Month: May 2016

This week I want you to set it in motion with the intent to grow yourself. As opportunity comes your way, don’t be hasty to push it to the side, but embrace it and give it a go. The worst case is you will fail and end up the way you were at the start of the week… and if I am right, that won’t be too bad.

But the real struggle is to stay on the ball and maintain a consistent level of growth, let alone a level that will be challenging you. Like exercise, the more you push and the further you go the more your mind will start to challenge your body’s ability to deliver… but we both know; 

“Your body drives you to the line but your mind makes you cross it.” – Sebastian Kienle

So when you start to doubt your ability to deliver your end result, remember your mind is always going have the strongest power over your entirety. So when you feel you cannot go on anymore, go for a final push and see what you can do in the final moments. Being able to overcome your mind’s push to give up, will intensify your willpower to a new level. This way, the next time when your mind plays tricks on you to give up, you will be able to push through it, basically building a new tolerance each and every time.

So today why not continue into the week being loyal. What I mean by this can be summed up by Jarrod Kintz.

“To be loyal to myself is to allow myself to grow and change, and challenge who I am and what I think. The only thing I am for sure is unsure, and this means I’m growing, and not stagnant or shrinking.”
– Jarod Kintz

Don’t stress. Do your best. Forget the rest. – Unknown

If you can feel comfortable, knowing you have done your best all in a days work, then you have nothing to stress about. If you have done your best you could not possibly do any better. So if you are confident in yourself and what you have done – you shouldn’t be stressing about it. You can move on and rest.

There is also a common saying of:

You can always do more. 

Well yes you can always do more, but is more going to be your best? Is more going to be productive. Is more going to bring value to whatever it is you are doing?

These are questions you should ask yourself when you are applying your skills. Even if your intention is to always do your best, remember we can not do or be our best if we are limited or hindered. However, you can always do your best with these constraints… But it just may not be your full potential, only a subset of what it should be.

So I challenge you today to reflect on how you do, what you do and try identifying if you are doing your best work, or are you simply doing it for other reasons. There is no point stressing over something you have no control over.

Like many I can use work as an example. I personally love my work. Yes it can be on the borderline of what people would call “corporate slavery” however, we all have a choice and I choose to do what I do for the challenge, the opportunity and of course to learn.

With this is mind, every day I am put to the test, to really flesh out and identify just how good my skills are. Lessons are learned and many lessons are also taught to others. But the whole point is to ensure we are growing. Growth is about taking your current state and making it more than what it was before.

There are often great lessons to be learned at the roots of stress, drama, and heartache. Don’t let the magnitude of the circumstance blind you to the value of the lesson. – Steve Maraboli

My challenge to you is: 

Find and identify what challenges you.

Find what makes you need to grow and take it on. Use it as a bouncing board to something more.

Some of us have come so far, some have come further than before and some have just been along for the ride… But with still a little time left, you can still start something new before hitting the mid way point.

Why do you want to be starting something before the middle of the year?

This will give you a perfect 6 months to really flesh out and put to test your skills, attitude and ability to grow and learn. Hey, you may even start that dream you have always had… However, you need to actually identify what it is you want to change or do for the next 6 months. While at the same time – invest in your willpower and self-control to really see it through.

Maybe you want to kick-start your childhood hobby, or maybe it is a promotion, maybe you just want to learn how to play an instrument or simply pickup a consistent exercise routine. Regardless, these things will all take time, commitment and determination. But it is only you who can make the decision and make it happen.

It is never too late to make the decision to change your life! DON’T WASTE ANOTHER DAY!

Whatever you think about grows in your life. – Brian Tracy

We are not perfect human beings, nor do we have to pretend to be, but it is necessary for us to be the best version of ourselves we can be. 

Today and for the next couple of weeks you have some time to think about what it is you will do.

With this in mind, like any day we can become tied up with the “important” things such as work or other duties and we sometimes we forget to stop and smell the flowers. Meaning, we don’t stop to identify the details. Along those lines, we also forget to celebrate the victories our efforts have created. Be proud of where you have come from and what you’ve achieved. If not earlier, then every 90 days you should review the last three months, and soak up your achievements no matter how small they are.

Have a moment of reflection and see what has been really defining you for the past 3 months or whatever the time frame is.

But remember, two things that will always define you are your patience when you have nothing and your attitude when you have everything.

So today as you do what you do remember 3 things.

One, today is a fresh start, so make it count.

Two, don’t forget to identify and realize the details of what you have done.

Three, patience and attitude will be at the core of your definition.

Firstly, I said it all comes down to priorities and choosing to sacrifice one thing for something else. While at the same time, there are key attributes and activities I focus my time on as they go hand in hand, or work to compliment other elements of my life. i.e Waking up early gives me more time to focus on my hobbies, or plan out my day. While, being active or exercising enables me to sleep better in the evening and so on…

Being able to fine tune, coordinate and emphasis areas of your life through particular activities – essentially enables you to benefit from ‘lifehacks’.

With this in mind, there are 10 things that I believe will make you successful as long as you do them daily. These will vary and alter per person, but the below I personally think will go a long way in helping have a successful day, but also be content at the same time.

Wake up early

It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom. – Aristotle

Exercise

Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness. – Edward Stanley

Have a plan

Failing to plan is planning to fail. – Alan Lakein

Spend time on your hobbies

A hobby a day keeps the doldrums away. – Phyllis McGinley

Be active

An active mind cannot exist in an inactive body. – General George S. Patton

Be willing to learn more

A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer. – Bruce Lee

Analyze

When you analyze happiness, it turns out that the way you spend your time is extremely important. – Daniel Kahneman

Pray / Meditate

Half an hour’s meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy. Then a full hour is needed.-  Saint Francis de Sales

Spend time with loved ones

Give in to love, or live in fear. — Jonathan Larson

Sleep the right amount of time

That’s:

• 3,504 hours
• 21,0240 minutes
• 12,614,400 seconds

Let’s put this into a bit more perspective. You have nearly made it half way through the year and my biggest challenge to you is to ask yourself:

• Are you satisfied with what you have achieved so far this year?
• Is there room for improvement?
• Are there things you need to change?
• Should you have spent more time on something better, or less on something else?

Below are a list of questions to ask yourself to really see how you are progressing so far this year. Be honest with yourself, and see what you need to spend more attention on for the rest of the year.

• Have you given your best effort?
• What could have you done better, or not done at all?
• Have you enjoyed what you have been doing?
• What was your motivation for doing what you have done?
• Did you set your goals right, did you achieve them?
• What were your expectations by this time in the year?
• Is it time to change it up?
• Are you still happy?
• Do you see yourself doing what you do now in the next 5 years?
• What have you learnt?
• Have you built your character?
• Have you made better and healthier choices?
• Have you expressed love for family and friends?
• Have you got any grudges?
• Are you content?

If you want something, if you want to be somewhere, if you have a dream, a goal or a mission – what is stopping you from getting there?

What makes you itch? What do you desire?

How much do you want it? If you are not going to get out there and give it a go – you will never ever know or grow.

The limit you have is the limit you say you have. – Chris Furlong

You have all these dreams and ideas playing through your head, but you are too scared to give them a shot.

But imagine if you had no limits, you could do whatever you wanted.

Alan Watts raises the valid point:

“So then, let’s suppose that you were able every night to dream any dream that you wanted to dream, and that you could, for example, have the power within one night to dream 75 years of time, or any length of time you wanted to have. And you would, naturally as you began on this adventure of dreams, you would fulfill all your wishes. You would have every kind of pleasure you could conceive.

And after several nights, of 75 years of total pleasure each, you would say ‘Well, that was pretty great. But now let’s have a surprise. Let’s have a dream which isn’t under control. Where something is going happen to me that I don’t know what it’s going to be.’ And you would dig that and come out of that and say ‘Wow, that was a close shave, wasn’t it?’ And then you would get more and more adventurous, and you would make further and further out gambles as to what you would dream.”

It’s all about accepting the short-term pain, in order to progress on for long-term gain.

But I guess aside from all this – is the biggest factor of all. Your mind. You.

If don’t believe in yourself, how can you expect to have the sheer willpower to push yourself to the limits required to break your stubborn mindsets.

I have said this before regarding the overall impact of no zero days. Applying this technique enables you to increase yore ability to grow and become the superstar you are meant to be. I would expect from this you will take the pledge to yourself.

However…

I have personally found that keeping your goals to yourself, you are more likely to make it to the end. I also found that doing something which is inspiring, encouraging or actually partaking in your goal/passion DAILY will increase and compound your chances of success daily.

So how will you reach for your next goal? Will you apply integrity and surprise people over time? Or will you take a plunge and hit the ground running maintaining a consistent routine?