Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Suspend Judgement

“You are young and as the years go by, time will change and even reverse many of your present opinions. Refrain therefore awhile from setting yourself up as a judge of the highest matters.” – Plato

This series of posts are reflections on the behaviors of successful people that are worthy of emulation...

We have previously identified that

Successful people are
  • Congruent
  • Present
They
  • Suspend Judgement
  • Cultivate Positive Thoughts
  • Understand the Power of Words
  • Are Physically Fit
  • Make the Best Use of Their Time
  • Study Successful Role Models
  • Listen
  • Serve Others

The third behavior of successful people is the ability to suspend judgement.  This will be our topic for today.

The following story can help us  to understand the concept of suspending judgement....

“Good, Bad, Who knows?

There is a Chinese story of a farmer who used an old horse to till his fields. One day, the horse escaped into the hills and when the farmer's neighbors sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?" 

A week later, the horse returned with a herd of horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, "Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?"

Then, when the farmer's son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?"

Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer's son with his broken leg, he didn’t have to go to war. "Good luck?   Bad luck? Who knows...


Events happen – they are neither good nor bad until  WE attach a judgment to them…When we refrain from attaching judgement we are living in a state of equanimity.

Living in a state of equanimity allows us to be less rigid and live more harmoniously in a world where the only constant is change.  Being non-reactive allows us to maintain a pleasant equilibrium .

It has been said that it is not what happens that is important, but it is our reaction that matters.  When we adopt a wait-and-see attitude, we will be less likely to jump to conclusions.


I invite you to apply the advice of Plato and adopt the third behavior of successful people.  Just for today,    refrain from judging.  And then, for good measure, suspend your judgment for just a little while longer.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Be Present

Rejoice in the things that are present; all else is beyond thee. ~Montaigne

Today we will concentrate on the second behavior of successful people...Being Present....
As a reminder our list states that
Successful people are
  • Congruent
  • Present
They
  • Suspend Judgement
  • Cultivate Positive Thoughts
  • Understand the Power of Words
  • Are Physically Fit
  • Make the Best Use of Their Time
  • Study Successful Role Models
  • Listen
  • Serve Others
How often do we talk on the phone while driving, or think about what we'll have for dinner while we are eating breakfast? How much time do we spend worrying about something that might happen someday?

Unfortunately, multi-tasking and thinking about anything, but what we are doing in the moment, causes us to feel stressed out and robs us of the pleasure we could be experiencing each moment. If we want to find more peace and joy throughout our day the best thing we can do is be here now.

Many of us live in the past, but whether it was good or bad, the past is gone. Every moment we live there is another moment lost.  Dr. Bruce Lipton has reported  that 70% of our thoughts are negative and redundant...in other words, we think the same negative thoughts over and over again...Do you think those thoughts could keep success away?

When we become present, we start to notice what we are thinking. Just notice what you are thinking today.

When we leave the past behind, we may find that we start worrying about the future.  Worrying about anything is like praying for something we don't want.

Thank goodness we don't know what the future holds...We get to make it up as we go along...The best way to positively affect the future is by actively participating in this moment right now. Go ahead, enjoy right now.....

Some Benefits to Being Present:
  • Life is exciting
    Everything is new and fascinating....It is like being a child again. Experience the wonder
  • Reduced stress. Worrying about the past and future creates unnecessary stress, while being present puts us in a magical zone of bliss.
  • Better relationships. When we pay attention to the person with us we are able to connect on a deeper level.
  • Get more done with higher quality output.   Focus gets things done, and keeping  focus on only one thing increases it's power.

When we are present we lose ourselves in whatever we’re doing...that place where time ceases to exist and wonder begins. When we are so lost in what we are doing that we fail to notice anything else. It’s a wonderfully productive place to be.

I invite you to join me there today!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Come into Alignment

To Thine Own Self Be True - Polonius

In yesterday's post I identified ten behaviors of successful people. Quickly, here are those behaviors...

Successful people are
  • Congruent
  • Present
They
  • Suspend Judgement
  • Cultivate Positive Thoughts
  • Understand the Power of Words
  • Are Physically Fit
  • Make the Best Use of Their Time
  • Study Successful Role Models
  • Listen
  • Serve Others
Let's take these one by one to get an understanding of how these behaviors contribute to success.

The first behavior of successful people is congruency. To be congruent means that what a person thinks, says and does is in alignment. Their behavior is in line with their values, beliefs and desires.

There are two important aspects to this concept. One is within the person and the other pertains to relating to others. On a personal level when we are congruent, we do not experience internal conflict and our personal power expands. On the interpersonal level when we do what we say we will do our credibility increases. Other people will perceive us as trustworthy...and our personal power increases.

We experience personal power when we feel enthusiasm and optimism and it is directly related to our energy level. It is the ability to influence others and achieve what we want. More than anything else, personal power brings us into resonance with success and happiness.

There are four stages to personal power. These stages are revolution, involution, narcissism, and evolution.

The first stage of personal power is revolution. Revolution is establishing our own sense of authority and separating from group thought. It is breaking away from the "shoulds"...and doing things because we have a desire to do them.

The next stage is involution. Involution is going within and surveying how well the external world is serving our personal needs...It is getting to know what we really want...knowing our true purpose and desires.

The third stage of personal power is narcissism. Narcissism is loving ourselves enough to create boundaries and stand up for our personal beliefs in the face of opposition.

The final stage in developing personal power is evolution. Evolution happens when people are able to maintain their principles, their dignity, and their faith without compromising.

People who reach the evolution stage take charge of their physical environments - and then the environments change to accommodate the power of the person that commands them.

Come into Alignment and watch your success soar.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Ten Behaviors of Successful People

Man is so made that when anything fires his soul, impossibilities vanish (Jean de la Fontaine)

I have been using the internet for a little over one year. Believe me, I had NO clue what I was doing when I started. I fumbled from one day to the next searching and studying everything I could find on building an online business. I am still learning a ton everyday about marketing on the internet how to use it effectively.

My strength lies in my offline management experience and my desire to help people. I have spent the last 15 years as a business owner. As a massage therapist and personal trainer, my mission was to provide my clients with information, exercises and opportunities to improve their lives.

I know a lot of really neat stuff and am willing to share any and all of that knowledge with anyone who asks. The only thing I ask in return is that you are willing to accept responsibility for yourself. I mean REALLY accept responsibility for yourself. Taking this one step will exponentially increase your personal power and do more to improve your chances of success than you can ever imagine.

What is the definition of success? The definition I am using is the achievement of something planned or attempted.

I have identified 10 behaviors that are common to successful people.
Successful people are
  • Congruent
  • Present
They
  • Suspend Judgement
  • Cultivate Positive Thoughts
  • Understand the Power of Words
  • Are Physically Fit
  • Make the Best Use of Their Time
  • Study Successful Role Models
  • Listen
  • Serve Others
Over the next few days, we'll look at each of these behaviors in more depth and see how they can help you achieve more success in your endeavors.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

"The-Post- a-Day Challenge"

Tim Linden has laid down the gauntlet in "The-Post-a-Day Challenge."

When I read this post this morning I thought, "Wow, that might be difficult!" So, I put aside the email and went about my "to do" list for the day. All the while, the challenge was in the back of my mind....

So, I went back and re-read the email...

According to Tim Linden Blog,

there are only a few
Simple rules to follow:
  • You HAVE to write a post TODAY saying you accept the challenge, and linking to this post, on your blog.
  • You have to comment on this post with a link to your challenge acceptance speech.
  • You have to personally write every post in the challenge.
  • You can queue into the future, but if you forget a day you can't post into the past. Just be a good sport and accept defeat!
  • The posts need to be useful. No splogs or slogs (spam blogs or sales blogs).
    Sundays don't count. If you post then, great, if you don't, that doesn't count. Call me old fashioned but I think the Lord's day of rest pertains to blogging as well.
Okay, so there you have it....The challenge, the rules and my response...
"Sure, I can do that!"

Happy Blogging!