LIVE LIFE UP HIGH

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Killing Success.

If you want to know how to kill success I have a great way. It is called “excusitis”, which is a failure disease. It affects most average people and people who don’t realize their dreams.  Excusitis, if left untreated, will seep into every area of your life and cause you to feel worthless and depressed. It causes you to act as a victim instead of a victor in life.

What is excusitis?

It is the disease that constantly finds reasons for why you are not realizing your potential. You can detect excusitis in yourself and in others by listening closely to the words you and others use. A person who suffers from excusitis has many excuses for why they are not more successful. Every excuse they produce has to do with something they don’t have or a disadvantage they have that keeps them back. For example, you may hear things like I would be successful if I weren’t so old or so young or if I had more money or if I had a better upbringing or if I had a better education or if my spouse supported me or if the economy weren’t so bad… You get the idea.  Excusitis can take many forms and is only limited to the creativity of the person suffering from the disease.

This is Contagious.

Be careful and be aware. Excusitus is that it is highly contagious. Even if you don’t suffer from the disease now, if you are around people that are constantly making excuses for there lack of success you are at risk of contracting this disease. My advice is to stop spending time with such people if you really desire to be successful.

The Cure.

The great thing about this disease is that it has a known cure. This cure is effective and can inoculate you from any future infections from this disease. The cure is a three-step approach that works every time. Let’s quickly discuss the steps.

Peak performance begins with your taking complete responsibility for your life and everything that happens to you. – Brian Tracy

1. Take responsibility for any failures or lack of fully realizing your goals. Don’t blame anyone else or any characteristic you are missing or a characteristic that you have. If you haven’t succeeded it is because you have not decided to succeed. I know this is tough talk but it is true.  You are exactly where you have decided to be in life. If you are not realizing success it is because at some level you have decided not to be successful. Once you realize this truth, it will become apparent to you that if you have the power to decide not to succeed, you also have the power to decide to succeed. I can say this with unreserved confidence because I know that inside of you there is unlimited potential to succeed put there by our Creator. You were born to succeed.

Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail. — Charles F. Kettering

2. Believe you will succeed with or without “disadvantages”. I don’t want you to just believe that you can succeed. I want you to believe that you will succeed. If I dare, I would like you to take it further and believe that you are succeeding right now. See yourself being the success you already are.

No action, no change. Limited action, limited change. Lots of action – Change occurs.  - Catherine Pulsifer

3. Take Action. Set your goals, make your plans and then take definite action towards your goals. Be persistent and consistent. If you miss the mark see it as only a setback. Take responsibility (notice I didn’t say take the blame), review the situation to see what you can learn from the setback, and then take new action based on what you learned from the setback.

Excusitis is a very deadly disease, determine today to rid yourself of this disease and move forward to become the successful person I know you already are.

As always, I welcome your comments.

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Do you realize that your habits determine whether you will fail or succeed? If you practice the habits that the successful practice you will get the results that the successful receive. Adopting the habits of the successful includes understanding the thinking behind the habits. Let’s take a moment and sample some of the best habits.

Habit 1: Visualize the end result at the beginning.

Today I heard a great acronym for visualizing the end result at the beginning. The acronym CCMP stands for Clear Concise Mental Picture. The successful have a Clear Concise Mental Picture of the end result of their desire.  The top athletes do this all the time. They create a clear concise mental picture of winning and they fully experience it in their minds. They do this before way before they actually participate in the event. This is what you must do. Create a Clear Concise Mental Picture of yourself with your goal. See it, feel it and experience it before you get it.

Habit 2: Identify your 20% and work it.

I have written about the 80/20 rule in previous posts. It is important for every goal you create that you figure out the 20% of the activities that will provide 80% of the results. There are a vital few activities that are truly important for you to meet your goal. Focus your efforts here and you will accelerate your rate of success.

Habit 3: Follow a successful model.

Many people fail because they do everything by trial and error. While trial and error has its place finding and following a model of success is a better option. Successful people have gone before you. Find out what they did and do it. Simple.

Habit 4: Treat people right.

Truly successful people know how to treat others.  They follow the golden rule of doing unto others as they would have others do unto them. In fact, truly successful people know how to do unto others as others would have them do unto them. In other words, take time to find out the goals those around you and help them achieve their goals. When you help others achieve their goals you will receive help in completing your goals.

Habit 5: Believe in yourself.

Successful people have the habit of believing in themselves even when no one else believes in them. They know that they have value and that their dreams have merit. This is a must for success. Believe you can achieve your goal.  To paraphrase an old saying: whether you believe you can or you believe you can’t, you’re right.

Incorporate these habits into your life and you will go a long way towards achieving your goals. As always I welcome your comments.

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Today I was thinking about how dangerous comfort zones can be to our future success. While they feel great for the present, most of the best things in life for us are outside of our comfort zones. Indeed, we will never know what we are capable of doing unless we push ourselves into new experiences. Really comfort is overrated. Living life to the fullest, that’s where it’s at.

I recently saw a powerful article about breaking out of comfort zones that I wanted to share with you. Check out Henrik’s article 
 let me know what you think. As always, I welcome your comments.

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Entrepreneur, Author and Blogger Seth Goldin has released a free ebook on blogging and the new web called Who’s There?

Who’s There is not an ebook about how to write better or how to follow the traditional conventions about formatting and building a blog. It’s not designed to sell you one service instead of another, either.

Although Seth describes the book as incomplete, he provides an interesting insight into the blogging world. At only 45 pages it is a quick read but don’t mistake its brevity for lack of quality content. This little book is packed with great insights and explanations. In short, “Who’s There” is a must read for entrepreneurs who are interested in blogging.

Download your free ebook [Seth's Blog] and let me know what you think.

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The Power of Choice
I know we ended our off last time discussing the power of choice but I think this point is so important that we need to delve into it a little deeper. Your power to choose is one of the most powerful God-given forces in the universe. You can choose to be rich or poor, a winner or a loser, a success or a failure, a giver or a robber, a person of accomplishment or a person of excuse. It is really all up to you. So before we start on this journey to your best business and professional life we must begin with the most powerful thing you can do. Choose.

Make Your Choice a Quality Choice
Most of us have experienced making a choice one day and then violating that choice the next day. What I am suggesting today is that you make a quality choice. A quality choice is one that is backed up with the commitment to do whatever it takes (without causing harm to others or yourself) to live up to the choice you have made.

Check out these 5 great quotes about choice

The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.
George Eliot

There are two primary choices in life; to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.
Denis Waitley

We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.
Kahlil Gibran

What we call the secret of happiness is no more a secret than our willingness to choose life.
Leo Buscaglia

You are the person who has to decide. Whether you’ll do it or toss it aside; you are the person who makes up your mind. Whether you’ll lead or will linger behind. Whether you’ll try for the goal that’s afar. Or just be contented to stay where you are.
Edgar A. Guest

Here are 12 powerful choices you can make
1. Choose to be the best version of yourself by God’s grace.
2. Choose to constantly increase.
3. Choose to be the best businessperson you can be.
4. Choose not to limit yourself.
5. Choose to be humble.
6. Choose to be a person of faith.
7. Choose to be a winner.
8. Choose to be prosperous.
9. Choose to be generous and loving to others.
10. Choose to discover and use your best gifts to help others.
11. Choose to discover and fulfill your destiny.
12. Choose to do no harm.

I encourage you to make a quality choice to live your best life today. As always I welcome your comments.

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In this final post discussing Dr. Caroline Leaf’s book, Who Switched off My Brain?: Controlling Toxic Thoughts and Emotions, we will briefly describe the last three detox steps outlined in the book.

Detox Step 11 – Diet – Dr. Leaf suggests that you should never eat when you are angry or facing any other unpleasant emotions. Eating during those times can make your food toxic to you. Your toxic thoughts will interfere with the proper working of your digestive system. 

Another important point is that when you eat well you will properly feed your brain. Dr. Leaf explains that a major source of food for the brain is glucose. Of course, you need to eat this in the proper quantities.

Finally, it is important to think about what you eat. In the book Dr. Leaf mentions a few of the types of foods that help us think well and feel good.

Detox Step 12: The Spiritual aspect – In this section Dr. Leaf talks about the power of spiritual truth to deal with toxic emotions. The Christian faith is the guiding belief of her life and mine. I encourage you to live in your spiritual truth.

Detox Step 13: Relax – The “acceleration syndrome” is the cause of many mental, physical and emotional health problems. The key point here is to learn to spend your time wisely. You must focus on what is good for you and you must take time to relax.

We have reached the end of the steps to detox your thinking.  These last 3 detox steps are obvious and we hear them all the time, but sometimes as entrepreneurs we don’t do them. Make a decision today to begin using all the steps to detox your thinking and improve your life. 

As always I appreciate your comments.

Please click the image below to obtain this resource.

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In this post we continue our discussion of Dr. Caroline Leaf’s book Who Switched off My Brain?: Controlling Toxic Thoughts and Emotions. We are specifically looking at the steps she recommends for detoxing your brain. In the previous post we discussed the first five detox steps. In this post we continue by briefly discussing steps 6-9.

Detox Step 6 – Think Forgiveness – Much has been written about the importance of forgiving yourself and others in order to acheive success. Dr. Leaf  joins these writers in expressing the power of forgiveness on your mind and body.  She says forgiveness is like taking an “emotional shower”. Forgiveness allows you to let go of toxic emotions and memories and build new and better memories. Make a decision to forgive and release those who have done you wrong in business and in life. This will add years to your life and life to your business.

Detox Step 7 – Love – Tune Into Your Heart -  Did you know that your heart considers and “thinks” about the information the brain sends to it. According to Dr. Leaf, the heart has a “mini-brain” that functions like a conscience.  She suggests that when you practice love and appreciation many of your internal systems are positively affected and help you live longer and healthier. The key thought here is to tune into your heart and practice love, kindness, gratitude and appreciation. These emotions help eliminate toxic thoughts. These emotions also help you to get more business and serve more customers.

Detox Step 8 – Monkey Hug- Therapy – Touch has long been touted as having a powerful affect on human beings (and others). Dr Leaf relates an interesting story in the book about a study conducted with baby monkeys. This study clearly shows the power of touch. It is a must read.  Caroline also mentions various studies that show that touch releases powerful chemicals from the brain that breaks negative feedback loops. The message: take time to hug and be hugged.

Detox Step 9- Play and Laugh – This one is self-explanatory. An interesting point here is that laughter releases feel-good chemicals that boost the immune system and does other great things in the body. To be a successful, well-rounded entrepreneur you must take time to play and laugh. Entrepreneurs by nature are driven to succeed. We must be reminded to take time and enjoy ourselves. Our lives depend on it. Consider this your reminder.

Check our Dr. Leaf’s book and as always I look forward to your comments.

Recommended Resource

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Well, we have made it to deadly mistake number 6 in our discussion on the 7 deadly mistakes new entrepreneurs make and how to avoid them. I hope by this point you have learned how to avoid some of these mistakes based on the information I have supplied. Why repeat mistakes others have made if you can avoid them?

Deadly Mistake No. 6 – Not Placing a High Value on your Customers

Many entrepreneurs have been taught how important the customer is but few have really embraced this concept so that it permeates every aspect of their business. Valuing your customer goes beyond customer appreciation days and rebates. In order to value your customer you must take the time to get to know them and then design your business around them.

Many entrepreneurs start out with the customer at the heart of the business but somewhere along the line the customer becomes secondary. This is especially true of growing companies. The entrepreneur’s focus moves from the customer to building the business and dealing with internal issues. This is a hugely costly mistake. The customer must remain the main focus of the business if the business is to thrive.

Here are three simple keys to help you keep your customer front and center in your business:

1. Focus on your customer – As the leader of your business the customer must be your personal focus. Spend time thinking about your customer’s lifestyle. What do your top customers do for work? What do they do for recreation? What are their biggest problems?  You also need to know how your customer interacts with your product or service. Why do your top customers buy from you and not from your competitors?  How are your top customers’ needs changing? What is the biggest problem your customer is having using your product or service. Start thinking along these lines about your customer and you will help keep them front and center in your mind.

2. Build your systems around your customer – This is really self-explanatory. Any system you build in your business should be built only if it helps you serve your customer better. If it doesn’t help you serve your customer better it is not a good system for your business. Simple.

3. Teach your employees how to treat your customers- Your customers are gold to you and they must be gold to your employees. Make sure every employee knows the link between their jobs and how they treat every customer. They must understand that without the customer there is no business and therefore no job for them. It is your responsibility as the entrepreneur to communicate this message to your employees both orally and by example. You may also want to reward your employees for going the extra mile for your customer.

In the final post in this series we will discuss the 7th deadly mistake. As always I welcome your comments.

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In part one of this post we discussed the fact that many entrepreneurs allow their past failures to hold them back. We discussed 3 bite-sized nuggets that entrepreneurs should consider to help them move past these failures on to success. 
In this post, we will introduce and discuss the four remaining nuggets.

Seek the advice of others who have gone before you – This is probably a step that many entrepreneurs skip. I think for many of us it is a pride thing.  However, it is imperative that we take this step my entrepreneurial friend. Seeking competent advice is very wise. You should seek advice on three levels:

1.Seek advice about whether you have properly defined the failure . Knowing how to properly describe and define the failure is key in determining the causes. It is also a key factor in ensuring you don’t have a repeat performance.

2. Seek advice about whether you have correctly identified the 1 or 2 key factors that led to the failure. It may be hard to be objective about what caused the failure. Discussing your list of possible key factors with a competent advisor can help you clearly identify the key contributing factors.

3. Seek advice about possible approaches to circumvent the failure in the future. This is very important if it turns out that your failure was due to an error in judgement. We all have blindspots in our lives that others see clearly. By seeking advice about solutions you will multiply the odds of succeeding this time around.

Create an action plan – After you have sought competent advice and combined it with the information you gleaned from your own analysis, it is time to create a plan for moving forward. Take your time and consider all the steps you need to take to move forward. A great action plan should include steps to take, deadlines for completion of each step, resources needed to complete each step, possible obstacles to completion and steps to circumvent any known obstacles.

Implement the action plan – There is no need to create an action plan if you are not going to put it into action. At this point, you need to commit to the action plan and get started. After each step, review your plan and see if you need to make any adjustments. Remember things change and we need to be flexible.

Review - After you have accomplished your goal it is important to review. You want to see what went right and what you can improve. The key is to understand the process so you can improve it and repeat it. 

When you face failure this way you will no longer fear it. You will eat failure for lunch. As always, I look forward to your comments.

photo credit: hans.gerwitz

Too many entrepreneurs allow their past failures to keep them from moving forward and pursuing new opportunities.  They tend to magnify these failures and allow these failures to hold them hostage. Don’t let this be you. In this post I give you 3 of the 7 bite sized nuggets to consider about your past failures and show you how to use these as stepping-stones to new opportunities.

Forgive yourself – It is amazing how hard we entrepreneurs can be on ourselves. When we make mistakes we often blame ourselves and then condemn ourselves to the entrepreneurial dungeon. To be truly successful as an entrepreneur you need to take responsibility for the mistake but don’t dwell on it and condemn yourself. You also shouldn’t blame others either. Even if they were a part of the reason you made the mistake, forgive them. Lack of forgiveness is a negative drain on your present and it sabotages your future.

Don’t allow fear to hold you hostage – Sometimes we are able to forgive ourselves but we are afraid to try again. We allow the fear of failing again to hold us back. It is imperative that we get past this stage. The key is to properly define failure. As entrepreneurs we must realize that to fail at something is just an event not a state of being. We are not failures because we have failed attempts. As a matter of fact, most successful entrepreneurs have had many failed attempts. They usually have many more failed attempts than the average entrepreneur. In order to move forward we must resolve to make another attempt using the information we gained from this event. 

Glean lessons from the failed attempt – As an entrepreneur it is important to measure and analyze. Think of yourself as a scientist when it comes to attempts. Look at the failed attempt objectively and determine what went wrong. Identify all of the contributing factors that went into this being a failed attempt and then prioritize the factors. You will probably find that one or two factors contributed to the failure considerably more than any other factor. Isolate these factors and do an analysis to see what you can do to make changes in this area.

In Part 2 of this series I will share with you 4 other nuggets. As always I look forward to your comments.