My husband plays golf.
He is totally self taught these last three years. This weekend he did 18 holes and achieved a 92. The beauty off that score is that he tied with my dad who has been playing for over 20 years.
So you don't play golf and don't know if that is a good score. I don't play either, but my husband was excited about his score. It signified improvement. After a couple of years, he looked back and saw improvement. Yes, you read that right. A couple of years of very part time practicing and he has shown improvement. Let those ideas sink in for a moment. Learning any new skill takes time to be reliably proficient.
One significant trick he did share with me has to do with focusing your effort. First consider that he has educated himself on the game. Videos and books on improving his game fill our library. The obvious implication here is that he uses them regularly to feed his mind with the valuable information the professionals have to offer. However, the trick is to take your information and pick one area you want to work on improving. For example, he would take one tip on a particular golf swing and memorize it. He would focus on that one tip during his warm up. He takes that tip and uses it on the course. He doesn't focus on his score. His focus is on improving that one swing. He analyzes what he was doing before and if this new technique is working for him.
In business and in your personal life, you may have a long list of areas you want to improve. Educate yourself in the new habit or skill you want. The focus. By concentrating on improving small areas at at time, you will be rewarded for your consistency of focused effort.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009
End of the Year 2009
Preparing to end the year at a friends home to play games in a few hours. I've made teri-yaki meatballs and salsa and chips. Rather international, but at least my family will eat. Hubby is paying bills, and the printer ran out of ink, and refused to print out our last years taxes that we were trying to rush to the bookkeeper. Add in quick trip the office supply store today. I know tonight will be a welcome relief!
Last night the family saw Julie and Julia on dvd. I learned blogs are for writers. And that I wish I could cook. OOHHHHH, there are those words again. "I wish I could __".
I believe you can do anything you put your mind to. So why do I still say "I wish I could". When I began homeschooling, that was the mantra of non-homeschooling families, "I wish I could" or more often it was "I could never do that". Why is that terrible critic allowed to even speak! Shut up already and let's start talking truth. You could do this or that if you wanted to. Just face it, most people don't want to. What they really mean is they wish they could effortlessly just have their dreams whether it is to homeschool, write, cook, tithe, save, etc., etc. For Julie it was tremendous effort and determination. She absolutely met the "impossible" challenge. So what I mean to say is I wish I could cook already....
Last night the family saw Julie and Julia on dvd. I learned blogs are for writers. And that I wish I could cook. OOHHHHH, there are those words again. "I wish I could __".
I believe you can do anything you put your mind to. So why do I still say "I wish I could". When I began homeschooling, that was the mantra of non-homeschooling families, "I wish I could" or more often it was "I could never do that". Why is that terrible critic allowed to even speak! Shut up already and let's start talking truth. You could do this or that if you wanted to. Just face it, most people don't want to. What they really mean is they wish they could effortlessly just have their dreams whether it is to homeschool, write, cook, tithe, save, etc., etc. For Julie it was tremendous effort and determination. She absolutely met the "impossible" challenge. So what I mean to say is I wish I could cook already....
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
How an Ooops Can Make You a Better Investor
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki opened my eyes to the world of investing and business ownership. But after being introduced to a concept, how do you translate it into something that you can do? This is where mistakes can be your teacher.
Whenever you start a new skill, be it scrapbooking, diving, gardening, or investing, you are a novice. It seem ridiculous to even mention that new = novice, beginner, learning, etc. Yet beginners have to start from where they are before a new skill is mastered. As Jim Carlson said, "Everyone who got where he is had to begin from where he was." So guess what, mistakes will happen. It does not mean defeat, it means mistakes will happen. Are you encouraged yet?
Take this example: my daughter wanted a certain type of crocheted hat. She found one and brought it home. She studied it and then proceeded to copy it. Whenever there was a difference between the two, she had to take out her stitches and try again. And again, and again, until the hat she was making matched the original. That was all it took. She was able to recognize what she didn't want, and create what she did want BECAUSE of her mistakes. After that, she improved and started designing her own beautiful creations.
Maybe crocheting seems a simplified version of learning and mastering a skill compared to buying investment properties or buying precious metals. Yes, and no. It is simplified in that it took her probably 4 hours to copy her first hat. It took my husband and I a full year to buy our first cash flowing investment property. Consider where would we be if we didn't take that year in education, making offers, and tying up the property. We would be a year older and not have the property too.
Don't fear making mistakes - instead learn from them and improve yourself and your abilities.
Whenever you start a new skill, be it scrapbooking, diving, gardening, or investing, you are a novice. It seem ridiculous to even mention that new = novice, beginner, learning, etc. Yet beginners have to start from where they are before a new skill is mastered. As Jim Carlson said, "Everyone who got where he is had to begin from where he was." So guess what, mistakes will happen. It does not mean defeat, it means mistakes will happen. Are you encouraged yet?
Take this example: my daughter wanted a certain type of crocheted hat. She found one and brought it home. She studied it and then proceeded to copy it. Whenever there was a difference between the two, she had to take out her stitches and try again. And again, and again, until the hat she was making matched the original. That was all it took. She was able to recognize what she didn't want, and create what she did want BECAUSE of her mistakes. After that, she improved and started designing her own beautiful creations.
Maybe crocheting seems a simplified version of learning and mastering a skill compared to buying investment properties or buying precious metals. Yes, and no. It is simplified in that it took her probably 4 hours to copy her first hat. It took my husband and I a full year to buy our first cash flowing investment property. Consider where would we be if we didn't take that year in education, making offers, and tying up the property. We would be a year older and not have the property too.
Don't fear making mistakes - instead learn from them and improve yourself and your abilities.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Today's Proverb
Reading from my "new" book today Proverbs to Live By, Truths That Live in Words
a 1968 Hallmark book. Not only Proverbs from the Bible, but around the world and from famous people too. Today's quote is "Good humor is one of the best articles of dress one can wear in society ~ Thackeray.
I recently had a birthday and was flooded with all kinds of well wishes on my facebook wall. Writing each one back with my own well wishes took considerable time (I believe there is a quote for that; cover page says: "A burden which one chooses is not felt" Italian proverb). So considerable time or not, I did take the opportunity to thank each and every person who wrote to me. I then pondered on manners and etiquette for FB and then decided a lesson regarding doing the right thing was in order. It was cloaked under the business address "Attraction Marketing", however it really was a reminder of having good humor - dressing well - "being" attractive.
So remember: "Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles." George Eliot
a 1968 Hallmark book. Not only Proverbs from the Bible, but around the world and from famous people too. Today's quote is "Good humor is one of the best articles of dress one can wear in society ~ Thackeray.
I recently had a birthday and was flooded with all kinds of well wishes on my facebook wall. Writing each one back with my own well wishes took considerable time (I believe there is a quote for that; cover page says: "A burden which one chooses is not felt" Italian proverb). So considerable time or not, I did take the opportunity to thank each and every person who wrote to me. I then pondered on manners and etiquette for FB and then decided a lesson regarding doing the right thing was in order. It was cloaked under the business address "Attraction Marketing", however it really was a reminder of having good humor - dressing well - "being" attractive.
So remember: "Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles." George Eliot
Thursday, December 3, 2009
I speak a lot about motivation and positive attitude. But I recently ran across an article that discusses why motivation is not enough in accomplishing your goals. Andre Vatke of Leaders Club address what else you need when the motivation starts to lag: www.leadersclub.com/html/motivation_network_marketing.asp
I'd like to hear what you think.
Personally, I think he makes several valid points.
However, I also see that any changes you want to make in your life, any dreams you want to pursue, any desire you want fulfilled, requires constant motivation. I say that from experience. If you have a life time of "bad" habits and now you desire a change, you need to break the "bad" habits of your thoughts first. That is the reason for me preaching, as it were, positive thinking and finding motivational quotes. It re-trains the mind. It focuses on the new you. It creates new pathways, habits, and character traits that will sustain you in your progress towards change.
I'd like to hear what you think.
Personally, I think he makes several valid points.
However, I also see that any changes you want to make in your life, any dreams you want to pursue, any desire you want fulfilled, requires constant motivation. I say that from experience. If you have a life time of "bad" habits and now you desire a change, you need to break the "bad" habits of your thoughts first. That is the reason for me preaching, as it were, positive thinking and finding motivational quotes. It re-trains the mind. It focuses on the new you. It creates new pathways, habits, and character traits that will sustain you in your progress towards change.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
What your habits say about you
I read an incredible piece from a sales training site, of all places, regarding habits.
Leaders Club had this to say: Everything Duplicates! In a 1999 study by Brandeis University, psychologists observed that bad habits can spread through an office like a contagious disease. Employees tend to mirror the bad behaviors of their co-workers; ie. low morale, poor work habits, and even theft from the employer. The phenomena of "habit spread" plays out with lightning speed. Everywhere around you are average people. They entice you into being more like them by offering their acceptance and by leading you to believe that everyone else is already more like them than like you.
YIKES! But what is even funnier are the stories my teen girls tell me about working with 2-4 year olds. Same story! Habit spread is happening at that stage too! No wonder starting a new habit is like going against the grain. Leaders Club added this last line to their article: Don't sacrifice your goals and unique ideas for the sake of being average. If you want to be better than average, you must do what average people are not willing to do.
Lately, Ive been searching out inspiring quotes. Now, I am seeing them all over the place. Other people are posting them too. Is this a positive habit taken over with habit spread? I hope so. I don't want to be average, and I don't want to sacrifice any of my goals to be average. The fight against average is worth the tension and struggle.
Leaders Club had this to say: Everything Duplicates! In a 1999 study by Brandeis University, psychologists observed that bad habits can spread through an office like a contagious disease. Employees tend to mirror the bad behaviors of their co-workers; ie. low morale, poor work habits, and even theft from the employer. The phenomena of "habit spread" plays out with lightning speed. Everywhere around you are average people. They entice you into being more like them by offering their acceptance and by leading you to believe that everyone else is already more like them than like you.
YIKES! But what is even funnier are the stories my teen girls tell me about working with 2-4 year olds. Same story! Habit spread is happening at that stage too! No wonder starting a new habit is like going against the grain. Leaders Club added this last line to their article: Don't sacrifice your goals and unique ideas for the sake of being average. If you want to be better than average, you must do what average people are not willing to do.
Lately, Ive been searching out inspiring quotes. Now, I am seeing them all over the place. Other people are posting them too. Is this a positive habit taken over with habit spread? I hope so. I don't want to be average, and I don't want to sacrifice any of my goals to be average. The fight against average is worth the tension and struggle.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man's. ~ William Blake
Yesterday I did my financial statement. You know, that system where you take all your assets and accounts and compare it to all you spend. It's something I've been doing for over a year. It really is freeing to see the numbers on a page and know I'm in control. I have choices. I know what I have and where I need to improve.
It was torture to start this habit. I was scared for months and confused as to what items I was to exactly account. Then I did it. It took hours if I remember correctly. We do have lots of accounts and all the log-in info to find and then to create a form to record it all in one place. But I did it. Every stock, precious metal, money market, savings, credit union, and every credit card, bill, and payment went on my form. And when I finished I remember thinking, "Is that all there is?" All my emotions were worked up over this one piece of paper. Silly, really. A little bit of me gets anxious to start, but when the numbers are updated, it is a relief. I feel a sense of comfort. I don't "feel" rich and derive my comfort from the numbers. I think the feeling of relief comes from accepting control. William Blake's quote above is about making your own way or be enslaved by another man. When I do my financials on my own form, I am not enslaved. My banker isn't in control of my money and accounts. I own my system and accept that the numbers on the financial statement are reflections of my choices. Don't let emotions keep you from making your own system. Accept where you are financially and make your financial statement your beginning.
Yesterday I did my financial statement. You know, that system where you take all your assets and accounts and compare it to all you spend. It's something I've been doing for over a year. It really is freeing to see the numbers on a page and know I'm in control. I have choices. I know what I have and where I need to improve.
It was torture to start this habit. I was scared for months and confused as to what items I was to exactly account. Then I did it. It took hours if I remember correctly. We do have lots of accounts and all the log-in info to find and then to create a form to record it all in one place. But I did it. Every stock, precious metal, money market, savings, credit union, and every credit card, bill, and payment went on my form. And when I finished I remember thinking, "Is that all there is?" All my emotions were worked up over this one piece of paper. Silly, really. A little bit of me gets anxious to start, but when the numbers are updated, it is a relief. I feel a sense of comfort. I don't "feel" rich and derive my comfort from the numbers. I think the feeling of relief comes from accepting control. William Blake's quote above is about making your own way or be enslaved by another man. When I do my financials on my own form, I am not enslaved. My banker isn't in control of my money and accounts. I own my system and accept that the numbers on the financial statement are reflections of my choices. Don't let emotions keep you from making your own system. Accept where you are financially and make your financial statement your beginning.
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