How to Achieve Great Success While Dealing With Adversity

Here’s a question for you: What are you made of? What are you really made of and how will you achieve great success? When push comes to shove, when the rubber meets the road, when the chips are down, and when you clear your mind what lies at the very core of your pillars of character?

Discovering Your Pillars of Character

You learn what you’re really made of only when things go wrong and you are tumbled, end over end, by some adversity or setback that hits you like a Mack truck coming out of an alley. Since your behaviors on the outside are the real indicators of who you are on the inside, only by observing how you behave when things go wrong can you tell what you really have inside you and of what your pillars of character consist of.

How to View Setbacks

Let’s make one thing clear at the beginning. Life is a continuous succession of both small and large problems. They never end. No sooner do you get control of one situation when you are hit by another. Life is a process of “two steps forward and one step back.” When you become a great success, you simply exchange one type of problem for another. No matter how smart and clever and careful you are, you’ll face challenges, difficulties and sometimes-heartbreaking adversities every day, week and month of your life.
And thank heaven for that! You couldn’t possibly have become the person you are today if you had not had to contend with adversity on your way up. Perhaps your chief aim in life and in your definition of great success is to develop a noble character, to become an excellent human being, to become everything you are capable of becoming. Only by contending with challenges that seem to be beyond your strength to handle at the moment can you grow more surely toward the stars and build upon your pillars of character.

Develop Pillars of Character and Clear Your Mind

Clear your mind – this is the starting point in creating great success in your business and personal like is in dealing with any difficulty is simply to relax – to clear your mind. Get yourself into a state where you’re calm and cool and in full control of your emotions and your begin to develop your pillars of character. Back off mentally, and become as objective as possible. Step back and look at the problem with a certain amount of detachment, as if it were happening to someone else. When you can clear your mind and analyze your adversities, you sometimes see opportunities to turn them to your best advantage.

How to Achieve Great Success While Dealing With Adversity

One of the rules in achieving great success and in dealing with adversity in life is that you are only as free as your well-developed alternatives. You are only as free as the options you have. Only when you can switch and do something else can you be flexible in dealing with your current situation. If you have not developed an option or an alternative, you will become anxious and even panicky when you are threatened with a sudden loss or reversal in a particular area of your life.

Keys to Success

In order to achieve great success in life, you must clear your mind and discover your pillars of character. Deal with adversity effectively; your ability to ask questions is essential. As long as you are asking questions, you are expanding the range of options and possibilities that are open to you. As long as you are asking questions, you are keeping your mind calm and cool and objective. You are not allowing yourself to get caught up emotionally, thereby shutting down large parts of your brain and your creative powers.
In order to achieve great success and overcome adversity, you must clear your mind and discover your pillars of character. Remember, as the going gets rough the strong become stronger.
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Precious Secrets for How to Achieve any purposeful Goals.

This article looks at how a deliberate shift in our views on goal setting can net drastic cumulative results in the long run.

Whether it’s career goals or personal goals, we’ve all been there – setting aggressive and sometimes overtly ambitious goals, chasing after it, hitting road bumps and eventually become de- motivated to never see the goal come to fruition.

Nobody likes to be stuck in a plateau. You might spend months working hard towards a goal without seeing any progress. It can be incredibly frustrating to feel your motivations go unrewarded.

How you react to a plateau will decide whether you’re going to eventually be successful. While many people react by burning themselves out or quitting, some people continue showing up, every day. The people that show up, through sheer patience, will eventually break through their plateau.

Why Get-Rich-Quick Schemes Fail

I see this as a blogger. A new writer will start a blog, often with great content, but after 8 months they stop blogging. Some expressed ideas that the blog would become their future business, so they can’t claim they weren’t committed. While they stopped writing, the soon-to-be successful bloggers continued to write, every day.

I see this as a gym-goer. Every January the gym is full. After a few weeks it’s quiet again. People purchased year-long memberships to use them for 3 weeks. Sure, they can claim they were too busy, or that they didn’t really need to exercise, but that’s a rationalization. While they quit, the truly healthy people continued to show up, every day.

I see this as a student. There are a lot more pre-med students than medical students. There are more people at the beginning of an academic program than at the end of it. While some people cram for exams the last minute, other people develop studying habits that last them their entire degree program.

Getting rich quick doesn’t just fail because the methods are scams. They fail because the people they attract were never interested in what it takes to succeed to begin with. They wanted an immediate solution to a problem that requires a lifetime of dedication.

The Secret to Goal Setting: Deliberate Slowness

Instead of offering the fastest path to success, I want to offer the opposite: the slowest path to success. Instead of promising you can get rich quickly, I’d like to suggest that you can get rich over several years or decades. Instead of promising to lose 14lbs in a week, I am suggesting that you can be healthy for a lifetime.

Deliberate slowness to goal setting isn’t a popular mantra these days. In a fast-paced world, everyone is looking for shortcuts. They want to know how the superstar managed to becoming incredibly successful in a few months. They don’t want to hear about the person who meticulously planned her success for a decade.

However, despite it’s lack of glamour, deliberate slowness with goal setting is a more effective mantra. It forces you to stop craving the immediate acquisition of your goal, focus on the process and get down to the doing. This focus on process makes it more likely you’ll keep your goals once you achieve them. More importantly, a focus on process allows you to actually enjoy the path to success instead of viewing everything as an obstacle towards it.

What Are You Going to Master in 10 Years?

Think about your plans in terms of the next decade, and not the next few months. When you think in terms of a decade, your strategy changes. Instead of trying to frantically push effort into the current moment, you focus on the continuous behaviors you need to succeed. Instead of trying to achieve a goal for the moment, you focus on how to sustain it for a lifetime.

Malcolm Gladwell, in his excellent book Outliers, proposes that it takes 10,000 hours to master any skill. Virtuosos and computer hackers alike all need to put 10,000 hours of work in before they reach true mastery of their craft. If you spent 3 hours a day, for almost every day of the year, it would take you a decade to master a skill.

Instead of looking for the quickest route, look for the most sustainable route. Don’t worry about what will get you there immediately, look at what will keep you there in five to ten years.

As a blogger, this means continually outputting content, on a regular schedule. My own website (ScottHYoung.com) has over 700 articles in the archive, most of which still gain traffic and comments to this day.

As a gym-goer, this means sustaining the exercise habit, rather than adopting radical workout strategies. I’ve been going to the gym 3-5 days per week for over four years. Instead of taking on every dieting fad, I try to maintain a simple diet that is both healthy and sustainable.

My goal setting aims for the long-term. I don’t subscribe to the motivational advice saying you should manufacture unlimited confidence in yourself so you can achieve any goal. I think the downside of this approach is that whenever your false confidence doesn’t meet reality (which often happens) you crash and find it more difficult to put in the effort. I’d rather set highly realistic goals and commit to investing the energy in them day after day, year after year.

Building the Foundation

Beneath any skyscraper there is a large foundation. In order to build upwards, you first need to dig downwards, otherwise you’re resting on uncertain ground. The same is true of life. Before you can try to radically shift your blogging strategy, experiment with your gym routine or juggle a double course load, you need to build a foundation.

That foundation is your habits. The things you do, regardless of your motivation or feedback, every day and every week. I write articles for my website twice per week, regardless of whether my traffic spiked or it crashed. Regardless of whether I made a thousand dollars or a dime. I write because writing is the foundation of my work, and it comes before everything else.

If you can build the proper foundation, you can build almost anything on top of it. Because your foundation will continue to put effort in for you, even when you’re stuck in a plateau, too busy or exhausted, it is the most valuable part of your goal setting strategy. With a foundation, you can then try all the experiments and tricks you want to use to speed your success.

Figure out what you would need to do, every day or every week, in order to sustain your goal. What’s the bare minimum output level you’d need to meet. Once you define this level, make it a habit. Commit to it for at least thirty days without stop. Then commit to continuing it for another ninety days.

Once your foundation is set, you are far less likely to quit out of exhaustion or frustration. You can experience virtually any setback, and continue to show up, every day.

Goal Setting Motives – Lifestyle? Or Means to an End?

One major difference between people who continue and those who quit, is the way they approach their goals. The people who continue see the path to their goal as part of a lifestyle. The people who quit see the path to their goal is just a means to reach their objective.

If you go to the gym, is that because going to the gym is part of your lifestyle, or only because you’re trying to lose thirty pounds? Are you blogging because writing every day is part of your life, or is it just a stepping-stone in order to become wealthy?

Integrate your goals into your lifestyle. While part of this is the same as setting habits, it’s also an attitude. Ask yourself whether you would continue to work this hard, once you’ve reached your goal? If the answer is no, then you probably won’t be able to continue in the long run. If you get stuck or your goal takes longer than you realized, you may never reach it.

Set Aggressive Goals, Realistic Deadlines

Set big, world-changing goals for your life. Just be patient with the deadline. I’d rather have world-changing goals for myself that I foresee taking decades, than minor goals I anticipate accomplishing well ahead of schedule.

Your deadline is more than just a motivational tool. It also frames how you view your goal. Setting longer deadlines forces you to pick sustainable, deliberately slow strategies for success. Setting unrealistically short deadlines forces you to cut corners, take shortcuts and scam your way to the top.

Goal Setting Sustainability

Sustainability is a popular word for the environment. It means choosing solutions that will continue to work in 50 years, just as they work today. But, sustainability also applies to your life and goal setting. If you take on paths that aren’t sustainable, you’re violating the principle of deliberate slowness.

Ask yourself how long you can continue this current path. When will you give up after not seeing any results? If the answer is less than “forever”, your strategy isn’t sustainable. If there is a clearly defined quitting time, you aren’t pursuing a sustainable strategy.

I’m not saying you need to continue the same strategy forever. But, if you have the potential to do so, then you greatly increase the odds that you won’t quit for the wrong reasons.

Don’t Pursue Half-Committed Ventures

The side-lesson of deliberate slowness is that you shouldn’t pursue half-committed ventures. If you want something, you should be committed to realizing it whether it takes only a month or a decade. If you aren’t willing to wait ten years to complete your goal, then you probably don’t have the persistence it takes to see it through to the end.

When Deliberately Slow is Surprisingly Fast

In my life, I’ve taken on goals from a deliberately slow perspective. When I started my business, I set my first important income goal for three years, not six months. When I started exercising my fitness targets were measured in months, not weeks. When I set out changing habits, I did so, one at a time, for at least one month each.

Talking to a short-term thinker, and my approach seems painfully slow. They will point out how I might be able to double my business in a few months, or increase my strength within a week.

But if you actually look at the track record, deliberate slowness is the faster approach. If you only focus on one habit change per month, you can completely rewrite the behaviors of your life in less than a year. Three years to build a business looks painfully long in the future, but after it’s done, people comment on how amazing your success is.

Just Do It. (Every Day)

The current motivational mantra is “get started.” Nike says, “Just do it.” Guy Kawasaki’s book focuses on the Art of the Start. But I think a better mantra than get started would be to “show up, every day.” Instead of just trying to get started, show up every day so that you have a chance to finish.

* What are your goal setting secrets to achieving your dreams? Share your thoughts and stories in the comment section. See you there!

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How to get Wonderful Luck for purposeful life.

Have you ever wondered why some people seem so lucky?

There are numerous stories of actors who were discovered by being at the right place at the right time.

Then there are stories of those who were able to take a small loan or investment and turn it into an empire. Such stories are part of popular culture and give us hope. Yet at the same time, not many people seem to believe that they too can have good luck.

The notion of luck is something which has been part of human consciousness for a long time. I don’t know about you but I used to think that luck was handed out by some mystical being who just wielded their magic wand whenever they pleased. The way I saw it, lady luck was very fickle and very selective.

That all changed when I met the man who would become my husband. One day, we started to talk about luck and he simply told me that there was no such thing. To be candid, I thought he had lost his mind. However, despite my initial disbelief, I asked him to explain why he felt the way that he did.

He went on to tell me that people create their own destiny and that there is no need to wish people luck. He told me that events in life are not arbitrary but rather self created and realized.

What he said made sense on an instinctual level but I needed to further probe the issue. Sometimes we know things in our hearts but in order to fully grasp them, we need to experience them for ourselves. Thus began my journey to figure out luck.

Luck: Is it Destined or Created?

In my journey to understand luck, I read numerous books and articles that described the subject. Inevitably, the concept of fate and destiny came up which only seemed to confuse the issue.

Being that I am an enlightenment seeker, I do believe on some level in the concepts of fate and destiny. Yet I also believe that we have the power to overcome any situation. Nothing in life is set in stone (except for the fact that we will all pass away at some point). Free will is real and does exist. It is also a tool that we need to utilize fully. We all have the ability to rise above any situation if we want.

I have known people who were born into horrible circumstances only to rise above them and become successes in every way imaginable. In my own life, I have faced odds that seemed insurmountable but somehow I managed to overcome them. Did I consider that luck? No, I considered it a product of lots of hard work and determination.

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

~ Seneca

So was luck destined or created? Both my mind and heart started to reach the conclusion that luck was self-created…but how? I decided to talk to some people who could easily be considered lucky.

The interesting thing is that in the ten conversations that I had on the subject of luck, one common theme emerged. All the people I interviewed (a world known doctor, artist, fashion designer, game designer, monk, surfer, writer, banker, home maker and web designer) told stories of how they were doing what they loved and somehow they were presented with numerous opportunities that enabled them to make their dreams come true.

It was then that I realized that the above-mentioned quote from Seneca describes the concept of luck beautifully and accurately. In order to be “lucky” one must master being not only prepared but ready to create and take advantage of opportunities. For when the two meet, luck becomes a reality.

Preparation

1. Study

Whatever it is that you are passionate about in life, study every aspect of it. Knowledge is power.

If you are passionate about art, study what goes into the making of a painting or a sculpture. Know the details about previous art periods and the various techniques. Study the lives of the artists that you admire. Learn about the paints, the kinds of canvases and all the tools involved in making a masterpiece. Basically, learn every single possible thing there is to know about art.

Expertise is not something you are born with…it is something that you earn and develop. Read books and listen to lectures on your area of passion. It doesn’t matter what your passion is…just master it. If you want to be the best mother there is in the world, then read up on the subject.

2. The 10,000 Hour Rule

The author Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers described the 10,000 Hour Rule as a reason why some people become successful. This rule is based on a study that was conducted by Anders Ericsson.

In this study, it was discovered that those who became successful in their given field had practiced it for a total of 10,000 hours prior to being discovered. In Gladwell’s book, he uses the example of the Beatles and how they practiced for 10,000 hours prior to becoming famous.

The point of this rule is that practice makes perfect. Or rather, practice helps turn luck from a concept into a reality.

Of course, this leads to the question: how can one person possibly practice for 10,000 hours? This is where the study factor becomes very important. Any time you are doing something that relates to your passion or whatever it is that you want to master, that time is counted towards your 10,000 hours.

Keep in mind, this does not mean that you need to document every single minute or second you spend on your passion or career or whatever. The number is not meant to set a rigid goal that needs to be met. Rather, it represents the concept of how important it is to master your subject.

Ten years ago, I realized and accepted the fact that my passion in life was to be a writer and I knew in my heart that my niche would be personal development and spiritual writing. The only problem was that I sucked as a writer and all my studies were just concepts at that time. I was not living my studies. All that I was reading were things that I admired and thought about but I was not putting them into practice.

I decided that in order to achieve my dream, I really needed to master my writing and know my subject thoroughly. So I spent the next ten years perfecting my writing and my knowledge. I worked at all kinds of jobs to support my desire for knowledge and travel. Every spare moment I had, I was reading or talking to someone who was doing what I wanted to do. I also began to apply the theories to my life and started living what I studied.

All that hard work paid off. Did I actually spend 10,000 hours? I have no clue. I still could be even better at my craft but I do know that I am much better now than I was then.

3. Visualize

Whatever it is that you want to experience in life, visualize it. See yourself doing whatever it is that you desire or want to achieve. If you want to be a successful artist, visualize what that would look and feel like. Imagine your work on the walls of a gallery. Carry yourself as if you already are a working artist who is not lacking in funds or commissions.

Years ago, I read a biography on the life of the singer Madonna. Many people recounted how when Madonna was just a club act, she handled every show as if it were a concert in a huge arena. The general conclusion was that she was acting like a superstar even before she became one.

Visualization is a tool that I use frequently because I have seen it work. Many times in my life, I visualized achieving certain goals or having certain funds. And every single time without fail, each item that I visualized became a reality. Sometimes it took hours and other times it took years.

The interesting thing about visualization is that it works with not only positive thoughts and images but with negative ones too. So take care of what you visualize.

One more thing in regard to the tool of visualization; it is important to keep in mind that it does not mean that you visualize while sitting back and doing nothing. You have to take some form of action too. Visualization without action will not yield results.

4. Surround Yourself With People Who You Wish To Be Like

The company you keep does have an impact on you. This does not mean that you get rid of all your friends and family. All this means is that you have people in your life who are not only like-minded but who are also doing what you wish to be doing.

Call it vibes or energy or whatever you wish; the people we spend time with do affect what we do and how we think and feel. Spend time with people who complain about life, inevitably you will start doing the same thing too.

Studies have proven this and I have seen it in my own life as well. When I spent time with people who lamented about their lack of success and lack of funds, I experienced those same things.

However, when I started to surround myself with positive people who were doing what I wished to be doing, I began to notice how my mindset of lack was being converted into a mindset of abundance. And you know what happened?

My awareness of my chosen career path began to expand and I began to notice all the possibilities that were out there. I also met an investor who willingly gave me the money to start my own business and I did not even have to write up a business plan.

Someone once said that you can tell a lot about a person by the company that they keep, so surround yourself with people who are living what you wish to achieve.

Meeting Opportunity

1. Be Kind To Every Single Person You Meet

We all have our off days. We all have days where it is hard to be compassionate and kind. However, you never know whom you will meet.

The person in line behind you at the supermarket may be an agent who can give you a record deal. The person who is sitting next to you on the subway may be the best friend you always wanted but never had. The guy serving you coffee may be your soulmate.

Every single second of every day we are surrounded by people. You never know whom you may meet at the gym or at the coffee house. Every single person you meet might be someone who has the power to change your life for the better.

In order for you to have your dream become a reality, you need someone to help you. We do not live in a vacuum. The concept of being self-dependent is an illusion because we need other people to buy our record or book or whatever.

The problem is that sometimes when we are out in the world, our focus is on ourselves and our thoughts usually are on what is happening in our lives. That kind of narrow-minded focus limits you from seeing your surroundings.

A guy dressed in sweatpants may seem like a nobody to you but for all you know, he may be the person that has the ability to help you achieve a certain goal.

In our society, we have a tendency to invest more in things than in people. Therefore, many tend to be impolite or totally unaware of others. Compassion and kindness go a long way. Being rude never does any good.

2. Be Confident and Excellent in Your Chosen Field

When you know your subject like the back of your hand, it is easy to be confident in your talents and skills.

This does not mean you have to be aggressive. Aggressiveness is a wasted emotion because it is a mask for insecurity. If you are good at what you do, there is no need to be insecure. Nor do you have to resort to backstabbing or pushy methods to get what you want. No one likes to be cheated or bullied.

When Charlie Rose asked Steve Martin about what advice would he give to others starting out in the acting business, Martin said the following: “Be so good at what you do that they cannot ignore you.”

So if you want to be the next top game designer, then be confident at your coding and designing skills and just be as excellent as you can be. Someone will notice it and provide you with an opportunity. It may take time but it will happen.

Passion combined with hard work always -without fail- pay off and create so called “luck”.

3. Visualize Your “Lucky Break”

Again, the tool of visualization comes into play when creating an opportunity for luck to take place.

We all have dreams of how we would love to be discovered. Why not visualize that dream coming true?

About a year ago, I was working at a job that I did not love. I convinced myself that I loved what it gave me and that I could tolerate the gig until I was able to earn a living doing what I love.

This delusion lasted for some months but then I reached the point where I realized that I needed to quit because the job was creating so much stress which was affecting my health.

Shortly after, I was laid off from this soul-sucking job which then provided me with an opportunity to start a new career. Being that I was afraid and concerned about money, I started to look for another job but despite numerous interviews, nothing worked because my heart was just not in it.

For years, it has been my dream to have my own business. I have spent countless of hours visualizing what it would be like. I just never had the funds or it was not yet the right time. I simply hoped that someway and somehow it would happen.

I remember thinking it would be nice if life provided me with the money to fund my dreams of being self-employed. Then one day I was having coffee with someone who was living their dreams. We got to talking about my situation and one thing led to another and they offered to fund my new business.

They had no desire to see a business plan nor did they care if I paid them back. They saw the passion with which I spoke and that I knew every single detail of what I wanted to do.

I was able to rattle off figures of what it would cost and every other detail imaginable. Because of the fact that I was so prepared and enthusiastic, they wanted to be of help. Someone had helped them to become a success and they wanted to return the favor.

As you can see, my problem of being unemployed was solved simply because I was prepared when confronted with an opportunity.

Parting Words

One of the beautiful things about life is that we get out of it as much as we put into it. We all have our share of challenges and obstacles. No human being is immune from such incidents.

Success has no set definition. It means different things to different people. Someone who stays at home and does a beautiful job raising her/his kids is as successful as the person who runs a small company.

We each have the power to live a life that we love but it doesn’t happen by the simple fickle finger of fate. It is brought into fruition by the way you choose to engage in life. We all have the potential to be masters in whatever it is that makes our hearts sing.

We are the creators of our world and therefore, we are the creators of our so called luck.

* What do you think? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below. See you there!

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How to Wake Up Inspired for making life precious.

Inspiration is typically viewed as something that comes and goes. Some days you “feel it” more than others.

But what if you could be deeply and unconditionally inspired everyday? I bet it would make a difference in the quality of your life. You would probably wake up excited to start your day. You'd get more done, be more creative and feel more of that elusive “flow.” Being inspired also means enjoying the process more, instead of feeling forced and unnatural.

The best part of persistent inspiration is that action tends to be effortless. There isn’t so much trying, rather you're more simply being and allowing whatever action is natural to flow out from you.

Most of us just wait for inspiration though. We passively anticipate our muse, instead of actively seeking it out.

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”

~Jack London

I’ve been experimenting with something different for a while, purposefully taking responsibility for being inspired. For a while I didn’t know if it would work. Inspiration is kind of an elusive phenomenon after all. And even if you choose to look for inspiration, does that mean it will come?

The answer is yes, and no.

Actively creating an inspired state doesn’t work 100% of the time. Sometimes instead you will feel calm, centered and relaxed instead of being filled with electric motivation. And that’s okay.

Here’s the thing though: deliberately choosing to be inspired tends to create a more consistent inspired state over time. That is, the more you flip the switch, the more it becomes automatic and spontaneous.

So the question is… How can you reinforce inspiration, so that it becomes automatic?

I’ve found a few ways to helps this along:

1. Eat inspiration for breakfast.

Who are some of the people that inspire you or have influenced your work? Who do you want to be like, who are some of your mentors? Take some time in the morning to read something they’ve written, or watch a video they've created.

2. Reflect on your reasons why.

We should all have deeply emotional reasons behind the goals we set (if you don’t, they might be the wrong goals). Reviewing the reasons behind our intentions help us to remember why we’re doing what we’re doing. Without that purpose, it can be hard to stay inspired.

3. Discard unwanted commitments.

We often say yes to too much. It’s much harder to deliberately choose our projects than to blindly accept whatever comes our way. Regularly reviewing your commitments to make sure that you’re only working on things that truly excite you is essential to being inspired. You can’t expect to be excited about things you didn’t consciously choose or desire.

4. Create an inspiring physical space.

What is it that you truly love to do? What gets your energy flowing and your blood rushing? Surround your physical space in things that will remind you of and reinforce your passion. If art is your passion, make sure your surroundings reflect that. Put up pictures from your favorite artists. Have an easel nearby with paint ready. If your passion is architecture, surround your space with pictures of your favorite buildings, or structures. Let your space be a constant inspirational reinforcement. It only takes a few hours to setup at the most, and after that it’s constantly working for you on autopilot.

5. Surround yourself with inspiring people.

The people you socialize and engage with will have a big impact on your level of inspiration. Choose to be selective about the people you let into your life, and what type of energy they bring to your circle of influence. You can start by following inspiring people on Twitter or keeping in touch with the work of leaders and innovators you admire.

6. Challenge yourself.

The more you move in the direction of things that challenge and make you a bit nervous, the more likely you will find inspiration. You can’t expect to be inspired by doing the same thing every day, following the same routine, working at the same boring job, watching the same boring television shows. You have to decide to follow your passions, engage in the world and choose paths that might make you feel a bit uncomfortable.

7. Create space.

Probably the most neglected of all ways to find inspiration is the most counterintuitive. Sometimes to be inspired, we have to step away… we have to create space and room for our passions to breathe. Spending time hiking and in nature is my favorite way to do this. It’s in the gaps that beauty is found. It’s the empty space that makes a cup useful.

These are all great ways to cultivate a more inspired life, but I think perhaps the most important thing to focus on is the feeling you want to create.

Feeling first, then action

Most of the time we look for the feeling we want to have from or as a result of the action we’re taking. We seek to feel a certain way through the pursuits we engage in. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with this approach, it’s just that it can often lead to misjudgment on what goals are truly right for us.

On the other hand, if we focus on what we want to feel first – enjoyment, creativity, connection, excitement, etc. – then we set ourselves up for naturally engaging in action that supports those feelings. Our actions become a reflection of the way we feel, not the other way around.

Inspiration is a choice

Cultivating a life of sustainable inspiration is something that I’m working toward each day. I’m too impatient to wait around for inspiration to fall on my lap, or into my head.

I don’t think living an inspired life happens by accident.

I think inspiration is a choice.

Fresh and Wonderful beginning of Purposeful Life.

For the past 8 months, I have been silently battling with, and drifting in and out of a state of depression. Perhaps it was the changing hormones in my prenatal and postnatal body, or perhaps it was life’s way of teaching me something new.

It has been a very painful process, but when I observe this period of my life from other perspectives, I realized that I am learning and relearning some of the most incredible lessons, through which I am able to recognize and change some old and very rigid behavior patterns and limiting beliefs.

This is a quick post to let you know that I am still alive, and that I am going through a tremendous period of healing, and that I am thinking about and writing the next full-fledged Think Simple Now style article, for you.

Last night, Ryan slept through the night for the first time since he was born, and I got 5-6 hours of continuous sleep, and I feel – for the first time in five months – like a human being again.

So hang in there, I am feeling better everyday, and I will be back very soon. Until then, here’s something that’s helped me in my own healing:

“In the infinity of life where I am, all is perfect whole, and complete, and yet life is ever changing. There is no beginning and no end, only a constant cycling and recycling of substance and experiences. Life is never stuck or static or stale for each moment is ever new and fresh. I am one with the very Power that created me, and this Power has given me the power to create my own circumstances. I rejoice in the knowledge that I have the power of my own mind to use in any way I choose. Every moment of life is a new beginning point as we move from the old. This moment is a new point of beginning for me right here and right now. All is well in my world.”

~ Louise Hay (You Can Heal Your Life)