5 Do’s to Living Your Best Life
Try these 5 “Do’s” and watch the results. You will find yourself living an amazing life. Circumstances may be the same, but you won’t. You’ve trained your attitude and mind to rise above it – and that’s where your victory is!
By DAWN DAMON
1. Do Remember not to compare
Live your life.
Comparing yourself to others can only lead to unhappiness or haughtiness; pride or pity. “I feel better than others and so I pat myself on the back,” or “I feel less than others who have accomplished more than me, who are thinner than me, who have more money than me, and so I’m depressed.” Neither extreme is helpful to you or promotes your best interest.
Run your race.
Consider a long-distance runner. She has learned to run her race and avoid the temptation to look back and see where the other runners are. For once he turns around, he is in danger of losing his own race.
When we compare ourselves to others we break our own rhythm and pace and start to drift out of our sweet spot. Stay in your lane; use your gifts; love your life – and if you don’t then empower yourself to change what you can and find grace to accept what you can’t change.
I learned a long time ago that comparing myself to someone else was an exercise in futility and as I said above, left me feeling discontent – either in a race to accomplish more or in a funk because I was so behind. Here are a few of the dangers of comparing:
- You get depressed because you don’t measure up.
- You get competitive and jealous, which are toxic motivators. Better to be motivated out of God’s calling and your passion.
- You get confused about what it is you are called to; what you’re good at.
- You get conceited because you’re doing better than others.
- You get comfortable and coast, instead of pursuing on-going development.
- You’re comparing yourself to earthly things and basing your worthiness on them.
We are all wired differently. You won’t find your true self by comparing yourself to others. So Do remember NOT to compare. Just be YOU.
2. Do Reach for Your Dreams and Goals
Your goals and dreams are worth achieving! Don’t ever give up on becoming or experiencing and possessing everything you’re meant to have. But be aware of these two extremes!
Two statements that are false:
- You won’t amount to anything.
- You can be anything you want to be.
Both of these false statements set us up for disappointment and failure. The truth is you can be everything God has called you to be. Don’t ever settle – there is greatness inside of each and every one of us. When I believe I will never amount to anything, it can become true. I live with limits and self-fulfilling prophecies. The words: you’ll never” have become my GPS to destination Nowhere. Or the opposite happens, I set out to prove those words wrong – I become a driven- overachiever and find the applause and accolades of a watching world. The problem is inside I still feel empty and unloved, pushing myself to fill a bottomless pit of approval. If I have believed I can be anything I want, then perhaps I’ve been set up for disappointment. I discovered that I can’t be the surgeon I dreamed of, or I can’t be the famous soul singer I always dreamt of. (No dream girls here.) I live defeated, angry at myself for being such a failure. I stop discovering and investigating what I’m GOOD at, what I love. What God encoded in my DNA to be and to become.
So throw away those two extremes and dig deep inside yourself. Find what makes you smile, discover what makes you want to march with a poster. In other words, what are you passionate about, interested in, gifted, and skilled at. What comes easy for you that seems to be challenging for others? What do you seem drawn to – people groups, concerns, social problems? Unearth the treasure that’s lying dormant in you. Once you know what it is, then plan and reach for your dreams and goals.
3. Do Make Your Plan
Aristotle once said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, it’s a habit.” In other words, living your best life doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of your daily routines, habits, and positive choices. Living your best life is a “direction” you choose, and as with any destination, you’ll arrive there when you have a good map. Tony Robbins calls it a “Massive Action Plan,” or M.A.P. Blueprint what it is you really want to achieve when you’d like to get it done, and how you think you’ll get there. Decide on who can help you along the way, or what you need to give up to make time for your goals. Do remember not to get discouraged with small beginnings, because small steps make all the difference! “Steady plodding brings prosperity”.
4. Do Rehearse Your Blessings Daily
Be grateful! A grateful heart equals a happy, healthy life. You have so much to be thankful for. That’s a fact. It may not feel true, but if you look around you, and deep inside your heart, I’ll bet you can find several things to be grateful for. Do you have eyes that are reading this? Thank your Creator for your eyes! Do you have ears to hear or legs that can transport you? Did you wake up this morning? Do you have lodging, a car, a family, children? Do you have a job or a warm blanket at night? Do you have food to eat? If you can answer yes to any of these questions, then you are blessed indeed.
Cultivating a heart of gratitude not only increases our happiness, but it also produces happiness. If you want to be happy then, create a “habit of gratitude” by simply deciding to be mindful of and grateful for your blessings every day in every way. Once you choose the happiness pathway, you’ll discover that rehearsing your blessings will come easily, and you’ll be well on your way to living your best life.
5. Do Recite Positive Affirmations
Positive affirmations about who we are, our abilities, and the great future we have in front of us should be our daily confession. All too often, however, we’re prone to recite negative mantras instead. “I can’t do anything right,” “I’m such an idiot,” “I look so old, so fat, so ugly.” On and on we curse ourselves with the very words of our mouth.
Stop! Those critical and untrue statements should never be found on the tongue of a powerful person like you! So rid yourself of the “I Can’t Do it” attitude and words and replace them with Truth, “You CAN do ALL things through Christ who is your strength!” See Philippians 4:13
Try these 5 “Do’s” and watch the results. You will find yourself living an amazing life. Circumstances may be the same, but you won’t. You’ve trained your attitude and mind to rise above it – and that’s where your victory is!