3 Ways to Stay Motivated - Part 1: Take Control of One Thing at a Time

3 Ways to Stay Motivated - Part 1: Take Control of One Thing at a Time

So, you have decided to restore your health, find love, build a more successful business, or change your life. Awesome! You do research, come up with a plan, get all jazzed up and get going. It all goes great for a little while, until you hit a bump in the road - maybe a life emergency comes screaming in, maybe you get sicker, maybe you just aren’t seeing the results you were hoping for from your efforts.

And that is where you hit the wall - the motivation goes out the window, and you fall right back into your old ways. 

So, how can you avoid this fate? How do you take it all in stride for the long haul so that you can have the success story you dream of? 

Here are 3 ways to make sure that you keep moving forward so that you can succeed!

1. Take control of one thing at a time.

Believe me, I know -  when you want to change your life, suddenly everything seems like a critical issue. “I want to lose 40 pounds, improve my relationships, heal the low back pain, reduce my stress, and make a million dollars!” you say to yourself. Then you add, “And I want it now!” 

Nice idea, sure, but trying to change too much at once is definitely the number one motivation-killer I see. Why? Because it is overwhelming, unrealistic, and frankly, exhausting. 

In order to change everything in the list above, you would have to develop a super-human plan, which would likely include a daily regimen of working out, reading and following life improvement and success programs, taking supplements, going to healers or doctors, meditation, and much more. With only 24 hours in the day, you will have to keep a crazy schedule to get to all of it (not to mention keep up with all your normal responsibilities!). 

You might be able to stick to it for a few days, but one day, it will happen: you’ll slip up. It might even be just a little slip-up - missing just one thing out of your enormous list - but it’s a slip-up nonetheless. 

What happens then?

You get angry with yourself. You may even tell yourself that you are a failure, that you will never succeed at anything, and that it’s better to just give up. And, if you are like most of us, you DO give up. 

Clearly, trying to do too much at once just sets you up for failure - the more you try to do, the more likely it is that you will suffer this fate.

Instead, what I suggest to my clients is to choose just one area to focus on at a time. Not only is this manageable, but I find that positive change in one part of your life starts a “domino effect” where you begin to see positive changes in other areas of your life. 

So, what area do I suggest you focus on of your list of things you want to change? 

The biggest, most irritating, most critical (and maybe even the scariest) issue. 

Why the biggest issue and not the easiest-to-solve issue? Because when you go after the easiest issue first, the dark shadow of the BIG issue looms over you and grows, so even if you do succeed at changing the easiest issue, you don’t really feel any better. Of course, this cycle often perpetuates as many more easy issues will beg your attention, and wanting to avoid the big issue (because it is scary or hard), you tackle those. In the end, you never solve big issue, leaving you feeling like you haven’t moved forward significantly and without a true sense of accomplishment. 

But - by tackling the biggest or scariest issue first - you’ll see the biggest changes in your life, AND you will feel a true sense of pride and relief, all of which will motivate you to tackle the next big issue. 

Remember, when you try to change too many things all at once, it is like throwing a handful of arrows at a target while blindfolded - it is pretty unlikely that you will hit the target at all. 

However, by focusing on changing just one thing at a time and putting all your energy there, it is like using the best bow in the world to shoot one arrow at a target right in front of you.

ACTION TO TAKE NOW: 

What is your “big issue”? Identify it, then put down 3 things you can do tomorrow to begin to work towards solving it - and changing your life! 

Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow!

Free Your Mind and Your Life: 3 Steps to Feel in Control of Your World

There are times in life when you may feel like you have little freedom in your life; and sadly, you may feel like it's been years since you felt free to be you.

Your life may feel very much like you are controlled by dictators, always trying to live up to other’s standards or views on how you should live.

You may feel that you are trapped by difficult circumstances, or that you cannot control your own life for a variety of reasons.

I am here to tell you that you absolutely can free your mind and free your life right this very moment. In fact, you can do so in in 3 simple steps:

Step #1: Realize that your mind is already free. 

No matter what your current issues are, your mind is free right at this very moment. No one can force you to believe their viewpoint on anything. You make all the decisions about what to think, feel, and do. 

Is this difficult to believe? Here’s an example that might make it easier:

What if someone walked you to the edge of a cliff and told you that you must think about an apple immediately or he would push you off.

Would you actually have think about an apple to save your life? Could you just tell him that you were thinking about an apple? How would he know if you were lying? 

The reality is that you could think about anything you wanted, and there would be little he could do about it. Saving your life would be fairly easy, as you could claim that you thought of an apple, and he would have to believe you.

While that is an extreme example, this same idea applies to your life.

All too often we think that we must believe the viewpoints of parents, friends, acquaintances, bosses, doctors, religious leaders, and even the media. Again and again, we give our personal power over to the opinions of those around us, because we think we have no choice and no right to question them. 

Worse, we’re brainwashed to believe that we must live our lives by their standards or suffer some horrifying consequences, like going to hell or our lives ending in abject failure with them standing over us saying, “I told you so!”

Let me tell you, living your life based on beliefs you don’t agree with is a recipe for a miserable life, and nothing more.

You’re free to think anything you desire about yourself, your life, and what you really want to be and do.

You’re a perfectly wonderful person as you are, and your needs and desires are good and appropriate for you.

Whether or not they are appropriate for others isn’t your concern. You have a right to make choices that live up to your standards, and no one else’s. 

Step #2: Free your life by freeing your mind from the power of other’s beliefs. 

Take a moment right now to decide whether you want to keep living by other people’s standards. Here’s a great exercise to help you:

First, take out a sheet of paper. Then, write down everything you believe you should be, should do, and should think. Write down others opinions on your decisions and their beliefs about your life. 

Then, ask yourself whether you want these things to be true for you.

For instance, you may have lived your life with guilt because you never put in the effort to become a doctor. However, when you really consider it, you never wanted to be a doctor; you only feel guilt because it was what your parents expected of you.

Or, you may have been taught that you were not good enough, not smart enough, not pretty enough, or any of a million terrible things that we all learn throughout our lives. 

Now, ask yourself if these are the beliefs that you want to continue to build your life around. How much time have you wasted allowing these beliefs to control you? How many negative experiences have you had because you believed these things about yourself? What experiences have you missed out on? 

Take back your freedom and your life. Rip up that piece of paper and mentally decide you are throwing out beliefs you don’t agree with. Decide right here and now that you and only you choose what you want to believe about yourself and how you want your life to be.

Step #3: Retune your mind with new belief statements.

Now that you have found a way to free your mind of old beliefs that were holding you back, you must replace those with new beliefs that empower you and the life that you desire to live.

Formulate some new truth statements for yourself. You might want to say something as simple as “I am free to live my life the way that I want”, or something as specific as “I am smart and capable. I choose to live up to my greatest potential.” 

Try saying these new truth statements to yourself over and over again throughout the day. You will be amazed at the new life you begin to create for yourself. 

Best of all, it will be the life that you truly desire! (Now that’s freedom!).

What do you do to feel in control of your life? Have you been feeling stuck and worn out lately? I'd love to hear your stories. 

Do you know others that could use this article? Share a little love and share the article with them today! (thank you!)

A Random Act of Kindness a Day to Change Myself and the World

I've decided to do a random act of kindness a day to see how it impacts my life and the world in general. If nothing else, I know that doing good for others makes me feel good, so it's a good experiment from the start!

The first random act of kindness I am going to do is in the picture above - write a "thank you" note to someone who has impacted my life positively.  

I'd love it if you'd join me. What are your ideas for random acts of kindness? 

Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness, But Happiness Might Buy Money: 3 Ways to Be Happy and Prosper

You may have heard the phrase “Do what you love, and the money will follow.” 

Of course, when you are in a job that you hate or are just barely struggling to keep food on the table, this seems like an impossibility. How in the world are you supposed to do what you love, when you would risk everything to do so? After all, you have so little now!  

I know it is scary, but there are ways to make a transition to loving your work and making more money an easy and painless process.  

A major roadblock to doing what you love is the common belief that work should be hard and dissatisfying. After all, if you hate your job, it makes it okay to be paid well for it, right?  

Wrong. You can love your work and make a good living doing so—in fact, you should be doing this. Best of all, you can start this process now with your current job, and then allow yourself to easily flow into a new job, if that is what you desire. 

To do so, follow these 3 steps:

1. Imagine the kind of day you would like to have. 

First, start to see your current job as what you make of it. 

Do you go to work each day expecting to have an awful day with a terrible boss and horrible customers? Most of us do, but this is obviously not going to create a job that is even mildly enjoyable for you. Instead, I would like you to use visualization each morning to imagine the kind of day that you would like to have. Imagine what the day would be like if you had an absolutely amazing, fulfilling day.  

How different do you feel at that moment, in that kind of day, than you normally do? Connect with this positive feeling, and stay with it all day.  

If you begin to find yourself falling back into your old way of feeling about work, take a minute or two to close your eyes and reconnect with the positive feeling. You will be literally amazed at how much better your day will be if you begin to cultivate this little practice each morning. You might just find that while it may not be the job of your dreams, it is a job that you can enjoy.   

2. Create the positive work (and money) experience you desire. 

Now that you have a positive feeling about work, begin to take a real look at your options with this particular job, and what you truly want to do in life. To your surprise, you may have found that when you change your expectations about your current job, you actually have such a positive experience during work that you truly do love it. If so, you can make the decision to stay—you are in a good situation that is fulfilling to you. You will likely begin to have more and more positive experiences that will bring you all that you desire from your work, including more money and even promotions, if that is what you desire. 

However, you may have found that this job just truly does not fit either who you are as a human being, or your dreams and desires for yourself. By observing this job from a new attitude, you may have realized that you are compromising yourself and your beliefs by doing the work that you do. At this point, it is time to leave this job. Remember, if you live to 80 years of age, you only live 29,200 days. Why waste any more of them in a job that you hate? 

Of course, you certainly can make the decision to stay, but you will likely be doing so out of fear or obligation, and that will repetitively send a signal to your mind that you are expecting more of the same—and more of the same will flow to you, depleting both your energy and your creative self. 

You truly do deserve better. I know that the immediate response might be fear—fear of the unknown, fear of how to get a better job, fear of the effect that this decision will have on others. Just put that aside for a moment. 

Ask yourself: What kind of job have you always dreamed of? What kind of job has called to you? What do you love doing? Put together a clear picture of what you think that you would like to do for work. Just like creating a perfect partner, write down a list of what would make a perfect job for you, and believe that you can bring that job into being. As always, refuse to settle for less than what you truly desire. 

How would you feel each day if you had a job that fulfilled you like this? Connect with that feeling, and know that a job matching this feeling is flowing to you now, and with it, all the money that you desire.   

3.  Take action to make your dream a reality. 

Visualization and meditation is a wonderful tool to connect you with the job - and prosperity - of your dreams, but do remember that you also need to take action to create opportunities for yourself as well. Reach out to people that might be able to help you. Research job openings. Apply for work. Begin writing your book or creating that business if that’s what you dream of.  

Whatever it is, get going. I could dream of writing this article all day long, but without actually pulling out my computer and typing, it would not come into reality.

Align your thoughts, words, and actions to be happy and prosperous!