Do you ever find yourself hitting a roadblock and wondering what is going to happen next? There is a chance that you have been stuck with a crazy deadline, you might have friends complaining about different stuff, or you are being overwhelmed with everything from finances to relationships.
Well…it is nothing to be ashamed of but it’s also a moment where you can appreciate some reflection.
Do you ever wonder what could be a great start? Reminding yourself about your feelings and values.
This can be a great way to release tension and to be true to yourself. You can reflect on the past and the present and even prepare for the near future. As a consequence, you will be stress-free, optimizing your motivation and inspiration, and even erase your frustrations.
Below are few things we should try to remind ourselves regularly:
1. Only YOU are in control of your own life. Do as you want.
When people try to tell you that you need to focus on different things, not the ones you are focusing on, just remind yourself: you are the pilot of the aircraft called ‘LIFE’.
You are the one that can control your actions and destinations. Just remember that you have the equivalent amount of time in a day as everyone else and SURE it is up to you to decide what you do with it.
2. Don’t you ever worry about what other people might think of you
As Bruce Lee once said: “I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.”
Remind yourself of this statement every day – just as I did!
You are probably believing that people are thinking about you, but the truth is they are likely not.
In fact, just like you, they are spending as much time wondering what other people are thinking about them, and so on. You have to stop worrying about this. It really doesn’t matter. You have to be worrying about what you’re doing and not what other people say you’re doing. If you want to achieve success, peace, or happiness – stop looking for the approval of your co-workers, friends, or parents. The only approval you should look for is yourself.
3. You have to invest in yourself: Read, Work, Study & Create.
We heard this probably a million times, and I’m going to talk about it again. The best investment anyone can do is to invest in themselves. Whether you want to buy a book that will help you understand marketing better or getting in shape at the gym – just, INVEST in yourself and receive the rewards afterward.
I believe that in life there are three options:
- Standstill
- Step back
- Move forward
4. You are the one that can define your version of happiness. Now go live it.
Some of us defined happiness at an early age. We have every right to say that is what we call FREEDOM.
It’s the ability to wake up in the morning, go to bed at night and do exactly what we want in between. Sure, for someone like me, that can sometimes mean writing a blog post or talking with clients about my projects.
Identify what makes you happy and appreciate every moment. Happiness could be spending time with your kids. It could be working on a new project. It could just be spending time with your friends. But remember: define what makes you happy and chase it.
5. Tackle the hard work you first.
It is very easy to wake up and spend three morning hours reading through emails or online articles. What’s not easy, is to open a document, launch work software tools, and start diving into developing work strategies and include them on reports. With that being said, finishing the most difficult tasks earlier will help you to smooth out the rest of the day, so you are not worried about timelines. Most of the time, I finish the hard work by 3pm.
6. Help others, ask for less assistance.
Might sound odd, but I am a firm believer that we should all give back to this world more than we take. It’s true, I have taken a lot of good from the world, but every day I am striving to give back as much as I can. Whether it’s from writing, mentorship or public speaking, or anything else that could be considered help. I have found the relationship between how much I try to help others and how “lucky” I am.
7. Consume less, create more..
All of us are born with the ability to create. That’s the reason why when we are kids they give us play dough when we are kids, or why the kids now love Minecraft and LEGOS. The reason is simple, to create. Creativity comes in different forms and shapes. Some of us create blogs, others create buttons, apps, and furniture for our living room. But besides creating we are also born with the need to consume. We consume drinks, music, food, energy, water and much more.
The problem here is, that in this point of the society, we are consuming far more than what we are creating. Just look around you, look at the society where over-consumption is the norm. So, when you’re watching that ad telling you to buy that new dress, try to create something that you’ve already bought before. In the end the satisfaction will be more than buying a new dress.
A bad year is not a bad life.
“You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks, or even months over-analyzing a situation; trying to put the pieces together, justifying what could’ve, would’ve happened… or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move the f**k on.” ― Tupac Shakur
At some point in their life, all of us have gone or will go through struggle. As a matter of fact, a lot of people go through constant struggle periods in their lives, and can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. But that is just the reality of life. We must accept and learn from it. Struggle always comes in different sizes and in many shapes. It could come in the form of a relationship or of work. But the most important thing is to remember that the struggles of the past will never ruin your upcoming chapters. In this great story called life, it is always important to remember the three golden words: It goes on.
