Why Is The Last 5% So Hard To Do?

Most everyone has those unfinished projects. They exist everywhere from fixing the little things around the house to very important projects at the office. I feel the first 95% is in the choose to range while the last 5% lives in the have to range. Have to lives where you don't like to go. The sticky gooey stuff. The little details. Have to is like work. Choose to is like fun. This is a rather simple observation but a grunt in real life. No one want's to do what they don't like doing.
Where does the answer lie? The smart money knows you do the part you don't like to do first. Once that's behind you it's clear sailing. The very best sales people do this when they have call reluctance. Get those first few calls behind them in the morning. Beware of what happens when you leave it to the afternoon. Your day has become busy doing stuff. Procrastination rarely shows up in the choose to realm.

I believe the best way to approach this is the same whether or not it's working toward your goal or chipping away at the to do list. It's called planning. There are all sorts of experts out there who will help reduce the clutter on your desk, tidy your office and clean up your priority list. All good stuff. Stripped down to the barest what needs to be cleared first is your mind. One must understand why the block is there. If your honest with yourself and take a look you will see what it is. You don't like that part. You are not comfortable in that space. I expect if you study it and get comfortable with it the confidence level will go up. Perhaps you need to seek some outside help. If you look at it from the perspective that all the time spent on getting the first 95% done will go to waste if you do not finish the project. This alone is reason enough to complete the project. Take stock of yourself and learn how to put a value on your time.

You need to turn the "Have To" things into "Choose To" things to get those tough unfinished projects behind you. Just think of how your career will take off. Senior Management will come to you because you get the job done and done well. The most important factor in all this is the feeling of accomplishment. After all, your worth it. Aren't you?

Don't Beat Yourself Up

Are you beating yourself up over a bad decision compounded by an unsatisfactory outcome? It's been a few weeks however the pain remains long past when you should have let it go. Why can't you let go? Are you afraid to let go? Does any one really care other than yourself? Have you ever had a conversation with yourself about what I have just asked?
I know that last sentence can sting but it is a valid question. I expect you are more worried about the event gone wrong than others. Now if you have let others down or broken a commitment then that is a whole other issue. No matter the issue you need to deal with it and move on.
Here are some easy steps to help you let go.

• Did the event impact any one else? If so go see them and talk it through. I expect they may have seen the event differently than you. Start the conversation with, I am feeling uncomfortable about a recent issue and I am looking for your view on the events. Can you help me out? The fact you have approached them asking for assistance will help defuse any hard feelings if there are any. Remember you have asked for help and clarification.


• Get to work on something that will put your mind somewhere else. Dwelling on the negative will just add salt to the wound. The old adage"keep busy" helps. Time does not heal all wounds but is does for most the bumps and scrapes we have encountered in our lives.


• What did you learn from the experience that will make you tougher and mentally stronger. This is key. Write it down so it will be more lasting. It's not that you will never go down that road again. If you do, you would do it differently next time. Lessons are powerful tools.


• What can you do to turn this negative into a positive. Once you figure that out, do it as soon as possible. Others who were impacted by your error as well as yourself will be able to move on sooner.

Every one makes mistakes. The most successful people on the earth all tell us they made many mistakes on the road to success. You can bet they did not spend allot of time beating themselves up or dwelling on a mistake. They know the best thing is to get over it and move on. Yesterday is History. History is filled with lessons learned. Today is filled with an abundance of opportunity. Go pursue your dreams. Success is closer than you think.

The Power Of Delayed Gratification

We are living in a microwave society. It has become an instant world. Thanks to the power of advertising, we have been told time and time again. We can have it now. When we look at this from a success standpoint, the skies start to get cloudy. The real question becomes how long do you have to wait until you get the reward for your efforts and desires. The money managers of the world will tell you that your better to be earning interest than paying interest. You know that they are right. But why can't you wait?
I just love the Mark Twain quotation "People are spending money they have not earned yet to impress people they don't like". Upon reflection you will discover there is not allot depth to instant gratification. Don't think for one minute that I am a master of this theory. I struggle with this like many of you. At my age the need to impress others has diminished. Yes, we all have an ego to fuel however I suggest to you there are many ways to quench that thirst.
Studies have shown that people who are able to delay gratification have higher intelligence. This makes sense as people with higher intelligence are often better educated. These people understand the importance of the passage of time. Yes, this is a tough theory to digest for the living life in the moment crowd. Can we consider a university education as a form of delayed gratification? I guess we could say that as they are delaying earning money now so they can later earn more money in a career that they want. One glaring example of instant gratification is the high turnover of jobs. Intelligent people are switching companies to earn more money at the drop of the hat. This activity often results with less than the expected out come.
As a person who has struggled with delayed gratification for much of my life I have learned the following tips to better practice this important principle of success.

• Set a target or goal you must first obtain before you purchase a vacation or new vehicle.
• Study the landscape of opportunity in your current company of employment before you jump ship. There is a reward for patience especially if you are a consistent performer.
• Create a Vision Board that not only has material things you want on it, but also copies of credit card statements that show a zero balance.
• Delay making decisions until you have thoroughly thought them through.
• Be cognitive of the consequences from making snap decisions that have lasting effects.

I believe that the longer you can delay the gratification the bigger the reward. This does not mean that you have to live life with a seat belt on. The best outcomes most always follow careful consideration. Success is often dependent on your tolerance for delayed gratification.

Achieve Greatness Through The Power Of Thought

This past week I read the "Science of Being Great' by Wallace Wattles. It has been an interesting read as it follows the line of his book "The Science Of Getting Rich". Once again the emphasis is on the power of thought. Wattles believes that we must work and focus on greatness but we are not to rush. For if we are shallow and unprepared people will not seek our advise. If we are boastful others will not seek your advise and in fact likely avoid you. Wattles believes and I agree we can become great by reading, understanding life's experiences, thinking and through your actions. Wisdom is in fact earned and gained through experience. No one is born with wisdom. The key is that we are truly judged by our actions. Words are just that. Words unless supported by actions.

The book "The Secret" is perhaps the most widely read book of the past decade. "The Secret" is in fact about the power of attraction. Each chapter in the book is written by experts in the fields of the law of attraction and the power of thought. The books purpose was really to bringing about what you dream about and think about. This all makes perfect sense. For example it is unlikely we do not end up as a doctors if we dreamed or envisioned being a fireman. This I believe is all gained through a thought that became planted in our minds. How good we become at it, is how well we thought it through. That what we visualized in our mind does in fact become reality. Lets call this thought, the seed. From there it grows. However we must fertilize the seed with thoughts of completion. I believe the teachings in "The Secret" to be actual fact. The thoughts that we truly believe will become truths. This can all take place no matter if your rich or poor. The first step toward greatness starts with a clear vision.

A dream is just a dream if you do not act upon it. I believe this to be the most important part that many of the authors left out of "the Secret". It is critical to your success that you remove all doubt that it can be achieved. For if you doubt your thoughts, you are not committed to achieve it. You must fill your mind with positive thought. Thoughts that will carry your dreams and aspirations to reality. Greatness does not fall out of the sky. The eureka moment will appear because you brought that action toward you. The eureka moment is really a crystallization of what you believed would happen. The eureka moment becomes the proof that you can bring about, what you think about. This is also the title of a great book written by Eddie Lemoine. " Bring About What You Think About"

This thought process can be hard to grasp when your stuck in the dreaming stage. You must narrow down your thoughts to small details. Dreams are really what we wish for. A wish is just that. A wish. The last time I looked, The Silver Bullet was a beer commercial. There is now fast and easy way to achieve greatness just like there is no Silver Bullet. Success in becoming great comes after you take the thought from your mind into acting it out in real life. From the Morning and Evening Thoughts of James Allen's book "As a Man thinketh". "Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. A person becomes calm in the measure that they understand ones self as a though evolved being."

To become great you must believe you are in fact, great. This is accomplished from starting with a positive attitude. However, it is from deep thought and a true belief that you will achieve greatness that you will in fact, achieve greatness.

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Can You Simplify Your Life And Be Successful?

Just this week I was going through some boxes in the garage. Not looking for anything in particular. I came across some old photographs of when I had hair on the top of my head. Plaques acknowledging all the boards I used to sit on. Great memories. Then I came upon a box that had some books I had read years ago. One of then a little gem. "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff" by Dr. Richard Carleson. So I pulled the book out of the box and brought it in from the garage.

What a wonderful and light thinking book this is. Each chapter is just two or three pages with a little nugget in each chapter. I felt it would be fun to read just a couple of chapters a day. I smiled to myself thinking this would be a great way to help me really concentrate on slowing down. My life too can be hectic with all the community service work I do. Yes I do over commit. I surrender. But I get so much back from all the giving I do.

One of the little nuggets I read this morning was this. "There will still be things on your to do list the day you die". The to do list is a working document. It lives and has a life all it's own. That's why there is always things on it to do. Weather or not the screen on the patio door gets repaired today or next week is not life altering. The lesson from this is slow down and enjoy your life. Many things in our lives can indeed, wait until tomorrow.

So the question remains can you slow down and still achieve success? Absolutely. So how do we approach this? It's always a great time to plan for the coming year. So lets not leave it until December 28th or 29th or make them News Year's Resolutions. These changes in the way we lead our lives will take some reflection and some planning. So let's have some fun. If you have the ability to laugh at yourself this exercise will be easy. Why you ask? Because we all know we have these little quirks. Quirks about ourselves that we know we should change. Are you are a list completer? Having lists are good. Having them control our day in and day out lives is tragic.

So here we go.

1. Pull out your to do list and see what lays there.
2. Next is to start a new list but put the items in order of importance.
3. Now is a good time to add or delete items with the emphasis being on delete.
4. The next step is to put completion dates on them and makes sure you have left lots of time to complete them.
5. You may not add new items on the to do list unless it something like the garage door stopped working. Only "have to" things can be added to the list until you have mastered management of your list.
6. The second last step is to schedule these "to do" things in your diary. Yes, the day on which you will do them.
7. The last and most important step is to schedule free time in your diary. Time to read, sleep, go hiking. Go to a movie with your kids. Schedule time you are not doing task related activities.

Here in lies the prize. I expect your saying this is to simple an approach. That's the purpose of this exercise. Simplification. Why should we choose to live life the hard way? I personally believe we can achieve our goals and stay on track and enjoy your down time. Going slow from time to time will allow you to better enjoy the journey. Going slow will allow you time to reflect and to make better decisions because you thought them through. I suggest you learn to embrace your to do list. Once you take this approach you will take ownership of the list instead of the list taking ownership of you. Your family and state of mind will thank you.

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Positive Attitude Leads To Clear Thinking And Visible Results

Clearing ones mind of all the clutter is a task onto itself. It seems that we are faced with decisions in everything we do. When we are unhappy or stressed the decisions become even tougher as we fear we will make the wrong decision. I believe that we must shake off the fear of making the wrong decision. Most of the decisions we make in our daily lives are not life altering. In fact we spend much of our lives worrying about things that will never happen. I ask, how unproductive is that? Imagine what would happen to our lives if we shifted from all those thoughts of failure and self-doubt to thoughts of success and happiness. So lets break this down into three steps.

Obtain a Positive Attitude.

The world of limiting beliefs can be said in one word. Defeat. Obtaining a positive attitude will involve your being conscious of your thoughts. Concentrate on things that bring you happiness. You have to convince yourself that you have what it takes. Think about the joy of achieving your goal or project that you are working on. Start to use the language of success. Words like, achieve,accomplish,win and move forward to name a few. Your self-confidence will become more prevalent with a positive attitude. Take a hard look at what you are good at. I expect there is little self-doubt there. Now, take a look at what you are not so go at and transfer that self-confidence into that space.

Concentrate on Clear Thinking

You will need to push back negative thoughts when they appear. These negative thoughts will put your mind in a place of worrying about the worst outcome. Generally in life, what we thing about, comes about. If we are going to have a self-fulfilling prophecy it best be about success. You must look at everything you do as having a good outcome. Otherwise it's not worth doing. I will use this analogy to simplify the point. Lets say you are single and looking for a mate. Do you make a list of all the things you do not want in a person or a list of all the good this you want in a person? Exactly. You focus and look for the good qualities. I also suggest you take a tip from NLP and look to the upper left when you are thinking. This is where you should look when you are thinking about the future. This is the part of your brain that is stimulated when you are in the thinking process. Looking down and to the right produces negative thoughts. Don't believe me? Try and smile while looking down and to the right. Closer to a frown isn't it? Up and to the left will get you in the positive attitude zone.

Picture Visible Results

So now is the time to look at yourself having achieved your goal or intention. Picture the smile on your face with the sense of accomplishment. I bet your smiling now just reading this. I am smiling just writing it. It's infectious. I find what works for me is that I write down how I will feel once I have achieved the desired result. If you can get to this frame of mind you are already halfway there.

This is not all bunk. Yes there are some people who have this natural ability as they seem to always get it right. Most of us have to work at being positive. Yes, I used the term "us". The only way we can achieve this positive frame of mind is being conscious of our thoughts. If we are conscious of our thoughts we can control what we think. Once we have achieved the ability to fill our minds with positive images the results will be amazing.

Success Takes Discipline - How to Achieve Self Discipline

Imagine getting to the stage that you do the tough things in life on auto pilot. How wonderful would that be? It takes perseverance to get to that stage. The mind does some strange things that has an impact on our decision- making process. The Sandler Sales System calls all this negative stuff floating around in our minds "Head Trash". How true is that? The self-improvement industry is chalk full of books, Cd's and online support websites of some of the biggest names in the business. All this support is directed at a never ending supply of people who want to make an improvement in their lives. Heck, I have been a supporter of the business for decades. I love it to the point that I now write about my experiences and things that I have learned along the way. As successful as I have become I still keep searching for ways to make myself better. So what does all this have to do with self discipline? Everything.

To have self discipline does not mean that you are a boring person. It does not mean that you have your life planned minute by minute. To the contrary. When you have self discipline you have a tendency to get the hard stuff done first. This affords you the time to be spontaneous. More importantly you will make decisions on what you do in your free time based on your over all goals. I believe this to be true. One of my wife's and my common goals was to own a vacation property on the ocean. Thanks to my wife's business acumen and my ability to prepare and market the property was a real team effort. It worked so well we now own two vacation properties. Too make this happen we made a huge time commitment in the form of sweat equity. All our spare time for a year was dedicated to making our dream happen. We also made the decision to rent the properties when we are not using them. We have created an income stream to pay for the properties. We use the properties as a place for us to decompress,relax and have friends by for weekends when the properties are not rented. We are building a nest egg that will help ensure we have a retirement where we chose what we can do. The reason I use this example is simple. Each property took every spare moment of our time and effort to get them to the stage we are now at. Half doing it was not an option. How good is having someone else pay for our future and present day relaxation. It all boils down to how bad you want your dreams and goals.

So how do we achieve or improve our self discipline? Here are some tips that have worked for me.

The first step is to write down a few goals that emotionally charge you. I believe when you have goals that will make you feel good, the emotional attachment will drive you to succeed. Success is imminent when you are passionate about what you want.

The second step is to enter in your diary when you are going to work toward these goals. Yes. Make an appointment with yourself. This will give you a reason to say no when something else comes along. You simply say I am working on a project right now that needs my attention. Just imagine how liberating it is when you have a commitment this strong. Success is now in your grasp.

The third step is to find an accountability partner. This will take some effort on your behalf but it will be the reinforcement of steps one and two. An accountability partner is someone who you share your goals with. I personally have one. We have an appointment at the same time each week and we discuss our progress toward our goals. So how do you feel about telling your accountability partner that you did not work toward your goal this week. Exactly. It feels awful. I have learned from experience that having the right person as an accountability partner is key. Someone who is simply a cheerleader will not do. Your accountability partner must also have realistic goals. Both of you have important things at stake. It works.

Self discipline will bring control into your decision-making process. Self discipline will remove some of the second guessing we are all guilty of. Self discipline will help you focus on what you want to accomplish. Being in control of our emotions and working toward what makes us happy is a good thing for all of us. The work can be fun too when the end result will bring you so much happiness and joy.

Inspiration Leads to Success - How to Find Inspiration

Inspiration is key to staying on track toward your success. Inspiration is the fuel that will power you through the lows that come your way more often than you want. We are after all human and our brains have a safety mechanism called doubt that will tell us to stop when we are challenged to push past our comfort zone. Doubt leads to limiting beliefs. Even going deeper than doubt is the fear of rejection and ultimately, failure.

I have in my own life been caught in the tramp of becoming risk adverse. I have been through a business failure early in my life. I was publicly fired from a CEO Position just two years later. For the record I sued for wrongful dismissal and won. That is a very liberating experience but the strain of going through that process is not for the faint of heart. I then bought in to another business, that like the office products business was in decline. My timing was awful. I was able to get out of that deal with some wounds but still above ground. I have been involved in three other business since and two have had happy endings. What did I learn from these experiences?

• I learned just how much the human mind and body can take when facing adversity.
• I learned we do become wiser as we grow older.
• I came to realize that some times we give up on a goal before we should.
• I learned that some times we need to move on and cut the losses.
• I have come to learn that value of patience.

What does all this have to do with inspiration? Well it's a part of my story. I have never given up of my quest to be successful. I have found success in many aspects of my life. I have been lucky to have the burning desire to succeed from an early stage in my life. Those personality traits come from being the grandson and son of two successful families. But how does someone with out that back ground get inspired? I suggest you Google, Best Motivational Books and Best motivational Speeches. There is an amazing amount of material for you to use to help get you inspired. It's all at your finger tips. Once you have made the decision you need more success in your life, you will need to do the following things.

• Create a purpose for doing this and write it down.
• You will need meaningful goals with time lines.(not just a to do list)
• You at the very least need to find several books to read that will both inspire and be educational.
• You need to find a mentor. Some one you can emulate.
• Read something every day that will inspire you.
• You must adapt an abundance mindset. There is lots to go around.
• Read something motivational before you go to sleep. You will wake up inspired.
• Spend more time with motivated people. It's contagious.

Opportunity has a never ending supply. It is available to all who attempt to step outside their comfort zone and live the life of their dreams. We some times need a boost to stay inspired. All those tools are available at your finger tips at little or no cost. There is no good reason on this green earth that you can not do this for yourself. You are your biggest asset. Your body and your mind are full of resources that can take you to levels you never dreamed possible.

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3 Tips for Getting Over Bad Habits Hindering Your Success

The most widely read of my articles are those articles dealing with setbacks and roadblocks to your success. The truth of the matter is we all are faced with attempting to change how we currently do things. We strive to improve our present situation in life. It does not matter if it's personal or business. Deep down we want to improve our selves. The difficulty with shaking those unwanted habits has to do with our conditioned preferences. I believe habits are formed as a route of least resistance to do what needs to get done. With out even thinking about it!

For those of you who are or have been smokers know the habit thing only to well. I too was an on again, off again smoker for over 20 years. I tried the patch. I tried to not drink coffee or have alcohol which were the association triggers in an effort to quit. What it came down to was my wife saying she loved me and she did not want me to do this to myself. The same can be said for weight gain. We eat foods that we know are harmful towards our health but we continue to do so. I my view smoking and eating are classic examples of habits we all want to break. I also believe they do not really impact our future success as a business person but they do have an impact on how we view ourselves. Habits like procrastination, the fear of failure and laziness are the real stingers that hold us back from achieving personal and or financial success.

Lets assume you know you need to make some changes. The most important thing you need to do before you even start with the three necessary steps is to remove any doubt that you will not succeed. You must to get past the limiting beliefs that you do not have the ability to do this. Will power and determination are crucial to succeeding in changing your unwanted habits. This is a given.

Tip One, Write it Down.

Get out your pen and write down the habit you want to shake. Before you say what the heck Paul. Yes. writing it down validates the issue. When you write it down, it requires thought. After you have acknowledged the habit you want to break you now have to write down how it will feel once you have achieved making the change. This is the feeling and the vision that will propel you.

Tip Two, Change Your Routine

I believe that most of our habits appear during your daily routines. They just happen without our even thinking about it. So a good way to make a change is to change our routine. Make sure that you leave out the unwanted habit in the new daily routine. Vacations are also a great way to make a change. Once you have a change in your environment the association factors do not come into play. This works. They say it takes 30 days to change a habit. The first 7 days are the toughest. Start making the change on a vacation. It works.

Tip Three, Find an Accountability Partner

Back in April I wrote an article, Six Reasons You Will Achieve Success Faster With An Accountability Partner. I believe this is the second most important step in finding success. Second only to commitment and determination. When we have an accountability partner we have to report what we did this week toward achieving our goal. In this case the goal is to shake or change a habit. Telling our accountability partner we did not get it done can be difficult. That's why it works. Simple as that.

You are not alone in wanting to make changes and improve your life. In fact it's very natural. Identifying the habit and why you want to make the change is the key. The support structures you put in place are equally important as we are all human and we often seek the road of least resistance. Success is found on the road less traveled. The road of new experiences that will take you to new heights. Go for it. You can do it.

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Six Ways To Maintain A Positive Attitude When Your Emotions Are Low

Do you ever wonder how some people always seem to be happy? You ask yourself, how do they do it? What is it they have that I don't? I believe that some people are naturally happy people. This may come as a result of the environment they grew up in. I also believe that even in the best of families there are challenges for emotional support allowing us to be who we who we want to be. We all suffer mood swings. Moods that appear as a result of recent events both happy and sad. The moods we remember most are those that pull us down. We have a tendency to slip back into limiting beliefs about ourselves at times like this. We need to be cognitive about these negative emotions. Our friends and business associates sense and feel these negative feelings and they will have a tendency to pull back. You then are drawn even deeper into these negative emotions as a result. It can be a vicious circle.

How many times in your life have you heard a friend or business associate say, "I am on a roll right now" I expect you have said that numerous times yourself. Pretty accelerating feelings aren't they? So how can we stay pumped so we can lead a happy and productive life?

1. Start a gratitude journal. I personally have one. Start your day by writing down all the things you are thankful for in your life. This will help push back the negative feelings that can creep into your day.
2. Start your day with some quiet time. Get up a half hour before the rest of the family. This can be your time to read and plan your day without the distraction of others. We all need time to our selves. It's a time that we can be proactive in our thoughts and not reactive. It's about maintaining control of our thoughts and emotions.
3. Take the time to get some exercise. I walk about 20 miles a week. I actually log my walks in my daily journal. I do not take my Ipod. It's a time reflect without distraction. It a great way to walk off frustrations. It's also a great way to keep your blood pressure down.
4. The morning news on the Radio or TV is always full of negative information. I personally get my news from the internet or a news paper. I choose the news I want to read. With Radio and TV the news it what they want to tell you. Think about it. They are not broadcasting feel good stuff. Why start you day that way?
5. Tell your family and friends that you love them. Go one step further. Tell them why you love them. When is the last time a loved one barked at you after you told them you love them?
6. Work toward obtaining an abundance mindset. These two books will help you get to this space. Go and purchase the book. "Chicken Soup for the Soul" by Jack Canfield. I suggest you also purchase and read, Don't Sweat The Small Stuff" by Dr. Richard Carlson. You will feel blessed for all you have. Better still you will come to understand, abundance has a never ending supply.

We all have abundance and so many wonderful things in our lives. It's human nature that we tend to focus on what is not going our way. We struggle to fix what's wrong in our lives. Build on obtaining more of what is good in our lives adverse to trying to fix what we perceive is a problem. One of my favorite sayings is by Mark Twain. "I spent much of my life worrying about things that never happened" There is more abundance on this planet than we could ever imagine. Use to your advantage an abundance mindset. Embrace these feelings to keep you in a positive frame of mind. Most of important of all. Remember to smile. It's contagious.