“It doesn’t just come overnight, you’ve got to train for it and believe in yourself; that’s the most important thing.” -Mo Farah

Starting something new is hard. You’re not going to be good for a while. You’re not going to know what to do next or how to get to your ultimate goal.

You’re going to consistently fail and make mistakes.

None of that matters if you have belief in yourself.

You understand no matter what happens you’ll get through it. You know you can push past the difficulties.

It all starts and ends with an ultimate belief. A belief that you can complete what you’ve set out to do. A belief that you’ll figure out how to reach your goals. A belief that you can do it with the abilities you have right now.

It’s a simple shift in your mindset.

Once you believe it’s possible, that’s when the results begin.

It’s not as easy as it seems. It seems like a simple fix but it’s continuous battle.

You have to reinforce the belief in yourself when others don’t believe in you. When people say you’re not capable of accomplishing something you can’t fall victim to what they think.

You can accomplish what you want. You can be who you want to become.

When you start to doubt yourself bring back the belief. Tell yourself you can do it. It’s the only way to start something knew. You have to believe.

If you don’t belief in your abilities and yourself, who will?

You are your decisions. 

You’ve decided to be at this point in your life because of the things you’ve done and the things you’ve passed on.

Life is all about making the right decisions. 

We all want to make the right decision. How do we know which decision is the best decision for ourselves?

We really don’t. 

You can do your best to make an educated guess, but ultimately you’ll never know until you choose.

You’ll never know if the decision you chose was better or worse than the alternative. 

That’s why decision making is so hard.

You’ll never know what could have happened. Don’t dwell on it if the decision you chose didn’t work out. 

Live with the decision and move on.

Don’t regret any decision you make. You’ll regret the indecision of waiting till something happens more than making a decision. 

Indecision is reacting to your life rather than being proactive.

Once you hit a fork in the road go with your gut. Trust the way you feel about the situation. If you really feel deep down that you’re making the wrong decision, choose the other option.

It doesn’t have to be the most popular. It doesn’t have to appease anyone but yourself. Don’t do it because you feel like you should.

You have to make large life decisions on your own. You can ask your family and your friends for help but ultimately you’re the one making the decision.

Take the time to think about what you want to do, make the decision you believe in, and live with your choices. 

That’s the best you can do. 

Don’t live life wishing you had chosen a different path. Once you’ve made the choice, commit to it.

“Making good decisions is a crucial skill at every level.” – Peter Drucker

To take the next step. To go from being average to great. You know what you have to do.

You also know it’s not easy. It will make you feel uncomfortable. You might be embarrassed on your first try but you know it’s needed.

It’s the only way to take the next step. 

If you want to be great at a certain skill you can’t keep doing what you’ve always done. That hasn’t gotten you to your goals yet and it won’t. 

You have to try something different. Something hard and strange. 

Don’t worry about what you’ll look like or what people will think of you. The best way to learn is to push yourself outside of your perceived limits.

You know you have to do this, so why are you waiting?

Is it fear of embarrassment or of failure or of the unknown?

Whatever it may be it’s the best way to get you to your goal.

It’s the necessary next step you have to take. If you’re training for a marathon you have to run the long runs to improve your endurance. Without the long runs, you’ll never hit your desired goal.

If you’re learning a language you have start speaking in your desired language with others. If you don’t, you’ll never get better at speaking and listening in your foreign language.

You know the necessary steps you have to take to get better. Take that one step and then push yourself again and again until you’ve reached your goal.

Go take the necessary next steps before your goals turn into regrets.

“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” -Lao Tzu

If you’re having a bad day or you’re in a sour mood don’t let it impact other people.

Sometimes we’re not happy. It happens. Don’t project your negative feelings on the people around you.

Focus instead on being outwardly positive and happy.

It won’t do you or others any good being negative. It’s bad for your mental physche and bad for your the perception you have of yourself.

You don’t have to beat yourself up for not being positive and happy at all times. We need the other emotions. They make us human. There is a better way to express our emtion rather than being in a terrible mood to everyone.

The way to improve your mood is to act happy.

Try smiling more. Ask people genuinely how they’re doing and feeling. Try focusing on the positives of your day when people ask you how everything is.

Stand up straight. Walk with a purpose. Try repeating a few phrases to yourself to make you feel better.

Tell yourself it could always be worse. Be grateful for what you have and the people you have around you.

Usually the reason for our bad mood is something small in the grand scheme of of things.

Maybe you were cut off in traffic today. Maybe you lost a customer or a potential prospect. Maybe your boss told you he thinks you can improve in a few areas.

 Things could be much worse. Think about these situations objectively. There has to be something productive or positive from every situation.

Typically it’s not other people who create our frustrations; it’s us.

We control the way we react to situations.

Don’t let a bad situation ruin your day or even worse someone else’s day. Try seeing the solutions and positives of each situation. There is always a lessons to be learned.

Being outwardly happy impacts the way we inwardly feel in a positive way. 

If you want happiness it’s simple, act happy.

“We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.” -Anne Frank

You’re not sure what you want to do with your life. You’re worried about what your next steps should be. You’re worried about your future.

Not knowing what lies ahead may be intimidating, but it can be a good thing.

You don’t have to know every step in your life. 

You’ll never know exactly what will happen next.

You can control your life to the best of your abilities but unexpected events happen. Don’t stress about the unknown.

Don’t worry so much about what will happen next. 

Instead of spending your time worrying about what the future brings, focus on creating the future you want. 

You have underlying values and goals you live by. Focus on making those values and goals your top priorities. Find something, anything, that falls in line with those values and go for it.

The main thing you don’t want to do is waste time doing something that doesn’t fit into your goals and values.

Don’t waste time worrying and being stagnant. Instead focus on what you can do now to create the future you envision.

You don’t have to know the final destination. Instead, focus on doing the things that incorporate your values and goals.

What’s the fun in life if you know every step?

Stop worrying and start acting.

“Our fatigue is often caused not by work, but by worry, frustration and resentment.” -Dale Carnegie

Don’t be so hard on yourself. Everything you try and do won’t be a success the first go around. It takes time to become average and even longer to become good.

You’ll make many mistakes along the way. That’s completely normal.

Just because you didn’t hit your goal doesn’t mean you’re a failure. It means you have room for improvement.

If you persevere, after countless setbacks, you’ll eventually win.

Dust yourself off and go for it again.

Don’t beat yourself up because you messed up.

Evaluate what you think went wrong. Take time to think about what you could have done better and implement those new strategies next time.

Ask your peers for feedback. Get people outside of your normal circle to evaluate areas they think you can improve.

Don’t label yourself as a failure because of one setback. Failing is a necessary part of the process. Failure won’t kill you.

Expect that you’ll fail going into a new project or learning a new subject.

Have that expectation.

Failing isn’t fun. Being bad at something isn’t fun. Both will happen at some point. Keep that in mind and when they happen, it will be easier to press on.

You’re not a failure for messing up. You won’t succeed with everything you try. Don’t let the negative thoughts creep in.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” -Winston Churchill

If you aren’t willing to sacrifice time to make yourself better, how do you plan on sacrificing time for other projects?

Learning new subjects and techniques makes you fine tune your craft and round you as a person.

You learn new strategies and approaches towards familiar situations. You figure out different ways to solve problems you’ve run into. You get to make yourself better by understanding material at a deeper level and learning about new material.

Dedicate a specific amount of your weekly or monthly budget to learning.

You can spend the money anyway you want. You can buy books. You can buy new classes or courses. You can hire a coach to help make you better. It can be spent in a variety of ways.

That allocation of funds towards your personal growth is as important as an investment in stocks or bonds or your retirement.

It’s an investment in yourself for the future. Don’t go a month without investing back into yourself.

You can set aside a certain percentage of your salary or just a flat amount like $100.

If you don’t think you have the time or money available to spend on yourself, you need to evaluate your priorities. Personal development and growth needs to be one the most important items on your daily agenda.

Life’s too short to not learn as much as you can.

Try getting in at least 30 minutes per day for learning. You have the time.

Sacrifice the short term happiness and rewards for the long term knowledge and skills. The time you spend now developing yourself will pay off. Find the time each day.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” -Mahatma Gandhi

Think about your intentions in conversations. Are you listening to respond or to actually listen? Are you trying to sell someone a product or trying to help their business?

Intentions come across in conversations more than you know. If you have the intention to sell someone, they’ll feel that. 

They will see that you only want to talk to them to sell them a product. That’s when they shut down. They stop responding positively or write you off as another salesperson. At that point you’ve lost them.

Come into your conversations with a different intent.

If you genuinely want to help customers or potential clients, they can see that. They’ll be more open to discussing business and more open to giving you more business down the line.

When you seem to be having poor conversations with someone close or with prospects think about where you’re coming from.

Are you trying to get something from them? Do you genuinely have their best interests in mind?

Think about what your objectives are in these interactions.

If you go into a conversation thinking about yourself, you’ll only ask for something and not care what happens to the other person. If you go into a conversation being open to what the other person has to say and focusing on helping them solve their problems, you are focused on them.

You control your side of the conversation. Listen to what the other person is saying and respond accordingly.

Try going into ever interaction with the intention of helping the other person instead of being focused on yourself.

Intention is everything. You can tell when someone wants something and when someone genuinely wants to help you.

Provide a helping hand instead of selling the same product as everyone else. 

“A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Don’t focus on the things you don’t have or the things you wish you had. Instead, be grateful for what you have.

It’s good to always be pushing yourself to get better but sometimes you have to pause and reflect.

Reflect on the things that are going well and your life overall. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. Just take a minute to realize how lucky you are. 

It’s easy to forget in our fast paced world the people and activities that matter most.

You don’t always have to look ahead. Don’t think about this weekend or tomorrow or the end of this year.

Live in this moment right now. Pause and reflect on your life.

If you find areas you don’t like about your situation or yourself don’t dwell on them. Don’t complain about them. Change them.

You can be grateful for what you have and strive for more. 

Constant improvement is necessary for change. Reflect on what you want and why but don’t spend your time focusing on what you don’t have. 

Life’s too short to live in the past or worry about the future. 

Live for today. Be grateful for the opportunities and moments you’ve had. Don’t worry about what other people are doing.

You have enough. You’re smart enough. You are enough.

Be grateful for what you have but be hungry for improvement.

“I am grateful for what I am and have. My Thanksgiving is perpetual.” -Henry David Thoreau

If you don’t feel like working on your project or calling that client back it’s usually because you’re afraid.

Afraid of failing. Afraid of rejection. Generally nervous and afraid to have the conversation because it’s going to be tough. It’s not going to be as easy as your typical interactions or you’ve hit a roadblock with your project.

Those moments, when you feel the most uncomfortable, are the moments that are the most necessary for your growth.

When you don’t feel like working out or practicing or writing is what makes the difference.

You’ll never feel perfect everyday. You want always want to work.

If you ever want to accomplish any substantial project you have to get used to working when you really don’t feel like it or when you’re afraid.

How else can you get better? How else will you accomplish anything?

You’re going to run into this situation again. You’re delaying the inevitable.

Once you’ve done it once you’ll gain the confidence to be able to do it again.

You’ll also realize that your fear is irrational. It’s never as bad as you think.

It’s normal to be nervous. It’s normal to be afraid. It’s something you’ve never done before. Rocous on the outcomes you want.

If you want it bad enough you’ll put your fears behind you and focus on getting the task done.

It won’t kill you. If you screw up, learn from it.

Don’t listen to your gut reaction. Take a minute to tell yourself this is a necessary part of the process and get to work.

It’s not that bad.

Take a minute to meditate on this thought.

What do you want to be remembered for?

Is it wealth? Is it the flashy cars or the boats or homes? Is it your determination or grit? Is it the long hours you’ve worked or the awards you’ve won?

Think about the things that matter most in your life.

It’s a deep question. It’s not easy to answer. It may make you question what you’re currently doing. Take time to think it over.

Maybe you’d like to be remembered for your generosity. Maybe it’s for the impact and innovation you’ve made in a particular field. Maybe you want to be remembered as a great father or mother.

If you want to be remembered as a helpful, caring person why are you chasing after money?

You’ll start to put things into perspective once you figure out what you care about most. Everything else fades away. You start to focus more on what matters and avoid other areas you used to care deeply about.

Who cares if other people your age are perceived to be more “successful”?

Your success is determined by what you truly want not by what others think of you.

If you want the flashy cars and other material possessions that’s completely fine. Focus on achieving material wealth.

If you want to cure a disease or create a company, don’t get caught up in the minutiae of other people’s lives. They have different goals. They want to be remembered for something completely different than you. You’re comparing apples to oranges.

Whatever you end up choosing, keep that statement in mind as you go throughout each day.

Are your actions in line with what you want to be remembered for?

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” -Epicurus

You can plan for hours on end. You can prepare for all the situations you think are possible. You can research everything. You can study all you want.

At some point you have to do something.

Planning is necessary but it’s okay to ditch the plans and attempt to do it.

Don’t over think it. Just make start building. Start trying. Start something.

You don’t have to know ever step. You’re not going to be prepared for everything that’s thrown your way. Do your best and learn as you do it.

If it’s a blog, don’t waste your time figuring out the right domain name to use, start writing.

If you’re starting a business don’t focus on your website and your company logo, focus on building the product you’re trying to sell and sending it out to everyone you know.

Don’t worry about the easiest parts of the process. That’s something you can outsource or spend time on once you’ve started building your product.

Sometime you just have to do it. You have to do the things you know are necessary but hard.

Don’t overthink everything. We put up these fake barriers in front of us. We don’t know if we’re ready or if we know enough or if we can do it.

Fuck it, try something. You never know what works until you try it.

Thinking won’t get you to your dreams. Action will.

“Action is the foundational key to all success.” -Pablo Picasso

We all have mental barriers. 

These barriers limit us from accomplishing goals and tasks that seem impossible. We think because we’ve never done it that it can’t be done. 

It can and it has been done. Thousands of people have been in your exact situation or worse and accomplished what you’re trying to accomplish.

Giving up before you’ve even started is the easy way out. You don’t fail or succeed. You do nothing.

These people who have accomplished the “impossible” got through the hard times that you’re struggling with. 

They switched their attitude. They believed it was possible.

Learn from the people who have done it before you.

Why not take advantage of the resources you have to figure out how they did it?

Make that your goal today. Pin point what you want to accomplish over the next six months to a year. It could be starting a blog or creating a product or learning a new language. 

Once you’ve figured out what you want to do find someone who has done it.

It could be in your immediate family or friend group or it could be a friend of a friend or just someone you admire.

Reach out to them, explain your situation, and ask them for their advice. They’ve been in your shoes. They know what it’s like to feel alone. They understand how hard it can be.

Not everyone will respond – which is completely fine. Reach out to as many people as you can. 

Don’t look for a quick fix strategy but instead try to learn what they wish they knew when they started. Try to learn the lessons and strategies they used to get through the hard times. 

There are people out there who are willing to help you. They won’t reach out to you to let you know what they did. They won’t randomly call you and ask if you want to work for them. 

You have to be the one who takes control. You have to initiate the interaction.

Just because you’ve never started a business or written a  book doesn’t mean you never will. It definitely doesn’t mean you can’t. 

It means you haven’t given it the necessary time or effort to make it work or had the necessary guidance.

If you believe you can start a business or write a book but don’t know where to start, ask for help. 

“If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” -Henry Ford

The only person capable of holding you back is yourself.

You can blame everyone else. You can blame the market. You can blame your gender or your race.

No one’s stopping you from accomplishing your goals. You’re the only one.

It may be your mentality. It may be your skills. It may be your self doubt. It may be your lack of confidence.

Whatever it is, acknowledge it. Get over it. Move on from it. You’ll never improve if you don’t believe you’re good enough or smart enough or prepared to take on new challenges.

You are. You’re capable.

If only one person believes in your skills it has to be you.

If you don’t believe in yourself no one else will.

Stop blaming everyone and everything else. Take the credit for your wins and losses. Learn from the mistakes you’ve made. Apply the lessons you’ve learned.

Focus on how to get better. Don’t focus on your weaknesses.

We’re all weak in many areas. We’re also all strong in other areas.

Instead of worrying about the areas we lack think about the areas where we’re better than others. Leverage your strengths.

Take a minute to think about the areas you’re weak in and the areas you excel at. Ask your friends and colleagues for their honest opinions too. That’s how you get better.

Make a list the collective list of strengths and weaknesses. Go over it to figure out where you can get better.

Don’t sell yourself short. You can hang with the best of the best if you work hard and believe in yourself.

You control your outcomes.

“It doesn’t just come overnight, you’ve got to train for it and believe in yourself; that’s the most important thing.” -Mo Farah

We all have bad days. 

We have days where we don’t want to do anything. We don’t feel happy. We’re not motivated. We’re unenthusiastic.
Realize that it’s completely normal to feel like this. 

Everyone has days where they want to stay in bed. Days where nothing seems to go right and where you don’t end up accomplishing what you wanted to that day.

Let’s face it, you’re not going to be at the top of your game every single day. 

Even the best of the best suffer from bad days.

Recognizing that this is normal. Recognizing everyone goes through this and being aware when you face a tough day will help put things into perspective. 

Everyone has to push through these days. You’re not alone.

You have to complete the tasks you’ve set out for yourself that day. It’s your decision if you don’t want to work on your future or not. Don’t blame it on anyone or anything else.

You won’t have fun during these days. It will be tough. It will hurt. You’ll get frustrated more easily and want to quit much sooner. Don’t fall for it.

These days are what make you better. They make you consistent. They make you stronger. They make you push harder when your days are easier.

Everyone has bad days. We have to accept and acknowledge that we’ll have bad days.

Prepare for them because they’ll happen. You never know what day it’ll happen or the frequency but if you focus on not letting bad days effect you from accomplishing your daily tasks, you’ve won.

You can do what you want everyday. Don’t let your mood interrupt the real work.