What phrase do people usually utter when they encourage themselves to pursue their goals or dreams? They typically say, “I can do it” over and over. I know that much, as I am one of those who say this as a mantra to keep me going after what I am passionate about. 

However, I also know that life should not only be about positive thinking or declarations to turn dreams into reality. I also know that much. In my more than 30 years of living life the best way I can, I have learned and worked on declaring that I can positively and say I did it successfully. 

Here are the steps that I usually follow to transition my I-cans to I-dids:

1. I declare first. Declaring is very important for me because it helps me direct all the other parts of my body to the direction of my mind. When I voice out what I want, I coordinate with all aspects of my being to unite for the same purpose. 
2. I gather strength. Gathering strength for me is getting all the support I can and need to accomplish my goal. Asking for help is not something I shy away from because two or more heads are better than one. Why would I punish myself by doing things on my own if I have the chance to be more successful with the support of others? 
3. I equip myself. As I always say, in every opportunity I have, one thing I invest in is education. Continuing to learn is something that I do not only see as an additional activity to fill my hours. It is a necessity. For me to continuously have the ability to achieve my goals, I have to continue to grow and develop my competencies. 
4. I try and try. Since it is not uncommon for failures or mistakes to transpire, I always remind myself not to succumb to self-pity when a mishap takes place. I remind myself of how such things are part of the process, which could also help me grow and learn more. Therefore, despite all the challenges, I try again every time I fail. 
5. I always give my 100% effort. One of the best ways to have a chance for my goals to be achieved is to ensure that I give my 100% best when accomplishing them. There should be no room for half-hearted efforts. 

How about you? How do you make your dream a reality?

(Photo by Designecologist)

As the new year quickly came by, I couldn’t help but wonder where all the time went. It felt like time flew in just a blink of an eye. It made me realize that this year might also pass without me noticing. Being that as it is, I concluded that it is not wise to spend what time I have moping around or being unhappy. Time, being the most valuable thing, should be spent wisely – doing something we love and making others happy. 

However, it is also inevitable to feel disheartened, especially when facing new challenges that seem unsurpassable sometimes. The good thing is that we can always do something about it, turn everything around and help ourselves. Here are the things that I actively and consciously do to lift my spirits when things feel a little bit unbearable:

1. I do a gratitude exercise, writing down the things I am grateful for being the first. I consciously look around me and list all the things that make my life bearable at that moment, like my bed or my spouse. 
2. I take time to enjoy good food. Instead of going through meal times to fill my stomach, I consciously and slowly savor the food I eat. I focus on identifying the ingredients that make my meal taste good. 
3. I take a walk or drive without any intention of doing an errand. I look around and observe my surroundings and everything I pass by. 
4. I take a break from my tasks. I would set up a different working space outside the house or someplace that I find comfortable and bask in it before returning to work. 
5. I count my wins. I trust all my successes, and that includes even the littlest ones. I tap myself in the back for being able to wake up early and start my day without missing my routine. I tap myself at the back to complete my success list for the day. As I said, I count every single win.

In times when things seem to be out of sorts, we need not face them right away. Through experience, it is essential to neutralize my emotions first to handle the challenges afterward effectively. Hence, the list of activities to lift to pump up my mood. 

How do you deal with a bad mood?

(Photo by Pixabay)

Aside from purchasing a planner and brainstorming for resolutions, there are more important things we need to welcome the new year. Yes, I know it is quite difficult to plan when we are caught in the holiday celebrations and fun but we need to balance it out and make sure that we are physically, mentally, and spiritually ready to face 2023. Although we can never have certainty in life, we can have excitement and energy when we know that we took actions that would help us tread the journey awaiting us. So here are the things I suggest we do for the new year:

1. Set goals for your personal and professional life. Setting goals is best done before the new year starts because it will allow you to maximize the first month. But, it’s not too late to start it at the early days of this month. When you already know your goals, you will already know your plans of action and when you’re going to start them. When planning is done on the first few days or before the new year, the first month can already be utilized for taking action. 
2. Equip yourself with the necessary skills to achieve your goals. The mindset that we usually have when the year-end holidays come is days off and fun, that is why we no longer want to think about anything concerning work or business. I believe, however, that the end and the immediate start of the year is the best time to prepare ourselves for the goals and challenges. This can be done by identifying first what knowledge and skills we need to have to achieve the goals we have set, then finding the right action that would enable us to acquire such knowledge and skills. Isn’t it better to start the new year fully equipped?
3. Put a closure to the things that made you unproductive. In a previous blog, I have included on the list of things to do before the year ends the identification of the reasons why we have not achieved some of our goals. This process can show us the habits or routines we have that contributed to our inability to achieve certain goals. If we can identify such unhelpful habits or routines, then we have to start working on letting those go.
4. Start new habits that will help you achieve your goals. Besides ridding ourselves of nonsensical habits, we should also start new ones that would help us become more productive, and make us more capable of accomplishing our goals. Since it is said that it takes days to form a habit, we should start developing the habits we want to keep for the new year so that the first month will not be wasted. 
5. Revitalize yourself to be ready for what you are about to do. The previous year might have brought us different types of stresses which made us exhausted not only physically, but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. For most of us, it extracted a lot of energy. For this reason, we need to allocate ample time to rest our body, mind, heart, and soul. This can be done through meditation, exercise, and a healthy lifestyle. 

If there were goals that did not materialize last year, the new year will be another chance to work for them. We may not know what the future holds but we should not just wait for it to unfold without physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually preparing for it. We should have a clear direction, tools, open mind, and courageous heart when we set out on a new journey. The above suggestions are some of the ways that would help us obtain these essentials. 

Do you think these are important? Or should we just go with the flow?

(Photo by olia danilevich)