Archives For motivation

Living for Dreams or Trophies?

May 21, 2013 — Leave a comment

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I used to play sports. Then I realized you can buy trophies. Now I am good at everything. | Demetri Martin

Trophies represent something that previously happened. They commemorate experiences in the recent or distant past. Dreams, on the other hand, are those things that we hope to achieve someday. So, what’s between trophies and dreams? Today.

We can get so focused on our trophies that we live life in reverse. People and organizations do that all the time. They remember days when things were better and they try to recreate those experiences. They believe that recreating the past is better than moving toward an unknown future.

We also can get so focused on our dreams that we overlook our present realities. We have a picture of the future that we believe can become a reality someday. People in this frame of mind can easily ignore today’s responsibilities because their hyper-focus on their dreams is distracting them.

Somewhere between our trophies and our dreams is a reality in which you and I must live. We can’t escape it. We can’t go back and alter past experiences. Neither can we fast forward to the future to avoid the present. We must live it one moment at a time.

So, what are you doing with the moments you have? It’s great to learn from experiences and to develop goals that motivate you, but what about today? Are you investing your life in someone else? Are you looking for ways to motivate someone to achieve his or her goals? Are you cheering on others or listening for applause?

You’ll never become something in the future that you aren’t becoming right now. Live your purpose today and you’ll get to live your purpose in the days to come. Put off living your purpose until later and you’ll never live it. Life has taught me that later never arrives early. Think about it.

What are you doing to live your why today?

Tired of wondering what you want to be when you grow up? Live Your Why can help. This book and discovery guide will help you identify your purpose and develop a plan to live it. You can learn more about it by clicking here.

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Are You On the Lazy List?

May 20, 2013 — 1 Comment

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People are not lazy. They simply have impotent goals – that is, goals that do not inspire them. | Tony Robbins

The list of America’s laziest cities came out last week and the deep south was well represented! Jackson, Mississippi topped the list. Also on the list are the place I most recently lived (Nashville) and my current home (Birmingham). This probably explains why it is so hard to keep a fitness center in business around here!

Of course, the lazy list measured the physical activity of residents. What if we measured the creative thinking activity of people? Would you make the lazy list? Many people would because thinking creatively is hard. It’s easier to keep doing what we’ve always done with hopes that the outcome will be different this time. That’s simply another way to say, “I’m too lazy to think differently.”

How many individuals and organizations are paralyzed by a fondness for strategies they inherited from previous generations? How many people believe that doing what people did forty years ago will produce similar results today? When I was young, my father was a milkman. I remember riding with him and delivering milk in glass bottles to Styrofoam coolers on front porches. That business died with the advent of the supermarket. When I was in the Navy, every mathematical calculation performed in Nuclear Power School was done on a slide rule; calculators were not allowed. Some things needed changing.

If you want to achieve something different, set goals that motivate you to get in the game. Powerful goals will force you to reevaluate your priorities. Powerful goals will cause you to take control of your life. Powerful goals will allow you to say no to something good so you can say yes to something great. Powerful goals will take you somewhere you’ve never been. Laziness leads to the same place over and over again.

Take a look at your life. Are you at the starting line waiting for the gun or are you floating along in an inner tube? If you keep coming back to the same place, you might be on the lazy list. There’s a reason water parks call it the “Lazy River.” Think about it.

What keeps you on the lazy river?

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Five Words That Will Change Your Life

May 15, 2013 — 1 Comment

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Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind. | Rudyard Kipling

You’ve probably heard someone say that women speak about five times as many words as men per day. That comparison probably was manufactured and, over time, has been edited to achieve the author’s or speaker’s desired results. More recent research reveals that men and women use about the same number of words per day–approximately 16,000. So, of the 16,000 words you speak per day, are there some that have the capacity to change your life? Yes, but only if you put these words into action.

  1. Purpose. You were created with a purpose and your best life will be found only when you choose to embrace your purpose and live with intentionality. You can take all kinds of tests and attend all sorts of seminars, but if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll get nothing more than what you already have. If your life lacks meaning, find your purpose.
  2. Responsibility. You are responsible for the decisions and the difference you make. When you fail to fulfill your responsibility, someone else must step in and fulfill it for you. If you leave a shopping cart in the middle of the parking lot, someone has to retrieve it. In the words of Andy Stanley, “Your irresponsibility becomes someone else’s responsibility.”
  3. Celebration. When we live with an attitude of celebration, we will inspire others to purse excellence. Celebrate the people around you who do thankless jobs. Take time to engage the cashier in conversation about her. Thank the package delivery guy for getting your packages to you on time. Celebrate what others are doing and you’ll find new appreciation for those things you have the opportunity to do.
  4. Remarkable. Dan Cathy says that every experience is remarkable–people will remark positively or negatively. In every situation, strive to create experiences that make a positive impression. When people walk away from you, they will remark. What will they say?
  5. Excellence. I was on the commissioning crew of the USS Carl Vinson. Our pre-commissioning slogan was, ‘Do it right the first time.” Excellence has become so rare that people blog about it when they experience it. The world is satisfied with good enough. If you pursue excellence, you can set yourself and your business apart from those who are fine with mediocrity.

These five words–purpose, responsibility, celebration, remarkable, and excellence–will make the difference between being average and being exceptional. Average in America isn’t worth pursuing unless you enjoy living paycheck to paycheck, being $30,000 in credit card debt, owing more on your car than it is worth, and anticipating a future funded by a struggling government entitlement program. That’s not my definition of a good life. Is it yours? Think about it.

How can these five words make a difference in your life today?

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Avoid the Path of Least Resistance

May 13, 2013 — Leave a comment

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The path of least resistance and least trouble is a mental rut already made. It requires troublesome work to undertake the alternation of old beliefs. | John Dewey

Liquids always follow the path of least resistance. Place a large bolder in the middle of a stream and the water will find a way around it. The bolder will remain until moved by an outside force.

Many people also follow the path of least resistance. They look for the quickest and easiest solutions to their life situations. They avoid anything and everything that requires them to reconsider their beliefs or preconceived perceptions. They are locked into a way of life with very predictable outcomes. This, to them, is normal.

Normal in today’s culture is often viewed as stressed, broke, and trapped. This is the natural result of following the path of least resistance. I don’t know about you, but I’m really not interested in being normal.

Obstacles in our lives do three things.

  1. They sharpen our vision. An obstacle will force us to work harder to see the destination.
  2. They reveal our weaknesses. Obstacles always help us identify those areas of life in which we lack mastery. They show us areas in which we need to learn and grow.
  3. They strengthen our faith. When life is going as planned, we seldom acknowledge our dependence on God. When life presents us with challenges, we quickly recognize how small we are and how big He is.

Following the path of least resistance will keep leading you to a quality of life you’ve already experienced. If you want more out of life, face the obstacles with courage. Your best life is yet to be discovered. Think about it!

How has your life been shaped through the obstacles you’ve encountered? What would you say to someone who wants to follow the path of least resistance?

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Don’t Be a Settler

May 9, 2013 — Leave a comment

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Age wrinkles the body; quitting wrinkles the soul. | Douglas MacArthur

Our nation was founded by brave men and women who faced the unknown with confidence. They moved across the land uncertain about what was on the other side of the next ridge. When conditions seemed favorable or the uncertainty grew too great, they settled. What they knew was good enough.

It’s easy for individuals and organizations to settle for what they know rather than stretching for what could be ahead. We rely on old strategies that produced acceptable results rather than working hard to develop strategies that might produce exceptional results. In our thinking, we settle for good enough.

Mediocre efforts yield no better than mediocre results. We will never experience extraordinary results by doing what we’ve always done. I’ve worked with organizations led by intelligent people who never understood this truth. They wanted a dramatic change in their effectiveness but they didn’t want to change anything. How did these people get to be in charge?

Settling is quitting. When that happens, our conversation is more about the past than the future. Our strategies look like those that everyone else is using. Our best days are behind us. This is the birth of organizational (or personal) decay. We might as well go sit in one of the rocking chairs in front of Cracker Barrel and watch the world go by.

We don’t have to settle. We can keep looking for new ways to do familiar things. We should ask “Why?”… a lot! We don’t have to do what we’ve always done. We don’t have to replicate the past. We can be original, unique, and innovative. Or, we can settle. You get to choose. Think about it.

In what areas of life do you need to resist the urge to settle?

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The Law of Perpetual Discomfort

May 8, 2013 — 2 Comments

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Do you remember when gas was only two dollars per gallon? Today, three dollars per gallon would be a bargain. This is because of The Law of Perpetual Discomfort. Let me explain what I mean.

In 1958, a house cost $18,200, a gallon of gas was 30 cents, and the minimum wage was $1.00 per hour. In 1968, a house was $26,600, gasoline was 34 cents, and the minimum wage was $1.60. In 1978, a house was $62,500, gasoline was 65 cents, and the minimum wage was $2.65. In 1988, a house was $138,300, gasoline was 96 cents, and the minimum wage was $3.35. In 1998, a house was $181,900, gasoline was $1.12 per gallon, and the minimum wage was $5.15.

What’s the point? There hasn’t been a 10-year period in which consumers haven’t been pushed to new levels of financial discomfort. I call this The Law of Perpetual Discomfort. It describes the social conditions in which we have been living for more than fifty years.

The Law of Perpetual Discomfort applies to more than just finances. Living by The Law of Perpetual Discomfort allows us to run from one activity to the next with little regard for the cumulative effects of seemingly insignificant activities. We push ourselves to the point of discomfort and call that our new “normal.”

This way of life robs us of the opportunity to enrich our minds, stretch our imaginations, and restore our energy. We become exhausted, stressed, and bitter. We tell our life stories as if we are victims of an uncontrollable force.

We are victims of little more than our own choices. You and I have a limited amount of time we can invest each day. For everything we feel compelled to say “yes” to, there is the opportunity to say “no.” Saying yes is easy; no takes courage.

The Law of Perpetual Discomfort is probably a new way to describe the way many of us live each day of our lives. It doesn’t have to be that way. Think about it.

What are some things you need to remove from your schedule or list of responsibilities? Why is it so hard to say no?

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Three Things You Can’t Do Today

May 7, 2013 — Leave a comment

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Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning. | Albert Einstein

I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with some of the most brilliant people walking the planet. Their names are not recognizable. They aren’t universally famous. They don’t perceive themselves as brilliant. They aren’t all older than me. I’m married to one of them. A couple of them were raised in my home. A couple more joined the family through marriage. One is only fifteen months old and he’s probably the most brilliant of them all. He likes rocks and dogs and juice. Brilliance has nothing to do with formal education.

Brilliance erupts in innovative thinking and optimistic dreaming. Brilliance is a thinking process that must be cultivated through meaningful conversation and occasional goofiness. My dad wasn’t well-educated, but he was brilliant. He could fix anything because he had to. Necessity often precedes brilliance. My wife is the same way. She is creative, thoughtful, and inspirational. Many of my good ideas started in a conversation with her!

I’ve learned a great deal by hanging around with brilliant people. They taught me about these three things you can’t do today.

  1. You can’t get back time that’s already been spent. Time, once spent, is gone forever. We can’t go back and do yesterday again. I don’t regret playing catch or going to the park. I look forward to the morning walks with my wife. I’d rather invest in the people I love than grow old wishing I had.
  2. You can’t duplicate the opportunity you have right now. A day is a long string of interconnected opportunities to reveal our character. Our responses–good or bad–tell the world who we really are. Missed opportunities are the fabric of mediocre lives.
  3. You can’t control tomorrow, but you can prepare for it. Tomorrow will present a unique set of opportunities. What you do tomorrow will affect those you love. It will affect your future. It will set the stage for the weeks and days to come. Are you building a future or squandering the present?

Today will be tomorrow’s yesterday. You will reflect on what you did, you might regret what you did, but you will not be able to change what you did. Make every moment count because every moment is a gift. Think about it.

How will you spend your day today?

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Why One of Us Isn’t Necessary

May 6, 2013 — 4 Comments

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The principle mark of genius is not perfection but originality, the opening of new frontiers. | Arthur Koestler

Be original. We’ve been told that for much of our lives. Yet, duplication is the limit of some people’s creativity. When we set our sights on being like someone else, we trade our potential for an imitation. All the while, we believe we are being unique.

How many times have you seen leaders attempt to duplicate the culture of an organization they admire? How many artists have tried to paint like Picasso? How many writers are pounding away on Harry Potter knock-offs? How many musicians are trying to sound like _____________ (fill in the blank with whomever is popular today)?

Some say imitation is the greatest form of flattery. I disagree. Imitation is the greatest confession of lethargy. Imitation simply means I’m too lazy to be original. What would happen if you allowed your creativity to express itself? You might decide to skip the chapter numbers, sew with a thread that doesn’t match, paint with a toothbrush, or decorate a birthday cake with basil.

Great ideas are the work of those who were brave enough to express their creativity without fear of rejection or criticism. If you’re a thinking person, you will be criticized. If you are a creative person, you will be rejected. Those aren’t bad things; they simply help identify the audience that values your work. Those are your people. Create for them and leave the naysayers behind. Imitation is their highest achievement.

If you play to the crowd, your creativity will be limited by what’s already been done. If my goal is to copy you, one of us is unnecessary. Think about it.

How are you expressing your creativity? How do you deal with rejection or criticism?

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How to Make Dreams Come to Life

May 3, 2013 — 2 Comments

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I wonder if there’s a moral obligation to start. | Seth Godin

I’m a starter. I love the challenge of bringing something to life and seeing it function at its full potential. Not everything I’ve started has been successful. But failure is part of the learning process. It teaches us some questions to ask when we get to the next project.

Doubt is the enemy of initiative. It causes us to delay taking action. It can cause us to backtrack completely. Doubt makes us over-analyze things we haven’t yet done. It’s one thing to anticipate the future, it’s another thing to get paralyzed by it.

If we believe we were placed on this earth for a purpose (and I certainly believe that), then we have a moral obligation to get started doing what we were put here to do. Every moment we spend doing things that are outside our purpose is a moment stolen from the One who put us here in the first place. When we fail to start, we steal from God. So, what can you do today to get started?

  1. Be a spark plug. Spark plugs provide the initial spark needed for an internal combustion engine to work. You don’t have to have all of the answers, just be the spark plug.
  2. Leave a mark. Think about the environments with which you interact. What difference do you make in each of them? Are you a giver or a taker? Do you make people think or make people thankful you’re gone?
  3. Challenge the status quo. If we keep doing what we’ve always done, we can predict the results with amazing accuracy. Someone needs to stop the madness…why not you? Some people won’t like the idea of doing something differently. Some people won’t like you for making the suggestion. That’s OK. At least you’re thinking!

Being an initiator doesn’t come without risks. Traditionalists don’t like initiators. Organizations that are more excited about their pasts than their futures quickly eliminate initiators. Trust me. I know!

Dreams, however, never become reality unless you start. Think about it.

What is one thing you can start today?

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How to Prepare for a Job Loss

May 2, 2013 — Leave a comment

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Recession is when a neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. | Ronald Reagan

Parachutes have a specific purpose—they are designed to control the speed with which a person or object reaches solid ground. Military pilots always pack their parachutes, though they anticipate not needing them.

Life is unpredictable and can deliver unexpected opportunities for us to seek solid ground. People with parachutes will land safely on their feet. Those without parachutes will probably make a mess. The difference isn’t in the experience; the difference is in the advance preparation. There are a variety of studies about job loss in the United States that all point to a common truth–most people will experience at least one unexpected job loss during their careers. Many will go through the process more than once.

Change is inevitable. Escaping it is impossible. Our only choice is to prepare for it. In the past few years, we’ve seen car manufacturers go out of business and layoff thousands of employees who thought their jobs were secure. Retailers have eliminated jobs and put well-qualified salespeople out of work. College students are finishing their degrees with thousands of dollars in student loan debt and few job openings in their areas of expertise. The list goes on and on.

I once worked for a corporation that chose to eliminate people in order to make the bottom line. I saw friends vanish without any explanation. At one point, I thought I was immune to the madness, but reality changed my thinking process. I packed my parachute with additional sources of income. I was an adjunct professor at a university and wrote Bible studies on the side. Though I never thought I’d have to jump, that day finally came. When it happened, the shock was tempered by the fact that my parachute was packed. I pulled the cord and gently floated to the solid ground of the next opportunity.

It’s too late to pack your parachute after you’ve jumped. You need to start right now planning for your future. If you don’t take control of it, someone else will. Think about it.

What would happen if you lost your primary source of income? What “parachutes” do you need to pack?

You can begin preparing for your future by enrolling in the Live Your Why Online Seminar. For only $19, you can work through six audiovisual sessions with Dr. Terry Hadaway and begin discovering your purpose in life. The course includes a digital copy of the very popular Live Your Why book, the workbook pages that are used in the live seminars, and the audio and slides from the seminar. Begin packing your parachute today! Learn more.

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