WEEK 141: WHY YOU ARE STUCK

The only thing that separates a "Pro" from an amateur is the ability to show up.     James Clear

REFLECTIONS (learnings and actions): Do you ever feel STUCK in your life or business?

This week looks very similar to last week. 

Or, this month looks like last month.

Or, even worse this year looks a lot like last year.

You know what you want to do and have it crystal clear in your mind (need this before anything else) but that is where it stops.

It is like the phrase "you take two steps forward and then three steps back."

Although you take steps to make progress, undoubtedly, someway somehow you eventually end back where you started or even worse, a couple of steps back from where you originally started.

I have said in the past the #1 secret to success in your life or business is your ability to show up!

You must be vicious and almost violent to protect it. 

This means you have to vet your environment and do the daily work to ensure you remove activities which keep you from "showing up and doing the work."

I have learned the things which prevent you from showing up sometimes are disguised at things you feel are good for you.

For example, a drink to celebrate an accomplishment with co-workers, or giving yourself an extra (TV show, piece of chocolate, etc) because you had a long day.

Going to be a little vulnerable this week and tell you of a situation where this happened in my life. 

In the past month I have started to run on a consistent basis. 

Will tell you it was so hard in the beginning and I was averaging 9:34 minute miles, and it was a fight to finish three miles. 

Where as earlier this week I was averaging 6:46 minute miles and was crushing six mile runs. Pretty amazing.

I felt light, fresh, and a friend pointed out those jumps in numbers were incredible.

How did I make the huge gains?

Well, I focused on what acitivies helped me make the biggest strides and cut out the rest. 

For example, I cut out alcohol, flour based products, and drank plenty of water, etc.

***

It is now the time of year where there are a lot of celebrations at my work, and everything from the achievement of long projects to farewells are being celebrated every night.

These celebrations start out pretty calm but usually end up consuming too much.

This was the case for me on Thursday night, ate and drank more than one person should, which made it one, difficult to sleep, and two, allowing my body to operate at its optimal state.

Needless to say this made it a struggle to finish my "6 miles before 6 am" run on Saturday. I will highlight it was a struggle.

Although I was grateful I was able to finish, I looked at my metrics and was blown away...(not in a good way)

6:46 minute miles turned to 7:55 minute miles. 

That is over a minute more to run a mile!

Pretty crazy to think about.

Going back to the #1 secret to success in life and business - your ability to show up - certain decisions I made this week made it a challenge to do this.

I took two steps forward, but definitely took three steps back.

Yet...the situation was not a failure...

WHY?

Well, I am now aware of the activities which I need to avoid in order to keep me on track of my 6:46minute miles. 

Moral of the story, want to maintain and optmize new levels of success?

Ensure you fight and protect against things which keep you from showing up to do the necessary work to help you achieve, maintain, and optimize new levels of success.

See you on the other side...J 

Top three activities that move me forward?

1. Mindest of a PRO...show up, stick to your schedule, and complete the work...no matter what. 

2. Calibrating for success in certain areas by changing my thoughts about them.

3. ENF...being aware of Excessive Negative Feedback and catching myself before I get caught up in the downward spiral.

Biggest lessons/learnings and corrections?

The #1 secret to success in life in business is your ability to show up. If you are lacking success, then check if your ability to show up and do the work is being obstructed somehow. 

What are you grateful for?

I keep reflecting on this, but our current jobs are pretty amazing. We get to work with great colleagues and are given so many opportunities and abundance in so many areas (having an ayi, excellent education for kids, leadership opportunities for Meggo, and financial abundance) super grateful!

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PLANNING (Implementation Intention):  You will follow through 2X to 3X more likely to complete your weekly task than you normally would just by filling in the following statement.

I plan to complete the weekly task [day] at [time] in [location]. 

A reminder you might have to use multiple Implementation Intentions in order to follow through.

EXECUTION (strategies used):  From week to week, I use a combination of many strategies. There are always some which are used more than others depending on what comes up, but I wanted to offer a link to all them at once. 

My advice is to identify the I CAN'T statement you tell yourself during the most. Then find a strategy below the statement which resonates with you, and then start using it. 

Enjoy!

STRATEGY LIST

WEEK 141: 3 STEPS TO ACHIEVE ANYTHING

Figure out the rules to win, then STICK to them to achieve anything you desire!

REFLECTIONS (learnings and actions): What would happen if you could "Achieve Anything!"Can you comprehend the power of that statement.Take a moment and really think about. What would happen if you were able to "Achieve Anything" you set your mind to...

How would your life be different? 
What changes would finally be present in your life? 
What things that you have been dreaming about, would now become a reality?
What I am about to tell you today can give you that very thing...
Literally, it will give you the steps to make your dreams a reality.
So lean in, take out a pencil and paper, and prepare to learn how you can start "Achieving Anything"!"

Now before we start, I want to tell you a short story about Doug Butler.Have you heard of him? Doug was the coach who took a last place rodeo team and helped them become the #2 ranked team in the country within ONE year. Incredible!

How did he do it? How did he take a team which was dead last, lacked self-confidence, and had low focus to one step below the best team in the nation?
Well it starts with self-image management - the visualization, mental rehearsal, and relaxation techniques to modify "who you think you are."

This had a domino effect and the team members started to increase their self-confidence and esteem, which in turn allowed them to reach higher levels of physical performance, and then led them to achieve the goals they set out for themselves.

Daily, consistent mental and physical exercises led to small wins, which built upon each other and gave them the confidence to achieve bigger goals.
The team who was "once in the cellar" started to compete at a higher level and was on par with other colleges who had high caliber cowboys and cowgirls.
***
Well, did you listen carefully...I told you exactly what you need to know to "Achieve Anything." (Jess you need to give me a little more...) Alright, Let's break this down to a more granular level. Similar to looking at the fine print with a magnifying glass, we will do the same with this story.

FIRST, you must train your automatic success mechanism, ie the grey matter between your ears, how to think properly. This is what is called Self-image management, or identity management.Consistent mental exercise (of course the right ones) allows you increase self-confidence and actually bring about physical changes.

The caveat here is you must have 100% belief "you are the person who will make it."  That is no problem when things are going well, but it is the elite who are able to see this clearly when things are going bad (perception) as well.

SECOND, success is built on success. Consistent small wins, lead to bigger wins, which allow you to win on a level never thought possible. Now every time you gain a win, a "success circuit" is wired into your brain. This becomes a great tool to help you achieve things you can not imagine, as attaching the fact you have already achieved something challenging or meaningful to something you can not see allows your brain to see the achievement is not just a possibility, but a definite event which can happen. You have 100% faith and the concrete, foundational belief you are the type of person who will achieve it! Similar to a magician, you can make things appear out of thin air!

THIRD, the last step is simple. STICK to your "Rules." What are your "Rules" well those are the actions which move you closer to achieving what you set out to.
Want to be healthier, well a rule might be to not eat junk, and eat healthy food.
If you were to STICK to this "Rule" you would become the healthiest you have ever been. Literally.

The key is you need to know what "Rules" to stick to, as sticking to the wrong ones will only lead to limited results, frustration, and allow the enemy of success to creep in...DOUBT (only needs a little space).

So there you have it. The Blueprint on how to "Achieve Anything." I can guarantee you can change your life in ways you never thought possible if you are able to consistently follow through on this three step process. Go back and read this again (and again), as I gave you some high level things to think about. 
Yet, mastering this will allow you to bring change to any area of your life and achieve success never thought possible. 
See you on other side....J

Top three activities that move me forward?

1. NMR - my daily success calibration.

2. Mastering Zen. Gluten free is the way to go and ONE meal a week is doable!

3. Changing thoughts to change beliefs, language, the way you show up, and the results that I create. 

Biggest lessons/learnings and corrections?

STICK to your rules! If you can do this "Anything is Achievable!"

What are you grateful for?

My current 9-5 job. Although it challenges me, it has given me the abundance in knowledge and resources to help take steps to making our dreams a reality!

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PLANNING (Implementation Intention):  You will follow through 2X to 3X more likely to complete your weekly task than you normally would just by filling in the following statement.

I plan to complete the weekly task [day] at [time] in [location]. 

A reminder you might have to use multiple Implementation Intentions in order to follow through.

EXECUTION (strategies used):  From week to week, I use a combination of many strategies. There are always some which are used more than others depending on what comes up, but I wanted to offer a link to all them at once. 

My advice is to identify the I CAN'T statement you tell yourself during the most. Then find a strategy below the statement which resonates with you, and then start using it. 

Enjoy!

STRATEGY LIST