“Mirror Mirror on the wall…." 

We all remember this moment right?  The evil Queen goes to the mirror and asks, "Who is the fairest one of all?” She is desperate for this validation because her world is falling apart due to Snow White.  She failed to acknowledge that her world was falling apart because of the seeds she had sown in her past and really had nothing to do with Snow White.  

Erica Jong says, “Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no one is to blame.”  The evil Queen was 100% responsible for her past and present actions.  There was no one else to blame for her demise.   You might be wondering, “How does this relate to my life Becky?”  Well, we have a tendency to define our current life by our past struggles.  How often have you heard someone say, “I can’t lose weight! I’ve tried every diet. I’ve been heavy since I was a kid!”  Or what about a toxic relationship? The person feels like they can’t get out because who would they be without this person? They stay no matter how destructive the relationship. 

Living into your future is not an easy task!  It requires that you show up as the person you WANT to be on a minute by minute basis.  If you’re 250 pounds but want to be 150 pounds you have to LIVE each day as if you were that 150 pound person!  You have to take on the habits of a person who is 150 pounds.   We need to rewire our brains and stop living with a victim mentality.  Our past is our past and thank God it’s IN the past!  It has absolutely no control over our  desired future!  Don’t live your current life through the fog of your past life.  We need to define who we are today and who we want to become.  Think of who you want to be and how you want to show up in this world!  Write these words down!  This is you!  Live it…live into it…be it!  You deserve the life of your dreams. 

Focus on the destination not the difficulty!

There are some quotes that just stick with me!  A quote can literally motivate me to get up and workout, start a new business, take a road trip, and look fear in the face and keep going! I believe that words can create action and when we take action we are truly living the life we were meant to live! 

I just finished reading Grant Cardone’s latest book called The 10x Rule and while it’s incredibly intense, he makes a lot of really important points.  A lot of what he says smacks you across the face and is pretty harsh, but one of these harsh realities he shared was simply too perfect not to expand on! He said, “Focus on the destination not the difficultly.”  

Think about that for a second. So many of us go through life making excuses about why we aren’t doing what we want to do because of the perceived  difficulty we will face.  What we are saying to ourselves is that our dreams, goals, and the vision we have for our lives are not important enough to fight through the difficult times.  Do we want to get to the end of our lives with this regret?  I certainly don’t! 

What’s the alternative? The alternative is to dig in and go for it!  If it scares you then you must be doing something right!  Imagine if you lived your life with blinders on just trudging on towards your goals!  Imagine if you knew your goals and dreams were so important you would stop at nothing to attain them.  Wrap yourself in the feeling you’ll have when you reach these goals!  We are all put on this planet to do something amazing!  What is your amazing?  

Don’t wait another moment. Write down your dream life, your goals, the vision you have for your life!  Read it over and over every single day as you keep pushing towards this goal!  And stop at nothing to reach them because you deserve to live that incredible life!    

How are your daily actions effecting your dream life?

We all have our daily rituals and routines.  We wake up at the same time, eat the same breakfast, drive the same route to work, listen to the same news station in the car, type a version of the same email, drive home, eat dinner (often in front of the TV) and then go to bed.  This pattern day in and day out creates deep rooted habits that seems impossible to change.  When we reflect on our daily patterns we can easily identify flaws and areas to fix – but we don’t.  We don’t fix these areas because the fear of change or the complexities of how to change overwhelm us and we feel safer staying the way we are.  

We feel safer with an extra 10 pounds because its just too much trouble to diet.  We feel safer in a job we hate because it gives us a weekly paycheck.  We feel safer in a relationship we aren’t happy in because what if we end up alone?  We have created routines and rituals that no longer challenge or uplift us.  But what if you could slowly implement simple small changes throughout the day that could uproot the mundane and put you on a path towards living a joyful life? Imagine that life!  Imagine every moment of the day being exciting, powerful, and important!  What would that be like?  What if we could address the fear of change, acknowledge the process, and embrace the future?  Does that excite you?  I certainly hope it does!

I want you to do a little dreaming today.  Close your eyes and imagine your perfect life.  What do you look like in that life?  How are you interacting with people?  Listen to the laughter and the stories being told!  What are your surroundings? Are you by a roaring fire with family or sitting on a beach with not a care in the world.  Feel the heat on your back or the sand between your toes.  How do you feel in this life?  Are you relaxed, at peace, feeling free from worry?  As you’re dreaming of this life I want you to dive in a bit deeper into this life.  Acknowledge the details of this life.  Wrap yourself in this life and feel the excitement, the freedom, the joy.  

So now that we know how we want to feel and what we want to experience out of life – it’s time to get it!  I challenge you to create new rituals that will bring you closer to this dream life every single day.  We’re faced with decisions all day every day.  And we can be lazy in our choices.  But what if you broke it down and acknowledged each choice by saying: “Is this bringing me closer to my goal or pushing me farther away?” By asking this simple question every single day, you are actively creating your future as opposed to letting life take you wherever it goes.  

Here are 5 powerful examples of thoughtful daily action that will help you on your path towards your dream life: 

1) When you wake up in the morning, say something positive about the day, your life, your body, and welcome the day with gratitude instead of annoyance.

2) When you look at yourself in the mirror for the first time that day give yourself praise for being alive and pump yourself up for the day.  Do this instead of looking at your flaws and tearing yourself apart before you get in the shower.

3) When you’re commuting to and from work, turn off the radio and listen to something that motivates you.  If you don’t like your job and want to do something else, then listen to every possible book or podcast about that subject and immerse yourself in that dream job.  The more you’re absorbing the more it becomes a part of you.

4) During the day find time to give someone praise.  It could be for the simplest task, but acknowledge their work.  I want you to look at how your words change the shape of their face!  I feel such joy when I see someone smile and blush at a compliment!  You’ve made a difference in that person’s world today! That might be the first compliment they’ve heard in months. 

5) When you get home and you have the choice of work or TV OR acknowledging your spouse, kids, roommate, etc. I challenge you to consciously make the effort to choose connection.  Choose to connect and listen to the people in your life.  This small act of listening can be the one thing that makes a difference in that person’s day.  

Bonus:  This one is too important not to share.  I recommend starting a gratitude journal.  Every night write down all the good things that happened to you that day!  You can even take it a step farther and create a gratitude journal for someone else and every single day write something wonderful about that person.  By acknowledging and recognizing all the positives in your life it encourages you to keep doing these daily actions. 

We have been given the freedom of choice.  We have been given the freedom to dream and to create.  We have the tools, the resources, and the will to live our dream life.  

We are in the last week of January 2015 and many of our big dreams for this year have already faded into the background.  It is time to revisit and give more attention to these dreams.  This dream is yours for a reason.  Don’t wake up a year from now having not moved the needle forward.  Ask yourself every single day: "Is this bringing me closer to my goal or pushing me farther away?“ Decide your future and live your dream life!

xo

Becky