Tag: success

Adding slack to your life to reduce stress

You need “slack” or a buffer in your system, your schedule, and your life. If your schedule is too tightly packed, when one event runs past it’s allotted time, it will have a domino effect – causing you extra stress and making other people wait on you. When you’re late for one event, then you’ll probably be late for the one after that, and the next one, and the next one…Plan for everything to take a little longer (giving yourself extra time, aka “slack”) and you will reduce stress/anxiety.

This concept can be applied in all areas of life – even thinking of your budget/emergency savings. Instead of stressing about money when an emergency pops up, you’ll be able to dip into your emergency fund to pay for it. Just be sure to replenish it, as another emergency will inevitably occur at some point in life.

How to get ahead

Do you know how to get ahead? Here are a few tips:

1. Try your best in everything you do. Don’t half-ass anything. If you’re going to take the time to do something, you might as well do the best you can. The time is going to pass anyways, so why would you choose to do anything less than your best?

2. Be interested. The more curious you are, the more you’ll enjoy learning. If you’re interested in something, you can spark someone else’s interest as well and have friends take part in the activity too.

3. Don’t think that you’re above something. If you are asked to do something at your current job, then do it. You’re not entitled to anything. And if you don’t have a job but are offered something that most would consider being beneath you in the eyes of others, really weigh your options before saying no. If you need the money, take the job and keep looking for something better. Don’t rely on unemployment or your parents to take care of you when you’re fully capable of doing so yourself.

4. Have a great attitude. There are a lot of things you can’t control, but one thing you can control is your attitude. Choose to be happy. Choose to see the best in every situation and in everybody. Nobody likes being around a complainer.

5. Look for opportunities. Keep your eyes open. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Keep learning, planning, practicing, and taking action. Opportunities are all around us if we just look for them.

Finding your rich life

What is your rich life? Rich doesn’t necessarily mean having a lot of money. It’s having enough money while being happy most days. Do you enjoy what you do every day (or most days)? Do you get to spend time with loved ones? Do you get to play? Find out how you can get to do something that you like doing every day, where it feels “light” to do it.

Why shouldn’t work be fun? I love the quote, “I take the work that I do seriously, but I don’t take myself seriously at all.” You should care about the work that you do. That doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun doing it though. You should not take yourself so seriously though. If you fail or mess up, that’s fine. You should want your kids to see you fail from time to time just so they know that it happens and it’s not the end of the world. But you should also want them to see you rise up and overcome those failures. You cant be kept down unless you chose to not get back up. Nothing can stop you except yourself.

Increasing your capacity

Work on increasing your different types of capacities…

⁃ Physical: Build a strong, healthy body so that you have the energy and strength to tackle projects and obstacles

⁃ Mental: Build a strong mind by reading books/articles, listening to books/podcasts, attending seminars, and surrounding yourself with others who are smarter/have more experience than you. Prepare your mind to become great at problem solving. Make sure you always remain teachable.

⁃ Emotional: Get used to “failing” and being told “no.” Learn from those mistakes to get better. Strengthen your resolve and do not be discouraged when things don’t go your way.

⁃ Time: Everyone has 24 hours in a day. Automate tasks which need to be done, eliminate tasks which don’t, and delegate tasks which cannot be automated, but aren’t the best/most productive use of your time. If you try to do everything, you will always be stuck doing everything. Learn to delegate tasks that are not necessary for you to do. These can be things that you’re good at, but don’t enjoy doing OR things that you’re not good at and don’t enjoy doing. Teach/train others how to do those tasks well and they will be an extension of yourself! Then when they outgrow that task/position, have them teach/train others to become extensions of themselves! The growth compounds exponentially AND it frees up your time to focus on more impactful activities that only you can do.

But…why do you think you want that?

Really think deeply about what it is that you want and why you want that.

Do you truly want it because of an internal desire OR do you want it because society says you should want it?

Are you doing it to impress others?

Don’t waste your time fighting so hard to achieve a goal, look a certain way, do certain things, etc. only to realize that it shouldn’t have been a goal for you at all.

Do you really want that fancy car (and, the real question is, do you want that car for what it will actually cost you)? What is the opportunity cost of owning that? Do you want to be in the best shape of your life for you or to impress others? Why do you want to earn more? Is it so you can provide the best life for yourself and your family or is it so others can know “how successful” you are?

Make sure you are taking steps towards achieving your goals for you. Who cares what other people think? And take the time to make sure it’s the right goal, otherwise it’s like leaning your ladder up against a wall and climbing to the top only to realize that you have the ladder on the wrong wall. You’re moving to move at that point, but when you get to the top, you will be unfulfilled.

Discover your “why” and you’ll find your purpose and meaning in life.