We may never realize that our lives are filled with so many wonderful things, that we just don’t take notice of because we are too busy worrying over little things. The universe is full of opportunities, waiting for us to discover them. But we especially think of the problems of our lives rather than those opportunities. Well, let me be specific and mention that I am talking about opportunities for making our lives better. Let me make a bold statement here- We are not given a good or bad life; we are given a life and it’s up to us to make it Good or Bad. The choice is ours. We are the masters of our own fate. We need to be bold enough to forge our own destiny with the pen-called actions.
Making the best of life requires a proactive attitude from us. Are you thrilled on how you can make the best of your life, then let’s explore:
1. Believe in Yourself
Your life’s achievement is the result of your belief in yourself. It is because you believed that it was possible, that you achieved your goal. The door to endless possibilities is opened up when we start believing in ourselves. A sad truth is that we have conditioned ourselves to doubt. Before we even start progressing to our goals, we start doubting our capabilities. We think and say to ourselves “I wonder if I ever will be able to do this” or “I wonder if I am strong enough to fight this”. This type of thought does creep into our minds like how water leaks through a rusted roof. The very moment we do this, we are limiting ourselves. Our potential will be hampered. And you will be forced to accept something of inferior quality or something which you do not want. Life is too short for such petty and negative thoughts. The magic of believing in yourself is that when you have faith in your abilities you naturally pave a path to your success.
Swami Vivekananda had said- Belief in yourself and the world will be at your feet.
There is so much truth in this statement. The magic of belief is only understood by those who do it themselves. Those who practice it. You need to believe that what you want to achieve is possible, then only you will be able to believe in yourself. When you believe it is possible then your mind acts upon this information. Not many people know that the mind is a powerful tool. It can deliver what we want to achieve based on our positive affirmations. That is why it is important to have positive expectations. It’s a simple choice yet highly effective. What you believe You Can Manifest. Never forget this.
Make an extraordinary decision to lead an extraordinary life.
Let me tell you this. Exceptional living is possible by believing in yourself. And who doesn’t want to live an exceptional life? Our self-confidence and self-esteem are boosted when we have faith in our own capabilities. I have been talking about believing in yourself and what it can do for you. But many people do know what it exactly means to believe in yourself. The answer to that is confidence. Confidence is the foundation of believing in yourself. The ingredient that makes the best of life and awards you what you want to achieve.
Confidence comes from within. It comes when you make the bold decision not be bonded and tied up by your fears. It comes when you overcome your difficulties. It comes from the powerful force that resides within you. Connect to your inner self and explore your unknown and unimaginable potential. The strength that you seek- it’s all within. Look no further.
2. Never Give Up – Persistence Power
Before I go into the depth of this issue, let me tell you a story. The story about the Chinese Bamboo tree. It’s such a great story that perfectly explains everything about persistence.
Like any other ordinary plant, the Chinese Bamboo plant requires proper nurturing. You have to water it; the soil has to be fertile and you have to ensure that the plant receives enough sunlight for it to grow. During the first year, there will be no visible signs of growth. Again, during the second year there will be no growth despite the proper nurturing given on regular basis. The third, the fourth still there will not be any activity. By now, one will wonder whether the efforts invested in taking care of this plant is really paying off. Patience will be tested. You will begin questioning yourself if acts will be rewarded.
But at last, in its sixth year you will see a fascinating wonder. The Bamboo tree will finally start growing. The Chinese Bamboo tree will grow 80 feet in just six weeks. That’s such a miraculous growth isn’t it!
So now you must be asking, hey what was happening for four years? Was tree just lying underground and waiting for the fifth year to approach? Was the seed naturally designed by nature to grow in its fifth year? Or was that little Chinese Bamboo tree developing a root system to support its magnificent growth in its fifth year. The answer obviously is, if the tree had not developed a solid and strong foundation it would not have been able to support its growth and sustain its life as it grew. A similar principle applies to us well. Patiently toiling towards our worthwhile ambitions while overcoming struggles on top of struggles helps one to build a foundation to handle success and transform difficulties into a step to reach your goals and dreams. That’s what the amazing Chinese Bamboo tree teaches us about life. Many of us get overwhelmed when we face challenges one by one. It really seems like that these hurdles are out to break us and demoralize us. Well, let’s get back to the story of Chinese Bamboo tree and find out
Had the farmer dug the planted Chinese Bamboo tree every year to check whether it was growing he would have doomed its growth. Let the struggles you face mold you into a personality that it focused towards their goals. It can feel like unrewarding at times, but you need to experience your personal growth through patience and persistence.
All right, I think I have talked enough about never giving up, let’s now move on to the next quality that help us to make the best of life.
3. Being Compassionate
Compassion is one of the great qualities that define a human being. It is the ability to understand other people’s suffering and desire to eradicate them. Kindness, caring, empathy and sympathy are just some words that can define what it means to be compassionate. It is something that is important in our lives as well as the society. Imagine what the world would be like if someone would not have done a selfless and benevolent deed? There have been many such people in history such as Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and so many others, who showed us what it really means to be compassionate. Their name and fame are known throughout the world because of their deeds. Compassion is a universal principle that is revealed in all religions and traditions. It is something that we all learn universally. We are all taught to practice it in our lives. So how can we make the best of our lives by being compassionate?
Being compassionate gives meaning to what it means to lead a good life. Many would agree with this statement. It gives us a chance to make a difference in other people’s lives. It gives us a chance to feel happy and say to ourselves- “I have done the right thing by helping that person”. Compassion inspires us to perform courageous deeds and all sorts of positive contributions that we can make to individuals and society.
Dalai Lama had said
“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion”.
Practicing compassion is rewarding both ways- the giver and the recipient both benefit.
One day you will ask yourself “Have I been a nice person?”, “Do I help people when they need me? “Or “Do I ever help anyone in need?” If believe in compassion and practice it yourselves you can answer questions like these.
You do not want to feel like the bad guy who just cares for themselves right! You want people to say nice things about. You wouldn’t want them to think of you as unkind person. Life isn’t only about you. It’s about other people as well who make it meaningful. So be nice to them. Who knows when you might end up needing a compassionate heart by your side.
Imagine yourself in a terrible situation where you feel helpless and desperate. How would you want other people to react to you? What would you expect if you had asked someone for help? Anyone who has been caught up in chaotic situation would want help. And you can help if you have a compassionate heart. The message here is that you have to put your” feet in their shoes” and understand their pain.
Sorrows and wounds are healed when we touch them with compassion.
You will feel good in your last days of life if have done compassionate deed. Thinking of that deed will bring a smile to your face and you feel like you have contributed and done your share in serving the universe. It’s a very wonderful feeling that gives a sense of fulfilment.
Filling our hearts with compassion really gives us a chance to make life meaningful and worthwhile. Don’t forget to smile. It’s the best way to show the love and kindness within.
“Without a rich heart, Wealth is an ugly beggar”
4. React Towards your goals
Setting is your goals is as important as working towards them. In order to achieve your goal, you need to focus sufficient attention on it until you accomplish it. Inspire yourself to achieve something meaningful in your life. Your goals should be realistic.
To achieve your goals, you need good planning. It means you have to be organized mentally. Listing things down could help. This is probably one of the most effective ways of controlling your life and time. Instead of circumstances controlling your life, you can control your life. That reminds me what Napoleon Hill had said, and it goes like this-
“A goal is a dream with a deadline”
Having a timeframe for what you want to achieve and when you want to achieve them can really be helpful. Your goals are what you believe will make your life meaningful and fulfilling. Without it, you feel like a dead body. A lifeless being. I have heard and you might have as well heard that there is time and place for everything. The same thing applies to our goals. To make the best of our lives you need to accomplish these goals and reach your target.
Vision and action are two essential approaches that should not be forgotten when talking about goal setting. Again, the concept of listing comes into play here. The power of having a “life list” or as most people would say “bucket list” should not be underestimated. It allows you to pursue our goals with vigor and zeal. A life list can really push us forward as we live our life. It helps you in both ways – by visualizing your goals and taking actions to meet them.
You must have a strong passion to reach your goal. The potential should be there. One way to do this is by making a strong commitment that you will never back down from your goals. A true commitment is like a heartfelt promise that you make to yourself.
Our goals should excite us about life. It should challenge us. It should engage us.
If you feel like this about your goals then know for sure that you have meaningful goals for a meaningful life.
It helps you to answer the question whether you are seeking something you truly want.
Effectively monitor your progress. This way you will know whether you are doing enough or not.
Taking responsibility for your failures and success. In this way you have control over your life. You have to take personal responsibility of your life. In this way you will be responsible for your achievements. You will start believing in yourselves. You will feel motivated.
Maximize your efforts and engage in positive self-talk. You will definitely make progress towards your goal.
5. Learn new skills
Always walk through life as if you have something new to learn and you will. Vernon Howard a American teacher had said this and its very much true. Think of it this way, how would life be if didn’t learn anything new and just stuck with what you had learned in your school and college days. How would you start feeling about life? Pretty much bored, isn’t it!
When we learn something new it makes life better and meaningful.
It helps you to tap into your unknown potential. It acts as a mechanism of self-exploration and self-transformation.
Your mind is like an engine.
The more you focus on it, the more powerful you become.
The more you learn to use your mind, the more brilliant you become.
Many people do not use the power of the mind properly.
Just like how a small matchstick has the power to create a huge inferno, so does your mind has the massive power ignite the flames of success.
Real learning happens in the classroom of life.
When you decide to learn that’s when real happening happens. This is a turning point of your life. Life gets fantastic here.
As you learn new things, your experience and perspective of life changes. Learning new things in life makes it fun and fulfilling. Mind and body become engaged when you decide to keep learning. You get new perspectives about the world around you. You open your chances of becoming an interesting person, you become more valuable and increase your chances of a brighter future. By learning new skills, you train yourself to handle new challenges. Consider, an enrolling in a cooking class- you will enable yourself to learn a variety of culinary skills allowing you to prepare nutritious meals which will in turn keep you healthy. Whatever, you learn it always helps. It never goes to waste. It is rewarding and exciting.
6. Eat Healthy and Be Healthy
You may have all heard that Health is Wealth. Apparently, that’s very true. Food plays a very important role in living a healthy lifestyle and enriching life.
However, the problem is we are eating too much of the wrong food. So, what is the healthiest diet for humans, you may ask? The answer to that question is what we were told back in our childhood days: “Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables.”
We can control our health through what we eat. We can control one of the most precious things to us and that is our health. This is the powerful idea for a bright future.
A healthy diet promotes good health. It protects us against diseases such as cancer, diabetes, stroke, heart attack and other deadly non-communicable diseases.
When it comes to food everyone knows what’s best for them and what’s not good for them. We all have heard advise such as eat less fat, sugar, salt, be physically active and limit alcohol intake. However, we are least bothered to act upon this. The moment you pass by the fast food restaurant you forget about your health goals and go and stand in the line to get burger and fries. I am not implying that we totally cut off such food from our diets but we should control how much of it we eat. In this way you look after your health better.
Just think about the perfect health and body. It can be all yours. If you are bold enough to make some bold decisions you can reap the benefits of maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
We cannot rely on medicines to heal us every time. You won’t need any medicine if you make some simple changes to how you live your life in terms of your health.
Don’t’ take your health for granted. Many people only realize the importance of good health when disease strikes them. Winning the war against disease requires a wise approach from us. Act Now!
Keep in mind that eating healthy is one of the best ways to enjoy and live life. You are definitely going to thank yourself in the future for doing this.
This quote by Herophilus, a Greek physician pretty much sums up everything regarding health-
“When health is absent, wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot become manifest, strength cannot be exerted, Wealth is useless and reason is powerless”
-Herophilus, 300 BC
7. Relax a Little
One of the foremost techniques of developing inner peace is through relaxation. When you throw out all your worries and stresses you are in a state of relaxation.
But how do we relax in such a way?
Through tranquility of mind. Tranquility of mind makes us feel relaxed. One simple method of achieving this tranquil state of mind is: every day during night time sit down on a comfortable sofa; let nothing like people and mobile phones disturb you. Then recognize and let go of all the bad energy inside you. After you let go of all that negative energy you will feel much better- your mind will be calm and serene.
There are other ways of relaxing as well depending on your personality. Listening to soothing music and song really does the trick. One of the things that almost everyone likes doing when they are stressed is to listen to their favorite song. I find this highly effective as well. It makes us forget about troubles and worries. We start relating the lyrics of the song to our own selves. It works as a therapy.
If you are someone with a busy lifestyle who barely gets time for themselves then you need to make an onus to take out some time for yourself every week. Go out! Visit someplace you have always wanted to but could not because you were too busy. Treat yourself to something nice that you had always wanted to. Doing things like this makes you feel all nice inside. Leave no regret that you have not lived your life to the fullest.
One more thing-
Our lives are burdened with worries. We worry about a lot of things every day. It becomes likes a habit which drains all our positive energy. This trend needs to be stopped.
An uncalmn mind full of worries is like a violent river which is wasting all the energy, but if that river is tamed by the engineer then that same river can produce energy in the form of electricity that can be used to light many houses.
Use your mental and physical energy wisely to get the best out of life.
8. Spend Time with those who matter to you
Life will be meaningless without people who matter to you such as your family, grandparents, friends and well-wishers. That is why it is important to value them while they are with us. Spending time with them is important to our and their well-being as well.
Here’s why spending time with your loved ones matter:
- Self-Esteem- spending quality time with loves ones increases our self-esteem.
- Easy to build relationships- we will be able to toughen our relationships in the present as well as learn to sustain relationships in the future.
- Handle stressful situations with ease- having a league of people who care about us gives us the ability to face odd circumstances with confidence.
- You can learn important lessons in life from your grandparents and other older relations. You can learn from their mistakes so that you don’t make those mistakes yourselves.
- Positive Emotions- being with caring, kind and encouraging people leads to positive emotions which will in turn lead us to a healthier lifestyle.
9. Do things on Time
Work prospers with care;
He who postpones wrestles with ruin
This are the last two lines in the poem Works and Days by a classic Greek poet, Hesiod. The lines above perfectly put’s everything into perspective when talking about procrastination.
“While we waste our time hesitating and postponing, life is slipping away”
– Seneca, Roman Philosopher
This quotation reveals that to live life to the fullest it’s important to stop wasting our time. When you procrastinate, you will find yourself doing something totally irrelevant to your ambitions and purpose. Many people like leaving things to the last minute. We work better under pressure- is the justification given by these people.
But the real story is otherwise. Procrastination creates a fertile ground for worry, stress and inefficiency. This situation really drains all our energy for progress.
It’s really not a good habit of putting things off until the very last moment. What you can do today, why wait for tomorrow. After all who has seen tomorrow. Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed to us, we only have this moment. Tomorrow is an enemy of productivity.
Procrastination is the grave in which opportunity is buried. Feelings of regret arise within us from missed opportunities. This feeling tends to stay with us for a long time and makes us feel heavy at heart.
Investing your time in something meaningful helps us in accomplishing more and better utilize life’s opportunities.
I know at times we feel so overwhelmed that we don’t know where to start. Our “To Do List” freaks us out with all the things that need to be done.
To handle this sort of situations, prioritize your tasks and do them one at a time. Learn to keep yourself organized- it will save you time. Nicely tidy up your room and table- you will get into spirit of finishing your task as soon as possible.
When there is a hill to climb, don’t think that waiting will make it smaller.
Life is like an uphill battle, so do things on time to get the best out of life.
10. Change the way you live
When it comes to living our life, we have the power to decide how to live our life. Here are some ways in which we can re-invent and re-design our lives –
- Have a positive approach towards life. Bad and good days are part of life as much as day and night. They both come and go; hence, it is temporary. Accept happiness and sorrow with your cool. They are an inseparable part of life. Don not become overwhelmed by them. The problems of life can be dealt with just a pinch of wisdom and optimism.
- Motivation to change- Once you realize your life isn’t what you want it to be, you need to change it. To steer your life in the right direction you need to motivate yourself with the motivation that your actions will help you live the life of your dreams.
- Get enough sleep. About 6-8 hours of sleep is important to handle the day that lies ahead of us. Lack of sleep triggers tiredness and bad mood. So be sure to rest those eyes.
- Be your yourself. Ask yourself, if you want to be like the ‘wandering generality’ whose lives are spend imitating others and following the larger crowd or do you want to lead a meaningful life like great personalities such as Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Walt Disney, Oprah Winfery and Steve Jobs to name a few. Be true to yourself and do what is absolutely right.
- Change your routine. Our current reality is a result of all the things we do on a daily basis. To bring a positive change to your lifestyle, you need to change what you do every single day. Build a habit that will deliver you grand success one day. You don’t have to change everything at once, just try one new change at a time to create progress. You will not feel bored once you change your routine.
- Examine your path. Have a look at your life and examine if it aligns with your values. Know what you are passionate about. Well, it may take you years to find the answer to that. A simple method to solve this problem is “Ask yourself what type of legacy do you want to live behind”. Then, you will discover your passions.
- Always be a Work in Progress, else you will feel like you have accomplished your goals. This will stop your growth towards a better life
- Move out of your Comfort Zone. Once you get out of your comfort zone you will discover many new things which will have a life-changing impact on you. It allows you to redesign your life and move towards an extraordinary life which you deserve.
Wow, we have gone over 10 amazing ways you making the best of our lives.
We all have massive potential in us to lead the life of our dreams. We all have the massive potential to be the best version of ourselves. The only thing stopping you is you. Don’t limit yourself by your negative thoughts. Expand yourself into what you can be.
Let me end this post, with a wonderful thought:
Always remember your are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.
Christopher Robin