Monthly Archives: July 2014

It is a great morning if you live somewhere where you woke up to a cold but glorious day. No rain!

Took this photo as I was leaving home this morning. Love the moss on our fence posts. It’s the little things right?

So, finding time for the fundamentals. Who does that anymore?

You.

You should be bucking the trend of complication, simplifying and being the best at the basics.

Why?

Because no one else is. No one else is focusing on the basics. The most successful real estate agents I know make the most calls. Simple.

Doing what you say when you said you were going to do it, in the manner with which you promised, is easy if you’re keeping things simple.

Anything you do that puts off doing the basics and getting them right is not research, optimising, or testing, it’s procrastination. The fundamentals of what you do will never change. Your attitude towards them does. Embrace them. Be the best at them and you will kick arse.

This week sees the culmination of an eight month thought-process and the next steps starting to complete the plan.

It feels great.

No more “gonna”. No more “I’ll believe it when I see it.” It’s game on.

You might have guessed already that it’s car stuff. It is. Behold the mighty Peugeot 205 GTI, which I will be racing in the 2k Cup.

I’ve thought long and hard about even racing and the car I was going to use was a big decision. However, it was made slightly easier by knowing a team who raced a 205 in the 2k Cup and did quite well. By well I mean they finished high up the standings, the car was in one piece and they have spent a heap of time knowing what works.

So quickly today, because it’s late in the day, plans and lists work. This has been proven to me time and time again. I find them really hard to do and then follow to. It’s a discipline you need to practice though, because it makes things slightly more predictable.

This aspect is mostly for those around you. “Here’s what happens next and here’s how much that costs in time / money etc.” can go a long way to developing good, honest relationships and keeping them that way.

This week: pick a goal. Make your list backwards to where you are right now and do the first thing on the list.

My first step was choose a car. Tick.
Next step. Find a car (this took months). Tick.
Next step. Buy the car. Tick.
Make it simple and you’ll do it.

Lying. We all do it. Yes we do.

No matter how mellifluous the voice used to tell them and innocuous the label – white lies, fibs etc. They are still lies and they will catch you out.

Lying seems to start when you don’t want to get in trouble for kicking your sister or breaking a family heirloom. “It wasn’t me?!” Well it wasn’t Santa Claus.

I think we get pretty good at it as kids, the threat of a wooden spoon will do that, and the reason we continue boils down to the same reason – fear.

Fear of loss, punishment or pain or being alone. Even though sometimes we just want to be left alone and out comes the biggest lie of all – I’m fine.

“The average person tells 4 lies a day or 1460 a year; a total of 87,600 by the age of 60. And the most common lie is: I’m fine.”

Someone once told me I had to try and be honest and kind at the same time. No need to lie and nothing you have to remember you said to one person, and another, and another.

It takes a lot less energy to be honest. Being kind at the same time? That takes some thought, but is a lot easier and will add a lot to your relationships.

Next time you hear a fib or lie pass your lips, think about why you’re saying it. What are you in fear, of and should you be afraid? The answer will generally be no.

Face your fears, be honest and kind at the same time and watch the lines fall from your face and the furtive looks over your shoulder stop.

Can’t sleep from the thoughts in my head.

Recently I wrote about exciting things like learning new skills that keep you awake at night. But what about the other thoughts that keep you awake. The ones you would rather didn’t?

You replay events in your mind and they change with different scenarios that end differently. They might go your way or they might not. You worry about your lists, your job, your sales calls. And boom, it’s midnight and you’re not going to get the sleep you need to function well the next day.

Why does that happen? And why does it happen just as you want to sleep. How do you stop the thoughts and sleep?

Psychologists have said this happens because we have trained our brains that going to bed is a cue to start thinking. Bed can be the cue that sets the tossing and turning and thinking off.

So how do you stop them keeping you awake?

• A journal has worked for me in the past. Jotting down what you need to do tomorrow or closing off what happened today can help settle your mind.
• Saying to yourself you’re a good sleeper.
• Only going to bed when you’re sleepy not just rundown or lacking energy.
• Using your bed to sleep. Turn the phone onto airplane mode, read in the lounge, etc.
• Wake up at the same time each morning.

Facebook’s study of how content in your newsfeed has an effect on your emotions has proven that what content you consume, or are aware off, does affect you. So watching an action movie just before you to bed probably isn’t going to be helpful.

If you are a “bad” sleeper try the above, tell yourself you’re a great sleeper and enjoy a well earned sleep each night.