Cheap Lee Dot Com

Damnation at the Mental Disco

There are times in life where even I, CheapLee, feel worn by the day. Grey clouds sometime drag my thoughts. I try not to, but as an entrepreneur the more you try, the more you will encounter these roadblocks. And even though I do my best to practice my 3 secrets to happiness, I am not always resilient. Sometimes that funk seems difficult to push through.

I am always grateful for being healthy with 10 fingers and 10 toes. I even have stories of those less fortunate to remind of my gratitude.  I also actively go out of my way to help others without expecting any sort of return karma. I do it because others need it. Finally, I do my best to change my perspective. This doesn’t mean to just look on the bright side, but to alter your “perspective” is to see your 3^rd place finish as what you expected all along. Next time is next time.

Start Your Engines!

Even with all this, I still experience this funk, where my spirit seems adrift. So I was contemplating short term solutions that help push me beyond my funk and into a place where I can refocus my effort, feel inspired, or more importantly, motivated to get me past that dip, as marketing guru Seth Godin wrote in his book.

The first solution was chocolate (as if I am not fat enough already.) But the second solution seems much more palatable because it’s not too time consuming, it’s accessible and, most importantly, it energizes me when I am finished… Watching Great Movies!

So I put together a list of movies that make me feel refreshed and energized to take on the world. You know that nirvana feeling you get that stays with you all day until you run into that pole.

9 Movies that inspire greatness (in my humble opinion)…

1. God Grew Tired of Us
2. The Chocolate War
3. Breaking Away
4. Dead Poets Society 
5. Stand and Deliver
6. The Shawshank Redemption
7. Emmanuel’s Gift
8. Rocky
9. Rudy 

You may have a different list or plain disagree, but that’s not the point. The point is to create a temporary solace where you can rejuvenate your spirit. Some people find it in religion or spending time with certain people, or reading, or music, or one of a million sorts of things to do. It doesn’t matter what it is. But it shouldn’t be something that can take too much attention away from what needs to be addressed or fails to inspire. For instance, you can watch TV for hours, and not feel any different about yourself.

Elements for good happiness targets

• The activity must elicit change in you - a heightened spirit to propel you forward.
• The activity must be very low cost or, more preferably, free
• The activity can’t be a daily, but just for certain occasions when you have those funks. Over time, daily utilization would mitigate any inspiration that would benefit you

Take a moment to think about your targets for inspiration. Use them as a tool in your life to bring about inspiration or motivation to get you to that next level. As goofy as it sounds, you need to do whatever you can to push forward because nothing valuable or wonderful in your life comes from staying in that funk. Here’s something to get you started.

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