Perfection: The Unachievable Goal

 

For a lot of people, the thought of starting to take action towards a goal or task without having everything perfectly lined up, can be both terrifying and off-putting. However, waiting for things to be perfect is one of the biggest causes of procrastination and why a lot of people don’t achieve their goals and life the life that they truly want.

I’ve heard people say that they'll start when they have more money, more time, learn more, practice more, and so on. And to be honest, I’ve been guilty of making excuses like this as well! The challenge with this is that there is no perfect time. The best time to get started is now. This doesn’t mean that you have to go into action without preparation or considering the relevant steps or consequences. What it means is that you have to overcome your fears of what could go wrong and be ready to adapt to the circumstances as they appear.

Have you ever spoken to a family member or friend about a job interview that’s coming up and they’ve said something to you like: "make sure you do the interview perfectly, because if you blow it, you won’t get the job”? No pressure there! Going into an interview with that in your mind is a good way to make you blow it. You’ll probably be so focused on not making a mistake that you miss the important questions and end up making the mistakes that you were trying to prevent.

The reality of success is much brighter when you look at the most successful people in the world. They repeatedly say that they failed their way to the top, that their mistakes were integral to their success, and that they learned from their mistakes and moved on. There are millionaires that lost everything, brushed themselves off and then created more than they had before they lost it all. Their ‘failures’ taught them far more than their ‘successes’ ever did.

We’re not born as experts or world champions. We’re not robots, programmed with strategies and calculating our every move. We’re human beings that learn by what we do, and mostly by our failures! We discover by paying attention to the feedback that we get from our interactions with other people and the actions that we take.

It’s the trying and being that makes us human. It’s the journey and not the destination that tells us who we are and what we’re made of. Perfection is not a means, it leaves no room for variation, creativity and understanding of the process. It is through the process of trial and error that we gain knowledge and wisdom, and create the things that no one else has created before. For if everything were perfect, and done perfectly, there would be no journey, no life, no adventure...only an end.

23 Quotes For Motivation

 

Are you struggling to get motivated? If you are, here are 23 quotes that can help you get going when you just don't feel like it!:

1. “When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal; you do not change your decision to get there” – Zig Ziglar

2. “A champion needs a motivation above and beyond winning” – Pat Riley

3. “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph” – Thomas Paine

4. “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success” – Albert Schweitzer

5. “Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change” – Jim Rohn

6. “If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it” – Nora Roberts

7. “If you want to do something, you'll find a way. If not, you'll find an excuse” – Jim Rohn

8. “Wishing is not enough; we must do” – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

9. “You can motivate by fear, and you can motivate by reward. But both those methods are only temporary. The only lasting thing is self-motivation” – Homer Rice

10. “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, you’ll be successful” – Eric Thomas

11. “I won’t stop when I’m tired. I’ll stop when I’m done” – Unknown

12. “Every great story began when someone decided not to give up; but kept on going” – Spryte Loriano

13. “If you fear failure, you will never succeed. You have to take chances” – Mario Andretti

14. “Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs” – Henry Ford

15. “Enjoy yourself, get more sleep, and rest better when you give 100% of your effort, win or lose” – Gordie Howe

16. “The only thing that happens if you wait, is that you get older” – Mario Andretti

17. “Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going” – Sam Levenson

18. “Most important things are accomplished by people who kept trying when there seemed to be no hope at all” – Dale Carnegie

19. “Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly” – Stephen Covey

20. “Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice” – Wayne Dyer

21. “Failure is success if we learn from it” – Mario Andretti

22. “Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action delineates and defines you” – Thomas Jefferson

23. “Show class, have pride, and display character. If you do, winning takes care of itself” – Bear Bryant

Live Your Destiny

 

What did you want to do as a child? Do you remember how it felt to fully believe that you could be an astronaut, a football player, a business leader, a famous actor or rock star?

In choosing an overall life where your heart is in sync with your dreams and actions, the power and intention of each day creates an effect of natural movement towards the life of your dreams. A life of empowerment for you and those around you - a life mapped by your destiny.

Whilst this can seem like a fantasy to most people, know that it’s entirely possible to live such a life, starting today. Instead of saying things like "Oh, I can't do that!” or “No way! That will never happen”, ask yourself: "How can I live my destiny?" or “What would I do if I knew I couldn’t fail?”

I challenge you to take the first few simple steps by opening your imagination to the possibilities in your life.

What if you believed completely that there was nothing too big for you to complete or achieve? Instead of looking at life through your perceived limitations, start looking at it through your potential! There is no dream too big for you. You might have to tweak or modify the specifics of your dream, but no dream or task is impossible. There are too many examples of people overcoming significant obstacles to achieve their dreams and life purpose to suggest that something is too big or difficult to achieve.

How much does fear block you from your greatness? How often does your mind race immediately to statements such as "I can't afford that" or "I’ll have to wait until…" or “what if it goes wrong”? How would your life be if you let go of any thoughts you had of scarcity, lack and fear?

Relax in the knowledge and belief that you have everything that you need, and more. Truly believe this to be true and fully expect a life of abundance, and it will be yours.

Remember that you are unique, and you have a specific, unique purpose and destiny in this world. From your core is a fountain of possibilities. All you have to do is to stay grounded and focused on your daily goal or intention, ensure it is in alignment with the callings of your life, and take the necessary daily actions that move you towards your aligned goals, and ultimately your destiny.

You can do this. Today! Here and now! Remember that you are unique and special, and you are worth it.

4 Steps For Better Time Management

 

Time management is the meticulous way of using the number of hours available to you to perform the tasks that you want to complete. In today’s fast-paced life we end up performing so many roles and we can find ourselves perplexed as to how we can approach and manage all the things, whilst still giving ourselves ample time to relax and enjoy our leisure time. Time management has become a necessity, and a crucial skill to master.

Time management involves a lot of planning and organising. We have to sit down and write out plans. The most important factor is bridging the gap between what we expected and what we achieved. There are certain steps that we can take to help us to manage our time as best as we can:

Step 1: Target

The first step is to identify and fix a target in terms of what has to be achieved and in how much time. At this stage, how we get there isn’t necessary. This step could provide an outline, on which further planning would be undertaken.

Step 2: Planning

After identifying what we want to achieve and the time we have, we plan how we can achieve a perfect balance between the two. In the planning stage, we allocate time to each task to be performed so that the end goal is achieved. However, we must remain flexible in our plan, as the actual time we take on a task could be different from what we first expected and planned.

Step 3: Setting Priorities

Another important aspect to time management is arranging the tasks to be performed in descending order of priority. When you understand your priorities and the significance of each task you do, managing your time becomes a lot easier.

Step 4: Time Schedule

Preparing, and working to, a timetable helps you to complete the work on time and meet the goal effectively.

The purpose of time management is to help you to better utilise your time and energy. The time and energy that you normally spend on things that don’t help you to achieve your goals can be put to better and more effective use by planning and managing your time more effectively.

3 Steps To Counter Mental Shut Down When You’re Overwhelmed

 

Have you ever shut down mentally when it all seems to get too much for you?

In this short video, former Navy Seal Jocko Willink, gives you some simple steps that you can take to stop shutting down when you’re feeling mentally overwhelmed.

The first thing you need to do is to identify that this is an issue for you. Step 1 in dealing with your problem, is identifying your problem.

Step 2 is NOT to shut down! If you start to feel yourself shutting down, say to yourself “I’m not going to shut down right now, I’m going to attack this issue!”

The most likely reason you’re feeling overwhelmed is because you have a lot of different things to deal with at the same time. Jocko has a very simple solution to dealing with everything that comes at you – Prioritise and Execute.

Step 3 is to identify the biggest problem that you have in front of you, and then solve it. Once you’ve solved that problem, look for the next one and solve that, and so on.

Put in practice the simple steps above when you're next feeling overwhelmed, and see if they can help you to keep going when you'd normally shut down.

“Step number one in solving your problem, is identifying your problem”

- Jocko Willink

5 Empowering Tips For Beating Procrastination

 

Procrastination can have many negative effects on your life, but one of the most destructive effects of procrastination is that it makes you feel out of control. Procrastination is like an ‘invisible force’ that keeps you from doing the very things that you know you must do.

With the increasing demands on our time and attention, there seems to be an increase in procrastination, especially amongst those people that want to succeed the most. Procrastination usually sets in when you feel overwhelmed by all the ‘have to’s’ in your life and instead of making steady progress, you take on too much without ever getting any of it done.

Feeling out of control takes away all of your power to shape and direct your own life. It’s true that there are many things over which you have no control, but you always have full control over how you perceive what really happens to you.

Your reality is a mental process independent of the circumstances and events of the outside world – it comes from within you.

Being empowered means that you realise that you already have the power and this realisation also gives you the ability to take action.

Here are five empowering tips that can help you to reach this realisation and become empowered to effectively deal with procrastination and inaction:

Tip 1: It’s all inside

Procrastination is an internal process and although it might feel like it’s happening to you, you are, in actual fact, responsible for it. This procrastination tip can help to put you back in control almost immediately. Procrastination is not an external force, but an internal response and evaluation. The simple realisation that it’s ‘you’ that’s doing it to ‘you’, gives you the power to do something about it.

Tip 2: It’s all you

When procrastination drags you down, it’s all too easy to think that that’s just the way it is, and that there’s nothing that you can do about it. Although it feels like you have no control, you actually do. In fact, this is why you feel out of control – because you believe that there’s nothing that you can do about it.

There are two very important beliefs you need to develop to help you break free from procrastination. The first is that you CAN overcome procrastination and the second is that YOU can overcome procrastination. No one else can do it for you and because you created it, you can un-create it.

Tip 3: It’s all in your head

The reason why most people remain stuck in patterns of procrastination is because of fear. At the most fundamental level, all forms of procrastination come down to fear.

What you don’t face controls you. To overcome the fear, and the procrastination that comes with it, you need to confront and do the very things that you don’t want to do. The instant you do, you take charge and it no longer has any control over you.

The ironic thing is that fear only exists in your imagination – it’s always something that hasn’t happened yet. Procrastination is not real – it’s only the way you evaluate things in your mind.

Tip 4: It’s all about conditioning

The root of success at anything in life is consistency. The best of the best at anything are those who can repeat their greatness consistently. The way you get consistent is through conditioning. Your nervous system operates through conditioning. When you do something over and over again it becomes ‘normal’ and when it’s normal you don’t have to think about it – it becomes automatic.

The challenge we can face is that this principle works both ways. Whether your conditioned responses support you or whether they hinder you, your nervous system doesn’t make a distinction. If procrastination is your conditioned response, you will always feel out of control, simply because that’s what you’ve ‘learned’ to do automatically. You simply need to ‘recondition’ yourself to a new response; to teach yourself to respond in a different way.

Tip 5: It’s all about awareness

Procrastination isn’t all bad - it does serve a purpose, and a very important one. But only if you’re aware of the benefits.

We only procrastinate about those things that have value to us. At some level, either directly or indirectly, you believe that taking action will benefit you. If it didn’t, it wouldn’t bother you.

Be grateful for procrastination, and the lesson that it’s giving you, and use it as a guide to ‘know’ what you need to act on. Being aware of this fact, and developing an awareness for what you do and fail to do, can empower you to be in charge of yourself on a much higher level.

When you’re empowered you’re in charge, and even if things seem to go wrong on the surface, underneath you know that you have the power to deal with them effectively. Procrastination is disempowering and it takes away your ability to take immediate action and deal with any situation. Always remember that you’re ultimately in charge of ‘you’. Don’t delay. Act!