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I want you to take a minute to think about where you are in life. Is where you are the place you desire to be? Do you believe there is more to life than where you are or what you are currently doing? What actions can you take to change where you are?
I believe that everyone wants to live a fulfilling and meaningful life. I believe inside of every person is a vision and a purpose that wants to live through them. But, we allow the distractions and discouragements of our world hold us back from living our best life.
Time for a change
We allow contrary news and pessimistic views keep us from growing to our maximum capacity. We listen to our negative inner voice that influences us to put our vision on hold for a better day that never comes. We keep doing the same stagnant, boring and unfulfilling routine for years hoping somehow things will change, but they never do. We waste years of productive life stuck on a merry-go-round of sameness and lameness.
If you are like me, you know it is time to break through the clutter and live the life you were meant to live. In order for you to change the quality of your life, you must learn to grow. Living your vision will not come overnight. Success will not be handed to you on a silver platter. You must take action.
I am taking measures to change my life from the inside out. I have wasted enough time making excuses, talking about what I need to do and seeking others opinions. I am taking action steps right now to improve my life in all areas.
I am spending more time with my family to strengthen my marriage and positively impact my children. I have started eating better and exercising more to change my health and body. I am reading and studying more to build my mental capacity. I am launching my business ideas to fulfill my desire to operate my own business.
I am choosing today to move my life in a different direction. I am ready to grow. I am ready to live the life God designed me to live. I don’t plan on living the same way and doing the same things next year that I did this year. Will you still be doing the same thing, living the same way, working at the same boring job, looking at your age change but are not accomplishing what you desire, waiting for the right person or moment and still getting nowhere in life?
Or will you move in a different direction to realize your purpose, live your values, see your future and achieve your goals? You can choose the future you want to live in and it all starts right now. It is what you do right now that will determine your future. So are you ready to grow your life? Here are 12 insights to help create explosive growth in every area of your life.
12 Insights
- Avoid negative conversations. Do not allow people to make more withdrawals than deposits in your life. If you do, you will find yourself living in the negative. It does not take long for negative conversations from discouraged people to deplete your life’s progress. You do not have control over what others say, but you do have control over whether or not you allow them to speak in your life. You have the power to walk away and reject their poisonous words from infiltrating your heart and mind.
- Forgiveness frees you. Don’t live your life frustrated and angry about what others did or did not do. Forgive. Life is too short to live with unforgiveness. I know it can be difficult to forgive someone that done you wrong, but the consequences of not forgiving weigh your life down. You miss living at your best. You forfeit peace of mind. Free yourself by taking the initiative to forgive. Because you forgive, does not mean you have to trust or have a relationship with that person. Don’t waste another second, seek forgiveness and move forward.
- You are not a carbon copy. You were created to be unique. You were not designed to be a carbon copy of anyone. You may resemble your father or mother, but you are not them. You may have gifts and abilities similar to someone else, but you are still different. Don’t fall into the world’s trap that wants to make you like everyone else, find the courage to be yourself. Uniqueness is priceless. It’s God’s gift to you. Being YOU is worth the effort!
- Embrace change. Change is often difficult. It can disrupt your life. It can interfere with your routine. The hardest part about change is letting go of what you are used to and moving on with something different. No matter how much you want things to stay the same, they will not. Change is inevitable. Stop worrying, fretting and doubting, and believe that things will work out. Embrace the change, live expectantly and enjoy your life as you move forward.
- Don’t let the fear of failure win. Don’t let past failures hold you hostage. Don’t let thoughts of failure keep you from trying. One of the major problems that keep people from living their vision is the fear of failure. Every person experiences failure at some time. Realize that failure is not final and is a part of the success process. The key is to learn from your failures, get back up, dust yourself off and keep trying. You are not finished when you fail, only when you quit.
- Take action. To get where you desire to be is going to take effort. You must roll up your sleeves, put on your workbooks, strap on your hard hat and go to work. Talking about your desires won’t bring them to pass. Dreaming about your future won’t open doors to success. Reading books about others success won’t magically transfer to you. You must conclude that you are tired of where you are, choose to change your mindset, create a plan of action and consistently take action.
- Seize your moments. There are moments in life when you have to overcome fear and just exercise your faith. You have to come to the point when you say, “I am tired of living a life less than what is destined for me.” You have to say with confidence, “Though I don’t see how, where or when my vision will manifest itself, I am determined to pursue after it with tenacious faith.” When your moment comes, you can’t wait for other’s approval. You can’t wait to see who is going to go with you. You can’t wait for things in your life to be perfect. You must seize your moment at the time it comes because you may never get that opportunity again.
- Stop blaming others. Your life is your responsibility. Stop blaming others for where you are. You may have faced situations in life that were not your fault, but it is your responsibility to decide how you respond. It is your responsibility to decide whether you move forward or stay stuck, complaining about your situation. Blaming others will not empower you to move forward but will only hold you hostage from living your best.
- Break free from your comfort zone. The desire to remain in your comfort zone is natural and because of that instinctive need, we jump on the someday bandwagon and push our goals and dreams to the side until another day. Unfortunately, nothing ever happens. Tomorrow becomes next week, which soon leads to next year. Then next year leads to five years, then ten years. Until eventually, the life you desired to live becomes a distant memory. You can’t afford to fall into the trap of “someday” because it may never come.
- Improve daily. Every day you should do something that makes you better than you were yesterday. The only way to reach success in your life is to make a commitment to continually improve each day. Never think that you have arrived. You can always improve. You can always learn something new. You can always grow. You will find that what you get as you continue to improve daily is not as important as who you become along the way.
- Don’t make excuses. Many people cannot move forward in life because they bind themselves to a litany of excuses. They say things like, “I don’t have enough time,” “I am not smart or good enough,” “I don’t have the appropriate education or experience,” or “I don’t have enough money.” You don’t know what you can accomplish until you do it. It doesn’t matter if it hasn’t been done before. Do it anyway. If no one will go with you, go alone. If you don’t get encouragement from family or friends, encourage yourself. When you decide to stop making excuses and move forward, you will begin to achieve things in your life you never imagined possible.
- Bury your past. Invite everyone that knows about your past and preach the eulogy. Dig the grave and bury it. You can’t live forward while dragging your past with you. It will not work. It is like trying to drive to a destination while looking in the rearview mirror. You will never make it! It is time to leave the past in the rearview mirror and focus forward.
“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” Benjamin Franklin
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