Mantra to motivate

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1. Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.  Anything you truly want must be worth working on and fighting for.  Imagine the incredible progress you can make simply by doing what you’ve been telling yourself you should do.  Say it and believe it: “The most satisfying time to take the next step is now!”
2. “It’s time to do what’s right, not what’s easy.”  And remember, when the task is a big one, do just a little bit of it every day.  Even the tiniest daily ritual changes everything in the long run.  (Angel and I build tiny, life-changing rituals with our students in the “Goals and Growth” module of Getting Back to Happy.)
3. “It isn’t as bad as it feels right now.  It will all work out.  Relax and trust yourself.”  That is the truth.  Be present.  Put your full trust in yourself by following your intuition and doing your best.  Life will not forsake you.  Mindfulness and hard work combined rarely lead a person astray in the long run. 
4. “It’s not personal (it’s really not), even though it feels personal.”  Yet, it’s so hard not to internalize other people’s negative remarks as a reflection on your worth.  But they aren’t – the way other people behave is not about you.  Most people are so caught up in their own issues that the thought of being kind doesn’t even cross their minds.  They aren’t being purposely rude – they’re just self-centered sometimes.  And that’s OK.  It’s not evidence of some fundamental flaw on your part.  It doesn’t make you unworthy.  It just means that some people aren’t very good at looking beyond their own egocentric bubble.  But the fact that you are – that despite the darkness you feel, you have the ability to share your love and light with others – is an incredible strength.
5. You are in 100% control of YOU.  Your decisions in each and every moment determine the quality of life that you live.  Be positive, always.  When you can’t control what’s happening, challenge yourself to control the way you respond to what’s happening.  That’s where your power is!  Take a deep breath and remind yourself of the truth: “I choose my response, and that changes everything.”
6. You must make a firm decision that you’re going to let go and move forward.  It won’t always happen naturally or automatically.  Sometimes you will have to rise up and say, “I don’t care how hard this is.  I don’t care how disappointed I am.  I’m not going to let this get the best of me.  I’m moving on with my life.”

5 Terrible Habits That Hold You Back From Success

http://www.inc.com/lolly-daskal/5-habits-to-ditch-now-for-a-super-successful-future.html

If it's true that our habits determine our future, knowing our habits and where they take us is one of the most important things we can do to shape that future.

Good habits will help us build success, while our bad habits will draw us off the path. It's the simple law of cause and effect. If you keep up your bad habits, you're making it more and more unlikely that you're going to get what you want.

Here are some of the worst bad habits that leaders fall prey to. Ditch them today and watch your odds of success improve.

1. Failing to hold a vision. If you don't know where you're going, you will never arrive. Success means holding to a vision of what you want. Just saying "I have an idea" isn't going to make anything happen. You have to be specific and intentional about what you want. Without a vision to pull you into the future, you're likely to keep reverting to the past.

2. Unclear goals. A vision without a plan is just a wish. So many clients come to me with strong ideas and a clear vision, but the problem is they don't have a clue about how to achieve them. You have to define your goals if you're going to meet them. As the saying goes, a goal is a dream with an action plan.

3. Inaction. So you have a well-defined idea, a vision, and clear goals in place--but until you take action, you haven't really started. You must take action to succeed. It is that simple. Ditch the habit of procrastinating, of waiting for the perfect moment, of trying to plan for every contingency. If there's one thing successful people share, it's the ability to take the leap into action. They know the importance of organizing and planning, but they also know that action is what makes things happen.

4. Feeding the monkey mind. When your mind is overactive, it's hard to even put two thoughts together, let alone accomplish anything. When you feed distractions and overstimulation--the monkey mind--it will interfere with every plan and goal. If you find yourself leaping from one thought to another with little control, slow down your breathing. Spend some time in meditation, prayer, or focused thought. Force yourself to do one thing at a time, and learn to calm yourself with repetitive tasks that lead you toward your goal.

5. Satisfaction with the status quo. If you want to stay where you are and keep getting what you're getting, by all means allow yourself to be content and comfortable. But to succeed, you have to let yourself become uncomfortable with the status quo by taking a risk and doing something daring.

20 reminders for the new year

First posted by The Sunday Chapter /

A few things to keep in mind that became quite prevalent this past year…

1. Nothing is permanent. You will learn this again and again and again. Impermanence is forever and it makes life exciting. Embrace change and enjoy the journey.

2. Lazy days are just as important as productive days. Don’t be afraid to take a day for yourself every once in a while, because contrary to popular belief, “lazy days” are far from unproductive. Alone time is not only important to refuel, but also to reflect. 

3. With the right people by your side, you can survive anything. “Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see the greatness within you, even when you don’t see it yourself.”

4. Success is, and will always be, subjective. Success means achieving the goals and objectives according to YOUR plan.

5. Speak your opinion, but don’t force it upon others.

6. Life literally never goes as planned, so don’t waste your time fretting about the future. Life is never going to work out how you planned and the sooner you accept that, the sooner you will start greeting the unexpected with open arms. Let the unknown, the unplanned and the possibility of change excite you. Let the future take you to places you never knew.

7. Keep your mind open to different cultures. Learn from other people and leave your assumptions behind. Don’t assume that your way is the only way or that you know everything. 

8. If she mentions it more than once, it’s bothering her. 

9. When it feels scary to jump, that’s exactly when you jump. Otherwise you end up staying the same place your whole life, and there’s nothing more scary than that. 

10. Do not compromise who you are to impress someone else. Your trials, experiences and life altogether have sculpted you into the most lovely version of you possible. If a person doesn’t like the way you live, from your looks to your life choices, who cares? You were not put on this earth to impress them, or anyone for that matter.

11. Don’t let your losses keep you back from new gains.

12. Fall in love with someone who never lets you fall asleep thinking you’re unwanted. Someone who will never leave you behind and who will never take you for granted. Someone who will stand by you when you’re right and stand by you when you’re wrong.

13. Sometimes you miss the memories, not the person. People change, memories don’t.

14. The greatest prison that people live in is the fear of what other people think. Someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality. The only person you should try to be better than is the person you were yesterday. Caring too much about what people may say or think if you do something can keep you in the same old rut, unable to move forward and to live the life you truly want to live.

15. Pizza is always a good idea.

16. Don’t glamorize sadness. Sadness is not beautiful. Happiness is the most beautiful thing about a person.

17. Time is not a measure of quality; of infatuation, or of love. You can be in a relationship for two years and feel nothing; you can be in a relationship for 2 months and feel everything.

18. Sometimes all you need is some time in a beautiful place to clear your head. 

19. Always be a little kinder than necessary. Kindness is contagious. You don’t know what someone else is going through and it’s not hard to make someone’s day a little special.

20. It will all be okay at the end of the day. Life has a funny way of working out.

Related Posts

10 WAYS TO SPREAD OPTIMISM

There are so many little things that you can do to make someone’s day. And by doing that you can make that person feel a little less stressed, upset or simply get someone out of a bad mood. In turn it could mean that they would also spread a little bit of positivity to others. So, let’s get spreading that optimistic feeling!

1. Do a good deed – Doing a good deed that would make someone’s day can trigger domino affect. Get your good deed check list when you subscribe!
2. Share positive messages online – Whether it’s a video of cats, inspirational quotes or clips of people doing deeds for others, share it. It could make your followers think differently about the world.
3. Call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while – Surprise that friend or family you haven’t chatted to for a long time. And make sure you phone them, not just text (lazy bones!)
4. Smile at people – One thing I know people love is being given a smile. It’s something we don’t do nowadays but I think we should try a little more!
5. Share the love – Give positive comments on social media. Too often nowadays hate has over thrown comments of positivity.
6. Hug – Hugs make people feel loved, safe and wanted. I’m definitely a hugger!
7. Be optimistic yourself – It’s easy to tell others to be optimistic but having a positive attitude yourself helps too.
8. Play positive music – Uplifting songs naturally helps increase mood as well as productivity so why not put on some happy tunes when you’re next in the office!
9. Make someone a cuppa – Tea is balm of the soul. A warm, caffeinated drink made out of the blue gives a feeling of comfort and sharing.
10. Be there – Being there for someone in need of companionship is worth more than all the money in the world. Just listening to someone who feels alone or who needs to vent will increase their faith in others.

Gratitude everyday

Most people want to be happy. Happiness is a fundamental human desire, after all. Especially in the USA, we literally think of happiness as our third inalienable right—after life and liberty. Not only do we all want it, but we think that we should have it. But, if happiness is so important, why do we seem to be so miserable at being happy?

If you step back and look at this country, you get the sense that most people are either anxious, depressed or, at the very least, highly stressed out. The pace of this darkening attitude has only quickened over the decades to the point where we have now arrived at a worrisome place in our collective psyche. The fastest growing disease in America is depression. Along with India and France, America has the highest rate of depression in the world.

But why? We are the richest country the world has ever seen. We have more material comforts than could have even been imagined just one hundred years ago. Happiness seems to be the underlying drive for much of our ambition and material success. So, one might imagine we would take more care in cultivating true joy. One of the problems is that we don’t know how to cultivate happiness. We have been sold a bill of goods based on consumption, image and material success.

There are many ways to manifest a sense of well-being and happiness, but―above all else―gratitude and appreciation have been found to dramatically improve quality of life. The best part is that you can increase your happiness by dedicating just a few minutes of time, little effort and no money. In less than five minutes a day you can increase your happiness level by over 20 percent, if you do a couple of simple gratitude exercises in the morning and the evening. This has been studied and proven to work with a wide variety of demographics. All you need is a pen, paper and a commitment to including gratitude into your daily routine.

This practice of daily gratitude journaling helps to expand our concept of self. It creates connections between thought and emotion. We are allowing ourselves to be grateful for something beyond us. This is something everyone can do. Just a few words is all you’ll need. Keep it simple.

Make sure you have a nice pen and journal on your bedside table, so you are prepared.

Here is the practice for your gratitude journal:

Ask yourself these “Morning Questions” upon waking:

What am I grateful for?

What can I do to make today great?

What kind of person do I want to be today?

Ask yourself these “Evening Questions” before going to sleep:

What are three good things that happened today, or three wins?

What could I have done better today?

What is a goal for tomorrow?

What am I grateful for?

Like most things that work, the key is consistency. Do this for 21 days in a row and see your life slowly start to change for the better.

How to be positive

How to Be an Optimist: 5 Ways to Maintain a Positive Disposition

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Aris Moreno | CATEGORIES: featured, motivation, self improvement

image: http://i0.wp.com/ptb-uploads-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/how-to-be-happy-everyday.jpg?zoom=2&fit=740%2C400

How to Be an Optimist: 5 Ways to Maintain a Positive Disposition

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Aris Moreno | CATEGORIES: featured, motivation, self improvement

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” ~ Winston S. Churchill

When we hear the word optimism, the first thing that will probably come to your mind is the phrase “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” or “see the glass half-full rather than half empty”. But if we experience a lot of problems, becoming an optimist is easier said than done. Though it can be challenging to stay optimistic, we need to help ourselves to stay positive so that we can think more clearly and find ways to overcome our trials. But how do we exactly shift our perspective? Consider the following tips:

1. Re-program your mind.

“I can’t do this.”

“My problems seem unending.”

“It feels like no one loves me.”

And other negative statements that seems to fill your mind and heart each day.

Remember that your worst enemy is no one else but yourself. Each time you find yourself thinking negatively, try to counteract it by filling your mind with positive thoughts. If your problems started to fill your mind, just know that everything will be fine and that each challenge has a corresponding solution. Outweigh your negative thoughts with positive ones.

2. Use positive affirmations:

Even if you’re not aware of it, a lot of us are familiar with positive affirmations. Here are some that you can use each morning to make your day brighter and more positive:

“Life is giving me everything that’s necessary for my own good.”

“I’m facing this day with a healthy body and positive mind.”

“I see the blessings in the challenges I face.”

“I put more attention on things that are good for me.”

“I choose to be happy today.”

“I endure almost everything.”

It’s more advisable to write these affirmations on a piece of paper and post it near your bed, so that it is the last thing you see before you sleep at night and the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning. You can also create your own affirmations that match your needs. When you do so, remember these two things:

• You need to construct it in the present tense, not in the past or future. For example, if you need peace of mind, say “My mind is peaceful,” instead of saying “My mind will find peace and clarity eventually.”
• Focus on having a positive tone and avoid negative statements. Instead of saying, “I will not get sick,” say, “I have a healthy body and disposition.” Always remember that whatever you think, whether it’s positive or negative, is what you will attract in your life.

3. Expose yourself to things that can uplift your heart and mind.

It’s true that there are some events in your life that you can’t control and have no power to change. However, there are also things that you can manipulate like what you watch on TV and what you read on your Facebook News Feed. Avoid TV programs that don’t teach you any valuable lesson or that will only make you feel stressed or angry. Hide posts from friends who constantly hate and complain on Facebook if deleting them from your friends list is not an option. You need positive reinforcements to be successful at positive living. Do everything you can to give yourself that because only you can do so, not your family, friends, and other people you come across with.

4. Don’t escape from reality.

Becoming an optimist is not an escape route to your problems. This is just one of the ways to cope with challenges, help you think more clearly, and stay calm during situations that doesn’t work in your favor. Just because your optimistic doesn’t mean that the problem will be solved on its own. You need to be realistic at the same time. Yes, there are things that you can’t control, but you can control your attitude towards them.

5. Share your positivity with others.

This doesn’t mean that you should explicitly force others to be optimistic. What you should do is simply help others to see the bright side of things. Stay positive and let this attitude affect the people around you. Remember that you can influence others with what you do and not so much with you say.

Here are some of the simple ways to become less pessimistic and more optimistic. As you become more proficient at this, you will develop your own techniques and will also be able to help others improve the quality of their lives.

Read more at http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/optimist-5-ways-maintain-positive-disposition/#22UIghWieA6GHeHB.99