Four Things I Have Learned From Running
IN SHORT: There are lessons to be learned from running that apply to life in general: Pace yourself; Shorten your stride; Swing your arms; Focus on ‘now’.
“You have a choice: you can throw in the towel,
or you can use it to wipe the sweat off your face
and keep running.”[Unknown]
(~1100 words, approx 6-9 mins to read)
All the Time in the World
IN SHORT: Having all the time in the world makes us lazy. What would your priorities be if you suddenly found you had only a few months, or just weeks left on your clock? So why aren’t they your priorities now..?
“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time,
for that is the stuff life is made of.”
[Benjamin Franklin, 18th-century US Founding Father & polymath]No-one’s final words have ever been
“I wish I’d spent more time at the office.”
[Unknown]
(~1120 words, approx. 5-8 mins to read)
It really is a strange thing, time.
The Art of the Possimpible*
IN SHORT: Changing our words really can change our world!
“The difference between ‘can’t’ and ‘can’ is that ‘can’t’ requires a lot of certainty while ‘can’ just asks for a little possibility.”
[unknown]
(~841 words, approx 5-8 mins to read.)
Last time we discovered that the general assumption that words are just tools for describing our experience isn’t true and that in fact the words we use also define our experience too. I promised that this time we’d dig into that a little more and discover how we can use that to our advantage. Read More »
There’s No Such Thing As Blue.
IN SHORT: We don’t just talk about the world we experience, we experience the world we talk about. So if the world we experience isn’t how we’d like it to be, our first stop should be to change how we talk about it!
“The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”
[Ludwig Wittgenstein, 19-20th century philosopher]
(~1081 words, approx 5-8 mins to read.)
First, a question to ponder for a moment or two: What colour is the sky? Read More »
Pictures at an Exhibition
IN SHORT: The purpose of any trip to the museum or gallery is to leave you feeling that it was worthwhile, that you’ve had a good time, perhaps been challenged or learned something new. So make sure when you tour the gallery of your life, that’s what you come away with.
“Let go, forget the burdens of the past. The past cannot be changed so use it to make the future yours.”
[Unknown]
(~1035 words, approx 5-9 mins to read, plus 10 mins to listen to the story…)
As often happens this ‘slice’ was inspired by a string of events over the last few months including, amongst other things, a visit to Edinburgh, bumping into a business contact of mine I’ve not seen in a while, Richard Hammond’s racing helmet and a Russian musician with the almost DC-comic name of Modest Mussorgsky.
Read More »
Juggling Time
IN SHORT: Successful time management doesn’t come from just knowing what to do – it comes from actually doing it!
“Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone forever.”
[Samuel Smiles, 19th-century Scottish author and reformer]
(~1140 words, approx 6-9 mins to read)
Last time we talked about the ‘magic number’ of projects or other activities you can devote your time and energy to without things beginning to fray at the edges, which turned out to be Read More »