Words With Myself

I lost the battle but won the war

My worst nightmare happened, I failed. Well, not really, but I did lose my competition at the weekend. I did, however, win something invaluable that day. I won my respect and I finally learned something that I knew was true but never truly believed. I don't have to prove myself to anyone, I don't have to be something for other people, I just have to be something for me. I am proud of myself, I am proud of what I accomplished and what I was able to do and out of every victory I have ever had, I have never been able to truly say those words. It took losing to know what winning truly is, to truly know the meaning of success and not know it just by others definition of it. I am playing my own game now, fighting my own fight, this is my life and I will not allow it to be democratised.

Knowledge is Power

School and me did not go well together, the main thing I thought I learned from school was that I was incompetent. This, however, is not the case. I just didn't learn the way you are supposed to learn in school, I didn't conform to the generic "good pupil". So many people end up feeling like a failure in school when it is really school that is failing you, to make it worse, they blame you. You didn't pass the tests because you weren't good enough, you didn't try or you were a bad kid, this is what I was told and I am certainly not the only one. Education is not the enemy, knowledge and intelligence are not things to be hated or feared, you just have to learn the way that suits you best.

The Blame Game

We often want to feel more in control of our lives but how often are we voluntarily giving up control? We can often feel like life is happen to us, that we are victims of misfortune or bad circumstances. We can make statements like "They made me...", "I have to because..." or "I can't because I don't have...". Statements such as these are powerless, they make it seem like we are not in control of our own lives. We can change the narrative though, we can put ourselves in the position of power, take control and take responsibility. We can stop playing the blame game.

Adjust the scope to keep things in focus

We often view situations in our life as far more significant than they really are, that job interview, the public speech you need to make or the sale you want to make with a client; all these things can seem world ending if they don't end up successful but in truth, it doesn't matter. Other opportunities will come, other people and other chances, in the grand scheme of things and a few years down the line, this will be but a blip in your life.

Eat, Sleep, Schedule, Repeat.

More of a practical episode than usual, but just coming back from holiday I didn't want to miss an episode and I didn't have much time to prepare. I realised that I needed to get back into the swing of things by going back to scheduling my days in order to get the most out of my time, I have been feeling like I have no time lately and with having so much to do, I want to schedule my days so that I have more time to do everything I want to do.

Change is the only constant

Being yourself can be hard at times, it shouldn't be, but it is. Naturally, most of us want to make others happy and want people to like us but this can come at a heavy price. We change who we are to please others, we change to fit in and to make our lives easier so we meet less resistance from society. Change is not to be feared, but we need to make sure we are changing for the right reasons.

Live a hard life

An easy life may seem like the ideal life, but everything that is meaningful is always hard. To live a meaningful life we must do the hard things, this means voluntarily taking on responsibility. Leaders, Parents, Charity workers and community leaders, roles like this are highly meaningful but also require taking on the burden of large amounts of responsibility. Choose to live a meaningful life , don't run away from responsibility and challenge, instead seek them out. 

Put your own mask on first

Is putting others before yourself really always the best thing to do? In this episode we discuss self-prioritisation and when we help ourselves, we help others. Selfish is a label many fear being applied to them, this fear isolates people into a state of unrelenting giving to others no matter the cost to themselves. You are not helping anyone by burning yourself out trying to solve all the worlds problems and not giving yourself a moments thought. It is time to prioritise you. 

Opposites Attract

If you look at your life and the components within it, it may seem natural that what you pursue is the opposite of what you fear. Naturally we avoid all the things we fear and think we are no good at, this satisfies our self-preservation requirements and makes us feel safe. However, there are many times in life that we are required to do the things we fear in order to get the things we want, sometimes we must run in the opposite direction of comfort and pursue strength instead. What are you running towards and what are you running away from?

Lead The World to Water

... But don't force it to drink. If you want to create real change in the world, you must inspire. Personal change leads to localised change. Inspiring your friends and family to see the positive impact of the changes you are making will cascade to the people in their lives too. You can change the world by inspiring as many people as possible, by being the example of the good you want to see in the world and proving that it is possible to those with doubts. Instead of telling people what they need or should be doing, focus on your own growth and commitment and let that shine through to everyone.