End of the first week of the New Year! What a wild ride it has been. As we jump into our goals for the coming year, we are going to take a few moments to look back at how we did in 2023. Above is a map featuring all of the countries that we were viewed in within the past year. We appeared on 6 of the 7 continents and in 148 countries. That blows my mind. I still recall writing my first blog 12 years ago and wondering if anyone at all would read it. I was one person who was struggling to learn the lessons of living a rewarding and fulfilling life. Using my passion for helping others, I continued to write. We are now have over 2100 posts on this site and have been viewed by almost 200,000 people!
Being able to reach so many people in so many places is such a rewarding experience. There are so many negative news outlets, that we want to continue to serve as a beacon of hope, motivation and inspiration. 2023 was great, but we are looking to do even better in 2024. We are going to reach even more people and bring the light of hope and positivity to even more corners of the world. If you like what you read here, feel free to share this site with your friends and neighbors. Print out posts you like and hang them up in the office. Share links on your social media timeline. The more souls we can reach, the brighter we can make the world.
Secret2anamazinglife wishes to thank all of our contributors, followers and even our passing viewers. You make all of this possible and worth it. We look forward to finding new and exciting ways to serve you in the future. Do not forget to check out the Living the Dream with Neil Panosian podcast wherever you stream your content. It is free and brings you the same great tools and strategies in audio form!
What a title! What could possibly be so important that if we did not do it we would die? Is there really such a thing? The short answer is ‘Yes.’ Do not worry, this is not like one of those social media posts that claim if you don’t share it with all of your friends, coworkers and the neighbor’s dog that you will be cursed with 10 years bad luck. In fact, this is actually backed by science. You will not fall over dead when you walk out the door tomorrow if you do not do this either. What you will do, sadly, is you will call it quits several years before those we do put this simple tool to work for them will. Keep reading to find out how you can not only add more years to your life, but ultimately more life to your years.
According to Equifax, most people live 10-20 years after they retire. That is a pretty good margin. How can we be more likely to lean towards the 20 year side and not the 10 year side? I was having this very discussion with my coworker, Rob, the other day. According to neuropsychologists, having a sense of purpose is one of the greatest predictors of health and wellness in old age. Let that soak in for a while. For those of us who are picturing just laying on the beach everyday sipping cocktails (certainly something to do when retired) there must be more to life. Those who wake up with a purpose after retiring, have reduced stress levels, are in better physical health and age more successfully. Think of it. Less stress, a stronger immune system and a greater sense of happiness. Isn’t that what we all want when we retire?
Work, as trying as it can be, gives us a reason that we must get out of bed in the morning. We have to pay the bills. We have to earn money to go on vacation or to take the lady out for dinner. Whatever it is you are working towards. Sometimes it is working towards retirement. A lot of people are shocked when they get there. It is as if they worked their whole life towards something, and now that they have it, they are not sure what to do with it. If you are thinking that you do not need a purpose, consider this fact. According to a recent study of retirees, having a purpose lowered their risk of death by 15.2%. This held true across different races, religions and ethnicity.
We have discovered that having a purpose not only increases the length of your life, but the quality of it as well. This does not mean you have to work until you die. We ended the last post with a quote from the great Howard Thurman. We included two more from him in this post. I think they give us the answer to living a long and fulfilling life. That is finding what sets our soul on fire and doing more of that. It could be working in the garden. It could be joining a book club and discovering great new books, as well as friends. For me, I know retirement will consist of continuing this blog, writing books and producing episodes of the Living the Dream with Neil Panosian podcast. How about you? What will your grand purpose be when you retire?
Added bonus here. You do not have to wait until retirement to reap all of these benefits. Find something that sets your soul on fire now! At the very least, start looking for that. Once you find it, and start enjoying it, you will experience the wonderful benefits we mentioned in this blog. I know after a hard day working my day job, writing is as much of a release as it is anything else. I love exploring nature and going to the gym as well. Coffee with friends provides interesting conversations. Time spent chasing dreams with the love of my life never fails to be exciting. When I retire, it will be more a transition than an end.
We are all looking to use our money wisely these days. With the price of groceries and gas on the increase, every dollar counts. Yet, self-care is more important than ever. Stress seems to come at us from every corner. Turn on the television or look at your phone and there seems to be one stressful situation after another. We need to invest in ourselves and our mental well-being to thrive in today’s world. Any money spent on your own mental and spiritual care should not be viewed as an expenditure, but rather an investment.
Wouldn’t it be nice to invest in your well-being and stress reduction and not have to spend anything at all? A lot of us are on Amazon.com quite often. Who can blame you. There are plenty of good deals, and as we mentioned, saving money is good for all of us. There is one thing you can find on Amazon that will not cost you a thing, but help you reduce your stress, increase your joy and help you become the best version of yourself. That is the Living the Dream with Neil Panosian podcast. All you have to do is search my name, Neil Panosian, on Amazon. You will see all three books of mine. Great investments in themselves. I promise you the value you will gain will far outweigh what you spend to get them. There is one item you can get today, no money out of pocket, that will bring you both entertainment as well as useful life strategies. That is my podcast. As you can see from the picture above, it is 100% free. You can be listening as soon as you finish reading this blog. Don’t worry, I won’t keep you much longer.
Here is a brief description of what you will find inside that podcast. I must add that it will also include items from my third book as well. You can improve your life starting today. You do not have to spend a single thing and all you have to do is push play and listen. You can get to this podcast, as mentioned, by searching Neil Panosian on Amazon.com. You can also click on the link below. I highly suggest subscribing to the podcast so you will be the first to hear the new episodes as they are released. I will leave a link you can click on at the bottom of this post as well. I look forward to being able to serve you and your life on my podcast and will look forward to your feedback. Subscribe now as season two is just about to begin!
As the year draws to a close and we look forward to 2023, I would invite you to do one thing. Introduce yourself. This blog is called Secret2anamazinglife. It is a place to both give and receive. We are followed in all but 8 countries in this amazing planet of ours. We are followed on all 7 continents. That means there are so many of you out there with secrets that help you live an amazing life. It would benefit us all to know them. That is why I would like to extend an invitation to introduce yourself. Tell us where you read these posts of inspiration and motivation. Let us know a little about yourself. What do you enjoy about what we share here? Most importantly, share your knowledge. What do you do to live an amazing life?
Each of our lives, whether that be our personal experiences, the country we live in, the people we know, the jobs we hold or the pets we have, hold secrets to living an amazing life that are worth sharing. I get regular feedback from my friends in Italy, Greece, and Lebanon. I would love to hear from people in every country we are followed in. By all of us sharing, we can help each other live a more amazing life. We have over 4000 followers in India alone. 1000 in South Africa. Each one of you is awesome and a great asset to this website. In the coming years, I hope to meet a lot more of you. Certainly, my followers in Fiji and the Maldives can host a book signing. I would be happy to come out and shake your hands. In regards to our friends in France, Peru, and Kenya, as well as everywhere in between, it would be wonderful to meet you at the very least virtually. Tell me what you would like to read more about. Tell me what you enjoy about this site and what is important to you. In what ways do you benefit from what we share? In what ways could we improve?
Lastly, I invite you to share this site. The more people we can reach, the more we can spread the positive, motivational and inspiring messages we share here. Share the posts you enjoy on your social media pages. Invite others you think could benefit from learning secrets to an amazing life to be a part of our family. That is what I consider all of you, a family. We all gather here to both discover and appreciate the true miracle we are all living. Let us introduce and meet each other. Share a little about yourself in the comments below and please continue to do so all year long. Your interaction only makes what we share here stronger. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
As a bonus, you are all invited to become a part of my new Podcast, Living the Dream with Neil Panosian. Here you will hear me read sections of my books and get the behind the scenes information as to what went in to creating them. You can also listen to inspirational messages as you drive in your car, go for a walk, workout at the gym or whatever else you may be doing. Just click on the link below to listen and subscribe. It is an opportunity to become part of another inspiring community of like-minded people.
What is the secret to an amazing life? We have a whole website dedicated to that very question right here. Recently, we sat down on the Living the Dream with Neil Panosian podcast to discuss 2 of the very best. Learn what these powerful secrets are and how to put them to work in your own life as soon as you finish listening to the episode. Just click the link below to be taken to the podcast!
While you are there, please do me the honor of subscribing. You will then be the first to receive the latest tools and strategies to live and amazing life. Each episode is less than 10 minutes and provides a fun and informative listen. Please join our wonderful community at Living the Dream with Neil Panosian podcast. We would love to have you join our family.
One of my greatest passions is convincing others of the importance of sharing their own story. It is so important and can benefit everyone when we do. The picture above is when I did just such a thing at an author event recently. We sit down on the Living the Dream with Neil Panosian podcast to discuss just such a thing. While listening to this podcast episode, you will learn several amazing things. You will hear some of the remarkable stories these fellow authors wrote about and were sharing at the event. You will understand why it is so vital you share your story with the world and all of the benefits that come by doing so. You will also learn how to do so without writing a single word…if you don’t want to.
It gives me great pleasure to invite you to click on the link below, sit back and listen to the most recent episode of the Living the Dream with Neil Panosian podcast. While you are there, feel free to subscribe. That way you will be the first to get the latest tools and strategies for living an amazing life.
Here is my podcast episode explaining the most powerful tool to improve your life. You will also hear a section from my book A Happy Life for Busy People. Click on the link below to listen.