PATRICK FELLOWS

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A gentle reminder.

The basics of this have always been starting. To do more, to be more means to start more. It’s always been that way and always will be.  

There’s a fallacy in life that all the best ideas have been thought up already. Fallacy may be the wrong word.  The good ideas may have been thought up. The repackaging of them goes on. 

For a long time I thought that everything had to be a new idea. The reality is we just need to be reminded and reinvigorated on existing ideas. I’ve read a gazillion books on being my best and none of them had the “how to” neatly spread out at the end so that my life could change directions like an exit ramp heading towards “success” at 50 mph. 

If you want those directions, here’s my best effort at a how to. 

1. Define the things that are important to you. Your lens (why).

2. Set some sort of target or goal based on your why. 

3. Daily, agree to filter your important chunks of effort through that lens.  

4. Rinse. Repeat. 

Seems simple enough in theory, but know keeping that focus is hard. It’s hard because the important work is found in a field strewn with laundry and errands and stuff we don’t want to do. That’s why there’s actually another step. 

5. Remember to start again. 

A Monday. A new year. A new month. After a hard weekend. After you’ve realized your ship is sailing east instead of west. There’s a million pot holes along the way. That’s called life. You already know how to recognize it. Now get moving again

It turns out that we don’t need new ideas. We just need to be reminded of the ideas that moved us in the first place. Simple and repeatable. 

Defining what we want to accomplish around a bigger “why” is the first step. It gives everything a deeper meaning and if honest and accurate, gives us focus. 

So get out a pencil and paper start there. Try and clear some clutter and define what’s important. 

The rest usually falls in place. 

#hugsanhi5s