Blog

Choosing Differently

photo licensed by www.depositphotos.com

 

I changed my mind.

Many people cause themselves and others a tremendous amount of stress by agonizing over certain decisions that they have made and later regret.

Instead of agonizing over a change in decision, recognize that the answers have changed and that the best thing that can be done is to take appropriate action (choose differently) and communicate early!

Caveat:  by no means does this mean you should walk away from your legal obligations!  Simply remember when you make decisions such as accepting a job, making an investment, a major purchase, or committing your resources to a particular project that is okay to say no after thinking about it.

[Read more…]

Your Re-Invention

photo licensed by www.depositphotos.com

 

As you move forward in your life re-invention, here us statement you could practice and use to keep you flexible and moving forward for the rest of your life. This key statement will  keep you focused and solution-focused:

I was wrong.

As a society, we are so wedded to being “perfect” that we will render ourselves physically and mentally ill rather than admit we are not perfect.  Studies show that we are wrong 70% of the time!

If you have found you have made the wrong decision, admit it quickly, correct it or change it, and get on with your life.
Avoid wasting one minute of your life defending a poor choice.

Accept the answers have changed, move on, and make new choices.

FOOTBALL SEASON

photo licensed by www.depositphotos.com

RE-BOOT

Re-inventing is another area where you apply zero-based thinking. It is one of the most important principles in life and business.  It will provide you with clarity about what you want and don’t want from your business and life (which is often difficult to achieve because you are immersed in your business or life on a day-to-day basis).

Here is an exercise for you:

Imagine that a fire has figuratively burned your life or your business down and you must rebuild every element of it.

Ask yourself the following questions:

  • What parts of your life or business would you change?
  • What activities would you begin doing and which ones would you cease?
  • What turning points have you faced that went on to lead you to great success?

Note:  A study of several hundred successful Americans indicated that their turning point was most often the unexpected loss of a job. When they found themselves out of work and viewed their lives from the standpoint of having no job and no prospects, they made a great decision. They decided that they were going to do something they wanted to do for their next job or business and they became successful as a result.

In other words, as a result of being forced out of their comfort zones and into zero-based thinking, they had to re-evaluate their previous career decisions. If you were to engage in zero-based thinking, you, like them, might see new possibilities for yourself in your life that you couldn’t see before and essentially re-invent yourself.

One of the major reasons for failure in life is falling into a comfort zone. A comfort zone as the result of inertia. You keep on doing the same old thing for no other reason but that you have been doing it this way for a very long time.

It’s time to stop the clock, like they stop it in a football game, go into a huddle and think about your next play.

Happy Monday!

 

 

LEARNING TO COUNT TO 0

photo licensed by www.depositphotos.com

ZERO-BASED THINKING

Zero-based thinking applies to investments of time, money, and emotion. According to several studies, the decisions you make regarding your business, investments, and much of your personal life will turn out to be wrong about 70% of the time. This means that over time, you will find that you have made choices and decisions that did not result in the outcomes that you have expected when you made those choices and decisions in the first place.

How could this be? It’s because the answers have changed. When you made the decision, you did so based on the information that you had at the time. You made the best choice you could have made at the time, all things considered; however, the answers have changed and because of this, your choice may now look much different.

So what is the leading indicator of a zero-based thinking situation? It is your level of STRESS.

Yes, that is correct: Stress! If knowing what you know now you wouldn’t get into the situation again, you are in a zero-based thinking situation. Whenever you feel chronic, continuous stress, you are likely in a zero-based thinking situation. Whenever something keeps you awake, interferes with your family relationships, preoccupies you when you are driving or commonly causes you ongoing anger or unhappiness, you might want to ask yourself the question, “Knowing what I now know, would I get into this situation again?”

So now, take a look at your investments of emotions, time, and money and ask yourself, “Knowing what I now know about this investment, would I do this again if I had to do it over?” If your answer is “no” the next question that you must ask is, “ How do I get out of this _____________and how fast?”

I am not recommending that you quit your job, sell all of your stocks, or walk away from your marriage relationship. What I am suggesting is that you seriously evaluate your current situation based on the way things are today, rather than the way they were when you originally made the decision. Have the courage and honesty to face your situation squarely and deal with it as it really is and not as if you wish it would be.

You must especially practice zero-based thinking in times of chaos in your life. Imagine holding up an empty picture frame in front of a scene representing each area of your life and asking yourself whether this is an area of your life you would do differently now. If you had to do it over, what would you differently?  What would it look like?

One of the Keys to Happiness

One of the traits of happy people is that they focus on creating and maintaining quality relationships. How are your relationships?

Problem or Opportunity?

Solutions Orientation

Successful people think more about the solution than the problem. They concentrate more on what can be done than what happened or who did it. In general, where is your focus? Is it on the problem or the solution?

 

photo licensed by www.depositphotos.com

A Bit of Fun!

Photo licensed by www.depositphotos.com

photo licensed by www.depositphotos.com

 

Putting the R in Time!

photo licensed by www.depositphotos.com

photo licensed by www.depositphotos.com

Results Orientation

Successful people are results-oriented. A Gallup pole revealed that results orientation was one of the 5 qualities that most explained success in personal and professional life.

An integral part of being results-oriented is the focus on time. Results-oriented people are excellent managers of priorities and time because they set very clear priorities around their goals and corresponding  daily tasks.

How results-oriented are you?

What Do YOU Want?

 

Goal Orientation

Successful people are very clear about what they want. They have their goals and plans in writing.

How much clarity do you have about what you want in every area of your life?

It’s worth the time to formulate what you want in each area of your life, to establish corresponding goals as well as a plan to achieve them.

The time to do this is NOW!

The Future is YOURS!

photo licensed by www.depositphotos.com

photo licensed by www.depositphotos.com

Future Orientation

Successful people ponder the future and where they are going rather than about the past and where they have already been. That said, it is okay to dig into the past, especially with respect to your investing plan, you simply don’t want to live there.

Only about 10 percent of the people in our society are future-oriented.   The combination of future orientation and short-term focus (the steps you need to take to move towards your long-term goals),  will change your life!

There is a very simple test for future orientation. Ask yourself,  “Where do you intend to be in 3 – 5 years?” If you  can’t answer quickly, you have discovered whether you are future-oriented.

If you find that you are not with practice you can change your thinking  and make this a habit.

« Previous Page
Next Page »