Breadcrumbs on the pathway to personal success

Lessons learnt & Lessons shared

Routine or Chaos

I am an avid reader. Multitude nuggets of information, valuable, fun and incredibly uplifting remain in the corners of my mind and soul. In this blog I thought I would share some of the treasures I have picked up from my forays into the pages of other creative souls. The flocks who have unknowingly navigated my personal journey with skill, efficiency, leaving bread crumbs to find my pathway. Come join me in this discovery and enhance your mind too.

We all need schedules and scaffolding to get through a work day, our personal tasks and just about everything in between. We make lists, set up reminders and adhere to our calendars to save us from ourselves. But many a creative and efficient mind have shown us a fresh perspective, “develop a routine, but be brave enough to mix it up”, they tell you. Advocating, that while it is important to stick to regular exercise, healthy eating and some form of affirmations such as journaling, meditations or yoga, it is equally important to shake up monotony of everyday stuff. “Doing something we don’t always do is refreshing, uplifting and stimulating. It also leads us down new pathways waiting to be explored.  We do not need to sink into boredom or at the other end of the spectrum dare a little or a lot.  In the words of Lucius Annaeus Seneca, “The whole future lies in uncertainty, live immediately”.

Perfection is overrated

One of my recent reads that impressed me a lot is “I didn’t Do the Thing Today” by Madeleine Dore – an inspiring book about, letting go of the productivity guilt. The book speaks to the narrowing of productivity to the expansion of creativity.  In setting the bar exceedingly high, we fall into a loop of constant improvement, adjusting our expectations and creating more for tomorrow. Increasing our self-imposed burdens, causing a rising sense of guilt and self – blame, Madeleine refers to this as, “The great disappointment of Expectation” – whereby we judge our lives by how we fulfill our expectations with our present day reality and what we think our lives should be. The message here is to hold expectations lightly. Many have made the shift from expectation to intention. Moving away from long, unrealistic lists that tend to overwhelm, they choose a word as a source of focus. These words contain flexibility, potential and less rigidity. If we become expectation realists, we understand that we might not get everything done in a day for example, but we might be more realistic about the expectations we place upon ourselves. The words of Marie Curie who made such significant strides sum it up very well, when she wrote to her brother, “One never notices what has been done, one can only see what remains to be done”. But things began to change for me when I stopped looking at my list as one enumerating my failures, but rather as one of possibilities”.

Busyness is a trap?

Being busy has become a way of Life. A testament to success, productivity and even a status symbol. We have internalized the concept that to be content we must always be occupied, busy with plans, projects and deadlines. As a society we need to embrace the fact that the needless busyness is one of the greatness stumbling blocks to doing fulfilling things. Depending on the stage of Life one is at, we can enjoy down time, be bored, be still and be content. Let’s resist the path to Burnout. Stop and enjoy the simple things. Remember that rest is not a moral failing. And remind ourselves everything does not have to be concluded to perfection.  

Over the decades, a lesson learned is that our plans do not shield us from the “unknowns”. The curveballs that Life sends our way. Any attempts to write a future, feel more certain, more ideal, more in charge is often in vain. Even as we cannot give up our desire for certainty, we need to make room for the unknown and the uncertain, to throw us off target every once in a while.

Dear readers, do you agree that the Pursuit of being Perfect and in control can be trying and draining? I am beginning instead to lean into being gentle, open, kind and patient. I am not there yet. I am still work in progress. Still not faultless. Share your thoughts and suggestions, so we can all seek yet another fulfilling day.

We are stronger together