Notes to self

Offended

Some people are always offended. Some people are never offended. Some people see why you might be offended but don’t understand why you’re offended.

You have to be selfish

Selfish doesn’t mean greedy. It doesn’t mean not helping other people. It doesn’t mean you don’t want to help other people. It simply means doing all the things you need to do to be your best self. As your best self you’ll be in a position to help more people and be more helpful than if you didn’t take care of yourself first. 

If you actually did the work you’d realize it’s not that much to take care of yourself first. You’d realize it actually takes very little to get to your best self. That it doesn’t take much and it leaves plenty of room throughout the day to be selfless.

I liken to the advice given on a plane for when the oxygen masks drop. Put on your oxygen mask first before assisting other people. Including children and the elderly. Why? Because if you pass out, you can’t help anyone. 

Thinking

Thinking is the most underrated and underused skill that every single person is born with. I don’t mean it in the way of those people who wear shirts that read “Think, it’s not illegal yet.” I mean thinking for yourself. Thinking to find out what you like and what you don’t like. What you want to do and what you don’t want to do. Who you want to be around and who you don’t want to be around. Thinking about what to do next. 

But since our world is so full of distractions, thinking requires effort. It requires ignoring your phone. Ignoring your email. Ignoring your social media. Ignoring your television. Even ignoring a book. It requires having restraint when it comes to the food you eat. It requires effort to obtain like any skill does, but it is for sure obtainable for every single human being. And it’s one of the most powerful skills you can obtain. The ability to think amidst the allure of distraction. 

Getting off course and consistency

Your goal should not be to never get off course. Your goal should be to get back on course as quickly as possible. Because you will get off course. That’s a guarantee. But positive change. What makes some people better than others. Better performers. Is their ability to course correct faster than everyone else. They spend very little time off course. They identify quickly that they’ve gone off course and they get back on as quickly as possible. That’s real consistency. 

Don’t Fall Asleep

So many people get lulled to sleep. They get lulled into thinking “this is life” and accepting it. So few people go the opposite direction and ask “what else is possible,” “what am I missing?”