3Day Quote Challenge

Hello to all my readers!

I’ve been given a great honor! I’ve been nominated to participate in a 3 Day Quote Challenge. I was nominated by Misty Harvey at her blog Misty Harvey. For the next three days,  I will share with you quotes that have personal meaning to me.

I find these to be a lot of fun! Hope you do as well! Here goes. . .

This became all too real to me this past year.  Isn’t it amazing how we take things for granted? I’ll do that this weekend.  I’ll tackle that tomorrow.  I’ll get to that someday.

I still waste time but not nearly as much as I used to.

Make the most of every day because none of us are guaranteed tomorrow.

Do you have a favorite quote? Share it in the comments below.

Write on my friends, write on!

Adjust Your Attitude, Achieve More!

Quotidiandose does not own the rights to this image. All rights reserved to the artist.

Everyone wants to be happier, right?  A better tomorrow can begin with a simple change.

Our attitude determines our altitude.

The perspective we view the world from has a huge  effect on our overall level of happiness.  It can affect our success as well.

 The thing is,  over time our attitudes become habits.  Habits become a lifestyle.  Before you know it you’re stuck in a rut and all a rut is, is a grave with the ends cut out.  The biggest question I suppose is determining for ourselves  if the effort to change is worth our time or not.
Personally, I think it’s well worth the time  to invest in ourselves because we have to live with ourselves  till we die.  Here are  few techniques to change our attitude and outlook and  bring greater happiness and success in  the future:

     1. Gratitude –  Start each day with a short list of three (3) things that you’re thankful for.  You can do this before you ever get out of bed or in the shower  or while driving to work. This simple mental exercise will  tweak your focus to the good things that you already have.

     2. Believe in yourself – Come on,  have a little faith in yourself.  Remind yourself of previous accomplishments.  I’d be willing to bet that you’ve already done things that are more difficult than just about anything  you may still face.

Consider the following:

• Learning to walk – How many times does a baby fall down before they finally stand up unassisted and  wobble their way to walking?  Even gawky teens don’t walk as well as a grown man.  We learn through practice.
• How many times are you willing to fall down?  As adults we tend to lose our willingness to fall after meeting with a few failures. John Maxwell calls it failing forward.  Nobody likes to fail,  but  sometimes we stumble, scrape our knees.  The key is to get back up,  brush ourselves off and get back in there.  When you believe in yourself and expect success, you’re more likely to succeed.  Don’t look  at the falls as failures, instead view them as stepping-stones that you’ve learned what NOT to do.

3.  Be patient   We live in an instant gratification world. Everything is  microwave, instant, fast food, convenience.  LIFE doesn’t work that way.  Some things are like a crock pot – it takes time for things to blend,  simmer, get to know each other and work together, playing off the different flavors. Now seriously,  doesn’t a rich beef stew sound better than  a microwave burrito?

Some of the greatest things in life take time  to come to full fruition.

Enjoy the process! Life is a journey not a destination. Enjoy the scenery along the way.  Go ahead and rubberneck  at the accidents along the way.  Change the flat tire then get back on the road.  Get out, stretch your legs once in a while.  Each day brings you one step closer.  You can create the life you desire but if you are impatient and look only at the destination frustration will push your goals farther away.

      4. Love life, not stuff.   As most Americans,  I suffer from stuffitis.  We have way too much stuff.  I’ve been spending a great deal of time  ridding my home of stuff.  Goodwill, eBay, the swapshop – anywhere I can unload things including the trash bin.  Do you feel like “stuff” will make you happy?  It’s a lie! It’s a never-ending, bottomless pit of  acquisition, unsatisfaction, new acquisition, more dissatisfaction.  There may be some temporary fleeting happiness but it will never last.

The quality of your life itself is what will bring you happiness,  not the quality or quantity of your stuff.

Ellie,  I know stuff won’t bring me lasting happiness but how do I break the cycle?  How do I change my mindset? 

I’m glad you asked!  Here are just a couple of things you can do.

Spend time doing what you love.  It may not be everyday,  and sometimes it is difficult to fit in our schedule but if you don’t make time for yourself who will?

Work on building meaningful relationships that are uplifting.  Avoid the vampires, drop the negative relations.  Invest in yourself by building relationships that matter.

What matters to you?  What things excite you?  Take actions to creat a life filled with those things.  Don’t be just a spectator,  get yourself in the game!

 5. Being smart is sufficient. Most of the time we need to work smarter not harder. By approaching  challenges in this manner  we can save ourselves a lot of time and grief.  I was  taught by my dad that everything worthwhile requires a lot of hard work. It’s not always true.  In fact,  when you do the things you love it comes easy.  It flows in natural rhythms,  and gives great satisfaction.

Take some time,  sit down and reflect on your situation.  Ponder what needs to happen,  there is often a simple solution for life’s challenges.  You might just be surprised at how clever you are  if you make an effort to find the simple, satisfactory solution.   You’re welcome!

    6.  Seize Opportunities!   Not only seize them, but seize them with confidence. Renewed optimism will turn self-doubt around! A belief in yourself and your abilities will give you the confidence to  conquer your fears, overcome obstacles and launch you to action. Fear cripples, immobilizes you and keeps you from stepping out into action.  The worst regrets are often those of omission rather than commission. Take risks  – be brave – step out!  OK,  if you aren’t ready for that then take a baby step and at least stand up for yourself!

 7.  Failure is NOT an option.  Put another way,  there is no such thing as failure.  EAch time your plans fall short, ask yourself why, where things went wrong, learn from them and continue moving forward.  Use this knowledge to propel yourself forward.

Never, never, never give up! 

 Stop the negative thoughts! 

Once you catch yourself in that negative thought cycle stop! Acknowledge the process,   take control of them and for every negative you counter with a positive.  Evaluate where things went wrong and why. Realize that there are some things you have  no control over.  Let it go!

Accept what you have control over it and  make a difference in your own life!  Once you get things turned around you will be an asset to those around you.  You’ll be a more valuable employee,  a better wife/husband,   a good friend – your attitude will begin to show on the outside and  people will want to be around you.

Change your attitude and the impossible becomes possible! Your confidence will soar and you will be more capable of achieving your dreams! Once you believe it to be possible there is no stopping you!

Faith is the belief of  something in your heart.  When you combine that faith with active determination, the possibilities are endless.   When you have  that sort of faith,  faith in yourself and in your dreams, you can expect amazing things to  come from your actions.  Make the choice to focus on  how something CAN be done  rather than  on why it CAN’T be done, regardless of current restraints and  you’ll see  your dreams  become a reality.

There is a clear line that differentiates between being reckless and taking calculated risks.  Stepping outside of your comfort zone can be scary  but often necessary in order for us to grow. Violating your inner peace however is being reckless and destined for failure.  Realize your own limits, but also learn to push yourself outside of the comfortable box you’ve kept yourself in.

I make the conscious choice to lay fear aside and dare to act in unexpected and sometimes uncomfortable and awkward ways. By doing something I have never done before is how I will reap results beyond what I’ve achieved thus far!

This is the magic that dwells in each of us,  we have the ability to create our own destiny, to  direct our own lives, to redirect from tragedy to success, and to achieve the secret dreams that dwell inside of us.

Ask yourself these questions:

1.  How can I avoid letting another opportunity slip through my fingers?
2. What benefit  is there for me to focus on future potential rather than current restraints?
3. What areas of my life do I need  to let optimism triumph?

By adjusting your attitude, you can shift your whole reality!

Write on my friends, write on!