How To Let The Good Times Last Forever

The last few weeks I have had some amazing times. If only these experiences could last forever. Or can they? When we are in the moment of one of those amazing times, we often let it pass us by. It’s so easy not to be conscious of what is happening right now. – Experience One A work colleague and friend got married a few weeks ago. He had been single for twenty-eight years and then at the start of the year, he met someone. Within three weeks they were engaged and then a few months later they got married. Against the odds, my friend wanted to show that even though they hadn’t known each other a long time, they were going to prove all the critics wrong. I’m not sure why, but I was one of the few people that got to attend the wedding. It had been a while since I had attended a wedding, so I had forgotten what it was like. Watching these two inspirational leaders get married was so humbling. The wedding was spectacular and it seriously felt like one of those Disney fairy tales. During the speeches, my friend shared with everyone that he had lost his mother to cancer a few years ago. I had never known this beforehand and it brought a tear to my eye, and everyone listening. The celebrations began and it was time to see the bride and groom dance. Then, the boys did a bit of a dance to celebrate the occasion. This day was such a happy moment. It was totally unexpected (as happy moments often are) and an experience I will never forget. It was a reminder of what’s important in life. – Experience Two My buddy Joel Brown went on an Australian tour to help people who want to start online businesses. The name of the event was “Millions Online” although the title was purposely deceptive. At the core of the event was a message around mindset, spirituality and personal growth. Attendees came up on stage and presented their deepest fears. We learned from some awesome mentors and I was lucky enough to be chosen to speak. I shared my blogging journey and tried to get the audience to understand how powerful each one of us is. I wanted everyone to leave that day knowing that if I can do what I love, so can everybody else. I wanted everyone to understand that we all have phenomenal stories and we should use them to inspire others. As a novice public speaker, I felt proud and fulfilled at the end of the event. I also spent some time with my friend Joel and we sat down talking for 5 hours straight about life. We were looking out over a picturesque Melbourne city and sharing our deepest fears. At this moment, I was shocked. Both Joel and I were on very similar paths and had come to almost identical realizations. Our primary struggles were exactly the same. We had taken nearly identical action. What I got to see that night is the man behind all of the success. We see these social media influencers everywhere and it’s very rare that we get to know the real story. When they’re not making lots of money and doing magazine covers, it’s challenging to see the real person behind all the hype. As an added bonus, I brought a friend along with me who got to share the experience. It helped me get to know her better and see behind her massive success as well. The millions online event brought me closer to people who are like me. It helped me see people that also wanted to use online channels to inspire the world. “For that brief moment in time, I felt like I was exactly where I needed to be” How do we let the good times last forever? Takeaway one: Create more experiences The day after both of these experiences, I woke up thinking that I wish these moments could last forever. Then, I realized they could. All I need to do is create more of them. Such a simple truth that is so vanilla in its appearance. The best advice is often that simple. The crux of both of these experiences is the people I was with, not the experience itself. To have more great experiences we need to focus our time on creating more. We can’t wait for these times to come to us. “Being consciously aware of what we want and then creating it for ourselves is probably the best advice I have ever been given” So from now on, I am going to bring these incredible people with me wherever I go. I am going to send out more invites for more cool activities. I am going to try and get the cross-pollination between these incredible people to happen naturally, by putting everyone in the same room together. You create what you want. Takeaway two: Reflect back on those experiences Just because the experience is over, doesn’t mean you can’t still bring back the feelings you had on the day. The experience is with you for the rest of your life. We have photos and videos that can allow us to revisit the moment. I’ve done that already since these two experiences and visualized how I felt on the day. I have used these two experiences to show me what it’s like to be at the peak of my own happiness. There’s no reason that each and every one of us can’t reflect on the happy moments. We spend so much time thinking about everything that goes wrong or what we are unhappy about. A subtle shift that will change your emotional state is to spend more time thinking about the experiences that made you happy. Every week, from now on, I am going to spend a few minutes reflecting on the experiences I am grateful for. I am going to force myself to be grateful to experience so much abundance in a world that has a lot of unanswered questions. We are not meant to know everything. The one thing we should know, though, is how to reflect upon the experiences that defined who we are. It’s in these happy experiences that our destiny is shaped. It’s where we come up with our best business ideas, form true bonds, meet our romantic partners and remember what it’s like to be a human living on this planet. Your phone tries to tell you what’s important: you need to take back control. I hope everyone can experience what I’ve had the pleasure of being a part of over the last few weeks. Life is fantastic and the good times can last forever.