1. Keep Perspective… People Are Struggling Just Like You
Don’t lose your connection with humanity’s struggles. We make all these assumptions about people – “well, they’re just so stupid or there’s something wrong with them” – and we never know their real story. The person frustrating you might be dealing with difficulties and chaos you are unaware of.
2. Ask, “Have I Been Truly Clear with People about What I Think, Want, and Need?”
Most folks who you’re frustrated with…they often don’t know you. And whose fault is that? Is their fault? Are they just supposed to know everything going on in your life? We have to be accountable and ask ourselves, “Have I been truly and consistently clear about what I want and need from this person?”
How do you add value? How do you add more value so you can get paid more and have more influence?
To go to the next level you have to learn to think and behave differently. In order to do that, we have to put in a new foundation of how you’re going to add value.
Think about this very simple thing: What is it you’re trying to do right now where you’re trying to succeed at another level in terms of your work world or your network? If you wanted to add more value how would you do it?
Here are three simple ideas that will really shift how much value you’re adding to anything you’re doing.
Fun is not something you “have,” it’s something you generate. More fun and enjoyment in life are results of greater presence and intention to create fun and joy in all you do.
Here’s how to have more fun:
1. Tell Yourself, “It Is My Intention to Be Present and Have Fun in This Moment.”
Most great fun in life comes from an immersion in the moment. In immersion joy arises. In immersion humor can perpetuate. In immersion in the moment and presence in the Now you have access to a greater level of energy and awareness all around you that you can transform into fun.
The number one way to honor someone is to carry their voice and values forward everyday through your behavior and explicitly through stories and advice and guidance of other people.
That’s the ultimate way to honor people, more than the fanfare of a fancy gift or if you have a great employee and giving them a raise, but to really celebrate somebody’s words and their noble character and what they have to share with other people, that is a magical way to make a difference, to perpetuate the goodness in humanity and to celebrate and honor someone who’s made a difference in your life.
Five simple things not only to get your day back but to get your life back amidst all the distraction that is ripping you from the magic of the moment from your relationships and frankly, from your ability to really achieve things that are significant. We have to get our day back.
How do we do that?
1. Don’t check email the first hour of your day. When you do check it, have an intention for how long and what must be accomplished. The inbox is nothing but a convenient organizing system of other people’s agendas. So, beware jumping into the sinkhole that is your inbox during the first hours of the day – it can only lead to a reactive life. Instead, stretch or workout, think, eat well, then sit down and plan your day as if your time were as valuable because it is.
Hope isn’t something that’s just some airy-fairy concept; it is a psychological need to believe that we can endure. A psychological need to believe that we can not only endure but that we can succeed and thrive and we can have our way in the world, so that we can accomplish our dreams, make influence and make our own difference. Have hope.
The power plant doesn’t “have” energy. It transforms and generates energy. At the same level, we don’t “have” hope. We transform the energy around us and generate hope. We don’t “have” happiness; we generate happiness. Similarly, we don’t “have” sadness or fatigue. We don’t “have” those feelings that so many people think are negative that just land on them. We are, in our own actions, our own thoughts and interpretations—the very thoughts that we’re feeding our psyche—those very things are generating an emotion. And hope is something that is generated by us.
What would be your perfect day, your ideal day, a day that you went to bed that night and you thought that was the most incredible day? That’s how I want most of the days of my life to be, just like that.
What would that perfect day be like for you?
To design your ideal day, consider these questions:
What would you want to CREATE?
What would you like to CONTRIBUTE?
Who would you want to CONNECT with and spend time with?
What CHARACTER would you like to show to the world?
