NLP stands for NeuroLinguistic Psychology, and many people are finding as one of the more beneficial stop smoking programs. Typically, this is one part of a bigger overall package that may include several quit smoking products and methods. While it’s evident that NLP does work on some who are looking for help to stop smoking, it’s also apparent that no stop smoking hypnotherapy will work unless several factors are present.
Arguably, the most important factor is a personal desire to quit smoking cigarettes. If the smoker is looking for stop smoking aids because a spouse is constantly nagging about the smell of smoke, it’s unlikely that any stop smoking help is going to work. Quitting smoking has to be the smoker’s desire. Look at some examples between an internal and external drive.
If the smoker is fully aware of the health risks of smoking, he or she may say it’s time to quit. An internal reason to seek quit smoking help is that you (as a smoker) know you’re doing harm to your body, and to your family and friends who deal with your second-hand smoke. This is an internal prompt to quit cigarette smoking. In this case, the desire is real and quit smoking hypnosis or NLP may very well be just the boost you need to successfully quit.
Another important factor in this case is that the family and friends are likely to be supportive, rather than censuring an occasional desire for a cigarette. There’s typically less pressure on the smoker who’s trying to quit when he has a good stop smoking support network.
Some examples of external prompting to seek some program such as stop smoking hypnosis or NLP are the spouse who is constantly nagging about the smell of smoke, or even the cost of cigarettes. While those are legitimate reasons for stopping smoking, the desire is typically not as strong and it may be more difficult for the smoker to actually quit. When the desire for a cigarette comes around (as it most likely will), the smoker with external drives to quit smoking cigarettes is more likely to choose the cigarette even though the penalties will be the cost of the cigarettes or the nagging of the spouse.
That’s not to say that external prompts can’t be strong enough to help the smoker quit, only that those prompts aren’t as likely to succeed as if the smoker truly has the desire.
If the cost of the habit is prompting the smoker to give it up, he may find that he’s not willing to pay for follow-up treatment. Many who undergo some form of hypnosis find they need additional sessions to remain strong against the desire to smoke. Hypnosis isn’t a free stop smoking therapy, but then nothing (other than sheer willpower) is free. If money alone is your prompting, you have to look at the long-term effects – money you’ll save over the next year, two years or longer. That might help you justify the cost of hypnosis or NLP as a resource of how to stop smoking.
One of the most important aspects of hypnosis and NLP therapies is the focus on both the physical and mental aspects of quitting smoking. Smokers who use only a stop smoking aid such as gum may find themselves longing for a cigarette simply because they feel the need to have it in their hand. Hypnosis stop smoking programs usually help deal with that part of the addiction, as well as the physical symptoms of withdrawal.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Unlocking Self Improvement Power Course
When we look at a certain object, a painting for example - we won't be able to appreciate what's in it, what is painted and what else goes with it if the painting is just an inch away from our face. We reach a point in our life when we are ready for change and a whole bunch of information that will help us unlock our self-improvement power. The only time we think of unlocking our self-improvement power is when everything got worst.
We learn our lessons when we experience pain. We finally see the warning signs and signals when things get rough and tough. When do we realize that we need to change diets? When none of our jeans and shirts would fit us. When do we stop eating candies and chocolates? When do we realize that we need to stop smoking? When we realize that we're gonna die tomorrow.
The only time most of us ever learn about unlocking our self-improvement power is when the whole world is crashing and falling apart.
Change will happen, like it or hate it. At one point or another, we are all going to experience different turning points in our life - and we are all going to eventually unlock our self-improvement power not because the world says so, not because our friends are nagging us, but because we realized its for our own good.
Now, you don't have to feel a tremendous heat before realizing the need for self-improvement. Unlocking your self-improvement power means unlocking yourself up in the cage of thought that "its just the way I am". It is such a poor excuse for people who fear and resist change. Most of us program our minds like computers.
Self-improvement may not be everybody's favorite word, but if we look at things in a different point of view, we might have greater chances of enjoying the whole process instead of counting the days until we are fully improved. Three sessions in a week at the gym would result to a healthier life, reading books instead of looking at porns will shape up a more profound knowledge, going out with friends and peers will help you take a step back from work and unwind. And just when you are enjoying the whole process of unlocking your self-improvement power, you'll realize that you're beginning to take things light and become happy (continue part 2)
We learn our lessons when we experience pain. We finally see the warning signs and signals when things get rough and tough. When do we realize that we need to change diets? When none of our jeans and shirts would fit us. When do we stop eating candies and chocolates? When do we realize that we need to stop smoking? When we realize that we're gonna die tomorrow.
The only time most of us ever learn about unlocking our self-improvement power is when the whole world is crashing and falling apart.
Change will happen, like it or hate it. At one point or another, we are all going to experience different turning points in our life - and we are all going to eventually unlock our self-improvement power not because the world says so, not because our friends are nagging us, but because we realized its for our own good.
Now, you don't have to feel a tremendous heat before realizing the need for self-improvement. Unlocking your self-improvement power means unlocking yourself up in the cage of thought that "its just the way I am". It is such a poor excuse for people who fear and resist change. Most of us program our minds like computers.
Self-improvement may not be everybody's favorite word, but if we look at things in a different point of view, we might have greater chances of enjoying the whole process instead of counting the days until we are fully improved. Three sessions in a week at the gym would result to a healthier life, reading books instead of looking at porns will shape up a more profound knowledge, going out with friends and peers will help you take a step back from work and unwind. And just when you are enjoying the whole process of unlocking your self-improvement power, you'll realize that you're beginning to take things light and become happy (continue part 2)
Turcbocharging Employees with 99 Octane Motivation
Keep them Euphoric: 5 more ways to turbocharge employees.
These are five additional ways that you can successfully create an encouraging work environment while increasing employee.
1. Distinguish your employees. It is essential that you empathize with your employees. Know about their family; know about what they do after hours, what interests them. This is not meant to be prying into an employee’s personal life, but knowing an employee can help you to resolve what motivates that employee. Different people are motivated by dissimilar things. What does the employee want? What do they want from this job, from their life, and for their future? Reaching goals can be difficult. Helping someone to reach a goal at work is impossible if you do not know what that goal is.
2. Discover more. It is your responsibility to create enthusiasm in the workplace. Therefore it is up to you to continue to study innovative ways to spur employees to action. You might opt to take classes that offered as short courses at HR firms or online universities. This will give you a fabulous opportunity to continue to learn new ways to stimulate your employees
3. Splurge special time with your employees. Take a few minutes out of your day to just talk with your employees. Give them an opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns or simply ask how their week went. This will demonstrate how much you care about his or her happiness within the company. You can also schedule performance reviews either once a month, once a year or however often is comfortable for you. This will allow you time to sit down and spend a little more time with the employee and give you a chance to discuss the highs and lows of the period in which the review is accomplished. Positive conversations, even on a casual level are a great way to increase employee motivation. Schedule one-on-ones and leave titles at the door.
4. Understand the employees’ feelings about their career. Most employees start out in a job on the bottom with hopes of advancement. One way to increase employee drive is to discuss the likelihood of advancement or lateral movement within the company structure. It might be a different position, or a promotion, in a sister company. Your employees should know that you care about the things that they care about. Let them know that you are there to help them achieve their goals and they will give you 110%
5. Be transparent. You as a manager know what it feels like when a higher up seems to be keeping something from you. Even though there may not be a secret, the big boss still hasn’t informed you on what is going on. Your employees may feel this way consistently. It is very important to keep employees informed about issues that arise in the company even if it does not directly affect them. Employees want to know about the company and they want to be involved. It is a good idea to have regular “catch-up” meetings, just to make sure that everyone is on the same page. Prepare employees if a major event is going to happen, such as a leveraged buyout or inspection by the CEO. Another way to explode inspiration among employees is to hold consultations when the company is planning on changing existing policies. Invite feed back from the employees and ask if they have any ideas about how to resolve the issue.
You as manager holds the keys to create a work environment that beneficial for company and employee growth. Sun Tzu asserts that “You are only as strong as your weakest link”. Increasing motivation among employees will make each link a little stronger and forge a tougher backbone for the company.
These are five additional ways that you can successfully create an encouraging work environment while increasing employee.
1. Distinguish your employees. It is essential that you empathize with your employees. Know about their family; know about what they do after hours, what interests them. This is not meant to be prying into an employee’s personal life, but knowing an employee can help you to resolve what motivates that employee. Different people are motivated by dissimilar things. What does the employee want? What do they want from this job, from their life, and for their future? Reaching goals can be difficult. Helping someone to reach a goal at work is impossible if you do not know what that goal is.
2. Discover more. It is your responsibility to create enthusiasm in the workplace. Therefore it is up to you to continue to study innovative ways to spur employees to action. You might opt to take classes that offered as short courses at HR firms or online universities. This will give you a fabulous opportunity to continue to learn new ways to stimulate your employees
3. Splurge special time with your employees. Take a few minutes out of your day to just talk with your employees. Give them an opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns or simply ask how their week went. This will demonstrate how much you care about his or her happiness within the company. You can also schedule performance reviews either once a month, once a year or however often is comfortable for you. This will allow you time to sit down and spend a little more time with the employee and give you a chance to discuss the highs and lows of the period in which the review is accomplished. Positive conversations, even on a casual level are a great way to increase employee motivation. Schedule one-on-ones and leave titles at the door.
4. Understand the employees’ feelings about their career. Most employees start out in a job on the bottom with hopes of advancement. One way to increase employee drive is to discuss the likelihood of advancement or lateral movement within the company structure. It might be a different position, or a promotion, in a sister company. Your employees should know that you care about the things that they care about. Let them know that you are there to help them achieve their goals and they will give you 110%
5. Be transparent. You as a manager know what it feels like when a higher up seems to be keeping something from you. Even though there may not be a secret, the big boss still hasn’t informed you on what is going on. Your employees may feel this way consistently. It is very important to keep employees informed about issues that arise in the company even if it does not directly affect them. Employees want to know about the company and they want to be involved. It is a good idea to have regular “catch-up” meetings, just to make sure that everyone is on the same page. Prepare employees if a major event is going to happen, such as a leveraged buyout or inspection by the CEO. Another way to explode inspiration among employees is to hold consultations when the company is planning on changing existing policies. Invite feed back from the employees and ask if they have any ideas about how to resolve the issue.
You as manager holds the keys to create a work environment that beneficial for company and employee growth. Sun Tzu asserts that “You are only as strong as your weakest link”. Increasing motivation among employees will make each link a little stronger and forge a tougher backbone for the company.
Travel Phobia and Fear Of Driving
Travel phobia is a particular form of anxiety that may occur after a person has been involved in some kind of accident, maybe a road or rail crash. They may have escaped physically unscathed from the incident, however they might well have perceived it as a potential threat to their well being, physical health or indeed life.
Anyone suffering from travel phobia is likely to avoid travelling as much as is possible. If forced to travel by car, they are likely to prefer to be in control of the car, rather than be a passenger. During the journey they will be perpetually alert, scanning the road for potential accident causing situations. By the time they arrive at their destination, they are often irritable, tense and exhausted. This only serves to reinforce the phobic response.
Some individuals will refuse to even travel by car, bus or rail despite the drastic upheaval this will cause in their day-to-day lives. This avoidance is one of the reasons phobias are maintained as the sufferer is not exposed to the situations they fear and therefore cannot come to terms with their phobia.
Fear of driving or Hodophobia can be triggered by a variety of different factors and can manifest itself as anything from mild nervousness to an incapacitating full-blown panic attack. These responses are learned behaviours and they are all highly treatable.
Some people are simply terrified of even being in a car, whether driving themselves or being driven by others. Perhaps they once had a panic or anxiety attack while driving and suffer under the perpetual fear that it will happen again. On the other hand, they may fear that other drivers are going to lose control.
Many drivers feel comfortable driving on familiar roads, close to where they live for example, but grow scared that they might lose control in unfamiliar territory. Others may be happy to drive on ordinary roads but have a fear of driving on motorways or dual carriageways.
There are also those who are afraid of getting caught in heavy traffic, or driving at night or in difficult weather (sleet, snow or fog) or of driving down narrow lanes.
Anyone suffering from travel phobia is likely to avoid travelling as much as is possible. If forced to travel by car, they are likely to prefer to be in control of the car, rather than be a passenger. During the journey they will be perpetually alert, scanning the road for potential accident causing situations. By the time they arrive at their destination, they are often irritable, tense and exhausted. This only serves to reinforce the phobic response.
Some individuals will refuse to even travel by car, bus or rail despite the drastic upheaval this will cause in their day-to-day lives. This avoidance is one of the reasons phobias are maintained as the sufferer is not exposed to the situations they fear and therefore cannot come to terms with their phobia.
Fear of driving or Hodophobia can be triggered by a variety of different factors and can manifest itself as anything from mild nervousness to an incapacitating full-blown panic attack. These responses are learned behaviours and they are all highly treatable.
Some people are simply terrified of even being in a car, whether driving themselves or being driven by others. Perhaps they once had a panic or anxiety attack while driving and suffer under the perpetual fear that it will happen again. On the other hand, they may fear that other drivers are going to lose control.
Many drivers feel comfortable driving on familiar roads, close to where they live for example, but grow scared that they might lose control in unfamiliar territory. Others may be happy to drive on ordinary roads but have a fear of driving on motorways or dual carriageways.
There are also those who are afraid of getting caught in heavy traffic, or driving at night or in difficult weather (sleet, snow or fog) or of driving down narrow lanes.
Train Your Brain This New Years
It’s that time again when people start thinking about their New Years Resolutions. Usually they involve, losing weight, quitting smoking, and joining a gym, just to mention a few.
What about you? What News Year Resolution have you planned for this year?
Have you considered the benefits of improving your mind? Usually, this is the last thing people consider, but in reality it’s one of the best things you can do for yourself and those around you.
People who want to build their muscles know that it takes time to work on specific areas in order for the muscles to develop properly and these same people will pay big bucks to join the local gym to work on these areas and yet they forget to invest in things that will enrich their minds.
By enriching your mind and building yourself up mentally you will be able to challenge yourself to take on other areas of your life that need improvement. Your life is influenced by your thought processes.
You can learn to build up the muscles in your mind, so to speak, and strengthen your inner man with positive goal producing thoughts.
Most New Year Resolutions fail, mainly because people do not have the proper mind set to set proper goals and lack the ability to make a roadmap that will lead them to success.
What is it you want for you and your family next year? Doesn’t investing in yourself by improving your mind make sense.
You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars in order to benefit from the great motivators of the world. People such as Jim Rohn, Brian Tracy and Les Brown can be heard via your computer for about the cost of a cup of coffee per day!
What are you waiting for?
Make this year the best year ever by investing in your mind!
Visit Success University Today!
What about you? What News Year Resolution have you planned for this year?
Have you considered the benefits of improving your mind? Usually, this is the last thing people consider, but in reality it’s one of the best things you can do for yourself and those around you.
People who want to build their muscles know that it takes time to work on specific areas in order for the muscles to develop properly and these same people will pay big bucks to join the local gym to work on these areas and yet they forget to invest in things that will enrich their minds.
By enriching your mind and building yourself up mentally you will be able to challenge yourself to take on other areas of your life that need improvement. Your life is influenced by your thought processes.
You can learn to build up the muscles in your mind, so to speak, and strengthen your inner man with positive goal producing thoughts.
Most New Year Resolutions fail, mainly because people do not have the proper mind set to set proper goals and lack the ability to make a roadmap that will lead them to success.
What is it you want for you and your family next year? Doesn’t investing in yourself by improving your mind make sense.
You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars in order to benefit from the great motivators of the world. People such as Jim Rohn, Brian Tracy and Les Brown can be heard via your computer for about the cost of a cup of coffee per day!
What are you waiting for?
Make this year the best year ever by investing in your mind!
Visit Success University Today!
To Thine Own Self Be True
We have looked before on the concept of self-love and I would like to take the time into look into this in more depth.
If you remember, we said that AGAPE love was an unconditional love and that we needed to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Let us look more closely at why we have so much difficulty in the area of loving and accepting ourselves. We will start by looking at two very basic questions.
1.)Why do we have so much difficulty loving ourselves without question?
2.)Why do we feel we need the approval of others to validate our worthiness?
These are big questions and the basis of our non-acceptance of ourselves. We were not born with a negative self image of ourselves, in fact, we were not even aware that we needed the approval of others. Acceptance of ourselves as individuals was a learning experience from those significant others who were around us. Some people were lucky and had a loving and encouraging environment, while others, sadly, grew up with condemnation and disapproval.
Because of disapproval that may have been experienced in our childhood years, many of us grew up with the generalization that “Since they did not accept me, I am unacceptable.” Through the repetition of key incidents in our lives we learnt to have a negative view of ourselves. The problem arises when we fail to realize that these were childhood events. We still see them retrospectively through the eyes of our inner-child. We must learn to stand back and put them in a different perspective.
As adults we may now realize that those who hurt us with their disapproval and criticism were acting in the only way that they knew how to act. Many did not realize the extent of injury that was caused to our psyche. It is up to us now to rid ourselves of these self-sabotaging thoughts about ourselves and face reality. We have two choices. We can either accept what was said about us and live with self-recrimination or we can choose to forgive those who said hurtful, un-accepting things to us and rethink the situation.
Face it, we were not all perfect children and we are not perfect as adults either. All people can never be all good or all bad. We have to come to the realization that we are human. We need to accept ourselves the way we are. That means accepting the bad along with the good. We all make mistakes, we all have weaknesses. This doesn’t mean that we stop trying to improve ourselves, but we must stop condemning ourselves.
We also must become aware of the things we want to change about ourselves because WE as individuals want improvement in these areas, not because we feel that others want us to change. Accepting a situation is the first step to achieving power over it. We can not live our lives for the acceptance of others. We need to live our lives honestly and freely.
Take the time to listen to your inner voice and find out who YOU really are. You are an individual and you don’t need to conform to what the world around you wants you to be. You need to discover who YOU really are and then gather the courage to let the real you be you. You have the power to be your own person.
Let us stop putting on masks to represent the people we think others want to see. Don’t feel you have to seek their approval. Take time to learn who you are and then let the real you shine through. You are a beautiful person just the way you are and are worthy of love. Learn to love yourself and you will see the world around you change for the better.
If you remember, we said that AGAPE love was an unconditional love and that we needed to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Let us look more closely at why we have so much difficulty in the area of loving and accepting ourselves. We will start by looking at two very basic questions.
1.)Why do we have so much difficulty loving ourselves without question?
2.)Why do we feel we need the approval of others to validate our worthiness?
These are big questions and the basis of our non-acceptance of ourselves. We were not born with a negative self image of ourselves, in fact, we were not even aware that we needed the approval of others. Acceptance of ourselves as individuals was a learning experience from those significant others who were around us. Some people were lucky and had a loving and encouraging environment, while others, sadly, grew up with condemnation and disapproval.
Because of disapproval that may have been experienced in our childhood years, many of us grew up with the generalization that “Since they did not accept me, I am unacceptable.” Through the repetition of key incidents in our lives we learnt to have a negative view of ourselves. The problem arises when we fail to realize that these were childhood events. We still see them retrospectively through the eyes of our inner-child. We must learn to stand back and put them in a different perspective.
As adults we may now realize that those who hurt us with their disapproval and criticism were acting in the only way that they knew how to act. Many did not realize the extent of injury that was caused to our psyche. It is up to us now to rid ourselves of these self-sabotaging thoughts about ourselves and face reality. We have two choices. We can either accept what was said about us and live with self-recrimination or we can choose to forgive those who said hurtful, un-accepting things to us and rethink the situation.
Face it, we were not all perfect children and we are not perfect as adults either. All people can never be all good or all bad. We have to come to the realization that we are human. We need to accept ourselves the way we are. That means accepting the bad along with the good. We all make mistakes, we all have weaknesses. This doesn’t mean that we stop trying to improve ourselves, but we must stop condemning ourselves.
We also must become aware of the things we want to change about ourselves because WE as individuals want improvement in these areas, not because we feel that others want us to change. Accepting a situation is the first step to achieving power over it. We can not live our lives for the acceptance of others. We need to live our lives honestly and freely.
Take the time to listen to your inner voice and find out who YOU really are. You are an individual and you don’t need to conform to what the world around you wants you to be. You need to discover who YOU really are and then gather the courage to let the real you be you. You have the power to be your own person.
Let us stop putting on masks to represent the people we think others want to see. Don’t feel you have to seek their approval. Take time to learn who you are and then let the real you shine through. You are a beautiful person just the way you are and are worthy of love. Learn to love yourself and you will see the world around you change for the better.
Three Deadly Sins to Avoid When Choosing a Professional Speaker
As I survey the speaker’s market I’ve become a tad weary willfully wearing the title "Motivational Speaker". All speakers worth their salt seek to motivate or cause action. Maybe it's just me, but does the mere mention of the term "Motivational Speaker" conjure irritating mental pictures in your subconscious mind? There are far too many stereotypes being propagated regarding speakers. I will address a few of these speaker stereotypes and hopefully simultaneously construct a not-to-do list that aspiring speakers may use on their roads to success in the lucrative speaking industry.
Motivational Speaker Stereotype Number One:
The "Over-The-Top" Speaker
The "Over-The-Top" Speaker or the O.T.T. Speaker appears to have discovered a new fad diet which includes mountains of pure sugar and caffeine. The O.T.T. will at any given moment find it necessary to expend tremendous amounts of energy racing about the platform as if a sniper has them in the crosshairs. During smaller office presentations, The O.T.T. speaker may also be seen jumping atop a desk shouting "Go For It!” or performing their best impressions of former Governor and one time Presidential hopeful, Howard Dean's famous "YEAAAAAHHHHHH".
It didn't work for Mr. Dean either.
Reality:
I do not desk hurdle. Many professional speakers whom I admire keep their gestures natural and their tones conversational in nature. This is not “Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey” and a speaker's stage is not a big tent.
Motivational Speaker Stereotype Number Two:
The "T.M.I." Speaker
In efforts to emotionally connect with the audience, the notorious T.M.I. Speaker offers up way Too Much Information of a personal nature. To the bewilderment of the hiring authority, the TMI speaker utilizes 90% of their time recanting inner-turmoil, teary-eyed, blow-by-blow commentaries of abuse, personal struggles and tragedies. Though touching, the program's focus is obscured and the message diluted by the T.M.I. Speakers deluging pity party. The T.M.I. speaker fails to realize the goal of any program is to inspire some sort of action of the audience, not to become a martyr or charity case.
Reality:
Engaging your audience is the goal of any professional speaker, but personal stories should only be used if they directly support and impact the overall theme of your program. Please allow me to cement my viewpoint with a brief story: During my first professional position as a paralegal for a government agency I had the marvelous opportunity to work side-by-side with a number of experienced individuals and mentors. These mentors taught me many compelling business principles that I currently utilize. One day at work on a crowded elevator I struck up a conversation with one such mentor. In the efforts to protect the innocent and the ignorant I'll refer to the mentor in this story as "Mr. Edwards".
Me: Hello Mr. Edwards, I noticed you in the lobby earlier today...
Mr. Edwards: Yes, Timothy my family paid me a visit...
Me: Really? Was that your son you were holding earlier?
Mr. Edwards: Oh no, that was my nephew. I can't have kids, I'm sterile.
Me: Okay
Motivational Speaker Stereotype Number Three:
The "High-Tech, Low-Performance" Speaker
The H.T.L.P. Speaker loves to put on a show! The H.T.L.P's program not only begins, its middle and its end is littered with state-of-the-art, eye-popping sound-effects and a fantastic frenzy of flashy visuals. In the outset the audience is totally mesmerized, but it becomes grossly apparent that the H.T.L.P. is heavy on the glitz and light on the substance. The H.T.L.P. is a show-person. The H.T.L.P’s entire speech can be boiled down to a bookmark of inspirational quotes which can be readily found by any 12-year-old conducting a 30-second search on GOOGLE. Yes, the H.T.L.P. catches the audience’s attention, but has no inkling where to go from there, except, you guessed it, onto the next variation of visual, vain displays which culminate into sensory overload and useful substance deprivation.
Solution:
Many professional motivational speakers acknowledge the need to capture the audience's attention, but should a professional speaker need a truckload of explosives to do it? No. The highly regarded professional speaker realizes that he or she is the distributor of the information being disseminated not some slide projector, movie screen or artificial simulator. The speaker who relies too heavily on electronics to deliver a message detracts from the human-element of their content. Limiting the bells and whistles in the show will allow both the audience and the speaker to focus on the theme and purpose of the program. Clients watching their Rate of Investment (ROI) versus their Rate of Return (ROR) will expect less show, more business and measurable results to justify a speaker’s fee. In short, if the only requirements for an effective presentation are flashy PowerPoint slides and spectacular visuals, there's no need for a human-being, and I beg to differ.
Wrap Up:
Many elements can be included in a speaker’s arsenal to deliver the utmost impact in their programs. Story-telling, humor, props, visuals, gestures, role-playing, personal anecdotes, eye contact and poignant quotations all serve as a means to effectively communicate the overall theme of a motivational speaker’s message. A speaker shouldn't rely on any one method too heavily and the ultimate goal must always be to leave the audience with a course of action they are motivated to pursue. After all, it's what happens "after" we leave the stage that matters most, right? A professional speaker who leaves his client with positive measurable end-results is a highly sought-after resource and no joking matter.
Motivational Speaker Stereotype Number One:
The "Over-The-Top" Speaker
The "Over-The-Top" Speaker or the O.T.T. Speaker appears to have discovered a new fad diet which includes mountains of pure sugar and caffeine. The O.T.T. will at any given moment find it necessary to expend tremendous amounts of energy racing about the platform as if a sniper has them in the crosshairs. During smaller office presentations, The O.T.T. speaker may also be seen jumping atop a desk shouting "Go For It!” or performing their best impressions of former Governor and one time Presidential hopeful, Howard Dean's famous "YEAAAAAHHHHHH".
It didn't work for Mr. Dean either.
Reality:
I do not desk hurdle. Many professional speakers whom I admire keep their gestures natural and their tones conversational in nature. This is not “Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey” and a speaker's stage is not a big tent.
Motivational Speaker Stereotype Number Two:
The "T.M.I." Speaker
In efforts to emotionally connect with the audience, the notorious T.M.I. Speaker offers up way Too Much Information of a personal nature. To the bewilderment of the hiring authority, the TMI speaker utilizes 90% of their time recanting inner-turmoil, teary-eyed, blow-by-blow commentaries of abuse, personal struggles and tragedies. Though touching, the program's focus is obscured and the message diluted by the T.M.I. Speakers deluging pity party. The T.M.I. speaker fails to realize the goal of any program is to inspire some sort of action of the audience, not to become a martyr or charity case.
Reality:
Engaging your audience is the goal of any professional speaker, but personal stories should only be used if they directly support and impact the overall theme of your program. Please allow me to cement my viewpoint with a brief story: During my first professional position as a paralegal for a government agency I had the marvelous opportunity to work side-by-side with a number of experienced individuals and mentors. These mentors taught me many compelling business principles that I currently utilize. One day at work on a crowded elevator I struck up a conversation with one such mentor. In the efforts to protect the innocent and the ignorant I'll refer to the mentor in this story as "Mr. Edwards".
Me: Hello Mr. Edwards, I noticed you in the lobby earlier today...
Mr. Edwards: Yes, Timothy my family paid me a visit...
Me: Really? Was that your son you were holding earlier?
Mr. Edwards: Oh no, that was my nephew. I can't have kids, I'm sterile.
Me: Okay
Motivational Speaker Stereotype Number Three:
The "High-Tech, Low-Performance" Speaker
The H.T.L.P. Speaker loves to put on a show! The H.T.L.P's program not only begins, its middle and its end is littered with state-of-the-art, eye-popping sound-effects and a fantastic frenzy of flashy visuals. In the outset the audience is totally mesmerized, but it becomes grossly apparent that the H.T.L.P. is heavy on the glitz and light on the substance. The H.T.L.P. is a show-person. The H.T.L.P’s entire speech can be boiled down to a bookmark of inspirational quotes which can be readily found by any 12-year-old conducting a 30-second search on GOOGLE. Yes, the H.T.L.P. catches the audience’s attention, but has no inkling where to go from there, except, you guessed it, onto the next variation of visual, vain displays which culminate into sensory overload and useful substance deprivation.
Solution:
Many professional motivational speakers acknowledge the need to capture the audience's attention, but should a professional speaker need a truckload of explosives to do it? No. The highly regarded professional speaker realizes that he or she is the distributor of the information being disseminated not some slide projector, movie screen or artificial simulator. The speaker who relies too heavily on electronics to deliver a message detracts from the human-element of their content. Limiting the bells and whistles in the show will allow both the audience and the speaker to focus on the theme and purpose of the program. Clients watching their Rate of Investment (ROI) versus their Rate of Return (ROR) will expect less show, more business and measurable results to justify a speaker’s fee. In short, if the only requirements for an effective presentation are flashy PowerPoint slides and spectacular visuals, there's no need for a human-being, and I beg to differ.
Wrap Up:
Many elements can be included in a speaker’s arsenal to deliver the utmost impact in their programs. Story-telling, humor, props, visuals, gestures, role-playing, personal anecdotes, eye contact and poignant quotations all serve as a means to effectively communicate the overall theme of a motivational speaker’s message. A speaker shouldn't rely on any one method too heavily and the ultimate goal must always be to leave the audience with a course of action they are motivated to pursue. After all, it's what happens "after" we leave the stage that matters most, right? A professional speaker who leaves his client with positive measurable end-results is a highly sought-after resource and no joking matter.
There is no place like now.
Most people in our culture today are so busy running around trying to arrange their lives to be somewhere else. We all want to be somewhere else geographically or financially or in our relationships. We want to be anywhere but here as we've been led to believe that if only we can be somewhere else then our lives would work. This escapism acts like a drug that only gives temporary relief to a chronic problem.
Apart from wanting to be somewhere else, most people today also live by a philosophy of "some day" that allows them to manipulate time. "I can do it, but just not today. I'll do it when…" and they use these excuses to stay in their comfort zones. The problem is that both someday and somewhere are undefined and illusionary. Somewhere does not exist and someday never comes, although you keep hoping that it does. This can be very disempowering and is responsible for a lot of disappointment and frustration for a lot of people.
The truth, however, is that right now is all you've really got. Tomorrow is never promised to you and learning to fully live in and for the moment is a vital distinction to make in creating a great life. Being grateful does not mean that you loose your drive or purpose, but allows you to slow down and really enjoy the ride. Not only is it healthy to want more from life, but it is also required to be truly fulfilled and knowing where you are is critical in getting where you want to be. Using someday as an excuse to soften your problems will not create long term success and fulfilment. Be honest with yourself and stop making excuses only to make yourself feel better. A little pain can be very useful as it will at least move you to action. There is always something you can do right now to turn your ideas into reality. There is always one small step you can take.
One of the most powerful resources you have is resourcefulness. This means that right now you have all that you need to achieve whatever you desire and that you have the ability to take action with exactly what you've got and exactly where you are. You do not have to wait for "some day when" or "when I am..." before you take action on your dreams and goals. The smallest idea acted upon can make all the difference as it immediately makes your idea real and smothers someday because you used your will to consciously take charge.
It is important to realize that the purpose of pursuing a goal or a dream is not just in achieving it but even more so in the experience of achieving it. You do not travel for the purpose of reaching a destination but for the purpose of travelling. Whatever dream or goal you are pursuing you will probably spend more time in pursuit of it than actually achieving it and most goals are an anti climax when you actually achieve them anyway. The process is where the true fulfilment comes from and the actual experience is what makes you become something instead of accumulating something. If you can't be happy and grateful without your goal then changes are that you won't be happy and grateful with it.
Live in the present, but know where you are going. Be right here and celebrate and capture the magical moments of your life. Hold on to them as the treasures you get to take with you into your magnificent future. Life is not just lived in the moment but also created in the moment. Now is the best time to design the next ten years of your life. Let your thoughts and knowledge serve you through action. Action is what eventually determines you destiny. Move confidently in the direction of your choosing and don't get seduced by the popular belief that some day things will come your way or some day your luck will change. You are the source and the creator of your own prosperity and it all starts with a sense of immense gratitude for everything you already have exactly where you are right now. One of the greatest privileges you have in life is that you can start right now with exactly what you’ve got to create anything you desire as the ultimate resources to life are within you.
Living in a place called somewhere really won't serve you long term although it might feel good as a short term escape or excuse. Having to consistently lie to yourself that you will act on your true desires some day when x, y or z is just right will only create an unnecessary burden. When you turn your "some day" philosophy into a "same day" philosophy you can start to adopt the mindset where you take action on your ideas immediately with exactly what you've got and exactly where you are.
What someday and somewhere really comes down to is that you falsely admit to yourself that what you need is not available to you. This creates a belief that you are not in control of your life but that you are waiting for something else somewhere else before you can take charge. Ironically, you will only get full access to your true resources when you take action exactly where you are with exactly what you've got, despite your excuses. True happiness and gratitude never relies on external conditions but is purely determined by your evaluation of where you are now. Now contains the seed of the rest of your life. Plant it with joy and water it with gratitude and rejoice in your life for you are its creator.
Apart from wanting to be somewhere else, most people today also live by a philosophy of "some day" that allows them to manipulate time. "I can do it, but just not today. I'll do it when…" and they use these excuses to stay in their comfort zones. The problem is that both someday and somewhere are undefined and illusionary. Somewhere does not exist and someday never comes, although you keep hoping that it does. This can be very disempowering and is responsible for a lot of disappointment and frustration for a lot of people.
The truth, however, is that right now is all you've really got. Tomorrow is never promised to you and learning to fully live in and for the moment is a vital distinction to make in creating a great life. Being grateful does not mean that you loose your drive or purpose, but allows you to slow down and really enjoy the ride. Not only is it healthy to want more from life, but it is also required to be truly fulfilled and knowing where you are is critical in getting where you want to be. Using someday as an excuse to soften your problems will not create long term success and fulfilment. Be honest with yourself and stop making excuses only to make yourself feel better. A little pain can be very useful as it will at least move you to action. There is always something you can do right now to turn your ideas into reality. There is always one small step you can take.
One of the most powerful resources you have is resourcefulness. This means that right now you have all that you need to achieve whatever you desire and that you have the ability to take action with exactly what you've got and exactly where you are. You do not have to wait for "some day when" or "when I am..." before you take action on your dreams and goals. The smallest idea acted upon can make all the difference as it immediately makes your idea real and smothers someday because you used your will to consciously take charge.
It is important to realize that the purpose of pursuing a goal or a dream is not just in achieving it but even more so in the experience of achieving it. You do not travel for the purpose of reaching a destination but for the purpose of travelling. Whatever dream or goal you are pursuing you will probably spend more time in pursuit of it than actually achieving it and most goals are an anti climax when you actually achieve them anyway. The process is where the true fulfilment comes from and the actual experience is what makes you become something instead of accumulating something. If you can't be happy and grateful without your goal then changes are that you won't be happy and grateful with it.
Live in the present, but know where you are going. Be right here and celebrate and capture the magical moments of your life. Hold on to them as the treasures you get to take with you into your magnificent future. Life is not just lived in the moment but also created in the moment. Now is the best time to design the next ten years of your life. Let your thoughts and knowledge serve you through action. Action is what eventually determines you destiny. Move confidently in the direction of your choosing and don't get seduced by the popular belief that some day things will come your way or some day your luck will change. You are the source and the creator of your own prosperity and it all starts with a sense of immense gratitude for everything you already have exactly where you are right now. One of the greatest privileges you have in life is that you can start right now with exactly what you’ve got to create anything you desire as the ultimate resources to life are within you.
Living in a place called somewhere really won't serve you long term although it might feel good as a short term escape or excuse. Having to consistently lie to yourself that you will act on your true desires some day when x, y or z is just right will only create an unnecessary burden. When you turn your "some day" philosophy into a "same day" philosophy you can start to adopt the mindset where you take action on your ideas immediately with exactly what you've got and exactly where you are.
What someday and somewhere really comes down to is that you falsely admit to yourself that what you need is not available to you. This creates a belief that you are not in control of your life but that you are waiting for something else somewhere else before you can take charge. Ironically, you will only get full access to your true resources when you take action exactly where you are with exactly what you've got, despite your excuses. True happiness and gratitude never relies on external conditions but is purely determined by your evaluation of where you are now. Now contains the seed of the rest of your life. Plant it with joy and water it with gratitude and rejoice in your life for you are its creator.
The True Price of Success
Standing in the gale-force winds, the kid was looking queasy. We could all see the storm was growing more intense.
The rain had already plastered his hair to his forehead and his new black suit was starting to cling to him in ways Mr. Armani never intended.
A typhoon was coming -- the seventh this summer to hit Japan -- and the kid's job, as newest employee, was to stand in front of a TV camera while the weather buffeted him about for the nation to watch. Sort of a talking weather vane.
I take my exercise along that stretch of beach every day, and today one of the most powerful typhoons on record would soon be upon us. I knew I couldn't stay too long, or I'd be caught in the wind and the torrential downpour. I'd make my walk extra-brief this day.
But the television crew had a different assignment.
They, and many other crews like them, are dispatched in satellite equipped trucks to many well-known sites all over Japan. These crews provide live reports on the progress of the storms as they rip their way up the Japanese archipelago.
And the kid in the black suit was their sacrificial lamb today. It was his job to get out there, once the storm reached its peak, and do a show and tell. That's what the people huddled at home want to see, and sponsors will pay well to bring them exactly what they expect.
If you've watched a lot of news over the years, you'll know that the greater the devastation, the higher the viewer ratings. That's the way it works -- more destruction means more interest.
In fact, you may recall that Dan Rather got his big break into national news by doing exactly what this kid was doing -- standing stubbornly in a raging hurricane and giving moment-by-moment reports to the viewers at home.
The networks find it's profitable programming to report on all the destruction, disruption and deaths.
But before we get off on an "Ain't-It-Awful" tangent, let me say right here that this scene I've just described carries one of the richest lessons you'll ever gain.
Typhoons and hurricanes cause huge disruptions. Your humanitarian heart empathizes with those caught up in the tragedies; aches for them; wants to reach out with succor and aid.
And I do applaud that urge to give comfort and help to those that life dumps on. The feelings are normal and proper.
But I suggest that sympathy alone, no matter how heartfelt, is a one-dimensional (even a poverty-ridden) way to respond to the world.
Sympathy can be a good thing, but often it's only a cheap imitation of caring. If it doesn't lead to action, it's basically worthless for anything but show.
However, it's possible to add a second layer of responses, a layer that involves going out and interacting with that world you're so empathic with.
Furthermore, since you've been seeking some way to gain wealth, let me say this. You've just found it.
It's called action.
Action -- appropriate action in response to the problems and tragedies you see around you can make you not only a better person, but a very rich one as well. It can allow you to provide far greater aid to those in need than you could ever accomplish with an aching heart alone.
And the profits from your actions will help you stay in business long-term so you can continue helping your fellowman.
Now, you may already be running a business. If so, you're providing people with some kind of solution to their problems. Are you being well paid for your solutions?
If so, that's good.
But if you're not being well rewarded for your efforts, there are only three possible reasons.
1. You're not telling enough people about yourself.
2. You're not very convincing because you don't believe you're very good at what you do.
3. You may not be solving problems that are big or urgent enough. This is probably the most common limit.
The biggest need today is for people who will do what you and I can't (or won't) do for ourselves. This includes people who make us feel better.
Consider the relative public value of a heart surgeon versus a sales clerk. A captivating entertainer or sports figure versus an office cleaner. A brilliant attorney versus a typist.
It's not my intention to demean anybody who is fulfilling any useful role in society. But the smaller paydays almost always go to the person who is more easily replaced. If nearly anybody can be quickly trained to do the job, there's lots of competition for that slot, and so the price goes down.
And the high-profile jobs like brain surgeon, trial lawyer, pro ball player, or CEO of a multinational -- well, most people won't ever try for those spots, meaning there's less competition. So the people who do try for these jobs can charge whatever the traffic will bear.
This is basic economics, right? We already know all of this. But if we already know it, why do we so seldom apply it to our own life? Why aren't we qualifying ourselves for the absolute top spot in our respective industries?
In many cases, it's because we unthinkingly shy away from "responsibility." We're scared of a bigger role... a higher profile. We keep ourselves small because... well... we just do, that's all. For example, can you tell me exactly why you're not the top authority in your industry? Can I tell why I'm not?
We do know the answer to that, though, don't we?
It's basically cowardice. We're scared spitless of making ourselves uncomfortable through doing things that we're not sure we can do perfectly. If we tried something big and super-ambitious, oh my goodness, what if we didn't do it very well?
We don't like to take chances. Don't enjoy big measures of ambiguity in the things we do. So instead, we plod along like cows coming in from the pasture at evening, regular as clockwork, utterly predictable -- and dependant upon whomever feeds us at the end of the day.
Cows don't take big chances. Neither do sheep. They stay close to the same territory day after day, year after year, clustered together, acting just alike, grazing placidly, never having any grand adventures. There are few opportunities in the fenced-in pasture. Just eat and sleep and grow old.
Ah, but the venturing soul slips through the fence, goes into unknown territory, and seeks out new things to do. Among us humans, we admire most the men and women who push past the barriers to new territory. Record-setting athletes. Inventive new artists and writers. Bold leaders who set new directions and escort the rest of us into new fields. Explorers in medicine, literature, flight, business, sports.
People who go out seeking new places to find, new levels to achieve, new problems to solve.
If you want your income and your life to expand, you're going to have to explore. Go out there past the edge of what you already know, past the comfortable, to a place where you're unsure what your outcome is going to be.
You, in a very real sense, become a gambler. But you will be gambling on the only thing in the universe that's worth the action -- yourself.
It has been said that the real reason for becoming rich and successful is not the money or the fame. It's the joy of being the person you have to become in order to achieve those goals of yours.
Know this: You'll never achieve those goals as you are now.
You really must become a whole different person. A bigger person. A stronger, more capable person.
And how do you do that? You stretch yourself. You make yourself uncomfortable, and you stay that way until you grow into it.
That's the true (and only) price of success.
The rain had already plastered his hair to his forehead and his new black suit was starting to cling to him in ways Mr. Armani never intended.
A typhoon was coming -- the seventh this summer to hit Japan -- and the kid's job, as newest employee, was to stand in front of a TV camera while the weather buffeted him about for the nation to watch. Sort of a talking weather vane.
I take my exercise along that stretch of beach every day, and today one of the most powerful typhoons on record would soon be upon us. I knew I couldn't stay too long, or I'd be caught in the wind and the torrential downpour. I'd make my walk extra-brief this day.
But the television crew had a different assignment.
They, and many other crews like them, are dispatched in satellite equipped trucks to many well-known sites all over Japan. These crews provide live reports on the progress of the storms as they rip their way up the Japanese archipelago.
And the kid in the black suit was their sacrificial lamb today. It was his job to get out there, once the storm reached its peak, and do a show and tell. That's what the people huddled at home want to see, and sponsors will pay well to bring them exactly what they expect.
If you've watched a lot of news over the years, you'll know that the greater the devastation, the higher the viewer ratings. That's the way it works -- more destruction means more interest.
In fact, you may recall that Dan Rather got his big break into national news by doing exactly what this kid was doing -- standing stubbornly in a raging hurricane and giving moment-by-moment reports to the viewers at home.
The networks find it's profitable programming to report on all the destruction, disruption and deaths.
But before we get off on an "Ain't-It-Awful" tangent, let me say right here that this scene I've just described carries one of the richest lessons you'll ever gain.
Typhoons and hurricanes cause huge disruptions. Your humanitarian heart empathizes with those caught up in the tragedies; aches for them; wants to reach out with succor and aid.
And I do applaud that urge to give comfort and help to those that life dumps on. The feelings are normal and proper.
But I suggest that sympathy alone, no matter how heartfelt, is a one-dimensional (even a poverty-ridden) way to respond to the world.
Sympathy can be a good thing, but often it's only a cheap imitation of caring. If it doesn't lead to action, it's basically worthless for anything but show.
However, it's possible to add a second layer of responses, a layer that involves going out and interacting with that world you're so empathic with.
Furthermore, since you've been seeking some way to gain wealth, let me say this. You've just found it.
It's called action.
Action -- appropriate action in response to the problems and tragedies you see around you can make you not only a better person, but a very rich one as well. It can allow you to provide far greater aid to those in need than you could ever accomplish with an aching heart alone.
And the profits from your actions will help you stay in business long-term so you can continue helping your fellowman.
Now, you may already be running a business. If so, you're providing people with some kind of solution to their problems. Are you being well paid for your solutions?
If so, that's good.
But if you're not being well rewarded for your efforts, there are only three possible reasons.
1. You're not telling enough people about yourself.
2. You're not very convincing because you don't believe you're very good at what you do.
3. You may not be solving problems that are big or urgent enough. This is probably the most common limit.
The biggest need today is for people who will do what you and I can't (or won't) do for ourselves. This includes people who make us feel better.
Consider the relative public value of a heart surgeon versus a sales clerk. A captivating entertainer or sports figure versus an office cleaner. A brilliant attorney versus a typist.
It's not my intention to demean anybody who is fulfilling any useful role in society. But the smaller paydays almost always go to the person who is more easily replaced. If nearly anybody can be quickly trained to do the job, there's lots of competition for that slot, and so the price goes down.
And the high-profile jobs like brain surgeon, trial lawyer, pro ball player, or CEO of a multinational -- well, most people won't ever try for those spots, meaning there's less competition. So the people who do try for these jobs can charge whatever the traffic will bear.
This is basic economics, right? We already know all of this. But if we already know it, why do we so seldom apply it to our own life? Why aren't we qualifying ourselves for the absolute top spot in our respective industries?
In many cases, it's because we unthinkingly shy away from "responsibility." We're scared of a bigger role... a higher profile. We keep ourselves small because... well... we just do, that's all. For example, can you tell me exactly why you're not the top authority in your industry? Can I tell why I'm not?
We do know the answer to that, though, don't we?
It's basically cowardice. We're scared spitless of making ourselves uncomfortable through doing things that we're not sure we can do perfectly. If we tried something big and super-ambitious, oh my goodness, what if we didn't do it very well?
We don't like to take chances. Don't enjoy big measures of ambiguity in the things we do. So instead, we plod along like cows coming in from the pasture at evening, regular as clockwork, utterly predictable -- and dependant upon whomever feeds us at the end of the day.
Cows don't take big chances. Neither do sheep. They stay close to the same territory day after day, year after year, clustered together, acting just alike, grazing placidly, never having any grand adventures. There are few opportunities in the fenced-in pasture. Just eat and sleep and grow old.
Ah, but the venturing soul slips through the fence, goes into unknown territory, and seeks out new things to do. Among us humans, we admire most the men and women who push past the barriers to new territory. Record-setting athletes. Inventive new artists and writers. Bold leaders who set new directions and escort the rest of us into new fields. Explorers in medicine, literature, flight, business, sports.
People who go out seeking new places to find, new levels to achieve, new problems to solve.
If you want your income and your life to expand, you're going to have to explore. Go out there past the edge of what you already know, past the comfortable, to a place where you're unsure what your outcome is going to be.
You, in a very real sense, become a gambler. But you will be gambling on the only thing in the universe that's worth the action -- yourself.
It has been said that the real reason for becoming rich and successful is not the money or the fame. It's the joy of being the person you have to become in order to achieve those goals of yours.
Know this: You'll never achieve those goals as you are now.
You really must become a whole different person. A bigger person. A stronger, more capable person.
And how do you do that? You stretch yourself. You make yourself uncomfortable, and you stay that way until you grow into it.
That's the true (and only) price of success.
The small change that creates massive results in your life.
"It is never too late to become what you
might have been." - GEORGE ELIOT
I believe that we all reach certain key points in our lives. We all reach crossroads where our lives hit a certain threshold of "pain" that we are no longer willing to settle for. This threshold is very different for every person. I also believe that if you are unhappy with anything in your life then that is a call to action; a desire from deep within the "real" you that wants to experience more of life.
This can be very challenging for a lot of people as they have this urge to improve their lives but they don't have an effective strategy. They then do the "logical" thing which is to work on the effects instead of the cause. Here is a simple thought process that will be a wake up call to you if you feel like you are spinning your wheels.
For my life to get better I have to get better.
For things to change I have to change.
I am mine. This is my life and I am the creator of my destiny.
I can change any and everything in my life by simply changing myself. This puts me in the driving seat of my life and makes my life my responsibility. It eliminates fear and apprehension for I know that no matter what life gives me I can always get to the next level and take the next step by simply making the internal shift in my own psychology.
I can stop looking for events, people and circumstances to blame. I only need to look inside. No matter how influential you are you cannot control the circumstances and events of your life. There are only three things over which you have absolute and total control and these are all you need. It forms the total experience of life. My thoughts, my actions and my words are always under my conscious control. They are MY thoughts, they are MY actions and they are MY words AND they create MY world every minute of every day.
This is incredibly liberating. Whenever I want to have more, experience more or change anything, I need only look inwards and work on myself. Jim Rohn once said that the hardest work you will ever do is the work you do on yourself. See, you can run around and work incredibly hard at trying to influence and change circumstances, but that will only make you tired and discourage your future efforts. It’s much easier to change yourself and your perception of yourself and your life. Nothing has any meaning except for the meaning you give it.
Changing external events have very little impact in your life on the long term. Small changes in you; in your perceptions and psychology might seem insignificant at first, but because the change is in you it effects all of your thoughts, all of your actions and all of your words. This seemingly insignificant change, over time changes the whole direction and end destination of your life. If a captain of a ship changes direction just one degree the end destination might be a different continent all together. Like the captain changing his course by one degree it might be unnoticeable over a short period of time, but over greater distances the small change becomes very significant.
Most people try and change the big things; they constantly try and change any and everything in their lives, but they then fail to maintain the change. Instead, making small consistent changes in yourself, in your own character you can create phenomenal results. All change starts and ends with you. If you are going to invest the time and effort to improve your life, then invest it in changing yourself. Invest your time and effort in improving "you" and let go of the superficial urges to control events and circumstances. Your whole perception and experience of life comes from you and who you are. Change yourself, improve your character and just watch the world improve and change before your very eyes.
might have been." - GEORGE ELIOT
I believe that we all reach certain key points in our lives. We all reach crossroads where our lives hit a certain threshold of "pain" that we are no longer willing to settle for. This threshold is very different for every person. I also believe that if you are unhappy with anything in your life then that is a call to action; a desire from deep within the "real" you that wants to experience more of life.
This can be very challenging for a lot of people as they have this urge to improve their lives but they don't have an effective strategy. They then do the "logical" thing which is to work on the effects instead of the cause. Here is a simple thought process that will be a wake up call to you if you feel like you are spinning your wheels.
For my life to get better I have to get better.
For things to change I have to change.
I am mine. This is my life and I am the creator of my destiny.
I can change any and everything in my life by simply changing myself. This puts me in the driving seat of my life and makes my life my responsibility. It eliminates fear and apprehension for I know that no matter what life gives me I can always get to the next level and take the next step by simply making the internal shift in my own psychology.
I can stop looking for events, people and circumstances to blame. I only need to look inside. No matter how influential you are you cannot control the circumstances and events of your life. There are only three things over which you have absolute and total control and these are all you need. It forms the total experience of life. My thoughts, my actions and my words are always under my conscious control. They are MY thoughts, they are MY actions and they are MY words AND they create MY world every minute of every day.
This is incredibly liberating. Whenever I want to have more, experience more or change anything, I need only look inwards and work on myself. Jim Rohn once said that the hardest work you will ever do is the work you do on yourself. See, you can run around and work incredibly hard at trying to influence and change circumstances, but that will only make you tired and discourage your future efforts. It’s much easier to change yourself and your perception of yourself and your life. Nothing has any meaning except for the meaning you give it.
Changing external events have very little impact in your life on the long term. Small changes in you; in your perceptions and psychology might seem insignificant at first, but because the change is in you it effects all of your thoughts, all of your actions and all of your words. This seemingly insignificant change, over time changes the whole direction and end destination of your life. If a captain of a ship changes direction just one degree the end destination might be a different continent all together. Like the captain changing his course by one degree it might be unnoticeable over a short period of time, but over greater distances the small change becomes very significant.
Most people try and change the big things; they constantly try and change any and everything in their lives, but they then fail to maintain the change. Instead, making small consistent changes in yourself, in your own character you can create phenomenal results. All change starts and ends with you. If you are going to invest the time and effort to improve your life, then invest it in changing yourself. Invest your time and effort in improving "you" and let go of the superficial urges to control events and circumstances. Your whole perception and experience of life comes from you and who you are. Change yourself, improve your character and just watch the world improve and change before your very eyes.
The Quit Smoking Swear Box
There are many people who are attempting to quit smoking. This article gives free tips on how you can kick the habit and to stop smoking those cancer sticks once and for all. I hope you enjoy the read.
When I was a teenager I clearly remember one of my teachers introducing a swear box at school. The concept, which I am sure you will be aware of, is quite simple. If you swear you have to put a certain amount of money in the box. At first people found it quite amusing and thought the idea was a bit of a joke. After having to put quite a lot of money into this box in the first few days of the project, I soon realised that it would be a lot cheaper if I could learn to control my tongue. Such a simple idea had a big impact on the school and at the same time taught me a huge lesson.
There are many reasons as to why people should stop smoking. Without doubt the most important is your health however a lot of people have a strange attitude to their own health despite hearing of many people dying from cancer related illnesses. They think that it will not happen to them or that by the time they get old, that a cure will have been found. They make comments such as, I could die in a car crash tomorrow anyway.
Over the last number of years we have seen regular government advertising campaigns to convince people to quit smoking. These are becoming more and more shocking and hard hitting, however people still do not listen.
What people do seem to care about, probably too much in my opinion, is money. Despite ever increasing tax raises on cigarettes people still continue to buy them. My idea is to keep a record of how many cigarettes you smoke per week and also how much it cost you to buy them. Then times the figure by fifty-two and that will be the amount you spend on cigarettes per year. How happy would you be if your boss offered you an increase to your wages of that amount? This is the reality as that is the increase in available money you would have per year. Just think about what you could spend that money on.
So we have now decided to quit smoking cigarettes once and for all. It is not going to be easy however. You will need to battle the demons in your head, who will be trying to convince you to have just one more. Going back to the swear box idea from before, it can be just as effective in any stop smoking program. It is likely that you will bow to temptation and every time you smoke one cigarette you put the equivalent cost of one whole packet in the swear box as way of punishment. The proceeds from the box could be given to a charity of your choice. This is you continue to let your demons win, will soon be hitting you hard in the pocket and hopefully will then convince you to stop.
I wish you every success in your quest to stop smoking.
When I was a teenager I clearly remember one of my teachers introducing a swear box at school. The concept, which I am sure you will be aware of, is quite simple. If you swear you have to put a certain amount of money in the box. At first people found it quite amusing and thought the idea was a bit of a joke. After having to put quite a lot of money into this box in the first few days of the project, I soon realised that it would be a lot cheaper if I could learn to control my tongue. Such a simple idea had a big impact on the school and at the same time taught me a huge lesson.
There are many reasons as to why people should stop smoking. Without doubt the most important is your health however a lot of people have a strange attitude to their own health despite hearing of many people dying from cancer related illnesses. They think that it will not happen to them or that by the time they get old, that a cure will have been found. They make comments such as, I could die in a car crash tomorrow anyway.
Over the last number of years we have seen regular government advertising campaigns to convince people to quit smoking. These are becoming more and more shocking and hard hitting, however people still do not listen.
What people do seem to care about, probably too much in my opinion, is money. Despite ever increasing tax raises on cigarettes people still continue to buy them. My idea is to keep a record of how many cigarettes you smoke per week and also how much it cost you to buy them. Then times the figure by fifty-two and that will be the amount you spend on cigarettes per year. How happy would you be if your boss offered you an increase to your wages of that amount? This is the reality as that is the increase in available money you would have per year. Just think about what you could spend that money on.
So we have now decided to quit smoking cigarettes once and for all. It is not going to be easy however. You will need to battle the demons in your head, who will be trying to convince you to have just one more. Going back to the swear box idea from before, it can be just as effective in any stop smoking program. It is likely that you will bow to temptation and every time you smoke one cigarette you put the equivalent cost of one whole packet in the swear box as way of punishment. The proceeds from the box could be given to a charity of your choice. This is you continue to let your demons win, will soon be hitting you hard in the pocket and hopefully will then convince you to stop.
I wish you every success in your quest to stop smoking.
The Power of Notes
Notes are very powerful. They express your thanks, encouragement, sympathy, apology, congratulations, feelings, and requests to others.
Many people create notes on a computer and print them or send them through the Internet. However, I believe the most effective notes are handwritten. A handwritten note is personal and rare. Due to this, it will be given more attention by the reader and have maximum impact.
A few weeks ago I was in Michigan for my dad's funeral. While there I attended my mom's church on Sunday and met her pastor for the second time. While talking to him, I learned that his mother died a few months ago and his dad was critically ill. On my way home to Virginia, I had a stop at Chicago O'Hare Airport. While waiting for my connecting flight, I pulled out a box of note cards and wrote several notes and mailed them. One of those was an encouraging note to my mom's pastor. I found out later that he was so touched by the note that he took it to his church and read it at a meeting. He made it clear to those in attendance how much of an encouragement it was to him. What I didn't know when I wrote the note was that during the following week not only did his dad pass away but his wife was diagnosed with cancer. I believe God used my note to help him during a very difficult time in his life. I also wonder how many others he talked to were changed because of that note. Maybe some of them are now writing notes as well. What if I hadn't written that note?
I would encourage you to start writing notes regularly. What a simple way to influence people's lives in a positive way. If you are concerned about how to get started, the following two books on the subject have been the most useful to me:
- "The Art of the Handwritten Note: A Guide to Reclaiming Civilized Communication" by Margaret Shepherd
- "Business Notes: Writing Personal Notes That Build Professional Relationships" by Florence Isaacs
Get a note card, pen and stamp. Write a note to someone who has been on your mind today. Only God knows how much that person, and the world, will change for the better due to the few minutes you take out of your busy schedule to write a few sentences.
Many people create notes on a computer and print them or send them through the Internet. However, I believe the most effective notes are handwritten. A handwritten note is personal and rare. Due to this, it will be given more attention by the reader and have maximum impact.
A few weeks ago I was in Michigan for my dad's funeral. While there I attended my mom's church on Sunday and met her pastor for the second time. While talking to him, I learned that his mother died a few months ago and his dad was critically ill. On my way home to Virginia, I had a stop at Chicago O'Hare Airport. While waiting for my connecting flight, I pulled out a box of note cards and wrote several notes and mailed them. One of those was an encouraging note to my mom's pastor. I found out later that he was so touched by the note that he took it to his church and read it at a meeting. He made it clear to those in attendance how much of an encouragement it was to him. What I didn't know when I wrote the note was that during the following week not only did his dad pass away but his wife was diagnosed with cancer. I believe God used my note to help him during a very difficult time in his life. I also wonder how many others he talked to were changed because of that note. Maybe some of them are now writing notes as well. What if I hadn't written that note?
I would encourage you to start writing notes regularly. What a simple way to influence people's lives in a positive way. If you are concerned about how to get started, the following two books on the subject have been the most useful to me:
- "The Art of the Handwritten Note: A Guide to Reclaiming Civilized Communication" by Margaret Shepherd
- "Business Notes: Writing Personal Notes That Build Professional Relationships" by Florence Isaacs
Get a note card, pen and stamp. Write a note to someone who has been on your mind today. Only God knows how much that person, and the world, will change for the better due to the few minutes you take out of your busy schedule to write a few sentences.
The Power of Focus
A few months ago my cousin bought a new car. As soon as this happened, I began to notice the car model seemingly everywhere I went. It wasn’t the case that everyone else suddenly bought one. I just noticed it more. It would have been strange if it didn’t happen all the time. You find yourself more aware of a certain object or issue after it has been brought to your initial attention. Then you notice similar objects over a period of time…perhaps for as long as the object is on your mind…like dreams perhaps. It’s the same with targets. Keep them at the forefront of your mind, and you will notice more things related to them.
There is a meta-physical side to this. Some people will tell you that you can bring the right situations or coincidences into your life simply by focusing on what you want. You might believe this or you might not. Even if you don’t, you have to admit that people who keep their goals on their minds are more alert. They see things that others miss. I have encountered it many times in the past. When I just started my first business back at University, my first priority was to get clients. It was difficult for me to do this. I didn’t know where to start from. I also had my studies on my mind at the time. So I tried to partition the time I had for both. My business partner was different. Though he was studying perhaps even harder than I was, he always managed to keep the business on his mind as well. So, he always came upon opportunities for clients or ideas, while I was lost. I didn’t even notice these opportunities as they passed by.
Sustaining focus indefinitely can be quite difficult. There is so much more in life fighting for our attention. So it helps if you can prioritise. Make this goal one of the most important things in your life, so it stays with you. It should be something that stimulates you. That way, it won’t be easily drowned out by the background noise. As you go about your activities, you can consider circumstances in the context of your goal. You will notice more opportunities. You will have more lucky breaks. You will increase your chances of success.
You would be surprised how much could be gained by throwing out a casual comment regarding your interest in a conversation in shop. Maybe the stranger you are talking to could turn out to be an investor. Maybe he will have some useful advice that could aid you on your path. You might see a billboard with a message that could trigger a new idea in your mind. All of this could happen; but the chances are dramatically increased by ensuring that your mind is focussed.
So if, for instance, your goal is financial independence (you and most other people!); keep it on your mind…and not in the fearful way most people do. Just be alert. Observe your environment and the people you meet everyday. When your chance comes, you will be able to see it and grab it.
It’s all about focus.
There is a meta-physical side to this. Some people will tell you that you can bring the right situations or coincidences into your life simply by focusing on what you want. You might believe this or you might not. Even if you don’t, you have to admit that people who keep their goals on their minds are more alert. They see things that others miss. I have encountered it many times in the past. When I just started my first business back at University, my first priority was to get clients. It was difficult for me to do this. I didn’t know where to start from. I also had my studies on my mind at the time. So I tried to partition the time I had for both. My business partner was different. Though he was studying perhaps even harder than I was, he always managed to keep the business on his mind as well. So, he always came upon opportunities for clients or ideas, while I was lost. I didn’t even notice these opportunities as they passed by.
Sustaining focus indefinitely can be quite difficult. There is so much more in life fighting for our attention. So it helps if you can prioritise. Make this goal one of the most important things in your life, so it stays with you. It should be something that stimulates you. That way, it won’t be easily drowned out by the background noise. As you go about your activities, you can consider circumstances in the context of your goal. You will notice more opportunities. You will have more lucky breaks. You will increase your chances of success.
You would be surprised how much could be gained by throwing out a casual comment regarding your interest in a conversation in shop. Maybe the stranger you are talking to could turn out to be an investor. Maybe he will have some useful advice that could aid you on your path. You might see a billboard with a message that could trigger a new idea in your mind. All of this could happen; but the chances are dramatically increased by ensuring that your mind is focussed.
So if, for instance, your goal is financial independence (you and most other people!); keep it on your mind…and not in the fearful way most people do. Just be alert. Observe your environment and the people you meet everyday. When your chance comes, you will be able to see it and grab it.
It’s all about focus.
The One Thing I Know
I know one thing.
I know this thing with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my being.
I know that I have the choice to be who I am, when I am, where I am.
I may not have a choice, today, about what I do for a living, where I live, or what kind of car I drive.
But if who I am today is a writer, I'm a writer, even if I live in a homeless shelter, write on paper bags with stubs of pencils, and take the bus to a job in a fast food joint to try to get out of the shelter.
If who I am today is a writer, I'm a writer, even if my kids are sick, my car is broken down, my computer won't boot and I haven't sold anything in years.
But if who I am today is a writer, and I decide that who I should be is a doctor, I'm going to be pretty miserable, because who I am is a writer.
On the other hand, if I'm a writer who wants to become a doctor, I've got a great handle on who I am, who I want to be, and probably an idea of whether it's possible and how to get there.
Never lose sight of who you are. Be who you are, no matter where you are, or when you are.
Be you.
I know this thing with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my being.
I know that I have the choice to be who I am, when I am, where I am.
I may not have a choice, today, about what I do for a living, where I live, or what kind of car I drive.
But if who I am today is a writer, I'm a writer, even if I live in a homeless shelter, write on paper bags with stubs of pencils, and take the bus to a job in a fast food joint to try to get out of the shelter.
If who I am today is a writer, I'm a writer, even if my kids are sick, my car is broken down, my computer won't boot and I haven't sold anything in years.
But if who I am today is a writer, and I decide that who I should be is a doctor, I'm going to be pretty miserable, because who I am is a writer.
On the other hand, if I'm a writer who wants to become a doctor, I've got a great handle on who I am, who I want to be, and probably an idea of whether it's possible and how to get there.
Never lose sight of who you are. Be who you are, no matter where you are, or when you are.
Be you.
The Observation Cycle-You Get More of What You Are Observing
Many people often ask, "Why do I keep getting more of this (as they refer to something unwanted)?" The answer is always the same - you get what you vibrate! In other words, whatever you give your attention, energy and focus to, you'll get more of it.
I hear people say, "But I'm not giving attention, energy or focus to this and I keep attracting more of it." Or, "I know what I want, but keep attracting this (pointing to what they don't want)."
There are a few things to check out if you are curious about why you keep attracting things that you don't want - remember the answer is always the same - you get what you vibrate. So, the challenge is to find out what you are doing to create this attention, energy or focus to this issue. Here is a quick check-off list to help you determine what you might be doing to attract more of what you don't want.
(1) Are you saying what you don't want by using 'Don't', 'Not' and 'No'?
(2) Are you complaining or worrying about what you don't want?
(3) Are you observing what you don't want?
In your observation of what you don't want, in that moment, you are giving it attention, energy and focus, thus attracting more of it. Just by observing it, you are offering a matching vibration to it. And Law of Attraction which is obedient in every moment, will unfold more of that vibrational match into your life.
When you open you wallet and see how much money you DO or DON'T have, then you offer the same vibration. When you open your client or customer file cabinet, you observe how many clients you DO or DON'T have, and again, in your observation you offer the same vibration, thus the observation cycle continues.
It's easy and quick to change your focus from what you DON'T want to what you do want. Each time you notice you are giving attention to what you don't want ask yourself, "So, what do I want?" Create one clear statement about what it is that you do want and spend a few moments focusing on THAT thought. You can only hold one vibration at a time and this easy exercise ensures that you are now focused on what you do want.
Remember, observing what you don't want will cause you to offer the same vibration to it and you will attract more of the same.
Observing what you DO want creates a matching vibration within you to your desire so that Law of Attraction can bring you more of the same.
I hear people say, "But I'm not giving attention, energy or focus to this and I keep attracting more of it." Or, "I know what I want, but keep attracting this (pointing to what they don't want)."
There are a few things to check out if you are curious about why you keep attracting things that you don't want - remember the answer is always the same - you get what you vibrate. So, the challenge is to find out what you are doing to create this attention, energy or focus to this issue. Here is a quick check-off list to help you determine what you might be doing to attract more of what you don't want.
(1) Are you saying what you don't want by using 'Don't', 'Not' and 'No'?
(2) Are you complaining or worrying about what you don't want?
(3) Are you observing what you don't want?
In your observation of what you don't want, in that moment, you are giving it attention, energy and focus, thus attracting more of it. Just by observing it, you are offering a matching vibration to it. And Law of Attraction which is obedient in every moment, will unfold more of that vibrational match into your life.
When you open you wallet and see how much money you DO or DON'T have, then you offer the same vibration. When you open your client or customer file cabinet, you observe how many clients you DO or DON'T have, and again, in your observation you offer the same vibration, thus the observation cycle continues.
It's easy and quick to change your focus from what you DON'T want to what you do want. Each time you notice you are giving attention to what you don't want ask yourself, "So, what do I want?" Create one clear statement about what it is that you do want and spend a few moments focusing on THAT thought. You can only hold one vibration at a time and this easy exercise ensures that you are now focused on what you do want.
Remember, observing what you don't want will cause you to offer the same vibration to it and you will attract more of the same.
Observing what you DO want creates a matching vibration within you to your desire so that Law of Attraction can bring you more of the same.
The Observation Cycle-You Get More of What You Are Observing
Many people often ask, "Why do I keep getting more of this (as they refer to something unwanted)?" The answer is always the same - you get what you vibrate! In other words, whatever you give your attention, energy and focus to, you'll get more of it.
I hear people say, "But I'm not giving attention, energy or focus to this and I keep attracting more of it." Or, "I know what I want, but keep attracting this (pointing to what they don't want)."
There are a few things to check out if you are curious about why you keep attracting things that you don't want - remember the answer is always the same - you get what you vibrate. So, the challenge is to find out what you are doing to create this attention, energy or focus to this issue. Here is a quick check-off list to help you determine what you might be doing to attract more of what you don't want.
(1) Are you saying what you don't want by using 'Don't', 'Not' and 'No'?
(2) Are you complaining or worrying about what you don't want?
(3) Are you observing what you don't want?
In your observation of what you don't want, in that moment, you are giving it attention, energy and focus, thus attracting more of it. Just by observing it, you are offering a matching vibration to it. And Law of Attraction which is obedient in every moment, will unfold more of that vibrational match into your life.
When you open you wallet and see how much money you DO or DON'T have, then you offer the same vibration. When you open your client or customer file cabinet, you observe how many clients you DO or DON'T have, and again, in your observation you offer the same vibration, thus the observation cycle continues.
It's easy and quick to change your focus from what you DON'T want to what you do want. Each time you notice you are giving attention to what you don't want ask yourself, "So, what do I want?" Create one clear statement about what it is that you do want and spend a few moments focusing on THAT thought. You can only hold one vibration at a time and this easy exercise ensures that you are now focused on what you do want.
Remember, observing what you don't want will cause you to offer the same vibration to it and you will attract more of the same.
Observing what you DO want creates a matching vibration within you to your desire so that Law of Attraction can bring you more of the same.
I hear people say, "But I'm not giving attention, energy or focus to this and I keep attracting more of it." Or, "I know what I want, but keep attracting this (pointing to what they don't want)."
There are a few things to check out if you are curious about why you keep attracting things that you don't want - remember the answer is always the same - you get what you vibrate. So, the challenge is to find out what you are doing to create this attention, energy or focus to this issue. Here is a quick check-off list to help you determine what you might be doing to attract more of what you don't want.
(1) Are you saying what you don't want by using 'Don't', 'Not' and 'No'?
(2) Are you complaining or worrying about what you don't want?
(3) Are you observing what you don't want?
In your observation of what you don't want, in that moment, you are giving it attention, energy and focus, thus attracting more of it. Just by observing it, you are offering a matching vibration to it. And Law of Attraction which is obedient in every moment, will unfold more of that vibrational match into your life.
When you open you wallet and see how much money you DO or DON'T have, then you offer the same vibration. When you open your client or customer file cabinet, you observe how many clients you DO or DON'T have, and again, in your observation you offer the same vibration, thus the observation cycle continues.
It's easy and quick to change your focus from what you DON'T want to what you do want. Each time you notice you are giving attention to what you don't want ask yourself, "So, what do I want?" Create one clear statement about what it is that you do want and spend a few moments focusing on THAT thought. You can only hold one vibration at a time and this easy exercise ensures that you are now focused on what you do want.
Remember, observing what you don't want will cause you to offer the same vibration to it and you will attract more of the same.
Observing what you DO want creates a matching vibration within you to your desire so that Law of Attraction can bring you more of the same.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
The Number 1 Secret of Success
Do you know what one of the key secrets of success is - what
makes people successful in business, sport or any other
aspect of their lives?
Let me come back to that in a minute.
Ever since I discovered that I wasn't invincible and that my
body would fall apart over time, I've been a member of a
gym.
I've attended regularly over the past fifteen years and my
body deterioration is almost being kept in check.
However I've always noticed a lot of new faces at the gym,
some of which seem to disappear over a short period of time.
Most gyms and health clubs have a high turnover of members
or "churn" as the marketing people like to call it.
One club I know of loses around fifty members a month and
has to work hard to sign up that number just for the
business to stand still.
It's not that these gyms offer a poor service, on the
contrary - it's because the members - "give up."
New members join to lose weight or to get fit. They then
torture themselves on the rowing machines and all the other
instruments of agony. If, after a few weeks of sweat and
pain, they don't see any visible result - they give up.
You're probably away ahead of me on this; because the key
secret of success that I mentioned earlier is this - NEVER
EVER GIVE UP.
This is what separates the winners from the losers in
business, in sport and in life - this is what success is all
about.
If you have a mountain to climb either literally or
figuratively and you reach an obstacle - don't give up.
Find another way round - even go back a short distance and
come at the situation from another direction.
Whatever it is you're trying to achieve, whatever success
you want - never give up! Make mistakes - fall down - get up
- fall down - but get up and try again.
So there you have it - If you want success remember what
Winston Churchill once said - "Never - Never - Never give
up!"
makes people successful in business, sport or any other
aspect of their lives?
Let me come back to that in a minute.
Ever since I discovered that I wasn't invincible and that my
body would fall apart over time, I've been a member of a
gym.
I've attended regularly over the past fifteen years and my
body deterioration is almost being kept in check.
However I've always noticed a lot of new faces at the gym,
some of which seem to disappear over a short period of time.
Most gyms and health clubs have a high turnover of members
or "churn" as the marketing people like to call it.
One club I know of loses around fifty members a month and
has to work hard to sign up that number just for the
business to stand still.
It's not that these gyms offer a poor service, on the
contrary - it's because the members - "give up."
New members join to lose weight or to get fit. They then
torture themselves on the rowing machines and all the other
instruments of agony. If, after a few weeks of sweat and
pain, they don't see any visible result - they give up.
You're probably away ahead of me on this; because the key
secret of success that I mentioned earlier is this - NEVER
EVER GIVE UP.
This is what separates the winners from the losers in
business, in sport and in life - this is what success is all
about.
If you have a mountain to climb either literally or
figuratively and you reach an obstacle - don't give up.
Find another way round - even go back a short distance and
come at the situation from another direction.
Whatever it is you're trying to achieve, whatever success
you want - never give up! Make mistakes - fall down - get up
- fall down - but get up and try again.
So there you have it - If you want success remember what
Winston Churchill once said - "Never - Never - Never give
up!"
The Key To Your Motivation and Success
What sets successful people apart from the pack? Is it luck, money, good lucks, and/or talent?
No, it is one small simple fact -- motivation.
People who are successful all share one trait -- they are motivated.
Of course, motivation really isn't simple at all. That is why there is multi-billion industry focused on self-help books, tapes, seminars, camps, and coaches.
There is just one problem with using these methods. When it comes to motivation one size does not fit all. One of the elements that makes human beings so endlessly fascinating is that we are all individuals.It is the primary reason our species has been so successful. It also means we each have different interests, goals, and motivation.
So before you can begin following any one of the thousands of motivational programs available you must first determine which motivational group you fall into.
After some thought, study, and research, I have come up with four basic motivational categories:
~ The Pessimist
~ The Competitor
~ The Minimalist
~ The Exhibitionist
The Pessimist
The Pessimist is personified by my husband. Whenever he gets the smallest bit of bad news he immediately leaps into the deep end of doom and gloom. It doesn't matter if the problem is small or large, he often reacts as if it is the end of the world. If the satellite dish has a momentary hiccup in service then he immediately assumes the bill didn't get paid and our account terminated and our credit score is now on the decline.
It took me a long time to learn how to deal with this. At first I thought it was real panic and I would try to shield him from the smaller hiccups, and even some big ones, of life. But now I know this is actually how he motivated himself.
When we face challenges, big or small, he works himself through a familiar cycle. First he outlines the worst-case scenario, then he outlines his options for action, and then he takes action. And when he takes action just get out of the way as he moves very quickly -- and successfully. Challenge faced, problem solved. It makes me crazy but it works for him!
The Competitor
My brother thrives on competition. Whether he is playing sports or working in sales, he is always more successful if he has competition.If his motivation flags he can easily juice himself up with a quick comparison of his progress toward a particular goal in comparison to others. He likes to keep score and that keeps him motivated. He wants to win whatever competition is at hand.
Don't knock this method. By almost any measure my brother is a huge success and has worked his way from a contract employee barely able to afford his two-bedroom apartment to a high-level sales executive with a six-figure salary plus bonuses to further incentivize him.
The Minimalist
Perhaps this person might best be described as having a short-attention span. They need short-term goals that are immediately visible and can be achieved within a short time span. They can go the distance as long as it is broken up into smaller projects. Each small victory will spur them on to the final goal but they need those little successes to keep them motivated. In many ways this label applies to me but I think down deep that I am really in the final category.
The Exhibitionist
I know I fall into this category because I have a very difficult time with goals that I cannot see. It is one of the reasons I hate cleaning -- sure you can see the results but with a busy family you know how long those results stay visible!
Like the minimalist I enjoy breaking large projects up into small, bite-sized chunks so they are not so overwhelming. When I grade papers for my teaching gig I always divide the pile into several smaller piles so I can feel I am making progress. I do the same with cleaning -- first straighten the room, then dust, then vacuum.
But it isn't enough for me to accomplish the task -- I need to have a to do list that I can check off as I go and then crumple up and throwin the trash at the end of the day. I need to be able to point to some visible success for the day whether it is a shining kitchen, a stack of graded papers, or a pile of completed manuscript pages.
Which category do you fall into? Once you know that much about yourself you will be better able to find the motivation technique that works best for you. Stop by the Words of Inspiration web site and vote in our motivation poll and then go get motivated!
No, it is one small simple fact -- motivation.
People who are successful all share one trait -- they are motivated.
Of course, motivation really isn't simple at all. That is why there is multi-billion industry focused on self-help books, tapes, seminars, camps, and coaches.
There is just one problem with using these methods. When it comes to motivation one size does not fit all. One of the elements that makes human beings so endlessly fascinating is that we are all individuals.It is the primary reason our species has been so successful. It also means we each have different interests, goals, and motivation.
So before you can begin following any one of the thousands of motivational programs available you must first determine which motivational group you fall into.
After some thought, study, and research, I have come up with four basic motivational categories:
~ The Pessimist
~ The Competitor
~ The Minimalist
~ The Exhibitionist
The Pessimist
The Pessimist is personified by my husband. Whenever he gets the smallest bit of bad news he immediately leaps into the deep end of doom and gloom. It doesn't matter if the problem is small or large, he often reacts as if it is the end of the world. If the satellite dish has a momentary hiccup in service then he immediately assumes the bill didn't get paid and our account terminated and our credit score is now on the decline.
It took me a long time to learn how to deal with this. At first I thought it was real panic and I would try to shield him from the smaller hiccups, and even some big ones, of life. But now I know this is actually how he motivated himself.
When we face challenges, big or small, he works himself through a familiar cycle. First he outlines the worst-case scenario, then he outlines his options for action, and then he takes action. And when he takes action just get out of the way as he moves very quickly -- and successfully. Challenge faced, problem solved. It makes me crazy but it works for him!
The Competitor
My brother thrives on competition. Whether he is playing sports or working in sales, he is always more successful if he has competition.If his motivation flags he can easily juice himself up with a quick comparison of his progress toward a particular goal in comparison to others. He likes to keep score and that keeps him motivated. He wants to win whatever competition is at hand.
Don't knock this method. By almost any measure my brother is a huge success and has worked his way from a contract employee barely able to afford his two-bedroom apartment to a high-level sales executive with a six-figure salary plus bonuses to further incentivize him.
The Minimalist
Perhaps this person might best be described as having a short-attention span. They need short-term goals that are immediately visible and can be achieved within a short time span. They can go the distance as long as it is broken up into smaller projects. Each small victory will spur them on to the final goal but they need those little successes to keep them motivated. In many ways this label applies to me but I think down deep that I am really in the final category.
The Exhibitionist
I know I fall into this category because I have a very difficult time with goals that I cannot see. It is one of the reasons I hate cleaning -- sure you can see the results but with a busy family you know how long those results stay visible!
Like the minimalist I enjoy breaking large projects up into small, bite-sized chunks so they are not so overwhelming. When I grade papers for my teaching gig I always divide the pile into several smaller piles so I can feel I am making progress. I do the same with cleaning -- first straighten the room, then dust, then vacuum.
But it isn't enough for me to accomplish the task -- I need to have a to do list that I can check off as I go and then crumple up and throwin the trash at the end of the day. I need to be able to point to some visible success for the day whether it is a shining kitchen, a stack of graded papers, or a pile of completed manuscript pages.
Which category do you fall into? Once you know that much about yourself you will be better able to find the motivation technique that works best for you. Stop by the Words of Inspiration web site and vote in our motivation poll and then go get motivated!
The Essential Keys To Self Improvement And Motivation... Revealed!
What are the three keys to self improvement and motivation?
1. INSPIRATION.
Inspiration is critical to staying motivated and improving oneself. If you are not interested in your business, your motivation level will never be high and you will not be able to sustain interest for very long.
Take an honest look at your inspiration level. Are you excited about going to work or is it an obligation? You would be surprised at the number of people who choose a business that looks good on paper, but in reality does not interest them in the least.
These individuals will grow weary and uninterested pretty quickly because they have no inspiration or passion to sustain them during the difficult times they will encounter as a small business owner.
If you do not like your work, then think how you can re-focus your small business to better match your needs. Or consider making a change entirely. Without inspiration, there will not be motivated to even try self improvement.
2. SETTING GOALS.
Short and long-term goal setting is vital for any business owner. If you do not set goals, you would have no definite purpose on which path of self improvement to take.
How could you possibly be motivated if you were unsure about the direction of your company?
Take the time to put your goals in writing. A business plan may sound daunting, but it is really nothing more than goals, strategies, implementation and a budget. Write your own business plan and update it at least annually.
Include “mini-goals” that can be accomplished in a matter of hours, days or weeks as well as the more ambitious “grand-goals” that may take years to complete. Refer to this plan throughout the year.
But can a business plan really help motivate you? Of course. Written goals will make you feel more professional and certainly more connected to your business. It will also free you from having to reinvent your business goals every single day.
3. NETWORKING.
Another key factor in getting and staying motivated is networking with other small business owners. No one person knows all the knowledge.
However, when a number of people begin working together, the challenges will just be there waiting to be conquered.
In fact, the isolation of working alone is of one the most difficult parts of being an entrepreneur. You can never be on your way to self improvement without the help of others. Mutual support is motivating.
Make it easier on yourself by connecting with others either in your community or online. Even when businesses are not related, you will often find common ground and ways to work together.
Many successful entrepreneurs report that finding the right networking group was a turning point in the growth of the business. Working together, a networking group can help its members generate more qualified sales leads and solve problems faster and more efficiently.
Sharing ideas, expertise and experience is also an invaluable aspect of motivation and self improvement.
Your own personal team of business owners will help re-energize you when the burdens of running your own business seem too much.
With your networking team to rely on, you can accomplish more in less time and probably have more fun in the process. You will feel motivated to accomplish self improvement when you know you are not alone.
1. INSPIRATION.
Inspiration is critical to staying motivated and improving oneself. If you are not interested in your business, your motivation level will never be high and you will not be able to sustain interest for very long.
Take an honest look at your inspiration level. Are you excited about going to work or is it an obligation? You would be surprised at the number of people who choose a business that looks good on paper, but in reality does not interest them in the least.
These individuals will grow weary and uninterested pretty quickly because they have no inspiration or passion to sustain them during the difficult times they will encounter as a small business owner.
If you do not like your work, then think how you can re-focus your small business to better match your needs. Or consider making a change entirely. Without inspiration, there will not be motivated to even try self improvement.
2. SETTING GOALS.
Short and long-term goal setting is vital for any business owner. If you do not set goals, you would have no definite purpose on which path of self improvement to take.
How could you possibly be motivated if you were unsure about the direction of your company?
Take the time to put your goals in writing. A business plan may sound daunting, but it is really nothing more than goals, strategies, implementation and a budget. Write your own business plan and update it at least annually.
Include “mini-goals” that can be accomplished in a matter of hours, days or weeks as well as the more ambitious “grand-goals” that may take years to complete. Refer to this plan throughout the year.
But can a business plan really help motivate you? Of course. Written goals will make you feel more professional and certainly more connected to your business. It will also free you from having to reinvent your business goals every single day.
3. NETWORKING.
Another key factor in getting and staying motivated is networking with other small business owners. No one person knows all the knowledge.
However, when a number of people begin working together, the challenges will just be there waiting to be conquered.
In fact, the isolation of working alone is of one the most difficult parts of being an entrepreneur. You can never be on your way to self improvement without the help of others. Mutual support is motivating.
Make it easier on yourself by connecting with others either in your community or online. Even when businesses are not related, you will often find common ground and ways to work together.
Many successful entrepreneurs report that finding the right networking group was a turning point in the growth of the business. Working together, a networking group can help its members generate more qualified sales leads and solve problems faster and more efficiently.
Sharing ideas, expertise and experience is also an invaluable aspect of motivation and self improvement.
Your own personal team of business owners will help re-energize you when the burdens of running your own business seem too much.
With your networking team to rely on, you can accomplish more in less time and probably have more fun in the process. You will feel motivated to accomplish self improvement when you know you are not alone.
The Biggest Loser
I am a “Loser”. You’re gonna learn from this writing today the reason why you too must be a “Loser”. In all seriousness, let me share with you why I am writing this. Over twenty million Americans watched the evolution of a winner in a reality show called “The Biggest Loser”. This particular show involved severely overweight and obese contestants that had simply lost all control of their weight. The winner that ultimately lost the most body weight and decreased his overall body fat was awarded $250,000.
I want to correlate this show to business, life and to personal success. You need to be the Biggest Loser when it comes to changing your associations with others. One of the contestants on the show was severely obese to the point that others would look at him and say to themselves, “He will never be healthy…he’s past the point of no return…he’s really disgusting.” But that person made the decision to change his life and become the ultimate winner…The Biggest Loser. I want to share with you 5 secrets on how you to can become The Biggest Loser.
Secret #1 – Realization
You must realize where you are today. The winner of the Biggest Loser realized that he was overweight and would ultimately die from his decisions to allow himself to become so unhealthy. He realized that enough is enough, and he made a change. I challenge you today to take a look at where you are in your business and/or your life. Have you had enough? If so, then you need to “lose” all your negative habits and associations.
Secret #2 – Accountability
As soon as the contestants realized where they were in their lives, they became accountable to their teammates (aka Mastermind Team) in order to become the Biggest Loser and drop massive amounts of weight. These individuals look like completely different people. This is similar to your progression towards your ultimate Why in life. People start saying that you are changing…you act different, you sound different, you listen to different CDs, you read different books and you even look different. You are on a success journey and accountable to Champions on your Mastermind Team. Where are you in your life? Are others noticing these differences about you? If not, it’s time to drop the negative associations and habits just like those contestants dropped that weight.
Secret #3 – Extra Step
The contestants pushed themselves to go the extra mile by participating in extra workouts, taking advantage of the extra associations with others that have goals and dreams like them and pushing themselves that extra step not to take part in indulgences that would ruin their overall goal of losing weight and becoming The Biggest Loser. Have you taken that extra step by attending extra events/seminars, making extra calls, investing in extra CDs and associating with extraordinary people? This extra step will push you to the next level and give you that edge that others don’t have.
Secret #4 – Rewards
Reward yourself as you begin to change and go to the next level. When you go to an extra event/seminar, save the ticket, your name tag, etc. and put them in your dream journal. This is a way of saying “I did it! I went that extra step and now this is my reward!” Be excited about that extra step and reward yourself with praise and self-acknowledgment.
Secret #5 – Personal Coach
Every single person on that show had a Personal Coach. Are you happy where you are in your life? Do you need to lose weight, lose debt, gain health, gain wealth, lose negative associations, gain a Mastermind Team, gain prosperity, lose failure and/or gain success? A major secret to achieve your ultimate why is the importance a Personal Coach. The first thing that The Biggest Loser did when he won the $250,000 was hug his Personal Coach. Why? Because his Personal Coach was there each and every step of the way. I know when I personally coach Champions and receive their emails/calls saying that they have gone to the next level in their lives, I experience great excitement in their accomplishments. That’s what happens when you become a Champion…that’s what life is all about! You can’t do it alone!
In order to become a Winner in life, you must first become a “Loser”. I suggest that you read this article another 5 times. Analyze where you are right now, where you want to go, who you must associate with to get there and the habits that you must lose to do it. For those of you who want to go to the next level, I would love to be your Personal Coach and I only coach Champions who truly believe that they are worthy to receive success and go to the next level in life!
Find your WHY & FLY!
John Di Lemme
www.FindYourWhy.com
I want to correlate this show to business, life and to personal success. You need to be the Biggest Loser when it comes to changing your associations with others. One of the contestants on the show was severely obese to the point that others would look at him and say to themselves, “He will never be healthy…he’s past the point of no return…he’s really disgusting.” But that person made the decision to change his life and become the ultimate winner…The Biggest Loser. I want to share with you 5 secrets on how you to can become The Biggest Loser.
Secret #1 – Realization
You must realize where you are today. The winner of the Biggest Loser realized that he was overweight and would ultimately die from his decisions to allow himself to become so unhealthy. He realized that enough is enough, and he made a change. I challenge you today to take a look at where you are in your business and/or your life. Have you had enough? If so, then you need to “lose” all your negative habits and associations.
Secret #2 – Accountability
As soon as the contestants realized where they were in their lives, they became accountable to their teammates (aka Mastermind Team) in order to become the Biggest Loser and drop massive amounts of weight. These individuals look like completely different people. This is similar to your progression towards your ultimate Why in life. People start saying that you are changing…you act different, you sound different, you listen to different CDs, you read different books and you even look different. You are on a success journey and accountable to Champions on your Mastermind Team. Where are you in your life? Are others noticing these differences about you? If not, it’s time to drop the negative associations and habits just like those contestants dropped that weight.
Secret #3 – Extra Step
The contestants pushed themselves to go the extra mile by participating in extra workouts, taking advantage of the extra associations with others that have goals and dreams like them and pushing themselves that extra step not to take part in indulgences that would ruin their overall goal of losing weight and becoming The Biggest Loser. Have you taken that extra step by attending extra events/seminars, making extra calls, investing in extra CDs and associating with extraordinary people? This extra step will push you to the next level and give you that edge that others don’t have.
Secret #4 – Rewards
Reward yourself as you begin to change and go to the next level. When you go to an extra event/seminar, save the ticket, your name tag, etc. and put them in your dream journal. This is a way of saying “I did it! I went that extra step and now this is my reward!” Be excited about that extra step and reward yourself with praise and self-acknowledgment.
Secret #5 – Personal Coach
Every single person on that show had a Personal Coach. Are you happy where you are in your life? Do you need to lose weight, lose debt, gain health, gain wealth, lose negative associations, gain a Mastermind Team, gain prosperity, lose failure and/or gain success? A major secret to achieve your ultimate why is the importance a Personal Coach. The first thing that The Biggest Loser did when he won the $250,000 was hug his Personal Coach. Why? Because his Personal Coach was there each and every step of the way. I know when I personally coach Champions and receive their emails/calls saying that they have gone to the next level in their lives, I experience great excitement in their accomplishments. That’s what happens when you become a Champion…that’s what life is all about! You can’t do it alone!
In order to become a Winner in life, you must first become a “Loser”. I suggest that you read this article another 5 times. Analyze where you are right now, where you want to go, who you must associate with to get there and the habits that you must lose to do it. For those of you who want to go to the next level, I would love to be your Personal Coach and I only coach Champions who truly believe that they are worthy to receive success and go to the next level in life!
Find your WHY & FLY!
John Di Lemme
www.FindYourWhy.com
The A-Z Of Motivation
Pain may sometimes be the reason why people change. Getting bad grades make you realize that you need to study. Debts remind you of your inability to look for a source of income. Being humiliated gives you the ‘push’ to speak up and fight for yourself to save your face from the next embarrassment. It may be a bitter experience, a friend’s tragic story, a great movie, or an inspiring book that will help you to get up and get just the right amount of motivation you need in order to improve yourself.
With all the people trying to pull you down and waiting for you to fail, how can you stay motivated and positive?
Try this A to Z of tips for motivation
A - Achieving your dreams. Avoid negative people, things and places because they will only drag you down. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
B - Believe in your self, and in what you can do. Believe in your possibilities and your dreams. Every advancement of humankind has taken place because someone believed in themselves.
C – Consider all of the angles and aspects of everything you encounter, whether it is people or situations. Motivation comes from strength of purpose. Being able to see both points of view will give you more chance of being successful and keeping those around you motivated too.
D – Don’t give up and don’t give in. Every successful person from J K Rowling to Walt Disney to Sylvester Stallone to Thomas Edison had multiple failures before being successful. Sometimes their failures or rejections ran into the hundreds before they achieved success.
E – Enjoy. Work as if you don’t need money. Dance as if nobody’s watching. Love as if you never cried. Learn as if you’ll live forever. Motivation takes place when people are happy.
F – Family and Friends. Use your family and friends to help you stay motivated. The big football teams have cheerleaders and fans to encourage them. Your family and friends can be your cheerleaders and fans. Use them to keep you going when you feel your motivation drifting.
G – Give that little bit extra. Self improvement happens everywhere all the time, whether you are at home, at work or at school. Anthony Robbins tells us that the difference in effort between excellent and outstanding is miniscule, yet the difference in rewards is massive. Giving that little bit extra can put you into the outstanding.
H – Hang on to your dreams. There may be times when it looks bleak, but hang on to your dreams. The night is darkest just before the dawn. It is at this moment that you are closest to success and 95% of people will give up. Push through this moment and you’ll achieve your dreams.
I – Ignore those who try to destroy you. Don’t get involved in their dramas or toxicity – just walk away. Surround yourself with people who will encourage and support you. Remove those who want to pull you down and watch you fail from your life. You’ll find it much easier to stay motivated.
J – Joy and gratitude. Perhaps two of the fundamentals for motivation and success is to be joyful in what you do and grateful for what you have.
K – Keep pushing forwards no matter how hard life may seem. In the toughest moments you can choose to move forwards or to run away. It’s your decision – one path brings you closer to the success, the other takes you away from it. Which do you want to follow?
L – Learn to love your self. This isn’t as easy as it sounds for most people, but by loving yourself you will be happier and more motivated because you will believe you deserve what you achieve.
M – Make things happen. Motivation and success doesn’t come from sitting in front of the television drinking coke and eating pizza. Take action and you’ll achieve your dreams.
N – Never lie, cheat or steal. Always play a fair game. At the end of the day, if you live a dishonest life, it will come back to you. Living an honest, fair life allows you to be proud of what you do.
O – Open your eyes. Everyone has a set of blinkers that they wear and see everything through them, i.e. how they would like things to be. Look at life with open eyes and see things how they are, and see them how you want them to be. Then take action to make it happen.
P – Practice makes perfect. The more you practice, the better you become. A top sportsman doesn’t reach their status through a single practice or game. They practice harder and longer than anyone else, and as such, are rewarded more than anyone else.
Q – Quitters never win. And winners never quit. So, which do you want to be?
R – Ready yourself. Always be ready to take advantage of the opportunities and situations presented to you. Prepare in advance, and ignore the voice telling you to put it off until tomorrow. Remember, it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark!
S – Stop procrastinating. You can put it all off until tomorrow, but one day there will be no more tomorrows. Start procrastinating about procrastinating and do tomorrows jobs today.
T – Take control of your life. Discipline and self control are synonymous with motivation. So many people believe their lives are out of their control. Look at your life in detail and you’ll discover you have more areas under your control than you think.
U – Understand others. If you know very well how to talk, you should also learn how to listen. You have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Understand others and strive to be understood.
V – Visualise it. Your sub-conscious knows no difference between your imagination and reality, so if you rehearse your success in your mind, then your sub-conscious will believe in it and make it happen.
W – Want it more than anything. Every successful person has had a burning desire to achieve their goals. The Wright brothers didn’t invent the aeroplane because there was nothing on the television. They had a burning desire to succeed and kept going, even in the face of setbacks.
X – X Factor is what will make you different from the others. When you are motivated, you tend to put on “extras” on your life like extra time for family, extra help at work, extra care for friends. This X-Factor sets you aside from the crowd and marks you out for success.
Y – You are unique. No one in this world looks, acts, thinks or talks like you. Value your unique gifts, whatever they are and use them for your success.
Z – Zero in on your dreams and make it happen!!!
With all the people trying to pull you down and waiting for you to fail, how can you stay motivated and positive?
Try this A to Z of tips for motivation
A - Achieving your dreams. Avoid negative people, things and places because they will only drag you down. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
B - Believe in your self, and in what you can do. Believe in your possibilities and your dreams. Every advancement of humankind has taken place because someone believed in themselves.
C – Consider all of the angles and aspects of everything you encounter, whether it is people or situations. Motivation comes from strength of purpose. Being able to see both points of view will give you more chance of being successful and keeping those around you motivated too.
D – Don’t give up and don’t give in. Every successful person from J K Rowling to Walt Disney to Sylvester Stallone to Thomas Edison had multiple failures before being successful. Sometimes their failures or rejections ran into the hundreds before they achieved success.
E – Enjoy. Work as if you don’t need money. Dance as if nobody’s watching. Love as if you never cried. Learn as if you’ll live forever. Motivation takes place when people are happy.
F – Family and Friends. Use your family and friends to help you stay motivated. The big football teams have cheerleaders and fans to encourage them. Your family and friends can be your cheerleaders and fans. Use them to keep you going when you feel your motivation drifting.
G – Give that little bit extra. Self improvement happens everywhere all the time, whether you are at home, at work or at school. Anthony Robbins tells us that the difference in effort between excellent and outstanding is miniscule, yet the difference in rewards is massive. Giving that little bit extra can put you into the outstanding.
H – Hang on to your dreams. There may be times when it looks bleak, but hang on to your dreams. The night is darkest just before the dawn. It is at this moment that you are closest to success and 95% of people will give up. Push through this moment and you’ll achieve your dreams.
I – Ignore those who try to destroy you. Don’t get involved in their dramas or toxicity – just walk away. Surround yourself with people who will encourage and support you. Remove those who want to pull you down and watch you fail from your life. You’ll find it much easier to stay motivated.
J – Joy and gratitude. Perhaps two of the fundamentals for motivation and success is to be joyful in what you do and grateful for what you have.
K – Keep pushing forwards no matter how hard life may seem. In the toughest moments you can choose to move forwards or to run away. It’s your decision – one path brings you closer to the success, the other takes you away from it. Which do you want to follow?
L – Learn to love your self. This isn’t as easy as it sounds for most people, but by loving yourself you will be happier and more motivated because you will believe you deserve what you achieve.
M – Make things happen. Motivation and success doesn’t come from sitting in front of the television drinking coke and eating pizza. Take action and you’ll achieve your dreams.
N – Never lie, cheat or steal. Always play a fair game. At the end of the day, if you live a dishonest life, it will come back to you. Living an honest, fair life allows you to be proud of what you do.
O – Open your eyes. Everyone has a set of blinkers that they wear and see everything through them, i.e. how they would like things to be. Look at life with open eyes and see things how they are, and see them how you want them to be. Then take action to make it happen.
P – Practice makes perfect. The more you practice, the better you become. A top sportsman doesn’t reach their status through a single practice or game. They practice harder and longer than anyone else, and as such, are rewarded more than anyone else.
Q – Quitters never win. And winners never quit. So, which do you want to be?
R – Ready yourself. Always be ready to take advantage of the opportunities and situations presented to you. Prepare in advance, and ignore the voice telling you to put it off until tomorrow. Remember, it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark!
S – Stop procrastinating. You can put it all off until tomorrow, but one day there will be no more tomorrows. Start procrastinating about procrastinating and do tomorrows jobs today.
T – Take control of your life. Discipline and self control are synonymous with motivation. So many people believe their lives are out of their control. Look at your life in detail and you’ll discover you have more areas under your control than you think.
U – Understand others. If you know very well how to talk, you should also learn how to listen. You have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Understand others and strive to be understood.
V – Visualise it. Your sub-conscious knows no difference between your imagination and reality, so if you rehearse your success in your mind, then your sub-conscious will believe in it and make it happen.
W – Want it more than anything. Every successful person has had a burning desire to achieve their goals. The Wright brothers didn’t invent the aeroplane because there was nothing on the television. They had a burning desire to succeed and kept going, even in the face of setbacks.
X – X Factor is what will make you different from the others. When you are motivated, you tend to put on “extras” on your life like extra time for family, extra help at work, extra care for friends. This X-Factor sets you aside from the crowd and marks you out for success.
Y – You are unique. No one in this world looks, acts, thinks or talks like you. Value your unique gifts, whatever they are and use them for your success.
Z – Zero in on your dreams and make it happen!!!
The ABC’S of Life
This article is targeted toward professional marketers in the industry of network marketing. During one of my workshops, I did a special presentation
on the ABCs of achieving the top position in life and in business. The ABCs that I spoke of are as follows: A – Attitude/Action, B – Building/Belief,
C – Commitment/Caring.
The foundational key to success in life is a positive attitude. We all hear about it, we all talk about it and we all read about, but do we all have positive
attitudes? Your attitude can go in three different directions – forward, neutral and backward. Going forward produces a positive attitude, remaining neutral
and/or sliding backward result in a negative attitude. You cannot have both a positive and negative attitude! A person with a positive attitude will have “down days”, which are characteristics of a leader. In order to be
successful, you must experience frustrations in life that tend to make you a stronger leader with a drive to succeed. Another important component to developing a positive attitude is establishing daily action steps. There are three key ingredients in building a professional business in network marketing or life in general.
1. Reading your WHY card upon arising in the morning and retiring in the evening. The most important force in your life is your WHY, which I speak extensively in my training programs and during seminars. (WHY are you
living the life that you live day in and day out) You need to internalize your WHY and develop it into your spirit.
2. Consult with your Mastermind Team. Your Mastermind Team is the first three people that you consult with each and everyday that will ultimately help you achieve your WHY in life.
3. Speak to three new people a day about your business. Those three new people are three new prospects/three new seeds. “Seed time and harvest will not cease.” Those are two principles that will parallel your success in business
and mainly in life. Basically what ever you plant you will harvest – positive or negative.
A forward-moving attitude will help you to build a huge business for yourself and have an incredibly successful life. I challenge you this week to read your WHY card, consult your Mastermind Team daily and speak to three new people a day about your business.
Find your WHY & FLY!
John Di Lemme
www.FindYourWhy.com
on the ABCs of achieving the top position in life and in business. The ABCs that I spoke of are as follows: A – Attitude/Action, B – Building/Belief,
C – Commitment/Caring.
The foundational key to success in life is a positive attitude. We all hear about it, we all talk about it and we all read about, but do we all have positive
attitudes? Your attitude can go in three different directions – forward, neutral and backward. Going forward produces a positive attitude, remaining neutral
and/or sliding backward result in a negative attitude. You cannot have both a positive and negative attitude! A person with a positive attitude will have “down days”, which are characteristics of a leader. In order to be
successful, you must experience frustrations in life that tend to make you a stronger leader with a drive to succeed. Another important component to developing a positive attitude is establishing daily action steps. There are three key ingredients in building a professional business in network marketing or life in general.
1. Reading your WHY card upon arising in the morning and retiring in the evening. The most important force in your life is your WHY, which I speak extensively in my training programs and during seminars. (WHY are you
living the life that you live day in and day out) You need to internalize your WHY and develop it into your spirit.
2. Consult with your Mastermind Team. Your Mastermind Team is the first three people that you consult with each and everyday that will ultimately help you achieve your WHY in life.
3. Speak to three new people a day about your business. Those three new people are three new prospects/three new seeds. “Seed time and harvest will not cease.” Those are two principles that will parallel your success in business
and mainly in life. Basically what ever you plant you will harvest – positive or negative.
A forward-moving attitude will help you to build a huge business for yourself and have an incredibly successful life. I challenge you this week to read your WHY card, consult your Mastermind Team daily and speak to three new people a day about your business.
Find your WHY & FLY!
John Di Lemme
www.FindYourWhy.com
The “Find Your Why” Challenge
As many of you have heard me say, you must know your WHY in life (your ultimate
purpose) in order to deal with such issues as:
• Why recruit?
• Why deal with traffic in the morning?
• Why come in early and work late?
• Why deal with certain clients?
• Why introduce your business to people on a daily basis?
• Why work and plan over the weekend?
My personal mission statement is “You must be absolutely clear about your goal and
be relentless in your pursuit of your “WHY” and reading your WHY card for the first seven
minutes upon rising is the secret to cementing your WHY into your heart. In turn, this
will direct your actions as you progress through your day. You will begin to see yourself
handling some of your challenges a little differently, because you know WHY. You will
not be afraid to deal with the challenges as you proceed towards your WHY. An example
of a WHY card is:
I will deal with all the challenges of today, because my WHY is to spend more
time with my family, provide for my children's education, have the finances
needed to take regular family vacations and be a mentor to my kids. I will be able
to donate a percentage of my earnings to my church or favorite non-profit
organization. I will be a successful entrepreneur and build an ethical, profitable
business for me and my family.
I challenge you to re-evaluate where you are today and where you wish to be 5 years from
now. Then, decide to take action and write a personal WHY card that you will read daily.
“...write the vision and make it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it. For the
vision is yet for an appointed time but at the end it will not lie.”
You need to accept my challenge and write a WHY card! This step will totally empower
your life. I would love to read your WHY card so feel free to e-mail it to me
john@findyourwhy.com.
Find your WHY & FLY!
John Di Lemme
www.FindYourWhy.com
purpose) in order to deal with such issues as:
• Why recruit?
• Why deal with traffic in the morning?
• Why come in early and work late?
• Why deal with certain clients?
• Why introduce your business to people on a daily basis?
• Why work and plan over the weekend?
My personal mission statement is “You must be absolutely clear about your goal and
be relentless in your pursuit of your “WHY” and reading your WHY card for the first seven
minutes upon rising is the secret to cementing your WHY into your heart. In turn, this
will direct your actions as you progress through your day. You will begin to see yourself
handling some of your challenges a little differently, because you know WHY. You will
not be afraid to deal with the challenges as you proceed towards your WHY. An example
of a WHY card is:
I will deal with all the challenges of today, because my WHY is to spend more
time with my family, provide for my children's education, have the finances
needed to take regular family vacations and be a mentor to my kids. I will be able
to donate a percentage of my earnings to my church or favorite non-profit
organization. I will be a successful entrepreneur and build an ethical, profitable
business for me and my family.
I challenge you to re-evaluate where you are today and where you wish to be 5 years from
now. Then, decide to take action and write a personal WHY card that you will read daily.
“...write the vision and make it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it. For the
vision is yet for an appointed time but at the end it will not lie.”
You need to accept my challenge and write a WHY card! This step will totally empower
your life. I would love to read your WHY card so feel free to e-mail it to me
john@findyourwhy.com.
Find your WHY & FLY!
John Di Lemme
www.FindYourWhy.com
TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF
Living in our world today can be very stressful. While some of the stress that we experience is actually useful for motivating us, a point can be reached where it becomes very harmful, physically, emotionally and even spiritually. Knowing how to manage and even reduce the harmful effects of stress on a daily basis, of staying balanced and centered as we encounter the many stressors of everyday living, is crucial to our well being. Among other things, taking care of ourselves will necessarily involve us nurturing our physical body, of eating healthy foods, of exercising. Learning how to take care of ourselves in this respect is also very important for everyone as our experience of stress can and does affect others as well.
Learning how to take care of ourselves also involves making appropriate distinctions about ourselves, others and life in general. One distinction that is crucial for our well being is realizing how and from where much of our stress is primarily generated. While some of the stressors that we face are apart of what it is to be a human being, much of the stress that we experience is of our own creation. A great deal of the stress that we experience has its origin in our own personal story and the meaning we make about life, in the thoughts that we think. Once we understand that we are truly the cause in the matter, that we are responsible for the thoughts that we create or invent and that it is from these thoughts that much of our stress is generated, then and only then will we begin to be able to truly manage our stress and have the power to live the life that we want and love. Blaming others or situations for that which we experience will only limit our power, lead to frustration and eventually a great deal of stress.
Becoming present to the fact that we have a tendency to constantly evaluate, judge and even blame others, and especially ourselves, is very important. How we conceive of others and ourselves in this respect will make a huge difference in our experience of life. For example, for some much of their life is spent attempting to make others and themselves wrong, wrong for what they think and do, wrong for what we think and do. Once we make another wrong, especially ourselves, anger, anxiety, guilt, frustration and even sadness will eventually follow and with it a great deal of stress. A simple truth is that as human beings we are all doing the best that we can at any given moment. If we or others knew differently we would behave differently.
Another simple truth is that we are perfect, whole and complete just as we are. It is our story about ourselves that does not allow us to truly experience our own completeness. Making mistakes in life does not make us wrong or flawed in some way but only presents us with feedback and valuable opportunities for growth. Becoming present to how we make ourselves wrong, of how we put ourselves down, allows us an opening to realize that we are not what we do or think. Our true self is something much different. Becoming present to our attempts to make others and ourselves wrong in some manner will also create a cleaning for us to begin to think, feel and behave differently. Once we fully realize that we are perfect, whole and complete just as are, we will bring forth into our lives experiences that will truly empower us and others. It will be at this point that we will begin to authentically take care of ourselves. Taking care of ourselves in this respect will also involve taking care of our true self, of unconditionally loving ourselves completely. It is only when we truly love and accept ourselves, as we are, in the present moment that we will be able to do so with others. We always think, feel and behave towards others as we think, feel and act towards ourselves.
One manner in which we can practice being who we truly are is beginning to become aware of the thoughts and beliefs that exist within us including and especially those that are self-limiting. Meditation and other holistic, self-enhancement techniques of this nature allow us this ability and opportunity to watch, monitor and become present to our inner world, to the very thoughts that generate our life and experiences. Such a process will eventually allow us to truly understand that we are not our thoughts and beliefs, that we are something different from, that we are much more. Our thoughts are merely apart of the machinery of being human.
Once present to the thoughts and beliefs that quickly, if not instantly, move through our mind also allows us the opportunity to reframe from impulsively acting upon them and as a result to become free from their constraints and potential harm to us and others. Such a meditative process, especially as it applies to the thoughts and beliefs that we have about ourselves, is the key to truly taking care of yourself. Such awareness will eventually allow us to truly experience the fact that we are good enough, just as we are, one that deserves to have a wonderful and powerful life, that we truly are perfect, whole and complete. Once we fully understand this for ourselves it will allow us to get it about others, for those that we work with and for those in our lives that we love. The end result of such a meditative process is that much of the stress that we experience, especially that which we create, will simply not exist, allowing us to create or invent the life that we truly want and love and to live it powerfully.
Harry Henshaw, Ed.D., L.M.H.C.
http://www.enhancedhealing.com
Learning how to take care of ourselves also involves making appropriate distinctions about ourselves, others and life in general. One distinction that is crucial for our well being is realizing how and from where much of our stress is primarily generated. While some of the stressors that we face are apart of what it is to be a human being, much of the stress that we experience is of our own creation. A great deal of the stress that we experience has its origin in our own personal story and the meaning we make about life, in the thoughts that we think. Once we understand that we are truly the cause in the matter, that we are responsible for the thoughts that we create or invent and that it is from these thoughts that much of our stress is generated, then and only then will we begin to be able to truly manage our stress and have the power to live the life that we want and love. Blaming others or situations for that which we experience will only limit our power, lead to frustration and eventually a great deal of stress.
Becoming present to the fact that we have a tendency to constantly evaluate, judge and even blame others, and especially ourselves, is very important. How we conceive of others and ourselves in this respect will make a huge difference in our experience of life. For example, for some much of their life is spent attempting to make others and themselves wrong, wrong for what they think and do, wrong for what we think and do. Once we make another wrong, especially ourselves, anger, anxiety, guilt, frustration and even sadness will eventually follow and with it a great deal of stress. A simple truth is that as human beings we are all doing the best that we can at any given moment. If we or others knew differently we would behave differently.
Another simple truth is that we are perfect, whole and complete just as we are. It is our story about ourselves that does not allow us to truly experience our own completeness. Making mistakes in life does not make us wrong or flawed in some way but only presents us with feedback and valuable opportunities for growth. Becoming present to how we make ourselves wrong, of how we put ourselves down, allows us an opening to realize that we are not what we do or think. Our true self is something much different. Becoming present to our attempts to make others and ourselves wrong in some manner will also create a cleaning for us to begin to think, feel and behave differently. Once we fully realize that we are perfect, whole and complete just as are, we will bring forth into our lives experiences that will truly empower us and others. It will be at this point that we will begin to authentically take care of ourselves. Taking care of ourselves in this respect will also involve taking care of our true self, of unconditionally loving ourselves completely. It is only when we truly love and accept ourselves, as we are, in the present moment that we will be able to do so with others. We always think, feel and behave towards others as we think, feel and act towards ourselves.
One manner in which we can practice being who we truly are is beginning to become aware of the thoughts and beliefs that exist within us including and especially those that are self-limiting. Meditation and other holistic, self-enhancement techniques of this nature allow us this ability and opportunity to watch, monitor and become present to our inner world, to the very thoughts that generate our life and experiences. Such a process will eventually allow us to truly understand that we are not our thoughts and beliefs, that we are something different from, that we are much more. Our thoughts are merely apart of the machinery of being human.
Once present to the thoughts and beliefs that quickly, if not instantly, move through our mind also allows us the opportunity to reframe from impulsively acting upon them and as a result to become free from their constraints and potential harm to us and others. Such a meditative process, especially as it applies to the thoughts and beliefs that we have about ourselves, is the key to truly taking care of yourself. Such awareness will eventually allow us to truly experience the fact that we are good enough, just as we are, one that deserves to have a wonderful and powerful life, that we truly are perfect, whole and complete. Once we fully understand this for ourselves it will allow us to get it about others, for those that we work with and for those in our lives that we love. The end result of such a meditative process is that much of the stress that we experience, especially that which we create, will simply not exist, allowing us to create or invent the life that we truly want and love and to live it powerfully.
Harry Henshaw, Ed.D., L.M.H.C.
http://www.enhancedhealing.com
Survival
Survival is one of the most demanding and challenging issues that we face as humans!
Survival challenges us through many different issues such as: child abuse, sexual abuse, birth, death, job loss, health problems, low self-esteem, relationship ups and downs, parenting, deceptions, breakdowns, poverty, natural disasters, education, addictions and even our own desires to be strong.
Survival comes in little packages and it comes in enormous boxes. It appears when we least expect it, never letting us prepare for the battle. It hides around corners, waiting to pounce on us. It is constantly testing our inner powers and strength.
To live is to survive and without survival you have no life. Survival is a choice. If you choose to survive, you must fight hard. If you choose to not survive, you will die. Simple!
Survival will change who you are many times. How you deal with your challenge and how drastic the challenge is will determine how much of yourself you manage to keep safe.
A couple of common phrases that we run into many times in our day is, "Only the strong survive" and, "What does not kill us will only make us stronger". These are very good survival attitudes to practice. We need to be strong to survive. It takes pure GUTS to survive and move forward in any situation. It takes having total control of your thoughts, which is one of your best weapons in the battle of survival. It demands consistent striving to reach your goals, stopping at nothing to meet your destiny.
I emphasize the importance of strength, when battling the war of survival.
To be strong is:
to be able to stand your ground and hold onto your inner beliefs, which will be your best strategy to win the game.
to be born into the survival game without knowledge or understanding of the rules, and still overcome all the obstacles.
to be able to clean the skeletons out of your closet that have been haunting you from your past.
to take control of your life and deal with the monsters, whether it be through telling a story or confronting the monster face to face.
to be able to look back at the reasons for your pain and suffering and wave at it as if it were just a car going by.
to be able to smile at a happy memory of a loved one that was taken from you without reason.
to be able to say NO to drugs and misuse of alcohol.
to be able to forgive, forget and let the waters flow under the bridge.
to feel physical pain every minute you are awake, yet be able to smile and ease that pain with positive thoughts.
to look in the mirror and know you are the best, and to believe who you are.
to let go of hate and resentment, when your heart has been deceived or broken.
to push forward when all the negative forces feel like they are pushing you backwards.
to continue tearing down walls of negative thinking, and replace them with positive openness.
to open your heart to another after it was forced to close.
to keep searching for answers to a better you, even when all you want to do is quit.
to look to tomorrow for the sunshine, when the rain refuses to stop.
to give birth to a child, and raise him/her with love and respect.
to embrace growing old and never regretting it.
to study hard and achieve all the knowledge that the world has to offer you.
to not allow the material world to confuse you as to what is really important in life
to be a hugger, not a judger.
to smile when you want to cry.
to Live, Love and Laugh.
********************************************************
"We are driven by five genetic needs: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom, and fun."
William Glasser
"Love and kindness are the very basis of society. If we lose these feelings, society will face tremendous difficulties; the survival of humanity will be endangered."
Dalai Lama
Dorothy Lafrinere
Owner/Operater
Website- http://www.womensselfesteem.com
Weblog- http://www.justblogme.com/Dorothy
Forum- http://womenselfesteem.proboards29.com
email- dorothy@womensselfesteem.com
Survival challenges us through many different issues such as: child abuse, sexual abuse, birth, death, job loss, health problems, low self-esteem, relationship ups and downs, parenting, deceptions, breakdowns, poverty, natural disasters, education, addictions and even our own desires to be strong.
Survival comes in little packages and it comes in enormous boxes. It appears when we least expect it, never letting us prepare for the battle. It hides around corners, waiting to pounce on us. It is constantly testing our inner powers and strength.
To live is to survive and without survival you have no life. Survival is a choice. If you choose to survive, you must fight hard. If you choose to not survive, you will die. Simple!
Survival will change who you are many times. How you deal with your challenge and how drastic the challenge is will determine how much of yourself you manage to keep safe.
A couple of common phrases that we run into many times in our day is, "Only the strong survive" and, "What does not kill us will only make us stronger". These are very good survival attitudes to practice. We need to be strong to survive. It takes pure GUTS to survive and move forward in any situation. It takes having total control of your thoughts, which is one of your best weapons in the battle of survival. It demands consistent striving to reach your goals, stopping at nothing to meet your destiny.
I emphasize the importance of strength, when battling the war of survival.
To be strong is:
to be able to stand your ground and hold onto your inner beliefs, which will be your best strategy to win the game.
to be born into the survival game without knowledge or understanding of the rules, and still overcome all the obstacles.
to be able to clean the skeletons out of your closet that have been haunting you from your past.
to take control of your life and deal with the monsters, whether it be through telling a story or confronting the monster face to face.
to be able to look back at the reasons for your pain and suffering and wave at it as if it were just a car going by.
to be able to smile at a happy memory of a loved one that was taken from you without reason.
to be able to say NO to drugs and misuse of alcohol.
to be able to forgive, forget and let the waters flow under the bridge.
to feel physical pain every minute you are awake, yet be able to smile and ease that pain with positive thoughts.
to look in the mirror and know you are the best, and to believe who you are.
to let go of hate and resentment, when your heart has been deceived or broken.
to push forward when all the negative forces feel like they are pushing you backwards.
to continue tearing down walls of negative thinking, and replace them with positive openness.
to open your heart to another after it was forced to close.
to keep searching for answers to a better you, even when all you want to do is quit.
to look to tomorrow for the sunshine, when the rain refuses to stop.
to give birth to a child, and raise him/her with love and respect.
to embrace growing old and never regretting it.
to study hard and achieve all the knowledge that the world has to offer you.
to not allow the material world to confuse you as to what is really important in life
to be a hugger, not a judger.
to smile when you want to cry.
to Live, Love and Laugh.
********************************************************
"We are driven by five genetic needs: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom, and fun."
William Glasser
"Love and kindness are the very basis of society. If we lose these feelings, society will face tremendous difficulties; the survival of humanity will be endangered."
Dalai Lama
Dorothy Lafrinere
Owner/Operater
Website- http://www.womensselfesteem.com
Weblog- http://www.justblogme.com/Dorothy
Forum- http://womenselfesteem.proboards29.com
email- dorothy@womensselfesteem.com
Success Steps For Your Personal Or Business Life
Fact: Success is something of which we all want more.
Fact: Most people believe that success is difficult.
Fact: They’re wrong - it’s not!
Success isn’t really that difficult. There is a significant portion of the population here in North America, that actually want and need success to be hard! Why? So they then have a built-in excuse when things don’t go their way! Pretty sad situation, to say the least.
For those of you who are serious about having more, doing more, giving more and being more, success is achievable with some understanding of what to do, some discipline around planning and execution of those plans and belief that you can achieve your desires.
The Truth About Success
The first thing to remember about success is that it is a process – nothing more, nothing less. There is really no magic to it and it’s not reserved only for a select few people. As such, success really has nothing to do with luck, coincidence or fate. It really comes down to understanding the steps in the process and then executing on those steps.
There are basically six key areas to higher achievement. Some people will tell you there are four while others may tell you there are eight. One thing for certain though, is that irrespective of the number of steps the experts talk about, they all originate from the same roots.
From my perspective then, here are the six key steps:
1. Making the decision
2. Clarity - developing the Vision
3. Focus – having a plan
4. Commitment – understanding the price and having the willingness to pay that price
5. Belief – believing in yourself and those around you
6. Taking action – practice Ready, Fire, Aim…
Making the Decision
If success is a process with a number of defined steps, then it is just like any other process. So, what is the first step in any process?
Making a decision to do something – this is the first step. We all know that nothing moves until someone makes a decision. The first action is always in making the decision to proceed. This is a fundamental step, which most people overlook.
So, make the decision to move forward. Commit your decision to paper, just to bring it into focus. Then, go for it!
Clarity
Having clarity of purpose and a clear picture of what you desire, is probably the single most important factor in achievement. Why is Clarity so important?
Without clarity, you send a very garbled message out to the Universe. We know that the Law of Attraction says that we will attract what we focus on, so if we don’t have clarity, we will attract confusion.
Consider the following analogy:
You are going on a cruise, but when the ship sets sail, you discover it has no rudder. What happens? One of 3 things will occur:
1. You will sail along until you collide with an immovable object, after which you will sink to the bottom
2. You will run aground and become hopelessly stuck in the mud
3. You will drift aimlessly until you arrive back at the original dock
Trying to go through life without clarity is similar to sailing a rudder-less ship – no good thing can or will happen!
The sad thing is the majority of people have no clue about what they truly want. They have no clarity. When asked the question, responses will be superficial at best, and at worst, will be what someone else wants for them.
So how do we get clarity? Simply by asking ourselves lots of questions: What do I really want? What does success look like to me? Why do I want a particular thing? How will this achievement change my life? How can I use this success to make a difference for others?
Introspection is the trick. Understand what you want, why you want it and what it will do for you. This is a critical factor, and as such, is probably the most difficult step. For this reason, most people never complete this aspect – then wonder why life is so difficult!
Once you have a clear understanding of what you want, it is critical that you engage in goal setting – specifically setting SMART goals.
SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Sensitive - S-M-A-R-T. Knowing what you want and setting SMART goals as mileposts on your quest cannot help but give you clarity!
Focus
Focus is having the unwavering attention to complete what you set out to do. There are a million distractions in every facet of our lives. Telephones and e-mail, clients and managers, spouses and kids, TV, newspapers and radio – the distractions are everywhere and endless. Everyone wants a piece of us and the result can be totally overwhelming.
So, how can we stay on course with all the distractions in our lives? Willpower is a good start, but it’s very difficult to stay on track simply through willpower.
The best way is to develop and follow a plan. Start with your goals in mind and then work backwards to develop the plan. What steps are required to get you to the goals? Make the plan as detailed as possible. Try to visualize and then plan for, every possible setback. Commit the plan to paper and then keep it with you at all times. Review it regularly and ensure that every step takes you closer to your Vision and Goals. If the plan doesn’t support the vision then change it!
Along with your plans, you should consider developing an action orientation that will keep you motivated to move forward at all times. This requires a little self-discipline, but is a crucial component to achievement of any kind. Before starting any new activity, ask yourself if that activity will move you closer to your goals. If the answer is no, you may want to reconsider doing it at that time.
I coach my clients to practice the 3 D’s – Defer, Delegate or Delete. Can the particular activity be done later? Defer it! Can it be done by someone else? Delegate it! Does it need to be done at all? If not, consider deleting it! Posing these questions will help to keep you focused on what is truly important!
Commitment
Commitment is something that comes from understanding that everything has its price and then having the willingness to pay that price. This is important because nobody wants to put significant effort into something, only to find out after the fact that the price was too high.
The price is something not necessarily defined as financial. It could be time, effort, sacrifice, money or perhaps, something else. The point is that we must be fully aware of the price and be willing to pay it, if we want to have success.
Belief
This is perhaps the single biggest obstacle that all of us must overcome in order to be successful.
We all carry a lot of baggage, thanks to our upbringing. The majority of people carry with them, an entire series of self-limiting beliefs that will absolutely stop, and hold them back from, success. Things like “I’m not good enough”, “I’m not smart enough”, “I’m not lucky enough”, and the worst, “I’m not worthy” are but a few of the self-limiting beliefs I have encountered. We carry them with us like rocks in a knapsack, and then use them to sabotage our success. So, how twisted is that?!?!
The old expression is absolutely true – whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right!
One of the main areas that I work on with my clients is shedding these non-supportive beliefs and replacing them with beliefs that will help them to accomplish their desires.
It is truly amazing the damage that we, as parents, can inflict on our children. So why do we do it? For the most part, we don’t do it intentionally or with malice. In the majority of cases, the cause is a well-meaning but unskilled or un-thinking parent, who says the wrong thing at the wrong time, and the message sticks – as simple as that!
And it's not just parents that are the cause - teachers, friends, clergy members or anyone else that has influence in a child's life can be a contributor to these self-limiting beliefs!
The bottom line is that we must shed the bad and replace with good beliefs.
Taking Action
“Nothing changes until something moves” – this is the battle cry of author and journalist Robert Ringer. And he is absolutely correct. Not all of the decision-making, clarity, planning, focus and belief in the world, will get you to where you want to be, without taking action!
Action – putting your plans into play – that is what will get you to the destination. Don’t get caught in the paralysis of analysis, or in the conundrum of Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim, Aim…
Get the oars in the water and start rowing. Execution is the single biggest factor in achievement, so the faster and better your execution, the quicker you will get to the goals!
Conclusion
So, there you have it; the six steps that will help you to the fabled land of achievement and success! You now have the opportunity to push ahead and reach your potential. No more excuses - make the commitment to take action TODAY!
Figure out what you want, put a plan together to achieve it, understand the cost, believe in yourself then go and get it!
Fact: Most people believe that success is difficult.
Fact: They’re wrong - it’s not!
Success isn’t really that difficult. There is a significant portion of the population here in North America, that actually want and need success to be hard! Why? So they then have a built-in excuse when things don’t go their way! Pretty sad situation, to say the least.
For those of you who are serious about having more, doing more, giving more and being more, success is achievable with some understanding of what to do, some discipline around planning and execution of those plans and belief that you can achieve your desires.
The Truth About Success
The first thing to remember about success is that it is a process – nothing more, nothing less. There is really no magic to it and it’s not reserved only for a select few people. As such, success really has nothing to do with luck, coincidence or fate. It really comes down to understanding the steps in the process and then executing on those steps.
There are basically six key areas to higher achievement. Some people will tell you there are four while others may tell you there are eight. One thing for certain though, is that irrespective of the number of steps the experts talk about, they all originate from the same roots.
From my perspective then, here are the six key steps:
1. Making the decision
2. Clarity - developing the Vision
3. Focus – having a plan
4. Commitment – understanding the price and having the willingness to pay that price
5. Belief – believing in yourself and those around you
6. Taking action – practice Ready, Fire, Aim…
Making the Decision
If success is a process with a number of defined steps, then it is just like any other process. So, what is the first step in any process?
Making a decision to do something – this is the first step. We all know that nothing moves until someone makes a decision. The first action is always in making the decision to proceed. This is a fundamental step, which most people overlook.
So, make the decision to move forward. Commit your decision to paper, just to bring it into focus. Then, go for it!
Clarity
Having clarity of purpose and a clear picture of what you desire, is probably the single most important factor in achievement. Why is Clarity so important?
Without clarity, you send a very garbled message out to the Universe. We know that the Law of Attraction says that we will attract what we focus on, so if we don’t have clarity, we will attract confusion.
Consider the following analogy:
You are going on a cruise, but when the ship sets sail, you discover it has no rudder. What happens? One of 3 things will occur:
1. You will sail along until you collide with an immovable object, after which you will sink to the bottom
2. You will run aground and become hopelessly stuck in the mud
3. You will drift aimlessly until you arrive back at the original dock
Trying to go through life without clarity is similar to sailing a rudder-less ship – no good thing can or will happen!
The sad thing is the majority of people have no clue about what they truly want. They have no clarity. When asked the question, responses will be superficial at best, and at worst, will be what someone else wants for them.
So how do we get clarity? Simply by asking ourselves lots of questions: What do I really want? What does success look like to me? Why do I want a particular thing? How will this achievement change my life? How can I use this success to make a difference for others?
Introspection is the trick. Understand what you want, why you want it and what it will do for you. This is a critical factor, and as such, is probably the most difficult step. For this reason, most people never complete this aspect – then wonder why life is so difficult!
Once you have a clear understanding of what you want, it is critical that you engage in goal setting – specifically setting SMART goals.
SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Sensitive - S-M-A-R-T. Knowing what you want and setting SMART goals as mileposts on your quest cannot help but give you clarity!
Focus
Focus is having the unwavering attention to complete what you set out to do. There are a million distractions in every facet of our lives. Telephones and e-mail, clients and managers, spouses and kids, TV, newspapers and radio – the distractions are everywhere and endless. Everyone wants a piece of us and the result can be totally overwhelming.
So, how can we stay on course with all the distractions in our lives? Willpower is a good start, but it’s very difficult to stay on track simply through willpower.
The best way is to develop and follow a plan. Start with your goals in mind and then work backwards to develop the plan. What steps are required to get you to the goals? Make the plan as detailed as possible. Try to visualize and then plan for, every possible setback. Commit the plan to paper and then keep it with you at all times. Review it regularly and ensure that every step takes you closer to your Vision and Goals. If the plan doesn’t support the vision then change it!
Along with your plans, you should consider developing an action orientation that will keep you motivated to move forward at all times. This requires a little self-discipline, but is a crucial component to achievement of any kind. Before starting any new activity, ask yourself if that activity will move you closer to your goals. If the answer is no, you may want to reconsider doing it at that time.
I coach my clients to practice the 3 D’s – Defer, Delegate or Delete. Can the particular activity be done later? Defer it! Can it be done by someone else? Delegate it! Does it need to be done at all? If not, consider deleting it! Posing these questions will help to keep you focused on what is truly important!
Commitment
Commitment is something that comes from understanding that everything has its price and then having the willingness to pay that price. This is important because nobody wants to put significant effort into something, only to find out after the fact that the price was too high.
The price is something not necessarily defined as financial. It could be time, effort, sacrifice, money or perhaps, something else. The point is that we must be fully aware of the price and be willing to pay it, if we want to have success.
Belief
This is perhaps the single biggest obstacle that all of us must overcome in order to be successful.
We all carry a lot of baggage, thanks to our upbringing. The majority of people carry with them, an entire series of self-limiting beliefs that will absolutely stop, and hold them back from, success. Things like “I’m not good enough”, “I’m not smart enough”, “I’m not lucky enough”, and the worst, “I’m not worthy” are but a few of the self-limiting beliefs I have encountered. We carry them with us like rocks in a knapsack, and then use them to sabotage our success. So, how twisted is that?!?!
The old expression is absolutely true – whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right!
One of the main areas that I work on with my clients is shedding these non-supportive beliefs and replacing them with beliefs that will help them to accomplish their desires.
It is truly amazing the damage that we, as parents, can inflict on our children. So why do we do it? For the most part, we don’t do it intentionally or with malice. In the majority of cases, the cause is a well-meaning but unskilled or un-thinking parent, who says the wrong thing at the wrong time, and the message sticks – as simple as that!
And it's not just parents that are the cause - teachers, friends, clergy members or anyone else that has influence in a child's life can be a contributor to these self-limiting beliefs!
The bottom line is that we must shed the bad and replace with good beliefs.
Taking Action
“Nothing changes until something moves” – this is the battle cry of author and journalist Robert Ringer. And he is absolutely correct. Not all of the decision-making, clarity, planning, focus and belief in the world, will get you to where you want to be, without taking action!
Action – putting your plans into play – that is what will get you to the destination. Don’t get caught in the paralysis of analysis, or in the conundrum of Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim, Aim…
Get the oars in the water and start rowing. Execution is the single biggest factor in achievement, so the faster and better your execution, the quicker you will get to the goals!
Conclusion
So, there you have it; the six steps that will help you to the fabled land of achievement and success! You now have the opportunity to push ahead and reach your potential. No more excuses - make the commitment to take action TODAY!
Figure out what you want, put a plan together to achieve it, understand the cost, believe in yourself then go and get it!
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