Ask Yourself this Simple Question

I watch as my little boy plays beside his best friend. Silently I wonder to myself, how is it the end of December already? How is it my little boy carries on such a perfect conversation with his buddy about sharks in the ocean and a moment later the fact you need more force on one car to be able to race faster than the other? It feels like only weeks ago I watched him take his first steps…yet on the other hand, it feels like an eternity.

How is it I sit here and write about slowing down yet the years only seem to go faster? This year I vowed to make time go slower yet I feel it’s been the fastest year yet. Does anyone else feel that way?

Sometimes I wonder if I’m doing something wrong. Am I not living in the moment enough? Am I not taking enough time to slow down? I know I am absolutely guilty of letting my mind drift off. I vow to change that, yet sometimes I wonder if it’s a losing battle because I’m a dreamer. I always have been. Yet as time goes on I’ve learned more and more how to be a doer of those dreams.  It’s nothing that happens over night. No dream you want to achieve will happen overnight. I’ve realized that in more ways then one. Most importantly, as time goes on, I’ve learned to ask myself a single question….

As January 1st approaches us, I hear friends, family and random strangers speak of their new year’s resolutions, of new possibilities and of their ‘dreams’. As yet another year comes to an end, many think of all those resolutions and dreams they didn’t achieve and what they can finally resolve to change or achieve as the new year begins.

Every single year, January 1st is just a date on the calendar. Although it might be a great starting point to make positive changes, not one of those changes will stick unless you ask yourself…’why’? Why do you want to change? For heath? For financial freedom? For bettering yourself or bettering yourself for your family? To serve others? To focus within to find your buried passions? To stop and live in the moment more because you want to slow your mind down? Not only how you want to change but the question to ask yourself is why?

If you don’t figure out your why it’s very unlikely any resolution will stick because of the new year. We all need to have a why in everything we do. We all need to have a purpose. Without that why, many of our actions become mindless. Asking ourselves why, and really listening to them creates choices that become extremely intentional. True intentional choices will align with who you are and where you intend to lead yourself. With truth to what you really want you will learn be unstoppable against your goals.

Yet as I said, nothing happens over night. Nothing good happens without effort. Nothing positive will really come out of anything if your heart isn’t in it. Real changes happen slow. Real changes will happen if you’re intentional. Real changes will happen if you’re mindful of not only your choices but your actions that follow.

As 2018 starts, realize this before you make any promises to yourself. A new year’s resolution just wished upon will fade away as quickly as the year ahead. Mindful,  intentional choices you make to chase after your ‘why’ will begin to stick with you in everything you do. That is what will set you up for success beyond anything that you have imagined.

Here’s to finding your ‘why’ in all you do.

Here’s to being mindful.

Here’s to seeking truth.

Here’s to gratitude.

Here’s to stretching yourself beyond what you tell yourself your limits are.

Here’s to living the most intentional year of your life.

Happy 2018! I wish you only the best!