Are You Following Your Own Path, or Someone Else’s?

2019-01-172019-01-17 ~ adminlife

It’s not easy to find your way through the world. You might have interests that don’t coincide with the values of your parents or with those of western society.

It’s important to remember that everyone is different, and while the status quo might work for the majority of the population, it doesn’t work for everyone.

To have a truly fulfilling life, you must live it on your own terms.

There are plenty of forces willing to tell you what your path should be:

Parents. Your parents want you to be happy and successful. Many of them also want to be able to brag to their friends about their children. They also don’t want to be supporting you financially when you’re in your 30’s.
- Parents tend to be practical in their advice. Just remember that you’d have a similar life to them if you followed their advice. That might be good or bad.
- Keep in mind that you are not the same as your parents. You also have your own life to live.
Educational system. The educational system wants to turn out productive people into society that conform to their ways of thinking. This might be great for society, but it might not be in your best interests.
- What if you want to be a rockstar, or take a few years to travel and write a book, own a llama farm, or become a Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka? Your school guidance counselor might be less than supportive.
Society as a whole. We live in a society that values achievement, financial resources, and personal possessions. We’re supposed to get married to a beautiful partner, have a few kids, and live in the suburbs.
- It’s natural to want to play that game, even if it doesn’t quite suit our true nature. It’s nice to have the admiration of society. Our egos crave this type of recognition.
- But the type of life dictated by society isn’t a good fit for everyone. There are plenty of people that are highly successful by society’s criteria that are absolutely miserable.

Plenty of people are willing to influence your choice of lifestyle and career. It’s unlikely their advice will be optimal for you. Be an individual and find the path that works best for you.

Find and follow your own path with these strategies:

Ask yourself what you really want to do. Don’t say that you don’t know, because you do know. You’re just afraid to allow it to see the light of day. You might be concerned what others think, or you might be afraid that you’re not capable of doing it. Deep down, you know what you want.
- Ask yourself what you would do if you could do anything, and then listen to the answer.
Decide that you’re going to follow your path. One of the biggest obstacles to success is failing to make a true decision. A decision only occurs when you shut yourself off to other possibilities. If you frequently change your mind, you’re not making true decisions.
Make a plan. Set up a schedule of daily tasks that will bring you closer to living the life that you have chosen. You’re practically guaranteed success provided you don’t give up.

Your life is your responsibility. If you find yourself stuck living someone else’s definition of success, you’ll find yourself all alone. The people that influenced you to live this way will be off living their own lives.

Take control of your destiny and find your own path. Your life will be more interesting, more satisfying, and uniquely your own!

To your success

Michael W

P.S. If you are looking for a confidence program that can help you with your self development. Send me an email at michael@youaresuccesslifecoach.com to request a copy of my “Maximum Confidence Transformation Package”. Afterwards we can arrange a discovery telephone call to discuss the package and how you can benefit further from developing your confidence level.

Feature photo used under CCO and available at https://pixabay.com/en/crossroads-path-choice-road-997123/

Consider Doing a SWOT Analysis on Yourself

2019-01-092019-01-09 ~ adminlife

When people create case studies on businesses, they often include a SWOT analysis. SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. If you can do this for business, why not consider doing one for yourself? It can help you gain insight about yourself and reinforce the idea of believing in yourself.

The concept of SWOT is usually diagrammed in quadrants or squares, representing each of the words of the acronym. It’s up to you as to which squares to place each of the words. By convention, the upper-left square is for Strengths, while the lower-left square is for Opportunities. The upper-right square is for Weaknesses, and the lower-right square is for Threats.

Fill up each quadrant with appropriate items relating to the heading of the quadrant. To take this a step further, ask family and friends to help you fill up the quadrants. After you have them all filled, you can evaluate them to see what needs improvement.

Don’t let the negative aspects (Weaknesses, Threats) trip you up when creating your analysis. You are listing them to gain perspective in areas that you need your focus. In fact, some weaknesses you may not want to tackle because it doesn’t interest you. Threats are merely items to be aware of and may help you try to overcome them.

The key to success is to be as honest as possible with yourself about all the items included in the analysis. If you aren’t, it isn’t going to help you much, and you may focus on the wrong items to improve. Further, you may not be as strong in some areas as you believed, which can lead you on the wrong path as well.

A representative SWOT analysis will give you a great foundation for your life, both personally and professionally. You can use it as a tool to advance your goals. You will learn about yourself and who you are. Don’t rush this process. You want it to be as representative of yourself as possible. It’s better to take several days or even weeks than to try to list items for the sake of filling up the quadrants.

Once you feel comfortable that you have the right items for your analysis, you can use it to help you believe in yourself. It’s all there for you to reference, and it can help you to refine your goals and tasks further.

To your success

Michael W

Feature photo used under CCO and available at https://pixabay.com/en/plant-computer-using-person-mouse-2798849/

The Re-Invention of You

2017-11-05 ~ adminlife

If you’ve ever wanted to alter some things about yourself, maybe now is the time to consider it. We see it in the entertainment industry all the time: an entertainer used to look a certain way and behave a certain way in public or while performing. Then, one day, you see them on TV and wow, what a difference!

The entertainer’s hair is changed, her style of clothing isn’t even similar to what she used to wear, and she may even relate to people in a completely novel manner. She has completely re-invented herself!

You, too, can make such changes and step out in a whole new you!

Follow these steps to bring out your transformation:

What’s on your fantasy list of changes you want to make? Let your thoughts and ideas flow and jot them down. What would you change about yourself if you had the power?

Focus on the top 3 things you wish to change. For the best success, direct your energy to no more than a few things at a time. Circle the top 3 things you want to work on.

To illustrate, maybe you want to change your hair color and style, reduce your weight by 15 pounds, and wear a more classic style of clothing.
Perhaps you want to work out to build muscle, discover a new relationship, and develop a deeper interest in your career.

Ponder the reasons you wish to make these changes. Delve deep within yourself to consider why making these changes are important to you. Were you bullied in high school and don’t feel very positive about yourself? Do you believe you can move closer toward the type of life you want if you make the desired changes?

Perhaps you think you’ll be happier or more successful when you take steps to become the person you want to be. Giving some thought to the reasons you want to change these aspects of yourself will help you recognize where you want to be heading in life.

Design a brief plan for each area you want to alter. Using some of the examples in #2, getting a different hair color and cut is as simple as setting an appointment and going to the hairdresser. Losing the weight will take a bit more thought and effort. What will you do to get started on your plan now?

You might cut out sodas and fattening desserts and have breakfasts of yogurt and fruit or 1 scrambled egg with 1 toast.
Doing a wardrobe overhaul costs money. Plan to obtain clothing you want little by little. Consult fashion websites to learn about styles and basic wardrobe pieces.

Take “before” pictures. Photos will motivate you to continue your efforts.
Explore how you feel about beginning to work toward the changes. Do you feel positive, confident, and pleased that you’re finally going to “do something?” You might be experiencing doubt or hesitancy to get started. What makes you feel that way? This step is integral to your capacity to continue your path of self-re-invention.

Connect with your feelings to be successful in creating a new you. If you have serious doubts or even fears about taking steps toward what you want to be in life, consider consulting a life coach or counselor to help you move forward in your quest.

Put your plans into action. If all systems are “go,” move forward without delay.
Notice the subtle changes that you achieve along the way. Develop ways to reinforce your efforts to successfully alter the aspects you wish to change. Take a few pictures of yourself as you notice changes and display them where you can view them for motivation. After all, you’re doing what you set out to do—re-inventing yourself!

Creating a new and improved you can be a very exciting time in your life. Embrace this phase of life with all you’ve got. After all, you’re worth it.

To your success.

Michael W

P.S. if you are interested in working with me to build or develop your confidence then contact me at michael@confidenceandmotivation.com and we can arrange a 30-minute call to learn more about each other. a

Do You Know Your Purpose In Life?

2017-05-26 ~ adminlife

Discover the Purpose of Your Life

If you’re like most people, you might not have figured out what you’re supposed to do with your life. What is your purpose?

What is a life purpose anyway? For our uses, we’re going to define it as something that you love to do that also has a great impact on the world. It’s that sweet spot where you’re having a great time and doing something wonderful for as many people as possible.

Most of us leave our lives up to chance. We slide into a profession that we don’t hate and stay there or in a similar situation until we’re ready to retire. Living your purpose usually requires taking action with the intention of finding it.

There are several ways you can attempt to discover the purpose of your life:

Describe your ideal day. Project yourself several years into the future and imagine that your life is essentially perfect. What would your life look like? Are you working? What type of work are you doing? What do you do all day? Who is in your life?

- Now that you know what the end looks like, what can you do today to take the first step in that direction?

Try austerity. Go camping in a remote place. Leave the food at home, but bring plenty of water. Limit your sleep and just sit with yourself. When you’re miserable, bored, lonely, and tired, sometimes the answers become obvious.

Volunteer. Find an organization in your community that interests you. Doing something worthwhile can be a good way to discover your purpose. Even if you come up short, at least you’ll have done something important.

Assume you can do the impossible. When anything is possible, what would you do? Take action to bring your dreams to life.
Write. Perhaps the most effective way to discover your life’s purpose is to spend an hour writing. At the top of your paper write, “My life’s purpose.” Now spend the next 60 minutes writing whatever pops into your mind.

When you find something that stirs strong positive feelings within you, you’re probably on the right track.

Investigate a new hobby. We all have at least one activity we’ve been putting off until a more convenient time. Doing something new exposes you to new ideas and thoughts. Now is the time to jump in and get started. You might be surprised what you discover.
Do something that terrifies you. Skydiving? Public speaking? You might find your life’s purpose during the process of conquering this fear.

This can be challenging and it might take some time, but get started today.

Spend a day being totally inspired. From the time you wake up until the time you go to bed, attempt to spend every moment inspired. The right books, music, and movies can help you maintain an inspired mental state.

You’ll believe you can do anything. What would you do?

Ask yourself what you would do if you had $10 million. How would you spend your time? What would your life look like? Can you figure out a way to make a living doing one of the activities you would be willing to do for free if you had the time?

Keep trying the above tips until you’ve found something that really excites you. When you find your purpose, there will be no doubt. Avoid spending all of your life thinking and planning. Get busy living.

Finding your life’s purpose will make life exciting and meaningful!

To your success.

Michael W

P.S. Are you frustrated that you are not reaching your ultimate level of success? Do you desire to be more confident and successful? Fantastic. Let me help you.

I have set myself a goal of hitting 50 hours of coaching before mid-summer and so I am offering 2 free coaching sessions to the first 8 people that put their hand up. Only do so if you are ready to make the shifts in your life that you desire.

Simply email me at michael@youaresuccesslifecoach.com to get started now.

Are you ready to reach the level of success that you know you desire?

6 Steps To Expand Your Comfort Zone

2017-05-05 ~ adminlife

Erase Your Limits: Expand Your Comfort Zone in 6 Steps

Of all the valuable skills you’ll acquire, learning to deal effectively with discomfort is one of the most important. Consider all the times you’ve wanted to do something, but either never started or came up short. It’s likely that your inability to handle the resulting discomfort was the cause.

If you could handle discomfort better, you would never procrastinate, never quit a diet, exercise every day, and complete everything you ever wanted to accomplish.

Most of us avoid discomfort at all costs. It’s the biggest limiting factor for most people. But, a little discomfort can be a good thing. Even a lot of discomfort is a good thing if you want to change your life quickly.

Unfortunately, avoiding discomfort quickly becomes a habit. You instantly feel better when you evade the thing that’s causing the discomfort. It becomes a preferred coping mechanism. It also self-imposes limits.

The good news is you can free yourself from these limits!

The key to mastering discomfort is to work at becoming more comfortable in challenging situations. As you move forward, you increase your comfort zone little by little. Before you know it, you’ve erased the limits you had previously set for yourself.

Follow this process to become more comfortable with discomfort and set yourself free:

Start with something that’s difficult, but not too difficult. Learning Chinese is very difficult. But eating all your vegetables isn’t too difficult. Starting a gentle exercise program isn’t too difficult, either.

Start with something that will enhance your life, but won’t be too challenging to implement or take an excessive amount of time.

Start slowly. If you’re going to start exercising, start with just 5-10 minutes. You can add a little bit of time each day or week. If you try to start with 60 minutes, it will probably seem too overwhelming to even get started.

Why not give yourself the best chance to succeed?

Push through a little discomfort. Maybe you’re working on keeping the house clean. You’ll likely feel a strong urge to quit just 10 minutes into your cleaning regimen. Keep working. A little later, you may want to quit again, but keep going. The third time, allow yourself to actually stop.

- Try to do this with everything. Avoid letting yourself quit anything the first time you get the urge to stop.

Observe your discomfort. A great way to deal with discomfort is to simply observe it. How does it feel? How you try to avoid the situation that is causing the discomfort? Do you try to distract yourself with other activities?

You might rationalize reasons why it would be better not to continue. Avoid falling into that pattern.

Study your discomfort like a dispassionate observer. By simply observing and not becoming emotionally involved with your discomfort, you’ll likely notice that your discomfort lessens.

Find a way to smile. Smiling is a key component of learning to be okay with discomfort. It’s hard to be miserable when you’re smiling. When the going gets rough, take a deep breath and force yourself to smile.
Continue to push a little further the next time. Just like with exercising, you can always do just a little bit more the next time. Each time you work through a little more discomfort, it gets easier and easier. Your capacity to deal with discomfort will expand quickly.

You can learn to be comfortable with discomfort. Think of all the amazing things you could accomplish if being uncomfortable didn’t stop you! There really isn’t much you couldn’t do. Those that avoid discomfort the most tend to end up with the most uncomfortable lives. By accepting and managing your discomfort, you can build the life you desire.

Start small, but get started. Being a little uncomfortable never hurt anyone. Master your discomfort and you’ll set yourself free.

To your success.

Michael W

P.S. Are you frustrated that you are not reaching your ultimate level of success? Do you desire to be more confident and successful? Fantastic. Let me help you.

Simply email me at michael@youaresuccesslifecoach.com to get started now.

Are you ready to reach the level of success that you know you desire?