Barrybran - Yet Another Thread

[Barrybran]

I've read about that idea in a few places now. I'd love to try it but I have two problems with it: 1) how I come across to people; and 2) making genuine compliments.

I'm torn about a lot of things such as this because of how I come across to people. Do I try it and hope it works out? Do I work on my communication first before tackling things like this? Those are the kinds of questions I'm dealing with. Basically, whether I prioritise personal development before focusing on others or whether I tackle everything in one go and hopefully I get good at everything eventually.

The second one, making genuine compliments, I covered in another thread. I feel people have a natural bullsh!t detector and I feel just finding something nice to say about someone can be misconstrued and hence taken as pursuing. I could be wrong but that's my interpretation of it so far. I've tried to detach while being more aware of my surroundings and I've had the opportunity to compliment on my wife on quite a few things lately, appearance-related and not, that were genuine because I'm not focusing on giving her compliments.

So to answer your question, yes, I'm up for an experiment but I honestly don't feel as though I'm ready in terms of personal growth.

As for the gym, we're coming out of summer so I'll be potentially working out in a very cold shed. There is space in the spare bedroom if I need to bring it inside but I feel that part of my personal challenge is growing some balls and doing what's right rather than slinking back into my comfort zone. Yes, my wife is my motivation but I've been motivation deprived for much of my life so I'll take whatever motivation I can get. In saying that, I love the idea of having time by myself, in my own home but away from my wife and kids, music blaring and pumping away and seeing the results in the mirror. I'm not a vain person but everyone has some degree of vanity and I can see some results coming through from my gym work despite the stop/start nature of my gym work to date.