10 Life Reminders

1.  Our life here on Earth is relatively short.

Life is too short to spend it resentful. Do not allow someone who has hurt you in the past have that much power over you. Let it go and focus on the things that you appreciate in life. Open your eyes to the magic that surrounds you and soak it all in. One day you will wonder why you wasted so much precious time worrying about things that really didn’t matter. Let go of anger, let go of resentment, and be mindful of the moment.

 

2.  Life rewards action.

Sitting on the sidelines is not the same as getting in the game. Saying that you are going to do something is much different than actually doing it. Rather than watching life on a screen, get out there and live it. Exercise, volunteer, accomplish a goal, go for a walk… Use all of your senses to really experience life. Sometimes we get so busy that focusing on our breath is the action we need to take. Life rewards action, but the action must be balanced. In order to build positive momentum in your life, you must fight procrastination with action.

 

3.  If you always do what you have always done, you always get what you have always gotten.

If what you are doing is really working for you, I don’t know why you would want to change it. But if you are not getting the results you want, something needs to change. You need to try something different. View every failure like a GPS. It doesn’t tell you to quit, it simply tells you to reroute.

 

4. If you criticize yourself for not being perfect, you will never be happy.

After all, no human is perfect. Aim for progress and excellence, not perfection. It is important to try your best, but if you beat yourself up for not being perfect, you will eventually find it hard to get back up. Strive for excellence and praise your progress. Learn from your failure and always persevere.

5. You can’t please everyone.

If you insist on pleasing everyone, you will never please yourself. Running around trying to please everyone will eventually make you sick both physically and emotionally. If you spend all of your time trying to please others, you will eventually run out of gas and have nothing left to give. Be kind to everyone, but at the same time be true to yourself. Treating yourself with compassion will better able you to love others. Finally, remember that you cannot please everyone no matter how hard you try. Some people just can’t be pleased, and it has nothing to do with you. Don’t spend your life trying.

 

6.  You don’t have to wait for an apology to let it go.

You can spend your whole life waiting for an apology that you may never get. Let go for you. Don’t allow someone else to poison your life. How you react really is up to you.

 

7.  Some people just aren’t right for you.

Rather than trying to force or insist that someone like you, accept that it is not a good fit for you. When the connection is right, it is not forced. You should not have to convince someone to be with you. When it is right, they will want to be with you. A good match is not a good match unless it is mutual. A good match that isn’t mutual is a fantasy.

8.  You must feel to heal.

Resorting to addictions and other self-sabotaging behaviors to numb out emotions causes long-term misery. Allow yourself to feel your pain and remind yourself that it will eventually pass.

9.  Your possessions and your power position do not define you.

Your values, your character, and who you are as a person define you. You are not defined by the car you drive or your position with the company. You are unique. There is only one you. Remember that the president of the company may have more money than the homeless guy standing outside of the building, but one does not have more worth than the other.

10.  Comparing yourself to others is not a true comparison.

We all have different strengths and limitations. If you compare your limitations to another person’s strengths, it is not a true comparison. Too often, we compare what we know about ourselves on the inside (our fears and insecurities) with what we know about the other person on the outside. When we do this, our comparison reflects our perception alone and is not based in reality.

Now I would love to hear from you. What are some other things we so often forget as we journey through life?

My new book, The Snowball Effect: How to Build Positive Momentum in Your Life, is now available on amazon.com   and barnesandnoble.com   It is available in both soft cover and kindle edition.