ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS USING A SIMPLE METAPHOR

I had already passed three exams and I needed to pass three more to qualify in my profession. To date I had been taking them one exam every six months. But now (in my wisdom...) I was taking my three remaining exams in three consecutive days!

While studying I was trying to work full time and support my family. 

As the exams drew closer and the size of the workload before me became more apparent. I started to beat myself up for all of my procrastination. The overwhelming fear of failure began to rise up inside me.

Then I remembered an age old expression about facing down overwhelming tasks.

A SIMPLE TRICK TO REDUCE STRESS

When I have approaching work deadlines, a busy home life with my family and study commitments for upcoming exams. My stress levels start to rise and I can feel the anxiety approaching.

Before I let these emotions take control and consume me I like to think of, the pale blue dot.

What is the pale blue dot?

Credit: NASA

If you haven't heard of this description before, the pale blue dot is the Earth, the planet we all live on, for now! The dwelling of everyone we know and have ever known.

The phrase comes from a photo taken by the Voyager 1 space probe which is taken from such a distance that the Earth is only the size of one pixel.

As the scientist Carl Sagan liked to point out, "all of human history has happened on that tiny pixel".

The overwhelming feeling of insignificance that this gives me is empowering. What do these things causing me stress matter? I'll get through them and everything will be fine on the other side. 

To hear Carl Sagan speak about the pale blue dot (link here) will make the hairs on your neck stand up, so if you have a spare three and a half minutes, I highly recommend it.

This is a trick I like to use and it may not work for everyone, some people may not like the feeling of insignificance. But it's a subject you could spend hours contemplating, and I believe you would be cognitively better off for it.

Thanks for reading.