Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Keep reaching for your Ultimate Best

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“If you are doing your best, you will not have any time to worry about failure.”
H. Jackson Brown Jr.

In life, you should always be pursuing your ultimate best.  Whether it is your business or family life, your health, your relationships, your communication, your personal growth or your faith, stretching yourself is an important component to living life to the fullest.  Stagnation is an evil sense.  It creates mediocrity.  This weakness can take you away from your dreams and goals.  You must be relentless in the pursuit of reaching your full potential.  It’s non-stop.  It takes work.  It is very difficult.  But the benefits are staggering and life altering. 

“Life and success is not about what you get.  Life and success is about the full expression of your talents and reaching your absolute best.”  Robin Sharma 

Living this way will give you the ability to do more with your life.  You will inspire more people.  You will use your life to create significance in the world.  You will become a better parent, or friend, or teacher.  You will use your talents to change the world.  So why not STRIVE FOR YOUR ULTIMATE BEST? 

Here are a few ideas to think about as you pursue world-class levels:

1.     Habits.  Everything we do in our day-to-day lives are habits.  They are simple routines that have been cemented into our way of life.  Whether they are strong and positive habits that assist your personal mastery or weak and mediocre habits that take you away from your goals, habits have been created due to the consistent formation of our daily routines.  Habits can be built and habits can be broken.  The longer you have practiced specific habits, the longer it will take you to reform and substantiate new and improved habits.  Here is the first activity: assess your daily habits.  Write them down.  Do they support your life goals?  Do they lead you to your ultimate best?  Will the habit lead you to mental clarity and physical strength?  Remember, this pursuit is to reach your ULTIMATE BEST.  This is not a race against someone else.  It’s an individual challenge to reach your full potential.  Always look at yourself and find ways to improve.  Find those mediocre habits that do not lead you to your aspirations.  Reform them into better and smarter habits.  And be patient.  On average, habits can take 66 days to instill.  This depends on the actual habit, the person, and the circumstances.  The first few weeks of working on a new habit will be uncomfortable.  Push through this uncomfortable feeling.  If you persist, if you desire to form positive and healthy habits, if you want your goals to happen, it all starts with your daily habits and practices. 

2.     Become a world-class thinker.  World-class thinking leads to world class action taking.  This starts with what you feed into your brain and body.  What music do you listen to?  What TV do you watch?  Who do you network with?  What books do you read?  What food do you eat?  How do you treat your body?  You cannot expect a car to run functionally when you load junk into the gas tank.  The car will simply breakdown and not perform at high levels.  The same goes for the human body.  What you put in the body, in the form of words, music, TV, people and nutrition all matters to what output you want to produce.  I truly believe that we must block out the negativity.  We must limit pessimistic things and people in our life.  Guard your bubble and be very cautious of what comes in.  Go back to the first idea above.  Your habits.  How do you wake up in the morning?  Do you read a positive or inspiring book?  Do you eat a nutrient dense breakfast that will energize the body?  Do you exercise to release endorphins so you can feel good about yourself? Do you spend time to recite positive affirmations in your head?  These strategies can be a game changer in regards to how you live your day-to-day life.  If you start your day on the right note, more than not, you will have better days.  You will be more successful in your thinking.  You will view each day as a stepping-stone to your complete life.  A new vitality will be unloaded and you will wake up ready to get from the day instead of just “get through the day.”  So become fully aware of every thought that enters the head.  Replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts.  Form positive habits.  Surround yourself with a supportive and motivating network of people.  Your thoughts will change your world.   

3.     “Determination is a stronger trait than weakness.”  This thought was cemented into my head at mile 265 of my 300-mile run.  I was tired.  My body was beat up.  My mind was weary.  It could have been easy to throw in the towel and be content with running 265 miles.  I mean think about it, I ran 265 miles ran in a 4-day period!  But that was not the goal.  The journey was not over.  The depths of my weakness and vulnerability were suffocated by my determination.  This determination pushed my limits and led me to achieving a monumental expedition.  The same determination that enabled me to run 300 miles is the same determination you have to achieve your goals.  We all have it.  The question is, “Are you willing to find that deep determination?”  Or will you allow weakness to win?  Weakness is the easy route.  Weakness is hitting the snooze button when you know you should be up for an early morning workout.  Weakness is giving in to pessimistic habits.  Determination will take constant drive.  Determination will be tough at times.  But this determination will guide you to your ULTIMATE BEST.  Use your determination to fulfill your potential so you can truly live life to the fullest. 

A few action steps:
  • Every week make a schedule.  What gets scheduled gets done.  If it’s important to you, add it to your schedule.  This is your weekly design plan.  It will keep you laser focused on your most important activities. 
  • Exercise every single day.  One hour a week is 4% of the week.  You have time to make this happen.  This short amount of time dedicated to your physical well-being will direct you to becoming and doing your best. 
  • Read and fill your mind with inspiring and motivating books and articles.  This should become a habit.
  • Top-notch nutrition will give you world-class health.  Your health is you wealth and if you are eating junk, you will not produce high-level output.  Most of the time you should be eating nutrient dense foods to saturate the body with vitamins and minerals that are needed for high-level performance. 
  • Rejuvenate.  You must make time to unwind, relax and rest the mind.  This ability to "empty your cup" will give you more energy and passion to focus on your major tasks. 
  • Cherish your relationships.  The people that support you need to be appreciated.  Let them know your gratefulness.  Invite them for a cup of coffee, send them a positive text or call them to say thank you.  Life is nothing without positive relationships. 
  • Believe!  Without a strong belief system, nothing happens.  Start to truly believe in your abilities.  You can do so much.  Be ambitious.  Go for the ultimate.  Believing is the first step!


BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: JLEvision.com, my personal growth coaching program's website has officially launched.  This new venture will enable me to assist people live fuller and more passionate lives.  If you are ready to reach for your ULTIMATE BEST or if you have any questions regarding this coaching program, please contact me at justinlevine03@hotmail.com


Stay inspired and Keep pushing! 

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