We’re human beings, after all. If we were meant to be constantly in action, we would be called ‘human doings.’ -Anonymous
I read somewhere once there are Dreamers, Planners, Doers, and Analysts. I don’t mind acting as any of the four, but I would say I tend to naturally thrive as both a Dreamer and an Analyst.
On the one hand, this is a blessing. As a dreamer, I’m always coming up with big dreams for myself and others: I visualize parking lots in blossoming areas becoming buildings, and they often do. I easily see FutureDerm growing from a popular blog and media services company to an innovator in the skincare industry and a top beauty blog with a major media services division. I can picture in vivid detail my living conditions and office moving from modern and urban to more upscale and luxury. It’s all so clear in my mind.
And for the Analyst side, I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong and correct my behaviors accordingly. I’m aware my natural tendencies are to be messy, forget things, and lose things. I have put safeguards in place, whether it’s making sure I clean off my desk before I go home, using Asana to manage tasks, or putting a trusted employee to deliver things. I’m constantly monitoring and analyzing my behavior and “managing” myself so I can be better.
The biggest issue I’ve come across as a Dreamer and an Analyst is that I have vivid, sky-high dreams and then a tendency to calculate how far I am from achieving the said dream at any given time. But sometimes this can be exhausting. Actually, to be frank, it can be exhausting, discouraging, disappointing, frustrating, and sad.  The “target” goals for my dreams are constantly moving, and I rarely stop to celebrate when a milestone is met. My mind just tends to go to how far I am away from where I want to be; what I need to do to get me to the next level; how I can improve in my daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly behaviors. It’s both productive and frustrating.
So here are the tips I’m starting to implement to learn how to “just be” and appreciate what I have now:
- Make things as easy and enjoyable as possible. Certain things, like mounds of paperwork, will never be enjoyable for me. But playing upbeat music, giving myself a short break afterwards, or making it into a game (“how fast can I get it done,” etc.) certainly helps. I remember Tony Robbins once said, “Achievers turn what most people hate into things that they love,” and it’s so true. No one really likes to do paperwork, run on a treadmill, or eat fruits and vegetables (at least I don’t), but that doesn’t mean you can’t spice them up so they are more easy and enjoyable!
- Meditate and/or do affirmations everyday. Yoga doesn’t work for me, but meditating and affirmations do. I have a book of affirmations from Louise Hay, and I use it daily. The best days I’m waking up, stretching, meditating, and doing affirmations before I leave my bedroom, and doing some meditation and affirmations before I go to sleep at night. It’s awesome.
- Take deep breaths. Remember life is not an emergency. Nor is it a race to the end. Nor is life a competition of accumulation of relationships or money or things — after all, you can’t take any of it with you when you die. Most of the crises that you think will happen never will, and most of the unfortunate things that happen turn out to be blessings in disguise if you let them. Life is about the journey and making the most out of as many of the moments as you can, as cliche as that may sound.
- Stop analyzing everything. I used to have certain ages by which I had to be married, own a home, start a business…the list goes on. But life is not a race to see who can have the longest or most impressive resume. I had to learn that the hard way. Sometimes it’s comforting to know it’s best to relax and let life unfold at the exact time it is meant to. Most of the blessings in my life were things I never planned for, like getting married last year.
In short, just be. You don’t have to be anything. You don’t have to do anything. You have nothing to prove to anyone. You are enough, right here and in this moment.
Love,
Nicki