January 03, 2017
Resolved 2017 - Imagine The Possibilities
Every New Year gets me excited about potential. Looking forward to what
could be possible in the coming months gives me a buzz. There it is: a whole
new year right before us like some new shiny package begging to be opened.
It makes me so jazzed that each January I send out a card that tells all my
friends to “Imagine the Possibilities.” I don’t want anyone to miss it.
Life is an attitude.
How we spend our time and energy is also a matter of attitude. Tell me what
you think and how you feel and I’ll tell you who you are. Our self-image is at
the core of all that we do. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy where what we
do confirms our self-image. Believe that you are shy, aggressive, worthwhile,
friendly, intelligent or you-name-it, and your behavior will tend to support your
own concept of who you are.
The turn of a new year gives all of us the opportunity to polish up our attitudes
about ourselves and our world. It’s opportunity staring us in the face, daring us
to be brave, new, different…better!
Strengthen your self-image.
How many times have you heard someone say “Sorry, that’s just the
way I am?” That person’s strongest motivation is not self-preservation
but the preservation of their self-image. A strong self-image sets you
up for success. Winners see as winners. They may not win them all but
they sure win more. Of course, the opposite is also true for losers.
As Disraeli said: “We make our fortunes and we call them fate.”
A strong self-image makes all the difference.
ONLY YOU CAN CONTROL
YOUR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS
YOUR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS
Build on your strengths.
Put the past in the past. There’s nothing to be done with it now.
Put the past in the past. There’s nothing to be done with it now.
Many of the things we tell ourselves about ourselves are true only
if we choose to believe they are. Now’s the time to make a change
in attitude. Take an honest assessment of your strengths to use
them to build the future you truly want. You are perfectly valuable
simply because you exist. Take that thought forward.
Don’t allow others to define you. Eleanor Roosevelt wisely said,
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
Put yourself first.
You’ve been fed the social message to subordinate your needs
Put yourself first.
You’ve been fed the social message to subordinate your needs
for the greater good, forcing you into a life of sacrifice. You don’t
help the poor by becoming one of them. You help them when you
help them to help themselves. Positive selfishness is a prerequisite
to building good relationships. Until you feel good about your own life,
you have little to offer others.
Choose to be happy.
Only you can control your thoughts and feelings. It’s doable.
You must be disciplined and live consciously. If we control our
feelings, we can choose to be happy, sad, worried, guilty, frightened
or enthusiastic. Nobody makes us happy. We choose to be happy.
Entering 2017 happy and motivated is a choice we can all make.
Ease up on the pressure.
Get rid of guilt, anger, worry and regret. Just like choosing to be
happy you can choose to eliminate those negatives from your life.
Simply put, they are a waste of time. So is fear of failure. Think for a
moment of all the amazing things in this world that never would have
happened because someone feared failure and didn’t act. Think about
all the inventions and cures we would never see because someone
was afraid. Consider all the beautiful relationships that never happened
because someone was afraid of rejection.
Give yourself permission to just dive in. Who knows what miracles
are heading your way if you allow yourself the chance. Life is full
of choices. A new year will be full of them too. All it takes is a little attitude.
It is said: “A wise man will be the master of his mind…A fool will be
its slave.” Imagine the possibilities! Here’s to 2017!