"It matters not what a person is born, but who they choose to be!"
~ Joanne Kathleen Rowling ~
I really enjoyed stumbling across this quote, especially given the author. For those who don't know, Joanne is the author of the Harry Potter series. She is an inspiration and success story, who chose to follow her dreams. A single parent receiving assistance, Joanne pursued her writing dream in every spare moment. And of course, the rest is history as she sets publishing record after publishing record.
Your Turn:
Is there a piece of your life that you feel pre-destined to live out? Did you grow up in a family without money and thus feel that financial security is not within your reach? Did adults around you discourage your dreams until you forgot how to dream them? Take the words of Joanne to heart--choose to be more.
Your Affirmation:
Each day I choose to be all I can be.
Readers share with Readers
A special 'Thank you' to Ms. Isabel Brennen for sending me this wonderful Mural Mosaic!
This mural was unveiled last week at the Cochrane Ranch House. Each tile is 1 foot square so it is a huge mural.
You can click on the tiles to see them in detail. And then use Your "back" to go to the original. Check out the horse’s eye. You really can't help but check them all out it's amazing!!
To check out the mural and click on the tiles, click here!
If you can’t open the link, type: http://muralmosaicnyman.blogspot.com/
Life Improvement Tips
Finding Motivation: Or What to Do When You Don't Feel Like Doing Anything
"The measure of your success usually comes down to who wins the battle that rages between the two of you. The 'you' who wants to stop, give up, or take it easy, and the 'you' who chooses to beat back that which would stand in the way of your success -- complacency."
~ Chris Widener ~
In all my interactions with people, I've never found anyone, regardless of their level of success, who doesn't sometimes find themselves simply not wanting to do the things that they need and want to do. It is a part of human nature that there will be times that, in spite of all that we need to do, and even desire to, we will find ourselves not wanting to do anything.
And what separates those who will become successful from those who will maintain the status quo, is the ability at those very crucial moments of time when we are making decisions about what we will do, to choose to find the inner motivation that will enable us to conquer our complacency and move on in action.
I find that I confront this issue in my life on a regular basis, so the following success strategies are not merely pie in the sky techniques, but proven ways to get yourself to go even when you don't feel like doing anything.
Honestly evaluate whether or not you need a break.
This is the first thing that I usually do when I find that I don't want to get to a specific action. The fact is that oftentimes we will have been working very hard, and the lethargy we are feeling is really our body and emotions telling us that we simply need a break. And this is where it takes real intellectual honesty because when we don't need a break, our mind is still telling us we need a break! But sometimes we do need a break. I'll give you a good example. I don't particularly like to exercise, but I do almost every day. Sometimes, I find myself before going to the club thinking about how I just didn't feel like going. Most of the time I am just being lazy. However, sometimes I realize that my body needs a break. So from time to time I will take a one- or two-day break from working out. The benefits of this are two-fold: One, my body gets a break to regenerate itself. Two, after a day or two, I begin to miss my workout, and eagerly anticipate a turning to the gym. Other examples: Perhaps you are a salesman who has been phoning clients for a week straight, day and night. You wake up one morning and just don't feel like doing it any more. Well, take a break for the morning. Go to a coffee shop and read the paper. Go to the driving range and hit some golf balls. Take a break and then get back to it!
Start small.
I'm at a point in my workout schedule now where a typical workout day for me consists of 30 to 45 minutes of aerobic exercise, and about 30 minutes of weight lifting. So when I find myself not wanting to get up and go to the gym, I will sometimes make a commitment to go and just do a smaller workout. Instead of deciding not to go, I'll commit to doing 15 to 20 minutes of aerobic exercise and 15 to 30 minutes of weight lifting. This is also good for two reasons. One, I actually get some exercise that day. And two, it keeps me from getting into a cycle of giving up when I don't feel like moving toward action. Other examples: Maybe you are a writer who simply doesn't want to write today. Instead of the long day writing you had planned, decide that you will at least outline a couple of new articles. You will at least get these done, and you may have found that you put yourself into the writing mood after all.
Change your routine.
I have found that what keeps me in the best shape and burns the most calories for me is to do 30 to 45 minutes on the treadmill every day. Now let me be very blunt. I find running on the treadmill to be extremely boring. Usually I can get myself to do it, but sometimes I need to vary my routine. So instead of 30 to 45 minutes on a treadmill, I will break down my aerobic exercise routine into a number of different areas. I will do 10 to 15 minutes on the treadmill, 10 to 15 minutes on the reclining cycle, 5 to 10 minutes on the rowing machine, 5 to 10 minutes on the stair stepper, and then back on to the treadmill for five to 10 minutes. I still get my exercise, but I'm bored a lot less. Other examples: Maybe you are in construction and you have been working on the plumbing for a week, and it is getting monotonous. Don't do the plumbing today! Go frame-in the office.
Reward yourself.
One way that I motivate myself to do something when I don't feel like doing it is to tell myself that if I get through the work that I need to, I will give myself a little reward. For instance, I may tell myself if I to get up and go to the club, I can take five to 10 minutes off my treadmill exercise, which will shorten my workout routine, and I'll allow myself to sit in the hot tub for a few extra minutes. Hey, it works! Other examples: Maybe you are a mortgage broker who feels like sleeping in. Tell yourself that after the next three mortgages you close, you will take your kids to the fair or your spouse to the movies. Maybe you'll give yourself a night on the town with old friends.
Reconnect the action with pleasure rather than pain.
Psychologists have long told us that we humans tend to connect every action with either pleasure or pain. Tony Robbins has popularized this even further in the last few years with something he calls Neural Associations. That is, we connect every action with either a pleasure or pain. When we are finding ourselves lacking motivation, what we are probably finding about ourselves is that we are associating the action that we are thinking about with pain, rather than pleasure. For instance, when I'm considering not going to the health club on any given day, I am usually associating going and working out with having no time, the pain of exercising and weight lifting, or the boringness of running on a treadmill for an extended period of time. What I can do to re-associate is to remind myself that by going in and doing my exercise, I will feel better about myself, I will lose weight, and I will live longer. This brings me pleasure. When we begin to run those kinds of tapes through our minds, we find our internal motivating force unleashed and changing our attitude about the action that we are considering. Other examples: Maybe you are a counselor who really doesn't want to spend the day listening to people. Your association may be that it will be boring, or that you will be inside while it is sunny outside. Instead, re-associate yourself to the truth of the matter: Someone will be better off because of your care and concern. Think of your clients and the progression they have been making recently and how you have been a part of that.
Give these ideas a try and see if you don't find yourself pushing through into action!
Career Tips
Career Values: Part 4
Identify Your Strengths and Talents
This week, I am guiding you through the process of defining your career "sweet spot."
Working in your "sweet spot" means your job is in alignment with your values, skills and passions.
The final step is to identify your top professional skills. A big part of working in your "sweet spot" is doing what you are good at. This allows you to be in a job that comes naturally to you, rather than a position in which you have to try way too hard to make things work. (Been there, done that!)
Instead of feeling like heaving a huge boulder up a mountain, working in your "sweet spot" feels like rolling a rock down a mountain with momentum - joy in what you do and the rewards it brings you - easing you along. On a typical workday, if you feel like a square peg being pounded into a round hole, you owe it to yourself to explore other career options either within or outside your current profession.
The following written exercise will help you identify your top skills:
Review all of the jobs you have held, including your current position. Go all the way back to your first job - maybe it was in high school. Take out a separate sheet of paper for each position and write your title at the top of the page. Then, brainstorm what you liked about each job.
Ask yourself questions such as:
- What did I enjoy about this position?
- What assignments did I like working on?
- What elements of this position gave me the most satisfaction?
- What tasks were easy for me to accomplish?
- What types of projects elicited the most compliments from managers and clients?
There are no right or wrong answers in this exercise. Let your brainstorm flow and do not censor yourself. This document is for your eyes only, so there is no risk of judgment. I recommend you work on this a few days in a row for about 15 minutes each day. Give yourself enough time for all ideas and observations to surface.
Schedule time in your calendar to complete this exercise in the next seven days. Next week, I will guide you through the process of analyzing your results.
Relationships 101
7 Ways to Succeed in the Sport of Dating! (Part 2)
We've all ready leaned the necessity of compatibility and attitude. We'll continue this week with the importance of focus.
3. In sports, it is best not to dwell on your past bad performance, but rather look forward towards making your next point or shot. In the same way, in dating, you don't want to think about how bad your last date went. You want to focus on having a good experience this time around.
My next piece of dating advice for women and men covers reaching your goals.
4. In sports, it is important to keep your eye on the ball - where it's coming from and where you want it to go. As in dating, you want to keep the focus on your goal of your time together and the end result you desire. Are you looking for a marriage partner? If so, does the person you are dating have that same goal? You want to make sure your reasons for dating are in sync or you will have major relationship issues!
Until the next time, when we'll continue our discussion on the
~Amy~