When you stop chasing the wrong things you give the right things a chance to catch you.

From an email chain :

As Maria Robinson once said, “Nobody can go back and start a new
beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” Nothing
could be closer to the truth. But before you can begin this process
of transformation you have to stop doing the things that have been
holding you back.
Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Stop spending time with the wrong people. – Life is too
short to spend time with people who suck the happiness out of you. If
someone wants you in their life, they’ll make room for you. You
shouldn’t have to fight for a spot. Never, ever insist yourself to
someone who continuously overlooks your worth. And remember, it’s not
the people that stand by your side when you’re at your best, but the
ones who stand beside you when you’re at your worst that are your true
friends.

2. Stop running from your problems. – Face them head on. No,
it won’t be easy. There is no person in the world capable of
flawlessly handling every punch thrown at them. We aren’t supposed to
be able to instantly solve problems. That’s not how we’re made. In
fact, we’re made to get upset, sad, hurt, stumble and fall. Because
that’s the whole purpose of living – to face problems, learn, adapt,
and solve them over the course of time. This is what ultimately molds
us into the person we become.

3. Stop lying to yourself. – You can lie to anyone else in the
world, but you can’t lie to yourself. Our lives improve only when we
take chances, and the first and most difficult chance we can take is
to be honest with ourselves. Read The Road Less Traveled.

4. Stop putting your own needs on the back burner. – The most
painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too
much, and forgetting that you are special too. Yes, help others; but
help yourself too. If there was ever a moment to follow your passion
and do something that matters to you, that moment is now.

5. Stop trying to be someone you’re not. – One of the greatest
challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make
you like everyone else. Someone will always be prettier, someone will
always be smarter, someone will always be younger, but they will never
be you. Don’t change so people will like you. Be yourself and the
right people will love the real you.

6. Stop trying to hold onto the past. – You can’t start the
next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading your last one.

7. Stop being scared to make a mistake. – Doing something and
getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing
nothing. Every success has a trail of failures behind it, and every
failure is leading towards success. You end up regretting the things
you did NOT do far more than the things you did.

8. Stop berating yourself for old mistakes.– We may love the
wrong person and cry about the wrong things, but no matter how things
go wrong, one thing is for sure, mistakes help us find the person and
things that are right for us. We all make mistakes, have struggles,
and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes,
you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to
shape your day and your future. Every single thing that has ever
happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to
come.

9. Stop trying to buy happiness. – Many of the things we desire
are expensive. But the truth is, the things that really satisfy us
are totally free – love, laughter and working on our passions.

10. Stop exclusively looking to others for happiness. – If
you’re not happy with who you are on the inside, you won’t be happy in
a long-term relationship with anyone else either. You have to create
stability in your own life first before you can share it with someone
else. Read Stumbling on Happiness.

11. Stop being idle. – Don’t think too much or you’ll create a
problem that wasn’t even there in the first place. Evaluate
situations and take decisive action. You cannot change what you
refuse to confront. Making progress involves risk. Period! You
can’t make it to second base with your foot on first.

12. Stop thinking you’re not ready. – Nobody ever feels 100%
ready when an opportunity arises. Because most great opportunities in
life force us to grow beyond our comfort zones, which means we won’t
feel totally comfortable at first.

13. Stop getting involved in relationships for the wrong
reasons. – Relationships must be chosen wisely. It’s better to be
alone than to be in bad company. There’s no need to rush. If
something is meant to be, it will happen – in the right time, with the
right person, and for the best reason. Fall in love when you’re ready,
not when you’re lonely.

14. Stop rejecting new relationships just because old ones
didn’t work. – In life you’ll realize that there is a purpose for
everyone you meet. Some will test you, some will use you and some
will teach you. But most importantly, some will bring out the best in
you.

15. Stop trying to compete against everyone else. – Don’t worry
about what others doing better than you. Concentrate on beating your
own records every day. Success is a battle between YOU and YOURSELF
only.

16. Stop being jealous of others. – Jealousy is the art of
counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own. Ask yourself
this: “What’s something I have that everyone wants?”

17. Stop complaining and feeling sorry for yourself. – Life’s
curveballs are thrown for a reason – to shift your path in a direction
that is meant for you. You may not see or understand everything the
moment it happens, and it may be tough. But reflect back on those
negative curveballs thrown at you in the past. You’ll often see that
eventually they led you to a better place, person, state of mind, or
situation. So smile! Let everyone know that today you are a lot
stronger than you were yesterday, and you will be.

18. Stop holding grudges. – Don’t live your life with hate in
your heart. You will end up hurting yourself more than the people you
hate. Forgiveness is not saying, “What you did to me is okay.” It is
saying, “I’m not going to let what you did to me ruin my happiness
forever.” Forgiveness is the answer… let go, find peace, liberate
yourself! And remember, forgiveness is not just for other people,
it’s for you too. If you must, forgive yourself, move on and try to
do better next time.

19. Stop letting others bring you down to their level. – Refuse
to lower your standards to
accommodate those who refuse to raise theirs.

20. Stop wasting time explaining yourself to others. – Your
friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe it anyway. Just
do what you know in your heart is right.

21. Stop doing the same things over and over without taking a
break. – The time to take a deep breath is when you don’t have time
for it. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what
you’re getting. Sometimes you need to distance yourself to see things
clearly.

22. Stop overlooking the beauty of small moments. – Enjoy the
little things, because one day you may look back and discover they
were the big things. The best portion of your life will be the small,
nameless moments you spend smiling with someone who matters to you.

23. Stop trying to make things perfect. – The real world
doesn’t reward perfectionists, it rewards people who get things done.
ReadGetting Things Done.

24. Stop following the path of least resistance. – Life is not
easy, especially when you plan on achieving something worthwhile.
Don’t take the easy way out. Do something extraordinary.

25. Stop acting like everything is fine if it isn’t. – It’s
okay to fall apart for a little while. You don’t always have to
pretend to be strong, and there is no need to constantly prove that
everything is going well. You shouldn’t be concerned with what other
people are thinking either – cry if you need to – it’s healthy to shed
your tears. The sooner you do, the sooner you will be able to smile
again.

26. Stop blaming others for your troubles. – The extent to
which you can achieve your dreams depends on the extent to which you
take responsibility for your life. When you blame others for what
you’re going through, you deny responsibility – you give others power
over that part of your life.

27. Stop trying to be everything to everyone.– Doing so is
impossible, and trying will only burn you out. But making one person
smile CAN change the world. Maybe not the whole world, but their
world. So narrow your focus.

28. Stop worrying so much. – Worry will not strip tomorrow of
its burdens, it will strip today of its joy. One way to check if
something is worth mulling over is to ask yourself this question:
“Will this matter in one year’s time? Three years? Five years?” If
not, then it’s not worth worrying about.

29. Stop focusing on what you don’t want to happen. – Focus on
what you do want to happen. Positive thinking is at the forefront of
every great success story. If you awake every morning with the
thought that something wonderful will happen in your life today, and
you pay close attention, you’ll often find that you’re right.

30. Stop being ungrateful. – No matter how good or bad you have
it, wake up each day thankful for your life. Someone somewhere else
is desperately fighting for theirs. Instead of thinking about what
you’re missing, try thinking about what you have that everyone else is
missing.