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.
You’re lucky to be alive. You’ve navigated through big challenges, tough times and difficult circumstances. Life is better now than at any time in the last 20 years. Appreciate that fact every day.
Marvel at how good things are rather than the small problems everyone can find. Be a big, bright, shining star. Give energy to those around you. Do not complain or explain. Attract others into your circle because of how wonderful it is.
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.
Never? Really? You probably know. You might not want to admit it though.
Face the brutal facts of reality. Assess them. Make a plan. Execute. (The plan…)
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.
This can be so difficult to identify. Have you ever tried to untangle your thoughts and feelings about even a simple sentence said by someone else?
Each word spoken can have different meanings or perspectives and be bound by different time constraints by the speaker or listener. Take the following sentence, for example: “He was so demanding of his children, it seemed cruel at times.”
There are so many ways to look at these words and I will mention a few here. What does “was” mean really? Could it be he was that way once, when the speaker saw it? Perhaps he was like that occasionally, often or always?
The word “demanding” can be used with different context. Demanding can mean high standards and in a good way. I would want the head of engineering at an airline, or my neurosurgeon, to be demanding of their team and tools.
Although, demanding at the other extreme could indicate harshness, cruelty, and unnecessary rigour.
How old or capable are his children? It can make a big difference if they are 3 or 38 years old or have some mental or physical limitations versus someone without those extra challenges.
Whose definition of cruel was being used? Was it challenging in the short term but would be more helpful in the longer term?
So much interpretation can go into one sentence. A person can misunderstand or misinterpret it with relative ease. It would be wise to guard against that. Ask more questions with less judgement or leading commentary.
Trying to understand what someone was thinking is quite different to trying to attribute a thought or sentiment to someone just because it’s what you want to hear and believe, through your biased lens, that that is what they meant.
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.
