EP 005: How to Get Ahead in Life

 

If you feel like you are constantly hitting roadblocks, frustrated, and like time works against you, not for you, this episode is for you. In this episode, I break down the mindset you need to master to get ahead in life and start managing your time with the future in mind. 

The Future is in Your Hands

In order to get ahead in life, you must first acknowledge that what happens to you in your life and in the future is up to you. 

This doesn’t mean that things outside of your control are not going to happen. This absolutely will happen. But what I’m saying here is you have to take ownership that your life is determined by where you want it to go and how you want it to happen; that the decision for how you want to live your life is up to you and you alone.

One Tough Year

This year has been TOUGH for me. And I want to do a podcast episode about it, but to be honest I’m not sure I have enough kindness and grace in my heart to do it because I still have a lot of anger toward this year as a result of what has happened to my business.

What I do know is that what I do with my life moving forward–what I do with my life week-to-week–is in my control. Even though the outside circumstances are controlling what I am actually able to do in the sense of how I am able to actually show up and do my job, how I react, how I spend my energy, and how I spend my time is up to me.

I can blame COVID as much as I want to, but the reality is that it is up to me moving forward. 

All that being said, know that you have to take the step to take an ownership moment of knowing that what happens to you in the sense of how you are going to react, spend your energy and time, and what you are going to do moving forward is up to you and you only! 

So, now that you have that established, we are going to talk about the concept of being proactive versus being reactive. When I tell you that this is a game-changing thought process, I mean it. It applies to every single area of your life! Work, school, marriage, health, finances, literally everything! If you can really start to understand this, you are going to see that you are getting steps ahead in your life.

Proactive vs. Reactive: What is it?

Being proactive means that you are taking the steps to get ahead of an issue before it ever happens and becomes an issue. 

Being reactive is waiting for that circumstance to happen, letting it happen and then deciding how you are going to spend your energy.

What it all boils down to is eliminating the risks so that you can enjoy the reward.

This is especially powerful when it comes to time management. Because what’s so incredible about it is that you can do all the things, but if you are being reactive in how you are living your life, none of those things matter. 

What Being Proactive Vs. Reactive in Everyday Life Looks Like

Let’s say you have a goal of waking up and working out every morning. 

If you are a reactive person, you are going to have the goal, get excited about it, and hope that with everything in you, you are going to wake up and bounce out of bed like a little spring chicken and crank out that workout.

If you are living a more proactive lifestyle, what I want to challenge you to do is think, “If I want to wake up every single morning and do a workout, how can I set myself up best for any barriers that could happen that might prevent me from working out?” 

Take your alarm clock, for example. If you hit the snooze button until you have no time for a workout, you should consider moving it across the room where you have to get it up and turn it off yourself. This is a proactive thought process.

Another idea would be to get an accountability partner. You can’t bail on them because they will be outside each morning to pick you up for your workout.

How to Get Ahead in Life

This is literally how you get ahead in life. By asking yourself, “How can I be proactive?” or “Am I being reactive?” 

And, like I said earlier, this concept applies to everything you do. 

How incredible it is to be able to look at your life and see that you are setting yourself up for success versus waiting on life’s circumstances to determine how you do things in life!

Proactive versus reactive. This is how you get ahead and set yourself up well- even in the face of those outside circumstances.

More

To listen to the rest of today’s episode on how to get ahead in life, click HERE! To check out last week’s episode, click HERE!

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