I googled “how can I improve my life” and got 216,000,000 results in one third of a second. Millions of different people worldwide are contributing advice.
The problem is not finding advice but finding some that I can use. There must be help for people in my circumstances in there somewhere. If I can sift through 10,000 Google results per day I can get to them all in 80 years or so. Piece of cake.
Fact. We are born with similar bodies but after the first slap on the butt no two of us are the same. Each is completely unique and the advice we get is based on the experiences and conclusions of some other person. There is no universal correct answer but millions of opinions. Here’s mine.
Think about a conversation with someone you like and trust. Maybe a parent, grandparent, teacher or good friend. You ask this person how people move forward and make their lives better instead of just staying in the same old rut.
If I were the grandparent answering I would say even though we are different your feelings are just like mine have been from time to time. Over the years I have discovered we can steadily improve our lives if we try and doing it feels good. You are going to live those years anyway. Why not enjoy them?
Your own route to a better life is within reach and probably easier than you think to follow. You just need to know where to look and what to look for. The where part is easy. Within yourself. Nobody else will do it for you. The what is your current needs and wants. They may change later but so will you.
My life over the years included good and bad choices, successes and failures, pride and shame just like yours. It still does. A better life will not be perfect or trouble free but has more of the good and less of the bad. It starts with learning to understand and accept our imperfect selves. Relaxation and improvement follow.
The number one action is study yourself. Become an expert on you. You control only your own attitude and actions. Not mine, your family members, neighbors or fellow workers. Your success, failure, improvement or decline is caused by you. Mine is caused by me.
What is real about you is only part of the lesson. What is real about people and life around you is the rest. With an open, interested mind we can learn, achieve and enjoy life more once we decide what is personally important and what we need to know and do to get it.
Decisions on what I want out of life plus plans and goals to achieve it are fine but evolve as I live and learn. For example, in my early twenties I was determined to become a top executive in a major corporation. On the way to doing that I changed my mind.
I had to learn that the realities of executive life and major corporations were not what I imagined. Being an executive pays more because it is more difficult and demanding than lower level jobs. Priority one is the business. You and those under you are less important. The number one health problem is anxiety.
Large corporations are evolving complicated things that need constant attention, learning, focus and action to survive. What is needed for the corporation today may not be clear or be attractive to the employees. Tough risky decisions happen routinely. They are seldom unanimous.
It was like learning that being a farmer is not just pleasantly watching the crops grow in a picturesque scene. Farming is hard, dirty work seven days per week that can fail to produce a living just like any other business. The reality of the big picture may not be pretty but until you get it you can’t progress in it. You need to enjoy the reality, not the fantasy.
The facts of life are neither wonderful nor terrible. They are simple and much the same today as they always have been. Wants and needs are two different things. We need water, food, shelter and safety to survive. All else is optional. You can handle getting along with others, making money, whatever you really want. Get the facts and start changing what needs it.
Getting the truth straight eases my mind. That is a good thing. Luck comes and goes and evens out in the end. What sometimes looks like luck is the direct result of work. In any project the harder I work the luckier I get. My life so far is what I have made of it and will be better or worse tomorrow depending on what I do today.
Changes around me will keep coming whether I like it or not. Different is uncomfortable if I don’t understand it. Learning is needed to keep up and interest is needed to learn. When I lose interest and stop learning I stop progressing.
When I stop progressing life and entertainments become boring. I spend my time complaining to whoever will listen. Usually with others who agree that the world has gone crazy. The choice is mine. Keep learning or decay.
Ken Lind. Husband, father, grandfather, veteran, marketing management major, corporate management and sales schools, award winning salesman, manager, business owner, toastmasters president, business club officer and board member, writer, author, insatiably curious.
http://www.homework4success.com
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