The happiness of your life greatly depends on the quality of your daily actions.

As we move through the final quarter of the year, remind yourself that it takes roughly 66 days to form a habit on average. So for the next nine weeks, consciously leverage the actionable reminders below to look at the bright side of your life, and you will gradually rewire your brain as we transition from this year into the next…

1. Start steadying yourself with simple rituals.

When life feels like an emotional roller coaster, [Read more…]

You won’t always be a priority to others, and that’s why you need to be a priority to yourself. Practice respecting yourself, caring for yourself, and becoming a reliable part of your own support system.

When it comes to the importance of self-respect and self-care, there’s a lot to say. But let’s lighten the mood first by beginning with this:

A puppy thinks: “Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a warm, dry home, pet me, and take good care of me…

… THEY MUST BE GODS!”

A kitten thinks: “Hey, these people I live with feed me, love me, provide me with a warm, dry home, pet me, and take good care of me…

… I MUST BE A GOD!”

Same situation, different thinking.

To a great extent, we make our life stories by [Read more…]

The goal is to change your response to what you can’t control. To grow stronger on the inside so less on the outside can affect your inner wellness without your conscious permission.

There’s an old saying, “Struggle can be used as a source of strength.” My grandmother always repeated that line to me when I was growing up. Every time I dealt with some kind of unexpected challenge, she would graciously remind me that it was helping me grow, so long as I was willing to open my mind to it. Over the years I have learned just how right she was, and how relevant her wisdom is for all of us.

The mind is the biggest battleground. It’s the place where the strongest (subconscious) conflict resides — the place where we develop habits that put us in direct opposition with reality. It’s where half the things we feared would happen, never actually happened. It’s where our expectations get the best of us and we fall victim to our own trains of thought, again and again.

Truth be told, in the game of life we all receive a [Read more…]

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
— Mae West

Twenty years ago, I was lucky enough to witness the humble, elegant, peaceful passing of my 89-year-old grandfather. As I sat quietly in his hospice room alongside my grandmother and other family members, his nurse smiled softly and said, “I can see he lived well. People his age often pass just the way they lived.”

And as I drove home that evening a couple questions kept cycling through my mind…

“Am I living well?”

“What do I want to be able to smile about on the inside when I’m on my deathbed?”

These questions are tough, especially the second one. At the time, I desperately struggled to envision myself on my deathbed — just thinking about it stressed me out. So I simply avoided the question and the soul searching it demanded of me. I distracted myself for a few more years until I found myself back in a hospice room with my 90-year-old grandmother (who was the most amazing human being I’ve ever met, by the way).

On the final day of her life, [Read more…]

We’ve come a long way, and we’re still learning and growing. Let’s be thankful for the lessons. Let’s take them and make the best of things today.

For my 18th birthday, many moons ago, my grandfather on my mom’s side gave me four lightly-used flannel shirts that he no longer needed. The shirts were barely worn and in great shape; my grandfather told me he thought they would look great on me. Unfortunately, I thought they were odd gifts at the time and I wasn’t thankful. I looked at him skeptically, gave him a crooked half-smile, and moved on to the other gifts sitting in front of me. My grandfather died two days later from a sudden heart attack. The flannel shirts were the last gifts he ever gave me, and that crooked half-smile was the last time I directly acknowledged him. Today, I still regret the little thing I didn’t say when I had the chance: “Thank you Grandpa. I appreciate you.”

That was a huge wake-up call for me — one that has served me well for over two decades now.

And here are eight wake-up calls for all of us — some important lessons worth learning and living by, before it’s too late: [Read more…]