051 - How To Create Positive Momentum

Do these things to kick your day off on the right track

Image by Arkady Lifshits

Do these things to kick your day off on the right track

Welcome to the Editor’s Journal; A daily thought on writing, the creative process, art, work, the world and how it all goes together. Every morning I rise early, I sit here in the quiet of my kitchen and I write whatever’s prominent. There’s no clever headlines and no script, just open and honest thoughts. I hope you enjoy the read. If you like this article please offer some love by hitting the 💚 cheers!

Medium self help content continues to occupy a very large space here. There’s so much of it in fact it has become somewhat reprehensible. It’s almost unavoidable and I’m in danger of joining those ranks with this one.

However, I’ll share this anyway.

Not because I wish to be some kind of self help coach guru dude, but because I’m a writer and and artist and I struggle with the same things you do.

Maybe by sharing what I do to stay on track it may help you also. So here you go…

What I Struggle With

I spend tons of time planning and writing content, building strategy and publishing my stuff.

If I was paid for every hour I write I’d be doing very well.

Sometimes when I look at my stats I don’t see a reflection of the effort I’m putting in and I can become somewhat deflated. I ask myself if what I’m doing is even worth my time.

Working solo can be a difficult place to be.

Self doubt and mild anxiety visit my mind often and if I’m not careful they can drag me down.

So here’s what I do to counter that.

I Sit Quietly

There is honestly nothing I love more than to sit in that chair in my kitchen with a cup of coffee and stare out the window. There’s a birch tree there overlooking my back garden and it’s like a friend.

It’s getting taller and at this time of year the leaves are just beginning to turn brown at the top.

When I look out it looks back at me, blowing in the breeze. It’s like it speaks to me. Crazy? Maybe. But what you may not understand is that the entire world speaks to us.

There is a constant exchange of energy and information between us and the environment. The tree expels oxygen and we expel carbon dioxide. We share these things and we support each other.

The tree speaks a language and if we are quiet enough we can hear it. When I sit there in my kitchen looking out at the birch tree I can hear it.

I Imagine

Who’s mind do you think you are thinking with when you think? When you imagine, who do you think is doing the imagining?

I won’t tell you. You can discover this for yourself if you meditate on this closely. All I will say is that when we think our entire body thinks. Every cell in our organism thinks in unison.

Our brain doesn’t think on it’s own in isolation. In fact, thinking goes beyond the entire organism to dimensions beyond what we call the physical. In reality there is no divide between the two, actually there is no two, there is only one.

Thought is vibration. We can measure it with an encephalogram. The vibrations are subtle but powerful when we continue with lines of thought. So when we spend time in contemplation of what we want we build momentum.

Likewise when we spend time thinking things we don’t want we create negatively.

Thought creates behaviour. Behaviour creates experience. It’s not linear, although we can think of it that way. Rather thought is everywhere in all directions.

But one thing is true; when we imagine we create.

I Meditate

Every day I meditate in the morning and at night. Studies have shown unequivocally that meditation alters brain states and improves the health and wellbeing of entire organism.

Anxiety, stress, depression and even physical illness, which is the result of momentum of negative thought, can be improved and even removed entirely through daily meditation practice.

I sit for 15 to 30 mins twice daily. It’s especially effective when I practice first thing in the morning. But if that doesn’t work for you then pick another time to meditate and stick to it.

That said, getting out ahead of the day with meditation can really help set the tone for things so try make that 15 mins first thing.

I Talk To Myself

During my day I talk to myself all the time, both out loud and in the silence of my mind. I have to be careful here because drawing attention to myself can a bit of a challenge.

Therefore I usually speak out loud at home only. My wife and kids are used to it now. I tell my kids that “your self” is the best person to talk to. I tell them I speak to my self all the time and they should too.

In a society that largely frowns on self talk its conscious practice is rare. Instead we talk to ourselves automatically, without purpose and we never let anyone know about it.

Inner thoughts stay inside and as results show up we fail to recognise that those results are in large part due to how we talk to ourselves.

The relationship with self is perhaps the most important relationship we can have so I would encourage you to talk to yourself in ways that aid your positive state of mind.

Staying Connected

This society we’ve built is crazy. However crazy it seems to be I’d have to say it is getting better. While it’s getting better it pays us to stay focused on how we want things to be for us.

What we do now is everything.

Try staying connected to the truth by practicing some of the things I’ve mentioned. If you can make these things habitual you will find your creativity rise and good things tend to show up more often.

Until tomorrow,

Larry

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Like More of This Kind of Thing?

Howdy, I’m Larry, Writer & Artist. Thanks for taking the time to read my stuff. I write about creativity, art and work and how it all goes together. When I’m not doing that I draw charcoal photorealistic portraits of people I respect and admire. If that’s your bag you can Sign-up To Sunday Letters Here.