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52 ways to live an awesome life

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Photo Credit: Camdiluv via Flickr.

Instead of trying to write the perfect blog post, I’m practicing #49 today by writing an awesome list. There are many, many ways to create your happiest life, below you’ll find the first 52 ways to live happier I thought of (several are backed by science, some from my experience as a coach, and a few from what I’ve learned in my personal life).

How to live your happiest, most awesome life

  1. Move your body… that is, exercise. (run, walk, bike, swim, yoga, dance, whatever feels good… just move).
  2. Breathe… deeply, intentionally, slowly. As often as you can.
  3. Slow down.
  4. Meditate.
  5. Take naps.
  6. Have fun.
  7. Smile.
  8. Hug.
  9. Practice gratitude.
  10. Give your attitude an adjustment… look at things from a different perspective.
  11. Have a purpose: do something that matters to you.
  12. Do something you love to do.
  13. Take care of yourself.
  14. Care for others.
  15. Love yourself.
  16. Love others.
  17. Love. A lot.
  18. Laugh. A lot.
  19. Do the thing that scares you.
  20. Nurture your relationships.
  21. Make friends.
  22. Dream.
  23. Unplug.
  24. Connect.
  25. Be present to this moment.
  26. Choose the life you want to live.
  27. Be courageous enough to go for it.
  28. Ask “Why not?” more than “Why?”
  29. Have adventures.
  30. Get good sleep.
  31. Have good sex.
  32. Learn when to say “No”… and do it.
  33. Say “Yes” to life.
  34. Tell your story.
  35. Embrace joy.
  36. Embrace vulnerability.
  37. Make friends with failure.
  38. Stand strong in your values.
  39. Look for possibilities more than reasons.
  40. Cultivate a spiritual life (on your own terms… religious or not).
  41. Simplify.
  42. Be self-sufficient.
  43. Ask for help when you need it.
  44. Savor each bite.
  45. Let go of anger. Forgive. (“Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” -Buddha)
  46. Surrender to love.
  47. Let someone else take care of you.
  48. Let go of control.
  49. Aim for awesome, not perfect.
  50. Celebrate the little things.
  51. Celebrate how far you’ve come.
  52. Just celebrate.

What did I miss on this list? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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why you shouldn’t eat the marshmallow

marshmallow

Photo Credit: Daily Mail

Delayed gratification is key to success in life.

In the 1970s, psychologist Walter Mischel conducted the now famous “Marshmallow Test” on a group of about 600 four year olds at the nursery school on Stanford’s campus. These kids were left in an empty room with one marshmallow (or cookie or other treat) and told that they could eat the marshmallow BUT if they waited 15 minutes until the researcher returned they would be given two marshmallows.

2 out of 3 kids ate the marshmallow. I probably would have been one of them. I mean, come on, marshmallows are awesome.

The interesting thing is what they noticed 15 years later when they checked in on those kids: they found that the kids who resisted eating the marshmallow grew up to have better SAT scores, healthier BMI, better jobs, etc. In other words, the kids who were able to delay gratification grew up to be more successful.

The researchers concluded that success is directly related to the ability to delay gratification and therefore related to how much self-discipline you have… that is to say, to be successful you need to be self-disciplined.

But what if it’s not about self-discipline?

Continue reading “why you shouldn’t eat the marshmallow”

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how to build confidence

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. ~ Henry David Thoreau
Photo Credit: Son of Groucho via flickr

“I really need to work on my confidence.”

This is one of the most common things I hear from new clients. Confidence feels unobtainable to so many of us. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

The things that most often stand between us and confidence are: distorted beliefs about your own self-worth, a fear of becoming arrogant or full of yourself if you actually were to start believing in yourself, some extra-shouty gremlins, and compare&despair syndrome in which everyone else comes out ahead of you.

First and foremost, I want to dispel the notion that confidence means having no fear. Nor does it mean being cocky, having everything together all the time, or being perfect in every way.

And as for the compare&despair syndrome…

Don’t compare your insides to other people’s outsides.

Just don’t. You don’t know what those people that “have it all together” are feeling inside. They could be scared poopless. Or they could be fighting back their own gremlins. Don’t assume they’ve got some special magic you don’t have.
Continue reading “how to build confidence”

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I have a dream.

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Photo Credit: Updates from the road

A dream, 50 years later

Today is the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s world-changing “I have a dream speech.” And I wanted to take a small moment to remind us that he was one man with a dream… look what one man was able to do with his dream… the impact one man created on all of us.

It’s truly amazing.

And it all started with a dream. The speech came later. But Dr. King was driven by something bigger. As a pastor he was driven by a God. But as a man, he was driven by the dream in his heart. He didn’t have to speak outside of his own church, but he chose to. He didn’t have to think beyond his own family or his own lifetime, but his heart called him to look further.

Dreams are important.

It can be easy to start downplaying dreams. Seeing them as fluff or insignificant. Dreams aren’t real. They’re the things we think about when work sucks or the kids are out of control. They’re the things we put off until someday because right now there’s real work that needs to be done.

But what if, Dr. King had put off his dream until someday? What would be different in our world today?
Continue reading “I have a dream.”