Count the seeds? Or the apples?

Too often, we are concerned with the results.

We measure our days, quarters, years in numbers.

We count the apples, so to speak.

Sometimes we forget that there would be no harvest without tending to the seeds, the efforts, the process, the journey.

The numbers are important. They are a way to see where we are at that moment in time. But they don’t tell the whole story.

Unless, we are hoping the story ends there (boring and finite).

No we forget that our efforts, our imaginations, our work ethic, our vision for the future and the connections we have and create with others will determine the bounty of future harvests.

It is impossible to precisely tell what the yield we be from our efforts.

But the key is to keep tending to the seeds, and to enjoy the journey.

Count the fruit, sure, but then get busy tending to the process :-).

Have a bountiful seed-planting Tuesday!

-Dr Lindeman

Control…

things i can control.jpg

So, I DEFINITELY needed this today :).

We are upgrading our x-ray unit at the office and it has been a bit of “peeling an onion of roadblocks.”

One step forward, new hurdle to jump over. One step forward, new hurdle to jump over.

I was feeling rather frustrated with it all.

Then I saw this pop up in my feed as an amazing reminder that I can only control what I can control and focusing on anything else is as useful as trying to swim through hardened cement.

If you find a pile of hurdles in front of you today (or any day), don’t look left or right, just think and attack the jump, the things you CAN control.

Have fun jumping today (I promise that if you keep bounding those hurdles, you will keep moving forward 😉

Happy Monday

-Dr. Lindeman

Lots of starting points

Life is full of ups and downs.

We will all strive valiantly, and we will all fail sometimes.

The key is to continue to be brave enough to restart.

At any given time we can change the trajectory of our lives (for better or for worse) by virtue of the simple decision to do so.

Decide to re-line up at the starting gate, and then take that first stride.

Even if we fall on the first step, we can always get up and re-set at the next start.

Line up. Take action. Fall.

Line up. Take action. Succeed.

Line up. Take action.

Line up.

Take action.

Line up….!

Have fun running your race today, whether it is one start and one finish or 430202143 starts, just keep lining up and taking action 😉

Happy Wendesday!

-Dr. Lindeman

The paradox of intention

Vishen Lakhiani (creator of Mindvalley.com) discussed a phenomenon known as “the paradox of intention” in a great talk you can find here.

He discusses 4 states of being. Think of a square with four boxes.

People can be happy now, unhappy now, have small dreams of the future or have big dreams of the future.

Too often people are not hitting the sweet spot (upper right if you are playing along at home). People tend to be content now and not thinking of future growth, or sadly more-often-than-not, unhappy now but big dreams of the future.

The caveat is this: in order for true growth to occur, we need to be happy now but with big dreams of the future as well.

So dream big, but also be extremely grateful for how far you’ve already come in life.

Start with gratitude, smile big and keep on dreaming-all are factors to make those dreams come true!

Happy Monday!

-Dr Lindeman

Act as if…

I know many times, we human beings can be complacent.

Sometimes it’s sheer laziness.

Sometimes, it’s because we believe that since we are only 1/7,800,000,000th of the world’s population, what we do is too small to matter.

Maybe we feel that our actions/thoughts are just drops in a gigantic bucket.

Here’s the thing though: that bucket is so full because of the other 7.8 billion thoughts/actions put their drops in there!

One small action may seem infinitesimal, but without a whole heckuva lot of them, nothing gets accomplished and the “bucket” remains empty.

Also, your actions are more-than-likely going to cause others to act as well, and that butterfly effect can create huge consequences.

So, if you are holding back on writing your book, your blog, starting your business, saying what you feel, donating what you can, etc, because you feel your impact will be too small… rethink and realize, the world NEEDS your positive input.

WE (MYSELF INCLUDED) NEED what you can give!

Your “drop” matters SO much more than you know, and you are vastly more powerful that you can imagine!

William James - Act as if what you do makes a difference....

Get busy filling that bucket!

Happy Wednesday, my friends!

-Dr. Lindeman

YOUR Race

This guy is probably very fast.

Odds are, I can’t match his speed on the ice.

mountain-bike-speed-big

This girl is probably very fast.

Odds are, I can’t match her speed on the mountain bike trail.

And odds are, the top guy probably can’t ice skate on a mountain bike trail as fast as she can ride, and she probably can’t ride as fast on the ice as this guy can skate.

The point is this:

THEY ARE GREAT AT THEIR RACES, BUT PROBABLY NOT AMAZING AT EACH OTHER’S.

You are the only person that is uniquely suited to running your race/your life.

And yet, you probably compare yourself to others all the time.

Today, focus on running YOUR race to the best of YOUR ability, and forget about what anyone else is doing.

And when you do find yourself comparing, just picture a guy in roller-skates trying to take 1st place in the 200 meter backstroke in the pool… and realize that’s what you’re doing 😉

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

-Dr. Lindeman

Focus on happy

Live in the moment.

As human beings we have the amazing ability to think about the past and the present which is pretty cool, except when those thoughts take us away from the present.

Studies have shown that our minds are prone to wonder which actually decreases not only our ability to focus on tasks at hand, but actually decreases our happiness.

When we can focus, and even more so when we can train our ability to do so (via activities such as meditation), we can improve our happiness in the moment and for the future 🙂

Happy Monday!

-Dr Lindeman

Focus and connect, leave your mark

There is a misconception that multitasking is a good thing.

Research shows when we attempt to multi task we do all of those tasks at about 33% efficiency.

This doesn’t just apply to work.

When we are with our family, talking with a friend or etc, our minds are prone to wander and we lose our focus.

We don’t listen whole-heartedly, and we don’t connect fully.

People may never remember what you tell them but they will always remember how you made them feel.

When you are focused and connected, rather than wandering and “multi tasking” you will ensure they fee listened to and appreciated.

So focus people! And focus ON the person in front of you 🙂

Happy Thursday!

-Dr Lindeman

Life’s paper cuts/little triggers

In my book, one chapter is dedicated to the fact that life’s small inconveniences (spilled coffee, stepping in a mud puddle, etc) can exponentially create an entire “bad day.”

We tend to overreact to small problems when compared to large ones.

In the book, “Stumbling on Happiness” by Daniel Gilbert, he discusses WHY these little triggers (as he titles them) can cause more havoc than big, devastating events.

We have a psychological immune systems, like many systems in our bodies, work with thresholds. When something is large enough to go over that threshold a defense mechanism is triggered and set into motion. We can rationalize a breakup with someone we love. We can overcome fractures, dislocations, and the links easier than we can overcome a slice to the pinky toe. We can move on stronger when we don’t get the job we sorely wanted more easily than we can overcome ruining our favorite shirt with a bbq stain.

When the attack is under our threshold, we don’t deploy our defensive “troops” to overcome the insult.

So what does this mean?

It means we are amazing, first of all.

We were created with extreme resiliency to overcome huge challenges.

It also means we need to be more vigilant in working through the little things in order to circumvent their effects.

Be conscious of life’s little cuts, and actively work to overcome them. The big stuff, most likely, we are already prepared for.

Happy Wednesday!

-Dr Lindeman

Human Connection

This morning, I watched a great interview with Nicholas Epley (author of “Mindwise” and Professor of Behavioral Science at the University of Chicago).

The interview was about the role of human connection on happiness, and the lengths people go to in order to avoid social interaction sometimes even though research shows that such connections make both parties much happier.

He discussed an interesting study.

People’s happiness levels were measured after increasing their income 4x (400%!) and measured people’s happiness levels when they felt “lonely yesterday.”

The feeling of loneliness had a 7x impact (negatively) in happiness levels compared to an income increase of 400%!

That is remarkable!

Loneliness DRASTICALLY affects our happiness levels.

And yet in many instances, we choose to be lonely. On the bus, the train at D.I.A., on planes, in the checkout line at the supermarket, etc, we choose to keep to ourselves rather than connect with those around us. Some studies show this is because we feel we don’t want to “bother them,” but the research shows in almost all instances, engaging in light conversation/connection benefits the happiness of both parties.

We are more “connected” than ever before by virtue of social media, but we are also more lonely than ever before. Especially during these crazy times, it is even more imperative to reach out to others.

We are all lonely at times.

Work to change that today.

You will make others, AND YOURSELF, much happier in the process.

Happy Tuesday!

-Dr. Lindeman