Monday, July 19, 2010

Don't Be Defeated By Temporary Things (Read Time: 3 min.)


Do you get defeated by temporary things?

That's a loaded question so let me put it a different way.

Think back three years... Where did you live? What was going on in your life? Are today's circumstances exactly the same today as they were then?

Think back ten years... How has life changed? What's come into your life since then? What's left your life since then?

The only constant in your life, throughout your entire life, is YOU... which means no matter what you see going on, no matter what's happening right now, this too shall pass.

Do not get defeated by temporary circumstances.

Focusing on the here and now is important from the standpoint of action. Yes, it takes what you're doing consistently and persistently right now to create your future. But, getting bogged down in the trials and tough moments of today is a total waste of time. Why? Because, in three months, that issue will be gone and you'll still be here.

The key to longevity is staying the course.
The secret to staying the course is being vigilant with your mind. How to do you remain vigilant with your mind? Strategically choose what you focus on, what you think about and choose only those thoughts that empower you.

When a negative thought enters, "cast it out as sin" as Wallace D. Wattles once said or, as Jay Z, has said, "Brush your shoulder off." Either way, keep it moving!

Monday, July 12, 2010

How to Pursue More Than One Dream At Once (Read Time: 4 min.)



You have dreams, aspirations and goals. When you close your eyes, you can see clearly the direction you'd like your life to take.


Only one problem:


There are only 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, and 52 weeks in a year and only one of you.





How is one lifetime possibly enough time to pursue ALL of your dreams?


The attainment of any dream requires four things:

  1. Passion: Your desire to live your dream must be stronger than any fear you have about failure or success. You've got to have a burning desire to achieve it.

  2. Purpose: Not only do you have to know WHAT you want but you have to be very clear about WHY you want it.

  3. Planning: Those who fail to plan plan to fail. You won't know all the 'hows' of obtaining your dreams. Some of the pieces of the puzzle will come together at the oddest moments and from unexpected places. But, you've got to get the wheels in motion by mapping out your strategies for success. Begin with one set of plans and, as you go from step to step, the plan will naturally evolve.

  4. Patience: This is the most difficult one. We want our sucess yesterday. But, there's a time to sow and a time to reap. Your greatest success will come in proportion to your capacity to wait for it. Be careful on this one, however. Being still is not the same as standing still. Even as you wait for your dream seeds to grow, there's still alot of work to be done in the meantime.

Once you've got the 4Ps (Passion, Purpose, Planning and Patience), the one question still remains:

How do I achieve ALL my dreams with the limited amount of time I have?

Here's the answer:

Limit your current dream attainment to the Power of 3:

  1. Work on no more than three dreams at one time. Let's say you have the following dreams: start your own business, go back to school, start a family, write a book, lose 40 pounds, move across the country, and buy a home. All seven dreams can be fulfilled... but they all can't be done with your whole mind in present action at once. That's where the planning comes in. You might decide to spend the next two years focused on your business, going back to school and losing weight. That way, in two years' time, you'll be healthier to start a family and wealthier to move across the country, buy a home and take a few weeks off the business to write your book.

  2. Develop three actions you need to take every thirty days to move you closer to each of those dreams. Hold a self-appraisal meeting once a month to go over your progress. View your actions as an investment of effort into your dreams, not a working against the obstacle of time to achieve your dreams.

  3. Say to yourself "I can do this" constantly. Our negative talk is so embedded in our psyches that it often goes unnoticed. It's important to remind yourself on a daily basis (a minute-by-minute basis if you have to) that you CAN do this. Remember: If anyone else can live their dream, you can too!

I love Mondays because it's a fresh start to a brand new week. Forget about what you did or didn't do last week. Your power is in the NOW. Begin today!



Tuesday, July 6, 2010

7 Ways to Create & Build Your Success Momentum (Read Time: 3 min.)


"They conquer who believe they can."
- Emerson

Are you looking to the past to predict your future?

Do you use what you've done in the past to assess what you can do in the future?

Are you haunted by a past of failure and poor results, afraid to try again in fear that you might fail again?


Miracles are called miracles for a reason. Triumph has its excitement and awe because it's new, unparallel, and something different. If you never fail, how will you know when you've truly won?

Tony Robbins does a great job of explaining that failure is nothing more than learning and results. It's your opportunity to alter your objectives, refine your planning, and make another attempt.

The problem with people today is that we give up too easily. We have lukewarm commitments to our dreams and then we wonder why they haven't come true? I'm not saying be obsessed in your progress or forsake every other part of your life for one particular dream but I am saying this:

If you've got a dream, stop talking about it.
Put all your zeal, zest, and passion into it
and don't stop to look to the left or the right, the front or the back.
Just keep it moving!

Here are 7 ways you can do that on a daily basis:

1) Start each day with specific goals in mind. I use the Critical Six. Create goals that are alignment with your purpose. That doesn't mean they'll be exactly what you want to do all the time; some of the baby steps, no, quite a few of the baby steps on the way to your dreams, will feel like drudge work. Remember: Do what you have to do so you can do what you want to do.

2) Find ways to motivate yourself, to keep the juices flowing. Whether it's good music or a lunch break with friends or a jog in the park, don't drive yourself with work to death. Work for 3 or 4 hours and then take a "release" break. Do something outside of work that revives you. That way, you come back to the work you love with renewed zeal and zest.

3) Do your best work at your prime times of the day. I'm a morning person and my best writing happens in the early morning. My best podcasting happens in the early morning. That doesn't mean that I limit my work to those hours but it does mean that I try to get as much of it done then as I can.

4) Remind yourself who you are. I once saw an Oprah show with Matthew McConaughey where he said he wakes up everyday, looks himself in the eye in a mirror and says, "It's me and you kid." Here's the deal: it is you and you. Sometimes, especially when the going gets rough, you need to remind yourself who you are. I like to use the bible: "I'm more than a conquerer... I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me... God is my strength and power and He maketh my way perfect..." Use affirmations, declarations, whatever it takes to remind yourself of the power and greatness that is you.

5) Don't complain about ANYTHING. This is a toughy but it's true no matter how many ways you slice it. You can be in a state of gratitude (which will bring you what you want) or you can be in a state of complaining (which will bring you more of what you don't want) but you can't be in both at the same time. We tend to be a society of complainers and guess what? Misery loves company. Better to be by yourself than in the company of complainers. Make a decision today (it took me 3 days to really get there) to not complain about ANYTHING. It's tough at first but so are all habit-changing practices. After a while, you'll drop the complaining habit and you'll find ways to be grateful for everything.

6) Write down the 10 opportunities you have to move closer to your goal and read that everyday. The opportunities don't have to be big. By doing this, what you're training yourself to do is focus on opportunities, not obstacles. In my own life, I find that there are soooo many opportunities available to me that it feels overwhelming. I have to remind myself: "When God made time, He made enough of it."

7) Create relationships with people who are more successful than you. The goal is to be in the company of people who are where you plan to be, not where you've been or where you are. Ever hear a guidance counselor tell you to dress the part of the role you plan to play in a company (i.e., if you want to be an upper management and you're in the mailroom, dress for upper management even as you work the mailroom)? This applies to all areas of your life. Life as if, thinking from the end, and you'll find that the destiny you've decided is yours will more quickly move towards you.

These are just 7 ways you can be create the success you crave on a daily basis. Join me every Thursday at 7 PM MST for the weekly Not Built to Be Broken teleseminar to learn EVEN more!


Monday, July 5, 2010

Do You Have an Inner Scorecard or an Outer Scorecard? (Read Time: 2 min.)


I was reading Warren Buffett's biography yesterday (The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life) and came across a lightbulb quote:


"The big question about how people behave is whether they've got an Inner Scorecard or an Outer Scorecard. It helps if you can be satisfied with an Inner Scorecard... In teaching your kids, I think the lesson they're learning at a very, very early age is what their parents put the emphasis on. If all the emphasis is on what the world's going to think about you, forgetting about how you really behave, you'll wind up with an outer scorecard."


In life, you have to know what's true for you. If your sense of self-worth is based on what you do, have, or look like, what happens when those things change? We call it a mid-life crisis, right?

And, yet, far too many of us only feel strong enough to pursue our dreams when we have a team of people cheerleading in the background. That's having an Outer Scorecard and the problem is obvious.

If you live based on your Outer Scorecard, you fall to pieces when people stop cheering. It's a brave soul who can keep moving when all seems lost, all the fans have left the building and, in their place, are people shooting, "Boo!"

Remember:
It's not what people call you that matters;
it's what you answer to that counts.

Make your private and public persona one in the same and worrying about the "good" opinions of others will be a non-issue.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Is Your Soul Free? (Read Time: 2 min.)


"We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls."
-Robert J. McCracken


It's the 4th of July, a day of celebration. We celebrate our freedom. We rejoice in the hard fought liberty of a country, the birth of a nation, the legacy of generations that gives us free reign to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. Historically, it's the birth of freedom for every person blessed enough to call him/herself 'American.'
"To whom much is given much is required..."
Are you living the life you are meant to live?
Are you free spiritually, emotionally, mentally and
physically to pursue your dreams?
In 99% of all cases, it's not outer circumstances that limit our lives but inner restraints that cap our destiny.
In the same way that I say "You were not built to be broken" I am also saying this: "You weren't born to play small in the world."
Today is a day of rebirth, renewal; it is a declaration of freedom for all who wish to be MORE of who they are.
What you need to decide (and today is as good a day as any) is this:
1) How can I love myself more today?
2) Am I playing full out in my life?
3) Are there any areas of my life where I feel discontent, dissatisfaction, or misery? If so, what is the mental switch I need to turn on to transform that area of my life?
4) Am I committed to no complaining? (Important if you're going to play big in the world)
5) Am I committed to finding gratitude in EVERY experience?
6) Can I stick with the goals I set for years (not simply months), even when it looks like nothing is happening?
7) Am I surrounding myself with people who are doing big things in the world? Am I catching their fever of passion, purpose and results?
This is a self-inventory, not a means for self-criticism. Ask the questions, listen for the answers and then decide today that your soul is free to be exactly what it came into this world to be.
It is time you lived full out.
Join me in doing just that!

Saturday, July 3, 2010

No, It's Not Easy (Read Time: 2 min.)


I love the people who say "Life is easy. Just choose to see it that way. Every second is a joy and a wonder and all you have to do is think a thought and it comes." For a better word, that's total and complete bull****.

If mega success were easy, everybody would do it.

The truth is this: life is a rollercoaster ride. There are ups, downs and in betweens. There will be trying times. There will be rough patches. There will be periods of hell in your life where you will have to remind yourself of the great Winston Churchill quote:

"When you're going through hell, keep going."

It isn't all fun and games and the beauty of life is this: roses have thorns, day has night, after midnight comes morning. It's the Yin and Yang. The reason we appreciate the joy is because we've felt the pain. I'm not saying that life has to be hard or that you have to work "hard" to be successful but I am saying that if you set yourself up believing that success is as simple as waving a magic wand, that your life is supposed to go flawlessly and happily every second of the day, if you buy into the belief that life is all roses and so long as you "think good things", you'll get good things, you'll be in for a rude awakening when life sends you a message that knocks you off your feet.
Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.

That's where the joy is. No matter what happens (and all kinds of things will happen), you have the choice to see this as happening TO you or being a lesson FOR you. The way you choose to see it will decide your future. That's where the power is.
It's not about living in utopia.

It's about feeling the wind, even as the s**t is hitting the fan.

Friday, July 2, 2010

The Difference Between Effort and Struggle (Read Time: 2 min.)


In last night's Not Built to Be Broken teleseminar, I taught the difference between effort and struggle. If you'd like to listen to the MP3, sign up with your name and email address in the sign up box on this page.


But, I digress.


Do you realize how powerful your sense of struggle is?


We can talk all day about the differences between effort and struggle but if you don't really get how powerful a force struggle is in your life, if you don't recognize the myriad of limiting beliefs that come along with a scarcity mentality, you will never get very far with the concept of effort.


Many of us think we're driven, ambitious, and put forth alot of effort when all we're really doing is struggling and spinning our wheels. In order to move from effort to struggle, there are certain facts of life you need to incorporate into your daily habits:


1- Set stretch goals. Set goals that are just outside of your reach & stay focused on them until you achieve them.

2- Change your expectation source. Don't expect things to go wrong. Assume that things work out exactly the way they are supposed to.

3- Don't go it alone. Seek out expert advice in the forms of books, articles, news programs. You don't know everything. Pursue knowledge constantly.

4- Make your actions fun. Even when actions are hard, they can be fun so see your daily tasks as a part of the major motion picture called your life. It all counts. It's all good and everything conspires in your favor.

5- Take breaks. There's this tendency to 'plow' through, even when we're exhausted, tired, in the wrong frame of mind, etc. While it's important to do what you have to do even when you don't feel like it, it's also important to know when you've hit your limit and take a break. Even a 15 minute break can shift you out of struggle and back into effort.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

How to Break the Worry Habit (Read Time: 2 min.)


What are you thinking about right now?

Chances are, you're worrying about something. Maybe it's the lack of time in your day needed to get a whole bunch of stuff done. Maybe it's the bills that are coming due this week or next. Maybe it's the relationship you're in that seems to keep going downhill. Maybe it's your kids and school or your kids and the people they hang out with. Maybe you're worried about your health.

Whatever it is, there's one thing you need to get very clear about:
You brought the worry habit into your world and you are the only one who has the power to take it out.

In The Power of Positive Thinking, Norman Vincent Peale says the following:
"You were not born with the worry habit. You acquired it. And becuase you can change any habit and any acquired attitude, you can cast worry from your mind."
Worry is a negative mental habit we've acquired over time and it serves NO purpose. I'm a firm believer in casting worry out of your mind and replacing it with faith. But how do you actually do that?
Whenever you get caught up in the worry habit, here are 3 things you can do:

#1- Say to your mind "Stop!" and remind yourself "This problem is not bigger than me. I am bigger than the problem."
#2- Clear your mind. When you feel yourself getting uptight, tense and stressed, take 12 deep breaths(which means think of nothing).
#3- Trust the process of life. Decide that everything's going to work out for the best and operate from faith on it. Alot of us expect the other shoe to drop. We believe so firmly in Murphy's Law that we make it happen in our lives. What if, instead of believing the worst in every situation, you flipped the script and chose to believe the best? No matter what resulted, you'd be at peace. That's a choice only you can make.
#4- Look for different options. If it's one thing I've learned in life, it's this: there are at least a thousand ways to get done what I'd like to do. We live in a limitless world of opportunity. The problem is this: most of us don't spend the time necessary to look for different options. If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.
#5- Stop complaining. This is a toughy for me and I'm sure it's a toughy for you. Complaining (even if only a thought) leads to more stuff in your life to complain about. Bottomline: cut it out. The second you feel yourself complaining about ANYTHING, stop yourself and replace it with something to be grateful about. Even if you're not feeling grateful, the act of 'doing' gratitude will move you closer to being worry free.
Remember:
You are who you believe you are.
Your life will be all that you see in it.
You were not built to be broken.

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