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The Quote Series: Why It’s Good To Be Self-Disciplined

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cakeThe word ‘discipline’ can have many negative connotations.  We can associate it with being restricted in some way or being prevented from doing that which we want to do, it can also be associated with corporal punishment and therefore with pain.  Is it any wonder then that today’s society is perceived as lacking the discipline of our forebears?

Nowadays we are perceived as a generation of people who, through lack of discipline or knowledge or peer and/or media pressure seek instant gratification, forgoing the foresight to assess the results of our current actions on our future selves.

Maybe our society, in an effort to ‘be all things to all men’ has become too liberal, or maybe we’ve just forgotten the benefits of a disciplined life and the long term advantages this can have for us, or, by contrast, the difficulties which await us in the future should we choose to live an un-disciplined life now.

Below I’ve picked out a few quotes which delve into the subject of discipline, with an emphasis on why it’s so important.  A key concept to remember though is that discipline isn’t something we ‘do’ to other people.  Instead, the emphasis is on self-discipline, which, in time sends out a clear message to those around us about our values and underlies our personal integrity.  It is also likely that our self-discipline will ‘rub off’ on those around us, especially our children who, of course, learn from our actions. [Read more…] about The Quote Series: Why It’s Good To Be Self-Disciplined

Labels and Definitions: Do They Serve You Well?

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windowDo you know who you are and fully recognise the real person who lurks inside?

Think about this for a moment and ask yourself ‘do my actions reflect the person I really am?’

I was thinking about this view because we are so fond of putting labels on ourselves, whether they are good or bad, and wondered to what extent we live up (or down) to these definitions.  I was also thinking about the old adage that ‘actions speak louder than words’ and I am sure there have been times when you’ve witnessed a disparity in what somebody says and what he then does.  But of course, we can be, and sometimes are, all guilty of this trait.

I wonder why this is?  Is it because we want to impress someone or maybe we want to be liked or to fit in?  Or maybe we just don’t know ourselves as well as we think we do, in which case, it wouldn’t be self-evident that we were in fact not acting consistently with the person we believe ourselves to be.

Placing labels on ourselves is normal and obviously helpful in allowing us to define who we believe we are to other people.  But let’s just have a look at the idea of definitions. [Read more…] about Labels and Definitions: Do They Serve You Well?

Are You Looking for Peaceful Moments?

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streamDo you lead a frenetic life and crave those peaceful moments that allow you to drift away?  Or is your life calm and pretty much running as you would like?  Most people, I guess, will be living somewhere between these two extremes and will experience periods of calm countered by periods of relative chaos!

Picture this:  it’s been a stressful day in work – as well as dealing with your so called day job, you’ve dealt with panicky clients on the phone, your boss has had you running around putting out fires, plus you’ve had to take multiple phone calls from home as your children are on half term.  By the end of the day you’re completely frazzled and want nothing more than a chilled glass of wine and a hot bath! [Read more…] about Are You Looking for Peaceful Moments?

Of Ladders and Rocks!

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Of Ladders and Rocks!

Does life sometimes feel like a perpetual merry-go-round?  Either we can’t get on or we can’t get off!  There’s always far too much to do than there is time available to do it and even when we manage to catch a passing chair and get cracking with our to do list, it’s a race to fit in as much stuff as possible before we fall off again!  Sometimes it feels like it’s never-ending!

To add insult to injury, while we’re trying to control our day-to-day activities, we never really seem to get ahead with the things that really matter to us, or the things that will really make a difference to our long-term future, and so we keep catching the ride, and then watch ourselves merrily go around in circles!

Does that sound familiar?  I must admit that my life can descend into this kind of merry-go-round chaos on occasion.  It’s characterised by times when I’ve taken on too much either because the project sounded so interesting I just couldn’t walk away or because I was just too embarrassed to offend and didn’t say no when I knew that I should have. [Read more…] about Of Ladders and Rocks!

Beat Temptation and Achieve Your Goals!

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beat temptation

I absolutely adore chocolate, which as anyone who knows me will know is an understatement!  It’s my biggest temptation, the one thing that can see me tumble from the diet/healthy eating wagon if I’m feeling even just a little bit wobbly.  So you could say for me that chocolate poses a major temptation to achieving my health goals.

I know for certain that I’m not alone in feeling this way, we all have our pet temptations, things that will tempt us away from the unfamiliar or challenging goal path we are trying to negotiate.  But, as we know, overcoming our temptations can be a difficult task.  However, keeping on the straight and narrow will have the effect of strengthening our resolve to continue, whereas slipping away from our planned path tends to make us feel guilty and sometimes also a bit devil-may-care, resulting in us giving up on our goals altogether.

We think of temptation as something observable: that (delicious) bar of chocolate; that extra half an hour in bed so it’s too late for our morning jog; that extra cigarette, but, it’s the less tangible things that can really mess up our attempts to improve our lives. [Read more…] about Beat Temptation and Achieve Your Goals!

Do You Need Motivation?

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do you need motivation

Motivation, or lack of, to be more precise, is cited as a major cause of our inability to reach our goals.  We all feel that we need to be motivated to lose the weight, take the exercise, write the book, save the money etc.  But is this really the case?  Do we need a healthy dose of motivation in order to achieve any of these things?

The difficulty with a lack of motivation is that it can be wrapped in many different guises, and so we just assume that we’re not motivated, rather than thinking that there may be another reason for our lethargy.

Sometimes we just feel overwhelmed with the things we think we have to do and consequently, we fail to make a conscious decision on what we should progress and instead fall into the trap of doing nothing.  Ironically this is also a decision.  We have decided, albeit unconsciously, to do nothing.  Consequently the feeling of overwhelm not only continues, but is further compounded by guilt!

We often feel the pain of failing to make a conscious decision and then bemoan our  inability to move beyond the ‘something’ that is holding us back from taking action.  But what is this ‘something’?  Sometimes we’re not even sure that we know what’s causing the road block.  Maybe it’s tiredness, laziness, resentment (why should I do it, no one else is doing anything), boredom or overwhelm, as described above.  But, there could be many other emotions rattling around our heads, never really making themselves distinct enough for us to deal with directly.  They become a fusion of negative thoughts which ultimately result in inertia. [Read more…] about Do You Need Motivation?