“The triumphant life belongs to the individual who narrows the gap between what he is, what he appears to be, and what he longs to be…” (Author unknown, at this time.)

This quotation has a powerful meaning, irrespective of your stage of life. For those who are about to take the first step on their career path, for those who are in various stages of personal or professional life transitions, and for those who are leaving their life-long career behind for retirement, there is much to be gained by keeping those quoted words ‘top of mind’. To me, those words speak to self-awareness (who you are) and authenticity (who you appear to be) and vision (who you long to be) all relevant and timeless considerations, at any age.

We must always ensure we are taking stock of who we are and that we are aligned with our core values. We will fulfill various roles along the way: child, sibling, spouse, parent, employee, manager, executive, lawyer, doctor, athlete, celebrity…but they are not who we are, just what we do…for a time. Though a demanding voluntary or involuntary commitment, none of these roles are permanent. This is something we inevitably discover either much to our joy or much to our dismay. Therefore, it pays to discover and have a clearly defined sense of who we are outside of our roles. This way we remain unlimited in our ability to shift, as needed. Some will refer to it as your ‘true north’, as knowing who you are allows you to enjoy the journey without losing your way back to you. However, when you reach each pinnacle along the way—triumphantly collecting the ‘trophies’ that represent your achievements—remember another quote that speaks volumes:

“Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get.” (Author unknown, at this time.)

The post The Triumphant Life appeared first on Your Life-Unlimited.

“No one ever expressed this idea that I was limited to any one thing, and so I think in terms of what’s possible, not impossible.” (Whoopi Goldberg)

The glass is both half empty and half full, depending upon your perspective. The question ‘what if’ can be one of dreams or one of fear, depending upon your perspective. You are master of your own choices and how you want to create and move through this life. At times, you may want and need to proceed with caution. But is that your default or a necessary and temporary adjustment? If it is your default, how does this impact your ability to see and seize opportunities as they appear? Whether you’re seeking to change your job or career path or desiring to grow personally, your perspective or how you see what’s inside of you will help you manifest it outside of you. Look at where you are right now as you read this post. If you think about it honestly, you created exactly where you are today through thoughts, which manifested into emotions, which manifested into action or inaction on your part. So, you created exactly what you wanted…or didn’t want. No one is saying it’s easy to stay motivated and positive 100% of the time. We are only human, after all. But if we can practice changing our perspective from time-to-time, we will begin to see how our energy level can contribute to our ability to create and manifest what we want rather than what we don’t.

Did you know that the #1 fear is not death or public speaking but that we’re not (good) enough? I added the parentheses intentionally as I would remove the word ‘good’ from that sentence and it would still be true. Repeat the question…and just think about it for a second. So, imagine if our thoughts could be instantaneously manifested into reality? How would you think differently? Would you continue to tell yourself you are not enough? That you could not have or do something that you want? That you don’t have as much human value as the next person? I speculate not, because that would immediately limit your choices and no one wants that kind of life. However, since there’s no immediate impact of our negative thoughts, we don’t see the limiting incremental boundaries we erect by repetitive negative thoughts, emotions, and actions/inaction.

So, why is it so much easier for us to accept and tolerate what we don’t want but doubt or fear creating what we do? Is it because we’re concerned about what others may think if we ‘change our minds’ and much worse, ‘fail’? Yes, but since most people suffer from this same plight, the most important opinion we should be concerned about is our own, as it is ultimately ourselves who can get us to the next level or hold us back. If we can practice changing our perspective we can begin to see our choices, which will lead us to different actions and the entire circle repeats as we continue to grow in our self-awareness and creative abilities. Only then can we serve as an inspiration to others for how to open our mind, manage our emotions, increase our energy, change our condition, and ultimately, create the life we want.

The post Creating What You Want appeared first on Your Life-Unlimited.

Maybe I’m too much of a personality type that’s always felt uncomfortable with too much comfort. But somehow too much comfort always made me feel like I wouldn’t be prepared if I had to shift on a dime, for any reason. Consider if your comfort is too dependent upon someone or something else other than yourself, then how comfortable can you afford to be? For example, we can become very comfortable in our job or profession. But what happens if that profession loses it’s marketability or our position is eliminated or our company undergoes a merger? Then how do we react to that change? What happens to the lines we’ve drawn to define ourselves? Do we see our comfort zone now as a danger zone? Or what happens when life throws us the proverbial curve and something unexpected and challenging occurs in our life or the life of a loved one or close friend? Then our comfort zone can suddenly become very uncomfortable. Arguably, this type of change can take a longer transition time than those that impact our careers, especially if the impact is one of health or life or death. We can plan ahead as much as possible for discomfort in our careers. Our life plan, on the other hand, is governed by forces that we cannot see until they are revealed.

So whether we are faced with a sudden career change, or life change, or retirement, we must continue to make our best plans. But we must not limit ourselves by drawing our lines so firmly in the sand that we cannot redraw when the surf washes it away. We always have the freedom to chose a different perspective, plan, or path which leads to the truest comfort zone: openness, discovery, and re-creation.

The post Comfort Zone/Danger Zone appeared first on Your Life-Unlimited.

I am a great believer that if we pay attention on this journey we call life, there are road signs that point us in the direction we need to take. There are people who send us messages. Events that show us what’s working or not. Signs that come out of nowhere to give us a nudge, or intuitive feelings that seem to be pointing in a new direction. I have experienced all of these, and in particular during the last two weeks in Bali, it has been an extraordinary journey of discovering where we get locked in fear, and how that effects the outcome. But what happens when we don’t pay attention?  We find ourselves in conflict. We feel challenged by events, and we get caught up in blaming people or circumstances for the limitations that we feel stuck in.

 Wherever we look, there are road signs. We know that change involves making a decision, and sometimes these decisions are hard to make. We have to make choices that turn is in a different direction. We may have to leave people who don’t serve our higher needs. We may have to walk out on a job that makes us miserable. Sometimes it’s so radical, we overturn everything that is familiar, and move to a different country.  There are thousands of road signs every day on what’s working, and what’s not. 

 When we pay attention to the signs, it is remarkable what happens.  Life gets easier. When we are listening to the chatter of other people, we get caught up in their journey. When we listen to the inner voice that we all have, and we really listen to our better selves, we catch the road signs. The truth is, we understand innately what is good for us. We know which direction to take. But we don’t always take it

I am a lover of Robert Frost’s poetry, and in his poem The Road Not Taken he talks about the choices we make. While the poem is about actual and figurative roads: the roads we walk and drive on, it is also the roads we take through life. For every road we take, there’s a road we don’t take. Wrong turn or not, the roads we take can end up making significant changes in our lives. And we’ll always wonder about the roads that we didn’t try.

So what road signs are in your life right now?  What do you need to pay attention to, but perhaps are ignoring?  Which road would you like to take? The choices we make today are part of the decisions we make tomorrow. I believe we grow, learn and achieve when we pay attention to the road signs in our lives. –Jacqueline Wales

The post Road Signs appeared first on Your Life-Unlimited.

We so often ask ourselves ‘why’. Why me, why now, why this…but from there gain admittance to the subjective pity party rather than staying on the outside and taking an objective view of the situation. For example, if we feel hurt by something or someone we should ask ourselves why it’s hurting, not why they hurt. If we feel hindered, we should ask ourselves if it truly is a hindrance or just our perception. On the other hand, we don’t stop there but take it to the positive plane by flipping the script and focus consider the things that can help us. Then to really shift our energy, we should identity what truly honors who we are.

So the next time you find yourself asking ‘why’…really ask yourself W.H.Y.?

The post WHY? appeared first on Your Life-Unlimited.