Motivation is contagious. Start spreading it.

Whether you are a (very much welcomed) newcomer to my blog, wondering “What does Jordan blog about?” or one of my (very much appreciated) regular readers, I created a list of my firm beliefs, referred to as the Pillars of Positivity, which all of my blog posts are related to or focused around:

-Pillars of Positivity-

Attitude

1. Attitude is absolutely everything that you do.

2. Attitude is the one thing you can always control.

3. Despite any circumstances, you can choose to be a product of your attitude.

4.  Your thoughts and attitude together creates your reality.

5. Your attitude is your choice.

Self-Love

1. How you feel about yourself is reflected in everything you do.

2. How you treat others is a mirror of how you feel about yourself.

3. Your self-worth comes from how you feel about yourself, not from how others feel about you.

4. The most powerful words are the words that you say to yourself.

5. Self-confidence is necessary for success in any area of your life.

Happiness

1. The only person stopping you from being happy is you.

2. The easiest way to be happy is to find joy in the smallest of things.

3. By making others happier, you will feel happier yourself.

4. Discover what makes you happy and turn it into a habit.

5. To be your happiest, you must be happy for yourself and by yourself.

Motivation

1. Follow your bliss and motivation will naturally flood to you.

2. Motivation is temporary, but you can make it a permanent routine.

3. Life doesn’t owe you anything: you must create everything for yourself.

4. Life without goals is a life without meaning.

5. Motivation is contagious: lead by example.

Personal Well-being

1. Accepting personal responsibility for your problems allows you to go from victim to victor.

2. Appreciating who you are and what you have in the present will help you get to where you hope to be in the future.

3. A healthy balance is needed between recreation and relaxation in order for one to reach their full potential.

4. Life really is beautiful. It’s just that so many of us pile anxieties, worries, and judgements on top of its greatness, making it hard to see life as it really is.

5. Your life is what you make of it.

If you created your “Pillars of Positivity”, what beliefs would be included? Please share an item or two in the comment section below!

Happy being positive,

Jordan Brown

John Wooden once said, “You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”

One simple way you can brighten another’s day, while making a contribution to our world in the process, is by practicing random kindness. Random acts of kindness are when one attempts to lift the spirit of another by doing something thoughtful, caring, or considerate for them. If you want to play this fun game but don’t exactly know where to start, here are some ideas I have for you:

• Smile at a stranger
• Pay for a strangers coffee
• Help someone carry their groceries
• Give someone random a compliment
• Lend a helping hand when need be
• Leave someone a sweet annonymous note
• Do something nice for a friend/family member

Today, I challenge you to do three random acts of kindness. For some of you, this may be a simple task, but for others, this may be quite the challenge. See how you feel after completing your kind acts. Do you feel happier? Lighter? More relaxed? Warm and fuzzy inside? While your thoughtful acts serve as gifts to others, they are not completely selfless. Sharing your kind heart to help cheer up another simultaneously creates happy feelings inside of yourself.

The greatest act of kindness is one that is given to someone with no care if it is returned. By being kind and compassionate, you will be rewarded by having a greater sense of purpose and impact on this earth and in-turn, greater happiness. Could you reap a more fulfilling benefit?

Like one unknown once said, “In a world full of people who couldn’t care less, be someone who couldn’t care more.”

Happy being kind,

Jordan Brown

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Last year, a friend of mine gave me a clever and wonderful idea: to choose a “word for the year” and to let this chosen word be the “theme” in which your year is centered around. For 2011 my word was “more” and my overall objective for the year was to do more, see more, and be more. You can watch my speech on this topic here. After some deep (seriously deep – it’s taken me almost four months) consideration and tuning into my biggest hopes and dreams for this year, I have decided that my word for 2012 is faith.

To me, the word faith serves a powerful reminder to:

• Have unconditional faith in myself
• Have faith that when life isn’t going smoothly that, as my favorite proverb states, “this too shall pass.”
• Have faith that I will achieve my wildest dreams this year (publishing/marketing my book, continuing with Toastmasters, furthering my career, etc.) despite facing any obstacles along the way
• Have faith that everything happens for a reason (Sometimes, the reason will be obvious. Other times, I will have to be ready and willing to discover, or create, the reason for life’s happenings.)
• Have faith that no matter what happens outside of me, I will find the strength, courage, and optimism inside of me to walk through any storm
• Have faith that I am making a profound and positive difference daily
• Have faith that the Universe has my back and wants me to succeed

I believe if I can live every day with faith in myself and in the various aspects listed above, I’ll continue to make 2012 an incredibly rewarding and happy year. I absolutely love the idea of picking a word for each year and will continue to take part in this activity for many years to come.

Now, it’s time to ask yourself: What is my word for 2012? It may take you some time (heck, it took me almost four months), but I hope you’ll give it a shot. If you already have a word for 2012, please share with me in the comment section below.

Happy having faith,

Jordan Brown

It’s Friday! Woo-woo!

Here I am with The Thinker in Paris. This pretty much sums up my morning.

This past week for me was not unlike a roller-coaster ride. On Monday morning, I felt amped to start my new week, as if I was anxiously waiting to begin the ride, and even tweeted: “I am determined to make this week a positive and productive one.” While my attitude was in the right gear, my week consisted of twists, turns, thrilling highs, and like every good roller coaster ride, it had its low moments. But, finally, it is Friday, and I am ever so thankful and excited for the weekend.

This morning, as I sat in the midst of my thoughts, cup of joe in hand, I reflected upon my week and asked myself a few key questions. The five questions are listed below, hence why this post is titled, “Five Question Friday,” and I urge you to ponder them this morning. Uncovering answers to these thought-provoking questions will allow you to reflect on your week, will enable you to begin your weekend with a calm state of mind, and may even help you be more happy and productive in the new week that is to follow.

1. What was my greatest accomplishment for the week? With any deep reflection, I like to start it off on a positive note. Whether your greatest accomplishment was getting a promotion, excelling in an interview, hitting the gym five days in a row, or simply being on time to work each morning — toot your own horn. Smile and celebrate your achievements; take a moment to be proud.
2. What is the biggest mistake I made this week? Reflecting upon your short-comings can help keep you from making the same mistake again. While it’s easy to be hard on ourselves, always remember that making mistakes is absolutely crucial to our personal growth. Being consciously aware of the mistake made, and acknowledging that you faulted, will help keep you from making the same blunder in the future.
3. What was the happiest moment of my week? Maybe it was happy hour with an old friend, a loving hug from your child, or cooking dinner with the love of your life in your brand new kitchen (hehe). Envision this image and revel in it. Smile. That is all.
4. What was the lowest point of my week? Remembering bitter moments may stir up negative emotions inside of you, which can be a little scary. Feel the fear and do it anyway. Think about what happened/how you felt/what you learned from the situation. If you still feel remorse, embarassment, or anger from the situaton, gently remind yourself, “The past is in the past and I must leave it at that” (my all-time favorite affirmation for leaving the past behind me). After learning a lesson from your lowest point, all you can do is move forward.
5. What do I hope to accomplish this weekend? If you’re burnt out from the work week, your goals for the weekend do not have to be work or even task related. You can hope to achieve some much needed time of relaxation, time spent catching up with a good friend, getting your hair done, etc. Having at least one goal, even if it seems silly or miniscule, will help you make your weekend more meaningful and enjoyable.

Hope you all have fun and wonderful weekends!

Happy it’s Friday,

Jordan Brown

To read about my upcoming book, click here.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you have probably heard the quote “You must be the change you wish to see in the world” by Mahatma Gandhi. I, for one, see this quote everywhere. It frequents books, blogs, Facebook status updates, tweets, and heck, I’ve even seen it on bumper stickers. Although this phrase is a popular and powerful one, what exactly is Gandhi implying? How can we be the change we wish to see in the world? Well, here are my thoughts:

Imagine the ways you wish people acted or behaved differently. Ponder the various things people could do to make this world a better place. Think about what you really want more or less of in this big world of ours. Then ask yourself, “What am I doing to contribute to it?” We must first change within to see changes outside of ourselves. Think about it…

Want more joy in the world? Be more joyful.

Want less hate in the world? Hate less.

Want healthier people in the world? Be healthier.

Want less anger in the world? Be less angry.

Want more smiles in the world? Smile more.

Want the world to be educated on something? Educate them.

Want the world to be different? Make a difference.

Even on a smaller scale, for things as simple as “I wish my significant other worked out and ate healthier” or “I wish my co-workers were more positive” or “I wish my mom would put in more of an effort with our relationship”, are you doing these things? You can’t expect something from others than you aren’t doing yourself.

To be the change we wish to see in the world, we must lead by example. We must stand tall and lead with kindness, gratitude, grace, and confidence. Doing so can help make this world a better place and will inspire others to lead great lives.

Today, I want you to ponder: How am I leading my life by example? Where you lead, others will follow.

Happy leading,

One of my all-time favorite quotes.

Do you know someone, or are you someone, that takes your everyday life for granted? I constantly hear people complaining (I’m guilty of this too!) about their everyday life, involving school, their jobs, and/or their various tasks and responsibilities. “I don’t want to go to school today!”. . . “Ugh, my job sucks!” . . . “Dangit, I have to do the dishes!” Whoa, bud, take a step back. You are choosing to go to school. You are choosing to work where you do. You are choosing to wash the dishes. Everything action you take in life is a result of a choice that you have made in your mind.

I understand that we are human, and sometimes a good rant or venting session is necessary. If you must complain (necessary at times), take a moment, or a few, to appreciate your situation right after. Make an effort to end your negative thought with “Well, it could be worse” or “I guess this isn’t that bad”. Furthermore, if you complain and then work towards making the situation better, that’s completely fine. For example, if complain you hate your job and work tirelessly to find a new one, good for you. You may be a whiner but at least you’re a proactive one. But if you complain just to complain and to reiterate your discomfort, without taking the necessary steps to better your situation, you’re just a big complainer.

If you complain about your life more often than you appreciate it, you’re asking for a life of discontent. You can put a stop to useless complaints and create greater happiness by changing the way you see the world around you. Such a simple thing to do, yet not necessarily easy. To enhance the quality of your life, become more grateful and ditch the mindset of “What can I complain about today?”

Instead of whining (without desire to take action) like in the beginning of this post, appreciate that you have easy access to education, that you are employed, and that you are washing your dishes instead of digging for food in the dumpster outside of the 7/11. Appreciate every situation you typically jump to complain about because there are many people in this world who battling much greater.

Happy having an attitude of gratitude,

The feeling of achieving a big goal is indescribable.

How many times have you said, or heard someone else say, “I want to lose weight”, “Tomorrow, I’m going to start exercising”, “My new life goal is to write a book”, “I want to quit my job and start my own business” or “I want to start saving more money”, but do nothing except sit around without a strategy, hoping that these goals will magically achieve themselves? If you’re anything like me, you get all fired up when embarking on a new goalventure (it’s not just a goal — it’s an adventure too!) and feel super motivated for the first day or so. Then…a few days later, the excitement fades away and my newly created goal slips gracefully from my mind. Something I’ve realized lately is that setting (and talking about) new goals is super easy — sticking to them and staying motivated throughout the journey is the difficult part. Creating a new goal and igniting the flame within you is a good start, but to be successful in your goalventures, you have to learn ways to fuel the fire throughout the entire process. Here’s a few tips that I’ve learned over the years that have tremendously helped me stay motivated when achieving some of my biggest goals:

1) Keep your eye on the prize. Anytime you feel discouraged, take a few moments to visualize your desired end result. Close your eyes and visualize how alive, energetic, satisfied, and proud you will feel upon reaching any specific feat. Knowing that if you continue to work hard, you can one day say, “I did it!” is a great motivating factor. Example: While writing my upcoming book, anytime I felt discouraged or uninspired to continue writing/editing, I visualized myself holding the first copy proud, smiling ear to ear, unable to contain my excitement. This incredibly joyful image of me has helped me to stay motivated throughout the journey knowing that in the end, all of my hard work will surely pay off.

2) Ask yourself, “Why did I create this goal in the first place?” Remembering why you embarked on a goalventure will remind you of the importance and true meaning of the goal, which can help motivate you to continue working towards it. When stuck in a rut, think about what motivated you to begin with and why you created this goal in the first place. Examples of motives: To be financially secure, feel better about myself, be healthier, gain knowledge, gain experience, meet new people, do what I’ve always wanted to do, follow my heart, help support my family, increase my love for life, live a more fulfilled and meaningful life, etc.

3. Make small goals within your big goals. Sometimes it can be extremely overwhelming to embark on a grand goalventure. To keep yourself from become stressed out and therefore discouraged, repeat this mantra frequently: “Baby steps.” Taking baby steps will help you stay motivated throughout your journey because you will feel a sense of accomplishment each time you take a step in the right direction. Figuring out the small steps you must take in order to reach your final destination will also help mark your progress throughout your journey. Examples of small goals: write an hour a day, lose 1 lb a week, save 10% of each paycheck, to get a B or better on every assignment, play the piano three times a week, exercise five times a week, etc.

I hope that these tips serve you well and help you refuel the fire for your previous unfulfilled goals or help you ignite the flame for a new goal.

Happy staying motivated,