Just like everyone else about this time of year, I’ve lost sight of my goals as well as my momentum. It appears that the coach needs a little coaching.

I feel ill-equipped to dispense advice when I’m not heeding my own. This month I am turning to one of my favorite coaches to give us all a little shot in the arm.

http://www.gitomer.com/articles/ViewPublicArticle.html?key=ajcdMibak3P5JnwxFsA2OQ%3D%3D

Have I told you how much I appreciate you? I do!

EMOTIONS OF CHANGE PART 2

Earlier this month I shared the first two of Jim Rohn’s 'Emotions That Can Lead to Life Change'. Do you remember what they were? If you can remember without looking back, you are probably serious about making changes in your life that can lead you to act on achieving your goals. If not, I’ve recapped and added the other two emotions.

Disgust
Decision

Desire

How does one gain desire? I don’t think I can answer this directly because there are many ways. But I do know two things about desire:

A. It comes from the inside not the outside.
B. It can be triggered by outside forces.

Almost anything can trigger desire. It’s a matter of timing as much as preparation. It might be a song that tugs at the heart. It might be a memorable sermon. It might be a movie, a conversation with a friend, a confrontation with the enemy, or a bitter experience. Even a book or an article such as this one can trigger the inner mechanism that will make some people say, “I want it now!”

Therefore, while searching for your “hot button” of pure, raw desire, welcome into your life each positive experience. Don’t erect a wall to protect you from experiencing life. The same wall that keeps out your disappointment also keeps out the sunlight of enriching experiences. So let life touch you. The next touch could be the one that turns your life around.

Resolve

Resolve says, “I will.” These two words are among the most potent in the English language. I WILL. Benjamin Disraeli, the great British statesman, once said, “Nothing can resist a human will that will stake even its existence on the extent of its purpose.” In other words, when someone resolves to “do or die,” nothing can stop him.

The mountain climber says, “I will climb the mountain. They’ve told me it’s too high, it’s too far, it’s too steep, it’s too rocky, it’s too difficult. But it’s my mountain. I will climb it. You’ll soon see me waving from the top or you’ll never see me, because unless I reach the peak, I’m not coming back.” Who can argue with such resolve?

When confronted with such iron-will determination, I can see Time, Fate and Circumstance calling a hasty conference and deciding, “We might as well let him have his dream. He’s said he’s going to get there or die trying.”

Think about it! How long should a baby try to learn how to walk? How long would you give the average baby before you say, “That’s it, you’ve had your chance”? You say that’s crazy? Of course it is. Any mother would say, “My baby is going to keep trying until he learns how to walk!” No wonder everyone walks.

There is a vital lesson in this. Ask yourself, “How long am I going to work to make my dreams come true?” I suggest you answer, “As long as it takes.” That’s what these four emotions are all about.

I wish you many days of confronting disgust, decision, desire and resolve and turning them into positive change that will help you reach your dreams.

Have I told you that I appreciate you? I do!

EMOTIONS OF CHANGE

I let March get by without a post, so I am planning a 2-part message for April.

In preparing articles about goals and change, I have been reading a lot from Jim Rohn. I am using one of his articles titled “The Four Emotions That Can Lead To Life Change” as the basis for our April blogs.

Emotions are the most powerful forces inside us. Under the power of emotions, human beings can perform the most heroic (as well as barbaric) acts. To a great degree, civilization itself can be defined as the intelligent channeling of human emotion. Emotions are fuel and the mind is the pilot, which together propel the ship of civilized progress.

Which emotions cause people to act? There are four basic ones; each, or a combination of several, can trigger the most incredible activity. The day that you allow these emotions to fuel your desire is the day you’ll turn your life around.

Disgust

One does not usually equate the word “disgust” with positive action. And yet properly channeled, disgust can change a person’s life. The person who feels disgusted has reached a point of no return. He or she is ready to throw down the gauntlet at life and say, “I’ve had it!” That’s what I said after many humiliating experiences at age 25. I said, “I don’t want to live like this anymore. I’ve had it with being broke. I’ve had it with being embarrassed, and I’ve had it with lying.”
Yes, productive feelings of disgust come when a person says, “Enough is enough.”

The “guy” has finally had it with mediocrity. He’s had it with those awful sick feelings of fear, pain and humiliation. He then decides he is “not going to live like this anymore.” Look out! This could be the day that turns a life around. Call it what you will: the “I’ve had it” day, the “never again” day, the “enough’s enough” day. Whatever you call it, it’s powerful! There is nothing so life-changing as gut-wrenching disgust!

Decision

Most of us need to be pushed to the wall to make decisions. And once we reach this point, we have to deal with the conflicting emotions that come with making them. We have reached a fork in the road. Now this fork can be a two-prong, three-prong, or even a four-prong fork. No wonder that decision-making can create knots in stomachs, keep us awake in the middle of the night, or make us break out in a cold sweat.

Making life-changing decisions can be likened to internal civil war. Conflicting armies of emotions, each with its own arsenal of reasons, battle each other for supremacy of our minds. And our resulting decisions, whether bold or timid, well thought out or impulsive, can either set the course of action or blind it.

I don’t have much advice to give you about decision-making except this: Whatever you do, don’t camp at the fork in the road. Decide. It’s far better to make a wrong decision than to not make one at all. Each of us must confront our emotional turmoil and sort out our feelings.

The remaining two emotions will be part of our next post. Until then, think about the change you want in your life and be honest about what you are willing to do to make real change happen.

‘It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.’

Have I told you how much I appreciate you? I do!

CHANGE THAT COUNTS

I used to say, “I sure hope things will change.” Then I learned that the only way things are going to change for me is when I change.- Jim Rohn

When planning successful goals, one thing is sure – if you achieve your goals you will change in the process. It seems strange that we all have goals we want to achieve, yet we hesitate to make the change that is necessary to achieve them. Maybe that’s why many of our goals are never met.

This excerpt from an article by Jim Rohn on ‘Change’ is worth sharing with you.

Any day we wish, we can discipline ourselves to change it all. Any day we wish, we can open the book that will open our mind to new knowledge. Any day we wish, we can start a new activity. Any day we wish, we can start the process of life change. We can do it immediately, or next week, or next month, or next year.

We can also do nothing. We can pretend rather than perform. And if the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable, we can remain as we are. We can choose rest over labor, entertainment over education, delusion over truth, and doubt over confidence. The choices are ours to make. But while we curse the effect, we continue to nourish the cause. As Shakespeare uniquely observed, “The fault is not in the stars, but in ourselves.” We created our circumstances by our past choices. We have both the ability and the responsibility to make better choices beginning today.

We cannot allow our errors in judgment, repeated every day, to lead us down the wrong path. We must keep coming back to those basics that make the biggest difference in how our life works out. And then we must make the very choices that will bring life, happiness and joy into our daily lives.

Keep these thoughts in mind, and as you plan your goals – plan on change. Remember that all change is not progress, but all progress is change.

Have I told you how much I appreciate you? I do!

WHAT ARE YOU BECOMING

It's here - a new year - what will you do with it? What will you become as you spend the resource of time that lies before you?

We are in the process of setting goals for 2010. The heart of your personal goal-setting should be built around what you want to become and what you are willing to do to get there. Jim Rohn said it this way, "You want to set a goal that is big enough that in the process of achieving it you become someone worth becoming."

He also wrote the following article about the Miracle of Self Development that I want to share with you.

One day my mentor Mr. Shoaff said, “Jim, if you want to be wealthy and happy, learn this lesson well: Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job.”

Since that time I’ve been working on my own personal development. And I must admit that this has been the most challenging assignment of all. This business of personal development lasts a lifetime.

You see, what you become is far more important than what you get. The important question to ask on the job is not, “What am I getting?” Instead, you should ask, “What am I becoming?” Getting and becoming are like Siamese twins: What you become directly influences what you get. Think of it this way: Most of what you have today you have attracted by becoming the person you are today.

I’ve also found that income rarely exceeds personal development. Sometimes income takes a lucky jump, but unless you learn to handle the responsibilities that come with it, it will usually shrink back to the amount you can handle.

If someone hands you a million dollars, you’d better hurry up and become a millionaire. A very rich man once said, “If you took all the money in the world and divided it equally among everybody, it would soon be back in the same pockets it was before.”

It is hard to keep that which has not been obtained through personal development.

So here’s the great axiom of life:

To have more than you’ve got, become more than you are.

This is where you should focus most of your attention. Otherwise, you just might have to contend with the axiom of not changing, which is:

Unless you change how you are, you’ll always have what you’ve got.

The very nature of setting goals is to change. All change is not improvement, however, all improvement is change. As you set your goals, commit to consistent, sustained change. Next month we will delve a little deeper into change.

Until then, I will leave you with this thought; What will you learn in 2010? It is through learning that we grow, becoming more than we were before.

Have I told you lately that I appreciate you? I do!

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

"The only difference between a rich person and a poor person is how they use their time."


I must admit I'm not sure where my time has gone. I started this blog for December and then got caught up in 'life'. This morning I got anxious at the thought of the month drawing to an end without having finished it. Then I realized that the year was drawing to a close as well.


In a week we will focus on making goal posters for 2010. We will look back at the posters we created for 2009 to see how much progress we made in achieving those goals. I wonder how we will feel about that progress.


Where did your year go? Did you spend your time or invest it? Did you reach your goals or will they carry over to 2010? If they carry over, what will you commit to do differently to make sure they become reality? Goals are all about change.


When setting your goals for 2010, ask yourself, "What changes am I willing to go through to make this goal a reality?" You can say you want to learn a new skill, but if you never take the first step and follow through, they are just hollow words. Goals aren't meant to impress others; they should be a commitment you make to yourself - one that you work hard to keep.


Take yourself and your goals seriously. Plan your time every day around achieving your goals. Here are a couple of quotes to keep it in perspective.

The ultimate reason for setting goals is to entice you to

become the person it takes to achieve them.

The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.

Good luck with your goals for 2010.


Have I told you how much I appreciate you? I do!

POSITIVELY THANKFUL

I consider myself to be a positive person. I generally take the view that the glass is not only half full, but a waiter will be around soon and top it off before I get to the one-quarter mark.

It was almost two years ago that I got the news that I had breast cancer. The call came from my doctor the day before Thanksgiving. My response to him was, "God says to give thanks in all things, so thank you." I was sure that God would bring good out of the situation, even though I couldn't see the end yet. I'm happy to report that He didn't disappoint. Unfortunately, that positive attitude seems to slip in the smaller matters of life.

On a recent trip to Ephesus, our group visited the house where John took Mary and she lived out the rest of her life. It was a peaceful place that touched everyone in the group. There was a fountain area in the gardens where you could get 'holy water'. Beside it was a wall where prayers were written on bits of cloth or paper and tied to the wall. I felt moved to write prayers for family and friends so I opened my travel bag to look for my pen.

My bag had an section with a pen loop and I had placed one in it when I packed. When I opened my bag and didn't see the pen where I expected to find it, I told my friend that I must have lost it. She looked down, stuck her hand in another area of the bag and said, "Here it is". Thankful, I took the pen and started writing my prayers. As I did, others in the group asked to use it to write their own prayers.

I sat in the peace and quiet of the garden while person after person poured their hearts onto pieces of tissue, scraps of paper and torn travel guides. As I sat waiting for my pen to be returned, God laid it on my heart that He had used my pen to bless others and that I had almost missed the opportunity to participate in the blessing because my pen was not where I expected it to be.

I knew I put the pen in my bag. Why then, if I am a positive person, didn't I have faith in what I knew rather than what I could see? How many times have we missed God's blessing because He didn't show up like we expected Him to, because He wasn't where we thought He should be, or because we choose to see with our eyes and stop depending on what we know in our hearts?

God is crazy about us! He rejoices over us! He cares about our physical and spiritual well being. Why then, when things get tough, do we fail to see Him in the midst of our struggles? Why do we not view our challenges as His intimate confidence in our ability to learn and grow through the experience with Him?

In this season of Thanksgiving, dig deep and look at the things that aren't going like you hoped; the things that are not what you expected or where you expected them to be and truly lift them up and thank God for them. It is through these things that He shows us the best of Himself. It is through these that He perfects our faith. It is through these that He will walk with us and take us to the blessings He has in store. There is sunshine on the other side of your dark clouds.

Have I told you how much I appreciate you? I do!