A life of well-being, meaning and purpose.
Self-regulation (or willpower) is one of the most important strengths to develop. [Miller 91] In fact, developing other strengths often depends on our practicing them when we don’t really want to. In other words, by using willpower. Continue reading “Small Simple Daily Disciplines”
The objective of simplifying is not to have less but to have more . . . more time, more energy, more peace of mind.
Do you ever feel that your life is so crowded you don’t have any time or energy to focus on the things that you really want to do with your life? Maybe you are interested in paring down to the basics to get to your true purpose. Or maybe you just want to simplify your routine, your calendar, or your schedule to make life a little easier. Whatever your reasons for wanting to simplify, here are some suggestions for getting started. You can make a few changes or tackle them all and make time in your life for the things that are meaningful to you. Continue reading “Your Life, Simplified”
Having “enough to get by” is not a reserve nor is it enough.
“Why waste your precious energy going after things you aren’t going to want when you get them? Exactly! When I promised that you would attract everything you’ve always wanted, I meant it. But now you don’t want it.” ~ Talane Miedaner, Coach Yourself To Success
“You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?” ~ Steven Wright
You can have anything you want, if you really want it. A key to living the Excelerated life is to have enough – enough time, enough money, enough resources, enough love – enough. If you don’t have a reserve of resources in all areas of your life, you spend your time scrambling to get your basic needs met. Continue reading “Have It All”
Wearing a uniform is not about doing with less — it’s doing with more . . . more time, more money, more willpower, more peace of mind.
“A [person] is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.” ~ Henry David Thoreau
Months ago, I adopted a uniform – a specific dress code or set of clothes that I wear each day. Of course, I’m not the first person to do this. One of the most famous uniform wearers is the late Steve Jobs, who was always seen in a black turtle neck, jeans and sneakers. (As a matter of fact, one of my friends began joking about my “Steve Jobs look”.) And there are a number of other people, famous and not so well-known, who have chosen their own personal uniform — Mark Zuckerburg, Albert Einstein, Johnny Cash to name a few. Continue reading “Why I Wear A Uniform”
Have you ever set the intention to eat a more healthful diet? You pass up the doughnuts at work, eat a salad for lunch, snack on almonds or raw veggies in the afternoon . . . then at home, after work, you find yourself sitting on the 2nd shelf of the refrigerator, eating everything in sight. Or you decide to start an exercise program and to go to the gym directly after work. You load your gym bag in the car . . . but at the end of the day, you are so tired, you drive straight home – past the gym – and collapse in a heap in front of the TV. What happened to your willpower? Continue reading “Willpower, Won’t Power, and Want Power”
“Give those you love the gift of taking excellent care of yourself.”
As you begin the new year, it’s a good time to reassess how well you are caring for your most important asset . . . you. Excelerated self care — taking excellent care of yourself — isn’t selfishness but selfulness . . . filling yourself up from the inside. You can’t give what you don’t have. You must care for yourself if you are to be able to care for others. Continue reading “Ten Daily Habits”
“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not.” ~ Thomas Henry Huxley, Collected Essays of Thomas Henry Huxley
Has this ever happened to you? You set a goal to lose weight and decide you need to eat a healthier diet. So you pass up the doughnuts at work, eat a salad for lunch, snack on almonds or raw veggies in the afternoon . . . then at home, after work, you find yourself sitting on the 2nd shelf of the refrigerator, eating everything in sight. Or you decide to start an exercise program and to go to the gym directly after work every day. You load your gym bag in the car with every intention of going to the gym after work. But at the end of the day, you are so tired you drive straight home – past the gym – and collapse in a heap in front of the TV. What happened? Where did your willpower go? Continue reading “Do The Thing You Have To Do”
“[F]ailure is nothing more than a few errors in judgment repeated every day.” ~ Jim Rohn
This morning, like most mornings, I got up, spent a few minutes meditating, wrote in my journal, then went for a brisk walk (in the rain), followed by a few minutes of calisthenics and stretching. When I finished, I felt pretty good. If I hadn’t got up and done these things, how do you think I would have felt? Actually, on the mornings I don’t do this routine, I feel pretty good. To tell the truth, I don’t feel much different after I do or don’t do my morning routine.
I expect you have had much the same experience. If you exercise, you feel OK. If you don’t, you probably feel OK, too. Continue reading “The Two Easies”
“Clutter isn’t just the stuff in your closet. It’s anything that gets between you and the life that you want to be living.” ~ Peter Walsh
“Waste lies not in the number of possessions but in the failure to enjoy them.” ~ Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, Your Money or Your Life
Do you have “enough”? This is a two-sided question. If you don’t have a reserve of resources in all areas of your life, you spend your time scrambling to get your basic needs met. On the other hand, if you keep amassing resources beyond your reserves, you end up giving most of your time and life source to accumulating. Continue reading “Enough”
“Wisdom is letting go of some bad habits everyday.” ~ Farshad Asl
This is how I used to wake up. Clock goes off at 6:00 AM. Hit the snooze button. Clock goes off at 6:05 AM. Hit the snooze button. Clock goes off at 6:10 AM. Hit the snooze button. This continues till 6:30 or sometimes 6:45. Finally climb slowly out of bed, groggy and headachy from having too many beers the night before. Head to the bathroom, coughing and hacking because of my smoker’s cough. Pop a couple of Tylenol to help the headache. Continue reading “Breaking Negative Habits”