Monday Motivating Mindset

THE HYPE

This weeks Motivating Mindset will help you strengthen the currency of your creations, that of course being your thoughts.


THE CHALLENGE

Your Mindset challenge this week is getting in the habit of asking yourself:
"What can I control?"


THE PROMISE

Ask yourself this question whenever you feel like you are losing control and the promise is you will be uplifted to new possibilities.


THE TIPS

Believe this or not, that majority of us have days that we wished we never would have woke up.

It doesn't matter if you are young, old, rich or poor, spiritual, not religious or in-between, lifes' bumps happen to the best of us.

The next time you think you are having one of those days, ask yourself "What can I control?" to bump yourself back in the game.

First and foremost you must take a look at where the apparent control of the situation is placed.

Are you putting control of the situation in your court, with the empowered desire to move forward through the situation positively and grow?

Or... are you putting control of the situation outside yourself, with the dis-empowered desire to do anything productive or positive?

Real productivity and true growth happen as a result of realizing the degree of control you have.

The more you recognize your own relationship with control, the more you can produce the personal power needed to realize your goals and dreams.

The more goals and dreams that are realized the more that you in turn grow as a person.

Therefore, if you have a great relationship with control then naturally you will grow faster.

However, if you have a poor relationship with controlling yourself in situations then naturally you will struggle more.

Ask yourself "What can I control?" to ensure you are not playing the blame game or justifying your reaction.

For example you are playing the blame game if something upsetting occurs and you immediately react to the situation and accuse others involvement.

Blame holds you back from moving forward, hinders your ability to find a true solution and puts the power in somebody else's hands.

You simply cannot control the actions of others and if you thought you could, it is your fault for being misguided, mislead, or mistaken.

When you are faced with adversity, which is a natures best teacher, it is better to reframe than to justify or blame.

The sooner you adjust incorrect assumptions about control the quicker you can reclaim your power.

The next time you feel like you about to lose it, ask yourself "What can I control?" to figure out where your energy and attention is best spent.



THE SECRET

Control is something that you can never lose no matter how much you give it away.

Take time to practice asking yourself the question "What can I control?" and you will eventually come up with only one answer.

The only thing for certain in any given situation is that you always have control over your attitude.

Your attitude is controlled by your beliefs.

Beliefs are the stories we tell ourselves and assumptions we make about ourselves about others in the world and about how we expect things to be.

We get our beliefs as a by-product of living, they almost happen without much conscious effort in making them.

They were usually something that was witnessed, modelled, or experienced by you when you were younger.

Chances are great that you learned many of them from your primary caregiver, which for most of us is your mother.

Beliefs are like software programs on your computer, written in specific languages designed for different purposes and processes.

The belief programs themselves, just like circumstances and situations are in real life are neither good or bad.

However, these beliefs programs either move you forward or hold you back, help you or hinder you.

How can you tell if you have any belief systems that fall into the category above?

Easy, are you feeling bliss, joy, happiness, love, fulfillment or any positive emotions?

If not, and you are experiencing negative emotions like, guilt, anger, pain, shame or suffering then there is definitely a bad program in your beliefs.

Most of these negative emotions come from having attachments to certain outcomes and situations.

When we feel that the outcome or situation is not in our control then we tend to worry.

If you can control something in a situation then you don't need to worry about it because you can do something about it.

If you can't control something in a situation then you don't need to worry about it because you can't do anything about it.

Worrying about what you can and cannot control is a genuine waste of your precious time.

Each moment and every second the only goal you should be focused on is finding the best way to move forward in your life.

Once you find the area of control that will make the biggest impact towards your desired outcome then focus all of your time and creative energy on it.

The next time you don't like a particular set of circumstances remember that your ability to choose the next best course of action is solely yours.

If you are reacting emotionally to a situation then you are definitely not building your ability to respond.

A great tool to help you develop response-ability and gain new possibilities is to ask yourself "What can I control?"

Monday Motivating Mindset

THE HYPE

This weeks Motivating Mindset will help you to not take people, situations and circumstances so personally.


THE CHALLENGE

Your Mindset challenge this week is getting in the habit of asking yourself:
"How does my personality factor into this situation?"


THE PROMISE

Ask yourself this question and you will get up close and personal with the less desirable effects of your personality.


THE TIPS

If you're human and alive (which you automatically qualify for if you are reading this right now) then it is very likely that you've taken something too personal.

Have you ever been guilty of getting too emotional or over-excited in situations?

Have you allowed yourself to become upset or disappointed when things didn't work out?

Have you ever let other peoples opinions about you affect you for longer than you would like?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions then you are guilty of taking something way too personally.

Here is one strategy for effectively working through your thought process when things aren't feeling all that fun.

The next time you're feeling negative or upset about something, ask yourself "how does my personality factor into this?"

With practice this question will help you think about putting yourself in other peoples shoes which is an invaluable leadership and communication tool.

Teaching yourself to learn to appreciate other peoples perspectives will improve every relationship you have and attract more quality people into your life.

Type "6 men elephant" into a search engine like Google and read the parable that you find.

It is a great story that clearly demonstrates how everyone perceives things differently and yet there are still elements of truth in each of the various views.

The elements of truth that we live our life by is more commonly referred to as your personality.

If you are a person then you have a personality.

Personality is the pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make a person unique.

Your personality is the collection of systems that governs your attitudes, assumptions and actions.

Simply stated, your personality is a filter in which you see the world.

Both consciously and unconsciously your personality guides and navigates you through life.

No matter who you are or what your personality is there is always room for growth.

Personalities themselves are not right and they are not wrong.

They can however either be helpful, as in moving you towards the direction of your goals and dreams, or they can be unsupportive and not helpful.

Learning more about your thoughts, traits and tendencies will help you quickly strengthen personality areas that work and avoid areas altogether that don't.

While most of psychology deals with general principles of thought and behavior that all people have in common, personality psychology examines what makes people different from each other.

Many theories have been proposed over the years to explain how personality develops and is expressed. Some of the major approaches include:

Psycho-dynamic theories, Behaviorist theories, Biological theories, Trait theories and Type theories.

Every theory has its own personality tests and each one can potentially provide important insights into your operating system.

If you wish to have your own personality assessed, there are several ways to do so.

Although there are companies that will charge money to have a valid test performed and scored, most Universities are always in need of volunteers for psychology research.

Personality psychology is obviously a strong area to start with, however keep in mind areas like social psychology, clinical psychology, and cognitive psychology also frequently employ personality tests.

Some researchers will offer to divulge personality test results in exchange for volunteering. Even if this is not offered, it can never hurt to ask for your results.

Another way for you to get started in search of your personality is by searching online for a personality test.

A few of the more recognized personality tests are the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Keirsey Temperament Sorter, DISC Assessment, The Enneagram, and the Revised NEO Personality Inventory.

Your challenge is to take one of the above tests as soon as possible and find out more about yourself and how you tend to react/respond in situations.

Play with these tests and your personality, explore and experiment with as many tests as you can.

When life seems to get the best of your day ask yourself "how does my personality factor into this?" to uncover clues as to where and how you can grow next.


THE SECRET

In order for you avoid taken something personally means that you must be able remove yourself from the elements of the situation that affect your person.

Therefore in order to detach yourself from your personality you must first come to one important realization... You are not your personality!

Is it that surprising to hear that you are not your personality? It shouldn't be.

Think back to the difference in your personality at least every decade of your life.

Experts suggest that human beings change personality as often as every 4 to 5 years.

Your personality is a sum of the preferences that you have developed as a result of the social, cultural, economic and environmental influences in your life.

Over time this sum changes as some influences seem to lose their power and new other factors start to impact your life.

Think back if you can remember to what you liked and disliked when you were 5 years old.

Now consider the same for when you were 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, etc.?

Were your likes and dislikes the same when you were 10 years old as they are now? Probably not.

Maybe your favorite color is still the same but things like your favorite hairstyle and fashion sense have hopefully changed over the years.

In fact, most of the opinions that you used to define yourself decades ago are long left behind or have at least evolved as you've gotten older haven't they?

Are you still not convinced that you are not your personality?

Close your eyes for a moment (wait... after you read this paragraph!).

Now that your eyes are open direct your attention to the last thought you had.

When you took notice of that thought that just came into your head. Who noticed it?

Does the being that noticed your thought show up on a x-ray or brain scan?

Or was it a being that cannot be defined by machines or words but is with you and inside you all the time?

Can this being be defined by the field of work its employed or by the type of clothes it wears?

Here's a hint... you are not what you do and you are not what you have. You are also not your thoughts.

All of those things are all temporary, fleeting, impermanent.

If your preferences and opinions about something can cease, change and evolve over time without effecting you then your personality cannot be everything you are.

Instead what you are is a part of this magical life in constant change. You are the change.

You are a work of beauty in-progress, a magnificent masterpiece in the making, a spark of God's light disguised as a separate entity.

You may have had the privilege of experiencing your true being with more purity and clarity if you have done any psychological and/or spiritual work on yourself.

Keep in mind that while personality is the place where inner growth and learning must begin, after you become an observer of your personality then it's time to move on.

It is even wonderful to love your personality but in the end your personality is just a tool, a means to an end.

As the engineer of your life it is up to you to determine the best way to use the tools that you've been given.

Ask yourself ""how does my personality factor into this?" to practice becoming more like the person you truly want to be.

Monday Motivating Mindset

THE HYPE

This weeks Motivating Mindset will help you live a full and rewarding life.


THE CHALLENGE

Your Mindset challenge this week is getting in the habit of asking yourself:
"How am I spending the prime-time of my life?"


THE PROMISE

Ask yourself this question every day this week and you will become more aware of where your time is spent and how to manage it more effectively.


THE TIPS

No matter who you are or where you are, no matter what you do or how you do it, no matter your background or your beliefs we all share one common unit of measurement... Time.

Time is the single most precious resource on the planet. You can drill for more oil, you can pan for more gold and mine for more diamonds, but you can never do anything to get more time.

Everything you do in life requires time to do it yet time can never be replaced or replenished.

Time happens to every one at a rate of one second per second regardless of how you choose to spend it.

It is a fact that you will always find, make and spend time on the activities that you place the highest value on.

However, because humans are usually conscious only about 10% of the time, we often subconsciously spend our time in lower-payoff activities.

Ask yourself "How am I spending the prime-time of my life?" to get a better picture of how you are painting the masterpiece known as your life.

As you ask and answer the question more often you will become more conscious and aware how you are spending your precious time.

Make sure that you are organizing and allocating an appropriate amount of time on your highest value activities.

High value activities are those areas in your life that provide a return on investment for your time and energy.

Such areas offering a return on energy could be a rewarding career, a fulfilling friendship or a rewarding relationship.

Another high payoff activity would be following your dreams, chasing your goosebumps and pursuing your passion.

Time is the only unit of currency that you can use to pay for your high-value activities. No other substitute will work.

Time can only be redistributed from the manner and means in which you are currently using it.

Just like you only have two hands to carry things, and when both hands are full in order to pick something else up, you have to first put something down.

In order for you to open the next door when opportunity knocks you must first close the current door.

Before you can do anything new or get into something, you will have to get out of something else and stop doing the old thing.

Accordingly, you must learn to be productive and proactive about the manner that you allocate your time.

If you fail to plan effectively your matters of time, it is only a matter of time before you are effectively planning to fail.

The goal of time mastery is to continually tweak your lifestyle so that you cut out the areas that no longer support your joy and re-organize your time so it is spent achieving peace, harmony and balance.

Every new moment that unfolds brings with it the gift of choice to move closer towards or further away from this goal.

Ensure that you are only taking on the opportunities move you further towards immediate joy and further away from future regret.

On a regular basis your job is to stand back and take inventory of how you are spending your time.

Sometimes you will have to take a pause for the cause, stop the clock and do some serious soul searching about where you are going.

Life will only start to make sense and feel good when you begin to organize it around the specific goals, dreams and aspirations that you desire.

Evaluating your activities in the light of what is really important to you, is the essence of time-management and the basis of life-management.

Asking yourself "How am I spending the prime-time of my life?" will help you allocate the right attitude towards your highest value actions and activities.


THE SECRET

The very act of taking a moment to think about your time before you spend it will begin to immediately improve your time management.

Asking yourself "How am I spending the prime-time of my life?" during three specific times of the day will make your daily motions even more masterful.

The first time of day to ask yourself the question is during the first hour that you are awake.

Some experts refer to the first hour that you wake up to as the "Golden Hour" because it has such a profound impact on the rest of your day.

Wake up and within the first hour ask yourself "How am I spending the prime-time of my life?" to find ways you can become more grateful.

If you have heard of the Law of Attraction you know that like-energy attract the same.

Therefore your efforts of gratitude during the golden hour will set the tone of energy that will return to you throughout the rest of the day.

The next time of day to ask yourself "How am I spending the prime-time of my life?" is during your most productive time of the day.

The most productive time of the day differs from person to person and sometime varies throughout their lifetime.

However, most people know there most productive time of the day because of the way that they tend to feel in this state.

During your most productive time of the day you will be mentally alert, physically poised, energetic, enthusiastic, and ready to tackle anything that comes your way.

For some people this is first thing in the morning, coinciding with their golden hour, for others it will be later in the day after coffee, for others still maybe early evening.

Take notice at what times of the day you seem to be most on your game and mark it down throughout this week.

Once you have a weeks worth of history take a look to see if you can spot the time of day that you naturally reach this state of mind.

Once you have identified the time of day, try and organize your highest payoff activities and actions around this time to ensure that you are working on your best when you are at your best.

The last time of day to ask yourself the question of "How am I spending the prime-time of my life?" is around 7pm-9pm every day.

The time from 7:00pm to 9:00pm is also regarded as "prime-time" and this can be confirmed by your television guide.

The T.V. networks schedule their most popular shows for this time because that is when the majority of people watch television.

Although just because the majority of people do it, doesn't make it right, in fact, spending your prime-time watching T.V. is probably not the best thing to do.

The prime-time of your life between 7:00pm and 9:00pm can be spent a number of ways that yield a higher payoff.

For example, re-allocating watching the T.V. and putting it towards to your family, loved-ones or even yourself is time better spent in the long-term.

You could even use this prime-time of your life to learn a new skill, join a networking or hobby group, or just find some quiet time for yourself.

However in order to get your time management under control you must first decide very clearly upon your priorities.

You must decide on the most important things that you could possible be doing to give yourself the most amount of joy, happiness, and fulfillment in life.

Ask yourself "How am I spending the prime-time of my life?" as often as possible this week and you will be soon enjoying the time of your life.

Monday Motivating Mindset

THE HYPE

This weeks Motivating Mindset will inspire you to surround yourself with the kind of company you can be confident about keeping around.


THE CHALLENGE

Your Mindset challenge this week is getting in the habit of asking yourself:
"Who should I be hanging around with?"


THE PROMISE

Ask yourself this question when allocating your time to friends and acquaintances and you will soon become more aware of the company you keep.


THE TIPS

The people who you choose to surround yourself with play more of a role on your future than you may first realize.

Ask yourself the question "Who should I be hanging around with?" to take an inventory check on your intimate friends.

This question should gear your thoughts towards "why" you hang out with the people you do versus "who" the people actually are.

For example, do you have friends that are there for you through thick and thin, both good times and rough times?

Do you have friends that inspire you to chase your dreams and go after your goosebumps?

Do your friends help you realize a bigger vision of yourself?

How have your friends made you feel competent and capable lately?

Even though we all have the ability to think and feel independently on our own accord, the people that you surround yourself with still play a major determining part in your life.

From the moment that you wake up and continue on throughout the day you are surrounded by the energy of family, friends and even co-workers.

The energy that you feel from other people stems from the individual "agreements" that have made in each relationship.

Most of your agreements are formed and acted upon subconsciously, which is to say that you are not even aware that you formed them or of your behaviour.

One example is the many parents that unconsciously play an "overly-nurturing" role to their child.

They have formed an agreement that subconsciously states that they are the nurture providers and the child is the nurture receiver.

Nurture can be a good thing, however, when the parents form an "identity" about the role they play over the years this will lead to two things:

1. It will make the parent always feel the need to protect or provide for their child and they might lose some of their sanity when the child leaves home or no longer needs their help . i.e. Empty nest syndrome.

2. It will make the child subconsciously feel the need to be protected and/or provided for by their parents and very possibly manifest into issues of responsibility in their own intimate relationships.

So even though the intention was pure and formed with love the relationship agreement has since become dysfunctional.

Roles and agreements themselves are not inherently good or bad, the problem is continuing to believe and subscribe to them without questioning their effectiveness.

A dysfunctional agreement, role or relationship is one that no longer serves or supports its main purpose.

In a functional relationship both the conscious and subconscious agreements should be in alignment with helping fulfill your greatest dreams and desires.

Do the roles and responsibilities of the people that you hang around most support your highest aspirations? Do you support theirs?

What do you love most about the company that you keep?

By asking yourself "Who should I be hanging around with" based on your highest aspirations will make you more aware of allies you can align yourself with to assist in your achievements.


THE SECRET

Do you plan or aspire to be wealthy? If you answered yes then you better have wealthy friends!

Did you know that researchers estimate that you will earn an income the equals the average amount of your 5 closest associates?

Said differently, people tend to make the same average income of the people that they spend the most time with.

Are the people that you surround yourself with people that are worthy of your time?

The trick is to do anything at all possible to avoid people that belong to the "same-old'" crowd.

These are the people who you meet up with every so often and each and every time you ask them what's new and exciting they answer "the same-old".

You must avoid these people like the plague, not because you are better than them, but because they don't really want to see you happy.

It is not that they don't want to see you succeed because they might, but subconsciously to them if you are anything else then what you are now then it means a change to the relationship agreement that they have with you.

If you change the person that they knew and were used to then your relationship agreement would be different, and for most people change is scary because of fear of the unknown.

Don't let other peoples self-limiting beliefs, doubts and apprehensions determine your future, make it a point to surround yourself with the best team possible.

Either your friends are pulling you up to their level or they are dragging you down to theirs.

Do your 5 closest friends inspire you, make you laugh, or offer an insistent hand to help achieve your dreams?

Said differently, do the people you choose to surround yourself with help you move towards the "biggest" you possible?

Is that so hard to ask for and too unreasonable to expect?

Are you blessed with friends that are there for you every time, every day without question and without fail?

If you already have friends like this make it a point to go out now and celebrate the value of their friendship because it is priceless.

If you don't yet have friends like that no worries, make it a point to find at least one person to build a brand new amazing and supportive relationship with before the years done.

The good news is that the value of one positive and supportive relationship greatly outweighs the effect of several negative and non-supportive relationships.

There are many ways that you can meet like-minded people and farm for those fabulous new friendships.

One way is by joining a local offline group such as found on www.meetup.com where you can find people near you with the same interests and hobbies.

Another way to connect with people is by joining an online group, such as found using an Internet search on "yahoo" or "google" groups.

Alternatively, you could find someone that you admire or that is doing something that you'd like to learn more about and reach out to connect with them.

Ask if you can help them, assist them, volunteer your services in return for them to mentor you.

One last idea for finding that supportive relationship to nurture your dream is to find and work with a Life Coach.

A coach can help you get in touch with your values and what is really important to you before you spend the time and energy to attract new friends.

Like energy attracts like energy, so if you are a miserable person chances are your friends are too because who else would want to put up with you?

With a simple shift in attitude you can begin to attract amazing new abundant friends and acquaintances into your life.

It is your responsibility to "be" the type of friend that you yourself would love to be friends with and be around.

In some relationships you might be the jester or joker, always playing pranks and keeping people laughing and having fun.

In other relationships you might take on the role of being the brain, the analytical thinker that always has thought provoking questions.

Yet in another relationship you might play the role of cheerleader, encouraging and motivating others to do their best.

These are only some of the various examples of roles that you play in your relationships, there are many others so try and discover the ones that work best in your relationships.

Ask yourself the question "Who should I be hanging around with?" to uncover gaps in your circle of friends and to find missing pieces of the puzzle.

Monday Motivating Mindset

THE HYPE

This weeks Motivating Mindset will help you feel more grateful for your life and act with more appreciation of your life.


THE CHALLENGE

Your Mindset challenge this week is getting in the habit of asking yourself:
"What problems am I blessed with?"


THE PROMISE

Ask yourself this question as many times as you have problems this week and the promise is you will laugh more and experience more gratitude in your life.


THE TIPS

Whenever you find yourself upset, unmotivated, ungrateful, pessimistic, doubtful, or just having an old fashioned "bad day", stop for a minute and ask yourself "What problems am I blessed with?" to help you shift gears and move away from that state.

People often mistakenly believe that the "grass is greener" on the other-side of the fence.

We are tempted to feel like people have more than us, live better lives than us and that no one has to go through the trials and tribulations we do.

We can also feel like failures in our own lives, like our problems are bigger than our ability to overcome them.

Applying today's mindset of "what problems am I blessed with" can help you put things into a more positive perspective.

First, instead of focusing all your energy on resisting a negative situation or something that you don't have be prepared to do the opposite.

That is to say, practice your ability to surrender to the current state of your affairs, learn to yield to situations and empower yourself.

You may have difficulties at first trying to surrender and uncover the "good" out of a "bad" situation but trust that this ability will only grow with practice.

With time and practice you will begin to see the "truth" behind reality, that situations, circumstances and even problems are not inherently good or bad.

The concept of good or bad are just mental images that we affix to a people, places and things.

That is to say, nothing is either good or bad by itself, there is no such thing as a "bad gun" or a "good lottery", these are subjective terms we've applied.

Take for instance a sporting event such as a Football game where the two teams are competing against each other.

During the play the offense wants to do something that moves their team forward and closer to their goal, such as run or pass and catch the ball.

However, simultaneously and parallel to that reality is the reality and objectives of the opposing team, who does not want to allow the other team to advance, run or pass and catch the ball.

Pretend that the offense snaps the ball and the quarterback drops back and releases a long-bomb.

If the receiver catches the ball the team on offense will jump up and down thinking that was a "good" play and the team on defense will jump up and down thinking that was a "bad" play.

If the defender deflects the pass and stops the team on offense the team on defense will jump up and down and think it was a "good" play and the team on offense will think the opposite.

There are two realities both containing "good" and "bad" existing in one outcome.

Only one reality will unfold and yet both outcomes will manifest.

Circumstances in and of themselves are not good or bad but rather our assessment and action towards them.

Learning to view your situation in more neutral perspectives will increase your ability to respond versus react to problems and situations.

When we react to a perceived problem it doesn't serve us, however if we choose to respond to a perceive problem then we can move forward.

When problems start to happen ask yourself the question "What problems am I blessed with" and list at least 5 problems that you are happy to have.

The more basic you can breakdown your happiness the more things you will find to be grateful for.

Start with your breathing and notice your breath. Breathe is the essence of live because we need it to survive, are you happy you are breathing to begin with?

Next consider your senses, do you have all of them in good working order? Many people with disabilities would give anything to be able to experience life with your level of sense.

What about your physical body, is it too in good working order?

Move down to your belongings, do you have a shelter over your head? How about a vehicle to drive to work?

Now think about your problem in terms of someone else's shoes. How many people on Earth at this very moment would love to be you?

I bet there are more people that you can imagine!

If you woke up relatively healthy under a roof in a bed and ate breakfast before you drove to work then congratulations, you've just lived the dream life of thousands of immigrants who would love to have the opportunities you have.

Life is a blessing in disguise, the sooner you practice seeing through the illusions the longer you can appreciate it's true beauty and wonder.

Asking yourself "What problems am I blessed with" will help you realize that there is nothing in life that you must "do" but enjoy being you.


THE SECRET

Even though the numbers are only approximate the following written by an anonymous author puts today's motivating mindset into perspective.

If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following.

There would be:

57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south
8 would be Africans
52 would be female
48 would be male
70 would be non-white
30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would
be from the United States.
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
ONE would be near death; ONE would be near birth
ONE would have a college education
ONE would own a computer.

When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, you recognize that you are indeed among the fortunate......


And, therefore . . .
If you woke up this morning
with more health than illness,
you are more blessed than the
million who won't survive the week.

If you have never experienced
the danger of battle,
the loneliness of imprisonment,
the agony of torture or
the pangs of starvation,
you are ahead of 20 million people
around the world.

If you attend a church meeting
without fear of harassment,
arrest, torture, or death,
you are more blessed than almost
three billion people in the world.

If you have food in your refrigerator,
clothes on your back, a roof over
your head and a place to sleep,
you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank,
in your wallet, and spare change
in a dish someplace, you are among
the top 8% of the world's wealthy.

If your parents are still married and alive,
you are very rare,
especially in the United States.


If you hold up your head with a smile
on your face and are truly thankful,
you are blessed because the majority can,
but most do not.

If you can hold someone's hand, hug them
or even touch them on the shoulder,
you are blessed because you can
offer God's healing touch.

If you can read this message,
you are more blessed than over
two billion people in the world
that cannot read anything at all.

You are so blessed in ways you may never even know.

Ask yourself "What problems am I blessed with?" and remind yourself to be thankful for all your blessings in disguise.

Monday Motivating Mindset

THE HYPE

This weeks Motivating Mindset will put a new spin on the way you think long-term about your life.


THE CHALLENGE

Your Mindset challenge this week is getting in the habit of asking yourself:
"What am I giving up by seeing only the short term?"


THE PROMISE

Ask yourself this question during as many decisions as possible this week and you will begin to see life from more of a long-term perspective.


THE TIPS

A great question to ask the next time you are faced with a decision that you must weigh the consequences is "What am I giving up by seeing only the short term?"

The point of this question is to get you to consider both the short and long-term implications of your decision.

Many times we hastily make rash decisions without considering the effects until after it's too late, or sometimes not considering them at all.

For example, if you were offered a choice between having $1,000 cash in your pocket this very moment or waiting a full year and receiving $1,500, the majority of people would go with the quick money.

What would you choose?

90% of people would choose the smaller amount even though they would get 50% more if they waited and even when they had to do nothing in addition to claim the larger amount.

How does this play out when it comes to saving and investing your money?

The person who picks the $1,000 is more likely to have less savings and investments than the person who chooses to wait for the $1,500.

While there is nothing inherently wrong with choosing the smaller amount to enjoy sooner, the long-term implications of choosing this, means that over time you will find it more and more difficult to choose the larger amount later.

We are constantly building neural networks in the brain, hard-wiring the brain with choices and decisions into associations and identities.

An identity is simply a pattern of thought that you have bought over a period of time.

By continually focusing on a smaller result you may receive the reward sooner but in reality you are strengthening a long-term identity that will hold you hostage and keep you playing small.

This is because when left to it's own choice, the mind has the tendency to want to do the minimal to get by, to avoid rocking the boat and to stay in your comfort zone.

What this translates into is the automatic sacrifice of long-term rewards for a short-term gains.

An example that illustrates this is picturing a hockey game where one team is 100% motivated by defense and no one ever attempts to score on the other team.

While this strategy (if you want to call it one) would lead to short term results, i.e. feeling good that the other team would have a very tough time scoring, the long-term implications are that they would never win a game because they are ignoring the bigger picture and not doing what it takes to win.

How often are you faced with situations that play out like this hockey game?

How often do you continue to allow yourself to play defense only, to not take risks and try and score a goal?

For example, if you are currently single it may seem easier not to talk to that handsome man you run into at the supermarket every week.

It may seem easier not to expose yourself to the possibility of being rejected or having to participate in an awkward conversation.

However, ask yourself "What am I giving up by seeing only the short term?" to help you break-free of the tendency to remain in your comfort zone.

Perhaps answering the question in this example you might come up with answers such as: "I am giving up the chance to find a significant other" or "I am giving up the potential of meeting my future husband, the father of my kids, or passing by the companion I've been searching for all my life".

When you come up with answers adopted from a long-term perspective it helps reframe the current situation and make new decisions.

Taking time to consider new answers and information is important if you are looking to break-free from an old habit.

In life you have a choice, either attempt to acquire something smaller sooner or wait to develop something that is larger later.

Apply this weeks motivating mindset to areas such as relationships, finances and weight loss and you will be surprised at what type of long-term results you can achieve.


THE SECRET

If you aren't growing in an area of your life then by the contrary you must be dying.

Who would you like to grow yourself into? What areas of your life are important to you? Where are your values placed?

If you aren't sure who, what or where a good starting place is to examine your current history, results and actions.

How do you spend your time right now? Where have you been placing your energy, attention and focus?

Answer this question openly and honestly and you will shed some light on what is most important to you right now.

After you're aware of your life values your next goal is to ensure you devote the proper time and attention to supports these areas.

Developing patience with yourself and with the people that you care about is just as important as experiencing the actual growth itself.

Continually asking yourself the question "What am I giving up by seeing only the short term?" helps you realize the validity behind the saying "patience is a virtue"

Beware that time is an ongoing illusion that is capable of hiding the small steps we take and the incremental growth we make.

It is easy to make the mistake of believing that you haven't accomplished anything.

It is easy for the results of your efforts to be obscured by the present reality.

Understand that your present reality is merely a reflection of the choices you made previously in your past years, months and days.

In order for your new decisions to take affect and to see external results, you must patiently wait for days, months and even possibly years.

Keep in mind that just because you cannot see the change happening doesn't mean it isn't.

For instance, have you ever seen first-hand the drift between the continental plates?

What about ever witnessing your fingernails growing?

You probably didn't notice either because they both happen at an average growth rate of 0.1 mm each day (1 centimeter in 100 days).

Yet these forces continue to happen undetected as we speak and one day, sooner or later, you may be forced to respond to this growth.

You will probably choose to cut your fingernails when they get too long or there may be an earth quake or tsunami from the plate tectonics colliding.

Seen or unseen everyday life is unfolding before your very eyes.

The direction that your life unfolds takes place in the small and seemingly unimportant choices that you make every day.

Take a moment to write down the skills, talents and higher visions that are unfolding inside of you right now.

You may have heard the say that "Rome wasn't built in a day" well neither should the gifts that you offer the world.

Buying into rewards that are smaller sooner is only an illusion and is not a shortcut that leads to long-term success.

Ask yourself "What am I giving up by seeing only the short term?" to help you realize your long-term vision.