What Do You Have In Your Hands?

What Do You Have In Your Hands?

Winners aren’t born. They are made every day.

How did you wake up this morning? Happy? Worried? Or Indifferent?

If you woke up with a major concern or negative feeling about something, how did you deal with it?

There was once upon a time when I’d wake up in a panic, fraught with concern and worry.

Those days are long gone even though I am still the same person on the outside.

It took some internal transformation for me to realise a few important truths.

You see, every day that you wake up, there is one thing that’s guaranteed – There will be war i.e. problems and challenges.

Rather than be concerned about them the day before, it helps to simply accept and anticipate them.

There is an inner peace that comes with knowing that you’re ahead of your problems and not behind them.

The bigger question then becomes, given you know there will be war, how do you begin to win?

A huge recurring theme I come across with many people who struggle with one thing or another in life is that they’re usually asking the wrong questions.

Many people struggle with managing debt, saving money, making money etc.

Then you throw in wider topics on health, relationships etc, and you soon have a huge pool of problems many people face.

The other thing that is guaranteed with any problem we face is that if you do nothing about it, nothing happens or things potentially get worse.

So how should you face your daily challenges with the desired goal of becoming better or moving forward?

To state this another way, how do you win and move forward in your personal life journey each day?

I use a simple framework each day without giving it much thought.

The other day I got thinking about what hacks help me get through my day, and three important questions emerged:

First – What is my problem?

Second – What do I have in my hands?

Third – What is the next best thing I can do?

Many of us are already programmed to see or understand what our problems are.

Some of us face up to them, whilst others stare and do nothing. Yet, others look at their problems and run away and hide.

One of the biggest revelations I’ve had in life is this:

Everything we need to move to the next stage of our lives is already in our hands.

What the best of us never ask is – What do I have in my hands?

This is by far the most important question you can ask yourself every day.

Below are some thoughts on why this question is so important:

Gratitude

Most of us are typically looking for that next shiny thing that others possibly have.

Most of the time, we don’t notice the amazing things we already have e.g. Good health or the fact that we actually slept and woke up today!

These things we overlook are usually the biggest miracles of the day, yet we often overlook them and play them down.

Gratitude is the biggest antidote for optimism.

Want to be happier today? Appreciate what you have right this moment. Some say “count your blessings”.

I write mine down daily without fail! This gives me a whole different level of perspective.

Some of what I write down daily is repetitive e.g. I am ever so grateful for my family and friends.

However, writing it down helps me value them even more and I think about when next I will see some of my friends and family.

Step of Faith

If you are asking the third question above, then you’re indirectly taking a step of faith.

And the minute you start taking faith walks, then you’re becoming a winner.

You see, the biggest challenge we face typically is connecting where we are now with what next we must do.

And this challenge exists because many of us don’t understand that even at this very moment you and I possess considerable power.

We have relationships we undervalue, assets we don’t make the most of, and a limited belief in ourselves.

Essentially, our best resources sit dormant most of the time and aren’t out there helping us to solve our problems.

By knowing what we have in our hands, we can better solve not only our own problems but those of others.

Below are some practical examples to apply this to. Think of these in the order of:

Problem → What you possibly have in your hands → The next best thing to do

Some practical examples:

I am broke → I have friends who are good with money management → Book a meetup with a friend and have a chat

I’m burdened with debt → I have a flashy car that is costing me loads → Swallow pride and sell it fast!

I hate my job → I have options to seek other employment → Freshen your CV up fast and get out!

I’m low skilled → I have access to the internet → Get onto a MOOC platform and get learning fast!

I lack confidence → I have a go-getting friend → Ask them for some coaching today!

I’d love a genuine relationship → I have friends in stable relationships → Forget being shy and put your case forward.

I’ve got an addiction → I have a close brother, sister or trusted friend → Forget shame! Meet them and open up. They will help.

I don’t have savings → I have a collection of worthless things → Take time out today to consider if collecting stuff really makes you happy.

I’d love some clients → I have a network of people who trust me → Find a real problem unique to your network and solve it.

etc

The list is endless. Although these are made up, you can start to get the gist.

The key here is slow down your thinking and engage yourself as a solution to your problems.

Running your problems through that filter of “What do I have in my hands” gives you a much richer and reliable solution set.

Prioritising the order of Mind → Body → Emotion rather than Emotion → Body → Mind goes some way towards helpings.

I.e. when things happen to you, do you first engage mind or do you engage emotion?

This is an active process initially though and won’t happen overnight.

A winning mindset is biased towards seeking out solutions to problems.

Simple tools as above combined with the secret source for winning will no doubt help you start each day much better.

Related posts:

• 6 Ways Of Attracting More Money To Yourself
• How To Always Win And Stay Successful In Life
• 9 Tips For Living A Simpler And More Fulfilling Life
• How To Achieve Big Goals With Your Partner
• 12 Life & Business Lessons From My Blogging Adventure So Far

What do you have in your hands today? And what’s the next best move you need to make? What similar tools work for you?

Do please share this post if you found it useful, and remember, in all things be thankful and Seek Joy.

p.s.

Once in a while, I share a piece from my blogging process in order to give you an insider's view.

I actually got this idea from Austin Kleon's Show Your Work.

Below is the mind map that helped me prep for this post.

It's step 2 in the process of writing a blog post. I use this as a tool for fleshing out my thoughts and planning a post.

The below mind map is quite simple and only goes two layers deep…

Every mind map aims to achieve a transformation. So does every blog post you read.