I’m taking you all way back today.  Back in high school, I adopted a mentality called, "Do it for the story". I was in my senior of high school and I wanted to get more out of life. I felt like I was just going through the motions in order to fit in, and I wanted to start living more. So, my buddy Dan and I created this, "Do it for the story" concept about putting yourself out there without expectation of what might happen, all while ready to seize opportunity when it presented itself.

Some unbelievable things have happened because I chose to do it for the story. I don’t want to get into too much detail about it because this was the topic of the TedX Talk I delivered. Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GE5CkiMLBI‍

How can do it for the story be incorporated on a daily basis? Well, it’s like the movie "Yes Man". If someones invites you to do something and you have a bunch of excuses why you don’t want to do it, but none of those excuses are any good, then you say yes and you give it a try. Just the act of putting yourself out there to expose yourself to new things presents unimaginable opportunity!

In life, there are things that happen, challenges that test to our core. Maybe the odds are stacked against you, or your at the mercy of things that are beyond your control. It might not be fair, and there might not be a solution, but you need to pull through anyway. Well, in light of those situations, it is possible to hit a mental reset to improve the situation if you’ll allow it.

“Even the worst days only last 24 hours”.

When experiencing hardship, you can frame your problems in a certain way that will help them go away. A new day is a new opportunity. You can always reset your emotions and build them back up from scratch if needed. This is a concept Admiral William McRaven shared in his famous commencement speech. McRaven talks about the value of making your bed every day because no matter what happens, coming home to a made bed reminds you that something went right and gives you optimism about tomorrow.  Similarly, when putting your head down at night, you can choose to be optimistic about how things will be the next day. It’s how thing work themselves out. Often times the energy you put out brings that energy back to you. With enough positivity and optimism that the new day will bring relief, you are more likely to find the relief you are seeking.

Can you think of one time when your bad days every lasted longer than 24 hours? I can’t. Welcome the new day with a new attitude and things will begin improving before your eyes!

On a long road trip, when your podcasts start sounding bland, your book on tape isn’t making sense any more, or you have nothing left to talk about with you shotgun rider, what do you do?  I imagine you start listening to music, right?

Even on short drives, and I can speak for myself, what I do while I’m driving really depends on my mood.  Sometimes I decide to crank up the volume and sing my heart out! I was doing that today on my way home from a visit, and I wanted to share some of the benefits of doing this.

First, music and specifically singing is a great way to express emotion. So, if you are sad and need to get it out your system, or happy and want to celebrate, singing is a great way to handle your emotion, releasing positive neurotransmitters and endorphins in the process.

On top of that, the nature of singing allows for quick deep inhales and long exhales, simulating yoga breathing and inducing similar effects. And some studies even suggest that people have a longer life expectancy when they sing often. 

But, the larger point I want to bring up, is we’ve all caught someone in the car next to us watching us sing wholeheartedly. As a response, we get embarrassed, self-conscious, and temper our singing. I am guilty of it too, but it’s ridiculous that a random stranger can dictate our behavior and affect us that strongly. I think we can make a statement to ourselves to sing louder, overcome that judgment, and continue reaping the benefits of singing in the car!

On Self Improvement Daily, we talk a lot about how to get things to go your way. But that’s not how life works, and we need to be prepared to deal with rejection, to have the right mentality that picks us back up, and to be ready to move forward. Alex Pirouz has a brilliant rule he calls the 4S formula.

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I really like this idea because it provides an action plan for when things don’t go right. You can immediately run through this checklist to get you back on track. Some will, some won’t, so what, but someone is waiting.

We don’t always need to do huge things, and bring massive change to our lives to make a significant difference. One of if not my favorite personal development books is the Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, which talks all about how making small positive decisions on a consistent basis makes a world of difference over time. Well, this concept is just one of those small things you can do to benefit your future self.

I’ll start off with an example that illustrates the concept well. I love water filters, and I finally realized why.  Every time I pour myself a glass of water, I was able to because I had previously filled up the container and gave it time to filter the water. This isn’t worth the excitement, I know, but  it’s a reminder that I took the time to do something I know would benefit my future self.  And to keep the cycle moving, I refill the container so I can do it all again.

The point is, take action in small ways that you know will serve your future self. It’s a morale boost because it presents itself as efficiency, productivity, and hope.

First, efficiency by doing a small action in the moment, you save yourself time in the future. And while you don’t know how valuable time is in that moment, it is refreshing to know that you prepared.

Productivity is about understanding the system, and taking action to be proactive about it rather than let it all build up.  

Hope is similar to how making your bed in the morning serves as a great reminder that you are capable of getting things done. Doing other small things will remind you that you’re moving the needle forward one way or another.

A few small things that come to mind that can serve you in a small way are, setting out your workout clothes beforehand, aggregating information or resources for meetings and calls ahead of time, and charging electronics before they completely need it. It instills a mentality that will help you make other small decisions, that turn into habits that compound and manifest in your life!

I saw a really powerful clip today that I wanted to share and elaborate on. It comes from Joel Brown, the founder of Addicted2Success.com, and an individual who has built a purpose driven empire online. His message is about embracing your uniqueness, specifically when it comes to pursuing your professional purpose.

It’s true, and Joel says it perfectly. Stay in your lane to achieve your god-given mission. We each have our own skill-set, our own speed, and our own path. Comparison can be dangerous because one person’s success is within their own context, that has aspects that likely doesn't apply to your own. So take a step back, have confidence in yourself, realize your capabilities and where they might lie. Know that your life and success is entirely your own and you shouldn’t compare it to others.

The way I like thinking about opportunities is, our life path is a hallway. And on each side of that hallway there are closed doors, but through hard work, patience, and doing the right things for the right reasons, you can open one or many of those doors. At that point, you then get to choose which door to walk through, leading you to another hallway with more doors to open.  

Sometimes, you need to take a chance. You need to step through that door not exactly knowing what’s in the room. Especially, if it is a high potential opportunity, you owe it to yourself to see it through because you may never get that opportunity again. Shoot your shot because you’ll never regret it!!

Positivity plays a huge role in this selection process. First, being a positive person will open more doors because you will be rewarded for the light you add to the world. Then, maintaining a positive outlook, you’ll have more confidence acting on those opportunities because you’ll be optimistic about the result potential you can achieve. Then the cycle starts again, through hard work patience, and doing the right things for the right reasons, you’ll open another door, pursue that opportunity, and look back at the unbelievable path that got you where you’re at.

But something that is fundamental to that progression is taking action when the opportunity is present! “Take every chance you get in life, because some things only happen once".

What do people think of you? Do they want to be affiliated with you? This is all a matter of reputation. Your reputation exists in so many different places, and it is really important to control the message that other people receive.  Especially in business, customers want to know that they are engaging with quality individuals who will be a good advocate for their brand. Kim Kaupe, the CEO of the SuperFan company takes it a step further, arguing that reputation is everything, and she’s got some good examples to prove it.  

This clip was taken from a conversation I recently had with Kim, who is our next Self Improvement Sit Down guest. In our talk, Kim elaborates on how reputation helps her align with companies who are a good fit, so delivers with high quality, sustaining her growth and reinforcing her reputation.  Hear more about it this Sunday when that episode goes live!

I wanted to pose a question to you, because it’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. In my definition of life success, I have 6 pillars that function independently and contribute to overall success which are health, wealth, lifestyle, love, integrity, and Impact! I’m having a tough time quantifying exactly what is “making an impact”.

There are a few different ways to think about it, and the first way is to think about people and their life path as a river, and as someone who is impactful. You can either serve as the banks of the river that helps guide the water where it needs to go, or you can focus in on the individual drops over the waterfall. It’s a trade-off between helping many people in a smaller way, or a few people in a very individualized way. Neither is better, but both are different.

When I posed this question in the Self Improvement Accountability Group, I heard other interesting perspectives that were also centered around improving the well-being of individual people. And we realized, making an impact doesn’t need to involve people. The same applies to animals, environment, resources, and so many other things. But, I do find it interesting that we are so people-centric when it comes to “making an impact”.

And then, how can impact be measured? I always thought that the validation of someone telling me I made an impact was the level of impact I wanted to attain, and how I would measure it, but a lot of times we do great and impactful things that go unrecognized..