Motivation Monday: Who do You Choose to be?

                             “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to be.” – Carl Jung

   Every person on Earth has something happen to them that they dislike. Divorce, health problems, loss of job, car breaks down, a death in the family, or any other major problems. How do you react to these? Do you wallow in misery or do you do something about it?

   Unfortunately some people allow these issues to define them. Just because you’re unemployed doesn’t make you a loser. The definition of you is how you respond. Setbacks in life should spur you into action, not the other way around. If you are struggling with this then go back and look at the times when you did step up during adversity and took care of it. Everyone has at some point.

   The reason people get down when something difficult happens is because mentally they convince themselves that it’s the worst thing that could happen. The only time it’s the worst thing is if you choose not to learn, grow, and do something about it. If you lost a loved one it’s probably pretty certain the person that passed wouldn’t want you to grieve any longer than you should. You don’t need to forget them, but you do need to move on.

   Now is your time. Who do you choose to be? You have greatness within you. You can overcome any obstacle life throws at you. No matter how bad things might be you can do it. Make the decision that you will choose to be a superstar in your life. Be an example to yourself and people around you that you will rise to the occasion. The time is now to be the person you are capable of becoming. Only YOU can do this!

4 Keys to Reaching Your 2014 Goals (Resolutions) and Beyond

Happy New Year everyone! Many people decide to sit down and write down their New Year’s resolutions or goals for the upcoming year. Some of these are well thought out and then some people have the same goal to lose weight each year. How do you make sure the goals you set are ones that you may actually reach?

   When you decide to write down your goals make sure they are goals that make you stretch and grow. Goals are not important just because you reach them. They are important because of the person you become in the process. Don’t take the easy way. Let your goals make something of you.

   Goals or resolutions first of all need to be something you have a passion to reach. Setting a goal to lose weight makes sense if you need to. Obviously for health reasons it is very important to live a healthy active lifestyle. Despite this you may not actually want to commit to eating right and exercising to lose weight and get healthy. When you set a goal you want to reach you will do whatever it takes to get there.

   There needs to be a passion for it. It must be something that you cannot imagine not doing. When you set goals like that then you will do whatever it takes to reach it. You will follow your passion and do the hard work necessary.

   When people write out resolutions or goals they write a couple things down on paper and that’s it. That is also a reason people give up. They don’t have a plan. When you set goals there must be a plan accompanying it in order to reach it. Goals aren’t reached many times because you have no idea how to get there. This is critical in particular when it is a difficult or complicated goal. Make sure you have a plan in place to get there.

   If your goal is to lose weight then write down what you will eat and how often you will work out. When you write out your plan though you have to stick to it and be committed to following it. If you quickly write out your goals without a real plan the chances of reaching them are slim. If you are driving somewhere you plan how you will drive there no matter how many times you have made the trip. If you don’t have a plan then you will drive aimlessly. The same goes for goals.

   If you have a passion and a plan then the third thing is persistence. The goal has to be attacked on a daily basis. You should review your goals daily and look back to find out what you did that day to move you closer. Keep close tabs on what you are doing. You have to be persistent with goals to get there. If you aren’t, before you know it six months will have gone by and you will have done nothing. Being persistent will not only help you reach the goal, but it will improve your esteem and confidence because you will begin seeing what is being accomplished. This will cause you to be more persistent and become the person you are capable of becoming.

   Finally, patience is necessary to reach your goals. You need to be willing to let ideas develop and certain things to come into play to make it happen. When you get impatient you make a rush to judgment and this can keep you from seeing a goal through. If you need to make a difficult decision then be patient and make sure the decision is well thought out.

   To see your goals accomplished in 2014 and beyond it takes passion, planning, persistence, and patience. If you utilize these four things when reaching your goals then nothing will stop you. 

YOU Can Become Extraordinary

   

What do Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Ronald Reagan, Mother Theresa, Steve Jobs, Jim Rohn, and Princess Diana all have in common? They were all extraordinary people in different ways. All of them impacted the world in an extraordinary way. Whether it’s as a civil rights leader, business philosopher, lover of the poor, tech genius, or as president of the United States.

   They each had a definite major purpose in life and pursued it with all their hearts. Nothing was going to stop them. You may be thinking right now as you read this that these people were different. That they had certain qualities that allowed them to achieve extraordinary results. However, that is complete fiction.

   Anyone can achieve the same extraordinary results they did. You can have the same impact on the world around you. No? All of these people were in the same position you are. They may not have set out to move mountains in the beginning, but they became the type of person capable of doing it. Extraordinary performance occurs when you are the best person you are capable of becoming.

   It doesn’t matter if you are a homemaker, teacher, pastor, mechanic, or if you bag groceries at the supermarket. Extraordinary performance can happen anywhere. All of it depends on what you do. If you spend time being negative and complaining all the time then you can bet that becoming extraordinary will take a lot longer. But if you have a positive mental attitude then you can get there much faster.

   A positive attitude will get positive results and a negative attitude will get……It really is that simple. You must live your life finding ways to be positive because negativity destroys everything it touches and it’s a slow death. Negativity causes pain, stress, anxiety, and health problems. One myth about being positive is that you see no weeds in the garden. Well, if you are that way then you better pull the weeds because they will take your garden. A positive person doesn’t see sunshine in the rain, they just enjoy the rain.

   Many people also fail to become extraordinary because they lack confidence. Lack of confidence is the root cause of laziness. When you don’t have confidence then many times you will do nothing. This doesn’t mean you won’t have a job, or pay your bills. It just means that without confidence you will fail to take the steps necessary to do what you want to do with your life. People without confidence will make excuses why they can’t do something. They will never become extraordinary. Do you think extraordinary people lack confidence?

   Another reason is that you have a poor philosophy. If your philosophy is to do as much work as you get paid for then you will always get paid that much. If your philosophy is to sit and watch television instead of reading a book that could change your life then you can expect to stay right there on the couch. Or is it to spend time partying instead of getting a second job to pay off your bills?

   What is your philosophy on life? It’s very important to know this. Think long and hard about what you do daily, and the decisions you make, and have made. Then you will figure out what your philosophy is.

   Who are the people you spend time with? Are they extraordinary? You say, “Well all my friends and family can’t be extraordinary.” That’s true, but it doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot of time with them either. What happens when you spend time with extraordinary people? Two things; either you end up jealous and complain about them to other people who aren’t extraordinary and it brings you down further, or you feel uplifted and energized.

   The reason you feel great when you spend time with them is because extraordinary people do extraordinary things for others even if you just had a cup of coffee. Who in your life right now do you consider extraordinary? Model their behavior. Do what they do. Sound crazy? It really isn’t because when you learn about people that you admire you may try to do what they did to get there.

   Here’s the thing. It doesn’t matter who it is that you admire. They don’t have to be world renowned to be extraordinary. They can be the person next door, a co-worker, or your parents. Makes no difference.

   Now it is possible that you don’t have anyone in your life that you consider extraordinary. That was my issue. So I thought about who I thought was extraordinary, and I read, and read, and read about them. I looked to books for my extraordinary people and had no problem finding them. If you don’t read, then start. Read about the extraordinary people I mentioned above, or find other people you can model your life after.

      You can become extraordinary. It takes work on your part to analyze your life and see what you can do differently to change it. There is definitely something because if you don’t find anything then you aren’t being honest. The one major thing that sets extraordinary people apart is that they are constantly working to improve. You can start today. Make today the day you decide to become extraordinary, and have an impact on the world around you. It’s up to you!

Motivation Monday; Stop the Excuses

                           

“Excuses are the nails used to build the house of failure.” – Jim Rohn

   I’m too tired, I’m too busy, I don’t feel like it, it’s too difficult, and I’m not sure I can do it are all excuses. Excuses keep you from building the house of your dreams. They keep you from the house of success. Examine the times when you have wanted to do something important in your life and didn’t like go back to school, start a business, write a book, find a new job, or rebuild a torn relationship. Why didn’t you do those things? What excuses did you make to keep from doing it?

   After looking back on this how many excuses were valid. You may have called them reasons. There is a difference between reasons and excuses. Reasons are something out of your control that temporarily keep you from doing something. However, reasons don’t stop you like excuses do. Excuses are self-created that ultimately stop you from growing and moving forward in your life.

   Excuses are destructive because they have a great impact on your self-confidence because they will keep you right where you are if you let them. Instead of making excuses not to do something wonderful with your life find reasons TO DO IT. When you look for reasons to accomplish something you will find your life significantly more prosperous and joyful.

   Whatever it is that you want to do to change your life start now. Don’t make excuses. Just go for it. Don’t be afraid to fail because if you just make excuses and do nothing then you are in the same place you’re in now and won’t get out of life everything it has to offer. Try it! 

Difficulty is Necessary

 

 I am a big fan of Winston Churchill. I believe he is the greatest leader of people since Abraham Lincoln. This quote came across my desk the other day and surprisingly I had never read it before. The quote read, “Difficulties mastered are opportunities won.” It got me thinking about the past year in my life, and the difficulties I have faced over the year. At times I felt like my life was over and that nothing good would ever happen to me. What bothered me most about this type of thinking is that it isn’t what I believe or how I live.

   Fortunately this thinking wasn’t common, but when I read the Churchill quote it opened my eyes and thoughts in a new way. Difficulties are necessary in life. You cannot grow without them, or achieve any degree of success. Read a biography of a person you deem successful and see how easy their road was to get there. Anyone who has succeeded has gone through many difficulties. Churchill for example had a speech impediment his entire life despite his amazing ability to communicate to his people. He also left government as a failure due to the Galipoli Campaign, but then became Prime Minister and led his country through World War II. Inexplicably he was beaten in the 1945 election, but rebounded to win election again in 1951.

   Difficulties are a very important part of life. You MUST go through them to get where you want to be. They give you the opportunity to grow, get stronger, and become more. Instead of facing difficulties with apprehension and fear try welcoming them because despite how challenging they are you will be given an opportunity to become more in the process. The person who gets swallowed up by difficulty and challenge is the person who remains the same. Whatever difficulties and challenges you are going through today look at them as an opportunity to become better than you were before they happened.

When it Rains......

    

   Ever heard the phrase “When it rains it pours?” If you are over the age of ten you probably have. The phrase is usually used with a negative connotation meaning that when things go bad they just get worse. However, when people use this term they don’t think about what rain does. It makes things grow. Sure the flood can come, but it eventually recedes and goes away. When the rain of problems come your way don’t think of it negatively. Work on finding out how these problems will make you grow. What can you learn from it? How can you become more as a result of this?

   No matter what happens to you it gets better when you become better no matter what it is. Whether it’s the death of a loved one, loss of a job, or health problems. It’s what you become that matters. Ever had a problem that seemed like “the worst thing ever.” Of course you have. How is that problem now? Many times it gets fixed because of the effort YOU put into fixing it. It’s all up to you to take 100% responsibility for it whether it was your fault or not. That’s how you become more. That’s how it gets fixed.

   Take a look at your problems and figure out how to fix them instead of just thinking how bad everything is. Dwelling on the negative aspects of it don’t fix a thing and you will never grow. As the great Jim Rohn said “To have more you have to become more.” Think about that. 

Motivation Monday - Conquering Self

     

                    “If you don’t conquer self you will be conquered by self.” – Napoleon Hill

   Most people don’t get what they want out of life for one reason and one reason only. They are unable to conquer themselves. It’s easy to blame circumstances for not getting what you want. That’s what most people do. However, 3% of people take full responsibility for their lives. They make the decision not to let the nagging voice inside lead them to defeat and despair. It’s that voice that leads to negativity, laziness, and unhappiness.

   Why is that? It’s because what you want to do will take hard work on your part to get there. To do the things you have always wanted to do in your life takes a major commitment on your part not to let anything stand in your way. You stand there and look at how tall the mountain is and walk away instead of starting to climb. You climb a mountain no matter how tall it is one step at a time. If you don’t start climbing all you’re doing is staring at the summit. You have to get moving.

   When you wait for circumstances or people to change around you without doing anything yourself you wind up frustrated when it is your fault to begin with. It is up to you. You are the only one that can stop you. No matter what is happening around you it is still your responsibility to get there. Don’t let those voices stop you from getting through. Write the book, run the marathon, lose the weight, whatever it is. Get started. There is no reason you can’t do it if you put the work in.

   Anyone who says living the life you desire doesn’t take hard work is full of it. You meet anyone who has had any degree of success and they will tell you how hard and long they worked to get where they want to be. It’s that simple. However, the reason they were able to do it is because they conquered self first. They didn’t allow anything to stop them. They did it themselves. So whatever it is that you want from life you need to make it happen. Stop the excuses and go for it. It’s in there inside of you. Tap into it and change your life forever.