Conor Foley

It can be easy to get caught up on the things we don't have in life and have our minds focus on the things that we want rather than what we already have in front of us.

However, it's essential to focus on the things we do have and show appreciation for the little things in life. Check out these steps below as a reminder to show appreciation in your daily life.

1. Don't be picky about your appreciation. Start to notice the things that keep you going each day and give thanks to those.
2. Find gratitude in the challenges and hardships. They are put in our lives to teach us lessons.
3. Practice mindfulness, be aware of the things you have
4. Spend time with your loved ones, and let them know how much they mean to you.
5. Keep a gratitude journal to refer back to when you feel misalignment.

We all persevere things differently in life due to our own life experiences and belief systems. What someone means may be taken out of context by another, which is why it's so essential to control our reactions towards others.

Next time you experience negative emotions from a situation, take a moment to step back and evaluate what is causing you to feel this way. Take a moment to question yourself on why this matters and what you can do to get clarification on the issue.

We’ve all been guilty of imposing our beliefs or values on others. It can be human nature to want others to agree with your opinions and have a sense of feeling the need to be right all the time.

However, by forcing opinions on someone else, we risk harming our relationships, coming off as narcissistic and selfish, and can cause a feeling of disrespect to others.

Next time you feel yourself forcing your opinion onto someone, take a moment to take a step back and ask yourself these three questions.

1. Do you think it’s in their best interests or yours? What’s the objective you’re trying to achieve?
2. Do you know what their desires and beliefs are?
3. How pushing this further can impact your relationship with this person?

People often think of failure as a negative experience associated with defeat, but at some point in life, we all experience failure, and it's how we take those lessons to grow.

Here are a few tips to help you change your mindset around failing

1. Accept the feelings and emotions that are associated with it.
2. Recognize this is not the end of the road. Life will continue on.
3. Avoid isolating yourself. Surround yourself with others who will help pick you back up.
4. Reflect on what went wrong and how it can be fixed in the future
5. Find inspiration throughout the hardships. Recognize your growth.

You have to define success for yourself, and no one can do it for you. Success could mean a sense of giving back to the world and making a difference. It could mean a sense of accomplishment and career progression, and It could mean being able to do the things you love.

Whatever your definition of success is, lead a life that helps you stay focused on always striving for it. Excuses make today easy, but they make tomorrow hard. Disciplining yourself to stay on your success route makes today hard but makes tomorrow easy.

Don’t be afraid of failure. You can’t have success without taking chances and learning from your mistakes.

A successful daily routine helps you achieve focus from the moment you wake up in the morning to when you drift off to dreamland.

Here are some ways to get it:
-Create a morning mantra for your day, set intentions of how you want the day to go, and repeat it throughout the day to yourself
-Stay off your phone for the first hour of your morning, replace the habit with something else that will fulfill you for the rest of the day.
-Visualize how you want the day to go, see yourself accomplishing your to-do list with ease.
-Make a to-do and feel satisfaction when each box is checked off.
-Reflect on how the day went. What was successful? What could be better?

Repeat these steps every day of the week, and set yourself up for success.

Win the morning, win the day!

We all have things we need to worry about in life but choosing to focus your time and energy over the things that you do have control over leads you to a more positive lifestyle.

Your circle of influence are the things that concern you that you can do something about. By focusing on the positives of each situation and choosing to make a difference with them. In contrast, the circle of concern focuses on the negative issues and dwells on them.

Those who effectively embrace change focus their time and energy on things they actually have control over instead of wasting their time and energy on things they don’t will ultimately live a more fulfilling lifestyle.

I'll be the first to admit I have a bit of a sweet tooth. And when I say "a bit," I mean I CRAVE sugar like nobody's business. That doesn't mean. However, I'm crushing brownies, cookies, and ice cream every single day. There are ways to combat this, and it starts by looking at your nutrition label.

First, I want to point out the difference between "Total Sugars" and "Incl. Added Sugars". You obviously want whatever you buy to have low sugars. If you see your food item say 9g of Total Sugar but 0g of added sugars, that TYPICALLY means the sugar comes from natural ingredients such as your fruits. If your ingredients include "blueberries," then there's a good chance that's where your sugar content is coming from.

If you see more than 7g of added sugars, typically that sugar is coming from unrefined sources. High fructose corn syrup, unrefined honey, brown sugar, or most chemical compounds listed are all examples you might typically see in your ingredients that you want to AVOID as all of them are closely linked to hypertension and diabetes. But isn't honey a natural ingredient made by bees? Not necessarily… unless stated that it's unrefined or organic, honey can be very low quality and cut with different kind of syrups to reduce costs.

So if something says "Sugar-Free" on the front of the packaging, I should be good, right? NO. This just means no raw sugar was added to the item of food. This is where checking your ingredients is KEY. Things you want to avoid are: polydextrose (another word for sugar), sucralose (chemical sugar replacement), and maltodextrin (food preservative) just to name a few.

Here are some common options of what to avoid vs. what to buy!

I'll be the first to admit I have a bit of a sweet tooth. And when I say "a bit," I mean I CRAVE sugar like nobody's business. That doesn't mean. However, I'm crushing brownies, cookies, and ice cream every single day. There are ways to combat this, and it starts by looking at your nutrition label.

First, I want to point out the difference between "Total Sugars" and "Incl. Added Sugars". You obviously want whatever you buy to have low sugars. If you see your food item say 9g of Total Sugar but 0g of added sugars, that TYPICALLY means the sugar comes from natural ingredients such as your fruits. If your ingredients include "blueberries," then there's a good chance that's where your sugar content is coming from.

If you see more than 7g of added sugars, typically that sugar is coming from unrefined sources. High fructose corn syrup, unrefined honey, brown sugar, or most chemical compounds listed are all examples you might typically see in your ingredients that you want to AVOID as all of them are closely linked to hypertension and diabetes. But isn't honey a natural ingredient made by bees? Not necessarily… unless stated that it's unrefined or organic, honey can be very low quality and cut with different kind of syrups to reduce costs.

So if something says "Sugar-Free" on the front of the packaging, I should be good, right? NO. This just means no raw sugar was added to the item of food. This is where checking your ingredients is KEY. Things you want to avoid are: polydextrose (another word for sugar), sucralose (chemical sugar replacement), and maltodextrin (food preservative) just to name a few.

Here are some common options of what to avoid vs. what to buy!

Studies have shown that a sense of humor can improve your mental and physical health and improve your leadership skills. The phrase laughter is the best medicine is proven to help boost your immune systems, relax our bodies, burn calories, and release endorphins.

If you are having a bad day or caught up in your emotions, take time aside from what is happening and allow yourself to take a moment to laugh by surrounding yourself with the things that make you smile.

It’s today’s topic is about allowing your emotions to flow…..

One of the biggest mistakes we make in life is letting our emotions get out of hand over things in life we have no control over. Ask yourself, if you have no impact on what happens, why waste energy on it? 

Remember what you DO have control over, that is - your opinion, choice, desire, and aversion and divert your energy towards it.