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| Motivation Information |
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The Ripple Effect: Small Steps Lead to Big Results
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit." -Aristotle Procrastination is the single habit at the root of so many problems that plague all of us at one time or another - challenges with managing our time, relationships, projects, and information. Procrastination is doing low-priority tasks and activities instead of the high-priority ones which so often contribute the most to our success. For some, procrastination becomes a harmful habit which impedes personal and professional development. If procrastination is so harmful, why do we do it? We tend to put off doing things for the following reasons: **They are unpleasant to do. When we don't want to do something that is unpleasant or difficult, we find less important things to do that will keep us "busy" so we have an excuse for why we did not get around to it. But putting something off does not make it go away, and postponing it often just makes it worse. As someone once said, "Killing time murders opportunities." I'll share a key to success that I've learned from my own life experiences... If you want to make big changes in your life, start by making small ones. What small change have you made recently that yielded positive results for you? By thinking about what is working, you are focusing on the positive. Remember that we attract whatever we choose to give our attention to -- whether wanted or unwanted. When we focus on what we want, we are more likely to attract it into our lives. Unlike a long list of unrealistic New Year's resolutions that usually get broken before the end of January, small changes can create a ripple effect of another small change, followed by another. In other words, small changes can lead to other related changes. Next thing you know, you've generated an unstoppable tidal wave! Ask yourself this question: What's one thing that, if you did consistently, would make the greatest positive difference in your life? I asked a client (I'll call her Kate) this question a couple of years ago during a coaching call. Her initial response was that she wanted to start taking the train to work instead of driving her car in horrible rush-hour traffic. But Kate said she could not do that because she often needed the car to get to meetings during her workday. I asked her if there were other means of transportation available to her (subway, taxi, etc.) on days she had appointments that were not walking distance from her office. Kate was not sure how it would work, but she was willing to commit to a one-month trial period. I spoke with her at the end of her first week. She recognized how this one change was already having a tremendous positive impact on her life. Over time, the impact grew larger. The ripple effect was doing its thing! Here are some of the benefits Kate has experienced: * Kate is able to sleep 30 minutes later each workday, since she actually gets to work quicker by taking the train. * Kate has saved enough money in gas and parking fees to pay for her coaching sessions with me. * Kate has time for her professional reading, which she does in the mornings on her way to work. * Kate has time for pleasure reading on the way home. (She had not read a novel in years!) * Because she has to catch the train home at a specific time, Kate leaves the office at a set time instead of staying for "just a few more minutes" (which was never just a few minutes!) to get caught up. * Kate is conducting more business using technology (teleconference calls and webinars), which saves her a lot of time that she used to spend getting to and from meetings. Others appreciate this time savings, too! * By leaving the driving to someone else, Kate's stress level is much lower when she gets home. * Kate's reduced stress levels gives her added energy, and she now works out at a nearby health club a few times a week. (Before, she barely had the energy to crawl in the door of her home. Once she got there, she rarely ventured out at night.) * Kate met a wonderful man at her train stop near her home, and they started dating last year. (They're still dating, and the future looks promising!) I could keep listing the effects this one change has had on Kate's life. It's a perfect example of the ripple effect in action -- all of this by making one change, which led to another, and another. For more articles about overcoming procrastination, visit these newsletter articles at http://www.orgcoach.net/newsletter.html * Fear Not! - The Perfectionist's Credo Copyright 2005 Kathy Paauw Wouldn't you love to stumble upon a secret library of ideas to help you de-clutter your life so you can focus on what's most important? Kathy Paauw offers simple, yet powerful ideas, on how to manage your time, space, and thoughts for a more productive and fulfilling life. Visit http://www.orgcoach.net
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Business Management 7 Stepping-stones to Career Growth and Excellence Achieving excellence in our work is an integral part of feeling genuinely satisfied in life. We want our careers or businesses to blossom, making us financially secure and content with our achievements. Here are seven stepping-stones that lead to career growth and excellence. When used as part of a total action-plan, these stepping-stones can contribute tremendously to the fulfillment that you desire. To Boldly Go For the first time in many years, Star Trek Fans will no longer be able to explore those new frontiers where no man has gone before. Thank heavens for reruns, videos and DVD's! One reason for the success of this TV series is because the storyline appealed to the human desire to explore the unknown. Our curiosity of what's around the corner to the next solar system and our capability to deal with unexpected challenges propel. inspire and motivate us forward even when circumstances may start us behind the starting line. Hurry Up And Procrastinate I've been meaning to write this column, but I keep putting it off. There always seems to be something better or more important or easier to write about. Even Though As often happens following one of the Best Year Yet programs I do, a message emerges for Monday Morning Coach. Recently I conducted a BYY workshop and what struck me was how often participants (I include myself in this group, since each time I present it, I am also vicariously examining my own life) stop themselves from taking action because of the underlying belief that they don't have "enough," or aren't enough (smart enough, thin enough, ready enough, etc.) to make things happen. Elements of Change The key to achieving more than you currently are, no matter which area of your life or work you are focusing in on now, is change. The old saying rings true: If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you've already got. If you keep eating and exercising the way you currently are, you will weigh the same a year from now. If you continue to sell to the same people on the same schedule, you will make the same amount of money next year. 4 Simple Ways To Get Over Your Need For Acceptance... And Get On With Your Life Imagine what your life would be like if you could just be yourself, without thinking twice about what other people think of you! Here are four quick tips that will help you get over your need for acceptance. Make these four things a part of your daily routine and you'll find that people will judge you less and accept you more! Turn your Dreaming into Doing The first of January and September, as well as our birthdays seem to be the times in a year when we focus on the gulf between where we are and where we would like to be. By now, many of you have already given up your New Years Resolutions and settled back into the comfortable routine of last year. Before you get too snug, dust off your dreams and look at them again. Let's make this year a year to be proud of. Let's make this the year of personal reinvention, to do the things that we have always wanted to do, and to become the women we have always wanted to be; doers, not just dreamers. Context-Free Living ... Living Without Boundaries! I know by now that you've heard the terms Debt-Free Living, Disease-Free Living, or an overabundance of other such coined terms for various marketing ploys to sell products and services. However, I'm not here to sell you anything, as what I'm offering, you already have! You just don't know it yet! Constructive Tips About Retrenchment This article provides constructive tips about facing retrenchment and moving on with new career opportunities. March Madness - Give Me The Ball! March madness is great to watch not because I have basketball ability, (you can tell that by my height), but because every year there are some good players that become great players. Some of the tournament games are nail bitters and come down to last second shots. When they do there are maybe one or two players on the team that have this attitude of, "just give me the ball." They want that pressure shot, they want to be the one making or breaking the teams future. Those are the players that go on in life to be the Michael Jordan's, Larry birds, and Magic Johnson's of this world. Limitations Real Or Imagined, Stick Em In A Pigs Eye! It's about time to take a real hard look at what you think about yourself. What do you really think you are capable of? What if I told you that you could walk on water? Would you believe me? Well, what if I told you that you could never be an important person? What would you say to that? What Does Your Future Hold? Do You Have A Plan? Or Are You Just Waiting To See What Happens? We often find ourselves in a situation in which we either accept the change that someone else imposes upon us or in which we ourselves effect the change we would like to see happen. We sometimes stammer and hesitate and procrastinate with regard to decision making. Not making a decision is a decision in itself. Creativity and Innovation Management - Motivation Motivation in creativity and innovation is more important than personality traits. This is like possessing high intelligence one must be motivated to improve and apply it. Are You Lacking Self-Discipline? - Part 1 A man does not live until he begins to discipline himself; he merely exists. Like an animal he gratifies his desires and pursues his inclinations just where they may lead him. He is happy as a beast is happy, because he is not conscious of what he is depriving himself; he suffers as the beast suffers, because he does not know the way out of suffering. He does not intelligently reflect upon life, and lives in a series of sensations, longings, and confused memories which are unrelated to any central idea or principle. A man whose inner life is so ungoverned and chaotic must necessarily manifest this confusion in the visible conditions of his outer life in the world; and though for a time, running with the stream of his desires, he may draw to himself a more or less large share of the outer necessities and comforts of life, he never achieves any real success nor accomplishes any real good, and sooner or later wordly failure and disaster are inevitable, as the direct result of the inward failure to properly adjust and regulate those mental forces which make the outer life. Listening Skills Listen to win Sales Is Failure the End of Everything? "The important thing is to learn a lesson every time you lose." --John McEnroe Motivation: If Today Were the Last of All Days "If today were the last of all days........" - Marilyn Scott Secrets to Motivating Yourself and Others There is hardly anything more personal that what motivates each of us to perform in a work environment. Here's some insight into how to choose the best "carrot" to motivate both yourself ... and others. Free Will To The Rescue Today's society and your private world are the results of free will. We have arrived here today through intention, ignorance or abuse. Some people understand and use free will daily. Some people completely deny it. And other people simply mock it and complain it "doesn't work." Courage Is A Gift "It is not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters. -Epictetus, the 1st Century Greek Philosopher
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