These are some very simple rules to create an amazing life. One of my favorites is the first one – remember death. So many of us push death out of our minds. We do not even like to think about it. It is scary. It is sad. Here is the thing, it is also inevitable and unpredictable. That should scare us a little, but scare us into action! Knowing that it may be our last day should motivate us to make it our best day!
Another good one is being present. In today’s world, that can also be one of the toughest. We have more distractions now than we ever did. There is television, radio the internet and our cell phones just to name a few. We can be so distracted that we are not even living our own life. Then, when we reach it’s inevitable end, we only wish we would have lived it fuller. By then it is too late.
Tell me which one of these rules do you feel could have the greatest impact on living an amazing life? Do you have any others you would offer?
The above photos were taken at the exact same time, from the exact same location. If you looked to the west, the sky was black and the moon was full. If you turned 180°, in the east, the sun was visible just peaking over the horizon. Complete night and complete daytime.
It had me thinking of how similar this is to life. At the very same moment, our life can feel like complete darkness or it can feel like hope is just coming over the horizon. It can feel this way depending on which way we direct our focus. When we look at everything we lack, everything that is wrong, our life can seem bleak, dark and hopeless. Turn our mind 180° and focus on all we have to be grateful for, hope seems to rise just like a sunrise. Same life, all that changed was our focus.
We have covered this subject before, but it is worth repeating. Everyone you meet is facing some battles. Could be physical health. It could be mental health. My they are dealing with heartache? We just never know. Many people are great at hiding their pain. Especially those who have been carrying their pain with them awhile.
Think of the trials and tribulations you carry on a regular basis. It could be personal, or maybe even worried about someone you love. So the next time someone cuts you off in traffic or maybe runs into you with their shopping cart, know that they could be lost in anguish we know nothing about. Have compassion. Give the grace you would like someone to give to you.
This should be of no shock to anyone, but we live in a rather crazy world. Between the news outlets and the advertising budgets, we are bombarded with notifications 24/7! We were always taught that technology would give us so much free time, but it often gives us more stress. That is not to say there isn’t wonderful things technology does for us, but I am not sure about all of that free time.
That is why it is so important to ‘water ourselves’ with the items above. Keep the mental health up and the stress level down. Have you thought about, or do you do any of the above on a regular basis? Do you love yourself? Do you practice self-belief? How about patience? Hope? Do you have actions to help you develop or experience these things? It might be a wise idea to print out, or write down, those words and have fun finding ways to work them into your daily life. I would love to hear some of your ideas!
In life, so many people do their best to put us down and keep us down. It can be for our race, our beliefs or just because they are not so pleasant people. It can be quite dispiriting. What can you do in those situations?
One solution that works in every case is to work on being the healthiest version of ourself. This is multifaceted and gives us plenty to work on while we deal with our challenges. Our health consists of physical, mental and spiritual or emotional health. When we have these in order, we are poised for success. The more we work on them, the better our potential.
There are so many ways to work on our health. It can be our diet and eating better. It can be engaging in physical fitness. It can be meditation to heal from trauma. It can be learning to change our mindset to better reflect the life we wish to live.
Do not let the world get you down. When it is doing its best to try, work hard on yourself and your health. That is both your physical, mental and emotional or spiritual health. You will come out stronger no matter what challenge you are facing.
When you converse with others, how does the conversation usually go? Do you recite complaints of the day? Do you discuss others and their behavior? Maybe world news and all of the crazy politics of the day? How about the mistakes your sports team made?
If you are anything like most people, that is the majority of your conversation. Have you ever paid attention to your daily verbal output? Most of us don’t we just start talking.
Starting today, why not make an effort to inject some positive and inspiring words into the mix? It is so rare,people may even look at you funny. What they will also do is want to be around you. People like hearing good news. It might be awkward at first, but once they get used to it, they will want to hear more.
Let us talk about how it affects you, the speaker. In order to both start and maintain a conversation, we have to think about the topics which we are discussing. Despite how some people may seem, it is impossible to speak without thinking about it first. If you’re speech is mostly negative, guess what your thoughts will be? If it is positive, guess what your thoughts will be? Your thoughts dictate your feelings. Would you rather feel positive or negative? Watch what you think and say. Talk about something inspiring for a change!
This may seem a little contrary, but stick with us. There are so many people that spend their entire life in the planning phase that life passes them by. When they are ready to put their plans in action they are too old or life has provided a reason not to do it. It could be a health challenge or a situational change.
Life should be a balance of planning and action. Do not let life pass you by while you are planning to start it.
Monday can be tough for all of us. It can start Sunday night. A tightening on the stomach knowing the work week is one alarm clock away. It is important to remember that picturing the best can help eliminate a lot of that anxiety.
It doesn’t have to be limited to Monday or work for that matter. In any situation, imagine the best case scenario. It did not cost anything and can reduce stress and increase joy.
Take a look around you. Wherever you happen to be reading this. It could be while getting your morning coffee. It could be in break at work or right before you go to bed. Feel free to share when you usually read this website.
Even if you happen to be reading this while waiting for the dentist, this holds true. If you look around there will be something you are grateful for. It could be that morning coffee you are making. It could be the coworker you get along with. If it is at night, your soft pillow is something worth gratitude. Even at the dentist, you could be grateful for the exit door!
I would recommend doing this several times a day. It not only increases gratitude, but gives a feeling of peace and tranquility in a often hectic world. I would love to hear both what time of day you read this site as well as what you are grateful for around you right now!
To many of you this may sound cliche or, at the very least, like some positive thinking nonsense. I do suppose it could be a little of both. That does not make it any less true. Much like anything in life, familiarity breeds contempt. Almost nobody I know enjoys going to work. If they lost their job, however, they would be happy to have an opportunity to earn money. Once back at a job, how long before they start to grumble about ‘having to get up early’? I am guilty of this myself.
My lovely lady is one of the most vocal critics of going to the gym. I think she spends so much time dreading it she might burn more calories doing that than working out. She did put this whole thing in great perspective the other day. After some introspection and contemplation, she looked at me and said, “I hate going to the gym, but I love how I feel when I leave.” Meaning going through all the sweating, moving your body when you do not want to and sore muscles are not enjoyable. Leaving knowing that you put in the effort and are one step closer to a healthier you is a great feeling. Wisely, she focuses on the future to be able to propel her to take productive action. It is a way to trick overcome her brain’s desire for inaction.
Speaking of working out. Recently, I sustained an injury that will prevent me from doing some things that I both enjoy and need to do. Now that I cannot do them, guess who is motivated to do them? Of course after the surgery I am going to be so motivated to go back to doing these exercises, right? That may be true in the short term, but after a few days of soreness from starting over, I will probably go back to dreading them. How do we change this to a constant state of motivation to do the things we know we need to do?
Many people ask how to stay motivated to take the actions they need to. I have written several books on the subject myself. It is the wrong question to be asking. Yes, it is good to have more motivation. Yes, it is good to find new and different ways to be motivated. Even with all of that, we will never be motivated all of the time. Not to mention, for most of us, motivation is a depreciating asset. As discussed in the earlier examples, you can be motivated at the start, but as time goes on that motivation becomes more difficult to maintain. What we need is a change in perception.
Inky Johnson, one of my favorite speakers, says that perception drives performance every day of the week. He emphasizes how important why we do what we do is. I couldn’t agree more. If you are working just for yourself, that is one kind of motivation. If you have a spouse and family depending on you, that is an entirely different kind of motivation. There is a difference between someone who works hard and a hard worker. Someone who works hard will do so if the boss is watching or the pay is right. Someone who is a hard worker will work hard because that is their character. That is the promise they made to themselves. How about you? What is your perception on doing the difficult things in life?
