Strive for greatness (Lebron), Man in the arena (Theodore Roosevelt), Everything can be taken but one thing - to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstance (Viktor Frankl). I could go on and on with inspirational sources. In 2022, I turned to the daily calendar You are a Badass by Jen Sincero to find more. Before turning the page, I needed to complete various combinations of pushups / sit-ups (Yes, I know, I'm continuously challenging myself. It's hard for me to turn it off!) As the days went by, I collected pages that spoke to me. Twenty-seven in all made the cut.
Below are my top five. Sharing as maybe you find one helpful in bringing more happiness, peace, calm, confidence, joy, or love into your daily routine. I find them meaningful when looking for guidance in my live, my relationships, leading my team, engaging with strangers, at times of struggle. Every day is another opportunity to be a better version of yourself (Dynamic Catholic). Go get after it!
5: Surround yourself with people whose energy lights you up and it will empower you.
Positive energy flows from positive people, as does negative energy from negative people. Pay attention to engagements that leave you pumped and those that drain you. Was the engagement full of encouragement or complaining? You will soon find patterns of who brings what type of energy. Be the positive energy to those you encounter.
4: When you remember that you’re right on a ball in infinite space with a humongous star of molten fire exploding over your head and that simply being alive is a near-death experience, the concept of playing it safe suddenly seems as ridiculous as it is.
Our time in this life is a blink. No matter what you do or don’t do, the end is right around the corner. Living in the fear of what others think, rehashing worries to go thru the misery again and again - your limited time in life is worth far more than that. Don’t fill your life with “what ifs,” fill it with F-yas!
3: The walls of your comfort zone are lovingly decorated with your lifelong collection of favorite excuses.
Successful people (and please stop defining success solely by income), those that find their center, passions, purpose, happiness, calm, are the ones willing to try, fail and try again. The journey never ends. There’s a saying when racing… “Embrace the suck.” It means you are right where you should be – pushing the limit. Testing life and living vigorously (Aristides Salazar).
2: You have to get out of your own way.
Listen to your daily internal and external talk track. Is it filled with I can’t, I’ll never, I couldn’t, I’m not, and so on? Stop putting these self-imposed limitations on yourself. Lighten up. Give yourself a break. You can and will do way more then you ever thought possible simply by allowing yourself to try. Then try again.
1: Love Yourself: And you will have it all.
The simple, abbreviated, ADHD version… love yourself. Be happy with you, wherever you are on your journey and forget about the haters. In times of pain, you are your first level support. Have your own back. Commit to yourself. Daily. Through the mistakes and bad days, months, years. At the end of it, it all makes you, you. Love yourself and you can love others.
Go crush it in 2023!