About two years ago I moved to Los Angeles and had to start my life from scratch. I left all my family, friends, work and daily routine in the Bay Area. For the first few months I was busy and excited to find a new job. Once I started my new job I was very grateful of the opportunities, but after a few months I felt there was something lacking. Therefore, I decided to pursue my architectural license and after completing it, I was still not fulfilled. I found myself depressed and going through a phase of being lost and lacking a sense of purpose.

This feeling lasted about 8 months till I took a step toward turning my life around. After attending Tony Robbins’ “Unleash the Power Within Seminar”, I made a decision. I was going to raise my standards on a daily basis. I realized I was too comfortable where I was and too accepting of self – limiting beliefs which I was causing how I felt.

I had to take action daily toward my happiness and I found I was happiest when I was spontaneous, and connected to my true nature. Throughout my life, I’ve always been at my best when I set challenges for myself and found a way to develop as a person throughout the process.

Here are the challenges and new standards I set for myself:

 

Moving my body

Once I made the decision to get my life back, I started to wake up at 5 am every morning to exercise. I started doing T25 for a few months, till I hurt my knees and couldn’t do high intensity movements. This was the beginning of taking up a yoga practice. Yoga was a transformative way for my mornings to start. I was starting my day by doing an exercise that not only helped me to strengthen my muscles and overall physical body, but it also helped me to gather my attention in the present moment. Another benefit of doing my workout first thing in the morning was the feeling of achievement. I accomplished so much by pushing my limits in the yoga class that anything else that came my way after seemed easy and manageable.

Mental Exercise

Doing yoga was not just physical training for my body, but was also a mental exercise as well. One second of shifting my attention from the pose, would cause me to lose balance.  Another way for me to raise my standards mentally was to listen to audio books and read one book every week. This helped me to increase my knowledge on different topics, especially with respect to self – improvement, where I got to tap into the lifetime experiences and lessons learned from someone else’s life in a single book.  I felt like every week I got an opportunity to absorb all the knowledge and wisdom gained from a wiser source and be able to apply it to my life.

 

Spiritual Strengthening

Meditation is a big part of my life practice today. By meditating every morning and night for 20 minutes, I clear my head from toxic thoughts and get a clear vision of my future and goals. This is the most important part of my practice, which brings me a sense of peace and happiness. This is the time when I can reflect on my life and notice how grateful I am to be alive every day.

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Looking back at my life from a year ago, I’ve come a long way to who I am today. I am thankful for the challenges, and the lessons learned from them to elevate my life. I’ve seen a tremendous amount of results because I have taken actions when I felt unsatisfied. I am still practicing and learning different paths to self-fulfillment; but I can proudly say that I have almost no limiting beliefs in my life. If I put my mind into something I can make it happen. I encourage you to do the same by raising your standards daily and living a life that embraces challenges with passion.