In continuing with my last two blogs, perhaps some of you aren’t even at the point that you know WHAT it is that you want to do or achieve. When we don’t quite know WHAT it is that we want, it can be quite hard to get it! Think of your life as a journey, and you have a GPS (or as Herman Cain calls it, Guiding Principles of Success). WHAT do you need to know? Well, the first WHAT is your current coordinates!
We all want to go somewhere, but if you don’t know where to start, how can you take the first step? I always tell people who join my Simply Lose It™ bootcamp to weigh in before beginning to get a starting point! Otherwise, you could be making progress towards your goal and not even know it! We need small victories to continue to motivate us toward our goal! Otherwise, we just might quit when we feel defeated. We also may even be sabotaging our success and moving backwards! How would you even know if you never acquired your current coordinates?
Second, you need to know your destination. If you use your GPS without placing your ending coordinates as the destination, you simply have something that shows you where you currently are; not where you are going. To make progress in your Journey, you must have your WHAT, or a specific goal in mind. How you get there may go left, right, even a few steps back at times, but you should be continually making progress. The speed isn’t always important, and sometimes you have to stop to smell the roses, but making some sort of progress is important! So the second WHAT you need is your goal.
The third WHAT you need is a plan. It may be a complex plan, or just a simple plan! But there must be a plan. I see many people that want something, but they have no idea how to get there, and that’s okay, but you need to figure that out before you embark on your journey. Otherwise, you may be going in the wrong direction, or even creating things you’ll need to fix or change later. Once, my dad asked me to dig the grass out of an area in the yard and level it for our new above ground pool. There was a trailer I was going to put the dirt in, so I just began to dig. I threw the dirt towards the trailer, and when I was finished, about a third of the dirt actually made it in the trailer. Then I had to do twice the work to finish the job! Why didn’t I take the time and devise the plan to get the dirt in the trailer the first time? This is what you may be doing by not pausing to devise a plan – a business, weight-loss, marriage, or savings plan. Find help if you need it, get the information you need, and devise a plan!
The fourth WHAT you need is the courage and motivation you’ll need to stay the course. It may look like you aren’t making progress at times, but if you know where you began, know where you are going, have a plan, and take periodic spot checks to assure you are on course, you’ll find the faith that every step you are taking is making a difference! Some days you’ll find it harder than others to get moving, but always remember that WHY we talked about a few weeks ago and that should keep you motivated. Sometimes the next step you need to take will be a little scary, but again, remember that WHY and also call on your WHOs to keep you motivated, accountable, and to help you continue along the journey!
So WHAT are your starting coordinates, WHAT are your ending coordinates, WHAT is your plan, and WHAT will keep you motivated and give you courage to make it happen? With these, you’ll soon be closer than you ever dreamed to WHAT you really want!
In The Journey Training, we believe that goal setting is important. In each class we help people set goals and find action steps to take to begin. If you’ve been having trouble moving forward, join the next Threshold class and begin your Journey now!
When I was growing up, I made a decision to change my life, to live for God and try to live as a Christian did. I started watching who I hung around with, and what I let influence my life. When I was in my mid 20s I started playing paintball. There is something thrilling about running around in the forest with guys shooting at you! This was something I did on a regular basis, and eventually I wanted to play tournaments. I wanted to win, so I joined a team that was really, really good.
Why Did I Say That?
But on this team, my teammates and I did not hold the same values. I started to notice over time that the words I chose to use were more and more colorful. I was not using them because I was mad and it was an “accident.” I was using them because they were convenient and familiar. I used these words because the people around me used them. I never once stopped to ask myself, “Why did I say that?” My wife noticed this growing habit as well. She told me once, “In the heat of battle you seem to be cussing a lot.”
Eventually, my wife’s words convicted me and I apologized to her. I then had to make the tough decision to find a new team that better reflected my beliefs and character. This new team did not win as many games, but it was far better for my both my character and my soul.
If you ever find yourself asking “Why did I say that?”, take a look at the people you spend time with. If so, it may be time for you to make some changes as well.
By the way, my new team and I eventually got better, and actually ended up beating my original team.
One of the things I hear often is that personal awareness seminars are only for people who have problems, addictions or for those who are “broken.” This is the same mindset I had before I attended my first seminar.
To be honest, the main reason I went to one is because of my friends and my wife. They were thinking about going and I wanted to go to be with them. They didn’t try to convince me to go, I just did not want to be left out. I had never actually considered attending a personal awareness seminar, especially since I have heard so many jokes about them. I don’t believe anyone, including myself, would have looked at my life and thought I was broken or had problems that needed fixing.
I have always been interested in seeing what the “next level” in business and in life looks like, and I often looked for things that would help me reach it. For many years I have been thought of by many (including myself) to already be at the top of my game. I thought that things were already great.
A few years ago I had two Chick-fil-A locations and I was challenged by a friend to win the “Symbol Of Success” award from Chick-fil-A. The “Symbol Of Success” is a “high achievers” program that is based on sales increases. When you have multiple locations, the challenge becomes even steeper because you have to hit a particular sales increase for both locations, not just for one. Someone from the CFA home office told me that I would not be able to pull this off. I took her up on the challenge and told her that if I made it, she would have to wear a Catwoman costume to our annual company seminar. She agreed, but only if I wore a Superman outfit as well. Little did she know that I already owned a Superman costume, so I was halfway there…
My wife and I had just moved into a house that we had been dreaming of for years. We bought the lot three years prior that with the intention of eventually building. We finally got to where we could do that, and in June of that year we moved into our dream home. My marriage was solid and I was very involved in my church. Everything seemed to be going quite well. I could honestly say I was at one of the highest points in my life!
I attended the first personal awareness seminar in 2008 and during that time I really had a great opportunity to look at myself in the mirror. I realized how wrong I was about what personal development courses were. We get so busy living our lives that we don’t take the time to stop and evaluate where we are. We don’t take time to adjust our course so we can reach our dreams. We just get too busy. We don’t realize that greatness requires continued growth. One of my mentors, Jim Stovall, says “We take more time planning our three-day vacation then we do planning on how to achieve our dreams.”
This course helped me re-analyze my life, realize what I needed to do to focus on my potential and continue to grow.
I can honestly say that this course helped me clarify what my dreams were. Many things in my life are now greater than I ever thought possible. If I hadn’t gone through that course, none of the following growth would have occurred:
- I won the Symbol of Success program (even with the sales decreasing snowstorm in December, shutting down the entire city of Tulsa for days). The reward for winning was that I got my choice of any Ford vehicle!
- I attended the highly coveted Champion Club Award Dinner which honors those with high sales and profits.
- I wrote my first book, “Dysfunctional Inspiration,” so I could share my story. At the time of this writing, there have been over 3000 copies printed and it has impacted many lives.
- I would not have the confidence to start speaking in public forums and inspiring literally thousands of people a year.
So for those who feel that continuing education is pointless because you’re already good… Let me ask you: Why aren’t you great?
What are you doing RIGHT NOW that is causing you to continue to grow toward your dreams? Let me encourage you that greatness requires continual growth.
Our Deepest Fear
By Marianne Williamson
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.
We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us;
It’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we’re liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.
Have you ever heard of “autopilot?”
The definition in the Merriam-Webster dictionary reads as follows: A device for automatically steering ships, aircraft, and spacecraft. I’d like to add something to that definition. Here’s how I would state it: A device for automatically steering ships, aircraft, spacecraft, or person.
Think about it. We were created to be able to do things without thinking about them. This serves us well as it would be crazy to have to think “breathe in, breath out, breathe in, breath out” all of the time! And simply getting out of our chair would take a thousand different thoughts! In fact, if you are sitting down, you probably weren’t even thinking about the pressure of your weight on your buttocks sitting in your seat – but now that I mentioned it you probably can’t stop thinking about it! Why? Because you became aware of it.
As humans, we are programmed to be able to do many of life’s everyday actions without thinking about it, or by autopilot. What’s the problem with that? The problem is that we often begin to do so many things on autopilot, we don’t even know what we are doing. Let me give you an example.
Back in 1997, Darci and I had been married two years and began attending a new church. We were looking to find new friends, and sometimes that’s hard! Well, a couple at the church asked us to come over for lunch – in an hour! We had to hurry as we didn’t want to miss this opportunity! We had planned lunch with her parents, so I called them to tell them we wouldn’t be making it. The answering machine came on and I had forgotten I was even on the phone! I was asking Darci to hurry up as we didn’t want to be late, and we didn’t have time to mess around.
We had a great afternoon with friends and then went over to her parent’s house for dinner. Her father confronted me with, “I can’t believe you treat my daughter like you do. I’m really upset.” I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about! Then he said, “Listen to this!” He hit play on the answering machine I had forgotten was on as I told Darci to hurry up earlier that day. It was embarrassing. I was yelling and screaming and acting like a bully! My heart didn’t mean for that to happen, but I was on autopilot and didn’t even know how I sounded! It really made me think.
Since then, I am more aware how I talk to people. Am I perfect? Of course not! But I do often catch myself when I get a little to passionate and I am able to calm down and speak in a gentler, respectful voice. I had become aware of my autopilot, just as you were when I mentioned that weight pressing down on your buttocks in your chair – oh yea…You’d gone back to autopilot, hadn’t you?
At The Journey Training, we focus on self-awareness – becoming aware of our personality, our actions, our autopilot decisions that we consistently make in our life. I can’t tell you how many people have left The Journey Training and said, “I can’t believe it. It’s like a whole new world!” When you become aware of what you do, and in turn aware of why you do what you do, then you can decide to change if you choose. This in turn can change your entire life! But until you become aware of your autopilot, you are doomed to let your ego and subconscious continue to make many of your decisions for you – even if they sabotage what you really want. So I ask you, “Who are you, anyway?” Because until you know that, you could be unable to make the best decisions for you, your family, and your life!
Isn’t it time you learned exactly who you are and started turning off the autopilot?
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