OK – so how many goals (resolutions, intentions, plans) have you made so far today?
Along with tomorrow, Monday | a.k.a. – “next week”, and next month – this seems to be one of the most (If not THE) popular days to start fresh.
I hope you realize how silly that is though.
You don’t need a certain day or time to work on yourself.
Why not reset IMMEDIATELY?
I just wrote a series of Blog Posts / Articles on the subject.
Take a look at ‘em – and see how a New YOU Day can be achieved EVERY day!
New You Day – - – Blog Post / Article
New You Day – Disclaimers | Guidelines - – - Blog Post / Article
New You Day – Why? - – - Blog Post / Article
New You Day – What? - – - Blog Post / Article
New You Day – Action! - – - Blog Post / Article
New You Day – Consistency! - – - Blog Post / Article
New You Day – Wash | Rinse |Repeat - – - Blog Post
Note: Image by Lululemon Athletica.
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- Now it’s time to tie EVERYTHING within your NEW YOU DAY Mentality together!
Note: If you haven’t seen the previous posts,
“New You Day – Disclaimers / Guidelines“
- be sure to read them before continuing.
Have you ever read the instructions on the back of a shampoo bottle?
It will usually include something along the lines of, “Wash / Lather | Rinse | Repeat”.
In reference to hair – I’d suggest limiting your “repeat” to 2 or 3 times at most. But in reference to a New You Day Mentality – and life in general – the “repeat” has no end!
For our reference – you can take the same instructions from the shampoo bottle and substitute them with, “Plan | Do | Review”. And as mentioned above – you’ll be following these steps forever.
The best of the best still have mentors, coaches, and advisors.
Why?
You can NEVER get too good at anything!
Life is like a plane ride.
You take off and then experience a myriad of tiny adjustments until you reach your destination.
When you take on something new – it requires ALMOST the same progression.
I say, “ALMOST” because there will be a start and there will be corrections and adjustments to get better and better at whatever it is you’re doing. But if you’re truly devoted to something – you’ll most likely never experience an end or destination.
Why? Because even in death – you’ll live on.
One of my mentors – the great Jim Rohn – passed away over two years ago (December 5th, 2009). And even though he’s gone physically – he’s still VERY much with us spiritually. His teachings and impact are still very much alive and well!
That example could have gone either way though. Look at Hitler. Not only do you know who I’m talking about WITHOUT a first name – but just that last name alone brings up such strong negative emotions that it’s hard to contain them. And that’s after being dead for over 66 years (April 30th, 1945).
You can move yourself – and other people – to do INCREDIBLE (Or horrible) things!
Think about it! And you’re only limited by what you can imagine!
You can CONSTANTLY find weaknesses in your armor – and improve upon yourself!
I don’t know about you – but I find this absolutely EXHILARATING!
So get out there and Wash | Rinse | Repeat to greatness!
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Consistency – component 4 of 4 to complete your New You Day is quite possibly the most important of all!
Note: If you haven’t seen the previous posts,
“New You Day – Disclaimers / Guidelines“
- be sure to read them before continuing.
What component could be so important in completing your New You Day Mentality?
CONSISTENCY!
I’ll frame the answer with a couple of questions.
If you know you need a flat stomach and decide sit-ups and crunches will help you achieve it – will doing a workout once or even a few times get you six pack abs?
If you decide you’d like to learn to play the piano and decide taking lessons will help you achieve it – will taking one or even a few lessons make you a great pianist?
If you decide to become a magician and find out watching DVDs and reading books on the subject can help you achieve it – will watching a few minutes or even hours and reading a chapter or two from a book transform you into Houdini?
Unless you’re some sort of insane prodigy with untold hidden talents – the answer for all 3 questions is most likely, “NO!”
Why?
In all 3 examples you decided right? You make a plan on what needed to be done – right?
With that said – you should have had success then. Right?
WRONG!
But that IS the mentality people apply to things.
We live in a FAST society!
People skip commercials on their TIVO or DVR – to get back to their programs quicker and tap their feet waiting for the microwave to pop their popcorn!
Putting in time isn’t always on the menu.
Jeff Olson wrote a book – The Slight Edge – that explains consistency (positive and negative) perfectly! Here it is in a nutshell. It (Slight Disciplines or Slight Errors In Judgement) doesn’t seem to make a difference in the act of doing it – but compounded over time makes all the difference in the world!
The key here is the “…compounded over time…” component.
Take Michael Phelps for example. He practiced every day for hours on end five straight years – before his record breaking achievements at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Talent he already possessed and a focused attention to get even better – compounded over time – made it possible! Even with all that intense focus and training – he still come within less than a second of 2nd place in one of the record breaking races!
I use that example for 2 reasons. One – it takes an investment of time to be be great! Two- it takes consistency!
5 years – or 1825 days – seems like a LONG time to swim lap after lap after lap. And many people would have taken a day (Most likely SEVERAL) off in that time and/or stated, “LISTEN! I have that stroke down!” But as stated above – even after ALL that practice – the difference between 1st and 2nd Place come down to less than a second!
So even though you KNOW your “Why?”, “What?”, and take “Action!” – remember it’s the “Consistency!” that’ll make it all come together!
Now that you know the 4 Components of a New You Day Mentality – there is a Bonus Component.
Stay tuned for the next post to find it out…
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Your New You Day wouldn’t be complete without ACTION!
Note: If you haven’t seen the previous posts,
“New You Day – Disclaimers / Guidelines“
- be sure to read them before continuing.
The third step in the process of determining your New You Day Mentality is in taking ACTION!
And when I say, “ACTION!” – notice it’s capitalized with an exclamation point.
Why?
Because the action you take needs to be MASSIVE and IMMEDIATE!
Remember in the first post when I stated, “…assuming you’re not a BONEHEAD (I’ll explain why I call myself that later…) like me – I’m also going to save you A LOT of time!“?
It’s time to explain why I called myself that.
I’m sad to admit this – but I came up with the idea for New You Day almost a decade ago – and I’m JUST now doing something about it.
That’s right! 10/11/2003 to be specific.
I INTENDED to do something with it right away – but after MANY “tomorrows” – I didn’t do anything and write about it until 8 (Yes EIGHT!) years later!
Why?
Demanding hours of a job or jobs, our kids, our families, our friends, to do lists, and a myriad of other “THINGS”. In a word – LIFE!
I told myself over and over, “Tomorrow.”
In an Annie song – it’s a great concept – but in REAL LIFE you need to deal with things RIGHT NOW!
Tomorrow may not ever arrive for ANY of us.
And even though we’d like to believe we do – we DON’T have the luxury of time.
We don’t have until tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year!
It’s that attitude that got us in trouble in the first place.
Time gets away from us FAST! I see it every day in the faces of my children. They were babies when I came up with this idea and had the best of intentions in acting on it – and now they’re in Grade School and getting older and older right in front of my eyes.
If you REALLY want to change and/or put things (Your “Why?” and “What?”) in motion – you (We) need to do so IMMEDIATELY! It’s what a New You Day is designed for! Instant reset and action today!
I hope you see I’m not trying to be negative. As a matter of fact – if you knew me personally you’d know that’s just about impossible! Even my blood is B+!
But I told you that yours truly (A.K.A. – The Bonehead) was going to save you A LOT of time. Taking MASSIVE and IMMEDIATE Action will do just that – because you won’t waste time planning, intending, and making excuses for tomorrow.
And even though knowing your “Why?”, “What?”, and taking “ACTION!” is great – there’s still one component left…
Stay tuned for the next post!
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You know your New You Day “WHY?” – so now the second step in the process of determining your New You Day Mentality is answering the question, “What?”
Note: If you haven’t seen the previous posts,
“New You Day – Disclaimers / Guidelines“
- be sure to read them before continuing.
In other words – you’ve determined the “Why?” that drives you. Now you need to formulate a plan on “WHAT?” you have to do to focus on that passion.
Personally – I like to think of the end result I want to achieve – and design my blueprints by working backwards to the very beginning.
The best way I’ve found to do this is by mind mapping everything out.
According to Wikipedia.org - a Mind Map is:
A diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea.
Here’s a random example of a simple mind map thinking out breakfast:
Image Source: http://mededlit.blogspot.com
I use an erasable white board and colored dry erase markers to make mine – but you can do it ANY way that works for you! The most important part of the exercise / step isn’t the how you do it – but that you DO it!
Remember our New You Day – Guidelines? This exercise requires you to:
“…look at things through the thoughts and eyes of a child. When you ask a child what they want to be when they grow up – they’ll tell you everything from Veterinarian to Ninja. Ad when they say it – they do so with conviction. They MEAN – and more importantly BELIEVE – it! So I need you to do the same thing. When you make an intention – do it with the belief that you can and will achieve it!”
Just write! Preferably rapid fire!
Don’t judge, think, and/or rationalize. Again – just write!
You can work out the details after you squeeze EVERYTHING out of your mind.
This is an absolutely incredible exercise!
Stepping out of your adult shoes and thinking like a child – where ANYTHING is possible – can be SO freeing!
And not only will it serve as a Mind Map and/or guide for “What?” – the very act of writing down your intentions can greatly increase the chances of accomplishing them.
You might even want to create a Dream Board in addition to your Mind Map. What IS a Dream Board? It’s a collection of motivational (Wants and Whys) imagery – containing both words and photos – of everything you want to achieve. And just as your Mind Map – when choosing the content – don’t base it on reality. It’s called a Dream Board for a reason!
So now you’ll have all your intentions, ideas, and dreams mapped out and ready to take action on.
Put them in a place where you have to look at ‘em all the time.
There’s a DYNAMITE quote out there that should really excite you -
“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes
Once you’ve experiencing this out of the box thinking – you’ll never be the same!
Next we’ll be covering ACTION!
Stay tuned…
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