YOU Make Success Happen!
‘Know Thyself’ And Give Yourself A Fighting Chance
When I left school in 1990 I started working for my carpenter uncle who offered to train me up in the dark arts of carpentry.
He had a small workshop which was within the large Britannia Iron Works factory building.
The Britannia Iron Works building was originally the home to Marshall, Sons & Co, a huge engineering company that built steam engines and agricultural machinery in the late 1800s.
The company no longer exists and the building was divided up and rented out to multiple companies.
Today it is a retail park with a lot of the building flattened to make a central carpark.
Back in 1990, my uncle’s workshop was one of several large arched alcoves which were originally used to store coal to power the engines.
The stores were originally open so that people could easily access the coal but when converted into workshops they had lockable doors added to them.
I’ve no idea why I am telling you all of this… but I am.
I remember one of the workshops a few doors down was a furniture maker who was hardly ever there.
I also remember my uncle telling me that on the rare occasion the furniture maker was in his workshop and he stopped to briefly chat with him, he always reeked of booze.
I believe his wife had left him and his business was struggling and so I guess he turned to alcohol to help him cope.
Shit Happens!
Today, I woke up in a bit of a funk.
I had a terrible headache, my eyes were sore, and I was just feeling a little meh emotionally.
I had spent far too long looking at politics on X before going to bed and I think it got to me a little.
My mood wasn’t the best this morning and I found it hard to get into my work.
So I took myself off for a walk to clear my head.
While out walking I remembered that guy from all those years ago, and it got me thinking about how it can all spiral out of control when things go wrong.
I wasn’t feeling great today but at least I went out for a walk instead of hitting the bottle.
I‘m considering removing the X app from my phone so I cannot get lost in political doom scrolling.
It’s all very depressing.
Avoiding anything that makes you moody is not just a good idea for your emotional wellbeing, it is good for productivity… and more importantly, survival.
I cannot say too much about the furniture maker’s circumstances, but hitting the bottle only made things a whole lot worse.
Alcohol may numb the pain, but it meant that he was too drunk to:
Work his machines.
Make furniture.
Make phone calls.
Look for customers.
When you are spiralling out of control, putting yourself in a position where you cannot function is the worst thing you can do.
It can be stupidly hard to pull yourself up and get to work when everything seems to be against you or your world is crashing down around you, but you have a greater chance of survival if you do.
The alternative is to give in and turn to chemicals or seek pleasure to numb the pain… but it only ever makes the situation worse.
Choose Success
Personality may play a part, but we all have the ability to make decisions and choose what we do each and every day.
We choose how we respond to how we react to whatever situation or mood we find ourselves in.
Success in life is not just from doing, mindset and awareness are fundamental, too.
You have to DO and also KNOW and be AWARE.
You need to know who you are and what your triggers are.
You need to know how you react to certain situations.
If something is not good for you… avoid it as much as you can.
I know that not getting a decent night’s sleep affects my day and so I ensure that I have at least 8hrs of sleep each night.
I know that eating after 8 pm usually affects my sleep and so I avoid it.
There are a lot of things that I can do which would be incredibly destructive… and so I avoid them to give myself a fighting chance.
If I didn’t, everything could spiral out of control and success is the last thing I will be experiencing.
I don’t generally go for Christian teachings, even though I went to a CoE primary School and attended Sunday School a few times, I much prefer Buddhist philosophy, but one of my favourite core beliefs is…
“Know Thyself!”
For me, that is just vital.
To succeed, you must know who you are and how your body and mind works in most if not all situations and circumstances.
You must know what you can control and change, and what you cannot.
Success comes from within, it is a reflection of what is going on inside of you and inside of your life.
So, I shall end today’s article with… if you don’t yet know yourself… make time to learn!
If you would like to know more about me and what I do, come over and join my community here: The Freedom Skills Academy,
Until next time.
Have a great day.
Andi
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