The Big Picture

My Grandad turned 93 this week. 93 years old!

Being a Navy man Grandad runs solely on habits and routine. It is actually quite fascinating to watch.

6:30am he is up every morning making wheeties and a cup of tea for breakfast

After breakfast he has his to do list for the day.

If he has 4 things on his shopping list he will separate them out on different days so he has to go on his daily walk to the shops. Clever Grandad.

“If you stop moving you’re done for. You’ve got to keep the mind and body working.”

Once all his shopping list and errands are done, he creates little projects for himself to keep busy. He is always working on something.

• Turning an old ironing board into a set of shelves for his study.

• Repainting old picture frames so they look good as new

• Glueing together the chairs outside [with glue that never seems to set!] 

Story Time - I decided to enjoy my cup of coffee outside one morning on one of his newly refurbished chairs. Not only did it fall apart I ended up with green paint on my trousers too! - It had been drying for 3 days!

“Great another project I have to look at” says Grandad.

His positive outlook on life is incredible! And when you ask him how he’s doing?

“Ah, Basically Fine!”

Long-Term Thinking

When my father left for the cadets at 16 his fatherly words of wisdom were

“From now on son you’re in the shit, the only difference is the daily depth”

Navigating life is a tough mission for all of us but I have come to realise we are in control of the ‘daily depth’, if we choose to be.

I bring all this up because it was one of the biggest mindset shifts I had to make before starting on this online journey.

I had to finally get my head around planning life in years - not months or even days just yet but getting comfortable with the fact that whatever I decided to embark on in life will take time.

My new goal post - Consistency for a minimum of 2 years before I can say ‘It doesn’t work’

I had a comment under this post that took it one step further.

“The 3 together make a deadly weapon

Patience - gives you time to learn

Curiosity - keeps you engaged

Persistence - puts in the hard work”

This one mindset shift has literally changed my life, and I hope it can change yours too.

What else have you got to do?

That's the question I ask myself every day.

You know what I mean, right? You wake up, and you're like "oh man, another day of work." Or school. Or whatever it is that you're doing that isn't the life you want. And then you say "I could be doing something else." And then you just sit there and think about what else you could be doing instead of this thing…

Then you go back on auto pilot and leave the thought for another day.

But what if I told you that it's time to stop thinking about what else you could be doing and start actually doing it?

What if I told you that today is the day to start creating the life that you want.

It doesn't matter how old or young or experienced or inexperienced or talented or untalented or poor or rich (or whatever) you are—you can start creating your dream life today.

And when I say "dream life," I don't mean a fantasy world where everything goes perfectly and everyone loves each other and there's no conflict ever—that would be boring!

I mean a real life where you are living out your values in all areas of life: from personal relationships to career development, from family support to financial success.

It is all within your reach if you can gain some perspective of the journey ahead and manage your expectations.

90 Years of Life

Back to Grandad - 93 years old.

The image below, Sahil Bloom used in a newsletter recently to highlight what 90 years looks like.

Im not sure where you are on this chart but to put it into perspective I am 31.

I have 60+ years before I hit Grandads age.

60 YEARS!!

What is 2 years trying to pursue a life you have always dreamed of going to hurt in the long run?

If you fail you can always go back to what you where doing - You can always ‘get a job’ and call it quits if you don’t think its for you.

But what if it does work?

What if you decided this year that you are going to believe in yourself?

Upon realising this [and having words with myself] I thought if I can’t get my head around putting in consistent work for a minimum of 2 years what am I even doing?!

The ‘Work Force’

We are so eager to enter into the work force and willing to spend 40 years working on someone else’s dream… why not try to work on yours too.

You were not made to work 40 years in a job you don’t like which will more often than not stress you out to the point of physical exhaustion that when you leave, what kind of state are you going to be in to ‘enjoy your retirement’ ?

In this life we are all going to have to work to make a living.

Basic needs must be met and in this world we need a ‘job’ or income to support that.

That can be your average 9-5 but I have a feeling if you are reading this you want more out of life than just that.

So why, when building our own projects or trying to find our life’s work are we so quick to:

1 - Rush the process

‘I must make x in 6 months or I’m a failure’ mentality

2 - Give up after one or even two failed attempts.

Which usually wasn’t a true attempt if we look back and really dig deep

Do the math with me

Let’s say even you want to stop working at retirement age which is 65.

You are prepared to ‘work’ until you are 65 in a job.

Take a look at this… If you’re in your

20s you’ve got 45 years

30s you’ve got 35 years

40s you’ve got 25 years

50s You’ve still got 15 years!!

Are you not honestly willing to try something for 2.

When you look back at the last 2 years of your life how quickly do they feel like they have gone by?

Something to remember is that the years only start to speed up.

They don’t slow down.

You start to realise that the sun will rise and fall regardless of whether you decided to take part in this life or not.

…And you’re struggling with 30 days?!

[me yelling this to myself in the mirror after getting flustered 2 weeks in]

It’s the End of January

As we come to the end of January 2023 once again we are reminded constantly on social media that 90 something % of people never make it past this month with their new years resolutions.

If this is you, don’t give up

• Take a deep breath

• Re-assess your situation

• Revisit your why

• Adjust your plan

• Move forward accordingly

Even a year of baby steps will pull your life into a different trajectory as long as you are staying consistent.

I ask again…

What else do you have to do?

Maja Howard