So start with that. Right now.
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Category: Action
Do Not Stop Until!
Do not stop until ! You reach your goal.
Your goal could be as simple as walking 10 minutes every day for the rest of your life, or as complex as developing a mission to land people on Mars before 31 December, 2024.
Today’s goal may be to make 7 phone calls. If you’ve only made 6 and the day is ending, you need to be quick and make one more. You won’t go home until the 7 calls are completed. This will help you build determination, grit and a spirit for completing things. This in turn will help you build your confidence.
Until is a powerful word, which I took more notice of when Jim Rohn used it and discussed it many years ago.
For me, I will not stop writing this blog until I have written and posted at least 365 blog posts in a row. I will write, and post, each day from 10 January 2020 until 10 January 2021. I will not stop until I have done this. I assume I will carry on after that even.
What are your daily or weekly goals for which you will not stop until? Post your replies on Twitter with #AchieveAnything
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Your Mind Is More Powerful Than Google – Be Very Careful
Type a question into Google and it will search, very quickly, and find the answer for you.
Your brain works the same way for questions. Your brain will search for the answer.
So be careful what question you ask it, especially out of frustration. For example, sometimes we use self talk, like, “Why am I so stupid?”, after having done something that seems a little silly to have done (Like forget our keys in the house, leave our tickets on the counter, or miss an appointment.)
Your brain is now required to search for, and find, an answer, or five, that could be correct, just like Google does. (Hopefully you don’t get 17,563,897 responses in one millisecond for that question!). Like Google, your brain tends to find answers that have been given frequently, recently or that others think is correct.
It does not mean it is correct, and the source of the answer may be a bit suspect (your sister or brother, that old boss who was a tyrant, your difficult classmate when you were eight years old, or an ineffective teacher from your past).
So please be very careful what you say, or ask, out loud, or under your breath. Your brain is compelled to give you an answer to that question. Rather, ask those slightly rhetorical questions that you would love to hear the answer to. Perhaps, “What makes me such a great friend?”, “How kind am I?”, “How can I set up my environment to succeed next time”.
Your brain is super powerful. Use it for good and to support you. Try preparing and practicing a few helpful questions right now, and then again throughout the day. Selecting better words, in a better order, and forming better questions, will be life-changing. Go on, give it a try.
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Your Body Is A High Performance Machine
So treat it like one.
Make sure you eat well, and just enough. Not too little or too much.
Get enough good sleep, consistently. Seven to eight hours per day is ideal for most people.
Water it. Eight glasses per day (ish).
Exercise it. Get it to move around. Quickly. Slowly. Use all the different muscles, big and small. Use it or lose it.
Exercise your mind too. Stretch it with new ideas. Sit with thoughts that might be uncomfortable and understand why. Think good thoughts. Practice being grateful. For everything you have and are.
Your body is a high performance machine. Treat it like one.
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Thank You!
Two simple words that are easy to learn and easy to say. Do we say them often enough? Do we mean it when we say it, or is it just thrown out there due to an ingrained, childhood habit, instilled in us by our parents at a tender age?
Can you graciously accept a thank you or do you avoid it, downplay it, slough it off, over-react to it, disregard it or change the subject?
Today, I would like to say a big thank you to each and every one of the readers of my blog to date. Yes, you!
I’ve been writing this daily blog for two months and started telling people about it one month ago. In that time I have had great feedback and support from people I know and some that I didn’t.
I’ve had useful feedback on how I could improve some things and great feedback on how the blog posts are being enjoyed and shared. I am grateful for all of it.
I’ve had a friend use the Puzzle Process to help his daughter get from stuck to started on a school project. Another friend was enjoying it and shared it with many coaching friends. And another today said the posts brought a smile to his face and kept him positive. How cool is all that?!
There are many more great comments, which I may share at some point. You know who you are. I appreciate every, single one.
It’s been fun to watch as the blog has gathered some momentum over the few weeks it has been live. From having started telling a small number of people and getting the first visits to the site, to today, waking up and seeing that there have been 300 visitors to the site, from 15 different countries, on 5 continents, around the world. (We’re missing representation from South America and Antarctica, should anyone care to share with someone there).
This increase in readers is because of you. You have been telling people and your liking, commenting and sharing has helped others find the blog and read it.
Thank you for your feedback. Thank you for your likes, comments and shares. Thank you for subscribing, and most importantly, thank you for reading and enjoying the posts.
Is there someone you would like to be thanking today? Let’s all try to give some extra heartfelt thank you’s today – more than we usually do. Let’s get people smiling!
Thank you.
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Press On!
It may feel hard. The challenge can sometimes feel crushing. Sometimes you feel all alone. Press on!
The game may feel futile. The problems are piling up. The challenge seems insurmountable. You may be down on your luck.
Pick your head up and stay focused. On the goal you need to achieve. Start making some progress and headway. Take action and strongly believe.
Find inspiration deep down inside. Use a chant, a vision or song. You will get through this. You’ve just got to do this. No matter how tough or how long.
Pain is usually temporary. And soon this moment will be gone. Get through it. You’ll do it. Decide. Commit. You really must. Press on!
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What’s Your Number? Flow Versus Pot.
Have you ever played a game with your friends, where you discuss how much money you would need to retire? What size of pot would you have to have accumulated?
I remember one time playing this game about 15 years ago, and a friend decided that he would need £15 million. With this you could buy a fine home, some nice cars and a place in the country for weekend getaways. With the remaining £8 million, you could invest it for some cashflow to pay for the food, financing, and fun. Invested at 5%, you could gross £400,000 per year. This would make most people pleased.
Strangely, that little bit of friendly, whistful thinking was what many people would call their estate, or retirement, planning.
The one significant challenge most people found in this friendly game, was that it would take the majority of people far to many long years of work to amass that level of savings in a pot.
So maybe look at it another way. What level of cashflow could you live on and be happy? £1,000 per month? £8,000? £27,000? £376,000 per month? £3 million per month or more? It may be easier for many people to find a lower level of cashflow income, of several thousand pounds per month, coming from some investments (Dividend stocks, bonds, property, royalties, etc), than to work, save and build a large pot.
Could you do a side hustle, online perhaps, that, over the next three years, you could build up from £100 cashflowing income per month to say £5,000? If that money could be generated by a more passive income, imagine your free time too.
So how much would you need to earn, as a bare minimum, on a monthly basis? How could you start trying to make this extra income? Think about it. Do some research. Change your life!
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You’ve Got This!!
You’re an exceptional person. Sometimes you forget that. Let’s get some perspective on this.
That you were born at all, is quite a statistical feat. Never mind the point that you wake up every morning, have thoughts, can organise yourself (reasonably well), breathe, eat, turn food into energy – without even trying, and your eyes are deciphering these splotches on this page, feeding back the signal, while your super-computer of a brain is interpreting what my brain has tried to communicate. All that alone is simply amazing.
Then there is the whole thing about you and your accomplishments. You probably played at something that you were reasonably good at like a sport or musical instrument. Possibly you were a good student and did well on exams or on the chess club. Maybe you got player of the match once, won a final, went to the county championships or got on the Dean’s list.
Then you may have learned how to drive a car. It’s an everyday thing but it requires exceptional hand/eye motor skills that we take for granted. Perhaps you’ve had a very good relationship, quit an unhelpful habit, made a speech in front of some people, applied for a role, got interviewed and landed a job. Maybe you travelled somewhere all on your own, gave blood, or won a ribbon, medal or cup.
In the big scheme of things, I am certain you have achieved quite a few things in your life so far. Write down a list of at least 10 things that you have had success with – any kind of success. If you get on a roll, keep going. See if you can get 20, 30 or 80 items on your list of things you have achieved, or at least feel pretty good about – for whatever reason.
Then keep this list nearby. Add to it when you can. Review it once a week for the next 5 weeks; or every night before you go to bed. Remind yourself how you have done all sorts of pedestrian and amazing things to get you here, to this point, in life. Whatever is ahead for you, you will succeed with it.
You are an exceptional person.
You are an achiever.
You’ve got this!!
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Bonus Day Is Here!!
Who doesn’t love the bonus day? It’s full of excitement and expectation. Of course there is a little anxiousness mixed in as it might not turn out quite how you would have liked it too.
Money is one thing, but to have a whole extra day this year is something we are all able to enjoy. Talk about equality. We all get the same 1440 extra minutes on the 29th February 2020. Will you do something special? Will you simply enjoy the time?
If time is money, how much is this one extra day in your life worth to you?
Spend your time deliberately.
Whatever you do with your extra day, enjoy it! There is no return policy.
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The Easier Way To Get Great Results!
Three of the best ways to get great results are:
- Motivation
- Discipline
- Environmental modification
Motivation is great, positive, and easier in the short term. Though a day or a week might be all you can handle before it wears off.
People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.
Zig Ziglar
Discipline is difficult. It is about overcoming what you want to do and doing what you should, regardless of how you feel. You just do it. Although, it does get easier in the longer term as you train your brain and it simply becomes a habit.
Environmental modification makes everything easier. You won’t need motivation or discipline to spring out of bed at the alarm or stop you from pushing the snooze button. If you place your alarm on the far side of the room and ensure the volume is up high, you will have no choice but to wake up. You’ll race across the room to turn it off but that will have got you out of bed.
And if your running or gym gear was left out, beside the alarm, it would be so easy to just slip into it and head off for some exercise.
If you want to modify what you consume, simply don’t buy things you are trying to stay away from (chocolate, cigarettes, alcohol). It’s a lot easier to exercise self discipline when you have to leave the house to get something you may be craving. By the time you get yourself out of the house to buy the item, your motivation for change, and your growing self discipline, may have kicked in and you’ll be able to stop and head back home without making an unwanted purchase.
Set yourself up to win today. Modify your environment first. Look around and see what you can change right now. It will make using your motivation and self discipline so much easier and more effective.
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