I need my Dings — don’t you?

Moreover, what you do with your Dings may have more impact on your happiness and effectiveness than all the other things you do — combined.

But what are Dings?

You may have noticed while reading my blog that I enjoy writing. And one of the ways I enjoy writing each day is to sit down with Hermes 2000, shown in the picture above. And while you may not be able to see what excellent shape Hermes is in for his 58 years, what’s especially cool about him is that when we get to the end of a line of text, across the length of his Platen, Hermes gives me an atta boy — with a Ding.

So what do Dings do?

Well, if you’re at all familiar with these wonderful old writing instruments called typewriters, then you’ll remember that distinct sound that they make. And yes — every bell is different. Because each typewriter has its own unique sound. But even more than the bell itself, what I want to expand upon here is our notion of what Dings actually are — and what they do. Because the power of these little bells of mindfulness will blow your mind.

Here’s a famous Ding.

OK. So it’s a metaphore.

Because you heard the Dings in that song. And what those little ringing sounds do is to say — “Way to go. You’ve completed enough words to merit a new line. So celebrate! And let’s keep going.” Which is really what I want to talk about here. Because Dings are a metaphor for how we break up our days. Meaning — all too often we go through our days without enough breaks. And without enough encouragement. So we end up plowing through without a rhythm of hard work combined with a celebration of small wins. And without celebrating your small wins, it’s much more difficult to have as much impact as you’d like to have.

So celebrate your small wins. And keep going.

Because small wins and atta boys (A.K.A, dings) have the power to keep you going with a renewed sense of accomplishment. And encouragement. Not to mention the energy you need for what comes next. For example: I’ve been typing this post for about 45 minutes now. And not a single ding. And goodness knows — I need my dings. Don’t you?

So here’s one small thing you can do today.

Want to go deeper?

Because as a men’s life coach, I work with men every day who, like you, want to have a bigger impact. And feel better at the end of the day. So if you’d like to go deeper, drop me a line at mark@marknewtonpdx.com. And I’ll be in touch to help you get focused, and to get moving again.

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