Fit for Life: Want a Good L.I.F.E.? Read On.

Fit for Life: Want a Good L.I.F.E.? Read On.

As I wrap up a short vacation in Aruba, sitting by the pool, I say to myself, right now, life is good. 

However, as you know, life can sometimes be a rollercoaster. 

Everything is going great one day, and the next day, we are getting our teeth kicked in. Life is a series of cycles that will always be unpredictable. A good quote I heard years ago goes like this: We make a plan, and God laughs. 

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How true is that!! Yes, it's good to have a goal and then reverse engineer it with a plan, but there will always be adversity and setbacks. There will be good times, and then there will be bad times. It's inevitable. 

So I started thinking deeper about what can be done to ensure that we have an overall good life, and I came up with an acronym for LIFE, which goes like this.

L—Learn—This comes from someone who didn't do well in school and never went to college. I dabbled in a few courses at CCRI but never earned any degrees. 

However, all that changed when I opened my business blindly almost 10 years ago. 

I say blindly because, in the beginning, I relied on grit, hard work, and trial and error. Now, I use every experience and opportunity to learn. 

I made many mistakes along the way and used each as a learning experience. 

Take my advice, and never stop trying to learn new things. 

Push yourself out of your comfort zone, read more books, and try new things, as all these things will enable you to learn and grow as an individual. 

I positively influence others. There is no better feeling than when someone tells me I influenced them positively. I am a fitness expert, so most of my influence is in that arena, but it goes deeper than that. 

To be the best version of yourself, there are many mental steps to implementing discipline and consistency in one's life. I deliver my message using my gym, writing platform, and coaching skills. 

You can influence others by being congruent with your actions and words. For example, to influence your kids to be healthy, you must eat well and exercise. 

If you are in a leadership position at work, you can influence others by performing at a high level and showing up as a role model by being the first one in and the last one to leave.

If you walk by a bottle on the street and pick it up or push your shopping cart back to its proper place, you will influence others watching you do the same. 

Life is much better when you surround yourself with positive, caring people. When you become one of those people, you will influence others to do the same. Pay it forward, and see how gratifying it is to influence others.

F- Fulfillment. Don't seek happiness; seek fulfillment. Happiness is a fleeting emotion that comes and goes. 

When people say, I want to be happy, what does that mean? Eating ice cream makes me happy, but when it's gone, what next? Nobody is happy all the time; however, you can be fulfilled. 

Learning and influence are both pathways to fulfillment. When you become knowledgeable in certain areas and share this knowledge to influence others, you feel fulfilled and self-worth. 

I am not even close to the level of success I want to reach, but I am way more successful than I was a few years ago. I am not wealthy by any means, but I am fulfilling what I hope will be a legacy when I leave this earth. 

Making a difference in others' lives and giving back when I can brings me fulfillment, but these tasks never end. It's a continuous cycle of doing good things that fulfills our lives with satisfaction and contentment. 

E - Eliminate the toxins from your life. 

I used to feel depressed and anxious all the time before I eliminated all the toxic cognitions that were holding me back in life. I have several tools I use to do this. 

One is the 3 C's. I control what's in my power, cope with what I can't control, and concentrate on the things that matter most. I don't stress over trivial bullshit that won't make a difference in my life, and that has helped me eliminate a tremendous amount of stress from my life. 

I also avoid and eliminate conflict with other people's toxic beliefs and behaviors. I can't and won't listen to people complain about their feelings and emotions because they rarely have data to justify their complaints. 

Things like politics, bad calls in sporting events, and the weather are all things people complain about yet can't control. 

Why waste time and energy complaining about something you can't control? 

I used to lay in bed and think of all the things that could go wrong in my life and business until I realized that I am responsible for everything in my life and that I have the power and control to change my circumstances. 

Now, when I start to go down the rabbit hole of toxic thoughts, I tell myself to stop stressing and complaining and do something about it. Eliminate toxic people, thoughts, and beliefs, and see how anxiety and stress dissipate from your life. 

Remember, life is what you make of it. 

Show gratitude and be thankful for where you are right now. Visualize where you want to be in the future and take intentional steps to achieve the level of fulfillment you want. 

You do this by learning new things, removing toxins, and influencing others to be better people like you!

Remember, this isn't a dress rehearsal, and we only get one shot at this thing called life, so make the most of it!!

Committed to your success,

Matt