Hello fine readers and welcome back to my Motivational Mondays Post! The only weekly newsletter that forces you to take the stairs before handing you a beer.
Following a 4:3:2:1 approach, it contains 4 exceptional thoughts from me (ha), 3 admittedly better quotes from others, and 2 things I’ve been reading and/or listening to this week that have helped me grow.
As always I’ve finished with 1 something silly to lighten your Monday blues…
4 x Thoughts From Me:
The greater your understanding of how small you are, the bigger the person you become.
If you want peace in this life then you have to learn to let the ego go. That’s not to say you should see it as the enemy. Your ego is a part of you. It’s a tool to be used, just like your hands. What I’m getting at is the ability to stand back from your ego and see when it‘s useful to engage with it or not. Often it’s best left alone. In my eyes it’s an essential skill to be developed throughout ones lifetime. You may never master it but with practise you can become exceptionally good. If you don’t, of course, you may lose it altogether. The danger then is that the tool ends up using you.
People will always believe a confident lier over those who whimper the truth.
Why write when everything has already been written about? Two reasons. The first one is because it’s not true. No one has written about your story. No one has written about your own unique perspectives. The second reason is because no one has written exactly as you would. Often writing is about reinforcing timeless advice and passing it on in a way that speaks to the people of our time for our time.
3 x Quotes From Others:
“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in the way.” – William Blake (Source: brain pickings.org – How an Artist is Like a Tree: Paul Klee on Creativity)
“If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster.” – Isaac Asimov (Source: artofblogging.net – Writing Quotes to Inspire You to Punch the Damn Keys)
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.”– Albert Einstein (Source: waysofthinking.co.uk – Why We Need To Use The Power Of Imagination Now More Than Ever)
2 x Things That Helped Me Grow
1 – This inspiring TED talk by Xiye Bastida – ‘In a deeply moving letter to her grandmother, Xiye Bastida reflects on what led her to become a leading voice for global climate activism — from mobilizing school climate strikes to speaking at the United Nations Climate Summit alongside Greta Thunberg — and traces her resolve, resilience and profound love of the earth to the values passed down to her. “Thank you for inviting me to love the world since the moment I was born,” she says.‘
FAVOURITE QUOTE:
“If our struggles make the world a better place, then they will make us better people.” – Xiye Bastida
2 – This brilliant Mark Manson article, The Cognitive Biases That Make Us All Terrible People. As Mark explains, ‘For those who don’t know, cognitive biases are basically inherent “flaws” in our psychology—they’re the predictable ways we misjudge situations, filter information incorrectly, or jump to irrational conclusions about people or events. We all have them. We all succumb to them. And it’s only in understanding them that we can develop the self-awareness to guard ourselves against them.‘ Well worth the read!
1 x Silly Thing To Make You Smile:
For all you parents out there – and seen as the Moon Festival is upon us this week – I thought you might enjoy this timely rendition of the classic children’s book Goodnight Moon…
Thanks ladies and gentlemen. That’s all from me this week!
Till next time…
Have a Happy Monday Everybody!
P.S. Don’t forget to exercise your silly muscle this week!
One bonus question for you all:
How can you make mindfulness a habit?
(Thank you all so much for reading. If you have any suggestions, thoughts or ideas about today’s weekly post I’d love to hear from you in the comments at the bottom.)
PREVIOUS MONDAY POST:
Clear Air Turbulence 
I love the quotes you’ve included here – they all ring true to me!
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Thanks Ingrid. I’m glad you enjoyed them 🙏
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Letting the ego go is so important, but it’s definitely a continual process, one that I’m constantly trying to do. This definitely is a motivational piece indeed. Thanks for sharing!
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It’s my pleasure – thanks for stopping by! I agree – letting ego go is something we have to keep practising throughout life. It’s not always easy of course! I often think when you’re able to laugh at yourself, you’re halfway there! I’m glad you enjoyed the post Stuart – take it easy 🙏
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The quotes about imagination resonate strongly with me. If everyone operated within the bounds of existing knowledge there would be fewer innovative discoveries. And while I know creative endeavours like writing and making music all rely on understanding existing ideas, we can write in our voice or play them our way to make them unique. Just as you say in your final thought of your ‘4 thoughts’ on this blog.
Thank you for the reminder to step into the unknown, and the encouragement to learn from others! 😁
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