Tag Archives: motivation

Self Reliance

Self reliance. To believe in oneself. Not necessarily to cast off society and rely entirely upon thyself for sustained life, but to believe thyself hath the wherewithal and capacity to follow thy true North. To have the confidence to hold trust of thy community. To learn, to change. To sear thy fear with clenched teeth, grit, determination, and strength.

Self reliance. Not just a pretty phrase from the lips of sustainability life coaches with a chicken coop, but an indication of insight into thyself and a submission to thy truest path one hath cleared; a forging of thy road upon which a true life lives. Self reliance, a living example of choice, and command of thy trusty steed. Goals that are not means to an end, but means to a life fully experienced and lived. A conscious submission to a god of your choice.

Perhaps this comes at the gate of Mephistopheles, Poseidon, or Zeus. Perhaps it comes at the gates of an orchard, garden, studio, or in the knot delicately wrapped into thy necktie. Perhaps it is blessed by ten thousand adoring fans. Perhaps its ramifications cast you to the outskirts of society like a black sheep. And if it doth so or has been, let it be girth to your determination. But let it not be thy only cause, for Providence nor Karma is yours to administer. No, the cause is inside, in those unspeakable coals keeping the fire of life within. Let and take whatever means necessary to set thy own path, quiver and arrow, aligned with thy true North.

For self reliance means to believe. For self reliance means to trust. And as this insight fuels thy fire within, though your chosen path may be philanthropy or reformation, by design of self reliance one must also learn to identify and respect those whom also believe in their own true North. For no good can come of twisting another’s true North into a submission to your’s, lest self reliance becomes lost and forgotten. Lest self reliance becomes obscured and quietened, indicating the downfall of any society or culture built upon the backs of truth.

Trusting in thyself, trusting in thy neighbour, trusting that thy truth is spoken in clarity, trusting that thou information is shared clearly, trusting thy capacity to quieten vanity, ego, and honour, trusting that even change can exist as self reliance is forged.

We Put In the Time

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We strive and learn, and write all the right notes in a very nice and tidy notebook. We buy the right tools, and we connect with the right people.

Today, because of our information/data age of internet, there are so many people to listen to, people who have found a way to solve all mysteries and are very eager to give them away to you for free (including me). I subscribe to many of them. Seth Godin, Tiny Buddha, Kim Anami, Art of Manliness, etc. and they’re great. They all give me such food for thought it encourages me daily. They each have such a rich abundance of life I could spend most of the better part of 10 years reading their archives page after page.

So, I’ve found my golden source of water. My lifeline. My connection to the super culture I’ve always been looking for.

Or have I?

Have I got my new secret way that only a small culture of us have tapped into and will exercise? Sure, we’re exercising our minds and that’s a huge part of the battle. But this idea is dangerously close to sitting back into cruise mode and keep ourselves busy reading blogs that tell me that I’m doing it right.

To quote Ben Harper, “You can put a man through school, but you cannot make him think.”

You’ve done the reading. you’ve studied the books, you follow the blogs, you’ve got the tips. You’ve learned it all. Now we step out into the new light of day and say, “So, I think I’m ready now.”

I think I’m ready now, and I think you’re ready now! But, I guess that’s up to you to decide.

Let’s put this plan into action.

To Recognize Distractions

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Is one of the most revelating moments on the path towards clear thought. This is without a doubt necessary to step forward from a clouded mess of motivations [plural] to a aligned thought of motivation [singular].

Removing clutter from a desktop.

Identifying what ‘things’ you haven’t used in years, months, days, and having them begone.

Identifying what toys you use that you divert attention to when the going gets tough.

Habits, after all, are what wake you up in the morning and what tie your shoes as you get going on your day.

It’s not just at what we call critical times in our lives where we should be concerned with distractions, it’s at every moment.

Even now.

Is this a distraction?

Your call.

Personal Motivation

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Personal motivation is essential to success. It is probably the hardest thing to hold in your hands, and also where most people struggle. There are so many handles to use as personal motivation that all it takes is thought to recognize them.

Flex your muscles in the mirror, look at your personal mission statement, think about the benefits of exercise. These are factors that can give me motivation, try and think of what yours are.

Understanding what your seeking motivation for probably one of the first steps that you need to take. Deduce from inside yourself what exactly it is that you must do, what are your tasks?

Personally I find that lists are the best solution possible. They allow me to brainstorm ideas and tasks that I have to get accomplished, and then when this is done, they allow me to track my progress. I usually use a personal mission statement to record this progress. This alone is an extremely valuable tool for being en effective person. What are you hoping to accomplish? A better job? A new house? More income? Happy children? These are elements to get motivated for. These are the things that, if your procrastinating, are getting delayed.

Sitting there getting overwhelmed with the seemingly daunting tasks ahead of you isn’t just something that you alone experience, everybody does.

What separates the effective people from others, is that they understand that one can break these seemingly daunting tasks into smaller, more handle-able tasks that can be crossed off your list at a relatively frequent rate, which in itself motivates a person.

I find the easiest way to get motivated is if I’m enjoying what I’m doing. Some of you may roll your eyes, and say well this guys fortunate, he gets to do what he likes, but I will counter this by saying that ‘like’ and ‘dislike’ is all a mental thought process.

If you take some time to tell yourself that you are enjoying this, or more productively what can I do to make this more enjoyable, you will find that any task, no matter how remedial or daunting it may appear, will quickly turn into a deep rooted fascination that not even the gods of time could divert you from!

I hope you will now start your list. Do not delay!

Good Habits

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A body that is fed regular exercise is a healthy body. The Health Canada strongly recommends having 30 to 60 minutes of daily activity to ensure that the body stays fit. This does not have to happen all at the same time, but they do recommend for you to do it in at least 10 minute increments. Keeping an exercise schedule that is less than 10 minutes is not adequate enough to get one’s body warmed up, let alone keeping the heart rate up to ensure that maximum gain can be felt from the exercise.

We all feel the same way after work or school, when you just get in the door from a long day, and all you feel like doing is curling into bed and falling asleep. Don’t be ashamed, everybody feels this way. Its what you do when you feel that way that makes the difference between effective people and not effective people. It has proven that getting daily exercise increases blood flow, which in turn stimulates the mind, which in turn wakes a person up, makes them feel energetic and refreshed and ready to finish off the day with renewed enthusiasm. It also assists in reducing stress, strengthens the essential organs of the body, and will change your outlook on life. When you feel you have a healthy body, you will be that healthy person. The following are a few tricks that I use to ensure that I stick to healthy habit of exercise:

Play Aggressive Music

When you are driving home, or walk in the door, try putting on some music that you know makes you feel more aggressive. It will psych your mind up into a more energized state that will give you the motivation needed to get that exercise done. Start Off Slow. Note: don’t let this influence your driving habits though, that is just dangerous.

When you’re starting a new exercise habit, trying to get back into the mode of exercising your body, it’s hard to jump right into a 5 to 7 day a week schedule that immediately taxes your body. Start with a 3 day schedule, where your exercising say Monday, Wednesday, and Friday right after work.

Push Yourself

Motivation has to come from within. Nobody is going to be a better motivator for yourself than yourself. You are the one looking at your body in the mirror, you are the one with health problems, you are the one that feels depressed, so it is you who needs to take charge of yourself and push ahead into new and exciting territory. When you are into a nice routine remember not to get comfortable with the same exercise that your doing every time, with the same amount of distance or weight used. Keep increasing your distance, or speed, or weight that your using to continually grow, pushing yourself to be the best that you can be. The best you only dreamed you had in you.

Also try and push yourself to try new activities. If you find that the same old ones are just dragging on you, try some new things that you’ve never known before. Shadow boxing or power walking, what about dancing?

Keep The Fun

Every person that I talk to always has the excuse that it’s just too much work, and they really don’t enjoy going to the gym to press the bench over their heads like a monkey. Not everybody needs to go to the gym to seek their exercise. Try playing a game of basketball, going for a hike in the woods, or practicing yoga. Sometimes if you focus on games or activities that require additional people to play you will find yourself using that as an excuse not to get your exercise, that nobody else wants to play. Keep a big list of activities that you enjoy doing that are individual activities, and that don’t require extra people to perform. The key here is to enjoy it. If you don’t actually enjoy going for a hike, or stretching for yoga, try and trick your mind into thinking its fun, smile and enjoy it! You’re making your body healthy.