Self starters are those that arouse action within themselves

Memorize it.

Very true. I meet so many people who are drifting through their lives. They have no purpose or direction and act as though their lives are out of their control.

Well, their lives are out of their control because they have chosen not to take control. They do not want to make decisions, so they decide to do nothing. They may say they are unhappy with their present circumstances, but they do not want to take action. Instead, they remain mired in their comfortable, unhappy existence.

Are you content to drift aimlessly through your life, taking what is handed to you? Or will you live the life you really want? You have to earn it, you know.

Are you one of the 95% or the 5%? Only you can decide. Start now.

You start at the bottom;
You imagine yourself the man above you,
And soon you are there!
Then you look higher,
And higher you go.

What’s ahead of you? Can’t you get a little action from these thoughts?

Instead of looking at where you have been, look to where you want to be.

Imagine yourself in the life you want to live, then aim yourself in that direction.

When a Man’s Mind is Half Made Up…
WHERE does he land? During this week wouldn’t we grow tremendously if we went gunning for that word HALF?

Lord, deliver me from being Half anything. Think it over.

Cathy’s Commentary:

How often do we do something halfway? We say we are going to do something, but we keep one foot out the door, afraid to give our all. By not fully committing to a course of action, we may seek to protect ourselves. After all, if it doesn’t work out, well, we were never really all that invested anyway.

It happens with jobs, projects, relationships, business ventures…how often do you hold back and only give half of yourself?

If something is worth doing, than it is worth giving 100%. If it is not worth giving 100%, it is not worth doing.

We go along in the even tenor of our way until we read a book, hear a sermon, or meet a man with vital power, which starts us off with a new purpose in life.

If you feel that you are at low ebb, or going along in a humdrum way, better get acquainted with that book, or that man, who will stir you to the depths. If you feel the need, then you will find the way to get a new start. Is there any real reason why anybody should remain at low ebb?

                                SATURDAY
                            UP
                        UP
                    UP
               UP
MONDAY

“Every day in every way I’m going Up—Up—Up.”

Who inspires you?

Is there a speaker or author whose words can lift you up and motivate you? Or maybe there isn’t one person, but many.

Get in the habit of watching, reading and listening to people with uplifting messages. People who help you believe in yourself and give you not only the will but the tools to move forward.

Load some of your favorite motivational CDs or videos to your phone or iPod, and listen as you workout or commute, or during breaks throughout the day.

Looking for more? Here are a couple of my favorite sources of inspiration:

TED Talks
TED conferences bring together speakers on a wide variety of topics. Each talk is short–often 10 minutes or fewer. But in those short talks you can discover amazing things. The talks are available to download (free) in audio or video formats at the site or via iTunes.

iTunesU
iTunes has more than 350,000 courses, lectures and other programs from major universities available for free download. You can listen to David Lynch talk about creativity, get ideas from the Harvard Business Review IdeaCast, learn a new language or any number of subjects from professors and guest speakers at some of the world’s leading educational institutions.

Still want more? Try searching the podcasts at iTunes or other sources. Do a search on YouTube for your favorite motivational speakers or topics. Go to your library, where you can borrow CDs, DVDs and books. This can be a good way to “try out” someone with whom you are unfamiliar. You may then want to buy other materials from them for your permanent library.

When you expose yourself to motivational talk, you will lift yourself up and always be your best.

Marketing scares a lot of people. It is scary to pick up the phone and call someone, or approach them and ask for an order. What if they say no? Well, what if they say YES? You won’t know until you ask.

Or maybe you’re afraid to speak in public, attend a networking function, invest in advertising, write an article for your professional association newsletter, volunteer for a committee, or send a press release. Whatever scares you, promise yourself that you will try it if it is something that will benefit you and your business.

If you’re still thinking about starting a business, but scared to take that first step, take it now. Sign up for a class at your local Small Business Development Center, register the name of your business and get cards made, put up a website…whatever it takes to get started.

Then, keep scaring yourself. Take the chances that will lead to success. And let me know about it. Tell me how you took my challenge to scare yourself, and what you accomplished as a result.

So my question to you is: How do you reward yourself when you have completed a project, landed a new client or had another success?

Add your answer in the comments and share your favorite reward with us!

Brighten it up with light. Working in a dark dungeon isn’t good for your energy levels, mood or productivity. Let in the sunshine for an immediate pick-up. If you don’t have a lot of natural light in your home office, add some. You can add lamps and light fixtures in key locations. Instead of harsh light, use natural spectrum light bulbs that simulate sunlight.

Add plants. Now that you have some light, add plants to your workspace. Plants help to naturally clean the air around you and they are nice to look at. Keep a pot of blooming flowers in your office. Not only are they beautiful, the blooms last much longer than cut flowers.

Get organized. Not only will you be more productive, you will feel less stress. Just looking at a desk piled with papers, or a work table that is buried under multiple projects, can make you feel anxious and unhappy. Pick up a few fun, brightly colored organizing accessories to help you organize and add color at the same time.

Do something about those cords! Do you have computer cables and power cords running all over the place? Take out any unnecessary cords (What does that go to, anyway?), and hide any others that you can. Use ties to keep cables together so they don’t get tangled. Label them so you know what the other end of each cable is connected to.

Put on a fresh coat of paint. Painting is one of the most cost-effective decorating changes you can make to any room, including your home office. Choose a color that you will enjoy looking at all day. Make it bold and bright, or soft and subdued, but changing the color of a room changes the mood. Even if you don’t make much of a change to the color, a fresh coat of paint brightens the room.

Put your personality into your office. Hang pictures or your family and friends, your favorite places or paintings you like to look at. Make a vision board that represents your goals and hang it where it will inspire you throughout the day.

Update your office for comfort. How many hours a day do you spend in your chair? If you are still using that $15 chair you got on sale, maybe it is time to treat yourself to a new, ergonomic chair. Your back will thank you and you will be more productive when you are comfortable (and not in pain).

Do you like to listen to music during the workday? Get a dock or speakers for your iPod, or put a small CD or MP3 player near your desk.

Make your home office a welcoming space where you can do your best work in comfort and peace.

Carrie said,

“There is no point at which you can say, ‘Well, I’m successful now. I might as well take a nap.’”

Lots of people think that if they can become successful they can simply sit around doing nothing after that. Well, it usually doesn’t work that way. Success may give you more freedom, but it often comes with more responsibility, too.

This quotation points out again how important it is to have work you love, work for which you have a passion. Are you doing what you love? If not, are you taking steps to create a business or career you can love? It is one of the best things you can do for yourself.

I am not a morning person. I do not leap from my bed, ready to take on the day, with a spring in my step and a smile on my lips. It takes a little time for me to get into the swing of the day.

Once I get rolling, the day is mine, but I could easily lose a couple of hours every day if I didn’t have rituals in place.

First, I have a routine I follow when I wake up. Certain things (business and personal) get done every morning. Having that routine in place means I do not have to think about what to do, I can just do it. This is useful when my mind is still a little fuzzy.

Along the same line, one of the last things I do each day is plan the following day. What must I accomplish the next day? What steps will I take toward my goals? That means that as soon as I have completed my standard morning tasks, I can start right in to my work for that day without having to think about which things need to be done. I already know.

The specifics of my daily rituals may be very different from yours, but you should have rituals. Yours may include setting aside certain times for communication (email and phone calls), exercise or meditation, writing and other creative work, administrative tasks, household duties, and time with family and friends. Having a ritual makes doing these things automatic.

As you become familiar with your daily rhythms, you can schedule tasks for the time of day when you are at your best for them. I find that I handle organizational and administrative tasks best in the morning, and creative work is easier and flows better in the late morning and early afternoon. Be sure to include time to recharge. You may even find it useful to schedule a short daily nap as part of your routine.

Some people are resistant to the idea of rituals and routines. They think they are constricting. In fact, just the opposite may be true. I find that having structure simply keeps me focused. And your rituals should not be so limiting that they can not adjust when necessary.

Another objection is that it makes everything, including time with family and friends, seem like one more thing to check off the list. However, it is important that you “stay in the moment” with anything you do. Whether you are getting together with a few friends or working on a client project, you need to be totally present for whatever you are doing. Having “a time for everything and everything in its time” helps you to do that.

Start developing your rituals today. Keep in mind that they will not be carved in stone, and they will evolve over time. The idea is to create rituals that work for you, not to tie yourself down to an arbitrary routine.

• Lose 10 pounds.
• Earn $100,000 this year.
• Make 20 sales this month.

Those goals have to do with specific accomplishments, and they can be motivating. They can also be frustrating. When you lose just nine pounds or make 17 sales, you feel like a failure.

On the other hand, learning goals are about taking the steps that will get us to our other goals.

For example, instead of (or in addition to) the performance goal of losing 10 pounds, there could be a learning goal of discovering a fun way to exercise or learning to cook healthful meals.

I heard a presentation the other night by Keith Ferrazzi, who was talking about the concepts presented in his new book, Who’s Got Your Back: The Breakthrough Program to Build Deep, Trusting Relationships That Create Success–and Won’t Let You Fail. The book is about building a few lifeline relationships in our lives, with peers who will support us, encourage us, be honest with us and ultimately not let us fail. That includes setting the goals by which you will define success. Your lifeline friends can help you identify those goals, keep you on track and hold you accountable.

One part of Keith’s talk that resonated strongly with me was the talk about learning goals vs performance goals. In the book, he says:

Certain goals, known as “performance goals,” imply a finite result, like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But to me, far more important is developing a process and a road map that help you achieve [the goal] in a given time. In other words, you should be thinking about the rainbow, not just the pot of gold.

That is a wonderful image. How often do we get caught up in the quest for the pot of gold (sometimes almost literally) and forget about the rainbow? Performance goals are fine. They give us a target to aim at and it is satisfying to reach them. But learning goals help us the acquire the skills and knowledge we need to move toward those performance goals.

So the next time you are setting a goal, don’t just look at where you want to end up. Think about the path that will take you there, and beyond.