05 Aug What’s Your Story: Can We Make Life Easier?
“You Deserve To Live An Extraordinary Life!”
In my last post, I focused on four ways we make life hard. Thanks for your comments about what makes life hard for you. There are so many obstacles, real and imagined, in our daily lives that can throw us off course and into distress, frustration and misery. Life is hard enough as it is and we add unnecessary suffering by hanging on to limiting beliefs, taking things too personally and falling into Victim mentalities. In my book “Navigating For Success,” I write about how people tend to go through life and what they can do to better navigate toward personal success, satisfaction and happiness. In this post, I want to suggest 10 things we can do to navigate our lives toward greater peace of mind. I hope you find them useful!
1. Shred the Report Card!
We live in a culture of competition where we are constantly comparing ourselves to others. Usually, we find ourselves short end of the stick by judging ourselves too harshly. In school, we earn an A, B, C, D or F depending on how we score compared to our fellow classmates. Consequently, we are stuck in a world where we perpetually ask “Am I good enough?” We then take this way of thinking into the rest of our lives, constantly grading ourselves as if we’re still in high school. Well, how about kicking grades out of our lives? Make it simple – just find something that interests you and take action each day. Whether you “succeed” or “fail” according to someone else’s standard, you pass and succeed simply by being involved in your own life!
2. Don’t take things so personally!
For the most part, others do not wake up each day thinking about how they can make your life miserable. They are probably just feeling miserable in their own lives. Don’t let their frustrations rub off on you. Arm yourself with some “Emotional Teflon” and let others’ negative comments slide right off of you. Then get back to doing what is important to you.
3. Allow yourself to get a little carried away!
Fall in love with something, get excited, and do what make you feel alive! Put some blinders on and get a little self-absorbed. Believe in what is important to you and imagine moving toward your desired target and achieving your goals.
4. Take little actions every day!
Every day, do something to work towards your desired goal! You don’t have to make big efforts or obtain big results to be happy. Give yourself permission to take consistent, small actions and chip away at the pursuit. Your unconscious mind just wants to know you are having a good time, large or small, win or lose. It experiences the game of life through your actions. So act now.
5. Take total responsibility!
For everything! No more blaming! Blaming puts you in Victim mode, marinating in personal misery and powerlessness. When a disappointment occurs, ask yourself, “What happened?”… “What could I have done differently?”… “What did I learn from this choice?” There is no one to rescue you, so get real, take a shot at things and just deal with the consequences of your actions.
6. Have gratitude!
Appreciate your life and take pleasure in your daily successes! You could even keep a Victory Diary where you jot down each day what gave you pleasure, the chances you took, and they ways in which you were kind and generous enough to grant yourself a “Pass.”
7. Feed your mind!
You feed your body, sometimes with nourishing foods and sometimes with junk. Likewise, you feed your mind each day with your thoughts and your reactions. Fill your reservoir with uplifting thoughts and imagery. Read for inspiration. Don’t let the weeds of doubt, negativity and anxiety take over your mind. Stand fiercely at the Gates of Your Mind and scream “No!” to intrusive thinking, and find something positive and powerful to remind you that you have a great life to live!
8. Take action now!
Stop waiting for life to show up! It’s here now and waiting will not make it better. Take action every day, be persistent, and gain some momentum. If you get knocked off track, give yourself a minute or two to feel the upset, take deep breaths, and remind yourself of a time when you successfully rebounded. Then, get back into action. Never, ever stop!
9. Stop looking for the Holy Grail!
There is no single success formula! One size does not fit all! No one knows the Truth! We are making it up as we go. Some bluff better than others. There is no perfection. Find something meaningful in life, some purpose to wake up to everyday, and get on with it. Hopefully you will win a little more than you lose. Create your own life formula for success.
10. Have a sense of humor!
You were born! Billions and billions of sperm never made it to an egg. They just faded away down the stream of what could have been. You already won the game of life… you were born! You passed and are on the varsity team of life. You got your letter, so just play the game. Enjoy all the silliness, absurdity and confusion of life. There really is not much to figure out, you know. It’s your life, find something interesting to think about and do, take your daily actions and enjoy yourself. Notice when you catch yourself taking life too seriously, and allow yourself to laugh it off. Oh, the unnecessary pain of life!
If you want to learn more about how to navigate life better, check out Moss Jackson’s book, “Navigating For Success: Passion, Goals and Action.” Order here! Sign up for more blog posts below!