Live Your Best Life in 6 Steps

best life

Everyone is different. It’s not reasonable to expect that everyone wants to live the same life. But, to step outside the options that society deems to be acceptable can be a little scary. Our need to impress and be accepted can be very strong.

Perhaps you’ve never really considered what your dream life would be. It’s hard to hit a target that you’ve never identified.

Follow these steps to imagine the best life you could possibly have and then live it:

  1. Be true to yourself. You can’t live your best life if you’re pretending to be someone or something that you’re not. The first step in living your best life is to admit to yourself who you really are. Be honest about your likes, dislikes, and dreams.
    • Maybe you would like to live in a cabin in the woods and grow all of your food.
    • Or do you love the idea of minimalism and frugality?
    • Do you prefer animals to people?
    • Would you like to live in a commune?
    • Do you love to play the accordion?
    • Would you like to travel the world like a nomad without a home base?
    • Do you want to spend all of your time and resources saving the planet?
    • Does the idea of having children horrify you? Or would you like to try for 13 kids?
    • Choose what appeals to Any admiration or scorn you receive from others won’t last long enough for your cup of coffee to get cold.
  2. Make a plan. Relying on chance or luck is a losing game in the long run. If you want a specific life, it’s important to choose it and then make a plan to get there. Make a long-term plan that begins with something you can do today.
  3. Execute your plan. Many people love to dream and plan. That’s the easy and fun part. Unfortunately, few people ever take the first step in their plan. They never get started.
    • Take some sort of action each day outlined by your plan. You don’t have to do an amazing amount of work each day to make significant progress over time. A little each day eventually grows into substantial results.
    • The hardest part is getting started, so ensure that you get started as soon as possible. There will never be a perfect time to begin. Begin now and make the best of it. Everything changes once you actually begin.
  4. Learn from your mistakes. Neither you nor your plan is flawless. You will make mistakes and try things that don’t work. That should be expected. Decide that you’re going to learn from your mistakes, adjust your approach, and try again.
  5. Keep your attention on those things that are relevant regarding your plans. Reject nearly everything else.
    • Why are you gossiping about your coworkers or neighbours?
    • Still upset about how your ex cheated on you 13 years ago?
    • Annoyed by the price of gasoline?
    • What do any of these sorts of things have to do with achieving your goals and attaining your dream life? (Nothing.)
  6. You can’t live your best life if you give up on your quest to attain it. Keep going until you’ve arrived where you want to be.

Your best life is out there ready for you to claim it! Be completely honest with yourself, make a plan, and stick with it until you’ve arrived. The life you desire is attainable and within your reach. Do you have the courage to make it happen?

Take a chance on feeling happy and fulfilled. Chase after your dream life.

You need to move to make your dreams and your life better. Just having dreams isn’t enough.

Book a 15-minute “Get to know you” call by clicking on the blue button below

and we can talk about how you can move your dreams to reality and live the life you desire.

To your success

Michael

Michael W

 

 

 

 

P.S. if you have always thought that you should have a Life Coach on your personal team to help you create the best year of your life but were put off by the cost and the time requirement, I have created a Self-paced course that covers what we would do when working together.

While not the same as working one-on-one with a Life Coach, this self-paced course can help you to understand your present situation, how you got there and how to set goals that will move you forwards to success.

Click on the logo below to find out more about the course

 

 

Image by rafaelutza from Pixabay

 

Adjust Your Sails to the Future

sails

“When you can’t change the direction of the wind – adjust your sails,” is a quote from inspirational writer, H. Jackson Brown, Jr, is one that has depth and meaning if there are things going on in your life that you can’t control.

The only things you can change are those which you have control over. Therefore, you need to find a way to get on with your life (adjust your sails) and look to the future rather than spending more time on what’s not working.

If a sailor knows a storm is coming from a certain direction, he or she will adjust the sails and let the wind blow them in the opposite direction. Remaining on the same course might mean being caught up in a disaster that could sink the boat.

It’s the same with your life. Continuing on a course where disaster is looming and just waiting to take you down might make it impossible for you to ever get out of the “storm,” and head on to safe passage.

It may be difficult to change a course that you’ve been on for a long time. That route is familiar and even though filled with turmoil, it can be strangely comfortable.

Taking an unknown course of action may be scary, but necessary if you’re to get on with your life and take action to make changes that will bring you success and happiness.

The first thing you must do to rid yourself of fear for the uncharted course is to stop worrying. Practice replacing negative thoughts with positive ones and soon it will become automatic.

Mentally prepare yourself by gathering knowledge about your new course of action, visualizing yourself in your new role in the future. You may still run into situations you’re unprepared for – and you may make some wrong decisions on the path – but, perseverance will get you through the dark and stormy times and guide you to safety.

Next, remove the negative elements from your life. It may be difficult, because some of the negative elements might be friends, family and others, but it’s a necessary action that must happen before you can get through the present storm in your life.

Set goals, take action on them and stay the course. You’ll soon realize your dreams and desires for the future.

Many people stay stuck in their comfort zone and live the same day over and over again because they are afraid to make any changes. Setting new goals that stretch you can be daunting but if you want to grow you need to make changes in your life situation.

Book a 15-minute “Get to know you call” with me to discuss removing limiting beliefs, setting goals and becoming more successful in your life.

To your success

Michael

Michael W

 

 

 

 

 

Image by Renan Brun from Pixabay

Making Peace with Your Inner Critic

critic

 

 

 

Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash

The way you talk to yourself can build you up or tear you down. When your inner dialogue is harsh, it’s usually because you’re repeating things you heard from your parents or other authority figures when you were growing up.

If the criticism goes too far, it can discourage you from trying and take the joy out of your life.

Break free from the voices in your head. Take a look at a variety of techniques that prove that there’s more than one way to make peace with your inner critic.

Making Friends with Your Inner Critic

Your inner critic will sound less scary if you remember that it wants to protect you from failure and other possible dangers.

Learn how to put it to work for you instead of against you:

  1. Increase awareness. You may be so used to your inner critic that you hardly think about what it’s saying. Start changing your relationship by trying to understand what it wants to tell you.
  2. Look back. What’s your first memory of your inner critic? Does it sound like a particular person from your past? There may be family issues or other matters that you need to heal before you can move on.
  3. Focus on growth. Maybe your inner voice says you’re bad at math because you failed a test in the third grade. In reality, you’re not stuck in your past. Adopt a growth mindset that enables you to become whatever you want as long as you’re willing to put in the work to get there.
  4. Aim higher. You may also find your inner critic easier to deal with if you keep a deeper purpose in mind. When you’re working for something bigger than yourself, you can accept your self-doubts without being overcome by them.
  5. Try meditation. Many adults find that meditation helps them to make their self-talk more comforting and motivating. Let go of judgements and connect with your inner goodness.

Silencing Your Inner Critic

On the other hand, there are times when you just need a break. If your self-talk is making you anxious and depressed, you can find relief.

  1. Seek distractions. Shift your attention elsewhere. Take a walk or read a book. Spend some time doing anything that you enjoy.
  2. Distance yourself. Turn down the volume by imagining that your inner critic is speaking to someone else instead of you. Take any statement and replace the personal pronouns with a funny name.
  3. Identify triggers. Give yourself advance warning. Figure out the situations where your inner critic is likely to appear. You may be sensitive about first dates or criticism from your boss.
  4. List your strengths. If you’re tired of hearing about your weaknesses, remember your strengths. Make a list of the things you’re good at from baking bread to writing code.
  5. Correct exaggerations. Your house won’t be condemned because you were too busy to vacuum for a few days. Keep things in perspective by ensuring that your self-talk is accurate.
  6. Use affirmations. Repeating positive affirmations can give you a boost when you’re feeling down. Browse online for ideas or invent your own wording.
  7. Remember your worth. Being tough on yourself erodes your self-esteem. Shore it back up by telling yourself that you deserve to be happy and successful.
  8. Build support. While you need to value yourself, it helps to have others in your corner too. Surround yourself with family and friends who make you feel positive about yourself and your opportunities.

Take control of your self-talk and your future. Treat yourself with compassion and keep striving to reach your full potential.

To your success

Michael

Michael W

 

 

 


If you are looking to read more on motivation, you can find check out these three books:

keeping you rmotivation strongDeveloping and Keeping Your Self-Motivation Strong

harness the power of momentumHow to Harness the Power of Momentum for a More Successful Life

Keeping Your Motivation High to Get Things DoneKeeping Your Motivation High to Get Things Done

 

 

Create a Better Attitude

Have you ever been around someone who has a bad attitude? It seems no matter what you try to say or do, this person won’t be happy. They put everything and everyone down. You probably have tried to avoid this person as much as possible. If you have been told you have a bad attitude, people may be trying to avoid you. Use the following tips towards getting a better attitude.

  1. No Benefits to Being Negative
    It’s odd that people choose to welcome negativity in their lives. It could be because there are so many negative stories in the news that it removes all hope from people. But, when was the last time you used negativity to your favor or saw anyone else do it? Being negative doesn’t help any situation.

  2. Being Positive is Less Stressful
    When you are happy with your life, you tend to have less stress. Also, handling any stress you do have becomes much easier. You are likely to have a can do attitude which leads to solutions faster. When you get caught up in a negative mindset, you look for ways to shoot any ideas down. This takes a much longer time to solve problems (if ever) which can cause you to be stressed out.

  3. Be Grateful for What You Have
    Life is short, and people should recognize what they have and be grateful for it. If you have a decent job and a great family, be grateful for that. There is always room for improvement, but you also have to take a step back and realize things could be worse.

  4. Force a Smile
    Studies have shown that simply forcing a smile has the potential to change your mood and hence, your attitude. Your brain picks up on the change and takes the steps to turn your mood around.

  5. Don’t Block Others from Being Happy
    If you have the power to make other people’s lives miserable, why would you do this? If you insist on keeping up your bad attitude, why should other people suffer? That is completely your problem. Besides, when you make others happy you tend to become happier yourself. Haven’t you ever seen A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens?

  6. Consider Loving Yourself More
    People who have bad attitudes usually don’t have a high opinion of themselves. If you give yourself permission to love yourself, you will find amazing transformations will come your way. In fact, you can’t love others until you love yourself.

ACTIONABLE STEPS

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      Read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The story shows how going through life with a bad attitude leads you to loneliness. Scrooge had all the money he ever needed but was miserable most of his life. It’s only when he changed his attitude and gave away large sums of his money to make others happy did he become happy.        Start a hobby you’ve been putting off. When you get involved with a hobby, it can help you relax your mind and focus on something that makes you happy. Over time, this will help you take on a better attitude, and you will be more pleasant to be around. People will want to hang out with you.  Align yourself with a group of people who have a good attitude. This may take some time to find the right group of people, but keep searching. You can look for clubs and meet-ups online, or you can simply go to events in your local community. If you find a group that contains a lot of negative people, move on. An alternative would be to try and turn around the negative thinkers. You’ll only be able to do this if you adjust your attitude first.  

You may also find these books useful:

If you would like a PDF copy of this report you can request one here >> Create a Better Attitude

Be Accepting Of Yourself While Striving For Greatness

There is absolutely no way for you to be successful and reach your goals until you accept who you are. You have to like yourself and what you do before anyone else will. The world detects how you feel about yourself and often simply shares the opinion you have about who you are. Be yourself and free yourself in the process. You are an individual who is unique. Your talents and abilities, your intelligence and interests, your opinions and tastes, make you who you are. There is no need to hide a part of yourself or alter a part of yourself for the sake of conformity. True success is about freedom and all truly successful people are individualists who have, more or less, accepted and glorified who they are. You should do the same.

At the same time, being yourself does not mean glorying in mediocrity. You need to be the very best version of yourself possible. This means that you have to work at being you. You have to put the time into self-improvement. Acceptance is not an excuse for laziness, cowardice or fear. Life is a privilege. It is a gift. The gift and the privilege of life is that you get to be yourself, the best self you can possibly be. Use the gift, take advantage of the privilege that you’ve been given. Don’t squander the chance. Let your own unique light shine forth. This is the light that will illuminate the path to real success in life. It will also be the light that attracts other people to you. 

The Success Brain Course

As we are all trying to be more successful in our lives, both personal and business, we need to have a success mindset. It is hard to be successful when your own self-talk is against you and your mind is not aligned with your goals.

If you want to be more successful and live the life you deserve, then you need to have a Success Brain.

While this may sound easy, unless you know what you need to accomplish, you could end up wasting your time and energy.

This course “The Success Brain” can help you to understand those areas of your own mind that are holding you back while helping you to develop a truly success brain and mindset that will guide you in your life to really become more successful.