Tag: self awareness

Go All In

“The risk of going all in only scary until you do it.” – me

The clichés the mottoes, the personal mantras are everywhere. “go all in”, “go big or go home”, “I am I can and I will.” They are cute. They are nice. And, they are true. If you use them as words to live by and actually do it, that is.

The reality is that if you want to succeed at anything from running a marathon to landing your dream job to running your own business, you have to go all in. You can never reach your full potential running the rim. You have to go big and you to believe that you are capable and that you can and will accomplish what you set out to do. If you don’t you are already starting behind the eight ball; your very own eight ball that can be the hardest one to get around.

There are enough doubters on any path; you can’t afford to be one of them. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that self doubt is part of the process, but you must learn to move through that quickly. You have to be confident. You have to be your number one fan. You need to rally the squirrels in your head to spin the wheels in unison and cheer you on. And, you must go all in. If you don’t you will never really know what might have been. What could have been. And, quite possibly, what should have been.

Don’t resolve to live a life with that thorn gently poking your side, leaving that itch unscratched, lurking below the surface causing a life a regret. Manufacturing those thoughts of “if only…”,”would if I…”, “I should have…”

You’re right. If only you went all in. Would if you had gone all in? You should have gone all in because if you do and you fail, you can’t walk away with your head down full of regret. You can walk away a winner because you tried your best and your mind is open to possibility instead of packed with embarrassment and regret. Your mind is open to the lessons of failure that make you stronger and better, and most importantly, willing to go all in again and again, and again and whatever is necessary to accomplish what you set as your goal.

The risk of going all in only scary until you do it.

Talk Soon,
Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live

BRAIN EATERS Part 7: What’s The Score?

“At the center of your being
you have the answer;
you know who you are
and you know what you want.”

― Lao Tzu

Do you know who you are? Do I even know who I am? This entire series has danced around that topic. At least part it. That topic is really just an invitation to discover the greater part of the iceberg below the surface. In this series I focused on the things that occupy most of the space in my brain.

What occupies my brain is really a surface level topic, not the center of my being. However, the journey to the center must start somewhere. I feel the brain is as good a place as any. Looking deeply at what occupies my brain and really seeking to understand and answer the questions the brain eaters conjure will lead me to the center. The real questions and answers are there.

Have I found the right questions to ask? Have I found the answers? Have I listened to the answers? Do I know who I am? Do I know what I want? How does my scorecard look today?

I believe self discovery and growth is a life long journey. I have felt many times throughout my life that I had discovered who I am and what I want, later to discover I was wrong or that there was more to it than I thought at the time. Looking back I have realized that early on I might have been wrong some of the time but as I have moved forward and honestly sought the truth, it was more a matter of peeling layers. We are a complex species and it seems that more will always be revealed as we progress through life.

At this point in my life I do believe I know who I am. Will I learn more? Absolutely, I am a firm believer that once we stop learning our purpose in this life is done. Even after we become the teacher there is more to learn.

So where do I stand today? What is the score? How am I doing? This really could be a long and deep conversation which is better left for another time. Instead I will focus on how I am doing within the context of what I have discussed throughout this series.

The questions then become:
Am I keeping the brain eaters contained?
Am I staying focused, present, and calm amidst the chaos in my brain?
Am I doing the things that are good for me that help manage the brain eaters?
Am I…? See, there the brain eaters go getting carries away.

The most important lesson I have learned about self awareness, self discovery, and self evaluation is that there are no wrong answers if answered honestly. Nothing counts but honesty as you are only lying to yourself.

I am doing better about managing the chaos in my brain. I am not taking it out on others and I am not trying to do everything. I am focusing on just a few things and trying to do better at each.

I would love to say that I am doing great with the four things that help me most; writing, talking, exercising, and meditating. I do them all but the truth is, the quantity of each has dropped off a bit since taking over the pie shop a year ago. I need to find a way to put more time and effort in to each because they really do make a huge difference in the quality of my life.

The two that I have been able to do the most are writing and talking. Journal writing, not creative writing is what I have been able to do every day. Just writing things out helps to get them out my head. It takes some of the food away from the bran eaters and takes some of the power away from the thoughts. I do hope to create more time for the creative writing as it produces a very similar result. Talking things out with another person has really increased over the last six to nine months and has been very helpful. Sharing with another person helps get different, unbiased perspective on everything. It is very hard to calm the chaos with the same mind that created it.

In conclusion, I have been able to mitigate the damage caused by my bran eaters but I definitely need to put a few more points on the board for Kevin. My goal is to carve a bit more time for all of these things but focus more on quality instead of quantity since my time is limited.

How’s your scorecard looking? 

Talk Soon,
Kevin W. @Leap272
Owner – Operator

You have to leap if you want to live.

COME TO REALIZE: 1 Self Awareness

“Enjoy your midnight snack at 10.” – Me

I simply do not function well after midnight. I don’t exactly turn into a pumpkin but my brain turns to mush much like the inside of one. This is just one important thing I have come to realize about myself while navigating the labyrinth of life.

I have had many “aha” moments in my life; countless epiphanies, hard lessons, realizations, growth lessons, whatever you want to call them. If I had to pick the most important I don’t think I could. But if it was a gun to my head decision it would be a two part answer; One, that if I do not implement anything learned from those “lessons” then they mean nothing and, two, if I don’t share the lessons with others they mean even less. They simply become another forgotten thought, cast away to the deep, dark, dusty crevices of my brain.

Back to the opening quote. What does it really mean and what is the true essence of the lesson? It means I am not a night owl so I shouldn’t stay up that late and more importantly, schedule important late night meetings or events. The reality is I am not sure how many people actually do that. In the businesses I participate in, it is not very common, although there are some events that can run into the wee hours. I might not have to use my brain but I do have to participate in these situations and hold important conversations.

In my experience, the later I travel into the night the worse my social skills become and my patience and tolerance begins to wear thin. That is the important realization here; when I become tired I become anti-social, impatient, intolerant, and irritable. That is not the winning combination for anything good that I know of. As a result, I become much more reactive to my environment and the things people do and say. The best course of action for me is to avoid these situations to the best of my ability.

Peeling another layer and boiling it down even more, it really comes down to self awareness; knowing myself well enough to avoid situations in which I will not act as my normal professional or social self. Okay, truth be, told I am not that social as it is, but you get what I’m saying. Of course, this applies well beyond late night social or business situations.

What is self awareness? Is it a personality trait? A skill? A behavior? Oh, and aren’t there different types or levels? I don’t want to do a deep dive here and get all scientific and psychological so let’s just stick with it being a skill for our purposes here.

Self awareness is such an important skill to help us navigate life and the various decisions we make and the situations and circumstances we find ourselves in. Perhaps its most important function is to really help us discover and follow our calling. It is so easy to get swept up in the race to become the master of anything that will propel you to the top of whatever ladder you are climbing; rewarding you with endless riches, book deals and master classes that will expedite your journey to retirement. Until all the smoke clears and you are left looking at your confused, unhappy reflection in the mirror. This isn’t what I signed up for!

Follow your instincts and learn to know yourself. Get quiet and discover who you truly are. Self awareness will lead you to your what and why.   

Talk Soon,
Kevin W @LEAP272
Owner-Operator

You have to leap if you want to live