“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘don’t quit, suffer now and live the rest of your life a champion’!” – Muhammad Ali Here are five suggestions for you to consider. You may not be able to “remodel” all five at once, but at least begin to work on one until completion and then move forward with the next: Choose the “financial vehicle” that will drive you to your financial goals and fiscal dreams! Stop wasting your time and energy “reading” about exotic destinations. Stop “looking” at those elaborate houses that are out of reach and stop complaining about and coveting things that you don’t have. We all have goals and dreams….the question is, “how am I going to get there?” Make a list of your options, choose one and then run with it! Make an inventory of your relationships and focus especially on those relationships that really matter: family, marriage, and friendships. If you’re religious or spiritual, inventory your relationship with God and with your core beliefs. Stop making excuses. Quit hiding behind the busy minutia of life by avoiding honest discussion about your time-management or lack thereof. Your life will eventually begin to fade into the sunset and you’ll realize all that remains is the love that you shared with those closest to you. Do not shortchange yourself in the long road of life! Do you need to make adjustments to your schedule that enable you to spend precious time with those closest to you? Maybe schedule a few minutes a week to make phone calls to your loved ones? You’d be amazed at how good you’ll feel when you write a hand-written letter! It feels almost as good as receiving one! Should you clear your Sunday or Sabbath to make room for God? Do you need to start “dating” your spouse again and rekindle those nearly-extinguished flames of passion? Maybe you need to forgo this weeks golf outing with your buddies so that you can attend your daughters recital or your sons football game? Will this be the year to finally pull yourself out of the debt-pit? Are you just going to “talk the talk” and kick the can down the alley like the sluggish US Government and it’s spineless politicians? Or will you “walk the walk” by seeking help from from brilliant financial teachers like John Cummuta or Dave Ramsey. I have spent countless hours with many successful people. One of the most common disappointments they’ve relayed to me were statements like, “I really wish I had more education”. Completing a bachelors or masters degree isn’t as easy as it was before you had a spouse, children, a mortgage or a car payment. But you can still take advantage of online universities or even weekend educational seminars that fit around your busy schedule. As a wise man...
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Football season is one of America’s favorite times of the year. Remember those chilly fall nights at your high school football stadium? In preparation for those gridiron battles, schools hold “pep” or “spirit” rallies to fire-up the team and their fans. The opposing team is often symbolized as an effigy who is attacked and destroyed, bringing the crowd screaming to their feet. The hope is the team and the fans will carry that “spirit” all the way to kickoff. Let’s take a moment to compare that with pep rallies in the business world: What are their tactics? What exactly are they attempting to accomplish? Are they trying to overcome “bad” spirit, or, are they trying to create “good” spirit? Or, is it just an excuse to scream at the top of their lungs, act like fools, and then convince themselves how productive the entire process was? When your team wins, be it in business or in sports, it’s easy to accept that the pep rally was part of your success. But what about when you fail? What happens to the up-beat spirit when everyone is hanging their heads in defeat? Throughout the game, any extreme shift in momentum can create a change in spirit that is felt among the fans and the players. What are those forces at work that appear to actually influence our emotions in both a positive or a negative manner and even influence the outcome of the game? I’ll start by addressing what I believe is most obvious: positive thinking will most often result in a positive outcome! However, there are times that we stay upbeat and the end result is still not positive. When that happens, it can be hard to keep the right mindset and push through the next project or deal. But, staying positive, even in the face of defeat, will always get better results. No one ever wins without first believing they can! Zig Ziglar got it right: “It is your attitude, not your aptitude, that determines your altitude.” Here are a few tips for maintaining a positive attitude: Wake up early – this allows you to get a jump-start on the day. There’s no need to rush and you can get a head-start on projects and tasks before the rest of your peers have gotten up. Exercise – this helps combat depression and maintain a positive mood. It has significant benefits on both your physical and mental well-being. Plan your day and your week – in the words of one of my employees who learned about the (7) “P’s” in Marine Corps boot camp: Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance! Understand that things won’t always go as-planned – things will go wrong! You must learn to improvise, adapt, and overcome. Be thankful – the very act of focusing on what you’re thankful for helps...
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“To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom” – Bertrand Russell As mentioned at the end of my last article, I believe “fear” to be the most pervasive and powerful deterrent to success! There have been times throughout recent history in which horrible epidemics have destroyed the lives of countless people. However, all of these combined have not victimized as many people as “fear.” Many historians have opined about the dangerous effects of success on a person. Success and power have brought many to their knees. At least when the house of the rich and powerful has burned to the ground, the fire actually had something physical to consume. Fear however, prevents the “House of Opportunity” from even laying it’s most basic foundation! The cemeteries of this world are filled with countless people who never even took the first step towards their potential. One thing stood in their way, fear. They were wrapped in fear of failure, fear of risk, fear of ridicule, fear of financial loss and yes, fear of success! How many cures for disease never came to fruition because fear kept their mind from chasing the dream? Imagine how many answers to some of life’s thorniest issues died and were laid to rest in the graveyard of fear? Imagine if Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison or Alexander Graham Bell hesitated and withdrew their brilliant ideas? What’s going to happen to the bold and risky idea that’s been incubating in your mind? Will you balk because of fear and abort the fetus idea? Or will you bravely birth it, nurture it, and nurse it to adulthood? Stay tuned. The next time around, I will address several “truths” that I believe you must know. That you must also understand in order to avoid fear ruining your path to success. ...
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“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” – Paulo Coelho Here are a few truths that I believe you must know in order to avoid them influencing or ruining your path to success: 1. Understand the difference between paralyzing fear and motivating fear. The fear that prevents you from even trying is “paralyzing fear.” This is a very dangerous type of fear that will destroy your potential before you even begin. “Motivating fear” is the spirit that inspires you to tuck your chin and go for it! This is a positive type of fear. You can fear failure and give up before you even begin or you can take that same fear and use it as a motivator to work harder and get smarter in order to succeed! 2. Never let fear make your decisions for you! It may make you overly cautious or even cause you to rethink/reevaluate everything…which may end up working in your favor. But do not let the spirit of fear make your decisions for you. 3. Discern the warning signs of fear: self pity, withdrawing from those closest to you, abandoning/lowering your goals, pointing fingers of blame away from yourself – all of these are indicators that the spirit of fear has taken over. Once these emotions set-in, with them come the self-destructive forces of addiction, infidelity, laziness, distraction, and other negative behaviors used to escape and ignore the nagging fear inside of us. 4. Learn how to combat fear. The remedy of fear is not necessarily boldness or courage. The remedy of fear is love! When you “love” what you do, when you “love” your peers, and when you “love” every moment that you have to achieve your goals, fear has no way to reach your spirit! 5. Another powerful weapon against fear is a disciplined mind. Your thoughts influence your feelings and your feelings influence your actions. What you think about in your spare time will have a greater impact on your actions than what you think about while you’re working. 6. Be a reader. Readers are not necessarily leaders but all good leaders are indeed, readers! Read biographies of successful men and woman who overcame fear and obstacles on their path to success! Fill your mind with examples of success or the the daily “negative grind” will provide an entryway for fear to creep in. 7. Lastly, hold pep rallies for your team. Celebrate successes and encourage one another. Honoring those who overcome fear in their successes will help push-away the spirit of fear that holds us all down! Too often, when we let fear sneak its way into our daily lives, we create a breeding ground for fear and failure! Don’t let this cycle start. When you feel fear creeping-in, this is...
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