Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Practice Doesn't Make Perfect

Did that get your attention? It got mine many years ago.

One of the most inspiring people I have ever had the privilege to meet, learn from and work for is Vincent C. who runs a personal trainer certification course. Up until I met Vincent I would, as I am sure most of us have, use the phrase "practice makes perfect." One day in a lecture I heard Vincent say "practice does not make perfect, only perfect practice makes perfect." Of course that made excellent sense then and it still does today.

There are many things I am learning and many things to practice perfectly in order to make perfect but today I want to wrap my brain around when and how to stop myself from in train of thought and reroute to another.

Utilizing the tools I have at my disposal to stop re-living and re-experiencing a moment of negativity, increasing its life span and stripping away my positive energy is paramount. Whatever "it" was is just a memory and I am recreating it and the energy disturbances as a result. I understand it is my own doing when I add fuel to the fire in order to go over, in my own mind, something I am not happy with. It seems like waste of time. A rather Titanic waste of time in fact. Unless I use it as a springboard to visualizing how I want something to happen next time. To change it and focus on a do-over. I know that positive visualization is a far more useful way to engage my gray matter and that actually has a payoff. Stewing in my own pity party probably does not have much of a pay-off at all. Not even a cool party hat.

My top ten tools to use once I have become aware my energy feels negative and my thoughts are on a useless tear:
  1. Meditation - quieting my mind is a surefire way to leave negativity at the curb with yesterdays news
  2. FasterEFT - tapping out any unpleasant memory can rid you of it's power
  3. Laughter - surely it would take work to feel bad when laughing
  4. Gratitude - every day there are a great many things we can all be grateful for
  5. Blogging - this tool is a little like journaling as a friend pointed out to me and a great way to relieve stress
  6. Rebounding - much like a child joyously jumping on the bed rebounding adds a dose of playfulness and fun that can effectively turn a mood around
  7. Exercise - endorphins, 'nuff said
  8. Reading - lots on my list of things to read however my topics seem to always gravitate to improving the self, my mind, success, motivating myself and others.
  9. Talking to Someone - about their day, not mine, is a great way to reroute my focus
  10. Music - signing along to an energizing song is a surefire mood lifter. I love to sing along to Blondie, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Miley Cyrus and quite a few others. I apologize in advance if you are within earshot!
I like to read quotes as well as a book or a good blog ... and here are some quotes that resonated with me today.

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
W.B. Yeats
 
“To change ourselves effectively, we first had to change our perceptions.”
Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
  
“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”
Wayne W. Dyer

Yes. I'm working on it! Baby steps, one day at a time! On thought at a time ...

-Nicola Byrne

1 comment:

  1. Very true. I love the talk to someone about their day...take the focus off us and put it on someone else. Another great tool I try to use is helping others: simple things like holding a door or just putting out a helping hand can change our perspective and someone elses.

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