Self Awareness

If You Could Go Back in Time…

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Wouldn’t it be cool to have a time machine? Going back in time to experience the world or be a part of famous historical events would be fascinating, but I’m not even talking about that. What if we could just back to when we were younger? What things would we love to tell ourselves? What mistakes would we tell ourselves to avoid? What opportunities would we tell ourselves to take advantage of?

Wouldn’t we all want a do-over or at least have some sound advice to give ourselves? Unfortunately, we can’t go back to the 20 years younger version of us. That doesn’t mean we can’t still think about it. If you could go back, what advice would you give yourself? It is a worthy question that requires reflection and self-awareness.

Then I think there is another question that we can ask that is a bit more difficult. What about the 20 year older version of yourself? If your 20 year older version had a time machine and could back and give you advice about your life right now, what do you think it would be?

This is a more challenging question, but worth consideration. It has the potential to give us more clarity today.

What advice do you think the future you would give you today?

Obsessed with Average

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I have worked with and run sales organizations for my entire adult life.  There is a question that always comes up.  You can’t escape it.  It doesn’t matter the industry.  The question will always be asked…

“What does the average person do?” or “What does the average person make?”

I’ve heard it so often that it is difficult to patiently give a reply.  Why are we so obsessed with average?

The average person is out of shape.

The average person is broke and in debt up to their eye balls.

The average marriage ends in divorce.

The average sales person struggles and eventually quits.

The average new business won’t even exist in 5 years.

Average is a terrible thing to aim for. If average is our plan, we shouldn’t even do it.  I would say I’m an average chess player, but chess isn’t that important to me.  It is something I do very rarely for fun.  It is better than watching TV even if I’m just average.  That’s OK.  It doesn’t mean much to me.

For anything important, we should avoid average.  The better questions are, “Who is succeeding?  What are they doing?” Then let’s aim at that.  Sure, we may fail.  We may not be at their level YET. But we can aim at it.  We can measure and improve a little each day.  If we do that, we will rise above the average.

 

 

Sleep

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Maybe it is a sign that I’m getting older. I don’t think proper sleep was something I thought much about in my 20’s.

Now, I consider a good night sleep one of the foundations to a great day. In fact, I think of sleep as the starting point of my day.  If some one asked, “How do you like to start your day?” My answer would be “With a good night’s sleep.” Yes, that is followed by my normal morning routine, but a great day starts with good sleep.

Think about the days when you get hardly any sleep. You may have great plans and intentions for that day, but isn’t it hard to be your best on those days? Don’t you find your patience with other people just isn’t what it should be?

We can’t get great rest every night. Life happens. Some times we have to push through with little to no sleep. But at least we should try.

I’m not a health expert. I just try to pay attention.

Do I have better days when I start them well rested?

How much is too little (for me) and how much is too much (for me)?

What are the little things that I do at night (things I can control) that tend to keep me up?

What foods that I eat tend to mess with my sleep?

Do I get more consistent sleep if I always wake up at the exact same time in the morning (and try to go to bed at the same time)?

These are some of the questions I like to ask. We are all unique, but I do believe we all have better days when we start them well rested.