joy

Investment in Your Own Success vs. Sacrifice

/ Robert Bruton / Leave a comment

The buzzwords “what sacrifice are you willing to pay?” Is your life of happiness, joy, abundance really a sacrifice? 

Throw the word sacrifice out the window and replace it with; Investment in my own success!

After thinking about this a lot. What I have come to learn is I am not making any sacrifice in my life. To some degree in my life, I have since you hear over-and-over again. Sacrifice, what you are prepared to do? What I am sure of is I am ready to make an investment in my own success.

joy, happiness, success

Some of you will be saying the sacrifice I have to make is time. I am going to have to work night & day to complete my dreams. Work weekends, never having a life. Horse Manure!

Making an investment in your own success also includes time. For those of you that say I don’t have time, I suppose you don’t understand how to manage time properly. Don’t scream! Here me out.

Activity vs. Productivity
You can be busy as hell all day long. What did you accomplish? Learn to fill your day with productivity. Organize is the key! 

When you can learn the difference between these to words, time will begin to heal itself. Here are some examples that will help you get started:

  1. Plan your day down to the hour. Have set activities from hour-to-hour that net a result. Tasks.
  2. Learn to limit social media to downtimes NOT during activity hours. Seeing what your sister is making her kids for dinner can wait. Social media is the biggest killer of productive time.
  3. During productive hours shut off the world for a bit to focus. Setting boundaries for idle chitchat is okay. Let friends and family know you will be off the air from this time to that. Emergencies are obviously the exception to the rule. “Mom, can I have $20 to go to the mall can wait for an hour.”

Fill your day with productive time, not wasted time. The three items above give you the idea.

If you feel like you have to give up something to be successful, you need to rethink your plan. For many, it’s time with family. Dedicate times for date nights, time with children, school functions, and kids firsts. Organize your time. Calendar in your day!

calendar, organize, details

Typically, when you organize your day. Take out distractions best you can. Finding twenty hours a week in wasted time is an average.

When you work this out, you can have time for family, social, and activities outside your career. Making an investment in your life includes family. Make times to be present for spouse and children.

You will be more productive when you organize your life out to include growth. Which leads me to something many are doing, and I just began.

Begin your day at 4:00 A.M. 

Before you scream, hear me out! 

Most folks get up between 6 am, and 7 am to get ready for work. So let’s assume for a minute you get up and six. You have the same 24 hours that we all get. Break this down:

24 hrs. – 8 hr work day = 16 hr left – 2 hr commute = 14 hr left – 6 hr to sleep = 8 hr. 

You have Eight odd hours to fit in time for family, and investments in your own success. This can fluctuate a bit from day-to-day, but overall, this is how hours in a day can break down.

You cannot become successful without organizing each day. Activity is just that activity which produces nothing typically. Productivity produces purpose and results.

When faced with the dilemma that you’re sacrificing things in life, that’s really no life at all. I am not suggesting that sometime you may have to make a tough choice. What I am saying for sure that that will always be the exception NOT the rule.

Organize down so the contingency has a contingency. Have the discipline to follow your daily tasks to the letter. Try to never leave a task for tomorrow. If you have to make sure to knock it out first thing, before starting your routine when possible.

Change does take time and you will have setbacks. Just keep grinding forward. Even when you see NO way, believe me, a way will be made if you stay in faith.

What investment in your own success will you make today?

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Be Happy Where You Are

/ Robert Bruton / Leave a comment

If you’re going to be great, you must be great where you currently are! Make what you have work. When God sees you can handle any situation the flood gates will open. You can’t use doom & gloom about your current situation. Make your ongoing situation work with an eye towards a new future.

“When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.”–Tecumseh
Let’s break this down a bit, so it makes sense if you hate your current job for example. As hard as this may be, you need to make it work. Why you do how you can expect God to bless you with more if you’re not grateful for what you have? Keep in mind you can let God know what your heart is with him and ask for a change. Pray for a new beginning but show him that you will stay in faith where you are.

I agree it is difficult. However, it makes total sense that before you can get more, you need to be okay where you are. Entrepreneurs can be handed a bag of dog poop and told that is the main ingredient for the Ice Cream they must make. Learn to make Ice Cream out of dog poop.

happy, life, love

My point is no matter what life looks like making the best of what you have. Do this and on the other side is the life you truly desire.

So, let’s assume for the sake of conversation that you detest where you are in your life. Your job stinks, you’re doing what you have to do not what you want to do. Right there with you! Apart from writing this blog post for me is a want-to-do not a have-to-do.

Here are some ideas I would like to share with you to accept where you are as temporary:

  • Make the best of each day. Don’t use negative narratives to describe where you are. You may very well think that life sucks where you are. Change that conversation to “thank you God for the new life that you are blessing me with.” Be grateful for where you are and what is coming.
  • Think about this. You have not because you ask not. Are you praying for a new life? Not, “oh please God get me out of here.” In prayer let God know as a friend your desires, then let him do his job.
  • Visualize and meditate on the life you want. See yourself in that place you desire. Do this daily. Let the Universe begin to move obstacles away and have patience and faith!
  • Keep this in mind. When doing something you may not like to do, work with jerks you don’t want to be with, stay in a relationship you have no hope of happiness. It’s all temporary. Focus on the solution NOT the problem. Learn to quiet your mind in meditation and believe with everything that is you, life can and will change!

Nothing negative we go through is a life sentence. It’s a season of life where the enemy will do everything necessary to bring you down. Change the narrative of your life. Focus on the outcome, be grateful for that outcome even if you see absolutely no way of getting there.

The life you want is on the other side of pain, frustration, hopelessness, if you stay in faith even when you see no way, I promise you will find a new season opening up for you. Never give up!

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Self-Doubt, Fear, on the other side, IS your Blessed Life

/ Robert Bruton / Leave a comment

Self-doubt can overtake our life to the point of self-destruction. Stifle any positive progress. When you have a breakthrough along comes self-doubt. The enemy will love to see you implode.

“An exciting and inspiring future awaits you beyond the noise in your mind, beyond the guilt, doubt, fear, shame, insecurity, and heaviness of the past you carry around.”–Debbie Ford

Do you know why doubt comes into our mind? The attack of self-doubt comes from the enemy who recognizes that God is about to change your life. Your blessings are just around the bend, and the enemy says “oh no you don’t, let’s get that head filled with doubt and fear.” So, you get overwhelmed and stop.

prayer, spiritual, self improvement

When you need to shift gears, dig in and realize your amazing destiny is about to unfold. The enemy will choose to entrench himself to prevent any blessings. Fight, fight as you’ve never fought before. Don’t let him win. Let God know it’s your time; you’re not losing this time!

Let the enemy know he has no power over your life and cast him out of your mind, declare your life in Jesus name.

Don’t let doubt or fear debilitate your life. This attack is telling you that blessings are about to unfold, stay in faith! Your time to win!

Too often we take doubt, fear, despair, as though you must stop. We get depressed saying nothing will go my way. Sadly, many will give up. God never says if you get through this time for thirty days you will have blessings on day 31 and you give up on day 30. No precedent in the bible for giving up.

The amount of time we spend in despair is our choice. If you can learn to overcome, stay in faith, your destiny will open before you.

Keep your attitude knowing no matter what door slams in your face you’re going to immediately be happy because a new door is out there for you.

Cleaning up some wreckage of the past I was on the phone the other day with the IRS. Scary thought, right? The first person I was able to work with took over an hour to get on the phone — very nice lady walking me through fixing a problem. Almost done with everything and we lose our phone call. She is disconnected in a blink of an eye. All that work I was screaming “no, no, no, ah man.” Being honest you might have heard an expletive or two.

After waiting a while with no return phone call, I call back. On hold for well over an hour. Get through a few more people to get to the nice lady that helped me finish.

More to the story this is where God touched this situation with favor. After the final lady and I started, she read through my file. Comes back on the phone twenty minutes later to explain to me that what I was doing with the first person was wrong. The solution is simple. She made some adjustments to my account and like that it’s over. Everything is now okay!

God had to get me off the first call to get me to the right person. The person who would fix all and make everything okay again. God closed the phone call that by my first reaction was “no oh my no, all that work lost.” When in fact it was not the solution at all. That day I gave myself a B+ on how I handled the situation. I kept saying all the while “God has me.”

When God moves situations around in your life, sometimes it won’t make sense. Just remember that life is adjusting to help you not hurt you. Think about this for a while. Help not hurt!!!

A cure to your problem can occasionally come in the form of what you think is a problem. Don’t be fooled; keep your eye on the ball. God has you!

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Storms Pass, Happiness, Freedom, Peace after the clouds are gone!

/ Robert Bruton / Leave a comment

“It takes many a year, mon, and maybe some bloodshed must be, but righteousness someday prevail.”–Bob Marley

When we move to change our lives, we will go through some pain. The pain you feel is the strength you’re gaining to take on the worst that can be thrown at you, yet righteousness prevails.

Goodness will manifest itself in all aspects of your life. Stay in the game, focus on the result in your mind. The storm will pass! They always do.

prayer, God, happiness

Kick Horrors of Fear in the Gut, Strength, Courage is Yours NOW!

/ Robert Bruton / 1 Comment

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You can say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.”–Eleanor Roosevelt

Facing fear comes in many forms. It also is indoctrinated into our psyche over years and years. We play into it when difficulties overtake our life. When the bombardment of “I can’t” “this is too hard” become so overwhelming in our minds.

fear, happy, joy

Just as the quote states, we live through a horror.

The excellent news is the strength you need is within you. It’s not hard to tap into when you discipline yourself to overcome the challenge. Here are some daily rituals I do that help me get through:

  • Stop and just breathe. Take sixty seconds and breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. Breathing will relieve tension in your body. This makes a measurable change in your body. 
  • Walk. Just get out and walk for a bit. Again relieving stress in your muscles will clear your mind. It’s incredible how this works. Walk up to a flight of stairs, walk down the street, just get out and walk.
  • Meditate. Learn to quiet your mind. Meditation can help you focus your mind on positive. There is a reason it’s called a meditation practice. Do this often, set designated times to practice your meditation. 
  • Grateful. Be grateful for what you have and for what is coming. Thank God for the blessing he is moving into your life. 
  • Pray. Don’t beg, pray. “Please God get me through this, please” NO! Give to God what you need, what he needs to guide you. Show him you’re grateful for it and let him do the rest. 

You can overcome adversity, fear, you name it you can overcome. It takes work, it takes some pain, it takes real desire. You can do it! I have to push every day to overcome huge fears. Someday’s the journey seems too much. That’s the time take one more step, do one more thing forward. This makes all the difference.

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