Tag: self improvement

Why Are You Not Sticking To A Healthy Lifestyle, When Others Are?

Get Results: Being healthy isn't a fad or a trend, it's a lifestyle
Get Results: Being healthy isn’t a fad or a trend, it’s a lifestyle

Why do some people stick to a healthy diet, and a productive exercise routine, while others don’t?

If you’re not exercising regularly (even if it’s just regular walking), and you’re not maintaining a healthy weight, you’re not living a healthy life, and you maybe, should be making a change. We all know it can be difficult to shed the pounds, especially as we get older, but most of the reasons for not following through on a healthy lifestyle, are largely due to motivational issues, rather than physical constraints.

ALWAYS CONSULT A DOCTOR BEFORE UNDERTAKING ANY PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND DIETARY PLAN. THERE ARE SOME MEDICAL CONDITIONS THAT CAUSE EXCESS WEIGHT, SO CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR FIRST.

it is common knowledge,  that a mixture of good diet and regular exercise is required to maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle, so we will be dealing with both in this article. I’m not going into the particulars about what foods to eat and not eat, and what exercises to undertake and what to avoid, in this article, it’s more about strategy, then execution.

Let’s look at some of the reasons and excuses for not sticking to a good diet and regular exercise routine and then what we can do about them. I have separated them out so that we can deal with them in turn, some of the points are repeated for both, where applicable. These are based on my experience,  you may find some of the points apply to you, and some may not. It is recommended that you make your  own list.

Self analysis

Not sticking to diet/eating plan

  • Giving in to a moment of weakness
  • Giving in to the urge/hunger
  • Inability to resist/delay (taste) gratification
  • Crave the taste/experience of (unhealthy/fatty food)
  • Think “will cut back tomorrow to make up”, but then don’t – (rationalise breaking the rules)
  • Procrastinating “I will start tomorrow/next week/new year”

What we can  do about it

  • Realise there is only ever this moment, so act NOW.
  • Don’t believe or fool yourself and your rationalisations – resist the temptation
  • Frame nice tasting food, negatively
  • Make healthy food more appealing and enjoyable
  • Fill yourself up on water (no calories), so you don’t feel hungry, sometimes thirst can be mistaken for hunger
  • Keep your mind busy, so you don’t think about food out of boredom
  • Avoid distractions and temptations altogether (no chocolates in cupboard)
  • Have an accountability buddy, or some mechanism for holding yourself to account
  • Set yourself a goal, that has no wriggle room and set a deadline to achieve it, hold yourself to account. So you will be embarrassed if you don’t achieve it
  • Set yourself an achievable target, that allows you to enjoy eating some treats (as part of the plan), then have zero tolerance for coming off plan. Mark X’s on a calendar each day you stick to your plan, don’t break the row of X’s
  • Make it part of your lifestyle, who you are, what you do. Make it a good habit. Once it becomes part of your routine, it will be easier to stick to.

Not exercising

  • Want to do something other than exercising, like watching TV, working on laptop.
  • Don’t want the discomfort of going outside, or having to pay and go to the gym, and missing out on doing more fun things.
  • Lack of energy willpower, can’t be bothered – lethargy.
  • Would rather be doing anything else – don’t enjoy exercising.
  • Procrastinating “I will start tomorrow/next week/new year”

What to do about it

  • Realise there is only ever this moment, so act NOW.
  • Try to undertake exercise that is fun to do – has a social element to it
  • Exercise in front of the TV, so you can do both
  • Remove the temptations or distractions, so you can’t do them anyway, even if you don’t exercise.
  • Do short bursts of high intensity, do them in advert break.
  • Have a accountability buddy, or exercise with one
  • Set yourself a goal, that has no wriggle room and set a deadline to achieve it, hold yourself to account. You will be embarrassed if you don’t achieve it
  • Don’t think about it, just set a routine and stick to it – make yourself do it, once it becomes a habit, it will get easier.
  • Set yourself an achievable target, that allows you to enjoy some treats or veto’s, then have zero tolerance for coming off plan. Mark X’s on a calendar each day you stick to your plan, don’t break the row of X’s
  • Make it part of your lifestyle, who you are, what you do

I have put down some of the things that go through my mind when I’m faced with the choice of either eating something I want to eat or eating healthy, and with regards to exercising or not. You should add your own excuses to this list as part of your self-awareness analysis.

Conclusion

First set yourself a GOAL, give yourself some room for TREATS, otherwise you will be miserable (thinking you are missing out too much) and will be unlikely to keep it up. Your goal has to be sustainable, and enjoyable, if possible. Some exercise is better than none.

Develop a PLAN OF ACTION to achieve your GOAL. Set to a timeline, with a deadline. In doing this, you have to tap into your SELF AWARENESS, and figure out why you’re not doing what you need to do, or find out why you’re doing things that are counter-productive to your goal. Try to manage your weaknesses. For example, If you can’t pull yourself away from the TV, stick a treadmill in front of it and do exercise while watching TV.

Then you have to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. There is no short-cut, or magic formula (be very, very careful about taking slimming aids and quick fixes, they can result in untold damage to your body). Stop making excuses and blaming other people or circumstances and the stresses of life, for not following your plan.

TAKE RIGHT ACTION. Those that take RIGHT ACTION have made it part of their routine. They JUST DO IT. They have found a way to JUST MAKE IT HAPPEN. It can be difficult to go against your bad habits, so either find some form of HACK to fool yourself into complying, or just make yourself do it.

Finally, be COMMITTED to your goal and plan of action, see it through to a successful conclusion.

Good luck

The Law of Attraction

Get Results: the law of attraction
Get Results: the law of attraction

Below is an inspirational video with quotes and affirmations from the “Law of Attraction” teachings.
https://youtu.be/HoKfz-zCdE8

Check out the “Law of Attraction” which is the idea behind the popular movie “The Secret”. However I would suggest checking out some of the videos done by Abraham Hicks on youtube for some really interesting in-depth videos about the subject. I recommend keeping an open mind when approaching the subject.

The 3 laws that are detailed by Abraham Hicks are:

  1. The Law of Attraction – says “That which is likened to itself is drawn” and refers to the magnetic power of thought
  2. The Law of deliberate creation – says “That which you give thought to or that you believe, allow or expect, is” we are all creators, most thoughts are by accident or default but holding deliberate thought will allow it to grow stronger and manifest itself into our life, good or bad.
  3. The Law of allowing – says “I am that which I am, and I am willing to allow all others to be what they are”

You must understand the first before you can understand the second, and you must understand the first and second before you can understand the third.

Author Napoleon Hill also advocates the use of the Law of Attraction in this book  Think and Grow Rich. He outlines the stages that need to be taken to live a fulfilled life:

Develop a burning desire, have faith, learn how to feed constructive ideas to your subconscious mind, acquire specialized knowledge, put your conscious mind to work, have a written plan, be decisive, be persistent, join forces with like-minded individuals, understanding the function of sex as related to success, understanding the power of the subconscious mind, trust your inner voice or six sense.

Although the book was written 1937 many of its teachings are still relevant today and is certainly worth a read. If you search there are a number or free PDF downloads available and the book is also available from Audible.com in audio form.

In a nutshell the premise of the Law of Attraction is:

Whatever you focus on, good or bad, you get more of. So be careful what you lock your thoughts on. Try to positively frame things in your thoughts such as wanting to be rich, instead of not wanting to be poor. If you think of poor, even in the negative you will get more of it in your life. The law of attraction does not understand the difference between not wanting or wanting. If you think poor, even in not wanting to be poor, that is the overriding focus of your thoughts and as a result you will get more of it in your life. So just to clarify, if you don’t want to be poor, think about being rich.

Just thinking of something is not enough, it needs to be mixed with a strong emotion to really work. so desiring something with all your heart will be more effective. So will fearing something. If you fear something greatly and keep that fear in your mind, you will, like a magnet attract that very thing into your life…so be warned!

Don’t just wish for something, believe it is waiting for you in the future, just waiting for you to meet up with it. Believe it is already yours, it’s just waiting for you to claim it.

For more about spirituality and wellbeing check my spirituality guide.

Never ASSUME anything

Get Results: Never ASSUME
Get Results: Never ASSUME

The other day this saying randomly popped into my mind…

“Never ASSUME, it often makes an ASS of U and Me”.

Well it got me thinking about how ASSUMING impacts our lives. We often hear the word used when something has failed to happened, but which should have happened, because an assumption was made instead of checking. For example you might leave the house without your keys, only to realise after you’ve shut the door and locked yourself out, simply because you assumed your partner had picked them up.

That’s one example of assuming, others might include:

  • assuming we have the correct information,
  • assuming we are being told the whole truth,
  • assuming we have and understand all the facts,
  • assuming we know best.

I came up with this list while considering the current political debate ranging in the UK, where lot’s of strongly held opinions are flying around, based, to a large extent, on many assumptions.

So making assumptions can be very problematic, we should never assume anything, we should always double check, or do the research to make sure we have all the facts. Assuming is a form of laziness, which can cause us more hassle and pain further down the road.

I decided to look up the synonyms of ASSUME and came up with the following list:

  • taking for granted
  • taken as given
  • accept
  • conclude
  • consider
  • estimate
  • expect
  • guess
  • infer
  • presume
  • speculate
  • suspect
  • think
  • understand
  • ascertain
  • conjecture
  • deduce
  • deem
  • divine
  • fancy
  • find
  • gather
  • hypothesise
  • imagine
  • judge
  • posit
  • postulate
  • predicate
  • presuppose
  • suppose
  • surmise
  • theorise
  • be afraid
  • be inclined to think
  • count upon
  • fall for
  • get the idea
  • have a hunch
  • have sneaking suspicion

When I read though this list, it got me thinking about how ASSUMING is not just about missing something, or not checking if something has indeed taken place, it can also be a reason why we DON’T TAKE ACTION.

Think about it for a minute, if you assume you KNOW the outcome of say, a particular course of action, it might be enough to discourage you from even trying. Your internal inner dialogue might go like this…

  • “It won’t work”, or
  • “I’m not good enough to make a success of this”, or
  • “People aren’t going to buy it anyway.”

This might be an assumption based on nothing more then self-doubt, but if you just assume you can’t do it, or assume it won’t work out, you aren’t likely to take the necessary steps to find out.

Stop ASSUMING, it’s a motivation killer. The only way you can know for sure is by giving it a go.

If you’re struggling for motivation, check out our motivational guide.

Initiate Momentum to TAKE ACTION

Get Results: why do people not take action when others do
Get Results: why do people not take action when others do

Without the motivation to get off your ass and take action, nothing is possible. Taking action is where all progress happens. It is where you will “learn” as well as “do”.

All action and inaction is driven by motivation, which is made up of two opposing forces. One that wants us to be more, to have more, to be better. The other wants to keep us safe, psychologically and physically. They fight over everything we set out to do, and each battle can have only one winner. We need to give ourselves more of a reason to act than not, if we are to chase down our goals. We must NEED or WANT enough, so that staying safe is not enough.

After forcing the initial effort needed, habit comes to help us carry it on. Once you learn to master this initiation phase, the world is your playground.

Learn from TAKING ACTION

The feedback you get from doing is where all your education lies. Don’t be scared of testing boundaries, see what works and what doesn’t. Go about your actions with purpose and in a systematic manner so you can keep track of successes and failures.

Overcome fear of failure

If you fear failure, then you have to be prepared to undergo something of a mind shift. Redefine what failure means to you. Failure can only occur if you throw in the towel, if you are using it to navigate the path to your goal, it just becomes part of the process.

Think of it like finding your way out of a maze. Having a reliable map is great, but not always possible, so in the absence of such a map you might have go down a few dead ends and participating in a little trial and error is as effective as anything else, in such situations.

The three groups of people

Now some people are happy to take action, they have found a purpose that they are enthusiastic to pursue. They wake up excited at what lies ahead of them. Motivation is not an issue for these people. Sure, they might be somewhat fearful of the unknown but they find not taking action much more scary. Their fear of inaction outweighs their fear of action, hands down.

The next group of people, find they have their backs to the wall, they have to take action because of necessity. They might be facing financial or social pressures that are threatening to ruin them, or they might have reached the end of their tether, and just can’t take their present situation any longer. If they stay put, they are finished, emotionally, financial or in some other way. Again taking action is far less risky then not, at this point.

The third group of people are the least likely to be motivated to take action. They might have a burning desire to do something, a dream they  want to fulfil, but their fear of change, of the unknown, of the possible risk that might, could possibly be waiting for them further down the road, is too great to take a chance. They might not be 100% content  with their present situation, they might even be unhappy with it, but it feels safer or more comfortable to maintain the status quo.

So how do you find enough motivation to initiate action. Well first understand that like pushing a car from a standing start, the hardest bit is starting. Once you build up some momentum, a little thing called inertia takes over. Inertia is where the very act of movement helps propel you forward, requiring less and less effort from you. Inertia comes through the habits and rituals that you do daily. They might be small in nature but doing them daily, means you are using less conscious effort, just to take the action, you just do it, cause it’s what you always do.

It gets easier

So  knowing that the first day of a new you is going to be the hardest, but give it a couple of weeks, you will have a new routine that kind of, takes care of itself, without you having to force yourself. If you still have to force yourself at that point, maybe it’s not for you. It’s important to have some self awareness of what you like and don’t like and why, check out my piece on self awareness for more information.

Move from indifference to WANT or NEED

Well going back to our groups of people, those that WANT enough to take action, those that NEED to take action, and the third group, these I call INDIFFERENT to taking action. The INDIFFERENT group as highlighted previously, are the least likely to act, because their fear of taking action is stronger than their fear of not taking action. So, if you’re in this group and are wondering how you find enough motivation to move you towards your goal, you have to push your mindset into either the WANT or NEED groups.

One of the best ways to increasing your WANTING, is by setting yourself goals.

Without a goal to aim for, you will lack direction, and it becomes difficult to effectively gauge if you are doing the right thing at any given moment. With a goal, you can develop a plan of action for achieving your goal and feel that you have a sense of purpose in the pursuit of it.

One of the masters of goal setting Zig Ziglar, outlined a seven step process for effective goal setting:

  1. Identify exactly what you want and write them down
  2. Spell out why you want to reach goals
  3. List obstacles to overcome to get there
  4. Identify the people, the groups and the organisation you need to work with in order to get there
  5. Identify what you need to know to reach your goal
  6. Develop a plan of action to reach your goal
  7. Put a date on when you expect to get there

On the other hand, manoeuvring yourself into a NEED state is for sure, a more high risk option, and not one that I would personally recommend. It includes things like leaving a regular day job that you might hate, to build your dream business, so that you have to make it work, or sink. I would prefer to work in the evenings to test the idea and build it to a point where it becomes less of a risk, but taking this all-or-nothing approach remains an option that some choose to take.

Over to you

You should try to find a purpose that pulls you towards it, rather than you having to push yourself to do it. Alternatively you have to cut your options so that you “HAVE to” take action, and give yourself no other choice.

One thing is for certain, if you stay in a state of INDIFFERENCE, you’re unlikely to take the necessary actions to leave your present situation. “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.”

Now I’ve given you some pointers, the details of how you go about it, are unique to you and your circumstances. Good luck. Please sign up to our mailing list if you want more tailor-made content, and share this article with your friends and family if you found it useful.

For more about motivational influences, check out our Motivation guide.

If you would like to read more articles focused on INITIATING MOMENTUM, click here.

Finding Out WHO YOU ARE

Get Results: Self Awareness make champions of us
Get Results: Self Awareness make champions of us

Gary Vaynerchuk recently did a video talking about the importance of figuring out who you are. Check it out below.

He’s right, without a solid grasp of knowing what you’re about, life can feel somewhat pointless. I don’t mean in the sense of what’s the point in living, but rather, knowing what you should be doing, and where you should be heading.

Those we look up to

We look up to people that have found their niche, who seem to be living the dream. They love what they do, and can’t get enough of it. Productivity is at an all time high, because they are consumed by their passion 247.

No clue

I am aware there are a lot of people, particularly those leaving school, who haven’t got a clue where their destiny lies, and frankly, how could they? Without gaining some practical experience, how can you know what you like and don’t like. You may romanticise certain professions, but until you’re doing it as an occupation, there’s no way of knowing if it’s for you.

Hobbies don’t always make good occupations

All occupations have their downside, and it’s often very different doing something for a living, to earn an income, than it is when you’re doing something as an hobby. There is a certain level of pressure, a certain degree of “have to” and deadlines to consider. This is often enough to take the fun out of it for many. So don’t fall into the trap of thinking every hobby will translate into a good occupation.

The hard bit

So back to Gary, he says “Punt everything else and go all-in. The best blue print for your success, is to look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself “What’s the purest form of who I am?“, then build a thing around that.”

So that’s the easy part, recognising you have to start by figuring yourself out. The hard part is actually doing so.

Self awareness is a key step in the process of building a life you love to live. It’s not just knowing what you like and don’t like but figuring out what you’re good and not so good at. This part is difficult and requires some soul searching. None of us like to admit we’re not so good, or even bad at things, particularly if we like to do that thing. If we don’t care about it, there’s no problem, if we care about it, or have invested time and effort into it and are still not very good at it, then there’s a problem.

We’ve all seen the Xfactor contestants that can’t hold a note, but have fooled themselves into thinking they’re the next big thing.

How to improve Self Awareness

Take a long hard look at yourself, be completely honest, ask for a honest second opinion from someone who’ll tell you the truth. Family and friends are usually not good for this, they just don’t want to upset you.

Putting your work out into the market, and seeing if people are willing to buy your stuff is probably the best gauge of the standard and desirability of your talent or lack of. I use a few methods like PPC adverts or Facebook adverts, which are great for fast, inexpensive feedback, but you need to know what you’re doing before burning through your money, if you go down this route.  Drop me an email if you want some help with this at info@getresults.org.uk.

Now be warned you have to ensure you have not invested too much of yourself in whatever you are shining a light on, otherwise a knock back can be hard on your self esteem. Don’t let it be, take it as a positive, it’s informing you, it’s being honest with you and allowing you to find a more fruitful path, and preventing you from wasting our most important resource TIME.

To uncover your own interests, tendencies…

  • Look at what you spend your time actually doing,
  • What you like to read about,
  • What websites you visit and are interested in,
  • What TV programs you spend your time watching,
  • What you find yourself doing when on holiday or during leisure periods
  • Ask others that are close to you, what they think you like and don’t like, this can be very enlightening sometimes

And then ask “why?”. What is it about these things/activities that you enjoy, is there a common thread that runs through them. Sometimes identifying what you don’t like or even hate, helps to focus you on what you do like, so build a list of these as well.

It’s a journey of self discovery. Don’t try to fool yourself, be honest. For those that have a negative perspective of themselves already, which are usually as disproportionate as those that have overly positive perspectives, also look for a reality check, as others will not judge you as harshly as you judge yourself. So allow more positivity through if merited.

That’s it, you’ve got to do the rest for yourself. Use those around as well, in the ways discussed above. Enjoy the process, and don’t be too frustrated if it takes a little time. I often find once you have made your mind up to make a start, your unconscious mind springs into action and will gently help inform you, but you can’t push it to do so.

Fostering a Strong Work Ethic

Get Results: work ethic
Get Results: work ethic

A strong work ethic is part of an individual’s personal values. It’s based in a belief of the value of work for its own sake and not just for its rewards, however rewards are often the main driver for putting in the effort for many people.

Modern descriptions include, hustle and grind, which for me have negative connotations. I don’t want to live a life of grind, do you?

If you love what you do, you’re more likely to be pulled towards it, rather than pushed to do it. This is the ideal, something surely worth striving for. When you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work, you’d do it without monetary compensation.

However, even if you’re doing what you love, there will be times when you have to do certain things or tasks you don’t particularly like or relish. You have to be prepared to do what it takes to get to the other side of whatever that thing is. You have to have plenty of willpower to motivate you to do the difficult things. Willpower is finite, it runs out throughout the day as you use it up, but recharges when you sleep, so get into the habit of doing the difficult things first thing in your day, when it’s fully charged.

In this sense, work ethic is important. You’ve got to be a doer, a get your head down and get it done, type of person. I’m not sure if it’s an attribute that’s naturally built into some people, but I know it’s certainly not in some individuals.

I suspect that it’s something you are conditioned into either by your parents or guardians as you grow up.

Get Results: work ethic
Get Results: work ethic

It’s no good just being an ideas person, without the motivation to do the necessary actions to make it a reality. Much of the learning comes from “doing”, without which you’re never going to be anything more than you already are. Jim Rohn says “If you want to have more than you’ve got, you’ve got to be more than you are.”

Having a strong work ethic will ensure  you’re putting in the time, but without a strong sense of direction and a focused plan, you’re going to be like a directionless piece of driftwood, being pushed and pulled by the tides of circumstance.

Get Results: work ethic
Get Results: work ethic

Time spent doing something isn’t enough for you to make progress, you have to focus on the important things, the things which will ensure your progress. Don’t brag you’ve spent 3 hours in the gym, where you’ve spent most of that time chatting or reading the paper. If you go to a gym, you must know someone that seems to be there all the time, without doing a ounce of noticeable exercise. Don’t let that be you. Put in the work when you should be doing it.

Get Results: work ethic
Get Results: work ethic

Gary Vaynerchuk is a big advocate of having a strong work ethic, he brags about hustling 18 hours a day. He loves it, and doesn’t see it as a grind for him. He is right when he says, if you’re moaning you’re not where you want to be, or you don’t have what you want, then get off your arse and put in more time. Extra time fixes all vulnerabilities.  If you don’t like your day job, maybe start an online side business and work on building it after work and evenings, late into the night if you need to, rather than wasting time watching the television.  That will give you an extra 4 – 5 hours per day, if you really want it enough. Most people don’t have that level of dedication.

However you must be careful not to burn yourself out. Pushing work ethic too far can actually reduce productivity, and make your work become a real chore. It can also have a disastrous effect on family life, so don’t let it get out of hand.

For more about motivational influences, check out our Motivation guide.

If you would like to read more articles focused on WORK ETHIC, click here.

Strong work ethic quotes

“The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.” – Muhammad Ali

“You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.” – Albert Einstein

“Let us rather run the risk of wearing out than rusting out.” – Theodore Roosevelt

“Think not of yourself as the architect of your career but as the sculptor. Expect to have to do a lot of hard hammering and chiseling and scraping and polishing.” – B.C. Forbes

“Sheer effort enables those with nothing to surpass those with priviledge and position.” – Toyotomi Hideyoshi

“If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it would not seem so wonderful at all.” – Michelangelo

“The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work.” – Andrew Carnegie

“Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.” – Napoleon Hill

“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.” – Tim Duncan

“The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it.” – Wayne Gretzky

“Talent is never enough. With few exceptions the best players are the hardest workers.” – Magic Johnson

“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” – Abraham Lincoln

“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’” – Muhammad Ali

“I’ve always worked very, very hard, and the harder I worked, the luckier I got.” – Alan Bond

“You can map out a fight plan or a life plan, but when the action starts, it may not go the way you planned, and you’re down to your reflexes – your training. That’s where your roadwork shows. If you cheated on that in the dark of morning, you’re getting found out now, under the bright lights.” – Joe Frazier

“Every time you stay out late; every time you sleep in; every time you miss a workout; every time you don’t give 100% – You make it that much easier for me to beat you.” – Unknown

“Nothing worth having comes easy.”

“All roads that lead to success have to pass through hard work boulevard at some point.”

“You can’t have a million dollar dream with a minimum wage work ethic.”

“Success requires action and a strong work ethic.”

“Work like there is someone working twenty four hours a day to take it away from you.” – Mark Cuban

“People are born with brains, talent, and/or money, but work ethic levels the playing field.”

“Be humble, be hungry, and always be the hardest worker in the room.”

“If you build a house with your work ethic, dedication and preparation, would you trust it’s foundation enough to live in it.”

“Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged people who kept on working.”

“Do what is right, not what is easy.”

“I don’t have a good work ethic, I have a real casual relationship with hours.” – Janeane Garofalo

“The only way to do great work is to love the work you do.”

“No shortcuts, work for it.”

“Dreams don’t work unless you do.”

“Hard work beats talent, when talent fails to work hard.”

“Don’t be upset by the results you didn’t get with the work you didn’t do.”

“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”

“Wisdom is knowing the right path to take…Integrity is taking it.”

“Dreams are worthless if you’re not prepared to do the necessary work to realise them.”

“The harder you work the luckier you get.”

“Work hard and become a leader, be lazy and become a slave.”

“You’ve got what it takes, but it might take everything you’ve got.”

“Having a strong work ethic comes easily when you’re being pulled rather than pushed towards your goal.” – getrsesults.org.uk

 

Shifting Perspective

Get Results: Perspective
Get Results: Perspective

Have you ever wondered why quotation graphics are so popular on social media channels? Maybe it’s because they allow us to shift our perspective to some degree. To look at an issue or subject from a different viewpoint. When we see a quote that says something like:

“People aren’t against you, they are for themselves”

It brings a different dimension to our thinking. We maybe get a glimpse of a different way of perceiving. I personally don’t think that’s a bad thing. We should continually question our assumptions, beliefs and values. After all where do they originate? Are they our thoughts or those of other people, that have influenced us in some way?

Our thoughts largely come from the world around us, our experiences shape them. We use our experiences to construct a framework of understanding, so that we feel safe to navigate through life. We emotionally buy into the concepts we are drawn to, and look for confirmation our view is accurate, often ignoring counter arguments.

Get Results: success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get
Get Results: success is getting what you want, happiness is wanting what you get

Over to Tony Robbins

I recently watched a couple of Tony Robbins interventions, in which he was attempting to help people in psychological pain. Much of this approach involved psychologically re-framing the painful situation, into a more empowering one.

For instance there was a mother and daughter, who deeply loved one another, but greatly clashed in many of their day to day interactions. The mother had lost another daughter, some years before. That daughter had been the perfect daughter from the mother’s point of view, someone she got along with very easily, they just seemed to be perfect company for one another.

The mother, found the character of the second daughter to be more problematic, describing her as highly strung, and a control freak, basically finding her difficult to be around, partly because of the mothers own shortcomings.

The mother admitted she was much at fault for their problems, described herself as being badly organised, often late for appointments, which completely drove the second daughter crazy with rage.

So although the two loved one another, both found it difficult to spend time with each other, and rubbed each other up the wrong way. Tony uncovered through questioning the two ladies, that the second daughter had felt rejected by the mother because she wasn’t the model daughter her sister had been. She felt guilty she was the way she was, and hated herself for the fact she loved her mother so much and didn’t feel she could live up to her sisters standards, and that her mother didn’t love her back in the same way as she had her sister.

Get Results: if you can't change your circumstances, change your perspective
Get Results: if you can’t change your circumstances, change your perspective

The mother missed the easy going daughter, and felt some regret that the second daughter wasn’t easier to get on with. Tony explained that as life doesn’t happen to us but rather for us, and the second daughter was in fact the very thing the mother needed in her life, and that she should appreciate her second daughter for what she could learn from her to be a better person. That intervention drastically re-framed the relationship in both mother and daughters minds, and they gained a great appreciation for one another after the intervention. The mother realised her daughters anger actually came from a place of deep love. The daughter realised her mother was mainly angry about her own shortcomings, and inability to match the daughters strict standards.

This is a great example of shifting perspective. Stop fixating on the negatives and start focusing on the positives.

Getting outside help

I think sometimes we need the intervention of a third party to help us see through difficult emotions and give us permission to believe in a positive re-framing of a situation. We don’t always believe in something until we hear it from someone else that maybe isn’t directly part of that situation. Maybe this is why many find comfort visiting counsellors or therapists.

Being your own third party

I sometimes like to think about how I would advise someone else going through something I am having difficulty with, it seems to help me change perspective and see it as a non-involved party. Most of us are good at giving advice to others, but struggle when we find ourselves directly involved. Emotions are usually the reason why this is the case.

Give yourself some space to take a more objective view, instead of letting the emotions rule your thoughts.

For more about motivational influences, check out our Motivation guide.

If you would like to read more articles focused on SHIFTING PERSPECTIVE, click here.

Get Results: shift in perspective, Effort never dies
Get Results: shift in perspective, Effort never dies
Get Results: shift in perspective, First attempt in learning
Get Results: shift in perspective, First attempt in learning
Get Results: shift in perspective, next opportunity
Get Results: shift in perspective, next opportunity

Change Perspective Quotes

“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” – Dr Wayne Dyer

“Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure.”

“You have the capacity to change your life all with a simple shift in perspective.” – Demi Lovato

It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not.”

“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” – Seth Godin

“You give meaning to your experiences, change the meaning and you change the experience.”

“Change your thinking change your life.”

“Whether a glass is half full or is half empty is nothing to do with the glass or its contents, but rather the story you choose to tell yourself about it. Changing the story changes your perspective.”

“People come into your life as either a blessing or a lesson.”

“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” – Seneca

“Everything we hear is an opinion not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective not the truth.”

“People rely on stories they believe about themselves. You can change your story.”

“Life is a test, tests show what you’re made of, if you let it defeat you, then it will, if you want it to teach you, it will.” – getresults.org.uk

“The things you really need are few and easy to come by: but the things you can imagine you need are infinite and you will never be satisfied.” – Epicurus

There’s Knowledge and there’s Knowledge

Get Results: Knowledge
Get Results: Knowledge

There’s two types of knowledge you can have, the first is knowledge that’s wide and shallow, like general knowledge. The person with this type of knowledge, knows a reasonable amount about a lot of things. They might include diverse topics or be more closely related, something like the knowledge held by a GP doctor is an example of this type of knowledge set.

Then there’s knowledge that’s narrow and deep. This is specialist knowledge that is obtained by studying a specific topic for many years. These people might not know much else other than their area of expertise. And given enough knowledge about a particular subject, this is were expertise resides.

There are arguments for gaining both types of knowledge. Business owners, particularly small business owners are usually better with a reasonable knowledge about a lot of business related functions. They can, after all employ experts to do particular functions that require more specialised knowledge.

You could argue that running a business is a specific skill in itself and can be developed into expertise, but I guess it’s all relative. You have a finite amount of time to learn an infinite amount of possible things. The fun, I guess is deciding what best fits in with your long term plans.

If you want to be a business person, you need to learn what’s needed to be a successful business person, and focus on that until you’re as good as you can be. Maybe learning to be a good recruiter (of labour and freelancers) is more valuable than acquiring the knowledge to be able to do those particular functions yourself.

Should you spend your limited time, acquiring the knowledge for implementing an effective marketing strategy, understanding the principles that drive human psychology, so you know an effective advert and offer when you see one. Or should you spend your time gathering the knowledge and perfecting the skill to be able to create great visuals for your adverts, and write amazingly persuasive copy that entices your audience to your offer, for yourself, so you can be self sufficient.

These are the kind of choices you need to make in your pursuit of knowledge. It all depends on what you’re trying to achieve, I guess. It’s all about prioritising, which is dependant on what you’re trying to achieve as part of your end game (goal).

 

 

Stop Being a Victim and Start Being a Victor

Get Results: Be a victim or a victor
Get Results: Be a victim or a victor

Life is full of ups and downs. Some things we can influence, others not so much. Many situations will be made up of winners and losers. It’s just the way life rolls.

You might not always be able to dictate the terms of your life, but the one thing you have complete control over is how you deal with the ebbs and flows.

You can either position yourself psychologically as a victor or a victim.

Victim

The blame game

Victim mentality looks for other people or other things to blame for failure. They blame their circumstances, their lack of support, resources, money, time, know-how, their boss, they just blame. Blame helps to make the individual feel better, because it wasn’t their fault. One of the hardest things to admit is your own inadequacies. It’s really hard to look yourself in the mirror and admit you messed up at some point. Your Ego would rather cover up your shortcomings and have you believe the blame is over there, somewhere else.

Excuses are useless

Victim mentality is quick to find excuses for why things didn’t fall right for you, or didn’t work out the way you wanted, and for the same reason as pointed out when discussing “blame”, it’s just easier to do.

Denial is delusion

Denial is another self preservation tactic. Burying your head in the sand and hoping it goes away is a form of self delusion, failing to admit the reality of the situation is another.

Victim mentality is aimed at self protection, it’s a defensive tactic aimed at cushioning the blow. If you admit you were wrong your subconscious sees this as a big deal, cause if your wrong in a life or death situation, you could be toast. Your mind, doesn’t want to admit this could be the case, cause that’s what the minds there to do, keep you safe. It’s better to delude yourself, that way you can move on more quickly and try to forget about the whole sorry episode.

It’s easier to blame, excuse or deny, rather than have to look deeper into where the mistakes really lay, so laziness is part of the problem when it comes to a lack of self-analysis.

Live to be a Victor

If you take a Victor mentality, you empower yourself to really look at what went wrong and why. You might not be a victor of the situation, in that you haven’t won in absolute terms, in fact you’re likely to have lost. But by taking a victor mentality, you can at least learn any lessons that are there to learn.

Negative situations are inevitable at some time in your  life. S**t happens, but feeling sorry for yourself doesn’t really serve over a prolonged period. Feel the grief of loss, feel the hurt, sure you should always face it full on and deal with it, but then learn what needs to be learned and move forward. Don’t hold on to the past negativity, just take the lessons forward with you.

Unless it’s a real life and death situation, most things are not that important in the great scheme of things. Money can be earned again, stuff can be replaced. “People”, and “Time are the two things worthy of real grief, and while they are beyond the scope of this article, even they should not be seen as a dead-end that can not be moved beyond. They surely can, with the right “victor” mentality.

The law of opposites says there are always positives in any negative, if you look hard enough and approach from an empowered perspective. Take ownership and responsibility. It’s your job, nobody else’s. Sure use the support of those closest to you to help you through emotionally, but don’t expect them to provide the answers for you, the solutions are within you, they are there, if you open to them.

So instead of playing the victim, blaming, excusing and denying, take ownership, take responsibility and be accountable for the situations you find yourself in, and use them as your strength for improvement and progress.

Resourcefulness To Improve Results

Get Results: Resourcefulness
Get Results: Resourcefulness

When people say they can’t do something because they don’t have the time, don’t know enough, lack experience, lack money, support, or don’t have the right manager etc what they are really saying is they don’t have the necessary resources. In truth, what they really lack is resourcefulness. They lack the resourcefulness to find a way to get where they want to go in spite of the obstacles and difficulties that stand in their way.

Resourcefulness is the ability to overcome challenges by creatively finding ways to make progress in spite of challenges. It means solving problems with the resources you have at your disposal, making the best of what you have and doing more with less.

Take responsibility

In order to put yourself in the right frame of mind, you should take full responsibility for finding a solution. If you pass responsibility to someone else, you also pass the power to do something about it. You then find you’re waiting around for them to come up with answers and you’re inevitably likely to be disappointed. Even if they do come through for you, relying on someone else to find the answers for you means that you’re not developing your own “resourcefulness”.

The more you practice being resourceful, the better you’ll get at it. It’s a skill, that improves the more you use it. So take ownership of it and start to build a new, and very worthwhile skill. People are paid a lot of money for being resourceful, think trouble-shooters and business turn-around managers. It’s a highly demanded commercial skill, as well as an invaluable skill for your own life.

Be Proactive

Be on the front foot, rather than waiting for things to drop in your lap. This relates to taking responsibility (covered above). When you’re actively taking the initiative, you’ll be surprised how ideas and solutions come to you.

Be creative

Creativity requires you to be open minded and able to stand back and see things from a different perspective. Use your strengths, abilities, knowledge, tools, networks and other resources to approach and tackle the situation from a variety of angles, such as using unconventional approaches and/or reapplying other experience, to the present situation. Using a variety of problems solving techniques such as brainstorming may also help, check some out here.

 Be Driven

When you’re inspired to see things through, you’ll find a way. Drive carries with it the courage, passion, commitment, persistence, determination and tenacity that you’ll need to overcome difficult challenges. If it has been done before, it can be done again.

Use your Connections

We can’t be expected to know it all, and that’s were other people can help. Use your existing connections for assistance, such as friends, family and colleagues, ask them for help and advice, you might be surprised what hidden connections, skills and resources people you thought you knew, might have. Also try to forge new connections where possible, sometimes reaching out to strangers can be surprisingly productive.

Summary

Improving your results comes down to many factors including the acquisition of knowledge, being motivated enough to power through any challenges you inevitably meet on your journey and being super productive, so that you’re doing the important things to ensure you get where you want to be. A big part of motivation and productivity is being resourceful. Without resourcefulness, you’re likely to be defeated by the the inevitable obstacles and challenges that come your way.  However if you can harness your resourcefulness, you can overcome most anything.  First take responsibility, then look for creative approaches to problem solving. Be proactive and driven to get the job done to a positive conclusion.

I’ll finish this article off with an example from my own experience using resourcefulness. When I was in the process of needing a new car, some years ago, I discovered that personal loans were running at 12% APR and for the car I wanted, the monthly repayments would be running at £250 a month, which at the time, was too much for me. So I looked around for alternatives.

I discovered a credit card that had 5.6% APR for the life of the balance, which was applicable for balance transfers only. The only problem was, I could only enjoy the deal if I purchased the car on another card, then transferred it to the 5.6% card.

None of my other cards had a big enough credit limit to buy the car on. So I explained the situation to a good friend of mine who offered to buy the car on their card. I checked, and it was okay to transfer off his card, so that’s what I did.

I then used the 5.6% balance card like a loan and paid a set amount each month, paying just £150, which was more within my means at the time. After a few years I transferred the remaining balance onto an interest free for 2 years card, until it was fully paid. In doing it this way, I saved massively on the amount of interest I paid, I managed to pay a monthly amount that I could afford, and I used credit in a positive way.

I hope this article has shed some light on resourcefulness for you. Please share it with your friends and family if you have found it informative.

For more about motivational influences, check out our Motivation guide.

If you would like to read more articles focused on RESOURCEFULNESS, click here.

Resourcefulness Quotes

“You think you failed because you lacked the necessary resources, in reality you failed because you lacked the necessary resourcefulness.”

“The defining factor (for success) is never resources, it’s resourcefulness.” – Tony Robbins

“The most fearsome opponent/competitor is one that is reliably resourceful.”

“Resourceful people find clever, ingenious, inventive ways to overcome difficulties.”

“Resourcefulness allows you to look at problems and challenges as opportunities.”