Sometimes it’s all about what we tell ourselves

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Linda Cliatt-Wayman: How to fix a broken school?

This is perhaps one of the best TED Talks I have ever watched.

The only way to succeed

If you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, you will succeed!

Three steps to success

1. DECIDE

2. COMMIT

3. SUCCEED

Positive Procrastination

Do it NOW!

Today’s Prompt:  We all procrastinate. Website, magazine, knitting project, TV show, something else — what’s your favorite procrastination destination?

With the amount of things that I need to do on a daily basis, I rarely have the time to think about procrastinating and just get on with what I need to do. There are, however, some instances when I really put off the most difficult or mundane tasks ’till last. In these cases, I have developed a strategy which I call ‘Positive Procrastination’ (others might have been doing this as well, although I am not aware).

Here’s what I do:

• First, I identify and write down the task that I wish to put off and the small tasks that I actually quite enjoy.
• Second, I will rank the little enjoyable tasks in order of which one needs to be done first.
• I will complete the first little enjoyable task.
• Once the first task is finished, I will spend 5 minutes (literally 5 minutes – I have a timer) of my time starting the activity that I want to put off. This could mean just turning on my computer if I’m about to write an essay.
• Then, I’ll complete the second liitle enjoyable task.
• Then, I will spend 10 minutes of my time carrying on with my boring/unenjoyable task.

I will carry on this pattern until I ran out of enjoyable tasks. By the time this happens, I would have either completed my boring task, or have gone half way through, which will make me feel immensely happy (and smug).

😉

 

Change

The Best Source of Motivation to Get Healthy!

We often hear of people (just like ourselves at times) who put ‘good health’ last of their priorities list. People sometimes say that this is because of work, tight deadlines, money and time. However, people do not often realise that we cannot function very well, if at all, when we are not healthy, and the repercussions are at times catastrophic. Deadlines will not be met if you cannot function well. We may need to take time off work and/ or school, and at times,may spend or lose money.

Still not convinced that you need to put your own health at the top of your list? Try to do this:

1. Write a list of 5-10 most important people in your life right now. Leave a few lines after each name.
2. Against their names, write one to three reasons why your being healthy is important to them.
3. Read the list that you have made everyday.
4. Well, aren’t you gonna act now??!!

Being Intelligent Does Not Guarantee Success

 

When I was a  young child, I was always taught that in order to be successful in school, work and in life in general, I needed to be intelligent. High I.Q. according to my first teachers, equals a high grade. However, as I went through high school to graduate school and now as an educator, I discovered that having a high I.Q. does not guarantee that individuals will succeed. Intelligent students do not always get the highest marks/ grades, and the not-so-smart ones do not always get the average or lowest grades.

Life events and well-being immediately come into people’s minds when asked why this is the case. In addition to these, Angela Duckworth proposed that success depends on another important factor: Grit, defined as the ‘perseverance and passion for long-term goals’. Watch her TED talk below:

 

To read Angela Duckworth’s seminal research on Grit, click HERE

Trains, trams and aspirations: what’s the difference?

Every afternoon I take the tram from work to my house. This afternoon, the second tram was more than a half hour late. People were huffing and puffing at the platform complaining to each other about how tired they were and how terrible this occurance was. But yet, they waited. Our faces lit up everytime we hear the sound of a new tram coming our way. Collectively, we sighed after finding out that those trams were not what we wanted.

Some decided to take an alternative transport, while some including myself waited. This got me thinking about life.

We all have dreams and aspirations. We want to get somewhere and most of the time like me and my fellow passengers at that stop, we all have an idea how to get to where we’re going. Much like passenger who’s going to the city centre to pass some time who might decide to go back home if the tram’s cancelled or delayed, people who are uncertain about what they want may abandon a goal after a hurdle.

But what happens if we need to get home and the trams are not running? We find a way to get home, right? We take a bus, a taxi or even walk for miles just to get home. Sometimes we wait a few hours or days. Why? It’s not that we have no choice, it’s because we really want to go home.

The next time you set yourself a goal, ask yourself these: do I really want this? Am I prepared to do whatever it takes and labour how ever long it takes to get there?

Remember, when we are trying to go home, we never ask ourselves whether we can walk 15 or 20 miles. We just do it. So when you set yourself a goal, always think that you’ll achieve it, as long as you really want it!!!

😉