If you are ready to take things up a notch this next year, then listen up. These tips might be just up your alley! They may help you get a leg up on your competition and lift up your spirits. So wake up and rise up to the challenge…that is, if you are up to it. If not, you may find yourself up a creek without a paddle. You surely don’t want to mess up this year or pass up some great opportunities. So, here we go… up, up and away. OK, enough already. I will shut up. Here are 7 UP tips to be upbeat, and move up and upward in 2014.
Shape UP.
Don’t set any New Year’s Resolutions or try any fancy diets that set you up to fail by January 16th. Begin a lifestyle change that includes exercise and more healthy eating habits. There are some great tips at 5 Proven Ways to Lose Fat. Which ones will you do?
Show UP.
My focus word for this year is PRESENCE. I want to wholeheartedly show up wherever I am. I want to listen with focused attention. “Rarely can a response make something better; what makes something better is connection.” (Brené Brown) Watch her short video here. I want to be wholeheartedly engaged and fully present in any conversation at home or work.
Clean UP.
There is an ancient proverb: “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Many times I have wrong tapes that play in my head about who I am or who I ought to be. I want to renew my mind and live out who God created me to be. The old tapes I listen to about shame, failure, doubt, etc. lead to all sorts of broken behavior. It is the passive listening to those old messages that makes me feel like a victim rather than help me move upward. Here is another challenge: Clean UP my speech. One leader challenged people: “Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.”
Suit UP.
Try suiting up in this wardrobe each day: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline, tenderhearted mercy, gentleness, and patience. Not that easy to do, but what a difference it would make with your family, kids and co-workers if you intentionally chose to suit up in these each day!
Fess UP.
I constantly mess up in relationships, and need to humble myself, confess and ask forgiveness. Maybe you feel a rift in a relationship right now. If you want to move upward, why not deal with the baggage now before the year begins. Otherwise, the emotional weight of that strained relationship will hold you down. This is one of the actions that requires VALOR.
Look UP.
So often, I don’t have the energy or power to do the best thing. That is why I need to look up…to God. Don’t you sense you need His help to change yourself, a habit, a relationship, an attitude? This takes humility. When I am arrogant, I find I look down on others. I need to look up to God to change me, and others will take care of themselves.
Keep it UP.
The Marine Corps has a motto: “Pain is weakness leaving the body”. Upward is hard. It is much easier to go with the flow. Change is painful. But keep it up. Developing a habit is hard work. Persevere!
One more additional bonus with no upcharge: Sign UP to receive a notice when I put up a new blog post. I write about once a week on living well, loving deeply. learning continuously, leading courageously and leaving a legacy. Occasionally, I add laughing loudly as a bonus post! Sign up by entering your email on the top right and click “Bring it”. Your email is confidential and will not be sold.
Related Articles:
Photo credit: freedigitalphotos.net by idea go.
References: Proverbs 23:7, Ephesians 4:29, Colossians 3: 12-13
Steve Morgan
stevermorgan.com 