“Well, that wouldn’t hurt.”

“Don’t sweat the small stuff.”

As we go about our daily lives, we tend to neglect the micro choices that we make consciously or unconsciously.   But here’s the thing – the law of Cause and Effect is continually at work whether we know it or not.  Every choice has a consequence, every cause that you set in motion has a resultant effect on your life.

Everything you do, counts.  The life that you’re experiencing now is a summation of all the choices that you have made to date, whether you know it or not.

When a person flares up at a seemingly small provocation, it is the summation of all past suppressed feelings of anger and hatred.

When a person has a clogged artery, it is the summation of all the fatty foods consumed as well as the lack of regular exercise.

Likewise, if you’re experiencing a sense of fulfillment in your work, or enjoying a wonderful relationship with your loved ones, it is the summation of all the past thoughts you’ve filled your mind with and the all actions you have taken.

Remember, everything counts.

Of course, you might think that it would be overwhelmingly difficult to pay attention to every micro detail.   This is why it is very important to be clear of what your values and goals are as well as whether they’re aligned.  Because when you are clear of your values and goals, you will know when a choice you’re making isn’t in line with who you are and where you’re heading.   The key here is this, the choices that you make should be congruent with the person you want to become.

So, if in your mind, you want to become a person of integrity, patience and virtue but yet you choose to fill your mind with resentment when you encounter verbal disagreements, you’re not being congruent.  These pent up emotions of anger will manifest themselves later in your life.

When you begin to understand this principle, you will begin to see why long time relationships break down, why seemingly diligent people still fail, why highly respectable people still falter….  Because everything counts.

Failing to understand that everything counts results in disappointments, setbacks, failed promises, forgotten commitments and whole list of undesirable consequences in life.

When you embrace this reality, and consciously make all your choices purposeful and goal-directed, you will build unshakable relationships,  steady income streams and most importantly, a fulfilling and rewarding life.

STOP!

How did you end up here?  Something caught your attention?

You know what, mortal? I’ve successfully stolen a few seconds from your life.

Fortunately for you, reading this will be rewarding.

Because as you’re reading this, for once, you’re probably more aware of what you’re now reading.  Think about the myriad of content that competes for your attention everyday and everywhere, which you mindlessly indulge in.  Does it raise to your awareness how much time was possibly wasted?

One of the ironies today is that while we have advanced technological tools to leverage our time to do more, many people actually achieve less.  There is lesser contentment, lesser fulfillment.  More procrastination.

We all know that procrastination has robbed success, achievement and fulfillment from many people including ourselves.  And it still continues to do so today, and will most likely stay this way until we make a concerted effort towards fixing the root causes.

I’ve come to realize the central reason why procrastination is so challenging to overcome is that it has multiple causes.  Some people procrastinate because of a lack of a clear goal; others don’t take action because of disempowering beliefs about their abilities.  Some hold back from doing what they need to do because of a painful bad experience in the past.

For most of us today, especially the younger generation, it is the overwhelming amount of content that screams for our attention every moment.  DISTRACTIONS! They’re everywhere.

Just think of some of the things that catch your attention everyday :

• Instant messenger chats
• TV commercials and programs e.g. Drama serials, Sitcoms, etc.
• Unsolicited email – some people are actually drawn by the content
• Eye-catching magazines
• Attention grabbing headers in the newspapers
• Social networking stuff – twitter, facebook, friendster, etc.
• Internet forums, where discussions occasionally ends up in a lot of off-topic banter.
• Reading online articles (not) like this one!
• And the list goes on…

I’m not saying that the aforementioned stuff are bad – the question is whether it is useful for you to spend your time on it.

If it’s not, then think about how much time had been wasted on all those activities.  If you’ve made wrong decisions in your purchases, you’d have wasted money.  But money can always be earned with your diligence and creativity.  My view is that Time is the most important resource that we have.  You can’t turn back the clock nor can you buy an elixir.  So if you’d wasted your time, it is gone FOREVER.  It’s the only real scarcity in life.

So, use your time wisely by blocking out distractions and taking charge of your attention.  If you’re distracted easily because you don’t have a goal or definite purpose, then use your time wisely to quieten yourself to discover and decide on that.

Distractions might be enjoyable and even cathartic if you have a heavy burden of worries and problems.  But always remember that problems don’t get solved by plainly seeking tension relief; our life only becomes better when we seek solutions and work harder.  When things go wrong, work harder, not less.

I’m not going to give you 10 tips to block out distractions because I believe you have to decide what works best for you.  More importantly, the motivation should be intrinsic.

But I’d share with you something.  If you’d read Stephen Covey’s books, he mentioned that the way to say “No” to unwelcomed requests vying for your time is to have a BIGGER “Yes” in your heart.  What this means for you is this – For you to say “No” to things that scream for your attention is to have a bigger “Yes” to the things that matter.

Personally, when I encounter an attention-grabbing and perhaps pleasurable time-waster, I’d say to myself “I have better uses for my time.”

So while this reading has probably taken up several minutes of your life, you know it is an investment once it begins to make more sense to you.  Your return on investment will be much higher once you begin to govern your attention.

So, run along now, you have better uses for your time.

The Anaconda

Jaguar Vs Anaconda. Battle To The Death. – video powered by Metacafe

Also, the narrator mentioned a thought provoking point – the Jaguar succeeds because it knows no fear. It’s interesting that many of us including myself find ourselves not realising our true potential not because our problems are too big for us – but that we allow our fears to grow too big for us.

From a biological perspective, when we allow our fears to get the better of us, our mammalian brain starts preparing our body for what is known as a “fight or flight” response. What this means is that our adrenal glands begin to release adrenaline and peptides like cortisol. Our heart pumps faster and starts sending blood to our arms and legs. Which explains why when we’re nervous, we can’t sit still.

But our fears protect us from danger – that’s the good point. The only issue is that our subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between real and imaginary issues. So many a times, we end up with a lot perceived fears. It’s times like these that we need to behave like the jaguar – to go forth fearlessly!

Here’s another one, this time it pwns a caiman (crocodile)!

There is an increasing tendency for one to be fixated on problems and worries. One of the issues about a fast-paced developed society is that while the society progresses rapidly in the material sense, many individuals are unable to keep up psychologically. That is, many people are beginning to lose sight of what’s important to them in Life. Is it really worth it to be chasing after material success (knowing that you can’t take it with you six feet underground)? Isn’t there more to Life?

Yet most people hardly find time to reflect on these issues because there’re simply too many problems and worries to focus on. Will the project run smoothly tomorrow? Will I mess up my school work? How am I going to face that angry customer? Why does God give me so many problems? etc…. and the list goes on.

What I believe is that no matter how much we do, we can never totally eradicate problems. Because our time is limited, our attention span is limited – there will definitely be some things that we will overlook as we try to find our balance in Life. This is when “problems” start to occur and worries start to flood in.

It’s almost as if our Creator planned for this to happen. I believe we were designed to make mistakes and have problems in Life. If we get too fixated on problems and worries, we paralyse ourselves and miss the whole point of living. In this case, I suggest that we should remove our own imaginary shackles and redefine our notions of what Life is about.  Problems help us to grow – we might not be able to solve all of them and create a perfect Life because maybe that’s not the objective. What’s important is not the solving of the problem per se, but the process of solving – that helps us to grow physically, mentally and spiritually. And that’s what truly matters mosts, IMHO.