One of my favorite quotes in the world is “The greatest distance in the world is the distance between ‘I know’ and ‘I do.'”  I love it because of the simple truth that many of us understand the things we need to do…we just don’t do them.  Not consistently anyway.

I am not immune to this disease.  There are many truths in the world that are simple but not easy.  So I thought I would tell on myself.  Here are some places where “I know” but I am not “doing.”  Here are some places where I am failing…and I need to do better.

Stop Complaining

As I have said many times, complaining is a disease in our culture.  It seems we complain about everything.  It’s not constructive and it makes everyone (including you) unhappy.  In addition, it can very easily become a habit.  I need to be very careful about this right now.  I can feel myself complaining more.  I can blame the time of year, the pandemic, 2020 or whatever…but it is me.  I need to stop complaining immediately.

Don’t Rent Your Headspace To Others

As I talk about here in the Monday Minute, sometimes we let our brain get hijacked by people that frustrate us.  We spend the day (or longer) having fake arguments in our head.  We continue to get more and more frustrated with a person that is a) not here and b) does not deserve that space.  I have been doing that lately.  It’s insidious and it steals joy and productivity from your day.  And right now it is doing that to me.

Owning The First 60 Seconds

One of the reasons I have been struggling with the first two is because I have not owned the first 60 seconds of my day recently.  I talk about this here.  So many of us wake up thinking about the struggles of yesterday or the stresses coming up today.  We are not living in the present.  One of the ways to do improve that is the do an exercise of gratitude when you first wake up.  Make that first minute of your day a mental exercise of gratefulness and excitement.  It can be a simple but powerful act that can affect your day.  I have not been doing that.  I need to get back at it.

This is NOT a comprehensive list.

I share these places where I am failing for a couple of reasons.  First, we all struggle sometimes.  Even if we know better.  I think it’s important during this year, and during this time of year to understand that…and to give ourselves a bit of grace.

Second, it’s important to understand where you struggling in order to fix it.  These are just a few places where I am falling short right now.  It’s a season.  Now that I have identified it, I can start to improve.  When it comes to personal development, it’s a journey and not a destination.

You are never finished….and that is a good thing.

Kirby Hasseman is the CEO of Hasseman Marketing, a full service marketing agency located in Ohio.  Learn more about Hasseman Marketing here.  And if you are interested in have him speak at your next event, you can learn more here.