It is almost mid January and a time for a check in. Have you been committed to the things you promised yourself last New Year’s Eve? Here are some insights to keep you on track.
1. Commit to being Positive
Go beyond the common expression of “just be positive”, rather take a deeper commitment and be willing to see the “how this situation is helping me?”. The really good one I use is “How is this situation the best thing that ever happened”. Looking back at a hardship that you have overcome in the past, isn’t that the best thing that ever happened? Even though at that time it seemed unreasonable and unfortunate? Learn from the old Chinese proverb that said, it is northern a fortune nor a misfortune, it just is. Go to a neutral, non opinionated place then from there move up to the positive side. Being habitually positive, you will build resilience.
2. Seek the Challenge
Do you always play the game on easy mode? Well if you do you are missing out a lot. Getting used to being challenged increases your resilience. It creates new connections in your brain that creates new possibilities for you. A new skill, new creativity, new product, a version of you that you always dreamed of. Find that sweet spot of being challenged in the areas of your life you want to improve, fitness, family, social, financial or in the arts. Find flow, and as you do, you stack up resilience points that will bring you to the next level of your game.
3. Know your Moral Center
Companies and organizations have core principles and so do you. You need to manage and organize your self before participating in your external world. Identify what you are about, what is your mission? Macro and micro, from here you can easily design how you will show up to the world. In your silent meditation, asses who you are? A loving mother? A household owner? A ceo? A creator? A janitor? Wherever you are in your life right now is caused by your inner moral beliefs. Be the captain of your soul and chart your way to the life of your dreams. Staying true to your center also provides you with direction on where to go next.
”You don’t need to see the whole ladder, all you gotta do is take the next steps”
“ You can’t go wrong by doing the right thing,”
“Find your why, and the how will appear”
4. Remember your Lessons
Lessons are repeated until learned fully. Make time to be thankful for past mistakes and put them to use. Do not waste a good mistake, they are blessings and guide to your gradual becoming. Keep an open mind and be always ready to learn. Always remind yourself to be more bewildered than clever. The things you do not know yet holds the key to the world of your dreams. So be a diligent student and learn from past mistakes.
5. Be Flexible
You are not the person you were yesterday. Deepak Chopra said life is more of a verb. You are constantly changing at a cellular level with every food you eat, thought you think and feelings you feel. Nothing is solid, all is made of tiny balls bouncing off of each other. Nothing of your problems are solid. So be flexible with tools and skills to apply in overcoming a challenge. Be flexible in seeing ways to approach a certain problem. A good trick is to reframe a situation as “how is this problem the best thing that ever happened?”. Being physically flexible can help a lot too.
6. Nurture your self
Putting yourself first positions you in a place of centeredness, groundedness and stability. Enough sleep, healthy diet and exercise sets you up to be able to handle challenges and with your brain in tip top shape, you will be calm and be seeing things from the bird’s eye view, carefully planning and deploying your moves.
7. Keep moving
Be persistent and consistent with developing problem solving skills. Keep moving physically, mentally, stacking up your strengths and course correcting along the way.
Hope these things gave you a boost of confidence knowing that you can be resilient. Have a growth mindset and an attitude of gratitude. Here’s a good one; Switch your “I got to” to “I get to”, this immediately switches your perception of a situation.
Some things to share
Deep breaths! Stay centered! You are always bigger and above this kerfuffle.. Namaste…