Monday Motivating Mindset

THE HYPE

This weeks Motivating Mindset will help frame the ongoing information in your life into a context from which you can be successful.


THE CHALLENGE

Your Mindset challenge this week is getting in the habit of asking yourself:

"How does this information relate to my life?"


THE PROMISE

Ask yourself this question and it will help you get clear on what matters, what affects you and what you should do about it.


THE TIPS

Information happens.

Humans are constantly bombarded by information whether we like it or not.

We get our information from the sources that are closest to us, such as friends and family members, acquaintances and loved ones.

On top of the information that we choose to listen to, we are also exposed to messages from various media such as news, radio, television and the Internet.

But just because information happens, doesn't make all information beneficial or essential.

Your duty in life is to learn how to disregard all non-essential numbers such as age, weight and height while keeping the important information in front of you.

The next time you are in front of a statistic or a story ask yourself "How does this information relate to my life?"

The next time you hear a far-fetched story don't discount it as simply nonsense, investigate it first.

A good way to determine whether it's fact or fiction is to first trust the source and then verify the facts by asking:

"How does this information relate to my life?"

This is a great habit to get into because it helps filter the ever-increasing amount of new information that continually comes into our lives.

When it comes to information there is neither good or bad information, only information that is beneficial and not beneficial, essential and non-essential.

The helpful information comes in the form of the new scientific discoveries, brilliant ideas, technological innovations and medical breakthroughs.

The unhelpful information comes in many forms such as negative gossip, pessimistic prejudice, biased rumours and unrealistic expectations.

The problem that the majority of us have is sifting out the gold nuggets of truth without experiencing information overload.

For example, you meet an old friend who happens to be a seller for the "latest and greatest" energy health drink.

If you are like the majority of people you would have already turned, said good-bye to your friend and ran the opposite way.

However, although you may run like Forrest Gump to avoid being caught in these situations does your avoidance answer this one question...

What if that person really did have the previously undiscovered cure for your ailments? Don't you owe it too yourself to find out?

But how do you avoid being "sold", and ending up with useless stuff that you'll never need?

Asking yourself "How does this relate to my life?" will help you sort through the clutter of meaningless and find the meaningful.

Make it a point to only accept complete information that will make you decisively richer, wiser or smarter.

Find and filter information that will allow you to work less and get more done so you can spend more time with loved ones.

Your purpose, as the conscious being responsible for your life, is to seek out and pass along only the best information that will inspire, educate and entertain.

Asking yourself "How does this information relate to my life?" is a great way to determine if the information is helpful or not.


THE SECRET

Start asking yourself "How does this relate to my life?" and you will begin to better recognize whether or not the information could be beneficial.

Asking the following three questions whenever something new comes to your attention will immediately help you establish relevance:

1. What is it?

2. How does it affect me?

3. What should I do about it?

If for instance you hear about a great new cell phone, your next question should relate to how it affects you.

i.e. clearer reception, longer battery life, qwerty keyboard... How if at all does each one affect you?

Lastly, the question you need to ask is "What should I do about it?" in order to find your next action step.

Perhaps there is a sale coming up that you want to make note of, or maybe you need to wait a few months til your existing plan ends.

The goal is to drive your information from fuzzy and vague to definite and decisive knowledge that you can take action on.

Let's take a look at the whole process using the energy drink example mentioned earlier.

The first question to ask yourself is "How does this relate to my life?"

Suppose you are looking to lose that "last 10 pounds" and since you are open to new ideas you have decided to listen and obtain more information.

In order to keep the information relevant to your needs and avoid buying something that you don't need, ask yourself the 3 follow-up questions.

These questions will help to further establish whether it is relevant and allow you to be better informed to make a decision.

1. What is it? - Your friend might answer that it is the top of the line, best of the best, ProductXYZ patented with Substance123.

Since this really doesn't give you the type of information you need to make an educated decision, continue on with question #2.

2. How does it affect me? - Your friend says that ProductXYZ is specifically for people like you, and offers a testimonial of someone similar.

Now you have more evidence that this might work for you, but still, you aren't sure what kind of commitment you might have to make, so continue on to question #3.

3. What should I do about it? - Your friend explains that you can buy a trial bottle and they'll call you in a week, if you happen to like it you can buy more then.

Now you are more informed than if you would have walked away in the beginning, and more educated than had you bought without asking these questions.

Other potentially helpful questions that you could ask in a situation like this are:

"What are the alternatives to ProductXYZ?"

"So this Substance123 that makes ProductXYZ so great, what makes Substance123 so different from the competitors?

"What happens if I don't do anything about it?"

Always remember, the details behind a persons answers are less important than the inherently feeling you will get.

Does this new information that the person is offering make you better informed?

Does it feel like it is truthful, does it feel like this is right for you?

Call it your gut instinct or intuition, but if you trust yourself to "feel" the truth, then the truth will speak for itself.

Again, one of the primary questions to ask yourself when seeking the truth is "How does this information relate to my life?"

The better that the questions are that you learn to ask translates into the better answers that you will receive in return.

The better answers that you obtain means the more informed your decision will be.

The more information behind your decision also equates to the more comfortable you will be making them.

The more comfortable you are with dealing with new information the better you will be able to make use of it.

The better informed decisions that you make the more you will also learn tips, tools and techniques that can help others.

The more you help others reach their goals and dreams the faster that you will reach yours.

When you find good information that can make a difference, acknowledge your blessings and cherish it for all it's worth.