Tag Archives | growth

Motivation + Perseverance + Meaning = Life Success, Part 3

By Royale on May 16, 2012 in Make a Difference, Purpose

When we are talking about life success, we are talking about not only achieving goals and financial success but also a high quality life in general, meaningful relationships, good health, enjoyment and laughter a fulfilling connection to the world outside of us. We have talked about how motivation and perseverance play a role in achieving a life of satisfaction and success. If you missed those posts, I recommend you read Part 1 and Part 2 first.

But meaning is also an important factor in achieving life success; it’s possibly the most important one. There needs to be purposefulness in both your life and your work in order for us to be truly fulfilled.

What exactly do we mean by “meaning?”

For our purposes, we will define meaning as purposefulness, a driving force or perhaps even a mission. If something fulfills us, touches us in some way, or feels worthwhile. If it makes us say, “Yes, this is good and right,” then it probably has meaning to us.

When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it. - W. Clement Stone

How do we know what is meaningful to us?

It calls to us, it compels us to action, it sparks our passion, or evokes strong feelings. These things signify meaning and they will differ, sometimes drastically from person-to-person, organization to organization. It really doesn’t matter what we find meaningful, what matters is that we recognize what is meaningful to us and we tried to incorporate that into our lives. Finding meaning in what we do and how we live may truly be the most significant factor in the quality of our lives.

Types of things that may have meaning to us:

Using our talents and skills in a way that benefits the world around us. – Each of us has a special gift of some kind that brings us joy and satisfaction. We may be compelled to look for and explore these talents and gifts or we may not recognize that the skills we possess are actually very important and useful.

What is your special talent, skill, or gift that you have to offer?

Upholding our values – If something angers us or feels unjust in some way, if we feel compelled to act or speak out in some way, there is usually something happening in our lives or the world around us that is in conflict with our values. When we take action when we defend an innocent, when we take a stand or try to correct a wrong, we are expressing our values. Our values clearly have meaning to us and in many ways drive the decisions we make.

What do you believe is right? What is important? What do you value? Whom do you champion?

Growing as individuals – When we seek to improve some aspect of ourselves or to expand and stretch beyond our previous limits, that growth, that expansion has meaning to us. It may be meaningful to improve our health, to gain knowledge, to explore our creativity, to develop a deeper awareness of what’s inside us, or to cultivate a stronger connection to that which is beyond our individual selves. Expansion and growth provide a strong sense of meaning.

How do you seek to grow or expand yourself as an individual?

Growing as a society – When we are compelled to improve upon the world around us, to make our community, our world better in some way it speaks to something meaningful inside us. A desire to right a social injustice, help others preserve our world and our history or to affect in a positive way the future legacy we are leaving those who come after us is indicative of something that is fiercely meaningful to us.

What do you strongly feel needs to be changed in the world around you? Moreover, what role do you feel you can play in bringing about that change?

Knowing what has meaning to us can be a heavy and deep concept. However, finding why we do what we do, what drives us to succeed, to excel and to push ourselves beyond our limits, what calls to us, what compels us, what makes our hearts sing, or our blood boil, is the key to life success.

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We Have a Choice to Make

By Royale on May 14, 2012 in Inspiration, Lessons, Personal Growth

Life is full of transitions, both large and small. They happen whether we like it or not. Children grow up, we grow old, people, and circumstances come and go. We are buoyed and buffeted by life’s current and though it may not be the smoothest arrives, we hopefully learn something along the way.

We cannot stop time and I’m not sure if we would want to anyway. Each phase of life is special in its own way. We stretch, we grow, and sometimes we hurt. Nevertheless, the indisputable truth is that time keeps moving forward with or without our consent.

Our choice is either to dig our heels in stubbornly and stand in its wake or to jump on the roller coaster for whatever the journey brings.

I choose the ride!

How about you?

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How to Stay Productive and Focused

By Royale on March 28, 2012 in Goals, Inspiration, Life Balance, Motivation, Personal Growth, Productivity

I was recently cleaning out old files and documents on my computer. I came across the transcript of an interview I was asked to give about a year ago or so, on how I stay productive, maintain my focus and enjoy life.

As I was reading through, I had to ask myself if the answers are still true and more importantly if I’m living by them. Yes and no. The answers are still true. Definitely. But I don’t consistently translate them into daily actions, and when I don’t my productivity, my connection and my happiness in life falter.

It was an important reminder to me. And I hope that by sharing, you will ask yourself the same questions and that your answers might make your path to life fulfillment and successes clearer.

Questions:

How do you stay productive?

I think the key to living a productive life and making productivity a consistent practice is in having clearly defined goals or outcomes, knowing what actions you need to take to accomplish what you desire, then making it a habit to follow through to completion on tasks and projects. Then you need to make sure you have some balance in your life. There has to be some fun on the flip side.

Where do you find motivation on a daily basis?

I am motivated by a burning desire to connect with others and to share any wisdom or insights I may have that might help them in some way. I see an epidemic of busyness both in the work place and at home. People are frustrated and overwhelmed in their lives and careers. We’re working harder, enjoying life less and spinning our wheels much of the time.

It doesn’t have to be that way! I think life is a journey of growth and we are meant to continuously evolve. I think we design our lives by the actions and choices we make each day and I truly believe that if I can help others make wiser choices and take better actions then I’m doing something worthwhile with my life.

How long have you been doing what you do?

I have been blogging for about two years. I actually started out with a completely different blog and focus, but gradually evolved both my personal (GuardWife.com) and professional (ProductiveLifeConcepts.com) blogs until they were a more comfortable fit for me.

What inspires you?

I am constantly inspired by the world around me. I read incessantly…I always have. I find people interesting and am fascinated by what makes them tick and why they behave the way, they do. I also have a genuine love of nature. The simple beauty of flowers, trees, animals, even the weather provides me with endless inspiration and ideas. I try to get out into nature every day. It calms and centers me, which allows me to be more creative as well.

How did you develop a talent for writing?

I’m not sure honestly. I have always been good at writing, especially on non-fiction topics, but never pursued it professionally until I decided to get into blogging. My writing has definitely improved with practice. After writing hundreds of blog posts and writing my first book, I have gotten much more efficient and clearer with my writing, both during the writing process and in the end result.

Once I discovered my personal writing style, which happens to be very conversational in nature, I found that my writing flourished. I write as I speak, as if I’m having a conversation with a colleague or friend, share a bit of myself, break a few rules, and have fun.

Your Turn

You’ll obviously want to substitute whatever you do and what your talent is for mine, but the questions are still relevant, and I hope useful.

I’d love to know your answers if you’re willing to share. By sharing something of ourselves, we inspire others.

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Change or Die

By Royale on March 23, 2012 in Creativity, Habits, Happiness, Personal Growth, Questions

Change is constant; you can either embrace it and move forward or resist it and get run over.

Do you fear change? A little uncertain?

The usual conversation in our head goes something like this:

“Well maybe it would be good, but what if it doesn’t work out. Things aren’t going that well, but at least I know what to expect. I’ve been doing, thinking, and acting this way for so long, I don’t know how to be different. People won’t like me if I change. It’s not worth the hassle. I’m not sure I can change anyway.”

We need to recognize that’s only our fear talking. We have been conditioned from birth to conform. We are creatures of habit. We live what we learn. We are mistrustful of new ideas. New ways of doing things seem uncomfortable.

Question that thinking.

It’s a knee jerk response. Look at the broader reality of history. The only way we grow both as individuals and as a society is through change. All of our pioneering inventions that improved our lives, our innovative solutions that solved major world problems, involved massive change. Changes in our technology, changes in our practices, and most of all changes in our mindset.

We would have no iPad, no apps; we might not even have the internet. Horror!

We’d still be sending messages via telegraph instead mobile phones that allow us to call and text from almost anywhere instantaneously.

We’d still have to get up to turn the channel on the television, instead of using a remote that can operate all of our electronics in one handy little device (OK, maybe that wouldn’t be so bad.) Worse yet, we might not even have televisions.

We’d still be using leeches instead of antibiotics. And dying from common viruses with no childhood immunizations.

We’d still be using iceboxes, waiting weeks for our mail to be delivered via Pony, pumping our water at the well. I won’t even mention going out back in the middle of the night. (OK, I mentioned it.) Shutter the thought!

Good grief, we might still think the world was flat and never get to visit Hawaii or Tahiti or Bali (or wherever we’d like to go.)

You get the idea. We cannot grow, advance, improve our lives, and change the world or our individual circumstances, without being willing to change. We would be confined to the life that we were born into, repeating the same behaviors over and over again, no hope for advancement, and a better life.

What do we have to fear? Success. Happiness. New friends and colleagues. Expanding our horizons. Learning new skills.

Those things don’t sound so bad, do they?

What do we have to lose? The comfort of routine. The familiar. The approval of those around us who are fearful of change. Pride if we make a mistake.

Those things don’t actually serve us, do they? Well maybe the pride, but usually it’s misplaced anyway…

Change. Be bold. Be daring. Be hopeful. Be creative. Be alive.

The ball is in your court.

It’s your turn. What do you think?

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10 Things You Could Do With an Extra Hour per Day

By Royale on March 7, 2012 in Happiness, Health, Inspiration, Personal Growth, Productivity

Image via Wikipedia

Have you ever stopped to think about how you could spend an extra hour a day if you had one? I surely have, quite often actually…and here are some of my suggestions.

1. Write the novel you’ve always wanted to write

At the normal average of writing 500 words per hour, you could finish and proof a typical 80,000-word novel in 6 months. See you on the bestseller’s list…

2. Participate in a daily exercise program

Even just walking an hour a day, burning the minimum 300 calories, you could lose 30 pounds in a year. Or not gain 30 pounds…

3. Play with your children

If you spent an average of 60 minutes a day interacting with your children each day, you would add an impressive 365 hours a year to your parenting journey. That’s quality and quantity time…

4. Read that stack of books sitting on your shelf

If you read an hour per day, you could finish nearly 50 books in one year. That’s amazing…

5. Work an extra hour a day

I don’t recommend this, but if you in need extra money or are working toward some large career goal, you could earn an additional $5,000-$15,000 in a year, depending on your hourly rate. That’s not chump change…

6. Learn a new skill

In an hour a day, you could learn to play an instrument, a new sport, or a new hobby in less than a year.

7. Make a Difference

Volunteering in America data shows that the average person who volunteers their time gives around 52 hours a year. Even more interesting, the average value of one volunteer hour to an organization is $21.36. That means that by volunteering an hour per day, you could effectively donate nearly $8,000 worth of volunteer time. That’s really making a difference…

8. Find inner peace

If you used your extra hour to meditate, journal or do yoga, you would be giving yourself the gift of literally 15 days per year dedicated to peace, calm, and inspiration. As an added bonus, lowering stress and cultivating a positive attitude can lengthen your life span as much as 9 years. If that’s not incentive to meditate, I don’t know what is…

9. Laugh and have some fun

Laughter raises serotonin and dopamine levels, which increase happiness, and decreases stress levels. It also makes you more enjoyable to be around, which may improve the relationships in your life. Moreover, if you are going to live longer, you may as well have fun while you’re doing it…

10. Spend time really connecting with the people in your life

Think about all of the relationships you could improve if you invested only an extra hour per day. You could have a more active love life, strengthen your marriage, call your mother, make new friends, or participate in a club or organization that interests you. Aren’t relationships what life is ultimately about anyway?

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The Best Place To Find Happiness

By Royale on February 10, 2012 in Gratitude, Happiness, Health, Inspiration, Mood

Why are so many of us so unhappy? Maybe we’re not unhappy per see, but we aren’t truly content with our lives and we certainly don’t feel real joy every day. An overwhelming majority of people struggle with this problem.

The answer…We’re looking for happiness in the wrong places.

Happiness cannot be found in a nice car, fresh haircut, better relationship, new city, or even a different job. It also can’t be found in fun vacations, fancy houses, and large bank accounts. Success won’t guarantee it, neither will love.

It can’t be found in a thinner body or a sparkly piece of bling (though you might come close.) It’s not in books or on the internet. You certainly can’t get to it through Facebook, (but I like it anyway.)

Oh, it can exist in all of these places, but not if we’re seeking it. Surprisingly, it can also exist in heartbreak and loss, in failure and poverty.

Where can we find happiness then?

We can travel a long way and do many things, but our deepest happiness is not born from accumulating new experiences. It is born from letting go of what is unnecessary, and knowing ourselves to be always at home. - Sharon Salzberg

Happiness is inside us. Only inside us and nowhere else. That doesn’t mean that you can’t have all of those nice things mentioned above. They might even make you feel better temporarily, but they won’t bring you happiness.

We’ve hear this before right? But, how do we find the happiness inside us? If it’s always been hiding inside us, but we haven’t managed to locate it, then we must be doing something wrong.

Yes, we are, because we don’t understand what happiness is. It is not fireworks and giddiness. It’s not smiling all of the time or loving everything that happens in life.

It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere.

- Agnes Repplier

It’s rather a matter of perception. It’s in how we view the world and our role in it. Abraham Lincoln had it right, “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

If unhappiness springs from discontent, it stands to reason that happiness springs from contentment. The extent of which we feel content with lives determines our level of happiness. That doesn’t mean that we can’t strive for a better life or try to positive make changes. It is important to seek professional and personal growth, to achieve our goals and to find a better life balance.

What it does mean is that we can choose to be happy. We can decide to accept life the way it is, rather than always wishing for something different…I’ll be happy when… We can elect to have an attitude of happiness. It’s our attitude, what is stopping us from changing it?

We can be grateful for what life has brought us, both large and small. We can savor each day as a new opportunity to look for the happiness that exists inside of us.

As the Glenda the Good Witch reminds us, “You’ve always had the power…”

The question is… Will you use it?

Share how you find, express, or cultivate your happiness…

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5 Tips to Help You Achieve Your Dreams Now

By Royale on January 20, 2012 in Goals, Inspiration, Personal Growth

Image by nicole.pierce.photography ♥ via Flickr

“You know those goals you’ve set for yourself, those dreams you’ve been waiting for the perfect time to live out? It’s time.” – Maria Shriver

What have you been waiting for? It’s the rare person who does not have dreams, goals, wishes; those someday, when the time is right, maybe when I have more…whatever.

NEWS FLASH…

There is no perfect time, no right circumstance, and no magic window of opportunity. There is only now. Now is the time to stretch out of your zone of security and comfort and reach higher. As my very wise father used to say, “Get your rear in gear!” (Except he used a slightly different word that I will not print on this blog for sensitive eyes to read.)

I have some tips to impart before you embark on your quest for all of those magnificent dreams:

Get very specific about what you want

Ambiguity is the kiss of death for dreams. Be crystal clear, be specific, and if possible be vivid. Be able to explain your objective to a complete stranger – You don’t have to actually do it. Just be able to if you needed to.

Be sure that it’s still right for you

Dreams and ambitions change with time. What we wanted in our 20’s may be radically different from what we want in our 40’s. Question if the vision you had for yourself is still the future you really want.

Have your fantasy

In other words, it’s more than thinking outside the box. That phrase is so over-used that I don’t think we even pay attention to it anymore. What I want you to do is, not only think outside the box, think over the box, think under the box, forget the box even exists and think on a blank canvas. However, don’t forget that there are still opportunities inside the box. I just want you to open your mind to all possibilities (Ahem…without any illegal substances please!)

Gather the troops

Enlist help wherever and whenever you can. Telling people what you want gives you a measure of accountability. Moreover, you never know where your most valuable resource may be found. Mentors and potential partners are everywhere. For example, when I was first trying to get my career as a freelance writer off the ground, I made an off-handed comment during a massage (one of my favorite gifts) about wanting to write full-time to the massage therapist whom I had never met before. I was floored when she told me she had a friend who was looking to get some help with his blog. Hello! That’s opportunity knocking. Who knew!

Full steam ahead

Be bold. Be courageous. Be determined. Don’t be afraid to do something that makes you (or someone else) uncomfortable. Stop making excuses…If you don’t have the time, drop something else. If you don’t have the knowledge or skill, get it.

Every day that goes by is another opportunity lost. Are you going to keep wishing and hoping and complaining or are you going to go after what you want?

Now, be brave and tell me what you want. I’m listening. Put it out there. You never know what kind of support you’ll get. Post a comment or share it on our Facebook page.

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BUSINESS IS A GAME

By Royale on January 6, 2012 in Goals

Image via Wikipedia

I loved this concept from Tony Hsieh.

BUSINESS IS A GAME

Everything I know about business I learned from poker: financials, strategy, education, and culture.

FINANCIALS

The guy who wins the most hands is not the guy who makes the most money in the long run.
The guy who never loses a hand is nor the guy who makes the most money in the long run.
Go for positive expected value, not what’s least risky.
You will win or lose individual hands, but it’s what happens in the long term that matters.

STRATEGY

Learn to adapt. Adjust your style of play as the dynamics of the game change.
The players with the most stamina and focus usually win.
Hope is not a good plan.
Stick to your principles.

EDUCATION

Never stop learning. Read books. Learn from others who have done it before.
Learn by doing. Theory is nice, but nothing replaces actual experience.
Just because you win a hand doesn’t mean you’re good and you don’t have more learning to do. You might have just gotten lucky

CULTURE

To become really good, you need to live it, breathe it, and sleep it.
Be nice and make friends. It’s a small community.
Have fun. The game is a lot more enjoyable when you’re trying to do more than just make money.

Tony Hsieh is the CEO of Zappos.com and the author of Delivering Happiness. Tony’s (longer) blog post is Everything l Know About Business I Learned from Poker.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree? Disagree?

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Create a Life Plan in 30 Minutes or Less…and Why You Need to

By Royale on January 2, 2012 in Happiness, Life Balance, Mood, Personal Growth, Questions, Work

Do you have a life plan? If not, it’s time to think about creating one. We are not talking about some 20 page research paper with charts and graphs and maps. Just a general snapshot of where you are right now in all the areas that matter and where you’d like to go in the future.

This should take no more than 30 minutes. This is your life we’re talking about…you can find 30 minutes. And if you can’t …we need to talk, you and I.

How would you rate your life on a scale of 1 – 10? – Are you satisfied with that rating? What would you be satisfied with?

Write a brief description of the current state of your life. – Health, relationships, work, finances, spiritual or emotional well-being, community, etc. Whatever is going on. Just briefly jot it down.

What makes you happy? – There must be some good things, some things that bring you joy and make you laugh.

What are the drains on your energy and happiness? – What people, situations or behaviors are your kryptonite? We all have these things (or someones) that suck the life out of us like vampires draining our life force.

What isn’t working in your life? - These are the obstacles to living a satisfied life of fulfillment…Do you need to lose weight, be more organized, find a different job, end or change a relationship, manage your stress better or maybe just learn to laugh again.

Now describe your ideal life. - I’m not talking about a commercial for the “Rich and Famous,” some Hollywood fairy tale. I’m talking about what kind of life would truly make you happy to get out of bed in the morning. What would you be doing? Who would you be with? How would you be feeling?

What do you need to do to get that life? – What needs to happen for you to get from point A to point B? Again, not a detailed outline of actions for the next 20 years, just some general goals to work toward, a few habits to adopt or a change in attitude or surroundings to adopt.

Something to think about…Why? Why do you want whatever it is that you want? What do you really want to accomplish in this life? What kind of person do you want to be? What do you want to be remembered for?

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Top 10 Business Books of 2011

By Royale on December 28, 2011 in Books

There are many “Top 10″ lists available and they all differ to some extent. What annoys me to a certain extent is just because a book is a top seller doesn’t mean that it was the most informatative or contained the most useful or entertaining ideas. It just means that more people bought a book, not that they even read it.

That said…Here is my list of my favorite business reads for 2011. Some I have reviewed already in detail on this site, some are still to come.

The Accidental Creative by Todd Henry. “If you want to deliver the right idea at the right moment, you must begin the process far upstream from when you need that idea. You need to build practices into your life that will help you focus your creative energy.”

Best Practices Are Stupid by Stephen Shapiro. “Innovation is not about new products, new processes, new services or even new business models. It is about adaptability. When the pace of change outside of your organization is faster than the pace of change within, you will be out of business. That’s why adopting best practices willy-nilly is stupid. You’ll always be slower. But if you learn to ask the right questions, in the right way, of the right people, you’ll accelerate your innovation efforts.”

Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki. “Enchantment is the process of delighting people with a product, service, organization or idea. The outcome of enchantment is voluntary and long-lasting support that is mutually beneficial. The greater your goals, the more you’ll need to change people’s hearts, minds, and actions. If you need to enchant people, you’re doing something meaningful. If you’re doing something meaningful, you need enchantment.”

Evil Plans by Hugh MacLeod. “Everybody needs an evil plan. Everybody needs that crazy, out-there idea that allows them to actually start doing something they love, doing something that matters. Everybody needs an evil plan that gets them the hell out of the rat race, away from lousy bosses, away from boring, dead-end jobs that they hate. Life is short.”

Higher Unlearning by Jack Uldrich. “What you do know is more likely kill you than what you don’t know, Playing it safe is the riskiest thing you can do, Imperfection trumps perfection, You must bite the hand that feeds you, Failure is the key to success, Following the money can cause you to lose money, Zoning out is preferable to zoning in, Ignorance lies at the heart of wisdom.”

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries. ”Too many startups begin with an idea for a product that they think people want. They then spend months, sometimes years, perfecting that product without ever showing the product, even in a very rudimentary form, to the prospective customer. When they fail to reach broad uptake from customers, it is often because they never spoke to prospective customers and determined whether or not the product was interesting. When customers ultimately communicate, through their indifference, that they don’t care about the idea, the startup fails.”

Practically Radical by William Taylor. “In an era of hyper-competition and nonstop dislocation, the only way to stand out from the crowd is to stand for something special. Today, the most successful organizations don’t just out-compete their rivals. They redefine the terms of competition by embracing one-of-a-kind ideas in a world filled with me-too thinking.”

The Progress Principle by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer. “The secret to unleashing the creative potential of people is to enable them to experience a great inner work life, and the single most powerful influence on that inner work life is progress in meaningful work. It starts with giving people something meaningful to accomplish. It requires giving clear goals, autonomy, help and resources—what people need to make real progress in their daily work. And it depends on showing respect for ideas and the people who create them.”

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. ”At a time when the United States is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build creative digital-age economies, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness, imagination and sustained innovation. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology, so he built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.”

Uncertainty by Jonathan Fields. “If you kill the butterflies in your stomach, you’ll kill the dream. Most people back away when they get that nervous, uncomfortable feeling. But that feeling signals you’re doing something that matters to you. Embrace the feeling. Lean into the discomfort. Try to understand what the feeling is telling you. Train yourself in the alchemy of fear.”