Friday thoughts #9 - Easy fixes to many problems

​Good morning to my superhero colleagues!

Have you noticed in Ark, Noril, all the book shops around town and in the library that there is a self-help section… but no “help-others” section..??
I would like to remedy that someday… and perhaps start my own “help-others” series 😊

I feel the philosophy of helping yourself first is correct though, it is difficult to help others from unstable ground. Taking care of yourself first is important… So today I want to share some common themes and notes I have read several times in self-help books.

Having completed around 80 of them this year I have noticed reoccurring points (yes 80… you can joke if you want,  I needed a lot of help 😉…)

These are the main points that have stood out to me regard easing stress around work and home life that are easy to implement:

1. Get enough rest: This is not the same as “get enough sleep”. Unplug and chill out occasionally. Rest is time disconnected from what we are constantly engaged with. 
2. Follow the 80/20 rule:  Understand that 80% of results come from 20% of the effort. I really appreciate this.
3. Have a morning routine: Structure your first waking moments with a routine. I get up an hour before everyone else in my home, I have my ritual water and lemon, shower and enough quiet time to read before my monsters wake up.
4. If a tasks takes only 5 minutes to do, do it first: Boom – you’re productive! Getting an easy win starts momentum.
5. Plan the day the night before: As a father of 2 this one is golden! I always talk to them the night before about what is happening next day. We get the bags packed, clothing laid out and breakfast decided… it takes away so much of the morning stress.
6. Work on your communication: Despite the ease of connectivity, messages, calls, email, posts, social media… we still have difficulty in transmitting the clear message that we want to be understood. Clarity in communication is a skill.
7. Practice gratitude: Find 3 things in each day that was good, and give yourself mini pep talks about why they were good. The reason for this is focus. What you focus on becomes larger. If you worry or concentrate on the negative, it occupies more and more of your thoughts. If you flip that, and focus on the positives then a greater percentage of your time is spent with a smile.
8. Exercise: This doesn’t need any listing of benefits. It’s one of those things your know you should be doing any why. And it doesn’t have to be a lot. 30 mins walking still
9. Prioritize what’s important: Everyone has time. This is one to be careful with. How you priorities signals to others what’s important.
10. Believe in the pancakes: We all know that the first pancake is a failure. We’ve learnt that as a general rule of life. It’s so engrained in our kitchen DNA that if our first pancake is perfect, it gets immortalized with extreme pride in our social media platforms. It’s normally the second or third pancake that is perfect... An edible first is just luck. So approach tasks, new things and challenges with the same understanding… Failure is absolutely possible. It may take a few tries to get it right. Have the confidence to try and the strength to accept the result and try again.

Remember: Small, smart changes.
B