Staying Grounded

Grounded.  The word has lots of meanings, some good some bad.  When you are a kid and your parents ground you, it is considered a bad thing, but when you are an adult and you are looking to feel “grounded” it means you are putting down stakes for what is important in your life, and being firmly grounded makes things more fortified or focused.  With us moving towards the school year and the looseness of summer coming to a close, feeling grounded is something to look forward to in figuring out a more structured approach to life.

Being grounded that takes place when you are a child could be a good thing, as it helps to press the reset button on bad behavior and provides time needed to consider how to move forward in a more positive and constructive way. Looking at it as a punishment is shortsighted because whether or not you are a child or an adult, or at any stage in your life, being grounded means to stop and focus on what you should be doing instead of just doing the things out of habit.  

Speaking of habit, I recently listened to a great book on Audible titled “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. It puts into perspective all the things we do on a regular basis, good or bad, and helps to refine the good habit we have, and guides us on how to let go of the poor habits. It is a simple approach that doesn’t have the big GOAL or WIN at the end of the process, so it allows for less failure and hopelessness along the way.  Mr. Clear use of the word atomic is significant in that we can build additional good habits on the what may seem like very small insignificant habits.  

On my morning walks around the neighborhood, I often listen to the podcast “It’s a Good Life” with Brian Buffini.  He is Irish, so I love listening to his accent.  He started out as a realtor, then built a realtor coaching business, but now with this particular podcast, it delves into more than just real estate, so everyone could benefit from his principles.  On one recent episode of “It’s a Good Life” Buffini interviewed Rick Pastoor who wrote a book called “Grip, The Art of Working Smart”. I have read the majority of this book, but want to go back and read it and apply his techniques as I think they help build on “Atomic Habits”, and put it into practical applications of how to work smarter.  This book is helpful for those of us who feel like a hostage of our to-do lists and struggle to find time for what matters most.

There are quite a few more books and podcasts that I like to listen to for personal and professional growth.  I realized when I had fallen out of the habit of walking our dog every day, I also fell out of the habit of listening to a podcast or book, and really missed both of those activities of mental and physical health. Thankfully, we are back at our morning walks and podcast listening!

These days, when everything is flying at us at warp speed, and with little sound bites here and nuggets of information there, it takes a lot of energy to stay focused on the little things that add up to important things.  Taking the magnifying glass and looking inward at what fortifies us, makes us authentic, and allows us to stand firm in who we are is paramount.  I think that is why summer is helpful in its looseness so that the relaxation can give us time to reflect and rebuild, so when school and life become busy again, we hopefully have the tools to know what to say yes or no to, be present in the activities you commit to, and feel energized, even with the littlest steps or atomic habit.