P365 – A Year's Journey

Instead of spending your time trying to impress the people around you and the world we live in… the only person you should be trying to impress is yourself. Work on loving yourself first, understanding what makes you tick, what makes you happy and what you are good at. You will be the only person you will always be spending your time with – so it is better to learn to love yourself sooner than later.

The right people, the ones who belong in your life will soon enough come along for the right reasons, not because you were trying to be like someone else. Being yourself or not people will follow you, but being yourself is true to not only the people around you but firstly yourself. Be proud of who you are and what you have or can do.

You and only you are responsible for your fate. Life is no fun if you spend it hating yourself; this will limit any progress you hope to make. Always look on the bright-side of life.

Once your confidence is up, you will stop making the terrible mistake of comparing yourself to others. You will already be comfortable and happy with who you are.

The most important lesson you can teach yourself is how to accept and love yourself for you who you are, no matter what you’ve been through and what you’ve learned. Acceptance makes all the difference in your confidence and self-esteem.

Loving yourself in this world, will create an infectious aurora around you, so much that others will follow, but no matter who comes along, just know that no one will love you like you love yourself. Just don’t love yourself so much that you diminish the people around you.

There are so many circumstances or experiences that can get in the way of our growth which limit our creativity and our lives.

“Love is what we were born with. Fear is what we learned here.” ~Marianne Williamson

Here are 3 mistakes we are commonly known to make – and what you can do about it:

Mistake #1: Not Taking Your Instincts Seriously

Have you ever said “I’m fine” when inside you were hurt or afraid? Or said “It’s not a big deal” when, in fact, it was consuming your every waking thought (and likely your dreams)? Yeah, don’t do that. It matters that you have a dream to start a business. It matters that you want more than what everyone else is settling for. It matters that you are upset or unsettled or craving expansion in your life.It matters because those things are signs that you are not on the right track, signs that something is out there calling your name, signs that you’re ready to discover and devour it.

And those signs should always be taken seriously. Listen to where your inner voice. It’s there for a reason.

Mistake #2: Not Creating Space for Growth

Growth requires space—actual physical space, as well as space in your schedule. If you think it’s selfish to create time for you—to chase a dream, to process an emotion, to rest and reconnect—you’re not seeing one very important fact: You can’t give to others what you don’t have, and you don’t have what you don’t take the time to give to yourself. Make the things that matter—such as self-care, compassion, and authenticity—priorities, and you’ll find you have the time and energy to create the life you visualize.

Mistake #3: Labeling Your Efforts

Any time you start something big or life-changing with labels like “not good enough” or “stupid,” you shut down your growth before you’ve even begun. Attitude is important! Because how can someone who is stupid or not good enough possibly do anything worthwhile? But you’re not stupid, and you efforts are good enough. You have to let go of the labels and approach your experience with an open mind and heart.

If you’re struggling with this one, hold on to one truth: Each and every person was born pure, whole, and open to growth and learning.

I want to leave you with these few questions:

• What is holding you back? Actions, commitments?
• What are your beliefs about yourself and what you can do? Are they positive or negative?
• What things are holding you back from venturing into life? Is it the lack of action? The struggle of commitments?

Keep in mind that no one in the world has ever been successful without a little bit of luck (or opportunity) – no one. Sometimes it is about being in the right place at the right time. Knowing the right person at the right time.

We’ve all heard the phrase “it’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know”

So based on this little bit of luck and some hard work, there are some reasons why you deserve the good life:

• You weren’t handed anything, you chased the dream.
• You didn’t succeed at first, you failed and kept going.
• You didn’t make excuses, you made sacrifices.
• You didn’t get distracted, you never lost sight of the mark.
• You didn’t just try it, you gave it your everything.
• You didn’t content yourself with success, you became hungry for more.

When the above reasons don’t play out, this doesn’t mean it is game over. It means you need to:

• Chase your dreams MORE
• Keep going and try again
• Make sacrifices
• Stay focused
• Deliver 110%
• Continue to crave success

Soon enough your dreams will fall into place. Are you willing to take up the list and solider on?

I am too positive to be doubtful, too optimistic to be fearful and too determined to be defeated. – Hussein Nishah.

Laughter will generate a happiness like no other! So laugh daily! Laugh with your friends, family and loved ones!

Everyday use your imagination, as it has no age. Daily, I try to imagine something more, something better and something to come. Which brings me to DREAMS. These are forever. When you achieve one, there is always another! The best part about it is you can take action on your dreams today. You could wait till tomorrow, but why wait when you can start now.

Everyday is wonderful just because it is a new day. It is a new opportunity to enjoy life, to grow and to adventure on. Life will never be perfect, but why don’t you live like it is and you can do this by enjoying the wonders it brings!

It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness. – Charles Spurgeon

On the topic of happiness and enjoying the day, here are 20 things you should think about as these may just be the reason you are hindering your happiness:

1. Making Excuses
2. Give Up Stress
3. Remove Bad Habits
4. Stop Making Hastily Decisions
5. Give Up Regrets
6. Give Up Resentments
7. Stop Try To Control The Future
8. Stop Being Irresponsible
9. Stop Chasing The Wrong People
10. Let Go Of Unresolved Relationships
11. Stop Trying To Please Everybody
12. Stop Limiting Yourself
13. Give Up Disappointments
14. Stop Feeling Misunderstood
15. Be Yourself
16. Stop Looking For The Easy Way Out
17. Give Up Junk Food
18. Stop Being Unsatisfied With Your Body
19. Stop Worrying About Money
20. Stop Hoarding – Give More

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.