Not every time investment. Sometimes this...

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Gratitude. This week, I had to re-think what gratitude means to me. When we came into the sixth month of the year, my mind went into a frenzy. Oh, I haven't achieved this. Oh..how did the year go by so fast? Why is this project taking so much time? Now, I'm not saying it's wrong to set goals and work on achieving them. That's the only way to grow actually. But there's a problem if all you do is focus on negative events and not celebrate the positive events I did some reading on how our brains naturally focus on negative events rather than positive events.  I discovered the brain actually gives more attention to negative events because negative events pose a chance of danger. That's why, focusing on the positive takes deliberate effort. It takes breaking a negative feedback loop and re-framing a situation or thought as positive. Let's take a task you do everyday as an example; driving. I love the way Nicole Force, a medical doctor, puts it  

'The first time you do a task, such as driving a car to a new location, you have to focus and fully concentrate on remembering which turns to take and what landmarks to look out for. After you have taken that route several times, however, you are able to do it with minimal conscious effort. You can let your mind wander to other thoughts while you make those lefts and rights and pass the landmarks because "the repetition imprints the route on the circuitry of your brain'  

Have you ever experienced getting into your car to drive home from work and, the next time you feel conscious of your location, you're home? That's because you need minimal consciousness to drive yourself home. You've done this so many times, your brain can take you home without conscious thought. The only reason you might get jilted into consciousness is if something unusual, such as an accident or bad traffic, happens. It's the same way our brains might be used to seeing the negative,  that our minds need to be jilted to actually see the positive. So, this is a gentle reminder to stop and smell the roses. There's something you're doing right, *|FNAME|*. Acknowledge what's positive. Acknowledge your growth, embrace it and let it inspire you to change the negative story that tries to sneak into your mind all day. Discipline. What will you give up to stay disciplined? It's tough to admit but I struggle with discipline when there's no one to hold me accountable. Confession time; There's this one area that has evaded me, in terms of staying disciplined and consistent and that's regular exercise I have tried everything, but being consistent has just been difficult. When my husband told me about this website, Stickk.com, I found it hilarious. StickK is a free goal-setting platform created by behavioral economists to help people achieve their goals. When you sign up, you're expected to set a goal, set a stake, i.e.what you will give up if you do not accomplish your goal, and get a referee to hold you accountable. On the website, you'll see goals such as;

• 'Quit smoking'
• 'Stop drinking wine at night'
• 'Stop being controlling'
• 'Do not cheat on my wife' (really?!!)
• Find a money-free wife (I'm not even sure what that  means...Lol)
• 'Do not contact Ex' (hehe)

And the stakes?  Similar to betting, users who set goals actually make financial commitments to pay a certain amount to a friend/foe/charity if they do not meet their goals. Fancy making a commitment to make a donation to the Trump foundation if you do not meet your goal, now that's something that will make me achieve my goal. And guess what? The website has  over $31m in financial commitments as I write.  This proves that people really struggle with accomplishing goals. Lol So, I followed suit and made a commitment to pay my husband a sum of money daily, if I did not meet my fitness goals daily. Let's establish a fact. I'm not stingy ...but err... now I do the exercise because I do not want to give him the money. Lol What do you think? What are you willing to give up to achieve a goal that has evaded you? (Please note, we will only accept answers with financial commitments *wink*) Can't wait to read your comment below