Archive for Self Esteem
What Does Cheerleading Have To Do With YOUR Success?
Posted by: | CommentsWhat does cheerleading have to do with your success? Well before I tell you let me take you back for a moment. If you have read my blog for any length of time, you are well aware of the love and pride I have for my daughters. As a parent and a father I try so hard to instill in my girls all the learnings I have gathered over the years – in the sincere hopes that they may avoid some of the pitfalls of my past through me. This is sage advice about becomeing successful that I learned and have offered to you and my clients over the years – find someone that has successfully traveled the path you want to travel and learn from them, either directly or indirectly.
But as a parent I am ever concerned about just how deeply the life lessons I am sharing are being absorbed, until I read this essay my daughter wrote a couple years back. I want to share it with for a couple reasons.
- It embodies everything I believe will make her (and YOU) successful in whatever path or goal she (or you) chooses
- Because while I have been trying to teach her, she taught me and in turn I would like to pass some of her sage wisdom on to you.
Oh and did I mention she was only 12 when she wrote this?
Read and enjoy as you learn just what Cheerleading has to do with your success in life, your success in business and yes even your success in your relationships.
Think Successfully & Take Action!
Tracy Brinkmann
One of Today’s Top Motivated Coaches & Author of Success Atlas Programs
The following is by Shandi’rae Brinkmann
Glitz. Glitter. Glam. That’s the part you see, the show we put on. What you don’t see is what we go through to put that two minute and thirty second performance onto that stage. The long, hard, grueling practices, going over the routine what seems like millions of times. The bumps and bruises received while trying to perfect every stunt. There is a lot more to competitive cheerleading than meets the eye, but in the end, all of that is worth it. To me, the worst part is the feeling of doubt and the nervousness that fill your head right before you step onto the enormous stage, under the lights and the pressure of perfection feeling like the world on your shoulders.
“You’ve done this before, calm down, you will do fine,” I keep telling myself that, but somehow it doesn’t seem to help. There are three teams in front of us still waiting to perform, that means we have about eight minutes before we go on.
“Girls,” Coach Christina calls to us, “Come over here, we need to say our prayer” I gather my thoughts and linger over to where Coach Christina and the rest of the team had formed a circle. Christina begins, “Dear lord, please take all of these unneeded nerves away from my girls, and help them do their best and remain safe on the stage tonight. Lord, help us hit all of our stunts and stick all of our tumbling, and most of all have fun!” in unison the team says, “Amen.”
I return to the team line up, breathing deeply, and going over all the counts in my head.
“Chill, you’re going to psych yourself out if you don’t calm down. We have done this how many times at practice? We got this, you have nothing to worry about,” Justin reassures me.
“Ugh, I know, I know, I’m just extremely nervous. I mean, look out there, there are so many people, and the it’s so loud it feels like my heart beat is actually beginning to get in sync with the beat of the music. I can feel the pounding bass drum in my stomach, almost like butterflies, but worse, oh so much worse,” I ramble on about all the things that I really shouldn’t be thinking about.
“Just breathe, we got this girl” Justin says as we hear them call the next team to the stage. This meant I only had about five minutes to get myself together. I could tell I wasn’t the only one nervous, for fear seemed to be struck across many of the athlete’s faces awaiting their turn on the stage. All of a sudden bells, horns, and loud cheers filled the auditorium, as a team ran back through the streamers, returning backstage after their performance. This made things even worse. I kept thinking about how good they must have done to receive a reaction like that; we couldn’t possibly be able match up. With the worries of failure consuming my thoughts the fact that we were next had become like a fan blowing in an empty room, quite and unnoticed, that was until the announcer loudly and quite obnoxiously said “Please welcome to the stage Aero Dynamic Elite All-Stars!” Reality hit me like a bolder falling from a cliff I seemed to have lost my breath as nerves over took me. Our fate relied on the moments about to occur, who knew that two minutes and thirty seconds could be so important.
The fog machine comes on and as I step out through the streamers onto the stage suddenly nothing else exist, it’s just me and my team. All the fear and anxiety disappear. As I make sure I’m in the right spot I smile at Justin before lowering my head standing set and waiting the music.
“There is nothing to worry about, I belong here,” I thought to myself seconds before the music started.
“Five, six, seven, eight!” the team yells simultaneously to assure we start on the same count. One, two three, four, I grab Justin’s wrists setting for a basket, using all of my strength; I throw Alyssa into the air. The basket is perfection, without time to take in what was happening I move to the corner and have to do a round-off into four back handsprings, and sticking a perfect landing. So far so good, moving on to the stunt I begin to count out loud again to make sure my group on time. Set one, two, dip three, four, and on five six Sarah is in the air hitting a perfect scale. Finishing the stunt we cradle, set out and move to our cheer formation. We all flash a cute smile to the crowd and begin yelling the rhyming words of our cheer to the rhythm of the music. Squeezing every muscle in my body with each motion, trying to be as sharp as possible, I finish the cheer and move to the second stunt. My bases are set, but something seems wrong… they were facing the wrong way! Trying to fix the situation as quickly as possible and trying to avoid unwanted attention being drawn to their mistake, I grab Sarah’s shoulders and position her the correct way. Thankfully, Lexi and Whitney followed my lead, but I hadn’t done it quickly enough, we end up setting a half a count late. I regained control of the stunt to be sure to cradle and set out on the right count.
“Now comes the hardest part,” I thought to myself.
Arriving at my spot for the pyramid, I knelt down and securely grabbed Lexi’s ankle. Neither one of my bases were necessarily strong, so I knew I had to do most of the work. We dip, and using every ounce of energy in me, I push up on Lexi’s leg and drove the stunt to a full extension.
“Yes!” we hit that part, “stay tight Lexi,” I scream right before we dip for the cradle into flat back. Sure enough, Lexi doesn’t stay tight enough and I had to push myself twice as hard to reload her into a scale.
“Please, Briana and Whitney, come through for me and try to get this stunt to hit” I thought to myself as we dipped for the reload. Hitting it almost perfectly, the largest smile my lips were capable of appeared on my face. We cradled and set out, then moved to our positions for the jumps, my favorite. I hit a high-V with a wide grin still on my face, and then swing my arms beginning my double toe touch. Turning to the side I began to do the hurdler jump into a pike jump. As my feet return to the ground, I turn to the crowd and wink right before going into a standing double back handspring step out onto knee. Landing in perfect correspondence with Meagan and Justin, we all stand and begin the dance. Every muscle in my body ached, but that didn’t matter, I had to push myself to stay tight and finish perfectly. We finally reach the last eight counts and I smiled in relief as I grabbed onto Meagan’s arm and hit the ending pose.
The thunderous sound of clapping and cheering filled the area as we ran off stage. I honestly couldn’t believe what had just happened. Once we returned backstage, we went over to the television to watch our play back. While viewing it, I tried to find every mistake or out of place step that they could have deducted points for. I was pretty pleased with our performance. As the video finished we all started looking at each other and all at once started jumping around, screaming and hugging each other.
“I’m so proud of you! You girls did amazing out there!” Coach Christina says, “Now, let’s go see your parents.”
As we ran around the edge of the stage, the patiently waiting family and friends come into view; I ran straight to my mom. I end up with her arms around me, and she has tears streaming down her face. I look up at her not understanding why she is crying.
“Mom, what wrong?” I asked.
“If you only knew how proud of you I am right now, you did so amazing up there! Your dad is waiting right there, you should go talk to him” she ends her sentence with a reassuring smile. As I turn to find my dad, there he is standing right behind me with a white rose clasped in his out stretched hand. As I take the rose joy seemed to fill every part of me. Just receiving that single rose meant the world to me, it reminded me that everything I went through, and everything my team went through, was well worth it.
Before I had gotten onto the stage, I didn’t believe that I could accomplish the task that lied ahead front of me. I was so terrified of failure that I almost gave up my dreams and passion for cheerleading all together. Going out there on that stage and proving to everyone, and more importantly to myself that I could do it meant an indescribable amount to me. At that point it didn’t matter what place we got, or how big our trophy was, because in our mind giving it everything we had, was enough to make us feel as if we had become the grand champions.
Foster Steadfast Self-Confidence
Posted by: | CommentsDiscover Your Deepest Desire
I had a friend reviewing the first draft of my eBook – in which he read a question that made him consider his own level of self confidence. That question read, “If your success was unconditionally guaranteed – what one goal would take on?” He sat back and seriously pondered that very question for sometime. Shortly after that, he told me that his life was taking a turn for the better – in many ways and that this turn was having a very positive impact on his self confidence.
Having never considered this question before, he – like many others, never had the self confidence to truly mull over the question’s implications. Like me, after having given it some serious thought, he was hit with a blinding flash of the obvious. There it stood before us clear as day – our hopes and dreams were kept out of our reach only by our belief (or disbelief) in our own ability to reach them and that belief (or lack of it) has a correlation to our level o self confidence
Many of you are probably experiencing the same kind of self confidence ‘screen’ separating you from your dreams. You can see them through the screen, but you are unable to allow yourself to truly feel them as accomplished. You have so many things you want from your life. All the things you want to be, to have and to do; all the things you want to experience and give to your loved ones. But that thin ‘invisible’ self confidence screen holds you back. That ‘screen’ of the unsure will only be cut by a sharp and steadfast level of self confidence.
Take a moment to ask yourself that very same question: “If your success was unconditionally guaranteed – what one goal would take on?” Have the self assuredness and self confidence to honestly and the question about yourself to yourself. Get yourself into a quiet spot and sit down with a pad and pen. Write that question at the top of the page. Or, your could do like I do and say the question into a recorder and play it back. However, which ever method you use, record your answers. Don’t hold back. Let it all out. Let out all your dreams, desires and goals. You are after all unconditionally guaranteed success the moment you have the self confidence to go after it.
Feel the ‘power’ of having accomplished these goals as you describe them in detail via your pen or your voice. Now take another moment and think about what a difference it would make in your world if you lived your life with this level of steadfast self-confidence everyday. What would you begin to do? What goals would you set for yourself today? Tomorrow? What dreams would you take on head first if you knew with every fiber of your being that you could accomplish them?
Record all this today – don’t let this slip away without getting it all down. Let your heart pour out through your pen or into your recorder. The key is to let all that is true inside you out. You’re not trying to life up to the dreams, goals and aspirations of those around you – this is you having the self confidence to be honest with YOU. You’ll find that these quiet moments will always reveal dreams, goals and desires that are in direct harmony to your deepest values and highest aspirations. You will be able to reach down and find out what is important to you! You will uncover who you are and what you believe in deeply.
As you reveal these glints of the person you truly desire; have the guts and the self confidence to face yourself for who you want to be. Stand toe-to-toe with the man or woman that you truly desire to be; not the one that you might be, nor that one that someone else would mold you into. Stand there and give yourself a good look and realize – now that is the kind of person I WANT to be and the person I will become.
· Make A Plan To Achieve It
Being true to yourself means knowing exactly what you want and having a plan to achieve it. Lasting self-confidence comes when you absolutely know that you have the capacity to get from where you are to wherever you want to go. You are behind the wheel of your life. You are the architect of your destiny and the master of your fate.
· Use the “Act As If” Principle
Act as though it were impossible to fail. Act as though you already had a high level of self-confidence. And continually ask yourself, “What one great thing would I dare to dream if I knew I could not fail?” Whatever your answer, you can have it if you can dream it, and if you have the self-confidence to go out and get it.
Action Exercises
- First, have the self confidence and resolve to step out in faith in the direction of your dreams; just do it!
- Second, ask yourself, “What one great thing would I dare to dream if I knew I could not fail?”
- Third, be true to yourself, to the very best that is in you. Never compromise!
Think Successfully & Take Action!
Tracy Brinkmann
One Today’s TOP Motivated Coaches & Author of Success Atlas Programs
Cultivate an Air of Importance
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the key desires of every human, that has trend this earth, is a simple one. They want to feel important. Every single person you know, have known, or will come to know, has a natural desire to feel as if they are ‘somebody.’ The desire is truly humankind’s most fervent, persuasive non-biological hunger.
Many people have built entire companies feeding this desire. If you should have the slightest doubt towards that last statement, then, I would urge you to pause and really listen to a few of the commercials on TV. Read some of the copy on the SPAM we all receive. Or, stay up late one night and listen to a couple of those infomercials. The majority of the messages you will receive from all this advertising is, “Buy this product and you will move to the head of the class (in this area or that area).” Whether the area is your body, your financial independence or your home life, you’ll be better, feel better and do better if you buy the product.
Well it’s time that you use this same basic human drive to push yourself towards your own desired success. It is time for you to begin satisfying your own need to feel important. Feeding that internal hunger is a key to getting results, in areas that you have been struggling with. Let’s not forget, so few people use this technique, that once you begin to apply it, you will stand out far in front of the crowd.
Here are some of the ways to cultivate your ‘air’ of importance and reap the rewards:
- Let’s start with the simplest of the cultivation steps. Call people by their names. Applying the “Hey Dude” or “Morning Honey” mentality does not embed you in the minds of those around you. Inside a part of them in thinking, “I’m not important enough to him (or her) to even remember my name, or attempt to.” If you are not making them feel important to you then you will quickly become less important to them. People liked to be called by their name; it gives a little emotional boost to be addressed by name.
- Show an attitude of gratitude. Practice appreciation at every opportunity. Make it a standing rule that you show others your appreciation towards the things they have done for you, or for others. Decide right now that you will NOT let anyone you come in contact with feel like they are taken for granted. No one gets to the top alone. We all have help in our climb. Be sure to thank those that help, even in the slightest way!
Be sure to be sincere in your show of appreciation. No one wants a canned “I don’t know what we would do without you.” Show your gratitude with honest, personalized compliments. We all thrive on compliments and a heartfelt thank you. Praise folks in many ways; by writing a personal note a quick phone call, an email, or make special trip to stop by and see them personally.
Avoid the trap of lumping people into groups such as ‘unimportant’, ‘important’ and ‘very important.’ For without a doubt you have to realize that everyone in your life from the custodian to the congressman is vastly valuable in one way or another. If you want to get first class results you cannot treat these important people like second-class citizens.
- Invest your glory. During the course of your career or family life someone will take the time to notice you publicly. Here you will have two roads you can travel. One road (the road so many take) is the road that leads you to say ‘I’ a lot. You will say things like “Thank you for noticing MY work.” “‘I’ put a lot of time in.” “When ‘I’ started this project…” and so on. While all these statements may be true, you are forgetting the rest of the people that helped you to get to where you are at that very moment. So I would suggest you take the road less traveled. When presented the glory of a win, be it the completion of a project, an award or whatever the glory may be. Take a few moments to bask in the sun of that glory. You deserve it! You worked hard to get there. But then invest some of that glory onto those that helped to put you there. When you share your glory with those that supported you, you can be sure that they will aid you once again, and again, and again.
If you want to cultivate your own air of importance, you need to plant the seeds of importance in those around you. Make them feel important, truly important, to you. Then, you will become important to them. People will do more for you and will perform in a far superior manner for you when you are important to them. Finally, when you make others feel important, you help yourself feel important too! Sounds like a win-win situation to me.
Think Successfully and Take Action!
Tracy Brinkmann
One of Today’s TOP Motivated Coaches & Author of Success Atlas Programs
5 Ways to Be Assertive and Confident
Posted by: | CommentsNo matter whether you call it Self Development, Personal Development, or Self Help, these books, tapes, courses, CDs and DVDs are flying off the shelf as fast as the staff at your local book store can put them there. Walk into your local library and ask for one of these topics and you will be asking one of the most commonly requested topics.
People from all walks of life, from house wife’s to house builders, from custodians to CEOs, students to professors, business people to entrepreneurs are actively in search of way to improve their lives, their business’, their situations, their standard of living and even themselves. Of the self help genre “How to be assertive” and “How to be confident” of the most sought after topics, thus I thought it worthy to spend a little time sharing some tips with you.
I am willing to be that you, like me, have been drawn to those delightfully assertive and positively confident people. They seem to have a magnetic draw about them. During job interviews potential employers, are keeping a watchful eye out for these highly beneficial qualities in the prospects they are interviewing. Of the qualities they are keeping an eye out for, assertiveness and confidence is high on their list. Think about it for a moment…those people that you have admired, looked up to, emulated or if your lucky, have been mentored by are admittedly confident and assertiveness. Also, I am willing to be that your admiration and respect was because of or at least enhanced by that very confidence and assertiveness.
In order to achieve your goals leading to the life that you not only desire but deserve, being assertive and confident will prove to be two very valuable character traits. While some people seem to be born assertive and confident, the rest of us can learn these coveted characteristics.
Here are 5 ways to become assertive and confident:
- Triumph over shyness. Shyness comes in many forms – from the healthy to overwhelming to the debilitating. I do not want to confuse low-self esteem with shyness the two are like night and day. I have come across many a shy person that has a very positive image of them self, however they merely lacked assertiveness and confidence. If you’re shy, you can practice these techniques to overcome your shyness:
- Visualization. Positively visualize situations and circumstances before experiencing them. This will give you a better “what if” scenario, and help you be better prepared for any variation. You have probably practiced visualizing negatively – it’s called worry. So why not put that same power to good use by visualizing positively?
- Practice speaking. People who are shy often dislike the sound of their own voices. Practicing speeches in front of a mirror or with trusted friends will help you gain the confidence you need. Check my blog post called “The Practice Process” for a great method of practicing speaking that you could use for this very reason – whether or not you ever plan to give a speech in front of an audience. The simple ability to convey your thoughts clearly and with ease will do wonders for your confidence and ability to be assertive.
- Reinforce the positive. This is a way of thinking yourself out of being shy. By using affirmations to assert your positive characteristics, you can convince yourself that you are brilliant and worthy of great things. After all, sometimes the hardest person to convince is you!
- Avoid confusing aggressive with assertive. Remember those you are trying to influence will respond better to your being assertive rather then coming at them aggressively.
- Aggressive people tend to be seen as bossy or as bullies. They are the ones that come at a situation from all the wrong angles with harsh criticism. Using statements like “You are doing that all wrong..”.
- Assertive people come at the exact same situation with sincere concern and result oriented ideas to improve the project, rather that ‘bash’ the current “way.”
- Approach people with positive attitudes and your solutions to problems. Show them the respect you would like to have shown you, and you will have the same courtesy returned in kind.
- Stay informed. One of the surest ways of becoming and staying assertive and confident is to know your subject matter. No matter the situation is, whether financial, personal, professional or spiritual, the more you know, the more confident you will be.
- Whether a job interview, a elevator conversation or a presentation to a room full of people, knowing what you’re talking about will give an uplifting air of confidence.
- Prepare for potential questions on your subject matter. Think about all the questions you have been asked in the past or could be asking in the near future. You could even have a trusted associate help you with identifying some common questions and answers that you would not think of alone. Create this question list, get the answers then practice them. You will gain a solid confidence in front of others when you have first brainstormed and practice these with someone you are comfortable with.
- Just Say It! How many times have you been around someone that you know knew something of value or importance and they just did not speak up when the time was right. So… Just say it! Then say it with confidence even if you don’t feel confident. Practice speaking this confidently. The more you practice the more it will become second nature.
- WWJD? Model someone you worthy that you admire. I can remember not too long ago, many people wore WWJD wrist bands and cars were plastered with WWJD sticker. WWJD stands for “What would Jesus do?” No matter your spiritual affilations – this same motto should become a part of your thinking. Model someone you admire and respect and ask “What would X do?” I am willing to bet that the people/person you admire have the assertiveness and confidence you are hoping to build.
- Observe how they do things.
- Pay attention to what they say and how they say it.
- Watch their body language.
Studying and modeling people who have the character traits and habits you desire is one of the best ways to birth, nurture and instill those very same traits in yourself.
Learning to become confident and assertive can enable you to achieve your goals leading to the life that you not only desire but deserve. Remember that many of our great leaders in business, politics and even religion, did not start out assertive nor confident, George Washington was so shy growing that he avoided talking to people. Yet, he changed his ways, and so can you! Practicing these and other confidence boosting tips will put you on the right track to success. BUT – First and foremost, you have to believe in yourself and your abilities!
Think Successfully & Take Action!
Tracy Brinkmann
One of Today’s TOP Motivated Coaches & Author of Success Atlas Programs
Unconditional Acceptance of…YOU
Posted by: | CommentsStarting well before the years you can mentally recall your parents, siblings, friends and family were impacting your self-acceptance. As you grow older the primary driver of self-acceptance shifts to how positively you feel you, your style and your beliefs are accepted, by not only your parents, siblings, friends and family, but your boss, co-workers and other important people in your life as well.
Your own level of self-acceptance is determined largely by how well you feel you are accepted by the important people in your life. It is affected even more so by those attitudes you BELIEVE these important people have towards you. If you believe these key people in your life harbor poor or negative attitudes towards you then your self-esteem and self-acceptance is impacted negatively. If, however, your beliefs are that these key people in your life think highly of you and have a positive attitude towards you and your part in their life, then your self esteem and self acceptance is on the rise empowered by this belief.
This simple fact brings to light a simple truth; the cornerstone to building a solid healthy personality hinges on understanding yourself and your feelings. For you to genuinely stop being haunted by those ‘skeletons in your closet’ or those ghosts of the past, you must be able to unveil them to at least one person. This exercise of self- disclosure can enable you to get those ghosts, skeletons and nagging thoughts off your chest and out of your head – free that space between your ears to be focused on more productive and certainly far more enjoyable tasks. Now realize that you must only share these personal thoughts, experiences and feels with someone you trust implicitly. Some that will not make you feel uncomfortable, ashamed or guilty.
The next step in this acceptance exercise can only happen once you have taken the previously mentioned first step of self-disclosure. Zig Ziglar says “I have found in 100% of the cases, no exceptions, that people who will not take step number one… never take step number two.” So do not think you can skip the hard stuff to get to the easy steps and gain all the insight to a better life, love or business. Only when you share what your truly thinking and feeling to trusted person can you even hope to become aware of those thoughts, the emotions they carry and the impact they are having on your life. The other person doesn’t even have to offer up any comment to afford you the opportunity to begin to see the person you are and even more importantly, why you do some of the things you do.
Now comes the third and final step is self-acceptance. After you have shared you thoughts and feelings you begin to gain a new perspective on those things that have happened and how you reacted, and how your still reacting to them or because of them. With this new perspective you can arrive at self-acceptance. You can really look at what makes you tick, and accept you for the individual that you are. Individually unique with you own set of highs and low, fortes and failings, things you like and things you do not like or want to change. All of this makes you who you are today. When you are able to detach yourself from accusing everyone else in the world for who you are. Then you can admit to yourself (and others) that you are not perfect!! That is right, you are NOT perfect!! I am not perfect – the person who raised you is not perfect. Your boss, husband, wife, son, daughter, sister and that cashier at the grocery store all are not perfect. But those of us who can openly admit this fact, and realize we can take steps to improve our imperfections – will begin to enjoy a higher level of self-esteem and self-acceptance.
Still another powerful tool to pushing your levels of self-esteem and self-acceptance high is to sit down and review you accomplishments – big and small. Park yourself at your desk or kitchen table, with a blank pad of paper and go back as far as you can in your memory. Write down each and every accomplished you can recall. Do not set a level for the accomplishment – if you did it – write it down. Write down, “I graduated high school.” If you do not think that is an accomplishment – look at scores of kids and adults who have not attained it. Write down, “I learned how to sew.” Even the simple tasks take on a new meaning at some time. Ask the bachelor that does not know how to sew – when tears his best suit right before that important interview. Write each and every accomplishment that comes to mind. Do not stop writing until you cannot think of another thing.
Now that you have all your accomplishments, do the same thing with your unique talents, skills, and abilities. Write down all those things that you are good at, do exceptionally well or do only fairly well but love doing. Leave nothing off this list either. Write it all down. This list will usually encompass the core of your success (past, present or future) in your profession, as well as your personal life. Because if you are doing something you enjoy doing, and getting paid for it, then you will do it far better than someone who is just doing it for the paycheck.
Now review your list, adding anything new that comes to mind. Keep your list handy. Review it at least once a week for the next month. Keep your mind alive with your accomplishments and the things that you excel at, as well as the things you do well and love doing. This will do wonders for guiding your thoughts towards the future. As you think towards the future and the possibilities it holds. Realize that your potential is practically boundless. You can do what you want to do, go where you want to go. You can be who you want to be – to steal the words of Zig Ziglar once again. You can set those goals, both miniature and monstrous, to reach your dreams. You can device the plans around those goals. The plans that tap your skills, abilities and past accomplishments. The plans to move you methodically towards the realization of your dreams and the person you wish to become. The plans to over come the largest obstacle you will ever face – yourself.
Your Successs At Last Checklist
___ Sit down with trusted confidant and share with them, honestly, on and topic that has been on your mind. Perhaps even start out with something small and work you way into those larger concerns.
___ At you share with your confidant, develop your new perspective. Even detach yourself and look at the matter as if it were happening to someone else. What guidance would you give?
___ Build your list of accomplishment, unique talents, skills, and abilities
___ Keep your list handy and review it at least once a week for the next month. Feel the pride of those accomplishments. Jog your memory to the fact that you have in fact done well, can and will do so again and again and again.
“You will be amazed at the things you will accomplish the moment you BELIEVE you can accomplish them. For once you believe in yourself you have the first secret of success.”
Think Successfull & Take Action!
Tracy Brinkmann
One o Today’s TOP Motivated Coaches & Author of Success Atlas Programs
Motivation is the Spark
Posted by: | Comments“Motivation is the spark that lights the fire of knowledge and fuels the engine of accomplishment. It maximizes and maintains momentum” – Zig Ziglar
Well I can think of no better way to fire up this post than with that very quote. It speaks so well to the truism of motivation being the enabler of our success. As you go through that article, and any other article the causes you a moments pause about your direction, ask yourself this question: Do you merely drift along the current of life like a leaf on a stream? Pushed along the ebb and flow without choice or reason. Or do you take change of your direction? Know this, the answer to this question has a major impact on your life, (both personal and professional) because life is filled with ups and downs. The trip along life’s road is loaded with pit-fills, quick stops, blind turns and incomplete paths. Then, on occasion after our trails, we are blessed with a period where there are smooth paved avenues, lined with beautiful trees and no obstacles. However, this to shall pass and the next barrier, obstacle and challenge will offer itself up.
Motivation is a critical ingredient to our resilience and ability to get back up when we have been knocked down (or out). When you are down the right attitude and motivation can and will be the difference between responding positively or reacting negatively. This difference has many impacts personal, professional and financial.
Let me give you simple example. Some years ago I moved to the suburbs of the great city of Atlanta. This growing metropolis has the same challenges around traffic that I’m sure most of you face if you have to journey into a major metropolitan area during peak traffic periods. Even though I am about the most upbeat and positive guy that you will meet (short of Zig of course). I have to admit that occasionally I have uttered discouraging comments about the traffic. Whacked the steering wheel of my car and barked out orders to the driver in front of me. All of which was a pure waste of time. Because after all of my banter, the traffic was still there, and so was I. However, now my emotions were running on the negative side so any little thing just irritated them all the more.
Now my typical commute can be about an hour each way. That’s two hours a day, five days a week, bringing us to about 500 hours a year with vacations etc. If I were to make this barking, whacking banter a daily routine, I would certainly be flirting with potential accidents as I challenged drivers around me in my irritated state. Let’s not forget the physical effects that these negative emotions bring about (headaches, high blood pressure etc.)
No for me the obvious thing to do is take advantage of this time to in a more positive manner. I have a full library of audio education and motivation on MP3and CD. As soon as I get in the car to start my commute I drop in my CD or put on my iPod and I’m off down the road to work, and up the road to success. I have reviewed the works of Zig Ziglar, Anthony Robbins, Brain Tracy, Napoleon Hill, and Dale Carnegie. I have taken 1 00s of hours in personal/professional development courses in subjects like e-commerce, goal setting, creativity, growing IQ the list goes on and on. This automobile university has served me well in numerous ways. Paying off in the motivation that has sparked ideas I have turned into actions in the real world.
FACT – the audios I listened to during these drive times never once said, “Tracy here is the solution to your problem.” Some of my audios gave me information others gave me some positive thoughts to ponder. A person, who wants to maximize their life, will schedule regular motivational input and regular educational input. This input will be about their job, about who they are or who they want to be, or even about something entirely new and unrelated to anything they do currently. These injections of new concepts, ideas, confidence-building thoughts, and opinions will energize you, building your momentum and your motivation, thus bringing you up emotionally! You learn more when you are up; you perform better when you are up and people will react to you more positively when you are up. So right now is the time to take out some motivational insurance. Take out your scheduler and schedule yourself regular intervals of motivational and educational input. Do this now – it will pay off in big rewards!
Lets take a look at the dictionary for the definition of motivation (motivate, motive)
Mo-ti-vate:
to provide with, or affect as, a motive; incite.
Mo-tive:
1 – an inner drive, impulse, etc. that causes one to act; incentive.
2 – of or causing motion
Combining your regular infusion of motivational material with your educational materials will provide the drive and impulse (motivational material) to set into motion the new concepts, ideas, confidence-building thoughts, and opinions (educational material) that will energize you. This will further build momentum and motivation, bringing you up higher! Are you seeing the pattern here?
You can not stand in front of the stove of life and say “Stove give me some heat and I’ll put some wood in you!” You will have to put some work into it first by stoking the fire that will warm your motivational soul.
Let me share with you 10 things you can do when you can’t seem to get motivated.
- Get some rest. One of the major de-motivators in today’s society is lack of rest. Go to bed an hour early so you catch up on your rest. Or you could take a nap instead. A good night’s sleep is essential to your level of effectiveness and motivation.
- Get some exercise. Take a walk, a jog, workout or whatever level of physical exercise you can partake in. Exercise gets your endorphins flowing and this will do wonders for how you feel. Not to mention you’ll be doing your body some good to. (be sure not to hurt yourself) – every day should start with your Hour of Power (more on that in another post).
- Tap the sap. Figure out what is sapping your energy and get rid of it.
- Pamper yourself. Take some time for you. This could be a mini-vacation (a few hours to a day or two) Get away from everything and enjoy yourself. Clear your head and come back refreshed.
- Review your goals. Review and remember why you are doing what you’re doing. If you decide now is not the time for a goal, them dump the goal. Remember you can always renew that goal again when the time is right.
- Play with it. Get out a calendar and leave yourself some cute notes or pictures (sticker work great here) about your goals and activities. Send yourself letters in the mail to keep you up and charged. Here is a way you can use those free things on the net. Places like Yahoo.com have free calendars that will send you notes and reminders. Make them fun!
- Use trusted advisers as a cheering section. You can have them send you notes (see #6 above). You want them to motivate you but don’t let them white wash the facts. Constructive criticism is key tool here. That way you are motivated to grow or keep growing.
- Find your song. We all have a song or songs that move us. Make yourself a Mp3 or CD full of these motivational songs. High-energy songs are best whether they are Bach or Backstreet Boys as long as they move YOU
- Listen to your motivational audios/CDs. Your car does not have to be the only place you go to get motivated.
- Hire some help. I hired a maid for my wife. I have a martial arts trainer and a personal success coach too. These coaches and trainers can help you accomplish those things you can’t handle alone.
Motivation enables you to effectively use not only recently acquired knowledge, but also it will ignite, incite and enable you put in motion, things that you thought were long ago forgotten. Science has shown us that inspirational information conveyed in an enthusiastic manner activates the pituitary gland, which releases neurotransmitters that enhances our energy, creativity, and endurance. Keep your motivation up with your regularly scheduled motivational injections (articles like this one are a good start). Keep your pool of knowledge growing so you have more wood to stoke that fire with.
“Your motivation will positively fuel your attitude. Your positive attitude builds the confidence necessary to be persistent. And of course we already know persistence pays off.” – Tracy Brinkmann
Think Successfully & Take Action!
Tracy Brinkman
One of Today’s Top Motivatated Coaches
Developing Passion
Posted by: | CommentsPassion for anything you want to have, be or do occurs at the very moment you get a peek at the potential for the goal. Whether your goal is self-improvement, a project, a mission or any other worthy objective.
My mission with these blog is to give you a peek at your own potential. A fleeting look at what you are able to have, to do and to become. Once I have accomplished that goal, there will be born within you a spark of passion. When you fan that spark it will grow into a burning desire that no one can stop. Those with a burning desire have persistence and they reach their goals, every time.
How do you develop passion? Well I was recently asked that question so I sat and thought about it for a while and came up the following:
1. Know what you truly want and develop a plan to get it.
During the course of my life a number of pivotal events have developed passion deep with me. The birth of my first daughter, the death of my second daughter, the birth of my third daughter, hearing the applause of an appreciative audience for the first time, the list goes on and on. While each of these events sparked a life changing passion, most of the time my passion comes from a careful review of my dreams, desires and goals. What do I want out of life? Where do I want to be in 1, 2 or 5 years? A careful review of your goals (long and short-term), and the development of a detailed plan (a Success Atlas)to attain them will do wonders do develop the passion you need.
You check out these previous posts for more Goal Setting tips:
10 Ways to Stay Focused on Your Goals
5 Tips to Map Out Clear Goals
Value of Goals – Goals of Value
3 Tips for Goal Setting
Ways to Climb Your Mountain
2. Daily action toward your goals.
Once you have completed step one, (remember in 100% of the cases I have found that anyone that will not take step one… will never get to step two) and developed the plans to reach your goals. Take DAILY steps towards their attainment. As you take these daily steps, your goal will become increasingly closer, increasingly more real, more vivid and more enticing. This will fuel your excitement, enthusiasm and your commitment to follow through on your goals until they are attained. A bonus gift here is, with each step you complete, each little success you achieve, your self-confidence and self-esteem will increase. It is a like a river feeding itself. Complete a step, feel better, gain confidence and passion, become more committed to your goal then take the next step towards the goal. Then you complete another step, feel better, gain confidence and passion, become more committed to your goal then take the next step towards it. Are you seeing the pattern here?
3. Direct your passion.
The next time you are passing a construction site take a moment to notice the immense power of the vehicles at work there, dump trucks, tractors, and cranes to name a few. Each weighing tons and able to move far more than their weight across a road, up hundreds of feet into the air or down the freeway at considerable speeds. The next time you see one of these powerful vehicles roaring down the highway, take a quick look at the driver behind the wheel. All 180-220 pounds of him (or her) are controlling all that power. What would happen if you were to remove that driver from the steering wheel? The power would be rendered useless or worse yet would roll on without regard to its surroundings wreaking havoc until it came to a crashing halt.
We need to be at the helm of our passion, making effective use of the power our passion holds, much like the driver of those massive vehicles. Effectively steering your passion synergizes all of your great qualities into a finely tuned ‘machine’. Each of these qualities working in harmony with the other. Creating an overall ‘power’ within you that is greater than each of your qualities individually. So bring your passion to focus on your goal.
History is filled with stories of average everyday men and women who have accomplished great things with little more than a passion in their hearts and a goal in their head. Apply your passion to goal, job, profession, family or to yourself and you will see the difference between just getting by and real success.
Then once you have that passion here are some post to help you keep it through all the trials and tribulations that world will throw at you:
Three More Ways to Stay Positive
Four Ways to Stay Highly Motivated
Think Successfully & Take Action.
Tracy Brinkmann
One of Today’s Top Motivated Coaches & Author of Success Atlas Programs
FREE Video reveals how I went from the
Streets of LA to running my own company!
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What is Personal Development?
Posted by: | CommentsThere are many people in our society today that are very unhappy with their lives for one reason or another. Whatever reason they have for being unhappy, there is undoubtedly a way to change it. Sometimes it requires a change in career, or situation. Other times it is simply a change in the way that people think. Sometimes, it is both. This is what personal development is all about.
Personal development is a path that you take to better your family situation, career, spirituality, emotional health, and every other aspect of your life. Essentially, personal development is about making conscious decisions about everything that you do, the way that you think, and the way that you react to situations. Personal development can help you obtain everything that you always dreamed of, and more, with the simple application of a few simple mind sets and tools.
One of the biggest steps toward personal development is a change of mind set. If you think that you can do better, you will. If you think that you are stuck in a dead end job, without family or friends to support you, and no prospects of a better future, you will ultimately be very unhappy. When you change your mind set to positive thinking, you will find that you put forth more effort into everything that you do, and you will have much better results.
Another one of the important steps toward personal development is to set obtainable goals. This is not to say that your dream is not obtainable. But if you constantly think about the goal of being a millionaire with a successful family, you will feel pretty hopeless as that goal seems so far out of reach. Setting obtainable goals simply means that you set goals that lead to the ultimate goal.
It is really about taking steps. When you decide that you need food in your refrigerator, it does not automatically appear. You must make a grocery list, go to the grocery store, shop for items, purchase them, bring them home, and put them in the fridge. Obtaining a large goal is much the same way. You will not get there overnight. It takes going through a series of steps, or smaller goals, to find your way.
Smaller goals also help you to see the bigger picture. Instead of thinking that you are never going to reach your final goal, you will see the progress that you are making as you complete each smaller, more obtainable goal. This will give you a sense of accomplishment, as well as help you to change your thinking to a more positive mind set.
For some, personal development is also a matter of moving beyond past failures and misfortune to see what is possible in the future. Often the negative comments made by friends and family over a life time can be difficult to overcome. Past failures, or just the feeling that one is a failure, are another major obstacle. There are ways to move beyond these obstacles.
- Personal development is really about making changes.
Finding WORTHWHILE resources to make changes, move past obstacles, set goals, and find happiness is not always easy – trust me I spent many a year on the hunt. But with all of the personal development books, articles, websites, and other resources available, personal development and happiness can be obtained. For those who need additional help or want to speed up their success moving past obstacles and making those changes, I would also suggest that personal development coach can also be of great worth. I do not say that to pitch you on coming to me – but rather as a choice in your success arsenal. Now if you choice to come to be for one of my coaching products or services – all the better. If not, find someone something that fits your style, and situation and get to Your Success At Last!
Think Successfully & Take Action!
Tracy Brinkmann
Once of Today’s Top Motivated Coaches & Author of Success Atlas Programs
http://YourSuccessAtLast.com
http://YourSuccessAtLast.com
FREE Video reveals how I went from the
Streets of LA to running my own company!
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Overcoming Procrastination Part 3
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Streets of LA to running my own company!
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10 Ways To Climb That Mountain (Goal)
Posted by: | CommentsDaily we are given mountains of tasks to accomplish, bills to pay, problems to fix and customers to call. Standing at the base looking up this mountain of to-dos seems enormous – or worse yet standing on top looking down the sheer drop we would encounter should we falter.
It is sheer madness. How on earth are we going to accomplish this feat? Mountains are big; let us climb this one…
- IS IT REALLY A MOUNTAIN? OR IS IT THAT YOU ONLY SEE A MOUNTAIN?
The task before you could be a 2500-meter climb, a 10,000-meter race, to organize next motivational seminar, buy a pallet of goods or to just keep to your schedule in order to please an important client. In either of these cases, the task before you is indeed a mountain if that is what you see in it!- Take a good look at what lies ahead of you. Let us say you have a relatively short amount of time to organize a meeting for your boss. If the first thing that pops into your head is that you probably will not achieve it in time, therein lies the problem. Without this pre-conception, your job is a simple undertaking. However, when you have convinced yourself it is not possible, you have just created Mt. Fuji when only a moment earlier it was mere baseball mound
- Give yourself some credit. You did not get to where you are now by selling yourself short! Bring the baseball mound back.
- GO AROUND THE MOUNTAIN
It is important to do some research first. There are always many possible answers to the one single problem. We all know it is easier to work our way around the hill rather than to tackle the peak itself. Is the goal to climb to the peak or simply to get to the other side?- If your destination is just to get to the other side then adjust your plan accordingly. Conserve your energy for those things that are indeed closer to your heart.
- DO YOU REALLY NEED TO CLIMB THE MOUNTAIN?
This is very important here. Be overly honest with yourself. Why are you going to climb this mountain? Is it because deep down you really want to accomplish this feat or is it to please somebody else? This is probably the most important issue here. If you climb for the wrong reasons the chances are, at worst, you will fail; and at best, you will have a feeling of being unfulfilled from within.- Do not do everything simply to please someone else. It will severely deflate you. You are the most important person in the world. Treat yourself with the respect you deserve. If you do not, others may infinitely be pressing your buttons
- If you have wanted to get to the peak of this hill then for heavens sake go there and achieve it. The feeling will be exhilarating. If you are indifferent, then find your niche. You will have to seek it out, as it is highly unlikely that it will find you.
- DO NOT DO IT ALONE!
A group of individuals with the same common goal has a habit of drawing incredible power and strength from one another. Plan your trip carefully with experienced mountaineers. A team with the same target has a much greater chance of success than a lone ranger with summit fever.- In relation to your professional life, it is important that you seek out as much knowledge and professional advice as possible from the wealth of information available from others. Tap into as many different success formulae as you can. Educate yourself in your field, even to the point of immersing yourself into it! Become an expert. Even if you are already an expert in your field there are always mountains (pardon the pun) of new material regularly released that will assist you in your endeavors.
- YOU HAVE ALREADY REACHED THE MOUNTAIN PEAK IN YOUR MIND
This is an important training exercise. As you envision, in your mind, the goal (i.e. in this case reaching the summit) as already being achieved, you will sub-consciously adjust your surroundings to make getting there substantially easier.- Visions of success will increase your confidence and therefore your chances of success. Put a goal sheet on your wall, beside your desk, inside your cap, in your wallet, purse…anywhere! Anyway they will be visible to you.
- START CLIMBING FROM THE BEST ACCESS POINT
Experience has shown that the journey will be easier when you start from as close as possible to your goal. Prepare thoroughly. In a nutshell be PT’d (prepared thoroughly) for everything you do.- When thoroughly prepared you will have created answers to problems that have at this time not developed into problems, but will be easily recognizable and solvable if and when they transpire.
- OKAY, YOU HAVE DECIDED TO CLIMB, BUT REMEMBER CLIMBING IS FUN!
You have decided to climb the hill. There is only one lifetime and therefore no time for regrets. Enjoy your climb. If you do not you should not really be there in the first place.- Enjoy what you do, always!
- PLAN FOR EVERY CONTINGENCY
It is always good to be prepared for anything that can potentially happen. Plan ahead and cover all your options. It may seem nit-picking but every parachutist, every motor car racer, virtually every professional will plan for all situations. It is not much point realizing what you need WHEN you need it. Sometimes WHEN you need it, is TOO late and you will go splat. - TRAVEL LIGHTLY
This is straightforward. What you take with you, you will need to carry. There is not much chance of an industrial strength hair drier coming in handy on a way to the top of Mt. Fugi. So, do not take one.- In a business sense, make sure your home life stays in balance with your business life. If you have issues developing on the home front due to your lack of attention to it, your output will indeed be impeded. This will weigh you down and have the same effect a laden backpack would
- Give your mind a break. Do not fill your backpack with non-necessities… Free your mind of these weights by keeping a work/life balance. When those times creep up that require burning some midnight oil. Let the family know – a supportive family will understand the need of extra hours for those special projects and upcoming important clients. Especially when you have been treating them like the most important client you will ever have. (Cause you know they are!)
- ENJOY THE VIEW
You will pass through incredible heights during your journey. Make them memorable; this is a marvelous feat you are accomplishing. Realize it for what it is and you will enjoy it and gain an incredible amount of strength from your accomplishment.
Then once you are about to reach the peak of your current ‘mountain’, start to plan your next rewarding achievement…and start the successful ascent of that goal as well.
Think Successfully & Take Action.
Tracy
FREE Video reveals how I went from the
Streets of LA to running my own company!
View the Free Video and Learn More!