In my book, Adjust Your Sails, we discuss how the energy around us influences our mood and in turn, our general well being.
Begin by examining the people you spend your time with. How do they make you feel? For each individual, do you feel better or worse after your interaction? Do they drain or invigorate your energy?
Are there things you expose yourself to that make you feel worse afterwards? Do you get riled up after listening to talk radio? Are there shows you watch on TV that negatively affect your mood?
In our last discussion, we examined the challenge many of us face in managing the constant internal dialogue within our minds.
I made the suggestion of redirecting your awareness to avoid dwelling on unpleasant or stressful thoughts. The question is, other than during sleep, do you ever quiet your mind? Do you know how? What if you took the time to just be?
Most of us have an activity we find therapeutic that puts us in the moment. Skiing does that for me. It forces me to be present. For other people it could be gardening, walking the dog, or some type of exercise.…
We all understand the concept of conditioning our bodies regardless of whether we choose to do it or not. It essentially comes down to diet and exercise. If we do not exercise and have no regard for our diet, it can ultimately lead to poor physical health.
What about conditioning the mind? Might I suggest that if we don’t condition our mind it can lead to poor mental health? I’m not proposing that you will have psychosis or mental illness, just the inability to take control of your thoughts.
We all have inner dialogue. Most of us tend to play stories in our mind over and over again.…
In order to take control of your life you must first accept what is. You begin by playing the hand you are dealt. It is important to realize that your past doesn’t control your life unless you allow it to. Will you stay mired in the past or look to build your future the way you would like it to be? This is a choice you need to make.
Assume as a child, your father whipped you with his belt, and repeatedly told you that you would amount to nothing in life. Would this affect your ability to succeed later in life?…
We have now gone through the steps to help you to direct your life. In order to be successful in this endeavor, it is critical for you to take control of your life. This means you must take responsibility for everything that happens to you. Blaming others is simply giving away your control. If someone else dictates where your life is going, you become a victim with no power. We will take a deep dive on this concept in a future blog.
I have broken down our “Direct your life” series of blogs to 8 critical steps:
Accept full responsibility for everything that happens in your life.
Now that you have started taking the necessary action to bring you toward your goals, it becomes helpful to maintain the motivation to keep moving forward. Why not create personal rewards for reaching your goals? It is a powerful way to keep you on the path. Assume you have a goal of making $100,000 a year. You’ve always had a dream of going to Italy. Make the Italian trip your reward for reaching the goal. If you want to increase your drive, get pictures of all the places you want to see when you are in Italy and look at them every day.…
...the exploration of life lived large not small. It simply states universal principles that allow us to thrive as human beings. This manual of life should be read by all wishing to truly live."
