Welcome to Motivational Mondays, your weekly (PEP) Proactive, Empowered, Performance, talk with Mark Kent.
Well it has been another great week, as the summer here in Nova Scotia evolves into its best weather.
How much easier is it to wake up and feel energized when the sun is shining and it's warm out?
This is a good time to contemplate upon the principles and ideas of Resilience and how important it can become in maintaining motivation.
Last week I discussed flexibility and the critical role it plays in maintaining momentum despite conflicting circumstances.
This week I would like to expand upon this concept and talk about the Flexible Time Table.
In today's society there has been a linear approach to just about everything we do and become.
Developmental psychologists talk about the maturation of mental, social, emotional and intellectual stages everyone should go through to reach normal and acceptable levels of growth in society.
Even culturally we are conditioned to believe at certain ages in our lives we can expect to achieve various levels of success.
We should be off to college or have a job by our early 20's, get married and start a family by our 30's, and achieve financial independence by our 50's.
However many people today are debunking these cultural myths, as they venture outside the norm and society's expectations.
This can become a quandary for many as they realize they have fallen short and now aren't within the mainstream of society.
This can become daunting and a de-motivator as angst, fear, and a sense of failure can infiltrate thoughts and actions in your life.
However having a Flexible Time Table can be very helpful in reducing and eliminating such negative energy.
Complacency is a by product of being comfortable and maintaining the status quo of society.
To really become challenged and motivated it's often necessary to be apart from the norm, to realize what you thought was a shortcoming or fault can actually be the impetus to move forward and make dramatic changes in your life.
Human beings are incredibly Resilient, but also have a unique ability to reinvent themselves regardless of their age, creed color or race.
I remember being in graduate school and one of the top students in the class was a retired judge, 87 years old. I asked him why was he doing this and he said he always wanted to have a psychology degree and he figured in 3 years he would be just as old if he didn't have it, so why not.
What an incredible attitude and he did get his degree. You see he was fairly flexible in his attitude about achieving a goal in life regardless of his age or what society thought.
Many people today are starting families much later, going back to school and starting a new career, new relationships etc, irrespective of society's expectations and benchmark for success.
Having a Flexible Time Table enables you to take a positive approach to life's challenges and opportunities as opposed to negative energy that comes from comparing and sensing you have not fulfilled the expectations of your culture, family and friends.
Being different, perhaps not fitting into the norm can be a motivator, and provide an openness to experiment with the universe and achieve extraordinary things.
Stepping outside your FAMILIAR ZONE (not necessarily your comfort zone) with a flexible attitude, can provide awesome opportunities for change, development and the achievements you have longed for.
The measure of your success and happiness should not be what society dictates, but driven more by your internal gifts and desires.
Not by some predetermined benchmark, but by your own flexible standards that will maintain positive energy through acceptance and future anticipation of achieving your goals and dreams.
So it doesn't matter if you did not achieve your degree or financial independence at the expected rate, move forward on your own agenda, take solace in the fact your journey has given you infinite experiences, maturity and growth and due to your unique path you can move forward and capture those dreams and ideals on your own Flexible Time Table.
Next week I will discuss the fourth R of motivation, REWARD, don't miss it.
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Quote of the week, "yesterday is the dead past, tomorrow is the imagined future, today is a gift that is why they call it the present
Thanks again for the opportunity to serve you.
To your empowerment, productivity and motivation.
Mark
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