Live Life With Purpose with Adam Smith

Yes, I know that I focus a lot on the idea of positive thinking here on the show, but the thing about thinking is that it only helps you. Thinking can only go that far. It is one thing to hold all that positive thinking to yourself, but what takes that one step further is when you take those ideas and go do something with them. It takes more than positive thinking to get things done. It requires action.

For anyone to get something out of all your positive thinking, you actually have to go do something with it.

So, how can we all go and do something with all the good thoughts in our heads?

Here are three things to look at when you are trying to make a difference in the lives of others and desire to go beyond positive thinking.

1. Ask yourself, “What is compelling me to do good for others?”.

In other words, why do you want to do good? Is it because it feels good? That’s good if it does, but there has to be more to it than that. When you fully understand the benefit of doing good for others, you will then see the importance of reaching outside yourself and impacting the lives of others. When you see the potential that is inside of you and are aware of the needs of others, you will be compelled by the needs of others, not only the need of doing what feels good for yourself. There are tons of things that you could be doing that will temporarily satisfy you, but there is nothing in this life that is better than being there for other people.

2. Have you created space in your schedule to make an impact?

Know that you need margin in your life and that you need to do whatever you can to create it. Why? This is because people need you. They don’t need your thoughts, and they don’t need the leftovers from you after you pour yourself into everything else going on in your day. People just need you. They actually need all of you. The lady hurting next door because she is going through a rough time, or the young adult that has somehow lost his way that you can be a mentor to, or the man who can only find help in everything else but the solution to his real issue needs your life and your help. They all need help from you or someone you know, and just thinking about them isn’t going to be the fix they need. I can guarantee it. People are hurting and you probably have the solution. A great place to begin is to just be there for them and listen to what they have to say. If you don’t believe this, then you underestimate the power of being there for others. Yes, the answer is to be available for others to make an impact in their lives. Create margin in your life so that you can help others. That’s your fix.

3. What is it that you want to accomplish with you life?

We covered this in the episode on leaving a great legacy, but it is another incredibly important question to answer. I know that you want to be known for more than just a positive thinker and I know that you want to be known for more than the person with all the ideas. “What are you doing?” is the most important question I could be asking you right now. Why?

It requires movement paired with care to make a lasting impact. 

If you want to leave an impact with your life, it requires you to look outward.

So, are you ready to make a difference? You can start by implementing these three things in your life and become more than a positive thinker. You can go and make a difference in the lives of others with your actions, today.

The post #041: Positive Thinking Is Good, But Action Is Better appeared first on Adam Kirk Smith.

Adversity. Most, if not all people look at adversity as a bad thing, but what if I told you that it is the one thing that tells us if we are still engaged with the life we are pursuing in the first place? If there is anything I have learned about adversity, it is that bumps in your journey are there to check and see if you are really committed to what you are doing or not.

Not only does adversity do this, but it also helps you implement these three important things in your life.

1. Learning

The learning process takes you further when you are actually open to learning something from what you do in life. If you keep doing the same thing over and over again that never gets you the good results you desire, you will never learn from the adversity that comes to you in life. If you keep shying away from adversity, you will never learn the lessons that this process has to offer. When bad things come your way, don’t let them scare you off. Let them shape you into a stronger, more determined person. Learn from these moments in life and repeat. Once you learn to learn from adversity, you will be more apt to embrace it.

2. Perseverance

Not only are you to embrace adversity, but you are to keep moving through it. Perseverance is key to accomplishing anything in life. Why? Because bad things will happen. Such is life. But, it’s what you do with it that will ultimately make you or break you. So, how do you learn to look at adversity in this way? Take the time to process possible outcomes. The question that this will answer is, “What is the worst that can actually happen to me?”. When you learn to face the facts and see that the worst that can happen to you in adversity is usually not that bad, you will learn to keep moving against all odds.

3. Growing

If you aren’t continually growing in all circumstances and situations, you won’t end up going very far. You see, growth can be found in every moment, especially when you encounter sour life situations. When you learn how to handle life in the best ways possible, you will take away lessons for the future and growth will occur. When you don’t take the time to learn from life, you won’t end up growing. What you will do is continually make mistakes in the way you handle the same exact situations in the future. Growth comes when you make the choice to. When you decide to grow through the rough spots that do come your way, you will come out better for it on the other side.

The great thing about making this choice, is that more opportunities come your way to show what you have learned. This growth creates momentum and creates movement. You will keep moving forward once you understand the most effective way to deal with life’s adversity. The other thing to note here is that approaching life with this mentality is what will bring positivity as well. When you realize that adversity will come, your mentality towards these situations isn’t filled with negativity. Since you now understand that adversity will come no matter what and once you decide to not shy away from it and instead make the decision to embrace it, you can go ahead and prepare right now for when these times come in tomorrow, next week, or next month. Preparation allows for you to dictate proactively how you will act upon adversity, rather than deciding after the fact how you will react to it in the moment.

I know it can be difficult to finally look adversity in the eye, learn along the way, persevere through the valleys and grow from these less than ideal moments, but it is necessary to live life to the fullest. Maybe you are familiar with shying away from adversity, but when you take the time to actually look and see what it is that you accomplished when you did that, I can guarantee that it wasn’t much.

When you see adversity for the three areas it offers growth in, you will then begin to live life to the fullest starting, today. 

The post #040: Adversity Is A Good Thing appeared first on Adam Kirk Smith.

What do you want to be known for?

That’s the question you need to answer right now.

Why is this one question so important to not only think about, but answer? 

This is because what you do right now is what helps create your legacy. Yes, you can make up for mistakes later, but it is much easier for you to create a legacy rather than to repair it. Start working today towards putting your best into your future. This is what will build your lasting legacy.

Here are three ways you can build a better legacy for your life:

1. Decide once and for all what you want to do with your life.

2. Decide that what you do really does matter.

While this may seem common knowledge, the world around us would tell me it’s not. People’s actions would tell me that what they are missing is motivation from knowing the importance of what they are doing with their lives. When you are able to see the importance of what you do, the realization alone will propel you forward. You matter and what you do matters. And within making this important decision to think about your life differently, begin doing what is right if you aren’t already. Don’t fall for short-term gain and satisfaction, while sacrificing long-term legacy. Again, do what matters and do what is right.

3. Reach outside of yourself in every single circumstance that you can.

People matter. This being said, you create a bigger legacy when you realize that life is bigger than just yourself. Go and do something for others. Stop only looking out for yourself, and begin thinking about the benefits of others. It is always other people that will receive what you are pouring out with your life, so you might as well produce good fruits with your life. People either benefit from you or suffer. It is a choice of what you do with your life, so touch the lives of others in a positive way as much as you can.

Life is just better this way. Do these three things, and build a better legacy starting, today.

The post #039: Build A Better Legacy appeared first on Adam Kirk Smith.

“I love you.” is the most popular sentence ever spoken, but there has to be more to love than just words. This is because people need more than words from you. Love is an action, imparted into the lives of others. But, in most instances, I have noticed that people like to find excuses as to why they can’t go and do something for others. Whether if it is because someone doesn’t believe like they do, or they don’t look a certain way, or they don’t fit into this box of what the ideal person should be, there are only certain people that deserve your precious time. But, this just isn’t the way our lives were designed to be like.

Love is life and life is love.

Why do I put such an emphasis on this? Because love opens doors and blesses others. Love is what impacts more people than any other trait you possess. It really is that powerful. Want to know what you can do to make a difference?

Go love people.

Life is meant to give away, not for keeping to yourself. Whereas with a lot of things in life you can do them in excess, with love, it isn’t possible. You can love too little, but you can’t love too much. That’s the beautiful thing about love. When you see that love is the definition of life, you see the vast opportunity that is given. I won’t give you more steps to love, because the fact of the matter is that people need you. No matter where you are at today, you just need to go love people.

You can and will make a lasting impact with love starting, today.

The post #038: Love People appeared first on Adam Kirk Smith.

Perfection. Everyone tries to obtain this mysterious goal, but falls short every single time they set out to accomplish this. Most, if not all of frustration comes from this lofty, unobtainable goal not happening. I believe it is important to not only see that perfection cannot be reached, but it is also important to understand the benefits from not being a perfectionist.

Here are the four major benefits of not trying to be a perfectionist:

1. You will create better relationships.

When you learn to stop putting up a perfection shield to keep others from knowing the ins-and-outs of your imperfect life, you will let more people in and will create more lasting relationships. This allows you to be closer with others and learn more through them and be able to pour into the lives of more people.

2. Life is much more fun.

When you break through the fear of failure and stop procrastinating due to the possible dismay of others, you learn that perfectionism was never really your true goal in the first place. All you really wanted to do in life was to make a difference in the lives of others. When you come to this realization, life is always more fun to be in. When you learn to live to have more fun with your life, you will also learn to stop focusing so much on yourself and will begin focusing on the lives of others.

3. Stress levels are lower.

When you aren’t bending over backwards to meet crazy deadlines and aren’t spreading yourself too thin, life is much more enjoyable. Perfectionists tend to take more things personal, so when you break this, you will bounce back quicker from negativity.

One area to look at concerning your stress levels is with the expectations you have set for yourself. People can definitely have too high of expectations when they aren’t even attainable. When you have realistic expectations for yourself and others, you are able to reach huge goals with less stress. It’s a win-win.

4. Creativity flourishes. 

Within the creative process it is imperative to allow for imperfection. We have talked about this before, but it is a necessary point to take away here. And you don’t need to have a job in a creative role to apply this in your life. When you are creative with your everyday life and willing to make mistakes along the way, you allow yourself room to breathe and room to make things better through making more mistakes.

Now, this doesn’t diminish the fact that we should strive for perfection, but we are not to let perfection be what deters us from taking risks and allowing ourselves to make mistakes. When we step out and do these four things, we can allow imperfection to make us better, today.

The post #037: Stop Trying To Be A Perfectionist appeared first on Adam Kirk Smith.

When bad things happen, it’s time to stop blaming anyone and everyone besides ourselves. Stop pointing the finger out, and instead point it in. It’s at this point when we look at ourselves, that we can actually do something about it. Problems don’t just go away when we don’t deal with them, and it’s time that we stop acting like issues will somehow just disappear when we don’t look at them.

Who are we letting down when we aren’t honest with ourselves? The only person we are actually letting down is ourselves, and in return it is through our lives where we can let everyone else down when we are also down.

And so, why do we let ourselves down and others down? It is always fear that keeps us from dealing with what needs to be dealt with and keeps us from being honest with ourselves. Fear will keep us from ever stepping out and doing anything with our lives. Want to know how to overcome this fear? Don’t expect to be perfect. You can’t live up to that expectation.

A note to perfectionists – Breathe. It’s okay to not be perfect. Believe that and move on with your life. Seek out answers and help along the way, and all will be just fine. Lean in to your journey and listen to guidance along the way. You are never alone. Fear likes to corner us and make us believe we are alone, but that’s never the case. So, are you ready to tackle the fear you have been facing? Look outward.

The first step in getting help is realizing that you can’t do it all yourself, and you don’t have to. Stop isolating yourself and trying to come up with solutions on your own. Be strong and be encouraged.

Second, you have to face the facts at some point. No matter how tough it is sometimes, sometimes the need is to look in the mirror and just be honest. What is it that’s wrong and what needs to be done to fix it?

And third, keep moving. Just because something terrible happens, you can’t stop. You are meant for so much more than stopping. The rest of us need you to keep going.

When you are honest with yourself, it is then and only then that you can deal with your current situation and begin living with more impact. Be honest and make a difference starting, today.

The post #036: Why Is It So Difficult To Be Honest With Ourselves? appeared first on Adam Kirk Smith.

Today, I want to talk to you about where you are at mentally. I believe that once you overcome the mental battles we all face on a daily basis, the physical and spiritual areas of life come so much easier. They even come naturally, if you will. This is because most of life and doing great things with your life starts in the mind. Your mind forces you to see things positively and it also will help you see things negatively, if you choose so. I am here to tell you that if you want to see good fruits in your life and if you want to have a more positive outlook on this world, you need to focus on renewing your mind.

This is so important that the Bible is very clear that it is not a one time thing that happens in your life.  The most famous verse on the renewing of the mind is Romans 12:2 which says,

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…

Doing this will give you a Philippians 4:8 mindset. The fact the word “renewing” is used means that it is a constant process that happens on a daily basis. Renewing means to make new or as if new again, or restore. How often do you renew your mind? Now, how often do you need to renew your mind? How often are you completely positive on the life that you live out? How often are you bent towards seeing life through a negative lens? What are you currently doing to renew your mind? How can you implement a renewing of your mind on a daily basis?

I believe these are all questions you need to ask yourself to see where you are in the renewal process. We all need this realignment. When your mind is renewed, you will overcome life’s rough spots. In this you will step out more often against all odds and do great things no matter what outside circumstances are going on in life. When you have already fought and lost the mental battle before you have even started, you are fighting a losing battle. Make the decision prior to going into any situation by renewing your mind on a daily basis. You need this to succeed. Spend some time meditating today on God and His Word to find peace, encouragement, direction, and hope.

Do this and be transformed, today.

The post #035: Renew Your Mind appeared first on Adam Kirk Smith.

Sometimes we can be blinded by the few bad things that are going on in our lives and we can let those happenings control our view on life. One or two bad things going on in your life doesn’t culminate to a bad life. It also doesn’t mean you should start complaining either. What does complaining do? It brings you down even more, changes your outlook to a more negative one, and it makes you focus on the negativity going on in your life. If you take the time to realize everything else going on in the world around you that is much worse than what you are currently going through, then you will see that you really don’t have anything legitimate to complain about. Now of course comparing your life to others and standing by while doing nothing for people to help them see a better light will do nothing for anyone involved, but it is good to be able to see where your issues lie in the grand scheme of things. When you have a better perspective on life, you will see that your circumstances might not be as bad as you maybe thought they were.

Here are three ways to see if you tend to complain more often than not:

1. What are your words and actions showing?

In other words, what fruits are you producing with your life? Your words of course will tell you if you are complaining, but you need to take a look at your actions as well. When everything you say and do is negative, it will creep into every area of your life. Choose to speak positive words of life, and watch your actions line up with your words. Complaining will only bring more negativity into your life and it is a downward spiral from there.

2.  Do you tend to be more grateful or ungrateful?

Take a minute to think about what you are currently going through. Do you find yourself complaining about life or are you excited about life’s cheerful moments? Even if life is full of negativity in this season of life for you, choose to see the things in life that you can currently be grateful for. When you tend to be grateful, life has a way of bringing an abundance of positivity your way, just because that is your outlook on life. Two people can go through the exact same situation and come out of it with completely different outlooks on life. Choose to be grateful in everything, even if the only thing you can see to be grateful for is having another day to love other people. That’s definitely something to be grateful, as that is the most important thing you can possibly do.

3. What do you think the perception is that others have of you?

Usually negative people attract other negative people and the same goes for positivity attracting positivity. So, who are you hanging around? Of course this doesn’t mean that every person doesn’t matter, even if they have a negative outlook on life. But, it is important to know what other people think of you and what your reputation is, so you can see who and what you attract. Even if you think you are a positive person, the perception of others can be different. Strive to be a blessing to others in all you do and make an impact through being a more positive person.

Ask yourself these three questions and you will see growth in your life immediately.

Start speaking life to your current circumstances and stop complaining, today.

The post #034: Stop Complaining appeared first on Adam Kirk Smith.

In this world, there are two different types of people – those who are negative and those who are positive. The fact of the matter is that we all have a choice in the way we will react to things and the outlook that we have on life. These things play into the views we have on this world and will ultimately form positivity or negativity in our lives, but it is still a choice of whether we are positive or negative people.

Here are three tips on how you can choose positivity more often than negativity:

1. Seize the day.

“Carpe diem”. There is a lot to making each day count and being excited about what each new day holds. It gets you a great start to your day each and every time and gets your mind where it should be, which is having a positive outlook on the day ahead. There is so many opportunities for you to impact others within a day, so take advantage of it. Go and get as much as you can out of life, and you can begin by taking every opportunity today. Positivity is found in anticipation of what the day holds.

2. Choose to be positive.

This is an obvious point, but with all the negativity out there, it can sometimes be tough to make this choice. But, when you do make this choice, you will be able to stick out in a good way. Want to know how to be influential? Be positive. People want to be around that on a daily basis.

3. Think before you act and react.

It is one thing to think positively, but it is even more to live out positivity through your actions. When something bad happens in your life, the easy thing to do is to react the same way that situation acted upon you. Take the better road and think about the situation at hand, before you act and react.

When you have to pick between being positive or negative with your life, choose positivity. In what other ways can people be more positive with their lives?

The post #033: Positivity Is So Much Better Than Negativity appeared first on Adam Kirk Smith.

It is always the quality of time you spend with your life, rather than the amount of time you have to spend, that makes the biggest difference in the lives of others. Think about this. When you are with family or friends, do you feel more connected after sitting at a table with them not having much to say or when you are having deep meaningful conversation with them? Of course you feel closer with other people when you have the latter. Now, tie any sort of time frame to either the amount of time you have to spend with people or the quality of time that you spend with people, and the amount of time becomes a lot less important when you have an abundance of quality time with people. Actually, the quantity becomes a whole lot less important. What does matter is that you are finding each and every opportunity you have with people to bring quality out of it.

Here are the three top ways you can bring quality out of every moment that you spend with others:

1. Stop focusing on the amount of time you have with people.

I am guessing that your schedule is pretty tight. Same here. With my schedule, I used to look at the amount of time I had to spend with someone, but I have changed my view on that common misconception. It is more about quality than quantity when it comes to your time. Give some time for this to sink in. Now, let’s take a second to see how this works in our lives. If you have two hours with someone, is it easier to just let the time go? Or, if you have just ten minutes with someone, are you more apt to squeezing every second out of your time with them? I would offer that it doesn’t matter how much time you have with someone, but it does matter that you are taking every moment you have to truly care about others. If it is 15 or 30 minutes that you have with someone, it isn’t saying that you only have that short amount of time with them, but it is seeing the huge opportunity you have with that 15 or 30 minutes to bless others. Use the time you have to get to know other people in a more personal way. Use your time wisely instead of looking at the amount of time you have, as it is the most important possession we all have.

Notice that I didn’t say to know what you want from the other person, but instead bring to each relationship what you have to bless others. It all goes back to being intentional with your time, and the number one priority you have with your time is the time you put into your relationships. If you know of a need that another person has, equip yourself going into your time with the other person to fill that need. Don’t throw away your time by not being there for others, but instead be aware of the needs around you. This is another way to be more intentional with every second you have in your day.

3. Stop letting distractions get the best of you.

Whether we are talking about phone calls, emails, texts, the internet, television, or any other distractions that tends to creep into your life, those are the things that rob us from the intentionality and purpose we need to bring to every one of our relationships. Distractions of any type are the things that get in the way of strengthening relationships with people and we have to fight against them to truly build our relationships to where they need to be. The need for each and every one of us to pour into the lives of others is great, so we have to be more intentional with focusing on what matters most. People matter, so don’t let silly distractions be the thing that keeps you from giving your quality time to others.

It is these three things – focusing on the quality of time you spend with people, rather than the amount of time you have to spend with people, going into your time with others knowing what you want to give the other person, and not letting distractions get the best of you – that will push you to make a bigger difference in the lives of others, today. 

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