Hello lovely readers and welcome back to the Flying Fridays newsletter! The only weekly newsletter that starts the year a week later than everyone else.
Following a 3-2-1 approach, it contains 3 thoughts from me (that you should ignore), 2 quotes from others (that you should read), and 1 something special (maybe).
As a bonus I’ve finished with one joke that’s so bad, it’s good!
Let’s begin!
3 x Thoughts:
1) If you don’t want to get stuck in the past, you must embrace the future.
2) When setting resolutions remember the language you use matters. You don’t have to write in a gratitude journal, you get to. You don’t have to be part of saving the planet for our children, you get to be. You don’t have to eat your vegetables or go for a run at 5am (you definitely don’t have to do that), you get to live a healthy lifestyle.
3) Two rules for writers: 1. Do more living than reading. 2. Do more reading than writing. Feed your brain with experiences and books before you write.
2 x Quotes:
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”
– Vivian Greene
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
– Rumi
1 x Thing:
This BBC article by David Robson: Are New Year’s resolutions powerful or pointless? The article explores the psychological reasons behind setting resolutions at the start of a new year with something known as “the fresh start effect.”
Katy Milkman, a psychology professor noted,“Any time you have a moment that feels like a division of time, your mind does a special thing where it creates a sense that you have a fresh start. This helps you to create psychological distance from past failures allowing you to feel that any mistake was the “old you” and that you’ll now do better.”
A useful takeaway mentioned that those who set approach goals – which involves adopting a new habit like meditation – versus those who set avoidance goals – which, as the name suggests, involves quitting something like sweets, alcohol or social media – were about 25% more likely to meet them.
The good thing is, if you want to give something up, you can turn into an appraoch goal. For example, if you want to give up social media, make the goal to take up reading ebooks whenever you feel like a bit of downtime on your smartphone.
1 x Joke:
I thought you might enjoy this.
“Lexophile” describes those that have a love for sentences such as, “You can tune a piano, but you can’t tuna fish,” and, “To write with a broken pencil is pointless.”
An annual competition is held by the ‘New York Times’ to see who can create the best original lexophile.
This year’s submissions:
- I changed my iPod’s name to Titanic. It’s syncing now.
- England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool.
- Haunted French pancakes give me the crepes.
- This girl today said she recognized me from the Vegetarians Club, but I’d swear I’ve never met herbivore.
- I know a guy who’s addicted to drinking brake fluid, but he says he can stop any time.
- A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.
- When the smog lifts in Los Angeles U.C.L.A.
- I got some batteries that were given out free of charge.
- A dentist and a manicurist married. They fought tooth and nail.
- A will is a dead giveaway.
- With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.
- Police were summoned to a daycare center where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.
- Did you hear about the fellow whose entire left side was cut off? He’s all right now.
- A bicycle can’t stand alone; it’s just two tired.
- The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine last week is now fully recovered.
- He had a photographic memory but it was never fully developed.
- When she saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she’d dye.
- Acupuncture is a jab well done. That’s the point of it.
- I didn’t like my beard at first. Then it grew on me.
- Did you hear about the crossed-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn’t control her pupils?
- When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble.
- When chemists die, they barium.
- I stayed up all night to see where the sun went, and then it dawned on me.
- I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can’t put it down.
- Those who get too big for their pants will be totally exposed in the end.
PREVIOUS NEWSLETTER:
3-2-1 Flying Fridays – 03/12/21
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🥳 Happy New Year 👏
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Happy new year Selma 🥳🙏
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I agree with #2 and the importance of language. Last year I began saying I am instead of I want to or I would etc. It has made a difference and has helped with procrastination. Thanks for sharing the jokes! A great way to wrap up a post.
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Hi Eve! Thank you so much for taking the time to read/comment. I am instead of I want/would is great advice. I believe the trick is acting as if you are already the person we wish to become. Wishing you well 🙏
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AP2, thank you so much for sharing this! Loved #1! This year I am going to practice using the phrase “I get to” instead of “I have to,” more often. It really does change your perspective on you tackle tasks. Also, I enjoyed the lexophile jokes! Wish I could be as cleaver.🙂
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Sorry, I was referring to #3! I keep forgetting it’s a 3-2-1 concept. Enjoy your day!!
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*clever 😩 They need an edit button. Lol
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Hi Shaun – Thank you for taking the time to read – I’m glad you enjoyed it. Wishing you a wonderful 2022 ahead! 🙏
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Happy new year and welcome back, AP! Those Jokes at the end are very witty. Love them!
I feel like we are learning or forced to learn to dance in the rain these days. It’s a wonderful skill for sure.
And one of my favourite song lyrics is “Nothing takes the past away like the future.” And it’s so very true. Here’s to 2022 and goodbye 2021!
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Hey Ab! A very happy new year to you and yours too! It ain’t training if ain’t raining! Take it easy Ab 🙂🙏
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Oh really? Maybe that’s why I’m failing my avoidance goals such as ‘stop mindless scrolling’ and ‘procrastinate less’. Time to turn them into approach goals to see if it helps. Also, I’ll need to make them more specific too, I’ve found. Thanks for this food for thought!
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I think the trick is to think in terms of replacing bad habits with better ones instead of trying to give something up. You tell me I can’t have something, that’s all I’m going to want. Give me a better alternative on the other hand…
Being specific is helpful – especially for evaluating our progress, but if those specific goals are unrealistic, it doesn’t matter how specific they are.
Thanks for stopping by Stuart. hope you have a wonderful 2022! 🙏
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Can confirm, beginning a new habit can be an effective method of removing an old one. I used to be gaming until morning and watch movies at the cinema weekly as a teen. Tried skateboarding, martial arts (both of which I’ve dropped since then though), hiking, chilling outside at a park or climbing trees, reading and learning, messing with my family. These days, for the vast majority of games and movies I see where people would normally drool over it, I’m like, “why should I? It feels like such a chore”.
Admittedly though, I still had to make an effort to actually pry myself away from those old habits long enough to create the space to try those habits, but without the new habits to fill in those gaps, I’d eventually find myself filling it up again with games and movies.
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I like your assessment. It’s still hard to break old habits but without a new habit to fill the hole it becomes a whole lot harder. Thanks for sharing 🙏
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I’m currently questioning whether that pun was intentional or not.
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I must admit, it wasn’t. But I noticed it as I wrote it.
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Love your thoughts and your quote choices. The one by Rumi fits the mindset I had when I wrote my first post of the year.
Loved the lexophiles, too funny and too clever. Happy New Year
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Hey Barb! Happy new year! Glad you enjoyed the post. Thank you for taking the time to read/comment. Wishing you well 🙏
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Happy New Year AP2 and hope you had a lovely Christmas with yours! I love thought no. 3 and had a good giggle at the clever lexophile sentences 😉.. Hope you’re keeping well my friend ❤
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Happy new year Bernie! I did thank you. I hope you did too! Glad you enjoyed the post. Wishing you the very best 🙂🙏
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Love the 3rd rule the most
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Funny 😆
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Happy New year 🎊
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And to you! Thank you for stopping by 🙏
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