Tag: Action

Posted on

Consistency Is Key

Success comes from doing a few simple things, every day, over time. And failure comes from not doing those simple things, every day, over time. Consistency is key.

“Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” ~ Calvin Coolidge

The Stone Cutter

Imagine you come upon a stone cutter standing before a huge rock. As you watch, he strikes the stone with his hammer. Nothing happens. He strikes again. Nothing. He continues hitting the stone and you begin to count the number of times: 3, 4, 5, 6 . . . 48, 49, 50 . . . 95, 96, 97, 98, 99 . . . Nothing. You can barely see that he has hit the stone at all.

But on the 100th blow, the stone breaks in two. “Wow,” you might think. “That 100th blow must have been tremendous!” But you’d be wrong.

Continue reading “Consistency Is Key”
Posted on

How Do You Do?

The Universe rewards action. Knowing your goal isn’t enough. Thinking about your goal isn’t enough. Wanting, desiring your goal isn’t enough. To reach your goal, you must act.

The Crow & the Pitcher

“In a spell of dry weather, when the Birds could find very little to drink, a thirsty Crow found a pitcher with a little water in it. But the pitcher was high and had a narrow neck, and no matter how he tried, the Crow could not reach the water. The poor thing felt as if he must die of thirst.

Then an idea came to him. Picking up some small pebbles, he dropped them into the pitcher one by one. With each pebble the water rose a little higher until at last it was near enough so he could drink.” [The Æsop For Children]

How Do You Do?

“The Universe rewards action.” OK, we get that . . . but what kind of action should you take? What’s the best way to begin? You know the importance of doing, but how do you do?

Continue reading “How Do You Do?”
Posted on

To Do More, Do Less

Many of us have more to do than we can get done. To improve personal productivity, the solution isn’t to find better ways to do more but to find ways to do less . . . of the unimportant things.

Choosing The Right Thing To Do

“As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him in her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the feet of the Lord and listened to his teaching. Martha was upset over all the work she had to do, so she came and said, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to come and help me!’

The Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha! You are worried and troubled over so many things, but just one is needed. Mary has chosen the right thing, and it will not be taken away from her.’” ~ Luke 10:38-42 Good News Translation (GNT) [Bible Gateway]

Continue reading “To Do More, Do Less”
Posted on

What You Have To Do

Reactive language puts the control outside of you and gives it to someone or something else. Using proactive language puts you in control. You select the consequences you desire, then choose the actions that you believe lead to those consequences.

“Have To” or “Choose To”?

“I have to stay up till I finish this paper,” my daughter said to me. She was in middle school and I had gone in to remind her that it was close to bed time.

“Have to?” I asked. “Or choose to?”

“Oh, I have to finish it,” she replied.

“What happens if you don’t finish it?”

She gave me a look that said, “Can you really be that dumb!?” Out loud, she said, “I’ll get an F on the paper!”

Continue reading “What You Have To Do”
Posted on

Two Questions

If you are not progressing toward your BIG goal, or you don’t have a BIG goal, two questions can help get you back on track and hit the target. Ask and answer these two questions from time to time to keep embracing the Excelerated Life™.

How To Hit The Target

Here is something about me — I never make the same mistake twice. I make the same mistakes 10, 15, sometimes dozens of times. And because the Universe rewards action, I get feedback from each mistake and learn from it.

Imagine you are throwing a ball at a target that is 100 yards away. Are you going to hit the target on your first try? Well, that isn’t likely. But you toss the ball and let’s say it goes about 30 feet. Now, you get to go stand where the ball fell. Throw again. This time, it goes 40 feet but to the right. The Universe rewards your action and you move to where the ball is. You can see that if you keep doing this, eventually you’ll hit the target. Each throw is rewarded. Your target doesn’t move . . . but you do.

Continue reading “Two Questions”
Posted on

The 4 Rules of Time

“The purpose of time management and getting more done in less time is to enable you to spend more face time with the people you care about and doing the things that give you the greatest amount of joy in life.” ~ Brian Tracy

From Brian Tracy, motivational speaker, author, and expert in human potential and achievement, we learn that there are 4 rules of time [Tracy]:

  1. Time is perishable.
  2. Time is indispensable.
  3. Time is irreplaceable.
  4. Time is essential for accomplishment.
Continue reading “The 4 Rules of Time”
Posted on

Castaway

To reach any BIG goal, you must grow to the person who can achieve it. You grow by taking one small action after another. In this way you prepare for the opportunity when it appears.

Do you remember the movie, Cast Away, where Tom Hanks is stranded for several years on an island in the South Pacific? In the movie, Hanks is a time-obsessed trouble shooter for FedEx. At a Christmas dinner with family, he is called to resolve a problem in one of their foreign offices and leaves the dinner to catch a flight on a FedEx plane.

Continue reading “Castaway”
Posted on

Small / Simple Daily Disciplines

Self-discipline is essential to growth and development. Establish small acts of discipline, practice them daily, and build on them as your sense of self-discipline gets stronger.

“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.” ~ Proverbs 6: 6 – 11 (NIV)

The Ant And The Grasshopper

Summertime, and the Grasshopper spent his days singing and hopping about, lazing away the hot days. One day the Grasshopper saw an Ant, toiling hard to drag a piece of grain to her nest.

“Why do you work so hard?” asked the Grasshopper. “Come, sing and dance with me. We can do as we please. It’s too hot to work so hard!”

“I’m storing up food for the Winter,” replied the Ant. “You should be doing the same. Summer won’t last forever.”

“Phuh!” said the Grasshopper. “Who cares about Winter? We have plenty of food right now.” And he went on singing and dancing, doing as he pleased.

Continue reading “Small / Simple Daily Disciplines”
Posted on

Make Productivity A Habit

To achieve any worthy goal, you must decide what is vital to the project, then structure your days so you can devote large chunks of time to those vital activities.

A Tale Of Two Workers

“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” ~ Charles Dickens, A Tale Of Two Cities

Andrew and Angela worked for the same company. They were hired at about the same time to join the company’s sales team. And there the similarities end.

Angela developed a habit of coming in to work at 7:00 AM, about an hour before most of the sales team arrived. She always had a list of tasks which she had prepared the night before. She came in, sat down, and went to work on the first task on her list.

Continue reading “Make Productivity A Habit”
Posted on

Make Success A Habit

“When we try to change our behavior, we strategize about our motivation and self-control. But what we should be thinking about instead is how to set up new habits. Habits persist even when we’re tired and don’t have the energy to exert self-control.” ~ Wendy Wood [Life: Wellness]

The Parable Of The Threads

A father gave his young child a thread and directed her to break it. This she did easily.

The next day, the father wound two threads together and asked the child to break the pair. Again, she easily broke them. Continue reading “Make Success A Habit”