What has happened to that fun, interesting and exciting life
we promised ourselves, and should now be living?
We live in a world that is brimming with fantastic
opportunities, yet why do we as individuals regularly fail
to make the most of these plentiful gifts that are
available to all of us to enjoy and prosper from?
We start at an early age, inocently dreaming of the things
we desire, the fun we want to have, the dream job, the
travel to exotic locations..the list goes on.
What happens as we get older though, is that collectivly,
we start accepting negative beliefs about our dreams and
our abilities to obtain them.
We begin to believe that those dreams and desires we once
held dear to us, are infact impossible dreams that are only
available to others who are luckier than us.
We now have this massive empty hole in our
lives that we start to fill with emotions, such as dread,
envy, helplessness and self pity.
Where we were once happy and excited about life, we now
started to feel depressed and unmotivated. We develop
an uncomfortable nagging feeling that “something is
missing in our lives” or that “life should be better than
this”. We start to accept our current position in life as
“about as good as I can expect” , we roll over and let life
pass us by. We put our lives on auto-pilot and let whatever
happens just happen.
What we have now created is a situation where our main
focus has turned to what we “don’t have” and “what we
don’t want”. By foccusing all our attention on these
negative thoughts, we have lost sight of the fact that there
really is no one but ourselves standing in the way of
creating the perfect world for us.
Focus enough on what you don’t want and that is exactly
what you will get. That is a fact.
So where to from here?
Luckily, the transformation from “don’t have” to “I have”
isn’t a huge leap, though it will be truely life changing.
We need to remember that as humans we have this amazing
ability to decide what is good or what is bad. We control
what we focus on, we just have to sit up, take notice, and
throw away the old negative views that were once bring us
down and preventing us from living life the way it should
be lived.
Here are some easy steps to help you get started.
1) Don’t View The World As A Bad Place.
We are bombarded daily with news of wars, terrorist
threats, murders and unspeakable crimes. By focussing on
all the negative events that are going on around us, we
lose sight of all the great things that are happening, but
not getting into the news.
Any news, good or bad is only so depending on how YOU
interpret it. We can’t, and shouldn’t, ignore the bad
things, but we must learn to put them into perspective and
decide how we will focus on them.
2)Start Dreaming Again.
Grab yourself a pen and paper, find yourself a quiet corner
and let your mind go wild. Really think about what you want
to have and do, but do not worry yourself about how you are
going to get them. Write them all down as soon as they
flash into your mind and keep going until you feel you are
done. When you have finshed, put them in order of
importance to you, and really start to feel them taking
shape. Imagine each and every one of these as being real,
feel how it would feel to have them happen and feel how
great that feeling is. Look at your list regulary and
always imagine how great you will feel when you have
accomplished the goal.
3) Look For The Good Side.
No matter what the situation, train yourself to look at a
good side of where you are now.
For instance, what if you are really unhappy with your
current job? Stop focussing on the fact that you hate your
job, instead take positives from what you are getting out
of it at the moment. For example, you are recieving money,
you probably learnt a skill that you can use later in
another job, you are meeting people and possably developing
friendships and so much more. Now if you really do hate your
job, then you need to look for something that you will
enjoy, but at the same time be content knowing that it is
short term and that you are getting something from your
current position. Use this time to learn as much as you can
so you can take these exeriences on with you to the next
job.
4) Action Your Dreams.
This is one of the hardest, yet one of the most rewarding
tasks. Your dream will forever be a dream unless you take
some form of action to make it a reality. You need to focus
your thoughts on why you want this to happen and then use
all that positive energy to push past any fears you may
have. Know deep down inside that it will happen, really
believe it, and guess what.. you will start to find ways to
achieve it. Remember, don’t focus on what you DON’T want
(eg I don’t want this job I’m in) but focus on what you do
want and GET EXCITED ABOUT IT. The more excited you become,
the better the chances are that you will succeed.
5) Ignore Negative Advice.
Loved ones, friends and aquaintances will often
unintentionally offer advice and comments that are less
than useful to your cause. The trick is to listen to the
advice offered, decide if it serves any purpose to your
cause, and if not, discard it without dwelling on it. If
you let negative thoughts occupy your mind for too long
they start to alter your perception on how you see things,
and may steer you from your original course.
Your mind is the driving force behind everything you do.
Ultimately you have the final say on how you perceive and
react to circumstances and challenges. Being aware of your
thoughts and emotions will help you to move away from
negative thinking and remind you to look at these issues
from a different point of view. Your negative thoughts
are just a habit that you have picked up from a lifetime
of being surrounded by negativity.
You have the option to change this habit at any moment.
Use that power now and take back control of your life.
