Set Higher Standards by YogiRavi

Frost said it best:

“The best way out is always through.”

Robert Frost
US poet (1874 – 1963)

Sometimes it is an easy choice.

Sometimes it is a hard choice.

Either way, it is a choice.

The most important conversation you will have all day is the conversation you have with yourself.

Self talk directly reflects on your own self esteem which directly impacts how you show up to others in every day life and how you interpret things around you.

The way you see yourself ends up being how others see you.

Talk to yourself in a positive way. Be funny with yourself. Celebrate the little good things you do and don’t dwell on the bad.

Transforming your life does not require massive action or big goals. It requires steady and methodical progress.

If you have set big and lofty goals for the new year, that is ok. Just remember that it is the daily actions that will slowly but inevitably create the big change you are looking for.

Just like interest in a bank account, the small things compound per time. Losing just an ounce a day of body weight will completely remake your physique over the course of a year. Saving an extra $100 a week will amount to big long term savings over the course of a few decades (invested well, it could pay for a child’s college education!). Meditating for just 10 minutes a day can dramatically improve your ability to focus on everything else you do and give you emotional calm and poise when dealing with other people.

Instead of fretting over having to radically shift your daily routine, focus on the small things you can do consistently. Those are the things that will make all the difference. The hard part is focusing on the long term impact of your decisions, and not getting caught up on the need to see massive shorter term progress. Most people will give up on the early part of the curve in the diagram below. Sticking with it is key!

The trick is to do things that are not too easy, but also not overly hard.

Test the boundaries of the upper and lower limits and do so regularly over time.

This applies to physical pursuits but also to work and other creative tasks.

The most interesting conversations happen when the topic of interest is not all about you, but all about others.

The best way to increase the odds of achieving a goal is to actually set a goal.

What’s your big goal?

Vegan meal at the Microsoft cafeteria in Beijing, China. Tofu, Rice, Seaweed, Diced Potato, Rice roll, Baby Chinese Broccoli. If you can't tell already....the pics I include in my posts often have no relationship to the content of the posts!

Playing around at the Yoga Journal Conference in Estes Park, Colorado. Sept 2011.

Silly-ness is good in small and regular doses.

Most of us live in a highly regimented and logical, rational world most of the time. Trains and buses run on time. Work starts and ends in predictable patterns. So much of life is scheduled and predictable and even the unplanned stuff has some logic about it.

A friend turned to me just a short while ago and started saying ooogggaa booggga ooogggaa boogggga ….I have no idea why – neither did she….but I started to laugh and it totally lighted up the mood.

Acting a little silly is a healthy thing every now and then. Do something unplanned. Do something silly. Even if nobody else is around to witness it.