Smiling is proof that you are happy and enthusiastic about your life.  It is also a choice, not necessarily a result. It is a decision you need to consciously make.  Enthusiasm makes such a difference in everything and it improves your personality, as well as people’s opinions of you.  Enthusiasm and joy help you keep a proper perspective on life and all its unexpected turns and twists, forks in the road, etc.

    Walt Whitman said, “Keep your face toward the sunshine and shadows will fall behind you”.  The bigger the challenge the more you need to draw on enthusiasm. Our attitude always tells others what we expect in return.  As enthusiasm and happiness increase, stress and fear start to decrease. A smile can make someone’s day, it can break the ice in tough situations, it can make people feel at ease when they are nervous or uncomfortable.

    Enthusiasm also always inspires action.  It is a sure thing that no significant accomplishments have ever been made without an enthusiastic, positive attitude.  Keep the sunshine in your life by always smiling and going at every situation with enthusiasm and joy. Enthusiasm is contagious and makes the world a better place with much more sunshine than clouds and rain.

​

Persistent people begin their success where most others quit.  Be a person of persistence and endurance.

    Hebrews 12 says, “let us run with endurance the race that is set before is”... Don’t worry about how much money, ability or equipment you start with and just begin with a million dollars worth of determination.

    Remember: “It’s not what you have, it’s what you do with what you have that makes all the difference”.

    Many times our dreams and plans appear to be faltering.  We are tempted to give up and quit trying, but instead, keep watering and fertilizing the dreams and plans, nurturing the seeds of the vision that God has placed within us.  We know that if we do not quit, and we display endurance and perseverance, we will eventually reap a bountiful harvest.

​

It’s no secret that a lot of your success will come from one key thing: your mindset. Your mindset will dictate how well you can achieve things and react appropriately to negativity in your life. If you are currently chasing an idea, make sure you persist when others are doubting you. If you’re running into parts of your life where you feel there is no solution, get creative. All in all, make sure you think bigger and dream higher to keep yourself motivated and going for more! Grant Cardone also covers this topic in depth here.
​

Our visions must be in writing.  There is power in putting pen to paper where your dreams and visions for your life are concerned.  When you commit something to writing, following through and achieving it usually follows close behind.

    In the book of Habukkuk in the Bible, the Lord tells the prophet, “write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.”  This scripture reveals the key to successfully setting goals. God desires us to run with the vision for our lives and as long as we are running with the vision there is much less of a chance that we will turn around.

    Effective goal setting gives us an opportunity to bring the future to the present, where we can visualize it and run with it today!  We still have to do our job and plan and prepare. Believe for God’s plan for our lives - for God’s biggest dream for our life. When you plan, look to the future, don’t dwell on what’s past.  You cannot drive forward if you are looking out the rear window.  

    At it’s beginning, every great success seemed somewhat impossible at the time.  You must always think bigger than you are because that is where God is! “With God, all things are possible”.  Most people live unfulfilled, meaningless lives because they never write down the vision for their life and never see it come to fruition.

    If you cannot see the mark, or the finish line, you have nothing to press toward.  Put God’s vision for your life on paper and start to run with his plan, making the necessary course corrections along the way.  You can’t finish what you never start! 

    Remember, you only have one...SO ROCK THIS LIFE NOW!!

​

They don’t call them miracle mornings for nothing! Your morning routine has so much impact on how you achieve your goals and it is extremely important to plan out this time appropriately. Working out is always a common one to do in the mornings. It can seriously boost your mood if you use it not only to get in better shape, but also as a form of therapy or relaxation. Taking time to stay still, do yoga or meditate, is also a great option to reflect on previous days, and to plan the upcoming day! Of course, just taking some “me time” is also always good to do. Relaxing before your work day, turning on your favorite show, anything that makes your head space a little more calm and relaxed before the hectic day starts, do it! You can view Rachel Hollis’s morning routine here for inspiration. 

Give your brain a break

    You cannot keep dwelling on things that are going wrong.  “Where your focus goes, your energy flows”...Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Help your brain switch gears by doing things that focus on the senses.  Go shopping and touch different items, fabrics, etc, bake cookies or a cake, paint or draw, read a book...do something to get out of your own head (and out of your own way).

    Focus on what needs to be done

    Don’t make things worse by neglecting what needs to get done. Don’t procrastinate and let things slide.  Whether it is life or work, we still have stuff that we have to do, so just DO IT. Get it over already!

    Get your workout in - Exercise

    Cardio, just getting your body moving, is best to get your energy flowing and get your heart rate up..go for a run, do pushups, run the stairs at work, take a quick walk or get outside, especially if you have a deadline at work, - just changing your physiological state helps tremendously.

    Find something to laugh at/someone to laugh with

    Laughter makes everything better.  We do not laugh enough and you can always find things to make you smile.

    Mini-meditation

    There is a 2 minute emergency calm on the Calm App. which is personally a life saver for me...i absolutely LOVE this app!! There is also a Breath App on the Apple watch that many people swear by.  Just take a few minutes for you to be still and silent and focus on your breathing.

    Do 24 Hours at a Time

    Focus on what a good, productive day looks like (the next 24 hours) and commit to doing your very best to see that happens.  Just take one day at a time...we can only focus on the present after all.

​

In today’s crazy world of social media and all of the hundreds of ways we are pulled in all sorts of directions, It is crucial to carve out a small block of time every day to cope with all of the stress at work.  A deliberate pause (taking time daily to be still) will leave you more focused and productive, more creative and much better equipped to deal with all the crap that gets blown our way in the everyday storms of our life.

Today’s technological advancements are both a blessing and a curse.  We can become overwhelmed by the endless emails, texts and social media notifications and often, even somewhat “addicted...like we cannot live without Facebook or Instagram.

A “stressor”  can actually be anything that knocks you out of balance and it can fall into a range of good, tolerable or toxic.  It becomes dangerous and toxic when your body is constantly coping with it and there is no end in sight. We often do not even think that it affects our bodies but stress raises cortisol levels (hormone that is in our body) and if it gets way out of whack can make us physically sick as well...there can be many consequences as a result.

Stress by distractions is considered chronic and that is exactly what all of the social media and emails, etc are doing.  We must be mindful of taking time to decompress and turn everything off. Take a break from all the technological “chaos” and find some form of peace..whether it be a walk in nature, going to a park and having a picnic, relaxing with a good book or just listening so relaxing soft music and shutting off your mind.  

Sometimes the best thing we can do for ourselves, and our mind, is just to simply be still and “recharge” our batteries so that we can come out stronger and more energized to face all the chaos and turmoil that inevitably will occur, 

​