My Riffs

Experience can be the best teacher. I’m watching my 1.5 year old son gain experience right now. He was to touch everything. He wants to taste everything. He’s trying to get into every cupboard, drawer and shelf. He’s exploring his world, gaining experience. He doesn’t realize what may hurt to touch or taste but he’s gaining experience and is starting to know what isn’t good to taste or touch.  Experience is so valuable. It sometimes costs us some pain but it’s so valuable. If we don’t learn from it, we lose that value though. Turn experience into wisdom and knowledge. 

Big minds think and talk about ideas. Big minds don't dwell on the negative. Big minds are used to create not destroy.

The only thing certain is the next moment. What we do with that is our choice. Much of the future is out of our control, or at best is difficult to control However, we can control the next moment.  This is a reminder to make the best of each day you're given.

There is very little certainty when you think about it. The last year and a half is all the proof we need that nothing is certain. There are only varying degrees of uncertainty.  The lesson is to not get too comfortable. Comfort means letting our guard down. And comfort means that of things change you won’t be prepared. 

With time being the most valuable resource, time management is of utmost importance. Time management is fortunately something that can be learned and improved. The better you use your time the more you will glean from life. The more control over your life you will have. This means saying no to many things. But good time management requires lots of "no's".

Greed happens when we don't know what enough is. When we don't practice contentment, we invite greed. Greed mostly hurts the greedy, but can also cause damage to those who get in the greedy ones way. People will do horrendous things from a place of greed.  Contentment is a skill we can work on. Contentment is a skill like a tree trunk that many positive branches can grow from.

What you need, you likely already have. Most things for us are wants.   Changing out attitude to reflect that truth can take us from a place of dissatisfaction to contentment.

An interesting thing about fulfillment is it comes usually through helping others rather than ourselves. Selfishness doesn't seem to lead to fulfilment. Generosity does though.

It can be super frustrating how other people are living their lives. One scour of the news and you can be triggered no matter where you fall politically.  We can get bent out of shape from how others are living their lives.  It’s best to live our own lives and not stress over how other people are living there’s. Especially when it comes to political matters.  The best thing you can do to help the world is to set your own life in order. Clean out your barn and that’s the best thing you can do. 

Our attention is usually commanded by our problems. But what happens if we shifted our attention to our blessings. What if we started counting our blessings? Our thinking would change. Our change in thinking would shape a different world for us. Count your blessings not your problems and your world will change. 

Disconnects happen when communication breaks down. Connectedness is required for team success. Effective communication is necessary for success in relationships, teams and leadership.

Those who are curious are the ones who make discoveries. They're the ones who invent things. They're the ones who find truth. Not the nosy, the curious. And not just the aimless curious, but the curious in things that are important. The curious who want to make things better. The curious who want to see broken things fixed.

The big problem with ego is that it erases or minimizes all the help received. Nobody gets anywhere without others. But ego lies to us and tells us we did it on our own. That’s an impossibility though. We can’t get anywhere on our own. All along our journey we need others. Humility is seeing how we need others and got to where we are with help from others. 

Today I was reminded how important failure it. We often see a setback or missed target as a failure. But failure is found when we're parlayed by fear or allow mistakes to escalate. But really, to succeed we can use failure. Failure can be used to launch us to success. There's no path to success that isn't difficult and that doesn't have setbacks.  Failure can be a great motivator. And when it's a motivator it's no longer a failure, it's only a setback.

We really only can grasp this moment we’re in. The past is gone, the future is unknown. What we have is this moment. Are we taking each moment and making the best of it?

Is often around us more than we realize. We need to slow down to notice it. 

I think the best defence is action rather than words. Words and important but talk is cheap. Action is much better. Accused of something? Let your actions defend you. 

For some reason (I honestly don’t know why) many people live their lives looking for offences.  It’s a backwards way to live. It’s selling ones self short of a better life.  If you look for offences, THEY WILL BE FOUND :) They’re not hard to find or at least make up. Look for good instead. Look for positivity. Look for kindness. Looking for offences is like living with your head down looking in the mud on a bright sunny day. 

When receiving an unfavourable response from someone, always respond opposite. If they're rude, be kind. If they're angry, be calm. If they're accusing, don't be defensive. If you're getting a kind response, reciprocate the kindness. That will perpetuate kindness further than just two separate acts of kindness could.

Words are fuel. Silence can be used for good. Words can perpetuate negativity. Silence can stop the negativity.  We don’t have to feel the need to have an opinion about everything. It’s totally acceptable to not have an opinion on something. Before you speak it’s good to think if your words are going to fuel something negative. If so, it’s better to remain silent. 

Something I’ve noticed about anger is that it’s often misplaced. I can get mad at things, but the things I get mad at are often just symptoms not the real issue. We can use anger in a constructive fashion if we turn it into positive energy to address the root issue. If we are upset at a symptom, we can use that symptom to dig down and find the root cause. Once found we can use the negative anger and turn it into positive energy to address the root issue(s). 

Not everyone is artistic in a creative sense. I think everyone is creative in their own way. But not everyone is an artist that creates music, poetry or paintings.  But we all can be artists. The best way to inspire, to correct and to cast vision is to provide a picture of what can be. Pointing out what’s wrong isn’t a solution. It’s not inspiring. But what’s inspiring is a vision of what can be. A vision to aim for. A vision that replaces what’s wrong with actions that build for what’s right.  Great leaders inspire. Weak leaders use force.  Be an artist. Paint a vision of what can be. There’s no need to point out what’s wrong. It’s much more powerful to paint a vision of what can be. 

Happy Mother’s Day to every Mother out there. I’m convinced that being a mother is the worlds most challenging yet rewarding job. Keep the faith, Mothers! You’re awesome!

Have you ever had a bad day, then heard or seen about someone else who is in a much worse spot than yourself? It's a quick reality check. It's a good reminder that everyday is a good day. It can always be worse. So find the good and joy in every day and you won't have very many "bad" days :) 

Good things take time. Rushing lowers quality.

Getting ahead of something will always make that something easier or better. But it’s so difficult to get ahead of something. And if yo get too far ahead you may miss it. Timing is important. 

You don't need big numbers to accomplish much. Small groups in history have accomplished much. Don't be overwhelmed when there are great numbers doing wrong or evil. You don't need a larger number. You need to arm yourself with truth and love. Truth is much more powerful than a large number.

Patience is a virtue because it’s not easily attained. Someone with great patience likely is one of two things: 1. Carefree 2. Very self disciplined.  However they got to the point of patience though, it’s a virtue. Those who worked hard for it deserve a medal :)

How often do things go exactly according to plan? Safe to say, very rarely. There’s too many variables to take into account to accurately predict and plan for the future. Even 30 minutes forward. Your trip to the grocery store will likely have some unexpected things happen. An item out of stock, a light out at an intersection, low fuel and an unexpected visit to a gas station, and on and on. The point I’m getting at is the future if difficult (impossible) to predict. Yes, we should plan, and plan carefully. But we also should always plan for things to change. And we shouldn’t be discouraged when things do not go as planned. There’s way too many variables outside of our control that we can’t stress over. Adaptability is a key to successful individuals. Same applies to businesses. Adapting to ever changing circumstances is important to get through not only life but every day. 

You will learn a lot about your appetite in what you do during downtime or when you’re bored.