Midweek! How are we doing on not only taking care of ourselves, but those around us? Just a quick reminder that it takes very little of your energy to be compassionate and encouraging to yourself and others. That little amount of energy can have a great impact on the quality of someone else’s day, but yours as well. As a bonus, the energy we expend is returned to us with the joy we bring to others.
What small thing do you plan on doing for those in your life? One little thing to encourage or inspire someone? Please share with the rest of us!😀
Yesterday was April Fools Day. Often, this day can leave people feeling belittled or, as the name of the holiday suggests, foolish. I think we should make April second, Random Kindness Day.Not just for those who might be suffering from an April Fools joke that might have hit a little deeper than intended, but from all of those carrying a burden.
We rarely, if ever, know the complete story behind someone’s tears or their smile. We should not have to. There is no such thing as a struggle free life for any of us. There is also no such thing as a person who couldn’t use a little more encouragement. This day, be a little extra kind to everyone you meet. You never know which one of us could use it the most.
On a side note, I’m currently in the country of Jamaica. A lot of people here live at or below the poverty level. If nothing else,I can offer them respect and encouragement. I want to leave each person I meet with a little more joy in their heart than before I came. Shouldn’t that be the goal for everyone of us?
Here is a thought. We were talking about the positive effects of habits a few posts ago and how important it is to develop positive habits. The same can be said for negative habits. Especially, the habit of quitting.
When I have the opportunity to speak to young people, this is something I stress. Quitting, like success, is a habit. You cannot expect to quit on some things in life and have the fortitude to persevere in others. It just doesn’t work that way. The subconscious mind, our brain, is a slave to habit and repetition.
Think of your own life. Are there any situations that you often quit on? Make sure to work on eradicating as many as you can. The upside is that you will notice the benefits throughout all areas of your life!
It seems in the age of social media, there are critics a plenty. You watch in retail environments and see people who have forgotten their manners. Certainly, the pandemic did not help us hone our interpersonal skills either.
That is why I am challenging all of us today. Become an encourager! That’s not actually a word or a title, but you catch my meaning. Be a person who helps others believe in themselves. Let a person struggling know it will be OK.
There are so many different ways to encourage others. Please 🙏 share your favorite ways of encouraging others. The more fun and creative ways we can list, the more we can fill the world with encouragement! 😃
My schedule is one that is quite full. I spend roughly 46 hours commuting and working at my day job at the post office. On top of that, I spend about one to two hours at the gym three days a week. I record three podcast episodes a week. I am currently working on my fourth book. People are always asking me, “How can you still spend time doing blogs everyday?” This is compounded by the fact that they bring me very little, if any, financial gain. The picture above can help us answer that question. It is a partial list of countries that had logged on to read my blog during a particular week.
The last country on the list is Ukraine. This country is facing one of the toughest times in its history. People are being forced from their homes. If they are staying, they often have to do so without power, running water and under the threat of violence and destruction. To know that a person in this country took the time to log on to secret2anamazinglife.com, is not only a great honor, but a great responsibility. How many of us have thought to ourselves, “I sure wish I could say something encouraging to all of the people in the Ukraine.”? In this case, I get that chance. When you are living in a country that is at war, you need all of the inspiration you can get. It is difficult to keep your head above water, not to mention deal with all of the death and destruction. A voice of inspiration, encouragement and motivation from afar could be, at the very least, a welcome escape.
If you look a little further up on the list, you will see Puerto Rico. This view happened shortly after the island was devastated by a hurricane. There was almost no power on the entire island. Yet, someone still managed to log on to this blog to read what was written here. Very likely, their valuables were washed away. It is probable that their house was damaged in some form. They may have even lost some loved ones. These people came to read what I have written. Again, quite an honor, but an even greater responsibility. What could I possibly say to someone in that situation?
It does not have to be people in countries who are both ravaged by war and natural disasters. Take a look at any of the other countries. Any one of the people in Ecuador or Ethiopia could be facing one of the darkest days of their lives. Maybe they have lost a job. They could be experiencing the grief of losing a loved one. It is thoughts like this that are in my mind as I write these words. How can I write these blogs? To me the question is more accurately, “How could I not write these blogs?” If my words could improve the life of a neighbor down the street, or halfway across the globe, I owe it to them to share both the knowledge I know, as well as the love in my heart with them.
You may be thinking to yourself, “That is great Neil, but I don’t have a blog.” It is not just the online community that needs our love and encouragement. In todays social media world, where many people can forget the power of their words, we must remember what a positive impact ours can have. It could be someone who is in our social media network. It could also be a coworker or even the guy sitting at Starbucks with no shoes on. That last one is a personal observation I made while writing this. Any of those people could be facing some of the challenges we mentioned earlier. You may never know the impact your positive words or actions may have, but know they do make a difference.
It is Wednesday, hump day, the middle of the week. Whatever you choose to call it, many of us pause and evaluate the week at this point. Most of us, especially high achievers, tend to look at everything we have yet to accomplish. While this may be good for developing a plan of action and noting what time we have to complete projects, it may hinder their actual completion. How is this possible? The emotional state change that causes can have some very negative consequences.
The first thing this can do is make us feel overwhelmed. We were starting that new diet and only made it two days so far? We really have three more days to go? It was so hard not eating the doughnuts in the breakroom on Monday and Tuesday. How will we be able to make it the rest of the week? This can lead to a desire to just give up. If we flip that on its head and say to ourselves “I have already made it two days on the new diet! No doughnut can defeat me now!” We give ourselves momentum and praise our accomplishments.
The other thing that focusing on what has yet to be done can make us feel like a failure. This is very counterproductive. In the baby example, can you imagine yelling at your kid, “Would you stop that falling and give up already!” This is often what we do to ourselves. It can also be what we do to others when we are constantly pointing out where they fell short. It will only lead to them not wanting to press on. If, like we do with children learning to walk, we praise the little steps they complete, it will lead to them wanting to push on.
Today let us take a second and congratulate ourselves and each other on all that we have accomplished so far this week. Let us give a little encouragement for the rest of the week ahead. Not only to others, but to the one who lives between our own two ears.
As we had into a weekend that contains holidays for many of us, let us do so with a heart filled with gratitude. Not only for the gifts so thoughtfully given, but to have those in our lives to celebrate with. It is unfortunately true that many of us may be facing our first holiday without a loved one. Still, let us be so grateful we had them in our lives to create such beautiful holiday memories with. Let us savor those memories and allow their spirits to live on.
There are so many things in our lives to be thankful and grateful for that it amounts to a pile of presents under a tree. Here is a great suggestion to help you feel the holiday spirit. This can be done in your head or even out loud. It can be a great new holiday tradition to start with the family.
With each person that is in your life, be they family, friends or coworkers, think of each person and all they bring to your life. Each positive thing is a gift to your sprit. If you list each thing as you think of them, you will realize how truly blessed and abundant you are. If you wish to take it to the next level, write them down and share with that person. Can you imagine the joy they would feel getting a card/email or other message that begins “this holiday, I want to thank you for bringing into my life the gifts of…”
The gifts will be different for everyone. Some will be the gift of laughter. Some people may give you the gift of encouragement. There are people who help with the gift of faith. The lists could be endless. Do this for as many people as you can and you will feel not only like you received a lot of presents this year, but you will feel very grateful and very blessed.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM ALL OF US AT SECRET2ANAMAZINGLIFE.COM TO ALL OF YOU!😀
Although rather morbid sounding, this statement rings true. Compliments are difficult to both give and receive for many adults. We have 6 people to carry us physically in death, why can’t we have 6 people to carry us emotionally and spiritually in life? Can you imagine what that might be like? 6 people checking in on you, 6 people to encourage you on a daily basis.
Maybe this wouldn’t happen from every person on every day. How different would your life be if one of these 6 people popped in to encourage or check on you? If you have 6 of them, that would be roughly one a day. We will give them Sundays off. How much more valued would you feel? Would you have more confidence and a feeling of support when trying new things? What other benefits could this add?
The million dollar question would then be, “Neil, how do I find these 6 people?” Surely you could go up and ask people, “Hey do you want to call and check on or encourage me once a week?”At the risk of sounding a little desperate, it may also leave you wondering how genuine the compliments and concern may be.
So, if you can’t just ask them, what the heck do you do? I have two solutions. The first should be obvious. As the cliche goes, if you can’t find a good friend, be one. By picking a few friends and just checking in on them once a week, eventually chances are they will return the favor. Noticing how good it felt to them, they will want to do the same for someone else.
Secondly, you can get a group of trusted friends together and explain this idea to them. If everyone sends an encouraging word, or makes it a point to check in on each other, the whole group will benefit extraordinarily.
To be honest, in this world of a million ways to communicate, I am rather surprised this is not a thing. We can slip an encouraging word in an email. We can check in with someone on Facebook messenger. We can even send an encouraging or silly picture to a friend via text. Gather your posse and make it a point to carry each other through life emotionally and spiritually before we have to carry each other in death physically.
SECRET 2 AN AMAZING LIFE 