Category: ENCOURAGE

Struggles are actually good for you, if you embrace them, challenge them and work to build the required strength to overcome them.

Think of your struggles as similar to you taking some elastic and attaching it to the wall and strapping it around yourself. Then try walking/running away as far as possible from the wall. This is tough, hard and at first difficult. But eventually you will build the strength to push further and further, soon enough you may even break it.

One thing we should continually apply in our life is the ability to adjust to circumstance and to push on daily. Sometimes we will have bad days and days which are a challenge. These days are they days you need to be willing and be ready to give it a go and to do your 100% best! Even more than the easy days. These will be the days that will shape you, define you and prepare you for your further days ahead. You will find that these so thought bad days, will actually be good days… why? Because you will overcome fear, you will have stepped a little further out of your comfort zone, you will grow and most of all you are finally defining and finding your character and what you can do.

Take a quick glimpse of what you have planned in the weeks, months and years ahead. Does it scare you? Does it challenge you? Maybe it is finishing Uni or school for the semester, starting a new job, getting married, or maybe your goal will be coming to an end?

Now look back over the last year, the last 5 years and 10 years and so on… See how far you have come. See what you have accomplished, beaten and pushed through? It is easier to understand life backwards, but we need to live it going forward.

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards. – Soren Kierkegaard

Its checkpoint time. Time to review just what you have been doing the past 112 days. I recently did this at 20%, challenging you to see if you are living up to your planned expectations for the year.

Today I have another challenge for you and this one will benefit you daily – only if you abide to it and actually invest your time in applying it to your life.

A highlight is crucial to staying motivated and encouraged and identifying one is just as important.

It was just the other day I was chatting with one of my best friends and I asked them what was highlight of their day. They answered and continued to answer, listing out the highlights they had encountered throughout the day. This prompted me to think even further into this. Imagine if everyday we took the time to list out 5 highlights each day and everyday. Listing these, you could rank them, or keep them without rank. You could also try do this across the day and check in regularly to reflect on your highlights across the day. Meaning, why not identify highlights from your morning over lunch or similarly you could do the entire day or half the day in the evening over dinner. Whatever way you choose to do it make sure you do it and do 5.

The benefits of doing this, especially doing this daily will help you expand your mind and grow your appetite for happiness, positivity, optimism and also an encouraging heart. You will also learn to appreciate the little things more than you would have ever thought, you will also begin to identify the important things within your life and that you value most, even if it is subconsciously.

Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. ― Charles Dickens

So what were my 5 highlights for yesterday (Day #111):

1. Watching the sunrise peak from behind the horizon.
2. Morning walk through the city breeze, watching Melbourne come to life.
3. Going for coffee and sharing chit chat and stories with a friend.
4. Encouraging others to aspire further
5. Late night run in the peace of the bright night

All these things were in the moment and were not entirely planned until the moment they were to occur. The fact is, each day will have ups and downs but you can make the most of any day, if you are willing to look for the best. If you are struggling to find excitement and happiness through the day, this challenge is perfect for you.

Remember identify 5 things, which you can identify as a highlight. Do it at the end of the day, or staggered across the day.

Most of all, if you would like to share your highlights, then leave a comment!

Like any day, I believe that it is in the first 5 minutes of waking up and deciding on what you will do and picking your attitude, will dictate the flow of your day.

How many times have you had a goal and weren’t able to find the means to achieve it? Probably a lot.

YES I AM SPEAKING TO YOU. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.

Many people have no idea how complicated and powerful the mind’s influence actually is, which explains why the problem isn’t their ambitious nature but the level of specificity of the goal itself.

Your mind will take your body to places you would have never thought. But your body will also enable your mind to grow and expand.

You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind. – Joyce Meyer

When your unconscious mind begins to take control of something which was difficult at first, this becomes a second nature to you. You can achieve this by learning something and adjusting to the custom of regular practice. Your goal is now part of your daily routine, just like brushing your teeth. That is how your unconscious mind rewards you for your hard work and determination. Every day that goes by, you find yourself naturally growing and moving closer to the next mini-goal until the day comes where you achieve your final goal.

So when constructing a goal, take a piece of paper and make sure you do the following:

1. Believe your goal is possible

2. Write down your goal in detail, with a specific deadline and outcome

3. Create a chronological strategy to achieve your goal by the deadline

4. Write down why it is important for you to achieve this goal

5. Write down how you will feel when you achieve it

6. Write down how your life will change when you achieve it

7.Should you feel the urge to veer from your goal or believe you can’t do it, look at 1-6.
(This means keep the paper you wrote everything on and refer to it when needed.)

If you are one of the many who wake up in the morning and have a fear of rolling out of bed, getting dressed and prepping yourself (or rushing) for work, then this is the blog for you.

Your first problem is your attitude. Attitude is going to change your day. Like perspective, it will set the tone, expectation and even the sense of direction in which the day shall proceed.

I love everyday and I love the ability to be able to start fresh. I have posted on this numerous times, but I think we can all agree just how important each day is.

52 Weeks means 52 more reasons to challenge yourself.  If you struggle with mornings, then I have a challenge for you.

You have 36 remaining weeks until the end of the year. So why not spice them up and make a difference both internally and externally.

You can do this in a number of ways, but the whole idea is to help motivate and encourage you. The first thing you need to do is actually identify if you will pursue a goal, follow a dream or even help others. Whatever it may be, you should have one day each week known as a ‘push day’. The day you break down walls and really set the tone for the week.

If you need a small structured approach then try this. Dedicate a day (set a time) to do something singular or particular that you have always wanted to do. If you can break it down into tasks, yes it may take a little longer, but soon enough you will be making progress and enough to even surprise yourself. Guaranteed. Persistence is the key here, but if you’re willing enough and motivated enough, then the next 36 weeks will be 36 weeks of achievement, progression and success. Yes you may even have a set back or two, but with each setback comes a bigger bounce.

So are you up for it?

Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in. – Bill Bradley

Here are some ideas you can do for the next 36 Weeks!

Whether you spend 1 hr on one of these, or longer. You could even set a goal of reading 30 pages. The idea is something to help you grow over the next 36 weeks.

• Cook
• Exercise
• Read
• Run
• Write
• Create
• Volunteer
• Start a business
• Work on projects
• Family time
• Friend time

If you don’t have one, pick one above. Use this week to prepare and then next week MAKE IT HAPPEN.

If you want change, then you must create action. You must do something. Nothing changes without action.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle

Consider this task of change: you want to push a boulder up a hillside. What is your best course of action? You know that you will have to exert energy into pushing the large rock up the hill, but do you push it at a slow continuous pace, or do you give it one big heave?

So what does it require? If you give the boulder one big push up the hill, before you are able to make it to the highest point of the boulder’s ascent, it will start to roll its way back down the hill. When this happens, you will either stop it half way from or you will be run over while it tumbles down the hill. The same goes for creating change. If you want to lose weight and get into shape, don’t starve yourself and hit the gym 5 times a week because you will break the process. This change requires a slow and steady approach.

My challenge to you today is to pinpoint what makes you unhappy and change it — or at least take action.

Below are 5 quick daily reminders, you should not only remind yourself of, but also explore and grow in each day:

1. I am amazing.
2. I can do anything.
3. Positivity is a choice.
4. I celebrate my individuality.
5. I am prepared to succeed.

The message today is to realize just how amazing you are, that you can do more than you think you are capable of and you can choose to smile or not.

You should be able to handle and look after yourself and you should be willing to shine and step it up each day and everyday. Sometimes we just need to lift ourselves up.

Always find time for the things that make you feel happy to be alive. – Jelly Wong

Having read the above 5 points, do you believe them? Do you think you can apply them to your daily life. Make it a challenge, or a goal. If you don’t like these particular ones, create your own.

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.