Have you ever read something that made you stop in your tracks at how profound it was, and then sometimes after we look at it a few more times, we find ourselves thinking how simple that was. Why did we never “hear” it before. I mean REALLY hear it, get it in our heart and soul kind of get it. We can hear things and not HEAR them.
But it was usually there and simple all along. We had just been thinking the problem was something else, or just so stuck in the problem that we couldn’t see past it.
I started thinking about that this week when I woke up one morning and within an hour and a half had written three or four blog posts on the notepad on my phone. Just the day before I opened WordPress and stared at a blank screen and struggled to get one coherent thought down.
I learned about my organizational style last year, and a lot of things make more sense now, why I struggle with them. We try to fix ourselves. We might not be broken. We’re just missing something simple to shift our mindset or to make it work for us.
This was the case with the writing. At first it didn’t make sense, why I could write so effortlessly in one place and not the other. Then it hit me. There are too many things going on in the back end of WordPress. I can’t think there. I need things within reach, but I don’t like it too busy or cluttered. I can’t focus. This made perfect sense.
It wasn’t that I couldn’t write or didn’t have a million ideas. The space was all wrong. Once I changed that, I could write with the words overflowing effortlessly.
It was just one little shift.
It really makes me wonder what all we are making difficult in our life that was really simple all along.
What else are we making too hard? What else are we just not getting? It makes me wonder what else is holding me back that can be transformed by one tiny little change.
We all talk about being too busy, never having enough time. We don’t have time to do things we want, to spend on our hobbies, with our friends and loved ones. We’re all too busy.
We say it’s time, and to some degree that’s true for all of us, but I think we use it as an excuse sometimes, maybe because we don’t realize the real problem. And that’s not good, especially when it’s keeping us from being and doing what we really want.
Others manage to do it. Why is it not working for us? And what do we need to do to make it work for us?
What if we’ve complicated it and made it harder than it is? Maybe the answer is simple.
What if we have just time taken up by too many of the wrong things? Maybe the answer is to cut down or limit the television. Or maybe social media.
Or what if we had less things to take care of? Almost always the answer seems to be less, not more.
But I get it. We’re busy.
But what if there’s more to it than that? What if we are missing a simple solution to make it work for us?
Do you a space for your hobby? Hobbies usually come with a lot of stuff. I’m just waiting to see a crafter’s home on the Marie Kondo show.
I love the funny joke going around social media…
“I have come to the conclusion that buying craft supplies and actually using them are two separate hobbies.”
Can anyone relate? I can most definitely relate.
I love making jewelry. I even used to sell it on the blog. It was a difficult thing to keep up with with my husband. Getting a big order could be difficult when I had a lot going on with him. But I also realized something else about the jewelry. It was a stressful business when you have my organizational style. The amount of tiny and varied little things that are part of making jewelry is mind blowing. I get overwhelmed. I have to think too hard, just because of so many little things, and that makes actually doing it not as fun. Some days I feel like my hobby is trying to organize my jewelry things in a way that I can handle is my hobby. I still love to make it…or at least collect the supplies to make it.
I had a similar problem in my kitchen. It had become a non-functioning space. I used to love to cook, but I hadn’t enjoyed it as much for a long time. I thought it was just the stress of my husband’s disease, and while that is definitely part of it, there was much more going on. While it is a small kitchen, it wasn’t necessarily its size. It was the way it was set up to function. It didn’t work at all. Once I got it organized and proper storage, I’m enjoying my kitchen and cooking again. Maybe not huge elaborate meals like I did before his disease and before I got hurt, but meals we love and enjoy. Aren’t the simple foods the best? Is there anything better than bread with a dipping oil? Add a bottle of wine and good friends, and you have yourself an amazing girl’s night out. It doesn’t take much to create a space and mood to make some beautiful memories and connections.
I’ve read recently where there is a link between clutter and depression. I’m sure all cases are unique, but I can see where there could be a connection. We are much more in tune to our environment than we realize. Maybe it some cases, not all, but in some, that is part of the problem. I’ve heard real people talk about how much better they were when they did the work to declutter their spaces.
But it’s not only issues of time and space. Sometimes it’s an issue with how we think. We often find we were the one thing holding ourselves back.
The only thing that’s holding you back, is the way you’re thinking.
-Steve Vai
Part of the Ultimate Goal Planner and Tracker is the Reading Tracker. It was what started all the trackers, and I created it for myself, because I was trying to fix a problem. I kept repeating a pattern of putting together a list of books to read and either never got started or I never got past the first book. I just couldn’t understand the problem. It was something I wanted to do. But I do struggle sometimes with self-discipline with doing things regularly. And sometimes I just have so much on my plate that I would completely forget about it. I’ve been reading now for nine months, and the shift in the way I think has been huge. Huge. Even when I find an old thought popping back up, I find myself responding to it with thoughts and words that make far more sense now. Had it just been that simple all along, not having enough new good thoughts to replace the old thoughts?
I know. That seems like such a no-brainer when I read it now. But it doesn’t usually pop in there when we are sad, depressed, anxious, stressed, or just having a really bad day, and our thoughts are going downhill. That’s what I love about the reading tracker. I’m much better equipped to handle those times now. What used to cause me to spiral for days or weeks might now only be an isolated thought, a 5 minute thing, or even a 30 minute thing now. I cannot recommend reading the value of reading really good things every single day.
I’m seeing these mindset shifts everywhere now.
The answers are usually simple and staring us right in the face. Have you ever watched someone post a question in a facebook group, and then someone will pop in with something that you can’t believe you never thought of. It was so simple and staring you right in the face.
The answer for my WordPress writing issue was simple. Use the fullscreen editor. I can write with just a minimal toolbar. I had never really stopped to think why it felt so frustrating to write there.
So let’s slow down a little and start asking ourselves some important questions. We might be surprised at the answers we get.
5 Questions to Ask to set Yourself Up for a Radical Shift in Mindset
- Are there times when it’s harder?
- Are there times when it’s easier? Notice if there are times where it’s different.
- Are there things you can remove from your life to solve this? It can be physical things, or they can also be activities, or sometimes even the way we’re thinking. Ask yourself if removing things, activities, or thoughts could make this better or easier.
- Is it the environment causing a problem?
- Am I reading enough good things on a daily basis?
The most radical changes can come from knowing the answers to these questions. The thing we think is the problem , often is not. We struggle to change ourselves the hard way. Sometimes just understanding a little about how we work and why something is bothering us makes fixing the problem so much easier. Add daily reading of really good things, and we get absolutely brilliant.
What ways do you use to clear through the fog (old messages, thoughts, problems, etc.) to see more clearly? Please share! I think 2019 is going to be a great year. And I’m so glad you’re here.
Love and peace, beautiful friends.