Posted on

Are You Willing To Stand In Line? What Motivates/Inspires You?

by

This is just one of the photos online (courtesy of CNN.com) of people standing in line yesterday (Black Friday). It amazes me what people will go through “for a bargain”. What’s your definition of a bargain, by the way? Edit – even though I credited CNN I was forced to pay a fine and remove the photo.

What is it that drives you? That is a better question for you to ponder.  I know why I trained so hard for the New York City Marathon and put myself through that entire year of hard work. That knowledge/awareness is extremely important in keeping you motivated toward your goal.

What do you think these folks’ motivation was? What was your motivation if this was you standing in line? What is propelling you to do something? How strong is that thought or feeling?

Abraham makes a distinction between “motivation” and “inspiration” and I like it. Essentially “motivation” is pushing someone toward something whereas “inspiration” comes from within and it’s a very positive desire to achieve something. Think about it. I had to listen to this several times before it made sense to me but it finally made sense to me.

A motivational speaker tries to push someone into doing something where an inspirational speaker simply tells a story and the essence of that story is what makes you want to go forth and accomplish something. I’m not sure that the actual words really matter as much as the internal/external concept. “Motivation” to me comes from without and “Inspiration” comes from within.

So, as you start to prepare for the New Year, look toward your inner self to find what goals to work toward. Now is the time to start examining what it is you feel inspired to change. If you are going to make a change it has to come from within and be something YOU want, not something imposed on you by others – I know that when I was younger I “tried” to stop smoking many times for my mom or for others. It wasn’t until I woke up one morning and said “I’m tired of this. I want to stop smoking now”. And I did. And guess what, it wasn’t tough at all. I developed a plan (see a pattern developing here) ahead of time, set a date to start and then I simply followed the plan. I succeeded on my first attempt when I finally decided to do it for myself.

Start examining your inner thoughts and feelings this coming month. Find out what you want to do next year. Write down these thoughts and feelings. Keep them to yourself. Do NOT share with anyone. As we’ve talked about so many times, that can potentially backfire for you. Your loved ones may mean well but they can sabotage your efforts before you even begin. Just start with this simple step right now.

Terrie

Posted on

Today’s The Real Day To Practice Gratitude…

by

 “Black Friday”. I don’t like that phrase – period. It has many connotations to me – what about you?

Anyway, though, it’s a day when everyone is out at the stores trying to get bargains on their Christmas (holiday) shopping. And they are not always very friendly when they are trying to get as many bargains in as many places as possible. People push and shove and aren’t very friendly – it’s all about them it seems. Sure, they couch it in “I’m trying to get gifts for my family” but it’s all about them – there’s nothing about the other folks in line.

Now is when you MUST practice gratitude/thanksgiving and do it pretty continuously if you’re out there with them. If you forgot to get your weekly supplies at the store and have to go today, practice your Rampage of Appreciation technique (I’ll talk about that in a minute) and see if that helps make your day go better. Although we only officially celebrate gratitude on one day (yesterday) we should be practicing gratitude EVERY DAY! Do you have your copy of the Gratitude Journal? Are you using it?

Did you know that gratitude is the quickest way to achieving all you want in life – the Universe responds to gratitude and appreciation more than it does to anything. The vibrations associated with gratitude are amongst the highest. And when you have high vibrations, you will attract the best to you. Make a practice of using your Gratitude Journal every day from now until Christmas and see if a) you’ve established a habit that will stick with you and b) what have you attracted in that time period – the more you record the better – it will also become your success journal. You’ll see the successes you have because you will be grateful for them and will write them down every day. That way, all you have to do is read through the journal to see how far you’ve come.

Now for the “Rampage of Appreciation” – this is a great process from Abraham-Hicks! Try this as you are standing in line at a store (you can use it any time, any place though). Look around you and find something you like. Then start talking (to yourself) about how beautiful it is and how great the improvements or changes are in the store etc. For example: “I really like the way they have decorated this year. That shelf is so neat and the surrounding area is really clean. Look at how they have matched the colors and put them in a cool green and red pattern for Christmas. Oh, and I really like the friendliness of that woman behind the register – no matter what is said to her, she’s always smiling and has a pleasant word. There are a ton of people in line and she’s not fazed in the least. She’s just so happy and friendly and seems to put everyone at ease. I notice a beautiful change in all the people in line as they get close to her. It’s as if she’s radiating the spirit of Christmas and happiness and joy. How could anyone NOT absorb that attitude. And the managers – how cool is it that they have Christmas badges and hats and don’t seem to be bothered by them – it helps them stand out for those needing their services but not appearing ostentatious…..” and you just go on and on and see how it changes the way you feel. The Rampage of Appreciation is something really fun to do and will change how you feel about things in your life!

So now – no matter where you are today, make sure you do at least one Rampage of Appreciation – comment below on how you did with it and what happened!

Terrie

p.s. I find it hard to understand why the made “Small Business Saturday” the day after Black Friday when people will have spent much (if not most) of their allotted money the day before. Does that indicate lack of real support for Small Businesses and just giving it lip service? Something to think about.

Posted on

The Cactus Parallels Our Lives….

by

 I’m sure there are other plants that also parallel our lives but I’m not really a flower or plant person BUT I am a very big Cactus lover!

Every day when I come in I stop and look at my Cactus Patch – but some days I forget or some days (even weeks) I don’t come in through the front door. The next time I do, though, I see how big my babies have gotten and then there’s another little cactus bud. I am not sure why but I am fascinated by this. Perhaps because it’s slow compared to flowers which are fast bloomers and then in a day or two they are gone. The Cactus takes its time and buds off, then slowly grows into another “arm” (you can tell I don’t know much about these things being a city gal all my life so I invent my own terms).

Next thing you know, though, the Cactus plant has grown and grown and grown and is bending this way and that.

So what the heck does this have to with either metaphysics or with life?

Change happens slowly in our lives. If we expect to see obvious evidence of major change over night, we’ll continually be disappointed.

But If we step back, continue to move along our planned path, and then in a couple of weeks or, preferably, months look back at how far we’ve come, we’ll be surprised AND amazed. As with my race the other day, there’s absolutely NO WAY I would have predicted taking 12 minutes off a short distance like 3 miles in just a year. I’ve never done that before. And you know what? It was never my plan to do that either. But I worked my other plan and this was a very nice and rewarding side benefit of it. But if I had been looking at my times every single day, I would NOT have seen so much of a change and might even have become disappointed.

Like the Cactus we have to step back and view our lives and what’s happened periodically, not continually. Then, and only then will we be able to see that there’s been significant change and also evaluate what it is and what it means. Then, we can do something further about it – new goals sprout up just as the Cactus will grow a new bud because it has the foundation and the nutrients to feed that new bud – my goals have been rejuvenated because of that one little race I was doing just to support the cause (Epilepsy Foundation), not to see how good I could do. I was blown away and stimulated, enthused, invigorated, etc. As Abraham says “everything is always working out for me”. And I proved it. After my tremendous disappointment this month I wasn’t sure where I was running-wise – and it had spilled over into my attitude about everything else. I just felt blah. Now I know I can attack the world and climb back up on top and sprout a new bud!

Use Thanksgiving to do some reflection. Take a look at where you were 6 months ago (or you can go for the whole Enchilada as they say and do the whole year). How far have you come? Write it down. Put it in the comments. See what’s happened in your life. Don’t just go blithely along each day like a robot. See your progress and your change. Then do something with that information. Try to figure out what has happened and why there’s been the change. Or, if you think there’s been no change, try to look at that too. Maybe you need a team like I did. Maybe you need a coach like I did. Look at it and be grateful for it all.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone – even those not in the US – know that I am thankful that you are in my life!

Terrie

Posted on

I Was Hit By Lightning…..

by

 I was hit by lightning! Not really but yesterday I realized what this last year did for me and what it can definitely do for you if you approach it right.

Short background. I had not run since about 2001 but had missed it so very much. In September 2011 I started running again. In November 2011 I ran my first 5K in 10 years. I am very slow and always have been but that’s ok.

My goal was to run in the 2012 New York City Marathon (26.2 miles). I paid my entry fee, figured out my plan and diligently began to execute the plan. I was ready. Well, it didn’t happen (but that’s another whole story as you guys know).

Saturday just for fun I ran in the same 5K I did last year. I knocked 12 minutes off my time since last year. For me that is phenomenal.

My take away points from that are that I can succeed in anything by developing a plan. Then all I need to do is diligently execute that plan and I (we) can score big time like I did in my race.

Simply knowing what to do and then doing it with the attitude of knowing it WILL work is something I completely embrace. What about you?

I know that as I was progressing through this plan all I “worried” about was what I had to accomplish that day or in that section. Your life can be like that too. Break it down (I like the phrase “chunk it down” because we actually are creating small chunks) and then go to work on a small chunk. I never imagined I would have taken 12 minutes off my time. That is kind of unheard of even for a  slow old person like me! I just went out to see how much I had progressed and I was blown away. Interestingly enough, all the components were the same – same weather, same time, same location at the start, same course etc. The only thing that was different was me!

Have a plan, make it manageable and you can achieve anything! You need a team though. I have had a phenomenal team this past year and attribute the majority of my success to that team – BUT, you know what? It was me out there at 2 a.m. running or running for 6 hours every Sunday in the San Antonio heat, not the team. I followed the plan they helped me lay out. That’s what coaching is all about.

Do you want to knock 12 minutes off your time (the equivalent in whatever life event you’re working toward)? Stay tuned for the upcoming program(s).

Enough for now – back to basking in my glory – for about 10 more minutes and then it’s out the door again…LOL.

Terrie