Welcome to Minute with Mallon!

Something I Taught:

A couple of years ago, I reread the book The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson. Besides the Bible, I think it's the only book I've ever read four times. Each of my three sons have read the book and bring up parts of it to me often. It has shaped their thinking in a good way! I've suggested this book to many of my clients and have done book discussions with at least a dozen groups over the years. Everyone loves it.

In one part of the book, Olson talks about what he calls "Happiness Habits." (If you get the book, check out pages 103-105!)

Happiness Habits involve reprogramming your brain through some very simple exercises. "Just simple, fairly mundane, repetitive tasks that are easy to do, and do again, day after day." He gives a list of 5 and explains how to use each.

The one that I liked most was to write down three things that I'm grateful for each day. I began doing this on February 21st, 2021. I've not missed a day since.

Over time, I decided to make some adjustments. I choose to begin tracking three different things:

● 3 things I'm grateful for

● 3 wins or victories that happened that day

● 1 thing I improved that day

And I began calling it the 3x3 Matrix. Here's what it looks like in OneNote:

What has this done for me? And what can it do for you?

Every day at the end of work, I look back over the day and write the answers to these in OneNote. The interesting part is that having maintained this habit for a couple of years now, all day long I’m unconsciously looking for the answers to these three things.

And the best part?

I find them!

Every single day!

This simple habit helps me see that there are great things happening each day! Talk about a morale booster!!!

As we've talked about before in this newsletter, "Our eyes only see and our ears only hear what out brain is looking for!"

So I'm looking for things all through the day. I try to make it a practice of not saying the same things twice. I don't want "It was a sunny day" 300 times this year.

Maybe the biggest ah-ha was the Improve/Gain category. This literally forces me to make at least one improvement to my life, my work, a relationship, etc. Over time, this has really had an impact on all areas of my life.

If you want to discuss this further, text me at 770-906-7397 and we'll set up a few minutes to talk.

Happy to help and share with you!

Something I Learned:

I recently had a profound insight shared by a client, a simple yet powerful technique for fostering open-mindedness:

"When you sense that someone has closed themselves off to an idea, try this: express your awareness that there are multiple approaches to [insert the subject], and then gently inquire if they are willing to explore different perspectives."

This strategy prompts the person you’re speaking with to pause and acknowledge their closed mindset, often leading them to consider alternative viewpoints.

I applied this method in a personal interaction yesterday, and the results were nothing short of remarkable. (No, it wasn't you Sandy! 😆)

Hope this helps!

Something to Ponder:

“Boring means your imagination is broken.”

- Apollo Robbins

Something I Saw:

This was in a Carnivorous Bog Bowl! The plant actually eats bugs!! Not something you see everyday. Saw it over Thanksgiving weekend.

Want to share this issue of 3-2-1 via text, social media, or email? Just copy and paste this link: RobertMallon.com/Newsletter

Hope you have an incredible week!

Robert

Minute With Mallon: Daily Happiness Unlocked: The 3x3 Matrix