Quick Progress Update

Wee quickie: Progress, how do you know you've made it?

I meet a lot of people who tell me how stuck they are yet, when they tell me the things they have done, you find out they are amazing. One of the problems, in my opinion, is how stuck people gauge their personal progress.

So here's a wee thing; think about yourself a year ago.  Think about who you were, where your life was, what you knew and what you were doing.  Now ask yourself, how has the 'now' you progressed from the 'then' you?

Now, think about yourself three years ago and ask the same questions.

Keep going if you want to really become amazed at yourself. You ten years ago and you now are very different people I bet!

You've never stopped progressing.  Every day you become more special. You should just accept how special you are :)

Too right you should be frustrated...

So, there I was tonight sitting in a relatively major traffic jam, listening to the Olympics and relaxing. I had nowhere to be so the easiest thing to do is just to chill out, isn't it? I have 20 minutes where I can be and will be nowhere else, so why stress?

That got me thinking.

I was watching the cars that seem to be really, really eager to get nowhere; pushing up behind the car in front. Filling gaps of a few metres with misplaced haste as if them filling the gap makes the queue move quicker. And I asked myself the question "why is it people get so frustrated when they have a perfect chance to do nothing yet do nothing when they have every chance to do something?".  It sounds complex but I don't think it is. I think it's really simple.

Pictures. It's all a matter of pictures.

When people sit in traffic jams, they have a clear picture of where they want to be playing inside their heads. The gap between sitting in the jam and that picture of where they should/want to be causes the frustration. Take the phrase 'I've got better places to be than sitting in this bloody traffic' as an example.

So why don't we do that in our lives? Why don't you try running a picture of a fitter, healthier, happier you inside your head and run it sooooo vividly that the fact you aren't there already causes you so much frustration you would do anything to be there now? Why is it that we use all our mind's incredible resources on traffic jams and so little on making ourselves who we want to be?

Run the picture now. Be frustrated at the fact you aren't there already. Promise yourself that yo are going to use that frustration as fuel to close the gap, to drive up the arse of the things you don't want until they get out of your bloody way and you can get to where you want to be instead.
Vroom, vroom, people! You've got better places to be than where you are :)

7 Rules of Life - 7. Effectiveness is the measure of truth

7 Rules of Life - 7. Effectiveness is the measure of truth

One of my favourite phrases on all my trainings is one that, I must admit, I nicked from Tony Robbins.  It really resonated with me when I first went to see Tony live and he explained it.  The phrase?

'The truth will set you Free'

It is an exceptionally powerful statement yet one that is not always easy to live by.

In truth we find what works and what doesn't (in other words, what's effective and what isn't) because when we are true to ourselves and our lives then we have nothing to hide, does that make sense?

Let me put it another way, when we bluff and bullsh1t, we end up doing things that don't work for us.  we end up in relationships that are dysfunctional, we end up in jobs we actively dislike, we poison our minds and bodies and the more we do it the more we end up needing to bluff and bullsh1t to hide the mistakes  we don't want anyone to realise we are making.

When we are true, when we are honest, when we are ourselves we admit to our mistakes.  We accept that we are fallible and open our minds to change.  We become effective in every area of our lives because we understand that we aren't always effective in every area of our lives!!  I'm going to nick another quote from Robbins here, Good decisions come from good judgement, good judgement comes from experience, experience comes from making bad decisions.

Do a quick diagnostic of your life...where are you at your most effective?  And how much do you feel like yourself when you do that thing?  It's so obvious.  So why don't you live the rest of your life like that?

Tomorrow is Friday, so here's a task.  Live tomorrow and the weekend being honest with yourself about what works and what doesn't.

I promise, I know it might be scary, but the truth will set you free...