Personal Growth Success in Business Success in Life

Everybody Gets Down At Times … Successful People Don’t Stay Down!

I work very hard to maintain a positive attitude and a positive outlook on life. The longer I've focused on this, sometimes elusive goal, the easier it has become to maintain a positive outlook on my life and the challenges I am faced with. Although it has gotten easier with time, it can still be difficult. I used to think people who constantly preached the importance of being a "Positive Thinker," were strange. I always thought these people needed to wake up and smell the coffee! It seemed as thought they bought into some "cult-like" belief that if they said, "Everything is great" ... that somehow they could trick themselves into some delusional belief that everything was "ok" no matter how much crap they had to deal with. I've finally arrived at the point in my life where I understand the value of maintaining a positive outlook, but I am also a realist.

Personal Growth Success in Life

Experience Your Surroundings As If You Are A Tourist Seeing Them For The First Time

Since I started my experiment I've realized that I'm paying much closer attention to my thoughts, my actions, and also my surroundings, and I have to tell you it has modified the way I look at things in a big way. I've been fortunate to do quite a bit of traveling in the past few months and have seen some incredibly beautiful and interesting places. Whether it was the beauty of the amazing people I met while in the Dominican Republic, the majestic mountains of Colorado, the awesome coastline and cliffs of Laguna Beach, or the history and beautiful monuments I visited while in Washington DC. No matter how diverse and incredible those places were, while focusing on my experiment and developing the new habits through my action focused goal setting, I found that none of those places were any more amazing and beautiful as the place I call home ... Grand Rapids, Michigan!

Personal Growth Success in Business Success in Life

Don’t Forget to Celebrate Your Accomplishments!

If you are at all like me you spend a significant amount of time beating yourself up for NOT doing what you know you should do. Most of the achievement oriented people I know do this quite a bit. It is as though they are on a quest for perfection and anything less than that is unsatisfying. Don't get me wrong ... I think it's a great thing to be on a quest for perfection, and I believe people who are, will ultimately experience a good deal of success because they'll never feel as though they've arrived. There will always be something else to accomplish.

Personal Growth Success in Life

Don’t Waste Your Energy Asking Why. Sometimes That’s Just the Way it Is!

Don't you just love it when you are cooped up in the car with young children, going on a long trip and everytime they see something they haven't seen before, they begin with the questions? Well, if you are anything like me ... it drives you nuts! :) I understand these questions are an absolute requirement for their development and the answers you provide goes a long way in developing their intellectual capital. So, although it can be extremely frustrating and annoying, as parents, we need to take the time to answer these questions and show as little irritation as possible so you don't deter their inquisitiveness and stifle their growth. Even though this is true it'll still drive even the most patient of people crazy when every explanation is met with the question ... "Why?"

Uncategorized

It’s Not Just Who You Know … It’s Who You Associate With!

I am always amazed when I see a couple who has been married for several years and they have adopted each others mannerisms and facial expressions. Sometimes it seems as though they underwent some crazy DNA experiment and were morphing into each other. It's not that difficult to understand how it happens when you think about it. We all share little sayings, inside jokes, private stories, and even similar philosophies on life. After all, your spouse is the person you spend the most time with. Well ... in most cases. :) These same traits, philosophies, and mannersims are transfered into our children as they are being brought up and maturing into adults. Although our children share our DNA and are predisposed to looking like us, there are many other characteristics they pick up from associating with us throughout their formative years. Some good .... Some bad. Think about it for a second ...