So often in life, our circumstances are not what holds us back from success. Rather, we hold ourselves back.  We make choices that aren’t in our best interests.  We choose to engage in negative or hopeless thinking.  We self-sabotage and then wonder why our lives are a complete mess.

If you have areas of your life that need improvement (who doesn’t?), take a hard look at what is causing your problems. What is holding you back?  Is it you, or is it your circumstances?  You can’t do much about your circumstances.  You can’t control other people, the economy or the weather.  But you can take control of yourself.

Below are some ways that you can get out of your own way and get on the path to having a successful and happy life.

Choose A Healthy Lifestyle: There are many health issues over which we have no control.  We can’t control if we get cancer or other diseases.  We can’t control our genetic predisposition to be skinny, plump or somewhere in-between.  But we can choose how we take care of our bodies on a day-to-day basis.  Our self-care is entirely within our control.

We can choose to eat healthy foods. I almost never eat fast food or pre-packaged foods.  As a result, I’ve don’t have the taste for them.  All the preservatives and other stuff the manufacturers put in them tastes funny to me.  I’m so used to freshly made food that I don’t care for anything else.  If you choose to eat healthy foods, you’ll find that you lose your taste for the ones that aren’t so good for you.

We also can choose to exercise. Not everyone can join a fitness club or have a personal trainer.  But no matter where you live, you presumably can take regular walks, which is the best exercise around.  Moreover, walking can be good for your mental health as well.  I take my dog on a long walk each day.  Very often, I spend the walk trying to think of all the people I know, and I say a little prayer for each one.  For some reason, walking and praying is a great combination for me.

Eating healthy and exercising are choices that we make each day.  Choose to make healthy choices regarding what you eat and the amount of exercise that you give your body.  Take good care of the body that God so graciously gave you.

Choose to Think Positively: I will admit that training our minds to think positively is much harder than making behavioral changes, like choosing to exercise every day.  Our brains have been molded by our parents, and then by our peers, over the course of many years.  If you have spent those years being around some negative thinkers, you’ll be prone to be a negative thinker too.  I like to call it the “Chicken Little Syndrome.”  Some people swear that the sky is falling, no matter how small the problem.

But our minds can be retrained out of negative thinking. Mental retraining begins with continually exposing yourself to positive thinkers.  Every religious faith has their positive theologians, teachers or philosophers.  Read their books.  Listen to their sermons or speeches during your commute.  Fill your mind with positive thinking.  It will sink in.

In addition, to the extent that you are able, surround yourself with positive people. We all have nervous, worried or depressed people in our lives.  I’m not suggesting that you abandon them.  But for your own sanity and personal growth, limit your time with them.  Otherwise, they will drag you down into their mire of negative thinking.

Finally, live in a state of gratitude. Life, undoubtedly, can be hard.  But try to focus on what is going well in your life.  And as soon as you start to fret or feel frustration over what is going wrong, find ways to redirect your thinking so that you can refocus on what is good.  Sometimes we can do that with prayer.  Sometimes, we just have to ignore the bad stuff in life.  Quite honestly, giving your full attention to what is going wrong in your life will only frustrate you, and it will not make the situation any better.

Choose to Do Your Best: I am certainly not a Type A personality, nor am I a perfectionist.  But I do strive to do my best in all things.  That is largely because my life runs so much more smoothly when I do my best.  Yes, I still have hiccups and bumps on the road, but all told, most of my bumps on the road are not self-created.

You’ll notice that there are some people who always have problems. Something is always going wrong in their lives.  That is because they don’t strive to do their best in all things.  They take shortcuts.  The tell white lies.  They always try to do the least amount of work possible.  And that approach to life does not work.

Doing your best is a lifestyle. It is about doing your best in all things, from the way you manage your home, to the way you feed your family, to the way you do your job.  It means having a tidy house, making sure the beds are made every morning, and feeding your family wholesome meals.  It means doing your job to the best of your ability and with a great attitude.

Now doing your best doesn’t mean doing everything perfectly. No one does anything perfectly except God.  If on a given day, you are feeling tired or are coming down with a cold, your best may be an OK effort.  On other days, when you are feeling healthy and well-rested, your best may be really incredible.  Regardless, committing to a lifestyle of high performance in all that you do will serve you well.

Today, consider ways that you can start making better life choices. So much of the quality of our lives is in our control.  Today, choose to get out of your own way, and have the great life that you love and deserve.

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