#HappyNewYear #LifeIsGood #optimism
Happy New Year!
You would think that Bert and John Jacobs, brothers who founded the Life Is Good T-shirt company, had a very happy childhood.
Despite their parents being in a near-death car accident, and their father facing difficulty recovering from it, their mother would always ask them at dinner each night: tell me something good that happened that day.
“That optimism was something that our family always had, even when we had little else,” the brothers write.
Natalie Walters wrote a piece on the two brothers for Business Insider Dec. 17, 2015.
The two brothers ask their employees the same thing whenever they gather: tell me something good that happened today.
Happiness and optimism don’t always come naturally.
Life can throw bad things at us, some of which we can’t control. But we can ALWAYS control how we deal with them. Sometimes, we must work at our optimism and happiness, but it is always achievable.
As we move into 2016, we can take stock of all the good that has happened in the past year. We can use all that good to make the next year even better.
Impossible for some? Well, some may have to work harder to find the good and build on it, but there is always some good to build on.
For those who can’t find it, they must look harder.
If you’ve lost a job, or have other financial issues, there are many ways out there from which help could come. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. If you find optimism difficult, begin by looking for it.
If you’ve lost a loved one, grieve as you must. But remember, that person wants you to move on. To find the courage to do so, one must look for it.
Those who wait for something to be given may never receive it. Those who look for what they want eventually find it.
The world around us can provide a litany of reasons we should be afraid, or we should worry that goodness is in short supply. But goodness is everywhere. Some see it plainly. Others have to look for it.
One can make the next year better than the last, just by believing that life is good.
For the Jacobs brothers, Life Is Good is not just their $100 million company name. It is their outlook on life, Walters writes.
Not everyone can take a positive attitude and build a big, profitable company from it. But a big, profitable company will NEVER be built on a negative attitude, or gloomy outlook on life.
So, in the new year, ALWAYS find something good that happened to you each day. Build on that goodness to see where life takes you. You could be amazed.
Peter
Tag Archives: ” “Life Is Good
LIVES OF ORDER, BOREDOM
#lifeisgood #UnchainTheElephant #findyourpassion
“I had been seduced into a life of little conviction – a logical, systematic existence. My best talents had been buried beneath well-intentioned, but ultimately lifeless rules, meant to hem me into the corporate fabric.”
Erik Wahl
Life is good.
It is. Really. But for some, a “good life” is not enough. They have been taught what a “good life” is, and they live by what they are taught. Yet, they long to do something else — something their parents, teachers, preachers and bosses would never advise them to do.
Erik Wahl, in his book “Unchain the Elephant: Reframe Your Thinking to Unleash Your Potential,” compares an elephant’s behavior in the wild, vs. an elephant’s behavior in captivity. He points out that elephants that are born in captivity are chained to trees and posts. When they test the chain, and realize they can’t go anywhere, they eventually learn that they are not supposed to go anywhere. As a result, the tether becomes unnecessary and the captors need not fear the elephant will take off.
Wahl was told at a young age by a teacher that art was not his strength. He quickly became conditioned to believe that he would never be an artist. Yet, eventually he became a well-known graphic artist – but only after he got good grades, played by the rules and had a great corporate career.
“I gave away my freedom at a young age,” Wahl says.
Many of us want to please our elders. They purport to know what is best for us. So, as children, we listen, obey and are guided to a “good life,” whether we like it or not. Our elders truly believe they are only after our best interest.
But what if adulthood comes, and we find that though life is “good,” something is missing. How many people can, like Wahl, reflect on that, THEN take the steps to unleash a passion. Without passion, we go through the motions of life. Those motions may lead us to good things, but it is like pedaling a stationary bike. You might be making progress toward good health, but you are not going anywhere. Life is so good where you are, you believe, there is no need to go anywhere?
We all learn to take pleasure in little things. We are told to stop and smell the roses, as the song goes, but not if it’s going to delay your next work project. Completing work projects gives you the money to make life “good.”
What if you could make money without completing such projects? What if money came to you while you were stopping to smell the roses?
What if you could pursue your passion without worrying about making a living? Believe it or not, there are many ways out there to do that. For one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. If you can be financially successful pursuing your passion, as Wahl and others have done, that’s a gift. But many need a financial cushion to give them the time to pursue a passion.
Are you a chained elephant? Are you an elephant without the chain, who has been taught never to escape? Is what you have learned about creating a good life enough for you? If so, your stamina is to be admired. If not, and have a passion you might not dare pursue, think about the chained – and tame, unchained – elephant. With instincts marginalized, it has everything it needs for a “good” life.
Go wild, if you dare. You just might find a great escape.
Peter