Monday Motivating Mindset

THE HYPE

This weeks Motivating Mindset will revolutionize the way you see, act and feel about your day.


THE CHALLENGE

Your mindset challenge this week is getting in the habit of asking yourself: "Am I feeling joy?"


THE PROMISE

Ask yourself this question and you will uncover the roots of the problems that have been plaguing you and discover answers that will lead you to a life of pure bliss.


THE TIPS

Whenever you arrive at a fork in the road a great question to ask yourself is "Am I feeling joy?"

A fork in the road could be represented in your life as: making a decision, taking a course of action or choosing to be, think or feel a certain way.

Whenever you notice that you are at a crossroads ask yourself "Am I feeling joy" and then listen carefully for an answer.

Excitement and nervous energy are both excellent clues that you are following your joy.

If you aren't feeling enthusiastic, excited or even nervous about something than chances are likely that you won't put yourself fully into whatever situation demands your attention.

It is important to put your full attention into a situation because where your attention goes your energy flows and the results will show.

You reap what you sow and you get out what you put in, so if you were not happy enough to fully put yourself into a situation than why does it make sense that you would expect to be happy when you are finished?

If you put in an orange, a banana and an apple into a blender you wouldn't expect a chocolate milkshake would you?

It doesn't make sense to be upset at the fruit for not turning into chocolate right? Yet that is what we do when we go into a situation grumpy and ungrateful and expect it somehow to be magically transformed into an adventure of pure bliss.

Some people might feel overwhelmed at the realization that the same emotions that you put into a situation are primarily responsible for the type of energy and feeling you will get out of the situation. If this is you then you may take a while longer to deal with your new found responsibility.

But you don't need to make things unnecessarily overcomplicated for yourself by trying to look for, identify and manage a dozen emotions. The feeling you are looking for can be answered in one question: "Am I feeling joy?"

If you are not feeling joy in this moment then there is not a problem with the circumstance because circumstances are neutral, rather there is likely a problem with your internal joy meter.

A circumstance like someone breaking their arm seems to be a 'bad' scenario if you are the one who broke it, however, if you are the Doctor's office that is employed when circumstances like this happen, then the event would be viewed as 'good'.

Since this is the same event it cannot have both mutually exclusive feelings attached, unless the emotions that are generated are only subjective, meaning that only the person experiencing, not the actual experience, produces the feeling.

How can you change your beliefs about a situation in a way that allows you to be happy?

A master of their emotions allows them self to embrace every situation and find a way to accommodate the change or circumstance rather than resist the current.

Accepting and allowing joy in any situation is a sign that someone didn't get caught up in the current of emotion and is capable of going with the flow.


THE SECRET

Your joy meter is the automatic feeling of exhilaration when you are doing something you love.

Other questions to stimulate your thinking could be "How could I be feeling joy in this moment?" and additionally, "In what ways could I be feeling more joy?"

If you aren't quite sure how to tell if you are doing something that you love you can always learn to follow your fear or chase your goosebumps.

The goosebumps that can stand up on your skin even when you are merely discussing a idea that has your full attention is a great indicator that you are following a passion.

Alternatively, while most people associate fear as a bad thing, it can also be used in a more positive and productive way by indicating your feelings about a situation.

Just because you are nervous and anxious doesn't mean that you will fail and are not meant to succeed. Fear is just a way of telling us that the circumstances in front of us are important.

Successful people feel the same fear that unsuccessful people do, sometimes even stronger and yet they still manage to go through with it anyway.

When you are enjoying yourself you are living fully and completely in the moment, your face is lit up with a jubilant smile and, you are likely to lose track of time. If more people lived this lifestyle we would not have the mental pollution and poverty that plagues us today.

Monday Motivating Mindset

THE HYPE

This weeks Motivating Mindset will help you appreciate yourself more, attract healthier relationships and be an overall better person.


THE CHALLENGE

Your mindset challenge this week is getting in the habit of asking yourself: "Would you date yourself?"


THE PROMISE

Ask yourself this question and you will gain a more accurate reflection of yourself and a better understanding of your fears.

Next time that you have a few minutes alone to think ask yourself "Would I date myself?"

You might be wondering the relevance of this question if you already have a significant other but, regardless of relationship status, a careful consideration of this question can provide insight into what you contribute to your relationships.

If you answered "Yes" that you would date yourself, then the next question is why? What kind of reasons came to mind that make yourself a worthy prize?

When taking a personal inventory the answers you learn might even surprise you!

Could you fall in love with yourself? What traits of yours are you most proud? Are you a constant source of support? What about your communication skills? Are you always finding good things to comment about your significant other?

Do you find yourself thinking "I wish my partner..." or "If only my significant other...."? If so, these might be the best signs that you need to look in the mirror first.

"What would you change/improve if you were dating yourself?" "What specifically do you love about yourself?" If you aren't excited about dating yourself then how do you expect anybody else to be?

It is important to note that your partner or significant other must also agree with your self-assessment. If you think you are the worlds best communicator and your partner thinks otherwise, then any adjustments made would be based on a false assessment and thus likely prove counter-productive.

A relationship should for the most part be 50/50 in terms of contribution. What strengths do you contribute? Do they equal your share of the 50%? How do the strengths that you identified help make the relationship strong in your partners opinion?

Use what you've learned from this exercise to build on your strengths and identify any areas where you might have the opportunity to provide more value in your relationships.


THE SECRET

Looking at yourself through an open and honest mirror requires courage and willingness to see yourself objectively in a new way.

It is the mark of a true leader to be able to acknowledge their shortcomings and build upon the strengths that they recognized for.

If for some reason you cannot uncover any areas of improvement for yourself then look at the areas of resistance, friction and conflict in your relationships.

In what situations do you feel most uncomfortable? Pay attention to your discomfort because there is always a hidden gift within.

Your discomfort often shows you the areas in your life that you should review and revise any belief systems that no longer continue to serve you.

"What do you need to improve within yourself so that you become a more effective attractor of your desired results?"

Put yourself in the other persons shoes, see things from their perspective and appreciate the gift of awareness as an opportunity to be the change you want to see in the world.

Monday Motivating Mindset

THE HYPE

This weeks Motivating Mindset will help you live with more fun, appreciation and a better overall attitude.


THE CHALLENGE

The Mindset challenge I am proposing this week is getting in the habit of asking yourself:

"What three people have contributed most to my success?"


THE PROMISE

Ask yourself this question and you will uncover important life lessons, discover new opportunities and attract exciting people into your life.


THE TIPS

Before you begin your day today ask "What three people have contributed most to my success?"

The follow up questions could be "What specifically did they teach me?" and "How as their teaching benefited my life?"

Think back to your teachers, your parents and your family. What about the people you have worked with, the new friends you've met, old friends you've reconnected with? How about a spouse or a loved one? A work mentor, manager or colleague?

A good test to determine whether the person you are thinking of is in your top three, ask yourself "Where would I be today if I did not learn ______ from this person?"

If you would still be essentially the same person, then perhaps search for someone who possibly has made a more meaningful or significant contribution to your life.

If you would not be where you are today or who you are today as a direct result of dealing with this person then there's a good chance that they rank in your top three.

Try and come up with at least three people, even if this exercise takes a couple days to really think through. You may however have many more than three top teachers, in fact, this is going to be more likely as you get more and more successful.

People who are a success become successful by walking on the shoulders of giants. What that means is that successful people, before becoming a success realize the importance of standing on the shoulders of the people that they respect and admire.

In fact, here is a brief list of famous mentor - mentee relationships that you might recognize:

Huey Lewis mentor to Bruce Hornsby
Don Henley mentor to Sheryl Crow
Mel Gibson mentor to late Heath Ledger
Maya Angelou mentor to Oprah Winfrey
Stevie Wonder mentor to India.Arie
Earl Nightingale mentor to Bob Proctor
Socrates mentor to Plato
Mark O'Meara and Butch Harmon mentors to Tiger Woods

Did a couple of those names you just read surprise you? Yes, mentoring has been around since before Socrates and Plato and some of the most successful people in the world have mentors.

Why does the greatest golf player in the history of the sport require mentors and coaches?

The world's most successful people have long realized that the more people that they learn from the better and faster that they will grow. It is impossible to make all the mistakes you need to learn all in your own lifetime so leverage the lessons of others to skyrocket your success.


THE SECRET

There is no "right" or "wrong" answer because the person and premise is completely decided upon by you. If you don't feel someone is worthy of mention, then simply don't mention them.

The truth is that we ALL have something to learn from one another. Every person that comes into your life, whether yesterday, today or tomorrow has something to teach you.

Try and get in the habit of finding a "Sensei of the Day". Sensei is a Japanese word meaning teacher, so Sensei of the day is simply a Teacher of the Day.

Every relationship that we hold with our self reflects an agreement about the nature of the relationship that we have made with ourselves.

Learn from the people that are in your life whether you perceive them to be a positive or negative influence.

If you feel that they are a positive influence try to identify one or two areas that they do well in and implement a similar strategy into your life. Don't be afraid to approach someone that you admire and ask them for some quick words of advice. All successful people had help along the way, the more you ask for it the more you can receive.

If you feel that they are a negative influence try to identify one or two reasons why you think they are behaving or acting out in this manner and gain understanding as to what specifically bothers you about their actions. This is a contrast to what you do like, but sometimes we need to know what we don't like in order to help determine what we do. The next time you find someone demonstrating a behaviour you don't like, silently thank them for the gift of awareness of contrast and endeavour never to act like them.

When you become thankful for the people that are in your life you naturally start to attract more of them to be thankful for. Appreciate the lessons of life and the teachers they come from and you will be ripe and ready for relationship riches!

Monday Motivating Mindset

THE HYPE

This weeks Motivating Mindset will help you live with more focus, joy and gratitude.


THE CHALLENGE

The Mindset challenge I am proposing this week is getting in the habit of asking yourself:

"In this moment, what is most important for my success?"


THE PROMISE

Ask yourself this question before every activity or challenge you come across this week and the promise is that you will be clearer about your actions and inspired to do more with your life.


THE TIPS

Before you get out of bed tomorrow, lay there awake and ask yourself "In this moment, what is most important for my success?"

There is no "right" or "wrong" answer to this question, only an answer that will either move you closer toward or further away from your goals and dreams.

If you want to supercharge your successes and activate the Law of Attraction to bring you more positive results then the default answer to this question could be..."feeling gratitude".

Being in a state of gratitude is always the best action in every moment because the feeling of being appreciative for your life will automatically attract more to be thankful for.

What can you be thankful for as you ask yourself this question?

Regardless of whatever it is that you are grateful for make sure that the rest of your daily actions are also guided by that question and aligned with that feeling.

After you have grounded your day in gratitude then ask yourself the same question as you make your way out of bed, ""In this moment, what is most important for my success?"

Keep asking yourself the question as often as you can to guide you closer toward your dreams and to make sure that those dreams come true, be sure to book some personal "you" time.

The first hour of your day is an ideal time to give yourself some quality time alone.

"In this moment, what is most important for my success?"

Some ideas that you can utilize this hour with are: visualize the goals and dreams that are important to you, look at a vision board, affirm positive intentions, read a book, meditate in stillness, or quietly review your long-term goals.

Take this time to set the tone of your day, ensure that you are focused on your goals and to help amplify the Law of Attraction to bring you what you do desire.


THE SECRET

Ideally the earlier in your day you make time for yourself the better, however you are not limited to specifically utilizing the morning.

Experiment making quality time for yourself in the afternoon or during the evening before you go to bed. Find out the best time to activate your peak mental and physical state.

To speed up the time lag between your dreams and your results you should find the time to do this exercise twice a day.

Also, if 60 minutes seems too long or you don't feel that you have time in your day then try starting with personal time of 15 minutes. Gradually increase your time to 30 minutes, 45 minutes and then to an hour.

Thinking that you do not have time to slow down and find out what is most important for you in each moment is admitting that you would rather continue to be blinded by your behaviour then to be motivated by your mindset.

It is only an illusion that you can continue to do what you are doing and get what you want.

To get what you want you must do what you've never done, otherwise if you have already done it you would have already had it.

Most people do not develop the habit of putting their dreams and goals in front of them and then they wonder why nothing ever happens.

Skipping your personal quality time is like skipping breakfast and wondering why you don't have any energy. It seems silly to wonder why if you haven't had any food right?

Similarly it doesn't make sense to think it is strange or mysterious that you don't have the results you desire in life without first finding the time to make the important goals an important part of your every day.

Ask yourself the question "In this moment, what is most important for my success?" to help keep you on track.

Monday Motivating Mindset

THE HYPE

This weeks Motivating Mindset will get more serious about having fun in the game of life.


THE CHALLENGE

The Mindset challenge I am proposing this week is getting in the habit of asking yourself:

"What would you trade for $50,000?"


THE PROMISE

Ask yourself this question after every activity or challenge you do every day this week and the promise is that you will be well on the way to discovering your purpose and living your passion.


THE TIPS

When you wake up tomorrow, ask yourself the $50,000 dollar question: "What would I trade for $50,000?" and see what kind of answers your mind comes up with.

First off your mind will typically try to determine the value of the offer in question... In this case how much is $50,000 worth to you?

Your mind may or may not think that $50,000 is a lot of money depending on your background and how much money you earn a year.

For example, if you earned a million dollars a year then $50,000 may seem like a little less money than to a person who earned $20,000 a year.

However, when determining what to trade for the $50,000 your mind will come up with logical answers, such as you are willing to trade any monetary amount under $49,900.

Why not trade $49,900 for $50,000 if you can make a profit off $100 right?

In fact it makes dollars and sense to trade money for money as long as you make money right?

But what about when it comes to trading $50,000 in exchange for non-monetary items?

What personal belongings of yours would you trade for $50,000?

Would you trade your eye-sight in for $50,000? What about an arm or a leg?

How about just a thumb or your big toe?

If you are like most people you probably realize that it doesn't make much sense to trade ANYTHING of yours for $50,000, especially a body part that you use often.

If you wouldn't trade $50,000 for any body part of yours then ask yourself this question...

"What would you trade for your life?"

You may agree that what your life is worth cannot be replaced in monetary terms, in fact there is no amount of money that can replace the value of your life because it is priceless.

So why have you been asking yourself this seemingly straightforward question?

Because what you have done with your yesterdays and what you plan to do tomorrow is exactly what you have been trading your life for.

Since you began your first job, entered your first relationship and accepted your first agreement you have been trading your time in for the wages and emotional returns that you have received.

Have you been trading your life in for $50,000 per year? $500,000 per year? How about a few million dollars every year?

It isn't your yearly revenue that is important but the reflection of happiness, joy, excitement and wonder that the way you spend your time brings back to you.

It is senseless to trade the priceless emotions of your life for any amount of money which is why it is so important to align your heart with your mind and follow your passion's in life.


THE SECRET

To gain more instant insight into your attitudes, behaviours and habits ask yourself...

"What am I trading for life right now?"

Look at your results, your lifestyle, your behaviour, your relationships, your finances, your investments and your risks.

Be honest with yourself... is this how you pictured life could be? Are you excited to trade your time in today for exactly what you are doing with it?

If you had one day to live, would you continue to do what you were going to do today? Would you continue to do the same thing you plan to do this week, this month or this year?

When you realize what you have been trading for your life next ask yourself, "is it worth it?"

If it is worth it keep doing what you are doing and know you can now act with added confidence that you are doing what you enjoy and love.

If it is not worth it, stop and ask yourself, "what would I rather be doing with my life?" and then immediately resolve to work towards making that the guiding force in your life.

Do what you love and love what you do and stop treating time like its worth what you paid for it.

We may not get to choose how long we get to stay as tourists on this shiny blue planet but we have every say as to how we choose to enjoy our visit.

Monday Motivating Mindset

THE HYPE

This weeks Motivating Mindset will help sky-rocket your confidence and success.


THE CHALLENGE

The Mindset challenge I am proposing this week is getting in the habit of asking yourself:

"What did I learn?" or said differently, "How did I grow?"


THE PROMISE

Ask yourself this question after every activity or challenge you do every day this week and the promise is that you will gain insight, build self-esteem and celebrate more wins in the game of life!


THE TIPS

Self-talk is the name for the dialogue that all of us hear talking inside of our heads.

The voices can sometimes be encouraging in nature, however for most people their self-talk seems to be a negative chatter.

Some people call this negative chatter the "mono loco" or crazy monkey inside their head. Other people have used the analogy of an "Angel" and a "Devil" on your shoulder, whispering "good" or "bad" things into your ear.

How often do you recall hearing these voices? For most of us it is all of the time.

You will usually hear the voice try and stop you before you start a job, while you are working on the task and even when you have completed the work.

The voice will sound like fear, doubt and uncertainty which if listened to will leave you feeling weak, afraid and powerless.

The voice tends to take away our personal power from the situation, it will tell you what is missing and what you could have done differently instead to make it better.

The crazy monkey is never satisfied and it usually looks for perfection.

Winning first place, breaking new ground, shattering new personal records and undertaking new adventures do not matter to the crazy monkey. The mono-loco wants you to fail so it can remain safe and unchanged inside of you.

Listening to the monkey's self-talk will leave you weak, tired, frustrated and feeling like a failure no matter if you just finished winning a Gold in the Olympics.

Next time when the monkey comes to chat regarding your experiences, ask yourself today's question... "What did I learn?" or "How did I grow?" and it will help you find the "wins" in your world.

Finding and celebrating the small victories helps ensure you are focused on the elements of an experience that will allow you to grow.

Even if the only thing you figure you have found out is a new way of doing something "wrong" then asking yourself today's question will help find a way to reframe the situation so that you feel good about it.

The more you ask yourself these questions the more you will develop a mental database of memories in which you are a winner.

The more instances and examples you have in the back of your mind where you learned something the more you will feel like you are growing with each new experience.

Self-esteem is basically how you like, trust and respect yourself, and in life the more you build a base of learning and growth the more you feel confident to handle new situations.


THE SECRET

The secret to instilling today's habit to build a life of confidence and adventure is by keeping track of your progress.

You can keep track of your progress many different ways such as:

Writing it online such as a web blog or video blog. Keeping track by e-mailing yourself or recording a video to your blog whenever you come across a win.

Do you carry a cell phone with you most of the time? Why not try to text message yourself notes as they happen? You could also use the "notes" feature that is found in most mobiles.

You can also use good old fashion sticky notes or can create a special "winners" journal for yourself to record all your victories.

Feel free to experiment to find the method and combination of tools that work best for you.

Your job is to log all instances of winning and answers to the questions so that you will have a diary or record of your achievements.

If you ever feel like a loser all you need to do is revisit your journal for a whole history of wins.

After asking yourself the questions and recording the answers your final job is to party!

Celebrate your growth along every step of the way because your growing should be the adventure of your lifetime not the destination.