This picture says a lot. In today’s world, everyone is looking for a quick fix. The latest trend is weight loss injections. No doubt there is some benefit for those whose weight is causing a health emergency, but that is not who seems to be the majority of who is taking it. As a society we are looking for a quick fix. Nobody wants to spend months adjusting their behavior and eating style. Why would you when there is a shot you can take that will do it for you? There are several very important reasons. Let us take a look at a few.
One of the main reasons is the complications these medications can create. There are now stories of individuals suing the makers of these drugs because they will no longer be able to eat regular food, as in the rest of their life. I am sure these cases of negative reactions are far and few between, but that is too much of a risk for me to take. Another reason is what you fail to gain by taking the ‘easy way out’. It takes discipline, control over our own urges and emotions to change our diet and lifestyle. Gaining control over our minds when it comes to eating healthy and being consistent in our workouts will transfer positively into the rest of our lives. You could be more disciplined at work. You could control your emotions in your relationship. These benefits would serve you well.
Lastly, there is the feeling of accomplishment. Engaging in the above discipline will give us something to be proud of. The inner health we accomplish through the discipline of fitness on a consistent level is something to be proud of. Where as taking an injection has both risks, and little in return of health and feelings of accomplishment.
In any endeavor, there is the easy way to get ahead and there is the right way. Very rarely are these two things the same. You could see some benefits when it comes to taking the easy way, but that is usually in the short term and at a cost. Doing things the right way may seem more difficult and take much longer, but what you gain and who you become is what makes all the difference.
The other night I had a heartbreaking experience I am sure many of you have had. Reaching into my pocket, I found a rather good coupon. $10 off it said. It happened to be on a product I use, and was in current need of. While I was at the store, I placed the item in the cart and proceeded to the checkout. With the price of everything going up, I was happy to be saving that amount of money.
As the cashier scanned my items, I handed her the coupon. She scanned it and then looked up at me with a kind of look that was a mixture of shock and disappointment. “This coupon expired.” she stated. After a dramatic pause, she added “It expired last year.” Apparently I need to check my pockets more often. This valuable ten dollar offer was now just a useless piece of paper. Embarrassed, I just paid and left.
I thought about how many times Margie and I have scrambled to use coupons before they expire. Occasionally, even stocking up on an item just to take advantage of the money saving. Then I came across this quote and pondered how many of us realize our life, much like our coupons, have an expiration date. The tricky bit? We never know when that is.
We scramble to save a dollar off a gallon of milk, but do we work as hard to make the most of our life before it expires? If you had a date stamped on your backside that send when you expired, how long would you wait to start making the most of your life? Would you wait until the date was almost upon you to start acting? Would you start now and take the most advantage of it?
What is tragic is that far too many of us find ourselves in the situation that I did in the grocery store. We wanted to put our life to good use, but now it is expired. I have known many people who had great plans and ambitions, but never realized them before their expiration date. Les Brown says the richest place in the world is the grave yard. There you will find books never written, albums never recorded, love never expressed, and dreams never realized.
Don’t let your expiration date catch you by surprise. Make the most of your life today! Write that book, record that album, tell that special person you love them. Most of all, whatever it is, chase the dream. There are only so many more tomorrows.
Recently, I hired a personal trainer. I have been going to the gym three times a week for years now. Getting another person’s, and a professional, guidance seemed like a good thing to throw in the mix. Between her knowledge of the fitness realm mixed with my knowledge of my body, we can get a lot accomplished. That is, if I am willing to work with her. Some of the things she has me do makes my muscles sore and certainly works muscles I may not use as often as I should. Although there is occasional cursing under the breath, it is not directed at her. After all, what she is having me do will make me a leaner and stronger person in the end.
This seems pretty obvious when it involves a personal trainer. The tricky part is when it also comes from those we love giving us constructive criticism. When we hear anything about us that is not pleasant, our first thought is often to rebel against it. This could include countering the point the person has made, or maybe even coming up with a return criticism of our own. In doing so, we miss the gift this could offer us. An outside view of an area of our person that may be lacking in some fashion.
When we are pushed to improve, it can not only be an act of love, but a demonstration of belief. It is showing that the other party believes that we can be better than what we truly are. It is true that this can still be difficult. This is especially true when the other party is not very skilled at delivering this pushing of us to get better. What will make us great is being able to take that criticism, no matter how it is delivered, and act instead of reacting. Thanking someone for pushing us to become greater despite how uncomfortable it makes us feel, is a secret to an amazing life.
Today is Monday and there is a brand new week ahead of us! It is not only full of opportunities, but it is full of decisions as well. One of the greatest decisions we make daily, if not hourly, is the decision on what to focus on. Are we focused on our immediate pleasures? What feels good in the moment. Those doughnuts in the breakroom sure look tasty and they are there for the taking. Almost an insult to whoever brought them in if we don’t eat them.
Another path is to be focused on where we want to go and who we want to become. Then the thought of eating one of those delicious doughnuts becomes an insult to both our bodies and our goals and aspirations. It is not often as easy, or black and white, as the doughnut example. Sometimes it is whether or not to participate in that office gossip. Whether we continue to work when nobody is watching or do we scroll online for a little while. Even what we choose to focus our thoughts on. Do we dwell on what is going wrong in our lives, or are we grateful for what we have?
This battle between what we want now and what we want most is a battle that never ends. This may sound tiring and defeating, but it also means we have endless opportunities to win. Every decision we make that overcomes our desire for immediate pleasure for the good of who we wish to become or accomplish in the long term should be viewed as a victory. Which are you choosing at the moment?
One of my favorite quotes. It can feel impossible to make time for ourselves in this busy world. It is not only a great idea, but a necessity. I equate it to never getting the oil changed in your car because you do not have the time. What happens? Eventually, your car will break down. Not only will you be forced to spend the time it takes to repair everything that will have went wrong, but it will be far more expensive than had you just spent the time and money on an oil change.
Our bodies are much the same. If we do not take the time to indulge in self-care, our bodies, mind and spirit may collapse. Then we will not only need time for self-care, but perhaps some therapy or time for healing. It will end up being a more expensive endeavor from a time, and perhaps money, standpoint. It would be a far more intelligent investment upfront. Same with our physical health. If we do not spend time on eating healthy and fitness, we will need to spend time of sickness and disease when our body breaks down. Think of that next time you want a twinkie or skip a workout.
Let us make time for wellness, so we will not be forced to make time for illness. One additional added bonus is that we get to choose the time we spend on wellness. When sickness comes up, it is usually not at a time that is convenient for us or our life. How can you take some time for wellness in your life today?
Here is how to succeed no matter what the situation. Have you ever heard something like this? “My dad was an alcoholic, that is why I became one.” At the same time, have you also heard this? “My dad was an alcoholic. That is why I will never touch the stuff!” That is the negative side of things. It works the same on the flip side. There are people who succeed because they grew up in a wealthy family and learned all the important financial lessons. There are those who grew up in a wealthy family and ended up in rehab or worse because they never learned responsibility.
When you find yourself in a positive situation it can be pretty easy to learn from. Take our friend who grew up in a financially well-to-do family. He could learn how his parents managed money. He could learn investment strategies. He could learn the value of hard work. He could see the example of the power of money to provide personal freedom as well as to help others. There would be many fine examples to learn from.
What about our friend with the alcoholic father? He could learn a lot of valuable lessons as well. He could see the negative results of alcohol on both the health and relationships of his father. He could see the financial strain it can put families under. He can see the undesirable people and situations that addictions can put us in contact with. There are many lessons in struggles. He could use these as motivation to not turn out as his father did.
We are not pretending life is so black and white. Any life is seldom just a warning or an example. We can use any situation for good or for bad. The choice is ours. If we choose, and are committed to using everything to serve us, than it doesn’t matter whether that situation or person is positive or negative. We can use it to learn and to grow and move ourselves forward. That is the secret to an amazing life.
Talk about simple yet profound! This is really a secret to an amazing life. In life we will all experience hurt. There is no way around it. No matter how dedicated to living an amazing life we are, sometimes things just won’t go our way. What then? It is then that we approach a figurative ‘fork in the road’. We have a choice in front of us. One way will not only prohibit our self-improvement, it will actually lead to our decline. It will keep us stagnant. In a world that is moving and changing so quickly, being stagnant will mean being left behind. It will also add considerable mental, emotional and physical stress. Stress in all three areas, who would want that?
The other path in the fork in the road can lead us to a far different result. It can propel our growth in a far more rapid manner than before the hurt. It can not only not add any additional stress, it can transform the initial stress of the hurt into gratitude. This reduction in stress will lead to a greater sense of inner peace, a stronger immune system and better relationships. The rapid growth will lead to a feeling of accomplishment and a better relationship…with ourselves! Less stress, more joy and growth? Better relationships? Who wouldn’t want all of that.
In case it is not obvious. One path is focusing on the hurt, the other is finding the lesson. When we find the lesson in the hurt, we transform something that brought us down into something that can propel us forward. This is huge. Anytime you can take a negative and turn it into a positive, you win. This is one of those ways. You will reduce your stress and increase your feeling of accomplishment. I cannot count the times when I say to myself, or out loud, “That sucked, but it helped me become the person I am today.”
Today take the challenges of life and mine them for the lessons. The payoff will be nothing short of priceless. Instead of being stuck in the quagmire of hurt and sadness, you will be using them as stepping stones to move yourself, and your life forward!
When I read this quote, I immediately loved it. It seems so logical on the surface. You might think it is something that everyone with half a brain would know. You should be right. When we look at what happens between countries on a global scale, however, it would seem those in the greatest positions of power missed this memo. How much retribution are we seeing. This country, or group of people, attack another group. Therefore, that group has to pay them back. That payback generates a retaliation from the first group. It creates and endless loop of violence.
While the examples may not be so great on a personal scale, the formula is the same. Someone hurts us so we hurt them. When they get hurt do they stop and think, “Wow. That must have been what it felt like when I hurt them originally. I feel this is my sign to wake up and improve my behavior.”? My guess is the answer would be a solid ‘No’. They are then feeling hurt and want to get back at us. It takes a well-trained and calm mind to react kindly when someone else hurts us.
This is not advocating letting others walk all over us. Not at all. What we are talking about is living life with thoughtful action and not emotional reaction. You might want to read that last line again. Living a life of emotional reaction is what can lead to generational abuse, and increasing the hate in the world. The negative news in the world can be overwhelming some days. One way to counteract that is to respond to darkness with light. To respond to hate with love. It is not easy and you may feel it makes you look weak. I think we all can admit you have to be a much stronger person to do so.
Today, respond to whatever negativity you encounter with positivity. It will not only reduce your stress and increase your inner peace. It will brighten and clean the world. Remember the quote above. You cannot clean dirt with dirt.
The Law of Attraction, or LOA, has become one of those trending and hot button topics. There are books, YouTube videos and even entire channels dedicated to the subject. Since the movie The Secret came out, it has been a popular topic. It is also a very controversial and polarizing topic. Some people treat it like a religion, some people say it is just a bunch of new-age nonsense. Which is it? In my experience there is nothing magical about the law of attraction. It is a science based activity that focuses on using different parts of the brain to serve us. It is far from nonsense, but it also not a magical spell that will cure all of your ills in life. Let us look at exactly what the law of attraction is and how we can put it into use in our life.
I am currently in the market for a new car so this is an example that works really well for me. Have you noticed this? It really comes into play after you buy a new car, or outfit, or any other meaningful purchase. The greater amount of emotion attached to that purchase, the greater this seems to work. You bought a certain make or model of car and now you see that car everywhere. Did everyone else go out and buy the same car to be like you? Simple logic tells us this is not so. Then why does there seem to be more of them on the road? We will get to that answer, and why the word ‘seem’ was in italics, in just a second.
One more quick experiment you can do to show you how this works. It will only take roughly 60 seconds and can radically transform how you see, and can use, the law of attraction. You can do this right now, right where you are reading this. Get still and focused. Maybe take a deep breath or three. Now, pick a color. It doesn’t really matter which one. One of my favorites is blue, so we will use that for our example, but you can use whatever color you desire. You are going to do what I am going to suggest next before reading the following paragraph. If you really want to get the full effect and understanding you will try it out. After you do what I am about to tell you come back at read the following paragraph. Here is what you are going to do. Look around you and see every object that you can find that is blue. It can be any shade of blue. Note what the object is. Do this for roughly 30 seconds. Go ahead and do that now. Look for blue objects.
Now that you are focused back on what we are learning, let me ask you a question. Without looking up, how many red objects can you name that you saw? You are probably saying, “I wasn’t looking for red. I don’t know.” Now look up and notice the red objects. Were they just put there? Of course not. No more than everyone bought the same car as you. What happened was the part of your brain that filters what is and is not important to you determined what you saw. In the case of the car, it brought to your attention a certain item. That is the make or model of car that matches your own. In the case of the blue objects, it blocked out any objects that were not of importance. This could be brown, red or any other color object. This part of the brain is called the reticular activating system. It is the bridge between your senses and awareness. We used visual examples because they are the most poignant. It works the same for any of the other senses as well.
Just like cars and blue objects, the law of attraction works for business opportunities, meeting the ideal lover, or a million other things. If we were to create a list of traits we would enjoy in people and reviewed that list with emotion every day, we would begin to see people with these traits showing up in our life. Perhaps we might start to notice some of our friends and family developing these traits. They really didn’t develop themwe just placed an importance on noticing them and our brain followed suit. The tricky bit is that this filter in our brain works the same for positive and negative alike. If we are constantly telling others that we have no luck, or that life is out to get us, our brain will be like, “Wait! Let me show you an example of that!” Before you know it, it will seem that our life is full of negative situations. Of course our filter will be more likely to point them out and draw them to us.
Although the brain can bring things to our awareness through the filter of the reticular activating system, it is us to then take action on those things. If we are focused on noticing business opportunities but don’t act on them when we see them two things will happen. First, the results will not be forth-coming. We need inspired action once we tend to notice the new things. Second, if we continue not to act, the brain will decide this must not be that important after all and stop bringing these to our attention. The law of attraction is real. It is a scientific and conscious use of the mind. It also requires action on our end.
Do you want a fun activity that will change the world? Try this one – empower and encourage other individuals. Will this really change the world? To answer that question, we need look no further than our own life. When someone encourages you in whatever endeavor you are pursuing how does that affect your effort and results? Are you likely to persist more or give up quicker? Does it help you visualize a positive outcome? It matters little what the endeavor may be. It could be fitness, a healthier diet, starting your own business. Empowering and encouraging others works the same.
Here is a little extra incentive to offer support to others. When you do, it gives you a hit of dopamine. That is the feel good chemical in our brains. By encouraging and empowering others, it helps to motivate and increase our mood. In addition, those wonderful folks we assist will be more likely to do the same for us in the future. It is an investment that has compound returns.
We looked at some practical applications for uplifting others. Here is a more altruistic reasons. It makes the world a better place for all of us. Who wouldn’t want a more positive world? Who wouldn’t want to help people feel the permission to believe in themselves. I would love to hear your stories of uplifting others, or when someone uplifted you. Feel free to leave them in the comments below.
SECRET 2 AN AMAZING LIFE 