You get out what you put in

A little bit of Monday motivation for you.

It is a very simple concept that parents, teachers, coaches and others will have tried to tell us over the years.

Stripped down to its simplest form and you can say “excellent output comes from excellent input”, and likewise “bad output comes from bad input”.

The input can of course be many different things….. time, experience, focus, dedication, effort, sweat, laughs and tears.

But to encompass all of these I will call it attitude. The way in which we approach any task.

I have previously written about the importance of “play” in our actions, citing the book “homo ludens”.

For those who regularly read the dog blog you will also be familiar with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and his work on Flow State.

By changing your attitude and your perception of menial tasks to play and fun, you can transform the way in which you appreciate life.

Let me take for example a dog walk in the rain and dark. Do you approach the dog walk as yet another task which must be fulfilled in your busy life? Or do you approach a dog walk, even to the local park, as an adventure to be had.

Everyone has the choice on whether they use this time to listen to a podcast, check work emails or social media, etc ….. or they can give one on one attention to their dogs to create a deeper and more meaningful bond.

Remember that if you are lucky your dog will be your best friend for 10 to 15 years of your life… But you will be their best friend for the entirety of their life.

Doggies: Aya, Baileys, Ellie, My, Haraka and Lucy (2 walkers)