mediocre me …

“People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.”
Andrew Carnegie

mediocre – lacking exceptional quality or ability; “a novel of average merit”; “only a fair performance of the sonata”; “in fair health”; “the caliber of the students has gone from mediocre to above average”; “the performance was middling at best”

Maybe you know someone that lives a life of mediocrity.   What has that life brought them?   Is the mediocre life the kind of life that you would want to live?

Take a look at mediocrity, is this what you want?

People what to live extraordinary lives and at the same time rarely take the steps to live outside of mediocrity.   Think about the tons of self-help books that exist and the tons of self-help programs that are available and think about the vast ocean of self-help CD’s.   People buy the programs, read the books, listen to the CD’s and return to mediocrity.   What are you doing to live a life that is beyond mediocrity?

When was the last time you talked to someone who would work with you to move towards an exciting, positive rewarding goal?   When was the last time you took your life seriously?

What can you do to move beyond mediocrity?

1. Turn off the TV.  There is nothing on TV that adds value to your life.  What is there subtracts value from your life. 
2. Get the right amount of rest.   Get 7-8 hours of sleep per night.  Sleep is necessary to be fully alive during the day, mentally and physically alive.
3. Start exercising.  Even if it is just for a few minutes get out and start a regular program of exercise.  Find someone who can exercise with you if exercising alone isn’t your thing.   Moving is important for mental and physical capacity.   Life is stressful as it is and exercising is just one way to lower the stress.
4. Eat the right foods.   So many of the problems people face today are lifestyle choices.   Diabetes is a lifestyle choice for the most part.   People can either choose to eat low cost high calorie diets or they can choose to eat foods that are healthy. 
5. Create a plan for your life.   Mediocrity stems from drifting through each day.   There may be a goal but in most cases it is just getting through today and then doing it over again.  It is no wonder that people are “checking out” and finding TV as a way to get away.   Create a plan and start working on those goals.   Start with a 5 year plan and define what it is and where you want to be in five years.
6. Improve you.   Spend the time and energy to improve who you are and the skills you need to be successful in the world today.   The “old” world, the old way, are gone.   It takes new skills, new abilities and new ways of thinking to compete in today’s global economy.  Become an expert.  Sometimes it takes digging deep into who you are to find out what it is that really makes you come alive.  Find out what it is and then start moving forward.
7. Read.   Reading is an easy, inexpensive way to improve your personal results.    Start reading the kind of things that improve your value to yourself and others.

8. Get help.  Work with someone to push you towards higher levels of performance.  Doing it by yourself isn’t working is it?   Getting more out of life in this fast paced world isn’t going to happen if you have to do it alone.  Maybe a few people are able to push through the briars and thorns but most people aren’t able to move in the direction they want alone.

9.  Make the time.   So many people say, “I don’t have the time to ….” and it’s true.   There is less and less time for “you” because of all the distractions that you can sign up for.   It takes time to go to the gym, it takes time to prepare meals, it takes time to get ready for work, it takes time to do the household chores, it takes time for everything but “YOU” and “YOU” are important aren’t you?   Make the time to take the time for you.   If it is one day a week, take that time to focus on bettering you.

10.  It costs too much.   It costs too much to be mediocre?  Improving yourself, either with coaching, attending programs, and working on being excellent will improve your life.  It takes time and it might cost money.   If you can pay for cable TV, if you can pay for “extras”,  if you can pay for things you don’t “need”, then it isn’t about the costs.  It is about the priorities  you are making for yourself.

In 5 years where do you want to be?   Do you want to be living a life of mediocrity?   Make a choice and start living beyond mediocrity today.

“Man often becomes what he believes himself to be.   If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”  Mahatma Gandhi

your story … what do you want it to be?

“Everything you now do is something you have chosen to do. Some people don’t want to believe that. But if you’re over age twenty-one, your life is what you’re making of it. To change your life, you need to change your priorities. ”
John C. Maxwell

Maybe you have met this person.   This person is the person who is constantly reminding you of how bad things are and how broken the world is and it is only getting worse.   There are wars, this is crime, there is unemployment, there are only bad people, the taxes are too high, the only jobs are minimum wage jobs, you can’t have fun anymore, there are too many rules, the cat got run over yesterday and on and on it goes.   In a few minutes all the energy you had is sucked right out of you and the world does look a whole lot worse.

The “victim” sees the world and the people in it as some great failure rather than a great success.   A victim wants their words to create your world.    Some people by into their story and start adding more to that victim story.   When was the last time you said, “enough already”, your story is never going to make things better, your story is only about inaction rather than action.   Taking action is the only way to change the story.

Taking action is the only way the dirty streets can become clean again.  Taking action is the only way to make the stalled economy take off again.  If the world is broken the only way it can be fixed is if people take action.

Taking positive action

To shift from victim thinking to “owner” thinking is to start with a series of questions.   Explore each question and write out the answer in as much detail as you can.

What do I really want?

Define and create a crystal clear picture of where you want to be in a few years (5 years works as a good horizon goal).  Describe in detail what you want for yourself.   What will it look like when you get there?

What do you want your life experience to be?   Define it!

What do you want to experience when you reach the goal?  This is a description of what you will feel like when you reach the goal.  It might be daily excitement, satisfaction, joy, comfort with a definite pull towards something bigger, an internal smile that spills out on your face.
What am I missing or avoiding in my life?

Understand what is missing today and put that  into your definition as part of your future goals.  Make sure you aren’t avoiding or holding back from something.    It might be that you are avoiding change because where you are right now in your head is a safe place to be.    The reality is your reality is in your head and nowhere else.  Change is what will set you free so understand what you are avoiding if you aren’t making the changes that will make your life better.

What questions should I ask myself?

I normally ask people questions, that is what I do.    Eventually my clients start asking those questions before I do.   What questions are going to move you forward?   There is a question right on the tip of your tongue right now and you want to ask it, so ask it.
What can I do?

At this point  you recognize there is a reason to make a change.  It might be a whole host of things that aren’t working for you right now and you’d like one more chance to change it and today is that day.    The first thing you is make a commitment to you for change.   Want a better job  then change.  What a better relationship then change.  What more money, then change.   Want more happiness then change.   It is your choice to make the changes you that lead in the direction you want to go.  No  one is forcing you to feel the way you do.
Where are my thoughts right now?

You got to this question and you’re wondering if you can really do more and have more.   You’re doubting yourself and thinking, it can’t be for me.   Life isn’t like winning the lottery.  Life isn’t a matter of chance it is a matter of choice.   What choice do you want to make for you?   Write it down.

What action steps can I take ?  

Write down what you want to do.  Write down in great detail where you want to be in 3-5 years.   Then think about what it would take to get there.   If you are like most people you’ll write it down and think about it for a couple of days and drift right back into the place you don’t want to be.   It takes a certain fortitude to make change happen.   It takes discipline.   We unfortunately live in a society where everything comes to us in a box in a couple minutes or less.   We live in a nation of convenience and instant gratification.   If we want entertainment we flip on the TV and select from over 100 possible choices.   If we want some food in a few minutes there is a fast food joint just around the corner.   We don’t even have to get up out of our seat for most things anymore.   A remote will handle the TV and a driver will bring the food right to the front door.

Change takes time and it takes work.   It takes  a willingness to believe that something is greater for us out there if we want it.   Do you “want it”?  If you don’t someone else does.

Now, what are you going to do?

“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”  Carl Rogers

What would help you most?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Get your life under control with Life Coaching

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, May 07, 2011 — Life and Business coach Dan Weigold will be appearing on the nationally broadcast show “The Balancing Act” May 11,2011 on Lifetime Television to talk about how coaching can be used to accelerate success, regain balance and produce greater happiness for working women.

Life and Business coaching has gained national recognition as a tool to help people manage the increased stress are experiencing in their lives, to help them discover what they truly want out their careers and lives.   Executive Coaching has been a mainstay for top level managers for years and now access to this high quality tool is available to anyone seeking positive change in their lives.  

Dan Weigold is a Personal Development and Empowerment coach at Coach with Heart works with people who desire to make significant change in their business or life.   Dan works with individuals or organizations that want to be able to integrate and process the amount of change that is occurring now so that they can be prepared for the future.

 To make an appointment or to find out more about coaching contact send email to coachwithheart@gmail.com or visit danweigold.com.  Those without internet access can call 719.660.1103

Dan Weigold, Coach with HEART has been serving clients since 2008 and is a member of the Denver Coaching Federation and the International Coaching Federation. 

The show airs 5:00am MDT, 6:00am EDT, PDT on Lifetime Television.

# # #

more power to you

With unemployment hovering around 10% there are plenty of unemployed people looking for work.   In a recent discussion the topic turned to “how do you get a job?”.     Of course there is the standard answer of having an excellent resume and top notch network and great interviewing skills.   Now think about that for a moment.   When you are unemployed you are selling, you are selling yourself.

In this new economy the message is if you really want to work create it and sell it as a service, become an expert in your field and build your own business.   It’s not easy to do that but then again hoping for someone to come along and employ you isn’t easy either.

More and more people are joining the contingent workforce selling their services by bidding for a job.    Because businesses of all sizes have moved away from long term employment to model of flexible employment you must become a business of one.

The idea of guaranteed employment for any length of time is now becoming less and less prevalent.   The upheaval in the workforce is dominated by economic pressures in part a result of greater competitive positions of countries like India and China.    Think of the substantial shift of manufacturing to overseas locations and now many service sector jobs are being exported as well (call centers, software engineering, electronic engineering, and more).

What would give you the most power and fulfillment in your career?

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?

little by little

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.  ~Robert Brault

The little things add up to be a big thing.   Just think about all the learning you did, little by little, day by day until you became an expert in one thing.   Living in a world where things change constantly the idea that what you learned years ago is enough has long passed being true.  Today, learning has to be constant.    Learn a little each day.   Read for an hour, listen to audio books, and learn something new daily.

The key to success is to do little things each day – little by little – it adds up to something, something you can build a future upon.

What are you reading?

What are you learning?

How are you growing?

How are you becoming better in all aspects of your life?

Invest in yourself.  The top achievers invest 10% of their income in personal growth.   They desire to get better every day in every way.    Their personal success is based on learning more and more until you reach personal mastery and even then there is more to learn.

Think about the biggest success stories, people who have achieved great personal success, what was it that they did to get there?   They developed their strengths, increased their knowledge and invested in themselves.

How much are you investing in yourself?   Are you investing 10% per year in your personal growth?

Little by little that is what it takes to become a success and stay a success.

defining personal success factors

Where are the keys?

What is success?

What is personal success?  What does it mean?   How do you get it?   Where do you find it?

How long does it take to get there?

You have a key in your hand.  Behind one of many doors is your future, a future that is filled with the things your heart desires.   What your heart desires.   The key fits the lock that matches the desires of your heart. 

Finding the desire of the heart is the goal.  

Find the who in you.

Are you one that:

            Acts boldly
            Takes risks
            Acts implusively
            Seeks adventure
            Assertive and to the point
            Physical

OR

 

 

            Enjoys task and structure
            has a serious attitude
            is a helper
            Cares for body and health
            is Direct but cautious
            follows rules
            respects authority

OR

 

 

            Questions and explores ideas
            considers the ideas of other’s
            highly independent
            lives in imagination
            desires competency
            expectations are set high

OR

            Thanks others
            Integrity matters
            likes to make things better
            likes to brighten the day of others
            a team player
            clam – peacemaker – harmony

 

 

Which category fits you best?  Are you living at your best?