Everyone should be Extraordinary in their own ways.
I read an article entitled 17 Things Extraordinary People People Do Everyday which is perfect, it's hard to be extraordinary like Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie, Mother Theresa, Richard Branson etc but we can be extraordinary to ourselves, to our children and loved ones. This article reminded me how easy it is to do it in small little ways daily.
I am glad that I am doing most of it but perhaps I should do more of some and do a little bit more too.
So here's my rendition: The 20 Things Extraordinary People Do Everyday
1. Examine Long Term Goals
We all know that we need to have goals, around New Years day each year most of us will pen it down. But we also know most of us don't even get near it (even for a simple year's goal). We need goals so we can strive towards something. Its important to have one, five, 20 years goals from now. Which I did for a long time, then I forget about them cos it's at the back of my mind, swept under the carpet. The article says, spend a few minutes each day to go through your goals. That's EXCELLENT, you will be reminded daily and as the day goes by, progressively with continuous improvement, so will our goals. So I will start my Goals and review them daily.
2. Examine Daily Plans / To-Do-List
I am infamous for my ridiculously long daily To-Do-Lists, if the list is too long, I jot it down. If it isn't, I make a mental note. It helps me to be productive. However the article states that we need to make sure that the daily to-do-lists are tasks that contribute to our Long Term Goals (Point No 1). Then I realised, no, most of my daily to-do-lists, probably only 20% contributes to the long terms goals. Which is fine, cos it should make me realise that what I am spending most of my time on, is actually what I should be doing, which contributes to the continuous improvement on the Long Term Goals. So with that, my tomorrow's To-Do-List has changed somewhat dramatically.
3. Ask For Help
This has been my biggest weakness. I do everything myself, I micro-manage. But its not worthwhile doing anything alone. Good to ask for help. It shows that we trust and want the other people to also grow and learn. And you never know unless you ask. The past few months, I have learnt to ask for help, without thinking it is a sign of weakness. I am still trying to learn this new habit but of course don't ask for help 150% and you end up not doing anything, that's called TAKING ADVANTAGE.
4. Engage In Mentorship
The article mentions: Mentorship has two sides, so on any given day, do two things: Engage with a mentor, and also offer mentorship to someone else. This is something I have always believed in, but the past 2 years, I felt I didn't mentor anyone much nor was I mentored. Recently, I have started doing so and this 2-way mentorship is helping my daily tasks and long terms goals to be reached even closer. It also enables me to ask for help from the mentor and my mentor-ee which makes me learn even more too.
5. Give Yourself A Break
Success doesn't come overnight, but we should set high standards for ourselves regardless. Setting these standards isn't easy; it comes with failures, stress, challenges and obstacles no doubt. Have you ever heard of any successful or extraordinary person without facing any of the above? None that I know of. So we need to be realistic, give ourselves a break when we fail, when it looks like its just not going to happen. I tend to jump the gun and stress out easily. Now, I do for only a little while. I totally freak out for an hour or so, cry myself for an hour or so, then I stop, ponder and review and find the positive side to it and I end up laughing about it. And voila, the minute I do that, the solutions come into my head.
6. Write Down What Happened
The article states that Life is a journey, so keep a journal. You don't need to be a polished writer or even devote a lot of time to this; even a small effort can pay huge dividends, and I felt what better way to do that than through my blog. Whatever I write can be inspirational for someone else out there and indirectly I mentor someone out there. So this is why I decided to start writing in my blog again.
7. Build Your Confidence.
Different people have different level of crisis of confidence. We all need to learn to overcome this fear of failure. For the longest time, I strived on fear. I thought that all my life's success were because of my various fears of failure. And indirectly to me, I still think it works a little bit but having a great combination of fear (but not fear of failure, it's 2 different things) and having confidence is a good combination. My fear of not looking attractive to the opposite sex and not being healthy for my children, drove me to lose 40kgs and gave me confidence to stay this way now and change my lifestyle. My fear of old people's diseases like Alzheimer's or being forgetful, gives me the confidence to always keep learning and keeping my mind challenged and active. My fear of not providing the best for my children, gives me the confidence that I can build different businesses and earn multiple incomes for their future and their current wellbeing.
8. Give Thanks and Compliments
This is very important, these few simple words can light me up and likewise light anyone else up. It shouldn't be just a sign of politeness or courtesy, it should be genuine. Earlier this year, someone told me that I always say Thank You out of politeness and when someone says Thank You to me, I think there is an ulterior motive. That's terrible. So now, I am thankful for all the great things and people in my life. Even the simplest things I give thanks/compliments, and I say it with sincerity. By doing so, I have seen how my life changes. I am a much happier person everyday. The right people also start being part of your life and the not-so right ones, start going away from your life too.
9. Focus On Others
Leaving a legacy is important to me. As the article states: No matter that you do, you will leave a legacy. The question is whether you'll be remembered for something positive or something negative. So, keep in mind during all interactions, that this might be someone's lasting impression of you. However, it has to be genuine. I have met many people in my life and I have great impressions of them, but I realise they don't remain a positive impression for long as it was truly not genuine. So it has to be genuinely positive always. As the saying goes, you do 10 great things and 1 terrible thing, everyone only remembers you for that 1 bad thing and forgets everything good you do. The 10 great things have to be genuinely positive, then that 1 not-so positive thing will be easily forgotten.
10. Get Some Physical Exercise
I must admit, this is difficult. I would always find excuses, something else I have to do or just be really too busy to have the time to do so. In the past month or so, since I started doing some sort of Physical activity, it has changed how I feel, my moods, and in fact my mind is clear when I do some exercise. Longer term effects are you look and feel good. So once you look good, naturally you would feel good :)
11. Quit Something
Its not like quit smoking or quit a vice. This article's view on Quit Something is for example to eliminate 99 out of 100 great ideas, so you can focus on the few that really work. The only way to do that is to be willing to give up on things you've tried but aren't paying off--nevermind the sunk costs. So if it ain't working after a long time, and there's no pay off. Quit it and move along.
12. Check Small Things
As the article states: Extraordinary people learn to delegate effectively. That can be scary, because it requires trust. You can't possibly check everything you've delegated, but you can check some small things, which in turn creates the possibility you'll check everything. This affects Points Number 1-5. Checking on small things doesn't mean micro-managing. Through mentorship, you build trust and check on the small things. I started doing that with 1 of my new staff, a real freshie and guess what she's doing well and now I have more time to do other things that are more important and truly require more attention from me.
13. Laugh... Especially At Yourself.
Comedy is definitely the flipside of tragedy. The article states, for all the passion with which they pursue their goals, truly extraordinary people keep perspective by recognizing that a well-led life is full of humor. Thus, the most important jokes you'll ever tell are the ones about yourself, even your failures. I am glad that this is one thing I am really good at doing and probably one of my key strengths that keeps me going positively in life and why many of my friends enjoy my company :) Laughter is truly the best medicine of life. The recent difference is now I have learnt to laugh off obstacles, challenges very quickly upon facing them again this is also part of Point Number 6 - Give Yourself A Break. Laughing is a great break from stress. Trust me. When I was unwell, I had a mantra and I wrote something called, Laughing About Cancer. And you know what I am sure it had a lot to do with me getting well.
14. Sleep
Ahhhh anyone who knows me, will tell you Sham works better with less sleep. In fact I used to sleep a max of 3-4hrs a night for close to 20years. I never understood why I need to sleep 8 hrs a day. I was doing well, I was productive, I was creative, I was great with 3-4 hours sleep. But I also know I was temperamental which causes my downfall. And when I am temperamental, I don't really think well and well that does cause a lot of downtime too. In the past few months, I have learnt to sleep. And boy oh boy oh boy, do I see a huge difference. My daily plans/to-do-lists needed 20hours a day previously. Now somehow with more sleep, I am able to complete my to-do-lists in 16 hours a day and also get more out of each day by spending a lot of time with the kids, knowing how to prioritise my time better and more effectively, not micro-manage so much and I am definitely more creative now than I have ever been! Plus my skin looks better, I feel better and much healthier too!
15. Continue Your Education
As the article states, lifelong learning is one of the keys to success. I truly believe that. Everyday I learn something new. No one can know everything. There's too much in this world for one to know it all. My fear of being old and not knowing much or falling prey to Alzheimer's disease also makes me want to continue my education daily. Knowing more can only help us grow even more.
16. Cultivate Outside Interests
All work and no play makes ... well, you know the rest. This is one point I totally live & breathe. Its also part of continuing my education. Learning new things and having a story to tell others. I live my life to max, with this mantra, I must try as many things as I possibly can in my lifetime. And with that mantra, I dare to say I have tried so many interests in my lifetime. Of course now, with better time management, I am able to do so even more.
17. Share Something Great
As the article mentions, extraordinary people always have something to share, and something truly interesting to talk about--a joke, a story, a bit of good news. Follow their lead. I do just that. Sharing is Caring. I am always the helpful one, giving lots of insights, share funny stories, good news to friends and family. Its also sharing positive vibes. When I share positivity out, others around me feel better and start being positive. I call it, a Great Cause & Effect. I am sharing this article now to all and I am sharing a little bit more. So why don't you too?
18. Always Smile
I tell my children everyday that they should always smile. Because when you smile, you naturally become happy. When I go through hiccups and I end up laughing it off and ends with a smile even whilst I am still going through the hiccups, it simply makes it a much better experience. A few days ago at my daughter's 1st ballet performance (which she didn't manage to attend many classes for or the rehearsals), I told her that whatever it is, just smile on stage even if she doesn't know the steps or unsure. Because when you smile, you will look great at doing what you're doing even if it isn't and have fun while doing so. True enough she smiled and melted our hearts away with her performance even if she didn't get it right in all the steps. It also gave her the confidence to perform. She told me because she was happy on stage, she knew she would be doing the right steps. And after a while on stage, she did. You could see the confidence levels going up.
19. Enjoy Everything
When you learn to enjoy everything in life, that means you see the positivity in everything. Which means you always smile, which means you will love everything, which means you will always laugh... see this cycle. How little simple things all lead to the others and are intertwined in life. I used to complain about many things and I was a temperamental person. Once I started enjoying everything, I became much less temperamental. As simple as I hate not eating yummy food (I am a foodie), I would be pissy and cranky as tasty food is important to me. When I used have a bad meal, I will end up being cranky, start nit picking and well not be such a nice person on that day. Now if I have a meal that isn't a tasty, I try to find the better side of it. I will say well at least it was cooked properly and I won't feel hungry after this and laugh off as to how that dish was made and I should perhaps try cooking that dish at home and see if I can make it better :) Immediately I enjoy this supposedly bad meal.
20. Experience Love
Love is an important thing in life. For most of my life, I yearn for love from others and thought that I didn't receive much or enough. I was also afraid to love others out of fear of not being loved back in return. Saying "I LOVE YOU" is like a dirty word to me. But once I had my 2 daughters, Love is a wonderful thing. I love my children to bits and they have taught me to love and to receive love. I learnt to finally start loving myself. And once I did, I could finally love others and receive love too. I have never felt so much more love in my life the past 35 years till I do now. Love is a truly an amazing and wonderful thing. With love, I am learning to forgive and forget, to be happier, to trust and let go of the wrong kind of fear (the negative ones). Its not about only loving people, its also about loving life, loving things and loving the beauty of everything out there.
These are the simple 20 things that any ORDINARY person can do daily which will make you EXTRAORDINARY in the eyes of closed ones around you. It seems easier said than done, but trust me, once you start doing a few of the points, the others just naturally come into place. In simpler terms, you become holistic.
Start being Extraordinary :)
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