Web Zen Minimalism

Archive for the ‘Ideas’ Category

I like to quote Mick Jagger the way some people quote Jesus. This week I’ve been thinking about relationships. Or confronting them. Mick said you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need.

One particular woman who I had a fling thing with a few months back has called a few times over the past month or so. I faced up to my feelings, or lack thereof and told her as delicately as possible that it’s just not there for me.

Another woman who I’ve been crazy about that I hang out with quite a bit is the one I can’t get. Even if I did, she wouldn’t be right. So I’ve finally faced the facts and decided that romantic interests that don’t pan out should be allowed to simply dissolve. Rejection is one of the signs along the way that scream dead end.

Here’s the zen part. I’d rather be alone than tied up with someone in whom the connection is lacking. Knowing that, I’m willing to try. Who knows, I might just find I get what I need.

Dream Believe Do

1. Dream in color, larger than life.
2. Believe in the power of the mind
3. Do the work or make excuses.

Dreaming big dreams makes more realistic dreams seem totally obtainable. If I dream in detail about owning custom beachfront property a more modest place in the city, that’s quite a bit nicer than what I already have doesn’t seem so out of reach.

The principles of success center on deciding what you want, believing it’s possible and committing yourself to getting it. Doing so activates the power of the superconscious mind. Wallace Wattles in The Science of Getting Rich wrote, “a person can form things in his thought, and… cause the thing he thinks about to be created.”

Get busy. On a dead end, read the signs and turn around. Pick a destination, figure out how to get there then take one step at a time until you arrive. Don’t get lost on detours and give up. Along the way, you may decide you really don’t want to go to wherever it is you’re going. It’s okay. You can choose another destination. Or maybe you discover that you found a place along the way that suits you just fine.

Are you overwhelmed with too much to do? Paralyzed because you can’t get started? Start with one thing. Choose one thing and do it. Action creates momentum. While you’re working on one action, your mind is free to choose the next action.

Planning is an action, but planning without action is a waste of time. Action without planning is inefficient. So what, let’s do something.

As an example I need to produce content for my web sites. Completing the setup of the web sites was accomplished with a combination of plans and actions. At this stage of web site completion content can be written. If I wait until I’ve perfected a process for producing content I’ll never write anything. I setup a spreadsheet with sheets for keywords, topics, titles, notes, meta data and affiliates. There’s also a folder to save completed and in-progress items.

My one minimalist action for now is to post to the blogs on each of my sites. This is the third post. It may not be the best writing I’m capable of, or even that interesting, but it’s action and consistent action turns into a process, and a process can be improved and put to work like a habit.

GTD is a popular personal management system based on a book by David Allen, Getting Things Done. My GTD is based on David Allen’s system and personalized. Mindmapping is an excellent method for focusing.

To mindmap an idea I write down a problem or question, date it, and start writing ideas. Twenty items, whatever comes to mind. After the list is complete I select an item and do it.

Putting pen to paper motivates me to get things done. For me, pen to paper is on a PDA. I prefer a PDA (personal digital assistant -Palm pocket computer) because mine sits mounted on the dash when I drive. In stalled out traffic I can review my lists.

Bikram Choudhury lectured in Boston in June (2009). These are my notes.

To concentrate, to meditate is the hardest thing to do. The mind functions with a conscious, subconscious and superconscious. Understanding how the mind operates is the key to phenomenal power. Yoga teaches one how to concentrate, ten seconds at a time.

Killing time is the greatest crime. Time is life, life is time. Think about that. Until yesterday, I thought time was money. Finding purpose in life makes no allowance for wasting time.

What you do doesn’t matter. How you  do it does.

Bikram didn’t say yoga was zen, but he did say yoga was everything. Communication is yoga. You can have everything but have nothing if the body, mind and spirit are not in sync.

Learn to love yourself. Learn how to take care of yourself. No one else will love you until you first love yourself. The mirror is the tool.

The most important thing in life is you. Who are you? What is life? Life is simple. If it works, do it. If it’s bad, don’t do it. Don’t let your mind give you bad info.

No food is the best food.

I almost fell out of my chair when Bikram stated his mantra, “Make People Happy.” That’s my mantra!

Self-realization’s greatest obstacle? Excuses. Decide. What do you want? How would you live if this were your last day?

Focus on Don’t Dos. By not doing things that are bad, you automatically do things that are good.

What is exercising? Exercising is stretching.

Control your emotion. When you express anger, you lose. Withdraw anger. That’s what it means to turn the other cheek. Anger can be creatively processed internally.

Ask, “what am I doing?” Am I chasing a fantasy? Is this an illusion? Escape attachment. Pursue higher consciousness. The things that are left behind are not remembered.

Yoga makes one bulletproof. No one can steal your happiness.

Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen is a personal management system designed around the inbox and a few simple questions like, “what am I trying to accomplish here,” and “what’s the next action on this?” Recently I’ve integrated ideas from Brian Tracy’s Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life, in particular, the process of mind mapping.

With GTD an inbox is essential. When you first start digging out in an attempt to become more minimalist you’ll generate piles to sort and projects to process. While you can’t put a pile of books into an inbox, you can place a note in the inbox as a reminder.

GTD is about developing a system that works for you. I’ll return to list the components of my GTD system and ask you to share tips that work for you in getting AND staying organized.