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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