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| I keep bumping into a few core themes as I brainstorm, get inspired, and write these newsletter articles. These three thoughts keep grabbing my attention, principles and standards that resonate with me and how I try to approach and live life. Not only do they reflect how I wish to BE, but also how I hope to BE TREATED by others, only somewhat dictatable as that may be. Obviously it’s not the end all, be all list, but still worth sharing. Maybe you have your own ideas. What are they? Have you ever given any thought to it? Here are mine. At least for the moment. 1. HAVE AWARENESS. How many times do you find yourself saying “I didn’t realize I was doing that.”? Or “I’ve overlooked how our relationship has gotten way off track.” Or you failed to notice more than just a few extra pounds on your body, slipping productivity in your work, degrading motivation in the pursuit of your dreams and goals. Does this sound like a complete loss of awareness? Don’t let this happen to you! Don’t just go through the motions, float down the lazy river of life, coast complacently. No! Strive for some amount of general awareness. Institute systematic check points that keep you from letting things fall by the wayside. Check in with yourself! Awareness doesn’t have to be obsessive. It doesn’t have to halt you in your tracks at every decision point. It shouldn’t paralyze you, over dictate you. Be balanced with it. Balance is everything! The sheer awareness to recognize that a change needs to happen is a necessary place to start! Key word: START. You don’t stop there. You make the changes. With awareness as your starting point, you’ll be on your way to clarity, informed decisions, attention to detail, appreciation of other perspectives, empathy, thoughtfulness! Awareness can bring personal humility and a contrite vulnerability which will give you deeper connections with yourself and others. You will KNOW who and what is most important and meaningful to you. You’ll know what matters most! Think about that for a minute! Sounds pretty good to me! 2. BE PERSISTENT. It’s not over till it’s over. And who gets to decide when it’s over anyway? And when is that, really? When it comes to who and what matters most, NEVER. GIVE. UP. Even more so when you don’t feel like it. Just keep trying. Persist! Success might be JUST around the corner. The breakthrough might happen after that one last push. You will never know if you don’t keep trying. Even when my real estate transactions looked dead and buried, I never gave up on them. I still tried to breathe life into them. And sometimes it WORKED! Some transactions never would have happened if I didn’t persist! Same thing raising the boys at times. I patiently endured past their resistance to certain things. I just kept saying to myself, “I am in charge, I will outlast you”. I just kept trying. Persistence! It’s the engine of success. It builds resilience, determination, the ability to push through and overcome the challenges. The key to long-term goals and turning dreams into reality. Never give up! Just keep trying. 3. SHOW UP. Show up every day. And when you can’t show up one day, show up the next day! Show up for all that you said you would. Your family, your friends, your work, your faith…above all, show up for YOURSELF! And guess what? There will be times you REALLY don’t feel like it! But show up anyway. Because you said you would. NO ONE else can show up for you BUT you. Remember that. Start there. It builds TRUST, reliability, credibility, in yourself and others. It shows commitment, dedication, and accountability. It opens doors to opportunity and nurtures meaningful relationships. Be accountable to YOURSELF. You will foster a great habit that will permeate all parts of your life. Because when you show up for yourself, you will KNOW that you can show up for OTHERS. And that’s a beautiful thing. So there you have it! Three major themes I value in MY life. What are yours??? Do you know? Take 3 minutes right now to think about it. Find out! Jot them down! Be aware of them. They’re important to you. |