Affirm someone

You matter.

You are important.

You make a difference.

Those are affirmations that you can say to yourself everyday.  

Susan Jeffers writes about affirmations in this little book.  It is a great place to start thinking about what you can be.

Affirmations start with our attitudes about others and ourselves.    I was reminded that self-talk/affirmations played an important role during the Holocaust. Viktor Frankl wrote, “We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms- to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” (Frankl, “Man’s search for meaning”, p. 86).

Attitude is about choice,  a choice we make, and a choice that is shaped by our affirmations.

Be SMART

Setting Goals that matter

There are techniques that are somewhat popular for establishing realistic goals.   One of the techniques follows the acronym call SMART.   SMART goals have five components (as you could guess).

S, Specific, the goal must be well defined, not large.

M, Measurable, how are you going to measure the results/outcome.

A, Actionable, can it be done

R, Relevant, does it make sense to do.

T, Timely, a specific date/time in which the goal will be completed.

 

This is just a process to nudge your thinking a bit so that realizable goals can be achieved.   One of the big items on the list is “measurable” what are you going to do to make sure you are making adequate progress towards the goal.   The axiom “you can’t manage what you don’t measure” holds true.   Part of goal setting is managing the progress or lack of progress that is being made.

Many people start the New Year off with some resolutions, I RESOLVE to do X before the end of the year.   What happens is that X might be too big to accomplish, or it might not be measurable, or actionable (too many other things get in the way of getting the goal accomplished), the goal was relevant and the timeframe wasn’t realistic.

One of the best ways for success is to start small and get easy and early victories.   Set the goal so that it is attainable (which is sometimes used for the letter A in SMART).   Why start with a huge goal when what you really need are small successes (people are encouraged by making progress).   Celebrate the small successes with rewards that are meaningful (and hopefully ones that don’t compromise the initial goal).

Work hard, work steady, work consistently, and work with courage.

The goal is yours!

“Finish every day and be done with it.  You have done what you could.  Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can.  Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.  This day is all that is good and fair.  It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays.” 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do your best all of the time.   Forget the failures and create new successes.  Remember the lessons and seek greater significance.

What successes have you had lately?

Predictions

For some this time of the year is pretty empty.   To fill the tank may take doing something far different than ever before.  What would that be?

Predictions are being made as we approach a new year.  For some the impact of the financial crisis will become all too personal.  For others, perhaps 2 billion people food will be more expensive and much harder to obtain.  It will take the full effort of those who have to give a bit more to those who don’t have.

Take a quick inventory of your life – what do you want to make better this year?

Here’s a set of predictions that seem to make sense, especially prediction #9.

Nine Predictions

Merry Christmas

 

Give more … be more …

This is the time of the year when we do think of the less fortunate and in the midst of our business we can pause and reflect … and help others.

think big

From the book “If it ain’t broke … Break it! By Robert J. Kreigel and Louis Patler,  “We don’t have a clue as to what people’s limits are.  All the tests, stopwatches, and finish lines in the world can’t measure human potential.   When someone is pursuing their dream, they’ll go far beyond what seems to be their limitations.  The potential that exists within us is limitless and largely untapped … When you think of limits you create them.”

Our words shape our world.  If we use little words our world will be small.   Express yourself with the magnificence and abilities that you really have.   Your potential is your own.   How big do you want that potential to be?   Think beyond that limit, aim higher, run longer, jump higher, breathe deeper, and be more.

your future begins here

The minute you alter your perception of yourself and your future, both you and your future begin to change. Marilee Zdenek

Replace your coulds, woulds, shoulds with “will”.    What would your statements look like if you replaced excuses for change with “I will do _____________”.

Repeat this in your mind or out loud, “My mind is always focused on the positive.”  Every time a statement that is not positive enters your consciousness replace it with that phrase.   Look for the positive in everything you do and you will find it.

Chose to be happy.   Chose to be smart.  Chose to be alive.   Chose to be active.   Chose to be friendly.  Chose to be thankful.  

Here’s one, “I commit to doing only what I can do.”   Apply relentless focus on your day, hours and minutes, make each one count and be intentional on what counts.

Change won’t happen overnight.  The words you say to yourself can change, repeat the positive and keep it circulating in your head.   It takes work and practice.

The better the attitude, the better the results.  

When will you start focusing on the positive?

Reflect

“Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people.”  Einstein

“Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment.”  Lao Tzu

Take a moment and reflect on this past week.

What did you learn?

Did you thank someone?

Did you find joy in your week?

Did you find peace in your week?

Write down the high points from the past week?   Can you repeat them?

Take a deep breath – exhale – relax and refresh your mind.

Embrace uncertainty

 

We live in unique times.  We live in a time where uncertainty brushes everyone of us.   We live in a time when many are worrying about tomorrow like we can shift the dunes of time to our favor. 

If we are living a life of hope then we know that whatever tomorrow brings something good can come out of it.   Prepare to live a life of hope by creating a vision of the future that is strong,  vibrant and present.  In this vision of the future what part do you play?   What do you think the outcome could be if you put your energy and talents together and seek the dream?

“Look.  This is your world! You can’t not look.  There is no other world.  This is your world; it is your feast.  You inherited this; you inherited these eyeballs; you inherited the world of color.  Look at the greatness of the whole thing.  Look!  Don’t hesitate – look!  Open your eyes, don’t blink, and look, look – look further.” Chogyam Trungpa

How do you see the world?   What part do you want to play?

Finding meaning in joy and suffering

I don’t know how many people find meaning in suffering but it might just be that in suffering you discover more about yourself than you do when you are in a state of joy.   The questions are asked more often in suffering.  Questions of why – why me – why?  Perhaps that is the wrong question to ask.  When there is suffering the goal is to make it go away and that it does go away and in most cases it will.

When we experience joy more often than not we know it will subside overtime and go away.   It is unlikely that the question is asked how can I keep joy going when we are in a state of joy.   It seems as if we accept joy for what it is when it is present.

Business leaders try to examine the success of others so that they can apply that knowledge to their line of work in order to increase their chance of success or to increase their current success.  Now what would happen if individuals focused on improving their lives, their joy and their success, what do you think would happen?

Constant incremental improvement – constantly improve the joy in your life by focusing on what makes you filled with joy.

Try it!   Spend a few minutes each day and write down the things that were good – joyful.   Even if it is just one thing write it down and the next day try to find two things that were joyful.  You may have to work on making joy enter your life – try it!

In suffering try to find joy and it may mean helping someone else find joy.