2025 November 18 Learning and positivity for life

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Hi, this is Jim Cranston from 7EveryMinute at 7EveryMinute.com, the podcast and website about reimagining your life. Thanks for joining me to talk about learning and positivity for life. So let's get started. If you like what you hear today, please leave a like, subscribe, tell your friends, and send me a message.

This week we're going to take a short break from brain health. As important as brain health is, along with all the surrounding relevant issues like ageism and other environmental aspects, this week we're going to talk about facing life's uncertainties with calm and resolve. But first, related to that, I'm excited to announce that one of the authors that works with me is releasing a book, and it's very exciting. It's all about dealing with grief over the upcoming holiday season.

It's a super important topic. It affects a lot of people over these times. The Kindle version is currently free from today, Tuesday, November 18, through Saturday, November 22nd. If you have memories of loss that arrive with the holiday season, please check out the book Holiday Cheer Can Go to H*ell by Vande Lugt. You can go to 7em.link/grief-book and if you click that link, it should take you right to Amazon where the book is located. It's written from the heart, really for those who struggle with loss over the holidays, because that's the time it seems that everyone else is happy and surrounded by loved ones, and then you have this situation going on that's really internal and very powerful. So please check it out. Remember it's free from today through this coming Saturday, November 22nd. What better gift for someone who's hurting during the holidays than a book really written by a very good author on that topic itself?

So as we're talking about just another example, we certainly have no shortage of things to be concerned about these days, whether it's war, politics, division within countries, the economy, the state of medicine. There's a lot of things going on that give us real valid reasons to be concerned. But have you ever noticed that there always seem to be some people who aren't especially concerned about what seems to be obvious conditions all around them? Now, granted, in some cases maybe somebody's simply ignoring the reality, but in many other cases it's due to the person's attitude and their approach to life.

The old saying is, it doesn't matter how many people are getting laid off, you just need one good job. The point of that is don't be overly discouraged by averages and bulk statistics. What's most relevant to you is how you are able to reach your own goals. This isn't promoting a self-centered or selfish life, not at all. It's really a technique to focus your energy on reaching your goals by focusing on your inner strength rather than becoming totally demoralized before really even trying because of what other people are saying.

Sticking with jobs as an example, yes, right now there are numerous layoffs and many people are being inconvenienced or far worse. But almost everything leaves clues. Many people feel that once they're out of school, they're done with learning. That's just totally incorrect. The biggest thing you should learn while you're in school is how to keep learning on your own after school, both in your own field of specialty and about the world in general. Because knowing more about the world makes the world both more interesting and less scary to you, and also makes you more interesting to others. It also gives you more flexibility because you already have some experience with lots of different things.

So how does this affect your life attitude? When you know at least a little bit about many things, fewer things are frightening because you already understand at least the basics. People are more likely to feel scared and threatened and overwhelmed when they're faced with problems they don't understand at all, that are completely new to them. It's very easy to be scared of AI, for example, if you do nothing with it at all. Every story you read says AI is coming for your job, and you have nothing to base it on because you've never worked with it, and you'll be scared.

However, if you're already working with AI even a little bit, then you'd realize it's just another tool. It's good at some things and it's really bad at other things. Now you shift your attitude from fear of the unknown to looking for opportunities to become available. And as a result of that change in attitude, you change your whole approach to life. You can become one of those people who adapts and flows with change rather than being resistant and losing opportunities because fear of the unknown is holding you back. And people would wonder how you can always be so confident in the face of uncertainty.

Besides developing an attitude that's open to opportunity, in what other ways could you develop a more confident and forward-looking attitude? One of the biggest ways might be by gaining more confidence in yourself and by looking at life as a provider of opportunity instead of something that's always doing things to you. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking life does things to you instead of for you. But the basis of that thinking is that things should always go the right way, and one cause of that is assuming that when something goes right, we've attained the best possible outcome.

However, if we were to carefully look back on our lives, especially if we keep a journal or have old photos or whatever, we would probably find that many of the things that went wrong ultimately led to a far better outcome than if they had gone the planned way. Whether it was bumping into the person who you fell in love with, or getting seated next to the person who was looking to hire somebody just like you, or having a trip canceled and you had the time to start writing a new book or a business plan, or even a personal letter to a friend that ultimately changed your life for the better. Oftentimes going with the flow that life gives to you helps you to discover far better outcomes than even the ones you had imagined. When you can get to that point of acceptance, then you're usually more open to seeing unexpected opportunities and acting upon them.

Another common saying in some circles is that good luck comes to people who pay attention. In other words, things are always happening all around us, but some people do a better job of noticing them and seeing an opportunity or a way to make people's lives a little better. Most people were tired of horses and horse manure in the cities, and many other people were trying to make horseless carriages back in the early 1900s. In 1903, Henry Ford figured out a way to make cars that regular people could actually afford. While other people were working on making better cars, Henry Ford realized the biggest issue was affordability, so he worked on making a better car price, if you will. Ford had the same information as everyone else, but he had a different attitude. A far different outcome.

So how are you interpreting the world around you? Are you mad about some problem but doing nothing because there's nothing you can do? Or are you overwhelmed because everyone, in other words social media, says there's no solution? Or are you looking at the present and the future, then channeling your energy on reaching your goals by focusing on your inner strength and talents? When you're working towards a solution, even if it isn't an optimal solution, you'll tend to feel much more motivated and calm, and you'll be, again, one of those people that other people look at and ask themselves, why do they always seem so positive and forward thinking? It's because you see that the world is giving you new unexpected opportunities.

So remember that even in big things as well as small things, your attitude makes a huge difference in how you perceive the world, because when you're curious rather than angry, you're more likely to discover new ways of moving around obstacles and finding paths that can energize you.

That's it for the evening. Your homework tonight is to think if there are any specific things that you're concerned about, one of those things that always kind of seems to be in the back of your thoughts. When you find one, try to write it down very specifically and think about what about it makes you worry. Extra points if you take that thought and imagine how life would be if you were able to get past it. Now try to work backwards to the present. See if any thoughts come to mind and help you overcome where you were stuck in that idea you had in your head.

As always, remember that one of the best ways to care for yourself is to care for others. UKR7.com and WCK.org are two places to start. UKR7.com for helping the people in Ukraine, WCK.org for World Central Kitchen, helping people in disaster areas around the world. And those are two big international sites, but local charities and even all sorts of little local places can always use your help or encouragement or support in some way. But remember that even just a simple smile can change someone else's day for the better in ways that you can't even imagine.

As always, thank you for stopping by. If you found something interesting or useful, please pass it along and please subscribe and hit that like button. And if not, please drop me a comment as to what you'd like to hear. Have a great week. Remember to live the life that you dreamed of because that's the path to true contentment. Love and encouragement to everyone. See you next week on 7EveryMinute and 7EveryMinute.com. Thank you.