Giving permission to understand
My work revolves around conversations. Hence, I found this simple advice from Carl Rogers, an eminent psychologist, deeply insightful.
“I have found it of enormous value when I can permit myself to understand the other person… Is it necessary to permit oneself to understand another? I think it is. Our first reaction to most statements is an evaluation or judgment, rather than an understanding of it… Very rarely do we permit ourselves to understand precisely what the meaning of the statement is to the other person.” – Carl Rogers
Action comes before motivation
We procrastinate because we are not feeling motivated to do something. There were two instances over last week where simply starting to act (no matter how I felt) made me progress and also eventually feel motivated about the situation.
Virtue lies in action. Motivation is an outcome of action.
“Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result but the cause of fear” – Norman Vincent Peale
Expressing gratitude
A few years ago, when I faced difficult life situations, gratitude helped me sail through them. There are three levels of expressing gratitude
Level 1: Expressing gratitude for what we already have
Level 2: Expressing gratitude for what we desire to receive in the future (this requires imagination and hope)
Level 3: Expressing gratitude to our problems. This is the toughest yet the most powerful one. We grow through our problems as we go through them.
“Living gratefully begins with affirming the good and recognizing its sources. It is the understanding that life owes me nothing and all the good I have is a gift, accompanied by an awareness that nothing can be taken for granted.” – Robert Emmons, The Little Book of Gratitude