Author: Reflective View

Being present for beauty

Posted on by Reflective View

Many of us want to see beautiful and wonderful things in our life.

Yet all too often we will spend our time being busy on distractions; surfing the internet, following news feeds, playing games, or watching TV to fill our time. By not being mindful of how we spend our time, we can miss out on these aesthetic desires.

The sun rises every morning, promising a spectacle of beauty. The waves will keep crashing continually onto the shore.

The world has a lot of beauty to offer us. In order to experience it, we need to remember to show up and pay attention. Be present in the moment.

By doing this, we can transform how we experience the world.

Instruction and Experience

Posted on by Reflective View

When you’re trying a new activity or project, someone can provide tips and instructions to try and help you avoid the pain and difficulties they went through. These are well intentioned, but often cannot be properly internalized and understood.

For example, seeing someone demonstrate how to ride a bicycle is helpful, but it doesn’t mean you’ll be successful on your first try. Only by getting on the bike and trying it for yourself can you develop the experience to be able to truly understand and take advantage of additional tips and instructions.

This does not mean we should not attempt to teach others or learn from others. Rather, we need to remember to get actual experience while trying to comprehend the lessons other have learned before us. Even re-reading the same lessons over time can continue to help us reflect, learn, and grow.

While it would be incredible if we could always internalize these lessons from others without our own first-hand experience, this does not work for many domains. Only by putting in the effort and continuing to reflect and continuing to reflect and grow can we truly stand on the shoulder of giants.

The Effects of Compounding

Posted on by Reflective View

The effects of something compounding is hard to fully comprehend. It can be difficult to imagine $1000 invested over 100 years turning into over 2 million dollars, yet this is possible if you 8% returns year after year. Even harder to grasp is something like a pandemic, where the amount of people getting sick can double every couple days or weeks. However, both of these things are easily measured and documented, allowing us to analyze and discuss the results and better understand it and take action.

What is even harder to see is the compounding effect of learning and self-improvement over time. The accumulation of more knowledge and skills, more positive habits, improved mindset, better health. These are much more intangible improvements, which can defy our abilities to truly measure and quantify. But these too can compound and build over time.

The effects of improving ourselves continually over the years is tremendous. Life-changing. Though it can be difficult to comprehend and measure, we should not let this hold us back from seeking to continually grow and improve.

After all, we are the ones who will directly benefit from improving ourself.

Accepting our imperfect state

Posted on by Reflective View

Many of us constantly feel discontent and not good enough. We do not have the genius ideas, the accolades, meaningfully output, or wealth that we desire. I am amazed at how many famous inventors, researchers, and entrepreneurs talk about feeling imposter syndrome and that they aren’t good enough. 

These feelings can cause people to take action, try harder, do more, excel. They can also cause you to curl into a ball in a fit of depression and uncertainty. I’ve certainly experienced both ends of this. 

However, a different framing can be to accept how imperfect and uncertain we feel and recognize this as normal.

Do the work, put in the time, and try your best. Do not beat yourself up over your situation or the outcomes. Accept how you feel and be kind to yourself. 

While this acceptance is not easy, the alternative of living your life constantly feeling inadequate may be far harder. 

Habits: critical steps for progress

Posted on by Reflective View

We all have aspirations and set goals for reaching them. Lose 10 pounds, write a novel, learn Spanish, start a profitable business.

While setting these goals and making plans for how to reach them can be helpful, what really matters is showing up and taking action regularly.

Having a system is a major enabling to taking action and reaching your goals. By giving structure for how and when you’ll be taking action, you can continually make progress and improve.

The building blocks for a successful system are small habits that help you take action. We might all benefit by focusing less on making goals and big plans, and instead focusing on developing positive habits that lead us in our desired direction.

Step by step towards a better future.