At the end of 2015, I had just finished The Power of Positive Thinking and I liked the way it sounded. My expectation of what a life of positivity would cultivate excited me. So, without any better judgment, I defined what my core values would revolve around.
My governing principles, if you will.
By doing this, it became much easier for me to make decisions when faced with a fork in the road; it brought upon new opportunities; and it has been my hands-down best-year-ever! If you have not thought about putting your main beliefs, values, and goals on paper….DO THIS NOW. A few of my agreements are as follows:
- Prioritizing my happiness based on “My Big 3” on a 1 (least) to 13 (most) rating of satisfaction for my Faith, Family, and Fitness.
- Surround myself with great people. I sought out people who I admired. If there is a person that I want to connect with, I invite them into them gym and ask if I could help them with their physical fitness. BAM. Win-win situations are what I like.
- I define my success into a tangible number expressed by the following relationship:
(the number of talents I actively utilize) _
(the total number of talents I am blessed with)
- In the first point, I mentioned “My Big 3,” but there is actually a fourth F in the equation… Any guesses? If finances were your answer, you are correct. Having said that, it is important and beneficial to value them in this order. If money is the goal, you will not be happy. Not if you make 20k; not even if you make 200k. Because there will always be somebody that is making more than you. But I made it my business to produce way more smiles in my line of work. And these are my favorite currency!
- In case you skipped over a bit of the last section, I will say it again. Being generous in all that I have has led to a completely different way of viewing things. Mentoring my buddy Teddy has not only led to him smiling more often, but also opened up the possibility of me competing on American Ninja Warrior in the near future. That’s worth getting excited about, right?!!
- Tithe generously, not comfortably. Another financial one? Really? Yup. Since tithing regularly I have seen more blessings in my relationships, business, and in people surrounding me much more often.
- Invest wisely. I am not talking about the stock market. I am talking about investing into myself. I prioritize the day so I have time to exercise and continue to educate myself. It takes a very mentally active person to think proactively and live a healthy lifestyle; however, it is easy for anybody to live based solely off reactions and come to a considerably unhealthy state. We all have the same 24 hours, the difference is in how we chose to spend them.
Making these changes may be hard. So what’s the single best step to starting on yours? Get an accountability partner. Whether you pay for a business coach, or even have a really, really, really close friend, they need to be able to give you unbiased truths for the purpose of your benefit and happiness. (Pictured above is my best accountability partner, who goes by the aliases: Scooby, Fred, Sket, and The Captain)