Holidays. Despite not going nuts on food and drink, and spending hours walking about, the curse of a holiday reared its ugly head and I gained two pounds. Suffice to say, the original objective is now impossible unless I suddenly obtain the capacity to train like George Foreman (in his boxing, not grill days). 41 days to lose 31 pounds is not impossible but when I achieved something remotely near that (losing a stone in 2 weeks) I spent the 14^th day in bed and I suspect that my 55-year-old metabolism is not the same as my 40-year-old metabolism. Do any readers have suggestions or experiences that might be fun for others to read?

Speaking of holidays, how do you do yours? As a coach/trainer I find that I spend a lot of ‘time-off’ thinking about ‘time-on’. For example, as I toured many book shops during my break I found myself gravitating to the self-help section, and then cursing myself because I want to focus all my energies on Principle-Centred Self-Leadership and the writings of Stephen Covey. I’d pick up a book and then put it back – I don’t need to read these things any more! Why?

This is a piece of advice I give any clients of my courses. Find the ONE philosophy and system that floats your boat – and stick with it.

Why do that? Why do that and not explore potentially better alternatives to improved living and personal development?

The reasons are two-fold.

1.       When looked at deeply, the teaching is basically the same, even if the terminology and examples differ slightly. In The 8^th Habit, Covey touched on this very subject. He was at a big-name leadership shindig and during a discussion with other greats he made this point – that fundamentally, what they taught using different words was the same stuff. All agreed. (And this is why seeing a book on leadership with a ‘new, different, better, latest leadership teaching’ tagline leaves me cold.)

2.       Trying to apply one system is a lot easier than trying to jump between different ones. Canfield’s Focusing System, Ziglar’s Goals Method, Allen’s Getting Things Done, The Seven Habits and others – all great, but you can’t ‘do’ any of them consistently  – and effectively – when you’re trying to ‘do’ all of the others. Find and use one system – I prefer the 7 Habits version because I have been applying it for 22 years and it works. But you might like the others. Just find ‘one’ and stick with that – or you’ll fail while desperately trying not to because your time is spent trying to juggle alternative technologies.

Recap – the philosophies are generally the same; the methodology serves those philosophies, but in slightly different ways. And different strokes suit different folks.

Find one route, and stick with that.

Put plainly, I know the principles will work, but to be frank – I ain’t working the darn principles. While productivity and service levels remain high, there is no use pretending that my diet is WAAAY out of control (‘socialising’ not overly helpful) and I could exercise with more gusto. In fact, it would help if I could exercise with any gusto at all.

The personal development field is crazy. Someone writes a book, sells it for £15, then charges anything up to £1,000 a day to teach you what’s in it. However, if it is taught well it does stick better than just having a read, and a good quality training course behoves you to follow through and holds you accountable. On the one hand, therefore, I understand the reluctance of the public to invest in their PD, but on the other hand I think there is a reasonable value in providing that support.

But not (name omitted) £1,000 a day just ‘cos you is the author.

The challenge with blogs like this is making each potentially routine day into something a bit more interesting – otherwise it’s ‘I didn’t eat much and I exercised’. Meh.

In this blog, I can add that I am suddenly having some concerns about my health, and I am determined not to look them up on the internet (doctors HATE that!). Nothing nasty – just numb feet (weird) and a pain in the neck, which is probably just a strained jaw. 😊 But it is surprising how a bit of discomfort and inconvenience can set you off track if you aren’t careful.

But I read my PMS every day, and so I continue ticking off all those tasks and maintain my standards while looking for opportunities to make them higher. Unfortunately, one value-related intent, which is to have a complete new set of good quality, professional-looking clothes and leisure wear, have to wait a couple of stone, but DANG I will look good when I get there.

In the meantime, joke of the day. What has four legs and can see just as well out of both ends?

A dog with its eyes shut.

Diet intact. Exercise, not so much. I am still suffering from the over-ambition of Tuesday’s AFL experiment, and while I have walked the umpteen steps that my Samsung insists on counting even though I never asked, I never got to do the run I’d planned. Shame on me. Everything else remains on track and tomorrow I will advise whether you need to berate me for a failure to perform. All things considered, I am moderately pleased with all the ticks I have in my ‘Three Resolutions’ Planning System, and that is not because I haven’t listed the failures!

Do you have a to-do list? You probably do, and it has been scientifically concluded that people get a bit of a buzz when they tick things off their To-Do List.

How do they know this?

They know this because we all have a habit. It is a bad habit. It is this – when we do something that is not on the list – we add it so that we can tick it off.

Go on – you do, don’t you?

Think about that next time you think that psychology is bull. We’re onto you!

Yesterday was fun. Sort of. The original planned entry for Day 4 was delayed when my good lady and I went to ‘watch’ our eldest son playing Aussie Rules Football, with the intention of watching an hour’s football then coming home. instead, I played two hours football and got home waaaayyy later than planned and therefore too late for this.

No biggy, one might say, except – I started running last Saturday after 6 or so months off. And I ran yesterday after work, for 2 miles. And then I had a big dinner. And I am 55 years old.

Anyway, when I arrived at the venue and was invited to play for the undermanned opposing team, in my enthusiasm to partake and contribute I forgot how knackered, full and old I was. As a consequence, this entry contains my excuses for not running.

Put simply, I am absolutely knackered, in pain nearly everywhere, and a lack of sleep was no help at all.

In terms of my values, yesterday was great, I said ‘Yes’ to something challenging and adventurous, contributed to someone else’s need, exercised and ate wisely (ish). And today I paid the price. I forgot the lessons that maturity usually brings, the lessons that wise men learn and apply.

Which is that while not blindly accepting limitations, they are there to be managed and challenged. I am not fit, I had not digested – I should have said No. Today, I pay the price of a year or so of largesse.

On the plus side – what challenges us makes us better. Learn the lesson, exercise with wisdom. Self-leadership decreed I should exercise and act wisely, but self-management should have made me apply more self-control.

Won’t happen again.

It’s been a while…..

Einstein (or the Chinese, or anyone that writers want to quote without actually looking it up) suggested that ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result’.

That being so, I am going to disappoint my fan and stop blogging for a while because the shortage of interest in the blog, allied to the complete lack of clicks on the ‘sales’ part of my website, suggest it’s time to move on to a different approach.

I’m gaining an hour a week. 🙂

Let me know on threeresolutionsguy@aol.com

If I get less than 10 replies, I guess the blog will have to pause for a while.

“Any idiot can face a crisis – it’s day to day living that wears you out.” Anton Chekhov

Never a truer word. I have noticed of late a peculiar state of personal being that I find both bemusing and annoying. I get out of bed on a work day, amble around muttering to myself how tired I am, and walking around slowly as my body warms up. Then any walk from car to appointment is equally labour-intensive.

But when I have a personal, mission-related activity that needs getting done – I walk quickly, for long periods, around a town centre where I bemoan everyone else – because they are ambling around, suddenly stopping in the doorway as they leave a shop (are they so amazed that there is an ‘outside’ that they forget what it was they were going to do next?), or just not looking where they are (barely) going. How very dare act they as I did when I felt like that?

Chekhov was right – routine wears you down, excitement overcomes the largesse of ‘just living’.

How can we use that observation? Two things come to mind.

1. Whatever excites you usually relates to your values, mission and sense of meaning.
2. We have a tendency to forget about the meaning that exists in just living.

The first reason needs no explanation (but here goes). When we are doing something we are passionate about, we don’t get tired or bored. We may find some of the activities tiresome, but knowing our purpose we make allowances and muddle through the tedious tasks.

The second reason needs addressing. It relates to the Third Resolution, where we overcome aspiration and ambition in an effort to serve a noble purpose.

Most people view ‘service’ as the provision of something extra, something inconvenient or some financial or time-generous act that serves people other than ourselves, or our families.

I don’t. I view service to others as including service to our families, which means that (when I remember that!) any activity, even routine, that serves my family invokes within me just a little bit of passion and a little burst of energy. As a 60/70s child my past was “Dad works, Mum looks after the home” background. By chance rather than design, that’s how I have lived my own married life. So when I pick up a broom/vacuum cleaner or duster, I get energised because I am serving my family by maintaining a nurturing environment. (Friends reading this are now peeing themselves laughing….)

Overcome the un-energising effect of routine drudgery by recognising when you are doing it for someone else, and realise that even small things matter to others. Even when you do feel worn out, it’s a much happier feeling.