20 Things To Let Go Of Before The New Year

How much stress are you carrying around? Do you feel burdened by life’s circumstances and emotional issues? Becoming more grounded and happy starts with letting go of worry and stress. I learned this is my own journey, through overcoming drug additions, healing myself from depression, and walking away from a careers that are toxic to follow my heart and become successful in everything I do. In the process, I had to let go of a lot of things to become the person I am today. Physically, spiritually and emotionally, I had to learn how to let go of the person I thought I should be in order to be the person I really wanted to be. Letting go of anything in life can be a little scary, but it can also be an amazing act of self-love. Letting go of my worries and stress made a difference for me; of course I still dip in and out of some of my stress jar from time to time, but I’ve found this list a good reminder of what I need to strive for each day in order to reach unlimited happiness.  

Here are 20 things to let go of in order to reach unlimited happiness... 

1. Let go of all thoughts that don't make you feel empowered and strong. 
2. Let go of feeling guilty for doing what you truly want to do.
3. Let go of the fear of the unknown; take one small step and watch the path reveal itself.
4. Let go of regrets; at one point in your life, that 'whatever' was exactly what you wanted. 
5. Let go of worrying; worrying is like praying for what you don’t want. 
6. Let go of blaming anyone for anything; be accountable for your own life. If you don’t like something, you have two choices, accept it or change it. 
7. Let go of thinking you are damaged; you matter, and the world needs you just as you are. 
8. Let go of thinking your dreams are not important; always follow your heart. 
9. Let go of being the 'go-to person' for everyone, all the time; stop blowing yourself off and take care of yourself first … because you matter. 
10. Let go of thinking everyone else is happier, more successful or better off than you. You are right where you need to be. Your journey is unfolding perfectly for you. 
11. Let go of thinking there's a right and wrong way to do things or to see the world. Enjoy the contrast and celebrate the diversity and richness of life. 
12. Let go of cheating on your future with your past. It’s time to move on and tell a new story. 
13. Let go of thinking you are not where you should be. You are right where you need to be to get to where you want to go, so start asking yourself where you want to go. 
14. Let go of anger toward ex lovers and family. We all deserve happiness and love; just because it is over doesn’t mean the love was wrong. 
15. Let go of the need to do more and be more; for today, you've done the best you can, and that's enough. 
16. Let go of thinking you have to know how to make it happen; we learn the way on the way. 
17. Let go of your money woes — make a plan to pay off debt and focus on your abundance. 
18. Let go of trying to save or change people. Everyone has her own path, and the best thing you can do is work on yourself and stop focusing on others. 
19. Let go of trying to fit in and be accepted by everyone. Your uniqueness is what makes you outstanding. 
20. Let go of self-hate. You are not the shape of your body or the number on the scale. Who you are matters, and the world needs you as you are. Celebrate you!

How to live like a champion....

“One decision can develop into a habit, and the habits you form create your reality. Here are 10 choices that carry significant weight. Learn to be conscious of the decisions you make so you can do your best to live like a champion...” 1. Wearing a mask to impress others. If the face you always show the world is a mask, someday there will be nothing beneath it. Because when you spend too much time concentrating on everyone else’s perception of you, or who everyone else wants you to be, you eventually forget who you really are. So don’t fear the judgments of others; you know in your heart who you are and what’s true to you. You don’t have to be perfect to impress and inspire people. Let them be impressed and inspired by how you deal with your imperfections. 2. Letting someone else create your dreams for you. The greatest challenge in life is discovering who you are; the second greatest is being happy with what you find. A big part of this is your decision to stay true to your own goals and dreams. Do you have people who disagree with you? Good. It means you’re standing your ground and walking your own path. Sometimes you’ll do things considered crazy by others, but when you catch yourself excitedly losing track of time, that’s when you’ll know you’re doing the right thing. Read The 4-Hour Workweek. 3. Keeping negative company. Don’t let someone who has a bad attitude give it to you. Don’t let them get to you. They can’t pull the trigger if you don’t hand them the gun. When you remember that keeping the company of negative people is a choice, instead of an obligation, you free yourself to keep the company of compassion instead of anger, generosity instead of greed, and patience instead of anxiety. 4. Being selfish and egotistical. A life filled with loving deeds and good character is the best tombstone. Those who you inspired and shared your love with will remember how you made them feel long after your time has expired. So carve your name on hearts, not stone. What you have done for yourself alone dies with you; what you have done for others and the world remains. 5. Avoiding change and growth. If you want to know your past look into your present conditions. If you want to know your future look into your present actions. You must let go of the old to make way for the new; the old way is gone, never to come back. If you acknowledge this right now and take steps to address it, you will position yourself for lasting success. See the book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. 6. Giving up when the going gets tough. There are no failures, just results. Even if things don’t unfold the way you had expected, don’t be disheartened or give up. Learn what you can and move on. The one who continues to advance one step at a time will win in the end. Because the battle is always won far away and long before the final victory. It’s a process that occurs with small steps, decisions, and actions that gradually build upon each other and eventually lead to that glorious moment of triumph. 7. Trying to micromanage every little thing. Life should be touched, not strangled. Sometimes you’ve got to relax and let life happen without incessant worry and micromanagement. Learn to let go a little before you squeeze too tight. Take a deep breath. When the dust settles and you can once again see the forest for the trees, take the next step forward. You don’t have to know exactly where you’re going to be headed somewhere great. Everything in life is in perfect order whether you understand it yet or not. It just takes some time to connect all the dots. 8. Settling for less than you deserve. Be strong enough to let go and wise enough to wait for what you deserve. Sometimes you have to get knocked down lower than you have ever been to stand up taller than you ever were before. Sometimes your eyes need to be washed by your tears so you can see the possibilities in front of you with a clearer vision again. Don’t settle. 9. Endlessly waiting until tomorrow. The trouble is, you always think you have more time than you do. But one day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to work on the things you’ve always wanted to do. And at that point you either will have achieved the goals you set for yourself, or you will have a list of excuses for why you haven’t. Read Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture. 10. Being lazy and wishy-washy. The world doesn’t owe you anything, you owe the world something. So stop daydreaming and start DOING. Develop a backbone, not a wishbone. Take full responsibility for your life – take control. You are important and you are needed. It’s too late to sit around and wait for somebody to do something someday. Someday is now; the somebody the world needs is YOU.

10 Words you've prolly been misusing...

There are so many words in the English language that it’s not surprising that the definitions for some of them have gotten mixed up over the years. It’s possible that you’ve gone your entire life without realizing your mistakes. I’m sure people have noticed. One day, you were probably walking down the street, casually chatting with an old friend, and one of these words slipped out of your mouth. Before you can move on to your story about how Mufasa would actually make a very attractive human, your friend stops to correct your error, and suddenly, your whole life starts to feel like one giant lie. How long have you been using that word incorrectly, you wonder? How many angry Facebook rants have you ruined with your improper grammar? While I can’t give you an answer to those questions, I can at least provide you with a list of other tricky words so that you may never have to suffer from this embarrassment ever again: 1) Travesty What you may think it means: a tragedy, an unfortunate event What it actually means: a mockery; a parody This one, I’ll admit, is my own personal error. For the longest time, I equated travesty with tragedy, mostly because in passing, they sound like the same word. It’s stupid, I know, but if you knew how many times I confused fetal position with beetle position, you wouldn’t be laughing. It’s a serious problem. 2) Ironic What you may think it means: a funny coincidence What it actually means: contrary to what you might expect It’s not ironic that you bumped into a talking turtle in a sweater vest right after you told your friend how cool it would be to bump into a talking turtle in a sweater vest. It’s a coincidence, and believe it or not, those two words are not related. Also, you should probably lay off the drugs because I’m pretty sure animals shouldn’t be talking. 3) Peruse What you may think it means: to skim or glance over something What it actually means: to review something carefully/in-depth How this definition got completely turned on its head, I’ll never know, but I’ll be sure never to say “I’m going to go peruse my math textbook” ever again, just in case someone overhears and tries to hold me to it under the real meaning. 4) Bemused What you may think it means: amused What it actually means: confused Again, with the whole “words sounding alike” issue. I’m starting to think I just need hearing aids. This is getting out of hand. 5) Compelled What you may think it means: to willingly do something, to feel like you need to do something What it actually means: to be forced to do something (willingly or unwillingly) The word you’re looking for is “impelled.” I agree, it doesn’t get enough attention. 6) Nauseous What you may think it means: to feel sick What it actually means: to cause nausea When you eat too much ice cream and declare to your mom or the nearest adult, “I feel nauseous,” what you’re actually saying is that you are causing people around you to feel sick. Thanks, jerk. (For the record, “I’m nauseated” is the way to go.) 7) Conversate What you may think it means: to hold a conversation What it actually means: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING This word is a mix of conversation and converse, and doesn’t actually exist, like unicorns or YOUR DREAMS. (I’m kidding. Unicorns are totally real.) 8) Redundant What you may think it means: repetitive What it actually means: superfluous, able to be cut out “Including this sentence is redundant because you already mentioned your love of Santa Claus in the previous paragraph.” This has always been my exposure to the word redundant, so it only makes sense that I would think repetitive was correct. I can’t be the only one? Right? RIGHT? 9) Enormity What you may think it means: enormousness What it actually means: extreme evil I don’t know where the “extreme evil” thing came from (probably the Devil) but enormity makes more sense as enormousness in my mind. 10) Terrific What you may think it means: awesome, fantastic What it actually means: causing terror Okay, so “causing terror” is more of an outdated definition but I still thought it was interesting. Maybe keep this fun fact in the back of your mind the next time you call your favorite camper, “Terrific Tommy,” because technically, a few decades ago, that might have been an insult. Unless instead of a camper, he’s a serial killer. In that case, go for it.

Shortened Season Could Help Detroit Red Wings Rediscover Their Old Playoff Magic

Finally, the NHL lockout has come to its conclusion and a 48 game hockey season is expected to begin before the end of January, providing hardcore hockey watchers with some much-needed relief. This also means the Detroit Red Wings will have a chance to repeat some semi-recent history. During the 1994-95 season shortened by a similar lockout, which resumed on January 20 1995, Detroit was able to ride early momentum to a 33-11 finish. That was good for the best record in the league, and the Red Wings coasted through the playoffs until they ran into another lockout-driven buzz saw in the Stanley Cup finals. In a shortened season, things can always go either way. There’s a low margin of error with regards to injuries, inconsistencies and coaching, but there’s also more time for veterans to be fresher for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Sometimes, all teams have to do is find a way into the playoffs to be successful. The New Jersey Devils, champions in 1995, proved that as the fifth seed, getting hot during the playoffs and stymieing the higher seeded Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers before beating the Red Wings. It makes for an excellent case study for 2013. This veterans Red Wings’ roster, in transition more than ever, could conceivably get hot at the right time and might find more success in the playoffs as a result of this lockout. For the past three seasons, the Red Wings have looked completely burned out by the time April rolls around having already peaked, and it’s hurt their playoff performance. All the familiar buzzwords have been tossed around in the postmortem, such as old, tired and washed up. With half a schedule already gone, the Red Wings might be able to hit their recent February peaks come May and June should they find a way into the playoffs. The players who have been playing in Europe will already be fresh, and defensively, the skaters on the back end will be improving by the week. As always, those players are who decides what teams win in the playoffs, along with board battles and one-on-one competition. The fresher, younger teams have been winning those contests recently. Though they might be in transition, the Red Wings could still resemble such a team given the timing of everything that’s happened. Thus, don’t write off the Red Wings immediately when play begins due to the traditional variables. They’ll have a chance to make their usual amounts of noise during the regular season provided they can remain consistent. The playoffs is where their biggest boost might be seen, given their overall freshness and the fact that bodies won’t be quite as worn down. Psychologically, that could become the biggest advantage for Detroit. Suddenly, nobody’s old or tired anymore. It will become a battle of will In situations like this, throw any of the traditional favorites out the window. Nobody knows anything coming out of a lockout, except that the first two months will be reserved for teams to find their way. After settling in, then, experience should begin to take over. The Red Wings certainly aren’t lacking much in that department, making the lockout something which might not hamper them as much as it could aid in a turnaround. So, regardless of your feelings about Gary Bettman, Donald Fehr or the NHLPA, prepare yourself for the most unique regular season and playoffs to be seen since 1995. This year, up is down, white is black and right is left. Someone you might never expect could end up hoisting the Stanley Cup come late June. As the Red Wings are concerned, old might become new again.