Maybe declaring myself the next great thing in motivational speaking is a little premature. Maybe, after a few thousand seminars and a few dozen books, I can start to compare myself to some of my idols, such as Tony Robbins, Les Brown, and Jim Rohn. Maybe I should start with one successful seminar, or just one seminar period. For all the success I have had so far in my pursuit of a career as a Life and Business Coach, to expect to be the next million dollar man running infomercials at 2AM is still a little crazy.
THIS WEEK’S TIP: Learning to crawl before you can walk is not just for babies. It’s also for full grown adults who are impatient with success and have a habit of biting off a little more than they can chew. There is no problem with pacing yourself, planning your progress, and taking small, calculated baby steps in the pursuit of your goals in life. Don’t worry about getting to the stage if you are not ready to perform. Study your lines and cues, and when the time comes, you’ll be ready.
Today’s Quote: “It is possible to store the mind with a million facts and still be entirely uneducated.” – Alec Bourne
Today’s Question: Do you know what you really know?
My Thoughts: The question might sprout a quick, “Of course,” as your answer, but take a deeper look into yourself before you dismiss it. Have you ever attempted a task you assumed would be simple and then found yourself stuck in the middle of it with no idea how much you have messed the whole thing up and how much effort it will take to fix your mess? Sometimes we assume we have knowledge or know how that we just flat out do not possess, and the assumption of that knowledge . . . well, you know how the cliché goes.
8 life lessons that I have personally learned over the past 7 days, for the week ending 11/28/09:
1: HOLDING IN YOUR FEELINGS COULD BE KILLING YOU . . . LITERALLY – A new Swedish study (found here) shows that men who bottle up their anger at being unfairly treated at work are up to five times more likely to suffer a heart attack, or even die from one, than those who let their frustration show. The study by the Stress Research Institute of Stockholm University followed 2,755 employed men who had not suffered any heart attacks from 1992 to 2003. At the end of the study, 47 participants had either suffered an attack, or died from heart disease, and many of those had been found to be “covertly coping” with unfair treatment at work. Covert coping was listed as “letting thing pass without saying anything” and “going away” despite feelings of being done wrong by colleagues or bosses.
2: ALWAYS TRY TO LEARN NEW THINGS – Without turning life lessons into a closing scene with Kyle and Stan from South Park, you should always try to learn new things. There should be plenty of thing coming at you throughout your day to learn from, but if there is not, or there is not a learning experience that’s giving you enough of a challenge, seek out something new to learn. You’ve probably been in need of a new hobby anyway.
3: WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU ARE LEARNING NEW, AND WHAT YOU HAVE ALREADY HAVE LEARNED – You don’t always know what you know. That’s why you file things away. Don’t believe me? Can you at this very moment recite verbatim every skill you possess from every job that you have held? That why you write a resume, and revise it often to keep it relevant to want you need to know now, not what you needed to know way back when. Keeping a log of what you are learning and what you have previously learned could save your sanity if you are a workaholic data freak like I happen to be.
4. TAKE STOCK IN MEMORIES – Remember to cherish your memories. Especially the ones that are trigger out of the blue. Be grateful for memories in the making, and do not be so afraid of cameras. Those cameras are capturing images that will help you reform those memories years down the road. Helping my parents with a project of converting old VHS home movies to DVD took me back 20 years to being a teenager that wasn’t all that fond of spending time in front of my parents while they narrated my life on camera, and allowed me to see footage of me and my younger sister in happy situations I had long forgotten. And with my sister having past almost 6 years ago, my parents have a way to reintroduce my niece and nephew to their mother, as they were to young to remember much about her.
5: YOUR SUPPORTERS WILL TURN ON YOU IF YOU GIVE THEM THE RIGHT INCENTIVE – The story of Tiger Woods crashing his SUV is growing by leaps and bounds. Now mixed in with stories of infidelity and spouses “going ghetto” and lashing out, it has becomes a gossip column’s dream, especially for a guy who is notorious for not letting anyone in on what is going on in his life. And a small back lash is growing as Tiger refuses to talk about the incident . . . even to authorities. A few weeks ago, he threw a club into a gallery and hit some guy, gave a pretty lame apology, and the press that had done its best to work around Tiger and his ‘famous bad temper’ was beginning to question the price of giving him a pass for admission into his tent . . . where he gave as little information as he chose to. Those who gave him the most leeway are now looking at him with the most contempt.
6: YOUR SUPPORTERS DON’T HAVE TO TURN ON YOU IF YOU CAN HELP IT – Taking it from televangelist and Kobe Bryant, you can regain your public support just as quickly as you ruined it if you play your cards right. Come out with the truth early and play all the sympathy cards you can get your hands on. And let the people forgive you. Then keep on winning so they forget you ever had your little digression.
7. SAVE ROOM FOR DESSERT – A few days ago in the United States we celebrated Thanksgiving, a holiday that is supposed to be a remembrance of the Pilgrims surviving there first year in the New World, but is pretty much all about eating turkey for two weeks and getting ready for Christmas shopping. But even with all the fixin’s in front of you, always remember to leave room for some dessert. You won’t regret it.
8: TAKE TIME TO GIVE THANKS EVERYDAY – We put a lot of emphasis starting with Thanksgiving on the act of actually giving thanks for what we have. In the last year, we’ve seen a lot of losses and people, and I’ve been through a lot of personal losses. But I always find a way to give thanks for what I do have . . . family, friends, opportunities . . . even as I face more troubling times on the way. The only way to get better is to give thanks for what you already have. You can’t gain more until you learn to appreciate what you’ve already got.
Today’s Quote: “The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on.” – Ulysses S. Grant
Today’s Question: Do you have problems following simple directions?
My Thoughts: Bob Newhart was in a funny skit on TV where he plays a psychiatrist who yells “Stop it!” to a client in a session that he insists will only last five minutes. Funnier that the overly simple advice was the client’s inability to get that something so simple was possible. And that is our problem very often. Simple solutions seem like impossible tasks. Simple directions look like complicated battle plans. But they are not. They really are just as simple as they are presented. Why are simple directions so hard to follow?
Today’s Quote: “Temptation rarely comes in working hours. It is in their leisure time that men are made or marred.” – W. N. Taylor
Today’s Question: How do you stay alert?
My Thoughts: Things can go wrong anytime, but it is possible to stay at the ready and be prepared for a crisis. How do you stay alert to ensure you are ready when your crisis hits?
Today’s Quote: “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.” – Booker T. Washington
Today’s Question: What obstacles have you had to overcome lately?
My Thoughts: Your life is defined by how you handle the adversity you must face. Are you one to take adversity head on, despite the consequences? Are you one to wait it out, in hopes that it will actually go away?
Today’s Quote: “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” – John F. Kennedy
Today’s Question: Are you living up to the example you are trying to set?
My Thoughts: Sometimes living up to the image you project of yourself is not possible. The fall of many public officials and political power brokers by acts of them doing as they tend to do and not as they say to do is well documented. The not exactly newsworthy, but daily examples of falls from grace may not be earth-shattering events, but they can effect the way a person will be seen in the future by their mentors, the people they themselves mentor, and all of their peers in-between. Are you truly living up to the example self you have set up? Are you actually faking it and hoping no one notices or calls you out on it?
Today’s Quote: “The world stands aside to let anyone pass who knows where he is going.” – David Starr Jordan
Today’s Question: Do you know where you are going?
My Thoughts: None of us are privileged with the knowledge of the exact date of our last day on earth, so not many people have mastered the science of living out our lives to coincide with the end of our lives. Because of that, we have to assume a new day will follow after another the new day after another new day. Unfortunately, most people do just that. They live out their lives day after day, wandering endlessly through their lives, until they reach the end of their lives. This is not an optimal way to live. Life works much better when you have a plan of action to follow. Do you have one?
Today’s Quote: “Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.” – Leon Suenens
Today’s Question: How much is it worth to you?
My Thoughts: For everything you want, there is a price to pay in exchange. The market sets the rate, and it’s up to you to decide if that price is worth it. From a simple shopping trip at the supermarket, to the time spent training to master an art, it is always your choice to pay the price given, possibly haggle or barter the price down, or not pay the price at all. But if you want it bad enough, why would you not be willing to pay the price?
is morning I did the literal equivalent of the figurative term “take a look at yourself in the mirror.” While it means you need to evaluate yourself and your life, this morning, I saw it from a physical aspect. I’ve been pretty open and honest with my crazy work schedule (two jobs, a business, writing multiple newsletters), spending as much free time with my family, and missing a lot of sleep just because there are not enough hours in a day. The mirror didn’t show me a young man, excited about his life and all its possibilities. The image I saw reflecting back at me was of a tired man wearing wrinkled clothes badly in need of a haircut. It was not a pretty sight.
THIS WEEK’S TIP: Get up right now and go take a look at yourself in the mirror. Don’t wait until you’ve got time re-apply your make up or get a shave and a haircut. Take an honest look at your physical self, and tell yourself the truth about the person you see in the reflection. Then take the initiative to admit what faults you can live with and what faults you truly wish you could change, then do what it takes to make that change happen.
You Already Have The Answers dot COM 