Last year the owner of a Recruitment Company asked me to write some applications for an award they went for and when I was day dreaming recently I was wondering what it would be like to write a regular blog for them.
A potential blog I thought of was for students which could be called “How to start building your career now.” One of the first pieces of advice in it would be to develop people skills because no matter what profession you’re in you have to deal with another person on some level. So it’s kind of important to be able to communicate with and sell yourself to others.
Got me to thinking about the most important person we need to sell ourselves to.
Ourselves.
Looking at the levels of obesity, stress, general lack of health etc around the world today it is hard to believe that many people have made that sale.
As I write this blog, I’m sitting in a Starbucks and people outside are rushing to work. With casual observance of a lot of postures and faces, it is clear that very few of them have sold themselves on the importance of good movement and stretching to look after their muscles and joints or the importance of morning meditation to help them start the day right and have their mind-set in the right place.
Check out the increase of Diabetes and Obesity worldwide and you’ll see the facts on how people don’t like themselves enough to eat healthily (plenty of veg, lean proteins, fruits etc) and get some regular exercise – even 30 minutes 3 to 4 times a week of resistance and conditioning type work would make a huge difference.
Practically everyone walking past Starbucks either has phone plugged into their ears or is looking down at one. Makes me wonder how many people these days sell themselves on the importance of real communication with other people and being part of a community in bigger cities. The lack of real human contact that some people get these days is apparently starting to cause problems with “loneliness diseases” causing a lack of things like oxytocin (a hormone) being released.
I could keep going with ways that people don’t look after themselves properly and the consequences but I’m sure you get my drift.
Anyone who knows me would be right in saying that at times I need to make a better sale to myself on some of the things above – and they would be right. However I try. Last year I was at a yoga class to help clear my mind and get me away from the gym for a few hours one afternoon and the class quote struck a chord with me:
“We are only guaranteed two breaths in our lifetime. The first and the last. Everything else in between is a gift to be cherished.”
Or something along those lines anyway. Think I’ll try and make one up now to finish this blog post:
“We are only guaranteed to spend all our time with one thing and one person in our lives. Our body and ourselves. So may as well take time to make that sale to ourselves and look after and cherish both.”
Profound in Starbucks this morning…