You know when you’re coasting, drifting, or giving it your all. And unless you’re very disciplined, you probably only give 40% each day. It might be more if you have a coach and are serious about success. That might get you to 80%-90%.
You have to want that last 10%. You have to push yourself beyond your own limiting beliefs. You can do it. But will you?
Starting can be hard. But if you start something, be committed to completing it too. Like buying something on credit, you have to eventually pay the price. If you do a job, follow up until it is finished correctly.
Yes, it can be mundane doing admin, invoicing, paperwork, forms etc but they need to get done. So do them.
Follow up in sales is often how you win the deal. People remember great follow up. They remember poor performance and neglect too.
Sometimes you simply need a little rest. You may not always know why, but your mind and body will know.
Some of the more common reasons you’ll need a rest are: reduced sleep over the last 1-5 days, recent physical exertion, minor cold or flu coming on, minor infection somewhere, exhaustion (from long hours working (mental or physical), relief (from stress or after pushing your limits for awhile), ageing and occasionally it comes down to simple dehydration.
Whatever the reason, listen to your body. Have a rest. If the need for rest persists for several days and you can’t attribute it to anything specific, check in with your doctor. You could be low in iron or have something more challenging that needs medical attention.
In an average day, who are the top five influencing voices in your day? Who are you hearing, reading, watching, seeing the most (time spent) or is most influential (short time but with major impact)?
On Sunday, one might be the leader of your religion, one of the Sunday newspapers, your spouse, your kids and/or your parents. On Monday it might be your spouse, your boss, your team at work, the nightly news and your favourite podcast.
On Thursday it might be your boss, your colleagues, your favourite author and people at your monthly meet-up.
Do you listen to them all equally or critically? Do you question their motives and bias or just some of them? Why do you allow them to influence you and not others?
Whoever you are letting influence you, you will become more like. If your boss is kind, or kind of a jerk, that will influence how you are with others. If they complain a lot, you will too. You better hope some of them are financially free or financially disciplined. If not, you might end up the same way.
Be very mindful of who is influencing you and why you let them. Sometimes it’s peer pressure, to belong, because of some of your values or fear of change and exploration. It’s time to deeply consider this and see if you can find influencers that are more positive or that will take you in the direction you would actually like to go. Don’t just drift along. Be intentional. Go!
You can be paid more per hour but you’ll work fewer hours. Or the company will need to reduce staff altogether and you may be one of those affected.
Employees will make more if wages go up, so margins will reduce and shareholders will be affected by reductions in dividends and/or share prices.
There always seems to be easy answers. However, that is rarely the case. Tough decisions need to be made after careful assessment and an understanding of how best to balance the various constraints and options.
Decide that this is a “Heck Yes!” item and then set about doing it. Do that as much as you can in one day. Don’t wait until you feel like it. And don’t wait for someone else to come do it for you or help.
Focus on it. Get it started. Work hard at it. Learn. Do. Be uncomfortable and get through it. Finish the job. Sure you can have someone look over it at the end. But sort it out and get to the end on your own first. It can feel daunting or hard but you’ll feel so much better about yourself once you’ve done it.
When was the last time you used your imagination? Was it for a creative writing exercise? Or perhaps you were finding shapes in the clouds? Have you used it to imagine your life being different or better in some way?
Using your imagination can unleash powerful forces. It may be easiest to demonstrate its power if you think of monsters under your bed or terrible things that could happen with your finances or relationships. Sometimes your imagination can go into overdrive and paralyse you with fear.
Yet it can work for you going the other way too, in a positive direction. You can imagine passing an exam, creating a career you might love, excelling at a sport or decorating your dream home.
Use this super power for good and positive things and you’ll begin to see exciting changes in your life.
To find out more about using your imagination to achieve anything, pick up a copy of my book Achieve Anything. We explore it further in Step 1: Think, and give you some exercises to help you power up. Available on Amazon and other online stores. Head to www.Scottsbook.com for more details.
Come on! It’s time to celebrate.
Sometimes you just need good friends gathered to have a lovely time. Even in dark days, tough times or a lonesome road ahead, getting up and getting out to have a chat and a laugh can work wonders for your mindset and your health.
If you’re in it together and can appreciate how good your life is, even in difficult circumstances, you’ll at least enjoy the moment. And that’s all we have. Moments.
When we try to be inclusive, we can alienate others along the way. If we include the footballers, the cricketers may feel rejected. The outsider may feel better for you bringing them into the circle but the locals may feel excluded.
You can’t please everyone all of the time but be aware of who you’re turning out when you are trying to bring someone else in.
Think catching the bouquet, a fly ball or a wave. Or consider arriving on holiday as a hurricane is announced, living during a pandemic, or far worse, a war, or sharing a lift in a foreign land with the person you eventually marry.
Timing can be good or bad, brilliant or devastating. Try to set up your environment to win and set up your mindset to win too.
Maximise your good timing and minimise your bad timing. Get yourself where you’ll reap more benefits.
Perhaps timing isn’t everything but it is incredibly influential.
