The Secret To More Time and Energy :: February 2007
By Andrew Burnham - February 07, 2007
What’s Stopping Me?
We’ve told ourselves stories over and over. These stories and reactions form our conditioning which in turn provides for more of the same reactions. We react in predictable ways. Some of us live in this choiceless state our entire lives. We become strongly attached to our stories and they become part of who we think we are. Our stories and reactions become part of our identity. This makes it challenging to let them go even though these patterns are destructive, self-defeating and costly.
A Process of Subtraction
Our negative stories and reactions don’t all have to go at once but if we want more time, energy, and to lead others, we will eventually need to examine and then drop them. We don’t have to add anything to our busy lives, only subtract useless mental processing. It is the subtracting that frees time and energy and provides for a host of other benefits. There is nothing to add.
The Soft Skills are the Hard Skills
I push a lot of buttons in my workshops and talks, but not because I want to. It’s just the way it is. Learning how to be in control and in the moment is soft skill development for people of action. Being in the moment is hard core business. It takes courage to affect real, lasting change. Watch good negotiators, good leaders and people who can keep themselves together under pressure. They know something.
Cause to Celebrate
It’s important not to be too hard on yourself as you practice noticing how you are processing people and things. When you think ‘I’ve done it again’ and notice that you’ve been dwelling without action or engaged in other self-defeating patterns, gently but firmly bring yourself back to the present moment. Noticing when you are being in the moment is cause to celebrate. It is the first sign of a growing awareness and the beginning of a powerful change that you take with you for the rest of your working days, and the rest of your life.
