SELF IMPROVEMENT AND MOTIVATION

The next step you take is the one that matters. You have the power to choose right now what that step will be.  Even if you’ve been going for weeks or for years in a negative direction, your next step can be a positive one. Even if it’s a small positive step, it can change your direction and establish a new momentum. No matter where you are or what you’ve done or failed to do, you can now choose to move toward what you value most. The way to make that choice is with your next step.  You can wish and hope and plan and talk about where you want to go. Yet it is your next step that will actually begin to get you there.  Your next step sets the direction for your future. And you have the opportunity right now to decide what that next step will be.  Your next step is ready and waiting for you to take it. Choose to make it one that will move your whole world forward. 

If you’re filled with resentment or frustration, you’re wasting your precious time and energy. The more quickly you can let the bad stuff go, the more quickly you can move on to the good stuff.  People and events will regularly cause delays, inconveniences, expenses, disappointments and worse in your life. Don’t add to the damages by letting those things keep you down. When people have wronged you or events have sidetracked you, you have plenty of great reasons for complaints and excuses. But complaints and excuses don’t provide anything of value to your life. Although whatever has happened to you may be highly unfair, wrong and inconsiderate, consider letting it go. For your own sake, consider letting it go. Instead of giving others the power to get you down, give yourself the power to move forward. Instead of being content to collect those complaints and excuses, enjoy the freedom and satisfaction of making life positive and fulfilling no matter what. Make the choice to live with...

Whatever it is you wish to accomplish, you can do it. You can do it if you will take the time and make the effort. Very likely you have talked yourself out of it, and others have talked you out of it, too. Nonetheless, you can do it by making the choice and making the commitment. It will demand the best of you, but that’s a benefit rather than a drawback. Giving your all while working toward a meaningful goal is one of the most empowering things you can do. And you can do it, without question, without a doubt. You can do it when you choose to start and continue making the choice to keep going. Whatever may seem to be beyond your reach begins to draw closer the moment you begin to do the work. Instead of complaining that you don’t know what to do, just do what you can and make the commitment to learn more each step of the way. You are here right now to achieve great and wonderful things. You can, so do it.

There is greatness within you. Allow it to come out, and let all the world benefit from what you have to offer. There are strengths and abilities within you, ready to be put to good use. Focus on a meaningful purpose, and allow those strengths and abilities to flower. You have courage, determination, focus, discipline, creativity and passion within you. As you face life’s many challenges, remind yourself to call upon all those valuable qualities. There is the power of love within you. Let that love always make a difference in the lives of those around you. There is unique, original beauty within you. As you live each day, express that beauty in whatever you do, making it ever more abundant. There is real, true, rich and wonderful life within you. In every moment, every day, live it as fully as you can imagine.

Challenge is a fact of life. Though it might seem nice to trade your own particular challenges for somebody else’s, you’d likely find those other challenges to be just as burdensome. Instead of seeking to be free of your challenges, seek to be motivated to move successfully through them. A life with no challenge is a life with no opportunity for growth, fulfillment or satisfaction. Your challenges are yours for a very good reason. They are precisely the challenges that will enable you to grow stronger, more capable, and more fulfilled. So don’t resent the challenges, and don’t avoid those challenges. Don’t complain about the challenges or pretend they’re not there. Deal with each challenge and become stronger. Work through every challenge and feel the confidence that comes from knowing you can do it. Life’s challenges give you the opportunity to experience yourself growing stronger. See each challenge for the potential value it represents, and make that value your own. 

Punishing yourself for your mistakes won’t erase them or move you forward. Being angry and disappointed at yourself for a missed opportunity or a wasted day won’t achieve anything positive. Instead, forgive yourself, and free yourself from your past mistakes. Forgive yourself, learn from those mistakes, and turn your attention to what you can do now. Choose to be more determined, more committed, and more focused rather than being angry. Transform the energy of disappointment and regret into useful action and achievement. Whatever may have happened or failed to happen in the past, you have this moment right now. And you can make productive, meaningful use of it, beginning right now. You don’t have to let a disappointing experience turn into negative momentum. You have the power to instantly put yourself on a positive path, so make the choice to exercise that power. Look ahead, imagine the best, and get yourself busy moving forward. Leave the regrets about the past in the past, and find ...

The best of life is not out of your reach. It is here in this moment. It is outstanding to dream, to plan, to work toward a meaningful goal and to achieve great and valuable things. But you don’t have to wait for later to get the most out of life. Everything you need to enjoy the richness of life is here now, today, where you are. With what you have, with what you know, with what you feel and with what’s available to you, you can experience life at its best. The key for doing so is to live with purpose, with authentic passion, with enthusiasm and genuine gratitude. In whatever situation you may find yourself, with whatever else you may have, you have the privilege of experiencing life from your own unique perspective. Let go of the illusion that something else, something out there, something apart from you will make you happy. Let happiness and real, true joy flow from whatever you’re doing, wherever you are. This day is too precious to waste it waiting or hoping for things to be diffe...

Stop for a moment and consider how rich you are right now, today. Then you can step forward and live the benefits of that richness. You are alive and aware in a universe filled with abundance. That’s worth more than you could possibly calculate, and there’s no limit to what you can do with that richness. Yet there’s much, much more. For you can learn, you can explore, you can connect, you can build and create and add more wisdom and experience on top of the wealth you already have. If one area of your life seems to be lacking in richness, you can make use of the richness in other areas to overcome that deficit. Whatever problem or challenge may confront you, there is plenty of richness and energy in your life to move you beyond it. Living successfully is largely a matter of appreciating and utilizing what you have. So make it a point to regularly feel the immense power and value of what you have, and to focus that value on moving forward. You are truly rich today, and the more fully yo...

If you want to feel great, get yourself up and make some progress. If you seek to have new, powerful energy, get yourself busy making a meaningful difference. Don’t worry too much about how you’ll get it all done or how much you’ll be rewarded. Let it be reward enough to make a valuable difference, and many other rewards will naturally flow from that. Get started making a positive difference in the world, and build some positive momentum. Once you’re moving along and creating value, you’ll find plenty of ways to keep going. If there’s something that’s been weighing you down, stop fretting over it and start working on it. There’s much you can do to make progress, so get yourself busy moving beyond the burden. Today is filled with possibilities, so make use of them to make some progress. And feel how great it feels to watch as your efforts move your world forward.

When your efforts bring disappointment, the worst thing you can do is abandon those efforts. Keep making the efforts, and eventually you’ll work your way to the results you desire. Quitting won’t end your frustration or despair. On the contrary, quitting will just lock the frustration and despair permanently in place. Instead of giving up, make the commitment to work through. Work through the disappointments, work through the discouragement, work through the frustration and work your way toward success. When you feel like stopping, like you’re hitting the wall, keep going. Keep going and you’ll get through that wall into a more creative, productive state of flow. You’ve worked your way this far, and you certainly have it in you to work on through the problem, or discouragement, or disillusionment or whatever. Your focused, committed effort will get you to the other side. Engage the ability you have to work through. And nothing will be able to stop you.

Put some adventure in this day. Put some richness and meaning in this day.  Put some love, compassion, tolerance and understanding in this day. Put some action and achievement in this day.  Today is what you make it, so make it full and valuable. The day you experience will be the sum of your choices, so make those choices meaningful and beneficial.  Imagine that this day is a shopping basket which you can fill with things that express and fulfill your dreams and values. Then use the opportunity that’s right in front of you to load up your basket with richness and goodness.  Put some creativity and joy in this day. Put the very best of yourself into every moment.  This is your chance to make today a day that you’ll always look back upon and treasure. Seize the opportunity of this day to put a whole lot of good stuff into your world. 

There are many people in this world who would dearly love to have what you have. Plenty of other people would love to know what you know, to experience what you’ve experienced, and to live in the way you live. Don’t let yourself become so accustomed to your many blessings that you discount them. There is enormous value in your life, and so many great things you can do with it. Real gratitude goes beyond just thinking thankful thoughts and saying thankful words. The power of gratitude comes when you make good and meaningful use of all those things for which you’re thankful. You have been entrusted with a whole lot of great value. Your best response is to find delight and fulfillment in making it into even greater value. Truly enjoy all the good things you have, and then go beyond enjoyment. Expand and share, magnify, multiply and utilize all those things. Let your achievements set the stage for new achievements. With thankfulness in your heart and in your actions, create a constant upwa...

When you try too hard to be creative, all you get is trying and not much creating. Let go of the trying, let go of the striving, and let the creative thoughts flow. You are filled with spectacular thoughts and ideas for making life more beautiful and fulfilling. The problem is, most of those ideas never reach the surface because you’re trying so hard to think of other things. So just ease off the trying and enjoy watching and listening as your thoughts naturally come into your awareness. Instead of getting all uptight with the goal of a particular thought in mind, just pay attention to what your authentic self is telling you. Before long, if you simply let your thoughts flow, something very useful and appropriate will come along. It will have the added benefit of being elegant and original. There is so much value in your authentic thoughts that you don’t ever have to settle for contrived thoughts. Be grateful and joyful about who you are, and you will easily come to understand what you...

Today is a great day to celebrate freedom. It’s also a good time to remember to use your freedom wisely and responsibly. When you are free to think, speak and act as you wish, anything is possible. It’s up to you to follow the best, most loving, beneficial and life-enhancing of those possibilities. Freedom is best maintained by those who make good use of it. Rather than taking your freedom for granted, take it as a challenge to make a significant, continuing contribution to life. The way to truly celebrate and show appreciation for freedom is to make it even more valuable for yourself and others. Follow those great opportunities that freedom makes possible. You can choose how to live your life, and from that fact springs a never-ending flow of great possibilities. Whether life has been fulfilling or difficult, satisfying or disappointing, you can always choose to move forward toward a more rewarding place. Celebrate and value your freedom today and every day with the way you live. You ...

In every single moment, you’re able to form a unique and useful picture of life. When you think about it, that’s pretty amazing. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, you always have a story to tell in a way that’s never been told before. Consider the profound value of that. You’re thinking all the time, and each thought helps you to more clearly understand and express the purpose that is uniquely yours. In even the most seemingly trivial thoughts, you have the opportunity to better know yourself. You don’t have to always demand to be entertained by others. Take some time to be enlightened and enriched by your own thoughts about your life and your world. Allow the thoughts to come, allow them to go, and take note of the ones that feel interesting, intriguing, and right. Your story is always adapting and evolving, and you can gain great value by learning from it. Your mind is an endless source of great and appropriate ideas. Pay attention, and enjoy living your own unique greatness.

What are you waiting for? Whatever it is, stop waiting and start living. The purpose of your life is already here, so live it. The meaning, the beauty, the opportunities, the resources, the time and the inspiration are already here, so go ahead and make full use of them. Just dive right in to the substance of life. Start where you are, for the sooner your efforts begin, the more you’ll achieve. Indulge that persistent longing to be creative, to say what you really mean and to live the reality of what you truly love. Everything necessary is already here, and so are you. Let go of the excuses and silly rationalizations and let yourself live this day in all its beauty and glory. Stop searching and wondering and start letting your heart lead the way. Your most promising moment is already here. Grab it and joyfully go with it.