Month: January 2022

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Be a little selfish at times

On Thursday, I tried to motivate you by appealing to your own best interest. This got me thinking that selfishness seems to have a very bad reputation. When I grew up, I always had to share my toys with my siblings and at school, we had to watch out for weaker pupils in class to make sure we all graduated together.

Whilst I am very much in favor of helping others and see it as one way of building a better society, I have to point out that being a little selfish at times is also needed.

You may have heard of self-care or the damaging results of the Superwoman Syndrome or just be overworked yourself. I’m sure many of you could do with a little help at times – or just some time to yourself. There are many benefits that taking a few moments out of a stressful day keeps you happy and healthy.

There is also no downside to putting yourself first when there is only one drumstick left at the end of the meal and you really want it. Unless you want (need?) to loose weight, there shouldn’t be anything stopping you from indulging sometimes.

More importantly, in a work and business setting, don’t be shy and do apply for every opportunity in which you would gain new skills, learn new techniques and earn more money. If you don’t put yourself first, nobody else will do it for you.

I invite you to be a little selfish at times and to take a few minutes every day to yourself or apply for that promotion or have that last piece of chocolate, if that’s what you want. Go for it!

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Sign up to vote in YOUR best interest

It is time to mention it again: it is important to vote!

In most countries, elections are held regularly to allow every person to participate in how the country is run. This is the biggest chance of getting your voice heard and putting someone in power who will champion YOUR interests.

Yes, vote for your interests and yours only. If you want women’s rights protected, go and vote for the party who actually has female members and leaders. Don’t vote for the party where the leaders are “grabbing them by the pussy” or where it’s OK to rape women because “boys will be boys”.

If you feel financial stability is important to you, I suggest you look at the track record of the parties on offer. Here, I will ask you to dig deep. Don’t rely on what you hear in the media but try and find the actual records of how each party acted, spent money and made you better off. Which party did go into debt for real? Which party lowered unemployment really?

If you want a better world for your children, again, I suggest you look at what each party has to offer. Is there a party that sticks out as supporting the greater good for future generations via infrastructure projects or childcare?

I highly recommend you think about what kind of a future you want to help create and then vote accordingly.

First, you have to sign up so that you will be allowed to vote. Then, you will have time to figure out who to vote for.

I urge you to sing up today and make your voice heard.

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Smile and the world will smile back at you

Watching and listening to the news gives me the chills these days. There doesn’t seem much good in the world. To make me feel better, I would usually smile intentionally at my fellow human beings but given that I’m taking one of the team and wear my mask diligently to stop the spread of COVID, that seems an awfully big challenge.

So how can you acknowledge and connect with people whilst lacking visual feedback?

Well, there are a couple of options. The first one is to wear a transparent face

mask. Yes, there are plenty of options of see through masks on the market. The main driver was to allow hearing impaired people to be able to lip read. What an achievement!
The downside to these masks is that not all are created equal. So please be sure to choose one which is certified to filter COVID particles.

Another (better?) option would be to make sounds to elicit the same reaction a smile would do. WHAT? I hear you ask.

I’m pretty sure that when you speak with a friend or someone close to you that you listen to them and on occasion make sound like “aha” or “oh”… sometimes even a full “oh, I see now”. These are often used to show that we are listening actively and that we are still with the person who is talking. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to get into the habit and in my experience, the benefits are huge.

So how do we do this to temporarily replace a smile?

How about wishing your neighbor a good morning, make a brief comment on the weather or just saying “Hi” if your eyes meet someone else’s.

I dare you to try it for a week and see what happens.

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Master your tools and learn to love them

Over the past few weeks, I have noticed how much has changed in WordPress since I initially started. The most embarrassing thought is that I didn’t really keep up. Shame on me!

No longer! For the next 3 months, I’ll learn for 20 minutes a day to become better at it and master all the ins and outs of this powerful tool. After all, it will save me time in the long run. I’m certain it will also reduce my stress levels when I need get something done within a short period of time and I just don’t know how to go about it.

I wonder what other tools I’m using like am amateur?

Possibly that’s where I should start: a gap analysis. I need to find out which tools I use regularly and how well I use them. Once I have a better overview where I can save time, I will be in a better situation to compare where to spend my time learning and improving.

Which areas in life or which tools would you like to improve upon? Data analytics tools to get through the regular reports at work faster? Finding the movie for tonight quicker? Using the new multi function pressure cooker?

Whatever it is, there is plenty of evidence that mastery of tools you use every day will pay off. It’s not only the time and stress saved but also the positive that comes from knowing you have control over your tools and with that you have control over your life. How does that sound to you? Having full control over your life. That would be great.

Craftsman makes pottery

So I will start with small actions towards learning how to use WordPress and over the weekend I’ll be doing a skills audit. By end of this year, I’d like to have closed all the gaping holes that there may be (read: that there will be) so I can start next year in a better place.

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Building strength the easy way

This year, I want to get into better shape! This is what many people think around this time of year and I am one of them. Possibly, I am one of a few who starts half way through January when some others start to fizzle out already. Who knows. I want to look and feel better – ideally immediately.

Given my (middle-ish) age, I’m supposed to do weight training two times a week or more often. This way, my muscles stay strong to give my body what it needs to weather the storm of old age. It also means my body would use more calories at rest and I can have more fruit (I am one of those strange creatures who doesn’t like the taste of sugar) or 85% chocolate.

Unfortunately, COVID is still a thing (or is that again?) and last time I walked past the local gym, masks were worn around the neck and most certainly not covering mouth and nose. So that won’t be an option for me.

A few years ago, I was the only person to turn up to a really early gym class and since then I know that individual classes may not be my jam either. The pressure to perform when the spotlight is on me is just too much.

What would you do in my situation?

Yes, exactly! Yoga to the rescue. Yoga counts as resistance aka body weight training and therefore gives me what I need from it. Furthermore, recent research suggests that stretching such as done in Yoga benefits the blood vessels and muscles alike giving you an all round fantastic workout. Best of all, there are plenty of YouTube classes available which I can follow from the privacy of my own bedroom.

Initially, I will start with small steps and try to fit in one workout for a couple of week to see how I like it and when the best time of day is. Then I thought of doing two weeks with two sessions, followed by three weeks with three sessions… You get the idea.

Will you join me and work out too?