Every morning I listen to a podcast called “Quote of the Day Show” put on by a guy named Sean Croxton.
Great dude. Awesome content. Each weekday morning he uploads a 5-10 minute clip of a speaker. Some you recognize, some you don’t. Lisa Nichols, Wayne Dyer, and Bob Proctor frequent the show. Others like Jordan Belfort, Matthew McConaughey, and even Arnold Schwartzenegger make appearances.
Every day is something new - a positive, motivating message. It’s a fantastic way to start your day, and one I highly recommend. If you claim you don’t have 5-10 minutes to listen to a podcast while doing something (i.e. getting dressed, eating breakfast, driving, etc.), then you know, I’d probably call bullshit.
Anyways.
This week’s message is based on a short clip by world-renowned life coach, motivational writer, speaker and philanthropist Tony Robbins. The message is short, yet profound - simple, yet complex. It’s based on the knowledge that we all have the ability to determine the quality of our lives.
No, we can’t control the family we’re born into, the location, nor the economic situation, but none of these things dictate the QUALITY of our lives. Our decisions are what determine the quality of our lives. Each time we encounter a situation, regardless of the nature, we go through a sharp decision-making process - three decisions, most notably, and we are constantly making them.
1. What are you going to focus on?
2. What does this mean?
3. What are you going to do?
For our purposes, we’ll relate these decisions to a difficult circumstance we’re facing, because that is when they perhaps prove most important.
In a difficult situation:
What are you going to focus on? What part of this situation are you going to draw your attention to? The hopefulness or the helplessness? The damnations or the seeds of opportunity? We have a tendency to associate the word difficult with impossible.
If you can frame your reference in terms of what is possible, what is doable - what is changeable - then roads leading to these three things will reveal themselves to you. You choose what to focus on. Choose wisely.
What does this mean? In other words, how are you going to interpret this difficult situation you’re facing? As punishment or as practice? The Universe is a system of balance, with two sides to everything. When you find yourself struggling, know that somewhere in this mess is a path to success, a lesson to be learned, an experience to be had.
When you can step back and think outside of yourself and of the situation as a whole, you may be able to recognize where in this difficult circumstance there is solace to be had. Let this be your guide forward. Let this be the foundation of confidence that hardships never last, and goodness is eternal.
What are you going to do? You’ve done most of the work already, and you’ve determined what to focus on and recognized the potential good. You're 90% there! The last step is action, and it’s usually the most difficult.
Action is that looming door we stand in front of but are afraid to knock. Little do we know, the door is already cracked and the hinges have been greased up. One little push and that sucker will fling open! Action doesn’t require life-altering moves; it only requires a certain amount of sacrifice and willingness to change, to explore, and to do differently than your previous self and others around you.
Each of these questions are aimed at finding gifts in our struggles and developing gratitude for our experiences. Find the deeper meaning in your “bad days”. As Tony says, if you can turn your worst days into your best days by learning from them, you are on a path of happiness and growth.
