There are far too many people that fail to see the power in this quote. It is a fool who thinks that they can be excellent when it matters. When stressed, we do not revert to our goals, we revert to our habits. This does not have to be a bad thing. What it means is that it is very important to establish successful habits. Act in excellence in everything we do. If you are cleaning the house, do not clean around things, but pick them up and clean underneath them. What you do when nobody is watching will have a huge impact on what you do when everyone is watching.
In my discussions with my new podcast partner, we discussed what I believe can be a very powerful habit that will not only set you up for success in all of your relationships, but will even improve them as you practice. The habit is both simple and fun. It will make all of your relationships closer and the bonds stronger. While doing so, it will also give you a boost of good feelings. This is the simple and powerful habit. Once a week, sit down and write out a greeting card. Yes, the old fashioned things that people used to send. You do not have to spend a lot. You can even order a pack online in a design that pleases you. Once a week, sit down and write what you genuinely appreciate about one person in your life. Then send it to them. Imagine how they will feel when they are expecting bills or ads and here comes a heartfelt card from you! The fact that nobody sends cards out anymore is part of what makes it special.
Not into the whole greeting card thing? Maybe you do not know the addresses of many of your friends? Another opportunity exists on social media! Can you imagine a post that is nothing other than a genuine list of why you appreciate the friendship you share with someone? It will not only inspire and make the person it is addressed to feel good, but everyone who happens to read it as well! Often, online worlds have a shortage of positive material. Adding this one thing can change the day for many people.
Getting in this habit of appreciation will program your mind to look for the good in people. I cannot tell you how amazing that will be for your life. You will not only feel better about the world, so will everyone you share it with. Imagine doing this to 52 different people in a year! (Once a week, 52 weeks in a year) If you do not know 52 people, you can even repeat yourself. What kind of impact do you think this will have on your relationships? Think of how you can apply a habit like this in other areas of your life to help them grow. Soon, you will be developing excellence in all areas of your life.
The power of habits is greater than what we think. In fact, most of us do not think about habits much at all. We just do them. That is why they are called habits. One of the secrets to an amazing life is to create actions that we take on a consistent basis that we do not even have to think about. Do you know what an action that you would take on a consistent basis is called? It is called a habit! Generally, we do not actively create habits. It would seem they materialize by themselves.
What if we could create a habit, that is an action we take consistently, that would help us on a journey to becoming the best version of ourselves? That would be like putting our success on autopilot! Two of the best times to start new habits are first thing in the morning and last thing at night. The reasons should be obvious, but we will take a look at them. First thing in the morning helps craft the course of our day. If we can start off with a win, or something that puts our focus into a positive state, that will make the rest of our day more successful. Right before we sleep with have us resting with more peace and allow our subconscious mind to work on our goals while we sleep. This allows us to wake up refreshed and ready to face the day.
What new habits could you develop that would bring you closer to success? What ideas to you use that will help make your new successful habits stick? Please share with us in the comments below.
Earlier in the year, we had a post that highlighted the importance of doing small things with a great deal of consistency. The example we used was doing 20 squats a day and the cumulative effect of doing so. After 1 day, you will not notice anything. Other than a little soreness, even after 1 week you might not notice much. After 30 days of doing squats, you are sure to notice the clothes fitting a little different and the reflection the mirror being a little more forgiving. If we are being honest, I didn’t do so good on the squats, but will get back at it for my yearly charity run
One of my goals this year was to have a blog a day for an entire year. As you can see in the picture above, we have made it 300 days straight. Actually, by the time you are reading this, it will be 303. As I have dedicated myself to bringing the world motivation and inspiration daily, my reward has been a growing global audience. This site has gained followers in several new countries. The amount of people viewing us daily has increased as well. Our presence on the great continent of Africa has nearly doubled. More people began following us in South America than ever. This includes in Peru, Brazil, Columbia and several other countries. This has happened in no small part because of the daily commitment of sharing these inspiring words.
What daily habits could you start today that will have a great impact on your life the rest of the year? Think the month of May is too late to start something new? Let me ask you how different you would feel if you did 20 squats a day for 7 months? Feel free to share your commitment with the community in the comments below.
Last post we spoke about defeating your demons. Today we are going to talk about a specific demon. That is the demon of negative thinking. Boy is this one a tricky one. I don’t care who you are, it creeps in the mind of everybody. Even the always bubbly coworker who can drive you nuts. On occasion, they have a bad day or a moment of self-doubt. One of the greatest tricks the demon of negative thinking uses is to convince you that having these thoughts in some way makes you a failure. This creates a feedback loop from hell, as author Mark Manson says. You have a negative thought. Then you feel bad about yourself for thinking negative, which makes you feel bad. Then you start to feel bad for feeling bad. On and on the loop can go. That is unless you can stop it!
The million dollar question becomes, “How do we control the habit of negative thinking?” I recommend a 3-step process. That process is – motivation, preparation, and habit. We will quickly tackle these one at a time. They will be expanded on more in my fifth book, Save Yourself. That is not due out until 2025 at the earliest. Being that we want to nip negative thinking in the bud now, let’s dive into our first step of the process – motivation. We need to start the day motivated. If this seems like a next to impossible task, I understand. I wake up for work 6 days a week at 4am. Including Mondays when I DJ until 2am. I understand the challenge of waking up motivated. Another way to state this is to ‘wake up with intent’. Years ago I did a video for my YouTube Channel called “Waking up in neutral” I put the link at the bottom of this post. Ask yourself do you have a written intent you wake up to in the morning? This can be one of the simplest fixes.
Many people picture someone standing on the sidelines yelling and cheering them on when they think of the word ‘motivation’. That isn’t really what the word even means. Motivation means to “have a motive”. First thing in the morning, before the world distracts you, is the best time to set your motive. Actually, embedding it in your mind the night before will allow your subconscious mind to get a jump start on it. I suggest writing out a simple one or two line mantra that will tell your mind the kind of day you are expecting to have. An example might be, “I am going to have a great day. I will learn from every situation in life, even the challenging ones, and I will not let them bring me down.” This is only an example. Write something that is meaningful to you and put it somewhere you will see it. Maybe tape it to the bathroom mirror or by the coffee maker.I suggest saying your intention out loud. Maybe if several times on the morning commute. If you want to take control of your life, it is time to stop waking up on accident and declare your intent for the day.
Now that we have a purpose and intent for our day, it is on to step two. That step, as mentioned above, is preparation. Here is a not so shocking news flash – you are going to have a bad day. You are going to have a day where you feel down. Not so positive there, but it is true. The secret to an amazing life is not to be depressed by this news, but to prepare for it. What does preparing for a bad day or a bout of negative thinking look like? It is creating a list of things that can help you combat the negativity in your life. You may be thinking that you already know things that lift your spirits, and that may be true. When you are in the middle of one of the storms of life, those things may slip from your mind. Having them written down to be able to refer to without thought makes this process easier and more effective. Mine, for example, is going for a walk in nature, watching several of my favorite movies, spending time with certain friends. One of my favorite is listening to music that puts me in a good mood. That is why I recommend creating a ‘Happy Playlist’ in my first two books. Music has a way to rapidly transform our emotional state with just the push of a button. Save a list on your phone, which everyone seems to always have with them. It might not be a bad idea to have a file named ‘happy day’ with a list of the items that can pick you up on there as well. That way you will have the list no matter where you are.
We have set our intention. We are saying it out loud, maybe several times, every morning. We have prepared for the inevitable bad day by creating a list of things that raise our spirits. Maybe even creating a ‘Happy Playlist’ of our own. Now what? That brings us to the third and final habit – habits. Developing habits that serve us is the secret to maintaining a positive life. In my own life, I have a file saved on my phone that is filled with positive affirmations I listen to every morning on the way to work. I have scheduled days that I go to the gym, which helps release endorphins that boost your mood. I make sure to schedule quality time in nature, with friends and of course with my lovely lady. These habits not only reduce the chance of letting life get to me, but unlocking the secret of what to do when it does,
Use this 3-step process in your own life, starting today. We never know when a challenging day, or some negative thinking, will be coming our way. We do know now how we can defeat them and live a more positive life. It is important to remember if we do fall victim to life and feel down, we have not failed. It is a part of life. It may be setting us up for a period of growth. It may be just providing us a chance to practice and strengthen these very practices. Last note, this is an evolving process. You can add to, or change your morning intention. You can add to the list of things that make you happy as you discover new ones. You can tweak and add positive habits as you go along. Life is ever evolving. We should be too.
What can your garden possibly reveal about your life? A lot. For those of you that are like me and have a thumb that tends to be a little more brown than green, fear not, it is more than your garden. If you have a garden, or just a yard around your house would you want it to look good and be doing well? I think most of us, especially those that read this blog, would answer in the affirmative. If, for some reason, your garden is not looking so good what would you do? Would you give up and just let it go? Would you spend extra time pulling up weeds and watering it? Would you call someone who knows better than you? In my case that would be my good soul friend Shannon. Maybe you would read up and study the different plants.
These may all seem like logical answers, but how you treat your garden has a lot to do with how other aspects of you life will turn out as well. What would you do if your relationship was not looking so good? Would you just let it run its course? Would you perhaps leave and go to a different relationship? That is like tilling a new field with the same gardening skills. You are likely to get the same result. Would you get in there and start working on pulling weeds (addressing problems) and watering (adding love wherever you can)? Would you read a book that can tell you more about how to have a successful relationship? Would you call a friend who has a great relationship?
You may think that this isn’t so. You may think you can put forth great effort in one area, such as a relationship, but slack off at your job. You may think that being a great father or mother and a great husband or wife take two separate traits. That is not really so. Consistent action, admitting to ourselves and others that we do not know everything and seeking the wise counsel of others, whether that be in person or through some other medium. Develop successful habits in one area and it will be a lot easier to do in others. The danger here is that it is a double edge sword. Develop lazy and unproductive habits and they will carry over to other aspects of your life, no matter how hard you try.
As Aristotle said, we are what we repeatedly do. What do you repeatedly do everyday? Is it successful habits? Are there areas which you could improve? If you are human, I would imagine the answer to the second question is a resounding “Yes!” This is good news, because it means there is room for both you and your life to get even better than it is now!
Here is a suggestion that I found worked in my own life. Start by putting habits in place in areas you are confident in first. If you are looking to be more self-disciplined, would it be easier to keep to a schedule at the gym, or getting up without hitting the snooze button? Start there and develop the habit. Once you have discipline in the area of life you are confident in, it will be easier to apply it to other areas of your life. Also, be on the look out for areas in which you are starting to develop bad habits. Are you slipping at the gym? Are you showing up for work late? It will only be a matter of time before this starts affecting other areas of your life. Make sure you address them as soon as you can.
SECRET 2 AN AMAZING LIFE 