Author: davidholly@gmail.com

One of the things that I’ve been known for in the past and tended towards heavily was negativity. It’s the way I was raised. Murphy’s law was quoted often around my house when I was growing up and as an adult I was told that over and over and over by family members and by me.
Over the past few years I’ve been making efforts to be more positive. It’s challenging because of my tendency to be negative about things but I think I’ve turned a corner. Still not great but I’m a lot more positive than I was.
One of the things I’ve started doing recently is instead of using dashes as divider lines between things I’m trying to use plus symbols. A line of plus symbols makes a good line and it looks more positive to me than a bunch of minuses and if you read the history of the plus symbol it’s actually in that shape because the person who kind of got it going and encouraged it as a standard for addition was a Christ follower and wanted to have the cross everywhere.
So here’s an example of what I’m talking about.
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Makes a nice divider doesn’t it? I’m positive that this will help somebody 🙂
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#us #positive #communicative

One of the skills I encourage is to be positive. Not in a sickening-sweet way that is not based in reality, but in a way that encourages people to be more positive.
There is a site at
positivewordchallenge.com
I created it so that I and others could have a positive word for each day.
And if you’d like a positive question to use in conversation check out
positivequestionchallenge.blogspot.com
Enjoy!
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#us #positive

Getting things done is hard because you have reminders and they got a blast through all of the attention grabbing things that the online industry is throwing at you.
One idea is to make a playlist for things that you want to remember. Songs that talk about the work you gotta do for the things you have to check or people that you want to stay in touch with on certain days and then name those playlists for the day of the week or the day of the month. That way when you going hey I’ll listen to some tunes all the Monday playlist was see what I’m forgetting and then you play it and they remind you of all the stuff you want to do.
Another way you could use playlists to help you get things done is to make a playlist with different songs grouped by artist (like an album but do people even think that way now?) and then change activities when the next artist’s songs start playing.
Just a couple of idea for using playlists to increase productivity!

One the things to keep in mind when thinking about “presence” is: Follow you plan, not your mood.
From day to day, moment to moment, we make decisions. What do we want to do? Where do we want to go? How do I get through this next puzzle? Who do I want to be with?
If we lay out a plan for the day, whether it’s based around a schedule that we have been given by someone else or a schedule in our head, we have to decide moment by moment whether we will follow the schedule or not. In this way we will move forward with our plans, uphold the values we have, meet the expectations that we or others have.
A lot of times my mood is different from my plan. I get tired, I woke up late so I’m grumpy, or I’m hungry and don’t see an opportunity to eat anything for a couple of hours.
Or on the positive side of mood I’m happy doing something I love, I’m enjoying time with some friends, or I’m content with the comfort that I’m experiencing.
No matter how I feel I’ve found that I still need to check my plan throughout the day. And start doing something I want or need to get done because it’s what I planned to do.
Sticking with your plan is a great way to be present. And it helps move the pegs along the planned path you set and help you achieve your goals.
So follow your plan, not your mood.

When I have an appointment or something happening at a specific time, I do my best to get there a few minutes early. For me, it’s a sign of respect to get there early and be able to say hello or get in and sit quietly waiting and watching as people gather for whatever it is. It’s also a time to keep things relaxed instead of being stressed and wound up tight as I rush to try to get there at the last minute.
I used to get there right at the last minute a lot. I prided myself on being able to time things so that I could overcome whatever obstacles jumped up unexpectedly and still get there just as something started. I was embarrassed a lot because I got there a couple of minutes late. I was very tense and the pressure that I put on myself was eventually too much.
As my kids went through high school they were in band. I think all of their band directors had a saying that being five minutes early is on time, and being on time is late.
This was especially true for high school kids, teenagers, because they would get there on time and then have to get their instruments out and have to talk and joke around and figure out where they needed to be and all that stuff.
So if everybody showed up at the appointed time, then 10 minutes later, practice still has not started. I know that some people will go ahead and schedule things with a buffer time, trying to allow for the people that show up late.
I stopped doing that because if you don’t have enough respect for me to be on time, then I really don’t want to wait for you.
Do your best to get there five minutes early so that you can show respect for the organizer and actually be comfortable as you ease your way into the event, whatever it might be.
Go for it!
#us