What’s Your Normal?
Am I judging drinkers? Nope. I’m talking about me, nobody else. My rules, my standards, my behaviour, my normal. Am I against alcohol? Nope. Am I against excessive drinking? Of course; I’m against excessive anything. In fact this article is not about alcohol or my sobriety; it’s about behaviours, standards, choices and outcomes. It’s about what we choose to do with what we’ve got; how we manage US. Or don’t manage us, as the case may be. The beauty of being rational, logical, educated adults is that you and I have the opportunity to create our own standards and rules; what is normal for you and me. We have the freedom and ability to create a productive, constructive and healthy version of normal, or we can do the opposite (consciously or not) and create an unhealthy, destructive version. Every single day we have the opportunity to change our standards (the way we think, choose, react, behave, produce, live) and to create a ‘new and improved’ normal for ourselves. Some of us have been living an unhealthy version of normal for far too long and it’s time for us to create a new, more effective and drastically different normal (that is, standard) if we are serious about creating better outcomes in our world over the long term (our lifespan). A normal that will enable us to live a more balanced, more fulfilled, happier, productive and healthier life. Or perhaps a normal that will allow us to… live. Full stop.
If, like me, you’re a person who wants to maximise your potential, live your dreams, overcome your fears, break those destructive habits and behaviours, lose the stinking thinking and create amazing and exceptional outcomes on a consistent basis, then it could be time for you to create a new normal; a normal that will stretch you physically, creatively, professionally, academically, psychologically, emotionally and spiritually. A normal that will lift you up, not drag you down. A normal that will take you out of the group mentality, the pack thinking, the mediocre mindset and the undesirable outcomes. A normal that will enable you to become a better version of you.
Create a new normal.
Ciao x
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{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Craig
That’s fantastic. I need to stop talking crap, procrastinating, over-thinking, under-doing and GET ON WITH IT (with ‘it’ being to create new standards for myself, and creating different and amazing). Since it is now 9:30pm, it’ll have to wait till tomorrow though!!! I really think this post needs to lead to a 28 day challenge (reminder!).
Jules
Hi Craig,
I have been in the process of doing just this and getting good results too!!
I am feeling more positive despite my kids doing stupid things (really stupid – don’t ask!!!) and bringing me down.
I have done a non-negotiable list for me to help me achieve my best potential.
Have an awesome day,
Hugs
Michelle xx
I think the hardest thing for me to embrace is that my ‘normal’ isn’t anyone else idea of normal… there may be cases where a few people and myself think alike, have the same ideals… but we all variate at some point.
But I’ve accepted that this is OK. My normal is good for me… if someone else sees it as ‘abnormal’ thinking then too bad… I gave up trying to fit in with everyone else a long time ago.
sometimes I need to remind myself that it’s OK to go my own way, and today your post has nudged me and given my that reminder again…
ta muchly, and here’s to a New Normal!
()
Geeez you’re bossy Jules…
( )
As long as your normal is in allignment with your core values then you’re on the right track Annie… ( )
Setting new standards for yourself is about raising the bar higher and expecting more too, isn’t it Craig? Set it low and that’s what you’ll get from most stuff you do. Set it higher and you’ll get more out of life.
*By the way, I honestly was about to go to sleep when I wrote that last night. I wasn’t procastinating!
Thankyou for this! Great post:)
Hi Craig
Thanks for the very timely post.
A week and a half ago, I decided to not drink again until Christmas Day – just to be a bit healthier, really.
Anyway, the weekend was a bit of a challenge because in one day I went to a Champagne High Tea, a beautiful Victorian cocktail lounge and dinner with a bunch of winesnobs.
Besides a few remarks that I might be pregnant (I’m sure you get that all the time) nothing really happened! I still had a good time and I felt great the next morning. It’s very tempting to make this a permanent thing.
Could it really be this easy to create a new ‘normal’?
epiphanygirl
Hi Craig
I understand the concept of your article. I have my ‘normality’ in my head. When two people are beating different drums, it is impossible to create ‘normality’. They want’normal’ I want normality.
Sometimes your posts make me laugh out loud like a madwoman possessed at my desk – and other times you hit home so accurately it is like being slapped in the face! I am the queen of the pity party – poor old hard done by single mum me. Got to suck it up and make the ‘normal’ me a better version!
Hellen
Hi Craig
productive, constructive and healthy that’s what I want to be. That’s what I want my family to be…….and my friends….maybe.
Getting there, and reading your articles over the last week or so is providing guidance.
Awesome , let’s you and I keep amazing happening.
have a great day.
Ian
My friend Sherryl was at your get-together last week, and today she Skyped to talk about your column. (I’m in the States.) We are slugging through to find and create a new normal. We act like our lives are set in cement and simply don’t see the choices under our very noses every minute. Keep challenging us!
Kristi Holl
Writer’s First Aid blog
Yes it is Jules… ( )
Change the internal and the external will follow epiphanygirl… ( )
It’s only hard when we make it hard…
Hi Anon
Your normal means your standards, behaviours, choices and thinking in relation to your (personal) situation..
Get busy Hellen ( )
Hi Kristi – normal is what we make it to be… ( )
Hey Craig ! You know what really gripes me… we go out with friends and I get asked what I’m drinking. I say “I’m fine thanks, I have my water”, which very often provokes a horrified look and… “but you need a drink to relax” !! No, I don’t need a drink to relax, thank you very much. I rarely drink alcohol… (maybe a couple of times a year I might have a glass of something that tastes like lolly water) and I certainly don’t need it to relax. To me, beer is yucky and wine tastes like vinegar… only much stronger. So I get told… “but you have to acquire a taste for it.” WHY ????!!!! Why should I try to acquire a taste for something I don’t like, that is also not good for me ??? And why do people keep telling me that red wine is good for me and I should be drinking it every day ? Yeah, I’ve read that stuff too… and I’d rather get my antioxidants from dark chocolate, thank you very much !!
{{HUG}}
Tina
Normal schnormal. It’s not really a word I want people to use to describe me .. and certainly not a restriction I want to put on myself. I care more about feeling like ME than feeling normal. Or more specifically, feeling that my choices and decisions are being true to my core – my soul, my heart, my spirit, my gut.
So the more feedback I get about how NOT normal I am, the more I know I’m on track to making my life extraordinary.
Yesterday I found out that while my mother now says all the “right” things to ME (and I thought I’d finally convinced her that I knew what I was doing!), my sister reveals that she (my mother) now voices her concerns about me to her (my sister)! Small steps for most, I guess. This is one of the hardest things, I find – having to continually explain or justify your decisions/choices to those that love you (and worry about you).
Hi guys, I’m new here! But have been enjoying the voyeuristic approach of reading your posts for a while.
Sue
Hi Craig:
Great post as always! I used to work with a guy who did not drink. Based on conversations I had with him, he took a lot of crap from people (including his friends) because he chose not to drink. While, I do have an occasional drink with my dinner, I know that drinking is not my thing…it basically puts me to sleep. That being said, I need to cut down my drinking in certain social situations and not be so concerned about “fitting in.”
Thanks again for your post today.
Tim