Your mind has a memory! This can work for you or against you; it’s up to you, for you become what you repeatedly do. Here “8 Small Steps Toward a Giant Leap Forward”:
1) Look for opportunities to do small acts of kindness and you will find you are creating a loving world around you.
2) Look for the good in everyone and you will find some good in everyone. Reinforce it with authentic (simply because it is good, not merely to get more) loving praise and more will spring forth.
3) Find a form of exercise, of joyful movement, to which your body and soul respond. Do more and you will want more. Like minded companions often make the journey even more complete/satisfying.
4) Love yourself! Nourish your body with healthy, NON –PROCESSED foods. Everything you ingest becomes a part of you. Value yourself, eat only that which makes you stronger and better. Like to eat? Enjoy food? Then savor each bite, eat slow, make the experience last! Dieting is a last resort; a starving body fights back! Changing your eating habits is best for long term, sustainable results. Practice portion control, consider keeping a food journal.
5) Look for opportunities to learn, grow, and expand. Ask questions constantly, read widely, listen to CD’s in your automobile. Unplug your TV so that it takes a conscious act to watch. If you do watch, plug it into a 30 minute timer so you must make a deliberate decision to continue watching. Try turning off the sound and multi-task. You’d be surprised how often you lose interest in worshiping the one-eyed god.
6) Increase your EQ! Grow in self-awareness. Journal! Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions!
7) Focus! Write down your dreams and goals. Make action plans to turn your dreams into reality. Monitor your progress. Keep track of how much time/energy you put into creating the life of your dreams v. screen time. Are you living your values? Or are you drifting, your life on auto pilot, living in default mode? Show me your calendar and your credit card statement and I will tell you your real values.
8) Monitor your self-talk. Just as your body becomes what you feed it, so too your mind. The world will take you for your own unconscious self-appraisal. Set a good example for them! Be your own best friend, cheerleader and coach.
Closing Quotes:
It has been said that the “The Road to Hell is a spiral, a gentle but persist bent in the straight and narrow.” (Phillip Wyle, Generation Vipers). While this may be true, the good news is that the opposite is also true. Small steps, repeated day in and day out can create an upward spiral, a positive re-enforcement loop, a virtuous feedback cycle.
“Every disciplined effort has multiple rewards!” – Jim Rohn
“As the twig is bent, so grows the tree.”
As always, I share what I most want/need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier