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"The Rules of the Game"
To be compelled into action and complete on any game it is important to understand the 5 basic components to the game. Follow these step by step. Remember: Go where you are Celebrated, not tolerated! Create an environment of people who are aligned with what you are up to.
:
Life is not about every breath you take.
It's about the moments that take your breath away !!
--unknown
IDENTIFY
It has been said that people spend more time planning a 2 week vacation than they do on major decisions such as having a baby.
Research shows that the majority of people's dissatisfactions come from poor planning. To effectively plan one must IDENTIFY exactly what is desired. Think of the desired result like a destination. Pin point it on the map.
Make a list of what you desire without regard to whether you think you can obtain, deserve, afford, or can earn it.
There is no charge for dreams or imagination. Reach down for the child inside you. Dream big! You risk nothing. Your thoughts are your own.
Once you have identified what it is that you want to achieve then you must establish the why or better stated, your intention. Just wanting is not enough. Why you want it is more important. It is the anchor that holds your project together and keeps you in action long after the energy is gone. It is what will cause you to stay committed. DO NOT skip this step.
Now that you've identified exactly what you desire, let's examine your INTENTION.
INTENTION
This is is the most powerful area of understanding. Until you know why you want a certain thing, it becomes too easy to abandon the project.
for example:
You may want to earn an extra $5000 a month. That would be nice and you may or may not have an idea about how to get it.
Have you heard the saying, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear"?
You will not get the answers to how to achieve your goal until you know why, you are an unwilling spectator watching from the sidelines only hoping that you'll win.
Why do you really want this thing?
Bring the deep seeded needed desire to the surface.
Scenario #1) Your child needs $5000.00 for cosmetic dental work. All though that may seem important, you may put it on the back burner because it's cosmetic.
Scenario #2) Your child is being teased and harassed in school because of his teeth. Ashamed and humiliated, his once good grades are failing, and he is suffering from depression. You need to come up with $5000 for cosmetic dental work.
Your WHY has to be strong, realistic, and motivating for YOU. Never ask your friends or co-workers what they think. They have their own dreams that take precedent over any dream you may have. When people tell you that you can not do something that you are inspired to do, they are not saying YOU can't do it. They are saying that THEY can't figure out how to do it. The reason is that they are missing the key component...WHY..THE INTENTION. It's not their dream, it's yours. Work on your why.
Find a reason that inspires and touches your heart. Find a WHY that drives you, to where you are willing to proceed even though you're tired or beat up or discouraged. (Go Back)
You've figured out your target goal to IDENTIFY and what it is that you want. You zeroed in on your why or INTENTION. Now it's time to set up the PRACTICES. Like rungs on a ladder that lead to the top, It is the vehicle, the path, like the yellow brick road.
PRACTICES:
These are the realistic step by step activities that bring you closer to your goal. The old sayings still are true ..."Inch by Inch it's a cinch." "How do you eat an elephant?...One bite at a time."
If you have a problem with procrastination and hesitate to make this list because your history shows "no follow through" Do not despair. Make the list as though it's how you would prefer your activities to go.
When or if your day does not go as planned, it is not scratched, don't give up. Just know that your day today did not go as you preferred and tomorrow you're going to get busy on activities that you do prefer.
An example of practices for someone losing weight might be:
"Nothing will EVER taste as good as being healthy feels"
The list can go on and on. The more things you have on your list the more things you can check off in a day to feel that sense of accomplishment necessary to know that you are winning your game. Procrastination and doing NOTHING is the great thief of opportunity.
You now have the IDENTITY of what you want and listed your INTENTIONS or reasons why, along with the hourly, daily or weekly PRACTICES that will take you closer to your goal. It is now time to establish the MEASURES that let you know that you are winning.
MEASURES
There need to be measures that indicate whether you are losing, standing still, or winning your game.
If you're losing weight, it might be weighing or measuring or weighing in at specific times of week or month.
If you're practicing to run a marathon, you may be clocking yourself at certain mile posts.
In my example above for losing weight it may be:
If you are in a referral business and get paid for referring clients to a specific person or company, there may be a process that needs to happen before the client enrolls and you get paid a commission, such as asking the client for appointment to see demo or overview of benefits. In this case, you may be tracking how many calls made vs contacts you reached, then contacts you make vs appointments set, then appointments set vs new enrollments.
You now have the IDENTITY of what you want and listed your INTENTIONS or reasons why, along with the hourly, daily or weekly PRACTICES that will take you closer to your goal. You have outlined the MEASURES that let you know that you are winning. It is now time to put wings on your desires and get it in motion by VISUALIZING
Visualize
This is by far one of the most important practical exercises you can do. It is equally as important as your INTENTION, because without it, you will never take the first step. Think about this. A runner who runs the race, visualizes winning, placing, showing, or being part of the team. They visualize something otherwise they would never even put their track shoes on.
Be careful what you visualize, odds are it will come to pass. The brain is very powerful and it takes commands. If you say you are, clumsy, worthless, can't lose weight, boring, no good, etc. it obeys the command. Numerous studies have been done proving that visualization exercises are far more effective than even practical exercise.
Perhaps you have heard the story of Major Nesmith.
He was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, held in solitary confinement for seven years. They train the soldiers that if they are ever captured and forced into solitary confinement they must activate and engage the mind to keep themselves from going crazy. They are told they must visualize and see themselves doing something that they enjoy doing.
So every day Major Nesmith would play a round of golf. It was not just a simple round of golf. It took him 5 hours every day to play this round of golf. Every day he would go to the closet, pull his golf bag out of the closet, count his golf clubs, count his golf balls, make sure his shoes were there. He would visualize cleaning his shoes and getting everything ready to go play a round of golf. He'd put his golf bag into the car; he would drive to the course. He would get out of the car and take his bag. He would walk up and pay his green fee. He would get all ready to tee off. He would select his golf club. He would make the shot. He would watch his shot. He would walk over to the ball….for 5 hours a day he would play a round of golf in his mind. In his mind he visualized all the details of the golf course; from the direction of the wind to the color of the grass, and each day he would play his 18 holes.
After seven years, Major Nesmith was released, and he returned home to the United States. Not long afterwards, he was back on his home course. And… although he had not actually played golf in over 7 years, because he had visualized himself playing in his mind, he took several strokes off his previous best score.
Imagine what you could do...
Visualization is one of the most powerful techniques you can use to change your thinking. Through visualization, you control the desired outcome in your mind. In your mind you can overcome any obstacle. You can rehearse a situation over and over anytime and anywhere.
Your mind must be conditioned to be impervious to negative criticism. Knowing that most healthy people will always cheer you on as you take on a dream that is important to you, it is wise to guard yourself from those who are not on the same page.
We want to join you and celebrate your successes as you set out on your goal-achieving quest Be aware that there are people would instead prefer you to fail. The reasons are many. It may be jealousy or fear of you getting ahead of them, but for sure it's not YOU. This is their problem. When someone criticizes you, they are criticizing themselves. When they say it can't be done, they are saying that THEY can not see, from where they are standing, with THEIR talents, abilities and resources, how it can be done. There's nothing you can do to control their thoughts. Take any inventor who shared their invention plans with others. They were told they were crazy. Many of them had zero support.
The first modern rocket scientist, Robert Goddard, a physics professor, had his research denounced by the press. In 1920,a newspaper editorial stated that Goddard "seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools."
Amid condemnation and with little support from fellow scientists, Goddard became a leading pioneer of the space era. He achieved success by focusing on reaching his goals instead of what people thought of his research.
Develop a belief in your goals and the path you choose to achieve them. It takes a lot of practice to free yourself from what other people say, think or do. You must overcome a strong societal outlook that other people's opinion of you is important.
The discoverer of the Titanic wreck, Robert Ballard, tried unsuccessfully for 12 years to obtain financing needed for his search. Additionally, hunting for the Titanic was considered folly by several fellow scientists. Yet, with an unshakable belief in himself and his goals, he overcame all obstacles and found the wreckage in 1985.
The type of thinking that all successful people have is available to you. You can opt to pattern your thinking after those who have achieved success, often despite overwhelming odds.
Changing your thinking requires effort. Many people who are close to you won't understand or support your endeavors. If you are laughed at and criticized, this is good. It means that you are experiencing the same reaction as some of the greatest minds in history and are in the best of company.
copyright 2005 Bryan Golden
Bryan Golden is a self-development and motivational expert, author, and adjunct professor. He is the author of "Dare to Live Without Limits," and writes a nationally syndicated newspaper column. Click here to listen to Bryan's 3 Motivational Minute
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