Virtual relocation

I've started a new blog in conjunction with my life-coaching practice:

https://theomniapproachblog.wordpress.com/

Anything I might have posted here, will now be posted there.
(Though I may be back someday...)

Thanks for reading!!

Connection

Folks talk.

Some say, about people, things, or ideas.

I find value in the distinction between external vs. internal experiences.

It is in the sharing of our internal experiences that we find meaningful connection.

Pesky procrastination

Do you often put off to tomorrow what could be done today? There just aren’t enough hours in the day, are there?! Do you also have certain standards of quality for your output? Anything worth doing, is worth doing well, right? Would you be surprised to know that procrastination and perfectionism are closely linked? It’s true!

I used to delay action because I didn’t have the time or the energy to give a particular project my usual 110%, and I knew that once I started, I wouldn’t stop until it met my satisfaction, and was complete. It was either 0 or 110, and 0 was frequently more appealing! I would rely on the pressure of the deadline to get things done, rather than work on them in a comfortable and leisurely fashion, which would have allowed more room for creativity and fine tuning.

 

As it turns out, those of us who hold ourselves to excessively high standards are also quite critical of ourselves. In fact, we are even rather judgmental of others, as well. We may not voice our criticisms aloud, but we think them; we spew labels and evaluations all the time. They seem so innocuous; we barely notice that we are doing it. “Stupid driver.” “Rude clerk.” “Hideous outfit.” “I can’t believe he just said that.” “What was she thinking?” “Ugh – I’m such an idiot! How did I miss that?!” 

The truth is, we’re all human. We are all fallible creatures, just trying to do our best with the resources available to us – time, finances, energy, intelligence - as limited and imperfect as they often are. Whenever we are able to muster some sort of acceptance of this fact, and even perhaps an appreciation of the beauty in it, we can harness compassion. Having compassion for ourselves and for others provides us with a certain kind of patience that is very calming

Rather than concerning ourselves with perfecting our performance, we would be much better served to focus our efforts on PROGRESS. Baby steps. That is all that is required to keep us moving forward, and to further us in the achievement of our goals. Mistakes may be made along the way, but they will be smaller, and easier to catch and learn from. In actuality, anything worth doing, is worth doing poorly. Prioritize taking action. Start now!

Habits

I can safely say that one of the key elements to a happy life, has to do with habits.

We all have them - beliefs, thought patterns, emotional responses, thought patterns, thought processes, behaviors, activities... all on auto-pilot. The question is: Are they serving you, or hindering you? To take it a step further: Did you choose any of them, or did any, or all of them, just take root without your consent? Be sure to set yourself up for success by examining all of your automated behaviors, and replacing the unhelpful ones with empowering ones. Here's a great read with some handy tips.

One of my favorite anecdotes about silly traditions and useless habits is a joke that goes something like this:

It's Easter Sunday, and a woman prepares the ham by chopping off the ends and placing it in the pan. Her husband asks, "Honey, why is it that you always cut the ends off the ham?" She wonders for a moment and replies, "You know, I'm not sure; that's just how my mom always did it." Without pause, she hollers over to her mother, who is visiting for the holiday and reclining in the other room, "Mom - how come you always cut the ends off the ham before you cook it?" Mom belts back, "I got that from your grandma - ask her." The woman phones her grandmother: "Grandma, why did you chop off the ends of the Easter ham?" Grandma: "The pan was too small."