Live Life With Purpose with Adam Smith

    In episode 6, we talked about the power of words and just how powerful they really are. You can either use your words to tear people down or you can use them to lift others up. I don’t know about you, but I choose lifting others up. It’s definitely more fun and your words might just be the thing that motivates the other person to see their strengths and go after their dreams. Motivation lifts spirits, teaches you how to build others up, creates bonds, strengthens friendships, draws others to you and embodies positivity. Doesn’t that sound like something you want to do? Encouragement is the outward expression of love and positivity. Encouragement is lifting people up through words because you care. Here are three ways to use encouragement in your everyday life and show people how much you really care: 1. When you don’t know what else to say, use encouragement.  I hear a lot of times that people just don’t know what to say in situations. If you encounter a situation like this, use encouragement to show people just how loved they are. See the best in people and show them, when they might not be able to see it all. Displaying what you notice for them to see will bring them into a better state of mind and help them see their positive traits in a better light. 2. When people are down, use encouragement. What better way to lift people up than by lifting them up with your words? People have so many great qualities within them, and sometimes they might just need a friend to show them what they are. Encouragement lifts the spirits of others and helps them see the hundreds of good things going on around them and in their lives, instead of the one bad thing that they are focusing on. 3. When people are hesitant or unsure, use encouragement. Again encouragement is that thing that gives courage when people are feeling unsure. Encouragement builds bridges to people’s fears. It helps them see that they can actually do it and encourages them to take the first step. Of course in encouragement, you aren’t telling lies or just telling them things to bring false hope, In encouragement, you are simply telling the person the best things you see in their life and presenting the positive traits they obtain. When people are in bad situations, they can sometimes only see the negativity going on in their lives, and you can be there to help them begin seeing the positivity all around them. Of course we will use positivity over negativity any day of the week, so always use encouragement. The opposite of encouragement, which is discouragement, tears people down and fails people when they need a friend. Of course there are times we may disagree with what people are doing, but discouragement isn’t the answer. In times like these, options are the answer. If you oppose something, you should always bring what you see as a better option to the table. Without options, your words are just negativity. Be a friend and be a light with the life you live out. Always bring positivity and encourage others every step of the way. Go and encourage, today.

  Forgiveness is a thing that is hard to do sometimes. We sometimes want to hold onto a grudge and make the person who wronged us pay for what they did to us. If you have ever held onto bitterness though, you know that it is a terrible feeling. You know that it will burden and destroy you. It has a way of creeping in almost undetected until you realize that it has a hold on you. Now, whether it creeped in or you knew that you didn’t want to forgive, there is hope. You can decide right now to let go of the past and hold onto the future. Hope is a beautiful thing. I am not demeaning what you went through, as it probably was a big deal, but let me encourage you to seek out help. I would encourage you to search your heart and if there is anything there that you are holding onto that isn’t healthy and that would keep you from pursuing relationships, get rid of it. If that means going to a person that you are holding something against, go to them and straighten it out. If that means that you are finally done once and for all with what happened years ago, then great! When you are able to let go, you are able to move forward. If you are holding onto the past in a negative way and not to learn from, then it is impossible to move forward. Don’t give others the opportunity to hold you back. Forgive, be free and love people. That’s what we are all called to do.

    This episode may not be what first comes to mind when thinking about the idea of giving. Maybe you thought that financial resources were all that you can give, but there is so much more to life than that. You have resources to give right now, no matter where you are at today: 1. Time How can you give more time to others in your day? Time is just as important as money, if not more important. You have some time to give, so make it count. Who can you pour your time into this week to make a difference in? How can you use your time effectively this week to show love? Your time matters. 2. Emotionally Who needs you this week emotionally besides your family? Who do you need to uplift this week who recently went through a tragedy? Who can you listen to this week who needs a friend? Give yourself emotionally to people this week and lift others up through their trials. Be a friend to someone. 3. Physically When I am talking about physical resources, I am talking about work. How can you bless others through your work this week? How can you go above and beyond expectations at your place of work and give more this week? 4. Financial This might be where your mind went first when you saw the title of this podcast. The thing is it doesn’t have to be huge. You can see a need and fill a need with $5 or less. I promise it’s the thought that counts. Giving of your resources is a principle that works, because it is always given back to you, but that’s not why you do it. It works because it blesses other people. Giving changes things. It opens doors into the lives of others, takes the focus off of you, and puts the focus where it belongs; on others. Use your time, emotional resources, physical resources and financial resources to bless others this week. 

  How many times have you thought that you communicated what you needed to and it ended up that the person you thought you communicated the details to misunderstood you? Either you didn’t say it right, the person on the receiving end didn’t listen well or the importance of it wasn’t communicated and it just didn’t end up being done. Whatever the case may be, we have all been there. We have all had instances in which we could have communicated better or should have listened better to another person. Communication is a two way street. Communication in relationships is one of the most important things in it, because it is where we release what we need in that relationship. It is a way to openly and honestly give feedback as to where we are and what we need. It is a lifeline to get others to take note and to express these feelings in the right words. Communication done correctly is well thought out and received in a good way. Yes, communication is really this important. Here are the people who you communicate with the most and how you can communicate more effectively to each of them: 1. Your Spouse and Children These are who you impact the most in your daily life. These are the people you as a spouse are most responsible for. Whether we realize it or not, even our body language, our silence, the joy that we bring and the words we speak all play into our communication as a whole. Your spouse and children look to you for direction and even look forward to you communicating with them. Where would you be if you or your spouse didn’t talk to each other? You both would be clueless, right? Without communication, there is no updates to the status of your relationships. Even as an onlooker from the outside, you can tell where relationships are at through not only verbal communication, but also body language. Everything speaks volumes within a hug and a kiss or silence and a cold shoulder. Your communication leaves wakes in the atmosphere you bring into a room. Make it memorable for all the right reasons. Love your family with everything you have, including the communication that you give. 2. Your Boss and Coworkers In a work environment, communication is vitally important as well. It causes the work environment to run more smoothly or when communication isn’t where it should be, people aren’t on the same page. When communication is bad here, things aren’t running smoothly and productivity comes to a halt. Communication brings honesty and vulnerability to the forefront. One of the best ways to deal with your bosses is to communicate to them where you are at in your projects and your plan, especially if you work for micromanagers. This way everyone is happy. You are given room to breathe and work and your boss is happy because they know what is going on and what you are doing with your time. With coworkers, it is important to communicate with them because you are all playing for the same team. When you communicate with them, everyone is on the same page and you can teach each other things to help each other become better. Another way that everyone can communicate with each other at work is about their lives outside of work. If all you talk about is work with each other, then that is the depth of the relationship. But when you talk about more than work, these relationships will flourish and the bond between each other will grow even more. 3. Your Friends When life begins to happen, relationships with friends sometimes dwindle. These friendships go away because communication stops, but it doesn’t have to. You can  call each other up, put dinner on the calendar once a month so you make sure it happens, shoot each other texts, make out of the blue phone calls, or write each other hand written letters. There are so many ways to keep the communication alive with these friends and all you have to do is commit. Commit to one way to communicate with friends to keep the relationship alive.

    Being available is the most important thing you can be for others. Why? Because people need you more than you could ever imagine. The problem is we all get busy and stuck in our routines without ever looking outside our own issues. We get lost in our daily activities and the idea of being there to help others isn’t one of our main priorities. To live a life of purpose, this has to change. Here are four ways to be available right now: 1. Realize that when you make a difference in the lives of others, it comes back to you and it is passed on. It’s contagious! When you do something, it doesn’t just stop with the person you are doing it for. It always finds it way back to you and when you do something for someone else, it will be passed on to others as well. 2. Fill yourself up with so much, that you have to give it away. Read, study and listen. All of these things will fill you up with information, so that you will be ready to give it away. When you hold something so good in that it has to come out, it will bless others. 3. Get rid of the unnecessary in your schedule. We have covered this point before in a previous episode, but it is really that important. If it has to do with people it is necessary, but anything that doesn’t, get rid of it. This way you open yourself up to make an even bigger impact in the lives of others. 4. Be open to change. If you are at a point where you have things in your life that need to change, you will have to be open to change to move forward. Don’t be someone that is stuck in their ways and stuck in their ways. Move ahead when you are open to good change in your life.   Do these four things, be available and make a bigger difference, today.

  The definition of a mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person.   Being A Mentor I like how it says “and often younger person”, because it doesn’t have to be. Your experience trumps age every time. So, if your excuse has been that you have been too young to become a mentor, my challenge to you would be to look at your passions and see where you can help others in specific areas of their own lives that you excel in. You can live tons of life and still be young if you pursue life to the fullest. Most people have valuable information within them waiting to be unleashed and their own fears of self-doubt begin to plague them enough to keep quiet. When we second guess our talents and gifts, we begin to give the upper hand to living a mediocre life. This keeps us holding in valuable information and keeps others going down the path most traveled; mediocrity. The thing is that most people are ok with living out this lifestyle. Well, you don’t have to be. Finding A Mentor The first realization in the mentoring process is that you don’t have all the answers. There, I said it. Once you realize this, you are ready for a mentor. You can’t do life well while taking it on all alone. You just can’t. I have tried to do this many times before and have learned that this isn’t a possibility if you want to live a life of greatness. When it comes to accountability, you need people in your life who have already been where you are at. You need mentors who have seen what you have seen. You need accountability from trusted mentors that bring motivation and direction along with these relationships. When you allow for these mentors to speak life into you, your life begins to flourish. You can begin leading better today by opening up your life and being open to mentoring. For the mentoring system to work efficiently, you need to be open and honest, to bring about helpful guidance. Pride needs to be pushed aside and the desire to become better has to be at the forefront. I mean, you wouldn’t be reading this, listening to the podcast or seeking out mentors if you did not wish to become better, right? You need this inside advantage that mentoring gives to help you through life. Again, doing life on your own is single-minded. Why wouldn’t you take the opportunity to have multiple great minds bringing knowledge and experience from the past and the present and putting it to work? So, where do you begin to actually make this happen in your own life? Before you get started and know exactly what you need, you should begin with a self assessment. Where are you really at? What do you really need help with? This way, you know how to select the mentors that you need in your life. There isn’t one person who knows everything you need. If you need help with your finances, then select a person who can give wisdom in the area of finances. If you need help spiritually, select a mentor who lives a deep, spiritual life. If you need help with your marriage, be mentored by someone who lives the ideal marriage. If you need help with your business, be consulted by someone who runs their business with sound principles and produces results. Of course this isn’t difficult to figure out, but it is amazing how many people become complacent and don’t put these ideals into place in their own lives. I am a big believer in the fact that people live out their lives showing their fruits. Pay attention to what people live out well and those are the people that you will want speaking into your life. Now that you have done this, the mentoring process first takes someone who cares about making a difference. And then it requires you to know what you need help with. For me, I will always have a marriage mentor. I refuse to go back to living with complacency in my marriage. I literally would rather fail in any other area, but that area.

  A lot of times people aren’t accomplishing more because they aren’t taking permission. Stepping out and taking permission to do what you need to do to be who you want to be is one of the scariest things you will ever do. Why? Because it’s something you haven’t done before, it takes courage and it makes you better. Here are 3 specific things that taking permission actually does for you: 1. It takes care of fear. Before we step out and do something, our minds can play out scenarios in our heads, and it usually the worst-case scenarios. Once we step out it takes care of all that. Fear goes to the side and the more we step out, the more comfortable we become with it. Anytime fear comes up, step out in faith and immediately conquer it. That’s what starting does for you. It takes care of over-thinking it and says, “I’m in.”. 2. It gives you authority. Once you take permission to do something, there is nobody that can take that away from you. You have now taken a huge step. You are saying that whether or not you are fully ready for it, you’re going for it. That’s the thing… If you wait for when you are fully ready for something, you will never go after it. Authority comes when you step out, no matter where you are at in the process. 3. It forces you to commit. There have been a few times where I have feared the unknown, but I stepped out anyways. Maybe you know what I am talking about. It forced me to commit before scaring myself out of it. Sometimes this is the very thing we need. Committing before chickening out. When you commit to something, the first step is done and perseverance has begun. You can’t strengthen perseverance, dedication and will until you are given a chance to. Taking permission is your first step in the journey and helps instill other qualities along the way. To review this, taking permission takes care of fear, gives you authority and forces you to commit. Maybe you have a situation where you need to apply taking permission right now. You have been afraid to take the first step and you just need to begin. You have had this desire burning in your heart and you need to do something with it. You need to take the first step because you need to do something. Let me encourage you to step out, move on and keep going in the process. We all have something to give, but we have to take the first step. Go and take the first step, today.

Being in rut is an awful feeling. Going after things and never seeing an end to it is frustrating to no end. When this happens we spend our time trying to make one thing work when it seems everything in life is working against making it happen. This squanders momentum. We need building blocks, not road blocks to make momentum work. We all need momentum in our lives, because it gives us more confidence. Here are 3 ways to create more momentum in your life right now: 1. Create more “Wins”. These will act as building blocks that will stack on top of each other. When life brings you more progress, it is easier to reach out and try new things. When you have a lot of losses, timidity ensues and trying new things looks daunting. Nothing will deflate confidence like a consistent stream of losses in a row. Stepping out isn’t easy when you don’t have momentum. It starts mentally. Do more that brings momentum into your life. 2. Create realistic deadlines and goals for yourself. To get things done, set deadlines for yourself to help you finish. But, one of the most important aspects here is to first set realistic expectations for yourself to not find yourself defeated before you even begin. Once you do this, the most important thing to do is to stick to your plan. So often, these big, lofty dreams intimidate us and we find ourselves hiding from them. Don’t let this happen. Bite your goals off into daily chunks that will help you not only create more wins, but will it decrease stress and will create momentum. 3. Create a team. Like-minded individuals form cohesiveness and pushes ahead to achieve more. Whether this means hiring virtual assistants, forming a better team at work that helps each other accomplish more, or getting your family more on board to support you emotionally and with your goals physically, getting others on board helps with achieving more. The support alone moves you to do more well. Create a team to help with moving you forward. In other words, confidence and creation shapes momentum. The more you can do well, the better your outcomes will be. Confidence and momentum work well together because you will eventually venture out to try new things and succeed at them. How do you create momentum in your own life?

    How many times have you hit walls during your journey and wanted to quit? Maybe you are there now. But before you are stopped in your tracks, take a moment to actually see what you can control in the situation you are in and have a different perspective on it. Now, you might be in a situation that is out of your control, but I am sure there is one thing out of this podcast you can apply to your life and see things differently. Here are four things that are well in your control that you need to evaluate and move forward: 1. Your attitude. If you are going through something rough right now, I can guarantee that the last thing you want to hear is that you can control your attitude. Sometimes we can convince ourselves that having a bad attitude towards things and people will somehow “show them”. 2. Your outlook on life. Things aren’t usually as bad as you see them. You can change your perspective by seeing your current circumstances in a different light. Take a moment to use positivity in each area of life that you could use more of it in. Cut the negativity and think on what brings joy. 3. What you consume. When you feed yourself with junk, that is usually what ends up consuming you and is spilled out onto others. We have talked about it in a previous episode, but it really is that important. I also believe that we can never be reminded of this simple truth enough. Good in, good out. Junk in, junk out. Start filling up with more positive, life-building thoughts and begin making a bigger difference. 4. The impact you make in the lives of others. You were put here to make a difference. Now, act like it. I am convinced you can do more for other people no matter what you are doing right now. This is what really matters. So, how are you doing in these four areas? Maybe you are doing great in all of them or maybe the opposite. Maybe you need to apply one or all of these to your life and begin to see life differently. Know what is in your control, today.

  Are you feeling stuck? Like Life is the same all the time? Have you been doing the same thing for quite some time and life just isn’t giving you the results that you want? It is probably time for a change. It is time to implement creativity into your life and begin doing something different. Here are 3 areas to look at and think about how you can become more creative with them starting today. 1. The Two Most Important Priorities. Relationships and Work. You have to spend time with your family if you want it to be a good relationship. Bring some creativity to the everyday to make life extraordinary, instead of ordinary. Maybe you don’t want to do movie night every single night, and it is time to change it up a bit. It is time to get out of your rut, because the people around you need you. It is time to wake up a bit earlier to get the things done that you need to. Some of the best advice I have ever received is to go to sleep when my wife does. When I stayed up later than my wife there was a disconnect, because I was staying up late and waking up early and consumed myself with work. This left a huge disconnect! When I learned to get more creative with my schedule, my wife appreciated it and our relationship grew! This way the work that I need to get done is taken care of and my family is to. Time management and prioritizing come into huge importance. Friendships are also important in life. Cherish them and hold on to them. You impact others through relationships and in return create friendships along the way. Hold on to your friendships and grow together through life. 2. Your Huge Dreams Most of us live busy lives, but we still have dreams. that’s the thing, though. Busy can no longer be an excuse. Busy is everyone’s excuse and you are better than that. Use creativity to make your dreams happen. Creativity creates a freshness to the way you are doing things and brings a new found momentum to your life. Dreams fuel dreams in the lives of other people, because success in your dreams inspire others to dream big. Be the inspiration someone else needs. 3. The Just Because I want to impact the world, but not always because I have a reason to. Sometimes I just want to blow people’s minds because it’s fun to do. Sometimes I have the urge to go help people in need just because. Sometimes I want to take Colbie to nursing homes and brighten some people’s days just because. Sometimes I want to go listen to people’s stories at hospitals and hand them balloons just because. Sometimes I want to be the light in someone’s life just because. I know you have the urge to “just because”, so go do them this week. That’s my challenge to you… When we do the “just because” with no motive or hidden agenda, it means more. Go be more creative in life, just because. Don’t let life become stale and boring. It is time to begin allowing creativity to take place, start seeing the big picture and making a bigger impact. Work on making these three areas of your life better by being more creative on a daily basis. Go be more creative in life, just because. Work on making these four areas of your life better by being more creative on a daily basis.   Photo Credit: kevin dooley via Compfight cc

    I believe in this idea of discipline in your life, that I wrote an eBook on it and I believe in the message so much, I want it to spread so I give it away for free on my blog just for signing up. Self-discipline is one thing missing from most people’s lives that will get them further than they could ever dream of. It’s what creates better habits and forms these principles continuously, rather than a “one-and-done” mentality. Self-discipline is what sustains you through times of doubt and busyness. Once you make daily routines and set self-discipline as a priority, success will come. Yes, as you are implementing self-discipline in your life there will be pushback. There will be resistance, but just as anything worth having, the journey is difficult to get there. But, the reward is worth it. Whatever area of life you need more discipline in, this journey is worth it. What are some benefits that self-discipline can bring into your life? Please leave your comment below. You can also sign up for blog updates sent directly to your email inbox by clicking here and receive my free eBook on discipline. It goes into more depth on self-discipline and gives you a free tool to evaluate where you are and will help you implement good change.

    We need to work with a happy heart. When we are happy while working, it doesn’t seem like work. It feels as if our day just began and time flies when we are having fun. One thing that can help us be happier is finding our strengths in our daily work. When we are working in our strengths, we make a bigger impact and are happier about it. Honor everyone. Honoring people that are above me or those that are older than me is something my parents instilled into me as a child and I am so glad they did. it is about appreciation and respect. Relevance: Know that we are impacting others by what we do. Find who these people are and keep them front of mind. We have to know what our mission is to know the goal of who we will reach. If you don’t know your vision for your occupation, you have to find it to know who you are impacting each day. This will give you more satisfaction for a job well done. Make your job measurable. If you don’t know your daily, weekly, monthly or yearly goals, you will become lost. Again, you have to know what you are working towards to have a full appreciation for your work. As always, it comes back to relationships. Who can create bigger and better relationships with at work? It may be time to grow personal relationships with those around you. Use your work to make a bigger impact, today.

    Lately I have been thinking about the word “calling” and what it actually means. The Bible actually speaks on it quite a bit. Where I think a lot of people miss the meaning of the word “calling” is associating every part of this word with their profession. I just don’t see this being the case. I actually don’t think it has much to do with it at all. Now, I am not demeaning where you are at in life and if you are right where you feel you are called to be and in your called profession, then I will be the first person rooting you on. The only thing I am debating here is having the wrong focuses in the pursuit of our “calling”. Again, I believe that somehow we have learned the idea our professions somehow define us, but I see calling being entirely associated with the idea of being available for others. Calling and the relationships we have are one in the same. Can our professions help create relationships and give us more opportunities to make an impact? Absolutely. But, I believe the biggest opportunity to lead is through being available to pour into the lives of others and to love them. Again, the first step in impacting the lives of others involves us first being available. Then and only then can we be a true friend and fully love. How many times have we come up with the excuse of being too busy to care for those we come in contact with? Probably more than we would like to admit. Well, I am exhausted and embarrassed of repeatedly making this popular excuse.  Can we all commit to being more available for one another? To make this happen, don’t worry so much about your “calling” that you are heading towards and focus more about today. Focus on how you can make a difference in the lives of those around you today. Live each day the way it was intended to be, as your calling. You are called to make an impact in the lives of others. Stop putting life off until you someday reach what you are “called” to do. You are called right now. Make an impact and start leading TODAY.

    Doing things for recognition or because you have to or because someone toldyoue to try it isn’t the way to go. It has to be more than that. For something to stick we have to buy into the reason behind the reason. In whatever we do, The real reason to do something is for the reward in doing it and for the help it brings to others. Do good things for other people because it is the right thing to do, don’t do everything for you and your feelings. Stop doing things because someone told you to do them a long time ago. Do what you do because you fully believe in it. When you do things with heart behind it, you get more out of it. The two things that you can do by yourself that brings help & health to you is exercise and quiet time. Other than that, others need to be included to make a bigger impact. In my own life, when I have done things for the wrong reasons, I become disenchanted with them very quickly. Here is what I have learned along the way and the “Whys” of starting to do things for the right reasons. 1. Start something bigger than you. This involves more people and makes an impact in the lives of more people. When more people are involved, it causes motivation for everyone else, too. This cuts selfishness out and lets you see the bigger picture. Start thinking now- What is that one thing I can do to help others? I will give you a few seconds to think about that. Alright. Hope you came up with that one thing you can begin doing now to help others. How often you do that one thing is completely up to you. 2. Be aware of the needs around you. When you are in tune with your surroundings, you are able to make a bigger impact in the lives of others and others become your true reason. Going back to last episode, when you create more margin in your life, you have more time to impact others as well. 3. Do it for the satisfaction of becoming better at something. When you keep at something and you practice doing it, you will become better at it, no matter what it is. When you practice good, you will become better at doing good for others and it will become an even bigger habit for you. What one thing do you need to put on your Stop Doing List?

  To create time for the people and the things in your life that matter most, you need to create more margin in life. That’s the problem with people’s schedules these days. They don’t leave any room for thinking, let alone making a difference in the lives of others. Here are three ways to create more margin in your life: 1. Get rid of the unnecessary. This is sometimes hard to accomplish. People want to hold onto as much as they can. Why is this? People don’t like letting anything suffer. People have work, church, family, friends, kids, activities and the list goes on and on. Before we know it, we are at a point where life has control over us instead of us controlling it. The truth is though that there are still 24 hours in a day and we all have to sleep at some point. If you put time into something, anything, there will be an area that suffers. Something has to give. So, “What will it be that suffers?” is the question. Take back your life when you begin getting rid of the unnecessary things that clutter up your life. 2. Maximize your day. After you get rid of the unnecessary, there still might be a lot on your plate, and that’s ok. It is time to learn how to manage it well. The way I deal with this, is to put the most important things first in your day. This way you know they will get done. To get things done, you can’t compromise on this either. Learn to maximize your day and learn how to do more. 3. Plan as much as you can. Some have argued with me on this step, but it is what works for me. I know some people who don’t make appointments and want to get everything done right away, but for me this hasn’t worked in my own life. I have found that the less I have to think about and just go ahead and get it out on my schedule, there is mental space that opens for other more important things. It allows me to move on. When I started putting these 3 points in to my routine, more time became available for family and friends. These 3 things will help you create more margin in your life and will get you to open your days up more often to make a bigger impact in the lives of others. How do you create more margin?