Hi guys! Welcome to the 94th episode of the Wildly Successful Lifestyle Podcast! Thanks for hanging with me! I’m grateful to each and every one of you that listens. Not only because it makes me happy that you listen but also because it means you want more out of life, you aren’t just going through the motions…..hoping for the best to just happen. You are out here making it happen and growing! We know we are worthy of living a WILDLY successful Lifestyle (whatever that means to you) and I love that about us.
This past week…
On Christmas Eve my family and I were at a service and it looked so different because it’s 2020 and you automatically know what that means, I think there were maybe 10% of the people there that are normally there, everyone is wearing masks, instead of real candles they give us a battery operated little tea light. At one point when they asked us to turn our little battery operated tea light on, my heart had a pang in it and I felt a little sad as my thoughts went to how it was the previous year when the crowd was huge, every seat taken, the real candles were flickering, no-one was wearing a mask.the show was spectacular with the choir and the full orchestra……I could go on and on but I don’t want to depress you as much as I was depressing myself, but you know what? I caught myself. Because of all the thought work and the mindset work I’ve been doing, I caught myself and I said wait…..what are you doing? You are healthy, all of your family is healthy, you are here with family and friends and everyone is doing the best they can to share love and joy. My Thoughts of the past were trying to ruin my present moment, but I wasn’t having it! Honestly I didn’t dwell one more minute on it after I caught myself because making the most of the present moment is one of the keys to happiness. One of the other keys is having a compelling future, one that you are stoked about.
I love this quote by Chinese philosopher Loa Tzu: He said:
“If you’re depressed, you’re living in the past.
If you’re anxious, you’re living in the future, and if you are at peace, you’re living in the present.”
How often do we waste being present because we are thinking about something that happened in the past or we are worried about something that may happen in the future? This has been especially hard this year. We are all having to learn to pivot, to adjust, and to adapt. We all have had things canceled, we’ve all had to adjust to things we may not like, and we have had to adapt in order to feel a little bit of normalcy. But through all that… There are things that can’t be taken away from us. I get to choose how to look at something and no one can take that away from me. I get to choose to find the positive in even the most challenging times. And if you hear that and think…”year, right” well then what alternative are you leaving for yourself? Just give in to the hopelessness you feel in a situation? What good is that doing for you? We have to have our own backs oK? Your perception of things is everything. We all experience tough times that can be devastating, and often we have no control of circumstances like that….But we ALWAYS have control of how we choose to show up. How we choose to react. How we choose to think about something.
So much of my greatest growth has come from enduring a tragedy or having to work through a really tough time or through a stressful time. Muscles get stronger when we go to the gym and push ourselves with resistance and stress. The same thing goes for our mind. Comfort and complacency do not make us stronger, they will cause stagnation and in some cases paralysis because you are so attached to the comfort. Think about jobs you’ve grown out of, relationships you’ve grown out of. Changing it is scary because you’re comfortable. How do you know if you’ve stagnated? If you wake up every day just working for the weekend, your biggest goal is to get through the day. If the most fun you can think of includes numbing your current feelings, if you can’t wait to see what that girl in Canada is posting on social media because her life is so much better than yours seemingly. Ouch….I don’t say that to be mean. I’ve been guilty of these things too and am always working to create a life that lights me up. It is never too late to create a life we are excited about. I was just listening to a podcast this last week and there was a 70 year old retired school teacher who started a life coaching career at 67! She made over $150,000 last year, the most she’s ever made in one year she did it on her own at 70. I loved that story so much because it shows it’s never too late to make the life you want. So what do you want? Do you know? Well guess what, you don’t have to know, and you don’t have to know how, you just have to know that you will, that you are destined for more and then take action every day with that in mind. What you focus on matters so much. Everything begins moving in the effort of your attention.
My husband is a pilot and he also is a flight instructor so he often works in a flight simulator. One day I got to go in the simulator and he let me fly, it was so cool. I loved it…..We simulated flying in cities I love, when we got to Paris, France I kept looking for the Eiffel Tower….at one point he had to take the controls because I was looking so hard at the Eiffel Tower we almost flew into it!!! Why am I telling you this? It’s because the things you give your attention to, the things you focus on are where you’re gonna to go. So what are you giving your attention to? Is it Netflix on the couch every night or are you working on that book you’ve wanted to write? Are you so enthralled with watching everyone else live out their life that you forget to make the most of yours?
My challenge to you this week. Take an inventory. Are the decisions you make every day adding to your comfort or are they adding to your talent stack? Are you reading books that expand your mind or are you starting the latest Netflix series? Are you taking courses that exercise your brain or are you checking into social media for the 50th time? Are you doing something every day to make a life that excites you? Remember if you’re feeling depressed..you are focusing on the past and if you’re feeling anxious, you’re focusing on the future. Finally, Everything begins moving in the effort of your attention. So find something that excites you, find something that lights you up, and if you already know what that is, don’t give up, move towards that dream like your life depends on it, You don’t have to be the smartest and you don’t have to be the best but you can always be the one that doesn’t give up. I love you guys and I’ll talk to you in a few days!
