Table of Contents
Chaos, it's just the beginning
Let’s start with some good and hope-giving quotes. Not that we need hope, because we’re the creators of our own lives but starting on positive note is usually a good idea.
Chaos was the law of nature; Order was the dream of man.
Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting.
“Real love is always chaotic. You lose control; you lose perspective. You lose the ability to protect yourself. The greater the love, the greater the chaos. It’s a given and that’s the secret.”
“The only geniuses produced by the chaos of society are those who do something about it. Chaos breeds geniuses. It offers a man something to be a genius about.”
Anything worth doing good takes a little chaos.
The way you perceive chaos depends only on you and your interpretation of so-called external reality. Because chaos is an idea, state of mind, a concept describing the complete opposite of order.
However, nowhere does it say that chaos is bad. Actually having a little bit of chaos in life is a good thing because it makes our everyday existence much more interesting, fun, and exciting.
You assign meaning to words, concepts, and ideas. So if you associate chaos with all the bad stuff it’s probably because you’ve been conditioned to think that way. We’ve all been to.
Chaos is everywhere. The universe is chaotic from the very beginning. Human nature is extremely chaotic. Is it a bad thing? I don’t think so.
“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity”. An opportunity to grow, expand your knowledge, unlock your creative genius and create something exceptional.
So maybe instead of trying to control the chaos, we should focus on things that we actually can and should control in our lives. And here are 10 things you can control during chaotic times.
10 Things You Can Control:
What You Focus On
You become what you focus on. The things, people, situations, words, music, social media content, Tv news, or even some random comment from some random person can become your reality if you let it. What you pay attention to affects your later thoughts, your later feelings, and your later behaviors. You can easily notice that, actually. Just do an easy pseudoscientific experiment at home using materials you already have - TV, newspapers, or social media - especially Twitter. Spend an hour reading, watching, and listening to breaking news and notice how your mood changes.
Then watch your favorite TV show, listen to uplifting music, read inspiring content or just sit in silence and again, notice how you feel.
The conclusion is simple: if you want to live a fulfilling, pretty exciting, and positive life you need to control what you pay attention to. Otherwise, you may find yourself drowning in chaos, or more precisely in the sea of despair, sorrow and darkness - because this is how mass media describe what’s going on in the “real” world. Whether or not the mass media narrative matches the real world is a choice I leave to you.
What's On Your To-Do List
Are you one of those people who every evening write a 3-pages long to-do list hoping you can get everything done, but it never happens? Or maybe you constantly underestimate the amount of time needed to complete a specific task and you always end up disappointed in yourself?
Overplanning and overscheduling negatively affect your productivity, mental health, and work-life balance. Besides, being busy 24/7 is seriously overrated.
If you don’t want to create more chaos in your life and drown in the sea of unfinished stuff, you need to start writing a better to-do list.
A realistic and manageable to-do list will guide you through your day in a productive manner. You want to feel in control of your time, not overwhelmed by your workload- and a practical to-do list will provide you with peace of mind. So when writing your to-do list, make sure it’s not too long. A great way to do that is to use the 1-3-5 rule that not only helps you to avoid planning fallacy but also maximize your productivity levels. This rule states that you should keep your daily to-do list to just nine items:
- ONE big thing
- THREE medium things
- FIVE small things
How You Start Your Day
The temptation to check your phone first thing in the morning has never been that strong. And if you use your smartphone as an alarm clock you kinda have no choice. Because when the alarm rings you grab your phone to turn it off and then you end up checking your emails, messages, social media profiles, and of course breaking news from the other side of the globe that for some time can make anyone panic even those who are the most resistant to sad and shocking information.
Well, it may not seem like a big deal but by checking your phone when you wake up to catch up with other people’s lives, problems, lifestyle choices, drama, or nonsense you rob yourself of your own creative potential, greater success, and happiness. Not to mention that you give your full attention to people, places, or things that (most likely) don’t concern you.
The magic of the early morning is strong, yet so many people never take advantage of it. The first 20 minutes after you wake up determines whether or not your day will be successful, productive, and exciting. But if you give your full attention to other people’s lives instead of fueling self-focused behaviors you’re missing your chance of reaching your full potential.
So if you want to set yourself up for a successful day use your mornings wisely. Start your day with a positive morning ritual that feeds your soul, puts you in an instant good mood, and boosts your energy levels.
- 8-step formula for success in setting and achieving goals
- 10-step process
- The magic 4 formula of gaining clarity in setting the right goals
- 6 laws of Goal Setting Universe
- Goal Setting Motto
- Strategic planning process
- Specific (goal setting related) knowledge
- Powerful (and simple) tips to developing a successful mindset
- Creative & Inspiring exercises to develop a crystal clear vision of your (ideal) future
- Step by step guide to set the right (SMART) goals
- A simple strategy to create an effective (and highly personalized) action plan
- Tools for designing your own schedule, rock your to-do list and create an ideal daily routine
- Time Management Tips (The Eisenhower Box, The Pareto Principle worksheets included)
- Yearly, Monthly & Weekly Goal Setting (+ Goal Progress Index)
- SMART goals checklist
- Mind Mapping for SMART goal setting
- Checklists
- Celebration challenges
- Creative Worksheets
- The wheel Of life & fulfillment scale
- Flow State Rituals
- Professional Skills Development Tracker
- Powerful Habit Trackers
How You Use Your Time
All resources that we have as human beings are limited except our potential – this one’s limitless. This means that if we do manage to unlock our full potential we become unstoppable. But other resources such as time, energy, money, mental capacity, physical space, attention, willpower, natural resources, or even talent are all limited.
When you think about it, time is the only non-renewable resource that we have, which makes it so valuable. Because while you can always earn more money, recharge your mental energy, boost your willpower or increase your mental space you cannot make more time. You cannot turn back time (at least we don’t know how to do it), nor you can skip the present moment and start living in the future. All you really have is NOW and you should do your best to make the most of this NOW.
The present moment is the only one you can take a deep breath, make a conscious decision, take intentional action on your goals or take advantage of your current circumstances instead of waiting for things to happen to you. So be mindful of how you use your time. Choose wisely what you do, how you do it, why you do it, and who you do it for. Be intentional with your time, make every moment count, and build your future NOW despite all the craziness going on in the world right now.
The Quality Of Calories You Put Into Your Body
In today’s world, people seem to place so much emphasis on counting calories instead of focusing on the quality of the calories they’re putting into their bodies. But the truth is, not all calories are created equal. Getting your calories from fast food burger it’s not the same as getting your calories from a nourish bowl you’ve prepared at home. We all know. Our bodies know it. And our minds know it. And I’m pretty sure, our souls know it as well.
Nutritious calories from nutrient-dense foods fuel your body, boost your energy levels, and help you to achieve optimal health while empty calories from junk and highly processed food not only do not provide health benefits but also can actually cause serious damage to your brain and body. So if you want to live a less chaotic, healthier, and more delicious life you should focus on fueling your body properly instead of filling in with empty calories that will only make you feel awful Eat to fuel your mind, body, and spirit.
What You Prioritize
We live on the run. Our schedules are jam-packed with things that were due yesterday. Our brains are incredibly overloaded by too much information that we cannot even process. We eat in a hurry. We spend too much on Ubereats. We listen instead of reading. We send text messages instead of having a real conversation with people we care about. We live a sedentary lifestyle in our concrete jungle. And of course, we have ZERO time for anything besides work.
In other words, we have our priorities mixed up, people! And you know what they say: mixed-up priorities lead to messed up live. It’s bad enough we live in a messed up world, we should not invite an outside mess into our life. The best way to do that is to set your priorities straight.
Putting first things first and redirecting your focus on what’s important to you right now will help you to regain control of your life, eliminate distractions and get back on track with your goals.
How You Manage Your Money
The economic chaos caused by the coronavirus pandemic forced us to rethink our financial situation, which in itself is a good thing. Because there’s never too late to fix your finances, boost your financial health and start building long-lasting wealth. All of these things may be easier when times are peaceful, but the truth is most of us perform much better and think clearer when there’s a little bit of pressure. Otherwise, we become lazy, right?
Managing your money the right way and making good financial decisions requires financial literacy. Because if you want to stay on top of your finances you need to learn how to actually do that. So why not taking advantage of the Informational Era we live in and start increasing your financial literacy immediately? To help you with that, here are the best online resources to increase your financial IQ:
Youtube Channels On Personal Finance
Top 8 Podcasts On Business & Personal Finance
The Best Personal Finance Blogs in 2021
How You Speak To Yourself
There’s no doubt that positive self-talk is a powerful tool for increasing your self-confidence, hacking your happiness, improve your problem-solving skills, and motivating yourself to achieve your goals. So, if you’ve been talking to yourself in a nasty, unpleasant, and unfriendly way, you should work on your inner dialogue making the tone of your inner voice much more pleasant.
The way you speak to yourself truly matters. Because, first of all, you are listening. Second, you probably believe everything you tell yourself, especially the negative stuff. And finally, you create your own reality with the power of your thoughts, words, and actions which means that if you think, feel, and act in a negative way you create a negative reality for yourself.
It happens because you think in terms of how you feel and you act based on your current mental state. That’s why when you constantly telling yourself that you can achieve something you probably won’t. But if you reprogram your mind to be positive your chances for success will increase dramatically. And if things don’t go as planned you you’ll find a way through.
Make practicing positive self-talk your daily habit, pay attention to the tone of your inner dialogue and make sure to take 5 to 10 minutes every day to say out loud and write down positive affirmations.
In What Psychological Time Zone You Live In
Which psychological time zone do you live in currently - the past, present, or future? Are you constantly obsessing, overthinking, and overanalyzing your past? Or maybe you’re desperately trying to control the future? I bet you’re doing both simultaneously, instead of focusing on the NOW - the only moment that truly exists.
Most of us live in a psychological time in a state of complete detachment from our present reality. We spend so much energy on analyzing what has happened or what is yet to come that there is not much left over for focusing on what is happening in the here and now.
But the truth is all we have is NOW. We live in the eternal now. There is no past and no future. All we have is the present moment. We have the power to create our present reality with our thoughts, words, and actions yet we constantly analyze past events or project hypothetical future situations. This is the most profound waste of life, time, potential, and spirit known to people.
It’s time to return to the present moment, start interacting with your NOW and use your potential to create the future you want. Stop being a manager of your life circumstances and become the Creator of your own destiny.
Holistic Wellness Free Worksheets
Your Clutter
Clutter has many forms and dimensions. It can manifest itself in a physical form when your floordrobe gives you anxiety, a digital form when after installing another app your smartphone got slower, an emotional form when you lose control over racing thoughts and unwanted memories, a broken but (almost certainly) fixable clutter that you just cannot get rid of, a sentimental clutter that makes it hard to fall asleep at night… you name it.
But one thing is for sure: no matter what kind of clutter you’re dealing with it can easily make navigating your life much harder than ever it needs to be. Because clutter causes stress, gives you anxiety, and makes your life even more chaotic than usual. So if you want to navigate your life towards your goals you really should declutter your mental and physical space. You deserve inner peace and organized personal space. And yes, you should get rid of/sell/donate (depending on what condition they are in) things that you haven’t used for years…
Best Posts About Achieving Goals:
- How To Upgrade Your Life For Maximum Results & Happiness
- How To Figure Out What You Want In Life: 12 Simple Exercises
- Discover 10 simple ways to train your self-discipline muscle
- Use best time management apps to keep you on schedule at work
- Organize your day around your goals
- Use the Eisenhower Box to identify your top priorities and avoid the urgency trap
- Create and maintain a powerful morning routine
- Develop morning rituals to make your motivation flow effortlessly
- Create motivation through action
- Start before you are ready
- Improve your decision-making process
- Overcome your self-limiting beliefs that block your progress
- Balance productivity and happiness
- Cultivate self-care routine
- The 3 x 8 rule for Perfectly Balanced Day & Life
- Create rituals to induce a flow state
Stay positive
Be Mindful
and control what you can control
xo Kate
