Do You Settle For The Ordinary?

"Everything you want is outside your Comfort Zone. If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will settle for the ordinary."

Now, unless you are happy with where you are, you do realize that "Everything you want is OUTSIDE of your Comfort Zone, right? You can't continue doing the same things and expect different results. Where you are now has been based on your current thinking, but your current thinking will not be able to lift you out of this spot. You need new thinking...that's right NEW thinking, or at least different thinking to help you get what you want. Getting out of your Comfort Zone is not always easy and sometimes it's even irritating, but you have to do it if you are going to get what you want.

We really shouldn't call it a Comfort Zone because there is no comfort there.  It's more of aFamiliar Zone, becasuse we have become familiar with the pain and the pain we know is always less scary than the pain we don't know.

"If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will settle for the ordinary." Are you willing to risk the unusual or are you too deeply ingrained in your Comfort/Familiar Zone that you can't? Have you settled for the ordinary when you could have had the extraordinary?

Reminds me of another of my favorite quotes and that is "The space for what you want is currently occupied by what you have settled for." This doesn't just mean material things, but relationships, jobs and thoughts. What have you realized now that you've settled for? Can you change that? Do you even want to change it or do you want to continue in your Comfort/Familiar Zone and ordinary?

Know.  Be Known.  Make A Difference!

"Everything you want is outside your Comfort Zone. If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will settle for the ordinary."

Everything You Want

"Everything you want is outside your Comfort Zone. If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will settle for the ordinary."

Now, unless you are happy with where you are, you do realize that "Everything you want is OUTSIDE of your Comfort Zone, right? You can't continue doing the same things and expect different results. Where you are now has been based on your current thinking, but your current thinking will not be able to lift you out of this spot. You need new thinking...that's right NEW thinking, or at least different thinking to help you get what you want. Getting out of your Comfort Zone is not always easy and sometimes it's even irritating, but you have to do it if you are going to get what you want.

We really shouldn't call it a Comfort Zone because there is no comfort there.  It's more of a Familiar Zone, becasuse we have become familiar with the pain and the pain we know is always less scary than the pain we don't know.

"If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will settle for the ordinary." Are you willing to risk the unusual or are you too deeply ingrained in your Comfort/Familiar Zone that you can't? Have you settled for the ordinary when you could have had the extraordinary?

Reminds me of another of my favorite quotes and that is "The space for what you want is currently occupied by what you have settled for." This doesn't just mean material things, but relationships, jobs and thoughts. What have you realized now that you've settled for? Can you change that? Do you even want to change it or do you want to continue in your Comfort/Familiar Zone and ordinary?

Know.  Be Known.  Make A Difference!

"Everything you want is outside your Comfort Zone. If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will settle for the ordinary."

Think Anew

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.” ~Abraham Lincoln

Albert Einstein said that "you can't solve a problem at the same level of thinking that it was created at." You need to "think anew and act anew." Take a look at Lincolns quote...it's almost as if he was talking about today!!

"The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion." Sound or feel familiar? Are you having difficulty in these times? Are you rising to meet the occasion? Or are you just "doing the best you can?" Unfortunately, most people are only doing the "best they can," not really rising to meet the occasion. Or setting the occasion to only be "they best they can."

"Think anew." When was the last time that you thought anew? Most people haven't had a new or original thought in years. Break out of your familiar zone(comfort zone) and THINK NEW THOUGHTS!!! Growth only happens when you leave your familiar zone (comfort zone).

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.”

Thinking New Thoughts

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.” ~Abraham Lincoln

Albert Einstein said that "you can't solve a problem at the same level of thinking that it was created at." You need to "think anew and act anew." Take a look at Lincolns quote...it's almost as if he was talking about today!!

"The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion." Sound or feel familiar? Are you having difficulty in these times? Are you rising to meet the occasion? Or are you just "doing the best you can?" Unfortunately, most people are only doing the "best they can," not really rising to meet the occasion. Or setting the occasion to only be "they best they can."

"Think anew." When was the last time that you thought anew? Most people haven't had a new or original thought in years. Break out of your familiar zone(comfort zone) and THINK NEW THOUGHTS!!! Growth only happens when you leave your familiar zone (comfort zone).

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.”

Go Where There Is No Path

This is Ralph Waldo Emerson week:
"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Are you a trailblazer or a follower? Really? Most people are followers. Oh, they will think that they are trailblazers, but they really are followers. Think about the last time you did something that nobody had ever done before...not coming up with much? Don't feel bad, as I said, most people are followers.

Emerson is trying to get us to think and act differently. Different from the status quo. Different from the well-worn path. To create a trail that others can follow. To find a new way to do things. To find a different way to do things.

Don't ask yourself "Can I do it?" Ask yourself "How many ways can I do this, Make A Difference, and enjoy myself along the way? (thanks to @Jeff Herring for the question)

Action:
Start small. When you have a task to do that you do often, think about ways to do it differently. You don't need to blaze the whole trail, just make a start.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

You Are Better Than You Think

"Remind yourself regularly that you are better than you think you are. Successful people are not superhuman. Success does not require a super-intellect. Nor is there anything mystical about success. And success isn't based on luck. Successful people are just ordinary folks who have developed belief in themselves and what they do. Never sell yourself short." ~ David J. Schwartz

Too often we beat ourselves down or let other beat us down. STOP IT!! You need to be reminding yourself that you are better than you think you are. The next time you feel unworthy, think of all the things that you have to be grateful for...and that will change your thinking.

Successful people are just ordinary folks who have developed belief in themselves. Have you developed that belief in yourself? Why not? It's your choice to believe what you want to believe.

Action:
Don't let you mind talk you down. When that voice tells you that you aren't worthy, tell it to be quiet. You are worthy, but you have to claim it. No one else can claim it for you!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Remind yourself regularly that you are better than you think you are. Successful people are not superhuman. Success does not require a super-intellect. Nor is there anything mystical about success. And success isn't based on luck. Successful people are just ordinary folks who have developed belief in themselves and what they do. Never sell yourself short."

You Need New Eyes

"True discovery consists not in finding new landscapes, but in seeing the same landscape with new eyes." ~Marcel Proust

Are you ready to see new landscapes? Change your eyes!! Proust really means, change the way you think about things. When you see something, do you always think the same thing? Why? Start asking questions about why you think those same things...you might be surprised by the answers.

Are you ready to change the way you think? Einstein said that "You can't fix a problem with thinking the same way that created the problem." He was saying, change the way you think! I challenge you to do it, change the way you think. A whole new world might open up for you.

See the landscape with new eyes! Change the way you think!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"True discovery consists not in finding new landscapes, but in seeing the same landscape with new eyes."

What Other People Think

Many people allow their need for other people's approval to control their lives. They spend their lives worrying about what others think of them.- Rick Warren

Do you have the need for other people's approval? Do you let that control your life? Too many people are controlled by the need for approval from someone other than themselves.

One of my favorite quotes is "It's none of my business what you think of me." That quote is freeing and restrictive at the same time. It tells me that I don't have to worry about what others think of me and that's the freeing part. The restrictive part is that I have to keep reminding myself that it is none of my business!!

Don't spend you life worrying about what other people think about you. Want to know why??? It's simple, really...OTHER PEOPLE AREN'T THINKING ABOUT YOU!!! They are too caught up in their own crap to be thinking about you and your crap.

Go be who you were meant to be and don't worry about what anyone else thinks. You are the only one who matters. It is your choice. Choose!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

Many people allow their need for other people's approval to control their lives. They spend their lives worrying about what others think of them.

Think BIG, Live BIG!

“Think big and you’ll live big. You’ll live big in happiness. You’ll live big in accomplishment. You’ll live big in income. Big in friends. Start now, right now, to discover how to make thinking make magic for you. Start out with this thought of the great philosopher Disraeli, “Life is too short to be small.” ~David Schwartz

Are you thinking BIG? Why not? Oh sure, you say, "I think big." But do you really think big or do you think just big enough to stretch yourself a little? That's what most people do. They think that their thinking is big when it's really just a little more than they've done before.

Schwartz goes on to say this: “Here is the first step towards success. It’s a basic step. It can’t be avoided. Believe in yourself, believe you can succeed.” This is where most people fall down...they think big but really don't believe that they can do big things. Thinking is a start but if you don't have the belief, all the positive thinking in the world is not going to get you anywhere! Do you BELIEVE you can succeed or are you just hoping to succeed? Belief, beyond a shadow of a doubt is what is necessary, so I'll ask again, do you BELIEVE you can succeed? If not, you need to work on your belief.

So, how does your belief change the way you live your life? Do you not worry about new things and try them without a care because you know that you will succeed? If you can't do this, then your belief is a little shaky. You've heard this question before but, What could you do if you knew that you wouldn't fail? Belief gives you that kind of freedom.

Life is too short to play small! Think BIG. Believe BIG. Play BIG.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

Working on YOUR Plan?

“If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.” Jim Rohn

Have YOU designed your life or are you working on someone else's plan? It might have been your parent's plan, your partner's plan, your teacher's plan, but it's not your plan. Take the time right now to analyze where you are going and if that's where you really want to go. Go ahead...I'll wait.

OK, good. Now, if you are working on YOUR plan, congratulations. If not, well then START RIGHT NOW working on your plan. "It is never too late to be who you might have been." The world doesn't benefit by you working on someone else's plan, only when you are working on your plan, does the world get to experience the gifts and talents that you have.

Plan BIG. Think BIG. Do BIG! If you are going to plan, think and do, you might was well do it as big as you possibly can, right? Tell me your big plans, so we can help each other make them happen!

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

“If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”

Think Anew, Act Anew

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.” ~Abraham Lincoln

Albert Einstein said that "you can't solve a problem at the same level of thinking that it was created at." You need to "think anew and act anew." Take a look at Lincolns quote...it's almost as if he was talking about today!!

"The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion." Sound or feel familiar? Are you having difficulty in these times? Are you rising to meet the occasion? Or are you just "doing the best you can?"

"Think anew." When was the last time that you thought anew? Most people haven't had a new or original thought in years. Break out of your comfort zone and THINK NEW THOUGHTS!!! Growth only happens when you leave your comfort zone.

Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.”

Your Brain Is Not Your Friend

"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate." ~Carl Jung

Have you made your unconscious, conscious?? You say, 'What does that mean?" We are directed more by our unconsciousness than our conscious mind, in fact, 96% of our daily thoughts and actions are from the unconscious mind! Think about that for a while.

What would happen to your life if you were able to be in your conscious mind say, 5% or maybe even 7%? How much more effective would you be? How may more things would you get done, start, plan? By increasing your conscious mind by 2%, you are DOUBLING it! WOW!

Your unconscious mind is running your life right now. How's that working for you? Here's something to try to get your head around...YOUR BRAIN IS NOT YOUR FRIEND. Let me repeat that: YOUR BRAIN IS NOT YOUR FRIEND.

Why you ask? Because your brain (unconscious) can't tell the difference between what is real and what is not. It can't tell you what is right or wrong, but it will tell you things thinking that it is protecting you, that can hurt you. And if we are living in that brain, it is not helping us. It is NOT our friend.

Let me know what YOU THINK!
Know. Be Known. Make A Difference!

"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate."

The Undiscerning Mind

"The undiscerning mind is like a root of a tree-it absorbs equally all that it touches-even the poison that would kill it.”~Master Po, from Kung Fu

Your associations are the most important part of your life and business. Do you constantly evaluate them? Why not? Those associations are influencing you whether you know it or not. Are they influencing you for the better or for worse...

Here are some questions to ask yourself about your associations:
1. Who are you around?
You've got to evaluate everybody that you are around and their influence on you.

2. What are these associations doing to me or for me?
Are you listening to them? What do they have you thinking about yourself? How are you talking when you are around them? How do they make me feel?

3. Is that ok?
Maybe everyone you associate with is lifting you up, only concerned about your highest good, only looking out for your best interests. If so, that's great. Congratulations in picking the best associations, then again there might be some bad apples in that bunch. Take the time to take a second look at your associations.

It's really easy to dismiss the influence of others in our lives. Everything matters! You've got to keep checking to make sure the associations that you allow yourself to have are positive and uplifting for you.

"The undiscerning mind is like a root of a tree-it absorbs equally all that it touches-even the poison that would kill it.”

New Thoughts

"Thinking brand new thoughts that you've never thought before is wildly more conducive to creating big life changes than just thinking different varieties of the same old thoughts."~Mike Dooley

Are you thinking new things? Research says no. They've found that 85% of the thoughts that you think today, were the thoughts that you thought yesterday...Wow, talk about being stuck in "Groundhog Day!"

At least Bill Murray realized it and took advantage of his situation in the movie, do you realize it? Do you see how your thought patterns repeat over and over?

And now for the really bad part...80% of those repeated thoughts are NEGATIVE! And you wondered why it was so difficult to maintain a positive attitude. Make a change today and think wildly outrageous thoughts, thoughts you never would have imagined, thoughts that challenge your way of thinking and beliefs. I challenge you to try...

If you are wanting to create big life changes, you will have to start with your thoughts. Everything starts with a thought, nothing can happen without thought. Think about it.

"Thinking brand new thoughts that you've never thought before is wildly more conducive to creating big life changes than just thinking different varieties of the same old thoughts."