Your guide to a healthier perspective of life
It’s not that life is short; it isn’t. It’s that we waste so much time doing things that we don’t want to be doing.
How can you maximize your enjoyment (play) while also meeting your need to achieve personal goals, contributing to the well-being of others, and not feeling the stresses of modern life?
Take the time to fill out this diagram. As you can see, not everything will overlap. It may be very difficult to find your purpose, but if you do, your life will be like a dream come true.
Knock down/remove as many barriers as possible to achieve success. But make sure you’re the one removing the obstacles and not just letting someone do the hard work for you.
The more barriers you have, the less likely you are to reach your goal. For example, say you want to lose 50 lbs. If you don’t have workout attire, you’re less likely to go…
If you live far away from the gym you chose to be a member…
If you don’t have a support system/someone to hold you accountable…
If you are surrounded by junk food (you have it in your house, you go down the aisle in the store with it, etc.)…
REMOVE BARRIERS.
Whether you feel happy, sad, neutral, or mad with the election results of the 2020 Presidential race, remember one thing. What happens in your house is more important than what happens in the White House.
The President, no matter which party he/she is affiliated with, will not save you, nor will he/she ruin you. You control your own fate. The decisions you make will have the greatest influence on how your life turns out. Why would you give that power to anyone else? Take ownership of what happens for you – good or bad.
If you like the results you’re getting, then continue doing what you’ve been doing. If you don’t like the results you’ve seen so far, change what you’re doing. And if you’re really unhappy? Just know that you’re going to have to work your tail off to get to where you want to go. Nothing matters as much as determination, grit, perseverance, and having a positive attitude. All of those things won’t always be easy, but if they were, everyone would do it.
Many people fear failing, and I know it is one of my biggest fears as well. That’s what I’ve always told myself before, anyways. But after thinking about it more, am I afraid of actually failing or am I afraid of looking like a failure to others? There is a difference…
When you actually fear failing, you’ll often get stuck in “paralysis by analysis” mode, where you procrastinate taking any action for fear that the action you take is the wrong one. The irony is that this fear to fail often keeps you from even trying to get what you want. But if you don’t try it, you guarantee you won’t get it. In that sense, you have ensured failure, just not publicly.
So is it really failure you’re afraid of or is it the perception of failing? Sometimes you are held back from doing something or saying something because you think others will look down on you. Are you ok with asking questions and letting other know that you are not processing the information they’ve given to you? Are you ok with trying something new, with no guarantees of succeeding, if you think others will judge you for it? That’s the difference between being afraid to fail versus being afraid to look like a failure.
Next time you find that you aren’t pursuing a goal or a passion, ask yourself this…What is more important – what other people think of you (when they see you try and fail) or what you think of yourself (never publicly trying something/never “failing” in front of others, but ask never achieving your actual goal)?
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Going slow (as long as it is deliberate/well thought out) will reduce errors or omissions and lead to better outcomes. This means that you can often accomplish what you set out to do the first time. But if you move too quickly, more often you’ll miss the little details that lead to your greatest success.
Sometimes, you just have to act without thought. That can be useful and necessary. But for most situations, it’s the pre-action decisions you make that lead to you achieving your goals.