Do you suffer from anxiety?

How many of us are anxious for no reason? I don’t consider myself an anxious person, but after some self reflection on vacation, I realized how neurotic I can be as well. We all have duties and responsibilities, especially as parents, but how much of our anxiety is serving us?

So what if you slept in? So what if your butt gets a little sandy or your shoes get wet? So what if you don’t workout for a day? You don’t always have to be doing something.

I’m always trying to focus on self improvement, but sometimes the best thing you can do is just relax. Don’t stress, don’t worry, don’t let anxiety over something that might happen in the future take over your thoughts and keep you from being present in there now. Life is good. Enjoy it.

What does it mean to be successful?

Who is the first person you think of when you hear the word “successful?” I guess it should be based on what you definition of success is. Does it mean they are a prominent businessman/woman? That they make a lot of money? That they’re famous? Or they seem to have it all?

But take a deeper look – not at the person who you think is successful. We’re not here to pick apart their lives/imperfections. Instead, take a deeper look as to what success means to you and why you define it that way. Oftentimes we are only looking at one of life’s domains (usually our vocation or financial success) and are blind to the other domains (do we have deep/meaningful relationships, how is our family life, are we physically healthy, intellectually healthy, or spiritually healthy?)…

Don’t think that because someone is famous that they are successful. Success, at least to me, should be defined by the whole package. Who cares if you’re making $200,000+ per year if you’re in poor health, if you have a broken marriage, if you never get to see/truly know your kids, if you’ve lost/damaged friendships, or if you’re morally corrupt.

Success is winning in every area of life. Success is being happy with what you have, but still striving to do better (for yourself and others). Success is focusing on the process, not the result – on enjoying the journey, and not only worrying about getting to the destination. Everyone has their own definition of success. We all value certain aspects of life differently (and our priorities will change), so don’t judge others for trying to achieve success in their own way. Just focus on creating your best, most successful life and let them do the same.