Did you ever wonder how you arrived exactly where you are today in your life? How you arrived where you live, where you work, and ended up in the relationships you are in or know friends you associate with? Or did you ever wonder why your body, fitness or state of health is at the present level of condition it is in? Or why your skill levels may have peaked years ago without being prepared to cope with the global marketplace of 2008? Or lastly, why your bank account or assets are at a disappointing level compared to your dreams of decades ago? There are so many questions that can be asked, in order to take a complete inventory of your present state of being. In this week's lesson we will discuss why everything you do in life counts, and why every step you take can produce your destiny.
Whether your inventory assessment turns out very positive or very negative, the results did not just occur by chance or luck. Where you are today is a result of all the cumulative actions and decisions that you've made or did not make during all of the previous years of your life. This statement is a hard pill to swallow for many people because they have a hundred reasons and excuses to blame for their present state of affairs. Too many individuals convince themselves that they were just born unlucky. However the truth of the matter is it's just so much easier to neglect doing what's really good for you than it is to develop the skills and disciplines you know is right in order to live a happy, healthy and prosperous life.
I'd like to use a simple example to illustrate this point. Do you invest the time and money to visit the dentist regularly, to have your teeth cleaned and checked coupled with the habit of brushing with an electric toothbrush and flossing daily? This sounds simple and easy enough to insure having healthy teeth and gums for the duration of your life. But not doing something this simple is just easier to neglect as life quickly passes you by. The unfortunate consequences of these simple disciplines as you mature, can come back to haunt you with lots of pain, aggravation and costly dental bills later in life. The same health consequences will be experienced by improper diet, lack of exercise, poor sleep habits and just sheer neglect in doing what's really good for you!
You see every action you take and every choice you make actually counts during your life. There are no exceptions to this rule. If you neglect too many disciplines, you eventually must pay the consequences. However there is a positive side to this story. IT'S NEVER TOO late to start making BETTER CHOICES! Just because you've acted a certain way up to this point does not mean that you have to continue acting the same way. Just because you've made some poor choices in the past does not mean that you have to continue to make them in the present and the future.
What you've done in the past has gotten you to where you are, but what you do right now can get you to a BETTER place in the future. If you choose to act the same way as you have in the past, don't expect anything but the same exact results. But if you change and act differently, you can improve your results. The choice is YOURS.
Many people look at their current position and are unhappy with it. But then they make a critical mistake by projecting the current situation forward. They view their future in the same way. But life is not static. You are not trapped in a situation that you cannot change. You can steer your life exactly where you want it to go!
If you want to make positive changes, then start by making positive choices today. And then follow up tomorrow and the next day. Start small. You don't have to revolutionize your whole life. That may be too demanding. If you want to eat healthier, then start by having one fruit per day. That's probably not asking too much. It's a small but important step.
But once you get into the habit of eating one fruit per day, you'll want to start a new habit; perhaps drinking more water throughout the day rather than a lot of beer and soda. Then you may want to start exercising one day a week; then two days; then every other day. And before you know it, you may look and feel much healthier than you were in the past. Every small improvement really counts toward getting exactly where you want to go.
You're the same person, but the choices that you made were different. Then you can move on to other aspects of your life; perhaps your relationships or your career. Once you get into the habit of changing your choices for the better, you're whole life may take off in a new and more positive direction. You'll feel more in control of your life, and perhaps feel empowered instead of considering yourself unlucky. You will begin to realize that every decision REALLY counts.
Don't let another day pass. Begin today by being honest with yourself and identify what you need to do to begin a new chapter in your life. Then plan and act immediately to take yourself EXACTLY WHERE YOU WANT TO GO!