Last updated on March 30th, 2021 at 09:59 pm
We all have to do some things in life that we just don’t want to do. By extension of that, many of us wind up with jobs we don’t want, significant others we don’t live and kids that drive us up the wall. We get so down in the dumps about our life situations that we often forget one of the fundamental truths of our existence—one that might be able to pull us out of the abyss:
YOU CAN DO BETTER.
Whenever someone says this, it’s automatically assumed that someone is recommending a drastic solution to resolve a situation—breaking up; divorce; quitting; boarding school… the list goes on. The funny part is—you don’t need to do something drastic or make a big production of things in order to improve your life; you just need to take some small steps in making things healthier.
The primary one is a shift in thinking. The thing that often keeps us in bad situations is our paradigms—we make ourselves out to be victims without the power to escape our fates. We say things like “My life would be better if I didn’t have this project” or “I wish he would listen to me—life would be so much easier!”
We dream of a world where factors external to ourselves can be changed to make life easier to deal with. I bet you know what I’m going to say next, though—you can’t change all of this. All you can change is yourself. How you see your situation. You need to change the “it’s not fair—why does she get all the best clients?” to “I’m going to treat my clients like gold—I’ll be rewarded for my efforts!” You need to change “I wish I looked more like him” to “I’m going to join a gym and hit my goals!”
It is we who control our lives, not the people and things around us—we quickly forget this when facing challenges!
So the next time something’s amiss; the next time that things aren’t going your way and they’ve got you down, say it aloud:
“I CAN DO BETTER.”
Figure out what’s wrong. Make a plan. Take action. Be in control of your destiny and put in the time, effort and passion necessary to change your world.
240/365
3 replies on “YOU CAN DO BETTER!”
Here a favorite TED talk about this: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/matt_cutts_try_something_new_for_30_days.html
It’s all about how you can really make changes in your life, even if you’re just trying it for 30 days before deciding to keep it going.
I love your posts, Casey — you’re always so positive & inspiring!
Dear Different CEP, thanks for the TED talk — I always love the ones that’re inspirational and get me to work outside of my boundaries. That may be something to look at for next year; taking the year and splitting it up into segments.
Rox: Thanks so much 🙂 This year’s taught me a lot about what’s important in life, what we can do to make things a little better and just how to escape the ruts that we find ourselves in. I feel like I’m setting a grand stage for something even better in 2012…