Check Yoself: The Art of Planning and Reflection

So many people tend to go through life simply reacting to situations and continually letting the same setbacks hold them back.  It doesnt help that there are endless distractions all around in todays world, makeing it incredibly easy to get side tracked and become offbalance in life.  People start overlooking important priorities, placing less rewarding priorities over the ones they truly care about and simply go through days without much thought or direction.  Learn to break out of this downward spiral of a habit!  Instead of wandering aimlessly through life, identify exactly what it is you want and go get it, no matter what obstacles you may face along the way, no matter who tells you to do otherwise.  

It's amazing what the mind has the capability of doing and how people can go through much of life without harnessing their maximum potential, settling for a life so much less than what they are truly capable of. Habits are hard to break yes, but with consistent monitoring and reflection of day to day actions, one would be amazed at all that can be accomplished and overcome.  Find the time and get connected with your true values and priorities, focusing on what YOU want out of life and stop wasting crucial energy on anything unnecessary, anything holding you back from reaching your goals and dreams.  Just 10 minutes of planning and reflecting on a day to day basis can make a world of a difference in your life when practiced consistently.  
Know Your Core Values
Its important to always have a general plan, some form of direction for your days, weeks, months and years to come.  This can be hard to do however when you dont fully know yourself and what it is you really want out of this crazy life.  Often times we let what others want for us affect our actions and decisions even if it means our own happiness is sacrificed.  To get on the right track, take the time to turn off all distractions and take the time to identify your core values in life, what truly adds happiness, purpose and energy to life in your eyes.  Do this and you will start to see clearly what is most important to you and what actions or changes need to happen in order to maintain these values.  You may also come to realize that you are putting other aspects in life ahead of what's really important to you or youve been focusing too much in one area while neglecting another area just as valuable. Write your values in a place you can always refer back to if ever feeling doubtful.  Values could range anything from health, family, your spouse, security, travel, wealth, knowledge, adventure, fame, you name it.  There is no right or wrong answer, just be honest with yourself! Once values are clear, it will become so much easier to put some meaningful plans into your days, brining both focus and direction to your day to day actions and more success in accomplishing the life you've dreamed of.
Planning Time
A lot of times we know exactly what we want but somehow never aquire this goal.  This can happen due to a variety of reasons but often it happen simply because we become distracted and fail to plan how to go about every aspect towards actually reaching our goals and pursuing our life long dreams. We don't follow through!  It becomes more of a wish than an actual attainable dream or goal.  Find a space  space and time in day to day life, away from any distractions to truly go inside your mind and make some serious plans!   Answering simple but crucial questions often overlooked can add more focus to any circumstance.  Ask yourself and answer as clear as possible, what needs to be accomplished, how you will go about conquering these tasks and dont forget to ask yourself why you are making these plans.  If the reasons why are not to satisfy core values then reevaluate!  Are you truly happy with the choices you are currently making and thoughts you are creating? If not, make the decision to change, it is always in your control.  Once clear steps toward your goals have been made, the goal becomes so much more attainable because you have direction.  Learn to create a cyrstal clear visual of your end goal along with a clear vision of the steps needed to reach the goal.

Reflect
Just as critical as planning is the act of reflecting, which will also help ensure you are putting plans to action.  Humans have this crazy habit of getting way too comfortable in life, often creating a falsified ego about how much they are doing.  There is always room for growth, no matter what your age, remember this!  Learn to always recap your days to look for mistakes you may have made, for areas of improvement, even if it's the slightest change.  Step out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself  to be the best version possible of yourself.  When reflecting, focus attention first on the accomplishments of the day, then look for any possible areas of improvement.  Were your accomplishments in line with your priorities and values?  What went well?  What could have gone smoother?   Are you focusing too much in one area of your life and not enough in another?  Look at both positives and negatives of yourself and actions throughout the day.  Dont judge yourself in a negative harsh way but also dont let yourself start forming an ego, thinking there are no faults to your being.  Simply be aware of the faults so you know what may need improvement tomorrow, what could be avoided in a similar situation in the future, and start solving your mistakes before they repeat.  

Give it some effort and over time watch yourself start to plan and reflect out of pure positive habit and notice yourself making less mistakes while accomplishing more in day to day life.  Be sure to check my recommended reads on the sidebar.  The Outliers by Malcom Gladwell is a great read that expands on just how crucial small habits can be in the lives of the most successful.  What are some of your goals for the upcoming weeks and month to come? 

 Wake up, stay focused and make the most of your day!


Peace & love,

Bri

Gratitude

Today's focus is all about gratitude. A lot of people forgot all too often to place focus on their mental health, even though they may be in great health physically.  To stay fully balanced and to get the most out of every opportunity you gotta start taking more care of your mind & strengthening it too! Learn to keep your thoughts positive and always be grateful, no matter what life throws your way.


Many noteworthy scholars have said, "the suffering that the individual experiences is a result of that in which their mind clings.  Suffering is a result of the mind."  We must fix our minds, the way in which we experience everyday occurrences in life.   This is no easy task however if the mind has gotten used to preconditioned habits.  It takes a lot of will and a strong desire to change your thinking and essentially reprogram how you process life.  You have to start with small changes and one huge factor in a healthier mind comes from the act of gratitude.  Being seriously and truly grateful.

It's All About Perspective
If you're having a bad day or find yourself frustrated or angry, stop what you are doing and take a minute to put problems into perspective.  When you constantly are focusing on little annoyances and negatives in life,  you only attract more negativity. Ever notice how when you wake up having a "bad" day, it only seems to get worse?  This is because you are only focused on the negatives!  If you ever wonder why something isn't going the way you'd like in any aspect of life, chances are you've started to take a part of your life for granted. Study the law of attraction and this makes perfect sense being that like is said to attract like. Whenever you feel this happening in life, reverse the process as soon as possible by looking at what is going right. By doing so, the brains process to renew and reevaluate is activated.  You have more control over thoughts than you realize so learn to cling to the positives in life!

Your Body Loves You..
Think about all the functions in the body taken for granted. Every day the body works in full force to keep us healthy and to make what we think happen.  We usually don't consider this much until we are diagnosed with some sort of health problem or when a bodily function or limb is lost.  Think about what the body does nonstop all day every single day .  The lungs bring in fresh air to filter through the body, nerves and synapses are constantly firing, sending messages throughout so that everything interacts and functions properly, the digestive track breaks down food and delivers nutrients essential to various organ functions, legs allow you to get from place to place, arms the ability to carry things and feed yourself. Your heart, eyes, ears, nose, spine, every component of the body works to serve you!  Don't wait till what you have is gone.  Be grateful today, now, while you are healthy.

It blows my mind the negative things I hear people telling themselves.  The mind and body are connected.  Remember this.  Think negatively about the body and the body will feel the effects and eventually may stop operating at full potential.  Would you work for someone who has no appreciation for your work?  Maybe, but you probably wouldn't do your best job.  The cells of your body and organs react this same way.  You are made up of millions of tiny cells which all love you beyond measure, all are connected to the brain and to your thoughts, so be conscious of what you are telling these cells.  Again shift your perspective, be grateful for all the incredible things your body does for you if negativity ever creeps around. Feed your body positive thoughts to motivate and encourage your cells to operate at full potential instead of constantly putting yourself down with negative self talk.

Think of all the relationships in your life that have made an impact on you, especially those close to you.   You can learn something from every single one, whether they bring joy or pain, every relationship has helped shape you in some way. Let the ones close to you know how much you appreciate them, not just through your words but through everyday actions. We often get way too comfortable with loved ones and they are the first ones we bring our frustration out on if having a bad day, when really they have little to do with the problem, we neglect to appreciate all that they do.  Remember, when one becomes ungrateful, it is here where problems begin to arise. Taking someone or something for granted, whether it be a relationship, work, ones health or even finances, will all eventually have effects so always remain grateful. 

 
Think Bigger
Don't think just in terms of yourself and others, this is a great place to start, but there is so much more to be grateful for!  The fact that this planet even exists in the first place is amazing but it's easy to forget this if living in a heavily populated city where stars are practically nonexistent.   This universe is giant, the Earth a mere small spec, which makes us even smaller! Remind yourself of just how small we are. Often times we get caught up in our ego & we begin to put out unrealistic expectations. Become aware of this when a small problem seems like the end of the world and you will more than likely realize your problem really isn't a problem at all.

Take more time out to explore this earth while on it.  This planet has everything we need to thrive.  The land, the water, the moon which controls our tides and gravitational pull, the sun that gives us energy and light at just the right times.  And trees.  Sounds completely silly, but lately I have found a new gratitude for trees.  All they do is give.  People abuse them, cut them down and they still keep on giving fresh clean air for all to breath, shelter, and fresh fruits to eat year after year. Crazy.  Be grateful for the food this planet provides that you are able to eat.  Not everyone is able to enjoy this basic need so readily so before you eat take a minute to appreciate your food, appreciate all the people who put in work to grow and get this food to you and appreciate the food itself for all the nutrients it will bring your body.  Every time you eat is a chance to nourish and replenish the body, be more conscious of this, more thankful of all that is put into your body and next time you step outside, take a minute to really appreciate the environment.  Make an effort to shut the mind off from thoughts and just be, be content with what is and absorb what is all around.

Retrain your mind
I could go on and on about all there is to be grateful for, the list truly is endless but until you make it a habit to look at the positives in life, to truly be grateful, it can be hard to appreciate all that you have, to see all the possibilities that are available to you.  To get on the right track, get into the habit of asking yourself what you are grateful for and make a list of 10 things,  they could be anything small or big.  Sounds simple yes? But by doing so, the mind is forced to switch directions.  Do this daily for a month and see if you notice thoughts changing. The more time taken out to truly be grateful for all that you do have and have had throughout life, the more gratitude life will show in return.  You'll start finding less to complain about and spend more time feeling at ease and truly happy with what life has brought.  Expect nothing and life will often bring many great surprises your way.  Truly learn to truly go with the flow of things and don't allow negative thoughts or negative people to have any place in the mind.  Nobody has complete control over every situation but one will always have control over how they react to a certain event in life, no matter how negative that event may appear at first.

Some of the most humble people have been through more hardship than many could imagine yet they remain so happy, so grateful.  Even if there's barely a dollar to your name and find every matter to be working against you, ask yourself, do I have a home? Do I have people who care for me? Is the sun shining today? Did I get a good nights rest and awake for another day?  The reasons to be grateful are always there.

Constantly remind yourself of all the amazing things that take place in life, by truly being aware of everything that happens to create your life, your brain and thoughts themselves will become more positive, more grateful and this in itself will attract more positive outcomes. Like attracts like, positivity attracts more positivity. Sounds too good to be true but this is the universal law of attraction in the works here. Our thoughts, just as this planet does, operates on energy.  And energy operates with this law of attraction.  It's wild and under your control more than you may think! 

What are you grateful for today? 

Peace & love,

Bri