How to stay motivated

Just been on holiday with no TV, radio.....internet...zippo...nothing and I was still highly motivated, and was reminded of this great article by Chris Widener.

Some time ago, someone wrote me an email and said, “I would love to know what motivates YOU!” So I took them up on it and I want to tell you how I stay motivated.

It is a valid question, this one of what motivates me. After all, each and every day I have to stay on the top of my game whether it is because I am giving a speech, marketing my materials or just trying to keep my kids energized!

As I thought about it, I realized again just how simple life can be if you put the right processes in place. I realized that me staying motivated revolves around a few basic things that I do. And they are things that ANYBODY can do. So if I can stay motivated, you can too! If you want to stay motivated, try these basics that I use to keep myself motivated:

• Read good books and magazines. I am an information junkie! I read all of the time. I don’t care what you say; you cannot be successful without reading! I read books, magazines, etc., all of the time. I read a breadth of information so as to develop myself on a wide variety of topics. Keep reading them on a regular basis throughout the month and not just in reading binges.

• Listen to good information. Get yourself into some good tapes. Listen to what others have to say. Give yourself a budget to spend on materials that will make you into a motivated animal! Above all, as you listen, apply the truths to your life in your head and they will become what you live.

• Maintain a positive group of friends and colleagues. I broke this rule one day and went to coffee with a real downer. I am still recovering from him! One of the best things you can do is to surround yourself with positive people who will build you up and encourage you to pursue your dreams. They will be honest with you, yes, but they will also challenge you to shoot for the stars!

• Focus clearly on my goals. I know where I am going and what I want to accomplish. They are firmly rooted in my mind and heart. Because of this, my mind and heart are in an attitude of motivation all of the time. I want to hit my goals and since they are present in my heart and mind, I put my energies into them.

• Discipline myself to live out my priorities. Most of the time, this takes plain old hard work. We have to discipline ourselves and as we do we find ourselves becoming more and more motivated. If we discipline ourselves, it gives us wins and victories, which makes us feel good, which motivates us for further action. If we don’t discipline ourselves, we feel defeated and we fall into a downward spiral of despair.

Are you keeping yourself motivated? You can. I know you can because I have seen these principles and actions work in my own life. Take a moment right now and see if you are living out the principles for keeping motivated:

- Do you regularly read good books and magazines?
- Do you regularly listen to good material?
- Do you surround yourself with positive and supportive people?
- Do you know and focus on your goals?
- Do you discipline yourself to action even when you don’t feel like it?

Commit yourself to these and you will find that you become a much more motivated person. This is what I do, and why I can continue to motivate others!

Upward and onward my friends!

Why Prepare?

Before every NFL Super Bowl, it seems the forest animals also play a football game. It's the little animals versus the big animals. In last year's game, the big animals jumped out to a huge lead of 49-0 at halftime.

To start the second half, the big animals were to receive the ball. The mouse kicked off for the little animals. The ball sailed down to the goal line where the rhinoceros caught the ball, tucked it under his chin and took off. He had gotten only as far as the one-yard line when from out of nowhere, BOOM! The rhino was hit so hard he fumbled the ball and the ball bounced into the end zone where the rabbit recovered it for a touchdown.

The coach of the little animals was so excited that he ran onto the field and asked, "Who tackled the rhino?" The fox said, "Coach, it was the centipede!"

"The centipede? The centipede? Man, that was a great tackle!" He walked over to the centipede and said, "You are a great player! That was the hardest hit in the history of football. Where were you in the first half?"

The centipede said, "Coach, I was putting my shoes on!"

The moral of the story is: be prepared. Preparation compensates for a lack of talent. Preparation is a key element in successful selling. The better prepared you are, the fewer surprises you encounter during your day.

Stand Tall

I cam across this great article by Denis Waitley:

As Tall as You Want to Be by Denis Waitley

When he was two years old, this adopted child of two college professors suddenly and inexplicably stopped growing, and his health started to fail. A team of doctors gave him six months to live after they diagnosed him as suffering from a rare disease that inhibits digestion and nutrients in food. Intravenous feedings of vitamins and supplements allowed him to regain his strength, but his growth was permanently stunted.

Confined to hospitals for long periods of time, until the age of nine, he quietly plotted his revenge on the kids who taunted him and called him “peanut.”

He recalled many years later that subconsciously “the whole experience made me want to succeed at something athletic.” Sometimes his sister, Susan, went ice skating at the local rink, and he would go along to watch. There he stood, a frail, undergrown kid, with a feeding tube inserted through his nose and down into his stomach. When he wasn’t using it, one end of the tube was taped behind his ear.

One day, as he watched his sister whirl around the ice, he turned to his parents and said, “You know, I think I’d like to try ice skating.” Talk about two adults, looking at their life-threatened child, with glances that were beyond belief!

Well, he tried it and he loved it, and he went at it with a passion. Here was something fun at which he could excel, where height and weight weren’t important.

During his medical checkup the following year, the doctors were startled to discover that he had actually started growing again. It was too late for him to reach normal size, but neither he nor his family cared. He was recovering and succeeding. He believed in his dream, although he had little else to hang on to.

None of the kids taunt him and tease him today. Instead, they all cheer and rush to get his autograph. He has just completed another dazzling performance on the world professional ice skating tour, with a long string of triple jumps, complicated maneuvers, and athletic moves, capped off with a racing front flip that brought him to a sudden stop inches from the audience. Although he has retired from professional skating, he remains a coach, mentor and commentator revered by everyone in winter sports.

At five feet three inches and 115 pounds of pure muscle and electrifying energy, former Olympic gold medal figure skating champion Scott Hamilton stands as tall and as proud as any winner. Scott’s size didn’t limit his faith and reach. Don’t let doubts and critics limit yours. This doesn’t mean that you’ll close almost every sale or get promoted in record time. Scott Hamilton certainly didn’t hit every triple-axel jump he ever attempted, especially during the initial learning phase. Success in developing any skill requires a basic trust in your ability that should never be allowed to waver.

You can stand tall, no matter how small!