No, I don’t mean the end as in Covey’s habit  – begin with the end in mind – I mean take it to the next level and think about death, your death.

Your first reaction may be to recoil; but as recent funerals have reminded me, we all do contemplate death at some point. So what is positive about contemplating the end of your life?

Buddhists have a meditation around death that is all about letting go of things and bringing greater appreciation of the now and recreating yourself.

At funerals we all see what is important and vow to ourselves to do things differently. Take this reflection a step further, find a quiet spot and think about your own death, the end of your life. The aim is to focus your mind on the important things and bring an intensity of energy and joy to what you have now.

Without belittling people’s real problems, for most of us, those concerns we have disappear as we discover the beauty of what we have now in our life to appreciate and enjoy everyday.

Need help to solve a problem? Ask yourself the right questions, listen to your true self & trust – you may already have the best answer

A good reminder to us that we will get more things done if we disconnect from our many sources of distraction. Oh and yes, we really can only do one thing at a time.

http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/management/blogs/performance-matters/the-multitasking-myth-20130404-2h828.html

I bought a new smart phone recently. My big realisation after buying it was that it makes and receives phone calls really well!

In the lead up to my purchase I spent significant time and energy researching the different operating systems and the phones associated with them. It took me some time, but after much indecision, I finally made a decision and was very excited to take possession of my new phone.

It works just fine and it makes and receives phone calls really well. The rest of what it does is all great, but the most fundamental and important thing is that it is a phone. For me personally, there is an argument to say the rest of what it does is a total distraction and waste because I don’t use half of it and what I do use sees me with my head stuck in some game or feature instead of engaging with my world around me.

In the process of buying the phone, I had forgotten what was important, what I really needed. I had missed the point.

This realisation has got me asking myself where else have I allowed the noise, excitement or glare of a situation or an object to distract me from what is important? Made me forget what I really need? With what else am I missing the point?

How about you?