Raj Daniels

Do you know what cartography is?

It’s the science or practice of drawing maps.

Some of the earliest maps of the United States were drawn by the famous exploders Lewis and Clark. President Thomas Jefferson commissioned them in 1804 to map the newly acquired western half of the North American continent.

How useful do you think those maps would be today?

There might be a handful of landmarks such as rivers or perhaps a large mountain range that still exists, but for the most part the landscape would look totally different.

Maps have to continuously updated, especially in rapidly changing environments. Sometimes a map that is only a few years old can be outdated.

What about maps that seem to misrepresent?

The most popular world map used today is the Mercator map. The way this map is presented leads you to believe that the sizes of Europe and North America are larger than they are and “visually speaking, Canada and Russia appear to take up approximately 25% of the Earth’s landmass, when in reality they occupy a mere 5%.”

So, what if the map you’re using to guide your life is outdated or even worse misrepresents the truth?

What if you have just blindly adopted practices and patterns of thinking without updating them for the environment and time you’re living in?

Learn to question the maps you’ve been given and taught. Don’t fall for the ‘it’s always been this way.’ And remember, even when you have an up-to-date map that all it does it give you the layout of the land. It doesn’t show you all the impediments you might encounter on your own personal journey and it doesn’t teach you how to handle them. For that you’ll have to create your own map.

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What are the first words you say every morning?

Do you welcome the day with joy?

Do you express gratitude for being awake?

Do you tell someone you love them?

Or.

Do you mutter and grumble about having to wake up?

Or.

Do you not pay attention to the first words that you use to start your day?

Starting you day by expressing gratitude and love for yourself and others can set the tone for you entire day.

Your words are not a panacea and they don’t make challenges and problems disappear but they do serve as a reminder that just for that moment all is okay.

It takes less than a minute to set your day or the day of someone you love on a positive course so why not make the effort to do so?

If saying positive words out loud feels a little awkward at first then you can start by thinking them aloud in your head, or even just whispering them so only you can hear them.

The best part of starting your day with words of gratitude and love for yourself and others is that it sets your frame for how you see yourself and the person you’re thinking of.

Start your day tomorrow with beautiful positive words for yourself and others. Practice it for a week and see how you feel.

What have you got to lose?

If it doesn’t change anything for you, you can always go back to grumbling and muttering.

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Look around you.

What do you see?

Everything you see is a solved problem.

Your clothes, devices, home, transportation and so much more are solutions to problems.

This might lead you think and to some extent falsely believe that all the big problems have been solved.

True, but also not true.

You, see. The problem was solved with the ideas and technology on hand at the time.

And some were solved a long time ago.

So now all you have is opportunities.

The million, if not billion dollar question that you should ask yourself is, if I had to solve this problem today, how would I do it?

Make it a game.

Identify a few items in your life that you use frequently and try to come up with ideas on improving or even rebuilding them.

Research new materials and manufacturing techniques and see what you can find.

Business and work is all about solving problems and many times businesses are created because an individual solved a problem for themselves and others said that they would pay for the same solution.

So get in the habit of looking at things not only in their current form, but also from a perspective of how was this made and how could this be better. Who knows what great ideas you’ll come up with?

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Congratulations!

You’ve made it to the top of the food chain.

You’ve out evolved every other animal.

So how does it feel to be on top?

What are you going to do with all your power?

Are you going to use your power to do wonderful things for yourself and others?

Or, are you going to squander it by cowering at every opportunity and by playing small?

You have no idea just how much power you have inside you. And I don’t mean in the sense of raw brute strength. Although even when it comes to pure strength most people do underestimate their own physical limits.

You have the power to build, to create, to heal, to invent, and to live your life everyday tapping in to your unlimited reservoir of power, if you choose to.

Or, you can trudge through life as though you you’re powerless, which can also be true if you believe it to be. But you really have to put your head down, turn a blind eye and ignore all that’s been built and done around you by others that were just like you.

Ultimately the choice is yours. You can refuse to accept that you are indeed powerful or you can embrace your power and live with magnificence. Whatever you choose will be the truth.

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Are you ever amazed by what you can do?

Just think for a moment about all the things you’re capable of doing.

I’ll help you out a little just in case you’re struggling.

You can use your imagination to create an entirely new universe full of characters and scenes that have never existed, and you can do this all inside your head. Science hasn’t yet proven that animals are capable of doing the same.

With the right amount of resources you can travel to almost anywhere in the world. And if you choose to, you can get there by sitting in a metal tube that hurtles your body through time at over 500mph.

With the press of a button, you can use a device to speak to or even see another human being almost anywhere in the world.

Do you consider any of these to be amazing?

Or, do you take them for granted?

Young children make great mentors for learning to live in awe because they haven’t yet transitioned from the miraculous to becoming mundane.

I’m not suggesting that you spend your days walking around with your mouth open in awe at every experience, although that would make for an interesting sight.

I am suggesting that you pause on occasion to appreciate all the amazing things you can do, both inside your head and the world around you. And live a little in awe, your inner child will thank you for it.

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When was the last time you just sat still?

No books, computers, phones, TV or anyone else around you. Just you sitting still, alone with your own thoughts, allowing your mind to digest, format and process all that is around you.

Skipping from one input source or task to another doesn’t give your brain time to absorb all the information it’s exposed to and even more important, it doesn’t get any rest.

And it doesn’t allow you to really think.

Thinking is probably one of the most important gifts that humans have and yet, so often it is underutilized.

Decisions are made on the fly, in between events and tasks because there’s always the next thing to move on to.

But it doesn’t always have to be like that.

You can bake in your own time to just sit.

It doesn’t have to be hours of sitting. Just a few minutes between activities, enough to provide a brief reset so you can move to the next input feeling a little refreshed.

Give yourself the permission and the pleasure of learning to sit still.

Your mind will be grateful to you for taking it of the constant activity treadmill for a few moments of rest.

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Do you have your auto translate on?

You know the one that takes words that people say to you and then gives them your own meaning?

Your auto translate is the one that says to you, hmmm, what did they mean by that?

You’ve probably been caught on the other end of someone else’s auto translate because you’ll find yourself saying something like, that’s not what I meant, or that’s not how I meant it.

You see, what you hear is not always what’s being said.

In fact many times you’ve attributed meaning to a situation even before you’ve heard all the words.

This can be very problematic, especially if you have a tendency to be of a defensive nature.

Your habit of giving meaning to words is deeply ingrained because you probably learned to do so at a very young age.

The environment you grew up in taught you a lot about words, but all that you learned was not necessarily true. And what you learned is now very hard to unlearn.

But you can try on occasion to put your auto translate on pause.

Let the words come at you and just hear them for what they are, just sounds bouncing of your ear drums that you give meaning to.

Don’t forget, the next time you catch yourself saying, that’s not how I meant it, you’ll wish the person you’re speaking to would do the same for your words too.

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How do you entertain an unwanted thought?

Do you welcome it?

Do you allow it to make itself at home?

Some thoughts are like unwelcome guests.

They’re rowdy, make a mess and show no appreciation for your hospitality.

In fact all they do is cause you to feel grief and discomfort.

And yet you allow them back in.

But you don’t have to.

Just like the unwanted guests, you can choose not to allow disempowering thoughts back in to your mind.

Or at least learn to evict them when they do show up.

If you had unwanted guests the last thing you would want to do is feed them and make them comfortable because it would only encourage them to stay longer.

The same applies for the unwanted thought.

You can get in the habit of ejecting an unwanted thought by replacing with different thought. You see, even though your mind is a super powerful tool, it can only hold one thought at a time.

Now you have a choice which thought you want keep.

With some practice you can learn to replace negative thoughts with positive ones if you choose to.

Or like the unwanted guests. You can leave your mind open to any thought that wants to enter and wreak havoc at will.

The thought you let in might not be up to you, but you can decide how long you want it to stay.

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When was the last time you were childish?

Why is the phrase ‘you’re being childish’ a bad thing?

What’s wrong with being childish?

Being childish is beautiful.

It’s untainted.

It’s looking at the world with awe.

It’s fresh and uncalcified.

It’s innocent.

It’s curious.

It’s full of endless possibilities.

Somewhere inside you there’s a childish part of you waiting for the opportunity to express itself.

It’s just waiting to have its Peter Pan moment.

Getting older doesn’t mean you have rid yourself of your childish qualities. Even though your responsibilities change you can still have awe and wonder. You can still believe in endless possibilities.

Let your inner child come to life again.

Not the version that was told by adults how it should be and behave, but the one that was the purest and truest version of you.

It was the original you.

Remove some of the masks you’ve had to layer on with time and find that original childish version of you again.

Just because you’re getting older doesn’t mean you have to act and be old all the time.

And one last thing.

Tag you’re it 🙂

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What if everyone you meet has your best interest in mind?

How would that make you feel?

Could you believe it?

Can you go through life assuming positive intent?

Assuming positive intent doesn’t mean that you go through life with blinders on, oblivious to people’s motivations. It does mean that you decide to take the position that most people you meet aren’t against you or out to get you.

In fact the majority of people you interact with are probably so caught up in their own lives that they have very little time or energy to think about you. At most they are neutral about you.

Yes, there are always exceptions to the rule and you will on occasion come across someone that for whatever reason doesn’t wish you well, but that has nothing to do with you, that’s their problem and a battle they are fighting.

Try an experiment today.

With every interaction you have today assume the person is behaving in your favor. Whatever they say or do is for your benefit.

Just be open to it and see how it makes you feel.

And take this opportunity to do the same.

Have positive intent for everyone you meet or speak to today.

If you don’t feel different by the end of the day, then tomorrow you can always go back to thinking people are against you and don’t have your best interest in mind.

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Newlyweds tragically killed in car crash.

Authorities say new strain of Malaria puts millions of children at risk.

Banks threaten that wave of foreclosures will ruin housing market.

Did you feel that?

These three headlines raised your blood pressure ever so slightly. Even worse than that, they tainted your mind for your entire day.

And yes, I apologize for doing so, but I’m trying to make a point.

I only wrote three headlines.

How many negative headlines do you consume in a day?

Constant exposure to negative headlines is like allowing a boxer to relentlessly jab at your brain.

It will take its toll, especially if you start your day with them.

If you think reading the news, or having the radio or TV playing in the background doesn’t affect you then you’re mistaken.

Your brain is always on and is constantly scanning for information. And due to an inborn survival mechanism it will always seek out negative news first.

Ask yourself this question.

What would I miss if I didn’t hear or see the news for one day?

Or

What if I started my day with something positive and uplifting?

Would it change how you viewed the world?

I’m almost sure it would.

Yes, there are bad things happening in the world, but the majority of them will not change your life.

So refrain from allowing headlines to color how you see the world, especially first thing in the morning. You’re mind and your blood pressure will both be better off.

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You hear, but do you take time to really listen?

You look, but do you take time to really see?

You eat, but do you take time to really taste?

You touch, but do you take time to really feel?

Your senses are what connect you to the world, they allow you to know and understand all that is going on around you.

Like most people, you probably take your senses for granted. And that’s totally understandable.

But what if just once in a while you stopped to appreciate them?

All the information you consume comes through one or a combination of your senses to your brain, and it’s only then that your brain can make decisions about what is best for you.

Briefly focus on your senses by doing a quick sensory audit.

Go through each one of your senses and just for a moment, really experience each one.

This practice will increase your awareness of your surroundings and create the opportunity to be more present in what you’re doing.

Taking time to occasionally ground yourself through your senses is a wonderful exercise, almost like a brief reset in your day.

Your senses are your keys to the world.

Give them some attention and experience what they might unlock for you.

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What will you do with your 26?

Will you malign or motivate?

Will you hate or love?

Will you create or destroy?

It’s almost impossible to comprehend the power behind the 26 building blocks of the English language.

Alone each letter seems to be powerless, just one small squiggle that is easily ignored. But when put together with thought and order they have the power to set the world on fire.

If English is your first language then each thought you express externally or internally is a collection of words build from these 26 blocks.

So, what will you do today with you 26?

I’m using mine to tell you how much I appreciate you.  And that the world would not be the same without you.

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What would the world look like if we all committed to a simple social agreement?

A really simple one that we could all agree on.

Well, at least most of us.

Okay, let’s narrow it down to just us.

You and me.

Are you in?

Here are the terms.

1 – Make one person smile today. It doesn’t matter who it is.

It could be a co-worker, family member, friend or even the cashier ringing up your groceries.

2 – Think good thoughts about one person.

Again, it doesn’t matter who the person is.

3 – Think one good thought about yourself.

Yes, you are important too and you should know that about yourself. You’ve taken yourself for granted for way too long.

That’s it.

That’s the whole agreement.

It shouldn’t take more than a minute out of your entire day to execute all the items listed in the agreement.

Can I count on you to participate?

You can count on me.

Imagine what the world could look like if we all made a conscious effort every day to inject just a small amount of happiness  in the our lives and the lives of others.

I’m going to start by thinking a good thought about you.

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Car didn’t start?

Failed a test?

Fired from work?

Had an accident?

Heart broken?

Lost a loved one?

Lost money?

Missed a flight?

Welcome to the club.

If you’ve experienced any of the above then you are member of the human club.

Yes, the good news is that it didn’t just happen to you but billions of other members.

The list you just read is the short list. There are many members that have experienced and endured so much more.

I know when you joined the club you weren’t told about all the things that you might experience, but it’s because we didn’t’ want to scare you.

Now look at the list again.

Do you see the empty spaces between each question?

That’s where the beauty of life resides.

That’s where the fun happens.

And that’s what I want you to focus on.

That’s where your life will be moving along smoothly and you won’t realize it until you come up against the next challenge.

You will for sure encounter challenges, but that’s the price of membership that’s paid not just by you, but also everyone around you.

However, if you can shift your focus from the price you pay to the benefits you get, and the moments you enjoy, then you’ll realize that it’s well worth being a member of the club.

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When was the last time you painted by numbers?

Remember how the instructions clearly stated which color was matched to a number so you knew the correct color that was to be used on every part of the picture until, voila! You had a perfect piece of art.

What would have happened if the picture was incorrectly labeled?

You would still end up with a finished product but it wouldn’t look like you expected it to.

Well, life is kind of like that.

You have an image in your mind about how life should be.

And you think you have all the colors.

But at times the numbers are elusive.

Sometimes you see them and at other times they won’t appear until after you’ve painted.

And no one really knows which numbers and colors are matched together.

Your colors and numbers are unique to you.

Looking at your neighbor’s life is of little help to you since their colors and numbers are different than yours.

The beauty is that it’s your life and you are painting your own original work of art, and although at times it might feel as though your life is similar to others, it’s still very different.

Your colors are your experiences, perspectives, skills and talents.

So use them all to create your own masterpiece.

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Cookie cutter.

Flawless.

Made to specifications.

Mass produced.

Life is none of the above.

It’s different.

It can be messy.

There are no instructions that work all the time.

There are no guarantees.

Nothing is promised.

Not for you or anyone else.

And that’s the beauty of it.

That’s what provides you the variety of emotions you experience.

Without sadness you wouldn’t know what happiness feels like.

If you don’t experience anger then you wouldn’t know the beauty that is calmness.

If you don’t know hate, you wouldn’t recognize love.

It’s because of all the different experiences you have that you can really learn to appreciate the full range of emotions you have.

So don’t shy away from your emotions.

They’re not wrong; they are giving you a perspective.

And remember, whatever emotion it is that you’re feeling, there’s another waiting for you at the other end of your experience.

What if you build a bird house and birds don’t show up?

Do you blame the birds?

Sound a little ridiculous?

Well.

In your life who do you do things for?

And what if they don’t appreciate what you do?

Getting caught up in the outcome of your actions is a slippery road to travel, especially when you feel as though you are doing something for someone else. Because the reality is that even when you do something for someone, you are doing it to feel good about yourself.

Doing things for others helps you solidify your identity as a good person. It reinforces that you’re the kind of person that does things for others.

Who am I really doing this for is a really good question to ask yourself.

If you can find a way to derive pleasure and satisfaction from the act of doing and not from the outcome then you can possibly alleviate a lot of heartache for yourself.

The next time you build a metaphoric bird house, try to enjoy the process. Take pride in your work and fact that you build beautiful bird houses, even if the birds never show up.

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How many imperfect decisions do you make every day?

If you’re like most people then I would guess you make a lot of them. But you don’t realize that they’re imperfect because they seem trivial.

The breakfast you eat.

The car you drive.

The clothes you wear.

The kind of shampoo you use.

And many more just like these are all imperfect decisions.

But you’re okay with these decisions because in your mind they are easily correctable, and if you didn’t make them you’d be stuck and would never do anything.

The people you see and perhaps even admire that are doing great things in their lives are also making imperfect decisions.

They’re just willing to make them on a grander scale.

You might see them change careers, experiment with big ideas or re-locate thousands of miles from their homes all based on imperfect information.

They have learned to get used to making imperfect decisions because they realize that they will rarely have all the information needed to make a perfect decision.

You too will almost never have all the information you need to make a perfect decision and the interesting thing about information is that it can also change with circumstances and time.

So if you find yourself stuck in area of life that you want to change then don’t wait for more perfect information.

Start making imperfect decisions.

And remember, everything you see around you was made by people that knew that they had to start with imperfect decisions.

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