Notable Quotes #48

August 19, 2008
Notable Quotes #48

Good Afternoon!  

I told myself that I am determined to get the Notable Quotes out this week on TUESDAY…Life isn’t so busy that I can’t take time out and send the Notable Quotes!  So, here we go.  

I have been sharing with you the past couple weeks ideas that I believe are crucial in Changing Direction in One’s Life.  I hope that you have found these to be useful or at least, thought provoking. 

Step 1: Change Your Attitude
Step 2: Start with the END in Mind  

Today is Step 3:  DON’T BE AFRAID OF FAILURE…OR SUCCESS!  

I know we have all heard of the failure aspect, but how many times have you heard of people having fear of success?!?? (More on that shortly!)   

Fear is something that can overcome us and place such a strangle-hold on us that we essentially become paralyzed.  There are many individuals who have succumbed to this fear of failure and sit complacently in their chairs wishing, longing and dreaming of a different situation.  Then there are people who look at failure as merely a stepping stone toward greatness.  Thomas Edison failed over 10,000 times before he successfully invented the light bulb; and Michael Jordan was cut from his high school varsity basketball team as a sophomore!  These guys took their ”failures” and turned them into determination, determination not to let anything or anyone get them down.  We can learn a lot from Mr. Edison and Mr. Jordan.   

Don’t be discouraged by a failure. It can be a positive experience. Failure is, in a sense, the highway to success, inasmuch as every discovery of what is false leads us to seek earnestly after what is true, and every fresh experience points out some form of error which we shall afterwards carefully avoid.
John Keats   

You always pass failure on the way to success.
Mickey Rooney  

Fear of Success is much like fear of failure.  It too, can entrap us to a point of paralysis and keep us from ever reaching our dreams and goals.  There are times when we set goals and work hard trying to obtain them.  Often times when we get close to achieving our goals we get scared!  We begin to ask ourselves, “What happens next?” “I don’t know what to do now that I reached my goal.”  “Maybe my goal wasn’t good enough or high enough.”  In other words be become fearful of success or reaching our goals.  As long as we have something to work towards, we feel that we have not “arrived” and must continue on.  We need to not become arrogant, but we do need to prepare ourselves for reaching our goals.  Let me give you this example:    

Let’s say you have a goal to save $2 million and then retire.  You’re projected to hit that goal at 50 years old.  You work hard, save and you quickly realize around age 49 that you will have saved your desired amount and you are ready to retire.  However as 50 continues to creep up, you begin to get scared…you ask yourself the same questions as before, “What happens next?”  “I don’t know what to do now that I reached my goal.”  In other words, you have fear of success!  We need to be proud of our success, but we must also prepare for our success.  This returns us to last week’s step:  We must start with the END in mind!  

What fears do you have in your life that is keeping you from changing direction?  Are you afraid of failing or are you fearful of success?  Both fears can bring the vehicle of change to a screeching halt.  We must reflect and be determined NOT to let our fears take us hostage.  Changing direction in one’s life is scary and it can cause us to question our own skills, abilities, goals and dreams.  However if we Change our Attitude, Start with the END in mind and not let our fears of failure OR success overtake us, WE CAN MAKE THAT CHANGE!  

Until Next Time,  

Heath

Notable Quotes #47

August 13, 2008
Notable Quotes #47  

Good Morning!  

I hope all is going well for everyone and that these Notable Quotes continue to inspire us all to think.  Last week I wrote about changing direction in one’s life.  I put forth the notion or idea that I would be sharing different insights or steps with you on how to change direction.  The first step was “Changing Your Attitude”.  I wrote that before we can even hope to change direction we must first change our attitude…this is the basis and foundation for changing direction.   

Today I want to share with you the second step in Changing Direction…  

Step 2:  Start with the END in mind.  

We first need to decide where we want to end up, then we need to evaluate where we currently are.  You may have heard this in the past, but maybe never really put any thought into it.  I’m here to change that!  Check out these two quotes…   

The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.
Denis Watley  

Crystallize your goals. Make a plan for achieving them and set yourself a deadline. Then, with supreme confidence, determination and disregard for obstacles and other people’s criticisms, carry out your plan.
Paul Meyer  

While Changing Your Attitude is the most crucial aspect in changing direction, I believe that this is a close second.  Think about it…If we don’t know where we want to end up, how are we going to change direction?!?  Now this may not be something that can be done in a couple of hours or even a couple of days.  This may take some time to really think and decide where you want to end up.  However this shouldn’t be a stumbling block to change.  You can have many different areas that you want to change direction in.   

Once we have determined where we want to end and have evaluated where we currently are, we need to create an action plan.  Just as we started with the END in mind, we must work BACKWARDS.  Again, my view may seem a little off, but stick with me.  

Here is one personal example I’ll share.  For the most part I have been a pretty active guy.  I played sports from the time I was 5, throughout high school and was even an Intermural Softball Champion in college!  But, over the years my activity level hasn’t just leveled off, it has plummeted!  I decided I wanted to change direction…I want to be a healthy Heath!  The best way to do that is to start with the END in mind.  My end is a Triathlon.  I decided to be specific when I set the end.  (This is important so that you have a deadline to work towards and you are not able to put it off.)  My goal is to complete (notice I didn’t say win) a triathlon while I am 30 years old.  Not 31 or 32, but 30.  That is the end goal.  After much research I have found a triathlon close to home and it is held typically in late August/ealy September. (DEADLINE)   

Now starts the action plan.  The triathlon I will complete is set up in the following fashion:

Swim: 1/4 Mile
Bike: 12 Miles
Run: 2.5 Miles  

How can I work backwards in order to achieve my goal you ask???  First I decided to tackle the running aspect.  I have been training and I will compete in my first 5k on October 4, 2008.  After that I will compete in a biathlon which is biking and running.  I will have this completed by June 1, 2009.  Finally I will accomplish my goal of completing a triathlon in August/September of 2009.  

When you start with the END in mind and you create an action plan by working BACKWARDS, you realize that your goal is attainable!  Think about that this week.  Where do you want to END up?  Be specific and set deadlines.  Then work on creating an action plan by working BACKWARDS!  Remember to keep a P.M.A. (Positive Metal Attitude) and anything is possible!  

Until Next Time,  

Heath

Notable Quotes #46

August 5, 2008
Notable Quotes #46

Good Afternoon!

After last week’s Notable Quotes I received quite a few responses on how what I said or didn’t say made an impact, it seemed to get people to think about what the words they choose or not choose to say.  That is the whole point of Notable Quotes…I absolutely love to share my thoughts and insights with anyone who will listen! Hopefully these Notable Quotes get you to think; not only about what you are doing, but what you aren’t doing and what you could be doing.  I also hope to bring a source of inspiration and motivation to everyone from time to time.  Thanks for your comments and responses, and keep them coming.  Now for the quotes…   

The greatest discovery of my generation is that man can alter his life…by simply changing his attitude of mind.
William James

It is not the place, nor the condition, but the mind alone that can make anyone happy or miserable.
Roger L’Estrange

It’s interesting how these two quotes came to me this past week.  I have really been struggling recently with the direction of my life and the life of my family.  Now let me clear a few things up first…NOTHING is wrong!  Family, job and life in general are just fine!  What I have been focusing on is my/our FUTURE direction.  I believe that the world is full of options and opportunities and that anyone, regardless of race, religion, gender, etc can take advantage of what’s offered!  Choosing which options/opportunities to explore is the challenge!  Notice…I didn’t say that we would be “given” these options and opportunities; we must work hard and SEIZE them!  Life isn’t fair and unfortunately we are not all on a level playing field, but the great thing about that is if when we do succeed, it will be much sweeter (is that a word?) than if things were just given to us.

You may be asking yourself how do these quotes relate to what I just said?  That’s an easy question and here is your easy answer…

In order to change one’s direction in life, we must first change our attitude!

If we desire to change our lives we must change how we look at life.  No longer should we look at life as a struggle.  We must look at life as numerous opportunities to grow.  We should not look at our job(s) as a burden, but as an opportunity to expand our knowledge base for future endeavors.  Our children should not be looked upon as just children but as an opportunity to help shape, and mold the future!  Changing our mindset or mental attitude is the basis for everything.  Having a positive mental attitude will lead to endless opportunities where as have a negative attitude will have just the opposite effect.

Over the next few weeks I want to explore different aspects and ways to change one’s direction in life.  Maybe you are like me and contemplating the direction of your life.  Hopefully this will help.  Maybe you are just the opposite, happy and content where you are and where you’re headed…that’s great!!  Hopefully this will continue to encourage you on your journey.

As you go through today and the rest of this week, take a few minutes to think and assess your attitude.  Is your attitude holding you back?  Be honest with yourself and prepare to make those changes that are crucial to your success!

Until Next Time,

Heath