Let Go, Allow

One of the most valuable lessons that I learned from Dr. Wayne Dyer’s book about the Tao Te Ching, Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, is to let go and start allowing things to occur in my life.  I tend to want to have control over everything but control is usually an illusion.  The truth is that we don’t have nearly the control we think we do and there is so much that is outside of our control.  For years I thought that I needed to do something to get more control, but the reality was that I had to learn to embrace the unknown.  

The Tao does a great job of explaining that the world is perfect.  Regardless of how we try to label it, it really is perfect.  It goes on to say that everything that we label as good, contains bad in it and everything that we label as bad, has good in it.  There is no such thing as true goodness or true evil.  Even when something terrible happens, there is opportunity for good things to come out of it.  

Try to think of something tragic that was labeled by the media as something really bad.  Can you think of anything positive that came out of it?  I cannot think of a bad situation where there isn’t something good that can come out of it, even if the good is just a better appreciation for the things in my life.  The same goes for things that are commonly labeled as good.  Winning the lottery might be good but often changes relationships with those around you and many times leaves the individual in a worse financial situation after a few years of unlimited spending.  

Since there is really nothing that is truly good or bad and everything is a mix of both, then it starts to become clear that the world is actually a perfect system.  Once you can truly believe that, then we can start to embrace the unknown by learning to let go of our need for control and allow things to happen at their own pace.  If you do, it will suddenly feel as though you are gliding along in the direction that you want to go rather than forcing your way along.  

With So Many Important Tasks it can be Difficult to Free Your Mind

We all juggle priorities throughout our day. We have to take in new information and make decisions about what must get done. It requires us to have the ability to shift our focus.

Unfortunately, this is much more difficult than it sounds. We tend to hang on to important tasks in our mind. We want to keep them top-of-mind, so we think about them as we complete other tasks.

When I was a college student, I struggled with this. I would be sitting in class thinking about an assignment in another class instead of listening to the lecturer. The anxiety around that other project would eat at me. Even though there was nothing that I could do in that moment.

I’ve since learned that the other project was distracting me from important information. I thought I was being focused. But I was actually getting distracted.

I remember reading Jim Tressel’s book, The Winners Manual. Tressel talked about being the head football coach of The Ohio State Buckeyes. He referenced his players and the tremendous ability to focus on the task at hand.

Those players might have the biggest game of their life on Saturday, but today they needed to ace the math test. Sure, Saturday’s outcome would impact the rest of their life. But they also needed to be able to pass their classes to even be eligible to play in those games.

He talked about compartmentalizing so that we can focus on what we want. Too many people are so distracted that they don’t do this. I know plenty of people who spent their time with family worrying about work. Then at work they spend their time wishing they were with their family.

They couldn’t shut off the thoughts. Instead of being 100% in tune with what they were doing, they were always 50% engaged.

Being 100% focused on the task at hand is great, as long as everything else still gets proper attention. We don’t want to miss important tasks because we have blinders on.

So, we need to be able to take in information and organize it immediately. Then we need to make sure we use systems to make sure those things get addressed.

In The One Thing by Gary Keller the author says, “The last thing that can knock you off your time block is when you can’t free your mind. Day in and day out, your own need to do other things instead of your ONE Thing may be your biggest challenge to overcome. Life doesn’t simplify itself the moment you simplify your focus; there’s always other stuff screaming to be done. Always. So when stuff pops into your head, just write it down on a task list and get back to what you’re supposed to be doing. In other words, do a brain dump. Then put it out of sight and out of mind until its time comes.”

We should all rely on organizational systems. By systematizing how we tackle important tasks we can start to relax our mind. We no longer have to keep thinking about something to know it will get done. We don’t have to know all the details. We only need to know that it won’t get missed.

Being able to compartmentalize and focus is something that is easily said. But when it comes time to do it, the challenges appear. We struggle with it in practice. But having a good system to address it will make all the difference. It will give you the peace of mind to maintain your focus, knowing those other tasks are all properly addressed.