Devote Yourself to creating something that gives you purpose . . .

"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning."

Tuesdays with Morrie, author Mitch Albom

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The Four "IF's" by Jim Rohn

Jim Rohn is one of my all time favorite speakers who not only knew how to communicate, but how to communicate well. The Four "If's" shares some insight that he has about making life worthwhile.

Over the years, as I’ve sought out ideas, principles and strategies to life’s challenges, I’ve come across four simple words that can make living worthwhile.

First, life is worthwhile if you LEARN. What you don’t know will hurt you. You have to have learning to exist, let alone succeed. Life is worthwhile if you learn from your own experiences—negative or positive.

We learn to do it right by first sometimes doing it wrong. We call that a positive negative. We also learn from other people’s experiences, both positive and negative. I’ve always said that it is too bad failures don’t give seminars. Obviously, we don’t want to pay them, so they aren’t usually touring around giving seminars. But that information would be very valuable. We would learn how someone who had it all, messed it up. Learning from other people’s experiences and mistakes is valuable information because we can learn what not to do without the pain of having tried and failed ourselves.

We learn by what we see, so pay attention. We learn by what we hear, so be a good listener. Now, I do suggest that you should be a selective listener. Don’t just let anybody dump into your mental factory. We learn from what we read, so learn from every source. Learn from lectures. Learn from songs. Learn from sermons. Learn from conversations with people who care. Always keep learning.

Second, life is worthwhile if you TRY. You can’t just learn. Now you have to try something to see if you can do it. Try to make a difference. Try to make some progress. Try to learn a new skill. Try to learn a new sport. It doesn’t mean you can do everything, but there are a lot of things you can do if you just try. Try your best. Give it every effort. Why not go all out?

Third, life is worthwhile if you STAY. You have to stay from spring until harvest. If you have signed up for the day or for the game or for the project, see it through. Sometimes calamity comes; then it is worth wrapping it up and that’s the end. But just don’t end in the middle. Maybe on the next project you pass, but on this one, if you signed up, see it through.

And lastly, life is worthwhile if you CARE. If you care at all, you will get some results. If you care enough, you can get incredible results. Care enough to make a difference. Care enough to turn somebody around. Care enough to start a new enterprise. Care enough to change it all. Care enough to be the highest producer. Care enough to set some records. Care enough to win.

Four powerful little words: learn, try, stay and care. What difference can you make in your life today by putting these words to work?

Thursday, September 16, 2010

3 Degrees Connected Event - How Well Do You Handle Stress?

Maybe perfect timing for the upcoming holiday season . . . or maybe just great timing for any season. We would love to have you come to our event. Click Register for this event to learn more.

Step by Step - Achieving One's Goals

If you've ever set a big goal and took the steps necessary to achieve it, you will find the excel oration in sharing your accomplishments with others and the interest in helping others to do the same. Early in June I was attending a camp with my daughter and volunteered to work in a marketplace. A gentleman walked up to look at items that were for sale and he was wearing a tee-shirt which read "Million Step Club". I was intrigued by what he had accomplished so I asked him about his shirt. He was more than happy to explain that he and his son had set a goal to walk 1 million steps. After he achieved this goal, he got a tee-shirt. I didn't learn all the details to see if this was an official club, or just a recognition of his accomplishments. That evening I resolved to become part of the 1 Million Step Club.

Knowing that it is recommended that one walk 10,000 steps a day I figured that I could accomplish this goal in about 100 days. Deciding to be generous with myself I resolved to walk 1,000,000 in four months or 120 days.

The first week I found myself chanting "Winners never Quit" and "Quitters never win" as I put on my walking shoes at the end of the day to finish up the last 3,000 to 5,000 steps that I needed in order to meet my daily goal of 10,000. At least a half dozen times I got those last two to three thousand steps by my bedside during the evening news as the mosquitoes were to hungry, or the weather was not desirable to finish my steps. One evening my pedometer wasn't working so I actually walked an hour and a half bedside to get the remaining 4,000 steps I needed. The next morning my electronic devise decided to tell me the truth about the steps that it didn't register the night before. I had actually walked 15,000 steps. No wonder I slept so well!

Now it is day 82 and I started the day with the realization that I have less than 25,000 steps to go. It is remarkable what you can accomplish when you stick whole-heartily to achieving your goals. Remembering the story "Around the World in 80 Days", I started pondering what I had actually accomplished in a little over 80 days myself. On average I walked about 5 miles a day x 80 days; I've actually walked 400 plus miles. My weight has changed by more than 2 pounds since I started this process, but my legs, waist, and face all show signs that I've been up to something good.

This post is to share my accomplishment (two days to go for my million steps), and also to encourage you to take on at least one new goal before the end of September. Write down what you want to accomplish and what will be required of you in order to meet the challenge. I am now formulating my next million steps and setting an additional goal of keeping a journal. Having an account of obstacles and accomplishments will give me more insight to achieving success.

For my next million steps, I'm actually going to see if there is an official million step club that I can join.

Stats: Day with the most steps 18,451, Day with the least steps 9,000. Average steps over the 82 day journey 11,795, Self-esteem - PRICELESS!