push the boundaries

We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing. Consequences give us the pain that motivates us to change.” 
― Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend

Growth requires that you push yourself beyond the boundaries you have become comfortable with. It’s a new year, perhaps you have some goals that you’d like to focus on. Do those goals push you beyond what you have done before?

If you haven’t developed a set of personal goals or professional goals now is the time to create some. What are some things you could do to enhance your life?

1. How do you want to grow as a person?
2. How do you want to grow as a professional?

Thing big, Think bigger.

Find the thing within you that inspires and motivates you and then do something with that inspiration. Make something new. Make something happen. Start today.

free to flow

The natural dance of water as it cascades on its downward trek towards its destination is called flow.  The water is not deterred in seeking its ultimate goal.    Even the obstacles that block the path and flow of water only do so temporality.

Water that is moving has power.   Water that stands still becomes stagnant and polluted.

Our lives are like water in many respects in that we need to keep moving, learning and growing.   To sit still for long periods of time is to grow stagnant. 

What new ideas are flowing within you?

“The quality of the imagination is to flow and not to freeze” Ralph Waldo Emerson

satisfied by

“You can motivate by fear, and you can motivate by reward. But both those methods are only temporary. The only lasting thing is self motivation.”

Homer Rice

What are you motivated by?

Are you living the kind of life that excites you, is filled with joy, and surrounded by the kind of feelings that give you comfort?   Sure you can’t live in some blissful euphoric state all the time; there is the reality of life the pains, the sorrows, the times that grip you by the throat and won’t let go.   But, what if most of the time you could achieve and master the things that you wish you could?

What if most of the time you lived by your strengths, you lived with joy and you found more smiles than frowns in your life?   Wouldn’t that be worth having?

For most people it is possible to live a life that is satisfying, rewarding, fulfilling and joyful.   It is possible!

What stops you right now from living the best possible life?   Not an imaginary dream, but a life that contains all that is “needed”.   For most people it is a matter of choice or choices.    For many it is the words that are presented to the conscious mind on a daily basis, words that speak out with hope, choice, freedom and joy.

What does a fulfilling life look like?  

What does joy look like?

What does a life filled with meaning look like?

 

What would you say you score in these life categories?

1.       Relationships

2.       Career/Job/Vocation

3.       Spiritual knowledge/understanding/relationship

4.       Family

5.       Friends

6.       Personal growth/Education/Learning/seeking knowledge

7.       Leisure/recreation/rest/relaxation

8.      Personal time – quiet time – times of silence/reflection

9.       Contribution/charity/volunteerism

 

Give yourself a score of 10 if you are fully satisfied and a score of 1 if you are barely started.    Then use 2-9 to indicate the relative strength of any of those categories with the larger number indicating greater satisfaction.

What areas do you need the most growth, work, or change?

Are you motivated enough to make those changes yourself?

Talent id

How do you know what your talents are? For much of our lives we haven’t been taught to discover what our talents are. We’ve been pushed through an educational system that does less to identify talents than it does making sure everyone is in a broad sense non-distinct. If you excelled at one subject a lot more than any other your focus wouldn’t be on that one subject it would be on all subjects with about equal intensity due to the framework of the educational system.

What are you curious about? What do you have an appetite for? I’m not talking about watching TV or mindless activities but of things that stir the imagination, that bring about a strong desire to learn, to practice, and to experience.

If you choose a magazine what is the material that makes it worth reading about? What about that topic is intriguing?

Be careful about linking talent with career aspirations. What if your talent isn’t the kind that is desired in job marketplace? Try to separate those issues initially. Seek what drives your interest and passions.

Bringing a talent to life will often lead to joy and happiness. Time will disappear and your focus will increase. The intensity of joy will magnify as you find yourself in the labyrinth of experiencing your talents.

To discover your talents you’ll need to plow the field of experience. The more that you experience the greater your chance is of discovering what truly ignites passion in your heart. It may be doing something as simple as walking through a library scanning the books and looking at the topics that interest you. Are you compelled to know more? Does the topic drive you to want to devour all that there is to know about the subject matter? What images seep into your mind?

Here are some ideas to discover your talents.

1. Plow the field. Churn some new ground.

2. Plant the field. Experience a variety of things, what grows.

3. Nurture the field. Take care of the things that interest you.

4. Weed the field. Remove what doesn’t work so the effort can be placed on what is of interest.

5. Harvest the field. What grows well, what thrives and survives is probably a talent.

Reflection. Review things in the past that were of interest to you. What things have continued with you? What things have you dropped in pursuit of something else? Look at what you have carried with you. Is it a passion of yours?

What are your talents?

Don’t go there alone.

“My mind is like a bad neighborhood, I try not to go there alone.” Ann Lamont

Our minds can keep us from doing the right things for ourselves. The use of self-talk to hold us back and keep us where we are today is a formidable challenge to overcome.

The quote by Ann Lamont is an indicator that we can’t go it alone in many cases. In some cases we need a guide or a coach to help us keep our minds from going down the path of negative self-talk.

A coach can act as an encourager and help bring back a conversation so that it focuses on what can be rather than what was and what didn’t work in the past. It is essential to focus on where we want to be rather than where we have been.

Fall forward. Sure there are going to be times where we can get bruised and feel uncomfortable but it is in those moments that we can grow. Growing to a better self is the kind of growth that brings about joy and happiness.

Is your mind like the bad neighborhood? Do you have someone to help you through that place that you don’t want to be alone in?

Be Inspired

Need to be inspired

– need a reason to reach a bit further – need a reason to change.

Take a look at this clip. Let your dreams live

Isn’t it about time.