Marc Chernoff's Blog, page 65

9 Things it’s Not Too Late to Start Doing for Yourself

Right now, don’t judge or berate yourself for how long your journey is taking. We all need our own time to travel our own distance. And every step is necessary.

Consider this post your reminder…

Marc and I have spent the past 12 years coaching people of all ages and demographics, from all over the world. This experience has taught us, above all, that everyone journeys in their own way. Some people start their careers right out of college in their early twenties, only to find themselves burnt out and starting over when they reach their early thirties. Others start working minimum wage jobs right out of high school and work their way up the corporate ladder, retiring happily in their mid-sixties. Some people fall in love and get married in their mid-twenties, but wind up divorced a few years later. Others marry in their early forties and spend four decades with their soul mate. Some couples are ridiculed for becoming teen parents, but end up living to meet (more…)

An Open Letter to Those Who Have Lied to Impress Others

“Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.”

―Thomas Jefferson

This article was inspired by a short email we received recently from a new course student:

Dear Marc and Angel,

In one of your recent emails you asked your students to think about a weakness they’d like to change. Mine is telling lies. Although they’re usually just little lies, I’ve gotten carried away. I lie about things all the darn time mostly to just make myself appear better than I am… because I want to impress people. But it’s getting harder! I feel like every little lie leads to another one, and it’s wearing on me. I’m sick of my own dishonesty! Please help me break this habit. I need some motivation to make a change once and for all. Your wisdom on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

A Dishonest Student

Our reply (an open reply to all who have lied to impress people):

Dear Dishonest Student,

It’s time for a quick story about life…

Once upon a time, an aging king knew the end of his life was nearing, and he decided it was time to designate a successor. Since he had sadly lost his wife and children in a terrible accident, he chose to pass the throne on to (more…)

20 Five-Minute Journaling Prompts for a Mentally Strong Finish to January

The holidays are over. School and work are back in full swing. And it’s already mid-January.

Thus, it’s time to get our minds clear on all our big ideas for 2020, and what really matters in the days, weeks, and months ahead…

Let’s make a pact to finish January mentally strong!

How?

First, let’s remind ourselves that the best way to achieve anything worthwhile in life is to build small daily rituals that you practice every single day (or at least every day you’re physically able to). A small daily ritual is a practice you regard as special, an activity not to be taken lightly, that you prioritize and set apart from the rest of your routine. It’s something you willingly surrender yourself to, not allowing yourself to reject the parts of it you dislike, but instead pushing forward and committing to the full experience for a short time each day. And of course, the small bits of progress you make each day add up to something big, and ultimately change the trajectory of your life.

A good example might be a (more…)

20 Powerful Affirmations We Should Repeat to Ourselves This Year

Cheers to another beginning—a fresh moment—and a clear chance for us to make the very best of it!

20 Questions that Will Open Your Mind in 2020

Right now, remind yourself of the truth.

Remind yourself that the New Year means nothing if your mind is still boxed up in its comfort zone.

Don’t fool yourself into living the same year 90 times and calling it a life.

And don’t just think outside the box in 2020…

Think like there is no box.

Open your mind!

How?

Start by asking yourself better questions.

Questions that break you away from all the comfortable distractions in your life, so you can refocus your thinking on what matters most… (more…)

20 Uncomfortable Things You Need to Start Doing for Yourself in 2020

When you look back on 2019, don’t think of the pain you felt. Think of the strength you gained, and appreciate how far you’ve come. You’ve been through a lot in the past year, but you’ve grown a lot too. Give yourself credit for your resilience, and then step forward again with grace.

The next best step forward?

Start doing something uncomfortable today that will move your life forward in 2020. Let me explain… (more…)

20 Tiny Changes You Can Make in Your Home to Make Life Simpler in 2020

by Joshua Becker, author of The Minimalist Home

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

—Hans Hofmann

Have incredible stories to tell by the end of 2020, not incredible clutter stuffed in your closets.  I sincerely wish this for my family, and yours, in the year ahead.

So, let me start off here by asking you…

Does your home serve you—or do you serve your home?
Will your home afford you the necessary space to create happy, healthy memories and stories in the year ahead?

These are not questions most of us ask ourselves, but we should.  After all, our homes are meant to serve a distinct purpose in our lives—to be both the (more…)

5 Year-End Notes to Self that Will Move Your Life Forward in 2020

You are not your bad days. You are not your mistakes. You are not your scars. You are not your past. Be here now, and breathe.

Tragedy strikes a woman who isn’t yet old. A minivan traveling toward her on a dark mountain highway hits her car nearly head-on just after sunset. She grips her steering wheel as hard as she can and veers into the rocky mountainside until her car screeches to a halt. The minivan flips onto its side and skids in the other direction off a cliff, plummeting nearly 500 feet to the ground below. Inside, a young family of five on their way to grandma’s house for Christmas Eve dinner.

The woman doesn’t recall the events that followed during the next several days. She doesn’t recall the three eye witnesses who comforted her and assured her that it wasn’t her fault—that the other driver had swerved into her lane. She doesn’t recall how she got to the emergency room or the fact that (more…)

30 Daily Challenges to Improve Your Mental Strength (and Happiness)

Think a little less about managing your problems and a little more about managing your mindset.

Mental strength is built through small, daily victories. It’s the individual choices we make daily that build our “mental strength” muscles. We all want this kind of strength, but we can’t wish our way to it. If you want it, you have to do something about it.

It’s time to embrace the fact that the happiness of your life depends on the quality of your daily decisions.

It’s time to challenge yourself to change the way you respond to life… (more…)

5 Ideas You Must Leave Behind to Get Ahead in Life

If you don’t allow yourself to move past what happened, what was said, what was felt, you will look at your present and future through that same dirty lens.

You can never change things by holding on to the existing reality. To get ahead in life, you have to leave some things behind and build a new model for living that makes the existing model obsolete.

You must make a firm decision that you’re going to make a change too. It won’t always happen naturally or automatically. Sometimes you will have to rise up against the wind and say, “I don’t care how hard this is! I don’t care how disappointed I am! I’m not going to let this get the best of me! I’m leaving this behind and moving forward with my life!”

Ready?

Starting today, it’s time to leave behind… (more…)