People overcome unbelievable tragedies and times of adversity because of all types of circumstances – some self-inflicted and some not. Either way, there’s always an opportunity to find peace, reset yourself, get back to neutral, etc. It’s just part of life that’s often hard to accept. Great quote.

“Sometimes you have to lose your mind before you can come to your senses.” – Peaceful Warrior

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Last year I wrote about how we can almost fool ourselves by the perception and reality of what your potential means. It’s a great quote, because with anything and just about everything in life – you can just sit there and do nothing!

“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” -Will Rogers

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I enjoy writing about perspective and letting it impact me in a very positive way. Much can be gained from a little perspective, which is why I’m a big fan of the quote below. All it takes is something a little more dramatic, a little worse, etc. to show you that you can be grateful instead of feel sorry for yourself.

“I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet.” -Ancient Persian Saying

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This post is meant to be very simple. Do a handful of what is listed below, and you are sure to find some new happiness in your life. I swear. Try some…

Wellness

• Drink plenty of water
• Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar
• Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants
• Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
• Make time to pray
• Play more games
• Read more books than you did in 2010
• Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
• Sleep for at least 7 hours
• Take a 10 to 30 minute walk daily. And while you walk, smile

Character

• Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about
• Don’t have negative thoughts about things you cannot control. Instead
  invest your energy in the positive present moment
• Don’t over-do. Keep your limits
• Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does
• Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip
• Dream more while you are awake
• Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need
• Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner about his/her past mistakes. That will ruin your present happiness
• Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others
• Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present
• No one is in charge of your happiness except you
• Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are
  simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime
• Smile and laugh more
• You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree…

Society

• Call your family often
• Each day give something good to others
• Forgive everyone for everything
• Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
• Try to make at least three people smile each day
• What other people think of you is none of your business
• Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will. Stay in touch.

Life

• Do the right thing!
• Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful
• God heals everything
• However good or bad a situation is, it will change
• No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
• The best is yet to come

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I’ve recently encountered a dilemma that annoys me more than it bothers me, but no one likes to be annoyed now. If you were to ask me if I am a morning person, or a night person, I would tell you that I am gladly both. I love staying up at night to get things done, catch up on quality documentaries, etc. On the other hand, I love being up really early in the morning. But that presents a problem for me. Not a serious problem, but one that aggravates me enough to write about! So what’s the problem you say? The problem is this…

I have no problem cutting my sleep way short because I have a flight to catch at 6am. But lately, I cannot get up early for the life of me, for me. Not for a flight, for me, for my life! I know it doesn’t sound serious, but it’s similar to honoring your own calendar commitments just as you honor those with others.

So, in my somewhat annoying annoyed state after I have again failed to get up when I wanted to before I closed my eyes the night before, I come to a pretty harsh conclusion…

My life isn’t as important as a random day trip to Atlanta and back for work

Now, that’s not exactly completely logical, but emotionally that’s where I go. I feel guilty for the hour or two I could utilize a few days a week in the morning to work on my projects. That could easily amount to 5 hours per week times 50 or so work weeks in the year and you come to 250 stinkin’ hours!

Back to Waking Up Early

I work out quite a bit, drink lots of water, stay away from pop, don’t drink during the week, and typically get around seven hours of sleep. I drink tons of coffee. I love coffee. I bet you’ve sensed that I enjoy coffee because of the name of the page where I accept donations – called The Bean Juice. So I consume a decent amount of caffeine, but I don’t think an unhealthy amount. At least according to the Mayo Clinic…

Though moderate caffeine intake isn’t likely to cause harm, too much can noticeably affect your health. Heavy daily caffeine use — more than 500 to 600 mg a day, or about four to seven cups of coffee — can cause:

* Insomnia
* Nervousness
* Restlessness
* Irritability
* Nausea or other gastrointestinal problems
* Fast or irregular heartbeat
* Muscle tremors
* Headaches
* Anxiety

The plan is to round out this week per the usual – morning coffee with a slight chance of an additional cup later in the afternoon or the evening. But next week, I’m going to cut coffee for three weeks and see if that has any impact on my ability to wake up when I plan to in the morning.

Maybe I’ll just do this! – that links you to an article on Steve Pavlina’s popular personal development blog. He’s got few others on waking up early as well.

The Trick to Being a Morning Person and a Night Person

Now this is going to knock your socks off, so brace yourself! Do you know how to become the ultimate morning person and the ultimate night person? It’s actually a very easy answer.

I hope I didn’t disappoint you! I’ve certainly have a long, long way to go before I’m anywhere close to where I want to be in certain areas of my life, but I love having a general energy for life. I don’t want to go to bed at night because I’d rather be up enjoying something, doing something interesting, being relaxed, etc. Just as well, I don’t want to sleep in the morning because the morning is a time to reflect on the day ahead of you, it’s a time to be productive when the rest of the unproductive world is sleeping!

Tomorrow morning is the first morning that will buck the trend for me. I mean, I’ve posted about it. So, it’s safe to say I’m serious this time! Morning or night, keep doing your thing!

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Download Destroy Any Challenge…In Ten Pages.

Going into 2011, I wanted to get motivated and post at least one ebook per month for free. During this time, I’ll also be posting regularly and will be working on larger projects for the blog. More importantly, this one is in the books. I enjoy and have a certain energy for everyday – and I strive to bring that out. In the ebook, you’ll find some of these things that I guarantee you’ll benefit from…

In fact, here are 5 spectacular reasons you should check it out!

• Explore the 10 Essentials for destroying any challenge.
• Digest short Motivation Quotes. Some I’d consider life changing quotes.
• Learn simple ways to propel yourself through any challenge.
• See why you need a few speed bumps along the way.
• Get motivated. Get inspired.

Oh yea, didn’t I mention that it’s free!

Have a great day.
Mike

Download Destroy Any Challenge…In Ten Pages.

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Today’s quote is aligned with last week’s quote on character and what we do with our free time. Don’t let things that have happened in the past negatively affect your present or future – what really matters is who you are on the inside and what you believe. Start from the inside and then go out. Never take what’s in the outside world and let it override something you believe on the inside!

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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I was recently listening to a sports talk show host that I enjoy on occasion because he typically has some good things to say relative to perspective and life. He was saying that he is the same person when he is around people as when he is alone. He went on to say that what you do in your free time, your alone time – is ultimately what defines you. I think there is a lot of truth to that, which is why I’ve taken to this quote below. Enjoy!

“The only real possession you’ll ever have is your character.” Tom Wolfe

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This is the second post in a four-part series. As I mentioned here, each month in 2011, a series on a different topic will be posted every Wednesday. Check out Get Anything Done, Part I

In Part I I talked about the importance of mentally simplifying the things you need to do in order to Get Anything Done. Projects, tasks, to-do’s aren’t complicated, they are simple.

Complication gives you clouds and shades of gray, simplification gives you blue skies and clarity.

It’s important to understand that what you say, what you tell people, and that your expressions are a mirror image of how you truly think.

Simplify, then do. Part I focused on the importance of taking action. Your path, is automatically carved out if you are consistently taking action and making things happen. There’s no point in avoiding simple, and there is no point in not taking action!

Have a Program

I’m not going to tell you that you need some elaborate organizational system in order to get anything done, but I will tell you that you need something to keep your momentum going in the right direction. Keep it simple, but do something. And that something can be really, really a small thing. I’m serious, what that actually is doesn’t really make a difference.

My pen and my highlighter. It sounds ridiculous and trivial, but my pen and highlighter help me stay organized and get the things done that I need to everyday. My pen writes great in my notebook where I keep all of my important to-do lists and notes on whatever it is that deem important enough to write down. Everything is in one place and my pen, highlighter, and notebook go everywhere I go.

My pen and highlighter are two things that I pick up in the morning and put down at night before I go to bed. In my world, my pen and highlighter are symbolic of the consistency and momentum that I have established. I’ve heard of people doing similar things to ensure that they express gratitude every morning and night. Heard of the gratitude rock? Keep it in your pocket everyday – pull it out before bed and grab it in the morning. It’s a reminder, a symbol of positivity and consistency – things I think we all need in our lives.

When Reading Productivity Books is Dangerous

There are so many quality books out there relative to productivity, getting things done, and my topic in this four-part series. So why would I say that reading these books can be dangerous? Because people, myself included, tend to implement these tactics and methods that don’t come natural to them. I’ve tried this, I’ve tried that, and in the past I’ve let my shortcomings get to me. I’d get upset with myself because I’m trying something that sounds so great in theory, it reads so well and makes so much sense in the book, but man it’s just not working out in my world, in my reality.

From my experiences, it’s great and essential to learn what these books have to offer, but always remember that not everything will work for you. Allow your creativity, complexity, simplicity, etc. – to drive the manner in which you keep on task, get things done, and seriously progress through life on your terms.

Back to my pen, highlighter, and notebook I like talking about so much! This is what I did while in college. It worked great and I was always on top of everything. Then I’d read books like Getting Things Done by David Allen. David has a very simple system, but some of its essentials are things that just don’t work for me. Nothing wrong with that. In the end, it turned out to be a great learning experience for me. Its helped formulate the methods and thoughts that I’m sharing with you now – that I currently use to stay organized and get things done.

It’s On You

I’m using that short phrase more and more it seems like! Well, I did post this Monday Quote. Whether you like it or not, you are and will always be held accountable for what you do or don’t do. You are in the driver’s seat of your life – and nobody is taking over the wheel while you go snoozing for a few years. So, by accepting that you are going to be held accountable for your successes or shortcomings, you may be inclined to do the little things that can make a huge difference. Live with purpose!

Part III Coming Next Wednesday
Next week I’m going to talk about never going at it alone. It’s amazing how easy it is to find help, advice and resources if you just try.

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Too often we give up on our dreams. It’s too easy to just let them slide away and fade into oblivion. This is a great quote because we can achieve what we want to achieve, but we have to understand that dreams don’t happen to people that are more fortunate or lucky. Your dream comes reality when you believe in it and commit a lot of time to it. Many things are a function of one simple thing – time. Put in the time and keep your dreams alive!

“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.” Gail Devers

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