Okay - here we go again!!!
We left off at Principle #2 - Cleaning up the Incompletes. I must say that is a lot of work! I have been working at my incompletes and have realized that it is much larger than a weekend project for me! Since my last article on this I have:
Caught up with 2 years worth of taxes
Cleaned out my office and started filing a years worth of paper! Cleaned out the 'file box' (Toss it/File it) and just have to purchase storage file boxes to put 06 and 07 in.
Did my Spring Cleaning
Cleaned out my closet
Ongoing Incompletes that I am currently working on:
Mailing Tamisha her chocolate molds!!!
Cleaning out old photo galleries at Studio13
Cleaning out my Inbox weekly.
Mailing photo submissions to Mexico agencies
I must admit, it does feel really good to finish incomplete projects. As I do I realize that there actually is a place in my brain that all this incomplete stuff resides and as I finish it - I have more room to take on new things. Anyone else notice this? How are you guys doing on your "Incompletes"?
Anyway - on to the next chapter! Facing what isn't working. This was a very short chapter but some things don't need a lot of explaining. This is one of them. Jack Canfield explains the situations most of us are guilty of, denying things aren't working by excusing them away.
We do this because by facing the truth, we are also going to have to do something that is uncomfortable for us. We fear that facing the facts and fixing the situation may lead to a worse circumstance. Fear, once again holds us back.
Oddly enough, a situation in my personal life fits right into this! I was paying my credit card bills today and was so happy to announce to my husband that our balances were going down. I made the comment to him "As soon as we have this one paid down, you can get your Lasik, and when these are paid down you can get the Xbox 360 (he's a big kid)". He just shook his head. I said "What?"
Mike's reply was this "The idea is to pay all these cards off and not use them unless it's an emergency. If we can't pay cash for it, then we don't need it."
I was in shock! Imagine no credit cards?! My rebuttal was "When are we going to be able to pay $2000 cash for Lasik? We can't do that, but we can pay $50 a month on a credit card."
Again he shook his head, "Kim, this is how we get into these debt situations, $50 a month here, $30 a month there and pretty soon we are paying $400-$500 a month for things we want on top of paying for the things we need like our mortgage and car payment." He went on to explain that he would rather go without some things then live with the stress of all the bills we face each month, especially when business slows down and income is low.
It hit me like a ton of bricks! What he was saying was basically "this isn't working" and I have been ignoring or living in denial of our real financial abilities. I needed to face the fact that true situation and adjust my spending habits! And believe me, for me, that is extremely uncomfortable!
I have such plans! Painting, Building 2 decks, Updating my wardrobe, going on vacation and others - all things I planned on going in debt for. Now my partner in life wants me to pay 'cash'?! I have always been a pay now - find the money later kind of person.
The new way of approaching things is going to be a bit difficult for me - but I realize that he definitely has a point. My way is not working for us. So I am going give this 'cash' thing a try!
Obviously, some things still need to be done with credit where our businesses are concerned - but our personal lives are going on cash - only diet! Ugh....
This was such an epiphany, that I am going to take a deep breath and see where else I have living in denial. I am going to try to "face what else in my life isn't working?"
In the workbook the Author points out the "Yellow Alerts" we discussed in Principle #1 (E+R=O). The subtle alerts that we sometimes overlook. Pay attentions to warning signs that things may not be working. Don't ignore them, pretend not to notice them, or excuse them away. It's very hard to face these things and probably harder to change them; however, this is what we must do. This is what successful people do; find what is not working and fix it.
Jack Canfield explains that these could be bad situations at work, in a relationship (especially an abusive one), with your health or weight and so on. He lists the following excuses we often use and I will list them here, because many of us really don't realize that we are excusing them away - this is why it is so important for us to truly and honestly look at our lives and our situations. It took my husband to put the truth right in front of me for me to realize what I was doing. So here are some common excuses listed in the book:
It's just what guys do. (ignoring bad relationships)
It's none of my business. (bad work environment, relationship, etc)
I don't want to rock the boat.
There's nothing I can do about it. (the 'worst' excuse!!! I could write an entire essay on the damage to your psyche that this statement makes!)
Credit card debt like this is normal. (*kim raises her hand* "guilty!")
That doesn't happen to people like us. (ignoring problem teens, marital situations etc - my mother's personal favorite! I can't tell you how many times I heard this growing up.)
I'll get Fired
She's just at that age
I need these/this/that to help me relax
I have to work these long hours to get ahead
We just have to wait it out
I'm sure he/she will pay me back
He/she's just venting his frustrations
He/she didn't really mean it
Do you recognize any of these? Good luck with this principle - it's another tough one. Like they say, hard work pays off!
See you all next month for the next principle of success.
Showing posts with label success principles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label success principles. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Success Principles - #2
We are now in Chapter 2 of the Success Principles Workbook. In this chapter, we will look at cleaning up incomplete and messes. By doing so we make space for something new - this fits perfectly with the coming of Spring doesn't it?
At the bottom of this article is a chart that outlines the steps necessary to get a desired result - to reach success. Many great ideas or plans will fall apart somewhere on this wheel - they don't get started, or even don't make it through the planning phase!
So lets take a quick trip around this wheel. Once you actually 'decide' to do something, your mind and your energy are now free to start planning and executing your plan.
A lot of projects fail in the planning stage because people expect everything to fall right into place or to be 'perfect'. Your plan does not have to be perfect! This is the beginning of the circle! It is very rare in life that anything is perfect right from the start! You must be able to give yourself permission to make mistakes along the way, to experience failures. This is how you learn! We make mistakes, make adjustments and move on. There is a quote by Marshall Turber - "You can't learn less!" He's a world renowned entrepreneur, and should really know a thing or two about achieving success.
So, go ahead and START! You may not be able to see the road clearly right now, but one thing is for sure: you'll never get anywhere if you don't start!
Next we must CONTINUE! When you make mistakes, when things don't go exactly you planned, you must pull yourself together, stretch beyond what you think your limits are and go on. Many people quit when the situation gets uncomfortable - the workbook states :"If you're not a little uncomfortable everyday, your not stretching yourself enough."
Next, we actually have to finish! Sounds easy, but you wouldn't believe how many people don't finish a project because it is a way to escape failure. A personal example, I am a photographer and for years I avoided finishing the project of selling my work commercially. I had the idea in place, I had a plan for greeting cards and art prints, but I never took the final steps. Why? Because if I never put my work out to the public - they could never reject it! I could never fail. Now of course I see the silliness in the thought, because I could never succeed either, I would be forever in this limbo. So, you must FINISH!!!
Next we have COMPLETION, we must actually complete something in order to make space for something new. We all have incompletes in our lives. Bills unpaid, promises unfulfilled, little unfinished businesses that need tending to. Each time you make an agreement to do something, it goes into your present memory bank . The workbook titles the space each of encompass as an Attention Unit. For every, undone project or incomplete item in your life there is an Attention Unit,and as these build up you have fewer and fewer attention units available to you. With me? If you have twenty projects sitting around undone, you have very little room to bring new activities and abundance into your life.
Take the time now, to complete those undone things. How? The four D's - most of us have heard them: Do it, Delegate it, Delay it, or Dump it! This can apply to everything in your life from your email to a job, all the way to current relationships!
When you complete items, you make room for new things - you can begin the wheel again!
When you begin to look at everything you have that needs completion, it can be a bit overwhelming - I know it was for me! So don't think you have to and certainly don't try to take on everything at once! Set small goals for yourself, try to complete a few small things in a weekend. Set bigger projects bigger timelines etc. The important thing is that you DO complete them and then, give yourself a pat on the back!
If you keep this pattern of completing things, soon you will have room for abundance in your life!!! What are you waiting for? Get moving!!!circle
At the bottom of this article is a chart that outlines the steps necessary to get a desired result - to reach success. Many great ideas or plans will fall apart somewhere on this wheel - they don't get started, or even don't make it through the planning phase!
So lets take a quick trip around this wheel. Once you actually 'decide' to do something, your mind and your energy are now free to start planning and executing your plan.
A lot of projects fail in the planning stage because people expect everything to fall right into place or to be 'perfect'. Your plan does not have to be perfect! This is the beginning of the circle! It is very rare in life that anything is perfect right from the start! You must be able to give yourself permission to make mistakes along the way, to experience failures. This is how you learn! We make mistakes, make adjustments and move on. There is a quote by Marshall Turber - "You can't learn less!" He's a world renowned entrepreneur, and should really know a thing or two about achieving success.
So, go ahead and START! You may not be able to see the road clearly right now, but one thing is for sure: you'll never get anywhere if you don't start!
Next we must CONTINUE! When you make mistakes, when things don't go exactly you planned, you must pull yourself together, stretch beyond what you think your limits are and go on. Many people quit when the situation gets uncomfortable - the workbook states :"If you're not a little uncomfortable everyday, your not stretching yourself enough."
Next, we actually have to finish! Sounds easy, but you wouldn't believe how many people don't finish a project because it is a way to escape failure. A personal example, I am a photographer and for years I avoided finishing the project of selling my work commercially. I had the idea in place, I had a plan for greeting cards and art prints, but I never took the final steps. Why? Because if I never put my work out to the public - they could never reject it! I could never fail. Now of course I see the silliness in the thought, because I could never succeed either, I would be forever in this limbo. So, you must FINISH!!!
Next we have COMPLETION, we must actually complete something in order to make space for something new. We all have incompletes in our lives. Bills unpaid, promises unfulfilled, little unfinished businesses that need tending to. Each time you make an agreement to do something, it goes into your present memory bank . The workbook titles the space each of encompass as an Attention Unit. For every, undone project or incomplete item in your life there is an Attention Unit,and as these build up you have fewer and fewer attention units available to you. With me? If you have twenty projects sitting around undone, you have very little room to bring new activities and abundance into your life.
Take the time now, to complete those undone things. How? The four D's - most of us have heard them: Do it, Delegate it, Delay it, or Dump it! This can apply to everything in your life from your email to a job, all the way to current relationships!
When you complete items, you make room for new things - you can begin the wheel again!
When you begin to look at everything you have that needs completion, it can be a bit overwhelming - I know it was for me! So don't think you have to and certainly don't try to take on everything at once! Set small goals for yourself, try to complete a few small things in a weekend. Set bigger projects bigger timelines etc. The important thing is that you DO complete them and then, give yourself a pat on the back!
If you keep this pattern of completing things, soon you will have room for abundance in your life!!! What are you waiting for? Get moving!!!circle
Friday, February 1, 2008
Last month we did some work determining what our dreams were. This month we are going to explore some ways to be successful in achieving those dreams!
These tips come from:
The Success Principles
Your 30 day journey from where you are to where you want to be.
~ Jack Canfield and Janet Switzer
The first chapter is titled:
Take Responsibility for Your Life with E+R=O
Bob Resnick taught this formula and it basically states the every Outcome we experience in life is a direct result of how we Respond to an individual Event that occurs.
You can use this formula as your primary rule for guiding you towards your successful life. How? By taking responsibility and changing our response to events that happen in our life.
Example:
Event:
You come into some extra money, say $500.
Response 1: You go out and spend it
Outcome 1: You are broke
Response 2: You pay down a credit card
Outcome 2: Your credit rating goes up, your monthly bill goes down and you still have your $500.
Response 3: You invest it in your retirement fund
Outcome 3: You get a tax advantage, your net worth just went up, hopefully you will earn even more on your money.
You see, the event in your life has stayed the same, however based on your response, you have changed the outcome of the situation. Your response and your response alone to random events will give you either advancement towards your goals or regret over what could have been.
How many times have you reacted in fear or "I can't" when opportunity came knocking on your door? Or failed to recognise the opportunity disguised within a negative situation? Successful people look for ways to transform that negative situation into an opportunity for success - they respond differently. How do I get better at this? I want to turn coal into diamonds! Read on...
First, you have to stop blaming the Event on the Outcome. These are the "if onlys..." You know you've done it "If only traffic weren't so bad", "If only so and so had done this or that....", "If only we had a better economy". Stop blaming and complaining!!!
You are only complaining because you know there is something better. Think about it, people who stay in bad situations rarely complain - they don't know anything better.
But people who complain know there are better situations out there than the one they are in. Why do they stay? It's easier and less risky to just stay where they are and complain about it than to actually do something about it.
To get out of any situation, to improve your life you must take 100% responsibility and do something different. Most of the time we know in advance when something isn't right or a negative event is about to occur. We receive tell tale signs, hear comments from others, have gut feelings or just use plain old instinct. We can't change negative events, but we can respond differently to them. Successful people don't wait for disaster and then blame something or someone else for the outcome. They respond in time, keep things from going too far. You can do this too - by facing the facts squarely, accepting them for what they are "facts", doing the uncomfortable and taking steps to change the outcome.
Take responsibility. "You alone have the responsibility to make something happen in your life, whether you actively create it or passively allow it to happen or continue. This goes for outcomes that are both good and bad" (Success Principles Workbook pg10)
Once you start recognizing and responding decisively to signals, warnings and events as they occur, you will begin to feel more in control and less hopeless. You start to realize that you ARE in control of your destiny.
See you next month with more....
These tips come from:
The Success Principles
Your 30 day journey from where you are to where you want to be.
~ Jack Canfield and Janet Switzer
The first chapter is titled:
Take Responsibility for Your Life with E+R=O
Bob Resnick taught this formula and it basically states the every Outcome we experience in life is a direct result of how we Respond to an individual Event that occurs.
You can use this formula as your primary rule for guiding you towards your successful life. How? By taking responsibility and changing our response to events that happen in our life.
Example:
Event:
You come into some extra money, say $500.
Response 1: You go out and spend it
Outcome 1: You are broke
Response 2: You pay down a credit card
Outcome 2: Your credit rating goes up, your monthly bill goes down and you still have your $500.
Response 3: You invest it in your retirement fund
Outcome 3: You get a tax advantage, your net worth just went up, hopefully you will earn even more on your money.
You see, the event in your life has stayed the same, however based on your response, you have changed the outcome of the situation. Your response and your response alone to random events will give you either advancement towards your goals or regret over what could have been.
How many times have you reacted in fear or "I can't" when opportunity came knocking on your door? Or failed to recognise the opportunity disguised within a negative situation? Successful people look for ways to transform that negative situation into an opportunity for success - they respond differently. How do I get better at this? I want to turn coal into diamonds! Read on...
First, you have to stop blaming the Event on the Outcome. These are the "if onlys..." You know you've done it "If only traffic weren't so bad", "If only so and so had done this or that....", "If only we had a better economy". Stop blaming and complaining!!!
You are only complaining because you know there is something better. Think about it, people who stay in bad situations rarely complain - they don't know anything better.
But people who complain know there are better situations out there than the one they are in. Why do they stay? It's easier and less risky to just stay where they are and complain about it than to actually do something about it.
To get out of any situation, to improve your life you must take 100% responsibility and do something different. Most of the time we know in advance when something isn't right or a negative event is about to occur. We receive tell tale signs, hear comments from others, have gut feelings or just use plain old instinct. We can't change negative events, but we can respond differently to them. Successful people don't wait for disaster and then blame something or someone else for the outcome. They respond in time, keep things from going too far. You can do this too - by facing the facts squarely, accepting them for what they are "facts", doing the uncomfortable and taking steps to change the outcome.
Take responsibility. "You alone have the responsibility to make something happen in your life, whether you actively create it or passively allow it to happen or continue. This goes for outcomes that are both good and bad" (Success Principles Workbook pg10)
Once you start recognizing and responding decisively to signals, warnings and events as they occur, you will begin to feel more in control and less hopeless. You start to realize that you ARE in control of your destiny.
See you next month with more....
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