A Vital Key to Keeping Your Resolutions

We've reached day 3 of 2016. How are those resolutions coming? If you are anything like me, you have probably already encountered some resistance in trying to keep going on your resolutions. Maybe you have even given up already. I hope not!

One major aspect that you need to take a hard look at, that is key to accomplishing any goal is your habits. You see right now, you may be highly motivated to accomplish your goal. But motivation only lasts so long. And if you have bad habits that are sabotaging your efforts, you are doomed to fail.

"Motivation is what gets you started. Habits are what keep you going."

~ Jim Rohn

Replacing bad habits with better ones that are designed to move you closer to your goals helps you put your achievement on autopilot. So take a close look at your daily actions. 

What habits do you have that are taking you further from your goal? Eliminate it!

What one habit can you start building today that will move you closer to your goal? Take action and start implementing it now!

I'll see you tomorrow.

~ Andy Jensen

Commitment Issues

My wife just experienced another milestone in her Mary Kay business. She just earned her 4th free car in the Mary Kay Career Car program, but this one is especially significant because it is her 1st Premier Club level car. As a result, she will be receiving a brand new, straight off the line, custom built Chevy Equinox!

I am very proud of her and all that she is accomplishing and grateful to her wonderful team of women she is working with who have made this possible. We never could have done it without them and I, personally, look forward to celebrating with many of them when they receive their first Career Car from Mary Kay!

When these women earn their first car, it really is a special day because it is a defining moment that allows them to say without equivocation, "Yes! I am a successful Mary Kay consultant!" The recognition is nice. And the commissions on their sales is great, but few people outside their family actually sees that. But when the company gives you a brand new car to drive around for free, that's a tangible, visible mark of success for them.

Unfortunately, not everyone earns their car in Mary Kay. Many of the women coming into the business say that they want the car, but so few ever actually earn it.

Why?

In a word...

COMMITMENT!

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!"

W. H. Murray in The Scottish Himalaya Expedition, 1951

Every single woman on my wife's team, regardless of their current circumstances, could drive a brand new car in the next six months or less if they committed themselves to doing it. Do you want to know how I know? Because my wife has done it four times!!! As great as my wife is (and I do think she is pretty spectacular) she started at the same place as everyone else. But she committed herself to doing what her Director and National told her to do in order to get the results she wanted to get.

She still does that. Just three days ago, she was $3,000 in team wholesale orders away from earning her car. That equates to over $6,000 in retail product. And if that $3,000 in orders hadn't been put in by the end of the month, my wife would have had to start all over from the beginning to try and earn this car over the next six months. I'll be honest with you. She was a little frustrated to be so close and yet still be so far away.

We had several team members step up in big ways. One of them, on her first solo class, sold $1,043. (Well done, grasshopper! She has now made over $1,100 in PROFIT over her first two classes and she was one who joined the company just to have a little extra spending money. Not too shabby!) We had a couple $200 orders and a $500 order and even a $43 order, among others, helped get us a little closer. But all that would not have been enough if my wife hadn't committed herself to making it happen NO MATTER WHAT!!! She went to work and sold enough in the last two days to place a $600 of her own. Now that's commitment to a goal!

“There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstances permit. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results.”

There is always a reason why someone doesn't commit to their goal. I've heard people use pets, parents, illness, spouses, car trouble, kids, church assignments, friends and a plethora of other "reasons" why they can't keep their commitments. It makes me laugh to hear people tell my wife, "My family comes first!" as if to imply hers does not. And yet my wife spends loads of time with our kids, serves actively in our church, hangs out with friends, spends quality time with me and still runs a successful, profitable business with the car score being 4-0 in my wife's favor!

If your family really comes first, discipline yourself, establish better time management habits and commit yourself to succeeding for your family so that you aren't struggling so badly financially. Imagine for one moment how much less stressful your marriage would be with the extra income a successful business would provide. At least the kids won't be embarrassed by the car you drive when you drop them off at school.

I'm not saying that there aren't valid reasons out there for not keeping a commitment. We totally understand those situations and we feel bad when they happen. But here is a good test for whether you have a good reason or just a poor excuse:

• Is it a reason you would give if you had to call your boss at the last second to tell them you weren't going to show up at work that day?
• Would you still have a job the next day if you did give that reason?

In case you are wondering, reasons like "My dog is sick", "My best friend came into town" and "I just don't feel like it right now" will land you in the unemployment line.

It is sad how many women I have seen who have come into this business over the last few years who had such high hopes and grand dreams that have left it to get a job where the discipline of showing up is enforced, you have absolutely no control over how much you earn and, no matter how good you are at your job, they will never, ever give you a free car. Don't let that be you.

Whatever worthwhile goal you may have, remember the example set by Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortez. When he landed in Mexico, he gave his men the orders to burn the ships. He cut off their escape route. There would be no retreat. They would succeed in their mission or they would die trying.

“Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.”
~ Mario Andretti

Commit yourself to your goals and your dreams at every step of the process. Re-commit every morning when you wake up no matter how poor your results may have been from the day before. Throw out your excuses and press on through your trials.

Amazing things lie within your reach if you commit yourself to achieving them!

The Formula for Failure and Success

by Jim Rohn, America's Foremost Business Philosopher


Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. We do not fail overnight. Failure is the inevitable result of an accumulation of poor thinking and poor choices. To put it more simply, failure is nothing more than a few errors in judgment repeated every day.

Now why would someone make an error in judgment and then be so foolish as to repeat it every day? The answer is because he or she does not think that it matters.

On their own, our daily acts do not seem that important. A minor oversight, a poor decision, or a wasted hour generally doesn't result in an instant and measurable impact. More often than not, we escape from any immediate consequences of our deeds.

If we have not bothered to read a single book in the past ninety days, this lack of discipline does not seem to have any immediate impact on our lives. And since nothing drastic happened to us after the first ninety days, we repeat this error in judgment for another ninety days, and on and on it goes. Why? Because it doesn't seem to matter. And herein lies the great danger. Far worse than not reading the books is not even realizing that it matters!

Those who eat too many of the wrong foods are contributing to a future health problem, but the joy of the moment overshadows the consequence of the future. It does not seem to matter. Those who smoke too much or drink too much go on making these poor choices year after year after year... because it doesn't seem to matter. But the pain and regret of these errors in judgment have only been delayed for a future time. Consequences are seldom instant; instead, they accumulate until the inevitable day of reckoning finally arrives and the price must be paid for our poor choices - choices that didn't seem to matter.

Failure's most dangerous attribute is its subtlety. In the short term those little errors don't seem to make any difference. We do not seem to be failing. In fact, sometimes these accumulated errors in judgment occur throughout a period of great joy and prosperity in our lives. Since nothing terrible happens to us, since there are no instant consequences to capture our attention, we simply drift from one day to the next, repeating the errors, thinking the wrong thoughts, listening to the wrong voices and making the wrong choices. The sky did not fall in on us yesterday; therefore the act was probably harmless. Since it seemed to have no measurable consequence, it is probably safe to repeat.

But we must become better educated than that!

If at the end of the day when we made our first error in judgment the sky had fallen in on us, we undoubtedly would have taken immediate steps to ensure that the act would never be repeated again. Like the child who places his hand on a hot burner despite his parents' warnings, we would have had an instantaneous experience accompanying our error in judgment.

Unfortunately, failure does not shout out its warnings as our parents once did. This is why it is imperative to refine our philosophy in order to be able to make better choices. With a powerful, personal philosophy guiding our every step, we become more aware of our errors in judgment and more aware that each error really does matter.

Now here is the great news. Just like the formula for failure, the formula for success is easy to follow: It's a few simple disciplines practiced every day.

Now here is an interesting question worth pondering: How can we change the errors in the formula for failure into the disciplines required in the formula for success? The answer is by making the future an important part of our current philosophy.

Both success and failure involve future consequences, namely the inevitable rewards or unavoidable regrets resulting from past activities. If this is true, why don't more people take time to ponder the future? The answer is simple: They are so caught up in the current moment that it doesn't seem to matter. The problems and the rewards of today are so absorbing to some human beings that they never pause long enough to think about tomorrow.

But what if we did develop a new discipline to take just a few minutes every day to look a little further down the road? We would then be able to foresee the impending consequences of our current conduct. Armed with that valuable information, we would be able to take the necessary action to change our errors into new success-oriented disciplines. In other words, by disciplining ourselves to see the future in advance, we would be able to change our thinking, amend our errors and develop new habits to replace the old.

One of the exciting things about the formula for success - a few simple disciplines practiced every day - is that the results are almost immediate. As we voluntarily change daily errors into daily disciplines, we experience positive results in a very short period of time. When we change our diet, our health improves noticeably in just a few weeks. When we start exercising, we feel a new vitality almost immediately. When we begin reading, we experience a growing awareness and a new level of self-confidence. Whatever new discipline we begin to practice daily will produce exciting results that will drive us to become even better at developing new disciplines.

The real magic of new disciplines is that they will cause us to amend our thinking. If we were to start today to read the books, keep a journal, attend the classes, listen more and observe more, then today would be the first day of a new life leading to a better future. If we were to start today to try harder, and in every way make a conscious and consistent effort to change subtle and deadly errors into constructive and rewarding disciplines, we would never again settle for a life of existence — not once we have tasted the fruits of a life of substance!


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Welcome to Living the Law of Attraction Lesson #2

Author: Jack Canfield

MESSAGE: If you are feeling excited, enthusiastic, passionate, happy, joyful, appreciative, or abundant, then you are sending out positive energy. On the other hand, if you are feeling bored, anxious, stressed out, angry, resentful, or sad, you are sending out negative energy.

The universe, through the Law of Attraction, will respond enthusiastically to both of these vibrations. It doesn’t decide which one is better for you, it just responds to whatever energy you are creating, and it gives you more of the same. You get back exactly what you put out there.

Whatever you are thinking and feeling at any given time is basically your request to the universe for more of the same. This is because your energy vibrations will attract energy back to you of the same frequencies, you need to make sure that you are continually sending out energy, thoughts, and feelings that resonate with what you want to become, do, and experience.

Your energy frequencies need to be in tune with what you want to attract in your life. If love and joy are what you want to attract, then the vibrational frequencies of love and joy are what you want to create.

You can learn to manage your thoughts and emotions and maintain a vibrational match for what you want to attract by learning to respond instead of just reacting to the situations in your life. Most of us go through life just reacting automatically and unconsciously to the things and events that take place around us.

Perhaps you’re having a rough day, you’ve gotten a flat tire, or maybe someone has treated you unfairly. Say that you react in a negative way to these situations with your thoughts and your emotions. And you become angry, frustrated, or upset.

In this case, you are unconsciously reacting to the situation instead of consciously responding to it, and your negatively charged thoughts and emotions are automatically placing an order with the universe for more of the same negative experiences. In order to create a more positive outcome, you must learn to consciously respond in a different, more positive way.

The good news is that once you understand the Law of Attraction, and how it works, you can begin to consciously and intentionally create a better life. You can choose to respond differently to the situations that arise during your day.

You can choose to think differently. You can choose to focus and think about the things you want more of in your life. You can choose to experience more of the things that make you feel good.

You can choose to deliberately participate in the creation of your future by managing your thoughts and feelings. And remember what Robert Kiyosaki says, “Your future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow.”

ACTION: In the previous lesson, I requested that you think of one more “vision” word that best describes you and write it down on a piece scrap of paper, remember? Right now, I want you to think of another “vision” word. This time it’s a word you hear your closest friends, loved-one or family utilize when complimenting you. It could be: “Resourceful” or “Happy” or “Brilliant” or “Dazzling.”

Whatever it is, write it down and read it out loud each hour throughout the rest of the day. You embody this word, so make sure you read out loud at least 3 to 5 times today …

BENEFIT: As you read your “vision” word you out loud, you’ll begin to automatically “live into” it … and you’ll find yourself attracting more people, projects and possessions that support you faster, better and easier.

About the Author:

This year, after two years of research and work, Jack Canfield released a phenomenal new product to the world – it’s called the Dream Big System. A longtime success and self-esteem coach for people around the world, Jack Canfield is also renowned for his role as Co-Founder of Chicken Soup for the Soul (the most successful publishing empire in history) and Master Teacher in the blockbuster movie, The Secret.http://www.thekeytobetterlife.com

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Welcome to Living the Law of Attraction Lesson #2

The Success of Any Day Begins...

In order to build a successful life, you must have a series of successful days. There is a secret to having a successful day that most people don't know. The secret is knowing when a successful day begins. It isn't at 6 a.m. Nor is it at 5 a.m. or even 4 a.m. The success of any given day begins the night before!

The truth of this statement is illustrated in the following true story:

Around 100 years ago, Charles Schwab, president of Bethlehem Steel, wanted to increase his own efficiency, and of the management team at the steel company. Ivy Lee, a well-known efficiency expert of the time, approached Mr. Schwab, and made a proposition Charles Schwab could not refuse:

Ivy Lee: "I can increase your people's efficiency – and your sales – if you will allow me to spend fifteen minutes with each of your executives."

Charles Schwab: "How much will it cost me?"

Ivy Lee: "Nothing, unless it works. After three months, you can send me a check for whatever you feel it's worth to you."

Charles Schwab: "It's a deal."

The following day, Ivy Lee met with Charles Schwab's management executives, spending only ten minutes with each in order to tell them:

Ivy Lee: "I want you to promise me that for the next ninety days, before leaving your office at the end of the day, you will make a list of the six most important things you have to do the next day and number them in their order of importance."

Astonished Executives: "That it?"

Ivy Lee: "That's it. Scratch off each item after finishing it, and go on to the next one on your list. If something doesn't get done, put it on the following day's list."

Mary Kay Ash writes in her book (Mary Kay: You Can Have It All : Lifetime Wisdom from America's Foremost Woman Entrepreneur):

"Each Bethlehem executive consented to follow Lee's instructions. Three months later, Schwab studied the results and was so pleased that he sent Lee a check for US$35,000. At the time, the average worker in the US was being paid $2 per day.

If Schwab, one of the smartest businessmen of his day, was willing to pay so much money for this advice, I decided I would follow it, too.

Each night, I put together my list for the following day. If I don't get something on my list accomplished, it goes on the next day's list. I put the hardest or most unappealing task at the top of the list. This way, I tackle the most difficult item first, and once it's out of the way, I feel my day is off to a good start."

An Exciting Journey

People who are rich in every sense of the word understand that life is a learning experience. It never stops. Learn to constantly refine your habits. There’s always another level to reach for, no matter how good you are right now. When you constantly strive to improve, you build character. You become more as a person, and you have more to offer. It’s an exciting journey that ultimately leads to fulfillment and prosperity.

Excerpt from The Power of Focus by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Les Hewitt

If there is one thing that has really been brought to my attention, it is that the majority of the people I meet live in the land of Good Enough. The job they currently have is good enough to pay the bills. Their weight is good enough that they don't need to exercise regularly. Their level of commitment to living their spiritual beliefs is good enough for now.

The truth is, although they may not admit it, is that they secretly long for something better; something more fulfilling; something more rewarding and worthwhile. They look at the Michael Jordans and the Oprah Winfreys and the other superstars in life and they think "Wouldn't that be nice." No. It wouldn't be nice. It would be AWESOME!!!

You have to understand, though, that the people who live the life that you can only dream about right now are those who have evicted themselves from the land of Good Enough. You can't be the best until you do.

Good, Better, Best!

Never let it rest

Until your Good is Better

And your Better is Best!

You can have the life you dream about if you apply the simple principle of making your good better and your better your best. Someone very close to me just recently did that and is reaping huge rewards from it.

My wife just submitted for Director in Qualification (D.I.Q.) in Mary Kay last month along with 844 other women across the U.S. She has four months to officially qualify as a Director by having 30 active consultants on her team and $16,000 or more in production. In her first month of D.I.Q., she added 11 women to her team and had just over $13,000 in production. Because of this, she placed 7th in the nation out of the 845! The only women who placed higher than her were two who achieved Directorship in their first month and the rest edged her by $200 or less in production.

Do you think she is living in Good Enough any longer? Not a chance!

Way to go, babe!

Success Statistics

As some of you know, I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month for the first time this year. Of the 101,510 people who signed up to do it in 2007, only 15,333 actually reached the 50,000 word mark. That is only 15% of all those who set the goal actually completed it. That isn't a very encouraging statistic, especially for first-timers. So I started researching the NaNoWriMO forums to see what pitfalls people have fallen into the past the frustrated them and what tactics people have used to succeed. In my research, I came across a link to the following chart:

While this was done for the 2003 participants, I don't believe that the percentages have changed much based on the comparable completion statistics between the years.

What do you notice that is interesting about these percentages?

I found it interesting that of the 27,483 people who set the goal to write 50,000 words in 30 days that year, 58% never even got started!!! That is nearly 2/3 of the whole group.

I think this statistic holds true for many people who set goals - if the number isn't even larger.

How many times have you set a goal to do something new or different and then never started on it. I know I am guilty of that ... far too many times than I care to admit. But there is one statistic that I have learned that I guarantee holds true for each and every person regardless of what their goals is. That statistic is that 100% of the people that never start a goal will never accomplish it!

So, if you want something to change, if you want something better in your life, you have to take the first step. Just look at the graphic again. Those that got started on their goal in 2003 improved their chances of completing it by 31%.

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started."
~ Mark Twain

Notice that only 31% of those that get started actually reach their goal and how that number jumps significantly at each 10,000 word milestone. I guarantee that the reason why 69% of those that got started never achieved their goal is because at some point in the process (probably very early on in the process) they decided that if they didn't work on their goal one day it wouldn't hurt their chances of success. They were wrong.

"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going."
~ Jim Rohn

I know I have said it time and time again, but once you get going you have to keep going by working on your goal every single day. Establish early on the habit of doing something daily, anything at all, that is related to your goal. It harnesses the power of momentum, which will keep you rolling through the challenging times. And once you have done that for 17-30 days straight, it will suddenly become more uncomfortable to not take action than it is to take action!

Improve your chances of success by getting started and then establish good daily action habits early on so that you, too, can be an unstoppable force of achievement and success!

I'm Coming Back!

I haven't posted on this blog for nearly three months and I apologize to any of you that have been checking back regularly. I allowed myself to get too busy living my life to actual live my life. I fell back into the habit of getting by rather than cultivating the habits that will allow me to get ahead.

One habit that I have been neglecting is my 1/96th of a day habit that was taught to me by my friend and mentor John Dilemme. John pointed out that with there being four 15 minute periods in every hour, there are a total of 96 of them in every day. He proposed that if I spent 15 minutes of every day, 1/96th of my day, reading a motivational book or listening to an inspirational tape, my life would change drastically for the better over time. He called it feeding your spirit and has based it on the concept that what goes in, must come out.

I used to do this on a daily basis. I turned my car into a rolling university by listening to cds of Anthony Robbins, Brian Tracy, Mike Litman and others as I drove to and from work. I read books by Jim Rohn, Denis Waitley, Norman Vincent Peale and others as I ate lunch. Having done that for a while and now having gotten out of the habit, I can testify to you that it does make a difference. When I was in the habit of feeding my spirit, I thought and acted differently; far better than I do now. I didn't react as much as I do now. My hope was higher, my goals bigger and my heart happier and I was better for it.

I am taking up that 1/96th of a day habit again and you all have the opportunity to be my accountability partners. This blog will be a measure of how well I am doing in re-cultivating that habit because it will be the outlet for what I take in my spirit. I will spend a minimum of 15 minutes absorbing motivational, enlightening, inspirational, spirit-filling material for the express purposes of changing my life and sharing it with you in the hope that it will change yours as well.

You will be hearing from me again ... very soon!