One of the major take away points that is foundational for any lasting change in personal or professional success is the necessity of raising your own personal standards and expectations. This one shift itself can enable you to accomplish more than you ever thought possible. The trick is to learn how to push yourself to greater heights without pushing yourself over the edge.
My wife and I recently attended a life changing Tony Robbins event called “Unleash the Power Within” in Dallas, TX. As a life transformation coach and organizational change consultant, I’ve been reading Tony’s books and listening to his tapes (that dates me!) and CD’s since the 1990’s. So, I had a bit of an idea what I might be getting myself into when we signed up. What I actually experienced, along with nearly 6000 other people, was so much more than I could ever condense into a blog post. Yes, I played full out. I yelled and hugged perfect strangers. I did the firewalk. I dropped some of my own limiting beliefs and healed some painful areas in my life. I even took up the 10 Day nutrition challenge. But how do you keep the momentum going after you come down from an experience like that?
One of the major take away points that is foundational for any lasting change in personal or professional success is the necessity of raising your own personal standards and expectations. This one shift itself can enable you to accomplish more than you ever thought possible. The trick is to learn how to push yourself to greater heights without pushing yourself over the edge.
5 Comments
In my coaching practice I spend a lot of time talking with clients about making conscious, positive, resourceful choices to empower them toward accomplishing their goals. The problem that quickly surfaces is not always doing something “new” but is sometimes a matter of ceasing to do things that are self-sabotaging. Here are some of the major self-inflicted wounds that I’ve run across and how you can avoid them. In the audio version of Unlimited Power, Tony Robbins says, “The quality of your life is the quality of your questions.” That’s a powerful statement, but one that is often under appreciated. Questions can be an important way of communicating with others and getting inside their belief systems and most of us have some recognition of this power. We’ve been taught to ask “open ended” questions and to use active listening to encourage the person we are talking with to open up even more. People who have been trained in NLP will automatically begin using questions to ascertain someone’s representational systems. These are all great applications of question asking, but the most often overlooked application is also one of the most powerful—it’s when we turn the questions upon ourselves. One day I found myself in a room with several hundred highly creative and passionate entrepreneurs from around the world. There was a level of energy and expectation that rippled through the room as we waited for the conference to begin. From the lighting to the music being played to the pictures on the big screen of the previous night’s “meet and greet” social to the optimal ambient room temperature and the physical arrangement of the seating-everything had been carefully crafted to create an environment that would bring out exactly what the speaker wanted-which was to create a group of fully associated (i.e. “in the present moment”), highly energetic, and sharply focused individuals who were relaxed, playful, and ready to receive the presenter’s message. As I got to know some of the very talented people in the room and the amazing things which they had accomplished, my “coaching” hat came out and I started to wonder about “creativity” and “passion.” How does creativity begin? Does it start as a dream? Does a light bulb suddenly appear over your head? Or is there something specific you can do to spark your creativity and passion. When I am writing, or giving a presentation, or even just having a chat with someone waiting in line to check out at the store, a key principle that I try to impart is my belief that all of us have the capacity to live lives that are truly remarkable. While everybody CAN lead an extraordinary life, unfortunately, most of us DON’T come close to achieving what we are truly capable of. One of my favorite resources, and one that I often use in workshops or with private coaching clients is the fantastic book “The Success Principles” by Jack Canfield. He gives over sixty different principles which can be especially helpful to anyone who is interested in improving their life, relationships, finances, health, and a number of other items. While I don’t have space to go over all of his principles, I’ve picked out a few that I think will make a huge impact, in the least of amount of time, with the least amount of effort on your part. Here’s my “Top Five” Canfield Success Principles: One of the most helpful tools that I’ve come across to help you achieve your goals is a “vision board.” Essentially, a vision board is a piece of poster board on which you post images that represent some of your most important dreams. It’s a “low tech” version of Pinterest, in a way, but similar in that you “pin” visual images of your dream house, your dream lover, or your dream career—any area of your life. So, let’s say you have a particular type of house that has always been your fancy. To get started on your vision board, you begin collecting pictures from magazines or downloading images from the Internet that show the kind of house you want. You can find interior shots that speak to your tastes, as well as displays of the various rooms and the furniture you would like to see in each room. When you have the pictures you like, glue them to the poster board, perhaps designating a certain corner or area of the board as your “dream home” area. Some people like to “Photoshop” themselves into the pictures to create an ever deeper emotional connection. One of the questions I ask people who inquire about coaching is, “Are you ready to jump in and take massive, focused, consistent action to make it happen?” You’d be surprised at how non-committal some folks can be when I simply lay it out there like that. Many people are “interested” in the “idea” of life change, provided that it’s something that won’t inconvenience them or cost them much money. Fortunately, I also tend to run into a good number of people who are extremely committed, but for whatever reason tend to run into difficulty when the time comes to actually “do it. ” Maybe this has happened to you as well. You’ve made a commitment to pursue something and the next thing you know your mind is full of questions and doubts, things like: “What if I’m really too old to “start over” in my life?” “I don’t see how I could possibly be creative enough to make money doing what I love.” “I’ve tried to lose weight in the past, but I’ve never kept it off. I’m just going to do the same thing again, so why bother?” And before you even get started, you’re defeated. This “self-sabotage” is important issue to address and it’s one that I’ve written about in the past. Click here read what I had to say about it and how you can overcome its grip on your life. One of the key tenets of NLP (neurolinguistic programming) is that if one person can do something, anyone can learn to do it. I want to assure you that you can begin right now to consciously redirect the next phase of your life in whatever direction you’d like to have it proceed. Here’s how to get started: Last week I gave you three BIG reasons that we all tend to resist change—even when we know it’s good for us—and how to overcome those resistances. If you missed it, you can catch up here. This week I’m giving you three MORE reasons and solutions to make an even half-dozen. It goes without saying that it’s extremely helpful to adopt a mindset that values exploration and trying new and different things. Even if you only end up learning that you don’t like something, you have learned something important about yourself and you can use this new information to help you get where you want to go in life. Each new experience, positive or negative, brings with it new and vital knowledge you can use as stepping stones for the future. Think back to the last “big deal” you had to go through. Usually afterwards, we realize, “it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as we thought it would be.” And, if the truth be told, you probably have also increased your self-confidence by having another situation under your belt that you were able to handle successfully. |
Please Join My E-List!
For Email Marketing you can trust. AuthorDr. Steve Stutz, CTACC is a certified Life Coach, spiritual director, and conference/ workshop speaker. He lives in the Houston, TX metro area and specializes in the helping people sort through the complexities of modern life to discover their passions, gifts, and personal style. Categories
All
Archives
May 2016
|