Human Phoenix

This little note started as a self planner, I had one thing in mind when I started and that was: I must change.

The reason was; I felt that little spark of motivation and energy was dimming. I observed myself submitting to laziness, slacking, procrastinating and in general feeling psychologically stale, a mind which resembles bread when it has been left out too long, it goes dull gray, dry and lifeless. Perhaps even with colourful fungal colonies sprouting here and there. But under this musty, crumbly mass, there is a deep desire to become rejuvenated.

The first step is awareness that you are in this state. This is not easy; when you have spent so long in monotonous ways, depressive thoughts and sluggish souls, it’s not so easy to see what’s under your nose, let alone see the staleness that lies in the crevices of your being. Now that I’m aware, I’m 50% done!

What an optimistic start!

I would spend endless hours thinking to myself…what on earth am I doing with my life?!

I’m not going to blame anyone or anything (including my medical career); I will blame myself for all my shortcomings.

Wouldn’t it be interesting to take an exam at the end of the year all about ‘evaluating just how much your life is decayed?’

The first question would be: enumerate 5 ways you have been an absolute slug (i.e. limp and useless)

Number one would be; having the thought ‘I know I should change, but I don’t know how and anyways, I’m too busy for that now I have ‘so and so’ to do and ‘so and so’ to talk to etc…

A close second would be: feeling the ability to erupt with potential, yet having too much inertia to get up and GO.

It’s frustrating when you feel that you’ve got something awesome inside you, yet for some reason you can’t identify what it is and/or you can’t get it OUT.

It’s one heck of a bottle neck, this phrase is nice because it’s very illustrative.

You know those Heinz ketchup bottles? the sauce is glued to the base, the bottle neck is narrow and when you shake the bottle attempting to push the gooey mass onto your chips, it often fails. Even thought YOU KNOW there is ketchup in there, nothing is coming out. If the bottle was not transparent, you would have thrown it away thinking it was empty.

Your potentials are the ketchup, the bottle and the neck are the way you convey and express your potentials. How long do you keep shaking your self in order to get those potentials out? And how transparent are you to SEE that you really do possess potential?

If your bottle is opaque and you fear from facing your self, you’ve probably thrown the bottle a long time ago.

But hang on, there are MANY bottles out there, I mean if you threw the ketchup bottle, you’ve got lots of stuff to use like anchovy sauce bottles, vinegar bottles even cologne bottles to use with your chips.

Anyhow, let’s get serious. Awareness is number one. It takes time and thought and seriousness. The best method I’ve come across is the SWOT analysis. This is a technique businesses use to assess their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, this helps the business:

         ·            To become aware of and utilize their strengths to gain increased profit, market segment etc…

         ·            Realize their weaknesses so as to adopt the appropriate techniques to strengthen themselves in these faculties.

         ·            Realize their opportunities, so they can effectively plan for the future.

         ·            Detect the threats, allowing them to strategize, take precautions and adopt protective or eliminative mechanisms to overcome or avoid the threats.

This is smart right?

We can do this together and I bet you, after it, you’ll feel significantly more aware about yourself and your life. Sure, it may be hard to come up with enough and encompassing statements to write under each member of SWOT, but once you begin you’ll be one your way.

STRENGTHS: what am I good at? What have I done well consistently in my life? What do I love naturally? What do people most complement me about? Where do I feel most comfortable? What situations do I seem to take hold and feel good? Am I a budding scientist/musician/photographer/footballer/business man or woman etc*? Who are the amazing people in my life that add strength to me? What people add inspiration, constructive criticism, and positive feedback to my actions?

*forget ANY rules here; just flow with your mind, just for once.

WEAKNESSES: what subjects/fields have I found myself struggling in consistently? What do I feel weak and inadequate in? What kind of problems am I facing? What depresses me most? What things do I do, and I often feel guilty and miserable after it?

What skill do I see in those around me, yet I seem to lack? What do others say to me regarding my weaknesses?

How can I invigorate my weaknesses, turning them to neutral or to become strengths?

OPPORTUNITIES: if I cultivate a certain talent of mine, how much could it potentially benefit my life? Can I take a certain course/participate in an activity/travel somewhere/talk to someone etc about some thing that could positively impact my life and my career? What do I want my future to look like? What kind of person/ people would I want to be in my life? (Choice of friends, future partner *I mean marriage is a potential opportunity and then benefit (however if not chosen correctly it could be a threat then weakness ha-ha)

How can I make the BEST of every day?

THREATS: what are the things in my life that could potentially pull me down? (E.g. bad friends, bad partner, bad attitude), what are the things/habits/misconceptions I have that could damage my health/relationship with others/future? Who are the people in my life whom are a major source of negativity?

How can I protect myself from those threats and strategize to minimalise them?

Sit down at your own comfort, answer each question (and make up ones of your own). Write it down, this is a MUST. To wipe over all this dust in the sulci of you brain, you gotta physically WRITE IT.

SWOT analysis is just a start. The rest comes from the answers to your questions.

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only earthling to feel the need to change, or rather, rejuvenate!

To clear out the negative misconceptions and thoughts of laziness

To plan ahead with full determination

To RADIATE with energy

To find a good reason to wake up every morning

To help others realize themselves through you

To treat failure as a form of feedback

Finally, those who choose to take the journey of self development, then I say hop onto this boat. You can be the human phoenix!

Your past self is burnt in ashes

You’re now a new bird, in the freshness of youth, power and energy

An emblem of immortality and hope to the world…that’s the human phoenix.

A phoenix is a mythical bird with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet . It has a 500 to 1000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix arises, reborn anew to live again...

It is an emblem of immortality and of change. The past turns to ashes and a new soul and a new future begins