Enthusiasm, It’s Worth It

Hi there reader –

Yes, it’s been a minute. Yes, I said I would blog daily. And “Yes”, I have something to share – which is why I’m dropping in how many weeks after my last post.

Today, in my quiet time reading, I came across this nugget –

The word “enthusiasm” comes from the Greek word “entheos.” “Theos” is God. When you’re enthusiastic, it simply means you are full of God. When you get up in the morning excited about your future, recognizing that day is a gift and go out with a spring in your step, pursuing your goals and passionate about life, then God will breathe in your direction. Studies tell us that people who are enthusiastic get better breaks. They’re promoted more often. That’s not a coincidence. When you’re full of passion, you have the favor of God. 

Taken from Joel Osteen’s Daily Devotional

The word enthusiasm indicates intense excitement. The noun enthusiasm comes from the Greek word enthousiasmos, from enthous, meaning “possessed by a god, inspired.” It was originally used in a derogatory sense to describe excessive religious zeal.

Taken from The Vocabulary Dictionary

The school of thought is simply this – the enthusiasm you have is a propellant to get you to your next level. Christianity speaks about the benefits of joy, rejoicing, gratitude and happiness. Good things and rewards then follow.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.

An excerpt of Paul Tarsus’ Letter to the Colossians

Yes, there may be struggle – but the internal joy and enthusiasm you have will do much in structuring your perspective and your aim to move forward.

Maintain your joy. Protect it at all costs. Share it. Spread it. Own it. It’s one of your greatest assets.

Have a great weekend! and Until Next Time…

Cheers, to Monday!

Hey there readers! It’s Monday! And I am excited for it. Today is a great day filled with extreme goodness and great things.

Reading wise, I completed Robin Sharma’s 5 AM Club which was an unusual read. With an atypical writing style, feeling clumsy in some sections – Sharma, in retrospect writes every word deliberately. The 5 AM Club is not your average man’s read. But, if you choose to take it on – treat it with patience. Certain detailed sections are wthere to exemplify how you the reader should be intentional and specific with the things you want for yourself.

In other news, it’s Week 3 Q2 Month 2 for those of us who are keeping track, and the last few days have been interesting. There’s been much introspection, experimenting with new ideas and growth both personally and professionally. It’s been a wonderful few days and I am grateful.

So, today, with the start of this new week, I remember and restate that this year is a bountiful year, full of abundance! It’s all happening! And I’m ready to receive it. Here’s to a great day and week to us all. Prepare to welcome good things into your life with an attitude of gratitude.

Brain Hacking

Hi There Reader! Resharing some sage advice from Ravi Shankar Raman | The Startup | How to Hack Your Brain to be More Productive | medium.com

Tuesday Truism | Bringing It All Together

If we have to summarize a productive life into 3 steps it will be like this.

· Create an “aim” goal. An aim goal is never-ending. It’s the direction you want to go in life: “I live a healthy lifestyle.” “I want to be best-selling writer” and so on…

· Create an “end” goal for the “aim” goal. An end goal is specific, measurable and achievable within a certain timeframe. “I want to have a fit and toned body weighing up to 70 kg”.” I want to finish my book by end of Dec 2018” and so on…

· Create “mini” goals for the “end” goal every day. A mini goal is something which you can achieve within a day or two with a certain degree of effort which is manageable. “I will run 5 km every day”. “I will write 1000 words every day” and so on…… And while doing your bit every day, absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is specifically your own. Make every day count. Focus on less to get more out of life.

Until Next Time…

The 5 AM (or Before) Club

Voluntary discomfort, whether by dressing as I did or by fasting once a week or by sleeping on the floor once a month, keeps me strong, disciplined and focused on the central few priorities my life’s built around – Mr. Riley, The Homeless Man.

Taken from the 5 am Club by Robin Sharma

Readers, if any of you wake by or before 5 am to meditate, exercise and start your day – you are apparently, already ahead of the game. I’m certain you know this already, but for the doubters – these two actions are neither simply faith based or health based, but science based. Apparently, the routine of “waking up at 5am forges new maps in the brain, which grow in size, speed and efficiency over time until a habit is formed and the brain has physically been changed.”

There are the skeptics, like Andrew Medal, that believe the 5 AM Club is a myth and that it is the amount of sleep that a person gets and not when they sleep or wake that the is the contributing factor to genius and greatness. See the link to his video here. For these persons, they believe that it is more important to determine your peak performance hours than to “stick to a program” which insists if the best of the best wake at (or before 5 am) who are we to resist it?

With all the books (and pundits I’ve been reading lately, it seems that a choice needs to be made and sides need to be picked. Either you believe are the Hero of your life and not the Victim as Sharma would say. That you choose to make the sacrifice to change – knowing the change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end. Or you don’t believe this principle and are convinced that it’s not about the “when” but the drive to do the work that makes for the most productive and prolific lives.

That said, I will leave you with both opinions. Here’s to all of us building extraordinary lives.

RULE #1 An addiction to distraction is the end of your creative production. Empire-makers and history-creators take one hour for themselves before dawn, in the serenity that lies beyond the clutches of complexity, to preparethemselves for a world-class day.

Robin Sharma

…simple math tells us that going to bed at midnight and waking up at 7 a.m. gives you as many hours of sleep as going to bed at 10 p.m. and waking up at 5 a.m. Either way, you’re getting seven hours of sleep.

We’re not all morning people, after all, and we shouldn’t force ourselves to be something we’re not.

Andrew Medal

Until Next Time…

Let’s Do This!

Friday Focus | So, this morning I played “The Victim” as Sharma would say. I did not get “Up and at em” when my alarm went off in the early morning. And although, I got out of bed, once I stood up on my jelly feeling legs, a wave of daze and confusion hit and I thought, “The hell is this, this morning?” So, I climbed right back under the covers. 
I didn’t get up again until many hours later – still feeling disoriented and as though I was in a foreign body. I mean, everywhere hurt. No joke. And no – I have not recently done any 5ks, marathons or anything else like that. I haven’t even touched the Smith in maybe two weeks. So what the hell?

Yesterday was a winning day. I was up at my usual time. Went through the checklist like a boss. Got work done. The routine was flawless. This morning was an en-tired-ly different story. And yes, that is tired-ly, with a D. I have no idea why my body has decided to play fool today, when both my spirit and my type ‘A’ persona had a friggin’ full, functional and fly day planned! 

So this was the journal sticker I drew for.

The last few years have had some unexpected ups and downs for my family and close friends. Lots of near misses. Quite a few deaths and many disappointments. All within my periphery.

I have no idea if today is simply an unexpected physical manifestation of all the mental and emotional things I’ve experienced (as me or alongside my closest lovelies) – or if it’s something else entirely. But I refuse to not live through this day with the best attitude I can muster.
So Victim-hood be damned! Reframing the narrative. I am a Winner! Winners don’t take the losses and stop. We take our losses, keep going and get it done. So! Let’s Go!

Until Next Time…

Build Your Bridges Fearlessly

Hello Readers! We’re fresh into May and I feel cheery and excited to see what Month 2 of Q2 will bring. As some of you know by now – I’m a reader. Reading excites me, mostly because I’ve viewed reading as a way to expand my knowledge by mentally traveling to places and or times I’ve never seen and may never see. This morning, I took a “brain trip” to 30 C.E. (thereabouts) and read the recount of how a man was cured of Leprosy.

In Chapter 8 of the Book (by) Matthew, the story is told of how Yeshua Bar Joseph (or Jesus) touched and healed a leper. I like that story. To me, it exemplifies how we should live our lives – confident in helping others; confident in the divine power we have and confident in our mission.

Live boldly today. Do the right thing even if no one else will. While you live your mission and set your targets for today – connect with the people you’ve chosen to serve through your profession.

Build your Bridges Fearlessly | Thursday Thoughts | Until Next Time

The “Crazy” Undefeated French

Readers, this morning, like many in the world, I am still in disbelief of yesterday’s fire that damaged the Notre-Dame de Paris in France. The great lady sustained a fair beating by flames, which took her roof and charred her insides. Although many a religious relict was saved from harm, the body of this majestic woman was heavily mamed. I couldn’t watch the news reports in full last night, with every image of the growing plume and the final fall of the central spire, increasing the heaviness of my spirit and body.

The foundation for Victor Hugo’s novel, (and my favourite Disney movie), the structure that formed part of my sixth form A-Level Art Exam submission, a place I have on my bucket list to see; was damaged. It left me saddened – and yet, I knew that although the fire raged, she was damaged – but not destroyed. After all, it took the French two centuries to build this 900 year-old building. If the French Revolution and World War 2 could not break her and neither would the flames. In this way, the Notre-Dame, the Lady of Paris, is more like that fiercely, definant old lady who gently dares the young among her to their worst.

So here’s to the staying power of this iconic structure. And here’s to the “crazy”, undefeated french who first envisioned this wonderful beacon of religious hope and architectural treasure of the world – who now are determined to return her to her former glory. A huge thank you, Mr. Billionaire François-Henri Pinault who has pledged €100 million and Bernard Arnault and his family who pledged €200 million towards the Notre-Dame’s now needed renovations and called for a joint effort to fund repairs.

Although, we will never meet, this Jamaican girl heartily thanks you for keeping her bucket-list intact.

Until Next Time…

Flying buttresses of the apse of Notre-Dame (14th century) 15 meters from the wall to the counter-supports. (Lusitana, April 2004)

Building it

Hi There Readers. It’s all about building and construction today people, so for your reading pleasure I give you Hebrew and Greek references from books written by Solomon and Matthew.

^{Matthew 7: 24} “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practiceis like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 

Now, for me, it’s back to building it.

Until Next Time…

Eye,ye,ye!

Hey there reader. Today – I came to the realization that everything is connected as far the mind and body goes. When you feel tired while rested, it may be only one part of your body that needs tweaking.

My “tired feeling” from Tuesday and this morning – is literally, my eyes. Today I encourage you to do a check of your body and your mind. The solution to your tired feeling may be as simple as those two small orbs in your head.

Here’s the science behind it – Tired Eyes

Until Next Time…

Eat a Mushroom

Hello readers. For those of you who are older game heads, or simply had the pleasure of playing classic Nintendo in the early nighties, there were few greater joys than being in control of a certain red suited plumber. Yes, I’m talking about Mario. And no, I’m not talking about Mario Kart – I’m taking it way back to the original Super Mario Brothers. That 2-dimensional, digital game with the, “dana, dana, dana” sound as you slid through one large drain pipe to an underground world, bouncing on bricks, avoiding the man-eating flowers at all cost and of course the enviable, power up mushroom.

Man, playing that game as a child was one of the highlights of the summer with my cousins. And no one wanted to be Luigi. Everyone wanted the number one controller and everyone wanted to be Mario. More importantly, everyone wanted a mushroom (or star) to come along because that meant – levelling up! You could run over gaps a lightening speed, run though the bricks, with one pound of a fist to get coins and finish the course in record time.

As you know, I’ve been on my own journey of business and personal exploration and of course the concept of the “level up” is a repeated theme with multiple authors. Today I want to return to the concept of leveling up by shoring yourself up with a community of people who are focused on what you’re focused on. To borrow from one of my favourite writers and public speakers,

The zest, energy, and connection that comes with having great friends is incalculable and indescribable. Every happy person I’ve ever met had deep connections with multiple friends.

3 Kinds of Friends and the Secret to Great Friendships, Brendon Burchard

What I want to focus on today, is the word connection. If you’re like me, there are some books you’ll read, where as you make your way through them, you develop a connection to the main characters. In the case of business and development books, the authors like Mel Robbins, Brendon, James Clear (author of Atomic Habits, another gem of a read) and Nicole Campbell – aim the conversations directly at the readers. You then form part of the story. In this way the author and the audience make a sort of pact, where the author decides to share information and encourage their readers to be the best selves thet can be every day. And the readers, either decide to listen and take action – or not. After delving into the topics of Time-Blocking, Habit Stacking, Decision Making, Exercise, etc, across books like, The 5-Second Rule, High Performance Habits, The Charge and now Atomic Habits; I’ve come to accept these authors as part of the process of levelling up my circle – using the work and research they have done as a brick in my life building.

Are they my friends? No. I don’t know any of them personally. But are they my friends? Yes. They are, because I’m excited to hear from them when they post a new talk or course, they encourage me in pressing towards my goals, they introduce me to novel ideas and concepts or reinforce the good I was already aware of. I’ve eaten the proverbial mushroom and I am choosing to push through this year like a Mario beast.

That said, I encourage you to do the same. Feed your mind on the things that will propel you forward. You and the world deserve the best, powered up self you can be.

Until Next Time…