#BeInspired Mondays with IK: Stop these things to Live a more Satisfying Life

Education is the transmission of knowledge, skills, values and beliefs so. Education leads to learning, but learning however, is not the acquisition of information alone, but the change in behaviour as a result of the information.

Change in behaviour involves basically two things: what you start doing and what you stop doing.

Success is the completion of a planned set of actions, the actualisation of a preconceived outcome. With success comes satisfaction and to achieve success, one has to be clear about what he/she wants to do, plan for it and execute the plans with utmost attention. However, what is equally important is that you recognise and stop what is cancelling your effort and making work done equal to zero.

The solution to the problem may not be that you need to start doing something, but that you need to stop doing something.

Want to live a successful and satisfying life? Stop these 3 things…

Trying to please everyone
Some people learn early on in life, while others learn after working with people, that not everyone will like you. You do not need to do wrong for some people to not like you.

“There’s just something about him that I don’t like,” some will say. While some are plain “haters” (who do not matter anyway), others aren’t just comfortable with your style of doing things. Some may criticise you, but you need to learn how to separate the plant from the weed.

In trying to please everyone, you’ll end up forgetting or not knowing who you are or are meant to be.

Analysis Paralysis
When people say they are waiting for the perfect time, what they actually mean is that they are waiting for the time with little or no resistance. In countering that idealogy, I always say resistance is a necessary force – everal things are impossible without it, thus you move in spite of it not in absence of it.

Don’t over analyse a plan. We all know when we are mapping out plans and when we are dragging feet.

The cure for analysis paralysis is not expensive: it is that you get up and walk (work). Do it afraid. The worst is that you’ll fail, but you can reduce the possibility of that happening by adequate preparation. Like I said, we all know when adequate preparation turns to analysis paralysis.

Overworking Yourself
There are two sides to this. One is that we should learn to choose our path and follow it. You can’t do everything… understand that. Know your capacity and if you can, delegate the rest.

This also means you should stop packing your day full of activities. While hardwork is a precedent to success, overworking yourself only leads you to a place where success or failure do not matter anymore – the sick bed, or worse, the 6 ft deep room.

Imagine working all night for a presentation at 8am the next morning only to wake up at 10am because you tried to take a nap at 6.

Blaming Other People or Things for your Mistakes
Back in secondary school and even up to the university, when we pass well, we say “I got an A” but when the result isn’t too favourable, you’ll hear “They gave me an E”. It’s easy to want to look for the problem outside us when we are in a bad situation, but that does not remedy the situation.

Instead of focusing on what was not done or what somebody else did, take responsibility for your own actions, examine the situation, and look for the way forward. There is no point crying over spilled milk; accept the things you cannot change and move on.

What are the other things we need to stop doing to lead a successful and satisfying life?