The entire world seems to be on an edge with unprecedented events happening weekly. You must search for your opportunity and then focus on it. Make this your moment. Ignore the distractions because this could be your time. Focus on your opportunity.
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
Albert Einstein
These two words create such excitement, expectation and desire, as well as so much stress and disappointment. Success and happiness are often confused or thought of as one and the same, but they are not.
Success is getting what you want. Happiness is liking what you get.
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Decide what you want and go get it. However, once you do, you really should enjoy that success for a little while before you go out again. Let it bring you joy. Let yourself be happy. Give yourself permission.
Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
Abraham Lincoln
Even in these unusual and often challenging times, try smiling more. You can make a world of difference to someone by just smiling. You’ll also find that it will help to bring you more success and happiness. Win win.
You’re an exceptional person. Sometimes you forget that. Let’s get some perspective on this.
That you were born at all, is quite a statistical feat. Never mind the point that you wake up every morning, have thoughts, can organise yourself (reasonably well), breathe, eat, turn food into energy – without even trying, and your eyes are deciphering these splotches on this page, feeding back the signal, while your super-computer of a brain is interpreting what my brain has tried to communicate. All that alone is simply amazing.
Then there is the whole thing about you and your accomplishments. You probably played at something that you were reasonably good at like a sport or musical instrument. Possibly you were a good student and did well on exams or on the chess club. Maybe you got player of the match once, won a final, went to the county championships or got on the Dean’s list.
Then you may have learned how to drive a car. It’s an everyday thing but it requires exceptional hand/eye motor skills that we take for granted. Perhaps you’ve had a very good relationship, quit an unhelpful habit, made a speech in front of some people, applied for a role, got interviewed and landed a job. Maybe you travelled somewhere all on your own, gave blood, or won a ribbon, medal or cup.
In the big scheme of things, I am certain you have achieved quite a few things in your life so far. Write down a list of at least 10 things that you have had success with – any kind of success. If you get on a roll, keep going. See if you can get 20, 30 or 80 items on your list of things you have achieved, or at least feel pretty good about – for whatever reason.
Then keep this list nearby. Add to it when you can. Review it once a week for the next 5 weeks; or every night before you go to bed. Remind yourself how you have done all sorts of pedestrian and amazing things to get you here, to this point, in life. Whatever is ahead for you, you will succeed with it.
You are an exceptional person.
You are an achiever.
You’ve got this!!
Building a discipline can be a wonderful feeling. That daily routine of getting up early for some quiet time before the day gets going. Or maybe you go for a run, like I do. Some people head to the gym.
There are other healthy and beneficial disciplines too, such as standing up straight, having good posture, drinking 8 glasses of water every day, eating appropriately, getting 7-8 hours of good sleep at night, reading something positive, having positive thoughts and self-talk, and journaling. ?✍️??♀️?♂️
There are even disciplines we completely take for granted such as breathing. Thankfully our body takes care of this one.
Having some positive disciplines, like those listed above, can keep you mentally and physically strong and healthy. These disciplines all take a little effort and they can be harder for some people. But you always have a choice of which pain you are willing to endure. Short term pain for long term gain? Or vice versa? You can push back on the discipline, and think you have cheated the system, for a little while. But the harmony in the universe will snap back into place at some point.
”We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.”
Jim Rohn
Without some good disciplines things can go in the wrong direction. We can see this with our physique and hear our minds’ challenges through the words we speak. This is when regret creeps in. It takes some time before we notice the changes, but by then, less helpful habits have joined us and impact our every day. We start to regret those little indiscretions, those one off moments where we let our discipline lapse. ?????
The good news is you can turn this around! You just need to apply your disciplines again – little and often – until you are back on track and seeing and hearing that better version of you again.
Take a few minutes today and commit to one of the actions above and do it every day this week. Next week try adding a second one. Continue with both disciplines for a couple of weeks before trying to add in the third and forth ones. Good luck! ?
The first step often can feel like a giant leap for mankind: Too big. Getting started can be such a challenge. And yet, it is instrumental in getting to the second step and then ultimately success.
There are different ways to get started. You can countdown if you are NASA or Mel Robbins – 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… You can put it in your calendar and block a specific time on an exact date. This is described as the Seven Day Success Cycle in my video “ETRR 13” on the Videos page of this blog site. There are other ways too.
Whichever method you use to get started, remember that your environment should help support you. If you go for a run in the morning, make sure your clothes are out and ready and your shoes are at the door before you go to bed. Any other items you need for the run should also be set out neatly the night before. Set up your environment for absolute success while the intentions are high. Do not wait to see how you feel in the morning, you’ll rarely feel like it.
Once you’ve taken that first step, be sure to celebrate. This is the hardest step so it deserves the most celebrating. Every time you start something new or start on the next step, give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back. Well done.
Now Get Started! With a little momentum you’ll start to feel unstoppable: Like a rolling stone.
