10X

If It’s Not a 10x Improvement, Is It Really Worth Doing?  Marc Andreessen

10X … something to consider.   What are you doing that is 10X better at?   Are you 10X better in your job?   Are you 10X better in  your relationships?  Are you 10X better of a person?   What in your life is 10X better than it was before?

 Why 10X?

10X is ten times better.   Take a goal that you have and make it bigger and better.   Most people think if they just double their performance it will be good enough.   Not any more.   Doubling your effort or even your results won’t lead to a breakthrough in thinking and doing.   It takes a 10X improvement to make the breakthroughs to get out of the box.

If you set a goal that is 10X bigger than your original goal you’ll have a better chance of achieving a real result.   Losing weight, go bigger than your goal.  Your goal to lose a couple of pounds a month might be good but it will also be easy to revert back to the old ways.    If you had to go 10X what would you really need to change?

Think about your job or your career.   What would make it 10X better than it is today?   It would take something pretty radical and it wouldn’t just be something small, it would have to be a big change.   Are you in the right career?   Are you doing what you are really passionate about?

Your finances, where are they today?   Where do you want them to be?   Go for a 10X goal.   What would have to change or be different to reach that goal.

In the world of personal development and personal improvement on person is doing just that, turning his world into 10X.   Brendon Bruchard is leading a charge to change the way people think about doing things.   10X, think about it.  Where could you change something by creating a goal that is 10X what you originally thought of?   What can you do 10X better?

Take a look at Brendon’s passion. 10X is what he is giving.

What are you giving 10X to?

No matter where you are today, think about something you will make 10X better this year. Set a goal and make it 10X bigger. Push the limits of your imagination, your skills and your results. Go beyond what you think possible.

Now take it 10X.

Here’s another perspective. 10X it.

It doesn’t matter what you are doing, there is a seismic shift in thinking that is happening all around you and there is going to be a seismic shift in how the world will operate. Are you going to be ready?

inspired

“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.”  Leon J. Suenes

Inspire, “to be the cause of, to bring about”,  to be inspired, to bring about something new, a new idea, a new thought, a new action or a new self.    Napolean Hill wrote, “whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

Inspire, “to breathe in, to take in a new air”.    When we draw in a deep breath of air we become filled with something new and fresh.   For many people the idea of taking in a deep breathe of clean fresh air only happens if they have to move more quickly than normal.   To breathe in means to take action, to take responsibility and to live fully.   It means feeling the air rush through the body with some mad purity.   The air we breathe in wants to inspire not only the blood cells but our very thoughts.

Perhaps if we were inspired we would move out of a job that no longer satisfies.   With a bit of inspiration we could create something new, something wonderful, or something majestic.   With a powerful inspirational moment we might make a change in our life that would produce meaning and significance.

What does it take to inspire you?   A bolt of lightning?

“It is only when we silent the blaring sounds of our daily existence that we can finally hear the whispers of truth that life reveals to us, as it stands knocking on the doorsteps of our hearts. ” K.T. Jong

Could we be inspired by a  colorful landscape where the wind makes the leaves dance? 

Maybe it is a quiet shore, where the waves gently tap out a magic code.  

Or could it be the  rhythmic sounds of a waterfall cascading through your thoughts.

 What inspires you?

Take time out right now, take in a deep breath and slowly exhale.   Breathe in again and this time close your eyes and let your mind just go quiet, what do you see, what do you hear, what inspirational thought did you hold in  your hand?

Maybe it takes a different perspective … take a look.  Inspired?

Take a moment and see what your mind can conceive and believe.

be

“We are so obsessed with doing that we have no time and no imagination left for being. As a result, men are valued not for what they are but for what they do or what they have—for their usefulness.”  Thomas Merton

Much of what we are is a reflection of what we do.   Doing doesn’t leave much time for creating something new.     For so much of our lives we are focused on generating what we believe to be an image of success.  Our identity is wrapped up in what we do not in who we are.    It is easy to hide in your identity of the past or your  identity of the future.    Our identify becomes a habit, a habit we support with the accolades of those we impress.

Og Mandino writes, “the point is to learn to find  those things that let your feel exhilarated and alive”.    The point is at some place in our life we stopped taking risks, stopped putting in that extra effort and stopped living.    Stepping outside of habit requires us to:

1. Be creative

2. Be concerned

3. Be courageous

4. Be caring

5. Be alive

6. Be passionate

7. Be enthusiastic

Define your identity in terms of your “being”.   What would your identity be?   Choose the words that state boldly who you are.   Leave the words “hope” and “if” by the wayside and choose powerful words that describe who you will be and who you are.

Don’t ask permission to “be”, just start being.

“I believe life is to be lived, not worked, enjoyed, not agonized, loved, not hated.” Leland Bartlett

what is your personal mission?

“Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated, thus, everyone’s task is unique as his specific opportunity to implement it.” – Viktor E. Frankl

What is your purpose?   For  many people having a purpose other than getting through the day is a thought that they have never entertained.   What is  your purpose?

Purpose is a driving force, a reason, a passionate desire, a legacy, a story and an internal motivation to do something that matters.    It is amazing that most people haven’t taken the time to discover their purpose.   Without a purpose life loses some of its meaning.   Work becomes a way to pass time, to collect some money and to continue to exist.   Life becomes a series of routine activities that has no meaning.   Eventually those without a purpose wake up one morning and wonder what life is all about.   What is my purpose?

There is an intrinsic purpose to life of course but there is also something deeper and more meaningful to purpose other than to exist.    People without purpose feel like they are lost.   They feel like they are just going through the motions of life and feeling less and less engaged in life as each day passes by.      That often means that whatever they are doing they are doing because they feel like they “have to”.

Where do you start?   If you have no idea of how to identify what your purpose is then it’s time to take out a piece of paper.   Divide the paper in half along the vertical axis.    On the left hand side of the paper list your strengths, the things you are naturally good at.  Identify the things that come easily to you.    Those will be things that just are easy for you to do or to learn.

On the right hand side of the paper list the things that you like to do.  These will be interesting things, perhaps reading, exercising,  or whatever those things are that you like to do.

Now you have a list of things that come naturally to you, or strengths, and a list of things that you like to do.

From those lists circle the things that are the most interesting, most energizing and most consistent in  your life.   What do you find yourself naturally doing?  What things do you do that makes time just fly by?

For those things that didn’t get circled put a box around the things that you would do if money or time were no object.   Maybe these things are things you are curious about that you want to know more about but just haven’t found time to do.

Using your core strengths which ones speak to “who” you are the most strongly.  These could be things that go to the core of your being.   They might be, your “to be” statements.    My purpose is to be ” _____________________ ” something.  What is that something?

Next, define what it is you want “to do”.   What is the activity that you will undertake.    ”To do work that makes a difference in the world”  or “to work with people ” or ___________________.

And then we take the to be and to do and culminate with a “so that”.  Why do you want to do that.   ” … so that I can positively influence those closest to me”  or “so that I can make a difference in ____________”.   The “so that” summarizes your ” to do” and “to be” statements into a result.    That result is your “why”, your purpose and that will be your unique contribution.   Your purpose lived out will be your legacy.

“My life is my message.”  Gandhi

story

“Those who do not have power over the story that dominates their lives, the power to retell it, rethink it, deconstruct it, joke about it, and change it as times change, truly are powerless, because they cannot think new thoughts.”
Salman Rushdie

What is the truth about that quote you just read?

What is your story?   What from your past great, exciting, memorable, fun or filled with happiness?   Find two or three things from your past that you found some real enjoyment in and write those things down.  To help fill out these sentence stems:

1. In the past I have really enjoyed _______________________________.

2. One of my most memorable events was __________________________.

3. My best day ever was ______________________________________.

4. My best day will be _______________________________________.

What is your story?   What do you want your story to be?

If you story is currently not filling you with joy and happiness then maybe it is time to rewrite the upcoming pages in your journal of life.

Here are some ways to get back into your story.  If you are feeling depressed, anxious, uncertain, worried, or  you just don’t feel like you have much energy then take a moment and (turn off the TV, listen to the silence):

1. Stand up, yes stand up right now.

2.  Take in a deep breath, in through the nose, make it deep, make it full, make it filling.

3. Let that breath out through the mouth and feel the air pass by your lips.   Let it whoooooosh out of you.

2. OK, take another deep cleansing breath.   Breath in deep, breath in long, fill up those lungs with air… all the way now.   Fill and hold for a few seconds.

3. Let the air whoooooooosh out … feel it go, and push out the air that is at the bottom of the lungs, just let it all go out.

4.  And one more time, let that living giving air in, in all the way.

5. Pause, and let it rush past your lips, feel that air move by and feel what it did for all the cells in your body.   You cells were asking for oxygen, and you gave them something that they really needed.

With new air in your body see if you can create some new positive thoughts.   Think about a favorite sunset, or a favorite bunch of flowers, or a favorite sceene.  Imagine being there right now and watching that sceene unfold before your ideas.  Feel the warm embrace of the wind and let the moment settle in around you like a light coat.  Smell the fragrance of the flowers, let that smell linger right on the edge of your mind.   Listen to the beating wings of a butterfly, hear the sounds, hear that gentle whisper.

Now lift your self up, push up yourself with your feet, push upward, push, push and raise your height.   Look, you can see just bit farther.   What do you see in your mind.   What scenes are you sensing?

Take in another deep breath, let the air flow in, let it flow in and then let out the air with a whoosh …. let it all go.

Now take a moment and smile, think about those times you have smiled before.  What are the stories behind those smiles, those times of intense laughter.   Live in those thoughts right now.

If you are creative take those thoughts and use them to make something new.  Carve new words in a journal.   Splash some color on a canvas or create something using your hands.   Create something with your mind.   Read something new.   Try something new and start writing your story today.

Sunset Thinking by Marilyn Lott

Do you ever watch the sunset
And just sit and think about things
Just you and the sky and darkness
Giving your thoughts some wings

Perhaps you’ve got some troubles
And don’t know what to do
Or you just plain need to get away
To spend a little time with you

Sunset beauty makes you feel as though
Your life has meaning after all
To see a sight so extraordinary
Makes you feel capable, strong and tall

It’s funny how flashes of color
Like a sunset or sunrise can inspire
It can calm your inner self a bit
It’s a scene you can never tire

The serenity gives you a chance
To put things in perspective
Life can be overwhelming at times
And a sunrise can be reflective

So when the sky lights up next time
Let your gaze do some drinking
Soak up all the amazing sights
And do some sunset thinking!

to live means to ….

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Harold Whitman

One of the phrases I hear quite often is “If I”.   If I had more money my life would be better.  If I had a better job my life would be better.  ”If I”.   It’s a slow death sentence to an unlived life.

What would happen if you replaced “If I” with “When I”.   Not “if I” could do this or that, but rather “When I”.   Take control of your life.  Instead of living life as if each moment were a mystery start creating a vision statement.    Take that vision statement and translate that into a set of goals that extent out 5 to 10 years.   Write down the goals in “BIG”  letters, yes big letters.   Make it visible to you and to others.  Let them know you are going to go “BIG” and start living your life as you really want to.

Living BIG doesn’t mean living foolishly it means creating a set of plans that are achievable, doable and lead towards your vision.   It means living with constancy of purpose and having the ability to work through the hard times.  It means celebrating success along the way even if it is only a small, small step.   Moving forward is not always easy so be patient and keep pushing forward.    It is those who break through those barriers and hurdle the trials that reach their vision.

When a vision, a compelling vision is reached it doesn’t mean that it is the end.  It really is just a new beginning.  When the vision is realized a new vision, a new mission is created that will raise you to a new level of living.

How do you start living?  (If you need a clue watch the video)

1. Make a commitment to yourself that you will define your purpose.

2. Create that purpose for your life.
- Take a walk and bring with you a pad of paper.  Find a place where you can be alone and in the quiet, in the serenity of the moment think about what you really want to do and be.   Write down your thoughts and observe trends, patterns and ideas.   What is the same about them and what is unique?   Star the ones that make your heart beat a bit faster.
- Refine the list, get the key things from your list.  Put the  ”doables” in one column and put the “reach for the stars” in another and put the routine items in a third column.
- What made it into the “reach for the stars column”.?
- Choose the most compelling, most awesome, most powerful ideas and write a goal statement.

-   I am going to ________________________ in 5 years.
- Write a story that describes this ultimate dream of yours.   What does it really look like to you.   What will it take to make it real?   What new skills will you need?  What risks will you take?   What will require change?
-  Be clear about what you want.   Be crystal clear.

3. Tell others what you are going to do or change.  Make it BIG.

4. Make it real  (start doing)

5.  Give of yourself to others.

When you create your “Start Living Plan” you may notice that you pull back from it believing it isn’t possible or it is foolish to believe in such great things.   Work towards the goal, even if it is only for 15 minutes a day.  Take a few minutes each day and work on the goal.   Turn off the distractions, the TV or whatever pushes you away from the pursuit of the dream.   If you want the dream to be realized sooner put more effort into it.

If you aren’t sure which way to go, enlist a coach to work with you.   A coach can hold you accountable and keep those commitments in the forefront of your mind.  Fighting the battle alone is one of the reasons so many people give up on their dreams before they start.   Be one of the ones that makes your dream come real.

“All successful people men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose.”  Brian Tracy

break through the fear

‘You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith.”
Mary Manin Morrissey

Fear!   Fear of change.   Fear of not changing.  Fear of what might happen tomorrow.  Fear of what might happen today.   Fear it stops us right where we are and prevents us from being who we are capable of being.

In the wrong career and afraid to make that change.
In the right career and afraid the job might go away.
In the wrong relationship and fearing what might happen.
In the right relationship and afraid that it won’t last.

What are you afraid of?   What is stopping you from making the change that will allow you to grow and prosper?   It might be because you are afraid that even as bad as it is now it could get worse.  Fear traps people into thinking that the  only outcome that could happen is worse than what they are experiencing right now.

Fear robs people of the confidence to make change work for them.    Many people, maybe most people only look at what could go wrong in their life rather than what could go right.   Instead of looking at what could go wrong peer at the possibilities that things will go right.  It doesn’t mean that it will be easy though.  It does mean that with persistence, hard work and a positive attitude that reaching your goals is possible.

A recent story about Louis Zamperini might encourage you to make those changes you have been putting on your list of things you’d like to do.

In many cases fear turns dreams into obstacles that feel too big to overcome.  What happens if I fail and lose, and lose everything then what, where do I go from there?  It is the story of those who are rich and famous.   To have found something they are passionate about and then forged ahead to make that idea or dream happen.   Sometimes they did and sometimes they didn’t.   When we hear the stories of failure we believe that it what would happen to us.  Who am I to reach my goals and dreams.   If those that I know haven’t then why should I? That is the story of fear, and fear is winning in far greater numbers  and it is also robbing possibilities.

What are you waiting for?

1. What is your vision for your life (what is your unique contribution going to be?)

2. What is stopping you from starting towards that vision?

3. What would make you feel safe enough to try?

4. What are some steps you could take today?

5. Who will help you stay accountable to achieving your goal?

Imagine what it would feel like to reach your goals.  Imagine what it would look like to reach your goals.  Imagine what it would sound like to reach your goals.

Then say, “I am good enough to reach my goals with some work”.   Now, without delay begin that journey that you have longed to take and start experiencing what it would be like to reach your goal.   Do it today!

“People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going.” Earl Nightingale

no strings attached …

“I’ve got no strings
To hold me down
To make me fret, or make me frown”  from the movie Pinocchio

What would it be like to not have so many strings  holding you down?

“I need help making a decision”

“I need a new job”

“I am in debt and don’t know what to do”

“I am divorced and a couple of kids, and a job that I don’t like, what do I do?”

“I am in a business that isn’t making any money, what do I do next?”

“I have ADHD can can’t concentrate or focus, who will hire me?”

“I want to work for myself.  I don’t like being tied to a desk all day long.   What do I do next?”

“I hate my job but I love the people I work with and I can’t just quit”.   Imagine working at a job you hate to do where you’re not appreciated by the people who hired you.   The work gets more tedious each day you walk into the office and you have to have a job because there are bills to pay.   Not only are there strings from the job that hold you captive there are other strings and bills that have to be paid, mortgage, insurance, car payments, phone, internet, TV,  and many other things that make life easier (with strings attached) to pay for.

Are you feeling bound by the strings of life?   What would it feel like to start untangling that web of string that is robbing you of the joy you want to experience?

Letting go of the strings.

1. Take responsibility for your life, all of your life.

2. Create a vision, for your future.

3. In 5 years where do you want to be?

4. In 3 years where do you want to be?

5. In 1 year where do you want to be?

6. In 6 months where do you want to be?

Start today.  Take each string and untangle it and then create a plan to remove it until there are no strings attached.

If you should wonder why, then give this movie a try.

Find a way to detach those strings that are holding you back from living the life you desire.

“It may be that we are puppets-puppets controlled by the strings of society. But at least we are puppets with perception, with awareness. And perhaps our awareness is the first step to our liberation.”  Stanley Milgram

don’t you wish

“You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however.”   Richard Bach

Wishes … wishes …more wishes …

I wish I had a new job.

I wish I had a new car.

I wish I had more money.

I wish I could go on vacation.

I wish I could have _______________   (fill in the blank).

What are you wishing for?

What would you do if you could find a way to make those wishes come true for you?   What would it feel like to find a new job, to patch a relationship, to earn more money?   Not through some quick fix program that promises more than could ever sound real, like how to be a millionaire in a few easy steps.

Getting results for you comes at a price and that price is commitment to a goal, a passion to improve and a desire to the real work that is necessary.  All to often people are looking for a quick way to get to their goals and the real answer is that it takes work and time.   There is no “secret” answer to success.  There is no “secret” formula that will make you rich.   Darren Hardy wrote this,  ”No matter what your past has been, you have a spotless future.”, and that summarizes everyone’s future potential.

If you are wishing for something then start taking steps towards making that wish come true.   What steps would it take?  What new skills would it take?  What would it cost to get your wishes to come true?   Taking a realistic, objective and introspective look at who you are and what you want to do will start the process of making positive lasting change.

 

Identify,

What do I want to change?

When do I want to make the change?

What are the benefits of the change?

What am I scared of?

I have heard from people this, “When I start to change I always go back to where I was before and it looks like the same old thing.   Time after time I have tried to change and I get nowhere, what do I do then?”   It is frustrating to start to make a change and end up right back where you started, it is tiring to make attempts that don’t produce results.

I usually ask people what was their level of commitment to the change and how did they follow through with the change.  I ask them who was holding you accountable along the way.   I ask them what small steps that they were taking and how did they celebrate success as they moved forward.   In many cases people don’t celebrate success but they do take time to say, “I am not good enough”, “What an idiot”, “Who did I think I was to attempt change”, I guess I better just quit it’s not going to work anyway”.   Those phrases thought or spoken just pull a person down into a very negative place and that causes most people to quit.

So, what separates a person who does succeed and those that don’t?   The successful people push just a bit harder when the going gets tough.   Successful people work through the challenges and stand firm in the face of resistance.   (It doesn’t mean being foolhardy, it means being strong and creating opportunities to win).

What are you wishing for?   What do you want to do with your wishes?  When will you start making your wishes come true?

“Desire is the starting point of all achievement”  Napolean Hill

what do you really want to do …

Many people will pay the price of misery to say they were successful.  That is they will do something they hate doing just to show others how good they really are.  Now, who is paying the price?   Do the neighbors, friends and acquaintances really care how successful you are?   Is the size of the bank account more important that living a life that was meaningful and satisfying?

There are people who will be miserable for 50 weeks of the year to enjoy two weeks in solitude.   There are people who will amass such enormous debt in proving to others that they “do matter” that they risk losing everything when things turn downward.

The economic world flipped over just a few years ago and we are still in the midst of that chaotic mess.   Work is no longer guaranteed for any position.   If the promise of job security is melting away faster than the polar ice caps then why would you marry yourself to a job that could evaporate quickly due to factors that you have no control over?   The world of work is changing and changing quickly.

Instead of being miserable at any job why not choose a job that you really like to do.   Recently a woman reported that she worked for years at something she was really quite good at but she wasn’t in love with what she did.  She was making good money and was good at it, but then she found a job that she really loved, it made an impact on the lives of others, for her it was a job filled with great meaning and joy, even if the job paid just the minimum wage.

People aren’t going to be remembered for the size of their bank account, they are going to be remembered for the value they brought to others.

What dreams are you postponing?   What are you doing to create the life you desire?   What changes do you want to make?

What do you really want to do?   What is stopping you?

“We are desire. It is the essence of the human soul, the secret of our existence. Absolutely nothing of human greatness is ever accomplished without it. Not a symphony has been written, a mountain climbed, an injustice fought, or a love sustained apart from desire. Desire fuels our search for the life we prize. Our desire, if we will listen to it, will save us from committing soul-suicide, the sacrifice of our hearts on the altar of “getting by.” The same old thing is not enough. It never will be.”   John Eldredge from “Desire”