There is an old saying by Ralph Waldo Emerson that goes something along the lines of, "What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say."
Could it be that one of things that clutters up our lives and our business relationships is a lack of truth and integrity?
I got to thinking about that this past week after an experience with a business that had great sounding words about integrity - man, it really made you want to be part of a business like that.
Unfortunately, the experience proved to be something different than the words and I lost faith in that business.
Thinking that over made me take a new look at how I do things. Do I always keep my word? Can others trust me when I tell them something?
Not only does a lack of truth and integrity destroy trust in others toward you, but it also destroys trust in you toward yourself. And that comes out in our actions in all kinds of ways that we are often unaware of.
I don't know about you, but I want to be a person of integrity. So I decided to add a little item to my daily to-do list for awhile. I call it an Intergrity Check.
At the end of the day, I simply take a few minutes to think back over the day and question whether there was anything I said or did that wasn't in integrity. Try it - you may surprise yourself at what you discover.
This may not be something you would normally think of when it comes to organizing, but think about how much untruth and dishonesty - even those little white lies - can clutter up your mind and heart and affect your life. Might be worth adding an Integrity Check to your daily list for a few weeks to see what comes up for you.
Showing posts with label mental clutter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mental clutter. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Mental Clutter
Clutter isn't just the stuff laying around the house or work space. Clutter is also about what goes on in your mind.
Think about it. Your mind is a fantastic thing, but even it needs help. If you aren't organized in your space, your time and your to-do lists, guess who is going to try to remember all that?
Yup - your poor over-worked brain. The thing is, you may not even be aware of a lot of that because it is going on at a subconscious level. But you wonder why you're feeling tired and stressed, and why it's hard to work well even when it seems you have time.
How do you help your mind?
By creating a series of systems that you learn to trust. For example, if you have a tickler file where you keep all the items that need to be done on a certain day, and you have yourself trained into the habit of using it daily, then your mind heaves a sigh of relief because it knows it doesn't have to remember that anymore.
Think about it. Your mind is a fantastic thing, but even it needs help. If you aren't organized in your space, your time and your to-do lists, guess who is going to try to remember all that?
Yup - your poor over-worked brain. The thing is, you may not even be aware of a lot of that because it is going on at a subconscious level. But you wonder why you're feeling tired and stressed, and why it's hard to work well even when it seems you have time.
How do you help your mind?
By creating a series of systems that you learn to trust. For example, if you have a tickler file where you keep all the items that need to be done on a certain day, and you have yourself trained into the habit of using it daily, then your mind heaves a sigh of relief because it knows it doesn't have to remember that anymore.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
The 24-Hour Rule
One area of clutter or chaos that we probably don't often think about is our mind and emotions. Yet it can be one of the most important areas to deal with.
Today I want to share a great idea I recently heard via Harvey Mackay. He tells the story of Don Shula, a professional football coach. One of the reasons for Shula's great success was something he called the 24-Hour Rule.
The basic idea of this rule was that regardless of whether his team won or lost, they had 24 hours during which they could celebrate their victory or brood over a defeat. They were encouraged to feel their emotions - of success or of failure - as deeply as they could.
But once the 24 hours was up, all of that was to be put behind them and they were now to focus all their energy on the next game coming up. It was a powerful way of keeping both victory or defeat in perspective.
So what about us? Do we have a way of clearing the decks emotionally? When things go wrong, as they always will at some point, do we brood and fret over the mistakes we or others made till it drags us down to discouragement and failure? Or do we feel what we feel, face it, deal with it and move on?
I really like this idea of giving yourself 24 hours to face whatever is going on, and then putting it behind you and moving on. What do you think?
Today I want to share a great idea I recently heard via Harvey Mackay. He tells the story of Don Shula, a professional football coach. One of the reasons for Shula's great success was something he called the 24-Hour Rule.
The basic idea of this rule was that regardless of whether his team won or lost, they had 24 hours during which they could celebrate their victory or brood over a defeat. They were encouraged to feel their emotions - of success or of failure - as deeply as they could.
But once the 24 hours was up, all of that was to be put behind them and they were now to focus all their energy on the next game coming up. It was a powerful way of keeping both victory or defeat in perspective.
So what about us? Do we have a way of clearing the decks emotionally? When things go wrong, as they always will at some point, do we brood and fret over the mistakes we or others made till it drags us down to discouragement and failure? Or do we feel what we feel, face it, deal with it and move on?
I really like this idea of giving yourself 24 hours to face whatever is going on, and then putting it behind you and moving on. What do you think?
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