Habits

Going after it. Success. Whether a career or a triathlon or being truly in love with someone, making money or finding our life calling, what is the mistake so many are making to miss out on feeling ultimate success, peace, joy, contentment?

Too much “busy” in our heads? Is it lack of ability to keep our heads in the present and not out somewhere in the future?

Success is so sought after that what is going on in our heads is blocking the view that we are already in the midst of success. The idea that we already have everything we need to be happy, healthy and content is not one we practice.

Instead we spend our time talking in our own minds about shoulda, coulda, woulda. We occupy the space in our heads with busy-ness, not with really embracing all that we have right now.

What we think about, we create. Which do you want, busy-ness or to actually enjoy what you are doing right now? It is a choice.

The habit of staying really super busy trying to be better, have more, be faster, or not be so stressed about making more money is completely stopping us from actually noticing all the cool things that are going on right now. Today. All that we already have.

Staying super busy doesn’t allow us the time to actually create more of what we really want. Things like a rested mind, a peaceful body, health, good friends, family, manifesting enough money, they all escape us when we are too busy in our own heads.

The Habit of Notice

I moved to Hawaii a little over a year ago. The idea was to slow down. Live. Enjoy. Play. While at the same time I do my own thing, I work for myself.

Working for yourself has it’s challenges. One of the biggest is balance. Time. Not going overboard with it. Especially when one has been known to do 9 Ironmans in 3 years…. if you are one of those types, always going after it… you are like me and you NEED to start focusing on balance! Or true happiness could escape you even though it’s right there for you to grasp, to hold, to have right now.

I realized I had to let go and start noticing what was around me. Focus on all that I already had so that I didn’t start spending all of my time trying to get something more, something that brought me closer to some undefined sense of success. A sense of success based on what other people might be thinking rather than what is important to me.

So I started NOTICING.

So many way cool things happen to us every single day. Yet somehow we have trained ourselves to focus on all the things we don’t have done, or the workouts we should do, or making more money, or going faster at the next race… whatever your gig is.

The focus in our mind is out there on more, or different or something other than we have right now. The truth of the matter is most of us do not even know that we are thinking these things until we slow down and take the time to notice.

How to Start Noticing and Stop Being Too Busy

Carry a journal with you.
Notice what you are thinking about.
Write it down.
Make sure you do it several times a day.
Set a reminder for every hour to write down what you are thinking.

You’ll probably be quite surprised to find out that though you think you are being a positive person, you have thrown a negative thought or judgement to most things about yourself or someone the majority of the time.

No wonder that is what we get more of. Negative thoughts. Busy thoughts of getting to a better, more joyful place than we are right now. But not being good with what we are doing, or have or feel right now.

Start noticing the patterns in what you write down. By physically writing these thoughts down you actually have to define what is going on in your head.

Start ReVIBE –

Take what you’ve got and turn it into more of what you want minus the busy negative energy.

Start prompting yourself to write something down that:

Gave you a quick smile
Stirred emotion of “I like that”
Step way out there move yourself forward and write down why you like being you, just the way you are.
Write down what your are feeling versus what your are needing. Once defined you can start filling your time with doing more of what you need to revel in your success right now, starting with “I Like Being Me”.
Write down what you are grateful for today.
Write down anything you did or felt that is moving you towards more of what you want.
Write down the things you see around your that you like.

Your thoughts drive what you do, they are your manifesto to your life’s journey.

You’ll find you already have in you what you need to be successful at life, love, career, money, triathlon, fill in the blank. You just aren’t giving yourself time enough to even acknowledge it, practice it, or live it.

You are too busy trying to plan for more in your head. You’ve been saying yes to everything, super hero to anyone that looks like they are judging you, filling your time with what you think you are supposed to do and finding yourself a little resentful, a little tired, a little unfulfilled instead of defining, doing and actually enjoying what really makes you happy.

ReVIBE is about transpiring the essence of who and what you are into what you offer to yourself, to those in your life and to the world.

ReVIBE is about discovering alignment with what you say, think and do, and putting it into practice in a way that finally brings content, peace and joy no matter where you are in the world today.

ReVIBE | Life Habits + Move into Your Paradise + Write + I Like Being Me + Live in Color – Opens for registration June 2012

Jt Clough lives on the Big Island, Hawaii, and practices health, happiness and natural remedies, while working as a ReVIBE Habits Coach for people looking to live healthier and happier lives. She is a dog whisperer for our best friends and studies natural dog remedies, nutrition and communication.

Three days a week I go paddling in an outrigger canoe. I get to be out on the ocean in the morning, soaking up the healing energy of the earth, the water, the sun. I develop relationships with those I paddle with.

As with any group there are certain personalities one is more attracted to, and some not so much. It is those that fall into the “not so much” category that has me really thinking this last week.

A couple of months ago I changed paddle crews. There were a number of factors that went into that decision.

I have always been one to want to workout at a level that is somewhat uncomfortable for the majority. I wasn’t getting that wow factor.

I’m also one to shy away from complaining, arguing, and just plain difficult to be around people. There were a few on my old crew that held these qualities for me. And lastly which probably falls into the same category, I’m not good with crude comments, sexual innuendoes, that type of thing.

So I moved on. I am grateful to find a crew to paddle with who are not only supportive and enthusiastic about life, but they paddle hard and enjoy so much about the ocean. We’ve scene whales and dolphins together and celebrated life as it is in the moment each day.

We’ve supported one another in just a simple, “Great job today, it was so much fun, have a fabulous day,” comments. It honestly is those little things that I love about this crew.

Of course it doesn’t mean that each and every one of us doesn’t come with our own issues. The movement we do, the focus on the togetherness, one rhythm and blend, all the paddles working as one on this particular crew has drawn a common joy while out in the majestic Hawaiian waters.

Tragedy on the Ocean

I received a text from one of my current paddle members this week about an accident with another paddling club. I looked at the time the crew went out and knew without a doubt before I opened the link, it was my previous crew. It was the boat I would have been in.

A double hull flipped while caught in a wave. Waves were rolling in. Everyone went suddenly from a recreational paddle like every other morning to survival. There was a high surf warning and this canoe though it was big and stable, fell to the power of the waves.

People who have been in the ocean for years did things that they normally wouldn’t consider, like swim into the rocks instead of parallel to the shoreline and into the safety of the bay. One person on that crew did not make it that day. It is more than sobering to think about.

Was it supposed to go that way?

I’m not sure why tragedies happen. I’m not sure if things are supposed to go that way. How can someone go out for a recreation morning paddle like they do all the time and not make it back?

What I do know is it made me think about each and every day and all the people that are part of my life. I may not paddle with that crew anymore, but I was deeply affected and connected to every one of these people.

It made me realize how practicing the habit of mindfulness is so important. It made me think about how complaining and crude comments may not strike me as something I want to take part in, but those in my life who happen to fall into saying things out loud are still good people. Their mindfulness may be out of practice and they may be seeking the attention we all crave in ways they don’t even know. But they are all good people.

We are all connected.

How many times have I complained? How many times have I been less than enjoyable to be around? How many times have I said something inappropriate? Many. We are all connected.

My heart goes out to the paddle crew that lived through this tragedy and to all of those who lost someone that day. It makes me more mindful of every single day and every single person that comes into my life. It makes me realize that gratefulness is about the good that happens every single day as well as those moments that may feel uncomfortable. After all, it could be a mirror on how to deal with difficult people including ourselves. Today I am here to see the mirror because I too am sometimes difficult to deal with. We all are, right down to our own well trained and not so trained dogs on some days.

I want to use the reflection to create the best day possible for me, my life partner, my dogs and all those people that are in my life.

Thank you for reading. If this resonated with you in any way subscribe for more on replacing bad habits with good habits. A concept I’d like to fill everyone’s mind with!

Jt Clough lives on the Big Island, Hawaii, and practices health, happiness and natural remedies, while working as a Habits Coach for people looking to live healthier and happier lives. She is a dog whisperer for our best friends; and studies natural dog remedies, nutrition and communication. Her latest e-book is How to Swim through Your Fears and Come Out a Champion.

Ulitmate Success is All in Your Head