Do you ever wonder why some people live extraordinary lives and yours seem to be one of surviving? Jimmy shares his five daily secrets to living an extraordinary life everyday in this episode.
Episode Keys
- Setting the tone for your entire day in the first few minutes after you awake.
- How performing random acts of kindness will help you live a life that is bigger, better and bolder than any other person you know!
- Why your attitude may be holding you back from being the person you want to be.
- The one powerful action taken each day that builds your confidence and helps you grow as a person.
Podcast Transcription
You know those days when you just don’t know if you’re gonna survive? You’ve had one of those days, I know. Many of us have too many of these days. Well, I’ve got a secret to share with you today. You will not want to miss this episode of Live a Life by Design. Hey good morning, I’m Jimmy Williams, your host with the most this morning. Just trying to help you live life bigger, better and bolder on your own terms. This is our entire aspect for this podcast.
You know, I tell people I have not had a bad day in my life. That is true. I’ve had some days better than others, but I’ve never had a bad day. You see life is all about attitude. Life is all about how you perceive what is happening to you in the moment. And I’m gonna share with you today my five secrets of how each day I live an extraordinary life. You can experience this too. It does take a little work, but I promise you that the results will far outweigh what it takes of your time and input and emotional energy.
You know, too many of us just simply exist each day. We take the day and survive and instead of thrive in the day. The legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi, gave some excellent advice to us about life when he said, “The quality of a person’s life is indirectly proportionate to their commitment to excellence regardless of their chosen field of endeavor”. You see you must want to experience an extraordinary day for you to do so. So today I’m going to share my secrets to living a happy, extraordinary life everyday. Even during a pandemic!
That’s what makes this even so much better. When you hear these powerful methods of becoming extraordinary. Our hope is that you will not live another day that is simply ordinary. Nobody wants to live an ordinary life. Nobody wants to be mediocre. Right? I hope you’re with me today. I wear a smile on my face 99% of the time. As a matter of fact, random people that I met, and perhaps even speak with will ask me some strange questions from time to time after they’ve spoken with me for just a moment.
For example, they’ll ask questions like, ‘Well, are you a minister?’ or something like that? And I’ll simply reply, ‘Hey, look, I’m just somebody that believes everyday above ground is a blessing. And if you don’t think so, just try missing one’. I generally get a smile on their face at that point and they realize, oh, ok, I get this, right? So of course that person looking at me maybe has a little bit of a funny look in their eye, but they smile. And all I really want from that person is a smile. It’s been said by psychologists that a response from a person you encounter is influenced greatly by the perceived look on your face.
If you’re smiling, most likely the person will respond with a smile. This is not a scientific outcome, of course, but rather one of an emotional sense. Too often people are bombarded by negative people and news that they will not allow them to project a positive attitude if they tried. To help you start your day in a manner that will bring extraordinary results in your day, I’m providing my five secrets to live an extraordinary life everyday, in this episode. So let’s get started.
Secret number one: Forget yesterday and its challenges. You know this is a tough one for a lot of people. It just seems like once they get in the ditch of life, they can not find a way to dig themselves out. Instead, they keep digging it deeper, right? Learn from your disappointments and failures, but don’t live in them. This is the second phase of that statement that people don’t understand. Learn from them, you’re gonna make mistakes. Man, I make em all the time. But I do take a lot of pride in the fact that I don’t sit there and live in those mistakes, but rather learn from them and move forward. So, many people are still living in the failures they experienced even years ago. Perhaps it was a venture that started and the business went bankrupt on them. I don’t know what it could be, but it could have been so drastic as a loss of a family member or some crazy mistake they made. Or perhaps it was even something that they didn’t hurt themselves, but they hurt someone and they just can’t live with themselves or forgive themselves.
I’ve got news for you, today’s a new day. Today’s a new day. The sun will rise from the east today and you have another 24 hours to make this world a better place for those around you. So everyday I start the morning with hope and goals that will require me to change and grow as a person. This focus on the future, even if it’s just the day ahead of you, will quickly remove the failures of yesterday from your mind. You must proactively leave yesterday behind to make the day extraordinary. C. Fred Kleinknecht said, “We do not inherit the world, we create it. We shape our fate and the world – by the choices we make, the actions we take, and the way we decide to live our lives.”
That is just such a true statement. If you think about it, what he’s really saying is that you have a choice, literally everyday, 365 days a year, you have a choice to make when you arise that day. Will it be a day of extraordinary abilities? Will it be a day of extraordinary outcomes? Or will it simply be another day of mediocrity? So secret number one, forget yesterday and its challenges. Let’s learn from them, not live in them.
Secret number two for me, perform one random act of kindness each day. You know, the world is craving kindness right now and you are just the one to help provide it. The world seems to be spinning faster today than it was yesterday. But the truth be known, the world continues to spin everyday at the same speed as before. It tilts a little bit to change our seasons from time to time on its axis, but it’s still spinning around the sun the way it always has.
So why does it feel like our lives are on this perpetual downhill ski lift and it just drops us at the bottom at 110 miles an hour and it never seems to stop? Well the reason for that is basically this; I think the world needs you, and I do mean you, to show kindness to someone today. And you’re gonna say, well, Jimmy, I’ve got enough on my plate. I’ve got a job, I’ve got a family, I’ve got people that depend on my. I’ve got to do this, that, whatever. Just stop and do one random act of kindness each day. It is in this act of kindness that you’re doing that you really take away the worries of the day and set the tone for an extraordinary outcome in your own life.
Now I’m not saying do a random act of kindness because it will help you. But you see in the process of you performing these random acts of kindness to those unsuspecting people that you have just given that free cup of coffee or whatever you may have done that was a random act. But helping them your brain is flooded with emotions of positivity that you just did something that was selfless. You did something that no one expected and you, in turn, expected nothing from them. That is what life is about. That is how we can grow as individuals. So stop what you’re doing right now, and think of one random act of kindness that you could perform that would give that certain person an opportunity to feel appreciated.
It’s that simple. I can assure you that people you come in contact with in your everyday life are not expecting someone to be kind to them. That’s just the world we live in. Ever notice the waitstaff at a restaurant? For some reason, and I think I know why, I always have the most positive and kind waitstaff when I eat at a restaurant. I wonder why that is? Could it be that I say something nice to them and ask their first name as we approach our table and they begin asking for our drinks and hand us menus? I believe it does. I believe it has a lot to do with the fact that I smile at them every time they come near our table instead of, you know, uttering complaints of how the food was cooked. Or they didn’t bring my drink quick enough. Or I need more napkins on the table. You gotta understand people are just like you. You keep kicking them enough and they build an attitude of negativity. But your job today is to reach out and do that one random act of kindness. So I will often get the door for a lady entering our building, or hold the elevator door open for someone to enter before me. These are just simple courtesies that, don’t laugh, in our world today are nonexistent. And one of the most powerful blessings I receive is when I am at a coffee shop and I see someone behind me that looks as if their morning may not have been its best start.
I look behind me just briefly and I’ll smile and offer a good morning and hope they have a wonderful day and then I will hint to the barista, allow me please to pay for this person’s, gentleman or lady behind me coffee for the day, whatever they want, you just deliver it with a big smile on their face and I’ll even give you a bigger tip. You’re gonna laugh, this combination of the barista showing the smile and giving them whatever they want and those words where he says, ‘Your coffee has been taken care of by the gentleman before you’. That just does something to put a smile on that person’s face. The barista has a better day, cause they got a better tip and they have someone that they helped perform a good deed for. And I most certainly have a wonderful feeling in my heart and mind that someone may have a little bit better day from that small random act of kindness. So, secret number two, perform one random act of kindness each day. It is very simple, easy to do and guess what, you’ve got 365 days to practice, right?
Now secret number three, of the five secrets to living an extraordinary life everyday, is maintain an attitude of gratitude. When we become expectant of all the bountiful blessings of life. Look out. Instead of replacing our gratitude we become an entitlement attitude. We must remain grateful for the wonderful things and people in our lives. It has been said that young people of today have an entitlement mindset. I don’t necessarily believe this to be true, however, I do think that young people of today have not experienced hardship in the manner many of us did at their age. It is hard to be grateful when you have never felt loss in your life. Instead of becoming someone that simply expects life to give them their every desire, it’s better to develop a mindset of gratitude in them. Be thankful for the small and large blessings in your life.
There was a point in my life where I was so grateful for small things, such as, and you’re gonna laugh, my next meal. Or the funds to pay my electric bill for my apartment when I was in college. My old truck making it one more week on the bald tires I had driven way too many miles. And I was grateful that I could continue moving through those years of my college life. I paid for my expenses to go to undergrad school. I wanted to see if I could do it. I was just kind of that hard headed, driven person. I wanted to see if I could just do it on my own. And thank goodness I did. But I had a lot of people helping me. You know you may think you do things on your own. But it does truly take a village of people sometimes to get you through life. But what I did I noticed that I’d have these small blessings that came up. Someone would invite me over to dinner for example when I had far more month than money. I don’t know if you remember those days. I will often say this, that the good old days weren’t all that good sometimes. But we always had plenty to eat, it seemed like. And then also I’ll never forget those times where, you know, you’re just wondering if you’re gonna have enough money to get through the end of that month.
And I always said I had too much month at the end of my money in most cases. But, when we maintain the attitude of gratitude, we attract others in our life that bring additional blessing to us. I firmly believe you should be grateful for all of your daily blessings, including the people you randomly meet. The method for reaffirming my attitude of gratitude each day is simple. It’s my gratitude journal. By listing three to five items each day that I’m grateful for, it helps me keep my mindset focused and looking for the good things in life. You know, it’s hard to look at those good things in life if you don’t stop for a moment and take observation of what’s around you. You need to know that you are not just existing in life, but you’re living that day. You know, I’ve heard people say at different companies, oh the day is just going so slow, I wish it would hurry up. And you know I look at them, and I go, well, I wouldn’t want to wish my life away because the day is over and once it is done it’s no longer around.
Once that day has passed it is gone forever. Do not wish your life away, but instead do something better. Maintain an attitude of gratitude. It’s that simple to do and it’s such a powerful, powerful concept in your life. So, secret number four, read something powerful and positive as soon as you awake. By planting the seed of positivity in your mind first thing in the morning, you will reap a bountiful crop of powerful rewards all day long. I am a sincere believer in this process. Now, I can’t prove why this works. But it has been a part of my morning routine for years and I experience far more positively powerful days than I do negative ones.
The key is to initiate the positive mindset before your brain goes into survival mode. That’s correct. Do you realize your brain really only has one function and that is to keep the body alive. Literally that’s it. So it’s almost that fight or flights type situation everyday, all day long. The brain will tell your body to do something to protect itself. Or don’t eat that it’ll make you sick, or don’t handle that it’ll make you sick. Or whatever. You know, these things that our brain does basically is nothing more than to preserve the body for operations in the environment. So I want to feed my mind that powerfully positive message first thing in the morning. And the key to initiate this positive mindset before your brain goes into survival mode is, basically feed it every day.
You know, we look back and people wonder how did I get in this situation? Well, it wasn’t all because of one day. It was the small lack of discipline for several days that amounted to a terrific and possibly horrific situation in your life. Now I know what you’re saying, you’re saying Jimmy look at your waistline and tell me that everyday you count the calories before they go in your mouth. Now I’m gonna tell you, I have seen every one of those calories as I put them in my mouth. Now I didn’t count them. But I did see them. And listen, it’s not my fault. I am allergic to Braum’s ice cream. Yes, I am allergic to it, apparently, because I do tend to swell up around the waistline after I’ve eaten several bites of it. I mean that only in the sense of getting too fat. But I digress. So do me a favor, do not allow others to set the tone for your day, you must have your own mindset and you must utilize positive, powerful messages at the first part of your day to give you that opportunity to be extraordinary for yourself, your family, and your friends.
Secret number five, man this is a tough one for me. So we’ve had these four secrets so far that after a while you can really get into a routine and that routine really becomes an option of just, hey, it just happens cause now it’s routine for me. So it’s kind of habit forming, but this fifth one, it really jars me up everyday when I look in my planner and I have to write down my big three. You’ve heard me talk about it in the past, those are the big three actions today that really move the needle on our business or give me a leg up on a big project or goal that I’m trying to achieve for this quarter or this year. But this secret, number five, is a really empowering secret. It’s simply this, do one thing everyday that scares you.
This quote is credited to Elenor Roosevelt, the wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States. When you think about the decisions she made on behalf of her husband, the president, after he suffered ill health or the organizations she started to help others after FDR’s death. It is understood why she would make such a statement. In one of the most powerful and scary achievements of Elenor’s life was the role she played in the drafting of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. She understood that she would be standing up against countries, powerful leaders and tyrants. This would not make her a popular person. But she lived for another quote of which I’ve adopted from her and I use in my own life, it’s simply this, “Do what you feel in your heart to be right for you’ll be criticized anyway”. That’s pretty sound advice. What is it that’s scaring you that you’ve been pretty much putting off or procrastinating on performing? What is it that scares you today that if you were to accomplish this one thing, you would now have a new height to look over your life and see even bigger, much further goals down the line being accomplished? What scares you that in your business, if you would take just this opportunity, do the research and move forward, may provide you security beyond belief?
You see, we need to do something everyday that scares us. Because what happens then is that it shows your mind on that fight or flight decision that you have the ability to fight the world. You have the ability to be proactive, not reactive to the world’s events. You have the capability within you to make your day as you wish, but not just a day that just passes you buy. You have to remember in life that you are designed as a human being to be extraordinary. Now whether you take those basic foundations within your life, your mental, spiritual, physical. Your financial, if you don’t take those attributes of your life and put them to action in one of these five steps everyday so that you can utilize your body for what it was meant to be, and that is to be extraordinary, then you’ve lost that day forever.
So you must purposely want to experience an extraordinary day to achieve one. Don’t forget that you are a mighty ship on the ocean of life. You’re not an ark. You can choose the direction you wish to go in life, but it takes effort, persistence, and courage. The good news is that you already possess all three. You simply need to exercise these traits daily and life will be extraordinary. I hope to see you next week, right here on this podcast, when we’re gonna talk about another way that you can live life in a bigger, better, and bolder way.
Thank you for joining us today, and do me a favor, go out this week, practice these five daily secrets and be extraordinary for you and your loved ones. And don’t forget, always live a life by design.
