OK. I haven't written a "real" blog post for years (like 6+). The reason why I'm so motivated to write this one today is.... I met this inspiring guy and I was totally amazed by his mind. We didn't have the chance to really talk much, but I've been reading his posts on things. I realized that blog is such a great way to grasp someone's mind, even for a small piece of it.
It dawned on me this morning that maybe, just maybe, some people are impressive or seem to be outstanding because they're vocal about their mind. They actively read and share things, not shy to voice their opinions. So maybe I shall try to be vocal about my opinions too. :)
So, Here's a piece of my mind... on a couple things.
1. Regarding work and life balance (telling my future self)
People say it's hard, but I don't think so. (Granted I don't have kids yet...) But it's fairly simple and has everything to do with one thing: your priority.
I'm not Steve Jobs, who asked himself every morning, "what if this is the last day of you life", and then from there decided how to spend his day at work.
If I know it's my last day alive, I'd spend it with my loved ones. Maybe do a 15 min meditation to go to my imaginary mountain and lake.
If you choose the same, to spend with your loved ones, then we might have a chance to be friends.
To me, health, people who love me, and people who I love, are top on the list.
That means, protect them! In other words, I know I will regret it if I let other things take them away from me.
I think of work as a game. Actually most other things in life are games.
That doesn't mean you don't treat it seriously. If you've played sports before, you know games are dead serious, sometime can be stressful and frustrating, and you have to keep working at it. You put 200% of effort, and hope for the best. Result matters, but not the most important thing.
I'm dead serious that I want to be good at these games. I want to know the rules well, play with them and master all the skills to win.
Work is just like that. Working your ass off is exhausting definitely and fun in a way. But remember: Challenges are there to make the games fun. Frustration and barriers are part of the package. Don't let the emotions associated with these things get to you. If you can jump out and look at the game with no emotion, you're more likely to find a way to solve it, and continue your game plan.
It goes without saying, don't let work interfere your health, loved ones, and people who care about you.
Stress may be a factor, but not an excuse for behaviors.
Ask yourself, at the end of the day, what will you regret, lose your work/deal, or the other things on your list.
2. Weight Control (for my future self)
I've witnessed my Mom going through diet and trying to lose weight from her mid 30s to mid 50s. It goes without failing, every time she lost some weight first, and then ended up putting more back on.
I'm determined that I'll not follow that pattern. My family has not thin people. But I managed to maintain a healthy weight. A couple tricks to share here:
1). Train your body to believe in your brain.
We all know what's healthy to eat. The problem is not to identify what to put on the plate, the problem is that you're not satisfied with the diet food and you want the undiet food, because it seems so much better!
I've trained myself to believe what's healthy is yummy. What's unhealthy is gross.
You may be laughing or raising your eyebrows. But you have to really believe it!
I used to love bacon, friend chicken, mayo, and can eat a tub a ice cream in one night. So I've been there. But fortunately, I've always liked veggies too.
Besides teaching myself some tasty healthy recipe, I trained my body to trust my mind, to really believe it.
Note: It might be easier to start the training from what's gross.
For example, when you look at deep fried things... tell yourself it's gross and your body really don't need it, you will feel terrible after you eat that... take a moment and tell your body that. Drink some more water and look at other options on the table. It worked for me.
A big mind set you need to adopt here is: You're not ON diet. This new way of eating IS your diet.
Gradually, you'll find new things to like, and there's a good chance, they're more healthy then before.
I love pop-eyes, and I sometimes crave it. It's OK. I eat it when I crave it. But it only happens a couple times a year, and most people can afford that and still maintain a healthy weight.
2). Exercise. This is a new life style.
I didn't grown up in a household, where exercise is part of life. The only exercise I had was the minimum requirement in PE class. It was always a struggle for me to pass the tests in PE.
I really started to like exercising when I joined my first gym after college and experienced some really fun group exercise classes, kick boxing, cycling, and dancing and yoga. Once it's fun, and it's no longer work.
Keep at it is the most difficult and important thing. It's easy to get busy and have no time to exercise.
But again, the point is not "been there done that", the point is to continue and keep at it.
Choose a few fun exercises, some longer some shorter. Make sure you can do at least one of them a day, even just for 5 minutes. You'll always need 5 minutes to relax and feel good, no matter what kind of busy day you have.
There, that's a piece of my mind I'd like to share this morning. :)
