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Month: May 2022

Can You Hear Your Heart?

The heart speaks in whispers.

The world YELLS IN ALL CAPS!!

If we don’t find ways to separate ourselves from the YELLS—we’ll never hear the whispers.

Self-Discipline vs. Self-Control

“Deciding to stop eating sweets and to start eating vegetables are separate psychological functions. The first takes self-control. The second takes self-discipline. You can easily succeed at one and fail at the other. They aren’t the same process!”

Dr. Julia-Marie O’Brien

Self-discipline says “Go,” even when you don’t want to—to do what you know you have to.

Self-control says “No,” even when you might want to say “Yes”—to stop you from doing something you know you shouldn’t.

In the same way self-discipline is built by breaking down seemingly large tasks into manageable chunks (to make “going” easier)—self-control is built by preemptively mitigating temptations before they turn into uncontrollably large ones (to make saying “No” easier).

If improving self-discipline follows a big to small format:

  • Step 1: Identify the big task that you know needs to get done—that comes from a deep place.
  • Step 2: Make doing the task easy (so it can be done even on the hard days)—by breaking it down into smaller, simpler, easier to remember tasks.
  • Step 3: Go—ideally at times when your energy levels are highest.

Then improving self-control might follow a small to big format:

  • Step 1: Identify the small cravings/desires as they arrive—be mindful of regular patterns.
  • Step 2: Make mitigating those cravings/desires easy—have a plan in place (e.g. if I get a craving for something sweet, then I’ll have peanut butter and a protein bar).
  • Step 3: Stop—ideally at times when you’re cravings/desires are at their lowest.

While these two words might seem interchangeable, this key difference in these psychological processes should be understood if we hope to improve upon them.

Who Cares?

Nobody should care more about your life than you.

Because nobody can ever fully understand your life—and all that it entails—more than you.

So what happens when you care more about what others think than what you think yourself?

  • It means you’ve outsourced the weight of your care to them.
  • It means you’ll prioritize how you act in ways that satisfies their cares over your own.
  • It means you think their care is more aligned with your wants, needs, desires than your own.

And one of the reasons we care so much about what other people think is because we want to fit in and gain their acceptance.

But, what we have to realize is that if we don’t act in ways that is optimally aligned with our deepest wants, needs, and desires—we become irritable, frustrated, and confused.

Because that’s how being out of alignment feels.

The ironic truth is that the path towards acceptance with others is the path that leads towards acceptance of self first.

Because when we are in alignment with our deepest wants, needs, and desires—we become joyful, unbothered, and confident. And THAT is what attracts the people of your tribe who bring with them fitting in and acceptance.

Fulfillment isn’t something that can ever be outsourced.

No matter how well intentioned and good-willed the other people in your life might be.

…It can only ever be sourced from within.