Run the Day

“Either you run the day, or the day runs you."

                                               Jim Rohn

   The beauty of life is that when we wake up in the morning we are given a multitude of choices.  You may have some circumstances that you did not choose to have but you do get to choose how you live within those circumstances.  If you choose to just let those circumstances run their own course you will have no control on the impact they will have on you. If you choose to attack those circumstances the way you think will benefit you best you will control how those circumstances impact you.  Either you run the day, or the day runs you.

    Never lose sight of the control you have over life.  No matter how things seem they only seem that way because of the way you are thinking.  Always believe you are in control.  Control doesn’t mean you can snap your fingers and change your circumstances.  

    For example, you can’t make the problems of your job magically go away.  You can’t flip a switch and instantly become a millionaire.  You can’t kiss a frog and make your prince appear before your eyes.  What you can do is take the necessary actions to get the best out of a problem at work, a problem with your finances or a problem with relationships.

     Those actions are deliberate and they are yours.  If you have a problem at work don’t just sit back and get through it.  Take charge so that you get through it with flying colors.  If you are having financial problems take steps every day to alleviate those problems and build wealth so they never return.  If you are having problems in your relationship take steps every day to make it better no matter how big or how small.

     This is just a reminder that every day you wake up make the decision to take control of your life circumstances.  Don’t sit back and let the day just play out as it will.  Decide to take control of the day so it plays out the way you want it to.  Each day that you make that decision will build you a life of better circumstances.  You will be stronger.  You will be wiser.  You will be at peace with any circumstance because you realize you can handle anything life seems to throw at you.

    When you choose to run the day, you choose to get the best out of life regardless of your circumstances.  When you don’t then the circumstances you’ve been given will determine what you get out of life.  Therefore you should always choose to run the day, or the day will run you.

Have a great week,

Drew

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Change

"Cause change and lead; accept change and survive; resist change and die."

                                                                                      Ray Norda

     Change is an inevitable part of life.  To put is simply, change makes the world go around.  This quote is a reminder that you have a choice on how you deal with change.  You can choose to cause it, accept it or resist it.  Those are your 3 choices.  2 of those choices are beneficial and 1 is detrimental.  I suggest you decide to either cause change or accept it in order to get the most out of your life.

     The first beneficial choice when it comes to change is to cause it.  It’s beneficial because in order to cause it you must be in charge.  You must be the leader of the change.  When you know what you want and cause the change that you want you ultimately get the results that you want.  You will be known as a change agent.  Every successful person you know has been a change agent and the only thing stopping you from being one is you.

     The second beneficial choice when it comes to change is to accept it.  You actually do it every year as the seasons change.  Nature provides infinite examples of change that we all accept.  We do so because we have to in order to survive.  However there are many other changes in life that we should accept in order to survive.  They may be small changes is comparison but they are important nonetheless.  Accepting change keeps you a peace.  Peaceful people have much better lives than those that are in disharmony.

     The third choice you have is to resist change.  By resisting change you don’t allow for growth.  It is very clear that nothing or no one grows without change.  I am not just talking simple growth like height and weight.  I’m talking about growing to be a better father, a better employee, a better child, a better communicator, a better runner, etc.  None of those things will happen without change.  If you resist change in any of those areas you will not grow and when you stop growing you move closer and closer to death.

     My challenge to you is to evaluate your current life.  What are you in the process of changing?  What change has been thrust open you that you need to accept?  What part of your life hasn’t grown in years and what change have you resisted that has help stump that growth?  Once you’ve gotten the answers to those questions you can now choose what change you will cause and what change you will accept.  Resistance is not an option.  That decision to either cause or accept change will help you get the most out of life.

Have a great week

The Journey not the Outcome

    

"Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a method of traveling."

                                                                        Margaret Runbeck

     We all have the desire to be happy.  It is the underlying essence of every human being.  The moral of this quote is not to hang your happiness on an outcome.  Hanging your happiness on a certain outcome will actually have a negative impact on the amount of happiness you ultimately achieve.  The best way to maximize your happiness is to decide to be happy along the entire journey not just when you achieve the outcome.   

    When you make the statement I will be happy when (pick any outcome) you put a stipulation on your happiness.  You are basically telling yourself something needs to occur for you to be happy.  Your mind is obedient and will follow instructions.  Either consciously or subconsciously you will not be as happy because that outcome has not yet occurred.

     When the outcome does finally occur you may feel a flash of happiness but it won’t last.  It won’t last because you will now just look for that next outcome to make you happy.  This is because you have conditioned yourself that happiness is tied to outcomes.  Once you achieve an outcome you will essentially start the cycle all over again because you will automatically start looking for the next outcome.

     This is not to say you shouldn’t set goals.  You will and should set goals. It is a part of life.  However, the next time you set a goal don’t tie it to your happiness.  Instead of hanging your happiness on an achieving that goal train yourself to be happy along the entire journey to reaching the goal.  Enjoy the entire journey no matter how bumpy it may or may not get.  Be happy that you even have the opportunity to travel the journey.  Open your eyes and see every aspect of life and how wonderful it is. 

     For example, you may be broke and have the goal to get out of debt.  Instead of waiting to get out of debt, be happy that you live in a country with so many ways to get out of debt.  You may be sick and in pain, be happy you have access to some of the best doctors in the world.  You may make a mistake that delays a project or embarrasses you or your boss.  Be happy you have the opportunity to shine on your next project or job if you get fired.  I know this sounds pie in the sky but it isn’t.  You have total command over your happiness and there is nothing blocking it but you.  No outside circumstance can stop you.

    We go through life trying to maximize so many things we’ve placed importance on.  We try to get the most sleep, the most bang for our buck, the biggest salary, the best vacations, the biggest house, the best relationships.   Why aren’t you maximizing your happiness when it is the most important of all?  All you have to do is decide to be happy along the entire journey and stop tying your happiness to an outcome.  This is the best way to maximize and achieve the ultimate goal of happiness.  As always my wish for you is to enjoy the journey!

Have a great week

Drew

Live the Dream

     Every day it seems that there is a news story of someone who has lost their life.  It is tragic and often sad to hear about the demise of another human being. Life is a gift and unfortunately the loss of life is the worst reminder of all to that fact.  Reality is we will all lose our life in the end but living our life while we have it is a seemingly rare event.  Too many of us have decided somehow to merely exist.

    With that reminder ask yourself how can you be given this gift and not maximize it?  In my opinion, if you aren’t maximizing the experience of life you merely exist.  Sure we can all get caught up in the myriad of routines and just getting things done.  Our current circumstances and our perceived limitations can also discourage us.  We can begin to believe that this is the best that we can do because we have tried and failed so many times. Any of these things can lead to us merely existing.

Do Not Merely Exist

      My request to you is to look into the window of your soul with a truthful eye and ask yourself; do I merely exist?  Are you maximizing the life you have been given or are you going through the motions?   Going through the motions can be described as just surviving.  You pay your bills, you eat your meals, you go to work, and you come home and watch TV. 

      Yes, every now and then you go on vacation or you go out and have some fun, but you don't do either nearly enough.  You've stopped gaining knowledge and you've stopped growing as a person.  Your relationships are no longer growing.  You've lost your passion.  You've become pessimistic, which you have decided to call being realistic.  That is the definition of existing.

The Definition of Living the Dream

     Living the dream involves determining what your passions are and then following them.  It involves you sharing your gifts with the world in an effort to make this world a better place just because of your existence.  Living the dream is finding a way to experience love to its greatest extent.   It is being at peace with decisions you make, have made or will make.  It is being able to truly forgive so that you can move forward.  Living the dream is always being aware and mindful.  It is taking every failure as an opportunity to learn and make you a better person.  It is being optimistic that the gift of life was bestowed upon you because you deserve to live a good life.  Living the dream is knowing you are a creator and creators create.  Living the dream is a belief that you are the right person, at the right place, at the right time.   Living the dream means you will continue to grow until your last breath on this earth.

     Many people wrongfully believe an abundance of money is required to live the dream.  Money may make life better because of the access it provides but it doesn’t guarantee you will be living the dream.  Living the dream is much deeper that money.  It is also much deeper that other people’s perceptions, thoughts or actions.  Living the dream is something you own.  It is a mindset.  It is a mindset that will ultimately help determine your success in life.

Every Moment Counts

     The only guarantee we have in life is that nothing is guaranteed.  You can be here today and gone tomorrow.  You can be living the dream or merely existing.  Unfortunately too many people have chosen either consciously or subconsciously to merely exist.  You should strive to live the dream.  You should not strive to live the dream just for a day, week, month, year or decade.  You should strive to live the dream moment by moment.   Life is built off of moments. 

     When you merely exist you find yourself losing out on so many moments of life.   Some of you fall into the trap of believing it will change when some significant moment will happen.  You’ll be living the dream when you get married.  You’ll be living the dream when you get promoted.  You’ll be living the dream when your business explodes.  You’ll be living the dream once you get your bills paid.  You’ll be living the dream when you go on vacation this summer.  I could go on and on with examples of milestones we place on life that we believe will make things better.

      The funny thing about life is it can better in an instant.  The instant you decide to believe your life is better it will be.  The reason that statement is true is because no one else can decide how good your life is because no one else can think for you.  You can think of life any way you want to. You own your own mindset.  Don’t let your outside circumstances dictate your mindset.  If you’re life isn’t exactly where you want it to be then take a moment to acknowledge that it can be if you put your mind to it.  Then look for every little example you can that your life is getting better.  Each one of those moments where you believe your life is getting better will change the way you think.  Those moments will build up and multiply.  Those moments will grow so large that you will find yourself living the dream much sooner than you think.

Actions You Should Take

       Now it may seem daunting to determine where to start living the dream.  Your life has different circumstances in different areas of your life. If you aren't sure where to start here's some advice on how to start.

Ø  Pick an area of your life you'd like to work on (Emotional, Occupational, Physical, Spiritual, Intellectual, Social)¹

Ø  Think about how that area of your life is now and how you'd like it to be. Do not take this lightly.  Really spend time delving into your thoughts about the area you chose.

Ø  Write down your goal for that area of your life.  Writing down lets your subconscious mind know you are serious.

Ø  Take action towards reaching your goal.  Remember it is a mindset; therefore you need to be taking actions that improve your mindset.  Set reminders, build plans, create new habits, and reach out to experts for advice.  You decide on an action and take it.  Take many actions.  Doing something is always better than doing nothing.

Ø  Believe.

       We’ve been given a rare gift and that is the gift of living this life.  Take action now to make sure you aren’t doing that gift a disservice by merely existing.  Take action now to change your mindset to live the dream. Good luck and I look forward to hearing about how you are living the dream.  Use the hashtag #livethedream to let the world know you are doing so.  As always enjoy the journey!

With gratitude,

Drew

¹The Six Dimensions of Wellness, 1976 Bill Hettler, MD, Co-Founder, National Wellness Institute

See People

"See people not for who they are but for who they can become."  This is a great quote from an unknown author.  Two topics of interest come to mind when I ready this quote – optimism and empathy. 

Optimism - defined as an inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events or to anticipate the best possible outcome.

Empathy - defined as the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner. 

     No matter whom you are or where you work you have to interact with people every day.  Some of those interactions are from afar and some of those interactions are very close.  Based on those interactions you have seen that we are all a little different from each other.  We are all at different stages of our careers, our relationships, our health, our knowledge, so and so on. 

     Some of those differences are small in nature and some are drastic.  The small ones usually are barely noticed or hardly thought about.  However, the drastic ones have the possibility to have an impact on how we see that other person.  How we see that person can have an impact on the actions we take both positive and negative.  Negative actions produce negative results and positive actions produce positive results.

      Since we have the ability to choose, I am a big proponent of choosing the positive.  That is where the optimism kicks in.  However, in order to see the positive you are going to have to have the ability to be empathetic.  That often is a much harder task.  It takes a certain skill to show empathy.  Those of us who master it are much more successful than those of us who do not.

     The potential to be great is within us all.  Once you acknowledge that fact it becomes much easier to see.  You will do the work to see the world through someone else’s eyes and then be optimistic that if they haven’t achieved greatness, they still have the opportunity to do so.  We all do.  Those positive thoughts will lead to positive actions and ultimately positive results.  That collective thinking will lead to many positive results and ultimately a better life for us all. 

    For the rest of the week do me a favor and explore how you are seeing other people.  If you don’t see them as great, think about their own unique situation and how they ultimately could be great.  See them as they could be and not as they currently are.  You may be surprised how beneficial those positive thoughts will be to both you and them.

Have a good week and as always enjoy the journey!

With gratitude,

Drew