Today I’m going to share eight rules to a better life because let’s face it, when your life is better, everything else is better. Eight simple rules to follow, put them in play, apply them, and you’ll get the results you’re looking for.
Rule number one: Own the morning. When I start working with a client, I ask them, “What does the first hour of your day look like?” I’ve preached this numerous times. If you’re waking up, taking a shower, brushing your teeth, getting a cup of coffee, and running out into the business world without getting mentally set, you’re like a warrior entering a battle with no armor, those arrows are going to come flying and potentially pierce you in the middle of your day. Make sure you have a system to own your morning to ensure you are on your A game both physically and mentally. This way, when you show up to whatever you need to show up for, you are prepared and ready to be productive and accountable.
Rule number two: Only focus on what you can control. In 2000 during the stock market dot-com bubble meltdown, I was a financial advisor. The combination of the stock market meltdown along with 9/11 thrown into the mix created a very uncomfortable environment for me. With that, I was not happy and was struggling mentally to deal with it all. I was stuck in the muck of the environment. I was letting everything I couldn’t control, control my outlook and actions. I finally had the epiphany that; the only thing you can control is everything in the four walls of my environment. That’s when Attitude, Action, and Results, became my motto. Attitude; do whatever you need to do to get your head right. Action; do everything you need to do to take the proper action to get the results you’re looking for. Because when your head is right and you’re doing the right stuff. Step three is that the Results will come.
Rule number three: Don’t suffer imaginary troubles, 99% of the things we worry about usually never happen. We concoct all these stories of what potentially could go wrong and all it does is take us off our A game. Focus on the possibilities of what can happen. Apply a positive attitude and everything should work out just fine. Remind yourself that every trouble you’ve had in your lifetime, you’ve gotten through, because if you hadn’t gotten through it, you wouldn’t be here today. So, what makes you think you can’t do it again?
Rule number four: See failure and success as the same. Failure, and success, are all part of the journey of learning what to do and what not to do, to simply get better and grow. When things fail, embrace it. You just learned one more way of how not to do it so you can do it better the next time.
Rule number five: Just do one thing every day. When I work with my clients, yes, there’s a lot that needs to be done over the course of a year, two, three, or whatever time frame it may be. However, focus on the one thing to get better at today than a day before. That’s it. Do I need to ask more and better questions today? Write the one thing down every morning. What’s one thing I’m to do today to get better than yesterday? That’s it. You do that one day at a time and trust me, the compounded effect will get tremendous results over the long haul.
Rule number six: Make beautiful choices. Just do the right thing. Make good choices. Everything that happens in your life is a choice. You are what and where you are now, because of the choices you have made. The choices you make today create your destiny tomorrow. So just be clear on where you want to go, the people you want in your environment, the results you want to get, how you want to show up, and make the right choices accordingly. And if there’s something you need to research, don’t trust others. Do your own research. Find out so you can make your own opinion.
Rule number seven: Be tough on yourself and understanding with others. As leaders, we tend to be pretty tough on ourselves. I know that I put myself through quite a bit to get to the success I enjoy today. But most importantly, don’t expect everyone else to react the same. Be tough on yourself so you can be the best you can be to show up for others, and then be understanding of them. When they ask for your help when that trust is established, you’ll be able to authentically give them the right advice.
Rule number eight; Most importantly, be grateful. God has given us everything we would ever want in our life. As we’re making the right choices and we’re thinking right, we can create our destiny. One of the tools I have is my gratitude journal, where every morning I write five things I’m grateful for. Yes, it could be the same thing every day. I’m grateful that I live in sunny Florida, I get to feel the warmth of the sun. I’m grateful for my wife, Susan, that she is home safe after flying on JetBlue as an attendant, I’m grateful for the opportunity to coach my clients, to grow, and to get better, both personally and professionally. I’m grateful for everyone who puts their faith and trust in me, and I am grateful for the opportunities ahead of me on this day. When you focus on what you’re grateful for, more will come your way.
Those are your eight points that as you follow, you will consistently have a better life.
COACH MICHAEL DILL is an Award-Winning Certified Business Coach, global speaker, and published author. He is a proud Action Coach Franchise partner as well as the President of Power & Ice Wealth Creation a strategic leadership company that works with business owners, leaders, teams, and entrepreneurs to both develop a systematized and structured organization while accelerating their mindset, efficiencies, and effectiveness to grow both personally and professionally to achieve extraordinary results. He brings more than 40 years of business and entrepreneurial experience in his leadership, team training, and mentoring practice. Businesscoachmichaeldill.com