It seems that I have never been more aware of a decade ending as I am of this one (all debates about the official timing of a decade aside). There have been a lot of setbacks and challenges to be sure - September 11th, wars around the globe, a terrible economy in more countries than not, loved ones passing away - and at times it seems that people and the world as a whole have gotten less friendly with political discourse and what is considered socially acceptable behavior reaching new lows.
Now more than ever it is important to constantly bring yourself back to the things you can control - your thoughts, your outlook, your views, and your actions. One thing that never changes is that you are in charge of you, and you create your reality. Do you want it to be negative, pessimistic, fearful, and hateful? Or do you want it to be positive, optimistic, accepting, and loving? You have the power to make the decision right now, but more importantly you have the power to take the action and create your own reality right now. All you have to do is do it.
Last year I wrote a guest post "Who will you be in five years?" It forces you to take a longer-term outlook on your life and who you want to be. It also puts the day-to-day challenges we face into perspective - 99.9% of the daily challenges will not matter at all in five years regardless of how important they seem today.
Since we are starting a new decade, I encourage you to read "Who will you be in five years?" and apply those exercises to the new decade - "Who will you be at the end of the decade?", if you will. For many of us a decade seems like an eternity - but think back to the year 2000. It seems like yesterday that we were talking about the Y2K bug and the new millennium. And now we are in 2010. Time marches on!
Here are a few more things for you to consider as we start another new year and decade:
1.) Try to thank someone every week. This can be as simple as a quick email or a smile and handshake, or as elaborate as a hand-written letter or some other act of appreciation. But if you force yourself to look at your life and find someone - every week - who has done something that has positively impacted your life, it will instill a sense of gratitude that will permeate your daily actions. Brainstorm now and you should be able to come up with enough people to get you through the first half of the year in a matter of minutes - make a list, and add to it whenever you think of or encounter someone new to thank.
2.) Instead of making a "to-do" list, make a "not to-do" list. List things that you want to eliminate from your daily routine, whether it is bad habits, actions, or behaviors. Review it daily, and after a month or so you should be able to mark some items off that list, which will give you momentum to keep eliminating the negative things in your life.
I wish all of you the best in 2010 and beyond. Remember - you are what you think.
what is t.a.d.?
