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Welcome to The Sunday Starter, a bi-weekly email for busy working professionals who want to start taking back control over their lives.
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People don’t experience life, people experience life they focus on.
The need for patience comes at the most difficult times.
The times when we need to take a deep breath or a “chill pill” we are normally racing around a mile a minute and worrying.
That’s where the practice of patience becomes an important part of our accessory work.
→ Sitting in thought. Or silence.
Going through past scenarios and how we could’ve handled them differently are all necessary practices for learning more patience.
→ It’s hard work. It’s uncomfortable work.
But it’s powerful.
Even sitting with our eyes closed for 5 minutes a day will bring us the mindfulness to exercise patience when we need it most. Maybe some days we might need more time, too. That’s okay and we should reward ourselves with it.
We’ll only know if we put in the work in the first place and see how we feel.
Let’s become prepared for those future moments by getting uncomfortable now and learning how to deal with them.
Patience becomes a great ally we want on our side.
My key to avoiding burnout:
Realizing 100% looks different each day.
One of the most difficult challenges for any ambitious person is eliminating the guilt associated with free time and rest.
I used to push at max effort every single day, thinking that free time and rest were… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
— Sahil Bloom (@SahilBloom)
12:59 PM • Oct 29, 2023
Here are 3 simple exercises to try if you’re stressed, overworked, burned out, anxious, or all of the above.
→ Go For A Walk
No tech. No music. No anything.
10-20 minutes.
→ Observe the scenery around you.
→ Listen to the birds singing.
→ Look up.
Let your mind wander.
No agenda.
Just think.
Stress can come when we believe life should be a certain way but it’s not.
Take a deep breath, smell the roses, and enjoy a brief moment of silence in nature.
→ Journal
Get out a piece of paper and a pen.
Set a timer for 10-minutes
→ Just write.
If you need some prompts, use these…
What is one thing you are grateful for today and why?
What is one thing you should “Let go” off?
What is the main thing stressing you out or causing anxiety and why
It doesn’t matter what gets written. It’s the act of writing that is most important.
The pen is your ally, don’t be afraid of using it.
→ Sit in silence
Sure, call it meditation if you want.
But, it’s just sitting in silence and breathing.
Set a 10-minute timer.
→ Let your mind wander.
→ Breathe slowly, through the nose and out the mouth.
When you catch it wandering off course bring it back to the breathing.
10-minutes will go by in a snap and you’ll be the calmest you’ve felt in a while.
→ Here’s the thing
The simplest answer is normally the right one.
When you’re stressed, overwhelmed, burned out, or anxious the situation you are currently in is not the best one for you.
→ Remove yourself from it.
→ Step away.
→ Relax.
Use the 3 prompts from above or create your own.
Just give yourself a break.
It’s not as bad as we think it is.
→ That’s just the story we’ve made up in our heads.
Change the scenery a bit and our perspective changes.
The story starts to take a positive spin.
Give yourself a break today however you need to do it.
That rest will help you recharge the batteries and become more energized for tomorrow.
We think we fall behind when we rest but it allows us to propel even farther and faster forward when we return to our work.
Go ahead, You deserve it.
Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.
What’s Coming Next:
Next time, let’s turn the tables on starting.
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