Have you ever stopped to seriously consider who you really are and what you contribute to the world? Or do you drift from day to day, dissatisfied with your 9 to 5 routine but not doing anything to change it?
It’s always good to do some self-analysis. Analyze who you are. Tell yourself a few home truths so you can become a better person. Yes—it is something we should all do, me included!
Do something
Try to think of your positive attributes. What happens? Do you end up saying, “I’m honest and straightforward? I’m a nice person.” Sure that’s great. We’d all like to say that. But how about coming up with something concrete—something you have actually accomplished? Are you able to say, “I just won an award for employee of the year?” Or, “I just worked for five hours at the Salvation Army center?”
Talk is all well and good; tangible events are so much better.
So, make that contribution. Acquire a new skill. Take a class. Learn anything. It could be cooking, art, carpentry, dancing, learning how to code; whatever. You’ll find that exercising your brain cells and/or your body is reinvigorating and helps make you a better person. It makes you become someone other people want to be around. Don’t be a slug in body and mind—get active. The home truth is that you can’t afford to be passive.
Be valuable
People need people. They especially need people who fulfill their needs.
Concentrate on acquiring a new skill or talent that not only makes you more interesting but also puts you in a position of providing something of value to others. Practice, practice and practice until you get perfect. You’ll find that the journey towards your destination is fruitful and rewarding in itself.
So many people spend their entire lives being consumers of stuff. Why not become a provider? How can you love yourself if you’re not contributing something to society? The home truth is that you need to contribute.
Get happy
Misery loves company. If you’re feeling down and out, if you are lifeless and dreary…guess what? You’ll attract a crowd of friends who share those traits. You’ll be hanging out with the losers. And then what happens?
Let’s say you are bold enough to decide to break out and create or do something new. Chances are your overweight friends will discourage you from going to the gym; your permanently jobless buddies won’t support you when you apply for interviews; and your heavy drinking partners will ridicule you when you ask for an iced tea. The home truth: if you’re not happy with your life it’s up to you to get happy and do what’s right for you. Surround yourself around people that want to see you successful. Success is cosmic.
Be creative
Most people never originate anything out of fear. They worry that whatever they produce will be torn apart and criticized. So, it’s safe for them to produce nothing. That way their feelings are not going to get hurt.
This is where you need to step out of your comfort zone. Have courage. It’s easy to be a critic; to tear something down rather than build something up. Anyone can do it. Anyone can sit at a keyboard and pen poisonous comments on line about others and just be bitter about life. You’ll be a better person for taking the risk of creating something than the individuals who throw rotten tomatoes from the sidelines.
As a wise old philosopher (by name of Aristotle) once declared: “There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”
Be forgiving
Most of us find it hard to forgive and forget. That’s a home truth just about everyone can understand. But if you can release yourself from the negative events in your life when you feel you have been harmed you will become a better person. You can’t always change what other people think about you or how they behave towards you. But you can change yourself and how you conduct yourself.
Break free from judging others. Release yourself. Believe in yourself. Be authentic. Be real. Have the courage to prove your worth and never give up.
As Mark Twain said, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.”
#BeLimitLess