A day in the life of Ethan Hunt.
It was Sunday and it had been a busy day. Morning and lunch at the house packing things for the forthcoming removal people who will cart all up to Bonnie Hamilton in Scotland. Then lunch with Muver over from Macclesfield, and finishing off with a coffee with a good friend. Then finishing off with watching Mission Impossible 3, where I can write and not have to think too hard whilst watching the film. Funnily enough I only ever watched the first two films.
I kinda wonder if Ethan Hawk ever stops, and for that matter myself. And Sunday night I was in fact free floating. Nicely relaxed in a warm room whilst Storm Isha leathered the heck out of Manchester. Claire is safe in Mull and I cannot wait to see her at February half term. That said she has said it is a bit wild up there.
So Sunday night and found us and achievement.
As individuals we can forget to look after ourselves, focusing on the job in hand, family, friends, co-workers, employees, the job, the business and so it goes on. That is the nature of successful people I suspect. Over working, over serving, over compensating, over achieving.
Over achieving
I want to focus on this one word - achieving. Let us get back to the absolute basics of the word. But before that what do we mean when we say achieve or we are over achievers? We normally mean it in a ambitions context. That such a person is driven, achieves what they desire and strive for, and in today’s society it comes with status and material gain. But not always. This I argue is the definition as we see it today.
Lifted from Google
So, if the evolution of the word means to bring things to a head, or to use courage , skill, effort to achieve a desired result we can play around with the word and look at Ethan Hunt. Huh?
Over achieving can be looked at in terms of self. What can one achieve? And this also applies to Ethan Hunt and ourselves. What can we achieve as natural over achievers if we look to self? Or the word as not influenced by today’s corruption. Do we have a chance to stop flying about in our own Mission Impossible? Note the word impossible. One Thing that I learnt is that we have volition and can choose to achieve serenity and peace of mind, and in the long run this leads to achievement in other areas as we become balanced in life. Over achievers, and I was one were and are in an impossible situational lifestyle that cannot be sustained. It does not engender true peace of mind or happiness and we chase what society deems achievement.
Why not be an over achiever in terms of doing nothing, nowt, nada, relaxing, chilling, vegetating etc.? The ultimate being happy and developing self.
What does Peter do?
Here is some of what I do to make sure I do have down time, and this list is not mutually exclusive.
Meditation. Never tried it? Have a look at the great and free Insight Timer. You can listen to music, talks, meditations, and search via topics. For example I have enjoyed meditation and talks on OCD from which I suffer from. The App is a great introduction to this area.
Support groups. Talking to people outside of loved ones and friends is vital when it comes to dumping problems, questions, feelings, emotions, resentments into an open forum where others can candidly feedback as to your and others behaviour. Unloading mentally, emotionally, and spiritually is part and parcel of well being. And it leads to growth.
One of the easiest ways in which to access a group is to search via Google or leverage an interest you have. For example I love fell running and can meet people with a similar interest who can become confidants, especially when running ultra races in the wilds. Or just search for “local support group”.
Organisations. Two good ones, and there are many, are Mind and Sane. Now one might think that you need to suffer from mental illness or be nuts to go to these charities. Well, that is incorrect. A lot of well being in today’s society revolves around mental, emotional, and spiritual health.
Outside of these are independent organisations that could be a community café or a Buddhist centre. Point is these are places where you can go for “me” time, time out from the rat race. A good example is Manchester Buddhist Centre.
Reading. An old fashioned method of chilling out, learning, and having down time from your world of being an over achiever. And what’s nice is that you can read books to enhance your own knowledge and growth in you don’t fancy a bodice ripper of a yarn. Lots of books, lots of authors. One I would suggest that helps swap the stress of over achieving for living in the present is Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now.
TV, Radio, and audio. Over achievers don’t have time for TV, radio, or forms of audio. Well they think they don’t and they should. Now I am not suggesting sitting down in front of the idiot box, but what I tend to do is read reviews of what is good to watch and then watch it. I also find that on a separate monitor I can watch a low attention demanding film whilst carrying our a task. Make time via TV if you are not a reader. And have you ever considered being a radio buff? I love Radio 4 and Radio 6. Give Radio a try in a quiet room or when carrying out a task, as it does help you relax. Other audio that I delight in is Audible and it is not the only platform, for example there are Podcasts galore across to on demand content.
These forms offer time out and can now be utilised on a laptop or phone, anytime and anywhere.
Time out is so important and make plans for it.
Exercise. A big one for me but not at the moment and this has been the case for a few weeks. Like all of the above pick and choose for your situation. I am having a rest from exercise in order to not be compulsive and allow me to do other stuff. You see, chilling can be anything you want.
I won’t bore you with the details but I fell run, cycle, and outdoor swim. At the moment it is only the cycling as a means to get to places.
Point is that exercise is an easily consumed down time activity.
Conclusion
I’d always worked and played at frenetic speeds being a professional over achiever, thinking hard work and exercise delivered results and happiness. Wrong, very wrong. You see a true over achiever excels in all areas and that includes self. Modern day over achievers forget this and throw too much into work and other forms as modern society expects. I discovered a more holistic approach to life (see Eastern approaches to spirituality) and started to look at 8am - 6pm working only, and time for me where I could let my mind go adrift from business and status led over achieving. I focused on over achieving for me and took time to sit with me in casual pursuits. It works, it really does.