CREATE A VISION
Your life matters, and so do your dreams. It’s time you act like they matter. The best way to start doing that is to visualize and map out how you want your dreams to look on a day-to-day basis.
The key to greatness is fulfilling what you want in your life first and being an inspiration to yourself. By creating an inspiring life that works, you inspire others around you to do the same. This ripple effect is powerful. Just imagine if everyone focused on making sure their lives were fulfilling and inspiring. What would the world look like then?! When you complete this homework, show it to a friend or someone you care about and tell them your dreams and what you stand for. Ask them to join you in completing these vision exercises as well, so you have an accountability buddy.
TURN ADVERSITY INTO ADVANTAGE
Learn to fall in love with adversity. Don’t fall into a victim mindset and look at it as the thing that is holding you back, but instead find the part of it that can launch you toward achieving your dreams.
Remember, no one has ever achieved anything truly great without going through extreme adversity. That doesn’t mean you have to suffer through every challenge. Balance out the difficulties that adversity brings by being grateful for what is good in your life and treat yourself with gentle care. Give yourself time to heal, be messy, and experience the painful feelings you are battling. It’s okay. You are human. Beating yourself up during adversity is the worst thing you can do, so make sure to love yourself and surround yourself with those who support you and lift you up.
Tune back in to your vision, your Certificate of Achievement, and the principles you stand for. Once you are ready, take the next step toward your dreams and living that perfect day. It’s within your reach; you are closer and closer to bringing it to reality.
Accept and embrace adversity. Failure is simply feedback. Use it and stay committed to your vision through taking action at all times. Don’t stop now. Keep moving forward.
CULTIVATE A CHAMPION’S MINDSET
You have always been great, because you are unique, and you will never happen again in the history of the universe. Most people don’t believe in themselves or their abilities because they don’t understand how insanely special they are. In fact, we all are special, and only we have the ability to believe in ourselves. Others can be there for us and cheer us on from the sidelines, but even with all the support in the world, some of us still sabotage ourselves. In the game of life, we hold the controls. We are the players who make the plays. Our inner voice—our belief in ourselves—is what determines our mindset. And our way of thinking sets us up for failure or success.
You have a choice. You can think average and get average results or think like a champion and reap remarkable rewards. Which one do you want? It actually takes only a little more effort to believe in yourself than it does to put yourself down. Make the decision to spend that energy on improving your mindset and doing things that give you confidence rather than bring you down. Always come back to understanding how unique and powerful your gifts are in this world. You are the one who needs to understand this first before anyone else can.
DEVELOP HUSTLE
Will Smith once said in a sit-down interview with the great Tavis Smiley, “The guy who is willing to hustle the most is going to be the guy that just gets that loose ball.” When you experience fear, move toward it. When you feel doubt, take the necessary actions to build your confidence. When you are afraid of being wrong or looking bad in front of others, be humble and vulnerable to create real human connection.
The hustle takes action. It requires getting over yourself and how you look. It can be a beautiful journey if you give yourself permission to hustle like a maniac because what else are you here to do other than make the most of what you can be?
MASTER YOUR BODY
If you aren’t getting what you want in life and you are out of shape, don’t think for a second that those two things are unrelated. It’s time to say, “Enough is enough.” It’s time to admit, “I’m sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.” It’s time to get up and do something every single day that makes you sweat and gets your heart racing.
Put yourself through some type of daily discomfort, whether it’s for 5 minutes or 50 minutes. Do something that is so uncomfortable that it starts you on the process of getting your body where it needs to be, and then maintain that by falling in love with the feeling of that pain. Yes, your vision and relationships and dreams depend on it, but most important, so does your life. It’s time to step up and make your body great!
PRACTICE POSITIVE HABITS
It is absolutely critical that you weigh the price and the reward for the decisions you make on a daily basis. And don’t kid yourself—everything has a price and a reward. There is a reward for good habits (growth), and there is a reward for bad ones (instant gratification). Unfortunately, the prices for each are way out of whack. And oftentimes, the price can be your ultimate vision. You need to figure out which habits give you the best chance of reaching your goals.
It’s time to get connected to your vision, understand its power, and realize that it’s not worth the instant gratification that bad habits pay out to you. Because when you put positive habits in place, you set yourself up to win. Period. When you don’t have them in place, something almost always falls out of order in your life and you will likely not know why. It’s time to step up and get serious with your daily actions, as this is what builds the momentum in your life toward the vision you want to achieve.
BUILD A WINNING TEAM
We are all in this together, and it’s time to start living in a world where you embrace this concept. Life flows when you find a team you gel with, so why not start finding the All-Star players right now? The way you do this is by first becoming an All-Star player yourself. Do the work, improve your attitude, hustle, and sharpen your skills so that everyone else wants to make you a starter on their team! When you become a valuable asset to the world, then the world starts giving you what you dream of. It’s that simple.
People matter. And you can’t achieve anything great on your own. Letting people know how much they matter and how much you care about them is equally important (if not more). The saying goes that “people don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care.” This is true in family, sports, business, and any other situation in life. Continue to surround yourself with positive people who care about you and always find ways to create a win-win in every relationship in your life. Relationships are the key to success, and it’s time to start investing in yours.
LIVE A LIFE OF SERVICE
When you fully understand why giving is the key to life, then you make it part of your daily mission to serve others in whatever you do. Don’t look at this as an extra task you need to take on. If you do that, you’ve missed the point entirely. Rather, look at this as a part of who you are, who you become, and your way of being in every moment.
It needs to be in your breath, rushing through your blood. Every aspect of your life should have a component of service. It can be as small as smiling at everyone you come across to as big and broad as you want to take it. There is no right or wrong level of giving; the key is just that you give from a place of love instead of guilt.
One final word. Put your own mask on first. When you make sure your needs are met and you are full, then you’ll have even more energy to give to others. Go out and live a life of service!