My Riffs

How do you identify someone who speaks wisely? You can tell a fool by their words, but also a wise person by their words. The book of Proverbs in the Bible says wise words bring healing.  It’s foolish to speak words of division and criticism. It’s wise to speak words that build and heal.

What’s worse than making a mistake? Well, making two. Make sure the mistakes stop immediately following the first. We often allow one mistake to trigger another and in doing so dig a much deeper hole than should have.

Real improvement can rarely be seen day over day. But it will be seen over time. Doing the right thing doesn’t often lead to immediate positive results. Sometimes doing right makes things more tough. But doing the right thing will lead to improvement over time. Stay the course and stay strong in you’re on a good path. If not, get on a good path as quick as possible. 

Labels… labels can be good things but also they can be bad. We label people and reduce them to something they likely are not. People put labels on us and we have to work hard to prove the label wrong. But we need to label things in order to handle them. It’s impossible to deal with something until it’s been named or labelled. We must be careful though in giving names and labels to things when we’re not sure. It can cause damage.  We can label someone as bad when maybe they’re just misunderstood. We can label someone by one single mistake they’ve made. Be careful in applying labels to people you’re close to, because it becomes the lens through which your whole relationship is viewed. 

Difficulties are tools that shape us. They can strengthen us if we allow it. So if it's difficult, then good! It will be good for you. If it's easy, it very likely won't be all that good for you.

Hurt people, hurt people. It's true. When you're been hurt by someone, keep in mind, they're likely hurt themselves. It can less the hurt if we know they're likely lashing out based on their own hurt and less in relation to anything you've done.

Routine is boring. Routines become mindless. But they’re so important. The habits and routines we develop will be what we ultimately become.

Statistically, most people are followers. However, everyone is a leader too. We all have someone who is looking to us. Our behaviour, choices and character matters. Not just for us, but for those who are watching us too. 

We waste too much time with wishful thinking. If it’s realistic then just do it. If it’s not realistic, forget about it. 

Energy spent on wishing things we can't control were different is nothing more than a waste of our time. In fact, it may make things worse. Accepting your lot in life is one of the most important things you can do. Not accepting the things you can change and fix, but accepting those things that cannot be changed or are simply outside your control. Stewing in why it's not fair, or you don't deserve this or any such thinking only makes matters worse. Shouldering responsibility for your life is wisdom and the best way to direct your life.

If it's not in front of you, it's a distraction. Some good advice is, keep your eyes on what's ahead of you. So much of what trips us up is from looking the wrong direction. When we look behind or off to the side, those are the objects that will trip us up. We trip up a whole lot less often when we're simply looking at what's ahead of us.

Light has more power than dark. The same can be said about positivity. Positive reinforcement has much more power than negative. 

Good health takes a lot of work. It’s harder to be healthy than unhealthy. But being healthy has far more benefits than being unhealthy. So it’s worth the work. 

Character starts with honesty. If someone lacks character, they fundamentally lack honesty. Conversely, someone with character must be an honest person. The more accurate and honest we live, the more character we will be capable of developing. If you want to improve your life immediately, start being honest. Honesty starts with ourselves. We're most often dishonest with ourselves. If we can be honest with ourselves, we will have a much easier time being honest with others. Start with honesty, it's the bedrock of character.

Optimists see the good in the situation. Pessimists find the bad. What’s the difference, the situation or what they focus on? We all have a choice on what type of thinker we will be. There’s good and bad to see in every situation. It takes work to train your brain to see the good. It may be more difficult in the short term but it’s much easier in the long run. Train your brain to always see the good. It’s worth the effort. 

You will eventually start believing and becoming what you listen to. Don't lend your ear to critics, negative and bitter people. You will start thinking and becoming those things. Give your ear to builders, creators and positive, optimistic people. Those are the things you will become.

We quite easily figure out what we want to say. However, we rarely spend any time thinking about how we want them to feel about what we say. The same words can be said, but takes so many different ways. You can get the same message across, but leave people feeling all types of different ways. We can say tough things yet leave people hopeful and encouraged. It's one thing to know what to say; its next level communication skills knowing how to say it.

It's an interesting pursuit to push for perfection, because you'll never get to your destination. But if you consider the alternative of just giving up, there's really no other choice. Push for perfection it is. 

Jesus said there’s no greater love than laying down your life for someone. We can identify those who we love most by the people we would gladly do anything for, no matter the cost. But how do we treat those same people in door daily interactions? Do we always speak kind to them? Are we always encouraging and loving. The point here is, proximity and familiarity can sometimes diminish our kindness, tone and patience with those were closest too. Let’s remember to be kind and considerate to those were closest too and spend the list time with too. 

Anything done without love is a waste of time.

There are certain things that can’t be taught. There are certain skills and talents that no amount of teaching will be enough. There’s things that can’t be taught but they can be modelled. Teaching is best done through modelling and in fact most teaching does come from modelling anyway. The best teachers model. They probably could teach lessons on it but they know it’s better to be learned.  (this doesn’t mean teaching shouldn’t occur, there’s many, many instances where teaching is needed and necessary)

When you extend yourself you get uncomfortable. When you get uncomfortable you can grow. Growth never comes from comfort.

Give grace to yourself. Give grace to others. By withhold grace, we will end up being the ones who pay the price. By giving grace you will receive grace.

Certain things will outlive us. These things should be prioritized. Accumulating stuff, entertaining ourselves, etc doesn't have a long lasting effect. But investing into people does. Investing in the next generation is one way to outlive yourself. Love is one way to outlive yourself. Pour into others, spread love and that will reach far beyond just yourself and your life.

We all have our own thermostat. But too many of us too often let others set our temperature. We should be the only on setting our own thermostat. If we live life by constantly allowing others to change our temperature we are in for a very up and down life. If we can learn to set our own internal thermostat and not allow others to adjust it for us, we can live a much more steady, happy life.

Value is an interesting metric. It can be subjective but at other times very absolute. If we overvalue something it will let us down. It we undervalue something it won't reach it's full potentate. Evaluating and valuing something accurately helps us utilize our resources. We tend to overvalue new things. We tend to undervalue things we already have. The new factor throws off valuation. We can get a lot more done than we think with what we already have. Instead of always searching for "what else" we should be searching for "what we have".

It’s easy to overcorrect when you start to lose control. But major adjustments are usually for after crashes. Minor adjustments can usually be all that’s needed. 

The right thing won't mean it's the easiest thing. Sometimes the right thing is the hardest thing. Sometime the right thing is super simple and easy. Sometimes it's right there in front of you and an automatic. But it seems the most valuable and most right things in life are very tough. It makes a lot of sense though, value comes from hard things. Easy things produce weak outcomes. Hard things produce valuable outcomes.

If I can’t be consistent chances are it will fail. Consistency is that key ingredient that is required in so many of lives endeavours. Consistency in my input should result in consultancy in the results.