FFC2016 - The Next Chapter

PLEDGE FOR THE NEW YEAR

I've made it! I have reached my goal of writing a blog post every day for 365 consecutive days. It's been a challenge and I've accomplished what I set out to do. But life is a series of challenges that are constantly changing and evolving. So today marks the end of a life chapter but also the beginning of another.

The Next Quest
It's just after 5am and I'm sitting at my computer typing this blog from a fresh mind. Currently, I have a few key objectives for this year that I will aim to complete and these are outlined below. I also have a few immediate take out learnings from 2015 that I wish to adhere to. These are the following:

Less battles. I wore myself out in 2015 standing my ground, fighting for the things I believed in and this has taken a lot out of me physically and mentally. This maxim stands true: If I get angry, I am the the loser. My mind has been filled with the planning, advancement, completion of and reflection on my battles fought. Consequently I've been consumed by these thoughts and they've impacted me in negative ways. Hence, I need to focus much more on the positive emotions if I'm to populate my mind with the creative thoughts and body with the necessary energy to encourage further development and success.

Be Happier. I tend to get caught up in concerns about the sad realities of life and focus too much on matters of the human condition - which makes me cynical. The facts of life will always be there as a reminder of the challenges we all face but we can still be appreciative of our good fortunes and approach each day in a positive and playful manner. Bringing attention to those things beyond our control, will only deter thinking away from what is there in front of our face. There's fun and happiness to be had right now in the moment if we allow it. So I intend to practice a daily mantra of gratitude to help promote happy & positive thoughts from the moment I wake until the last moments before falling to sleep. The teachings of the Dalai Lama can show us all how to train our minds to be better individuals for attaining true happiness:

“Today I am fortunate to have woken up, I am alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings, I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others, I am going to benefit others as much as I can.”

More compassion. I need to start thinking more of others and treat myself more kindly too. The judgement I bestow upon others is wounding me spiritually. This area of my being is where the greatest work is required and therefore I must practice daily compassion to get better at following the golden rule - being considerate to another's needs, which is just as I wish to be considered in return.

January pledge
- Up early every day at 5am
- Read 20 pages of a book daily
- Lean languages daily with Duolingo
- Qi gong daily
- Yoga daily
- Eat less to lose 'winter coat' and always make fresh meals with more vegetarian options
- Spend less, budget and save money
- Make up some meals from food left in the cupboards to save money
- Buy reduced items from grocers late in the day
- Research blog pages for developing my book
- Find a project I can develop into a new career
- Create an exercise programme outside of the gym
- Create a healthy and nutritious food plan

Statement
I pledge to be more understanding of others, loving & compassionate, more positive and less cynical. The illusion of life, it's shortness and inevitable end, needn't mean I have to believe everything is pointless. I need to concentrate on my key positive character traits which serve me best - namely my: steely determination, spirit of adventure and efficient focus on doing something well through to completion. I simply have to keep in mind my central beliefs for what I'm capable of. If I continue to strive towards achieving goals, just as I always have done, life's purpose will reveal itself and those things I excel in, will in turn, become my loved, rewarding life's work.

I will create my morning ritual and stick to it. This will incorporate daily affirmations, research, good nutrition, exercise and greater awareness of being more attentive to the needs of those around me.

Blogging
My morning's work will be to research the blog posts of 2015 and collate my findings for seeing where I've made gains, where more work needs to be focussed and this information will be written up into a book. I will post my findings once per week every Sunday without fail. They won't have to be long or have any new insightful messages or meaning as I want to focus the time on the book but they will still show any new learnings and the monthly posts will be a gauge on my progress.

This post is also repeated on the new blog called FFC2016, marking the first entry of 2016 and a life of continued mindfulness. To obtain a clearer picture of where my initial thinking lead me on this quest, my principal post from January 2015 can be found here.

Punctuality

CLOCK WATCHING

Being mindful of the time can mean a lot. Want to do well at work? Be punctual. Because, just being on time is all that some people will ever ask of you.

Being on time, sends out the message of professionalism and respect. Punctuality means consideration for others' needs will be met. Precision and attention to details - a consistency for doing hard work and reliability. This will be the message received - all without doing anything other than being somewhere when you say you will be. 

Getting into the habit of being on time, takes nothing more than setting a time and then sticking to it. Yet many cannot keep to something so very simple. This because they have become used to throwing out excuses why they are late. 

Blaming Others

We all do it. If we can shoulder blame elsewhere, we will - especially on our partners. It makes us think we're doing the right thing and someone else isn't, when in fact, the partnership is mutually flawed. Thing is, when timings are mentioned without consideration for factoring in the needs of the other parties involved, we tend to allow time slippage to happen without making prior allowances for it. So, once a time has been agreed, this agreement should also make allowance for some contingency too. That way, unforeseen circumstances can be adjusted for and countered against without the need for blame. The contingency plan means we'll still be on time too.

Removing the Badge

I've been late on many occasions and so has my partner. Without realising it, we've now allowed ourselves to become labelled as those people who are constantly late. It's become expected of us. My partner will blame me and me her. And no matter how hard I now try to be on time, this label has become firmly fixed. Because we are one unit in our friend's eyes, we are both tarred with the same brush and it will take a lot of hard work for us both to remove this slight on our characters.

Consistency is the Key
If I'm to remove my always late badge - I need to first establish clear timings in advance. This starts from the moment I wake up. Deciding the night before on having a clear time to get up plus establishing a mutual & definite morning routine for exercise, eating, ablutions and preparation for the day, means a routine (with some factored-in contingency) can easily be set and adhered to without deviations from the set timings. 

If this structure can be retained over days/weeks - the chances of sticking to it over longer periods of time will be increased and a new focus on sticking to timings will be established. 

Definite Timings

Agreement in advance is paramount for keeping good timings. We now have shared diaries for collaborative events. Timings are there for all to see. So if they aren't working, this needs to be addressed. If timings cannot be mutually kept, then individual times need to be established. If only one member of the partnership is on time, it's still a late blip in the eyes of the third party. So agree definite times even if they are staggered and be clear with whoever is meeting up that these are agreeable for all. 

I pledge to always be on time (from today)

Be serious about this new pledge to make it stick. I've now told myself that the new regime will be started from today. This has also been agreed with all parties concerned (namely, my partner). And just like a business contract, this will be continually assessed to ensure punctuality is adhered to from this day onwards.