Here are some ideas to
get you started:
1.
Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too
short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. If
someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. You shouldn’t
have to fight for a spot. Never, ever insist yourself to someone who continuously
overlooks your worth. And remember, it’s not the people that stand by
your side when you’re at your best, but the ones who stand beside you when
you’re at your worst that are your true friends.
2.
Stop running from your problems. – Face them head
on. No, it won’t be easy. There is no person in the world capable
of flawlessly handling every punch thrown at them. We aren’t supposed to
be able to instantly solve problems. That’s not how we’re made. In
fact, we’re made to get upset, sad, hurt, stumble and fall. Because
that’s the whole purpose of living – to face problems, learn, adapt, and solve
them over the course of time. This is what ultimately molds us into the
person we become.
3.
Stop lying to yourself. – You can lie to anyone else in the
world, but you can’t lie to yourself. Our lives improve only when we take
chances, and the first and most difficult chance we can take is to be honest
with ourselves. Read The Road Less Traveled
.
4.
Stop putting your own needs on the back burner. – The most
painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and
forgetting that you are special too. Yes, help others; but help yourself
too. If there was ever a moment to follow your passion and do something
that matters to you, that moment is now.
5.
Stop trying to be someone you’re not. – One of the
greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make
you likeeveryone else. Someone will always be prettier, someone will
always be smarter, someone will always be younger, but they will never be
you. Don’t change so people will like you. Be yourself and the
right people will love the real you.
6.
Stop trying to hold onto the past. – You can’t
start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.
7.
Stop being scared to make a mistake. – Doing
something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing
nothing. Every success has a trail of failures behind it, and every
failure is leading towards success. You end up regretting the things you
did NOT do far more than the things you did.
8.
Stop berating yourself for old mistakes. – We may love
the wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no matter how things go
wrong, one thing is for sure, mistakes help us find the person and things that
are right for us. We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret
things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your
struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your
future. Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing
you for a moment that is yet to come.
9.
Stop trying to buy happiness. – Many of the
things we desire are expensive. But the truth is, the things that really
satisfy us are totally free – love, laughter and working on our passions.
10.
Stop exclusively looking to others for happiness. – If you’re not
happy with who you are on the inside, you won’t be happy in a long-term
relationship with anyone else either. You have to create stability in
your own life first before you can share it with someone else. Read Stumbling on Happiness.
11.
Stop being idle. – Don’t think too much or you’ll create
a problem that wasn’t even there in the first place. Evaluate situations
and take decisive action. You cannot change what you refuse to
confront. Making progress involves risk. Period! You can’t
make it to second base with your foot on first.
12.
Stop thinking you’re not ready. – Nobody ever
feels 100% ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great
opportunities in life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means we
won’t feel totally comfortable at first.
13.
Stop getting involved in relationships for the wrong
reasons. –
Relationships must be chosen wisely. It’s better to be alone than to be
in bad company. There’s no need to rush. If something is meant to
be, it will happen – in the right time, with the right person, and for the best
reason. Fall in love when you’re ready, not when you’re lonely.
14.
Stop rejecting new relationships just because old ones
didn’t work. –
In life you’ll realize that there is a purpose for everyone you meet.
Some will test you, some will use you and some will teach you. But most
importantly, some will bring out the best in you.
15.
Stop trying to compete against everyone else. – Don’t worry
about what others doing better than you. Concentrate on beating your own
records every day. Success is a battle between YOU and YOURSELF only.
16.
Stop being jealous of others. – Jealousy is
the art of counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own. Ask
yourself this: “What’s something I have that everyone wants?”
17.
Stop complaining and feeling sorry for yourself. – Life’s
curveballs are thrown for a reason – to shift your path in a direction that is
meant for you. You may not see or understand everything the moment it
happens, and it may be tough. But reflect back on those negative curveballs
thrown at you in the past. You’ll often see that eventually they led you
to a better place, person, state of mind, or situation. So smile!
Let everyone know that today you are a lot stronger than you were yesterday,
and you will be.
18.
Stop holding grudges. – Don’t live your life with hate in
your heart. You will end up hurting yourself more than the people you
hate. Forgiveness is not saying, “What you did to me is okay.” It
is saying, “I’m not going to let what you did to me ruin my happiness
forever.” Forgiveness is the answer… let go, find peace, liberate
yourself! And remember, forgiveness is not just for other people, it’s
for you too. If you must, forgive yourself, move on and try to do better
next time.
19.
Stop letting others bring you down to their level. – Refuse to
lower your standards to accommodate those who refuse to raise theirs.
20.
Stop wasting time explaining yourself to others. – Your friends
don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe it anyway. Just do what you
know in your heart is right.
21.
Stop doing the same things over and over without taking a
break. –
The time to take a deep breath is when you don’t have time for it. If you
keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.
Sometimes you need to distance yourself to see things clearly.
22.
Stop overlooking the beauty of small moments. – Enjoy the
little things, because one day you may look back and discover they were the big
things. The best portion of your life will be the small, nameless moments
you spend smiling with someone who matters to you.
23.
Stop trying to make things perfect. – The real world
doesn’t reward perfectionists, it rewards people who get things
done. Read Getting Things Done.
24.
Stop following the path of least resistance. – Life is not
easy, especially when you plan on achieving something worthwhile. Don’t
take the easy way out. Do something extraordinary.
25.
Stop acting like everything is fine if it isn’t. – It’s okay to
fall apart for a little while. You don’t always have to pretend to be
strong, and there is no need to constantly prove that everything is going
well. You shouldn’t be concerned with what other people are thinking
either – cry if you need to – it’s healthy to shed your tears. The sooner
you do, the sooner you will be able to smile again.
26.
Stop blaming others for your troubles. – The extent to
which you can achieve your dreams depends on the extent to which you take
responsibility for your life. When you blame others for what you’re going
through, you deny responsibility – you give others power over that part of your
life.
27.
Stop trying to be everything to everyone. – Doing so is
impossible, and trying will only burn you out. But making one person
smile CAN change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but their
world. So narrow your focus.
28.
Stop worrying so much. – Worry will not strip tomorrow of its
burdens, it will strip today of its joy. One way to check if something is
worth mulling over is to ask yourself this question: “Will this matter in one
year’s time? Three years? Five years?” If not, then it’s not
worth worrying about.
29.
Stop focusing on what you don’t want to happen. – Focus on what
you do want to happen. Positive thinking is at the forefront of every
great success story. If you awake every morning with the thought that
something wonderful will happen in your life today, and you pay close
attention, you’ll often find that you’re right.
30.
Stop being ungrateful. – No matter how good or bad you have
it, wake up each day thankful for your life. Someone somewhere else is
desperately fighting for theirs. Instead of thinking about what you’re
missing, try thinking about what you have that everyone else is missing.
