The Silent Dream Killer

The Silent Dream Killer

Last Friday’s Success Hot Line –  973.743.4690 – reminded me of what I already know:  the 5 words that kill more dreams, more potential and more happiness than any other 5 words spoken: “I don’t feel like it.”

I’m not sure of your dream, yet I suspect for many of you it’s more financial freedom, better health, stronger relationships and more connectedness with your community. Yet let’s face it, so many times when you are about to start something toward those dreams the onslaught of excuses flood your mind like water gushing out of a broken pipe. The theme of these excuses always traces back to the same root… “I don’t feel like it.”

How many times have you said, “I don’t feel like it?”  How many times have you listened to that thought, allowing it to alter the course of your actions? What if you could make a different choice?

Here is what I know, “I don’t feel like it” is the universal human condition that silently kills dreams. Yet you and I don’t have to accept this dream killer. We can all overcome the feeling and move powerfully towards our goals and dreams. It starts with intention… the intention to live on your terms not the terms of your moods and feelings.

Next time you say to yourself “I don’t feel like it,” consider this 4-step guide to snap out of that feeling and make a choice for action.

Step 1: Put Your Body In Motion  

Emotion is created by motion. In other words, emotions are linked to movement in our bodies. Think about it… observe your posture when you are slouching, or happy, as opposed to when you are sad. Or what you look like when you are angry, versus when you are elated. Our mothers were correct, proper posture means more than just looking good.

Try this little experiment, right now: stand up smile and raise your hands above your head and say, “yes, yes, yes!” Did your mood change? When you are low on energy, I’ve found movement, any type of movement… getting the body in motion helps. Walk around your office building, if you’re sitting stand up, rub your hands together rapidly. Movement and breathing can change your energy level quickly.

Step 2: Hydrate More

Dehydration is one of the most common preventable medical conditions in the world, and yet it affects millions. For something so common, most of us are unaware of its dangers.

CBS reports nearly 75% of us simply don’t drink enough water. 10 cups per day is prescribed by the institute of medicine. When you function daily in a chronic and persistent state of dehydration you lose focus, you lose energy, you lose your attention span and you increase irritability quotient. Simply drink more water.

Step 3: Accept Your Emotional Level Then Redirect

Whatever you are feeling, give yourself permission to feel that way. Instead of denying the reality of your feelings acknowledge them.  Consider sitting with them for a moment and then make an active decision to regroup. What’s that famous quote? “You can’t stop the birds from flying around your head, yet you can stop them from making a nest.”

Accept, reflect then redirect.

Step 4: Take Action Towards Your Intention

Instead of listening to “I don’t feel like it” now you are in a position to take a different action. To overcome your feelings and move towards your dreams.  In business and in life, you state your goals and plot your course for reaching them. However, there will be many days when you don’t feel like doing the work, yet go ahead and do it anyway … “feeling like it” is not a pre-requisite.

Final thought… who’s in charge, you or your feelings of “I don’t feel like it?”

#WinTheDay #RIPCDJ

 

 

What Will You Regret More?

What Will You Regret More?

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get stuck. When you get stuck what do you do? Here’s one idea… to consider:

What will you regret more… doing it or not doing it? Asking yourself this question cuts through the fears, the pros and cons and all that other stuff that clogs the decision-making process. Asking this question can get you out of your head and into your heart, revealing what you truly want. And once you know that, the details sort themselves out. Any testimonials?

Research shows that more people regret things they didn’t do than the things they did, even if things they did turned out badly. After all, with time and effort, you can fix almost any mistake… yet you can’t go back and do the things you dreamed of doing but didn’t. That means you can only think about how today would be different if you had only taken action.

Take a moment and write down that decision you’ve been procrastinating about… the one thing you’ve been thinking about, the one thing you’ve been getting ready to get ready. And ask yourself, “what will I regret more… doing it or not doing it?”

Research shows, we most regret thinking we didn’t reach our full potential. We most regret not becoming the person we feel we could have become…if we only had tried.

I suspect this is the case because it is the one mistake you can never go back and fix.

Yet it is the one mistake we all can stop making today.

Think about this… it’s easy to imagine that superstars in their fields were just born better equipped than the rest of us. When a co-worker loses 20 pounds, or a friend runs a marathon while completing a huge project at work, we assume they have more grit, more willpower, more innate talent, and above all, more motivation to see their goals through.

Yet that’s not actually true. Inc.com columnist Jeff Haden proves “motivation” as we know it is a myth. Motivation isn’t the special sauce that we require at the beginning of any major change. In fact, motivation is a result of the process, not a cause. Understanding this will change the way you approach any obstacle or a big goal.

Read more about it here, The Motivation Myth

What will you regret more… doing it or not doing it?

#WinTheDay

What If Today Was Your Last?

What If Today Was Your Last?

What if today was your last?

JP posted and sent an article out yesterday from Steve Jobs commencement speech at Stanford in 2005. As you know, Steve was an American entrepreneur and business magnate. He was the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and a co-founder of Apple Inc., Chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar, a member of The Walt Disney Company’s board of directors following its acquisition of Pixar, and the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of NeXT. Jobs is widely recognized as a pioneer of the microcomputer revolution.

What can we learn from Steve that applies to being the CEO of your real estate practice? Plenty… read on:

When Steve was 17, he read a quote that went something like, If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right. It made an impression on him, and since then, for the past 33 years of his life, he looked in the mirror every morning and asked himself, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, he know he need to change something.

Remembering that you’ll be dead soon is the most important tool Steve Jobs ever encountered to help him make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

No one wants to die. Even people who – like me – want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. Our time, your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

So what’s holding you back?
What action have you been putting off?
What’s the one thing you know, if you took action today would make a positive impact on your business or your personal life?

Do that today, do it NOW as if today was your last.

#WinTheDay

Episode 20: Success From Scratch

Episode 20: Success From Scratch

In this week’s episode of “Success From Scratch” Coach Travis Robertson shares the 5 limiting beliefs that hold most people back from achieving their dreams. Watch this episode to get some tips to create your own personal breakthrough and more.  And if you are ready for a free 1-hour breakthrough session, schedule that NOW at www.travisrobertson.com/jpar

“If I’m not afraid, I worry, because it means I am not stretching myself.”

-Travis Robertson, Founder “Don’t Settle Group”