5 Ways To Keep Moving Forward In Life

1.  Practice thinking better about yourself.

You have to admit, you’ve spent a lot of your life subconsciously belittling yourself.  Thinking you’re not enough.  Trying to be someone else.  Someone who fits in.  Someone who’s less sensitive.  Less needy.  Less flawed.  Less YOU.  Because you felt broken, and you didn’t want to scare people away.  You wanted them to like you.  You wanted to make a good impression.  You wanted to be seen as worthy and loveable.  So you could feel healed and whole. Now its time to accept who you are and only allow positive thoughts to enter. 

Yes, you are indeed worthy!  Your ideas are worthy.  Your feelings are worthy.  Your needs are worthy.  And without everyone else’s constant validation, you must be who you are and live your truth.  Even if it makes people turn their heads.  Even if it means walking alone down the path less traveled for awhile.

Even if your own confidence in yourself has been shaken!

2.  Change your mindset from, “I have to be better,” to, “I will do my absolute best today.”

Goals are important.  All journeys of change must begin with a goal.  And you also must have determination in order to achieve your goals.  However, what do you think happens when you are too determined, or too obsessed with a goal?  You begin to nurture another belief: who you are right now is not good enough.

The key is to remind yourself that you already are good enough; you just need more practice.  Change your mantra from, “I have to be better,” to, “I will do my absolute best today.” 

3.  Be mindful.

Mindfulness as a daily ritual is the ultimate challenge and practice.  It’s a way of living, of being, of seeing, of tapping into the full power of your humanity.

Ready to get started?

It’s simple, but far from easy.  Practice…

• Being aware of what’s happening in the present moment without wishing it were different
• Enjoying each pleasant experience without holding on when it changes (which it will)
• Being with each unpleasant experience without fearing it will always be this way (which it won’t)

4.  Find something to be grateful for in the present moment, despite the situation.

Happiness doesn’t always make us grateful, but gratitude always helps us smile.  Some may say that’s a cliché, but it’s not.  Gratitude is the foundation.  And happiness is simply the sacred experience of living with a genuinely grateful heart.
Expressing gratitude is so simple though, right?  How could it possibly make that big of a difference?

Yes, being grateful seems simple enough, but a grateful state of mind is unbelievably hard to maintain when life disappoints us.  And that’s the kicker – when we’re feeling down and disappointed, that’s exactly when a dose of gratitude is most powerful.

So what’s the best approach?

Being grateful starts with being present.  You can’t appreciate your life when you’re not paying attention to it.  And the truth is, we make our present situations much worse when we replay difficult past situations in our heads (“How could she possibly have done that to me?”), or when we ruminate over all the situations that might be problematic in the future (“What if he cheats on me?”).  In the present moment, our real situation is rarely as convoluted as we make it out to be.  And we can meet this moment with grace and gratitude, if we can truly stay in the present.

5.  Do something small for someone else – make them the center of your universe for a little while.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, sometimes we all have the tendency to put ourselves at the center of the universe, and see everything from the viewpoint of how it affects us.  And this can have all kinds of adverse effects, from feeling sorry for ourselves when things aren’t going exactly as planned, to doubting ourselves when we aren’t perfect, to feeling lost and alone with our issues when we’re having a bad day or going through hard times.

So whenever I catch myself lingering at the center in an adverse state of mind, I do my best to briefly shift my focus, away from my own issues, and onto other people around me that I might be able to help.  Finding little ways to help others gets me out of my self-centered thinking, and then I’m not wallowing alone in self-pity anymore – I’m starting to think about what others need.  I’m not doubting myself, because the question of whether I’m good enough or not is no longer the central question.  The central question now is about what others need.

6 Ways To Get Organized NOW!

Organization is key, without it we are lost. Here are 6 Ways to Get Organized Fast.

1. Get a calendar and maintain it, always

Whether it's an old-fashioned desk calendar or the latest synced-across-ten-devices app-based wonder, the key is to use it religiously. If you find that by February you're back to jotting down appointments on sticky notes, that's a good sign you're slipping!

2. Set realistic goals and stay focused on them

Your goals are the North Star that you'll follow day in and day out to achieve the success you desire. Be sure that they are realistic and inspiring, and keep them constantly front of mind so you'll be reminded to maintain your focus on achieving them.

3. Set your priorities at the start of each day

Devote 20 minutes at the beginning of your business day to set your priorities. Make this time yours and yours alone by forwarding your phone to voicemail, ignoring your email, and keeping your schedule clear. If you have a hard time setting aside this time, reserve the time by making a daily appointment with yourself in--where else?--your calendar.

4. Prioritize your priorities

Tackle your top priority first and your lowest priority last. This may seem obvious, but how many times do we do the quick-and-easy, low-payoff tasks first, and save the more difficult, high-payoff tasks for later? Unfortunately, later often never comes!

5. Clean up your workspace

It's hard to stay organized and on top of your most important tasks and priorities when your desk or your office is a mess. Take an hour or two every week to organize the paperwork that is no doubt taking over every inch of surface area. File away the things you don't need and take action on the things that require it. While a cluttered desk may not be the sign of a cluttered mind, it certainly won't help you get and stay organized for success.

Why invest in getting organized? Because one great way to deal with the crises, emergencies, and many other things you can't control is to be totally on top of the things you can control. You owe it to yourself, your employees, and your organization to always be the best you can be.

6. Tie up loose ends at the end of each day

Set aside at least 20 minutes at the end of your day to tie up loose ends.  Go through your remaining work and make assignments to employees, forward information to coworkers as necessary, respond to e-mail and voicemail messages, file away the things that you need to keep, and toss the rest. Finally, quickly review your appointments for the following day.

Start your SHIFT today and enroll now!

Let's Set A Higher Standard For Ourselves

Life is a culmination of the decisions you make. Each day you are given opportunities to make choices for yourself. At the most basic level, the outcomes of your decisions will be either productive or a complete waste of time.

One way to ensure you are making the most progress possible on your journey to success is by holding yourself to a higher standard.

Our generation lives by the words "Young, wild and free." While there is a time and place for impulsive decisions, you should ask yourself, “Do I want to make something happen today? Or do I want to slack off?” Despite the fact that slacking off is the easy way out, your life will have much more value and substance if you choose to make something happen.

If you truly believe you are different than the other 97%, you need to prove it, not just to yourself, but to everyone else. The elite 3% have a much different mindset. They have stayed motivated and put in the hard work necessary to make a name for themselves.

They never took the easy way out or cut corners when they had the chance. They understand that they are different than the majority and therefore have standards for their lives that completely contrast the 97%.

Career opportunities and chances to make headway towards success don't fall out of the sky. Opportunities come to those who act and set themselves up in a position to succeed.

Everyone has their own definition, but one thing everyone can agree on is that action is the key to success. You can't succumb to the habits of the slackers who aren't doing anything with their lives. These are bad influences that will throw you off course on your journey.

Each day you should be trying to write a story. Look at each day as a new page of the book that is your life and ask yourself, “Do I want this page to say I did nothing today or do I want it to be a detailed timeline of all the productive and interesting things I did today?”

It's alright to take a break every once in a while, but you truly don't want success bad enough until you are willing to sacrifice sleep for it. Hold yourself to a higher standard and make productivity a habit.

The people you surround yourself with have a huge impact on your life. Having motivated people around you will influence you to be productive and take action. Everyone has a few friends that slack off at times and are good to have around when things become too stressful. However, it is important to view yourself on a different level.

Do not be influenced by the lazy people in your life. Instead, look at it as your responsibility to set an example for them. Look at yourself as the higher standard and others will begin to as well.  When you lead by example, you will introduce a new standard for your friends and hopefully motivate them to make the necessary changes in their lives.