How would your life be different if you cared less?

Now don’t confuse caring less, for being careless. These are two entirely different things.

Caring less is more about what others think of you, and even in some cases, some of the thoughts you have about yourself.

Caring less about everything else going on around you allows you to focus on what you believe to be important. Caring less helps you shut out all the noise and shine a light on what you want to prioritize.

Caring less helps you avoid the perfection trap. When deep down you know you’re doing or have done your best work, then caring or worrying less about the outcome allows you to be more creative and put more of yourself into your work.

Caring less has nothing to do with compassion or empathy for others; in fact, I would strongly argue that caring less gives you more compassion for yourself. Caring less what others think about you gives you the freedom to be more of who you really are; it allows you to be the most genuine version of you.

Caring less about what’s next also allows you to focus on the present, to really pay attention to what’s in front of you right now.

Caring less does not make you carefree, but it can alleviate some of the pressures and stresses of daily life.

Caring less can almost be thought of like a secret superpower. Just imagine all the things you could do and say, if you just cared a little less. But like any other superpower, caring less should not be abused.

So go out today and care just a little less than usual and experience how much more you’re willing to try, and reveal more of the real you. If you find that caring less doesn’t work for you, you can always go back to caring more.

P.S. Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it please share it with one person you love.

Observe.

Judge.

Label.

And repeat.

This is an efficient process and allows your brain to take in a lot of information without getting bogged down. It allows you to move through life at a fast pace.

But what if you’re judging and labeling incorrectly?

What if you’re judging and labeling based on incorrect information?

When you judge something or someone, you have to compare it to something else, otherwise judging is impossible. More often than not, you’re judging against, good or bad, safe or harmful, friend or foe. And you’re judging against information you’ve been taught, experienced, or have been exposed to through some form of media.

Since your experience is limited, the majority of your judgments happen against information you’ve been taught or exposed to.

What if that information was already biased to begin with?

Now you too have the same biases.

So your yardstick that you’re judging against is not a clean slate.

Why is it important for you to realize this?

Because your biases and prejudices are inextricably tied to your belief system and your beliefs are what drives your day to day behavior.

There’s a high probability that you’ve either missed or are going to forgo opportunities that could be extremely beneficial for you because of your biases and prejudices.

But you don’t have to continue in this way.

You can instead change your pattern to:

Observe.

Be curious.

Label.

The act of being curious can be a game-changer for your entire life. Being curious instead of rushing to judge can open up a whole new world of opportunities and possibilities for you.

So see if you can go out today and modify your behavior pattern by being curious instead of being quick to judge. If you do, you’ll quickly realize that if you change your patterns, you’ll change your life.

P.S. Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it please share it with one person you love.

How much unlearning do you need to do?

Now you might say none, which could be true, yet highly unlikely.

Everyone has at least some information that was taught or picked up along the way that is either no longer relevant or true.

So much emphasis is put on learning, and the majority of it is done while you’re still young and haven’t developed the curiosity or courage to question the things you’re being taught. So you take everything your parents and teachers tell you at face value, rarely questioning the legitimacy of the information.

Then you take all that you’ve learned into adulthood, and as you move into the bigger world you begin to realize that perhaps not everything you were taught is true, or no longer applies.

And that’s when you begin to question the veracity of the things you were taught?

Fortunately, some of what you were taught is based on foundational theory that can be proven and tested to be correct. But that still leaves a lot of grey area.

Perhaps your parents or teachers had specific agendas or beliefs that they taught you because they believed them to be true and had themselves never stopped to question or unlearn. Or maybe they had intentionally misled you, not out of malice, but justified it under the guise of trying to protect you.

Whatever their reasons were is no longer important. If the information is no longer serving you or you’ve realized that it’s no longer true or even obsolete, then it’s your personal responsibility to unlearn it.

This can be a very difficult process because as you begin to question one thing, there’s a possibility that the string you pull on begins to unravel so much of what you believe to be true. And you might begin to hesitate because many of your beliefs are foundational to the person you are. However, this can also be an opportunity for you.

As you see the world through your own eyes and experiences you can begin to decide what you what information you need to unlearn that’s been holding you back. You do so without blaming those that influenced you earlier in life, in fact, you appreciate them for giving you your start in life. And then you move forward learning and unlearning as you see fit to do.

P.S. Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it please share it with one person you love.

What’s the latest new gadget?

What’s in vogue right now?

What’s trending?

Whatever it is that’s trending, will soon be ending.

It’s only a matter of time.

It could be hours, days or weeks, but whatever is in, will soon be out.

What will you do then?

When all you’re left with is stuff that’s out?

What will you do when the new wears off?

When will you decide to step off the trend-mill?

I’m going to let you in to a little secret about trends.

It’s not the trend you’re after. It’s the feeling that being a part of the trend gives you.

You want to feel as though you’re ‘in, hip, in the know.’

You want look and feel like the people representing the trend.

But you forget that they get paid to make you feel that way.

Because of technology trends are now cycling through at breakneck speed. As soon as a trend is launched or catches on, there’s another one right behind it. In fact there are teams of individuals working on what will be ‘trendy’ ten years from now. They’re designing clothes, color pallets, cars and all kinds of items that will become the next trend.

Yes, many of the trends you see are in fact being manufactured. And because of the all the readily available data, it’s becoming easier to do so.

So if you’re going to engage in trend chasing then prepare for a long journey. However, you can always choose to step off or even never engage. But if you decide to stay on then remember, it’s the trend-mill – Tr with no End.

P.S. Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it please share it with someone you love.

What do you think of when you hear that a person has succeeded against all odds?

Who determines the odds?

Oh right, the statisticians.

And how often are they wrong?

According to statistics we are all here against a great number of odds. I recently heard that scientists estimate the probability of your being born at about one in 400 trillion.

Now isn’t that something…400 trillion.

So now that you’ve beat such great odds of being born, what are you going to do next?

Or are you worried that the odds are against you?

What if you didn’t know about the odds against you?

How often have you heard the words?

She’s the first person to

He’s the first person to

We can’t believe they did that

A new world record

All words describing people and organizations refusing to bow to the odds against them.

So the next time you want to pursue a personal goal and a kind, caring soul tells you that it’s against all odds, just smile and say, I’m here aren’t I.

Do you believe you can teach old dog new tricks?

10 human years is when a dog is considered to be old. What about humans?

What is your definition of old?

At what age do you consider yourself too old to learn new things?

I recently met a man that is 77 years old and he told me about his father who is 103 years old and how he’s learning to you use the new smart phone and smart watch that recently bought himself.

What about you?

Are you still willing to learn new things or have you decided that you’re done?

Committing to being a lifelong learner is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Not only will it keep you current with the fast paced, ever changing world. It has also been shown to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Don’t be intimidated by learning. Learn at your own pace and use the tools and resources that work for you. Just commit to never stop learning, even when you are an old dog.

I’ll love you only if…

Does this sound familiar? Even if you’ve never said it out loud, have you thought it?

Do you hold your love as a bargaining chip that you only share when people do things you want them to do, or only things that please you?

Loving unconditionally is not the same as trusting unconditionally or is it about being a ‘soft’ and allowing people to take advantage of you. It is about not expecting and just sharing a piece of you without attaching conditions.

Unconditional love is about being at peace with yourself despite the actions of others. It’s also about you not having an agenda for another person.

Unconditional love doesn’t come easy because it’s a direct challenge to your ego. It’s a constant battle between how the world is versus how you think the world should be.

The secret is that unconditional love is freeing. It allows you to be at peace regardless of what is going on around you. It’s one of the few things you can control.

Try loving unconditionally for just one day. In all your interactions throughout the day just let people be who they are, send them thoughts of love and notice how it makes you feel. But be careful, you might enjoy it and then people will have to adapt to the new version of you.

What can I do?

What, can I do?

Can you see how the comma changes the entire meaning of the question?

If you use the first ‘what can I do’ when faced with a challenge then you feel as though you have no control. On the other hand if you use the second one then your mind switches to finding ideas and resources to overcome the challenge.

This is a simple mental adjustment but can make a huge difference in your life. It moves you from passive position to an active role.

You can also use this tactic in anything you’re trying accomplish. Choose something you want to get done, ask yourself ‘what, can I do?’ And then make a list of 3-5 really small things you can do right now to get you started.

Develop the habit of moving the comma, and see how it changes your life.

What is the most overwhelming thing you’re doing right now?

Is it parenting, working, studying, being a spouse, trying to lose weight?

Is it all of the above and more?

If it’s really that overwhelming then stop doing it right now.

There you go, you’re off the hook. Does life feel better now?

Or do you think I’ve lost my mind?

Well maybe I have. But stick with me for a minute.

At any one time you have an entire jumbled mess of things going on in your mind so what you’re experiencing is overload. And when you are overloaded everything seems difficult because your mind can’t think clearly.

One way to alleviate the feeling of overwhelm is practicing not being in all modes at one time. This doesn’t mean that you can stop being a parent, spouse or stop studying etc. it just means that you learn to switch between modes, even for a brief period of time.

The best way to start dealing with the feeling of being overwhelmed is by stopping, even if it’s just for a few moments.  To re-center yourself and on the role or task at hand and ask yourself what is important right now and only focus on that.

Do you ever find yourself saying ‘I wish someone would, build this, fix that…fill in the blank?’

Can you imagine if the Wright brothers, Henry Ford or Steve Jobs would have asked the same question? Where would the world be today?

It’s easy to fall in to a pattern of wanting others build products or invent things to solve problems that you encounter. But what if you took matters in to your own hands?

If you’re experiencing a continuous problem in your life with an existing product or service then there’s a great chance that others too are feeling the same. So why not try to fix or improve it?

You’re probably hesitant because you believe you’re not an expert or don’t have the right qualifications or education, and that might technically be true but that shouldn’t stop you from trying or at least investigating.

Generating ideas of how to improve and invent things is also a great exercise for your brain. It doesn’t matter if all you have are bad ideas because almost everything you see around you started either as a bad idea or an idea someone ridiculed or didn’t understand.

So the next time you see or feel that there could be a better way to do something don’t wish or wait for someone else to do it, try to do it yourself. And don’t worry if all you can do at first is write down what you think is a better way, because many of the great ideas you see around you started the same way.

What is your personal brand? And yes, you do have one.

Your personal brand is not what you say you are, but how people feel about you.

When people think about you or hear your name, what are their feelings and perceptions about you? What do they say about you when you’re not around?

Now you can influence how people feel about you by behaving in a manner in which you want to be seen but you have to be consistent because if you’re not then you will tarnish your own brand.

And being consistent is hard unless, you always remain true to yourself and behave as the person you really are, not what you think people want you to be.

You are the CEO of you and the great thing about brand you is that you always have a choice about how you want to be seen and thought of, so choose wisely.

Do you have a personal best?

Do you know what a personal best is?

A personal best is a common phrase in athletics that indicates the best time or score achieved by an athlete in a particular event.

I can hear you now. But I’m not an athlete. And I believe you don’t have to be an athlete to achieve a personal best. I also believe some healthy competition with yourself can be fun.

What if you attempted to set a personal best in an area of your life?

It could be something as simple as how fast you can make your bed today, something big like how much money you could earn in a year or even playful, like how many people you can hug in a day.

The wonderful thing about a personal best is that you set the challenge for yourself and you’re the only person you need to beat. And just imagine what could happen if you learned to push yourself a little for a better version of you.

What do you do when you feel wronged by someone?

Do you harbor the injustice and let it fester like an open wound or do you forgive and move on?

Learning to forgive will be one of the most powerful things you can learn to do. It will always benefit you more than the person you’re forgiving.

When you don’t forgive you carry with you the open chapter of whatever happened to you and continue to fuel to your feeling of resentment. Forgiveness provides you with a way to close the chapter and move on.

Forgiveness is not the same as forgetting. And it doesn’t mean that you’re right or wrong. It just means that you’re willing to let go.

You will never be able to control how people act towards you but you will always be able to control how you choose to respond to their behavior. Realize that most of time when people do something to hurt you they are only doing what they think is right and not out to hurt you.

Choose today to stop mentally revisiting the incidents with people in the past that have hurt you. You’ve already been carrying the burden for too long. Forgive them and leave them in the past where they belong.

Do you feel as though you have too much to do? The truth is that you probably do, and so does everybody else.

You will always have an infinite number of things to do and you will not know the outcome of any one of those things until you do them. You might think you do, but you really don’t.

Feeling overwhelmed with too much to do is common source of stress for many and often leads to not doing anything. The feeling of too much to do can literally freeze an individual in to a state of inaction.

The inaction usually stems from not being able to decide what to do first. This is because by nature, if you commit to doing one thing then you are deciding not to do something else and that’s where the inaction happens, from the uncertainty.

So, when you feel as though you have too much to do, know that what you’re actually experiencing is the uncertainty of what to do first and if it’s the right thing to do.  And unfortunately, this feeling will never go away.

One way to address the feeling of too much to do is to take the smallest action you can towards one small to do. The action itself will give you will help you bolster your confidence as you move towards your larger to do’s.