A lot of people, I find, are lowering their standards in an effort to make life "easier". I happen to think this is a big fat load of hogwash. People with higher standards are apparently more successful and possibly even happier than most. People with high standards have made habits out of living their lives repeating rituals and actions that propel them forward toward positivity and power, every day. That's the difference between the world class athlete on top of his game and the guy who works a dead-end job, that he hates, just to "pay the bills" and maintain the status quo. All the while feeling tortured inside because of the utter soul-lessness of his job and lack of passion, true passion and drive, in his day to day life. When you wake up in the morning, how do you begin your day? When you move through the day, where does most of your attention go? What do you do with your free time? We all have certain things we repeat week after week. The difference between the highly successful, happy person and the struggling person is that the highly successful individual has made a habit out of pushing themselves to excel, staying fit and healthy in body and mind, and surrounding themselves with positive people who also have high standards.
Remaining in toxic or unhealthy environments with folks who live by lower standards than you may make you feel good for a while. Your ego can look down and say righteously "Look how great I AM. At least MY life isn't as bad as THAT person over there. I must be doing really good. Gee I sure am smart and great and wonderful." Then you don't really have to change your life, all you gotta do is hang around with people with lower standards so you can feel good about yourself.
But those feelings won't last. Ultimately a quiet resentment will build, a knawing discontent. Because you're still not living true to your own potential. The only way to really bring passion, power, and uncontrolled zest for life is to raise the bar. Raise Your Standards. Aspire to be more. To be full of Joy and Exuberance. (or Health and Wealth, or Power and Positivity....) What better motivation could there be?? When that is your motivation, suddenly the tv loses it's hold on you. That oh-so-comfy couch gets even comfier after you've been out all day moving your body, tantalizing your senses and gathering information and knowledge. It's easier to let go of stress because all your misdirected frustration and any agitated energy has been moved through and released in healthy and productive ways. Life is meant to be abundant, interesting, endlessly entertaining and maybe even a little exciting... but definitely not stagnant. And definitely not tainted with bitterness and suspicion.
The people who complain to me the most about how hard-done-by they are and how passion-less their lives and relationships have become, are always the ones who have developed daily habits that do not support a life (or a relationship) that thrives. Instead they do "what they have to do" to pay the bills and get through the day. How different would your relationship(s) be if you had habits and rituals that supported keeping the passion and the connection strong and alive?! Or are you content just heading to work, doin' your duties, then returning home to a life that is less than satisfying?
Tony Robbins, motivational mogul, puts it eloquently when he talks about "Daily Rituals". What do you do every single day that shapes your world? What are your daily rituals? How are you really choosing to live your life? I heard him speak recently about how you can have all the "vision" in the world - but if your daily rituals don't back that up, it's completely useless. In fact I believe his exact wording was "(if that's the case) stop lying to yourself."
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