Would you like to know my LEAST favorite expression?
It’s…“Take your time.”
Oh sure, that expression IS appropriate in a number of circumstances. More often than not, however, it’s used as an application of a brake. In other words, and from my perspective, people use that expression when attempting to get others to do what I refer to as REDUCING INTAKE.
REDUCING INTAKE is this: It’s like taking the highest powered vacuum cleaner that you can find and reducing the intake to, oh, 75% of capacity or maybe even 50% of capacity.
Some people who contact my company and ask, “What the heck is this HEADSPACE thing you got going on?” – often tell me that they are happy with things just as they are. Now that may be very true…until something changes.
A lot of folks are happily content for the simple reason that they choose not to take a full view of their life. They look at what’s immediately in front of them, and rarely look up. Now I’m not saying that’s wrong – just that it’s not for me.
When I get up each morning, I start my day with a song. That song is RUN LIKE HELL (Pink Floyd). The actual lyrics are not what attracted me to the song as much as the music and the title.
The title of that song might lead you to think that I run around like a chicken with its head cut off, but that’s not the case. Rather, what I believe is MAXIMIZING INTAKE. In other words, by taking a better view of your life, you can increase the intake and take more of what life has to offer.
Okay, so why is this important?
You know the folks who like to go to their job, come home, sit on the porch, sip their lemonade, etc.? Well, in many cases, these folks inevitably run into a wall. That obstacle, or “crisis” if you will, is a major setback – far more so than for someone who is normally moving at a faster clip.
When I talk to groups, I try to impress upon them the need to NOT take life “day-by-day.” I try to impress upon them the need to NOT “take their time.” Sadly, my words fall on deaf ears. The person who goes through life – “one day at a time”…”day-by-day,” is NOT someone who typically subscribes to REASON.
The folks who typically respond to my calls for “upping the intake,” come back with “You need to stop and smell the roses!” I then respond with, “Well, what if it doesn’t take me more than a minute to smell a rose? Why waste the time?”
I am a BIG proponent of MAXIMIZING
every single minute of every single day.
For example, a bunch of us were planning a motorcycle ride. A bunch of the guys wanted to go later in the morning and a few of us wanted to leave earlier. My friend Dave called me up and said, “Marc, we’re going to meet around 9:00 at X for breakfast and then head out to Y, blah, blah, blah….” I responded with…
“That’s a nice plan, but I am going to get up at 6:30, and be at the X gas station at 7:15. I don’t need to sit down and have a big carb breakfast. I want to enjoy the same ride, but I am going to be home by 5:00 PM so that the family and I can do a bicycle ride/dinner picnic. I don’t see the point in sitting around all morning and then having a long mega-carb breakfast, only to get on the road by 10:00 – 10:30. That doesn’t make sense. Instead, I am going to pack a couple Kashi bars and eat along the way. If you want to join me, be at X gas station no later than 7:30.”
Now this is a very, very small example of a REDUCED INTAKE mentality (theirs) vs. an INCREASED INTAKE mentality (mine) – but the concept should hopefully be “mentally palatable.”
I enjoyed the same ride and
truly MAXIMIZED my day.
By the way, the guys who started after meeting for breakfast, didn’t get on the road until 10:45 AM. They ended up getting home during the evening hours – after the temperature dropped into the 60’s (which on a motorcycle, is down in the high 40’s). There’s nothing wrong with that – only that I enjoyed the best of both worlds simply by using a little REASON.
I hope you will join me at HEADSPACE 2012. It’s going to be a great seminar, and I promise you a HUGE return on investment. For more information, please go to the top of this page, click on SEMINARS, scroll down, and then click on HEADSPACE 2012.
Have A GREAT Day!
…Dr. Marc & The Mind Virus Team