Are you inventing things to do to avoid the important?  This is a question I put on a Post-it note to help minimize the time I spent procrastinating. It works, so I made it and give it to audience members. by Eric Papp

What is your initial instinct?  You are at a red light; what do you do with your extra sixty seconds?  You are finishing a dinner conversation; what do you do next?  You are waiting in line at a grocery store; what do you grab to pass the time?  You guessed it, your phone.  Why do we always feel the need to check it?  According to a 2019 study by Asurion, adults check their smartphones 96 times per day or once every eleven minutes. The same company did a follow-up study and discovered that checking smartphones has increased to 352 times daily or once every three minutes.  WTF? What exactly are we doing to ourselves? Our attention span is shortening and is like that of a squirrel. Sometimes, I'll walk upstairs to get something, get distracted, and forget why I went upstairs in the first place. Can you relate to that?  This constant connection keeps us in a constant state of hurry.  We need space (be still and do nothing) but fail to realize the importance of it.  Space helps us  Slow down and organize our thoughts  Strengthens our concentration  ...

Does that belief serve you? I recently heard this question and thought wow, what a great question. How often do hundreds of unquestioned beliefs limit our actions? And most of the time, we are entirely unaware of them. For Example: My wife and I cleared the grass growing up through our tree's plant bed this weekend. For two-plus years I resigned myself to the idea that It is what it is, and that no matter what I do the grass will always grow through. Then my wife talked about removing the plant/vine around the tree, and I decided to find a way to get the grass out. I did two things. First, I cut out a space between the grass and plant, and second, instead of using the weedwhacker, I got in the bed and started removing the grass by hand from the root. Below is a picture after we worked on it. I still have some grass to get out, but it is a significant improvement from what it was before. [caption id="attachment_16439" align="aligncenter" width="365"] Overcoming Self-Limiting Beliefs[/caption] Interestingly, I knew what action to take, but I wasn't confident i ...

How To Get Started Faster Have you ever not attempted something because you thought it would take a long time?  But then when you do it, you were like, That was easy. That wasn't so bad. What holds us back?  What prevents us from doing the things we need/want to do? Answers: Our need for certainty, our desire to look good and not fail, our desire for control or something else? I've started practicing letting go of certainty to get myself into action faster.  And I started adopting the word Test. So let me test it out; if it doesn't work, I'll try something else.  Test is beneficial for keeping the momentum going because you don't get stuck/dwell on when something doesn't work.  In the past, I did this.  Having the best exercise plan before I start working out  Having all the chapters figured out before I start writing Gathering information can make us more effective only when we apply it. You get paid to finish.  The truth is it’s easy to get caught up in the busyness of work and fall victim to the myth “I can do it all.” This inhibits us from recogni ...

We act more on impulse rather than discipline.  I know that if I'm watching a show on Netflix (Pepsi, Where's My Jet?) and it's entertaining, I need to act fast not to watch the next episode. The next episode begins in 4,3,2,1. Look familiar?  It's startling how much these media streaming companies know about human psychology. But, unfortunately, our brain doesn't have enough time to process that decision, so the default answer is the next episode.  And at the moment, we usually tell ourselves something that will help us justify our decision to stay up late. Though, we lead to undervalues sleep. I'll do just one more episode. I deserve it; I've had a heck of a week  I'll be fine tomorrow.  Sleep is like an invisible bank account. You make deposits when you get a good night's sleep and withdraw when you don't get your 7-8 hrs.  And we usually only see the result once it's impacted our mood, stress, or performance at work.    by Eric Papp

Watching some of the NCAA Basketball tournaments, I witnessed the #16 seed FDU beat the #1 Purdue. It was only the second time in tournament history that this happened. The Happiness was only fleeting for FDU; within 24hrs, they had lost to FAU, and now their faces resembled that of the Purdue team they beat. What I have now - What I had before = Happiness Manuel Alibes, Spanish Economist As we continue to be more, do more, and have more, we must remember how far we've come and let our progress serve as a continual source of gratitude. by Eric Papp