The only thing worse than being discontent with your current reality is lying about it.
In my own life, I’ve made a few great choices, many okay choices, and several bad choices. I’ve been worse; I’ve been better. But, the funny thing about my great choices: they have never really been the ones that have inspired me to make even better ones. Then again, it gets old focusing on the times that I’ve fallen short. So for the last several years, I’ve used a new approach to achieve success, regardless of the desired goal. It’s simple, and maybe it would work for you as well.
Ready? Here it is . . .
Live Discontently Content
In other words, don’t ever minimize your successes. Never forget to give yourself credit for the great choices and keep those “I did it!” confident boosts fresh in your daily memory. Look around often at the good that you have to offer and that surrounds you, smile, and be grateful. We need the contentment to minimize stress, improve health, and boost confidence in order to rebound quickly when our choices aren’t so great.
But always—and yes I do mean always—keep your poor choices, failures, and your ‘not so shining’ moments at the forefront of your thoughts as well. Recall them at least three times a week. We need them in order to define areas for growth and motivate us to make different choices as we keep moving the bar higher.
Let’s be real, every single human being is talented and we all have a uniqueness that can never, and will never, be matched (even if you struggle believing it). Our brains are both amazing and pathetic, often bouncing back and forth from self-praise to self-deprecation dependent upon the choices made. However, allowing the focus of us, our actions, and our contribution to society to be concentrated on either great value or indifference and worthlessness, never creates any forward movement, just like bouncing up and down on a trampoline.
What Does it Mean to Live Discontently Content?
You see, if we avoid any and all negativity and only choose to focus on our strengths, successes, and what’s good about us and our lives, where is the motivation to ever do anything differently? Similarly, if we are unable to see our greatness and the only thing we see is our weaknesses and failures, we will never have the confidence to do anything different either. So, rather than defining yourself and your life as being terrific and content, or, a struggle and discontent, or, more commonly, and bouncing back and forth between the two, try something different . . . try living discontently content.
Yes, I know, I misspelled ‘discontently’ . . . thankfully, I’m content with that.
Remember, today and every day, live your value one choice at a time. After all, this world would not be the same without you in it, regardless if you have made a great choice, an okay choice, or a choice you’d rather forget.
