30 Things to Start...
"1. Start spending time with the right people. – These are the people
you enjoy, who love and appreciate you, and who encourage you to improve
in healthy and exciting ways. They are the ones who make you feel more
alive, and not only embrace who you are now, but also embrace and embody
who you want to be, unconditionally.
2. Start facing your problems head on. – It isn’t your
problems that define you, but how you react to them and recover from
them. Problems will not disappear unless you take action. Do what you
can, when you can, and acknowledge what you’ve done. It’s all about
taking baby steps in the right direction, inch by inch. These inches
count, they add up to yards and miles in the long run.
3. Start
being honest with yourself about everything. – Be honest about what’s
right, as well as what needs to be changed. Be honest about what you
want to achieve and who you want to become. Be honest with every aspect
of your life, always. Because you are the one person you can forever
count on. Search your soul, for the truth, so that you truly know who
you are. Once you do, you’ll have a better understanding of where you
are now and how you got here, and you’ll be better equipped to identify
where you want to go and how to get there. Read ‘The Road Less Traveled’
4. Start making your own happiness a priority. – Your needs matter. If
you don’t value yourself, look out for yourself, and stick up for
yourself, you’re sabotaging yourself. Remember, it IS possible to take
care of your own needs while simultaneously caring for those around you.
And once your needs are met, you will likely be far more capable of
helping those who need you most.
5. Start being yourself,
genuinely and proudly. – Trying to be anyone else is a waste of the
person you are. Be yourself. Embrace that individual inside you that has
ideas, strengths and beauty like no one else. Be the person you know
yourself to be – the best version of you – on your terms. Above all, be
true to YOU, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out
of it.
6. Start noticing and living in the present. – Right now
is a miracle. Right now is the only moment guaranteed to you. Right now
is life. So stop thinking about how great things will be in the future.
Stop dwelling on what did or didn’t happen in the past. Learn to be in
the ‘here and now’ and experience life as it’s happening. Appreciate the
world for the beauty that it holds, right now.
7. Start
valuing the lessons your mistakes teach you. – Mistakes are okay;
they’re the stepping stones of progress. If you’re not failing from time
to time, you’re not trying hard enough and you’re not learning. Take
risks, stumble, fall, and then get up and try again. Appreciate that you
are pushing yourself, learning, growing and improving. Significant
achievements are almost invariably realized at the end of a long road of
failures. One of the ‘mistakes’ you fear might just be the link to your
greatest achievement yet.
8. Start being more polite to
yourself. – If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way that
you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow that person to
be your friend? The way you treat yourself sets the standard for
others. You must love who you are or no one else will.
9. Start
enjoying the things you already have. – The problem with many of us is
that we think we’ll be happy when we reach a certain level in life – a
level we see others operating at – your boss with her corner office,
that friend of a friend who owns a mansion on the beach, etc.
Unfortunately, it takes awhile before you get there, and when you get
there you’ll likely have a new destination in mind. You’ll end up
spending your whole life working toward something new without ever
stopping to enjoy the things you have now. So take a quiet moment every
morning when you first awake to appreciate where you are and what you
already have.
10. Start creating your own happiness. – If you
are waiting for someone else to make you happy, you’re missing out.
Smile because you can. Choose happiness. Be the change you want to see
in the world. Be happy with who you are now, and let your positivity
inspire your journey into tomorrow. Happiness is often found when and
where you decide to seek it. If you look for happiness within the
opportunities you have, you will eventually find it. But if you
constantly look for something else, unfortunately, you’ll find that too.
Read ‘Stumbling on Happiness’
11. Start giving your ideas and
dreams a chance. – In life, it’s rarely about getting a chance; it’s
about taking a chance. You’ll never be 100% sure it will work, but you
can always be 100% sure doing nothing won’t work. Most of the time you
just have to go for it! And no matter how it turns out, it always ends
up just the way it should be. Either you succeed or you learn something.
Win-Win.
12. Start believing that you’re ready for the next
step. – You are ready! Think about it. You have everything you need
right now to take the next small, realistic step forward. So embrace the
opportunities that come your way, and accept the challenges – they’re
gifts that will help you to grow.
13. Start entering new
relationships for the right reasons. – Enter new relationships with
dependable, honest people who reflect the person you are and the person
you want to be. Choose friends you are proud to know, people you admire,
who show you love and respect – people who reciprocate your kindness
and commitment. And pay attention to what people do, because a person’s
actions are much more important than their words or how others represent
them.
14. Start giving new people you meet a chance. – It
sounds harsh, but you cannot keep every friend you’ve ever made. People
and priorities change. As some relationships fade others will grow.
Appreciate the possibility of new relationships as you naturally let go
of old ones that no longer work. Trust your judgment. Embrace new
relationships, knowing that you are entering into unfamiliar territory.
Be ready to learn, be ready for a challenge, and be ready to meet
someone that might just change your life forever.
15. Start
competing against an earlier version of yourself. – Be inspired by
others, appreciate others, learn from others, but know that competing
against them is a waste of time. You are in competition with one person
and one person only – yourself. You are competing to be the best you can
be. Aim to break your own personal records.
16. Start cheering
for other people’s victories. – Start noticing what you like about
others and tell them. Having an appreciation for how amazing the people
around you are leads to good places – productive, fulfilling, peaceful
places. So be happy for those who are making progress. Cheer for their
victories. Be thankful for their blessings, openly. What goes around
comes around, and sooner or later the people you’re cheering for will
start cheering for you.
17. Start looking for the silver lining
in tough situations. – When things are hard, and you feel down, take a
few deep breaths and look for the silver lining – the small glimmers of
hope. Remind yourself that you can and will grow stronger from these
hard times. And remain conscious of your blessings and victories – all
the things in your life that are right. Focus on what you have, not on
what you haven’t.
18. Start forgiving yourself and others. –
We’ve all been hurt by our own decisions and by others. And while the
pain of these experiences is normal, sometimes it lingers for too long.
We relive the pain over and over and have a hard time letting go.
Forgiveness is the remedy. It doesn’t mean you’re erasing the past, or
forgetting what happened. It means you’re letting go of the resentment
and pain, and instead choosing to learn from the incident and move on
with your life.
19. Start helping those around you. – Care
about people. Guide them if you know a better way. The more you help
others, the more they will want to help you. Love and kindness begets
love and kindness. And so on and so forth.
20. Start listening
to your own inner voice. – If it helps, discuss your ideas with those
closest to you, but give yourself enough room to follow your own
intuition. Be true to yourself. Say what you need to say. Do what you
know in your heart is right.
21. Start being attentive to your
stress level and take short breaks. – Slow down. Breathe. Give yourself
permission to pause, regroup and move forward with clarity and purpose.
When you’re at your busiest, a brief recess can rejuvenate your mind and
increase your productivity. These short breaks will help you regain
your sanity and reflect on your recent actions so you can be sure
they’re in line with your goals.
22. Start noticing the beauty
of small moments. – Instead of waiting for the big things to happen –
marriage, kids, big promotion, winning the lottery – find happiness in
the small things that happen every day. Little things like having a
quiet cup of coffee in the early morning, or the delicious taste and
smell of a homemade meal, or the pleasure of sharing something you enjoy
with someone else, or holding hands with your partner. Noticing these
small pleasures on a daily basis makes a big difference in the quality
of your life.
23. Start accepting things when they are less
than perfect. – Remember, ‘perfect’ is the enemy of ‘good.’ One of the
biggest challenges for people who want to improve themselves and improve
the world is learning to accept things as they are. Sometimes it’s
better to accept and appreciate the world as it is, and people as they
are, rather than to trying to make everything and everyone conform to an
impossible ideal. No, you shouldn’t accept a life of mediocrity, but
learn to love and value things when they are less than perfect.
24. Start working toward your goals every single day. – Remember, the
journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Whatever it is you
dream about, start taking small, logical steps every day to make it
happen. Get out there and DO something! The harder you work the luckier
you will become. While many of us decide at some point during the course
of our lives that we want to answer our calling, only an astute few of
us actually work on it. By ‘working on it,’ I mean consistently devoting
oneself to the end result. Read ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
People’
25. Start being more open about how you feel. – If
you’re hurting, give yourself the necessary space and time to hurt, but
be open about it. Talk to those closest to you. Tell them the truth
about how you feel. Let them listen. The simple act of getting things
off your chest and into the open is your first step toward feeling good
again.
26. Start taking full accountability for your own life. –
Own your choices and mistakes, and be willing to take the necessary
steps to improve upon them. Either you take accountability for your life
or someone else will. And when they do, you’ll become a slave to their
ideas and dreams instead of a pioneer of your own. You are the only one
who can directly control the outcome of your life. And no, it won’t
always be easy. Every person has a stack of obstacles in front of them.
But you must take accountability for your situation and overcome these
obstacles. Choosing not to is choosing a lifetime of mere existence.
27. Start actively nurturing your most important relationships. – Bring
real, honest joy into your life and the lives of those you love by
simply telling them how much they mean to you on a regular basis. You
can’t be everything to everyone, but you can be everything to a few
people. Decide who these people are in your life and treat them like
royalty. Remember, you don’t need a certain number of friends, just a
number of friends you can be certain of.
28. Start
concentrating on the things you can control. – You can’t change
everything, but you can always change something. Wasting your time,
talent and emotional energy on things that are beyond your control is a
recipe for frustration, misery and stagnation. Invest your energy in the
things you can control, and act on them now.
29. Start
focusing on the possibility of positive outcomes. – The mind must
believe it CAN do something before it is capable of actually doing it.
The way to overcome negative thoughts and destructive emotions is to
develop opposing, positive emotions that are stronger and more powerful.
Listen to your self-talk and replace negative thoughts with positive
ones. Regardless of how a situation seems, focus on what you DO WANT to
happen, and then take the next positive step forward. No, you can’t
control everything that happens to you, but you can control how you
react to things. Everyone’s life has positive and negative aspects –
whether or not you’re happy and successful in the long run depends
greatly on which aspects you focus on. Read ‘The How of Happiness’
30. Start noticing how wealthy you are right now. – Henry David Thoreau
once said, “Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” Even when
times are tough, it’s always important to keep things in perspective.
You didn’t go to sleep hungry last night. You didn’t go to sleep
outside. You had a choice of what clothes to wear this morning. You
hardly broke a sweat today. You didn’t spend a minute in fear. You have
access to clean drinking water. You have access to medical care. You
have access to the Internet. You can read. Some might say you are
incredibly wealthy, so remember to be grateful for all the things you do
have."
Jenni Epperson
www.jenniepperson.com
My Beautiful Words on Facebook.
Encouraging Courage. Together.
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