Author: CLFurlong

For me the below are just everyday things that make me happy.

Purpose, Breakfast, Simplicity, Conversations, Family, Exercise, Healthy Lifestyle, Running, Friends, Caring… and so much more. These are just the tip of the iceberg. (No particular order)

The point is; we are all going to have different things that make us happy and make us sad. But the best way to avoid being sad is focusing and using the things that make you happy to becoming a constant and ongoing part of your life. 

We can choose happiness in this moment – Jennifer Kass

Trust me when I say this, but as you create happiness for yourself, this will spread and be shared among those around you. If you were to be away for a while these people will notice the change… 

It’s like driving into a storm, it can be rough, tough and full of obstacles, misdirection and of course full of risk. But on the other side of any good storm, are better skies and a richer land. Calmness.

Storms, are the problems, hassles and ongoing whirlwinds we go through. If you want to stop them you need to go to the eye of the storm. The source of the problem.

To be successful you must accept all challenges that come your way. You can’t just accept the ones you like. – Unknown

Sometimes, traffic is bumper-to-bumper or even gridlocked, which means your journey to your end goal may take a bit longer than you planned. The traffic serves as a roadblock to your life, and you just need to navigate it at your own pace. Travelling will mean things will occur out of your control, requiring additional changes, plans, set backs and these can be both positive and negative things. But some times we just need to learn to adapt and adjust. Survive in the moment.

As with hard work comes a great climb. A journey and sometimes a struggle to the top which takes you through plenty of threatening and exciting situations.

Climbing the mountain of success is like stepping into the unknown, but with passionate determination. – Chris Furlong

Even though it may be scary or full of obstacles, your passionate determination, continues to motivate, empower and drive your hunger to reach the next highest peak.

By the time you reach your destination you should have and will be experiencing one of two types of growth. Now these are both well valued growths and important and I’m sure you have parts of your life in which you could have a bit of both. But for the sake of the task, I challenge you to pick one of these. Which one would you think would summarise your style? Your journey?

1. The first type of growth is logarithmic.
   Logarithmic growth increases quickly in the beginning, but the gains decrease and become more difficult as time goes on.
   This could be: Fitness/Strength, Literacy, Language, Weight Loss, Musical Skill
2. The second type of growth is exponential.
   Exponential growth increases slowly in the beginning, but the gains increase rapidly and become easier as time goes on.
   This could be: Investments and Wealth, Social Media Followers, Entrepreneurship or Business Growth

Make your climb to the next highest peak.

When this happens, it means you need to keep it together. You need to hold on to your emotions and ensure they do not overpower your intelligence.

We may not be able to control everything but we can control our actions and we will always have a choice to choose how we react in the moment.

I’ve been tracking my heart rate for almost a year now; I am fascinated to know how my heart rate changes across the different times throughout the day and with different activities I am doing. Like any situation you heart rate will change, but through practice and techniques we can learn to maintain and monitor your heart rate to be measured lower. Like emotions, in the times of unfair, unjust and crazy – taking charge of emotions and tapping into your inner intelligence, will not only help others but save yourself from doing something you may regret.

I understand that things can be rough and tough and out of your hands, but that’s why you need to be able to control what you can. Especially yourself. 

“You are confined only by the walls you build yourself.” – Andrew Murphy

Firstly, grab some paper, a journal would be better. Grab a pen, your favorite of course and see below 24 questions that will potentially take you forward and jolt you outside your current reality:

1. What would happen if you just went for it?
   Deep down, you want to go for it. But you’re scared. The good news: even if you’re scared, you still have a choice. Fear doesn’t run your life; you do.
2. Who are you?
   Write down a list of what’s important to you about life.
3. Who are you really?
   What was important to you before other people told you what was important to you?
4. What’s your deepest, most secret desire?
   You know it’s there. Just be honest and admit it. You’ll feel amazing… and free.
5. If you knew you couldn’t fail, what’s the benefit of not beginning?
   Bet you can’t think of a good answer for this.
6. If not now, when?
   The past is gone forever and the future is anything but guaranteed. What are you waiting for?
7. Who’s permission do you need?
   You know you only need your own permission, but do you seek someone else to tell you it’s ok?
8. What’s stopping you?
   If you haven’t started working towards what you truly want, something is.
9. Who or what is holding you back?
   The only answer to this: you.
10. If you don’t know what you want, why on earth aren’t you trying to find out?
    Unless you’re content to just drift through life, never knowing where you’re going, and never being truly fulfilled.
11. When you know what you truly want, will you actually do anything about it?
    Most people ignore it or talk themselves out of doing it.
12. What’s important to you?
    Make a list. Be honest with yourself.
13. What’s really important to you?
    Seriously. Be honest. Otherwise this is pointless.
14. If you wrote a list of everything that’s important to you, would you even be on it?
    If you’re not, is there a good reason for that?
15. If you don’t prioritize yourself, how will you ever be happy?
    It’s not going to happen by accident.
16. What’s the excuse you use the most?
    Would to tell your best friend to use that excuse?
17. When will you stop using your excuses?
    Excuses stop you from getting what you truly want. If you’re happy with that, then keep using them.
18. Do you feel good when you know you’re using excuses?
    I’m guessing you don’t. Just a hunch. And I bet you feel great when you make progress. Just saying.
19. Will you ever get what you want if you keep making excuses?
    Make all the excuses you want. Just make sure you don’t wake up one day and finally admit that’s what you’ve been doing.
20. Why won’t you just be honest with yourself?
    Lying to yourself is easy most of the time because we’re so practiced at it. But it’s not the right thing, and you know it. It might be painful to be honest right now in this moment, but it’s much more painful to lie to yourself forever.
21. How long can you go on doing what you’re doing?
    6 months? 1 year? 5 years? If you don’t take action and do something different, nothing will change.
22. When you’re totally honest with yourself, what will happen?
    Great things, right?
23. Do you choose comfort over happiness?
    There’s a big difference. Find out what that difference means for you, and what you’re currently choosing.
24. If any of these have resonated, are you gonna make an excuse or actually do something about it?
    If any of these have resonated, are you gonna make an excuse or actually do something about it?

Just like we wait a year for summer or we put things off because of the weather and we end up waiting around for happiness to jump into our laps.

Well this is what you need to do! Treat each day like it is better than every other day. This comes through attitude. You also need to stop making excuses and start creating solutions!

If you haven’t realized already, you are actually stronger than you think. Your drive to succeed, to achieve and to push forward is derived from your ability to overcome your mindset, especially when it tries to trick you into thinking you can’t go on.

You can do it! Just be willing to push yourself!

It takes time… sometimes years to master a skill, craft, or habit. And while it’s good to keep perspective on your dreams, I think it’s better to remember the other side of this story: Rome wasn’t built-in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour.

The only limits in life are the ones you make – Unknown

You don’t owe anyone an explanation for your life priorities. You have your own ideas about the things that would make you and your loved ones truly comfortable and happy, which is your main priority. Since we are all unique individuals with different values, dreams and aspirations, your core priorities will be different from the next person’s. You don’t owe anyone an explanation for what you determine is your core priority in life. That is your personal business not other people’s business.

It’s a new day, a new beginning. Today be the day you step it up! Fight back and be the person you’re supposed to be.

With new strength and new thought, go into the day ready to grow and conquer. The journey to greatness continues.

You were born to conquer the world. Born to change the world. Born for greatness and born to make a difference. You can’t always change the “what” you have to do, but you can always change the “why” or “how.” If you change your “why” or change your “how”, you can find your motivation, even for tasks you don’t normally want to do. The fastest thing you can change in any situation is you. You can’t change somebody else, but you can change yourself in an instant. Even if you want to change somebody else, or to change the situation, your fastest path to change is to change yourself, whether that means how you see things or how you show up or how you choose to do things.

Setback’s are what keep us honest. They bring us back to reality and remind us we are simply human. However you should never view a setback as a bad experience. It should be just another life lesson. Progress is progress, any little bit counts.

Just because you are not seeing results, this doesn’t mean you have a set back. Set backs are usually the result or consequence of doing something, which wasn’t catered for or planned for.

All of us have goals. Goals like losing weight, earning more money, finding a life partner, setting up our business, achieving performance targets, being fitter, building better relationships, and so on. Some people seem to have no problem achieving their goals. Some, on the other hand, don’t seem to be able to make any progress. – Celestine Chua

If you find yourself stuck with progressing with your goals and you know it isn’t a setback, it will most likely boil down to one or more of these reasons.

As you read through the list, ask yourself if you do any of these. See if you can take note and take action in working to change these…

1. You Procrastinate
2. You Underestimate Your Goal
3. You Defend Your Problems Rather Than Taking Action
4. You Are Stuck In A Box (Your Own World)
5. You Are Not Working Smart
6. Fear
7. You Are Distracted
8. You Over Complicate Situations
9. You Give Up or Give In
10. You Lose Sight of The Goals
11. You Are Stuck In your Own Ways

Your goals are in your hands – you can achieve them as long as you strive for them. Address the 11 things blocking you from your success, and it’s a matter of time before you achieve results you seek.

The main point to take from this, is that even if you have had a setback or maybe you have been lacking with your progress. Regardless, you need to get back out there, you need to be taking action and making your mark. Progress is progress, any little bit counts.

How many times, must we put ourselves through misery, shame and embarrassment, because we were too sacred to speak up or to scared to take action. 

What will it take? Does it take others to tell us? Or does it just take a moment to say I want this. I want change. I want to be better.

Confidence is something everyone struggles with, as there is always bigger fish out there, bigger and better than you. Trust me, even those who seem to be the most confident of them all, they will always have aspects and areas in their lives they don’t love about themselves, which will impact their confidence.

After reading a few articles this week, I have found 5 of the most common ways to boost your confidence. You can take these and apply them or you can ignore them, it is up to you.

1. Fake it ’til you make it
   Funny enough the trick to emitting a confident vibe is simple really. Fake it. Pretending and believing your self-confidence is up there; soon enough it will be, and usually without you realizing. One tip for this is, before you walk in the room just remind yourself to put on your confidence.
2. Check yourself before your wreck yourself  (body language)
   You should always be aware of how you position yourself. Your body works as an image, it can express a thousand words. How you stand can subconsciously emit your confidence and will impact how others perceive you. Examples:

   A scientific study showed that if a person stands in ‘Superman Pose,’ where they place their hands on their hips and put their shoulders back, they are more likely to be confident and perform better during interviews and other tasks.

   Stand upright in this position for five minutes before any situation that demands confidence and you’ll notice a difference. -Lifehack.org

3. Focus your thoughts
   If your mind is in the rough, if your mind is on the negative, if your mind is anywhere but positive, this will lead to doubt and inadequacy. Brush down any thoughts which will limit your confidence. Focus on the things that make you feel great when doing whatever it is you are doing.
4. Stop comparing
   The moment you stop comparing yourself to the people around you let alone the highlights of their lives as seen on their Facebook, Instagram and other social medias, you will be and see yourself as more confident than ever. Once you find happiness from within, this will radiate around you. 
5. Connect & engage
   People who have a low self-confidence are usually stuck in their own mind, battling negative thoughts or thoughts about people around them thinking negatively. Instead of approaching a situation with these thoughts, focus on people and things around you that emit a positive vibe. Build your confidence through growth. Whether it be through conversations, reading or sharing.