The Key to Getting "Unstuck"

One of the biggest challenges each of us face in becoming more financially secure, more prosperous, is that we don't often know what to do or where to start. We know what we want to change but we don't know how to do it. Today I am going to unlock the secret to destroying that roadblock forever.

Let me illustrate how to do this by sharing an experience I have had over the last couple of days. I have a brother-in-law that works for a company that sells and installs fitness equipment. He isn't paid very much but is given a lot of duties and responsibilities. On his blog he talked about how he was dissatisfied with the situation, how the organization was a total mess, and how the sales manager was taking a three week leave of absence. So the boss gave me brother-in-law a temporary "promotion". (You know what a promotion is don't you? It's an increase in responsibility without a corresponding increase in pay.) He now has to do the sales manager's job without any notes or information to help him.

Whether it is right or wrong, when I hear someone say they are dissatisfied with a situation, I make the assumption that they don't want to remain in that situation forever. It doesn't seem like that far of a stretch. If something is uncomfortable, change it or get away from it. Nobody wants to just sit there and take it, do they? So, I pointed out that he is in a prime position to improve his situation in the company. He will be learning the sales manager's job and, seeing how disorganized it is, can suggest improvements in how it is done. He can look for opportunities to improve sales seeing as how this is the slow time of year for their company and get their name out there more. Above all, he can make himself more experienced and more valuable and, if his efforts are not rewarded, he can take that experience and value to some other company that would appreciate it more.

The next day he posted again saying how excited he was for the opportunity and started listing a couple of ideas he had. I responded again and expanded his ideas and suggested some additional ideas of my own and some organizations and events their company could get involved with that would get their name out there more. Then today he posted some ingenious ideas about doing a fitness clinic that had further evolved from my comments the day before. But, again, it sparked the creativity centers in my brain and I had more suggestions on how to do the clinic at a low cost and in a way that would benefit not only them but some fitness trainers in the community.

Can you see what is happening here?

When we are stuck and clueless, it is most often because we are trying to go it alone and figure it all out for ourselves. The best way to overcome this roadblock isn't to brainstorm for ideas but to brainstorm with others for ideas. We don't all think the same thoughts and we don't all think in the same way. And once you get a creativity vibe going the ideas just start to explode from every person involved.

Napolean Hill talked about this in his book Think and Grow Rich: "When a group of individual brains are coordinated and function in Harmony, the increased energy created through that alliance, becomes available to every individual brain in the group." It is the power of the "Master Mind" group.

So, whatever it is that you want to accomplish, get people involved. Don't hide under your fears of failure. Step out and share your goals and engage your master mind group to lay out the plan that will lead to success beyond your wildest dreams!

Are You Motivated Right Now?

If there is one thing that we all lack when it comes to being, doing, and having the things that we want in life, I would say it is motivation in the moment. I know that there are over 100 things (because I actually took the time to make a list of them) that I would like to be, do, or have. Some are complex goals and others are simple whims and wishes. Why don't I have them? Why haven't I done them? I lacked the motivation in a given moment to pursue them.


Let's take this blog as an example. I can't tell you how many times I have thought that I would like to post something that day that would be of value to those who might happen to read it. My series on Universal Laws has been bouncing around in my head for months now. I think getting the series researched, written out and posted would be of great benefit to my readers and to me.


Have I had time to do it? Absolutely! I have the same amount of hours in any day that anybody else does. I would be lying to you and myself to say I haven't had time to do it. I have wasted precious moments that I could have used to complete it. I just wasn't motivated to do it in those moments.


So the question before us is "How do we motivate ourselves right now?" Let me give you a step-by-step process:

Step 1 - Take out a pen and paper. I'm serious here. Stop reading right now and take out a pen and paper or don't even bother reading further.



Do you have your pen and paper?




Okay. Good. Let's continue on ...


Step 2 - Write down what it is that you want to do. What do you want to accomplish? This could be a major goal like learning to play the piano, making $100,000 or becoming the top salesperson in your line of work. Or it could be something simple like giving a compliment to your significant other every single day, posting on your blog daily, reserving quality time each week for your kids.


Step 3 - Wright down what is most important to you in your life. It could be your spouse/significant other, your kids, your car, your bank account, whatever it is. What is most important to you?


Now, before we go on to the next step, I want to prepare you a little. Not because it is so amazing and so shocking, but because it is so simple. Open your mind to this next step and really let it sink in.


Step 4 - Ask yourself: What would you do if you had only 90 days to achieve your goal or you would lose what you cared about most forever?


Really let this question sink in, and, as soon as the ideas start pouring forth, write them all down as fast as you can. If what you wrote down for Step 2 is truly important to you, the answers should start coming to you right away. You will now have an idea list that will get you started on your goal, and, more likely than not, you will feel excited about doing it now. You may not see the full path that leads you from where you are now to where you want to go, but that's okay. You have a direction to start in and a number of steps outlined to start with. And now for the most important step of all ...


Step 5 - Pick one of your ideas and take action on it right away! It doesn't matter how small the step is, just do something; ANYTHING!!! If your goal is to learn to play the piano, it may be as simple as calling around to find out who teaches piano and making an appointment with them. If your goal is to get better at giving compliments to your significant other, your first step may be to make a list of all their attributes that your appreciate and admire. Just do it! DO IT NOW!!!




What? Are you still here? What are you doing? You're wasting your time. You're wasting your life! Not the one you are currently living but the one you always dream about. Go take your first step and then come back. These words aren't going anywhere. They'll be here when you get back. GO NOW!!!!!



Did you go and come back? If you did, that's fantastic because now you are one step closer to where you want to be and you are ready for the next step on your list. And every step you take, every task you complete, will motivate you more and more because each little success you have will add up to the major success of completing your goal.


The reason why this works so well is you are adding two essential factors to your goals that you were most likely lacking before completing this exercise: IMPORTANCE and URGENCY. We pay our electric bill because it is important for us to keep warm and cook food and it is urgent that we do so before the electric company shuts it off. We go grocery shopping because it is important for us to eat to survive and urgent because we are hungry.


If someone kidnapped my wife, held a gun to her head and told me I had 90 days to bring them $1,000,000 or they would blow her brains out, I would be motivated enough to start selling everything I own that very day. I would also talk to every last person I could get in contact with to ask them for help. I don't care if I had to ask 12,000 people every single day for 90 days to donate $1 to help save my wife, I would do it (and I really struggle when it comes to asking other people for help). Nothing would stop me from raising that $1,000,000 before that 90 day deadline because my wife is very important to me and the deadline makes it urgent that I get it done. THERE IS NO WAY I WOULD FAIL!!!


I hope that you did not read this whole post in one sitting. I hope that as soon as you read Step 5 you stopped reading right then and went out and took the first step towards achieving your goal. If you didn't, I won't hold it against you as long as you go do it right now. And once you have done it, come back and leave a comment telling me how it all worked out.

When the wind does not blow your way...

"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination."

~ Jimmy Dean

How to Cure a "Bad Day"

Read this, and let it really sink in... Then, choose how you start your day tomorrow...

Jerry is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant.

The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.

I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes, it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."

I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gun point by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. “The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or I could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Jerry continued, "...the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man.'

I knew I needed to take action." " What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'"

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

• Positive thinking the the first step towards a happy life.

• Attitude is everything!

If everyone applies just these, the whole world will live in happiness.

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Isn't it funny how you always seem to come across those things you need to hear most, even if you don't want to hear it? This day has been a bit rough for me. Not that it has been a bad day. In fact it was only a couple of ---small--- things that happened this morning that started it spiralling downward. I even ended up getting a little grumpy with my wife which she totally did not deserve. I made a bad choice. Luckily, I recognized how badly I chose and was able to save the day by choosing something better.

Tomorrow, I plan to skip over "better" and choose to have the best day so far this month!

What do you choose?

“There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.”

~ W. Clement Stone