There is a growing generation of self-help and life advisory gurus in the market today (uplifted to new heights by social media) constantly sharing inspirational content (mostly sound bites) in the glossiest manner possible, with legions of followers on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. Men (mostly) and some women who have created comfortable fortunes articulating inspirational and aspirational ideas (usually spin-offs and variations of de-constructed universal truths) that create an uplifting moment in the viewer. The “Aha” moment where we feel like if we simply acted on these truths or found ways to implement them, our lives would become more meaningful, more worthwhile and more purposeful.
In the main, we tend to keep scrolling and continuing to get our little dopamine hits from other less lofty content. The challenge, of course, is finding ways to convert some of those ideas into action and implement such wisdom and inspiration into our daily lives.
For my part, and in my journey to be a better version of myself, I tend to use the little notes section in the weekly dashboard of my Purpose Planer, to capture 2 or 3 such ideas a week. Whether it’s from a glossy life-improvement Instagram post or something I read in passing, I jot it down to see if I can then apply it in my day to day life.
This week I read and wrote down the following;
4 things you can never get back:
- The Stone after its thrown
- The Word after its said
- The Occasion after its missed
- The Time after its gone
Each one of those 4 verbal (philosophical) images, I have then translated into my Not To Do List for the week;
- Don’t speak before thinking
- Don’t be absent when you are present
- Don’t talk before listening
By pro-actively and consciously setting this out, I feel like I have given myself a better chance to test the strengths and benefits of some of these ideas.
In truth, the only real measure of progress in such behaviors is the way it makes you feel or (rarely) when the act itself is recognized by the receiver of it. The latter is not why I’m doing it but that’s nice too.
