Curating Articles and Learning from the Best in Medium

I'm still going to dip in and out of Blogger with random thoughts about random things. I've been here for years (albeit with a big sabbatical in the middle) and it feels like a waste to just ignore this site totally.

But instead of reinventing the wheel with my writing, I'm going to more often provide links to articles I've written on Medium. 

I'll also, on occasion, have links to interesting articles spotted there.

Today's articles talk about getting ready for a recession. Whether we like it or not, one's coming (if it's not here already). I'm not pretending to have a crystal ball. It's just the nature of economic cycles. They happen. They have to happen for cycles to regenerate. The issue is always about the timing of such events. But winter will come - it always does.

Here, I try to approach the topic from a work, money and "self" perspective - looking at how to prepare in each of these areas.

I originally planned to put all of my musings into one article, before I realized there was too much good stuff to fit into a single piece.

So it's split into three. Hopefully, the articles can help better prepare readers for the inevitable...

Links to the articles are below:

• Recession-Proof Your Life - Part 1

• Recession-Proof Your Life - Part 2

• Recession-Proof Your Life - Part 3

And if you want to get full access to, and support, the wide-ranging work of thousands of Medium writers (including myself), how about becoming a member? 

For $5 a month (you can cancel at any time) you get access to the writing of luminaries ranging from Deepak Chopra and Ryan Holiday, through to Jeff Bezos, Gary Vaynerchuk, Hillary Clinton, Tim Ferriss and Tony Robbins. 

Click the link below to join:

https://medium.com/@spiritworth/membership

Enjoy!

The Time of Your Life

So I'm just over a week into my twice-yearly detox - no meat, alcohol, dairy, sugar, caffeine and the like, plus a good dose of cardio. It tends to go on for anywhere between 10 days to 3 weeks, depending on my mood (though is likely to be closer to the latter this time around). Even though it can get a tad frustrating at times, I've done it so many times now, and my diet has ultimately moved on such a long way from my chocolate-bar-for-dessert lifestyle, that it's less of a challenge nowadays.

I try to add something new each time I do it - one detox I went to a Buddhist meditation session, another occasion I tried out colonic irrigation - simply to make it feel less like more of the same. This time around I've taken on a more holistic approach, trying to spring clean a number of areas of my life and get a bit more focus. I've detoxed the use Facebook, for example - the home of many a wasted hour. I've set myself the task to be in contact with at least two people I haven't been in touch with for over 6 months - one down, at least one to go so far. I've challenged myself to get my financial house in order by reviewing and redefining my financial plan. I've targeted finding something in my life to declutter and something to 'add value' every few days. I've challenged myself to choose a charity and decide on how to contribute. More daily meditation, implement time management areas, reconnect with family members, review my life areas, and so on it goes. Oh, and one aim was to write at least three blog pieces over three weeks - so two down one to go...

I may well have overstretched myself in terms of the list but that was part of the idea - to have some worthwhile areas to shoot for, to show some discipline and integrity and to make sure I'm on a path to address them. It's about looking at and focusing on what's important in life. The application isn't perfect but the intent is there. Time, like food, can be full of junk if you don't take a little bit of care.

Like A Prayer

At work the other morning I walked past a woman sitting at her desk with her eyes closed. I was a bit curious but just went on my way. A little later, I was doing another lap around the office on the way to the water cooler and there she was again, this time steely-eyed staring at her computer screen.

Curiosity got the better of me and I just had to ask about what I saw earlier. She had been praying. I guess I kind of assumed that might have been the case or possibly meditating. She didn't look like a sleeper to me, anyway. Still, it did get me thinking about stopping, focusing and aligning when the time is right for you - more than just at the beginning or end of the day. Yeah, I like the idea of taking time out on my terms.

Always On My Mind

I've been dabbling with meditation over the years. I say 'dabbling' because I've tried out all sorts of weird and wonderful versions - led and unled meditations, some focused on the breath, others based on a mantra or an external sound. Running water, a candle, with your eyes shut or your eyes open. The lot.

Like many things in life, there are many ways to skin the proverbial cat and as far as I can tell it's not a one size fits all kind of thing. We all have our biases and preferences and some styles will suit individuals more than others.

I recently attended a seminar hosted by The Potential Project, an organisation aimed at providing the right tools for emotional, mental and physiological balance. It was another spin on the use of meditation in life but it's given me another one to try out. I'm a believer that it works - it's just taking a bit of time to fine-tune what works for me. 

Meditation

"When the student is ready the teacher will appear". It's one of those phrases you hear from time to time which seems to provide a message without actually explaining itself in too much detail. For me, there are often "whys" and "hows" to ask in relation to such ideas. At the same time, sometimes you've just got to be aware of its reality and accept it.

Well, I'm a couple of days into my detox programme and I've been trying out some meditation. Generally speaking, I try to do 'meditative' things on a day-to-day basis anyway, somewhere on that road between "half hearted" and "token gesture". In other words, I haven't really got to grips with the thing for a long while. But this morning, after a decent bash at some meditation, out of the blue I remembered that on the lower shelf of my coffee table was a book sitting there simply entitled 'Meditation'. The book's been there for a good year and I kind of knew it was there without ever really acknowledging it. The first page I turned to when I opened the page was all about mindfulness. I think I've found my teacher...