One Daily Habit that Infuses The Much Needed Constant Self-Inspiration

Chances are that the man who is walking in the streets with a briefcase full of one Million Dollars (that is his and rightfully acquired) has some kind of aura about him. There is an aura of possibility. He is able to listen to ideas and dare them. Chances are that all things kept constant, such a one is happy, energized, and inspired…until one thing gets uploaded in his mind…

We all would want to end each day on a high note of satisfaction, achievement, inspiration, strength and momentum. Even the man with hoards of cash around him is not assured of these incredible benefits if this daily habit is not part of his life. It is very much possible that this kind of man would be stressed at the end of the day!

It goes a long way to tell us that as much as money answers all things, there are higher laws of life that if not followed, even money would not help you. On the other hand, how many people of the 7 Billion of us on earth are walking around with a Million Dollars in cash in their briefcases today? A handful of them.

But then again, in comparison, how many people of the 7 Billion of us are happy, blessed, satisfied, inspired, have internal energy, peace of mind, speed and momentum in their pursuits? My simple guess is that these would be more than those with a Million Dollars in their briefcases.

A Million Dollars: Immunity from Stress?

The one word that describes that state of lacking momentum and motivation, joy and hope, happiness and an aura of being carefree is the word stress. Stress does not discriminate between the rich and the poor, the young and the old. It is one common denominator that cuts across life in this fallen black world.

But stress ought not be our master in any way. We ought not to think that if we are stressed then we are privileged. Stress is a killer of creativity, joy, energy and motivation. Stress has accounted for losses in profits and even the downfall of business empires. It has brought down marriages and the strongest of relationships. It has killed people’s potential and led them astray from their life purposes. Stress is a killer!

Thank God, there is a way out of it.

Root Causes of Stress

Yet we need at some level to be aware about the genesis of stress. The following 5 points I believe are the root causes of stress.

1. Lack of Planning:

“Failure to plan if planning to fail”. What does failure bring? It brings stress. The thing with this kind of stress is that it does not have to wait to come at the end…it comes on the road towards failure. For some reason, you just know that things are not working. And as this knowledge progresses in your psyche, of course it impacts your judgement and motivation and before you know it, the failure becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy!

[clickandtweet handle=”@Namale” hashtag=”#LifeSignatures” related=”” layout=”card” position=”center-bottom”]Planning kills one biggest fodder of stress: Illusion.[/clickandtweet]

You could be stressed about something that might not even happen. Why? Because you have not taken some time to think thoroughly about the solution before you get started. People have a knack of just rushing into things before sitting down and considering the costs involved in terms of time, resources, and people. This creates an illusion that they are really up against something massive. Consequently, it weights down on them so much and the stress has been conceived and it is now germinating.

You have no idea how much stress would be solved if you had a daily habit of planning. Personally, I see my week out one week before, documenting every single thing that needs to be done contributing to my purpose.

Failure to do this inherently stresses me because it brings one thing: Lack of direction, which is a cause of stress in itself. So do yourself a favour and plan. Planning is not just for people with businesses and jobs. It is for everybody. You are a Self-Executive Officer, whether you have a job or not, and being an SEO is a fulltime job, I can tell you that for sure!

2. Hermiting:

You know what a hermit is? He is a loner, one who cherishes not the company of others. Much as we have personality profiles, we can never negate the fact that our pursuits are each day enabled by other people around us. In other words, we need help from people. This is not to say that we are not doing our part. We are not parasites. No, we are reaching out to fellow human beings, getting advice, connections, mentorship, and help. If you are facing an obstacle that stresses you, you will not solve that stress by keeping to yourself and being quiet about it. God has structured life in such a way that we excel by helping and we get help in return. A man who helps another who is in a stressful situation is doing nothing but setting himself up for a major blessing when the one relieved of stress is in a position to reciprocate.

3. Procrastinating:

To me, I think procrastination is simply the lack of guts. What it does is to pile things up. Stress comes to your life when your brain is loaded with myriads of unfinished businesses! Someone rightfully said that “procrastination is death in installments”. Think about that.

4. Perfectionism:

There is a heaven and earth difference between perfectionism and the spirit of excellence. However, there is also a very thin line that separates the two. Perfectionism causes delays, makes people follow unrealistic goals and piles up the workload. A perfectionist will not want to ship out a product however functional it is until some finer details are added. This can easily create the stress

5. Lack of Discipline:

I will show you one of the happiest people on earth. It is those who honor their own appointments with themselves. They sit down, plan, follow through and finish what they set out, regardless of what opposition that will show up. In fact the greater the opposition they face and they go ahead and finish what they promised themselves to finish, the happier they are. There is an aura of invincibility around them…it is like they are daring life to “bring it on” I am ready.

The Answer…Finally!!

There is one thing that can be done on a daily basis, regardless of who you are that can help you eliminate stress from your life. This, when done will infuse great and constant supply of self-motivation and inspiration. It will keep you going. The secret is simple: FINISHING.

In a previous post, we talked about urgency, the fact that if anything is worth doing, it is worth giving it 100% effort, attention, and finesse. I am therefore not just advocating the habit of completing things, but also the essence of pouring yourself into a task, leaving a signature of your finesse on it. That is the habit that will kill off stress from your life.

Get in this daily habit of finishing things. The habit of being a completer requires a great degree of focus. Tony Robbins says that the reason why many people never leave a legacy doing something that they can be remembered for is because people meddle from one thing to another. They never get something that they can be full identified with. This habit of focus can be a daily thing also. Starting something and finishing it requires planning, prioritizing and laser-like focus. Someone has said that Focus is:

Follow

One

Course

Until

Successful

This will require the 5 habits that we have mentioned above. However, at the core of it all, a finisher is someone who is:

• Focused (Follows One Course Until Successful)
• Cherishes simplicity
• Espouses functionality over finesse
• Stays disciplined and does not meddle.

You are less stressful to the degree that you are finishing most of your tasks daily. That is why it is important to map out your week or day long before it starts. This mapping out should be of course against your vision and purpose in life.

Let us learn to be finishers. The following are the advantages of being a finisher (apart from removing stress from your life):

1. Infuses a great sense of satisfaction, realizing the good feeling enzymes (endorphins) that inspire you.
2. It improves your health, given that you are no longer stressed
3. It creates an aura of invincibility
4. It fosters the spirit of creativity and productivity and improves your overall performance
5. It creates massive momentum in your life
6. It enables you to move from task to task with a dose of self-motivation.

So there you have it. Do you think this makes sense? Share with us in the comments below.