Archive for Staying motivated
When you were a child, what did you worry about? What did your parents worry about? Do you worry now? If so, what do you worry about? Are there any similarities between your parents’ fears and your fears?
The USA Today newspaper once did research on children’s fears. Seven fears emerged. Here they are in order of the fear:
1. School grades
2. The way they look
3. Their popularity
4. National hunger and poverty
5. National Violence
6. Drugs & Alcohol
7. Nuclear Destruction
What are some of your worries? Are you worried about money, relationships, aging, your career, or the future? Research shows that only 8% of what people worry about ever happens.
What triggers worry? It is usually the absence of something. People can make themselves sick when they worry. We spend billions of dollars on sickness. That’s a lot of worry about health. People who worry love to worry and they love to get other people to love to worry. They infect other people. Misery loves company!
Worry prevents people from truly experiencing life. They are rarely present to the moment and each person in the moment. They worry about other people. They worry about the dark. They worry about being abandoned. They even worry about worrying. People who worry have unintact Self-Esteem. They deny themselves opportunities to release more of their potential. Their energy is drained by worrying.
People with intact Self-Esteem do not worry. So each day, as you meet challenges in your life, do what the song, Sunny Side of the Street suggests – develop your Self-Esteem and “leave your worries on the doorstep”. Ask yourself, “What is the worst thing that can happen”? “What is the best thing that can happen”? Prepare for both and then you will be able to handle anything that comes into your life. Give yourself permission to release your brakes and seize each moment. Live each moment to the fullest. Take effective control of your life and all of your worries will disappear. Remember, 92% of what you worry about never happens.
Learn to laugh at your worries and then, watch what happens!
What does success really mean to you? Is money success? Is power success? Is having your own business success? Is competence success? Is freedom success? Is having friends success? Is health success? Is being in love success? Is being single or married success? Is having a family success? Is having possessions success? Is self acceptance success? Is Self-Esteem behavior success?
I once attended a play called, “Have.” It was about women who wanted to “Have” property and land. The play
centered on how they went about acquiring these items. Their acquisitions were success to them.
All of us choose our own success. Give yourself a success check up. Do you consider yourself energetic? Do you think you have what it really takes to succeed? Are you willing to learn and take the necessary action to be successful? What, if anything, are you willing to give up in order to succeed? Do you think women are as ambitious as men? Answer these questions and the ones below.
1. What is your work style: hard driving, high pressure, relaxed, or just to get the job done?
2. How many hours a week do you work?
3. What are your priorities in life? Is it becoming financially well off, having a great family life, living a creative life, making a contribution to society, developing rewarding personal relationships, achieving recognition, improving your skills, achieving job or career success, or enhancing your Self-Esteem?
4. Regardless of how you feel about your work, how successful do you feel you are with your: career, talent, abilities, risk-taking, hard work, determination, education, family role and relationships, perseverance, need to succeed, personality, high standards, personal or family wealth, and personal fulfillment?
5. Which do you feel is more important for achieving excellence in your work: competition or cooperation? How come?
When you BE and then do and have with intact Self-Esteem, happiness and success are inevitable and then, watch what happens!
Do you remember the song, You Light Up My Life? Do you recall when President Bush was elected? He talked about 1,000 points of light. During the November, December, and January holiday season do you go to see the colorful lights in different parts of your city? At the beginning of each new decade focus on the word – LIGHT.
Pause for a moment and review the past 10 years. How did you light up your life? Did you have a mentor – a resource person (or persons) who helped you improve your life in all areas: Spiritually, Financially, Socially, Mentally, Physically, Family, and Career? I believe every person needs to find at least one mentor who is interested in helping them release more of their potential.
Each decade offers its own challenges:
1. Meaningful relationships
2. All kinds of addictions and their consequences
3. Career transitions and uncertainty about the future
4. Health care
5. Aging and the possibility of living beyond 100
6. Financial planning and answering the question, “How much money will I need to live a dignified retirement lifestyle?”
Here are some ideas for your planning of the next 10 years of your life, using the acrostic LIGHT:
L-Lifelong Learning. Do you have a Lifelong Learning Program?
I-Investing. Are you investing money for your retirement? Do you invest in yourself daily by refining and learning new skills? No one is as interested in you as you are!
G-Go! Where will you go in the next 10 years to visit new places, meet new people, and broaden your life experiences?
H-Health. What health improvements will you make daily?
T-Time. How will you use your time in the next 10 years? That’s 3650 days! Will you spend them or invest them?
Whatever you decide to do, let your light shine daily during the next 10 years to give and receive the most out of your life. Remember these words Lifelong Learning, Invest, Go, Health, and Time. I wish you a healthy and prosperous decade.
Find the mentors to help you get the most from your life and then, watch what happens!
