What things do you do to encourage yourself when you feel down? What things have you seen others do to encourage themselves? It is important to have a list of ways to encourage yourself because we don’t always have a cheerleader close by when we need one. Share the ways in which you encourage yourself in the comments below so we can all get some new ideas!
I love to fill my day with moments that make me smile. Better yet, I like to be fully aware and appreciate those moments. Too often we fail to understand the value of simple moments of joy until they are gone. This is just one of many reasons to be present during your day.
When we are not slaves to distraction, we can feel the joy in our hearts that these simple moments bring. Another way is to reflect on moments in your day that bring you joy. As I’m writing this, I am doing just that. Let me tell you, it is making me smile just thinking about, and being grateful for them.
Some of these moments for me are waking up to see comments from readers of this site like you. It is that first sip of coffee in the morning. One of my favorites is coming home from work and first setting eyes on my beautiful fiance. What are your simple moments of joy and how can you better appreciate them?
Monday is not everyone’s favorite day. I truly get that. I usually get less than 3 hours of sleep, followed by a 10 hour workday. It can be tough to get up mentally after enjoying a great weekend with family and friends.
When starting any project, including the work week, our attitude at the beginning goes a long way to deciding if we will succeed or fail. That is why it is so important that you find any means at your disposal to create a positive attitude on Monday morning. Sounds impossible? Here are a few things to try. You can begin by focusing on what you have to be grateful for. Life isn’t always what we would like, but it could always be worse. You can focus on the purpose of why you are going to work. Whether that is being able to spoil those you love, or keeping a roof over your head and the lights on. Imagine what it would be like without those things.
Starting the week with a good attitude will increase our chances for it being a successful week. Above we listed 2 ways in which you can make that happen. I would love to hear any ideas you have for making Monday, or any other day, a positive one.
Here is a notice that I received from our wonderful friends at WordPress. That is the platform on which this site is ran. It is actually from a little bit ago. Tomorrow’s post will be number 800 in a row. That is 800 days straight that we have put out content. This is along with 55 hours a week at my day job, being a DJ on the weekend, working out 3 days a week. Oh, and yes trying to have a life and a relationship with the most beautiful woman on the planet.
Through the course of these 800 days, the number of people and followers on this page has slowly crept up. The number of countries we find ourselves viewed in is well over 200 now. What is interesting is that taken day by day, it does not seem like it is growing that much. If, however, we were to look back to 799 days ago we would see a dramatic difference. The reason that I share that with you today is that is works the same way in many areas of life. Take physical fitness for example. If you look at the changes in your body from working out 3 days a week after say 3 weeks, you would not see much of a difference. If you waited 800 days, you would see a big difference. That difference would be between day 1 and day 800. Many just look at the difference between day 799 and day 800 and decide we are not making much of an improvement.
Remember that much of the improvement in life can be gradual. It may not seem like you are making headway from day to day. Keep working. In a year you will look up to discover dramatic changes you may fail to notice if you are only looking from day to day. It is also important to remember that growth is not always linear. You can be up one day and down the next. Seldom is progress a straight line. Do not let that you become discouraged.
Today is the only day we have. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow may never come. It is today that holds all of the power. Do you regret something in your past? Today is the day you can make up for it. Worried about something in the future? It is the actions that you take Today that can help you be prepared.
It is living in the past or the future that causes most of our stress in life. Do yourself a favor and live in the present. Not only will you have less stress, but you will use the day to your advantage!
Today everyone is looking where to invest. Is it real estate? How about the stock market? Crypto currency? I have an investment that is not only more valuable, but will pay far greater dividends. If you would like to know what this investment is, and how you can take advantage of it, read the rest of this post.
First, let us look at the value of this investment. Diamonds, for example, are rare and expensive to mine. Therefore, they hold great value for the consumer. The value of stocks is relative. They can be worth $70 in March and be worth a little as $15 by September. This investment is not only more valuable than Diamonds, it is literally priceless. Speaking of price, the value of this investment never decreases. To the contrary. As time goes on,this investment becomes more valuable.
The investment I am speaking of is time. Before you roll your eyes, or stop reading right here, let me explain. There are many things you can get back. Lose a lot of money? Many people have lost money only to regain their fortune. Even if you lose a diamond, another can be purchased. What if you lost time? You wasted it with mindless scrolling online, or you were forced to sit in an airport because your flight was delayed. Can you get that time back? No. It is gone forever. I don’t care how wealthy or well–connected you are, you can’t get more time.
The way to take advantage of this investment? Make good use of your time. Have plans. I heard a quote that says, “For every minute of anger, you lose 60 seconds of happiness.” Meaning that time spent in anger is gone. You will never have that 60 seconds back.
This sense of urgency in regards to time was brought home to me when I knew I was having open-heart surgery. There was a 2 month time frame. I realized I could be staring down my last 60 days on earth and thought about all I wanted to accomplish. Here is the thing, you don’t have to be facing a dangerous surgery. Any of us, or our loved ones could check out at any time. The thing about time, it is always running out. The time to invest in our time is now, before it is too late!
One invention that has always amazed me is the thermostat. A device that takes the temperature of your house, compares that to a desired temperature and makes adjustments as needed. This could mean turning on the heat if it is too cold, or if you have central air, turning that on to make it cooler. How amazing is that? When you think in the 19th century that would involve hearing aunt Margaret complain she is cold and throwing another log on the fire. Now, you can even make adjustments to your thermostat via your cell phone! Even if you are nowhere near your home. This is crazy cool when you stop to think about it.
Here is a question. Would you allow your neighbor to control your thermostat? Unless you are close to your neighbor and have the same hot and cold tolerance, your answer is probably a resounding ‘no’. It seems insane to let someone else determine how hot or cold your house would be. How much energy you would need to expend and pay for.
As foolish as it would be to let our neighbor determine the temperature in our house, we do this very thing with our personal thermostat. What on earth is a personal thermostat? It is the level of joy and peace in our lives. Far too many of us let outside circumstances determine this. If good things happen to us, we have a good day. If things do not go so well, we are grumpy or depressed. As the wise Mr. Aurelius points out, we should not let outside circumstances to distress us. We must realize our power to revoke whatever reaction that has us feeling negative.
Take control of your own personal thermostat. Set it for “An enjoyable day filled with peace”. This is not to say you may not have to make adjustments, just like the thermostat in your house. Hear some bad news? You may have to ‘turn on the furnace of happiness’. This could mean listening to some music that makes you smile. It could be spending time with someone you love. The boss treat you harshly or unfairly? You might need to ‘turn on the air conditioning’ and cool yourself down. This could be hitting the gym or going for a walk in nature.
It is time to control your own internal thermostat. Just as it would be foolish to let your neighbor control the temperature inside your house, it would be equally foolish to the outside circumstances to control your inner well-being. Take back your power and take back your own thermostat.
Everyday we cross paths with so many different teachers. I’m not only talking about the ones employed in the field of education, but everyday folks who teach us so much! It could be the person behind the counter at the coffee shop. It could be a particular friend or coworker. Everyone could teach us something if only we paid attention.
In my life I have had so many great teachers. My grandparents taught me a lot of interesting lessons. My mother teaches me a lot of great things by her example. My lovely lady teaches me how to maintain a young spirit. We can learn from anyone if that is the approach we take.
Who are some of your favorite teachers and what have they taught you?
Here is a picture of the moon I took at work this morning. Yes, I start before the sun comes up. As you can see, only a small portion of it can be seen. It is slowly getting bigger, that is more can be seen, every day.
The moon goes through two distinct phases. The waxing phase. This is the phase it is in now going from a dark new moon, getting brighter until it becomes a full moon. Then there is the wanning phase. Where the moon goes from a bright full moon, getting smaller until it returns to a dark full moon.
What do these lunar phases have to do with us? Personally, I use them as reminders. When the moon is getting bigger, I focus on things I want to put in my life. This could be a new healthy habit, or a something I want to get better at. When the moon is getting smaller, I focus on things I want to eliminate from my life. These can range from unhealthy things I eat, to toxic people I give too much time to.
Just an example of using nature as a gentle reminder to improve ourselves.
Too many of us are concerned with being perfect. This could be in any field. Perfect parent, perfect car sales person or perfect best-selling author. What we would be better off focusing on is continually improving.
How about you? In what area are you striving for perfection? Are there ways in which you could simply improve and get better?
SECRET 2 AN AMAZING LIFE 