What if there was a way to achieve more success at work? Whether your work is as an employee or as your own boss? Without sacrificing your every waking moment to “the job”? In this podcast, find out how to supercharge your work by looking at what is your value to your work now and how you can harness that value for your increased success.
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The Paris Olympics were superb. The opportunity to watch the very best of the best athletes at the top of their game was phenomenal. Yet as I was enjoying yet another spectacular gymnastic move or shot-put, I realized how much we can all learn from these amazing individuals. No, not how to be a gymnast or shot-putter necessarily, but how to be a Champion in our own lives. How to approach our lives with the qualities that make a Champion.
What are those qualities?
First a passion for whatever activity or experience you pursue. It’s that passion that lights the fire within us, that makes us willing to do the tasks and take the steps, that will lead to the fulfillment of the activity/experience. It doesn’t matter if it’s washing the dishes or climbing Mt. Whitney, if you approach the endeavor with enthusiasm, then you’ll be willing to apply yourself to the washing or climbing successfully.
Second, persistence. Being willing to do the daily do, the
seemingly boring repetitive actions that accomplishing anything worthwhile
takes. Because when fueled by passion, those same actions are no longer boring,
although they may still be repetitious. No way did any of the Olympians we
admired achieve their magic overnight or on the first (or second or hundredth)
try. What they have, which so many of us
lack, is dogged persistence.
The third
quality is what I call “failure-blindness.” It’s the Champion’s
inability to conceive of failure as such. Instead, as Billie Jean King, that
indomitable tennis Champion, put it: “We don’t call it failure, we call it
feedback.” Perceiving your less-than-stellar attempts or results as feedback
for how to do whatever better next time is a sure way to success. Thinking of
your goofs and flops, your mistakes and losses as “failures” is a sure way to well–fail.
Passion,
persistence, and failure-blindness. Worthy qualities to practice regularly
until they become second nature. A sure road to greater happiness and success,
no matter what it is your heart desires.
You might think you’re more powerful if you can simply take what you want, but in truth, that’s the road to long-term unhappiness. People resent being taken from, yet they will offer that same exact thing you want, freely, when you practice the fine art of receiving. Which is what this podcast is for: to help you discover two easy ways to receive what you want so you don’t have to pry it from unwilling hands.
Listen to all Up! Podcasts here.
How do you know who to trust? With your true inner self, with your hopes and dreams. Those things that are precious to you, that you don’t want someone stomping all over. In this podcast, you’ll explore two easy techniques to develop trust so you can have the rich and rewarding relationships you deserve!
Listen to all Up! Podcasts here.
You’ve undoubtedly heard the phrase “Be here, now.” It’s a way to remind ourselves that life is lived in the present moment, and it’s well worth enjoying whatever we can in the present. But “Be here, now” is also a wonderful way to soothe ourselves when confronted by something anxiety-provoking or that upsets us. It’s not necessarily a solution or a cure-all, but it is a way to ground ourselves.
For example, I’m driving along a California freeway during rush hour. No one is going anywhere very fast, even though we’re in the “fast lane.” We’re sort of all muddling along at a respectable 50 mph. Suddenly a car some 10 car lengths ahead comes to an abrupt stop, which makes everyone behind that car stop abruptly, the domino effect, which is fine, except the car directly in front of me couldn’t stop quite fast enough, so they did exactly what the driver’s ed manual says to do, and veered into the left shoulder so as not to hit the car in front of them, and managed not to hit the concrete divider either.
Seeing this, my heart rate zoomed as I jammed on my brakes, praying that those behind me would as well, and fortunately, within minutes, everything settled down and cars started going again. Slowly. Very slowly. Meanwhile, to stop the frantic beating of my heart and incipient panic attack, I started in on my grounding mantra: “safe, warm and dry.” As in I’m safe, right here, right now. Right here, right now, I’m in my car, undamaged, unhurt, able to continue driving to my destination. I’m safe. In this moment, right here, right now, I’m OK. I take a couple of deep breaths to further calm myself, and off I go.
You may wonder about the “warm and dry.” In the aftermath of the wildfire that destroyed my home, not knowing where, what, how, when, or whatever else was going to happen, I repeated endlessly to myself “I’m safe, warm and dry.” That was the “here, now” that mattered. That I and my dogs were safe, warm and dry. Everything else was literally up for grabs.
No, grounding yourself isn’t intended to solve whatever situation has you scared or upset, but it will help your mind stop barreling down the rabbit hole of imminent disaster long enough to take realistic stock of whatever’s going on. To be more present to what’s required given the situation. In the “sudden stop” example, to resume driving with a sufficient degree of calm so that I could be a decent driver.
There’s power in the present, in the “here, now.” Don’t take
it for granted, use it, appreciate it and enjoy its many benefits.
How powerful are the words we use, the things you say, or others say to you? Are your words helpful or hurtful? Do what others say to you make you feel self-confident or fill you with doubt? What if in this podcast, you discovered not only are your words powerful, but that there’s a way to make sure you are being supportive rather than unnecessarily critical? Indeed!
Listen to all Up! Podcasts here.
What if there was a way to make change happen more easily in your life? What if you could, just by altering what you use as your reference points for the change you want, get things to happen more successfully for you? In this podcast, find out how to make change something you actually can look forward to, and how you can harness it to be happier in your life!
Listen to all Up! Podcasts here.
As I stood in line waiting for a table last week, a couple of people were leaving the restaurant. One of them was complaining about the fo...
