build a successful life

The definitions of success are many and varied.     For some success means happiness and for others happiness means success.   The word success may mean a sprint to the finish line with hands raised in the air even if last place.   For others the only place to finish is first and that is their definition of success.

No matter where you lie on the spectrum of success, success is important for feeling well.   Confidence is the seed of success.  As confidence grows so does success.   So for the marathon runner coming in last place is a success if they had never attempted to run further than a couple of miles.   

Success is a measure of our ability to realize  a goal that was set.    Success could be a small step, just one small step beyond what was thought possible.   To stand on new ground, to think new thoughts, to do new things even if the change is small it is still success.

Building a successful life is about be willing to take the small step, the first step towards something different.  

What small step are you willing to change?

Make a declaration, set a goal and set out to realize that goal and success will follow you every day.

To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.
       Anatole France

magnify your opportunities

“We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life is a voyage an endless sea of opportunity spreads out before us.     As the sailor climbed to the highest point on the tallest mast to see if he could see land, he took a risk to observe the destination.   Climbing the rigging was risky, and even more so hanging on to the mast as the seas tossed the boat.   Opportunity  is coming your way what are you going to do about it?

When will you courageously climb the mast and look beyond the horizon?   It is there you’ll find what you are looking for.

inside out

Personal development starts with changing the internal behaviors, thoughts and habits, and top performers recognize that it is the inside world that must change.    The world outside our thoughts, habits, feelings and desires really doesn’t care about you, it cares about itself.    Other people care about themselves that is their first and most present concern.  

Survival comes first, not second, not third but first.   When there is sufficiency to satisfy needs then the needs of others may become important.    Just look at how our society works today.    Look at the entertainment industry, which is all about making the “I” feel good.    

People in the top 3-5%, spend time developing themselves and are on the road to continuous improvement.  

How much time do you spend reading each year?

How many books will you read in one year?

What types of educational programs are you attending?

What is your entertainment vs. attainment ratio?   

Where are you investing your time, money and effort?

Focus in on the things that will help you grow and be successful over time you will be in the top 3-5%.   Success is hard work, staying successful takes even more work.

What are you working on?

“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”
Jim Rohn

I have a goal … do you?

Some people leaving a lasting legacy, some people encourage others to take a step that is bigger and more bold than they thought they could.   Some people make a difference in the lives of others.

Jim Rohn has been called such a man, a man who helped others reach further than they could have imagined.   So, what follows is an excerpt of some of Jim’s words.   Read them and then set a goal, a goal that will fuel you to greater success, wisdom and happiness.

Take charge of your life – leave a legacy – shape the world – you can!

— Now read the words of Jim Rohn —

The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get.

When Andrew Carnegie died, they discovered a sheet of paper upon which he had written one of the major goals of his life: to spend the first half of his life accumulating money and to spend the last half of his life giving it all away. And he did!

Some people are disturbed by those tough days because all they have is the days. They haven’t designed or described or defined the future.

Goals. There’s no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There’s no telling what you can do when you believe in them. And there’s no telling what will happen when you act upon them.

We all need lots of powerful long-range goals to help us past the short-term obstacles.

The ultimate reason for setting goals is to entice you to become the person it takes to achieve them.

Don’t set your goals too low. If you don’t need much, you won’t become much.

If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build end up building us.

We all have two choices: We can make a living or we can design a life.

 

Quotes by Jim Rohn, America’s Foremost Business Philosopher, reprinted with permission from Jim Rohn International �2010.
As a world-renowned author and success expert, Jim Rohn touched millions of lives during his 46-year career as a motivational speaker and messenger of positive life change.
For more information on Jim and his popular personal achievement resources or to subscribe to the weekly Jim Rohn Newsletter, visit www.JimRohn.com.

motivation – reward and punishment

Step back to 1949, to a lab where Rhesus monkeys were given some puzzles to solve.    Within a short time the monkeys had solved the puzzle which was very surprising to the experimenters.   Why would monkeys take upon a task and try to solve it when there was no punishment or reward mechanism in place to motivate them?

In the early 1900’s Fredrick Taylor was hired to measure human performance and as a result a rewards/punishment model has been the most popular model for motivating people.   Today scores of organizations roll out performance evaluations to gage how well the workers are doing.   Not doing so well may mean no raise or a quick departure from the organization.   The top performers are richly rewarded with opportunity, cash and even job security.   For routine work perhaps the model of reward and punishment is at best a workable solution.   For today’s service economy and the competitive need to stay ahead of the competition a new model must be put in place.

In 1949 Henry Harlow discovered that Rhesus monkeys were intrinsically motivated to solve the puzzle.  In fact when rewarded their performance (ability to solve the puzzle) decreased.   It is as if the reward became an expectation thereby reducing the creative potential of the monkey. 

People, creative people are motivated by the magnitude of the problem, the ability to make a difference and a personal desire to solve problems.   The management methods or reward and punishment models diminish the effectiveness of today’s working adult.   Top leaders should recognize the shift and change their methods of managing workers in the new economy.

What motivates you?   Are you motivated by rewards and punishment?

From Daniel Pink’s book Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us.

what is your personal development quotient?

“The man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is justly entitled.” Andrew Carnegie

Are you serious about your own success?   The top leaders and the top performers are serious about their success and invest a large amount of their own income in developing and increasing their abilities.  The rule of thumb is to invest 10% of your income in personal development.  

What does it mean to be a top performer, an exponential leader or a master in your trade?  It means continuous improvement, a constant desire to improve.  

The daily exercise, the daily reading, and the daily habits don’t create instant success.   The success derived from daily success habits takes time before any results become evident and eventually some fruit appears, and then more, and the more.   

Top performers invest in conferences, coaches, self-study and other experiential learning events.   Top performers use the car radio for classes rather than entertainment.    Top performers stay away from the news and focus on what matters.   Top performers put their energy into education rather than entertainment.   The focus is on improvement.

What would you rather have?   Would you rather have $3 million dollars in a cash or would rather have a penny that doubles in value each day for 31 consecutive days?   Sure it would be great to have 3 million dollars in one day, who wouldn’t want that?   Now if you took the penny at the end of 16 days you’d have 65535 pennies in your account and perhaps you’d be thinking you should have taken the 3 million dollars.   At twenty days you only have $10,475 in your account, and you’d be thinking whoops, should have taken the 3 million.   Anyway you hang in there, and at 24 days you start to see some improvement as you are at about $168000, but still that isn’t 3 million dollars.   Four more days pass and you check your account, now it has grown to 2.68 million dollars, now we are talking some cash.   With just 3 more days to go, your hopes are rising that you made the right decision.    The last day arrives, your account now as a little over $10 million dollars, three times the amount that you would have received by taking the cash only.  

This is the power of continually improving your abilities.   Eventually there is a huge payoff.

What do you want to improve?

What kind of performer do you want to become?

Success

People seek it.

People ask for it.

People demand it.

People are disappointed when they don’t have it.

People miss it.

People fake it.

People love it.

People hate it.

People are afraid of it.

People are scared they will never have it.

Success.  It is a measuring stick.   It is a bottomless pit.  It is riches.   It is poor.

Wherever you land in the success spectrum, success is something you define, own and live.

Success should leave you feeling good about who you are and your place in the world.    Success is about leaving misery, doubt, fear, worry and anxiety behind so that you can appreciate the abundance of all that life has to offer.  

choices …

Everyday you get to make a hundred small choices.   Choices on what to wear, what to eat and what to do.   Each choice that you make shapes your future, your day and potentially your life.

It is a choice to treat someone with respect, with care and with dignity.  

It is a choice to be non-judgmental.   This  one is interesting in the way that people would say they don’t judge others, until the other person doesn’t meet an expectation then look out.  “That person is an idiot” or “What was he/she thinking?”    “No one in their right mind would do that” and of course they get worse.    It turns out that it is easy to tear someone else down in some fashion, that is judgment.   Using your values, beliefs and expectations as the ruler in which to measure others is judgment.

Judgment may not seem bad until it is realized that judgment comes with baggage that the judger has to carry around with them.   Judging others has a cost, the cost is lack of contentment, or the lack of peace, or the lack of joy.   The people who are the most dissatisfied in life spend a lot of time judging others.

What choices are you making?

What judgments are you making?

Start building your future today by making small choices that work for you.   Leave judgment behind and you’ll sense a freedom that you haven’t had before.

set yourself up for success

What positive inspiring encouraging words do you tell yourself each day?

What thoughts do you wake up with?

What thoughts to you go to sleep with?

Allow yourself to think positive uplifting thoughts.   When things are going wrong find what is going right and dwell on those thoughts.

Think of yourself in your most powerful moment, think of yourself working through problems with solutions you have designed.

Appreciate the world around you, even with its flaws, take a close look and marvel at the beauty that you can allow to exist in any circumstance.

Make today a day of choices, choices to commit to a more positive you, a more successful you, a more dynamic you, a more joyful you and see how your day progresses.