"Just taking it easy"

Recently a childhood friend I had not heard from in 40 years contacted me on Messenger.  “How are you doing?” he asked.  “Really great!” I replied.  “How are you doing? I asked.  

He replied, “Just taking it easy for the next 8 years until I retire”.

People have different outcomes because they approach life differently – maybe very differently.  It’s a choice we are free to make – and we live with the consequences.

Bottoms up!

Get up off the couch and move that body!

Get your internal chemistry lab going to make you healthier and feel better!

Suffering is optional

Suffering happens between the ears.

The rest is just what happened.

How are you processing what happened?

The "i" in illness

The I in illness is isolation.

Don’t isolate yourself.  Stay connected with other people. 

Your health and happiness depend on it.

You can't be happy sitting on the couch

If you can not risk, you can not grow.

If you can not grow, you can not be your best.

If you can not be your best, you can not be happy.

If you can not be happy, what else matters?

Self-development enables dreams

Every day, if you don’t work on you, your skills and knowledge, your attitude and your ability to be of value to others, then you will have to reduce your goals and shrink your dreams.

It’s habits.  It’s a lifestyle. It’s a choice.

Your money beliefs

What we believe will drive out attitudes, behaviors and outcomes for the rest of our lives.  The good news is we can question and change our beliefs.  Ask yourself –

What is your most powerful memory relating to money?

What is your biggest fear about money?

What were you taught about the importantce of money?

When have you been most positively or negatively moved by money?

What do these answers explain? 

Were these events and the decisions you made from them true or not true?

Worry is Unproductive

Worry is living the worst outcome in advance.

“Now that all your worry has proved such an unproductive business, why not find a better job?”- Hafez

Fail forward

“I tried it and it didn’t work.”

Ok, you are smarter now because you know that when you do that in that way, it doesn’t work.  

Now get on with it and try it again, smarter!  Or go a different direction based on what you know. 

There is no success without failure. 

Fail, and leverage what you learn. 

You stressed you out.

When there is too much stress and worry in your life, you can look outward for the solution, but it won’t help; at least not in a meaningful or lasting way.  For example if we blame others, we can absolve ourselves from responsibility, but now we are just angry at someone else.  We’ve replaced on kind of stress and anger for another. 

Instead, look inward.  What is happening didn’t match your expectations?  Why were those expectations flawed?  What is good about it?  What is it telling you?  How can you modify your approach so it works?  How did you cause this?  What am I avoiding that could make my problem go away?  Ask these and other questions.  

Look inward for the solution.  It’s not that difficult if we can get past our ego.  The stress is in us.  We created it, and we can make it go away.