Chaos is a friend of mine

“I accept chaos, I’m not sure whether it accepts me.” ~ Bob Dylan

Unlike Mr Zimmerman (aka Bob Dylan, for those unaware of his birth name), I am actually pretty confident that chaos has indeed accepted me; more than that, it seems to seek me out whenever I attempt to plan, organise or put some semblance of order on things. Perhaps I should not be surprised as I have long had a fascination for the mathematics of chaos, the striking imagery of fractal geometry, and the possibility of chaos being the true “natural order of things”.

Chaos seems most prone to mounting an attack whenever I lay out plans in both a business and personal development context. Conversely, I have long felt that I achieve far more, and reach greater heights when I simply “go with the flow”. Talking to others it would seem that I am not alone in this; perhaps these words resonate with you as you read them?

Uncommon Sense

Do you feel uncomfortable with much of the standard, popular advice out there? Do the concepts of planning and organisation leave you cold? Do you start to doubt yourself, or your abilities, because you can’t crack the “getting organised” thing?

I know I do, and I’m also pretty sure that it’s wrong for me to feel bad about it!

People are wired up differently, it’s part of what makes life so interesting, and so it is not unreasonable to expect some people to respond well to lists, plans and schedules, and for others to go stone cold at the very thought of the same. Yet the more you read, the more of the same advice you get over and over again.

When it seems like the whole world is telling you to plan, schedule and be organised with pin-point military precision, it is no wonder that us chaotic types feel a push to “conform”. At the very least you can start to feel that your dreams are beyond you, because you’re not “cut out” for it.

Dare to Differ

Just because one section of the world’s population has found meticulous planning and scheduling to be of benefit to them, it doesn’t mean YOU have to follow the same pattern. Try it, if it feels natural to you then that’s great. However, if it feels “wrong” then continuing down that path can lead to a heightened sense of frustration and can be very counter-productive.

Perhaps for you a more “intuitive” approach is required. While you will still need to keep some kind of “to do” list, track the progress of projects and so on, you have every right to find your own solution, and your own way of working.

Embrace The “Chaos”

When you feel the frustration building, stop for a moment and analyse what the source of that frustration is. You will often find that these feelings stem from the fact that you’re pushing yourself in an “alien” direction. It is at these moments that you may find great benefit in simply letting go, tackling things intuitively and going with the flow. More often than not, at least in my experience, this will then be rewarded by a period of productivity, success or progress. You will also notice that the frustration that was building up inside, melts away and is soon forgotten.

Now I know that this is going to seem like heresy to many; that’s fine, stick to what works for YOU. This is what we should all aim to do – use whatever systems, approaches or techniques do the job for ourselves, no matter what works or doesn’t work for others. We are, after all, unique individuals with unique needs and perspectives.

Timely Messages

It’s funny how things can come to your attention at just the right time isn’t it? As I was pondering the topic of this post, over the past couple of weeks, a couple of blog posts have arrived in my inbox. Both are from Leo Babauta’s Zen Habits blog, and cover different, though related topics.

The first relates to the idea of discipline and how we get wound up in the belief that discipline is the key.

The second gets into the concept of control, and how we don’t really have any

For me, both articles contain highly relevant and timely messages, I suspect they may have similar value to my fellow dwellers in the realm of chaos and I thoroughly recommend reading them!

Yours, chaotically
Gaz