The Power of Persistence
Persistence is defined as the “the act of persisting or persevering…” also “continuing or repeating behavior.” It is closely related to words like commitment as well as perseverance. The most successful people in life are always persistent. This is why it is important to cultivate the quality of persistence, no matter what you are aiming for. Of course there is a clear distinction between the quality of persistence and the term “pesky”, which is alternatively defined as annoying. Persistence must always have a purpose or else it will become grating to those practicing and to those listening to the message.
What really is the difference between being persistent and being a royal pain in the butt? Persistence requires a great degree of premeditated thought and advance planning. When someone is persistent they are fully committed, not to an action, as if repeating multiple incidents with no particular purpose, but to a plan. They believe in a principle and realize that in order to achieve their goals, persistence will be required. Someone who is merely repetitive uses this technique as an offensive attack and does so until someone else has the courage to shut them up. Persistence is a far more crafty approach. A persistent person realizes the importance of repetition but is careful about proper timing and using appropriate language. You could say that a persistent person is careful to learn the problem first, creating a plan of action and then sticking to that plan. When problems are discovered, the persistent mind creates alternative routes and adaptable strategies.
There was a time when I promoted my husband as a professional speaker. I had to be persistent to get phone appointments with decision maker who could hire him to speak at their conventions. I made follow-up phone calls when asked and I would call people until they would talk to me or ask me not to call back (thank goodness this didn’t happen often). As a result of my persistence, I received many job offers and comments that these executives wished they had people as persistent as I was because they could have been even more successful and one more business than they were currently doing.
In fact, without cultivating the quality of persistence, there is not much for a person to do in the world besides become a follower and allow him or herself to be controlled by the wisdom (and or stupidity) of others. Persistent people make the world turn—they make business grow; they improve worldwide communication and they help to shape this generation’s zeitgeist. Why not become a part of this movement? Plan out your future and allow yourself the chance to become everything you aspire to be. Commit to your vision of success and help make the world a better place in your own unique way.
For more information, download the tele-seminar on Persistence Paying off so you can Achieve Your Goals Sooner at: http://www.accountabilitycoach.com/bw/resources_teleseminars.php
10 Principles to Eliminate Distractions and Encourage Success
We’re all guilty of allowing the little things to distract us from what we should be doing.
Take a moment and ask yourself where you truly want to be? Now tell me how many things you did today, yesterday, and the day before yesterday that directly contributed to the future results you want. And then tell me how many things you did today that did not contribute to your success. Those things probably distracted you from what you knew you should have been doing.
Minimize distractions and you’ll reach your goals faster – plain and simple. You must minimize distractions and focus on the tasks that have a positive effect on your success.
Here are 10 principles can be applied to reduce and eliminate distractions.
1. Stay off the internet. Set a time that you honor – say, anytime after 4pm and don’t get on it before then, unless you absolutely have to.
2. Remove computer desktop icons.
3. Remove desktop clutter.
4. Eliminate noises.
5. Discourage walk-in traffic (unless you have a business that you need walk-in traffic).
6. Screen your calls.
7. Ask for what you want.
8. Learn how to wrangle in excessive conversation.
9. Work when no one else is around.
10. Use and honor your calendar and task list. .
Remind yourself that those little distractions offer little return, if any at all, for the time you’ve invested. Instead, stick to the productive tasks that build your success. Eliminate distractions and you have an even better chance of acting on your good intentions and achieving amazing results!
For more information, download the tele-seminar at: http://www.accountabilitycoach.com/bw/resources_teleseminars.php
Put your Big Boy and Girl Pants on and Get Busy
People who are sucking it up, putting their heads down, getting focused, and doing whatever it takes are laying the groundwork and foundation for when we get out of this economic situation, they will be further ahead – obviously. I have some people telling me clients are coming to them from all over the place. They aren’t even sure where some of them are coming from but they are seeking them out. Some people are working harder and are also getting lots of great results. Their business is doing well compared to many others.
Then you have many people who are doing nothing and are acting like a deer in the headlights. They are getting ready to get ready for when things turn around or get easier. They are complaining and not obtaining business as a result.
Which category do you fall into? Which category do you want to be in? What do you have to do, and who do you have to become to get your share of the business today? Stop getting ready to get ready and just do what you know you need to do. I didn’t say it would be easy but it will pay off in the short-term and the long-term. Create your game plan and execute!
“Change comes from within. When you believe in yourself, you can change your life.” –Kerri Kelly, Yoga instructor
Enlist Your Self Control and Achieve Even More
Self-control is defined as “control of oneself” or the “ability to master one’s desires and impulses. Interestingly, self-control is actually perceived in a number of ways. Psychologically, self-control usually refers to a person’s self-perception, belief system, as well as the ability to set boundaries on their own behavior.
First understand that everyone has a system of belief. Nobody truly believes in nothing. Before you analyze what self-control means to you, you must first analyze what you believe. You are your own community and you set the guidelines as to what is right or wrong, productive or unproductive.
Let’s say that you have a plan to become successful in your career. This is the mission of your self-contained community. Therefore, any thoughts or actions that run contrary to your mission must be extinguished. However, when you are a self-starter, then you are in charge of all your faculties and must have them work for you, not independently of you. Sometimes people do require rigid structure in their life in order to get things done. If you are naturally inclined to take it easy, if you tend to procrastinate, or if you are easily distracted from completing a simple goal, then these are disruptive factors in your community. You must work to maintain self-control to meet the standard that you have set for yourself.
Self-control doesn’t necessarily mean resisting something that is “wrong”; rather, it refers to taking steps to control one’s own tendencies if they are observed to be counterproductive. If you want to learn the quality of self-control, first decide what your mission is and what would be the best way to learn positive qualities. Don’t underestimate the value of enlisting others to help you. When you are accountable to someone else, it helps. Celebrate your successes, no matter how small. It is about making progress in life that brings us the success we want and deserve.
The ‘Key’ To What Really Motivates You to Achieve Your Dreams!
What motivates you? What gets you fired up? What gets your ‘juices’ flowing? What vision of the future excites you? Being inspired momentarily is easy for many people, but staying motivated long-term can be challenging for some of us. You go through a process of being really motivated in the beginning to being completely unmotivated, which makes it easy for anyone to quit. What happens when you go from being so excited you can’t wait to get up in the morning, to being so tired you can’t wait to go to bed at night. Somewhere between the starting point and the quitting point, the very thing that was driving you was lost.
Many of us set goals, but only some of us stay motivated long enough to keep going until we reach them. Where does the difference lie? The difference lies in the motivation. How do some people hold onto their motivation, while others find it easier to let it go? Those that hang onto their motivation have found something that drives them and they stay connected to it. What is it? It’s the feeling of their goal. When you can put yourself in the moment of your goal achievement and feel what it feels like to be there – you have just experienced one of THE most powerful motivation tools. When you can connect to the feeling, and it’s something you really want – then you can hang on to what you have to do in order to achieve it.
Here are some thoughts to help you connect with the feeling of your dreams and goals.
Start with your Life Intention Statement.
What are your goals? What do they mean to you? If you could do anything in this lifetime what you most like to do? Maybe it’s something you’ve always wanted to do, but didn’t think it was possible for you?
Tools for Staying Motivated
Visualization
The biggest key to staying motivated is to connect with the feeling of having already achieved your goal. For each goal, write down the emotions you imagine experiencing when you have achieved them. Reconnecting with the emotional side of your goals is a powerful way to stay motivated.
Written Goals
Writing your goals down and then reviewing them on a daily basis has a lot of impact. Put time on your calendar each day to review what you really want. It only takes a few minutes.
Set up Goal Milestones
It can seem like a lifetime between the time you set your goal and the day you finally achieve it, but it really isn’t that long. To help make the gap between the starting point and the achievement point seem shorter, set up milestones where you reward yourself along the way. The reward can really be anything you wish it to be, as long as it’s something that makes you feel good.
Stay focused on how achieving your goals will make you feel and you will stay motivated. To help you get started utilize the 30-day self-study program. Click here for more information: http://www.accountabilitycoach.com/programs/30-day-self-study-course/
4 Steps to Conquer Fears and Start Living Life On Your Terms
We’ve all been afraid to try something new at one time or another. Why is that? And it seems as we age, our fear controls more and more of our willingness to try something new. We prefer to forego a new experience because we want to avoid whatever bad thing we think could happen. Or maybe the anxiety is just too stressful for us to even contemplate facing our fears. Whatever the reason, we justify that trying something new is not worth the risk.
When we remain inside the boundaries of our comfort zone, we essentially stop growing and stop learning. Sure, you can choose to live the rest of your life in your comfort zone, but if you are unhappy with any aspect of your life, know that it will not change until you step outside your comfort zone.
Here are four practical steps you can take to conquer fear and start living life on your terms:
1. Analyze the rational possible outcomes
Most of the anxiety we feel is based on our mind’s inability to calculate an outcome and it exaggerates the possibilities. This exaggeration is what causes fear and anxiety.
2. The past doesn’t equal the future
There is no written rule that says just because something happened a certain way in the past, that it is pre-determined to happen the same in the future.
3. Visualize positive outcomes
Set the intention for a positive experience and visualize a positive outcome. Feel good about your new experience before you even attempt it.
4. Just do it!
The only true and tried way to rid yourself of fear is to just do it! Don’t let fear control your life – you are the one in control. While there may be some risks involved with trying something new, the value of what you have to gain far outweighs any fear you will feel.
Don’t wait to start conquering your fear and step outside your comfort zone. – start today. Make a list of things you are afraid to do and set a time frame when you want to have them all accomplished.
The 5 Secrets of Effective Multi-Tasking
Multi-tasking is a way of life for many, while others try to avoid doing more than one thing at a time. For some of us, it is something we must tolerate in order to maintain some sense order and accomplishment in our daily lives.
You probably realize that your success is riding on your ability to maximize your time and performance to the highest optimal point possible. You can only handle so much in any given 24-hour day and unless you’ve found a way to add more time to the clock, you have to do more in less or the same amount of time without running yourself into the ground. We all have 168 hours in the week and it’s all about how effectively we use the time we have.
The five principles outlined below are not difficult, but they do take discipline – and that’s what efficient multi-tasking comes down to. Multi-tasking shouldn’t make you feel like you’re in the middle of a cyclone; there is actually a way to apply effective multi-tasking principles that will help you keep your sanity AND add time to your day. Here are five secrets of effective multi-tasking:
1. Give your full attention to the task in front of you
2. Setting specific time frames for task completion
3. Becoming effective at switching gears within like/similar activities
4. Prioritizing high pay-off and low priority tasks
5. Honor thy calendar
Embrace the challenge – get more focused, achieve your goals, and reduce health risks
In a recent issue of Prevention Magazine, it states benefits to getting and staying focused as it relates to some health benefits; however, there are also obvious professional benefits of focusing on the activities that will help you achieve your goals. Prevention stated: “People who consider themselves self-disciplined, organized achievers live longer and have up to an 89% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s than the less conscientious, according to two studies. When you’re good at focusing your attention, you use more brainpower, says the lead researcher in both studies, Robert S. Wilson, PhD, a professor of neurological sciences and psychology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Set personal and career goals, and challenge yourself to meet them by a certain time. Also, try new things to stimulate your brain.”
What are you going to do next that will help you focus your attention even more so you can achieve your personal and professional goals this year and also enjoy the reduced health benefits that come with that focused attention?
Implement Accountability Coaching in your life and achieve your goals this year
Many people are finding it more difficult to stay focused and do the work required to achieve their goals. They seem to be doing nothing versus getting focused and clear on their highest payoff activities that will put them in the highest probability position to achieve their goals. Then you have the people who are putting their heads down, not watching the news or reading the newspaper, and not letting the current situation stifle or distract them from what they want to achieve this year.
Successful people know you can have whatever level of success you desire and the quality of life you truly want by making some adjustments to the way you are currently operating in your professional and personal life. All that most people need are systems, processes, focus, real desire to achieve their goals, belief that they can do whatever they set their mind to, and (the key) Accountability. If you would like to talk about how we would work together so you can achieve your goals this year and into the future, email me (Anne@AccountabilityCoach.com).
Review the different types of accountability coaching methods at http://www.accountabilitycoach.com/bw/coaching.php. You will find information on peer coaching and group coaching methods outlined that you can implement and receive benefit from creating. Pick the one you think is best for you and get started today so you can be on the path of achieving all your professional and personal goals this year.
Get Your Sleep – Every Night!
Getting at least 7 hours of sleep every night prevent health problems – like obesity and high blood pressure. In a recent article in Prevention Magazine it states: “If your family is like most, everyone is seriously sleep deprived. A study from the CDC found that only 1 out of 3 Americans gets enough sleep all month long. And 16% of adults get less than 6 hours per night, says the National Sleep Foundation. That’s well short of the 7-8 hours needed to ward off obesity, high blood pressure, and other ills.”
Think about when you do get enough sleep and feel rested. Wouldn’t that be great to have that feeling more often? YES!!! In order to be effective at anything, sleep is very important. What do you have to do to get adequate sleep every day? Think of ways to help yourself get the sleep you need so you can be as effective as possible each day. You will be amazed at how much more productive you will be each day with the right amount of sleep each night. Add what time you will go to bed to your calendar each night, then work on honoring that. Make progress as getting adequate sleep and enjoy the health and business benefits.
