Live a Great Life

By: jwilder, 9/1/2020

The keys to a great life are yours.

Dedicated to

Alma Rae

Live a Great Life

There is more to life.

Have you ever wondered if there is more to life than what you experience? Do you feel deep inside that you have a greater calling?

That calling is to live a great life.

To live a great life is about following your heart and believing in your dreams. Whether it’s music, writing, philosophy, photography, engineering, furniture making, welding, design, gardening, or serving others, your dreams are important.

The ability to dream is a gift. Your dreams are not an escape from reality, they are there to become reality.

Yes, there will be obstacles, there will be difficulties. Making a living can be difficult. Raising a family can be challenging. Many forms of trials and hardships can befall us. But difficulties, hardships, and trials do not silence dreams.

Difficulties, hardships, and trials can happen to anyone, so why not dream? Why not believe?

Courage to Change

If the life you currently live is not what you want.

If what you do today is producing bad results.

If you want something better, you have to do something different.

If it was easy to live a great life everyone would do it (and everyone should!). The truth is, it’s easier to just get by.

Take a look at the things you do each day. Could your time be better spent on things that improve your life?

It will take courage to make positive changes in your life. The good news is, you can do it. It just takes one small step. One day at a time.

This is not a big burden. It’s not some giant mountain. The reward doesn’t come in fifty years! This is not a long boring slog of sacrifice to reach retirement and die. Sure there are payoffs that happen in the long-term.

What you might not know is, this “way of life” is extremely rewarding every day. It’s challenging, exciting, stimulating, and satisfying!
Great is the way!

Believe

All things are possible.

Belief is a force.

Even a small amount of belief is powerful.

Belief can lift you to great heights.

Belief comes from your heart.

If you believe you are creative, then you create.
If you believe you are strong, then you strengthen yourself.
If you believe you are wise, then you learn wisdom.

Without belief, you will do nothing.
If you believe something, you take action.

Get a nice journal (because you will never lose it or throw it away).
Write down your dreams.
Believe your dreams.
Take the next step.
Update your journal at least every year.
Watch how your dreams come true.

Make your dreams a reality.

A Dream Never Dies

What if I fail? What if my dream doesn't come true?

You dream again.

Too many people give up on their dreams. They say “It wasn’t meant to be.” or “I wasted years on this dream.”

No, you did not lose. You gained skills and experience that can fuel the next dream. Losses are gains.

The act of dreaming is more important than the dream itself.

Don't get attached to one specific dream. Let it go. Dreams have a life of their own.

It is important to keep dreaming no matter what. Spend your entire life making dreams come true. Use your dreams to help others.

Never be afraid to dream, because a dream never dies. It always rises to new life.

This is the way to live a great life.

Define Yourself

You define who you are.

The most important thing is to never believe you are a loser, failure, nobody, stupid, unattractive, worthless, or any negative thing. These are destructive. Never believe these things about yourself, or others.

Living is a process of self discovery and continuous refinement. We try things to see if we like them or discover we aren’t interested. Some things we try will lead to other wonderful discoveries.

Do you dream of being an artist? Do you have a vision of being a great leader? Do you love learning? Do you love fishing? Then do what you love and pursue your dreams. Be who you want to be.

There is no one in this universe that has the right to define who you are or what you can become.

Every human being is important and has value.

Define Yourself. Don't let others define you.

This is how to live a great life.

Take Authority

You have authority over your thoughts.

As human beings, we think all the time. Sometimes we think negative or destructive thoughts. However, we have the authority to reject these thoughts.

If a thought does not line up with your identity you can reject it. Reject negative and destructive thoughts and replace them with the truth.

If you think to yourself "I am a failure," you have a choice to agree or disagree with the thought.

If you want to fulfill your potential, then you must reject destructive thoughts and counter with the truth, such as "I might have failed, but I’m not a failure." or "I might be down, but I'm not staying down."

The key is:
1) Learn to recognize a negative or destructive thought,
2) Immediately reject the thought, and
3) Counter with a positive though (the truth).

Additionally, you can increase the power of a positive thought by speaking it outloud, and never speak a negative thought out loud.

Take Responsibility

You control how you respond to life.

Everyone experiences difficulties in life. Life is not fair.

You can get injured, fired, falsely accused, go broke, fail over and over again. But don’t give up because of these things.

If we focus on blame, if we stay bitter, you surrender your will, and the circumstance has control of you.

You can’t control everything that happens to you.
You can control how you respond.
Focus on what you can control.
Never, ever, surrender.

In the same way, if you make a mistake, never offer excuses. No one gets promoted for making the best excuses. Take an honest look at why something happened. Acknowledge the mistake. Figure out how not to repeat the same mistake. This is the path to excellence. This is the way to build a good reputation.

Own your life. Own your destiny.

Be Confident

Do you admire people that seem to have great confidence?

They don’t have confidence because of some secret knowledge.

They are confident because they choose to be.

You don’t need to be a guru or have years of success to have confidence.

Confidence is a choice.

You can fail over and over and still have confidence.

Few people are confident because they don’t know confidence is a choice.

You do not gain confidence by having success after success. In fact, if you tie confidence to success, you will lose your confidence.

You can grow in confidence by adopting solid values such as honesty and integrity.

Belief paired with confidence is a powerful force.

Opportunities

All things are hidden to those who don’t see.

It doesn't matter who you are, or where you are. Opportunity is all around you. Once you start to look, then you will see. Every day we have opportunities.

To get or achieve anything good, there will be obstacles. The truth is, obstacles can seem overwhelming because they require some other problem to solve. All things are possible if you believe. Look for the problems that need to be solved. Or look for another way to accomplish the same outcome.

Most opportunities come through people. The first place to stir up opportunities is through your friends and family. Then start meeting like-minded people and connect with them. Tell people what you are trying to accomplish. And one big thing, be findable. Create a contact card. It's like a business card, but simply has your contact info on it. Don’t overthink it. Just do it. Then refine it.

If you really want something, then your job is to figure out how to get it. The wise person knows, there are methods and techniques to overcome or go around obstacles.
See what others miss. See the opportunities. Be findable.

Connect

We are at our best when we connect with others.

The child in us is wise. The child always wants to play with others.

We were meant to connect.

We can try to do things on our own, but our progress will be slower.

When we connect with other people, we can help them and they can help us.

We do not have all the answers.

The amount of impact we have can be much greater if we connect with great people.

More opportunities exist through connections with others, but we have to seek them out.

Your first asset is your contact list on your phone. Start using it. Who are your closest friends? Tell them what you are doing. Keep them up-to-date. Then refine the process.

We are not alone on this path.

Possibilities

Your potential is unlimited.

You can learn, grow, mature, gain insight and wisdom.

You can imagine, create, design, and build.

You can help, support, love, and have compassion.

You can persevere and endure hardships, suffering and trials.

You can forgive.

You can guide, teach and inspire.

You can empower.

You can leave a legacy for your family, city or even the world.

This is why you should dream big. This life is your one chance.

Your potential is unlimited, unless you choose to limit it.

To Live Is to Grow

We have a limited amount of time, but we have an unlimited capacity to learn!

There are two kinds of growth. There is physical growth and there is purposeful growth.

Physical growth happens on its own. Babies grow to be children. Children grow into adults. This growth happens naturally.

Purposeful growth happens only by your choice.

Imagine if you studied and practiced one thing for five years. You would be pretty knowledgeable about the subject. Now imagine if you studied and practiced one thing for twenty years. You would master the subject. What if you practiced two skills for twenty years?

Continuous learning is something you do for yourself that gives you the biggest impact over the long run, even beyond your imagination. Embrace the desire to be ever-growing. Grow in knowledge, wisdom, and love. Dream big dreams.

Enjoy life. Relax, play, recharge. But dump activities that steal your time, money, progress, and your impact.
There is no end to how much you can grow.

Be a Lifelong Learner

We are blessed because we can choose what we want to learn.

Read books. Learn new skills. Take classes. Start a small business in order to learn about running a business.

Learn how to grow vegetables and fruit trees. Maybe even become self-sufficient in as many things as possible.

If you have a job, learn from it. Observe your boss, observe your fellow employees. Observe customers. You might run your own business someday, so pretend you own the business you currently work for. What are they doing right. What can they improve? Who would you fire? Who deserves a raise? Observe as much as you can, and take notes.

The more you learn about yourself, life, and how the world works, the better.

It just seems crazy to waste the opportunity to learn new things that improve your life, and potentially improve the lives of others.

Be a lifelong learner and make the world a better place.

Failure

Failure is not a way of life.

We will never grow unless we try new things.

Life is about growth, and growth is about constant experimentation.

Many of our experiments will fail. That’s how we learn.

Look for the reasons why you failed personally, or why your dream didn’t produce the result you were hoping for.

If you feel overwhelmed by failure, maybe it’s time to try another approach. Entrepreneurs use the term pivot “to make a swift change in strategy.”

Do not fear failure. Failure is the way to greatness.

People that fear failure also fear growth.

Your dreams must be bigger than your fear.

Give

Giving is a way to feel connected. It’s also a way to be grateful that you have what you need to live.

Unfortunately, giving can be a negative experience. Sometimes strangers ask you for money when you're downtown. Sometimes you pass by someone ringing a bell and feel guilty. And if you own a truck, no doubt you get asked more than once to help someone move.

Giving does not have to be a sacrifice. You can give on your terms, rather than by pressure or guilt.

You can give what you have an abundance of. If you have time, give time. If you have money, give money.

Here is an exercise to try. Give a smile. This by no means is a small gesture. There is a great deal of power in a hello and a smile.

Let people know there is good in the world. Smile and say hello to someone as you pass by. Most people will at least acknowledge you. Then observe your feelings and mood afterwards. Think about the other person. How do you think their day might have changed?

Always Be Grateful

Gratitude is the key.

Be grateful for what you have, because what you have isn’t permanent.

Someone longs to be where you are. Someone wishes to have what you have.

Even if you have nothing, someone longs the chance to start over! Even if you’re in debt, someone longs the chance to be alive!

What you have is not permanent. You are always in a state of gaining and losing. Knowing that you have is not permanent gives you a deeper appreciation for the people and things in your life.

It is a harsh truth. Life is not fair. No one owes you anything. This is even more reason to be grateful for what you have!

When you wake up every morning and your feet touch the floor, think of something you are grateful for. Make it a ritual. I say “Thank you God for another chance.”

If you focus on the things you don't have you will be bitter and all you gain will not change that.

Always be grateful for what you have. Gratitude is the key.

Awakening

You don’t need to have an awakening to read this book. However, if you do the things in this book and continue to grow, you will have an awakening. It may be small, or it may be big. It might happen slowly over time.

Most of our struggle comes from not having a powerful mindset for living. School doesn’t teach us these things. Sometimes our parents don’t teach us these things.

Sometimes we try to improve our life with a new car, job, house or partner. These external changes do nothing to make us fulfilled.

However, if we change our mindset, our change comes from the inside. Change from the inside is lasting change.

To live a great life is a journey that never ends. The destination is eternity.

Results

If you think about and apply the mindset and practices in this book you will be on your way to positive changes that give you a fulfilling life.

• Because you live each day in gratitude, you will have a greater sense of peace.
• Because you believe your dreams, you have a greater sense of purpose.
• Because you know who you are, you know what you want to do.
• Because you constantly learn and experiment, you are constantly growing.
• Because you identify and reject negative thoughts, you experience less negative emotions.
• Because you look for opportunities, you will have more opportunities.
• Because you give, you feel more connected.
• Because you see failure as an event that is common to everyone, you will try new things.

You will also receive another gift. You will want to encourage and empower others to Live a Great Life.

All things are possible to him who believes.

How Do I Keep Going?

Congratulations! By reading this book you have already started!

To continue, take action every day! Here are a few suggestions on how to keep going.

• Help someone every day.
• Write down your dreams.
• Think of people you admire, and write down why you admire them. This will give you a clue of qualities you value and want for yourself.
• List your skills and abilities and decide which ones you want to improve.
• Improve your mental and physical health. This will help you think more clearly and give you more physical energy.
• Avoid distractions and pointless activities that keep you from making progress.
• Don't be self critical. You will never begin the journey if you are overly critical of everything you do.
• Recognize and believe you are unique and that others can benefit from what you create and discover in life.
• Read books that encourage you and biographies that inspire you.
• Read this booklet over and over until you are ready for the next level. Remember, if you look for it, you will find it.
• Take action. Repeat daily. Refine.

The Greatest Life Lived

The greatest life lived was the life of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said that He came that we would have life, and have it abundantly.

Seek the living Jesus and you will find him.

Great Is The Way

James Wilder

I write about success principles and practices that help you take action and live your dreams!

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