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Living in day-tight compartments: Difficult, but necessary June 6, 2017

Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Living in the Now.
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At some point in our personal development work, many of us will come across the advice that we should try to live in day-tight compartments.

And, although it’s good advice, it’s also very tough to do consistently.

Most of us like to dream about the future, to make plans (often just in our heads) about what we would like to do with our lives. We like to think about all the possible options available to us and imagine our lives unfolding within those options and life-possibilities.

In this mind-frame, self-improvement opportunities are abundant, and we enjoy mentally imagining ourselves within these scenarios.

This type of personal growth projecting provides a pleasant and sometimes even mildly euphoric mental and emotional experience.

It’s enjoyable.

But, if we aren’t careful, it can also evolve into day-dreaming and hiding.

When we are young, the paths of life seem like infinite six-lane highways of potential that we can explore endlessly.

But with each new year, we will find that increasingly, the lanes of opportunity are actually finite and choices need to be made.

We can still plan, we can still dream, but we also need to start “doing” today and every day.

— Dennis Mellersh

 

 

 

Personal growth and day-tight compartments April 3, 2014

Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Living in the Now.
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One of the challenges we face after starting a program of personal development is that the increased self-awareness we inevitably create can sometimes lead to discouragement at our perceived lack of quick progress.

When this happens, it can be helpful to try to follow the example of professional athletes who, although facing setbacks and potential failures very day, nevertheless persevere in their efforts to maximize their talents.

If you listen to interviews with professional athletes, their approach to their work usually follows a pattern:

Preparation: They continually prepare for improved performance each day

Focus on today: They try to live in day-tight compartments. Failure yesterday does not mean failure today; rather, today is a new opportunity to do better

Stressing routines: They keep doing the routines that have worked for them in the past and modify them if necessary to achieve better results

Concentration: They focus on the task at hand instead of fretting about missed o0pportunities yesterday, or worrying how they are going to meet challenges tomorrow

Control what can be controlled: They make an effort to concentrate on the elements of their lives that are within their control and try to not worry about the elements that they can’t control