The Same 24 Hours

No matter where you live on this planet, there are 24 hours in a day. We all pretty much have the same 24 hours in which to make choices. Choices about how we spend that 24 hour time period and what we choose to create for ourselves, for our lives.  This may seem like an obvious statement but let's take a closer look at the implications and why there are always enough hours in the day.

Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Donald Trump, Mother Theresa, Mahatma Ghandi, Alexander the Great to name a few, look at what they accomplished in their lifetimes. Armed with little more than vision and desire, they each gave life to their visions within same time that we all share. Monumental and life changing creations and legacies. They didn't have 26 or 28 or 34 hour days in which to accomplish what they wanted. So what made them different?

Purpose and decision. They used their time wisely, making decisions that took them towards their goals. They prioritised what was important over the frivolous and sometimes the important over the urgent (not everything that is urgent is important). Their vision became their North Star, their guiding principle by which they based their decisions.

The vision for your life may not be Brobdingnagian and it doesn't have to be as long as you align your behaviour with your decisions. Create a North Star that guides your decision making towards the life you want, the life you choose, a life on your terms. You are capable of great things using the same 24 hours as any of life's accomplishers (not sure if that's a real word!) by choosing how you spend your time.

Try doing something that tests you today. That nervous energy that you feel is the energy that gets you over the line, so use it.

Limiting Beliefs - What's Stopping You?

Have you ever heard yourself saying something that you believed to be true, something that has guided your decision making and you've never questioned it? It was told to you a long time ago by someone that you held in regard, it could have been a parent, relation or friend. 'You know what, they told me so it must be true.'

Being peer coached not so long ago, a phrase came out of my mouth that I was full sure was true. It was so true it had been a guiding principle in my decision making for years. When I was asked 'Why?' I became disarmed. This phrase that I had taken on board to be true was at the heart of stopping me moving forward in the direction that I had chosen to go. I was right where I thought I wanted to be and yet like a fly at a window, I couldn't see myself butting up against this invisible contradiction.

The phrase is "No one is going to listen to me without a qualification." It had been drummed in to me by people that I held in regard until someone asked me 'Why?'. I didn't have an answer. I'm articulate and well read, I socialise well, I'm a good listener and attentive. I know all this because I am constantly told (and without solicitation). And I'm in sales. Do well but can you imagine the world that opened up to me once I identified and started working on this? I thought to myself "When was the last time you asked a television salesman for his degree in electrical engineering of physics to see if they knew why one television worked better than another?"

Many of us take limiting beliefs on board without checking. 'You can't draw', 'You're not good at maths', 'You'll never make it as an athlete' or even  'It's better to play it safe than sorry'. Imagine telling Einstein, the Wright Brothers, Edison, Gates, Jobs or Jordan any of the previous. (Notice I didn't have to put their first names in either!). Yet people do it every day, some well intentioned, some not so well intentioned. They will tell YOU what YOU are like and capable of? Seriously? So here's something to think about; I'm Irish. Me living, working and speaking Chinese will never make me a Chinese person, one has to be Chinese from birth. The best I could ever do it to know about, not actually know, what it is to be Chinese. The best others can do is to know about you but without being you they will never know 'you'.

So next time you hear yourself uttering something 'that you know to be true', STOP and THINK and QUESTION. Does this belief serve me or hold me back? Where did I learn this from? Am I passing it one to someone else without checking it first? Take actions that are true to yourself, feelings that resonate with you. Don't limit your challenges, challenge your limits. Actions that are taken with the boldness that come from your true self are never wrong and never weak.

Attention: To identify a limiting belief is not to overcome it. Remember, a limiting belief has probably been ingrained in you for some time. There is no magic pixie dust that will change your mindset over night. As you stride boldly in a new direction, your old programming will have a strong gravitational pull on you. The great news is that this can be overcome and it will eventually disappear, replaced by new and empowering beliefs based on what you know through personal experience. Like upgrading your operating system on a new computer, one that is compatible and doesn't have you crashing when you go to operate certain commands. Your consciousness is your powerful ally, accepting what you tell it. To use and affirmation made famous by Barack Obama "Yes we can!'

Check out this guy, Erik Whal. I saw him do his thing in Hawaii. He was told as a child that he was no good at art because he didn't paint within the lines. It changed his career path and he lost his happy.

 http://theartofvision.com/artist/gallery/

Perceived Value - The Cost of Change.

In Chicago's O'Hare airport on my way back from Hawaii and looking for some reading material, I came across a book by a gentleman named Ron Karr. The book is called "Lead, Sell or Get Out of the Way." Mr. Karr has been attributed with approximately $500m in sales. He's motivational and one hell of salesman. I follow his LinkedIn forum which is a mine of information for people in sales. Interestingly enough, I am in sales. More interesting is his use of what I would term Personal Development techniques. Being in sales AND personal development myself, the book was a wow because every entrepreneur has to be a sales person.

From his LinkedIn forum Mr. Karr had invited a few of us to a webinar he hosted for free, imparting some of his wisdom. Again, he made common sense seem like the miraculous. You know when you say "Oh yeah, that makes perfect sense, how come I didn't see that before?". One of the nuggets that I took away is his formula for Perceived Value. CNC - CC = PV. As it turns out, it's a formula for life.

To digress for a minute, there is a saying which goes "You should never ask an insurance salesman if you need insurance" and being a life coach, no-one is going to ask me if they need coaching. Part of that I believe has to do with a perceived negative starting point if you look for coaching. If it's not broken, why do I need coaching? Did you know that at the top of his game, Tiger Woods swapped coaches to see if he could improve his swing? Imagine if everyone had taken the notion after the first maned flight that the whole flying thing had been done so what's the point in trying? Humans have always looked to progress in the areas of freedom and potential.

So why change? What is the value of change? Well, to get the answer we use Mr. Karr's formula; the Cost of No Change minus the Cost of Change equals Perceived Value. He used the example of buying his book; Annual Sales of $120,000 - price of the book (approx) $20 = $119, 980. Not much cause for change there. But let's say that by purchasing and implementing the training and knowledge in the book you could double your annual turnover. The formula now looks like $120,000 (CNC) - $240,000 = -$120,000. The Perceived Value is now a negative figure. IF YOU DO NOT CHANGE YOU WILL LOSE OUT! You can continue being 'OK' or you can raise the bar on yourself.

So this is my point about coaching, you can continue plodding along being 'OK' in a zone where there appears to be no need for change. However, what value have you placed on the Cost of Change? Whatever your situation you can apply this formula. Want to give up smoking, what is the cost of change, what is the Cost of No Change? Want to go for that promotion, what is the Cost of No Change? In your life, what is the Cost of No Change?