Life = Stress

It’s funny, as I am working on a post about stress management, I happen to glance into my inbox and find a video from John Maxwell, another of my mentors, defining life. John says, brilliant minds have defined life as stress. Those that succeed in life are those that can deal with and work through the stress. Everyday we have a great amount of stress in our routine but the challenge is leaning to control the stress instead of letting the stress control you.

“The secret of success is not removing the stress but, to be able to function during the stress”   John C. Maxwell

The end to my 30 day challenge

It is an exciting day!  Today is the day that I complete my 30-day challenge.  It’s been a hard but, with this post, it has at an end, and I have learned so much.  I heard Darren Hardy, publisher of success magazine, say that people today “don’t stick with something for 5 days let alone a full 30.”

How did your challenge go?  Did you stick with it?  Although I didn’t post everything that I wanted to post,  I did write something every day. An idea for another topic, a line or two in my journal, or my thoughts on something I read,  with some tweaks along the way, I stuck with it.

So now what?  (As my uncle would say, “I’m glad you asked”)  Now, It’s time for another challenge!  Your ability to endure through difficulties is where your success lies.

So take next week to think about what you really want to accomplish with your next endeavor.  After that week, take what you learned from the last 30 days, and start your next. Don’t know where to start?  Here are some ideas for your next challenge.

  • Learn something different!:  Read three books on a topic of your choice.  Here are my top three money books suggestions  (Total Money Make Over- Dave Ramsey, The Millionaire next door – Thomas Stanley, The Millionaire Messenger – Brendon Burchard)
  • Start an exercise regimen:  30 day’s is the perfect amount of time to start and stick with a routine. Need help? Try FitnessBlender.com
  • Discover a hobby:  It may take some time to figure out what exactly you enjoy doing.  So take the full 30 days, try many different things to see which you enjoy. 
  • Look at your community calendar:  See what  is going on in your community that is cheap and/or free to get involved with.

Let me know how you did or what you want to do for your next challenge!

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Are we merely a results of our habits?

Every morning,  We wake up, Brush our teeth, shower, and perform an entire routine of other action even before I brains fully engage.  These are our habits!  Some habits work for our benefit and some do not.  The question  that remains to be answered, however, is how do we use the power of our habits?

There have been many books, written on the effects that habits have on our lives, to include, “The Power of Habit” and “Rich Habits” (the two that I’ve read recently). Authors have been telling us, that in order to succeed, we need to manage our habits, they have even given us anecdotes of how habits are used.  But how do you use the power of habit to change your life and succeed in areas that you wish to excel. Unfortunately, I don’t have a direct answer for you except to say, that managing your habits will, in fact, help you to create the life that you want.

Several years ago, I managed to create a mess of my life.  Let’s just say life was not a happy life. But I learned a few small tweaks, to refocus my life’s habits and I began to see dramatic changes. I had more energy to face my day, I no longer had a lack of focus, to me it seemed my life had some purpose.  Today, I can say that I have a happy life.

What were those tweaks?  Simple. Learning and implementing! I changed 3 things to begin with in order to change the direction of my life.  Here are the three things that I changed:

  1. Developed a Habit of Savings
  2. Refined a Habit of reading
  3. Created a habit of Fitness

There will be more to come on each of these over the next few posts.    But for now, Ask yourself, are we merely a result of the habits that we have?  In my experience, it would appear so. Take a look at your own habits.  Are they helping you? Or, are they hurting you?

I’d Love to hear your thoughts or views.  Please leave me a comment below or on my FB Page