Our world of distractions

We live in a world filled with advertisements that tries to sell us things that we ‘usually’ don’t need. We see them when we drive to work, surf the internet and read the newspapers. As we start to lose our identity in them, we tend to consume more then what we really need and spend more then what we can afford. There has never been a better time to simplify our lives and know ourselves better. We can start by knowing what matters to us most, from that point we can choose what we need to consume. One of my simple strategy is to invest in the things that can offer substantial value to those I interact with. If I don’t have an answer for that simple question, then I should rethink my actions.

Developing our minds

We often think that the world revolves around us with the idea that everything and anything that does not conform to our own perception is rightfully wrong. I often try and flip that thinking the other way around, that the world as we see it is a reflection of ourselves. More often than not, my environment gets frustrating when I am frustrated. My love life struggles when I don’t love myself. I get frustrated with my loves ones when I have unresolved issues. It took me years to realize this and I am still on this journey.

Our mindset is the basis of our reality and we can in return change that reality. How can this be done? By focusing on our mindset – Robin Sharma said that by controlling our thoughts we control our mind, by controlling our mind we control our life,  by controlling our life we control our very destiny. I am convinced that material gains are pointless and focusing on our mental development is the best investment. Our mind can be use to bring benefits to others.

Waking up at 6am

Like what most people do, I have a set of new year resolutions that I have to accomplish by the end of this year. Half of those are about the new habits that I am hoping to hot wire into my thick skull. For this article I want to share with you my desire to wake up at 6am every morning.

Today is my second day and I am already feeling the benefits of waking up early. I have 2 additional hours to spend with myself. It is going to be a morning ritual for me. Each ritual will last 30 minutes in the following order - namely rejuvenation, harmony, mindfulness and cleansing.

My exercise routine requires me to do a run around the park, hopefully to not trip over myself. Maybe do a little breeze walking even though my girl does not consider that as a respectable exercise routine. Following with that I will proceed with the harmony session, which includes me spending some time with my musical instruments. The mindfulness session is all about learning about oneself and re-evaluating what is the next step for improvement. Cleansing will be the last in preparation for work. So here is the tactic in point form.

5:50 am - Wake up (Drag myself out of bed)
6:00 am - Rejuvenation (Get my Nike shoes going)
6:30 am - Harmony (Pick up the violin)
7:00 am - Mindfulness (Think and observe the clouds)
7:30 am - Cleansing (Prepare for work)
8:00 am - Go to work

Simplifying my smart phone

Feeling overwhelmed whenever you turn on your smart phone? That is because all the applications sitting on your phone are just screeaaaming for your attention. Just imagine this; our brain has to process every application to check for new notifications or whether we need to use it to get something done. Now apply that overhead with the number of times you turn on your smart phone.  It can be mentally draining and overwhelming. I have simplified my smart phone to be even smarter. Have you? 

Our world in a bubble

All of us are living in our tiny little bubble. It represents our very own version of the world in which we live in; this includes our idealism, beliefs and truth. The point to note here is that life can be pretty frustrating if we try to forcefully change another person's bubble. It is good to know that when someone is frustrated with you, it does not mean that you are wrong, it just means that your bubble is not necessarily the same as the other person's bubble. How you see the world is not necessarily how the other person sees it. When you are frustrated with someone, first ask yourself why should the other person's world conform to your world? I think we can better influence others if we approach it that way.