It is a new year, and time to start some new habits. One of yours maybe to invest more. When we think of investing we often think of stocks, bonds and other financial terms. The best investment you can make is none of these. The best investment you can make is in you! Without strong mental, physical and emotional health, none of the material stuff matters.
Take a look at some of the possible investments listed above. Most of them are things we indulge in if we have time. This year – make time. The stronger foundation we build, the more we can accomplish and bring to the world. Investing in yourself will pay off in bringing a better version to those you love.
Which one of the investments above sound best to you? Let us know in the comments below.
How is your mindset? Is it empowering or is it filled with fear and holding you back? This is one of the first things we must get right in ourlife. There is a quote attributed to Henry Ford that states, “whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right. ” When you believe in yourself, and your purpose, you are less likely to let challenges stop you.
With your mindset being so important, why leave this up to chance? Make sure you have a confident and healthy mindset before you step out the door in the morning. That way the challenges we might face will not stand a chance to knock you down.
How do we do this? It involves some subtle tweaking to your morning routine. The majority of us pick up our phone right after we wake up. Often, before even getting out of bed!What greets you on your phone? It could be drama, negative news or a host of other things. We do not really know. It is better to set ourselves up with a guaranteed positive routine. This could be affirmations, quick meditation or just reflection on what we have to be grateful for.
How different would your day go if you spent 5 minutes thinking of, and feeling grateful for, all that you have in your life. In my upcoming book, I show you how to use both ritual and environment to set yourself up for success. That is develop your own routines to create a positive mindset. Fillyour environment with things that remind you of positive and happy events and thoughts. How would you do that? What routines do you have for starting your day off right?Share with the rest of us. You just may inspire someone else!
This picture, or group of pictures, is truly worth 1000 words. How many of us are like this lady? Chasing all of the material goods, grabbing all that we can. Then, with arms full, she discovers she has reached the end of her life. She does have an arm full of riches,but what good will it do her then? The moral here is fairly obvious. Do not spend you whole life just chasing material wealth.
There are 2 other points that are important to add to this. First, while she is chasing the material goods, her eyes are locked onto what she is chasing. Not looking at the green grass, the blue sky or anything else. I’m not sure if that was intentionally done by the artist, but it makes a good point. How many of us focus on chasing what we do not have, never stopping to look at all the beauty around us? We settle for a feeling of lack. Instead, we should focus on the wealth we do have. That could be the love of our family, friends or someone special. If you are really lucky, like me, you have all three! The wealth of health. Even if it is not perfect, we are still blessed with a great amount of it.
The other point is that she is old in the last picture. Either that or she died her hair Grey. This is really a best case scenario. We never know when we will reach ‘the end’ sign in our life. That is why it is so important to enjoy the journey. Be thankful for what you do have while chasing what you want.
Do you ever get the feeling you are chasing the brass ring… and an Olympic sprinter is wearing it? That is to say you can never quite catch it? When we spend our life focused on chasing the next big goal and saving our celebration until we reach it, life can feel like one big chores.
What is the secret to an amazing life? As the photo above states, celebrating the little wins. There are so many ways in which to do this. As I mentioned in the last few posts, the weather here is so cold it is downright dangerous. The other night, my lovely Margie and I had to go out to our DJ job. It was -3° F when we left. My 2005 Ford Escape not only made it home but purred like a kitten.To me, making it home safe was a win.
Celebrating safe travels and good health keep us realizing how much we truly do have. I’m sitting in a local Korean coffee shop writing this. I’m so glad my city not only has one of these, but I am able to enjoy it. This will be the 935th day in a row for these blogs. That is worth Celebrating. I’m not waiting to celebrate until I reach my goal of 1000.The fact that despite my hectic life I’m still able to bring these blogs to you is a win.
How about you? What small wins can you celebrate? The more you celebrate, the more life seems like 1 big party!
During a conversation with my boss about a supervisor we have had for 2 years, but has never actually set foot in the building (this is something that could only happen at the Post Office) she exploded with emotion. Yelling about how much the situation is stressing her out and how much it upsets her. I explained the quote above. Far too many of us have the same reaction to many things in life that are beyond our control. As I watched her get angry and yell, I couldn’t help but think of what this was doing to her physically. When we put ourselves into constant states of stress, the physical outcome can be nothing short of lethal. Everything from an upset stomach to a heart attack.
Many of you might be tempted to say that the situation was actually to blame. That is not so. Our emotions are one of the things that we can control. This is something that most of us are never taught. We assume it is just an action/reaction world. Yes, it is a lot easier to be happy after winning the lottery than when you discover that you accidentally took two laxatives instead of allergy medicine, but we still have a great deal of control over our reactions. Our mind, where our emotions actually come from, is a muscle to be exercised. Like starting to exercise any muscle, it will be difficult at first, but will get easier the more we try.
Why bother with all this effort to train our emotions? For starters, not having a heart attack would be a good thing. You may be saying to yourself, “That could never happen to me!” The number one risk factor for a heart attack is high blood pressure. It is called the silent killer because it has no symptoms. Guess what raises your blood pressure? Stress! One of the greatest ways we can reduce our stress is through gaining control over our emotions. There are many ways in which this can be done. One of my favorites is to change what things mean. Bullying, at both the adult and child level, is a huge problem since Covid and getting worse. We can let the emotional, verbal attacks really stress us out, or we can understand that these are really people who are usually suffering from a poor self-esteem themselves. Nobody who is completely happy with themselves will attack another.
Another way is to change our perception about the event. When we are constantly in reaction mode, we become slaves to our emotions. They control us instead of the other way around. Are you really going to be anger’s slave? In addition to being a slave to the emotion, you are letting the person or event that caused your reaction control you and your emotional well-being. Nobody deserves to have that power other than you! That person who insulted you might have made you angry. That person who broke your heart may have made you sad. That is understandable. To stay in that emotional state is to let them continue to hurt you over and over again. You deserve better.
Lastly, you can mine your emotions. What I mean by that is to find the lesson in why you find yourself reacting and feeling that way. Is it telling you something about yourself? Is it telling you something about the people you have in your life or the situations you put yourself in? These are all things that we have some control over. Let your emotions give you the gift of improving your life. Stop being victim to them and put them to work for you. It will save you stress. It may even save your life!
It’s Sunday and we all want to relax. You deserve that! Worked hard all week. Many of us watch plop down and binge watch our favorite program. There is nothing wrong with watching a little television now and then. What is scary is the amount of time given to electronic devices in our day. Even more scary is what we give up to spend this time!
Watching the game on the weekend after a hard workweek is nothing to be ashamed of. Even having a show you look forward to watching can give us a little reward to motivate us during the day. What we must balance is the important and meaningful things in life as well.
If we routinely spend 2,3 or even more hours a day watching other people’s drama on an electric screen, what is going on in our own lives? Are we giving up time to bond with the kids? Are we neglecting our physical and mental health? Maybe it is time to swap one of those hours watching Netflix, or our cell phones, for some time in the gym or time in reflection or meditation.
It can be fun fun to have a show you watch with your partner. It is even better if you can spend equal amount of time on activities that improve your health, your relationship or allow you to grow even closer.
Life is about balance. There is nothing wrong with a little mindless entertainment. Just make sure we are spending the same, if not more time on things that will improve our lives and our relationships with others. The slang term for the television is “the idiot box” let us make sure we do not become one of the people addicted to it.
We are at the end of the first full week of the new year. How are those goals coming? Have you fallen victim to the millions of distractions in the world? Before you realize it, they can have you sleeping on your goals and dreams! What can you do about that? Don’t worry, we have a simple solution in mind.
When you fall asleep at night, how domanage to get back up and get back at it? You set an alarm! That is precisely what you should do to stick to your goals. I don’t care if it is to eat healthier, exercise more or spend time meditating. This little tip will work for them all.
Pick a time you can rely on. Set an alarm on your phone. If you have the option, add a few words of encouragement or reminder of your goals. Here is the key. Then take at least one action. Eat a healthy meal or snack. Food prep. Do 20 squats or meditate for 5 minutes. If you start making this a daily habit it will increase your chances for success! An easy way to do this is to simply set an alarm to remind you. Just remember to always take an action. It will provide you with momentum and you will be halfway to success!
Who doesn’t love giving a great gift? I know I do. Seeing the joy on the face of others when they open a gift you have carefully thought of and selected is a better feeling than any gift you could receive. At least that’s how I feel. I’m sure many of you would agree.
Wouldn’t it be great to be able to give a gift like that every time you see someone? To see someone’s face light up with joy everytime the two of you connect? There is such a gift. It does require careful thoughts and actions daily, but as you can see, the rewards are priceless.
The gift we are talking about us becoming the best version of yourself. This may seem counterintuitive, but if you think about it is not. Of course the ultimate beneficiary of self-improvement is… well..yourself. Still, think of how nice it is to spend time with someone who is at peace, filled with joy and has their life reasonably together.
This is not to say that you should fake being happy all of the time. We all have struggles and sometimes sharing them with a friend helps a great deal and makes our friend feel like the valuable person they are in our life. Showing up with peace in our hearts, an attitude of gratitude and excitement about the future can brighten anyone’s day.
The more you learn about improving your own life, the better you can be of service to those you care about. Learning to be a better listener? Think of who that benefits. How about developingthe ability to give genuine and uplifting compliments? You know that will certainly encourage your friends and family. One of the best things I have learned is to stay calm in the face of challenges. You not only inspire others, but can be in a better position to see solutions their panicking mind may not be able to.
This year, let us all work on becoming the best version of ourselves. Not only will we improve, but so will our relationships with those we care about. Just remember that self-improvement is a life-long journey. You can take a daily step right here at secret2anamazinglife.com!
This is one of those quotes that really call us out. We can have all the resolutions and grand goals we can think of, but if we don’t change the small things we do daily, nothing will change. It can be hard to change a habit that you are used to. I get that. One thing that may help is having a handy quote to say to yourself.
Saying “New year or another year?” When you are tempted not to follow through on a new discipline can have you stop and think. Margie found a quote we say to each other now, “Don’t put it down, put it away.” Taking a few seconds to put something back can save you from a feeling of overwhelm when you have a room full of stuff to put away later.
Have you come across a quote like this that you can use as a mantra to help you stick to your goals? I recall hearing one of my favorite fitness people I follow online, Greg Plitt (R.I.P) remind us that our names are attached to our actions. If you drop a piece of trash on the ground you pick it up because that represents who you are. Excellence is not a one time event. It is what we do everyday.
This year it is important to set boundaries. It is important to set goals and resolutions to make clear what we are going after. It is just as important to set boundaries to let others know what we will not tolerate. This is not meant to be antagonist, but to teachothers how they should treat you.
Setting boundaries can be difficult at first. This is especially true for people you have let trample your boundaries in the past. In the long term it will actually reduce stress in your life. Quite a bit actually! It will also improve the quality of your relationshipswith others. When they respect you and your boundaries, you will enjoy spending more time with them. In addition, it sets the relationship up for growth that otherwise wouldn’t be possible.
Therefore, it would both serve you, and the relationship you share with this person, to make your boundaries clear and to stick by them. Remember, it may be uncomfortable in the short-term, but it will ultimately serve you long-term.
