Being On Purpose
What if there was a different option to pass/fail? Let’s EXPERIMENT with what we do every day instead of succumbing to the personal low of failing if something doesn’t turn out the way we want or expect.
I reference the Ladder of Consciousness during this video, so be sure and watch that other Ask Arminda if you’re unfamiliar with it!
Oftentimes our fears feel very real to us and simply dismissing the fear as made-up seems trite. How can you use your fears as a starting point to a greater you?
The magic lies in the experience of fear, itself. When we feel fear it’s our opportunity to slow ourselves down and explore the starting point for that emotion of fear and then reframe and move past the fear so we’re no longer in our own way.
Let’s play a game!
You have a question about your life or someone else’s life and the way everybody shows up?
Ask me.
You’re wondering how to move your happy meter higher so you can experience happiness the majority of the time?
Ask me.
Why would anyone get a life coach?
Ask me.
My most embarrassing childhood memories?
Ask me.
You’re creative and have your own questions?
Ask me.
If every smile is a direct achievement, then I’m well on my way to a lifetime achievement award because just like Buddy the Elf, “smiling is my favorite!”
Take time today to notice your face. Be consciously aware of what you’re emoting to yourself and to those around you.
When something pulls the corners of your mouth down and/or furrows your brow, borrow the advice from one of my favorite childhood songs: “If you chance to meet a frown, do not let it stay! Quickly turn it upside down and smile that frown away!”
The song reminds us that “No one likes a frowny face; change it for a smile. Make the world a better place by smiling all the while.”
Make your world a better place.
Smile.
Achieve that.
While the New York City bakery in front of which sat this brilliant billboard was promoting more cookie sales (an initiative I fully endorse), it was the message above the hashtag that struck me.
When we set resolutions, whether at the beginning of a calendar year or at the beginning of a new day, how often do we resolve to simply be happy?
What might that look like for you?
Often we think of happiness as an external something to be obtained, rather than a choice we make on the inside.
Are the goals, initiatives, objectives and resolutions you set for yourself serving you and your personal growth? Or are they overwhelming, discouraging, demotivating, and frustrating your progression?
For me, resolving to let myself be happy means asking myself whether my goals are truly serving me. If the answer is anything but a resounding YES, then I course correct and set a new resolution. No decision is ever final and I’m allowed to renegotiate with myself.
What does a happiness resolution look like for you?
Listen to your internal indicators and notice any red flags that might be trying to get your attention.
Is it time to renegotiate with yourself?
Make it simple: choose happy.
When asked if she had any advice for others, she replied:
1. Read a lot.
2. Exercise once every day.
3. Eat healthy.
4. Study hard.
5. Be with people who make you happy.
Thank you, Maia, for this profoundly simple list. Thank you for reminding me that being human, while not always pixies and fairy dust, is what we make of it, despite what gets chosen for us.
1. I’m currently reading two books: Mastery by George Leonard & Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins.
2. I’ll be taking my dogs out for a good dose of sunshine this afternoon.
3. I love drinking my kale; my favorite combo is 1/2 lemon, 2 apples, 1 inch of ginger, & a bunch of kale all served through the juicer. Yum 🙂
4. Life is my text book and I’m so grateful for all my lessons.
5. My people make me so very happy.
Take a moment for a personal inventory.
Now is your perfect opportunity.
Systems, organization, programs and checklists have always been my thing. My entire corporate career (who am I kidding? my entire LIFE) was built in and around systems and checklists. I loved the orderliness of it all; the sense of grand accomplishment at checking off my boxes as I tracked my way to another completed report, sale, achievement, or goal.
Until I hit my wall.
That wall of frustration and overwhelm and exhaustion that felt like all I was doing was living for my lists, yet never quite satisfied with me. There in the middle of it all.
Systems can be wonderful inasmuch as they are implemented and used to support us: the person using the system or part of the bigger program. The tricky part comes when we get lost in the system.
Because the minute I’m serving a system instead of a system serving me, then that is the very minute to shut it down.
At the very least, it’s a red flag to reevaluate the role of the program or guiding principle. Is there a reset button you can employ? What if you look at things from a different angle? Is there another function for that program?
I’ve shut down more than one system in my life and I’ve revamped others based on a current need. There will be more reworks in my future, as my world evolves.
Remember, there will never be a system, program or process more important than you.
Is there a system waving its red flag at you?
I LOVE being noticed because I’m different.
Because what I offer my clients is different.
Because I have my own way of putting myself together.
Because I don’t subscribe to the conventional wisdom.
Because what I do works for me.
Because my different is exactly what I love most about me.
What’s your different?
The “achievement” of happiness is not a linear equation.
You will never be happy when ___________ happens, or arrives, or is completed, or you get the idea.
Happiness happens because you create it in spite of the line you’re walking.
Being happy is a conscious choice you get to make every single day from the inside out.
Choose you. Choose happy.