“Is it plugged in? 🔌 - Graham Wardle Newsletter - Issue #2
Graham Wardle
Have you ever over complicated your life? Made a situation more difficult than it needed to be?
Is it actually possible to simplify your life and accomplish and receive more?
Would a quick dishwasher test help you see what’s really going on and make sure you’re on the right path?
It doesn't work! 😡
“It’s broken, it’s dead, it always does this to me!”
Have you ever experienced that situation where your computer just won’t do what you want it to? No matter how many times you try, it just won’t cooperate. I sure have!
My father worked as a technical repairman for most of my life. He would often come home at night and tell stories around the dinner table of his daily adventures and mysteries that he solved.
One of the many nuggets of wisdom I’ve learned from all his stories is the value of keeping things simple and not over complicating one’s work.
After my father patiently listened to the customer explain all the ways in which they attempted to get their device to work my father would start by asking, “Is it plugged in?”
And very often, it wouldn’t be.
These were my favourite stories. Sometimes the solution is right in front of us but our mind won’t let us see it.
Keep things simple.
First Things First
Wax On, Wax Off - The Karate Kid (2/8) Movie CLIP (1984) HD
I see the root of these frustrations with life all coming back to the need to master the fundamentals of our daily life. In the clip from “The Karate Kid” above you can see how Mr. Miyagi conditions Daniel to create a solid foundation for his practice of Karate. You must put first things first for any pursuit to be sustainable in the longterm. I know for myself, I would often be quick to dismiss these vital skills and skip ahead.
Burnout always finds those who forget the basics!
What are your fundamentals?
Coffee and a morning bible verse? Lemon water and meditation? Exercise and cold shower?
Practicing the daily self care and improvements can make a world of a difference in the long run. As many wise teachers have explained, the power of the a 1mm shift over the course of your life will lead to an entirely different destination.
A great book that helped me to create long term sustainable habits was, “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. It a nutshell, he explains simple ways to make your positive habits streamlined and your destructive habits inconvenient to continue.
Every so often I will feel disoriented and drained. I ask myself,
“What am I focusing on? Where have I been spending my energy? What fundamentals have I forgotten or need to implement?
Simple checkins like this can be that 1mm shift and realign yourself with the spirit and passion of life.
This has shown me time and time again how I can actually accomplish more by doing less of the unnecessary.
Life is a journey. The 1mm shifts will make a world of difference in the end.
Drained & Frustrated ➡️ Empowered & Driven
I was loading my dishwasher one day and a dish slipped out of my hand. It crashed into the others already in the machine and made an annoyingly loud noise. I was immediately at a level 10 on my frustration scale.
In an instant, I remembered the day before I had something similar happen while loading the dishwashing machine but that time it meant nothing to me.
I stood there confused as to why I was feeling so angry with the dishwasher today and yet wasn’t feeling that at all the day before.
Suddenly the “Dishwasher Test” was born.
What daily activity reflects your inner state of being?
I was now suddenly aware how agitated I was and had no real reason why. I took a moment and reflected on my day and what was going on for me.
By slowing down and paying attention to what was going on inside, I saw the area of my life I had been avoiding and what needed to be done.
I now use my “Dishwasher Test” and other daily repetitive chores as barometers for how I’m really feeling inside and to make sure I’m aligned and taking care of my fundamentals.
It’s a simple point of daily reference for me.
What might yours be? And how can you use it to take a deeper look into what might be going on beneath the surface?
Photo by Jacob Walti
Digital Hygiene
And now for something completely different.
I’m often supporting others with technical assistance and insights to better maneuver our world today when it comes to computers and online life.
One of the challenges we all face now is passwords and keeping our online accounts and data secure.
Visit this website and type in your email and see if it has been compromised in a hacking attack.
If so, the best thing you can do is change your password.
And if that password is used on any other site with that same email change that as well!
Don't use these 🤨🤣
I use the auto password generator with my Apple devices that creates random passwords that are unique for each account. So if one is compromised, I can easily change it without needing to change the passwords on my other accounts.
What is 2FA?
Two passwords are better than one!
The digital world is expanding and like the progression of keys and locks, it is becoming more and more complex.
Just like someone can steal your car keys, our passwords can now be more easily be stolen in a computer hack.
2FA is short for “Two Factor Authentication”.
This is a separate key that works alongside your password. It is normally 6 digits and are randomly generated by an application. I use “Authy” for my 2FA accounts. It’s free and it’s not a Google product.
I try and stay away from Google as much as I can.
Enabling 2FA on your accounts is a wise decision and provides much more confidence when using online platforms.
Bitcoin Wallets
For those that are interested in Bitcoin!
A hardware wallet is like having a big bank safe in your house. This provides the individual with far better security. Centralized points of value (cryptocurrency exchanges) are great targets for thieves.
I use the Ledger Nano for my personal holdings. It has great software for mobile and desktop computers. They walk users through the setup process in a simple and understandable way.
They have built a great reputation for themselves and consequently have also attracted spammers so if you do end up going with Ledger watch out for any emails asking for your passwords.
I personally will rarely click on any links in emails unless I’m 100% sure I know the email is legitimate. If my bank emails me, I just open a new browser window and log in there.
Here is a link to grab your own Ledger Nano if you’re interested 👇🏼
Ledger Nano X - Bitcoin Wallet
Below is a video from my friend Ben Perrin about how to use The Ledger Nano X.
How To Use A Bitcoin Hardware Wallet: Ledger Nano X
Cameo Calls
I’ve had a great weekend chatting with many of you on my 1 on 1 video calls with Cameo.
A cameo call is a live video call with me for either 5 minutes or 10 minutes.
If you join my Cameo Fan Club you can be notified when new spots are available for booking👍🏼
https://www.cameo.com/grahamwardle
Click the button at the top right of the page to “Join Fan Club”
Hope to chat with more of you soon ✌🏼
New Podcast Episode!
Vladislav Sobolev - Episode 018 Time Has Come
Today I have the founder of the Hugs Over Masks organization, Vladislav Sobolev. Vlad is from Kazakhstan and he grew up under the Soviet Union but he now lives in Canada.
That's a wrap!
Thanks for reading the second issue of my newsletter and I hope you enjoyed it thoroughly.
If you are inspired to share this with someone else who may find benefit from it please do.
Thank you for your time and energy🙏🏼
Continued Blessings,
Graham
(If you would like to support my efforts you can do so here, thank you)
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Great newsletter as always!! 😊🙏💜🇦🇺
And if it is plugged in, second question: Have you tried turning it off, and then back on again?