Harvey, Jason - Achieve Anything In Just One Year - Be Inspired Daily to Live Your Dreams and Accomplish Your Goals

Your task now is to take action. Don’t put off your achievements because you are unsure of yourself. Honor the peace, wisdom, and joy that are part of you already. Find out today what you can achieve by using the gifts you already possess.

DAY

299

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

Are you starting to get sick of all this lofty talk about the power you possess within you? Are you just not feeling it? Then today’s exercise was created especially for you.

There will be days when you simply don’t feel the joy. You know you should be grateful for your talents and working hard to achieve success, but you are not experiencing the happiness inside that you think you should be feeling.

The good news is that happens to everyone. It’s hard to maintain a high level of happiness all the time. Emotions dip, and you will hit times when you feel a little blah about the whole endeavor. Those low energy times can be expected, but you can control how long you wallow in them. If you are traveling along the path to success, and you fall in a mud puddle, you decide how long you are going to roll around in it before you get back up and move on.

You do not have to sit and wait for joy to show up. That could take quite a long time. Take action and coax happiness back into your life. The quote above provides one great way to do that. Sometimes joy is the source of your smile. If it’s not, then try starting with the smile. That might become the source of your joy.

When you are feeling low, practice being happy. Smile in spite of yourself. Do something nice for someone and enjoy their reaction. Complete a task you’ve been putting off for months. Find at least one positive thing to do. Joy will come if you coax it.

DAY

300

“If you were all alone in the universe with no one to talk to, no one with which to share the beauty of the stars, to laugh with, to touch, what would be your purpose in life? It is other life, it is love, which gives your life meaning. This is harmony. We must discover the joy of each other, the joy of challenge, the joy of growth.”

— Mitsugi Saotome

Congratulations! You made it to Day 300. Spend some time today considering your journey thus far. Are you making changes in your life? Your metamorphosis started out small, but by now you might be seeing a significant change in yourself.

Write about how you have evolved over the last three hundred days. Do you like the person you are becoming? What else needs to be done to complete the metamorphosis? Do you feel like you’re getting ready to spread your wings and take flight, or is fear still holding you on the ground?

You have come a very long way, and there are only sixty-five days left to complete this year-long journey. This milestone is a good time to remember that you are not on this road alone. Your interaction with others is what gives your life meaning. Did you block yourself off from those around you while you were hard at work achieving your dreams?

Think about ways in which you can draw people into your life and discover the joy of each other. This isn’t a solo mission. Life is so much richer when you share it with others. Have you been talking about the changes you have experienced with anyone else? Have the people who are close to you noticed a change and asked you what you’re up to? Maybe now is the time for you to begin to relate this extraordinary journey to others. Share your recent challenges and growth. You may find friends who have had similar experiences.

DAY

301

“I just wish my mouth had a backspace key.”

— Anonymous

Who among us hasn’t said something we regret at some point in time? It’s a horrible feeling, isn’t it? It would be nice to install a backspace key somewhere in the mouth area, but until a brilliant mind comes up with that feature, you need to consider other effective remedies. Clean up your poorly chosen phrases, especially those that cause harm to others.

When you spout off to a coworker, a friend, a spouse, or a family member, what do you typically do next? Do you ignore your outburst? Do you pretend it didn’t happen? Do you spend the rest of the day trying to talk yourself into the rationalization that you were in the right? Or do you apologize immediately—or eventually?

People who are successful and content with their lives are often those who are quick to remedy their mistakes. It is not a sign of weakness to go back and apologize for something you said. It is a sign of self-awareness and a sign of respect to those around you.

Your assignment today is to be quick to make amends. Own up to your mistakes. If you said something mean to a coworker, go immediately back to their desk and apologize for it. It doesn’t really matter if you spoke the truth and your sin was a cruel choice of words. If you hurt someone, make it right, and don’t delay. This is not a one-day assignment. Work this pattern into your everyday life by practicing your ability to have some humility and admit to your wrongs. You will make bad word choices from time to time. A successful person finds a way to use the backspace key.

DAY

302

“Gather up all your excuses, carry them outside, and bury them deep in the ground. When you’re bored of success dig ‘em back up.”

— Seth Simonds

Excuses suck the life out of success. They are absolutely useless on your journey to follow your dreams. In fact, they are major roadblocks. Excuses send you on a detour away from your true destiny, and the crazy thing is you can’t blame anyone but yourself for them. You can’t shake your fist at some unseen construction worker. You put the big detour sign right in the middle of the road all by yourself when you pulled out an excuse instead of taking action.

The quote above provides a beautiful image. Take all of your excuses and bury them outside. Get rid of them. There is absolutely no reason you will ever need them again. If you decide at some point that you’re bored on the road to success, you are more than welcome to dig up an excuse or two, and you’ll be back on that detour route. However, if you really mean it when you say you want to achieve your dreams, you must be willing to give up excuses for the long haul.

How often do you replace action with excuses? Pull out your journal and write about that for a half hour or so. Can you think of instances within the last week when you pulled out an excuse instead of taking care of business? Did you decide it was too cold outside to go for that walk? Did you blame traffic for arriving late to work? How many excuses did you utilize in the last seven days? Try to come up with a comprehensive list. Then make a plan to reduce the number of excuses you utilize in the week to come.

DAY

303

“If you’re not failing every now and again, it’s a sign you’re not doing anything very innovative.”

— Woody Allen

Failure has been a topic to ponder in previous months, and now you have a chance to look at it again as it relates to your success. Today you will take a little time to solidify some of your new views on how success and failure depend on each other.

Failure is not optional if you want to achieve success. It is an important ingredient of achievement. As Woody Allen states in the quote above, if you don’t fail, then maybe you’re not doing anything very interesting or innovative. If you want to break new ground, you must be willing to fail. Go toward failure fearlessly. It’s actually desirable to fail every once in awhile. Unlike excuses, failure is not a detour. It is like getting a special jet pack to propel you toward your dreams at a faster rate.