Tag Archives: challenges

5 Tips To Shift Your Crappy Life

Leave a reply

Life can be a bitch sometimes, can’t it? It can downright suck at times. We’ve all been there! And there are ways to shift your outlook deliberately so that you can feel better.

Do you have any rituals that you do? One of mine every year is to review in my old journals to see where I was in the previous years. The majority of the time it puts me into a state of gratitude to NOT be where I was before!

As March is my birthday month, I recently did this activity. I found the date when I was able to define my purpose statement of bringing joy to the world—on March 22, 2011! That was on the spring equinox eight years ago. That has put me on a trajectory that I couldn’t even imagine at that time! Life is like that!

Here are 5 Tips that help shift how you look at life and to gain clarity…

1. The Reverse Gap

So often we are focused on the future that we forget to appreciate the small things of each and every day. There is a gap between where you are and where you want to be. When you look back, it brings you to a place you can feel grateful for today. This act of looking back is a strategy called the reverse gap. It helps you to find joy right now with where you are at the moment.

So often we are focused on the future that we forget to appreciate the small things of each and every day. There is a gap between where you are and where you want to be. When you look back, it brings you to a place you can feel grateful for today. This act of looking back is a strategy called the reverse gap. It helps you to find joy right now with where you are at the moment.

2. Your Personal Purpose

Figure out why you are here! Why were you born? What special gifts and talents do you have to share with the world? I often say that discovering your personal purpose is the most significant inner work you can do for yourself. It helps to steer your path from that point on. And it also helps you to appreciate the entire journey that you have been on so far!

3. Practice Compassion Not Judgment

Everything that we experience in our lives is unique to each and every one of us. This is why it is so important not to judge others—because we simply do NOT know their path! Find ways to have compassion for others as we are all on a challenging journey! Be a conscious creator of your life and know that your thoughts and feelings affect not only you but also others around you. So refuse to be toxic by judging others but rather spread love through compassion.

4. Reframe Your Challenges

Once you can look at the challenges and the hard times of your life as big learning experiences that have helped you to grow in immense ways, it helps to alleviate some of the pain from those times. I’ve never heard anyone say that they didn’t learn something from their challenges and more often than not, people have grown more than they ever thought possible. Eventually you can find ways to be grateful for those challenges. It might be tough when you’re in the thick of it, but know that this too shall pass!

5. Find Your Sense of Direction

Knowing your personal purpose gives you a sense of direction and clarity. It helps to make sense of the madness of your life previously—you know all those crazy turns and decisions where you wonder later on why the heck did I do that? And it helps you to make solid decisions going into the future. You can discover that there is a red thread running through your entire life. And it helps you have clarity going into the future when you do have that sense of direction to guide you.

Using rituals or taking the time to just think or journal can offer that simple pause in life—where you consciously take a moment to appreciate where you are right now.

In this crazy busy world we live in, I think these are some of the best ways to stay sane and on track! What are some of the rituals, habits, or activities that keep you moving forward?

Change Doesn’t Have to Suck: 3 Strategies for Dealing with It

Leave a reply

Changes Ahead sign against a blue sky with rainbow. Concept of situation change for the better.

Life is Change, Change is Constant….Growth is Optional

We often think that people are resistant to change. The truth is that life is ALWAYS changing, no matter what happens. Just like water flowing through a stream, life needs to flow and expand. What happens to water when it is stuck in a puddle? It becomes stagnant and eventually it stinks! The same is true for our lives. We are meant to grow and expand.

The Universe is in constant motion, continually expanding at 1.3 billion miles per hour! We are in a time of accelerated change in our world now too. In this century, we’re not going to experience 100 years of change—it’s going to be 20,000 years of change!

Humans are a very adaptable species. It’s how we have survived so far! I often enjoy having conversations with people from different generations. What I have learned is that we have different phases and in each decade, the challenges we face change with time. Right now, I’m in the sandwich generation with children and my elderly mother. And having teenagers is very different from young children. Before I know it, they’ll be out of the house and it’ll be time for a new phase again.

It is how we manage change that makes your life either a great ride or total misery. How adaptable are you? Do you resist or embrace change? Are you afraid or ready to take it on? Here are three helpful strategies I’ve learned along the way to manage change.

1. Life Is Happening FOR You, Not TO You

“Why is this happening to me?” is one of the most disempowering questions. It robs us of our power and puts us into a victim mentality where you feel out of control. When you ask, “why is life happening FOR me?”, you get different answers. It gives you an opportunity to look for lessons and growth. It helps to reframe challenges in a way that is very empowering.

2. Expect Change

When you know that change is constant, you don’t get quite as surprised with anything that might be changing. Of course, make plans and take steps to progress but also know that there generally isn’t a straight line from A to Z. It’s a very zigzag line. To paraphrase Steve Jobs from one of his famous commencement speeches, you can connect the dots looking forward, only looking backwards. So sometimes things happen that don’t make sense now, but it might in the future.

3. Go With The Flow

I can’t even tell you how often this one has helped me. If you are rigid against change, then it can hurt. But if you are fluid like water, then you can much more easily accept the changes and adjust as needed. Take a deep breath and try to see things from a new perspective.

These three strategies are all based in a deeper foundation of trust. Know the power that you have within you to create your life. Our thoughts and words are powerful so put yourself in the driver’s seat and create the life you want to have!