Wisdom Made Easy

27/01/2024

“Most people don’t listen with the intent to understand; most people listen with the intent to reply.”

- Steve Covey

Today’s post is primarily a reminder to myself that I could be a better listener.

To often we treat conversations as transactional; give and take.

But actually we have 2 ears and 1 mouth. We should probably use them in that ratio.

When we take the time to listen with people with a heart of understanding where they’re coming from without the need to reply, we often uncover deeper connection.

My most meaningful relationships tend to be the ones where I’ve practiced intentional active listening to understand the other party.

It is an essential ingredient in compassion.

Which part of the pie chart do you think that you are in?

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26/01/2024

“You have 2 ears and 1 mouth. Use them in that ratio.”

- Michael Acton Smith

I first heard this quote on Steven Bartlett’s The Diary of a CEO episode with Calm’s CEO Michael Acton Smith.

Michael said that his grandmother use to say this to him, and it really resonated with me.

By merely listening to people more, we have the opportunity to breakdown even the largest of challenges.

I’ve been wrestling a lot of late of the frameworks that might help us to have more meaningful relationships.

What tips do you have to have more meaningful relationships?

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25/01/2024

A simple change in wording can enhance our mindset.

There are many things that we do every day that we’re actually privileged to do.

I’ll often hear people refer to this in work settings. Ali Abdaal shared that he used this framework to be more appreciative and present when he had to do some of the less attractive responsibilities of a doctor.

I personally use this framework a lot when doing the menial tasks at home.

Sure, I don’t like having to take out the rubbish, but am I not incredibly fortunate to live in a place with developed waste disposal systems?

I’d rather not have to clean the toilet, but think about how many people don’t have a toilet.

By merely focussing on that I “get” to do these things, I’m able to change the way I engage with them for the better.

Have you heard this concept before? Do you find it works?

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24/01/2024

“Do, or do not. There is no try.”

- Yoda

Want to know something I’ve not shared online before?

When I come across a thought-provoking quote, I’ll scribble them on a post-it note or in my journal to reflect on them more.

Sometimes I come across one that stumps me for weeks.

This is one of them.

What do you make of the little green guy’s quote?

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23/01/2024

"Knowledge is silver, but true wisdom is gold."

- Matshona Dhliwayo

There's a significant difference between intelligence and wisdom.

Intelligence is collecting the dots.

Wisdom is connecting them.

Recognising which information is important and appropriately applying is what separates the intelligent from the wise.

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22/01/2024

“What gets repeated gets remembered.”

I first made this visual for Andy Churchill last year, and I just had to share it again.

Repetition is such a valuable tool for us to remember things.

There’s a reason why a sportsperson will practice that same shot over and over again.

It’s not a coincidence that the best actors say a line in the mirror over and over again.

Chess players put the reps in - hundreds of games to remember certain positions and maneuvers.

What are areas that you could apply this principle to?

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20/01/2024

“You can make excuses or you can make progress. You choose.”

- Brian Tracy

Do you make excuses?

Don’t worry, I get it - you’re only human.

But when we’re making excuses, you’re often not thinking about the opportunity cost.

When you choose to make to make an excuse, you’re choosing inaction, you’re choosing no progress and you’re choosing no growth.

Make the right choice today. Pick action*.

*Unless you’re playing scrabble.

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19/01/2024

“Failure is an inescapable part of life and a critically important part of any successful life.”

- Tal Ben-Sahar

Failure can be awfully painful in the moment.

It can take a long time to get over the disappointment of letting oneself or someone else down.

In time though, we tend to find that the failure doesn’t seem the same.

After a week it doesn’t feel that bad, a month later we are already on to the next thing, and in a year we can appreciate the lesson that we learned because of said failure.

I’ve been trying to explore speeding up that process, and jumping to the point where I appreciate the lesson.

In the moment, I still get incredibly disappointed or frustrated at my failure, but I try to recognise the lesson on offer as soon as possible.

How do you perceive failure?

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18/01/2024

This weekend 6,000 wise readers will discover how to have a healthier relationship with comparison.

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18/01/2024

Milestones are just stepping stones.

That’s it. It’s really that simple.

Don’t get me wrong - celebrating a milestone isn’t bad. Taking a moment to experience joy over one’s achievements is good every once in a while.

But we have to recognise that our work is rarely finished.

Most milestones are actually just stepping stones, with another stepping stone following it, and another following that one!

Keep going! You’ll likely end up achieving more than you ever imagined.

What’s the next milestone that you’re working towards?

Can you think of a milestone that you’ve already accomplished that you now know was a stepping stone to help you get to where you are today?

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17/01/2024

“It doesn’t have to be fun to be fun.”

- Mark Twain

There are too many great quotes from Mark Twain to count. This is another one of them.

Much of our enjoyment doesn’t come from the activity itself, but the mindset or company that we approach it with.

Do you have a mindset that allows you to engage with the fruits of fun?

Are you surrounding yourself with the right company to enjoy life?

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16/01/2024

If you don’t get rid of those unhelpful habits, you’re heading for a hurricane.

I’m not saying there’s no stress when you have good habits, but it’s so much more manageable!

But when we hold on to those bad habits, the stress tears through our life with no regard for what we’re trying to build in our lives.

The reason for this is that our bad habits often have consequences, right?

• Smoking regularly is an expensive habit and a detrimental impact on our health
• Gambling with money that you can’t afford to lose jeopardises our financial stability
• Habitually choosing the couch over exercise will be devastating for your long-term physical and mental health

Just like how James Clear describes positive habits compound to help us reach new heights, the negative ones can plummet us lower than we were ever meant to be.

What are the habits that you’re focussing on at the moment?
What are your good habits?
What are you bad ones?

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15/01/2024

“The Power of One Little Word”

- Chris G Day

When Chris first approached me about sharing this visual back in September 2022, I fell in love with the idea.

The words we use to speak to ourselves can either open up possibilities or prevent us experiencing a world of opportunities.

It can be liberating to realise that by telling ourselves we can or cannot do a certain thing we are stating a fact to our brain which will directly impact what we believe. After all, it listens to whatever we tell it.

So just by adding the word 'yet' to any negative statement about our ability to do something, we are telling our brain a very different story, one that is based on possibility rather than fear.

Use “yet” to give yourself more opportunities.

How do you speak to yourself? What’s one thing that you can’t do “yet”?

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13/01/2024

“A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.”

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

This is such a relatable quote.

Allow me to clarify: I have zero sailing experience (and I’d likely be woeful if I was responsible for maintaining a boat), but I can relate to having to go through a metaphorical storm to become skilled at something.

I lacked any resilience and compassion before going through depression. I was metaphorically drowning in my attempt to just get by.

I benefitted from a lifeboat coming to pull me out, but I wasn’t out of the storm, and so I had to learn how to sail through the challenges of mental ill health.

Now that I’m on the other side of that turbulent journey, I am far more steadfast and compassionate that I ever have been.

I am now skilled when it comes to managing my mental health.

I feel like there’s plenty of other areas that I could apply this principle to, but that’s enough from me - I want to hear from you!

What storms have you going through, and what areas do you now feel skilled in because of it?

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12/01/2024

I need to be honest with you...

I'm still discovering what wisdom is.

It's a word that we come to learn in childhood, but even now with a couple years of dedication to getting wiser, I still don't fully understand what wisdom is.

It's not intelligence and knowledge, that's for sure.

We can all think of someone who is intelligent, but lacks the wisdom to make the right choice, right?

I'm coming to understand that wisdom includes recognising what is important.

Being able to identify and apply what knowledge, experiences and life-lessons are significant in any given situation is wisdom.

Or that's what I think anyway...

What do you think wisdom is?

Let me know in the comments below! 👇

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11/01/2024

It's time to let go.

To let go of the things that are weighing you down.

It could be:

• Grudges
• Regrets
• Negative self-talk
• Shame
• Self-imposed pressure

Carrying these things around with you takes an enormous amount of strength, resilience, energy, and effort.

You deserve to be free from these burdens.

What would it look like if you finally let go of these things?

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10/01/2024

“May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.”

- Nelson Mandela

What motivates your actions more?

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09/01/2024

I often find that in an attempt to make something better, I make it more complicated.

It’s important that we recognise that we separate our understandings of superior and complex.

In fact, it’s often the opposite. Simplifying this can lead to the best outcomes.

We see this a lot in business. By simplifying things, we often become more efficient, customer satisfaction increases and profits soar.

I believe this helps in the wardrobe too. I have a minimalist wardrobe that makes selecting what to wear easy. I don’t struggle with decision paralysis anymore.

And the same goes for visual communication too! Often my most simple visuals are the ones that resonate with my audience too.

What areas of your life could you benefit from simplifying?

If you want to read some great books on this subject, consider checking out:
• The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry - John Mark Comer
• Love People, Use Things - The Minimalists

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08/01/2024

I’ve been mulling over this quote by Naval Ravikant again:

“People spend too much time doing and not enough time thinking about what they should be doing.”

We need to be thinkers and do-ers.

Being a great thinker, but not acting on your wise ideas is simply foolish.

And doing things without conscious reflection is perhaps even more foolish!

Do you believe that you are a thinker, a do-er, or the perfect blend of both?

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06/01/2024

Are you aware of the Uphill Decision Razor?

It's the understanding that when faced with 2 tasks, you should opt to do the harder task first.

Naval Ravikant describes this as "uphill decisions" - overriding your natural instinct to avoid the harder task. Short-term pain creates compounding long-term gain.

Can you think of an example when this has been true in your life?

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05/01/2024

Practice is not a new or revolutionary idea, but many of us become complacent.

It’s important that you don’t give up prior to reaping the rewards.

I can think of countless examples where I have given up and not progressed at all.

On the other hand, I can also recount numerous times where I have pushed through and grown significantly.

Is there something that you need to dig deep and practice at the moment?

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04/01/2024

“You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.”

- Eleanor Roosevelt

We often get so caught up worry about how others perceive us:

• “What if they don’t like me?”
• “What do they say behind my back?”
• “Do you think they liked what I was wearing?”

I use to be paralysed by some of these questions myself.

Now I recognise that other people aren’t thinking about myself that much - after all, I rarely think about them in these ways.

And in the rare instances when they are, I celebrating having my own identity and preferences that makes me unique, as God designed.

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03/01/2024

“An idiot with a plan can beat a genius without a plan.”

- Warren Buffet

It’s the first week of 2024, you NEED a plan if you wan’t to make the most of it.

It doesn’t have to be incredibly detailed or precise, but a general direction of where you’re heading will help you excel this year.

What are you planning to achieve this year?

👇 Let me know in the comments!

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02/01/2024

“How on Earth did they manage to do that?!”

It’s easy to look at someone else and ask this question, right?

Before I started posting visuals, I use to look at some of the greats in this space and think it impossible to do that or build the followings that they had.

Less than 1 year later, I had over 250 visuals and a following over 100,000.

Granted, I have had a lot of support from other creators, mentors, the community, yourself and God along the way, but there’s another lesson that we can take from this.

Small consistent efforts often result in achieving GREAT things.

We have turned up every day for the last year, and this is what we’ve achieved.

What could you achieve in a year of consistent intentional effort?

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01/01/2024

Let it begin!

Today is January 1st and it’s your opportunity at a fresh start!

How are you going to make your 2,678,400 seconds count?

👇 Let me know your goals for January in the comments!

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01/01/2024

This is where it all begins.

2024 has the potential to be a HUGE year for you.

It could be just another year to forget.

What will you make of it?

What are you hoping to achieve?

👇 Let me know in the comments below!

•••

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30/12/2023

Before I sign off for the year, I want to encourage you to consider using visuals as part of your social media strategy for the next year.

Did you know that images can be digested up to 60,000 times faster than text?!

There are many exceptional visual creators on this platform that can help you get wiser and help you to communicate your messages to your audiences.

👇 List your favourites below!

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29/12/2023

Tomorrow will be the last WISER Newsletter issue of 2023.

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29/12/2023

As we approach the end of the year, I wanted to share a goofy visual about toilet paper, but it also shares an important message.

I spend everyday of the week trying to encourage you to get wiser.

Why?

Because I believe that getting wisdom is the wisest thing that you can do, and I’m confident that we can all get wiser.

That being said, you will need more than wisdom in this life. Wisdom alone is not enough.

There are many characteristics that I would encourage you to develop that are not necessarily mutually exclusive from wisdom, but they can be developed independently.

A few key qualities that spring to mind include:
• Humility
• Patience
• Resilience

What else would you add to this list?

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28/12/2023

As we approach the new year, it's worth knowing about The Habit Loop.

According to James Clear, there are 4 parts to every habit: cue, craving, response and reward.

By further understanding each part of a habit, we can make starting good habits and ending bad habits easier.

In particular, being able to identify or set up cues (also known as triggers) can help us unlock our potential. Cues could be a time, place, event emotional state and/or people dependent. The more precise we can be, the more likely the habit will stick.

Cravings are the second step of the habit loop, and they are the motivational force behind every habit. Without some level of motivation or desire—without craving a change—we have no reason to act.

Response is the actual habit you perform, which can take the form of a thought or an action. Whether a response occurs depends on how motivated you are and how much friction is associated with the behaviour.

the response delivers a reward. Rewards are the end goal of every habit. The cue is about noticing the reward. The craving is about wanting the reward. The response is about obtaining the reward.

To learn more about James Clear's Habit Loop, check out his website here:

https://jamesclear.com/three-steps-habit-change

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