Tag: Motivation

GET THAT TRASH OUT OF HERE!

How do you start your morning? Do you roll over and check your phone? Do you turn on the news while you get ready? Maybe listen to some talk radio on the way to work? Do you spend time reading something motivational to start the day? Do you spend 5 minutes in quiet reflection or are you running around like crazy?

The next question may sound a little weird, but who do you invite over to your house? Is it just friends and relatives? Do you see strangers of the street and invite them in? When people do come over, how do you expect them to act? Polite and helpful or do as they please? Let me ask you a further question. Whether that person was friend or stranger, if they started throwing trash all over your house, how long before you would ask them to leave? Would it be 5 minutes? Would you wait an entire hour or maybe even a day? Most of us would be alarmed the moment they started it doing it and ask them why. More than likely in a way that cannot be printed here.

When we wake up in the morning and expose ourselves to social media, the television or any other medium, it is the same as inviting strangers into our house. We often do not know what these people will say or do. Will it make us happy, sad or angery? Who knows. Quite often it can be a bunch of negative material. In that case, it is the same as someone coming into our house and littering. We would not allow it in the physical sense. There is no reason we should allow mental littering in our mental house either.

Last post we discussed guarding the gate of our mind. This includes evicting negative tenants. This who little our mind with negativity and gossip. Those who belittle us and others. It is the same as dumping trash in our house. Our minds become cluttered with negative influences and make it hard to enjoy a truly positive life. Next post we are going to look at some powerful ways to live a beautiful life. The great part is that all of them are 100% free! See you next post!

IMPORTANT PASSWORD INFORMATION!

The other morning I was listening to a video by Tony Robbins and I would like to share with you a little of what I got out of that video. In it he referenced Jim Rohn, his mentor. That is where the idea comes from.

The idea revolves around passwords. It seems today we have a password for everything. We have a password for our cellphones. We certainly do not want just anyone being able to get into there! We have passwords for our computer. Even things like online shopping and social media have passwords. Even logging on to the platform I write this blog on has a password. Just in case any of you would want to come on here and write an inspiring post for me. Actually, if you would like to be a guest author, we can work on that.

The one thing that we need to guard does not come with a password. That is our minds. You must stand guard at the gate of your mind. We are almost force-fed information from a variety of sources. We hear the news, family, friends and coworkers just to name a few. Many are like chicken little telling us the sky is falling and how terrible the world is. Some give us gossip about other people that may only be true to some degree or maybe not true at all. We often let this all inside our mind without deciding if it belongs there. We must safeguard our minds my friends. The place between your ears is the most powerful spot in our lives. It deserves just as much guarding as our cell phone or computer. WE decide what goes into our minds. Let us make sure not everyone has the password.

WHEN THINGS ARE TOUGH AND YOU CAN’T SEE THE LIGHT

We have spent countless posts and words on this site talking about the benefits of developing an attitude of gratitude. One of the main benefits is to help you see the light in the darkest of times. That it why it is important to develop that attitude when things are going your way. It makes it a lot easier to develop gratitude as a lifestyle when you start using it when things are going good for you. What happens when you have not sufficiently developed your attitude of gratitude, or when you are facing a situation that feels so dark to you that it is impossible to find the light? It is then that this quote above will serve us well.

In the worst cases. That is the toughest times we face. It can be hard to think of what to be grateful for. Given some time and hindsight, it will usually occur to us. What about those first few moments? The day we lost that job? The weeks after we suffer the breakup of that relationship we thought would last forever? Even losing someone we love, what then? Our world seems so dark it can seem as if the light as abandoned us. It can be stark reminder to take a hard look at things we may not have fully appreciated. Everyone complains about going to work, but being unemployed is far more difficult. A breakup is difficult, but did you spend the time you were together loving to the fullest and appreciating the love you received? When we lose a loved one, can we double our efforts to love those that we still have in our life? How about honoring and keeping the memories in our heart of the person we lost?

There are times when life is so dark it is impossible to see the good in anything. It happens to all of us. When that does happen, it can be a great time to reflect on much of the good that we take for granted. You lost your job? Do you have people in your life that love you? Do you have skills that will allow you to get another job? Your partner leave you? Is this a chance to better yourself and learn from your mistakes so that your next relationship will be even more rewarding? It can be hardest to lose someone we really care about. Even then, we can think of our own health. We can realize what a great gift it was to have to opportunity to love someone. Being able to share connection with someone is a gift that should not be overlooked. It is sad when that gift ends, but in reflection, it was great to have. Not everyone does have such a thing.

When you face the darkest periods of your life, be grateful it was not always that way and it will not always be that way no matter how dark it looks. Do your best to notice things unrelated to the area of your life that is hurting. Do you have your health? Do you have friends? You have the ability to read a site like this and be a part of a community dedicated to seeing the beauty in themselves, others and the world around them. You can, and you will, outlast the darkness!

TRUE MASTERY

If we want a truly successful life we must focus on one thing. That is mastering ourselves. If we can manage to control our own emotions, actions and thoughts, there is nothing we cannot do. Can you imagine being able to control our own inner conversation to one of an encouraging and empowering one? Can you imagine taking control of your thoughts and being able to focus on opportunities instead of obstacles? How about controlling your actions and only taking those that live up to your standard and align with your goals? How would just these three things change your life?

So many of us look to control the outside circumstances in our life. We try desperately to control many things that are beyond our control. Instead of focusing on controlling circumstances in our life, how much better off would we be focusing our efforts on controlling our resilience to them? That we have complete control over. It will take effort and consistency, but we do have control over our reactions whether we wish to admit that or not,

This week focus on improving yourself. How can you take better control over you thoughts, emotions and actions? How will doing this improve your life? By focusing on these two questions we will get further than worrying about outside circumstances over which we have very little control.

3 ITEMS FOR MAXIMUM SUCCESS

These are 3 items that will change your life. Putting them to use in any area that you are working to improve will help immensely. We will break them down one by one and take a look at why it is important to learn and use each one in life. The picture alludes to a physical benefit, but it holds true in any area of your life. Let us take a look at some personal examples and how we can put it to work for us.

Discipline. This is one of the most powerful skills you can develop. Mike Tyson once famously said, “Discipline is doing what you hate to do, but doing it like you love it.” Perhaps ‘hate’ is a strong word, but working out after a long day or when you are still sore from your last workout can come close to something you hate to do. If we reserved action for when we felt like it or when we felt motivated to do so, how often would we act? Not nearly enough to make any useful progress towards our goal. When you learn to be disciplined, you are on your way to being able to accomplish any goal.

Routine. When you can develop a routine of action, it can make it easier to stick with your discipline. Personally, I go to the gym every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. My family knows this. My lady knows this. It keeps me from having to think too much. When we get stuck in our head with planning and other aspects of success, it can prevent us from taking action. Setting up a routine allows you to schedule success. This makes the likelihood of success that much greater. This is the same with meal prepping. Having a routine of scheduling healthy meals ahead of time takes a lot of the guess work out of progress.

Consistency. This last one can be the most difficult for many of us. Sticking with something and trusting the process even when you don’t see quick results. We expect years of unhealthy behavior to be erased in a month of diet and exercise. No, lifestyle change is what we need. Sticking with a behavior and celebrating small wins is the key to success. Going hard for a short period of time is not as good as steady consistent effort. Running 20 miles one day will not help our health as much as running one mile for 20 days straight. The same holds true for diet, self-care and anything else you are doing to improve your life. Be consistent and trust the process. Even when the results are not coming as fast as you would like. If you quit, you will never win. Do not give up!

Why is it so important to develop these three skills? In doing so, as the picture above states, we will become the asset! All of our material possessions, and positions of power, can be taken from us in the blink of an eye. The skills we develop in our mind, heart and spirit stick with us forever. If you develop these three skills and everything is taken from you, even unfairly, you have the foundation to build it back again. What is more important to focus on, things that can be taken from us, or skills we will keep forever? I think we all know the answer to that question.

RITUAL FOR THE WIN!

Last post we talked about protecting yourself from the virus of hate and jealousy. We suggested limiting exposure to the news, social media and negative people. As well as taking a different mindset when dealing with all three. There is another important step you can take to boost your immunity before you encounter any of those. Just like when you take a supplement to protect yourself against a physical virus, there are things you can do to boost your immunity to mental and spiritual viruses. Think of them as mindset supplements.

Take a look at the three categories described above and the wins they say you require. It is a pretty good list. Notice there are several ways to accomplish each. Most people focus on the physical one. That is helpful. Getting that heartrate up is good. It is equally important to protect our minds and our spirits. Have you ever thought about this? More importantly, do you take steps to do this? Admittedly, I need to do better at this myself. One of the benefits in sharing these tools and strategies with all of you is that it provides me a great reminder of areas in which I could use a little work. Most of you know I wake up at 4am and with little time to do much other than the essentials.

Not having a wealth of time is what must people, including myself, use to justify not addressing their mental and spiritual health first thing in the morning. Finding ways in which to both incorporate this into our morning routine, but also make it as easy as possible to do. Looking at the mental category. Reading, writing, creating and learning. The last two might need a little more time than we have in the morning. The first two, however, can be done with less time than we think and offer us a big return. You could have an inspirational book and read for 5 minutes each morning. I have a daily calendar that offers an inspiring quote each day. It takes less than 60 seconds, but plants an inspiring seed in your brain to grow throughout the day. Just a few minutes of journaling in the morning can be helpful. Not enough time? How about writing out your mantra for the day? That creates the mind/body connection before you leave the door!

Spiritual wins can be harder to define, but have a big impact on our lives. Once again we have four suggestions – praying, meditating, studying and growing. Again, the latter two may take a little more time, but praying and meditating can be accomplished in relatively little time. How important would it be to develop a mind and heart full of peace and calm before the world and all the craziness start to invade it? There are a million ways to pray and meditate, but find one that works for you. Spending even just a few minutes doing this will set you up for a much better day than just rushing out the door.

Once we leave the house we are subjected to all sorts of outside influences. People who do not understand the benefit of turn signals, news anchors determined to start our day with fear and hatred. Negative coworkers who would like to share their complaint or the day’s latest gossip. If we throw ourselves into this unprotected, we can find ourselves infected with the negativity virus. Your morning is yours! Use it to serve you before other things start competing for your time.

IT IS NOT HOW POWERFUL YOU ARE…

One of the many great tragedies in life is how often we ask children what they want to be, verses how often we ask adults, including ourself, that very same question. There are far too many of us working hard to just make it through the day. We have no lofty goal, no aspiration greater than ourselves. Then we wake up and wonder why we feel so overwhelmed and that our life is meaningless. You want a more meaningful life? Than choose what meaning you are going to give. Decide on the purpose of your life.

We all work far too hard to not give it direction. Imagine getting in your car with no idea where you wanted to go. Would it matter how fast you drove? Of course not. If you have a clear idea where you wanted to go, than no matter the speed, you would be getting ever closer. Even if you encountered a detour in the road, you would still no what direction to go in order to correct the course. If you didn’t, you might think a closed road would be the end of the journey. Life is much the same. If you have a clear purpose and direction for you life, a challenge is a mere course correction, not an end.

Spend a few quality minutes deciding on the purpose and direction for your life. Whenever this subject comes up, I always get the same question, “What if I pick the wrong purpose?” To that question, I will give you two answers. First, you can change your purpose in life and adjust accordingly. When I was very little I wanted to be a whale. Obviously after some learning about biology my answer changed. I have been in a rock band. I have been a bartender. Now I am an author working on my fourth book. If you would have asked the child who was short on his interspecies transformation if he wanted to be an author, he would have said ‘No!’. If you would have asked the rock singer and bartender the same question, neither would have jumped at the chance. As the years have gone by, I have changed and refined the purpose of my life.

Which leads to the second point, you will find out a lot sooner if your purpose no longer aligns with you life if you have one! Not picking a purpose because you are afraid of picking the wrong one makes no sense. It is like skipping an audition because you might not get the part. By not even going you will not fail, but you will also never succeed. You will also feel overwhelmed and like your life has no meaning. Pick a purpose, put your entire actions behind it and see where it goes. If it is not what you hoped, adjust accordingly.

MINDSET MAKES IT EASIER!

Even those of us who enjoy the gym often have a hard time getting there. I heard a quote once, “The heaviest weight at the gym is the front door. ” Meaning that getting to the gym is the hardest part. I can agree on this point. I love working out. It reduces my stress and provides me energy. After an 8 hour work day, it still takes all the convincing I have to get myself there.

Why, if I know and enjoy all the benefits, do I still have to argue with myself to go? It has a great deal to do with mindset. Looking at the gym as something we have to do instead of something we get to do. So many people who are physically unable to workout would love to trade places with us.

Dick Van Dyke has a great outlook here. It has served him well and can do the same for us. How about you? When you face having to do something you don’t want, what is your attitude about it? Do you have to go to work, or are you grateful for being employed? Do you have to pay your bills or are you grateful you have the funds to do so?

To some this may seem like a small difference, but it will make a big impact on how your life feels and how productive it will be. What is your favorite hack to improve your mindset?

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!

Whether it is my books or Margie’s bakery, we always appreciate the help we receive from both friends and strangers. Some of the most impactful things people can do is help us get the word out for the many things we do. If you have a friend who offers a local product or service, one of the best things you can do for them is promote them. In a world where there are a million different choices, it is often only the people with the largest amount of cash who can buy the greatest exposure. What you can’t buy is quality and joy that you bring to someone’s life. If you know of a local business that does that, please do one of the activities listed above or something else to assist. It is the only way that little guy can compete with large corporations!

This week try supporting one local business a day. Do that for an entire week or longer and watch your community and friendships grow and blossom. It does not have to cost you anything more than a little time and energy yet it can change your entire community.

USE YOUR OWN RULER

As we approach the start of the week many of us will worry that we are not as far as we should be. This could be in the area of career, finance, relationships or a million other categories. The question we should be asking ourselves is what metric we are using to come to this conclusion? Is it the new house our friend on Facebook bought? How about the new car we saw pull up at Starbucks while we are writing? The couple posting their wedding photos while we are still requesting a table for one? Never, and I repeat – never measure your life using someone else’s ruler.

If you find yourself frustrated with your progress because you are not living up to your own standard, that is one thing. Then, by all means be upset with yourself. If you know you could have worked harder or given more, than it is ok to give yourself a little pain as motivation. If, however, your pain is because you are not as far as someone else even though you have given it your all; stop it. You never know what advantages they may have had. Perhaps it was not advantages, but lack of challenges to overcome? I have quoted Earl Nightingale’s definition of success many times. “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.” If you are progressing on your goals and working towards them you are a success. This includes discovering things that do not work. Some may call that ‘failure’ but the more informed know that it is just another step in the process of success.

Comparison really is the thief of joy. Why let comparing yourself to other steal the joy of the progress you made? Everyone evolves and grows at their own pace. As long as you are working on growth and evolvement, than do not look to your neighbor to decide how good your progress is. Instead look at who you were a year ago, or six months or maybe even yesterday! Use your own ruler when measuring your success.