Life & Happiness

Training Wheels

As a child, riding a bike was not as easy as it looked. Fortunately, early excitement was bolstered by the comfort of training wheels. These stabilizers provided balance but eventually became self-limiting. Removing training wheels took only a minute, but then fear set in. Staying upright, maintaining speed, avoiding obstacles, and falling without getting hurt felt overwhelming. Even with support from others, success seemed out of reach, until it clicked. Like magic, trepidation transformed into gliding independence.

Training wheels remind us that contentment can lead to complacency. Being content without complacency is a constant battle. One day you’re grateful for all that is, the next you’re feeling oddly stuck. Perhaps this is because the more complacent we become, the more rigid we get. This rigidity then devolves into a stronger fear of change. When the movement of change becomes associated with risk, it’s common to feel stuck, stagnant, or even irrelevant. When training wheels are holding you back, initiative sets you free and persistence keeps us moving. As movement separates from risk, we’re free to shift gears and ride toward next.

Brewed From Within
#100 📖 Life & Happiness

By Ben McDougal, ago

Feng Shui

Peace awaits those who appreciate all that is without worrying about all that is not. That said, things will not just fall into place. It takes initiative, consistency, awareness, and sacrifice to find your own equanimity.

Similar to how we decorate our environment to harmonize with nature, we can connect elements of our career portfolio to feel the benefits of feng shui.

The world is loud, and endless distractions make us feel frantic when there’s so much to do. Being present along with a quiet appreciation of understated beauty keeps us centered. As mindfulness becomes part of our practice, it’s easier to slow down just enough to ensure we don’t miss life along the way.

The places we visit, the people we’re with, and the art we ship all connect through us. Over a lifetime, we become a destination for others, and this becomes our gift.

When there’s passion, humor, diversity, intellectual humility, and harmony within our own environment, the impact of our gifts are lasting and the way we invest time with others will add up in the end.

Brewed From Within
#114 📖 Life & Happiness

By Ben McDougal, ago

Bloop

Small choices don’t make a difference, until they do.

Imagine yourself a circle that has expanded from a lifetime of personal growth. Now, spin out another tiny bloop beyond the existing circumference. This gives yourself room to expand.

Extra Shot
If you break one rule, avoid breaking another.

Even when small choices seem insignificant, the willingness to bloop stretches our neuroplasticity, widens our perspective, extends our reach, improves our health, and broadens our potential. As this becomes a habit within the systems of our own continuous improvement, all the circles of life expand and overlap to layer confidence into experiential wisdom.

Brewed From Within
#101 📖 Life & Happiness

By Ben McDougal, ago

Winding Whys

Asking “why” seems to be innate.

As soon as kids learn to speak, the inquisitions begin. The first few whys may emerge from innocent curiosity, but it’s easy to tell when the game is underway.

Endless whys may lead to frustration (especially when it’s bedtime, eh), but why not find joy in making these winding whys into a fun challenge. Instead of shutting things down, try to quickly answer every why. Can we mindfully outlast a youngster’s attention span?

Extra Shot
“Mom… Dad… why do you love me?”
After countless rounds of winding whys, what a fun chance to coalesce endless reasons into one run-on sentence.

As we zoom out, it feels trite to reflect on how humans have so many whys we cannot answer. Instead of the paradoxical path or trying to understand all of our own whys, the five whys from Toyota is an interesting tactic.

Developed by system thinkers inside Toyota back in the 1980s, this iterative technique was used to explore the cause-and-effect relationships underlying a particular problem. When following 14 specific rules after exactly five whys, the last answer often points to a process that is not working well or does not exist. This technique has critics and can lead to rigid, even shortsighted interpretations. That may be the case, but more often than not, our own willingness to go deeper helps move past easy answers.

The five whys may not solve all our winding whys, but the idea behind this historic tactic can be fun to use at home. We also know playing with why is helpful for decision making and culture building in business.

As winding whys carve through your mind, appreciate the difference between complex, complicated, and simple ideas. Socratic questioning, active listening, real-time doodles, media-supported storytelling, inverse charisma, laughing, and of course, child-like wanderlust all add a twist. Why not?

Brewed From Within
#119 📖 Life & Happiness

By Ben McDougal, ago

Sedona Sands

We all have experiences that touch the soul. Treasured time with family, getting lost in nature, insight when you need it, or a performance that activates euphoria. We are moved but feelings fade. How might we add a thickness to remember these enlightened moments?

Trapping time with content and telling stories is an obvious way to stretch memories. To add a spiritual layer, mediate within the moment. This doesn’t need to be awkward or take much time. Breathe in every tiny detail and notice the nuances to burn different sensations into your experience.

The choice to be inefficient is what makes this effective.

Past experiences provide context for the biological circuitry that helps us navigate the world. With memories forming much of our instincts, the cost of paying special attention is what adds the glitch.

These glitches become mental bookmarks that improve our recollection and storytelling while adding an ability to revisit real sensations inside future meditations.

Brewed From Within
#115 📖 Life & Happiness

By Ben McDougal, ago