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How Does Priority Setting Help The Mind?

Success is something we all are moving to. We all want to get to our project destination; a successful end of what we do. Regardless the size of what we manage, our daily happenings and responsibilities, we set goals to attain a successful completion of our project. In this process, priority setting cuts across all domains of life and once practised, it increases concentration and focus, the mind gets less stressed as we know what we are up to and what we expect to reach.

Many of us have more than one activity to carry out each day, some may have different deadlines to meet on daily basis. Multitasking which in most cases comes with some sort of stress can still be managed, and we can still find balance if we learn to set priorities in what we do. In these few lines, we explore how priority setting in our tasks aids our mind to feel relaxed and still while dealing with many issues at the same time.

Urgent vs important

Before we start the journey, we must know where the road leads to. We need to have our destination in mind. Next, we need to know what means we can use to get there faster and easier. Some of our tasks are urgent, some are important. The dilemma comes when balancing the value, trying to know which one will have more value if done first. Among the two equally important ones, getting to know which is complex and engaging matters. Hence, establishing a roadmap or drafting a framework of schedules are the first steps towards setting priorities. Of course, being clear on our goals helps so that we can swallow what we can chew.

Knowing what is urgent and what is important is the starting point. First, we may need to clear the one which is urgent and needs immediate attention as the rest of our activities may depend on whether that is done or not. Knowing the very important, important and non-important tasks enables us to know where to put the line and deal only with important ones. The non-important  tasks can easily be postponed and rescheduled to later times as their non-completion may not affect our project much.

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Priority among other priorities

I recently got to know that self-discipline plays a role here. When we are that person who set the goals, classify our priorities, set all kinds of execution plans, and we are that person who can’t say NO to him or herself, our set priorities may change because we need to be strict on ourselves and deny to ourselves anything that can alter our plans. However, flexibility may help only when it comes to setting priority among other priorities. In that case, one can be adaptable and flexible to choose either of them, provided they all will be done. This reduces stress because we get to know what we are doing, we become aware of the resources on our disposal to accomplish it and we are sure it will be done. No panic, no sweating under high performing air-condition, we gain control over our tasks. Our mind becomes calm, hence we can concentrate and focus much better.

Start when you go to bed

We may not need to be managers of big offices, firms, enterprises, organizations to exercise setting priorities in our life. All starts in that very moment when we go to bed. As many people say, it is the starting time of a new day. Taking your pencil and jotting down few lines of planned activities of the next day in the order we want to accomplish them often prepares us to become managers of our own life. We get to know what does not need to come on the list and what must be done by all means. Then, during the day, thriving to do what we have planned will make our mind in control, and gradually as we keep doing that, it becomes a part of us. Once we are self-made managing directors, we can see how beneficial this can be to us and those around us.

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Resoluciones de Año Nuevo

¿Te has encontrado alguna vez postergando las metas y resoluciones de año nuevo para el próximo?

Esto se debe, a que muchas veces no nos tomamos el tiempo necesario para realizar todo el proceso que implica establecer nuevas misiones y crear nuevos hábitos para lograr los objetivos del año que comienza.

En este artículo te invito a realizar cada uno de los pasos y ejercicios que  me han servido para mantener constancia durante los doce meses, que si nos descuidamos se van volando.

Todos nacemos con ciertas características que nos diferencian de los demás, inclusive de nuestros hermanos criados por nuestros mismos padres y en el mismo entorno. Por lo tanto, es responsabilidad de cada quien reconocer sus virtudes y sus retos sin avergonzarse de quien realmente es y además, ser consciente de los compromisos personales y sociales que se requieren para transitar esta vida. 

Primero, debes preguntarte: ¿Cuáles son los anhelos de tu corazón? 

Para transformar deseos en acciones primero debes conocerte a ti mismo y esto involucra todas las áreas, toma algún tiempo, pero te sugiero que comiences con una idea general y luego continúes el proceso de auto-observación para ir profundizando en cada una.

En este artículo clasifico las áreas de la vida en siete grupos:

1) Finanzas

Todos tenemos necesidades básicas por las cuales debemos tener una estabilidad financiera. Como por ejemplo la alimentación, educación, vivienda, etc. Ahorrar, mantener las finanzas en orden, asociarse con gente que realice las mismas actividades, son buenas prácticas que te ayudarán a administrar los recursos para vivir en balance y sin estrés. Tú relación con el dinero es como una relación de amistad, necesita atención y agradecimiento. El dinero te puede generar muchas oportunidades pero debes mantener esta relación limpia y positiva. 

Ejercicio: 

Dedícate a observar tu relación con el dinero, como hablas de el, si le echas la culpa por tus problemas o si más bien agradeces por lo que tienes y hasta dónde has podido llegar.

2) Crecimiento espiritual y personal

Todos tenemos la capacidad para ser instrumentos de increíble compasión y perdón, no debemos limitarnos a la creencia popular de que ser espiritual implica vivir en un monasterio o internarse en una montaña sin contacto con el mundo hasta que encontramos aquello llamado “iluminación”, pero el crecimiento personal implica actividades para cultivar paz interior, unirse a una organización sin fines de lucro o simplemente el hecho de mostrar gratitud y compasión hacia otros. 

Ejercicio: 

Te sugiero buscar un retiro donde puedas re-conectar contigo mismo, sin interrupciones, sin distracciones, donde puedas alejarte de los horarios, de las compras, del teléfono… Un espacio donde te dediques solo y únicamente a ti mismo. La práctica de la meditación te puede ayudar a controlar los pensamientos, incrementar la creatividad, crear estabilidad emocional y por consiguiente, mejorar la relación contigo mismo y con los demás.

3) Salud

Sabías que estar saludable es sinónimo de felicidad? La salud no solamente implica el buen estado físico, si no también a nivel mental; del mismo modo que le dedicamos tiempo al cuidado y limpieza del cuerpo debemos purificar y disciplinar la mente. De esto depende todos nuestros pensamientos, palabras y acciones. Si la mente y el cuerpo están en balance, podría decirse que nos encontramos en buena salud.

Ejercicio: 

Asegúrate de dormir suficiente cada día, presta atención a las situaciones que te generan estrés y al manejo del mismo, come natural y sin exceso, elimina las fuentes de toxinas como el alcohol y la comida procesada, mantente activo realizando algún ejercicio físico como el yoga u otro deporte, y práctica la meditación 

4) Familia y amigos

Desde que nacemos formamos parte de una familia, somos seres interdependientes. Compartimos el mismo espacio, los mismos valores y la misma genética. Cuando nos quedamos en nuestra zona de confort, empeñados en nuestro propio bienestar, es como ir en contra de la corriente; debemos aprender a compartir y respetar el espacio y la ideología de vida de nuestra familia y valorar todo el aprendizaje generado en base a esta relación. 

Ejercicio: 

Tómate unos minutos para hacer una lista de las personas que verdaderamente te importan (no incluyas a tus hijos, si tienes). Probablemente te darás cuenta de lo que ya sabías, pero es importante tenerlo actualizado. Ahora dale vuelta a la página y anota una lista de las 10 personas para las cuales crees ser importante. No tiene que coincidir una lista con la otra. Compara las dos listas y te darás cuenta que las relaciones no son necesariamente recíprocas. Con este ejercicio podrás decidir el tiempo, la energía y la fuerza que usas en cada una de tus relaciones. 

¡Rodéate de personas positivas que te ayuden a crecer!

5) Profesión

La profesión requiere pasión y compromiso. Comienza cuando nos apasionamos por una actividad para la cual tenemos la habilidad y el conocimiento hasta que poco a poco se va convirtiendo en un trabajo. Busca la luz en lo que ya haces y conviértelo en tu profesión. Comenzar a tener éxito en lo que haces es la clave para mantener viva tu profesión. 

Ejercicio:

Qué te apasiona? Cómo lo puedes aprender?  Realiza pequeños pasos a la vez, busca tus talentos. 

6) Diversión y Recreación 

Un determinante en nuestro bienestar físico, mental y espiritual es la forma de ver y resolver la vida, la manera de aceptar los retos con una mente clara y desarrollar la creatividad para resolver esos mismos retos. Estar contento viene desde adentro, sin embargo, existe un sinnúmero de actividades externas que nos permiten reír y disfrutar de la vida de una forma sana y divertida. Estar contento es una parte innata y representa como nos expresamos de nosotros mismos. Observa un bebé y como disfruta de cosas pequeñas, sus emociones son verdaderas y auténticas. 

Ejercicio:

Busca un actividad por semana que te genere placer para tus sentidos (que no sea trabajo), de pronto asistir a una clase de baile, montar a caballo, ir al cine, encuentra algo con lo cual te relaciones y que de pronto hayas dejado en el olvido. 

¡Diviértete!

7) Romance

En una relación de pareja, la comunicación es clave, el respeto mutuo y el entendimiento por reconocer las necesidades de cada uno es clave para que perdure el amor. Establecer pilares fuertes de afecto, entendimiento, valores y creencias son fundamentales para el crecimiento en pareja, así como el respeto a los objetivos y sueños individuales.

“Una relación de pareja es la unión en un momento determinado entre dos seres que han descubierto su amor propio y están comprometidos a cultivar y mantener ese amor para poder dar y recibir sin expectativas”.

Si cada parte comparte el mismo nivel de disciplina y perspectiva es muy probable que la relación funcione. Pero nos esforzamos por querer mantener relaciones románticas con personas completamente opuestas a nosotros. 

Ejercicio:

Has un listado con tus necesidades y otra lista con las características que te gustaría encontrar en una pareja romántica. Luego compara las listas y trata de observar si lo que pides es algo que estarías dispuesto a dar. Te sorprenderá saber que a veces no estamos lo suficientemente claros de lo que somos ni de lo que estamos buscando en otros. 

8) Entorno Físico

Existe un concepto hindú llamado Vastu Sastra, y se refiere a la organización de espacios y arquitectura y en los textos habla de cómo el espacio físico nos afecta tanto a nivel físico, mental, emocional y espiritual. La congestión y desorganización de objetos en el hogar y áreas de trabajo podría bloquear la creatividad y la claridad mental. Limpiar los espacios genera paz y un entorno ordenado. Estudios han demostrado que mantener los espacios ordenados pueden reducir la irritabilidad, el estrés, mejorar la productividad y evitar las distracciones. 

Ejercicio:

Es tiempo de eliminar el desorden; comienza por uno o dos cajones y selecciona lo que puedes regalar, botar y guardar. Asegúrate de dejar solo lo que necesitas y acomódalo de acuerdo a la frecuencia de uso. Luego toma un momento para conectar con tus sentimientos, te sientes más ligero? Con más energía? Inspirado a continuar el proceso de limpieza? Y así continúa en todos los espacios del hogar y del trabajo hasta que logres completarlo todo. 

Te animo a que revises cada área y califiques tu nivel de satisfacción en una escala del uno al diez, donde uno es igual a insatisfecho y diez es igual a completamente satisfecho. 

En este cierre de año te invito a realizar un pequeño ritual donde agradeces por todo lo que tienes, tus relaciones y las metas cumplidas en el presente año. Luego, escribe una lista con tus resoluciones de nuevo año tomando en cuenta todas las áreas y luego busca un lugar tranquilo donde puedas cerrar los ojos, inhala y exhala algunas veces hasta sentirte en calma y trata de visualizarte cumpliendo todas las nuevas metas. Cómo sería tu vida si todos los obstáculos fueran removidos? Créete capaz de lograr cuánto te propones, si no sientes ahora mismo esa confianza, comienza por crear una lista de tus logros anteriores donde te has sentido victorioso. 

Finalmente, conecta con esas cualidades que te hacen sentir orgulloso de ti mismo y crea afirmaciones que te motiven a diario a cumplir tus deseos. 

“Desde el ser que habita en mi, honro y agradezco al ser que habita en ti.”

Namaste 

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How Human Rights Contribute to Peace

people holding heart together

After a long day at work, many of us have the privilege to go home, take a hot shower, cook dinner, and sleep in a warm bed. For those of us who live a life of relative comfort and have our basic needs met, it can be hard to imagine what life would be like if we weren’t so lucky. What would the day look like without these basic things?

We might sleep outside on the street, hungry or even sick. Things as simple as consistent access to food and shelter are not a given for many people around the world. Without access to basic human rights, feeling at peace is unlikely to happen.

Peaceful people make up a peaceful society, and peaceful societies make up a peaceful world. Since scarcity often leads to conflict, societies that support their citizens by providing them with healthcare, education, food, and shelter, are generally more peaceful and prosperous than those who don’t.

What Is Peace?

Understanding what peace means is essential if we want to understand why it is so important — especially if peace is something we take for granted in our day-to-day lives.

At an International Day of Peace celebration organized by Peace Revolution Cameroon, participants from various countries weighed in with different definitions of peace. The word was defined in many ways, including “the respect for life and fellow human beings” and “freedom from disturbance.”

Peace might mean different things to different people around the globe, but it’s clear that without peaceful individuals, we cannot have a peaceful world.

Most Peaceful Countries

According to 2017 data released by the Institute for Economics and Peace, the United States ranks 114th out of 163 in a list of the world’s most peaceful countries.

“Data highlighted a declining level of trust in the U.S. government, as well as growing social problems such as income inequality, heightened racial tensions and rising homicide rates in several major American cities,” writes Megan Trimble in “The 10 Most Peaceful Countries in the World” to explain why the US ranked so low.

Which country tops the list? According to Trimble’s U.S. News article, it’s Iceland — a place where discrimination is illegal and citizens have access to universal healthcare. Iceland is widely regarded as a leader in human rights. The United States, on the other hand, demonstrates that it values capitalism over the well-being of its citizens. The success of Iceland and the problems in the U.S. clearly show that human rights are deeply linked to peace.

Challenges

There are many barriers to peace in today’s world. The unrest in the United States is a great example of what happens when a country doesn’t protect the basic human rights of its citizens. In the fight for peace, protest signs are as common a sight these days as birds in the sky.

Social workers have defined 12 major challenges that need to be overcome to create a better world. These challenges include making sure that everyone has access to healthcare, helping homeless individuals find dependable and affordable housing and food, and ensuring that all people have equal opportunities to pursue education. Let’s take a closer look at these challenges:

1) Access to Healthcare

In some countries (including the United States), healthcare is a privilege, not a right. Money, location, mobility, and availability can all be barriers to receiving medical care. As the need for chronic care increases, the elderly are especially vulnerable to lack of care.

Discrimination also impacts access to healthcare. Low-income communities often have limited access to healthcare facilities. Given the racial makeup of such areas, this is often a form of discrimination in and of itself. Healthcare providers could discriminate on the basis of gender, race, sexual orientation, economic class, religion, individuals with pre-existing conditions, and more. In areas where there is a dearth of medical professionals, this lack of choice poses a serious problem for minorities.

2) Access to Food and Shelter

It’s hard to achieve peace of any kind when you are hungry, tired, and don’t know where you’ll sleep at night. Food deserts and lack of affordable and accessible housing options are huge barriers to health and peace worldwide.

3) Access to Education

Education is one of the best ways to improve your personal options for success. But because of money, discrimination, and availability, not everyone has access to education. Oftentimes, lack of education means lack of job opportunities. In turn, that can lead to additional struggles like financial stress and trouble affording food and housing.

Solutions

Healthy bodies and minds are a part of the foundation of peace. Without them, people cannot thrive. So what do we do? To have a peaceful society, we must turn these challenges into solutions.

Positive change can take place in the very sectors that are often barriers, including classrooms, medical buildings, law offices, and social communities. Getting involved in any of these areas is a great way to help create a healthier and a more peaceful world.

This is a collaborative post supporting our Peace In Peace Out initiative.

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How To Improve Life With Dreams and Goals

Dreams and goals are what makes life better. The relationship between dreams and goals have been the concern of many scholars for ages. Still, many people fail to make their dreams come true and stay focused on their goals. In addition, most people are running after money or funds to sustain their dreams and goals.

Why do we need to have dreams and goals? What is the relationship between dreams and goals? Read more to know how to improve your life through a good management of dreams and goals.

 Dreams and Goals: what’s the relationship?

The relationship between dreams and goals governs the achievement of a better life. Our happiness depends on the way we manage our dreams and goals. Considering that each of us is unique in his/her own way, we need to be careful about how we manage our dreams and goals. Dreams are visions, something that the person wants and desires to do. Dreams fuel our everyday life and help us be positive and self-oriented towards the attainment of plausible results. Goals define the success of our life, for they are specific objectives that we intend to reach in a given time or a given period. Besides, goals pave the way to the achievement of our dreams and is a rational way to build ones life according to an ideal. However, dreams are different from goals.

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How can dreams become goals that improve life ?

The status of our mind determines how our dreams become goals that could come true and then improve our life. In fact, human beings are made of body and mind. The mind works in the same way like the software of a computer. Our body is the hardware that could not function without the software. For a dream to become a goal that comes true, we need to have a clear mind. When our mind is clear, we have a better perception of life. We can easily identify our goals according to our dreams. That’s the way we could improve our life. Small goals achieved accordingly depend on the way our mind could work on a single goal in a given time. But how could we then clear the mind, so as to have a good perception of life, which leads to good dreams and goals?

Meditate to have good dreams and goals

In 2015, I was looking for a tool that could help me better my life by controlling the way my mind affects my dreams and goals. I was not really focused on my goals and my dreams seemed always far away from the reality. In 2016, I discovered meditation, and my life has become more positive, because I could now have good dreams and goals. Consequently, my goals become easy to be achieved. Not only does meditation help me improve my perception of life, but it also fosters my dreams and gives me the chance to practice letting go of bad thoughts or events that could ruin my dreams and goals. Meditation is definitively a tool that helps our mind be still, focused and peaceful. By making our mind standstill and focused, we easily attain our goals and by making the mind peaceful, we often have the best dreams of our life.

You may consider joining Peace Revolution to start your own experience with the practice of meditation. You may also want to read more about me and my practice of meditation here.

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How to Write an Action Plan to Achieve Your Goals

plan-goals

Did you ever notice how there are hundreds of books that claim they know how to make your dreams come true, and how there are thousands of articles like this one that claim to make your dreams come true. If they all worked, then wouldn’t they all say the same thing? One commonly believed key to success is: we need to create a strategic plan to make our dreams come true. We need to write down our aims, divide them into smaller aims, write down every step we should make, the time they will take. Does this strategy work?

Think of this – a man with a wrecking ball can make a hole in a solid brick wall. A man in a prison with a small steel pin can also make a hole in a wall. It is less about the method and tools you use, and more about your perpetual, repeated, unwavering will. Do you know what the biggest waste of time truly is? It is starting a race and not finishing it.

The Nine Elements Of Goal Setting

Make a salad with just lettuce and cucumber, and you can fill your stomach. Make a salad with lettuce, cucumber, salad cream, cottage cheese, feta cheese, cheddar cheese, celery, spring onions, pickled onions, egg, beetroot and watercress, and you have a nice meal that will fill your stomach. The point is that you can use one goal-setting element and succeed, you can use four and succeed, or you can use nine hundred. The more you add the more pleasant and productive your experience will be.

Here, I offer nine elements of goal setting:

1 – A clearly defined objective
2 – A clearly defined end date
3 – A detailed breakdown of every task
4 – A time budget
5 – A schedule
6 – A contingency plan
7 – Resources and requirements
8 – A reason to succeed
9 – A mental or visual representation of your success
10 – A lack of negative consequences

Some of the elements listed above are probably going to make you furrow your brow, so let us justify them right here. These tips are born from my experience, as well as lessons learned from books written by Napoleon Hill, Richard Branson, Donald Trump, Dennis Prager, Judge Judy and Bill Clinton.

A clearly defined objective

A shooter cannot hit a target if he or she doesn’t have a clearly defined target. You are only human, and you need a target if you wish to achieve something. A test needs a grade, a train needs a destination, and your dream needs a target. It must also be a very clearly defined target because that is what makes the difference between a dream and an achievable goal. Make it clear what you want in clearly defined terms.

A clearly defined end date

I will have X by X date. Your clearly defined end date should be something you consider after you have completed your plan. However, there are occasions where your deadline is hoisted upon you. Besides the Bible, the book that has sold the most copies was written by a man called Napoleon Hill. One of his biggest rules was that a plan could only work if a clearly defined deadline was in place. If you were told you were definitely 100% going to live forever, would you feel driven to achieve anything? Would you even bother getting out of bed in the morning?

A detailed breakdown of every task

You need to write down how you intend to complete each task and where you will get your resources. Japanese car makers were so successful in the 90s and 00s because they took apart each car, examined each part, and asked how they could improve it. Breaking down every task allows you to do the same. It allows you to repeat your success, examine your failures, and come up with protocols to help ensure that future tasks are successful.

A time budget

Within your strategic plan, you will need to break down each task and decide how long each one will take. This helps create your schedule, contingency plan and your end date. Learn from your time budgets so you may estimate how long a project will take, and use your time budgets as a standard to figure out if you are ahead of or behind the schedule.

A schedule

You know how long each task will take; you now need to put them in a schedule that accommodates the time taken for each task. You also need to decide in which order they will be done. Think of your time budgets as single bus routes, and your schedule as a complete bus map.

A contingency plan

Life is unpredictable, and the only way you can plan for the unexpected is to give yourself more wiggle room. Extend your time budgets, allocate more resources than needed, and fully consider all alternatives so that failure cannot occur. Add wiggle room with policies such as adding 15% to all expense predictions and lowering all income predictions by 20%. Plan how you will recover from single-task failures to ensure they will not drag down the entire project.

Resources and requirements

You now want to create a list of the resources that you need to write down how you intend to get them, and you need to detail any further requirement such as qualifications, staff members and so forth. Failing to do so is like failing to consider how much gas you need before taking a long car journey.

A reason to succeed

The goal doesn’t count as a reason. A woman doesn’t work hard to buy an ultra-expensive office chair because she wants the chair. She does it because her current chair hurts her back, because she wants a chair that reclines, or because she likes that new-chair smell. A reason to succeed that extends beyond material gain (or that sits besides it) will help maintain the project workers’ motivation.

A mental or visual representation of your success

A mental image of your end goal, or something visual or physical that you can look at to remind yourself of why you are working so hard. The work of Napoleon Hill is littered with examples of rich and famous people who were well-motivated by their visual representations of success; from the estate agent who looked at her large diamond ring whenever she felt down, to the boxers who dreamed about holding the champion belt in their hands.

A lack of negative consequences

Workable plans have no negative consequences. Contrary to popular belief, a fear of negative consequences is not a good motivator, (try it a few times by setting up terrible consequences of your own doing, they are rarely a motivator). Instead, set contingency plans in place so that if one idea doesn’t work, you have an alternative idea planned and ready to do. Some people work better under pressure, and others do not. If you crack under pressure, then create plans where you always have an alternative route to success.

 

Last but not least, a mental or visual representation of your success is a sadly underrated element, so here is a little advice that you have never heard before. Your visual/mental representation needs to be your go-to place whenever life kicks you. Let’s say your visual representation is a thermometer image showing how much money you have saved (like the sort of thing you see in church funding drives). The next time you think about something evil that somebody did to you, clear your mind of it and think only of your thermometer image. Force yourself to think of your visual representation and your goal every time life makes you sad. Force your mind to stop wasting time on thoughts that make you sad.

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Lesson 4: Want, Work and Relax

Me in Mexico

The monks will tell you that it is necessary to grow out of being a slave of your desires. They eat for the sole purpose of feeding their bodies. And that’s right for them, because they choose to live happily with that premise. For other people who are not monks, desires are part of our essence. And it is by learning to control them that we can enjoy them in a mindful way. Continue reading “Lesson 4: Want, Work and Relax”