This is Optimal Living Daily, episode 779, seven mantras for those who have lost their motivation and hope, part two by Mark Chernoff of markandangel.com and I'm Justin Molick, your host of the award-winning podcast, one of the only podcasts in the world where you can hear blogs being narrated to you for free. I have some fun announcements for you today, I'll leave those for the end of the show. But as a little teaser, it involves my business partner Lee, who arrived recently, he drove here to California from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, like 2000 miles or something like that, that's commitment. And his wife, Jocelyn, came too, along with her baby boy.
And actually, this isn't part of the announcements, but we were curious if anyone can be around Southern California, like LA or Orange County in the next eight weeks or so, and you wanna do a quick meetup just to say hi, let us know, you can get in touch at oldpodcast.com. All right, today's a continuation from yesterday, so let's get right to part two of the post and continue optimizing your life. Seven mantras for those who have lost their motivation and hope, part two by Mark Chernoff of markandangel.com. Number two, it is what it is, accept it, learn from it and grow from it.
It doesn't matter what's been done, what truly matters is what you do from here. Realize that most people make themselves miserable simply by finding it impossible to accept life just as it is presenting itself right now. Don't be one of them, let go of your fantasies. This letting go doesn't mean you don't care about something or someone anymore.
It's just realizing that the only thing you really have control over is yourself in this moment. Often times letting go is simply changing the labels you place on a situation. It's looking at the same situation with fresh eyes and an open mind and then taking the next step. Number three, use pain, frustration, and inconvenience to motivate you rather than annoy you.
You are in control of the way you look at life. Instead of getting angry, find the lesson. In place of envy, feel admiration. In place of worry, take action.
In place of doubt, have faith. Again, your response is always more powerful than your circumstance. A tiny part of your life is decided by completely uncontrollable circumstances while the vast majority of your life is decided by your responses. Where you ultimately end up is heavily dependent on how you play the hands you've been dealt.
Number four, the most effective way to move away from something you don't want is to move towards something you do want gradually and consistently. The key is in building small daily rituals and understanding that what you do in small steps on a daily basis changes everything over time. This concept might seem obvious, but when hard times hit, we tend to yearn for instant gratification. We want things to get better and we want it better now.
And this yearning often tricks us into biting off more than we can chew. Angel and I have seen this transpire hundreds of times over the years. A core student wants to achieve a new milestone as fast as possible and can't choose just one or two small daily habits to focus on. So nothing worthwhile ever gets done.
Let this be your reminder. Remind yourself that you can't lift a thousand pounds all at once, you can easily lift one pound a thousand times. Small, repeated, incremental efforts will get you there. Angel and I build small life-changing rituals with our students in the goals and growth module of getting back to happy.
Number five, effort is never wasted even when it leads to disappointing results. For it always makes you stronger, more educated, and more experienced. So when the going gets tough, be patient and keep going. Just because you're struggling does not mean you are failing.
Every great success requires some kind of struggle to get there. Again, it happens one day at a time, one step at a time. And the next step is always worth taking. Seriously, no matter what happens, no matter how far you seem to be away from where you want to be, never stop believing that you will make it.
I have an unrelenting belief that things will work out, that the long road has a purpose, that the things you desire may not happen today, but they will happen. Practice patience. And remember that patience is not about waiting. It's the ability to keep a good attitude while working diligently to make daily progress.
Number six, don't lower your standards, but do remember that removing your expectations of others is the best way to avoid being derailed by them. As you strive to make progress, you will inevitably encounter roadblocks in the form of difficult people. But realize that the greatest stress you go through when dealing with difficult person is not fueled by the words or actions of this person. It is fueled by your mind that gives their words and actions importance.
Inner Peace and Army begins the moment you take a deep breath and choose not to allow outside influences to dominate your thoughts, emotions, and actions. Angel and I discussed this in more detail in the relationships chapter of our book. Number seven, as you age, you'll learn to value your time, genuine relationships, meaningful work, and peace of mind and much more, little else, no matter. Remember this, especially when the going is chaotic and tough.
Focus on what matters in each moment and let go of what does not. Eliminate needless distractions. Realize that too often, we focus our worried minds on how to do things quickly, when the vast majority of things we do quickly should not be done at all. We end up rushing out another shopping trip, or hastily dressing ourselves up to impress, just to feel better.
But these quick fixes don't work. Stop investing so much of your energy into refining the wrong areas of your life. Ten years from now, it won't really matter what shoes you wore today, how your hair looked, or what brand of clothes you wore, what will matter is how you lived, how you loved, and what you learned along the way. After thoughts on deep loss and renewal.
Before we go, I want to briefly address the biggest elephant in the room. That elephant is losing someone you love. The elderly couple in the opening story lived through this kind of loss. Angel and I have lived through this kind of loss.
And although there are no words to make it easier, I want those who are presently coping with this kind of loss to know that the journey forward is worth it. The end is always the beginning. There's more beauty, a different kind of beauty, ahead. You see, death is an ending, which is a necessary part of living.
And even though endings like these often seem ugly, they are necessary for beauty too, otherwise it's impossible to appreciate someone or something because they are unlimited. Limits illuminate beauty. And death is a definitive limit, a reminder that we need to be aware of this beautiful person and appreciate this beautiful thing called life. Death is also a beginning because while we have lost someone special, this ending like the loss of any wonderful life situation is a moment of reinvention.
Although deeply sad, they're passing forces us to reinvent our lives. And in this reinvention is an opportunity to experience beauty in new unseen ways and places. And finally, of course, death is an opportunity to celebrate a person's life and to be grateful for the beauty they showed us. That's just a small slice of what living through deep loss has taught us.
Just a short piece of a longer story that's still being written. A story of second and third chances, renewed hope, and heartfelt dances. And the reminders you heard will get you there, one day at a time. You just listened to part two of the post titled, Seven Monteras For Those Who Have Lost Their Motivation And Hope by Mark Schurnoff of markandangel.com.
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But that doesn't mean the show's ending. We're actually going to continue it and have Dan of Optimal Finance Daily narrate it. He's a great narrator. He has the right voice for the show, so we're super excited about that.
And that's going to free up some time for both me and Lee, so we can continue bringing you the best content available, including new authors, bonuses for you, a better website, a lot of stuff that we're excited about. I just did my last episode of Optimal Business Daily on Friday. Dan's starting tomorrow. It'd be awesome if you give him a warm welcome by checking out that show.
That show covers freelancing, marketing, management, making money on the side, a lot of fascinating stuff, even the psychology behind why we buy things. Definitely check it out and subscribe. Again, that's Optimal Business Daily. Just a quick reminder also, if you want to meet us sometime in the next eight weeks, let me know.
We'll only do it if enough people are interested so you can get in touch at oldpodcast.com. All right, have a great start to your week and I'll see you tomorrow for minimalist Monday where your optimal life awaits.