Shower Power

For the last two weeks, I have tackled issues, and I’m still tackling new ones.

(Have a look at my past posts to know what I’m writing about).

Needless to say: it is exhausting.

I always find myself awake at 4:30 am, super energetic (it is usually my energy peak) , and I hate wasting energy.

So, I grab my iPad and read books nobody will. at least I think so.  Would you be interested in reading a book called “Inside Apple“? Unless your are a fanboi computer geek which is interested in HR and temperaments/personalities and their pros and cons, I bet you wouldn’t.

Not a safe bet.

My health has never been great, and I don’t want it to deteriorate.

There are a few tricks that I do before giving in (and I gave in once in my life: I had a lung infection and spent a few days in the coma. OK, I digress, but bear that in mind)!

Taking a shower after having triggered my mind with an insanely intricate computer science lecture, or an inspiring TED talk, is what I usually do.

Solutions and ideas appear when you least expect them. It is common sense.

The next Joe would say the same, but I’m not the next Joe.

When you let purposely your mind wander, it will certainly bring you where it wouldn’t if you were hyper-active and focused obsessed.

My weapon of choice is a simple shower, or a bath.

I soak my hands in warm water before playing keyboards or cello. Any tension disappears, and I can warm-up, then play confidently knowing that I prepared myself.

See… This is a borrowed parallel paradigm (a term I coined a few blog posts ago and didn’t use in a blog post)!

I use a “model” totally unrelated to the task at hand to solve it. I transpose it (sorry for the musical pun).

Well, it’s time for a new TED talk and to catch up on my Stanford lectures (I have a strong disgust for the C language, and we are comparing Objective-C and ANSI C. I want to move on to the next step, yet I know that my teacher is doing what we’ll need ten lectures later).

Oh, one last thing: nothing beats a cup of Yunnan tea.

One more thing: this is the post where my 666th tag will appear. I’m an unabashed metal freak, but in no way Satanist. I just find that ending my post with something less serious could release some tension!

Which are your strategies to kick out stress and burn-outs from tearing you apart?

Do you let your mind wander to find solutions, or do you keep working until you run out of gas?

 

 

 

Explain your strategy for life (here’s mine)

Explain your strategy for life.

Ha?

Hahahaha!

Look at THIS:

When is it ok to strike first?

When is it ok to strike first?.

Mulling upon this idea, I can’t help but being myself:

Able to berate and be so mean to someone that I may appear as arrogant and frightening.

I berate myself too, mind you.

I want to be able to tell you that you’re a dickless shithead, and I want you to be able to tell me the same. This is a healthy relationship, as long as it is not only about slashing each other.

I came to terms with myself long ago (I know that life is nothing but forever re-morphing the same material)… So I know that being brutally honest harms less than hiding growing resentment for years, and exploding all of a sudden.

In this, I paid my dues.

Striking first. Yeah, deffo.

But what does it mean out of any given context?

I’m a contextual guy. Even though my level of abstraction is way above average (shameless plug, which means nothing if abstraction doesn’t serve a purpose).

I’m perfectly fine with striking first, for time and energy matters. I would not mess up with anyone just because I can laugh at it.

This blog perhaps doesn’t reflect my laser-sharp focus and willpower. However it reflects my evolution as a human being facing attacks, criticism, mockery, unfairness, etc.

Strategies of Genius

Robert B. Dilts, in his book Strategies of Genius, mentions the use of words known as “connectives”. Basically, connectives are words or phrases that link one idea to the next. An example of a connective would be the word because. Here’s how this works. I can make the statement, John is a frustrated person. If I follow that statement with the connective word because, we now have to complete the statement, and in the process we learn something more about John…”why” he’s a frustrated person. John is a frustrated person because he feels unappreciated. Now let’s add the connective phrase only when to the statement. We now learn yet another dynamic of John using this new connective phrase. John is a frustrated person only when he’s not truly tuned into the reality of the moment. Now we know that John feels unappreciated and has a need to closely watch how he handles himself. How much more might we learn about John (or “John” learn about John) by continuing this process with different connective words and phrases? This is an excellent exercise to help discover more about a person, a problem, ourselves, or a need we may have…and to my point. We’ll use this technique by Dilts using some of his connectives (and a few of my own) for you to diagnose and better understand your relationship with your creative-self. Finish the following statements as honestly as you can.

I feel I lack creativity because………………………………………………………..

I feel I lack creativity only when………………………………………………………

I feel I lack creativity after……………………………………………………………..

I feel I lack creativity along with………………………………………………………

I feel I lack creativity whenever……………………………………………………….

I feel I lack creativity except…………………………………………………………..

I feel I lack creativity although………………………………………………………..

I feel I lack creativity if…………………………………………………………………

I feel I lack creativity in terms of………………………………………………………

I feel I lack creativity in the same way that………………………………………….

Now…take a break. Get away from the page and relax, clear your head, and get yourself ready to come back and objectively look at your responses. What have you learned about yourself that was not evident to you previous to this exercise? What responses were frighteningly (as in I better address this right now) true? What responses in retrospect look utterly ridiculous, something you could easily handle? What do these responses in their totality tell you about yourself and what you need to address in terms of your “creative” standing with yourself? The first step towards being able to create change in any aspect of your life is your “awareness” of what you’re uncomfortable with. Complete this exercise, and learn.