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Tag: David Delp

What’s Your New Year’s Ritual?

Double Joy

Double Joy, photo by Mary Gow

This a continuation from my most recent post which was David Delp’s talk about connecting with what’s important. He has invented the Attentionometer, which will help you take a look at where your units of attention are going.

Delp said that he welcomes every new year with the same ritual. He meets with a group of friends who write out what happened over the past year, what they were embarrassed about, what they were proud of, and then they burn it. And then, they eat.

After the meal there’s one more step. They write what they want for the coming 12 months and complete the sentence “Before I die, I want to.” How to complete such a big question? Delp suggested looking at the roles we play in life, for example, “Before I die, as a father, I want to help my daughter find her strength.”

“Before I die I want to know my oldest brother,” Delp shared. And he said here is where we can look at one small thing to do, and the resonance comes from the tiny things. Delp said he made the small step and called his oldest brother.

So what are five things you want to do before you die?

My next post will talk about Delp’s Attentionometer.

David Delp on Connecting with What’s Important

Focusing
The energy of the new year inspired me to attend a zealous talk given by David Delp about connecting with what’s important.

A designer by trade and an artist by heart, Delp is creative director of Designing a Balanced Life. He teaches a 10 week course of the same title at a local college and has invented the Attentionometer and The Game of Goals. (See future postings for more about the Attentionometer and information about his upcoming workshop).

“Goals don’t make us happier. What we really want is feeling immersed in something important to us,” said Delp. He referred to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book, Flow.

“Our attention is our most precious resource. Yet we give it freely to strangers who also take our time, money and energy and give little back. Learn to focus your attention and everything else will follow. Learn to lose yourself doing something you care about, and the world is yours again.”

What we are striving for is resonance. And Delp said resonance is when our hearts line up with our minds. Our breath is what gets our hearts connected to our minds. So we took a long pause and a deep breath.

Read my next posting for more of David Delp’s inspirational talk.

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