Skip La Cour’s BodyBlog

Your willingness to take more risks is one of the key factors that separate you from where you are now in your life and where you ultimately want to be.

Even if you already consider yourself a risk-taker when you compare yourself to other people, you’ll have to take more. What you are doing now has only taken you so far. Your personal “next level” in life might require you to risk more of your time, money, energy, emotion, and focus.

There’s obviously no guarantee for success if you do take more risks. There’s obviously more to lose when you do take more risks. When you aren’t willing to take more risks, however, you lower you chances for the success, happiness, and fulfillment you really want in life.   

One of the most effective disciplines you can do to increase the quality of your life is to review your day at night and then plan the next day immediately afterwards.

Reflecting on your day as you wrap it up will force you to notice if you are on track. Planning your next day the night before forces you to wake up every morning with purpose and direction.

You must try new things if you want to take your life to the next level. When you keep doing the same old things, you will only keep yourself in the same old place.

You must try new things now. You must try new things often. Start conditioning your mind to automatically see different ways to go about the same old things. Expand upon your current way of thinking and doing with this approach in all areas of your life.

Everything you do can ultimately serve you well. Don’t judge the results of your experimentation too quickly. Adopt the empowering belief that you simply can’t lose when you try new things. Discovering things that move you forward faster, keep you where you currently are, or even move you backwards can all lead to a higher level of mental stimulation. This higher level of mental stimulation can help you get where you ultimately want to be in your life.   

Thinking that something you are striving for is “too hard” should never be a determining factor on whether or not you should proceed. What you think is “too hard” to accomplish now suddenly becomes “easy” when you find the right combination of strategies. Think about it. Haven’t you experienced this kind of turnaround before in your life? Of course you have.

You’ll have a difficult time finding that right combination of strategies for success if you keep telling yourself that something is too hard.

Focus on improving just one area of your life at a time. Making small incremental improvements—over a long enough period of time—will create massive, lasting change.

Make one area of your life the primary target for improvement every month. Take action in that one specific area. Break down what daily tasks you need to take. Step up to the challenges in front of you and celebrate even the smallest victories. Bounce back quickly if you see yourself sliding back into your old patterns of thinking and doing. Track, assess, and monitor your progress. Make the new and empowering thoughts and actions habits. Make these habits the kind that will last a lifetime.

Then, target another specific area of your life you want to improve the next month.

Your laser-like focus is what’s critical for creating lasting change. You’ll improve upon what you choose to focus on improving. By putting attention on this area for an entire month, you’ll find ways to get the job done.

Yes, mastering change in just 12 specific areas of your life every single year will create a quality of life that will make you proud. Be patient

Despite all the obstacles you have faced in the past, you’ve successfully found ways to make your life work for you. That’s awesome! You’ve discovered methods to overcome the challenges that have stood in your way—and have even done so with a certain level of effectiveness. “How do I make my life even better?” is what you are focusing on these days. It’s a higher quality of life, that “next level” for you, is what you are striving for now, isn’t it? 

Do you ever wonder why you just can’t seem to get past a certain point? Do you ask yourself why you can take yourself only so far—no matter how hard you try? Many times, the very same habits that have elevated you to this place in your life are exactly the same ones that are keeping you here. The approach that makes so much sense to you now may not be the most effective approach to get you to the next level. 

You’ll have to adopt a new way of thinking and do different things. You’ll have to do some of the things you currently do differently if you expect better results. No matter how hard or how long you try, you simply aren’t the best person to create the most effective game plan. You are trying to accomplish something that you have never accomplished before. Who do you think is more qualified to come up with the best route? A person who has already been where you want to be—or you? 

Invest in a coach and save yourself time and frustration. 

Oftentimes, the difference between an amazingly successful life and a mediocre existence is trying just one more time. “Get knocked down nine times and get up 10 times” is an inspiring saying about persistence.

Success is waiting for those who keep on plugging away. Keep striving for what you really want. Setbacks are an integral part of all great success. Don’t avoid them. In fact, get the setbacks out of the way as soon as you can.

Hurry up and get knocked nine times so that day you’ll get up the tenth time will get here sooner. 

Don’t make avoiding stress your primary objective in life. A certain level of stress, handled properly, will greatly enhance the quality of your life.Even if you were lucky enough to get everything that you want in life without dealing with stress, you won’t enjoy the satisfaction of getting it. You wouldn’t have paid the appropriate price.

Don’t avoid doing certain things because you fear the potential stress that may be involved. Welcome the stress. The real satisfaction in life is always found in the struggle—not in the end result.  

Personal power and influence begin with your own thoughts. You must convince yourself that you are a person of power and influence before you can convince the world that you are.

The people who you spend the most time with are important too. How can you ever expect to feel powerful when you spend the majority of your time with people who disempower you with their thoughts and actions toward you? How can you ever expect to influence the rest of the world when you can’t even influence those people who are closest to you that what you say is of great value?

You can’t spend your time with people who are constantly challenging your values, beliefs, and opinions in a disrespectful manner. Heck! It will be difficult for you to believe that you are a powerful and influential person if someone close to you is constantly challenging your values, beliefs, and opinions in even if they do so in a respectful manner.

You must spend your time with those people who are the “same page” as you are. You must spend the majority of your time with people who have similar values are you do. 

How can you ever expect to be happy if you haven’t identified all the things in life that make you happy?

Can you rattle off a list right now? Many people can’t. These same people can’t figure out why they never seem to be happy.

What makes you happy? What do you love to do? What would enjoy doing with your time more than anything else? Take inventory of what makes you happy. Make a list of all the things you love to do. List all of the things that may last five minutes; 30 minutes; and hour; a day; or weekend. What’s on your personal “buffet table” of enjoyable activities?

What you focus on expands. Review your list often and design the life you really want. You’ll find creative ways to incorporate those activities you enjoy most into your life when you’ve taken the time to identify exactly what those things are.