Friday 11 June 2010

Friday Thoughts

It is Friday 11th June 2010.  I am sitting in my office going through my daily visualisation routine.  I usually watch a 3 min animoto video I created with all my goals picture on it (the house, car, money, leisure pursuits, successful businesses etc) and then I watch a visualistion video from The Secret.  Its only 10 mins in the morning and it sets me up for the day.  This morning, I read a story from Bob Proctor and in it he asks the question..'What do you want?'.  'What do you REALLY want?'
Now, this has made me think today..well, what is it I really want?  Is it the car, the house, the money...or is it the feeling of freedom, not having to worry about bills, being able to live a life of joy and to be able to give back to the people I love?  For the first time I really think I understand this question and what it means. The last year has been one of tremendous growth but at the same time, I have still to make the breakthrough with my business career.  It feels like I am 3 inches from gold and if I keep digging I will get there soon.  It's trying to keep believing when the results are just not showing yet and people are questioning you..'why don't you get a real job just now?' is a question I get asked a lot.  Makes me question myself but then I read a motivational story or a comment by someone on Facebook about following your dreams and I know that this is the right path for me.

So, what do I want?  I want to wake up everyday with purpose, energy and drive.  I want to experience the feeling of freedom and be able to inspire others.  I want to be able to provide for my kids and show them the world and all the amazing things it has to offer...and open their minds to their potential.  I want to grow my businesses and get the dream house, car and travel..not for materialistic purposes but to feel the achievement and contentment from doing it under my own steam.  I want to write my poems and get them published..have been thinking a lot about this recently.

Now, ask yourself the same question today and really think about it...'WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT?'

I hope this question has the same effect on you as it did on me.

Have a great day
x

Tuesday 8 June 2010

Visualization Techniques

Visualization is creating a mental picture of something. Visualization is important because it makes the future become more clear. Seeing yourself already achieving your goal makes your brain believe that attaining that goal is possible. Focusing consistently on any given goal will enable you to manifest it far sooner than if you didn't focus on it at all. Focus brings the goal closer to you.

Have you attempted visualizing, but find it difficult or impossible? Try this. Pick up a photo and study it closely; then close your eyes and tell me what you see. If you see anything resembling the picture, you are visualizing. It's that simple. If this doesn't work, or if you want to improve your visualization skills, take the same picture and while looking at it, close your eyes and open your eyes and close your eyes again. Do this as many times as possible for a few minutes. Soon you'll be seeing the picture, but you won't know if your eyes are open or closed -- and you will be visualizing better than before. Practice this technique often. You can focus on anything: people's faces, pictures, buttons. Get creative and have fun with it.

Additional Visualization Tips

  • When visualizing, it's important to view the action from the first person -- that is, see yourself achieving your goal through your own eyes, rather than watching yourself from the outside. This method is very powerful because this is the way you already see and experience everything.
  •  Less powerful is viewing your goal from the third-person perspective, seeing yourself achieving the goal as if you were watching a movie. It still works, but it's not as effective as viewing from the first-person perspective.
  • Make visualization fun -- the more real your image is, the better this works. Make the image not just a still picture, but a full-length movie staring you. Replay it over and over, seeing yourself as the hero, achieving your goal. Create background music, pump it up, make it feel real, and have fun with it. This is how you want to see your goal -- in vibrant Technicolor on an IMAX screen -- not in dim, dreary, out-of-focus scenes shown on a shoebox-size theatre in the multiplex.
  • Your goal is a picture located somewhere in your mental image frame. When you close your eyes and see the image of your goal, determine where your mind is locating the picture: top, bottom, right, upper left, etc. Now, recall an important goal you have already accomplished, and find out where that goal is located in your mental image frame.
So now you have two goals in mind: one you've already achieved and one you want to achieve. Note every little detail about these goals: Where are they located? What are the colors of the images? Are they big, bright, and clear -- or are they small, blurry, and distant?

How do these images feel to you? Does one make you feel happy, excited, and thrilled? Does the other make you feel depressed, wistful, etc.?

Once you've noted every detail about the two images, take the goal you have not yet achieved and give it the same qualities as the goal you have achieved. Make it bigger and brighter; move it to the same location as the image of the already-achieved goal; make it feel the same by inserting every detail. Adjusting your mental image of the current goal to mirror one you've already achieved makes your new goal seem easier and gives you the feeling that you have already achieved it.

Physically act out your goal in action moves. For example, with your eyes closed, envision yourself buying a new home, walking through every detail. First, you get on the phone and talk to your estate agent; later you shake his or her hand (yes, pick up an actual phone and really shake a hand). Greet the estate agent and explain, in detail, what you want your house to look like. Take them to the house you want to buy (yes, really walk in place and explain the details out loud, using lots of gestures). I know this seems silly, and you may feel like a kid playacting, but this is a great visualization technique, not to mention a great stress reliever. Go through all the motions and experiences, as if they were really happening. Notice your emotions, and have fun with this!

Allow yourself 10 to 30 minutes every day or every other day for visualizing your goal. Set aside time to rest and remove yourself from everything else going on. Find a quiet, uninterrupted area to perform these techniques. Remember, the more you focus on your goals, the sooner you will achieve them.

Monday 7 June 2010

Overcoming Procrastination

Procrastination, the habit of putting tasks off to the last possible minute, can be a major problem in both your career and your personal life. Side effects include missed opportunities, frenzied work hours, stress, overwhelm, resentment, and guilt. This article will explore the root causes of procrastination and give you several practical tools to overcome it.

The behavior pattern of procrastination can be triggered in many different ways, so you won't always procrastinate for the same reason. Sometimes you'll procrastinate because you're overwhelmed with too much on your plate, and procrastination gives you an escape. Other times you'll feel tired and lazy, and you just can't get going.

Let's now address these various causes of procrastination and consider intelligent ways to respond.

1. Stress

When you feel stressed, worried, or anxious, it's hard to work productively. In certain situations procrastination works as a coping mechanism to keep your stress levels under control. A wise solution is to reduce the amount of stress in your life when possible, such that you can spend more time working because you want to, not because you have to. One of the simplest ways to reduce stress is to take more time for play.

In his book The Now Habit, Dr. Neil Fiore suggests that making time for guaranteed fun can be an effective way to overcome procrastination. Decide in advance what blocks of time you'll allocate each week to family time, entertainment, exercise, social activities, and personal hobbies. Then schedule your work hours using whatever time is left. This can reduce the urge to procrastinate because you work will not encroach on your leisure time, so you don't have to procrastinate on work in order to relax and enjoy life. I caution against overusing this strategy, however, as your work should normally be enjoyable enough that you're motivated to do it. If you aren't inspired by your daily work, admit that you made a mistake in choosing the wrong career path; then seek out a new direction that does inspire you.

Benjamin Franklin advised that the optimal strategy for high productivity is to split your days into one third work, one third play, and one third rest. Once again the suggestion is to guarantee your leisure time. Hold your work time and your play time as equally important, so one doesn't encroach upon the other.

I'm most productive when I take abundant time for play. This helps me burn off excess stress and enjoy life more, and my work life is better when I'm happier. I also create a relaxed office environment that reduces stress levels. My office includes healthy plants, a fountain, and several scented candles. I often listen to relaxing music while I work. Despite all the tech equipment, my office has a very relaxed feel to it. Because I enjoy being there, I can work a full day without feeling overly stressed or anxious, even when I have a lot to do.

2. Overwhelm

Sometimes you may have more items on your to-do list than you can reasonably complete. This can quickly lead to overwhelm, and ironically you may be more likely to procrastinate when you can least afford it. Think of it as your brain refusing to cooperate with a schedule that you know is unreasonable. In this case the message is that you need to stop, reassess your true priorities, and simplify.

Options for reducing schedule overwhelm include elimination, delegation, and negotiation. First, review your to-dos and cut as much as you can. Cut everything that isn't truly important. This should be a no-brainer, but it's amazing how poorly people actually implement it. People cut things like exercise while leaving plenty of time for TV, even though exercise invigorates them and TV drains them. When you cut items, be honest about removing the most worthless ones first, and retain those that provide real value. Secondly, delegate tasks to others as much as possible. Ask for extra help if necessary. And thirdly, negotiate with others to free up more time for what's really important. If you happen to have a job that overloads you with more work than you feel is reasonable, it's up to you to decide if it's worthwhile to continue in that situation. Personally I wouldn't tolerate a job that pushed me to overwork myself to the point of feeling overwhelmed; that's counterproductive for both the employer and the employee.

Be aware that the peak performers in any field tend to take more vacation time and work shorter hours than the workaholics. Peak performers get more done in less time by keeping themselves fresh, relaxed, and creative. By treating your working time as a scarce resource rather than an uncontrollable monster that can gobble up every other area of your life, you'll be more balanced, focused, and effective.

It's been shown that the optimal work week for most people is 40-45 hours. Working longer hours than this actually has such an adverse effect on productivity and motivation that less real work gets done. This is especially true for creative, information age work.

3. Laziness

Often we procrastinate because we feel too physically and/or emotionally drained to work. Once we fall into this pattern, it's easy to get stuck due to inertia because an object at rest tends to remain at rest. When you feel lazy, even simple tasks seem like too much work because your energy is too low compared to the energy required by the task. If you blame the task for being too difficult or tedious, you'll procrastinate to conserve energy. But the longer you do this, the more your resolve will weaken, and your procrastination habit may begin spiraling toward depression. Feeling weak and unmotivated shouldn't be your norm, so it's important to disrupt this pattern as soon as you become aware of it.

The solution is straightforward: get off your butt and physically move your body. Exercise helps to raise your energy levels. When your energy is high, tasks will seem to get easier, and you'll be less resistant to taking action. A fit person can handle more activity than an unfit person, even though the difficulty of the tasks remains the same.

4. Lack of Motivation

We all experience temporary laziness at times, but if you suffer from chronically low motivation and just can't seem to get anything going, then it's time for you to let go of immature thought patterns, to embrace life as a mature adult, and to discover your true purpose in life. Until you identify an inspiring purpose, you'll never come close to achieving your potential, and your motivation will always remain weak.

Center your work around an inspiring purpose, and you'll greatly reduce your tendency to procrastinate.  Finding your purpose is a powerful way to defeat procrastination problems because you won't procrastinate on what you love to do. Chronic procrastination is actually a big warning sign that tells us, "You're going the wrong way. Take a different path!"  Once you've centered your life around an inspiring purpose, then you can take advantage of certain motivational techniques to boost your motivation even higher.

5. Lack of Discipline

Even when motivation is high, you may still encounter tasks you don't want to do. In these situations self-discipline works like a motivational backup system. When you feel motivated, you don't need much discipline, but it sure comes in handy when you need to get something done but really don't want to do the work. If your self-discipline is weak, however, procrastinating will be too tempting to resist.

6. Poor Time Management Habits

Do you ever find yourself falling behind because you overslept, because you were too disorganized, or because certain tasks just fell through the cracks? Bad habits like these often lead to procrastination, often unintentionally.
The solution in this case is to diagnose the bad habit that's hurting you and devise a new habit to replace it. For example, if you have a problem oversleeping, take up the challenge of becoming an early riser. To de-condition the old habit and install the new one, I recommend the 30-day trial method. Many readers have found this method extremely effective because it makes permanent change much easier.

For tasks you've been putting off for a while, I recommend using the timeboxing method to get started. Here's how it works: First, select a small piece of the task you can work on for just 30 minutes. Then choose a reward you will give yourself immediately afterwards. The reward is guaranteed if you simply put in the time; it doesn't depend on any meaningful accomplishment. Examples include watching your favorite TV show, seeing a movie, enjoying a meal or snack, going out with friends, going for a walk, or doing anything you find pleasurable. Because the amount of time you'll be working on the task is so short, your focus will shift to the impending pleasure of the reward instead of the difficulty of the task. No matter how unpleasant the task, there's virtually nothing you can't endure for just 30 minutes if you have a big enough reward waiting for you.

When you timebox your tasks, you may discover that something very interesting happens. You will probably find that you continue working much longer than 30 minutes. You will often get so involved in a task, even a difficult one, that you actually want to keep working on it. Before you know it, you've put in an hour or even several hours. The certainty of your reward is still there, so you know you can enjoy it whenever you're ready to stop. Once you begin taking action, your focus shifts away from worrying about the difficulty of the task and toward finishing the current piece of the task which now has your full attention.

When you do decide to stop working, claim and enjoy your reward. Then schedule another 30-minute period to work on the task with another reward. This will help you associate more and more pleasure to the task, knowing that you will always be immediately rewarded for your efforts. Working toward distant and uncertain long-term rewards is not nearly as motivating as immediate short-term rewards. By rewarding yourself for simply putting in the time, instead of for any specific achievements, you'll be eager to return to work on your task again and again, and you'll ultimately finish it. You may also want to read my article on Timeboxing.

7. Lack of Skill

If you lack sufficient skill to complete a task at a reasonable level of quality, you may procrastinate to avoid a failure experience. You then have three viable options to overcome this type of pattern: educate, delegate, or eliminate.

First, you can acquire the skill level you need by training up. Just because you can't do something today doesn't mean you'll never be able to do it. Someday you may even master that skill. If you can't do something, don't whine about it. Educate yourself to gain skill until you become proficient.

A second option is to delegate tasks you lack the skill to do. There are far too many interesting skills for you to master, so you must rely on others for help. You may not realize it, but you're already a master at delegation. Do you grow all your own food? Did you sew your own clothes? Did you build your own house? Chances are that you depend on others for your very survival. If you want a certain result but don't want to acquire the skills to get that result, you can recruit others to help you.

Thirdly, you may conclude that a result isn't needed badly enough to justify the effort of either education or delegation. In that case the smart choice is to eliminate the task. Sometimes procrastination is a sign that a task needn't be done at all.

8. Perfectionism

A common form of erroneous thinking that leads to procrastination is perfectionism. Believing that you must do something perfectly is a recipe for stress, and you'll associate that stress with the task and thus condition yourself to avoid it. So you put the task off to the last possible minute until you finally have a way out of this trap. Now there isn't enough time to do the job perfectly, so you're off the hook because you can tell yourself that you could have been perfect if you only had more time. But if you have no specific deadline for a task, perfectionism can cause you to delay indefinitely.
The solution to perfectionism is to give yourself permission to be human.  Realize that an imperfect job completed today is always superior to the perfect job delayed indefinitely.

Perfectionism also arises when you think of a project as one gigantic whole. Replace that one big "must be perfect" project in your mind with one small imperfect first step. Your first draft can be very, very rough. You're always free to revise it later. For example, if you want to write a 5000-word article, allow your first draft be only 100 words if it helps you get started.

Some of these cures are challenging to implement, but they're effective. If you really want to tame the procrastination beast, you'll need something stronger than quick-fix motivational rah-rah. This problem isn't going away on its own. You must take the initiative. The upside is that tackling this problem yields tremendous personal growth. You'll become stronger, braver, more disciplined, more driven, and more focused. These benefits will become hugely significant over your lifetime, so recognize that the challenge of overcoming procrastination is truly a blessing in disguise. The whole point is to grow stronger.

Friday 4 June 2010

Friday Story - Advice for Life

· By all means, set goals and go after your dreams, but know that your ultimate happiness will depend not on your plans but your ability to cope with unexpected turns and unavoidable ups and downs. You may not get what you thought you wanted, but if you're willing to adapt, you can get something even better.

· Don't ever underestimate the power of character. If you want to win, don't whine. Success is made from hard work, perseverance, and integrity, not luck.

· Listen to both your heart and your head. Pursue your passions, but don't confuse feelings with facts. Almost nothing is as good or as bad as it first appears, and all things change.

· Remember, pain and disappointment are inevitable, but tough times are temporary. The enduring impact of experiences and the true nature of relationships are only revealed by time. Persist with confidence that no negative emotion can withstand your will to be happy.

· Fill your life with laughter, but don't confuse fun or pleasure with happiness. Don't sacrifice a thousand tomorrows for a few todays.

· Live within your means and don't overestimate your ability to resist temptations that threaten your relationships or reputation.

· How you make a living is important, but how you make a life is vital. If you don't pay attention to your personal relationships, no amount career success will be enough.

Taken from 'Graduation Advice' by Michael Josephson

Thursday 3 June 2010

Law of Attraction Daily Quote - Joyful Action

Action that is inspired from aligned thought is joyful action. Action that is offered from a place of contridicted thought is hard work that is not satisfying and does not yield good results. When you really feel like jumping into action, that is a clear sign that your vibration is pure and you are not offering contridicting thoughts to your own desire. When you are having a hard time making yourself do something, or when the action you offer does not produce the results you are seeking, it is always because you are offering thoughts in opposition to your desire.

Wednesday 2 June 2010

Law of Attraction - Daily Quote

"That which is like unto itself is drawn." Vibrations are always matched. So, as you experience the contrast which inspires the new desire, this new desire, whether it is a strong one or a soft one, is summoning unto itself proportionately. And as it summons, it is always answered. It is the basis of our Universe: When it is asked, it is always given. Humans think they are asking with their words, or even with their action, and sometimes you are, but the Universe is not responding to your words or your action. The Universe is responding to your vibrational calling.


--- Abraham

Tuesday 1 June 2010

The 8th Habit

Express Your Voice -- Vision, Discipline, Passion and Conscience

When you study the lives of all great achievers-those who have had the greatest influence on others, those who have made significant contributions, those who have simply made things happen -- you will find a pattern. Through their persistent efforts and inner struggle, they have greatly expanded their four native human intelligences or capacities. The highest manifestations of these four intelligences (mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual) are: for the mental, vision; for the physical, discipline; for the emotional, passion; for the spiritual, conscience. These manifestations also represent our highest means of expressing our voice.

Vision is seeing with the mind's eye what is possible in people, in projects, in causes and in enterprises. Vision results when our mind joins need with possibility. As William Blake once said, "What is now proved was once only imagined." When people have no vision, when they neglect the development of the mind's capacity to create, they fall prey to the human tendency toward victimism.

Discipline is paying the price to bring that vision into reality. It's dealing with the hard, pragmatic, brutal facts of reality and doing what it takes to make things happen. Discipline arises when vision joins with commitment. The opposite of discipline and the commitment that inspires sacrifice is indulgence-sacrificing what matters most in life for the pleasure or thrill of the moment.

Passion is the fire, the desire, the strength of conviction and the drive that sustains the discipline to achieve the vision. Passion arises when human need overlaps unique human talent. When one does not have the passion that flows from finding and using one's voice to serve great purposes, the void is filled with insecurity and the empty chatter of a thousand voices that drive the social mirror. In relationship and organizational settings, passion includes compassion.

Conscience is the inward moral sense of what is right and what is wrong, the drive toward meaning and contribution. It is the guiding force to vision, discipline and passion. It stands in stark contrast to the life dominated by ego.

These four words-vision, discipline, passion and conscience-essentially embody many, many other characteristics used to describe those traits we associate with people whose influence is great, whether known to many or few.