Alternatives for Worrying

Worrying is a draining exercise, not only does it waste time and energy but it doesn't accomplish anything either. So let’s find alternatives for worry.

Instead of worrying, ask yourself, “What can I do about this right now?” and turn worry into action. Or come up with a backup plan or even alternative positive possibilities. Or clean, listen to music, write, make a hot drink, sing, go for a run…

What are your alternatives for worry?

Your Conscience

We've all had those moments, when our conscience 'bites'. There's a sense that we've gone against our 'truth' and done something wrong.

The next time your conscience 'bites':
1) stop making yourself feel guilty
2) listen to your conscience
3) let it nudge you to make amends and put things 'right'

Say Yes to Everything

There's been books, movies, talks - about people who started saying yes to everything. Would you ever challenge yourself to say yes to everything that comes your way?

Say yes to everything and you may take yourself out of your comfort zone and make unexpected discoveries. But say yes to everyone and everything, and you may end up overwhelmed and undervalued, frazzled and fried.

So maybe we need to be more selective and smart about what we say yes to.

Differences Complement

Often, we gravitate towards people who are similar to us. This makes things more comfortable and easier. But more often than not, we're around people who are very different from us, almost opposite to us. This makes things more interesting and vibrant.

Today, appreciate the differences and acknowledge how people whose nature is opposite to yours, actually complement you. Maybe you're a detail person and the other person is a big-picture thinker or maybe one is dynamic and frank, and the other, gentle and subtle… We all complement each other, don’t we?

Unwanted Advice, What to do with it?

When you receive feedback or a piece of advice that seems out of place, unwanted or really unnecessary - what's your reaction? Get annoyed? Ignore it? Think, "Why am I being told this?”

How about, accepting it and, if it feels right, say “Thank you.” Take the advice gracefully and keep it as a piece of “wisdom.” And who knows, even if it’s not useful now, it maybe useful one day.

May 21

Talk Too Fast?

In conversations or presentations, do you talk too fast? If you talk too fast, slow your pace. Try adding short pauses and at the same time keeping it natural.

Slow your pace to:
- give yourself space to breathe, smile and make eye contact
- sound more calm, less harried
- make it easier for the listener to listen and process what you’ve said

May 22

Be Your Own Search Engine

Ever thought about being your own Google? How? Type a question into your mind and see what pops up. You may have to stay with the question and wait for your subconscious to scan and respond. You may retrieve a forgotten memory, locate momentous insights, gain creative solutions….

Be your own search engine and find your answers.

Second Guessing Yourself

It's ok to second guess yourself sometimes. But if you're second guessing yourself all the time, going round in circles, doubting yourself and your decisions - it's only going to over-complicate things.

So stop second-guessing yourself, and start trusting yourself. Trust yourself to make good decisions, and if they don't work out, make another one. Trust yourself to do the best you can, and if you don't, it's ok, try to do better the next time.

Mind Your Compliments

Do you give away compliments mindlessly? Give compliments mindfully, when there's something meaningful to appreciate and you’ll make the compliment more sincere, more valuable. So give compliments thoughtfully and it may boost someone’s day.

Just as it’s important not to underestimate the power of a compliment, it's also important not to undermine a compliment when you receive one. Downplay a compliment and you may hurt the person who gave you the compliment. So take compliments gracefully, and you may also boost their day.

Churn and Learn

Just as milk is churned to make butter, in the same way, we need to keep thinking and churning to extract life’s ‘butter’, the lessons from life.

To churn, think about your day, your work, your life, your interactions, your successes, your mistakes - what can I learn here? Churn and learn as you go, and you'll keep growing and improving, becoming wiser and smarter.

When the Pressure's On

They say pressure creates diamonds. It brings out the best in us & also keeps us on our toes. Sure, a certain amount of pressure is good for us, but too much pressure isn't.

So, when life gets really busy & the pressure's on:
- Take the pressure off. Drop the high expectations you set for yourself & be kind to you.
- Take the time to switch off. Slow things down & give yourself a little extra nurturing.

Meditation in the Kitchen

Bring meditation to your kitchen. How? As you wash and chop, fry and stir, boil and bake.... meditate. Meditate for a minute, and come back to it every 15 minutes or so.

Be present and mindful of the sounds, the smells, the textures, the tastes.
Be peaceful and happy in the kitchen, and cook with love. Do this and turn cooking into a meditation experience.

May 28

Setting Realistic Deadlines

Do you set deadlines that are too tight? Add extra pressure on yourself? How about, loosening up the pressure by setting achievable deadlines.

Just be more realistic when estimating the amount of work involved and how long things take to get done. Remember to add some extra time to the deadline to deal with the unexpected - you'll need it!

May 29

It's Difficult

If you think it's difficult, it will be difficult.

So, why set yourself up for making things difficult. Frame your thoughts positively and make difficult things easy.

ABCD of Change

Here's the ABCD for making personal change happen:

A: Awareness. Identify what you would like to change in yourself.

B: Belief. Recognise & challenge the belief(s) holding you back. For example,
believing 'I can't change', 'It's too difficult.'

C: Commitment. 'I'll try' isn't good enough. Work out an effective action plan,
as well as things you will do to sustain the commitment.

D: Discipline. Establish the purpose, why this change is important. Then with
love & enthusiasm you'll sustain the discipline to make the change happen.