Are you in a rut? Mentally drained and emotionally exhausted? Longing to be your best self, physically and mentally? Now imagine for a moment that a year from now you are still in the same exact mental, emotional, and physical spot that you’re in now.  What about five years from now? What about ten years from now? Would you be content or would you be wondering where the time went and why you haven’t budged and planned to create a more ideal life?

As a holistic health coach who specializes in helping women enhance their careers and life purpose to create a body and lifestyle they love, I’m often encouraging  ladies to identify their long and short-term goals. Asking them to identify their long term and short term goals allows them to self-reflect and understand their core values.  Sometimes people’s decisions are driven by their core values and because these vary from individual to individual it is particularly important to not impose my own value system on them.  It is equally important for me to avoid thinking there must be something wrong with them because they think differently than I do. I’m simply here to help those who actually desire my help and would like to use each other’s strengths to grow together.

So I have an idea! Let’s do some self-exploration together for the rest of the year!  Here’s what I’m thinking….. I would like to explore how the actions I make each day are setting me up for the life I envision.  Are most of my decisions holding me back because I’m operating out of a state of fear? Is being lazy 23 out of 24 hours producing the results I desire?  Is thinking about what I’ve achieved or experienced in the past good enough? Will resting on my laurels truly get me ahead? Is expecting things to fall into my lap simply because I think they should fall into my life, getting me to my goal?

While I’m thinking about what steps I would like to take to get me closer to my goals on a daily basis, I’m also making sure that I’m not leaving out one important element: Gratitude!  It’s so important for us to remember that we can’t expect to better our future, until we learn to be grateful for the present moment. That simply means that I am valuing where I am and taking full note of the good things in my surroundings and being aware that life is beautiful right NOW! We often forget to actually experience our LIFE right NOW and notice everything that is going well right NOW! Not everything is gloom and doom. There are luxuries that we get to experience right now. The truth of the matter is that we also have a CHOICE in what we welcome into our world right NOW.  We have a choice in whether we spend our time talking to certain people, spend our time in certain environments, and spend moments of our day the way we want to.

 

The Power to Make Choices

 

Some people may say, “Ebonie, There is NOTHING beautiful in my life and I don’t have a choice.  I need to stay at this crappy job, relationship, neighborhood, and make this crappy salary or I’ll be on the street.”   It is true that our circumstances may seem less than desirable at the moment, but are you on the street right now? The more important question is, “What are you doing today to either change your perspective or change your situation to something more desirable?”  We have daily CHOICES. Indecision is also a choice, believe it or not. I spoke about how I’m indecisive too sometimes in my 30-Day Be More Don’t Settle and 30-Day Be More Career Development online courses and what I do to break out of it so that I reach my goals faster. Guess what? Being indecisive sometimes stalls my progress IF I’m not using the time to become more self-aware and reflective so that I can also use what I learn about myself to better my situation.  So, if your circumstances cloud your ability to appreciate any goodness in the present moment then begin to make decisions to move your life in the direction you desire.

One thing that I’ve noticed is that sometimes people have very similar situations and one person will use that situation to their advantage while expressing gratitude and others will gripe and complain that their world is falling apart. It’s less mentally exhausting when we realize that every day we awake is another day to make a CHOICE to go down one path or another while actively noticing the good things we already have available to us that we take for granted. Maybe you’ve subconsciously and consciously blocked out everyone who has offered to help you get out of the situation you’re in by saying that you “can’t afford” to invest in your growth. Either take action or take appreciation for where you are right NOW. Again, it’s your choice!

When I’ve traveled to other places I’ve realized that many of us are blessed with abundance but instead of shaping our thoughts and world to appreciate the blessings, we decide that we should focus on the negative experiences instead.  I would encourage you to also fly to certain third world countries or spend some time in certain areas of your own local city for a day and then tell me if your world still sucks. The next time you’re tempted to complain, take note of some of the things you’re complaining about  and then ask yourself what you’re going to do about it today! And don’t think that I’m asking you to do things that I’m not willing to do myself! I’ll ask myself the same question whenever I find myself complaining about things that I can change for the better too!

Thanks for reading!  Don’t forget to connect with me and other purpose-driven ladies in my Nutrition 4 Busy Women Facebook Group so that we can keep in touch and continue exploring how we can grow and impact the world together!

I’d love it if you also shared this article with friends and fam who sometimes forget that the present moment is the state we are in right now and that it can be appreciated just as much as the past and future moments.

I believe in our UNIQUE greatness!

To Our Health & Happiness,

Ebonie

xoxo