I’ve been listening to an audio program in my car that I find really helpful, presented a coach named Jim Fannin. Take a 7-minute break to listen to this YouTube video that explains the technique as it can be applied to family relationships.
This is just an introduction to a program with several other simple, effective techniques that Jim teaches. These are techniques that can be used in just about any situation, whether you are being cut off in traffic (grrrr), relating to others at home or at work, improving health and losing weight, or managing people and running a business.
One of the key points he makes on the first CD of this series is that the average person has 2500 or more thoughts each day, while peak performers have fewer thoughts, maybe 1000 or 1500. That seems paradoxical, doesn’t it? But in reality we are bombarded with a constant flow of interruptions and distractions: traffic noise, the ping from email, text messages, phone calls, knocks on the office door, and the biggest distraction of all – our own wayward thoughts, many of them dwelling on the negative. If we can take 90-second breaks to “breathe like a baby” and to “re-boot our minds” as Jim suggests, we are then able to control our emotions and focus our efforts more effectively.
Try it – it works. It slows down the merry-go-round of contemporary life and thus prevents the mental and emotional “dizziness” that can accompany coping with constant change.
You can find the 90 Second Rule Audio Program on Jim’s website, at the Nightingale Conant website, or on Amazon. I find Jim a compelling teacher, perhaps similar to Jim Rohn, a great teacher and one of my all-time favorite business philosophers.
Rohn said, “Either you run the day or the day runs you. “ Jim Fannin’s program provides you with a handy toolbox of techniques to manage your daily life more effectively.