Have to? Or GET TO?

Jon Gordon has discussed this topic quite a few times on stage and in his books.

How many times do you think (especially on Monday’s) about what you “have to” do today?

“I have to go to work.”

“I have to take out the trash.”

“I have to pay that bill.”

“I have to unsubscribe from the free paper towels Monday email service. I still have no idea how they got my email…”

If you took the time and wrote out all the times you think about what you “have to” do, the list would be staggering.

If we could reframe those thoughts into “get to”, just replace one word, our world seems brighter.

You see, there are thousands of people who would love to GET TO do what you HAVE TI DO.

You have to go to work? Tons of people are out of jobs right now.

You have to take out the trash? A lot of people are homeless and don’t have a trash can to take out.

You have to unsubscribe from stupid junk emails? The world is full of people who don’t even own a computer.

And from another angle, everything we think we have to do, actually helps us somehow in our own lives.

So today, each time you think of something you have to do, spend twice the time thinking of how blessed you are to get to do it, and how whatever it is will actually help you in the long run.

Get to it this Monday 🙂

-Dr Lindeman

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

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

Don’t be the center

“Don’t be the center of attention at your office.”-Dr Greg Howard

This was said at the wonderful zoomcast conference this past weekend. Dr. Howard was bringing the point home that even though we run our chiropractic offices, we should not be the center of attention.

This can be applied to any job/position.

True leaders earn their position as a leader by focusing on the people they serve.

You can be given a title of “leader” by virtue of a job description, but people will not truly follow you unless you first put them in the forefront of your interests.

The world is full of powerful people.

They are not necessarily considered leaders.

In large corporations, there are CEOs, CFOs, Vice Presidents, etc. There are also an innumerable amount of leaders on every floor, in every group and in al situations.

Strive to lead others, by putting yourself second.

If we all focused on helping others, focused the groups we get to help (lead), I promise we all would be better off.

Lead strong (by loving others) today!

Happy Wednesday!

-Dr Lindeman

Pygmies and the horizon

This story was taken from the book below:

“About 50 years ago a Pygmy named Kenge took his first trip out of the dense, tropical forests of Africa and into the open plains in the company of an anthropologist. Buffalo appeared in the distance-small black specks against a bleached sky- and the Pygmy surveyed them curiously. Finally, he turned to the anthropologist and asked what kind of insects they were. “When I told Kenge that these insects were indeed large buffalo, he roared with laughter and told me not to tell such stupid lies.”

The Pygmy had no concept of a distant horizon, he lived his life in a dense tropical forest. His perception drove his reality.

Sometimes we need to borrow others’ vision in order to see what is possible. Sometimes we don’t have a concept of a distant horizon 🙂

Borrow a BIG vision for your future today!

Happy Thirsday

-Dr Lindeman

Practice Kindness… It makes YOU happy

Want to be happier?

Be NICE to others 🙂

There is a PLETHORA of evidence that shows when we practice kindness toward others, we increase our own happiness. This study published in the Journal of Social Psychology showed that people who performed acts of kindness for 10 days, were significantly happier than those who did not.

The website: kindness.org did a meta-analysis (basically taking a whole bunch of studies on the same thing, figuring out their validity and combining the results) that showed in fact “being kind genuinely does boost your happiness.” (https://medium.com/kindlab/does-kindness-create-happiness-19126c5883ff)

Another study that I learned about this morning, measured happiness scores between people who were given $5 or $20 and they could spend on themselves or others. The people who spent on others were across the board happier. Even more interesting though was they also did this study in Canada and in Uganda. $20 means a lot more to people in Uganda than it does to people living in urban Canada. The same amount of money that can buy you a few lattes in Canada can purchase important medication for your whole family in Uganda. What the researchers found was that people in both areas felt happier (and almost by the same amount) when they spent the money on others, rather than themseleves/their own families.

I love this study for a few reasons. 1) Be kind, you will be happier and 2) It doesn’t take A BIG thing to increase your happiness. Small acts of kindness will improve your own well-being just as much as HUGE ones. The good news about that, small acts are so much easier to do over-and-over again, day after day.

So do some small things, plant some kindness and soak up that love you feel inside 🙂

Have a kind and happy Wednesday!

-Dr. Lindeman

Ruminate or Marinate?

worry-never-robs-tomorrow-of-its-sorrow-it-only-saps-today-of-its-joy.-leo-buscaglia

It is so easy to worry, especially today.

Uncertainty promotes fear which feeds worry.

Worries are imaginary friends (and I call them friends because we do seem to spend a lot of time with them).

When we ruminate in worry, we rob our soul of joy.

Worry and hope/faith are two sides of the same coin, and we can choose which one to focus on.

Neither our hopes/dreams or our worries/fears have happened, so they both don’t exist. We just give power to them by virtue of our thoughts and emotions.

So we can choose.

We can stop ruminating in worry, and instead marinate in dreams and positive visions for the future.

It really is that simple.

But simple ain’t EASY.

We need to put in some work, to train our minds to focus on hope rather than fear, it doesn’t come naturally.

Get busy working/marinating today, create that habit of doing so and it will become easier.

And the future will taste all the more delicious for us doing so.

Happy Thursday!

-Dr. Lindeman

Stop should-ing all over yourself

I heard something great in church this weekend.

“We need to stop should-ing 💩 all over ourselves!”

I loved it!

If you are exercising, reading, eating well, in a relationship, etc, because you feel you “should” be….stop!

Guilt is a repressor, not a motivator.

Instead, find reasons why you WANT to do those things. If you want to do them to form a brighter future, for instance, latch on to that, and let go of the “should.”

Have a monumental Monday, friends!

-Dr Lindeman

Thank you for sharing these, Ashley! They are so true and the fit so well together!

If you want to truly feel ALIVE, you must be healthy.

The best way to start living a healthier life? START BY STARTING.

Eating well, thinking well, moving well, exercise, diet, mentality, all of these can seem daunting…

The best thing to do is take a small step toward a healthier, more meaningFULL life is to start.

Happy steps my friends!

-Dr. Lindeman