Individual Catalyst
Tuesday, 25 February 2014
Complaining
You don't have the right to complain unless you are willing to do something about it.
Complaints should have two parts...
1. The complaint
2. The solution
Case closed.
Thanks for stopping by.
Monday, 16 September 2013
Time
Time
Time is our most precious gift in
life. It is an undefined,
undetermined resource that we have limited control over. This lesson is generally learned far
too late in life. So how do you spend your time? Who do you spend your time with? What makes you happy?
What brings you the most energy?
If you spend time doing the things that you love with the people you
enjoy most in life, you will be happier, healthier and you will truly maximize
the time you have on this earth.
Have you considered what would
happen if you simply surrounded yourself with the people and things that make
you feel great? What if you spent
more time doing the things that you truly love to do? What if you could have more time, feel more love and
discover amazing things about yourself?
Would you do it? Would you
make difficult decisions after asking yourself the challenging questions?
Do you surround yourself with the
people you love the most in life?
Do
you surround yourself with people that maximize your potential?
Do you surround yourself with the
people that help you grow and become the person you always wanted to be?
Do you do the things in life that
you have always wanted to do?
Do you live your passion and spend
time doing the things that bring you the most happiness?
Do you maximize the time with the
people you love?
Do you eliminate the relationships
with the people that bring you down?
Do you tell the important people in
your life that you love them?
Do you wake up with a smile on your
face?
Do you cry while watching “The
Secret Millionaire?” (Guilty pleasure)
Do you feel that you get the same
amount of love that you put out in the world?
When you eat chocolate, do you
close your eyes and feel the chocolate melt on the tip of your tongue? (Another
guilty pleasure)
These
are truly important questions.
Life-altering questions.
The answers might disturb you.
The answers might unlock a tremendous feeling of change and excitement.
Allow me to make things very easy for you:
Do more of the things you enjoy
doing.
Stop allowing the people you don’t
even like to influence your life.
Stop making excuses. Don’t stand in your own way.
Do what you love. Love what you do.
Sounds easy right? It isn’t. Now is the time that you have to take an inventory of your
time, effort, friendships and relationships that impact your life. You will now have to make some
challenging decisions. Sometimes
there are some sobering realities in the answers to the questions above. You may even feel guilty or sad about
making the best decisions for yourself.
But it will be worth it.
Happiness is worth it. Love
is worth it. Being the most
awesome “you” is worth it. Living
the best life is worth it.
To bring this all into perspective,
imagine the alternative. What if
you keep doing the same things that you are doing now. Will things get better? Maybe. Will things miraculously
change? Unlikely. Will you be any happier or more awesome
by doing the same things that don’t bring you happiness? No need to answer that.
Allow me to share a story that is
near and dear to my heart. This is a happy story with a sad beginning. In May of 2011, one of the most
important people in my life was taken from me. My father, a great man, was 61 years old when he
passed. Throughout his life, he
was unselfish enough to help me understand the greatest things in life. To this day, I practice his
ideals. My father was a simple
man. When he laughed, he laughed
whole-heartedly. When he spoke, I
listened diligently. I attribute a
lot of who I am and who I am becoming to my father. During his 61 years of life, my father loved. My father felt love. He didn’t spend much time with other
people, but when he did, they were true friends. People he admired.
The time we spent together was special. There is no one else I respected more on this planet than my
father. The reason I am telling
you this story is to illustrate how precious time can be. The Friday before my father’s passing,
I made dinner for him. Nothing
fancy, just a couple of hamburgers and some sweet potatoes. He didn’t care for the sweet potatoes
because they were the healthier alternative. We ate dinner, shared stories over dessert and parted ways
after the traditional hug and a kiss on his cheek. The last words that I said to my father were “I love
you.” He returned the gesture and
repeated the words that I spoke to him.
Little did I know, that was the last time that I would ever hear his
voice. Imagine if I didn’t tell
him that I loved him? Imagine if I
didn’t hug and kiss him one last time? One simple decision can affect your
entire life.
Life is incredibly special. Life is delicate. Life is a gift. Life is so frickin’ awesome that
sometimes I don’t even know what to do.
Life should be filled with high fives, hugs and kisses. Life should be about other people, but
most of all; life is about you!
Life is about you making the best decisions for yourself. You are the one that has to live with yourself
at the end of each day. You’re the
one that will be asking yourself the hard questions. You are the one that has control over your decisions.
So go out there and make the hard
decisions, they are ones that build the most character. They are also the ones that will
realize the most happiness.
Thank you for taking the time to
read the Individual Catalyst. I
truly hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it!
Wednesday, 21 August 2013
Balance
Balance is one of the first things
we achieve at the beginning of each and every day. Without realizing it, you find balance as soon as you get
out of bed. As your body contorts
reluctantly and transitions from bed to floor, you are looking to find
balance. So why is it that we
often fail to continue to maintain balance throughout the day? Of course, there
is a large difference between merely not tripping over ourselves and
continually making conscious, balanced decisions throughout the day. Or is there?
What does balance mean? Much like success, balance means
different things to different people.
After many years of trying to maintain a balanced lifestyle, I have linked being balanced to
being true to yourself, your beliefs and what you are looking to achieve in
your life. Throughout
the day, you will be challenged to make endless decisions. What to eat? What to wear? What to say?
How to say it? Who to say it
to? Do I high five or just shake
hands? Maybe hug? Too soon? Apologize? All of these decisions will amount to various
results. That is why we must be
conscious of the decisions we make throughout each day. We must also ensure the outcome of each
decision aligns with our intentions.
For example, if you are trying to
lose weight, perhaps a hearty stack of buttermilk pancakes with fresh creamery
butter and pure Canadian maple syrup is not the best option (although probably
the tastiest). Instead, perhaps
some sprouted grain bread with home made guacamole and a farm-raised poached
egg would be the better option?
Especially when you pair it with a fresh, wild-blueberry smoothie with
Greek yogurt, vanilla protein powder and some organic honey. Now that is a different food blog
altogether. My point is, ensure that your decisions line up with your
goals. Every time we are required
to make a decision it is an opportunity to come closer to or remain farther
away from our goals. If your goal
is to buy a home, then you will want to save for a down payment, closing costs,
furniture and perhaps some money for renovations. If you go to a store and see an amazingly unique Ermenegildo
Zegna single-breasted, Euro-fit, two-piece suit with hand stitching around the
lapel, is purchasing that suit (or two) bringing you closer or farther away from
purchasing a home? The answer is
obvious, although you will look really good in your apartment or parent’s
basement.
Decisions are the foundation on
which our future is built. Every
decision we make has a direct effect on our lives and those that we choose to
surround ourselves with. The direct effect of your actions and attitude will
impact others. Not only are you
capable of changing your day, you can also influence everyone around you. As profound as it sounds, your actions
have an undisguised effect on other people’s day. Your actions throughout the day are similar to a pebble in
calm water. As small as your
gestures seem to you in the moment, the ripple effect becomes larger and more
exaggerated.
Every morning I wake up with a
smile on my face. As soon as I
wake up, I’m already ahead of the game.
By smiling, I set the course of my day from the very beginning. Here is some advice to
maintain balance throughout your day:
1.
Start right. When
you wake up, make the conscious effort to stay positive and in balance. There are so many obstacles that
morning provides. Darkness,
sleepiness, perhaps the temperature.
Your reactions to these hurdles will create the path of the rest of your
day. Start positive. Stay
positive. You may trip over some stuff,
bang into a wall or two. Chances
are, no one saw you, so it’s ok.
Get over it.
2.
Be grateful. Take
a moment to think about the things and people that you are fortunate enough to
have in your life. It doesn’t have
to be out loud, just think about the people and things that you look forward to
everyday.
3.
Take your time.
Before you answer a question, greet someone or make a phone call. Take a second and think about the best
way to handle the situation. It is
better to take longer to answer someone then to spout off a quick response that
you may regret later. People often
respect the time you take to assess the situation rather than the quickest
response.
4.
Don’t sweat the small stuff. If you make an effort to be the best person you can be,
everything will work out the way it is supposed to. If you make a mistake, it is an opportunity to learn. So learn and move on.
5.
Seek out and pursue opportunities to help others. There are many adages about giving
back. Albert Einstein once said:
"It is every man's obligation to put back into the world at least the
equivalent of what he takes out of it." To me, a great sense of accomplishment washes over me after
helping someone. Whether it is
opening a door, helping someone with groceries or carrying a hot water cooler
to helping someone learn a new craft or skill. Give back. Give
often. To follow one great quote with another: "No one has ever become
poor by giving." Anne Frank.
Now you have the tools to embark upon and maintain a
balanced day. All you have to do
is practice. There is no time like
the present.
Thank you for investing your valuable time and
visiting the Individual Catalyst. Wishing you another awesome day!
Monday, 12 August 2013
How do you start your day?
Welcome to the Individual
Catalyst. The objective of this
blog is to showcase both simplistic and intricate things we can do to foster
change in our own lives and affect the people around us. My goal is to share ideas with a
community of like-minded people that will embrace the opportunities to
influence others in a positive way.
It is no mystery that the media is
a conglomeration of fear mongers.
The sad thing is, they were right about sales. Soft Drink makers are now showcasing different activities so
that you can burn calories to consume their sugary water. Cheez Whiz doesn’t even contain cheese
anymore. In a world full of
imitation, instant-gratification and genetic manipulation, we need to get back
to the simple things in life.
We are surrounded by
“convenience.” Most people wake up
to an alarm that ensures they are up on time, press a button on a machine to
make coffee for them. They will
also need to press a lever to toast the bread they put into the toaster. They take their coffee and toast and
continue to sit in front of a computer and press another button to allow them
access to an infinite amount of information. Unfortunately, the information that most people read is the
news. Whether it is local news of
a community leader stealing money from the people that were kind of enough to
elect them or a political leader half way across the world barrel rolling his
country back in time another 50 years.
The bottom line is, people allow others to influence the first thoughts
to their day.
What if you woke up to the thoughts
of the things you love? What if the energy of the morning was spent thinking
about the things that you are thankful for? Why not celebrate qualities about
yourself and others that you are truly grateful for? It is easy. I
do it every morning. Simply take
30 seconds (or as long as you like) to give thanks for the things that fill you
with happiness. Here’s an example
of how to do it:
“I am thankful for the health of my
mother, our relationship and the time we get to spend together. I am thankful for the love of my life,
and appreciate the happiness I feel around her, everyday. I am grateful for my personality and
the way that people respond to me. Thank you for the opportunity to help
others. I am thankful for my body,
my ability to compete and stay strong physically and mentally.”
You can create an attestation of
your own. It merely takes some
thought about what makes you happy and what you are grateful for. Starting your day with appreciation
will impact your day in the best possible way.
This is just one way to create
change. It starts with you.
I truly hope you enjoyed the first
post on the Individual Catalyst.
If you enjoyed it, please feel free to share it with people you care
about.
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