Where's Your Core?

We all have one, a core. Different from a soul or spirit, our core is the “who” of who we are. It’s about what we believe. We know success is based on action—yet our actions are the results of our beliefs.

So, here are a few ideas on how you can take beliefs and turn them into actions. And yes, this has a lot to do with your personal health, wellness and well-being.

• You can do almost anything you have the desire and skills and drive to do. In today’s world it no longer matters so much that you are discovered. You get to discover yourself. Through social media, today, everyone can publish their own work, create their own products, and attract their own customers. The only thing holding you back is your willingness to take the leap and try. Don’t wait for others to select you—select yourself—then spread the word.
• Pay it forward—great movie, great idea. And, it works. Sure, you expect to be compensated for your efforts, whether it involves weight loss, smoking cessation, increased physical activity, or the effort you make through work. The thing is, you don’t know ahead of time, ahead of making the effort, whether or not the effort you make will pay off.  Yet when you see your “compensation” as the reward for the effort rather than the reason for the effort, you are paying it forward.
• Wellness, like illness is contagious. Doing what “everyone” else does means you will do no more than the average of your friends, associates, co-workers—you get the picture. Do more. Be more. It’s true that sometimes the best opportunities are those found in those places where no one else is looking. Look for those places in your life where you can go that proverbial extra mile.
• What does perseverance have to do with success? It’s not always about being the first one with the newest idea. It’s not always about having the best idea. Sometimes those new ideas result in burn-out and discouragement. When that happens others may stop trying. Being the best can sometimes mean, you’re still there plugging along. No compromises.
• More on success...According to Steve Jobs, “You can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in the future.” At the same time, it’s important to note that success is not inevitable—it only seems that way once it has been achieved. There’s a lot in between that each of us must do to make that happen.
• One more thing, and it’s important...implementation is everything. Intent is important, but it doesn’t get you where you want to be. You need a plan. You need to implement that plan. You need to change it when change is needed. Your success doesn’t come from intentions. It comes from the implementation and execution of those intentions.

The takeaway?  If you’re willing to make a change, try something new, something better, there will come a day when you will look back with pride on your accomplishment. You will look back in pride on the part you played in making your life a little better—and that in itself is a huge accomplishment. 

How’s that for creating a foundation, getting to the core, or heart of who you are, and who you want to be?

There’s Always the Option of Doing Nothing

Have you ever felt you were trapped in an empty, abandoned place, with no way out?

We like to think we are the makers of our destiny. We want to think we will in time accomplish our goals and that our choices are endless. But those choices will work for us or against us, and will more than likely determine whether or not we achieve our goals. It’s what paralyzes some of us into choosing the option of doing nothing. 

Sometimes though, that might not be the worst thing we can do. Do something or do nothing. That leaves the door open to the opportunity of doing the right thing, the wrong thing or that thing that just really doesn’t matter, or for the moment of doing nothing. Goals require commitment, and as we work toward those goals, sometimes what the commitment itself requires changes along the way. And, it’s that change itself that might actually get in your way.

In its own way, the option of doing nothing is an action all in itself. It opens the path to not giving up, not moving forward in an unproductive direction, yet leaving all options available. We, all of us, tend to believe that when we choose one option, that excludes the others—and that’s not always true—it’s just how we tend to view it. Maybe, sometimes it’s the absolutely easiest way to view it? 

Through life, we continue to learn to know ourselves. Our attitudes and behaviors change over time, we re-define who we are, and as a result, our decisions and actions change. The option of doing nothing isn’t a cop-out, but in a way, it’s a time-out, making time to change direction, to re-program our course.

Moving forward, being persistent, meeting challenges are good things, as long as you know the “who, what, when, where, how and why’s.” Yet, it’s probably safe to say, most of us reach a point, maybe reach that point many times over, when we can’t answer those questions. Things change. We want to move forward, but may not be sure quite how, or in what direction. 

Choosing the option of doing nothing doesn’t mean we won’t continue on our path, it only means we look at it again, make corrective changes, and then move forward once again.

The Thing About Numbers ... And Grocery Stores

Well, the thing about numbers is, they don’t tell the whole story. Numbers can be massaged, statistics can lie, and many can be presented in ways that tell one story from one perspective, and this is important, because perspectives, and what they mean, can be different for every individual. We are all not the same.

This is actually good news. We don’t all want to be the same. It’s like going to the grocery store – there are choices. There are things there that look good, yet aren’t. Things we might like to try, but don’t. Things we know are bad for us, and we turn away, and then the times we turn to those old friends for comfort.  There are those things that might intimidate us, that we are unfamiliar with, and things that don’t appeal to our tastes at all. We make our choices and add them to our carts. That grocery store is a lot like life, and how we maneuver, advance, retreat, and move forward again through it all. It’s all a form of progress.

How does progress improve your life? Why is it important to be motivated to make positive lifestyle changes? What are you willing to change, and what can you realistically do to make those changes? What are your long-term goals, and what do you need to do or change to be able to achieve those goals? Take a few minutes to read these questions again and give them some thought. When you answer them, you’ve taken the first step to creating your own set of expectations that will provide the confidence that, yes, with determination, purpose and self-belief, you can do it.

The question we all ask is, exactly how do I do it? How do I start? Tell me what to do? And, that’s exactly the wrong question.

Start with the commitment that you will. Start with small goals. Start with what you know you will and can do. Be mindful of the choices you make. Build from there.

That sounds simple enough, but keep in mind that simple and easy are not the same thing. So, add to that list, don’t let yourself become discouraged when you hit a roadblock. Setbacks happen. Treat them as guides, not breaks. 

Then, make your choices, and make them again and again until you know you are making the right choices for you. Then, move forward.