a haiku a day

Friday, November 13, 2015

do something now

will do, did, doing
only one can happen now
only one matters

Over the years if there is one thing I've become really good at, I mean really good, it has been the art of procrastination. -"why do today something you can put off until tomorrow"- The easiest way to procrastinate is to agree to do something, to do it in the future...
If it's worth doing it's worth doing now. And since it has been scientifically proven that humans cannot multitask (at lease not in two things that involve concentration) only one important thing can be worth doing at any given time.

Besides procrastination the other thing that keeps us from doing and moving forward is satisfaction. Have you ever been caught resting on your laurels. Happens to me sometimes and it really isn't a good place to sit around. You see it's too easy to get comfortable there thinking the world should treat you different because of the things you've done well in the past, and comfortable can be a dangerous place to sit. comfort will let the rest of the world pass you by if you are not careful.
So choose what you will do and do it now. Celebrate your victory, and move on.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Because I Choose to Be

I am OUTSTANDING
not good great or excellent
OUT - FREAKING - STANDING

About a year ago I decided to be excellent. I decided in fact that I would start each day as if it was destined to be the best day of my life. You see today is the best day of my life because it is the only day I have today.
As I ran into people through any given day they would ask "How are you?" and I would answer great or excellent and occasionally I would get a response like wow but mostly no one noticed that I was excellent.

In July I saw Tony Robbins speak in Chicago and he was talking about being excellent and he said "Excellent is OK" but if you really stretch yourself you can be outstanding instead of excellent. "It's only about 2 millimeters above excellent" he said. It's a little bit like saying the 1st million is the hardest... It doesn't make the 2nd fall out of a tree.
But I decided, decided that if I could be excellent I could absolutely be outstanding and taking a lesson from Amy Cuddy I decided to fake it until I became it.
Since that weekend in Chicago whenever I was asked "how are you?" or the equivalent I would stand up a little straighter reaching for those two millimeters and say "Outstanding!" And it was amazing. This gets a response almost every time. Something like "Really, why?" It does make the conversation last longer than you intended sometimes but that's OK.
So where ever you are and what ever you are doing be outstanding today and decide to make today the best day of your life.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Only Fear Can Stop You

what are you afraid of?
what is holding you back?
can you push past it?

Some fear serves us well; some keeps us off rickety ladders or out of shark infested waters; some fear just keeps a lines of boys on one side of the gym and a lines of girls on the other at junior high dances. How is your fear serving you today?

In my personal journey I have been taking a close look, lately, at action and inaction. Looking at choices I've made or failed to make and it is clear to me that the only thing that ever keeps me from doing something I know about and want to do or know I should do it is fear.

fear of being wrong,
fear of public failure,
fear of knowing for sure

What are your fears? Are they holding you back? Or, are they holding you safe. If they are holding you back they can be over powered with action and if they are holding you safe: Woooho!

But, without examining them you will never know which it is.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Only Action Moves you Forward

tomorrow's a dream
yesterday but memory
today I can act

As an engineer I've become very good at understanding how to do things. When presented with a challenging problem that interests me I will work until I know the solution. Work thorough meals and through the night. Not realizing the time or even feeling hunger. But so frequently, once I know that I know the solution or even sometimes even the method to determine the solution I loose that initial interest that sparked the intensity I brought to the challenge and I allow myself to be come "distracted" by some new challenge.

Well recently I've challenged myself with moving on to bigger and better things. To creating solutions to significant problems and to give back to the world and to my family to truly be the man that I can be.
And with my HOW in hand I'm setting out on a voyage of action. I've changed my standards and will no longer accept knowledge of the solution to be enough I will only accept the fulfillment of the solution and the achievement of my desired outcomes.