Marc Chernoff's Blog, page 54

3 Tiny Morning Rituals that Will Change Your Life (in 3 Months or Less)

A good morning, and thus a good day, aren’t just experiences that magically happen — they are created consciously.

Most of us are distracted from the get-go every morning. Trivial activities like checking social media, watching TV, and worrying about things we can’t control often set the tone of the day. And that means we waste our most well-rested time on things that don’t matter, while gradually losing touch with the significant, controllable parts of our lives that actually do matter.

We simply forget that the morning hours are enormously important — they form the foundation from which the day is built. We forget that how we choose to spend these hours can be used to predict the kind of days we’re going to have, and ultimately the kind of lives we’re going to live. So if you feel like you’ve been getting a rough start lately, and stumbling through your days with diminished intention and focus, it’s time to consider (more…)

17 Powerful Quotes Every Parent Should Read More Than Once

Perhaps it takes courage to raise children…

Our youth can’t possibly know how age thinks and feels. And likewise, as we age we are often guilty of being so busy-brained that we forget what it was like to be young. Spending time with my young son helps me tap into my younger mind — he keeps me on my toes. For that I am grateful, but I still struggle as a parent. I struggle to be present. I struggle to be patient. I struggle to remember. Almost every single day.

Truth be told, every parent battles with parenthood in their own way. Because parenting is not easy.

What helps me is journaling about the lessons parenthood is gradually teaching me, and then referring back to what I’ve learned when I’m struggling and forgetful.

Today, I want to share some quotes from my parenting journal with you. Perhaps they will assist you someday, the way they have assisted me again this morning… (more…)

5 Painfully Obvious Truths We Tend to Forget When Life Gets Messy

The truth does not cease to exist when it is forgotten.

You know how you can read or hear something dozens of times in dozens of different ways before it finally sinks in? The little truths listed below fall firmly into that category — timeless life lessons that many of us likely learned years ago, and have been reminded of ever since, yet for whatever reason we tend to forget in the heat of the moment.

This, my friends, is my attempt at helping all of us, myself included, “get it” and “remember it” once and for all, especially as we collectively cope with all the evolving chaos in our world today…

1. Life is short and nothing is guaranteed.

We know deep down that life is short, and that death will happen to all of us eventually, and yet we are infinitely surprised when it happens to (more…)

The Secret Habits of Optimists: 6 Hidden Practices They Live By

Be mindful. Be grateful. Be positive. Be true. Be kind.

If the grass looks greener on the other side…

Stop staring.

Stop comparing.

Stop complaining.

And START watering the grass you’re standing on…

Truly, the most powerful weapon against stress on the average day is our ability to choose one thought or response over another. I was reminded of this today when a reader named Sarah sent me the following in an email (I’m sharing this with permission): (more…)

7 Things You Never Have to Wear Again (to Look and Feel Good)

by Courtney Carver, author of Project 333

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.”
— Hans Hofmann

Because I wrote a book about a fashion challenge, you might think I want to tell you what clothes to wear. I don’t.

Most of us have spent so much time, energy, and money on what we wear and how we look that the last thing anyone needs is more fashion advice.

I will however tell you what not to wear if you want more peace and ease in your life.

1. You never again have to wear the guilt of your past.

Guilt about the past isn’t serving your present. In fact, because of that guilt, you aren’t fully seizing and enjoying what’s in front of you today. Whether it’s guilt about letting go of something in your closet that you spent too much on, or guilty thoughts about a past relationship or anything in between, you have paid enough. You’ve paid with your money, time, attention, and (more…)

3 Questions We Always Regret Not Asking Ourselves Sooner

The most powerful weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought or action over another. Train yourself to see and be the good in this day.

A couple thousand years ago in ancient Greece, the great philosopher Socrates was strolling contemplatively around a community garden when a neighbor walked up to him and said, “You’re never in a million years going to believe what I just heard about our mutual friend…”

“Wait,” Socrates interrupted, putting his hand up in the air. “Before you continue with this story, your words must pass the triple filter test?”

“The what?”

“The triple filter test,” Socrates said.

The neighbor just stared at him with a blank expression.

Socrates continued, “The first filter is (more…)

20 Bite-Size Stories of Humanity that Will Make You Think, Smile, and Cry

“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”
– Nietzsche

The wisest, most loving, and well-rounded people you have ever met are likely those who have been shattered in some way. Yes, life often creates the greatest humans by breaking them first. It’s the painstaking journey of falling apart and coming back together that fills their hearts and minds with a level of compassion, understanding, and deep loving wisdom that can’t possibly be acquired any other way.

Angel and I have worked with hundreds of these incredible people over the past decade, both online and offline, through various forms of coaching and live events. In many cases they came to us feeling stuck and lost, unaware of their own brilliance, blind to the fact that their struggles have strengthened them and given them a resilient upper hand in this crazy world. Honestly, many of these people are now our biggest heroes. Over the years they have given us as much, if not more, than we have given them. And they continue to be some of our greatest sources of inspiration.

So today, to honor these unlikely heroes of ours, we want to share a selection of their stories with you (more…)

10 Beliefs We Often Embrace Long After it’s Time to Let Go

One of the strongest signs of your growth is realizing you’re no longer limited by the beliefs that once used to drain you.

Marc and I received a thank you email recently from a longtime reader and coaching client named Kevin (we’re writing about him today with his consent). He said our books and life coaching sessions helped him and his wife maintain a positive, intentional mindset as they struggled and grew through one of the most difficult periods of their lives. Certain sections of his email nearly moved me to tears:

“As you know, after injuring my back, losing my job because of it, being evicted from our apartment, moving in with Laura’s parents, nursing my five-year-old through a nearly fatal bout of strep throat, I was stuck in a deep rut for a long time. And I was sitting on the front porch of my in-law’s house feeling sorry for myself, yet again one morning, when one of my best friends called me crying and said, (more…)

3 Distractions Too Many People Prioritize Over Their Own Happiness

If it keeps you busy or entertains you now, but will hurt you someday, it’s a distraction. Don’t settle.

What is the opposite of distraction?

Traction — you want to create consistent traction on the road of life.

If you’ve been spinning your figurative wheels a lot lately, feeling a bit tired and vexed without much forward progress, I highly recommend you rethink how you’re investing your time, and replace the meaningless with the meaningful — the distraction with traction!

Ultimately, you become a true master of your life when you learn how to master your focus — where your energy goes. Value what you give your time to. Rise above the pettiness trying to draw you in. Figure out where your attention actually goes, and gradually remove needless distractions. Remember, there’s a big difference between empty fatigue and gratifying exhaustion. Life is too short not to focus more on (more…)

10 Daily Habits that Often Waste 90 Percent of Our Time

Patience is not about waiting, it’s the ability to maintain a positive outlook while working consistently for what you believe in.

Have you ever told yourself that you’re going to make something happen and then nothing happened? All details aside, it’s because you didn’t have the right habits in place — the little things you do every day that build up to something bigger. Your habits truly make or break you. Because in all walks of life you become what you habitually do. You will never make progress or change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret to your success is always found in your daily habits and routines.

In other words, regardless of your unique life situation or how you personally define success, you can’t become an overnight success. You become successful over time from all the little things you do one day at a time.

Failure occurs in the same way. All your little daily failures (that you don’t (more…)