Tag: self improvement

A DIFFICULT DECISION, AN EASY LIST

Here is a simple strategy I highly suggest all of us should do. It takes one of the more difficult decisions we have to make and turns it into a fun activity. What is this decision? Better yet, what is this activity? Let us take a look.

Have you ever felt stuck at your job? Have you ever found yourself asking, “Isn’t there something better for me?” Maybe you are one of the lucky people who really enjoy your job. Still, you feel there is something that could be more fulfilling? Something that is more in line with your life’s purpose. What then?

I often find myself sitting in my car outside of work asking these very questions. That actually is a picture of me sitting in my car. Here is what I suggest we do. Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle so you create two columns. On the top of one, write “things I really enjoy” or something like that. On top the other write “things that suck my soul” or something like that.

Now simply list everything that you do that really brings a smile to your face and heart. In my case, drinking coffee, listening to classic jazz, taking to people about themselves and encouraging them. List as many as you can think of. They don’t have to make sense to anyone but you.

Now, on the other side, list all of the things that seem to drain the very life from your soul. For me, it is being around drunk people, negativity, and being outside in the cold. Again, they don’t have to relate to each other. Just any thing that you really don’t enjoy.

Take a look at your list. The agragete of which should hint as to what kind of occupation may serve you well. Even if you want to keep the job you have now, it may give you an idea of a hobby or side hustle that could give you more emotional fulfillment. In my case, drinking coffee while talking to, and encouraging, others has me thinking talk show host would be the perfect job. Sadly, I can’t walk into a major network and get my own talk show. What I could do, is start my own podcast! I created the Living The Dream with Neil Panosian podcast. I highly recommend checking it out wherever you stream content.

The second list will give you an idea of what to minimize in your daily experience. Reducing these can increase your feelings of vitality and life satisfaction. Writing it down is the key. If we try bouncing this around in our noggin, we will just end up creating more stress for ourselves.

I’ll be interested in hearing what some of the things on your lists are, and what career, side hustle or hobby you come up with. Please feel free to share yours in the comments!

SELF-IMPROVEMENT OR SHELF-IMPROVEMENT?📚

Here is an idea I heard from Dr. Livingood, whose coffee I really enjoy! What is shelf-improvement? You might ask. Is it making sure a shelf is sturdy and properly hung? No. Is it improving a shelf with a little bit of paint or stain? Again, no. This is what happens when you buy a book, CD, course or any other item with the intent of improving yourself, only to read a small portion, if any, of it and place it on a shelf. I am guilty of this myself. You have heard the saying, “Knowledge is power.” That is not true. Knowledge is only potential power. With out assimilation and action, it has little, if any, effect on our lives.

My books, especially the first two, are of little good to anyone if the tools and strategies inside are not put into action. The first one might help cheer you up with the smiley face on the cover. The second one has a great tropical theme, but neither one will radically transform your life without putting to use what is inside. There are even people who read a book, try something for one or two days, and declare it doesn’t work. If you are going to invest money in purchasing something, time in reading it, do yourself a favor and invest the energy and discipline in actually doing what is inside.

Here is a book that I have picked up, read a little and designated to the ‘shelf-improvement’ file. I am sure Mr. Mandino would not be thrilled with that. You can see, I am as guilty as anyone of this. What is the solution? Realizing that NOTHING will work if we do not. I like to compare self-improvement with a fitness journey. You could spend a lifetime researching the best trainers, the best diets, the best gyms or you could just get outside and start walking. You will eventually learn what works for you and how to make it better. You will learn a lot quicker by doing, than by reading, thinking and planning.

What self-improvement items have become shelf-improvement items in your life? Aren’t you worth the effort to put these things into action? It can be difficult to maintain the discipline, but that is what will make it worth it. I would love to hear what books, courses or other items are shelf-improvement items in your life and how you plan to put them into action! If you are interested in picking up any of my books, just click the link below. Just remember to use them when they arrive!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER ONE, OR ALL, OF MY BOOKS!😊

A QUICK REMINDER 😊

For those of you who might not be aware, I also have a podcast! It is called Living The Dream with Neil Panosian. You can find it wherever you stream content. Free on Audible, Amazon Prime, Apple Podcasts and of course Spotify.

I’ll give the Spotify link below, but feel free to follow me wherever you stream! I look forward to hearing your feedback!

CHECK OUT MY PODCAST HERE!😊

DON’T LOOK FOR IT, CREATE IT!😃

So many books, movies and philosophies are concerned with the meaning of life. I guess it is good to ponder the direction one’s life is going. Do you know what is infinitely better? Creating it!

This weekend, if you haven’t already, take some time to get clear as to what the meaning of your life is going to be. This doesn’t matter if you are 18 or 80. As the saying goes, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today. ”

Getting clear, for the first time perhaps, as to what the purpose of your life is, will have amazing benefits! Stress will be reduced. Energy will be increased. Indecision will be a thing of the past. You will have a definite idea of what is right and wrong for your life. Most importantly, you will be able to decipher if you are going in the right direction or not. If not, you will be able to take corrective actions.

With all of these benefits, and more, isn’t spending some time deciding what the purpose of your life worth it? In fact, it is worth its weight in gold!

A GREAT LESSON FROM FALL 🍂🍁

Everyone knows this time of year is tough for me. The Wisconsin State Fair, one of my favorite events, has ended. This also means my yearly 2 week vacation is also over. Cold weather is on its way. Every year I do my best to find inspiration.

This quote is very helpful. In life we all have those times when it feels like we are losing everything. It doesn’t have to be the end of summer. It can be when you need to go to both the dentist and the mechanic in the same week. Your relationship and your job could be falling apart at the same time.

Regardless of what the situation is, looking at the trees as they start to lose their leaves can remind us that although things can look bleak and dead, it can just be a phase of life. Just like a tree continues to grow in the winter, we can continue to grow in the winters of our life. Remember how the trees boom again and come back to life in spring. Often, we just need to hang on and make it through the season.

JOYS, AND LESSONS, OF A SIMPLE WALK 🚶‍♂️

Yesterday, my mother and I went for a nice 3 mile walk. It was at a park, Greenfield Park, where we have walked many times. We have discussed the benefits of walking in nature on this very blog many times. What I would like to share with you today are 2 new lessons I was reminded of on this walk.

Here is a bird we came across as we were waking. It is a Black Crowned Night Heron. A what? I hadn’t heard of it before yesterday either. Here was the first lesson. No matter how many times you have been somewhere, there is always something new to discover. We have seen many of the same animals before, but this one was new to us.

Already excited at seeing a new animal for the first time, we were in for another great surprise. We came across this young deer as we rounded the corner of the path. Approaching slowly, we watched the deer. We were able to walk on the path right passed it without the deer running away. I’m sure it sensed we meant no harm. Lesson 2 – no matter how many times you have been somewhere, there is always new magic to experience.

In life we may seem, and feel, like life does not have much in the way of new excitement and adventure to offer. Yet, even in the usual places, there is always something wonderful if you look hard enough.

DON’T JUST READ ME, LISTEN TO ME! 🎧

I am so grateful for all of you who have been following this blog. We have been sharing tools and strategies to turn the life we have into the life we love for over ten years now. We are a self-improvement family that includes individuals in over 200 countries and are on all 7 continents! My heart is so filled with gratitude for this community and only strengthens my desire to provide content that will serve you all.

I am always asking in what ways can I further serve? The answer was brought to me by several of you. It really hit home when that included the lovely lady I share my home with. Many people enjoy the content we share with each other here, but may not have the time, or desire, to sit down and read. Therefore, we have started….Living the Dream with Neil Panosian podcast! It can be found wherever you stream your content. This includes me reading and discussing posts we have on this blog as well as sections from my three books. We also have special guests to share their opinions. I would love to have you all subscribe. You can take me with you when you are at the gym, going for that walk after dinner, driving in the car or whenever else you listen to podcasts. There are episodes that range in time from 10 minutes to a half an hour. They fit whatever time you have allowed.

Listen to and subscribe to the LIVING THE DREAM WITH NEIL PANOSIAN podcast today. I look forward to your feedback and being able to serve all of you in a new form of media. I would love to expand the podcast (currently followed in 10 countries) to all 200 who follow Secret2anamazinglife.com. I look forward to meeting all of you there.

SIT WITH THE WARRIORS

This simple quote brings a lot to mind. Sitting with warriors could conjure up an image of men with swords and shields. It can bring to mind soldiers ready to go to battle. In the case of daily life, I think it means something entirely different. Warriors in life can be people just like you and me. They are people who battle every day with both the challenges the world throws at them, but also the demons contained within them. They are people who are often down, but never out. Do you know people like this? People who keep going no matter how tough the going seems to get? These are the people you want to surround yourself with.

Much like the importance of surrounding yourself with positive oriented people, which we have often discussed here, including the warriors of daily life in your social circle is essential. Why? Not only will you gain a large amount of inspiration from them, but you will also learn some of the tools and strategies, plus, the psychology they use to meet and overcome these challenges. It is important to include those people we wish to be more like in our daily lives. People who never give up have a different way of looking at, and talking about the world. Anytime you are able, you should sit with them.

DEATH OF A PIRATE ☠️

There are many things that influence my writing ✍️ and life’s mission. It began with a feeling that I was missing the true meaning of life. The United States Postal Service, as it so often does, informed after 10 years of service my job would be all but eliminated. At that point,I realized my focus, and to a large part my identity, had been tied to my job and my material success in life. When that was being taken away, I also realized what a poor life I had created.

That forced me to take a long hard look at both what is important in life as well as what truly brings us joy. Those years of reading, listening and attending seminars resulted in the creation of my first book, A Happy Life for Busy People. As I was writing this book it became clear that I was often the happiest when I was on vacation in the tropics. This should not seem like a shocking revelation, but it did bring up the question that would define the writing and work I was to do the rest of my life.

That question was this – How can you keep that vacation feeling all year long? When you are out shoveling snow in order to go to a job that drains your soul? How about stuck in traffic when you just want to be home with the love of your life. Two song lyrics and a smart ass response from a friend of mine helped provide some answers. The first lyric was from the band Kiss. The lyric was simply “You have to live like you’re on vacation.” While pondering that, I stopped into have lunch where a friend of mine worked. I asked her how her day was going. Her response? “You know. Living the dream right here at the ___”

The other lyric came from Jimmy Buffett, who sadly passed away at the age 76 yesterday. It was the song “Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes”. It got me thinking about how different I felt stepping off the plane on a sun-drenched island 🏝 . Why did I feel so different and how can I bring that Attitude home with me? Listening to some of Mr. Buffett’s other songs offered clues to this laid-back beach state of mind.

It was attending a Jimmy Buffett concert that showed how people in the frozen state of Wisconsin kept that tropical state of mind. The parking lot of the concert was turned into a tropical paradise much like my trip to margaritaville, as documented in the picture above. There was people in swimwear. There was swimming pools full of rum drinks. Homemade beach signs and tropical colors everywhere.

Just to investigate further, I made a return trip to Jamaica and created as many memories as I could, including this one with another wonderful couple Margie and I met while we were down there.

The point of this is that we all need an escape. Whether it is writing about it in a song like Jimmy Buffett did, or even just listening to those songs. We need to escape, in whatever fashion we can, to the places that make us happy. It is not a luxury, but a necessity for our sanity. Where is your escape and how do you get there?

WHEN IT ALL GOES SOUTH, EXCEPT YOU

This was the temperature on the way to work this morning. Felt like a crisp fall day. I am more of a sunny summer kind of fellow. this time of year I feel my spirits start to drag a little. Still, I stay focused on the fact I am not driving in snow or ice…. yet.

Even though it is cold, my seasonal allergies have decided it is their season. I always find it remarkable how doing an activity while unable to breathe through your nose is that much more draining. It feels as though I am walking in quick sand. I’ve tried every medication and natural remedy I can think of, but still they persist

It can seem hard not to get a little down in the mouth when the world seems against you. This past week not only included the above drop in temperature and allergy mayhem, but a concussion and other serious injury. It seemed a period in my life when everything is going south but me! At this point in time down south, say in the islands with my lady, seems like a good remedy.

As the quote from Mr. Churchill says, we must never surrender. Bruce Springsteen and Corey Hart said something similar. I’ve decided a change in perception is what is needed. I’m going to look at this the same way I do the gym. The struggle today will give me the strength I need tomorrow. Who knows, I might learn something along the way. What do you do when your life seems upside down?