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Most of us are addicted to something, aren’t we?  Something that gives us that immediate gratification that makes us feel good?  Here is a list of addictions:

illegal drugs
prescription drugs
alcohol
cigarettes
sex
money
power
work
pornography
gambling
fame
gossip
TV
food
texting
social networking sites
exercise
tanning
attention
relationships
religion
politics

I’m sure I’ve left out plenty.  Many people pass judgment on others with an addiction, not realizing that they themselves have an addiction!  Of course some addictions are more harmful than others.  The bottom line is this- when you are unhappy in your life, there is a hole in your soul.  You try to fill that hole with quick fixes- anything you think will make you feel good.  The problem with this approach is that these quick fixes never fill that hole.  Your soul’s thirst is never quenched this way.  Quick fixes are only a temporary escape.  You have to get to the root of the problem.  Society and the media have conditioned us to treat the symptom, not the cause of a problem.

For example:

Having trouble sleeping? – Take a pill every night.

Overweight? – Take a pill, buy a gimmick product, or drink a miracle juice!

Is your kid a little too hyper for you? – Give ‘em a pill every day.

Do you get headaches every day? – Take a pill every day.

Are you depressed? – Take a pill every day.

Has it ever occurred to you that none of these problems are found in our body and mind’s healthy, natural state?  I believe all addictions are simply a form of procrastination.  You are filling your time with one of your addictions, at the same time avoiding some real issues that you don’t want to deal with. If we really want to solve the problems in our lives, whether they are mental or physical, we need to stop and take an honest assessment of ourselves.  There is a reason these problems exist in our lives.  Take notice!  They are an indication of a greater problem that can’t be solved with pills or magic elixirs.  The root problem can almost always be traced back to an unhealthy mindset. So ask yourself:

1) What am I addicted to?

2) What is it that’s missing in my life that I’m trying to compensate for?

3) What healthy/constructive habit can I substitute for my addiction?

If you do have one (or even several) of these addictions, don’t beat yourself up.  Just be honest with yourself, recognize that something is missing in your life, and do something about it.  If you need help overcoming an addiction, don’t be embarrassed.  There is no shame in this.  Just get the help you need and improve your life.  Maybe it’s a Life Coach.  Maybe it’s a treatment center or a therapist.  Which path you choose isn’t so important.  Just take action.  Remember, the only person ultimately responsible for your current situation in life is you.

Watching television is probably the single biggest time waster in the world.  Are you guilty of this offense?

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

1) Why do I watch so much TV?

2) What do I get out of it?

3) Am I learning anything useful?

4) What else could I be doing with that time?

5) What could I accomplish if I took all the time that I watch TV and devote it to something really worthwhile?

Watching TV is just a bad habit.  Like any bad habit, it can be broken.  You might have some withdrawals at first, but you will soon realize that you’re not really missing out on much.  The real question is not what will you be missing out on by not watching so much TV.  The real question is this- What are you missing out on NOW by watching so much TV?

Here are a few problems I see with watching too much TV:

1) It takes up a large chunk of time that you could be using for making a positive impact in any area of your life.

2) It brainwashes you with negativity and gives you a flawed view of the world.

3) The constant bombardment of images and information keeps you confused, out of touch with reality, and breeds a short attention span in us.

So if you are not doing something in your life that you say you really want to do, but you “just don’t have the time”, here is your wakeup call:  You are avoiding reality and using TV as an escape.  Sure, we all need a little escape once in awhile.  There is nothing wrong with being entertained.  But if that’s all you do with your free time day after day, you really shouldn’t complain about your place in life. 

The truth is we all have the same amount of time in the day.  Gandhi, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, and YOU and ME all have one thing in common- we all have/had 24 hours per day.  What we choose to do with those 24 hours is up to us. Try this experiment – leave your TV off for a whole day.  I know- the horror!  What will you possibly do without your weather report, rundown of crimes, gossip, and mind-numbing commercials for one whole day? 

Get away from all the distractions for a little while, and take some time to reflect on your life.   Get a pad and pen and answer these questions for yourself:

Where am I?
Where do I want to be?
How do I get there?
Am I on the right path?
Is there any area of my life that needs a little more attention?

Then sharpen your focus and make a list of goals that you want to accomplish in the next 30 days in each of these areas:

-Relationships
-Health & Fitness
-Money & Career
-Family & Friends
-Spirituality

If you do this, you will be taking the first step to changing your life for the better.  Start to create new, more productive and beneficial  habits to replace your TV watching.  Here are some suggestions for what you can do with that extra time:

1) Take a lesson- musical instrument, computer class, cooking, personal training, etc.

2) Do some kind of physical activity – walk, run, lift weights, or play some sports

3) Read a book

4) Have dinner with friends/family and actually interact with each other!

5) Find a Life Coach to help you re-assess your life and help you get to where you really want to be. Take the time to make your life something you don’t want to escape.  Turn off your TV.

It’s been four days since I quit my job. What a great feeling it is to quit your job! The feeling of having nobody to answer to is a state of pure bliss. The possibilities are endless. Of course, we live in a civilized society where most of us have bills to pay. So, my idea of happiness right now is to keep my expenses low so I don’t have to be a slave to the system to pay for a lifestyle that doesn’t fulfill me anyway.

I’ve always struggled between going out and getting a good-paying job and my inner yearning to do something more important. In college, I started reading a lot of self-help and psychology books on my quest for self-improvement. I also started out as a Psychology major. Then one day I was sitting in one of my Psychology classes, and I remember how out of touch with reality my professor seemed to be. He was talking about all this psychology theory, none of which pertained to real life as I saw it. I thought to myself- I do NOT want to end up like this guy. So I switched my major to Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. I figured I could at least apply some psychology and make more money.

So I graduated college and got a sales job. And I’ve been bouncing around from sales job to sales job ever since, lethargic and lifeless, always feeling bored and unfulfilled. I would constantly ask myself: Is this all I have to offer to the world? Is this my purpose in life? To sell things for corporations and business owners to make them rich? To make me rich? When will I have enough money? When can I be happy? The truth is I’ve always known that sales wasn’t what I was really supposed to be doing. For me, it doesn’t feel right to have a job and to answer to anyone. I think a lot of salespeople are great, and salespeople make the world go ’round – at least commerce.

I’ve just always felt I wanted to do more. I wanted to express myself. I wanted to help people. I wanted to connect with people. I’ve always been interested in people’s backgrounds and what makes them tick. I’ve always been particularly fascinated with people that came from “humble beginnings” to make themselves a success.  I’m impressed and fascinated by creativity, originality, intelligence, thoughtfulness, and curiosity. I connect best with people who don’t settle for the status quo, who question authority, who put themselves out there and believe in something other than the the almighty dollar (but money is great and I love nice things). Especially in the day and age of product endorsement by celebrities, those who are in a position of power are mostly reluctant to possibly sacrifice endorsement dollars by offending anyone and standing up for a cause.

So here I am- just a regular guy standing up for what I believe in. Only a couple of days after leaving my job, I feel exhilarated. My energy has returned, and I’m excited for what the future holds. I have learned a lot in my life. I’ve overcome a lot of things to arrive at the point I’m at now. And now I want to share what I’ve learned and help people. I see so much suffering and conflict in the world, and it’s all unnecessary. So I’ve decided to devote myself full-time to my Life Coaching practice, and I’ve launched TheUplifter.com to do my part. Sure, I’m not going to save the world, but I can try to help you save yourself.

Now for those of you who are currently unemployed, whether it’s by choice or not, use this time to your advantage. Embrace the freedom! Go do something that you haven’t done in a long time, or something you’ve always wanted to do but never did because of your work schedule. Or are you one of those people who just always has an excuse? Now that you’re not working, it’s “Oh, I can’t afford to do that”. Then when you’re working again, it will be “Oh, I just don’t have the time to do that.” Stop making excuses, and be good to yourself. Do something good for your soul. It doesn’t have to cost money. Here are some suggestions:

1) Listen to a whole album from your favorite musical artist
2) Read an uplifting book about something or someone you admire
3) Re-connect with someone you haven’t spent much time with lately over lunch or dinner
4) Meditate for 20 minutes (just close your eyes and focus on your breathing in a quiet room where you won’t be distracted)
5) Go for a long walk in nature (without your iPod or cell phone!)

The idea here is to re-connect to the real you, to take time to make yourself FEEL GOOD. I know, it can become a foreign concept if you’re not careful. Also, use your time off to re-focus on your priorities. What’s really important to you? How do you really want to spend your time? What would you like to do more of? What would you like to do less of? Who are you spending your time with? Your time is valuable. It’s the only currency with true value. Spend it wisely.