I am a badass, and so are you: How to find motivation to change your life

Tuesday
Even my Labrador gets bored sometimes. Photo by Lisa Hornung

We all sometimes fall into slumps. I’m guilty of it, for sure.

“Why am I doing this?”

“This job is boring” (sometimes true)

“This life is boring” (also sometimes true)

“What am I doing with my life?” (I ask this one pretty regularly, actually.)

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A new book has changed my attitude: “You are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life,” by Jen Sincero. I discovered this little gem thanks to an Amazon suggestion, so I bought the audiobook. I have since listened to it twice, bought the paperback and even bought a copy for a friend.

When I’m feeling uninspired, I crack it open and read a few pages to get back on track.

It is definitely a self-help book, but it speaks to me on my level, which includes cuss words. I also liked that the title tells me I’m a badass, which I’ve always suspected.

Sincero went from broke to rich by believing in herself, and in this book, she shows everyone else how to do it. Not everyone wants  to be a life coach or writer, but she argues that her tips can benefit anyone who wants to live a better life by finding his or her soulmate, losing a lot of weight, quitting smoking, making more money or whatever you want to do.

I haven’t fully fleshed out what my dream is, other that writing a history book, which I’m working on now. But Sincero is helping me figure it out.

She argues that we develop stories for ourselves that we believe, regardless of whether or not they are true. Stories that begin with, “I’ll never … ,” “I always … ,” etc. She’s also a fan of journaling, meditation and believing in a higher power, be it God, the Universe or Source Energy.

“You are a Badass” is a highly motivational book, and I strongly recommend you listen to the audiobook, then buy the paperback for reference. In the audio version, Sincero reads the book herself, which adds to the authenticity.

Probably her most important advice comes at the end of each chapter: Love yourself. We could all use a little more of that.

Check out her website at JenSincero.com.

How do you keep yourself motivated?

Lisa’s Impossible List

This is totally cribbed from this blog: collegeinfogeek.com/about/meet-the-author/my-impossible-list/

But I think it’s a good list, so I’m making my own.

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Last 5 completed goals

Finish graduate school

Get my car exhaust fixed 

Travel to Germany and Austria with Steve

Learn to paddleboard

Walk the dogs daily

Fitness and health goals

Join a new gym and get active again

Lose 50 lbs. and keep it off

Professional goals

Build freelance business (getting there!)

Start an online retail business

Teach history at the college level

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Habit goals

Eat more healthy meals

Eat at home more often

Clean up after myself more often

Get up early even when not working

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Creative goals

Write a history book

Write a second history book

Write a third history book

Write my memoirs

Write more blogs

Become a travel writer (in progress!)

Skills goals

Learn more about Excel (how to make it do math so I don’t have to)

Learn HTML

Learn to make a podcast

Fun goals

Get back to waterskiing

Skydive

Events to attend

Spoon in concert (again)

The National in concert (again)

The Who in concert (again, with Steve this time)

Travel goals

Germany

Austria

Austria (again — Vienna, more time in Salzburg, Innsbruck)

Germany (again, somewhere I haven’t been)

Switzerland

England

Belgium

The Netherlands

Ireland

Hawaii

Czech Republic

Poland

Sweden

Spain

France

Italy

Vietnam

(This list could go on forever)

Life goals

Finish a master’s degree

Sell my house

Buy a bigger house

Buy a newer car (in progress!)

Continue to strive to be a good, supportive partner to my life partner, Steve

Rescue more dogs

Reading goals

All the books I’ve bought and haven’t read yet (it’s a lot, and it continues to grow).