Zig Ziglar has been credited for statements like: “Regardless of your past, tomorrow is a clean slate.” “You were designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with Seeds of Greatness.” “When you are tough on yourself, life is easier on you.” “If you don’t like the output, then change the input.” The big question is, how do you harness great things around you for your success?
Yesterday, I had to change my input so I could get the output I wanted. My desk was so cluttered and I could not get an article I wanted to read for my work. I decided to be tough on myself, take some precious time and go through my desk and make some order. In other words, I practiced what has become known as Everything Has A Home (EHAH).
I decided that everything around me should have a place assigned to it. This way, I was able to create order around my desk. I have come to know order as a secret of great productivity. Over time, we accumulate things that we don’t really need and they increase clutter around us. May be it was time someone had a garage sale. Do you really need those four or so vacuum cleaners in your garage? Give away some to create order and space in your garage.
Order is the accurate arrangement of things. Order is necessary in all facets of life. Imagine how unnerving would it be if the traffic lights on Madison Square Garden or Broadway, NYC stopped working and there was no one to control the flood of pedestrians and cars. Order in traffic, creates safety and protection. Order in business prevents financial mistakes. Order in relationships diminishes conflict. Order in appearance will increase beauty. Order in an environment creates comfort and serenity. What kind of order are you creating today? Let all things be done decently and in order. (1 Corinthians 14v40)
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Ask and ask for Information
Information creates knowledge systems. Hosea a prophet of old in his book writes about the absence of knowledge; “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” Hosea 4 part of v6. Simply put, ignorance creates crisis while on the other hand, information settles crisis. It is vitally important to keep up with current events. Watch. Listen. Observe. Ask questions and analyze what happens around you. Open your eyes and become aware.
When General Colin Powell was the chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, he was known for how carefully he prepared for battle. He would order satellite photos, send out scouting patrols, and collect intelligence information available before deciding where, or whether, to attack. According to the esteemed General, “collect all the data you can, and if uncertain don’t make the decision until you must”.
Real estate mogul, Donald Trump uses the same mindset in decision making, “I am a firm believer in asking everyone for an opinion before I make a decision. I ask and ask and ask until I begin to get a gut feeling about it. That’s when I make a decision.”
Readers are Leaders. Questions are the Doors of Life.
When General Colin Powell was the chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, he was known for how carefully he prepared for battle. He would order satellite photos, send out scouting patrols, and collect intelligence information available before deciding where, or whether, to attack. According to the esteemed General, “collect all the data you can, and if uncertain don’t make the decision until you must”.
Real estate mogul, Donald Trump uses the same mindset in decision making, “I am a firm believer in asking everyone for an opinion before I make a decision. I ask and ask and ask until I begin to get a gut feeling about it. That’s when I make a decision.”
Readers are Leaders. Questions are the Doors of Life.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Progress is Step-Wise
Successful people are forward leaning and they understand that a house is built a brick at a time. Progress is step-wise, one step at time. The biggest investment in attaining great achievement is self-investment/improvement. Champions buy things that build mental power and proficiency. Successful people are not only ware houses of information and facts but their education stimulate and cultivate exercises of the mind. Most life battles are fought in the mind and we become what we think and visualize. It is vital to have good food for the mind.
William Penn once wrote, “Time is what we want most, but what we use worst”. To experience success, you must continually evaluate your daily routine. You must ensure that you are performing the highest level of tasks and priorities. Successful people know how to differentiate between discipline and habit. Habit is the child of discipline. Discipline is doing something you hate to create something you love. You will become a champion by maintaining a discipline until it becomes a habit ---a daily routine in your life.
Successful people pursue others of like mind who have attained to greatness. They interview them and ask pertinent questions to avoid reinventing the wheel. Instead, they build upon the strength of mentors. Winston Churchill at the conclusion of the WWII retorted “many people regard me to be successful, but it is because I stood on the shoulders of giants”.
William Penn once wrote, “Time is what we want most, but what we use worst”. To experience success, you must continually evaluate your daily routine. You must ensure that you are performing the highest level of tasks and priorities. Successful people know how to differentiate between discipline and habit. Habit is the child of discipline. Discipline is doing something you hate to create something you love. You will become a champion by maintaining a discipline until it becomes a habit ---a daily routine in your life.
Successful people pursue others of like mind who have attained to greatness. They interview them and ask pertinent questions to avoid reinventing the wheel. Instead, they build upon the strength of mentors. Winston Churchill at the conclusion of the WWII retorted “many people regard me to be successful, but it is because I stood on the shoulders of giants”.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Refuse to be a Circus Elephant
Great leaders are not without personal challenges; Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln battled depression, but they saw a better future where others saw doom. Successful people go where they are celebrated and not where they are merely tolerated. Marcus Buckingham stammered his way into a person of great influence. He left his native country for the US because according to him “In England the streets are small, the cars are small, and the dreams are small. I could not have done in the UK what I have done here (US)”.
Sitting on a laurel is almost like a circus elephant. The other day I was watching on television how they train a circus elephant. While the elephant is young, they leash the elephant on a strong tree or object, and it tries to pull away for many days and then it gives up. Upon giving up something almost eternal happens in the thinking of the elephant. It almost goes like; “if you can’t beat them you better join them”. The elephants cedes its strength to this one battle of many wars that it has lost and at any other time the subconscious mind goes back to that point of defeat and says I will not even try again, am a defeated foe, my fate is written. Once the elephant has been broken that way, next time they thither it to a small shrub and it will not pull away. At circus they tie the leash to a small metal post and to the elephant and now grown, the pole is Mount Everest.
When we decide that we have arrived, we mentally bind ourselves to that achievement so much that we feel there is nothing else to accomplish. When faced with a small challenge that would otherwise promote us to higher places, we seat down resigned to our past feats. There is a whole new world of deeds and accomplishments that we may never experience if we decide to be leashed to yesterday’s achievements. In life we may lose one battle or the other, but this does not mean we have lost the war. Life has many battles in a large war. Let’s learn how to shake off negative experiences and learn from them and move on to the next challenge.
Sitting on a laurel is almost like a circus elephant. The other day I was watching on television how they train a circus elephant. While the elephant is young, they leash the elephant on a strong tree or object, and it tries to pull away for many days and then it gives up. Upon giving up something almost eternal happens in the thinking of the elephant. It almost goes like; “if you can’t beat them you better join them”. The elephants cedes its strength to this one battle of many wars that it has lost and at any other time the subconscious mind goes back to that point of defeat and says I will not even try again, am a defeated foe, my fate is written. Once the elephant has been broken that way, next time they thither it to a small shrub and it will not pull away. At circus they tie the leash to a small metal post and to the elephant and now grown, the pole is Mount Everest.
When we decide that we have arrived, we mentally bind ourselves to that achievement so much that we feel there is nothing else to accomplish. When faced with a small challenge that would otherwise promote us to higher places, we seat down resigned to our past feats. There is a whole new world of deeds and accomplishments that we may never experience if we decide to be leashed to yesterday’s achievements. In life we may lose one battle or the other, but this does not mean we have lost the war. Life has many battles in a large war. Let’s learn how to shake off negative experiences and learn from them and move on to the next challenge.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
