Today, as promised, we will speak of some tips and techniques that will help you stick to your resolutions. The key to keeping any resolution lies in your mental and emotional states. I love to watch and play sports because this is one place where you can see the truth of that statement over and over again. Players who have their head in the game and who play it with high enthusiasm and determination achieve incredible victories - even in areas where they may be physically out-matched. So any time you are struggling with a resolution or goal, check to see where you are mentally and emotionally and you may find the solution to your problems.
Keep a Success Journal
One of the greatest tools you can have when working towards any goal is a journal. It is essential for recording your ideas, your success, your failures and what you learned from them, tracking your progress, etc. A success journal can be as simple and as inexpensive as a 3-ring binder with notebook paper in it or a spiral-bound notebook. It can also be a more expensive blank, hard-bound book - whatever works best for you. Jim Rohn, a favorite speaker and author of mine, prefers to use more expensive books. He says: "The reason why I spend so much money for my journals is to press me to find something valuable to put in them." Your success journal will not only be valuable to you but also inspirational to others who read them and see how you accomplished your goals and dreams.
Measure Your Dedication
In the thesaurus, synonyms for the word "resolution" are aim, boldness, constancy, courage, dauntlessness, decidedness, decision, declaration, dedication, determination, doggedness, earnestness, energy, firmness, fixed purpose, fortitude, guts, heart, immovability, intent, intention, judgment, mettle, moxie, obstinacy, perseverance, pluck, purpose, purposefulness, purposiveness, relentlessness, resoluteness, resolve, settlement, sincerity, spirit, spunk, staunchness, staying power, steadfastness, stubbornness, tenacity, verdict, will, and willpower. Does this accurately describe the way you set and keep your resolutions? I suspect that most of us set and work on our resolutions in a way described by one of the two antonyms the thesaurus listed: half-heartedness.
This is a good list of qualities to determine how dedicated you are to achieving the resolution you set. Ask yourself questions like:
Do I have a definite aim to shoot for?
Am I bold enough to move outside my "comfort zone" to achieve it?
Will I be constant in my efforts to accomplish it?
Do I have the courage to overcome any and all obstacles that arise?
Will I be dauntless no matter how hard it gets?
Have I made the decision to accomplish this resolution? (Note: The word "decide" comes from the Latin word "decidere" which means "to cut off from." So, when you truly decide, you cut yourself from any other option including quitting and failure.)
Do you have the dedication to see your resolution through?
Are you determined to succeed no matter what?
Are you earnest in your intention to change your life?
Do you have the energy to go after your resolution with enthusiasm?
Are you firm in your decision to do this?
Are you fixed in your purpose so that nothing can knock you off course?
You get the idea. Pick out the words above that speak to you and that you would like to describe you and your pursuit of accomplishing your resolution. Write down your questions and rate yourself on a scale of 1 - 10. Then ask yourself, "What can I do right now to make this a '10'?" Record the answers in your success journal. Ask these questions again and again throughout your resolution-achieving process so that you are always aware of where your emotional and mental levels lie and do what you can to keep yourself as close to a "10" as possible.
One great example of dedication is Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Playoffs. Michael Jordan, as most of you know, played basketball at a level that made him virtually unstoppable. What made this game different from all other games was that, just hours before the game, Michael could barely pull himself out of his hotel bed as he was suffering from food-poisoning, the flu or both. Most players would have sat out the game being in that sort of condition, but not Michael. Though his body protested, his head and his heart were in the game and in it to win. Michael had ice on his head during time-outs. By the end of the game, his teammate, Scottie Pippen, was practically carrying him off the floor. But, in spite of the physical challenges and difficulties, Michael scored 33 points, had 7 rebounds and 5 assists and played 44 minutes of the game. Is there any question here of whether or not he was a dedicated player? It is no wonder that he said, "If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."
Keep Your Goals In Front of You
Yesterday, I mentioned that we would talk about why a written goal is so much more powerful than just keeping it in your head. One reason why this is so is because every time you write down your goal statement you drive it deep into your subconscious. It tells your subconscious that you are serious and your subconscious will work for you by feeding you ideas and inspiration and make you aware of resources and opportunities that become available to you.
Review your goals (or even better, rewrite them) every morning and every evening of every day. Take 5-10 minutes to visualize and see yourself accomplishing your goal. Feel the feelings associated with your accomplishment. Hear the sounds. Smell the smells. Experience the joy! The more senses you get involved, the more real you make it, the more you believe it both consciously and subconsciously.
Keep an index card with your goals written on them in your wallet. Write them on the back of your business card. Have a card with your goals on them taped to the dashboard of your car, the bathroom mirror, the bottom of your computer monitor, the backside of your front door - everywhere you can think of so that you encounter them again and again and again throughout the day.
Dream Board
Another way to keep your goals in front of you is a dream board. This is a bulletin board or posters filled with pictures that relate to your goal. If your resolution this year is to make more money so that you can save up for your dream vacation, cut out pictures from travel brochures of your destination, the means by which you will travel (cruise ship?), and the activities you will participate in while you are there. If you are trying to get in shape or lose weight, cut out pictures of people who are trim, fit or have the ideal body shape you are shooting for. Paste your head over theirs - just make sure it is a picture where you are smiling. Put your dream board someplace where you will see it every day - preferably several times a day - and use it to recharge your vision often!
Chart Your Progress
Make a large poster with the days of the month at the top and a list of your daily activities on the left side. Use bold colors to fill in the days that you successfully accomplish your tasks to give you a visual picture of how you are doing. Just like a check-list, it is compelling to have a tool such as this because you will feel this strong urge to fill in those spaces and you will be more motivated to accomplish your daily tasks. Post it up on your bedroom wall where it is nice and visible so it is the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning and the last thing you see when you go to sleep.
Get an Accountability Partner
If you are only accountable to yourself, you will find it so much easier to quit on your goals. You can rationalize away your own guilt, can't you? After all, you have done it so many times before. Make yourself accountable to others, however, and it becomes so much harder. You will find that you won't want to let them down. Some people will say that you shouldn't tell others about your goals because most people are negative and will only tear you down and tell you that you can't or won't make it. I believe, however, that other people are essential to your success. So choose a positive person (or several people) who believes in you to be your accountability partner. Ask them not only to be your cheerleader throughout the process, but also the stern coach who will kick you in the butt when you need it the most. When you have all your closest friends asking you how it is coming on the book you are writing, the exercise program you are starting or your dream to learn to play the piano, you will do all you can to give them a positive report every time.
The best accountability partner you can get is one who is doing it with you. When you have a walking partner or an exercise partner who will not let you sleep in but drags you out every morning at 6 a.m. sharp to go the gym, there is no way you can fail! (And if they aren't going to let you sleep in when you are tired, there is no way you are going to let them sleep in after all the times they dragged you out of your bed kicking and screaming, right?)
Procrastinate Procrastination! - Schedule It
When you feel like putting off your goal-achieving activities for any reason - whether it is because you're tired, you just want to relax a while, whatever it is - make a decision to procrastinate procrastination. Put off the putting off until later that day or even tomorrow. Schedule a time to watch T.V., surf the internet, play video games, do some recreational reading, etc. and keep that appointment. If you don't keep it, you will have even a greater desire to procrastinate on your goals because you will feel like you have been cheated on your "me" time to sit back and relax.
Procrastinate Procrastination! - Eliminate It
How do you motivate yourself in that moment when you really feel like putting off your goal activities? Easy! Just write down the answers to 3 simple questions:
1. Where are you and what are you doing? You may notice a pattern of locations and activities that have been making it difficult for you to get motivated. I found that laying on the living room couch, curled up in a ball to get warm was not the best place to motivate myself to get up and get moving in the morning (even though I had moved from the bed to the couch). Even sitting on the couch was dangerous because I would soon lay my head back and fall back asleep in seconds. So I started avoiding the couch like the plague!
2. What do you want to do? Now this isn't where you say, "I want to go back to bed and get more sleep!" This is where you write down what you want to accomplish in terms of your resolutions and goals. You may think you need a little more sleep, but what you really want is to go hit the gym so that you can drop those 20 pounds! You want to tighten that tush and those abs so that when you look in the mirror you will see your body curve in all the right places! You want those bulges to be on your biceps again rather than on your waistline! What is it that you really want to do?
3. How will you feel while doing it? You may you feel more energized because you are exercising again. You may feel more powerful because you conquered your weaker self. You may feel more joy in knowing that you are on the way to achieving your goal. Decide how you will feel and you are more likely to experience that feeling.
Once you have answered these three questions, you will feel more motivated to work on your goal. The reason for this is that you have already seen yourself doing it in your mind while you answered the questions, didn't you? And where the mind goes, the body will follow. You still had your mind thinking about bed and sleep so that is where you wanted to be. Now that you are thinking and seeing yourself exercise and having fun and losing weight, that is what you want to do. Trust me. It works!
Procrastinate Procrastination! - Shift Your Focus
Mike Litman, a mentor of mine, taught me an important concept in overcoming procrastination or doing those activities that you really don't feel like doing in any given moment. Some people get up on those cold, windy, rainy mornings, look outside at the weather, crack their jaws with a mighty yawn, decide it's not worth it and head back to bed. Other people get up on those cold, windy, rainy mornings, look outside at the weather, crack their jaws with a mighty yawn, throw on their gym clothes and minutes later they are at the gym enjoying a great workout. What is the difference here? It's their focus!
The person who decides it's not worth it and heads back to bed is the person who is focused on the process. They are thinking about how cold it will be to go outside, how tired they will feel just starting their workout, how their muscles will burn as the work up a sweat and then how much colder they will be going back out in that weather all sweaty to go home. Brrr! I am getting cold just writing about it and even I wouldn't mind a nice, warm bed right now.
The person who goes to the gym isn't thinking so much about the process as they are focusing on the results. They are thinking how good they will look in their bathing suit. How good it will feel to put on that dress that is two sizes smaller without feeling like they were stuffed into it. The admiring look their spouse will give them when they walk into a room. The joy of chasing kids around the playground without feeling out of breath. The pleasure of living long and actively well into their golden years because of the exercise habit they had established in 2008. When you don't feel like doing something, focus on the results you will accomplish and allow the feelings of enjoying the benefits motivate you to action!
Make the Process Fun!
One reason why people don't follow through on their resolutions and goals is because they aren't having any fun. They want to lose the weight, but they don't particularly enjoy getting up early. They would much rather stay up watching their favorite T.V. shows. And if you are going to be up that late you have to eat a snack because you get hungry that long after a meal. My wife found a way to beat this by having me arrange the family room in such a way that her she could see the T.V. from her treadmill. Then she had me buy her a pair of wireless headphones on eBay so that she was the only person who would hear anything. After that she would set the DVR to record all her favorite shows. She went to bed at a decent hour, got up the next morning at 5:30 a.m., threw on her exercise clothes, and went for very brisk walks while the kids slept and enjoyed her favorite T.V. shows at the same time. The kids never woke up because the headphones eliminated the need to turn the volume up. Plus, she never had to sit through the commercials because she could fast-forward through them.
The Mary Poppins Principle
If the tasks that you have selected to achieve your resolution ever end up feeling a little bit tedious and boring, apply the Mary Poppins principle! "In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun and - SNAP! - the job's a game!" Make it fun and challenging. Establish your personal "bests" in different areas of your tasks and try to beat them. Don't allow it to become mundane. Have fun with it!
These are just a few of the ideas that are out there that will help you stay committed and focused on achieving your resolutions this year. Come back to The Millionaire Marathon blog throughout the year for more ideas, tips, and coaching on how to go for your dreams and get them.
You now have everything you need to set your New Year's Resolutions and to achieve them. Have you written anything down yet? Well, what are you waiting for? Get started!
Have a happy New Year, everyone! I hope that 2008 will be your best year ever (at least until you get to 2009)! I know you can make it so! Have fun but stay safe tonight!
Oh, wait! I did promise you 5 days of information, didn't I? Come back tomorrow for Celebrate 2008! - Part 5 where I will give you some final bits of advice. I'll see you tomorrow morning!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Celebrate 2008! - Part 4
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Celebrate 2008! - Part 3
As I promised yesterday, these next couple of days will be used to focus on how to set powerful resolutions and make them stick. I am sure you have realized that New Year's Resolutions are nothing more than a goal or goals to improve some aspect of your life set at the beginning of the year. So what we are really talking about today is effective goal-setting techniques.
"Success is the progressive achievement of a worthy ideal or goal."
I would also say that this is a good definition for happiness since I don't know too many happy failures. I love the quote above by Mr. Nightingale, but I want you to take notice of the word "worthy." There are people who achieve a goal and still are not very happy. You can often see this in situations where a man works hard to create a future for his family but neglects them in doing so, which can often result in divorce. When setting resolutions, select those goals that are worthy and complimentary to your total life picture. The pursuit of these goals is the road to happiness.
Steps to Setting Powerful Resolutions
1. Write down what it is that you want
The first step in making any journey is to know where it is that you want to go.
"The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going."
The key word in this step is "want." You want to determine what it is that you want - not what your parents want, not what your spouse wants, not what your boss wants; what you want! You should be working towards your goals and dreams; not somebody else's. When you are working toward and achieving what you want, you will rarely run short on motivation and drive.
A great way of determining what you want is to create a Want List. At the top of a piece of paper, write down "I want ..." and finish that sentence in as many different ways as you possibly can. See if you can get up to 100 or more "wants." Don't worry about what you think is realistic for you to be, do or have. Let your imagination run wild! Describe your ideal life. Who do you want to be? What do you want to do? What do you want to see? Where do you want to go? Who do you want to meet?
Consider the following categories while making your list:
Romance
Children
Health & Fitness
Family
Community / Legacy
Fun
Friends
Relaxation
Personal Development
Environment
Spiritual
Financial
Career & Work
Home
Whatever you put down, make sure it is something that YOU want! And come back and add to this list as often as you think of something else.
2. Prioritize your Wish List
After you have a healthy-sized list, write in the margin to the left how soon you want to accomplish these goals. Put the number 1 for those wants you would like to accomplish in one year or less, 3 for those you want to do within 1-3 years, 5 for your wants you want done in 4-5 years and so on. This gives you tentative deadline for the goals you will set and an order to pursue them in.
3. Select one of your short-term goals that really excites you
Since we are setting a New Year's Resolution, you will want to focus on the 1-year wants. Take a moment and visualize each one individually and consider what it would be like to achieve each one. Select the one that excites you the most because this will stack the deck in your favor in terms of achieving it.
4. Write out an effective goal statement
This is a very important step and may take a little time both to explain and to do. It is all about turning your wishes into powerfully defined goals. You may have heard it said that an unwritten goal is only a wish. That is absolutely true! We will discuss more of the power that a written goal carries and how having it written down can help you achieve it in tomorrow's section. For now, let's look at putting your dreams down on paper as a powerful, effective goal statement.
The first step is to turn your wishes into S.M.A.R.T. goals. S.M.A.R.T. means Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Tangible.
To make your goals Specific, you need to answer the six "W" questions:
Who - Who is involved?
What - What do you want to accomplish?
Where - Identify the location where this will take place
When - Identify a time frame to accomplish it in
Which - Identify requirements and constraints
Why - Write down specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal
Measurable means setting the criteria for measuring progress towards & the achievement of your goal. Ways to do this are to answer the questions How much? How many? How long? and How will I know when it is accomplished?
The Attainable aspect of your goal is fairly simple. The truth of the matter is that you can attain most any goal when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to grow, develop and carry out those steps. So, ultimately, there is nothing you cannot do if you work hard enough, smart enough and/or long enough.
Realistic means that your goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. I must warn you not to set your goals too low. The reason for this is that high goals exert higher motivational force than low goals. Setting a goal such as "lose 5 pounds" are not nearly as exciting as "lose 25 pounds." You must set realistic ones based on your situation, but set a goal that will challenge you and cause you to stretch and grow.
Tangible means that your goal can be experienced with one of the five senses (i.e. taste, touch, sight, smell or hearing). If you set intangible goals such as development of personality characteristics or changing behavior patterns, these can often be tied to tangible goals or measurements. What this means is that if you set the resolution to be kinder to others this year, you have an intangible goal. Tying this goal to a goal of giving three different compliments to three different people every single day satisfies the goal of being kinder with a tangible means (hearing) of measurement.
Once you have determined the S.M.A.R.T. aspects of your goal, you are ready to write your goal statement. When you write it down, state it in the positive. This means writing down "I will put $100 in savings each month" rather than "I won't overspend my budget this year." You also want to state your goal in the present. Stating it in the present means writing your goal down as if it has already happened. This stimulates your subconscious mind and increases your level of belief that it will be accomplished.
5. Make a plan to achieve your goal
Once you have your goal statement, it is time to break it down into smaller, more achievable steps or step goals. Most people experience difficulty in achieving large tasks like writing a novel or losing 25 pounds. It is daunting and it becomes a motivational killer because you don't ever believe you will get there. It is just too big to focus on. Step goals like writing two pages per day or losing three pounds per month are more believable and, therefore, more achievable. So identify smaller step goals and assign a reward for each time you reach a milestone.
Once you have your step goals written down with their rewards, start listing every single activity that you can think of that you will need to accomplish to achieve each step goal. Write down the monthly, weekly or even daily activities that you will need to do - whatever spacing works best for you. I will warn you, however, that the greater the length of time between your activities, the weaker your motivation is to take the next step. Daily activities work the best because consistent daily steps make for successful habits that will drive you to the accomplishment of your goal. But, again, do what is best for you and your life schedule.
Once you have your periodic activities listed, prioritize them in a manner that will optimize your goal-achieving process.
Take time to identify foreseeable obstacles as well and what you will do to overcome them when the time comes. You may not think of everything up front, but doing this will leave you much better prepared for the ones you do think of. The others you will deal with as you encounter them.
6. Identify the price that must be paid and determine to pay it
"To be successful, you must decide exactly what you want to accomplish, then resolve to pay the price to get it."
Probably one of the major reasons why many people give up on their goals is they don't identify the price they must pay up front and determine to pay that price no matter what. Achieving a goal means making changes in your life - oftentimes, changes in some long-standing habits. This is never easy, comfortable or free. There is an emotional price, a physical price, a social price, a personal price and/or a financial price. You must make that determination to pay it or, when the going gets tough, you will most likely quit. Don't let that happen. Figure out what the price may be up front. It may mean giving up snacks and sweets. It may mean spending less time watching T.V. or hanging out with friends. It may mean earlier mornings or later nights. Whatever the cost may be, figure it out for yourself and establish an iron will to pay it no matter how tempting it may ever be to just give in.
7. Establish a Tracking & Accountability System
Set up a way to track your progress on your goal. Whether it means a spreadsheet on your computer, a calendar, a notebook - whatever works best. You need to have a way to see where you are at all times, how you are doing on any given day and where you can improve. Then share this with someone you trust. Become accountable to them so that they can help keep you motivated and honest with yourself. The reason I said someone you trust is because you need to give them "push-ability." You need to trust them to give you that kick in the pants when you need it. And when they give you that kick, keep in mind that it is because they love you and they want to see you succeed.
Those are the seven steps to setting highly effective and powerful goals. Some of these steps may take a little bit of time to establish, but it will be time well spent in preparing you and setting you up to accomplish your goals and dreams. Spend the necessary time to complete the steps above, but do them quickly so that you don't over-analyze any of them. To do so would result in "paralysis by analysis" and all you will have is a well-thought out idea of something you could have accomplished if you had acted while you were still excited about it.
Once you have your goal written down, your plan in place to achieve it and your tracking and accountability system established, the only thing that is left is to act. Do something, anything as quickly as possible. Get the ball rolling. Procrastination is the "silent killer" of your success and the longer you wait to start, the harder it will be to get going. So while the fire is still burning, while the enthusiasm is still high, take action! Do it now!!!
Come back tomorrow for Celebrate 2008! - Part 4 and learn a number of techniques and strategies that will help you keep those resolutions all year long until you have accomplished them. I'll see you then!
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Celebrate 2008! - Part 2
Yesterday, I mentioned the fact that less than 50% of Americans even set resolutions, and, out of those that do set them, only 15% ever accomplish them. In fact, one could say that the only resolution most people keep is to NOT keep their New Year's Resolutions. Are you ready to change all that? Good! First, let's deal with the problem of people not setting New Year's Resolutions.
Why People Do Not Set New Year's Resolutions
There are a variety of reasons why people don't set their resolutions. They may include:
They don't really know what they want.
I believe people know more what they want than they realize. Most people are complaining about something in life. If you are unhappy with a situation like being in debt, having too many bills to pay, being overweight or the house is always a mess then you obviously want the opposite of that situation. This means you want to pay off your debts, reduce your expenses or increase your income, exercise more and lose weight, and establish a better organization system in your home or teach your kids/spouse/yourself to put things away and develop better and/or more consistent cleaning habits. So what is it that you want?
They are too busy or disorganized to set them.
These are the people that say they will set their resolutions when they get around to it. I can understand this because I have been guilty of using this reason myself. The one thing I have going for me is that my birthday falls on February 5 and I tend to look back on the past year of my life at this point as well. I have often realized that another year has passed without much improvement or accomplishment in the areas I wanted to improve or accomplish in. Sometimes I set resolutions for My New Year of Life at this point. Other times, I am still to busy. Most people, I imagine, just never get around to it at all. If you don't take the time to make plans to improve your life right now, why would you expect tomorrow or the next day to be any different?
They feel overwhelmed when they set them.
Some people feel like it has to be all or nothing. They must change everything they don't like about their life right now or why should they bother. So they set as many resolutions as they can think of ... and then never achieve anything because they are torn in so many different directions. That would be like throwing the "Hail Mary" pass in football on every play. You will never win that way. Just like a sequence of well-executed football plays that eat up a little bit of yardage at a time can result in big wins, a small number of resolutions (or even just one at a time) will ultimately result in massive life improvements if done consistently.
Another type of overwhelm, aside from having too much to work on, can be not knowing where to start. This is very similar to not knowing what you want in that most people really do know where to start. They just don't acknowledge it. If you want to lose weight, it isn't a question of which exercise would be most beneficial for you, it is a question of establishing a consistent, daily exercise habit and see what works best for you. Most people seem to think that life is Ready! Aim! Fire! when most successful people in any area of life have learned that it really is Ready! Fire! Aim! Ready means knowing what you want, Fire means taking action on it, and Aim means adjusting your course of action based on the results you get.
FEAR
This can mean fear of failure, fear of rejection or fear of the unknown. We are creatures of comfort and habit. We create our "comfort zone" and are very reluctant to venture outside of it. Setting a resolution for anything means change and change means venturing outside your current "comfort zone." For most people, the only time they expand their "comfort zone" is when it has become too constricting to be comfortable anymore. What people do not realize is that we can never truly leave our "comfort zone." The borders are flexible; not rigid. They allow us to push out, and, if we stay out there long enough, the border expands to that point so we are no longer pushing. It is like Mark Twain said: "Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain."
They are too content with just "getting by"
These are the people who do not truly understand the importance and power of resolutions. They don't feel that changing their life is important. The truth of the matter is that things that do not change, adapt and improve DIE! Just think how different your life would be if you were in the same state that you were in when you entered this world:
--- You would starve because you never learned to feed yourself.
--- You would be immobilized because you never learned to crawl or walk.
--- You would be uneducated because you never learned to read or write or even think for yourself.
Now you may say that is ridiculous, but so is thinking that just "getting by" is a good state to remain in. Life is about change, growth, development and improvement. Setting a resolution is the first step to making those changes and improvements a reality.
The most common reason you may hear from people who do not set resolutions is most likely to be:
WRONG!!! You just never learned how to do it effectively! A resolution is a tool for life improvement. Like any tool, you must learn how to use it properly for it to work. That will be our focus in the next couple of days.
Those are a few of the reasons, or more accurately named - EXCUSES, that people give for not setting New Year's Resolutions. Maybe some of those sound familiar to you due to your own experience. If so, I hope I have shared some information that will encourage you to never use those excuses again. Now, let me leave you with a few of the benefits of setting resolutions. You may have gleaned some of your own from the paragraphs above, but here are a few more:
Reasons to Set New Year's Resolutions
Resolutions give you a target to aim for!
As I mentioned earlier, life is about changing, growing, progressing and developing. Resolutions enable you to set the direction for that growth. It not only gives your conscious mind something to focus on, but, if done properly, also puts your subconscious mind to work, which helps you accomplish your resolutions much, much faster.
Resolutions help you concentrate your time and effort!
Some people of us trudge through every single day wishing for something better. Then in the quiet of the evening, when the voices of discontent clamor the loudest, we drown them out through the use of television, narcotics and alcohol. When you have a resolution, you are able to focus on the way things will be when you are done instead of the unhappy state of things as they are now. You have an objective to focus on and to plan your days' activities by.
Resolutions provide motivation, persistence and desire!
My wife and I were talking about the reasons why we don't work on our resolutions as often as we should. One thing we both realized is that we don't want to work on them when we consistently don't work on them. But when are working on our resolutions and achieving those small daily victories, our emotions are saying, "Yeah, baby! Hit me again! I want some more of that!" The motivation, persistence and desire come in the doing and the doing comes from having a resolution to shoot for.
Resolutions help you establish priorities!
How many of you have gone to bed at night feeling like you should have accomplished more that day. The house needed cleaned up, you needed to work on your home-based business, you should have exercised, the house needed to be cleaned up, you wanted to write for your blog that day, or you should have spent more time with your kids and/or your significant other. But, instead, you chose to relax in front of the T.V., and now it is too late to do anything. I know I have been guilty of that on many occasions. Resolutions enable you to set down what is important in your life. And, if you choose to work on them before the relaxing (or at least add time to relax to your daily schedule and keep to that time limit so you can work on your resolutions), then your life will improve by leaps and bounds.
Just don't ever fall into the trap of thinking that your priorities are set in stone for the whole year. There are times when your circumstance will change unexpectedly (and sometimes not so unexpectedly) that will require a rearrangement of your priorities.
For example, you may have set the resolution to practice the guitar for one hour every day to get better at playing it. Once your wife has the baby though, you can no longer practice at home because it wakes the baby or your wife who is getting so little sleep as it is. You may have to change the priority to taking the baby for an hour while you are at home so the misses can get some rest and settle for a half hour practice at work as part of your lunch break.
Or perhaps the expectant mother had planned to walk every day to stay in shape and keep her weight gain down during her pregnancy. Now the doctor has put her on bed rest with two months to go. As frustrating as this may be, it would be foolish, not to mention dangerous, to violate the doctor's orders. It would be better to for her to make her and the baby's health the priority by following the doctor's orders and temporarily postponing the exercise and weight loss resolution until after the baby is born and the doctor has given the O.K. to continue.
Resolutions provide a road map from where you are to where you want to be!
When you set your resolutions you not only know where your life is going but you also have a plan for how to get there. It may only be a partial plan to get you started and head you in the right direction, but, just like driving in the dark where your headlights illuminate only so many feet in front of you, the rest of the road will appear before you as you travel. And there will be times when the Construction Detours of Life will force you to take a different road than you had planned. But, just as if you had to take a detour on the way to work, you don't just throw your hands in the air and say, "That's it! They closed my road! I'm not going in to work today or not even until the road re-opens!" You would simply re-route your journey so that you still arrive at your destination.
So those are just a few major reasons why resolutions are so important and beneficial for each and every one of us. If you think of some others, please share them in the comments section below so that we all may benefit from your insights.
Celebrate 2008! will continue tomorrow in Part 3 as we talk about how to set powerful resolutions that stick!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Celebrate 2008! - Part 1
In just a few days we will be celebrating on of the world's oldest holidays - the beginning of a new year. The earliest records of its celebration date back to approximately 4,000 years ago. The Babylonians celebrated it on March 23 back then and their civilization is credited with introducing the practice of New Year's Resolutions. Their common resolution was to return something that they had borrowed from a friend, family member or neighbor.
The Roman Empire used a different calendar and they celebrated their New Year on January 1 
by exchanging gifts. In fact, the first month was named for the Roman god, Janus, the god of beginnings and endings and the guardian of gates, doors and doorways. He was always depicted as having two faces - one facing forward looking to the future and one facing back towards the past. The common resolution among the Romans was to seek forgiveness from their enemies.
January 1st is just around the corner and I am sure that many of us are preparing to uphold the age-old tradition of making (and breaking) New Year's Resolutions. While many of us may make our resolutions out of a sense of tradition, I am certain that many more would actually like to see those changes occur in our lives. The reason I believe this so strongly is because the top three resolutions that people make each year have to do with three major problems in today's society. The most popular type of resolutions that people make are health-related goals. These include losing weight, exercising more, stop smoking and so on. Financial resolutions come in a close second with increasing savings, getting out of debt, avoiding excessive spending, etc. The third most popular type of resolutions are relationship goals. These resolutions may be to make amends with friends or family members, try to be more patient with coworkers, improve your communications skills, and so on. Do any of these sound like ones you have made?
The sad fact is that this ancient tradition is a declining one. Now less than 50% of Americans even make a resolution. Why is that? Probably because only 15% of those that make them ever manage to keep them. Most of them die out before the end of January. For those die-hards who make it make it past the first month, very few survive past June.
A Department of Labor survey of adults asked what the biggest issue was that prevented people from keeping their New Year's Resolutions. The top three answers were procrastination (33%), lack of self-discipline (24%) and no game plan (19%).
Do people just not understand what a resolution really is? If you look it up in the dictionary it says that a resolution is "the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc." In short, it is a decision to change your life for the better because the decisions we make AND ACT ON today will determine the type of future we will live tomorrow!
I challenge you to CELEBRATE the coming new year. I'm not talking about going out and partying hearty well past midnight on December 31. I mean really celebrate this new year from January 1 through December 31 by making it the best year of your life so far! And the best way to do this is to make AND KEEP your New Year's Resolutions.
Over the next four days I will be covering topics that will help you to gain a better understanding of why resolutions are important, how to set effective and exciting resolutions and tips and techniques for making sure you keep them throughout the whole year ... and beyond. So come back tomorrow for Part 2 of Celebrate 2008!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Lessons Relearned
In the Parable of the Talents, we learn of three servants who are entrusted with large amounts of money while their master is away. Two of the servants double their money through trade while the third buries the money he was given because he was afraid of losing it. When the master returned, he commended the first two servants for their faithfulness. The third servant is chastised severely being called a "wicked and slothful servant", the money he had was taken and given to the first servant and he was cast out.
I am not proud to say that I have been a "wicked and slothful servant" of late. I was on Step 5 of The Millionaire Marathon and had been for over a week and a half. I carried my marathon money in my pocket every day with the intent of moving to the next step. I had many opportunities to progress in the game, but I buried my money in my pocket instead out of fear. And now, like the slothful servant, my marathon money has been taken from me!
I went to put my marathon money back in my pocket last night and it was gone. I am guessing that my overzealous wife cleaned it up and put it in our change jar or one of my children found it and took it. Either way, according to the rules of The Millionaire Marathon, I am back on Step 1. Am I sad about it? To be honest, I was really frustrated at first. But every setback, every frustration, every failure is a learning opportunity. Here are the lessons that I learned:
1. Be careful with your money and know where it is at all times. Do not assume that you are okay financially. Know!
2. Give in to your fears and you are destined for failure.
3. Use it or lose it! If you do not use your talents (whether it be finances or abilities) they will be taken from you.
Here is your opportunity to learn from my failure so that you do not have to experience that pain yourself.
Now, I have experienced a major setback, but I am going to bounce back in a big way. Just you wait! I will be on Step 10 by Christmas Day! That will only leave me 18 more steps until I reach One Million Dollars!!!
I'll see you at the finish line!
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If you haven't even started running The Millionaire Marathon and would like to know how to get started, e-mail me at themillionairemarathon@hotmail.com for more information.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Watch Your Language!
Language is probably one of the most overlooked aspects of success. I'm not talking about refraining from swearing or questionable jokes. I'm talking about the words you use to speak to others and, even more importantly, the words you use to speak to yourself!
The words we use are good indicators of our beliefs and attitudes. I was listening to a CD where Jerry "DRhino" Clark interviewed network marketing millionaire Jeffrey Combs when they brought up the topic of language. Mr. Combs was talking about those of us locked into the scarcity mindset and how that comes out in our language. We use phrases like "I wish," "I need," "If only," etc. He says that the words "I need" are the most devastating words you can use. If a person says, "I need to lose weight," what they are really saying is, "I should lose weight but I am not really going to."
A phrase that you probably think very often and possibly say out loud may be "I need more money." Look very closely what that sentence implies. You are affirming #1 - you do not have enough money and #2 - that situation is unlikely to change. It is a statement laced with fear of a poor financial outcome.
What people do not realize is that by carelessly using such words, we are programming ourselves for failure. We are telling our subconscious to look for evidence of and create situations where we need more money.
To create better results, change your "I need" statements to either "I will" or "I deserve." Your subconscious mind will pick up on these new speech patterns and start feeding you ideas to aid you in the accomplishment of your goal to have more money. It will identify evidence of why you deserve to have more money, thus building your self-esteem, your confidence and your faith in your ability to have more money.
So whatever you do, watch your language!
(You can learn more about Jerry "DRhino" Clark at www.clubrhino.com. His Standing on the Shoulders of Giants CDs consist of Mr. Clark interviewing wealthy and successful people and getting them to share the tips and secrets that have enabled them to become "giants" in their respective fields.)
Friday, December 7, 2007
3 Ways to Ask
Yesterday, I suggested that in order to get more out of life you need to ask for it. As I was writing that blog post, it occurred to me that there is more than one way to ask. I have for your consideration three different ways to make your request and the situations where they are most likely to come into play.
1. Verbal Asking
This is probably what the majority of you first think of when you hear the words "Ask for it!" This method is primarily used when you want something tangible from someone else. When kids want a drink, they verbally ask their parents - even if it means calling out their order from the other room at 2 a.m. When employees want a raise, they have to verbally ask their boss. When a customer wants a discount, they verbally ask the salesperson. Probably the only instance where you don't believe you have to verbally ask for something from someone else is in marriage. (You mean you didn't know that men are supposed to be mind readers?)
2. Asking by Taking Action
This method of asking is primarily used when you want something from yourself rather than for yourself. If you want to become a more successful salesperson, you need to act the way a successful salesperson does. If you want to have bigger muscles, you have to ask your body to cooperate by acting on your desire and lifting weights. If you want to have more positive thinking, you ask your mind to cooperate by focusing on what's good in life. If you want to lose weight, you have to take action by implementing a better diet and exercise program. I really don't think it would be an effective strategy to ask each piece of cheesecake you eat to stay away from your hips. They tend to ignore those types of requests.
3. Asking by Giving
This last method is best realized in emotional areas. If you want to feel love, give love to others. If you want to feel peace, bring peace into the lives of others. It also means that if you want to feel hate, give hateful experiences to others. So we must be careful with this method - especially because that which we receive, good or bad, is usually in greater proportion to that which we gave out.
The great thing about this method is that it can totally change your day in an instant. If you are feeling sad and lonely, you can change that around by simply giving your loving friendship to another.
So take some time after you have read this and think about what it is you want and ponder which method would be the most effective to use in order to ask for it. Then start asking!!!
If it is scary for you to ask for things, my recommendation to you is to ask anyway!
The more often you ask - even for little things, the easier it will be to ask no matter how big the request.
And if you don't get it right away or someone tells you "No!", my advice to you is to take the advice of Mark Victor Hansen when he says, "You have to ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask, ask!"
To learn more about the power of asking and how to do it, I recommend reading The Aladdin Factor by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
How To Get More Out of Life
Yesterday, we spoke of the whiners, the gripers and the complainers - all those people who are not happy with what they get in life but are more than happy to tell you all about it. The funny thing is that they are getting exactly what they asked for!
If you want to get more out of life, ask for it!
But most people don't ask for more. They usually just complain to those people who can do nothing about what they are complaining about. People who are unhappy with their wages or their working environment go home and complain to their spouses. People who are unhappy with their spouse go to work and complain to their co-workers. People who are unhappy with their financial situation complain to their families about how broke they are. Why don't they go to the source of their problem and ask for it to be better?
Fear! That's why! Whether it is fear of rejection, fear of being alone, fear of being laughed at, etc. But as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "He (or she) who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life." And the only way to conquer fear is to take a chance and do the thing you are afraid of doing.
So, if you are sick and tired of the wages you have been receiving in any area of your life, quit complaining about it and just ask for something better!
Let me show you a fun way to "bargain with life for a penny" and then increase your asking ability until you have over $1,000,000! Read through The Millionaire Marathon introductory series starting with In the beginning... and follow the instructions at the end of the series to find out how to do it!
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
The Secret to Getting Ahead In Life
You probably know plenty of people who are habitual complainers. They often share with you the dismal state of their finances, their relationships, their job, their weight, their whatever. Maybe you have been guilty of this as well. I know I have. It is an easy trap to fall into, especially when you are bombarded by it every single day from friends, family and co-workers. You almost have to have something to complain about just so that you can fit in.
Well, today, I am going to share with you the secret to getting ahead in life. By following this little tip, you will set yourself ahead of all those miserable, unhappy complainers you are surrounded by. The best part about it is that it is so easy to do. So here it is:
"The secret of getting ahead is getting started." ~Sally Berger
That's it! That is all you need to do to set yourself apart from the grumps, the whiners and the complainers. I bet you didn't think it would be that easy, did you?
Most people are content to complain about the way their life is and all the different people who are to blame for it. It's easy. It's comfortable. It sures beats the alternative of doing something about it and try to be happy. Come one, now. That would take some effort. (Oh, no! I can't believe I just said the "e" word!)
Miserable people know what they want. It is the gap between what they want and what they actually have that is making them miserable! They know why they want it - they want to be happy. But they have contented themselves in their misery. After all, it's not that bad. Well, it's not that good, either!
If you want more money in your bank account, cut back on unnecessary expenses and start putting that money into savings. Or join The Millionaire Marathon! If you want better relationships, compliment someone or do something nice for them. If you want a better job, apply for one or further your education. If you want to lose weight, go for a 15 minute walk and dump your secret stash of chocolate in the garbage can on the way out. Get up and do it now! Watching The Biggest Loser tonight isn't going to cause YOU to lose any weight.
Don't worry about whether it is the best thing you can do to improve your situation. People who do that suffer "paralysis by analysis" and never end up doing anything. Just do something! Anything! And by doing something, by getting started, you immediately change your life for the better. You will feel good about yourself, too. And don't you want to feel good tomorrow, too? Of course you do! So, do it again tomorrow!
There is one word of warning here. When you get started on making your life better in whatever area you choose, and if you keep working on it every day, the whining and complaining of your friends, family and co-workers will really start to bug you. So start converting them to the "get started" philosophy, too, or you may have to find a happier crowd to hang out with.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
The Fifth Principle of Wealth
As I mentioned yesterday, this principle of wealth is mentioned briefly in a Bible parable which you can read in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew.
This parable tells of a very wealthy man who is going on an extended journey. Before he leaves, he calls three of his servants to him and divides his wealth among them based on their ability. To one servant he gives five talents, to another servant he gives two, and to the third servant he gives only one talent. Then he leaves for his journey.
Now before you start thinking that the third servant got the raw end of the deal, let's take a closer look at what was being given. A talent was equal to 6,000 denarii. A denarius was the payment for a single day's work. So, he was entrusted with an amount equal to over nineteen year's worth of wages. For a minimum wage employee in Washington State today, that would be over $380,000 (if you ignore all the overtime laws and requirements). So, this was no small amount of money.
While the master is gone, the first servant uses his master's five talents in trade and increases them to ten talents. The second servant uses the two talents he had been entrusted with to trade and increases his talents to four. The third servant, however, feared losing the one talent he had been given and buries it in the ground and awaits his master's return.
When the master did return, he calls his three servants together to receive an accounting of what they had done with his wealth in his absence. When the first servant reports and shows his master the full ten talents he now possessed, the master commended him by saying, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things." When the second servant reports and shows his master the four talents, he received the same commendation.
When the third servant reported, showing his master the one talent, and telling him of what he had done to preserve it, he was severely chastised, being called a "wicked and slothful servant." He was told that, at the very least, he should have given the talent to the money-changers where the master would have earned interest on it. The talent was taken and given to the first servant and the third servant was cast out.
While there are many important truths that can be gleaned from this parable, let me call your attention to one that most people do not take notice of. In all his wisdom, the master did not divide his wealth among his servants equally. The test question is: "What basis did the master use to divide his wealth among his servants?"
This is the same reason why today's wealth is not more evenly distributed. It isn't because of education. Some of the wealthiest people today didn't complete their college degrees. It isn't because of popularity. Look how well yesterday's "nerds" are doing today. It isn't because of environment. People have come from the poorest of conditions to create millions of dollars. It is because of the Fifth Principle of Wealth:
Someone once said that, if you gathered up all the wealth in the world and divided it evenly among the people of the world, within a very short time the majority of the wealth would end up back in the hands of those who were wealthy to begin with. You see a wealthy person is not wealthy because of the money they have. It is because of the person they became as they accumulated that wealth. You could take all their money away (and many wealthy people did go through bankruptcy at least once) and they would earn their way back to where they were before ... or better! I like equate it to learning to ride a bike - once you figured it out, even if you get knocked off, you know how to get back up again.
The reverse is also true. Those people who have not increased their "wealth-ability," even when they are given enormous sums of money, quickly end up right back where they started. Lottery winners are a perfect example of this. People who are in debt and living paycheck-to-paycheck suddenly receive millions. Their financial problems are solved, right? WRONG! The majority of them end up BANKRUPT within two years of their winning.
Increasing the balance of someone's bank account on this level without increasing their ability to deal with wealth of this magnitude is very much like trying to pour a gallon of water into a six ounce glass. You will never have more than six ounces. You have to enlarge your capacity to receive.
This is the purpose of The Millionaire Marathon! It is NOT a get-rich-quick scheme (but you can increase your wealth as quickly as you choose to). It is a system to take you from $0 to over $1,000,000 in only 28 steps at absolutely no financial risk to you while increasing your "wealth-ability" in the process!
To find out how you can get started running The Millionaire Marathon, e-mail me at themillionairemarathon@hotmail.com and I will tell you how to get started.
Monday, December 3, 2007
The Fourth Principle of Wealth
The last question I posed yesterday was if you have had a million dollar idea why did you never act on it? In order to answer that question, I need you to do a little exercise with me.
When I do this in person, I normally have people close their eyes because it creates a much more vivid image. Obviously, I can't have you close your eyes because you would not be able to read the instructions I am about to give you. But I want you to visualize as best you can that you are just walking through your front door. Nobody else is home but you, and, as you enter the family room, it becomes immediately apparent that someone has broken into your home. The couch has been tipped over. Books have been pulled off the shelves. DVDs and CDs have been thrown around the room. Potted plants have been dumped out. The laundry you folded just before you left has been thrown all over. We're talking Martha Stewart's worst nightmare!
You immediately call the police. They come, dust for fingerprints, take your statement and some photos and then leave, promising that they will keep in touch. And now it is just you and your own personal disaster area. Now I want you to pay close attention to what your mind does when I give you the following instruction ... Clean the room!
Now, I am willing to bet that 99.9% of you did not use the Harry Potter or Mary Poppins methods where, with the wave of a magic wand or the snap of your fingers, everything just flew back into place. You probably went through a mental checklist of what you had to do to get it clean which probably went something like this:
- Turn the couch back over
- Put the books back on the shelf
- Put away the DVDs and CDs
- Throw the laundry back in the washer
- Pick up the potted plants
- Vacuum up the dirt and dust
A few of you may have had a simpler checklist such as:
- Find the phone book
- Open to the yellow pages and look up cleaning services
- Find the phone and call the number
- Ask how soon the can get there (there is nothing wrong with doing it the easy way!)
And some of us may have reacted like this:
- Break down into tears
- Grab the unfinished pint of Ben & Jerry's from the freezer
- Lock yourself in the bedroom until your spouse comes home
The reason why you didn't take action on your million dollar idea is probably because the gap between where you were at the time of the idea and the accomplishment of the idea was too great, and your mind just could not negotiate the distance. Just like when you mentally "cleaned the room," our mind requires us to break large, formidable tasks down into small, manageable steps that we can "see" ourselves taking action on.
The Fourth Principle of Wealth, therefore, is:
The Millionaire Marathon is, in a nutshell, a series of stepping stones that will enable you to create over one million dollars out of absolutely nothing and have fun doing it! But, before you are ready to learn what those steps are, there is one more principle of wealth that you need to understand that is mentioned briefly in a Bible parable. Join me tomorrow to learn the Fifth Principle of Wealth.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
The Third Principle of Wealth
After you know what you want and have a powerful reason to motivate you to get it, you must now satisfy the Third Principle of Wealth which is to ...
In order to create one million dollars, you must have an idea. In order to lose weight, you must have an idea. In order to do anything worthwhile in life, you must have some idea on how you would like to go about doing it. Without an idea to take action on, you are just a highly motivated person with strong intentions cemented into place.
Have you ever had a million dollar idea? I bet you have had at least one in your lifetime, but you may not have noticed it or seen the value of it because it was too simple. An important lesson can be learned from the Old Testament of the Bible about the danger of discounting simple ideas. In the 21st chapter of the Book of Numbers, we read the account of the Israelites being led through the wilderness by Moses when they are attacked by poisonous serpents and bitten. Moses prayed for the salvation of his people and he was instructed to create a brass serpent and raise it up on a pole for the whole camp to see. The promise was that everyone who looked upon the serpent would live. How many people do you suppose died because the solution seemed to simple and therefore they did not look?
There is incredible power and, yes, prosperity in a single, simple idea. Look at all the people who created wealth in history and see how it all started with just one simple idea.
Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen had the simple idea of compiling inspirational stories into a book that they called Chicken Soup for the Soul
Mary Kay Ash had the simple idea of creating a company where women could utilize their skills and talents in the business world and be rewarded as equally as men.
Philip Knight had the simple idea of selling high-quality sports shoes at a low price and later the simple idea to use popular sports figures to market them. You may have heard of his company - Nike.
Michael Dell had the simple idea of selling computers directly to the consumer rather than through retailers.
Julie Aigner-Clark had the simple idea to create entertaining videos that educate and stimulate small children, thus giving birth to the Baby Einstein videos.
Jim Henson had the simple idea of using puppets with marionette features to create entertaining TV shows for children and adults all over the world. (Try saying "Muppet mayhem" ten times fast!)
J. K. Rowling had the simple idea to write a story about a boy who is sent off to wizard school and the world was enthralled by the magic of Harry Potter.
These are just a few examples of the countless examples of how people used the power of a simple idea to create wealth and joy, both for themselves and for the world. It all started because they had an idea and they took action on it.
So, I ask again: Have you ever had a million dollar idea? Why, then, did you not take action on it? Come back tomorrow and I will shed some light on that mystery as well when we discuss the Fourth Principle of Wealth.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
The Second Principle of Wealth
The Second Principle of Wealth was introduced to me by a good friend of mine, John Dilemme. John grew up in New York and suffered from one major challenge - stuttering. He was abused by other children for it. He was written off by a certified speech pathologist. And it embarrassed him to no end. After he graduated from college, he went into the family business at the art museum for a time until he realized that he wanted more out of life. He sat in on a network marketing opportunity meeting and made a decision on what he wanted. And he persisted through challenge after stuttering challenge to build a major network that enabled him to retire within a few years. Now he coaches people on success both personally and in groups as a non-stuttering public speaker. What made the difference was that he found his "why" for succeeding and you can learn all about John at http://www.findyourwhy.com/.
So the Second Principle of Wealth is this:
I am sure you have heard of Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players ever to have played the game. People were amazed by his incredible talent and the feats that he accomplished. What some may not know was that in high school he was cut from the team! For some of us, that would prove devastating at that age. Not Michael. He was determined to never allow that to happen again. He was determined to make the team the very next year and he spent every day in the gym practicing and developing his talents. And when he got tired and wanted to stop, all he had to do was picture that cut list in his mind with his name on it. That was all he needed to keep going - and look at who he became because of that. What pain are you tired of suffering?
Friday, November 30, 2007
The First Principle of Wealth
This First Principle of Wealth or anything in your life is:
You may think that this is pretty simplistic, but, to be honest, it is a principle that the majority of people don't get down. Some people can only tell you what they are told they should want, whether it is by their parents, their spouse, their boss, their friends, advertisers, etc. Some people can only tell you what they DON'T want and they wonder why their life is so screwed up. And still others can't even articulate what they want simply because they don't see how it is possible for them to have it. So they do not allow themselves to want it.
George Bernard Shaw said that "Anyone who doesn't know what he wants will have to be satisfied with what he gets." If you do not like what you have been getting, maybe it is time to identify what it is that you want.
Mark Victor Hansen, coauthor of the Chicken Soup for the Soul teaches that everybody should have an "I Want" list. And then he challenges you to come up with 100 things that you want. Suspend your belief in what is possible for a moment and try to make your "I Want" list. What do you want to have? Who do you want to be? Where do you want to go? What do you want to accomplish? Who do you want to meet? What do you want to see? List anything and everything you can think of until you come up with 100 things that you want.
When you identify what you want, you take the first step towards getting it.
As I learned about these truths, I had to identify what it was that I really wanted. Since I was under a lot of financial pressure, I thought long and hard about what I wanted in terms of money. I was a bit indecisive back then, so I had a difficult time articulating what it was that I wanted. All I kept coming up with was "I want more money." To figure it out, I took the "reverse psychology" approach.
I definitely knew what I didn't want. I did not wanted to be broke and in debt any longer where I was trying to survive by living paycheck to paycheck. The opposite of that would be wealthy, debt free with surplus cash in my pocket.
But what does "wealthy" mean? To some people it can be $1,000 in the bank. To others, it may mean $100,000,000. When you think of "wealthy," what is the minimum dollar amount you think of?
I have found that most people think like I do and they automatically think "One Million Dollars!" Some may think of a larger amount and that is okay. One million dollars was a good starting point for me.
I quickly found out, however, that knowing what I wanted wasn't enough. I learned another Principle of Wealth that was just as essential ... and I'll tell you about it tomorrow!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
In the beginning...
In 2003, I started a journey with the vague goal of improving my lot in life and getting more enjoyment out of it. I was in a dead-end accounting job, struggling to make ends meet and wondering why I chose such a life-draining, mind-numbing profession.
I started doing some research on goal-setting and achievement, which quickly turned to a voracious study of all things pertaining to self-development and success. I rented, bought, read, watched and listened to every scrap of information that I could get my hands on. New goals and habits were formed. Resources and leads were attracted. More positive ways of thinking prevailed. And then the answers started to come.
I started to examine my reasons for getting into accounting. I chose my course of study with the intent that I would one day make lots and lots of money. Somewhere, I must have gotten off course because I had only succeeded in making other people lots and lots of money. I could have become a CPA, but I was not willing to abandon my wife and orphan my children for six months out of the year. No amount of money was worth that. So the question I was facing was: "How does one go about making more money while retaining control of their own time and schedule?"
I started to study the lives of millionaires and billionaires to see if any of them had created their fortunes under that criteria. It is through that course of study that I started to uncover principles, practices and habits that were common among them. These became my guidelines as I searched for the vehicle that would one day change it all around for me and my family. They also became the basis for the creation of the process that I call "The Millionaire Marathon."
Over the next few days, I would like to share with you the foundational elements that one must understanding in order to create over one million dollars. Join me tomorrow as I share with you the First Principle of Wealth ... one that most people who dream of being wealthy tend to overlook.
I'll see you tomorrow!
