When things are not going our way we humans can have a tendency to focus on the urgent not the important.

Here are 8 things I do to help me regain mental clarity and focus on what’s important.

1. Get quiet and take time to renew my spirit:  In The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey tells a story that demonstrates the need for rest, refreshment, renewal and re-awakening in our lives: You come upon a man in the woods feverishly sawing down a tree. “You look exhausted!” you exclaim. “How long have you been at it?” “Over five hours,” he replies, “and I’m beat. This is hard.” “Maybe you could take a break for a few minutes and sharpen that saw. Then the work would go faster.” “No time,” the man says emphatically. “I’m too busy sawing.”
2. Get alone: I truly love being around people, especially the fun loving type, but I find that being alone gives me the power to regulate and adjust my life.  My favorite thing to do is to head out to Valley Green take a walk along a trail and find a nice big rock to lay on and reflect.
3. Read my plan:  It’s easy to get off track.  But I find that when I write my plan down I can go back to it and remember why I’m doing what I’m doing.
4. Remember my blessings:  When every thing seems to be going wrong sometimes I start to fret.  I’ve worked hard to develop a discipline of focusing on what’s going right instead of what’s going wrong.
5. Take a hot shower:  One of my favorite things to do to pamper myself is to turn on the hot water, close the bathroom door and allow the bathroom to fill with steam.  I get in the shower strike a few yoga poses, and then sit and breathe deep for a half hour or so.  I’ve emptied my 50 gallon hot water tank on a number of occasions doing this. I find that this helps me to unwind and clear my thinking.  The idea for this very post came during such a session.
6. Meditate:  I picked up the habit of meditating last year after reading Russell Simmons book Super Rich: A Guide to Having It All.  Meditating has been scientifically proven to improve over all health.  I find that even after a short 20 minute session I can regain mental clarity.
7. Take a walk: Both Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were advocates of walking walking to clear their heads.  Today medical professionals know that walking improves focus and clarity by delivering oxygen to the brain which keeps thoughts clear and focused and increases creativity. I get many of the ideas for my blog post while on a walk.  When something comes to mind I take out my iPhone and either record what I’m thinking or jot it down in the notes section.
8. Take a nap: Both Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison were nappers.  In fact Einstein dreamed the Theory Of Relativity and then set out to prove it.  This alone speaks volumes to the benefits that sleeping has on our mental capacity.  Scientist now know that while you are sleeping your brain works to put together the puzzles you couldn’t solve during waking hours.  I find that I’m the most creative when I first awake in the morning.  Most of the writing I do for the blog is done between the hours of 6 and 9 am.  I’ve recently committed to daily napping since discovering I suffer from sleep deprivation