Month: March 2018

Life isn’t fair.  It doesn’t always present opportunities on a silver platter or make it easy to achieve success, yet alone your dreams.  In fact, most times, it’s challenging and draining and feels unfair as we watch people seemingly glide right on by while we are clawing our way out of the ditch.

But I think my five year has the right idea…sometimes you just gotta be a ninja!

Remember that you are capable, and the sooner you stop focusing your energy and time outside of yourself, the sooner you will start seeing your own successes!

You got this!

Core values are often thought to be tied to company culture.  But have you ever thought of utilizing that concept in your personal life?

Tony Robbins talks about prioritizing our areas of life based on our wants and needs as well as our personal morals and beliefs.  He talks about the areas of life being a wheel, and that in order for the wheel to be effective, all the spokes have to be the same length, creating balance, in order for the wheel to roll without a wobble or bounce.  (You can dig into the Wheel of Life HERE.)

Michael Hyatt talks about 6 areas of his personal well-being.  He talks about the ability to get crystal clear on your priorities in order to create the life-balance that you need and want. Yes – create.  He outlines 6 areas, and lists them in a specific order:

1. God
2. Self
3. Family
4. Work
5. Church
6. Everything Else

(Read more from Michael Hyatt on priorities and balance HERE.)

I think it is important to understand that what your priorities are or how you order plays a smaller role than being able to identify the priorities with certainty. If you do not know what is important to you, then you are probably focusing your time and energy on the wrong things or in the wrong order. It is not benefiting you.  And if I had to make an educated guess, you probably find yourself feeling stuck, unmotivated, or in a place that doesn’t allow much creativity or freedom.

If you’re family is your first priority, are you constantly putting them behind your job?

Is your career a priority, but you constantly have to leave work for family obligations?

Are you focused on being healthy by always stopping at a fast food place? This is partly because a) your priorities are not crystal clear, or b) you are choosing to put something else in the priority spot over your health.

It’s not to say that it will always work out perfectly, and there may come a time when you will have to sacrifice slightly for a larger gain in that area or priority.  But if you have your priorities established, it will be easier to start making decisions that will ultimately align you with your personal and professional goals without having to sacrifice what is important to you.  There may be conflicts, but the priorities will help relief any guilt or grief for having to realign your goals.

So let’s try it:  What are your priorities?  Are you basing your daily habits and decisions around those priorities?  Are you taking steps that keep those areas as a priority, or do you sacrifice what matters for something less important?

Maybe it’s time to start answering some tough questions in order to make some positive changes.

 

There will be times when you want to give up. Keep going.

There will be times when people don’t believe in you.  Keep going.

There will be times when you won’t believe in yourself.  Keep going.

There will be times when you feel like a failure.  Keep going.

There will be times when you lose sight of the vision.  Keep going.

There will be times when your spirit is broken.  Keep going.

There will be really, really hard times.  Keep going.

There will be times when you will want to change direction.  Keep going.

There will be times when you are too tired to keep going.  Keep going anyway.

Soon enough you’ll look back, and only then will you see how far you’ve come.

Hard work and perserverance will always take you farther than you think you are capable. The difference between those who make it and those who don’t is only understood by the ones who keep going.

Don’t give up on your dream.  Don’t stop.  Instead, just keep going.

 

People are not interested in complicated.  Yet, somehow, we all get sucked into complicated at one point or another… some more than others.  So the question seems to be, how do we get un-stuck from the seemingly never-ending cycle?

Every change you make starts with how you talk to yourself about it.  If you are in the middle of a drama-filled episode of “This is my life”, are you asking why me? Or are you staging a self-intervention and taking a time out from life to figure out what needs to change ASAP?  Are you talking about your bad luck, or are you intentionally focused on changing your luck.

There are millions, and I do mean millions, of books and podcasts and articles and studies written on the  benefits and affects of positive self talk.  It seems so silly, and it seems too simple to be part of the answer.  But it all comes down to one thing – if you don’t believe in yourself, why should anyone else?  It is not anyone else’s job to find your self-worth or prove your value to the world.  That is 100% on you.  So if you find yourself in yet another crappy situation, I suggest you take a long, honest look in the mirror, and have a serious chat with the person staring back at you.

Honest is the key word – if you want change, you have to start with stop.  Stop lying to yourself.  Stop making excuses for the why not.  Stop with the negative self talk.  You have to want to be in a better place, to be done with the drama, to be done with being stuck.  There has to be a point where enough is enough. Enough stress, enough disappointment, enough paycheck to paycheck living, enough loss in self-confidence and in your abilities.  When that shift occurs, you will realize that there is more to “knowing what you’re worth” than the dollars on the paycheck.  Here are the things that are in your control every day.

• Your attitude – your choice on how you approach your day.
• Your work ethics – knowing you did your very best.
• Your knowledge, and sharing that freely with others.
• Your integrity – doing the right thing for the right reasons.
• Your honesty, because you word builds your character, which will precede you.
• Your generosity in helping others.

Be intentional in how you represent yourself on this list.  Take the time every day to be certain you know how these areas are portrayed, and you will slowly begin to see your own worth, which is more valuable than any price tag or paycheck.  It will make you humble and grateful.   You will allow the best version of yourself to shine.  You just might get un-stuck from the rut, and it’s never too late for that!