“The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.”
—W.M. Lewis

How many of us spend our days talking about the life we could have, or will have soon, or should have. Unfortunately, talking about it won’t actually make it happen. Each day you have to consciously decide on the actions to take that will keep you moving forward and avoid the decisions and actions that keep you stuck in the past. Having a desire for change but not taking the necessary actions to accomplish change will leave you at a standstill and probably also leave you feeling disheartened and dissatisfied.

Debbie Ford reminds us in The Best Year of Your Life that now is the time to set clear, concise, structured goals to keep you moving forward. Take the time to set your goals on paper with specific deadlines attached for each major milestone that you need to accomplish. Recognize the action steps that you need to take and do them. With each new action you take you will be one step closer to fulfilling your goals and your desires.

“The next level then, is the awareness that now is all there is. Today is the only day of your life. You do not have to be imprisoned or restricted by your personal history.”
— Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Your Sacred Self

Memories. We all have them: How we grew up, the friends we have made, the jobs we have done, the relationships we have created. These memories make us who we are, correct? Most of us would say, yes. However, by allowing our memories of the past to define who we are in the present, we are allowing ourselves to be imprisoned by labels and past events that may not be appropriate or accurate for your present state of being.

Today, free yourself from your past. Let go of all the limiting beliefs, roles, and expectations that you and others have placed on yourself. They may have served a purpose up to this moment, but you can now open up to all the other possibilities for your life. Rely on the way things are, the way you feel, the way your act, right now in this very moment. A New Day. A New You.

“I think I let go of the need for approval. It certainly feels good when you get it, but I used to be more desperate for it. Once I felt better inside about myself…I could do everything based on how I want to do things.”
— Ellen DeGeneres

Praise, appreciation, compliments. I was an approval junkie for many years. And like any other “addiction” I found myself needing it so much, I no longer knew how I felt about myself, unless someone told me how to feel. That meant that if someone thought I was great, I felt great. And when someone thought I was terrible, I felt terrible.

My inner guidance and self-esteem shut down and I was at the mercy of everyone else’s opinion. And with the amount of people I had to deal with everyday, my emotions and feelings about myself were in a state of constant yo-yo.

Thankfully, I have given myself a couple of well-needed gifts since those days. I have given myself the gift of forgiveness and I have given myself the much-needed gift of self-love.

I now allow myself to be my own guide to feeling good by doing good things. I still enjoy hearing positive feedback from others, but I don’t need it as I used to. Also, the good part is that when the occasional critique comes my way, I am less likely to take it personally. I have found the balance between outside opinions and my own internal guidance system.

“When we see men of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inward and examine ourselves.”
— Confucius

Every now and then we have moments where we come across people that we don’t agree with or their life situation seems so obviously easy to change or correct in our eyes. However, the reality is that we will never have enough information about people to judge them accurately. Judgment leads nowhere helpful as it blinds the person making the judgment.

It is not very easy to refrain from making quick judgments about others, especially when everybody else is doing it. But only you are responsible for your own growth and change, not others. The next time you are about to cast a quick judgment, ask yourself the following questions: Is it true? Is it useful? Is it necessary? Do I truly know that person’s life or their life journey?

Then the final step is to turn inward and ask yourself: What is it in that person or that situation that reflects my own life, or my own attitudes? Often we will surprise ourselves with the discovery that we are judging in others what we should be addressing in ourselves.

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on.”
— Robert Frost

Improvement and change occur when you do things repeatedly and consistently. Stopping and starting all the time will kill any of the momentum you need to succeed. Find ways to keep yourself on track and motivated. It is easy to create reasons not to stick to your goals. We get sick, we get tired, we have to travel, we get discouraged, we are stressed.

Here are some tricks to staying motivated and keeping change consistent in your life: Be reasonable with your goals by not taking on too much too quickly. Write your goals down in your calendar and make them as big a priority as every other appointment you have. Find support near by — a friend, a spouse, even a virtual computer buddy to keep you on track. Keep things fun — when it’s fun, it’s that much easier to do. Keep a journal so you can see your progress.

Now that the lightening and thunderstorms have passed and we have our internet connection back up — here’s the daily inspiration again!

“Laugh at yourself, but don’t ever aim your doubt at yourself.”
— Alan Alda

Don’t take yourself or all of life’s ups and downs too seriously. Lighten up. We were designed to live by our senses, not by our brains. Be bold and trust your inner guidance without hesitation.

Always follow your instincts, your intuition, your gut. And when things don’t go the way you thought it would, laugh at your mistakes. Being able to laugh at yourself is the key to self-actualization.

None of us is in control as much as we would like to think we are. Go with the flow. Forgive yourself. And move forward.