This is part 4 of a four part series titled So You’ve Heard It All Before?
This short series touched on three key areas that are important to revisit from time to time:
Gratitude: “A powerful aspect of gratitude is service to others – they really go hand in hand. Once you start improving on being grateful, there is a natural tendency to want to help other people more.”
Confidence: “Confidence encompasses so much of our lives. From trivial, daily tasks to massive undertakings – they all require some degree of confidence in yourself and confidence in other people. ”
Destiny: “Destiny is about finding your niche and your passion, and never giving up.”
What Next?
Have you ever wondered what’s next? Maybe you’ve thought about it from a long term perspective – a career change or major project you’d like to accomplish. What does my life have in store? Sometimes these kinds of thoughts produce action, other times they remain a dream. I’ve heard many elderly people make some comment about the things they missed out on, eg “I always wanted to be a pilot but it just never happened”. I don’t want that to be me saying that in 40 years time!
So what is the key to fulfilling our existence? To making the most of life and never giving up?
Improving on gratitude and becoming more confident are actions that produce some amazing results in our lives, however nothing is as big a dream killer as complacency and routine.
Question: when did you last ask yourself “What’s next?”
What’s next for you this year?
Let me encourage you to think about it from a short term perspective. What’s next – what can you do today that is different from your normal routine? Can you interact with people differently than you normally do? How about making the decision to drop complaints for one whole day. No complaining allowed about anything. Or even stretch that out for a month long commitment.
What’s next in your relationships – have you done anything differently or are you in the same old routine? How about a massage? Lunch? Flowers? I’m just a guilty of this as everyone else – relationships need a bit of spontaneity to stay fresh!
What’s next for your character? When your character is developed it’s tough to change. The ‘loud guy’ at work is not going to have a complete change in personality overnight. But if there are areas you want to improve on in your life, why not work on them in bite size chunks and start today? I can always work on being more appreciative of people for who they are, despite their irritating habits! So I’m going to think about that today, and control the way I react to people.
Surely there are so many other areas where this principle can be applied. What has worked well for you? Why let complacency and routine get in the way of living an outstanding life…
Gratitude, Confidence, Destiny… These are great topics to revisit and take action on in our own lives. Let’s not let life go by without making the most of every day! And always be asking what’s next?
There is a book that is available at Starbuck called “Where will you be five years from today?”
“Five Years…260 weeks…1,825 days…2,333,000 minutes.
I have not gotten past question number 2 – Who do you know that is Happy?
The book uses typography, inspirational quotes and worksheet style pages to guide you through a process that will help you to realize what it is that you want out of life. This little journal reminds us of what we never should have fogotten: you must live your life on purpose.
Hi Ross,
Enjoyed this series – nice stuff.
The key to ‘What’s Next’ is ACTUALLY taking the action. Do it. Go for it. What’s stopping you!
Getting the action habit is something I am really personally working on myself at the moment.
Chris (from Lifestyle Project)’s last blog post..Q&A with Leo from Zen Habits
When we plan for what we want to happen next that’s when we have a shot at reaching it. We may not always reach it, but I guarantee that it will be a learning experience. That’s all we can ask for.
Good point Mike. We have to live our life on purpose or we’ll just end up floating to a place we don’t want to be.
Karl Staib – Work Happy Now’s last blog post..Day 8 of 30 – No Complaining
@Mike – Sounds like an interesting read, I’ve been thinking about the question (the five year one) since I read your comment!
@Chris – Cheers mate – was interesting reading Leo’s reply to your question the other day, also…
@Karl – I’m with you on the ‘learning experience’ thing! Can’t become too despondent and give up early… push on! Thanks for commenting.
I really enjoyed this series Ross. I know your blog isn’t about entrepreneurship but I find many of things that you blog about are intimately related. Maybe I’ll write about that in my next post. Great series!
Steve C @ MyWifeQuitHerJob.com’s last blog post..Why Real Estate Made Me A Millionaire and Investing In Stocks Did Not
Hey Ross,
Constantly asking ourselves the question, “What’s next”, will ensure that we are continuing to grow and move forward. It is definitely a question that we must frequently ask ourselves.
Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger
Vincent’s last blog post..Learn How To Get The Most Sincere Smile In 16 Minutes and 23 Seconds
@Steve C – Thanks Steve, I appreciate your comments and I’m always interested in reading your blog… I’ve become a lot more interested of late in small business and entrepreneurship, so will probably have more questions for you as time goes on!
@Vincent – Howdy! It’s something I’ve been trying to do more for myself lately, I just don’t want to be stuck in the routines of day to day living…! All the best.