Every Friday is guest post day. Today, please welcome 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.
9 Comments on “How To Set Everything Up In Your Life to Get Better and Better”
says:
Jeffrey:
Thanks again for allowing me to contribute to The Art of Great Things. I hope your readers enjoy the post. Have a great weekend. Sibyl
says:
Sibyl, as you know, I am a regular commenter on your excellent alternaview site, so it is a pleasure to read your guest post here.
Another inspiring article, filled with insights and helpful pointers. Your analogy of the mixed bag of success is a really good way to begin thinking in the alternaview. We don’t seem to realize that the parts that are not working well suppress or depress the overall energy available to us. The parts that are malfunctioning siphon off creative energies that could be expressing even more profoundly in the areas of our lives that are doing well. The so-so areas and situations are actual blockages in the flow that we need to recognize and release.
And this is what you encourage us to do: “Don’t miss out on your opportunity. Live today better than yesterday.”
Sending you evening spring energies from the mountains of Japan – Catrien Ross.
says:
@Catrien: Thanks for the comment and always offering such insightful additional information. You make a really interesting point about the impact that the so-so areas could have on other aspects of what we are trying to do. I think we really do have to realize that their presence doesn’t really do anything good for us and so we must always make certain we are pushing ourselves in the right direction. Enjoy the rest of the weekend in Japan. Sibyl
says:
Sibyl,
Once again, you’ve managed to lay out a practical approach to a not-so-easy task: committing to constant self-improvement. Instead of allowing our default to be complacency with the status quo — satisfaction with the mere total of our diverse portfolio of stocks — we must move with life’s momentum, guided by your 6 steps. I appreciate the inherent energy bound up in these steps for self-fulfillment; life is neither passive nor stagnant, we cannot “let life happen,” but must actively define the goals we want to achieve. You encourage us to move forward not now, but RIGHT now. Why wait to better than we were yesterday?
says:
@Lauren: Thanks for the comment and I am glad that you enjoyed the post. I thought your statement about life not being either passive nor stagnant was an important one. I do agree that we must actively live and define what we want to achieve. Things really can begin to unfold once we decide where we want to go. Thanks again for the comment. Sibyl
says:
Sibyl,
It is so easy to slip into the rhythm of life, distracted by all of the day to day events, and forgetting that you are supposed to be living life every single day. So many times people put life on hold, trying to accomplish one more thing, or sacrificing to meet a goal, without realizing that you can meet the same goals while pursuing long term life goals.
I think the most important tip on your list is actually acknowledging your progress. I’m probably my own worst critic, and sometimes I don’t feel like I am moving forward or performing at a high level. But learning to be your biggest fan and giving yourself credit for taking even a small step in the right direction is the only way to continue to move toward your goals. It is definitely something I forget to do, and I’m going to copy these tips and print them out to remind myself to keep putting one foot in front of the other every single day. Thanks.
says:
@ Robb: I think you make a great point about giving yourself credit for taking even a small step in the right direction. It is all about doing anything and everything we can to continue to move forward and encourage ourselves to stay committed to making progress. Once we are able to figure out the formula that works best for us, we can be assured to consistently move forward. Thanks for the comment and I am glad you enjoyed the article. Sibyl
says:
Thanks for this. These words mirror a repetitive conversation that I have with a friend. He is always on me about making changes, growing and not being an “automaton.” I appreciate this post.
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@Tomaca: I am glad that you appreciated the post. It really is important to make sure you are engaged and moving through life with a great plan. Sounds like you have a great friend who is giving you great advice. Thanks for the comment.