When you’re distracted or bothered by something, get rid of it.
If you can’t do that, work out how to move past the distraction or deal with it differently instead.
It’s time…for a different…TUB-Thump.
Don’t worry, it’s only for Episode 036…The intro and ending will be back next time. Promise!
And so will the more detailed show notes. For now, it’s all about making a point:
Keep taking action. Even when it’s basic.
And, of course, keep being awesome.
A friend of mine was invited as a guest on a podcast and was so worried about sounding nervous, rambling and unintelligent.
The interview was fine. But regardless of that, many listeners wouldn’t have noticed anyway.
Why not? Because a growing number of us speed up podcast audio as we listen. Some apps also take out some of the gaps in between speech. Even a nervous or slow performance can sound confident and well-paced.
This is an example of how everything we experience requires our perspective.
We don’t simply consume external voices. We use our current internal state of mood and perspective to translate those external events into our own internal experiences.
That means we can shape our mood and perspective to engage with the same content in different ways.
You may already know this, but it’s easy to take for granted. Unless you constantly meditate on the moment and have a deep awareness of your surroundings, life probably happens without you checking in every few minutes. Your perspective feels fixed, even though it’s constantly changing throughout the day.
But it’s good to change your perspective. Familiar things can feel fresh and new. Give it a try.
On episode 023 of TUB-Thump, I talk about this in terms of audio. Try listening to podcasts faster or slower than usual. How does it make you feel? How do you engage with the information, with the personalities, with the setup?
Where will your new perspective take you today?
Here are the show notes for the 7-min episode:
Music for TUB-Thump is Life, by Tobu, which is released under a Creative Commons license. Check out more of Tobu’s great sounds on Soundcloud, YouTube, and his official site.
TUB-Thump is part of the Learning Always Network.
Keep being awesome!
You’ve probably heard at least one person say that many of today’s jobs won’t necessarily exist in 10 or 20 years, while many jobs in the future simply don’t exist right now. So what’s the point, they argue, in chasing a particular role when it may soon be obsolete?
You could take it further. What if your dream role sticks around? Should you chase that job/career no matter what?
The reality may be to skip thinking about an individual route to a specific job.
In today’s TUB-Thump, I suggest that it’s more important to set career goals than it is to seek specific roles.
No matter what the job market looks like in years to come, you can build tangible, relevant skills right now. As you build your goals and list your growing achievements, you can shape yourself into whatever areas make most sense when the right time comes.
You may not be graduating for a few years. But you can start chasing career goals right now.
Much better than latching on to the possibility of a role that may or may not exist when you do graduate.
Here are the show notes for the 4-min episode:
Music for TUB-Thump is Life, by Tobu, which is released under a Creative Commons license. Check out more of Tobu’s great sounds on Soundcloud, YouTube, and his official site.
TUB-Thump is part of the Learning Always Network.
Keep being awesome!
Some advice is ace. You know it’s going to change your life for the better. Even if the change saves you one second a day, or helps you do an easy task easier still, you know you’re onto a winner.
Some advice is awful. It goes against everything you want, everything you know, and everything you feel. You don’t care if it works for some people, it won’t work for you.
photo by dvs (CC BY 2.0)
And some advice is obvious. You struggle to see how you can benefit from something the whole world should be doing.
At that point, you realise that a lot of obvious advice may be coming at you loud and clear, but that doesn’t mean you take it up and action it.
Be honest with yourself. You’re told to have five or more fruit and vegetables a day. It’s not a mystery, but do you follow the advice?
You’re constantly reminded to exercise every day. Just a brisk walk or a short workout to start your day. How often do you do this?
Tutors tell you to start working on your assignments straight away. Don’t wait until the last minute. Despite this, have you got another all-nighter on the way?
For all the quick fixes and life hacks that give us a warm and fuzzy feeling, there is a bunch of clear and actionable advice that falls by the wayside. You’ve heard it all before, but you’re resistant to such a change.
The first step is to ask yourself why you find it so hard to alter your ways. What stops you from making a positive move toward a potentially huge change in your behaviour?
For some, the goal isn’t being broken down to manageable chunks. For others, there isn’t enough commitment in whatever is trying to be sorted in the first place. To make any change, you need good reason, clear goals, and some sense of enthusiasm. That boost of energy can come from what happens AFTER you’ve dealt with the not so awesome stuff. No matter, you need to find a way through that you’ll actually adhere to. Any less than that and you’ll hit a brick wall.
The biggest changes in life are rarely the result of a magic bullet. However hard you look for an easy solution to a big problem, you’re unlikely to find it.
The essay won’t write itself (cheating isn’t a magic bullet, it’s cheating). The exercise can’t be delegated to someone else. You’re responsible for managing your life as a whole and any little hacks are a nice bonus, not a suitable alternative to effort.
When you next hear obvious advice, don’t dismiss it straight away. Before you discount it, make sure you’re using that advice or have an even better approach to hand. If you know it, but don’t do it, obvious advice isn’t quite as obvious as you first think.
TheUniversityBlog 