A great portion of my morning consisted of filing papers, typing in account numbers, and shredding documents I haven't a clue about. While doing this busy work I listened to a few Ted Talks. I'm sort of a sucker for motivational speeches, conferences, and deep conversations.
Two of the Ted Talks stood out to me and I think you might benefit from tuning in.

The first of the two was called: "How to Stop Screwing Yourself Over," by Mel Robbins. She basically kicks butt in telling us to get going and ACT! And I'm not talking about the acting we see on TV. I'm talking about the act attached to ion. She explains how we are the only ones who control the creative ideas that roam and pop up in our minds throughout the day. When we get an idea, like mine to write this blog, we have a 5 second window to act on it. That doesn't necessarily mean we need to act on it to completion right then and there, although I decided to do so, don't tell my boss, but we should make some physical note for ourselves as a reminder to go back to it later. Scientists have proven this 5 second window to be true, Mel calls it a "mental break,” and if no action is taken the idea is lost, sometimes forever as we go back to the comfort of autopilot.

Please check out her video if you need a kick in the butt and some motivation.
She is hilarious, direct, and in it for you.

The second video I watched is called: "The Prison of Your Mind," by Sean Stephenson. This guy is my new hero. I don't think I can explain his topic as well as he did. He reminds us of the hard truth in sorting through our thoughts and the prison cell we too often can create in our minds if we aren't conscious in how we choose to perceive ourselves.

We are the only owner of our mind, and being the owner, we are the only ones who can make the decisions in what we will allow our minds to entertain. Oh how I love choices and the competition of negative adjectives fighting over the winning "self title" in my brain. We all want love and we all want affirmation, but even after all of the "love yous" and "you're awesomes" we find ourselves alone to face our inner criticizer.

When was the last time you looked in the mirror and asked yourself, "how are you"? Have you ever done that? If you have, then have you taken the next step to say, "I love you" to yourself?
I agree with Sean when he says freedom begins only when we can look ourselves in the eyes and say, "I love you."

I suppose even through a transition job and figuring out my life I can say I feel more happy and free than in past years. Not because I have my crap together and take action within 5 seconds when an idea pops in my head. And not because people are telling me daily I'm so amazing that I don’t need to look in the mirror and say all the things I love about myself. But it’s because I don’t have to be perfect and I can be honest with myself. I can allow myself to fail and learn and fail and learn. I can daily grab my phone and jot down my ideas when they stir and be okay with not working on them for a few weeks. I can wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and practice Sean’s advice. I can declare truth over who I am and what I want to accomplish, and work on saying I love you to myself. And as long as I am giving it my all, not making excuses, being authentic with myself, then I am good.

Genuine self love encourages joy, and joy encourages love.

Be you. Push yourself, but give yourself a break. Be honest and please say to yourself at some point in your life "I love you."

Until next time…

Written: August 16, 2017///Edited: October 24, 2017

If you need some motivation