Month / June 2016

Pain is a Warning

Pain is not something we invite. Pain is not something we wish to experience.

There are levels to pain. Mild discomfort to excruciating.

Yet pain is not an enemy, it is merely a warning. We must learn to see it as a warning and deal with it in kind.

The fear of embarrassment at the thought of public speaking is a legitimate pain. But it is just a warning, one that allows us, ahead of time, to improve ourselves, to become better at speaking publicly.

Pain is just a way of letting us know we are stretching ourselves. Without it we run the risk of running head long into danger.

by Colin Brosnan

Stretch

It is safe to do the things we’ve always done. Stopping at that line though means we don’t grow. We have to stretch beyond it. To improve, to grow, we have to reach beyond the line we know. Stretch past the safety of what we know.

By stretching we change where the line is. Stretching just a little bit at a time. We redraw it in ever increasing circles. Like rings in a tree trunk. In time we can look back and see how much we’ve grown. How much more we are capable of now than when we started.

Stretch yourself today. A small stretch, just a small stretch.

by Colin Brosnan

Open Tabs

Right now I have 39 open tabs in Chrome, my browser of choice. Most have been open for weeks waiting for me to get time to read them. And, of course, I have no idea what’s in most of those tabs.

I hope you don’t browse like me.

It drains your focus. It divides it.

I can’t help but see it as a useful lesson for work or life. The more tabs you have open the less gets done. The more tabs you have open the less likely you are to know what to work on.

Do yourself a favour. Close off the majority of those tabs or save them to a service (Pocket, Diigo, etc) so you can go through them at another time.

Time to close 39 tabs.

by Colin Brosnan

It’s Monday

When it’s time to start, just start.

Don’t grumble cause it’s Monday. Rejoice in it and start. You have the whole week ahead.

If you have something against Monday, the problem isn’t with the day, it’s with what you do on the day. If Monday’s a problem then change what you do.

The whole week’s ahead.

by Colin Brosnan

Hiding

Seth Godin wrote:

When you discover that the job is in the way of the work, consider changing your job enough that you can go back to creating value.

Anything less is hiding.

But it’s not the only way to hide.

Procrastinating is hiding.

Social media is hiding.

Not communicating is hiding.

However you’re hiding, stop. There’s no one counting to one hundred. There’s no one coming to find you. You’re not hiding from anyone but yourself.

Stop hiding.

by Colin Brosnan

Workshop

You need a workshop. You need a place to experiment, a place to play.

It doesn’t need to be a separate building. It doesn’t even need to be a separate room. It can be right where you are now. Just clear some space. Put away your usual tools.

The biggest change need only be in your head. You need a workshop mindset. Break things apart, see how they work. Put them back together but different. Start from scratch. Design anew.

You need a workshop.

by Colin Brosnan

Flawed

We are human, we are flawed.

Often though we shelter ourselves from the reality. We choose not to see our flaws, whatever they may be. That we are too quick to become irritated. That we shy away from speaking to people we do not already know. That we are nervous or anxious. That, that, that…

No matter the flaw it is not something to be ashamed of or hidden. It is part of us. It is an opportunity to become better, to improve.

We are human, we can grow. Become the best you can be.

by Colin Brosnan