Taking a break… I thought this challenge would be easier, but it turns out taking a break and spending a few minutes with yourself and your thoughts usually takes a backseat to day-to-day life. And that’s sad. Taking a step back allows you to grow, recharge and tackle the challenges ahead.
I’m usually able to take 5-15 minutes each day just to think, but this past week was hectic and the time was hard to find. Luckily, I found the ideal “alone-time” space…the shower! When all else fails, use your time in the shower to reflect on the day ahead and the day that’s past; on the week that’s coming and the one gone by; on the unknown road and the one just travelled.
Did you manage to find some time for yourself?
#HYLP Challenge #8: Ban the words “I don’t know” from your vocabulary
When I was young most of my answers involved the words “I don’t know.” In fact, our neighbours kept making fun of it…it was my thing. It allowed me not to answer questions like “what do you want to eat?” that I really had no interest in answering. It might be cute when you’re a kid; when you’re older, it’s a way to avoid important decisions, to hide and to foster fear. In The 4-Hour Workweek
[s]top asking for opinions and start proposing solutions.
And that’s what we’ll do this week. When someone asks for your opinion, answer decisively. Offer a solution.
Asking for your opinion involves questions like “What do you want to eat?”, “What do you want to do?”, “What did you think of the conference?”, “What’s your solution?” or something similar. Some answers Tim recommends are:
“Can I make a suggestion?”
“I propose…”
“I’d like to propose…”
“I suggest that… What do you think?”
“Let’s try… and then try something else if that doesn’t work.”
If you use “I don’t know” as a way to postpone your answer and think about your answer; don’t. Use “Let’s think about it. How about…” instead. It allows you to take control of the conversation.
Why?
Simply put, this challenge is to take control of your conversations. Indecisiveness is a burden on yourself. Not proposing a solution of your liking pretty much guarantees you won’t like what’s going to get done. The whole purpose of the Hack Your Life Project is to take control of your life by stretching its capabilities. If we can’t give an opinion when asked, then we prefer to do the minimum necessary…
Propose a solution, take control.
Past challenges
If you’re new here, on the first week of January I started the Hack Your Life Project. Each week I challenge myself to explore the details of the programmable system that is my life and stretch its capabilities, as opposed to most of us, who only prefer to learn the minimum necessary. I no longer want to breeze through my life, but take control of it.These are the past challenges:
- Hack Your Life Project | Get rid of excess clothing
- Hack Your Life Project | Turn off the electronics
- Hack Your Life Project | Hello stranger
- And then…everything changes | The happyness metric
- Hack Your Life Project | Do
- Hack Your Life Project | Weekends and evenings
- Hack Your Life Project | Take a break
