the answer to. She asked:
I feel like I have limited friends right now and don’t know how to meet new people. When I do meet new people, I can’t make a conversation….. I’ll be quiet most of the time, like a snap shut clam. Due to the nature of me being so shy and I don’t have many friends thus I don’t get to meet potential partners.
And here is my reply:
You’ve certainly got a journey ahead of you. Though, it is probably the most rewarding journey that you are ever going to undertake!
Right now you have a comfort zone. You have a space that feels really comfortable for you to operate from. And when you push the walls on that comfort zone it gets, well, uncomfortable. You must start to push those walls, make yourself uncomfortable and do it regularly. Because the harder you push on those walls the faster they will shift and move.
I guess the best place to start is with the friends that you already have. How many people do you have that you could call up and go for a coffee, a drink or a meal with? 1? 10? 100? Now, the easiest place to start is with the people you already know. What I want you to do is to make at least three ‘dates’ to meet people you already know but ones that you haven’t spoken to for at least 3 months. Facebook message them, text them, call them or whatever it takes to start the ball rolling again.
It is a small step. But a worthy one. If you can re-connect with existing friends then connecting with new people will be easier as it uses the same skills :)
Does that make sense? Do you have questions? Let me know…
This is just the start of the journey towards building a really strong social circle. But it is an important step. If there is one thing that you take away from this then take away the importance to taking action. It is easy to be less than happy with how things are. It is easy to whinge or complain. But none of those things change anything. Until you TAKE ACTION things aren’t going to improve.
How could you start taking action to build your social circle today?
In January 2011 I met with Karen in Brisbane. This is a quick video we recorded together with a few invaluable tips from Karen on how to make the most from your Facebook presence. Especially valuable if you are using Facebook with your business.
P.S. This is the 8th video I’ve posted to YouTube since the beginning of 2011 – well on track to 52 already!
An interesting piece of writing from the tombstone of an Anglican bishop in Westminster Abbey:
“When i was young and free and my imagination had no limits,
I dreamed of changing the world.
As i grew older and wiser i discovered the world would not change
So i shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country,
But it too seemed immovable.
As i grew into my twilight years,
In one last desperate attempt,
I settled for only changing my family, Those closest to me,
But alas, they would have none of it.
Be The Change,
And now i realise as i lie on my deathbed,
If i had only changed myself first,
Then by example i might have changed my family,
From their inspiration and encouragement
I would then have been able to better my country,
And who knows, I might have changed the world”
Or, as was put more simply by Mahatma Ghandi, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Want to learn more? Then get in touch! We regularly teach NLP, Hypnosis and Time Line TherapyTM Techniques around the world. The best way to learn more is to get in touch with us by email:
