Author: MAÔ

Wandering around, exploring the Divine, figuring life out. No guarantees, no promises. Just day by day, an inner and outer journey.

Routines pt. 1

by MAÔ, posted in Advice

The benefit of routines is the creation of a kind of daily specialization. Routines program your body to daily perform the same tasks (or similar tasks) at the same time. Your body knowing this, it starts to prepare for that task as the time nears.

You free up precious decision-making capabilities, your mind already aware of what you’re going to be doing. Then it can focus on limiting or ignoring potential distractions.

Routines are extremely beneficial, and routines can be designed around any number of specific needs – morning routines; workouts; meal planning; scheduling meetings (or running meetings); etc.

Some examples of morning routines can be found in My Morning Routine from Benjamin Spall and Michael Xander. 99U has a small book called Manage Your Day-To-Day. And of course, Tim Ferriss’s books Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors are full of examples you can use.

Christmastime is here…

by MAÔ, posted in Holidays

Today, I’ve set up a Christmas tree, and helped with some outdoor decorations. At two houses. Neither one was mine.

And that’s great! Helping others set up for Christmas is part of getting in the spirit. It’s not a copmpetition of who has the best decor. It’s a collaboration of good tidings.

Here’s a photo of my friend’s house.

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And my big contribution was making sure that the Y in “JOY” was lit up. Before I helped, it just said “JO”.

And everything else was extension cords.

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So, even if we’re not quite to Thanksgiving yet, “Merry Christmas, you filthy animal!”

What you are

by MAÔ, posted in Advice

There’s a tendency to use the word failure as a description of a person who has failed. But people are not failures. Someone may have failed, but it does not make them a failure. Often, those who fail are persevering.

If you have a disease, you are not that illness. In the same way, if you have failed, you are not that failure.

You are who you are supposed to be. Trying, and failing, and persevering. And that is enough.

How much does one need?

by MAÔ, posted in Health

Second admission: I have too much stuff.

My last house I lived in about a 600 square foot cottage on nearly half an acre. I didn’t particularly like the house, but I loved the yard.

Moving into it, I had too much. It got crammed into nooks with no hope of me going through it. That was my fault. I hadn’t at the time learned about decluttering and minimalism. It was only when I was nearly moving out that I started getting rid of stuff. Over twenty boxes went to Goodwill, and more went in the trash. Just stuff that had accumulated.

I talk with friend about accumulation often. It’s amazing all that stuff that we keep in case we need.

Now, I’ve been without what you’d call a permanent residence for about two years. And if you’ve read the blog for a while, you know I’m a bibliophile with a penchant for acquiring new books…

But I want to live lighter. I want to live more nimbly, and more simply. With less, one is freer to travel and explore. With less, there is less to clean. Less to look through when searching for something.

How much does one need? Admittedly, much, much less than I currently have.

The challenge of letting go

by MAÔ, posted in Health

First admission: Letting go is a challenge for me.

There. I said it. Admitting it is the first step. You see, I think a very specific way. I was first alerted to differences in the way that people think while listening to a talk given by Dr. Temple Grandin. In this interview, she describes that process.

I don’t think in pictures. I think in the abstract. For me, visualization is difficult to achieve. I don’t see many pictures in my mind’s eye. I have done exercises to increase that ability, but I’ve made little progress.

But emotional context, I can recall with 100% clarity nearly in every instance. I can tell you exactly how I felt when something occurred. And because of this, I tend to attach those feelings to items that were present at specific moments… a lot of items. Which can then be complicated when trying to declutter, because items will have an emotional life. As I’m sure you can understand.

While we work through the clutter of our lives, it’s important to deal with the emotions, positive or negative, that arise as well. Otherwise we won’t change our patterns.

Checking in

by MAÔ, posted in Advice

Every once in a while it’s good to check in. How does this feel? Are you noticing any discomfort?

They tell you this in yoga, but it’s true for life as well. We go through so many days blind to the experience – just getting by. Check in. At least weekly, but daily is better.

My check-ins are scheduled on my calendar, every Sunday. Sometimes I forget them, it’s true. But I know that when I do, I can expect the week to veer off-course in unexpected ways.

When fear leads

by MAÔ, posted in Advice

There are times when doing that one thing seems so scary, it’s nearly impossible to take the first step. Fear stopping you in your tracks; leading you away from your goals.

Steven Pressfield calls this the resistance. But it has many names. Practicality. Complacency. Normalcy.

The vast majority of us are just skating by, no more sure of ourselves than any other. What we consider to be normal is that same fear leading all of us.

What happens when you give fear the backseat? What do you do? The truth is, only you can answer that. But I bet you it feels a hell of a lot better than letting fear have control.

Rearranging

by MAÔ, posted in Writing

After three years, I’ve changed my tagline. No longer am I trying to keep it together. Now it’s all about exploration. I’ll be changing the look and feel of the blog as well, though I’m still committed to daily postings.

That’s been a challenge, but one that’s kept me focused these past couple of months. I’m planning on some positive changes to complement some other of the other projects that I am working on. Hopefully I’ll have more to say on that before the end of the year.

And that’s coming up soon!

Thoughts on goal-setting

by MAÔ, posted in Pathfinding

What do you do when you’ve lost sight of the peak? You reorient. That means asking questions about what is in your life. Everything. Yes, it helps if the goal is in place so that you can compare where you are to where you want to be.

But what if you don’t really have one? Or, it’s a more simplistic, immediate goal? Let’s say you can’t quite make yourself set a five- or ten-year plan.

So start small.

You want to get out of debt? Before you make that purchase, ask yourself, “Will this bring me closer to that goal?”

Unless it’s a business purchase to increase revenue or start a new venture, or some financial investment to increase returns, it’s a hard no. We know this. That’s why this goal in particular can be so difficult. You’d never buy anything!

(Obviously this won’t apply to monthly bills, or things like groceries. But make sure you have a budget and stick to it.)

One other issue that arises is when two goals seem to contradict each other. For instance, debt reduction vs. buying a new house. But if you remain focused on the steps, you can reduce your revolving debt – which will lead to a better rate on your mortgage.

And that’s all it is. A goal is a road-map. Stick to the map, achieve the goal. Then set a new one.