Recently, a friend of mine asked me how in tune I was with my values. My immediate answer was to say, “oh, I am totally in touch with what my personal core values are.” Like a good friend, however, he pushed me and asked again, “No, really, how in touch are you with your values and committed to living according to them.”
Perhaps like me, if you are honest, that causes you to pause and really consider the question. If you are able to ask yourself “why is this important” two or three times, I believe you will get into some very important, deep connection with yourself and your intentions for living.
Normally these posts are written in advance and published on a schedule. I heard two similar but different quotes yesterday that I had never heard before that caused me to pause that and post them instead. They are that important.
Here are the two questions I want you to ask yourself now, later, tomorrow, and every day:
“How would the person I would like to be, do the thing I am about to do?”
Like most other people, I feel it is my obligation to express my thoughts and feelings around what has happened in our country since the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day.
I will say from the outset that as an aging white male I am completely unqualified to speak on behalf of any other people who have been unfairly judged, targeted, and discriminate against. As a person who loves God and loves all people, however, my heart hurts, and my anger, dismay, and sorrow demand action.
So we’re approaching the end of May. It seems like the Pandemic has been going on for a lot longer than the ten weeks or so that we have all been adjusting to the “new normal.” How are you doing? How are you feeling?
I have to admit, the last two to three weeks for me have been the hardest. At the beginning of our shelter in place orders, perhaps the novelty made it interesting. As time has worn on, and the situation is slowly seeming to turn for the better, I have to admit I am struggling to remain focused on my goals. How about you?
Since I made the decision to write a book a little over a year ago, I have become familiar with a term that prior to that time I don’t know if I had ever heard. Since becoming acquainted with it, I seem to hear it and become challenged to overcome it almost daily. What is that term? Imposter Syndrome.
It’s not that this doesn’t exist for you and me, even if we are not aware of it, in fact, most of us are asked to confront it almost daily. If you are not, I would argue that you are suppressing some deep, longing desires to try something but the Imposter Syndrome keeps you in your comfort zone.
Last week, we defined a haven as a place of safety, shelter, and refuge. Then we determined that the best way to discover these havens is by developing a positive mindset. The first step, determined by last week’s post was to overcome fear by taking action.
The next strategy to developing a positive mindset, and finding a safe haven for our mental image of ourselves and how we talk to ourselves is to develop the habit of persistent consistency.
The late, great Zig Ziglar, as he often did, imprinted this simple, yet incredibly profound message in my mind many, many years ago. Mr. Ziglar said consistency was working every day, or as often as necessary until your goal or objective was achieved. Persistence was showing up every day and doing just a little bit more, al little bit different, or a little bit better than the day before.
After character and integrity, which Zig attributed to his incredible worldwide success, he would say that being P.C. was the number two reason for his success. This is the kind of P.C. that the world could use a lot more of, as opposed to the P.C. that often occupies today’s headlines.
The fact of the matter is really quite simple. You show up every day and you do what needs to be done. No matter who or what may try to block your way, and tell you why it can’t or shouldn’t be done. If your ‘why’ is big and meaningful enough to you, then the what and the how will never stop you.
Once you have overcome the mental and verbal roadblocks to achieving your success and nothing will ever stop you from showing up every day to accomplish your dreams and goals, your consistency almost organically begins to be multiplied with increasingly persistent efforts.
Whether it’s positive momentum, a deeper belief in yourself and your objectives, or both, once consistency is established, persistence is not far behind. It may take days, months, or even years, but persistent efforts over time eventually multiply into greater results than determined people ever imagined possible.
I love to use the analogy of the penny versus one million dollars whenever I speak in front of an audience. I discovered the principle in Darren Hardy’s iconic book, The Compound Effect. All these years later, not only does the ruse still fool most people, but it drives home the point of persistence better than anything else I’ve ever heard.
Simply, if I offer you one penny versus one million dollars, I suspect you would take the million dollars. What if I offered you the same deal except I told you that you could multiply the value of the penny every day for 30 days? Most people still want the million dollars. And they’re dead wrong.
Why? Because if you double the value of one penny day after day for thirty days, at the end of that time period you would have nearly $5.5 million!! That is the power of persistent consistency. Make it yours, and not only will you develop a more positive mindset but you will be unstoppable!
Please share your thoughts and feedback. I love getting and posting your comments below. What do you need to be more consistent at and what is your WHY? Please subscribe to be notified when new content is available and feel free to share with your friends and associates/
