4 Keys to Creating Joy in Your Life

The 4 keys to create joy in your life are closer than you think.  It’s within you.  Yes, you can create the space for it to happen.  All you have to do is bring it out.  However, it’s easier said than done.

1)      First you must discover yourself.  By that I mean you need to become consciously aware of what makes you unique, what makes you stand out.  What gives you the most satisfaction?  What is it that you get a kick out of doing?  Could you do it all day long and not get bored? Do you get excited about it? Would you do it even if you didn’t get paid to do it?

2)      The next step is to believe you have what it takes to become who you are born to be.  No excuses.  No fear, just do it.  Accept your divine self for all your known and unknown attributes.  It’s being able to envision yourself doing what you love to do.  This is the hardest step.

3)      The third step is creating your desired goal.  It’s the nuts and bolts of the desired outcome.  It’s the “how”.  It’s bringing into fruition what you desire.

4)      The last step is living your dream.  Sometimes when people achieve their dream they can’t believe they deserve it and end up sabotaging their own efforts.  They go back to step two and start over again from there.  It means step two wasn’t fully completed.  They didn’t truly believe it was possible so that is where they go back to.  When you embrace the last step you are living your true authentic self.  Isn’t that what you want?

Want a President Needs to Lead

What are you looking for in a President? First you need to decide what makes a good leader because that is what the President does, lead.  Some people are natural leaders. You see them at work, fund raisers or your family reunion.  They step up to the plate to take on a project. However you’ll notice something else too.  Some are natural leaders while others are doing it for the recognition or power.  What’s the difference?  The natural leader is the person people will follow even if they don’t have the title or have been given the responsibility.  They naturally know what to do.  They exude confidence, clarity and conviction. Oh and another thing, they make decisions that aren’t always popular but are followed because the people respect the person’s decision.

A good leader is a person who has the strength and courage to undertake large projects.  It’s the ability to weave universal principles with everyday life.  This person has the gift of power.  Yes the gift.  As much as power has a negative connotation it also has just as much a positive connotation.

The world needs the CEO, general, and the person of authority.  A leader claims and utilizes his gift of power for the overall goal of the enterprise he’s tasked with directing.  A true leader uses this personal power without dominance or intimidation.  He doesn’t necessarily make popular decisions because he’s making them with a higher purpose in mind. He leads because that’s his natural strength and people follow because they recognize and understand the clear direction they are to take to reach the desired outcome. He gets results.  For him not to lead would be like asking you or me not to breathe.  It’s what he does.

Along with the gift of being a natural leader there are also challenges to it which make the person go from being in the gift of it to being in the challenge of it.  When a person is consumed by the acquisition of wealth, order others around, is intimidating or dominating people then he is in the challenge of it and needs to get back into the gift of it.

So what does a leader look like?  Some of the most recent leaders that have exhibited both the gift and challenge of being in the gift of leadership are General George Patton, Donald Trump, Lee Iacocca and Margaret Thatcher.  If you study the history of how they became leaders and how they conducted themselves you’ll see the gift and challenge of being a great leader.   Each of them gained the experience with each new leadership role they encountered.  Each will go down in history as making a difference in their field.  And one other interesting note, they haven’t always been the most liked or popular at times but were/are respected.

You also have the gift of leadership and when you need it remember to claim it from a place of personal power and not through dominance or intimidation.

Want to Change the World?

Before you go out promoting change in areas you think need fixing, you need to take a good look at yourself.  The first step to making change isn’t “out there” it’s in the mirror that is where real change begins and also what becomes the model for others to emulate. It’s just like what Michael Jackson sang about in, “Man in the Mirror.”

I’m looking at the man in the mirror.
I’m asking if he’ll change his ways. 
And no message could have been any clearer.
If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make the change.

The lyrics say what’s been said my times before but in a different way. It’s similar to the phrases; “What comes around goes around” and “You reap what you sow” They’re said in different ways to capture the attention of different audiences.  Obviously the song Man in the Mirror captures the attention of our time while the others resonate with everyday life and those who are familiar with the Bible.  I guess we need to keep being reminded of it.

The fact of the matter is you can only control your reaction to whatever is happening around you.  Therefore, you have the power to create peace, kindness, love, hate, rudeness or war.  It’s your choice.  Choose your words and actions wisely for they have more power than you realize. They create your future.

Power is good when it’s used for a good intention. To be super powerful it has to come from a place of love.  History has proven that power from a place of fear like Dictatorship and Monarchy doesn’t last. In contrast, look at how effective Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King were in their peaceful methods for change. They came from a heart centered place to illicit change.  They were so powerful in their peaceful movements that others saw them as a threat.  They had the power of the people behind them and that made those in power fearful, so much so that they were assassinated and imprisoned.

What it comes down to is if you want peace, be peace.
If you want to see more kindness, be kind.
If you want more love in the world, show your love.
Look at the man/women in the mirror. If you don’t like what you see make the change.

Embrace the power you have to change the world.

Make the Most of What You Have

Making the most of what you have is exactly what Michael Oher the NFL player did. Who would have thought that scoring within the 98 percentile for protective instincts would lead to an NFL career?  That 98% instinct is what gave him the ability to protect the quarterback’s blind side.

Of course his journey didn’t come easy. He certainly didn’t start out life on easy street, on the contrary. It takes a lot of discipline and morals not to succumb to the pressure of the streets. It takes a lot of self perseverance to continue to move on with your life when you have no family to financially and emotionally support you. What kind of driving force does a person like that have to keep moving forward?  If those obstacles weren’t enough, he still have to overcome his lack of education before he could even think about playing any kind of sport but with the help of the Tuohy family and some key educators he became more than what he thought he could be.  So many people could see the heart behind the man that they took it upon themselves to help him out. 

Football didn’t come naturally to him because he didn’t understand the game and what was required of his position.  Once he tapped into what he needed to do he was able to activate the key ingredient that makes him stand out, natural protective instincts.

Protective instincts are one of his greatest talents and he’s found a way to capitalize on it.  What’s your natural talent and how can you tap into it to shine like Michael Oher has on the football field?