Coming up on the first full weekend of the new year. How are those resolutions going? Hopefully you made it a full 2 weeks. One of the reasons resolutions, or goals, fail is that we rely too much on motivation. Once motivation starts to fade, we are often unable to stay committed to our end result.
A great way to make sure that we stay on the path to our goals is to set up habits that serve us. Think of your goal for the new year. Is there a small habit you could set up to keep you moving in the right direction? Simple examples are swapping your coffee for green tea if you want to cut down on caffeine. Parking future away at stores if your goal is to increase your steps. Pick a time to tell your spouse one thing you are grateful for if your goal is to increase the appreciation in your relationship.
What is your goal? Is there a simple habit you can start before the motivation begins to fade? Let’s make the new year a success!
I am all about positive self-talk. I believe we need more of that. The world, and advertisers make a living telling us that we are not good enough. Sometimes, the only person cheering for you, might be you!
What we must remember, is to be honest with ourselves. We need to call ourselves out once in a while. This does not mean putting ourselves down. That is important to note. That being said, we need to stop making excuses for ourselves.
Getting frustrated and fed up with the person in the mirror can be one of the most productive things we can do. When I feel my writing is not going how I would like and I get frustrated, it usually pushes me to do something new and uncomfortable. This often results in some kind of forward progress.
This weekend, ask yourself if there is anything you are making excuses for in your own life? Is it not forgiving someone? Is it talking negatively to yourself? Is it not giving back as much as you should?
Eric Thomas, one of my favorite speakers, compares this to what you would do if a product from a storedid not live up to what it said it would. Would you go back to the store with a receipt and demand a refund? It is time you demand the same from yourself. Hold yourself accountable and make some positive changes. To assist you in that, I’m going to share a link to the video that I just mentioned. It is a 7 minute video. Make sure you watch until the end. I promise you that you will get a great boost of motivation.
First “hump day” of the year! As we check in with ourselves in the middle of the week, we must remember to keep our stress levels in check. We do this by practicing some fun self-care activities to keep our energy and vibration up. You’ll find some listed above. I would love to hear any you might add.
Looking back on this past year, there are things we wish we would have done differently. There are also things that we wish would have turned out differently. When we backtrack in our minds, let us not just be filled with frustration and regret, but look at the decisions we made that led up to those outcomes.
Tony Robbins says, “Our decisions determine our destiny.” I believe that to be true. You decide to work at a certain place and maybe that it where you meet the person who ends up being the love of your life. You decide to move to a certain neighborhood and that determines where you shop and the people you interact with.
It is not just these grand decisions that determine our destiny. In fact, to a greater degree, it is the small daily decisions that have the biggest impact on our lives. At every meal, what you decide to put in your mouth will determine the energy you have, the health of your body, the strength of your immune system, and your overall appearance. The people you surround yourself with has one of the greatest impact on your life. They say you are the culmination of the 5 people you surround yourself with the most.
One of the most powerful decisions we make is the words we use. Not only in our conversations with others, but also with ourselves. If you tell yourself, “I feel like I am on the verge of death.” When you have a cold, it will have you feeling one way. If you say, “I’m a little under the weather, but I’m getting better. ” will lend itself to a far different feeling. Some people have a hard time believing this is so. If you are one of those people, I ask you to do this little experiment. Spend some time with someone you know who is generally a melancholy individual. Really listen to how they speak and the words they use. Then, after you have given yourself some time to cleanse your ears, do the same with someone who always seems to be in a good mood. Notice the difference in how they speak.
Another important aspect to consider is the thoughts we frequently have, which are dictated by the things we say internally and externally, embed themselves in our subconscious mind. This is a whole conversation in itself. Just note when you frequently think and say the same thing, it becomes a habit and part of our reality. That holds true if it is positive or negative.
This year, let us focus on making better decisions and that will provide us better outcomes. This is a daily adventure. Thinking about what we put in our bodies. To the ever important, what we think and what we say. Surround yourself with positive, motivated people. It will not only help you improve your inner and outer dialog, but you may gain insight on some better decisions. I know I’m going to work on mine. Think of one positive and empowering phrase you can begin to use today. If you feel comfortable, please share it with the rest of us.
It is day 2 of the New Year. How are your new year goals coming? Hopefully 2 days in you are still going strong. We all hear the cliché about the gym being full January 1st and empty by the 14th. As someone who goes to the gym regularly, I can attest to the truth of this. We know our drive will start to fade.
That is why it is vital to do something now to keep our excitement level up. I suggest that you plan celebrating small goals. Make it one week going to the gym? Buy yourself a new workout outfit. When you reach one month plan another treat. Maybe a spa day? Keep this up while the difficult process of becoming a habit takes place.
It is good to foster things to stay motivated. Maybe put together a list of songs that get you pumped up and create a Playlist. Think of movies that inspire you to be your best and work toward your goals. It is time to get these and other ideas together now. That way, when your motivation begins to fade, which it will, you have a little extra help.
A few other ideas that were given to me to help stay motivated are having a vision board, buying a new outfit in the size you would like to become, start a savings account with weekly or monthly goals. These and many others would be great ideas. What are yours?
As the new year begins, we at Secret2anamazinglife.com, would like to wish all of you a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year! We are going to increase our dedication to you our wonderful readers and supporters.
In 2023, we promise you a post every single day. We know, to paraphrase Zig Ziglar , Motivation doesn’t last, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend you have both daily. To that end, we are going to have a post every day to read. You never know when you might need a little boost and we are going to make sure you have it when you do!
We are also going to connect this blog with my personal podcast, Living the Dream with Neil Panosian. You will be able to take us with you in the car, as you go for a walk, in the gym or wherever else you listen to podcasts. We would also invite you to engage with us here more often. Your likes, shares and comments provide essential feedback that helps shape and mold us to serve you better.
On a personal note, my fourth book will also be released this year. That will be 3 books in 3 years. Exhausting? Yes. Fulfilling? I can’t even begin to tell you. We hope that everyone one of you have the best 2023 and we will be here to serve you and provide whatever assistance we can!
This is a view from the hotel that I took my lovely Margie for her birthday 🎂 Stepping back and looking at the city from this angle certainly changes how you view things. In the thick of things with the pollution, hustle and bustle you can miss some of the beauty of the architecture, the lights, and the cityscape itself.
The same can be said for life. In the middle of our work-a-day world, focused on working and paying bills, we miss a lot of the beauty of our lives. It’s not our fault. Life gets so busy it seems to fly by in a blur. We need to “push pause” and appreciate the beauty of our lives.
If life is so busy, how can we manage to do this? Who has time to step back and just appreciate life? Lately, Margie and I have been crazy. I’ve been working about 50 hours a week at my day job, plus working on my fourth book and of course bringing you this daily inspiration. Margie was finishing school, under the weather and still making delicious desserts to brighten people’s lives. We, like many other busy couples, fall into the habit of being too busy for each other.
I’m sure you have felt it. You both are working hard and feeling tired. Suddenly, you find yourself being irritated with the person you share a living space with. Everything you have going on and they want to spend quality time together? You may even snap at each other or speak in a less than loving tone. Not because you are necessarily upset with them but because there is too much life on your plate.
When this happens, that’s when you need to pull the emergency brake. Trust me, if you don’t notice it is happening, your partner may gently remind you it is. Here are some secrets to getting a new perspective. First, apologize. Explain that you lost focus. This is not a bad thing, but will let your partner know that life, not them, is what has your nerves frayed. Second, take a step back – literally. When you take a physical action, it can change your emotional state. There is a whole chapter about this in my second book, Living the Dream. Wherever you are, take one step back. Take a deep breath and slowly let it out while your at it.
Next, change what you focus on. Last night Margie made us quesadillas for dinner. I took a step back and watched her flipping them on the griddle. All i could think was “How is such a beautiful and funny woman also such a great cook?” That got me thinking how grateful I was that we were together. How she can always make me laugh,or at least raise one eyebrow.
In your life, take a step back regularly. The more you do it the more you will see a great deal of the beauty you may have missed while you were busy living life.
I was reading a book by Pam Grout. Rather insightful and entertaining author. I highly recommend checking out her books. She is best known for her book E-Squared. It is a list of experiments to help prove that your thoughts create your reality. I highly recommend reading it. The book I was leafing through is called The Course In Miracles Experiment. It is composed of 365 life lessons based on the course in miracles.
There is a line that begins lesson 24 that really struck me as I read it. When I excitedly shared it with Margie, she looked at me and said “You already know that.” This was true, but have you ever heard something you have heard a million times before and it was worded in just such a way that it really got through? This was the case here. The line read,”The brain is basically a bureaucrat. It looks at the past, applies it to the present and uses it as a map to predict the future.” Think about how true this statement is. 🤔
When we plan our future, we think about what happened in the past, apply that to our current life situation and use that to predict our future. Now, think of how stupid that is. First, if we think of how things always were and apply that to our current actions, do you think our future will be much different? Probably not. Our life becomes some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. That’s great if our life is a continuous bucket of smiles, but even then, the past does not necessarily dictate the future.
Think of it this way. What worked in the past might not work in the future. What didn’t work in the past might work in the future. There are just too many variables. Speaking of variables, we must also take into account something that doesn’t vary. The only thing that is constant – change. If we base our course of action on events in our past, do you think that leaves us open to problems?
You would not drive cross country with a map from the 1800’s? Don’t do the same thing with your life. People change. Opinions change. The world changes. Our thinking must adapt with it. Learn lessons from the past, but don’t base the future on it.
Middle of the week. Don’t forget to help someone else finish their week strong by sharing a smile 😊 or a kind word. Let us start this trend and fill Wednesday with joy!
Just remember this holiday season, to leave kindness wherever you go. The holidays can be tough for many and your joy may be the only joy they see. Being kind to one another is the greatest gift we can give this time of year.
SECRET 2 AN AMAZING LIFE 