self-talk — Blog — Start3Things

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Thoughts and words matter, especially in our own mind. Our beliefs, assumptions and self-talk defines the span of our playing field and if we’re going to get in the game for the long haul. The first step to doing big things is believing that we have the capacity to achieve them.

Psychologist Albert Bandura defines self-efficacy as “one’s belief in one’s ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish a task.” Note that it’s one’s belief in ability, not ability. Believing that we can do it is the first step.

“All day long, you are selectively paying attention to something, and much more often than you may suspect, you can take charge of this process to good effect. Indeed, your ability to focus on this and suppress that is the key to controlling your experience and, ultimately, your well-being.” ― Winifred Gallagher, Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life

Busyness is the malady of our time.

Our days are consumed by chores, tasks, running around, rushing from one thing to the next. Obligations, commitments, “making a living over a life” consume the bulk of our time. There’s an emptiness in transaction-based busy work. If we are fortunate, we get weary enough to demand change and take action to fill the void.

Rather than chasing life, we can let life capture us in the simple things and activities that we consciously choose to do daily. Wrapped in wonder and delight, we must slow down to witness our life while we are in it, to see all that is available to us right now. By defining and returning regularly to the “thesis” of our life, our activities and attention shift to purpose- driven living.