from Sibyl Chavis of The Alternaview.
Are you living better today than you were yesterday?
Are you continually accomplishing bigger and bigger goals? Are you getting better at what you do? Are you tapping into your strengths and are they improving?
As time goes on, are you feeling better and experiencing more and more happiness? Are you continually learning how to work well and relate to others?
Is there less and less emotional drama and conflict surfacing in your daily experiences? Are things in your life overall just getting better and better?
Now, for many of us, the answers to these questions will be mixed. We have those areas of life where we are doing really well (i.e. career, relationships, being in great shape and exercising) and possibly areas where we could be doing better (i.e. achieving long term goals).
In some areas, we may have really figured things out, but there are those other areas that we know are lagging behind and where we have yet to realize our full potential. Maybe we haven’t really given absolutely everything we know we can or we have allowed things to interfere with our continual drive and ability to push forward in certain areas.
Many people assume that this mixed bag of success is no big deal.
They may look at life as if it were a diverse stock portfolio…some areas of their life are on track and others are not performing as well, but it is the sum of all the parts and the overall total that really matters. As long as that is tracking well, then there is no need to change course.
However, for those of us who are really interested in realizing life’s full potential and accomplishing everything we are capable of, we should understand there is a different perspective we need to explore…an alternaview we should take note of.
If we aren’t moving forward in any area of life, then we need to take notice and commit to making some changes. We should be doing all we can to avoid holding patterns or moving backwards when it comes to any area of life. We have to continually make sure we are making progress, and improving.
Because every aspect of life is supposed to continually improve and get better.
Granted, things may not always go the way we planned, but in one way or another everything should be progressing and moving you forward. We are supposed to get better and better at living and should experience increasing benefits as a result of our genuine desire and efforts.
Consequently, the question we should continually ask ourselves is: are we living today better than we did yesterday? And, in order to honestly answer this question in the affirmative, we must be progressing in all aspects of life…not just in some areas.
Everything should be continually improving and we should see progress in all aspects of life:
Goals: Identifying and accomplishing more and more goals; doing things today that we may have not been ready to accomplish before
Relationships: Continually improving our ability to relate well to others; having enduring friendships and amazing relationships
Spirituality/Religion (or whatever else helps you tick): Expanding clarity and understanding of experiences, your purpose, and life in general
Material Success: Getting things you desire. Yes, it is okay to have material things as long as you keep things in balance and realize they don’t define who you are.
Physical Condition: In great shape, exercising, getting healthier
And, if we take an honest look and feel we are not taking full advantage of our ability to move forward in any aspect of life, we make a commitment to ourselves to change and improve.
How?
1. Tap into your internal drive: Tap into that internal desire that is always driving you to do anything and everything to be better. If you haven’t seen it in a while…find it. Refuse to remain stagnant in any area or settle for anything less than moving forward each day in every aspect of life. It not only is possible, but what we are meant to do.
2. Don’t let life happen by default: Take the time and clearly define your vision for each area of life. Strategically set yourself up to move forward in each area. What do you ultimately want to accomplish in each area? What are the steps you can take? You get to decide, so make sure that you do.
3. Commit to your pursuit & GO: Make a commitment to yourself that you will pursue and make progress everyday, even if it is only a small step. Focus the majority of your thoughts and efforts toward consciously improving yourself in the ways you defined. Aggressively attack your plan and move.
4. Deny distractions the right to your attention: You get to choose what you focus on and you can choose to avoid negativity, conflict or anything else that will take away from your ability to focus on what you are ultimately trying to do. No more needless conflict or judgments about people. Avoid being sucked into other people’s drama. You have bigger things to focus on and much more important things to do.
5. Acknowledge your progress: Give yourself the credit you deserve when you make progress. Allow the progress you make day after day to reinforce your confidence that you are doing the right thing and that you are on the right path. You have to find a way to continually be motivated to do all you need to do and your progress can serve as motivation. Appreciate that you are moving in the right direction.
6. No Excuses: Realize the time is now…not tomorrow, not a year from now. Don’t make any excuses or overlook the need to move forward in any area of life TODAY. It is time to go … no excuses.
Don’t set your bar too low. If you don’t feel like you are moving forward in a particular area, it is time to do something about it. Don’t run on the hamster wheel of life (it doesn’t matter how fast you are going if you aren’t going anywhere). We are supposed to become better and better at living and experience a more profound and enriching life as time continues. We are meant to continually move forward in every area of life.
This is your playground, and it is designed for you to live and learn and do things you may have never thought were possible. Don’t miss out on your opportunity. Live today better than yesterday … that is the alternaview.
Are you living today better than yesterday? Do you agree that you should be? What are your thoughts?
To read more from Sibyl, check out her blog, The Alternaview, or subscribe to her RSS feed.
