We Can Do More Than Survive, We Can THRIVE!

The past several years have been challenging, but we survived. Political chaos and COVID-19 interrupted our normal routines and caused many of us to put our lives on hold. This is still a relatively new year, and we can do more than survive.  It’s time we take back control of our lives and THRIVE.  Although not always an easy thing to do, we must seek to find peace of mind and fulfilment in all that we strive to do.  To THRIVE means different things to different people. For me, I THRIVE when I experience success in the pursuit of my dreams, goals, and aspirations and complete whatever I start.  Others may view THRIVE as finding balance and stability in their mental, physical, social, and spiritual development.  There are also people who equate their ability to THRIVE to the attainment of material possessions.  No matter how one gauges their effectiveness to THRIVE, it comes down to having the right mindset.  I would like to offer that it can be difficult to find peace of mind and fulfilment without a sense of emotional stability, personal accomplishment, productiveness, and gratitude in your life.

Emotional Stability

Emotional stability plays an important role in our ability to THRIVE.  We must control our thoughts and emotions.  The act of living brings many twist and turns, but we must keep moving forward.  In the story Fences, the character Troy, a former baseball pitcher, would say, “you have to take the crooked with the straight and keep swinging.”  We cannot afford to allow negative thoughts to dominate our thinking. We can eliminate negative thoughts by changing our perspective of the situation.  Negative thoughts often arise from deeply held beliefs that trigger certain reactions in us. An unforeseen incident or event can turn our world upside down, if left unchecked.  The loss of a loved one, illness, job loss, or failed relationship can bring on a  sense of hopelessness and despair. Its normal to react to these unexpected situations because of how they make us feel, but we must not allow them to control us.  Failure to control our thoughts only empowers external forces to determine our responses to the situation.  We have the power to overcome negative situations by controlling our thoughts. Ask yourself what is the lesson to be learned or the assignment to be carry out.

 Accomplishment

It is difficult to THRIVE if you sit around and allow the world to pass you by.   We must work towards the accomplishment of our desired goals every day.  We must set realistic goals that are doable and achievable within a set timeframe.  The successful accomplishment of at least one task each day will bring you closer to whatever you desire.  Remember as the old saying goes, “Don’t put off for tomorrow that which can be done today.”  No matter how we feel, we must get up and do something every day.  The feeling of success from achieving a small thing will do wonders to motivate you keep you going forward to achieve bigger things.  This requires us to live each day with purpose and intent.  Do a little bit here and a little bit there, before you know it, you will have accomplished a lot.  The successful achievement of each goal will bring a great feeling of accomplishment and self-worth.  The more we accomplish, the more we  will believe in our ability to get things done. 

Productiveness

To THRIVE requires us to use our time wisely.  We cannot blame our failure to get things done on lack of time.  We all have 24 hours a day, 168 hours a week, 720 hours a month, and 8,760 hours a year to get things done. How we spend our time will have a major impact on how we live. The people who make the best use of their time are far more likely to find success in whatever they do.  Remember, nothing from nothing gives nothing.  We must put in the time and effort if we expect something in return.  I believe they call it work.  We must avoid engaging in self-destructive behavior.  It’s okay to have fun but too much fun is counter productive.  We must maintain balance in use of our time.  This requires a great amount of self-discipline and focus.  Don’t be distracted by opportunities that seem too good to be true.  There are no short cuts to success.    It is critical that we use our time effectively to be as productive as possible 24/7. 

 Gratitude

The expression of gratitude is the foundation in our quest to THRIVE.  There is something to be grateful for every day of our lives.  It’s easy to focus on what seems to be going wrong or what we wish we had.  We must be thankful for the opportunities that enable us to learn and grow, and the support we receive from others.  We must also show an appreciation for what has happened or is happening in our lives, whether big or small, good or bad.  It is important that we find pleasure in every step along the journey to reach our full potential.  A simple expression of gratitude enables us to keep a positive outlook no matter the outcome.  Gratitude can also help us stay focused during the most difficult of times.  Life is not always going to be easy, but with the right attitude we have a chance to succeed at achieving our goals.  We should start each day with a spirit of gratitude for another opportunity to participate in the arena of life.

This is your year to THRIVE.  Forget about what happened or did not happen over the past several years.  Use the time and upcoming months to create the life you desire.  Remember this anonymous saying, “Our eyes are in front because it’s better to look ahead than to look back.  Don’t dwell on negative situations from the past.  Learn from them and keep moving forward.” 

THRIVE!

Written by Dr. RL Kight for Mind Power Solutions.  Visit www.mindpowersolutions.com to learn more about our personal development and training services.

Power to Overcome Self-Doubt

Self-doubt is something we all experience at one time or another in coping with the challenges of everyday life or confronted with new opportunities. It sometimes presents itself as a sense of feeling unprepared, unworthy, or even unqualified to take on the challenge before us. In most instances, we are able to overlook these moments of self-doubt and deal with the issue at hand. However, self-doubt becomes a problem when it begins to destroy our self-confidence, cripple creativity, and limits our willingness to accept new opportunities. If left unchecked it will bring the best of us down or prevent us from living up to our full potential.

Here are three suggestions to enhance your ability to overcome self-doubt:

1) Rid Yourself of Fear to Make Mistakes

Self-doubt is often grounded in fear of the unknown. Fear that we will make a mistake or do something wrong.  It is often fear of how we will be perceived by others if we fall short of their expectations. You will never become all that you can be if you remain afraid to make a mistake. Life doesn’t require us to be perfect and mistakes are stepping stones to learning.  So, don't allow mistakes to make you feel less than, rather, let them be your teacher. Successful people recover from their mistakes and become more stronger and successful than before. However, it requires a certain mindset to embrace mistakes as tools for success. It requires that you adopt a growth mindset.  People with a growth mindset are not afraid of mistakes.  In fact, they embrace mistakes as part of the learning process for personal growth and development.  These individuals tend to see mistakes as opportunities for improvement.  They openly take chances to pursue their goals no matter the failures they experience.  Lewis Alerson author of Growth Mindset suggests that folks with a growth mindset tend to believe that perfection is not a requirement for success and accept that they are allowed to make mistakes.  You will never grow unless you are willing to take risks. 

2) Take Control of your Emotions 

Uncontrolled emotions leads to unnecessary worry, frustration, anger, and self-doubt which impede our ability to make sound decisions.  This hinders our capacity to do things in our own best interest. We spend a lot of time second-guessing ourselves and seeking validation from others. We tend to delay taking action until circumstances force us to do so. As a result, we sell ourselves short and are forced to accept less than we deserve. Feelings of self-doubt are often driven by uncertainty of the unknown which makes it easy to stay within our comfort zone. Uncontrolled emotions will severely limit your ability to move forward in life if you allow them to.  To overcome emotional feelings of self-doubt, you must recognize when they they occur and understand that you have the ability to rise above them. Unfortunately, not enough of us are in touch with our emotions and have no idea why we feel the way that we do.  Here is where emotional intelligence, as it relates to self-awareness, is so vital to our ability to overcome feelings that stifle our growth and development. According to James Williams, emotionally intelligent people tend to acknowledge and process their feelings as they occur, instead of allowing them to build up.  They are more likely to deal with their current feelings about a situation and let them go.  Emotionally intelligent people are also able to shift their mindset and move on regardless of how they feel.  You too must go forward and do whatever you need to get done regardless of the feeling of self-doubt.  Emotional feelings can be very strong, and it is not always easy to pull away from them.  But, to be able to take your game to the next level you must behave contrary to these feelings of doubt.  Otherwise, they will continue to dictate your life and hold you in bondage.

3) Develop Mental Toughness

Always bet on yourself to deliver the goods. Bear in mind that, in any situation, you could either fail or succeed. So why not be optimistic about your ability to reach success.  It requires a certain level of mental toughness to keep pushing forward when things don’t seem to be going your way.  Mental toughness will give you the internal strength to take on any obstacle or challenge and to remain focused on your goal.  People with mental toughness don’t allow themselves to become distracted and go off course.  In the book Mental Toughness, Thomas Turner advocates that mentally tough people tend to believe that as long as they keep trying, they will succeed. Failure is never an option for them.  They always look for positive outcomes no matter their struggles and circumstances.  Purposefully lean towards the positive side of every situation.  It’s as simple as looking at the glass of water as half full instead of half empty.

The power to overcome self-doubt begins with you.  You must believe that you can achieve your destiny despite what other people say or society expects from you. Do not allow circumstances to dictate what you can achieve in life. Perhaps you had several bad breaks in life and negative messages were pumped into your head to promote self-doubt since you were a child, you now have the chance to turn it around. If you desire to fulfill your dreams, let go of self-doubt and move through the world with uncompromising confidence and will power.

Written by Dr. RL Kight for Mind Power Solutions.  Visit www.mindpowersolutions.com to learn more about our personal development and training services.

You Create Your Breaks

Are you one of those unhappy people because life hasn’t unfolded the way you would like? You see others around you enjoying the so call good life.  All their hopes and dreams appear to come true, but you never seem to get a break. In spite of the daily hustle and grind, your dreams remain just that – dreams.  Maybe it’s time to get up and do something different. 

You cannot afford to sit around waiting for your breaks to come.  It just doesn’t happen that way; successful people create their breaks.  While you need not take on the whole world at once, it is on you to do something every day to propel yourself closer to making your desires a reality. I am sure you have heard the saying, “A thousand-mile journey begins with a single step”.  Even if planning to travel by bus, plane, car, or train these days, you must take the first step.  Each step will bring you nearer to your destination. 

Here are some suggestions that you may find helpful in your effort to create your breaks no matter the destination.

Get it done. Work on some aspect of making your dream come true every day.  Create a list of tasks you need to accomplish within a specific time frame.  No matter how big or small the task – get it done!  Set aside time on your schedule to complete them.  If not on your schedule, they are most likely not going to get done.  Out of sight, out of mind.  Keep what you want to achieve on the radar.

Eliminate false beliefs.  Self-imposed negative belief systems can become major obstacles to your desire to get more out of life. Beliefs such as “I don’t have what it takes”, “I don’t have enough money to get started”, “they won’t let me” or “the time isn’t right” will only hold you hostage to low expectations; limiting your ability to rise to the next level.  These beliefs are often the results of our upbringing, culture, and experiences.  Remember, nothing can prevent your dreams from coming true, but you.

Take a chance.  To reach the next level requires courage.  Opportunities are all around you if you are willing to step into the unknown.  There are no guarantees in life, so you must have confidence in what you want to accomplish.  I recently listened to Sylvester Stallone talk about how he turned down $300,000 for the rights to his screenplay to the first Rocky film when he was so broke that he had to sell his beloved dog.  We are all aware of his success story many years later.  You can play it safe and watch life pass you by or you can overcome your fears and step into the unknown. 

Tune out the noise.  You must be mentally tough to pursue your dreams until they become real.  There will be self-doubt and doubters all round you.  You will experience setbacks that make you call your decisions into question.  These are the times in which you must tune out the voices in your head telling you to, “quit now”, “you don’t have what it takes” or “you will never make it”.  We all hear these voices at one time or another.  It’s only a test to determine how serious you are about reaching your goals.  Don’t become distracted by them and stay focused.   

Stay in the game. You cannot win sitting on the side lines.  Success requires that you stay into the game of life and compete.  Don’t let the ups and downs of life discourage you.  Yes, the rules of engagement will often change, but don’t let that scare you from the competition.  Life demands that you be flexible and embrace the changes.  You win some and lose some; keep showing up ready to compete.  To stay in the game requires a high level of self-confidence.  Therefore, you must believe in your ability to compete and win.     

Work on your craft.  Success is often the result of many hours, days, and years of preparation for just the right moment. It requires that you work on your craft and sharpen your skills to be ready.  You never know how and when the right opportunity is going to come your way.  What might appear to be a small act could turn out to be a life changing event.  You never know who might be watching or how one moment will transform into something greater.  Luck only leads to success when preparation meets opportunity.  

Make an investment. Nothing in life is free.  Anything worth having has a cost. You must be willing to invest a significant amount of your time and resources to achieve your dreams.  Only you can determine the amount of effort and energy required to reach your desired destination. If what you’re doing now is not producing desired results, it’s not enough.  Do whatever it takes to achieve success.   

 I leave you with these final words of encouragement. Dare to dream on and expect to succeed.  Don’t get caught up in self-imposed limitations. Think big and work hard to create your breaks. As you travel the road to success, I hope you discover that the impossible has just become a little bit more possible.  Your breaks are waiting for you.

 Written by Dr. RL Kight for Mind Power Solutions.  Visit www.mindpowersolutions.com to learn more about our personal development and training services.