Saturday, October 1, 2011
Treehouse
LTM Lesson 3 - Believe You Can
3. Believe You Can
Success requires a can-do attitude like the little blue engine proved in the
classic children’s book, The Little Engine That Could. In 1930, Watty
Piper personified a small engine that truly believed she could pull a long
train over a steep hill.
Constantly repeating her mantra—I think I can! I think I can! I think I
can! —she succeeded. Very soon the train was over the hill and going
down the other side.
How can you be more like the little blue engine and reach your potential?
Your first step is to wipe out limiting beliefs. We all harbor them. John
Assaraf and Murray Smith reported in their book The Answer, that by the
time children reach their 17th birthday they have heard ―No you can’t!‖
150,000 times and ―Yes you can!” only 5,000 times. Combining mistakes
and failures with a focus on faults and weaknesses in an environment of
negative people creates a rich breeding ground for self-doubt.
Perhaps the most common of all limiting beliefs is the idea that you can’t
reach a certain level of success. On a success scale of 1-10, you may
think you can make it to a 7 but not a 10. If someone else has reached a
10, why can’t you? Really! Think about it. Why can’t you?
Once the seed of a limiting belief is planted in the mind, it’s generally
fertilized with negative self-talk. When the internal dialogue really gets
going, you say things like, ―I can’t do anything right,‖ or “I could never
do that,” or ―I can’t make good decisions.” These statements are all
false, yet you allow yourself to think they are true.
Many of these self-limiting statements are simply excuses for something
someone would rather not do or is fearful of doing. For instance,
someone says, ―I could never stand in front of people and give a
presentation.” Unless they literally can’t speak, they are deceiving
themselves by saying they can’t do it.
The more you make these types of false statements, the more you will
believe them. Soon you’ll experience a downward spiral of negativity.
To get beyond the barriers of self-limiting beliefs, ask yourself this
question: If I were paid a million dollars to figure out a way to do a task,
could I do it? If your answer is yes, then with focus and hard work you
are capable of eliminating negative beliefs.
In your quest to achieve your goals, be confident in who you are and in
your abilities. Don’t allow self-defeating thoughts to limit your
opportunities or prevent you from searching for solutions. Reach for the
stars! Give all you’ve got and don’t look back.
LTM Challenge
Starting today be aware of the times when you say, “I can’t” or any other
self-limiting statement. When you find yourself saying such negative
things, immediately challenge yourself to do the very thing you said you
couldn’t do. As you begin doing the very things you said you could not
do, your confidence will grow and you will feel great about the person
you are becoming.
If you believe you can, you can.
If you believe you can’t, you can’t.
Friday, September 30, 2011
LTM - Lesson 2:What’s Important to You?
2. What’s Important to You?
As I have studied success and experienced it first-hand, there is
absolutely no doubt in my mind that the starting point to living a more
successful and fulfilling life is to positively know what’s important to
you. You must identify the things you value most.
When I was struggling to become an entrepreneur, I was taught that the
first step to achieving success is to have a strong desire.
However, throughout my career, I have coached hundreds of aspiring
entrepreneurs who wanted something so much they could taste it. Or, at
least that’s what they told me. Yet when it came time to employ the
discipline needed to achieve their goals, many of them opted out; they
wouldn’t exercise the necessary discipline.
Another prime example of desire not being enough lies in the real estate
profession. First-year Realtor dropout rates are as high as 80 percent.
Don’t you think these men and women had a strong desire to become
successful Realtors when they first started out?
What happened to their desire? Why did they fail to follow through?
Answer: What they desired was not important enough for them to do the
things required to achieve their objectives.
Let me encourage you to stop spending time pursuing things you simply
desire or think are important. Instead, identify the things that you know
are important. It’s a small but critical distinction. Far too many people
waste large periods of their lives climbing mountains only to realize,
when they get to the top, they climbed the wrong ones. Internationally
respected author and leadership consultant Stephen Covey speaks to this:
How different our lives are when we really know what is
deeply important to us, and, keeping that picture in mind,
we manage ourselves each day to be and to know what
really matters most.
LTM Challenge
Make a list of things that are important to you. Then prioritize that list,
identifying the most important one, followed by the second, and so on. As
you make this list, be honest. Don’t put something at the top of the list if
it really isn’t your Number 1 priority.
You can say, “My family is really important to me,” but if you’re
traveling two weeks a month and working 60 or 70 hours a week, your
actions speak louder than your words. What truly are your priorities?
If you are going to move your life forward, you can’t play games with
yourself and pretend things are different than they really are. When you
complete this exercise, you will have a prioritized list of things that are
most important for you to achieve.
Please stop and do this exercise. The lessons that follow will not bring the
same value to your life if you have not completed this challenge.
Desire alone is not enough to break through the obstacles
that lie in your path. What you pursue must be something
that, deep down in your inner being, is very important to you.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
3 Ways to wake up at work
1. Do chair twists. Stretching increases blood flow to muscles and helps you feel more alert, says Leigh Crews, certified trainer and spokeswoman for the American Council on Exercise. To do this at your desk: Sit up straight, lengthen your spine, twist to the left and hold on to the back of your chair for 10 seconds before switching sides.
2. Pick peppermint. Chew a stick of gum, eat a hard candy or sip some tea. The scent is invigorating and provides an instant boost, says Aimee Raupp, MS, licensed acupuncturist and author of Chill Out and Get Healthy.
3. Take a breath (or four). Stop whatever you are doing, roll your shoulders back, open your chest and take four deep breaths, suggests Woodson Merrell, MD, author of Power up. This helps you relax, refocus and refresh your mind and body so you can return to that monthly sales report energized. Abigail L. Cuffey
Women's Day Oct 2010
2. Pick peppermint. Chew a stick of gum, eat a hard candy or sip some tea. The scent is invigorating and provides an instant boost, says Aimee Raupp, MS, licensed acupuncturist and author of Chill Out and Get Healthy.
3. Take a breath (or four). Stop whatever you are doing, roll your shoulders back, open your chest and take four deep breaths, suggests Woodson Merrell, MD, author of Power up. This helps you relax, refocus and refresh your mind and body so you can return to that monthly sales report energized. Abigail L. Cuffey
Women's Day Oct 2010
Job Search Sites worth a surf
USAJOBS.gov : On this federal government hu, browse positions by state, agency or occupation, from public health to education, and apply online.
http://www.linkup.com : Once a day, this aggregator site trolls over 20,000 corporate sites and posts those jobs - which may not be advertised elsewhere.
Where the jobs are:
Health Care: http://www.ama-assn.org
Environment: http://nrdc.org/energy/greenjobs
Startup: http://www.jobnob.com
Where the jobs are:
Health Care: http://www.ama-assn.org
Environment: http://nrdc.org/energy/greenjobs
Startup: http://www.jobnob.com
Woman's Day Magazine - Oct 2010
"All of your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them." - ºoº Walt Disney ºoº
LTM Lesson 1: A New Attitude for a New Day
How many LITTLE THINGS matter?
Twenty-five years ago, I started making a list and today it contains close
to 1000 LITTLE THINGS. This book includes 100 of them.
As you read the lessons, keep two questions in mind:
* What are you not doing?
* Which of those that you are doing, could you do better and with greater
consistency?
The lessons I selected for this book are those that can be applied to both
your personal life and professional life. This information, when acted
upon, will help you become a better parent and role model for your
children; will bring more depth to your valued relationships; will increase
people's respect for you and your influence in the community, and will
help you achieve whatever level of professional success you desire. I
believe that, if you apply these lessons to any part of your life, you will
see measureable results almost immediately.
Some of the LITTLE THINGS will feel natural and come easy for you;
some will require pushing yourself outside your comfort zone. Some will
challenge your current beliefs; some will provide ―Aha‖ moments. Some
may be life changing, and some you'll be tempted to dismiss as
insignificant. Don't allow yourself to think that one of these LITTLE
THINGS doesn't matter. They all matter.
When you read a lesson about a subject you think you know well, ask
yourself, ―Being honest with myself, how am I doing on this point?‖ As
you contemplate your answer, review the Little Things Matter (LTM)
Challenge at the end of each lesson for ideas about taking your skill to the
next level. The best of the best got there by being the best at the LITTLE
THINGS. When a new concept is presented to you, use your personal
initiative to start small and take the first step. With each small step you
take, your confidence grows. Every great success story begins with the
first step, and then another.
1. A New Attitude for a New Day
If you want to enjoy greater success, you must put the past behind you
and focus on your future. You can move beyond your failures and
disappointments to create a new, amazing life. I'm a firm believer in
Napoleon Hill's famous quotation: "What the mind of man can conceive
and believe, it can achieve." Attitude is everything.
Here is what I know from failing my way to the top. If you continue to
dwell upon your past failures, losses, and disappointments, you cannot
advance your life forward. Spending time thinking about them will have a
negative effect on your emotions and immobilize you from taking action.
You have no doubt experienced this negative feeling. Everyone has at
some time or another. In fact, anyone who has been willing to venture out
of his or her comfort zone has experienced huge disappointment and
failure.
Where do you stand today? Are you still haunted by the past? Are you
preoccupied with the memory of negative experiences? Here's what Jim
Rohn, one of my favorite teachers, had to say:
We must not beat ourselves to death with past mistakes,
faults, failures, and losses. The greatest opportunity today
brings with it the opportunity to begin the process of
change.
As you begin this series of lessons on the LITTLE THINGS that can lead
you to a better life, remember that today is a new day.
Learn From the Past
Acknowledge your mistakes. When you make a mistake, accept
responsibility for the decision that led to the mistake. Denial leads
to repetition of the same mistakes and sends your self-image into
a downward spiral.
Identify what drove you to make the mistake. Often mistakes
can reveal a new part of you. Address them and make needed
changes. Don't be discouraged if this process takes five minutes, a
couple of hours, or perhaps even days.
Don't stay mired in the muck. Holding on to disappointment can
cause you to be bitter and depressed. Instead, learn from your
disappointments and get excited about becoming the person you
need to be to achieve your goals and live the life you desire.
In the words of Irish poet and author Oscar Wilde: "What seems to us as
bitter trials are often blessings in disguise."
Create Your Future
Maintain a positive attitude. Look at challenges as opportunities
to become a better person. The times when I have grown the most
have followed my major failures. I'm convinced you can work
through any challenge that comes your way if you look at it as a
chance to improve.
Develop self-control. This will require a conscious effort. Every
time I catch myself thinking about one of my failures, I have a
Improving Your Life One Thing at a Time. 9.
firm conversation with myself: "I can't change what has
happened. I've learned all I can learn. I refuse to think about it
any longer!" Then using self-control, I change my thought
process.
Don't compare yourself with others. No matter what you have
experienced, there are people who have had it better than you, and
there are people who have had it far worse. I've seen some very
gifted people miss golden opportunities because they were
concerned with what other people were doing and how they were
getting ahead. Concentrate on your own growth potential.
LTM Challenge
Draw a line in the sand to separate your past from your future and begin
focusing 100 percent of your emotional energy on creating a fulfilling
life. If you truly know what it is you want and are willing to do what it
takes to achieve it, you can live the life of your dreams.
Dwelling on the events of yesterday causes you
to miss the fun and excitement of today
and the anticipation of what tomorrow may bring.
"All of your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them." - ºoº Walt Disney ºoº
Little Things Matter by W. Todd Smith
So, I found this book online and thought it would be good to use in my work book club that we do.
This author sounds interesting in that he has made a difference in people's lives and in his own.
I am going to try to post the 100 ways to improve your life today recommendations that he has.
I highly recommend purchasing the book from Amazon or him directly so that you can write on it and take notes.
Let's get inspired!
Preface of the book:
Whether you want to become the world's best parent, develop into your
company's most valued employee, be a top-producing salesperson, or the
owner of your own successful business, the habits you develop and
choices you make—no matter how insignificant they seem at the time—
will define the level of success you achieve.
Brian Tracy, whose teachings have had a profound influence on my life,
wrote a challenging book Eat That Frog. He wrote about the importance
of developing good habits.
Your success in life and work will be determined by the kinds
of habits that you develop over time. The habit of setting
priorities, overcoming procrastination, and getting on with
your most important task is a mental and physical skill. As
such, this habit is learnable through practice and repetition,
and over and over again, until it locks into your subconscious
mind and becomes a permanent part of your behavior. Once
it becomes a habit, it becomes both automatic and easy to do.
Jim Rohn, who has been hailed as one of the most influential thinkers of
our time and whose teachings have also been a source of guidance for me
throughout my career, said, ―For your life to get better you must get
better."
Far too often I've observed that people focus exclusively on processes or
strategies to achieve their goals without giving serious consideration to
their personal attributes. In other words, they never ask themselves who
they need to become to achieve their goals.
Bound within the covers of this book are 100 short, action-driven lessons
that can help you become the person you need to be to achieve both your
personal and professional goals.
Regardless of race or age, position or education, you have the chance to
grow and develop skills, to build positive relationships, to create an
attractive personality, to reach your goals, and to enjoy a happy and
fulfilling life.
I hope that as you read and consider these LITTLE THINGS, you will
become excited about developing yourself. As you begin implementing
these lessons into your daily life, you will experience more energy and a
stronger motivation, new courage and inspiration, renewed hope and
greater confidence. Growing and becoming a better person is one of the
most rewarding feelings you will ever experience.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to share the lessons I've learned. I
hope they make as big a difference in your life as they have in mine.
Wishing you success in achieving your personal and professional best,
W. Todd Smith
"All of your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them." - ºoº Walt Disney ºoº
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Lego Car, Steampunk, and cool ring
From the Techabob Blog:
My son would be so excited to see this car. Well, I guess we both would. We <3 Lego's in our house.
 |
Posted: 27 Sep 2011 02:30 PM PDT I am a big fan of cars and stuff made from LEGO. Though if I was going to make a gigantic life size replica of a Ford vehicle, it wouldn't be the new Explorer. I would opt for the Mustang, a Raptor truck, or maybe the Ford GT. The explanation of why a new Explorer for a project like this would be a sponsorship from Ford.   Ford wants people to buy the new Explorer and since the Explorer makes for a nice family car a LEGO version at Legoland is a nice way to reach the parental units. This full-size LEGO reproduction used 382,858 bricks and will be on exhibition at Legoland Florida theme park. It took 22 Legoland workers 2,500 hours to build the Explorer.  As you can see in the photos the LEGO version is a dead ringer for the real thing. The completed LEGO SUV weighs in at 2,654 pounds, almost half the weight of the 4,503-pound real deal. Check out the real thing being built in this time-lapse video. I love LEGO projects of this scale. [via Jalopnik] |
Posted: 27 Sep 2011 07:45 AM PDT Chris Myles has been wowing us for quite some time now with his Portal-related props and toys. If you're a fan of his work, now's your chance to literally pay him back – and get cool stuff in return – by copping his custom made 3D-printed rings. Myles currently has Daft Punk-themed rings, Assassin's Creed-themed rings and of course a set of Portal-themed rings.  As you'll see in the video below, some of the rings have multiple parts, either detachable or movable, like the GLaDOS ring or the Assassin's Creed ring with a hidden dagger print. Before you get too excited, know that Myles pulled off a Warhammer move here – the actual rings are unpainted, so how good (or bad) it ends up is still up to you.        You can order the rings at Myles' Shapeways store. He either has a precise calculation for the value of his products or he pulled the numbers out of a hat because they all have odd prices, from $4.92 to $16.58 (USD). [via Rampaged Reality via Gamefreaks]  |
Posted: 27 Sep 2011 06:24 AM PDT This steampunk wooden gun is just about the most awesome thing I've seen in quite some time. Not only does it look amazing, but it actually works – as a NERF gun.  This wood and metal gun got its start as a NERF N-Strike Barricade gun, but thanks to the mad model-making artistry of faustus70, it's been converted into the ultimate retro weapon. Faustus built the exterior of this gun from planks cut from an antique wooden chair, and then wrapped it with hand-cut aluminum he riveted into place.  Of course, the best part is that it still can actually fire NERF darts. The magazine holds 10 whistler darts, and it uses 3 AA batteries to help fire them. It also has a scope that offers 3x magnification to help you take aim on your victims.  If you're looking for that final prop to finish off your Halloween costume, or just think this thing is as cool as I do, you'd better head on over to Etsy now and plunk down your $300 (USD) – since this is a one-of-a-kind weapon. |
"All of your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them." - ºoº Walt Disney ºoº
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