Well the world has chosen to follow the media’s lead on the economy, so we are now in what I like to call an “economic re-alignment” (and yes…as an eternal optimist, I would call a sinking ship a “new home for sea life”).
So now, we in the positive thought realm are forced to bust out our heavy duty tools to start battling all the negativity out there. So here it goes!
Control what you can. Remember the things you can and cannot control in your life. There are some things in life we cannot control, like getting laid off. We can put our best foot forward everyday but if the company you work for doesn’t have the ability to withstand this re-alignment and they have to let you and or your colleagues go, just move on and realize that you can’t control it.
Look for the things in your life that you can control and take charge of those things. Also, be realistic in this endeavor…we tend to “over-believe” in our ability to control things in life. Talk to a friend or spouse about all things on your mind and often times, they can help you focus your efforts on those things which you can directly impact in your life.
It’s Your Mind….you choose the thoughts, not them! Truly, you can only control one thing and ONLY one thing….and that is your thoughts. Your ultimate control lies in the ability for you to control what you think and how you think. We have a choice with every thought that comes into our minds ….will it be a productive, healthy, success-oriented thought, or will it be a neutral-based thought, or will it be a negative, victim-oriented, destructive thought. You are the only one who owns this decision; not your boss, not your spouse, not your parent or a sibling or a friend…only you.
So practice choosing helpful, positive, supportive thoughts, words and ultimately actions. If you think a negative thought, immediately imagine a big red stop sign and redirect your thoughts to something positive. It’s not always easy, but it’s a powerful tool that is in your control.
Remember the Good… Every day! You also own the responsibility of finding reasons to be positive every day. Start that process by keeping a Gratitude Journal for everything in your life that you are thankful for. Work the list and read the list every morning so you can start your day with a positive mindset. Work and read list again in the evening just before you go to bed so you can prepare your mind for a positive good night’s rest.
The cycle of receiving positive information into your mind every day, twice a day, will help you to start seeing hope and opportunity in front of you. And the people around you will notice that you have become a more positive person in the face of life’s adversities.
Start Brainstorming – By taking the steps mentioned above and creating a more positive mindset, you will have the ability to see more of life’s opportunities around you. So take some time, either by yourself or with some close allies, to do a brainstorming session as to how you can make your situation better. You will quickly see that opportunities for increased success and happiness abound.
Dream, Dream, Dream…..Hope leads to inspiration. Take time to dream about what your future could be. Dream about your life as it could be and should be – with more peace and happiness in your heart. With better physical and emotional health. With increased financial security. With more friends and family surrounding you.
For those of us who live in the Northeast and have a preference for warmer days over this bitter winter cold….you can dream about a nice warm summer’s day on the water or at a backyard BBQ. Plan for it. Dreaming can bring immediate mental relief to even the most dire situation. It will not only help you endure, but even possibly thrive, during the difficult times life can bring. So give you mind a vacation and dream a little. What is the daydream that brings you stress relief? Invoke that image daily.
Post a blog response and let us know where your dreams take you! It would be good for all of us to dream and share.
http://www.goal-link.com
Friday, February 6, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Repeat What Works!
The question is often asked, “How do I become truly successful on a personal level as well as on a financial level?” The simple answer is: repeat what works and eliminate what doesn’t.
Last night on the evening news, after the historic inauguration of President Barack Obama, the journalists were scurrying through the crowd of people down on the Mall looking for sound bites to expose the collective feeling in and around the area. One such sound bite caught my attention. It was from a young African American man, probably fourteen or fifteen years old. He said to the reporter, “Now I want to be President someday!” Then he clarified, “I WILL be President someday”. The inspiration that has been disseminated from this event is surely great. Let’s look at this at a deeper level for a moment.
I was thinking to myself this morning – what would that young man need to do to accomplish such a dream? Then came the simple answer: just follow the path of success that has already been paved. Time and time again we see this answer in every aspect of life:
Last night on the evening news, after the historic inauguration of President Barack Obama, the journalists were scurrying through the crowd of people down on the Mall looking for sound bites to expose the collective feeling in and around the area. One such sound bite caught my attention. It was from a young African American man, probably fourteen or fifteen years old. He said to the reporter, “Now I want to be President someday!” Then he clarified, “I WILL be President someday”. The inspiration that has been disseminated from this event is surely great. Let’s look at this at a deeper level for a moment.
I was thinking to myself this morning – what would that young man need to do to accomplish such a dream? Then came the simple answer: just follow the path of success that has already been paved. Time and time again we see this answer in every aspect of life:
- Professional Baseball Players train constantly, spending hours in the batting cage to mold that perfect swing into their muscle memory
- Businesses set up project management guidelines to ensure every project has a higher success rate
- Farmers till their fields and plant the crops within certain parameters every year
- Scientists build on the successful portions of their experiments and remove the failing parts
- Lawyers frame their cases and prepare their closing arguments inclusive of adjustments from what worked last time
- Fishermen know their quarry and use bait that is attractive to the sought after species and they fish in the correct habitat of that species
- Sons and daughters use Mom’s “famous” recipe to please the dinner crowd
People everywhere know this instinctively – this is how we have grown as a people. We have built our cultures and our technologies on what we have learned from past successes and failures, and more importantly, building on what works and removing what doesn’t work.
So as we forge ahead in our own lives, and for that young man who was inspired by the new President of the United States, to increase our own success rate at any endeavor, we must continue to repeat what works or what has worked in the past and discard what did not work.
Whatever your goals, dreams or major purpose in life, the most effective and efficient way to reach it is to find out how someone else with a similar objective reached their success. People are happy to share successful techniques in life. This is why there are endless titles of “how to” books for sale (another good source for learning what works).
And, speaking from experience, if you know of a person who has reached a goal similar to one that you have in mind, chances are you can call them and ask them for an “informational interview”. Be sincere and tell them about your aspirations and ask if they would be willing to share some insight with you.
Most people understand that what you give comes back “tenfold”, so I will bet they will be more than willing to share their experiences with you. Remember, imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Find someone great to imitate and you, too, will be on the path of success.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Happy New Year – Now Own It!
The New Year brings new hope for a better tomorrow. It brings new opportunities for new successes. But, as Bob Proctor (a notable motivational speaker and teacher) once said, “To change your life, you have to… change your life!”.
We all know the old adage that the “definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results”. Well, Bob was correct. For us to really change our lives for the better, we have to change what we are doing and how we are doing it.
No matter how much we may want someone else to do the work for us – we have to own it. It’s our life; it’s our health; it’s our money; it’s our spirituality. It belongs to us and only we can make the change. You have a choice really: You can always make excuses or, you can make a change.
If you have any new aspirations, goals, or New Year’s resolutions, only You can achieve them. You have to write them down, and build out a plan for attaining them. You have to visualize yourself achieving them each and every day, and you have to make forward progress toward each and every goal. It’s simple science really and the good news is, you own it. You own the work and you own all the success that will follow.
For some reason, we tend to forget that we are each still in charge of our own life. We cannot blame the negativism of the mass media any longer. We can no longer afford to be lulled into believing how far off track we are as a nation because of some government or corporate scandal or crisis. We have to own a belief in our future that things can be better. We can make mindful choices in every aspect of our lives.
Zig Ziglar once made a comment about a time in his life when he chose to be overweight. He paused after his comment and looked at his audience and said – “Oh yes….I chose to be overweight because I chose to eat everything I put in my mouth!” The comment got a good laugh but drives home the point that no matter what happens around us, it’s still our life and we are the ones who are making the ultimate decisions that affect us every minute of every day.
It’s all about attitude.
As a former U.S. Marine, I can tell you that many people have asked me the same question about Marine Boot Camp – “Was it tough?” The U.S. Marines are known world-wide to have the toughest initial training to accomplish their goal of having the toughest warriors in the world. When most people think of a Marine Drill Instructor, they picture a 6’4”, 230 pound angry, solid mass of muscle, screaming at the top of his lungs to move his troops in the direction he wants.
I can share with you that this vision is correct. The yelling, the screaming, the countless pushups, the endurance runs, climbing up walls and crawling through mud - face first…. all in the hot, humid, 95 degree heat of the South Carolina swamp land… Well, it’s all very real and very true. But, the question still stands, “Was it tough?”
The answer? Not if you choose to own it. I quickly saw, the way The Drill Instructors had a particular way of handling those who would fail at a certain task due to a lack of physical ability. Watching this, I quickly learned that this game had nothing to do with the strongest kid on the block or the toughest fighter, etc.
It was all about our mental attitude and how we would handle the adversity. For those of us who owned the challenge, even if we failed at a certain task, we succeeded. Because it is never the obstacle that brings us failure – it is our choice as to whether we accept defeat or see it as a learning opportunity and grow forward.
Think of this:
“….the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any give set of circumstances”
We all know the old adage that the “definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results”. Well, Bob was correct. For us to really change our lives for the better, we have to change what we are doing and how we are doing it.
No matter how much we may want someone else to do the work for us – we have to own it. It’s our life; it’s our health; it’s our money; it’s our spirituality. It belongs to us and only we can make the change. You have a choice really: You can always make excuses or, you can make a change.
If you have any new aspirations, goals, or New Year’s resolutions, only You can achieve them. You have to write them down, and build out a plan for attaining them. You have to visualize yourself achieving them each and every day, and you have to make forward progress toward each and every goal. It’s simple science really and the good news is, you own it. You own the work and you own all the success that will follow.
For some reason, we tend to forget that we are each still in charge of our own life. We cannot blame the negativism of the mass media any longer. We can no longer afford to be lulled into believing how far off track we are as a nation because of some government or corporate scandal or crisis. We have to own a belief in our future that things can be better. We can make mindful choices in every aspect of our lives.
Zig Ziglar once made a comment about a time in his life when he chose to be overweight. He paused after his comment and looked at his audience and said – “Oh yes….I chose to be overweight because I chose to eat everything I put in my mouth!” The comment got a good laugh but drives home the point that no matter what happens around us, it’s still our life and we are the ones who are making the ultimate decisions that affect us every minute of every day.
It’s all about attitude.
As a former U.S. Marine, I can tell you that many people have asked me the same question about Marine Boot Camp – “Was it tough?” The U.S. Marines are known world-wide to have the toughest initial training to accomplish their goal of having the toughest warriors in the world. When most people think of a Marine Drill Instructor, they picture a 6’4”, 230 pound angry, solid mass of muscle, screaming at the top of his lungs to move his troops in the direction he wants.
I can share with you that this vision is correct. The yelling, the screaming, the countless pushups, the endurance runs, climbing up walls and crawling through mud - face first…. all in the hot, humid, 95 degree heat of the South Carolina swamp land… Well, it’s all very real and very true. But, the question still stands, “Was it tough?”
The answer? Not if you choose to own it. I quickly saw, the way The Drill Instructors had a particular way of handling those who would fail at a certain task due to a lack of physical ability. Watching this, I quickly learned that this game had nothing to do with the strongest kid on the block or the toughest fighter, etc.
It was all about our mental attitude and how we would handle the adversity. For those of us who owned the challenge, even if we failed at a certain task, we succeeded. Because it is never the obstacle that brings us failure – it is our choice as to whether we accept defeat or see it as a learning opportunity and grow forward.
Think of this:
“….the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any give set of circumstances”
Viktor Frankl – a Nazi prison camp survivor who’s wife, mother and father were all murdered in the Nazi camps.
At the end of the day, we have a responsibility to our higher-power, to ourselves, to our families and to society, to take ownership for our emotional and physical health, our financial success, our spirituality and our philanthropic endeavors. We own it all and that’s the good news. It’s not up to the media or the government or corporate America; it’s up to us as individuals to take ownership of it all and create our own success in life.
Happy New Year – Now go make it a great one!
http://www.goal-link.com/
At the end of the day, we have a responsibility to our higher-power, to ourselves, to our families and to society, to take ownership for our emotional and physical health, our financial success, our spirituality and our philanthropic endeavors. We own it all and that’s the good news. It’s not up to the media or the government or corporate America; it’s up to us as individuals to take ownership of it all and create our own success in life.
Happy New Year – Now go make it a great one!
http://www.goal-link.com/
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