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Learn to Embrace Change; Deviate for a Day What makes you happy will change, and you’ll need to change with it. An extremely effective way of encouraging you to embrace change is what we call being a deviant for a day. We’ve done it ourselves and often have whole classes do it. Your task is to violate an important aspect of your self-image. Which part you violate is up to you. For instance, students who usually spend two hours putting on makeup before leaving the house in the morning must come to class straight out of bed. Others shave their heads.
Time’s pricelessness makes it the great equalizer. We all have to play the hand that time deals us. We cannot buy more cards or exchange the cards that we hold no matter who we are. We can learn, however, to play the hand that we are given more effectively,
great leaders are able to become completely engrossed in the present and to harness the passion they generate in the service of future goals. They have a unique ability to be fully in the moment and to make an audience feel that they are the exclusive focus of their attention. Then they use the energy they generate by their present focus to create a compelling vision of the future.
When he met Bill Clinton, Phil became aware of a key ingredient in Clinton’s charisma—the ability to narrow his focus and gaze directly into the eyes of the person with whom he is engaged, shutting out all else around him. It makes his listener feel special, chosen—for a full forty-five seconds! Then Clinton’s gaze shifts past that one person to the next eager acolyte: “Good to meet you.” As his hand comes out of a goodbye shake, it slips smoothly into the hello shake with the next person in line.
Jean Lipman-Blumen in The Allure of Toxic Leaders.
Doing something new means doing less of something old. If this something old was not enjoyable, that is good. If the something old was enjoyable, that is not so good.
eliminating the noise is critical. You have to cut the information flow to a minimum level. You could spend your whole day reading different opinions.
I’ve been trying to figure out how to make time that was previously unproductive productive. If I’m driving my car somewhere, I try to get a call in to my family and friends then. Or during dead time when I’m waiting in line, I will hop on my cell phone and get something done.
Ask yourself what you want to do today. How do you want to spend this weekend? Don’t ask what tasks you have to do today or what obligations you must meet before you can take time to enjoy yourself. Continually ask the big questions: What do I really want out of my life? What am I doing to get what I want? What is the best way to get from here to there?
whenever I get uptight thinking of all my obligations, I close my eyes, touch my thumbs to forefingers, and say, “I am going south.” That simple gesture puts things in balance and perspective. It reminds me to take time out of my endless quest for The Next—to get a massage, call an old friend, enjoy a cappuccino in a local café, or prepare a candlelit dinner at home.
Start to do more by doing less. Throw out the trash. Clean your closets of worn-out working garments. Stop going to events you don’t like.
BECOME MORE FUTURE-ORIENTED If you have been engulfed by the present or buried in the past, here are some things you can do to increase your future orientation.
Golden Rule of Time. It reads, “Use your time as you would like others to use theirs.” Would you like others to work hard so they can use the talents that they possess and you and they can benefit from them? Would you like them to be able to reflect warmly on the success their talents have brought them? Would you like them to immerse themselves in the pleasure of the moment? If your answers to these questions were yes, you should do the same yourself.
Sometimes when I meet old friends, it reminds me how quickly time passes. And it makes me wonder if we’ve utilized our time properly or not. Proper utilization of time is so important. While we have this body, and especially this amazing human brain, I think every minute is something precious…. So, we need to make the best use of our time. I believe that the proper utilization of time is this: if you can, serve other people, other sentient beings. If not, at least refrain from harming them. I think that is the whole basis of my philosophy.
