Month: August 2011

Seven "Have-to's" to Achieve Personal Growth by Chris Widener

Quite frankly, I wish personal growth would just happen! I wish I would just get better and money would fall out of the sky. I wish my waist would get smaller even as I sit on the couch in front of a warm fire eating Breyer’s Vanilla Bean ice cream. Oh, how I wish it was easy!
Okay, enough whining, enough dreaming, enough lack of reality. I have it out of my system! The reality is that it is work to grow personally. The sooner we realize that, even lovingly embrace that, the sooner we jump on the highway of success! The fact is that we “have to” do some things!

As my uncle the truck driver used to say to me when I was a kid, “Wish in one hand and spit in the other, then see which one fills first.” (Remember, he was a trucker, and somebody else may have been a bit more elegant, but I still remember it today, 25 years later. I recommend however that you take it at face value. It isn’t a fun experiment to actually carry out.
Without any further ado, here are the seven “have-to’s” to achieve personal growth for yourself. Don’t wish anymore! Get on the ball and start reaping the rewards!

You have to know what it is that you want.
Wanting personal growth isn’t enough. Do you want more money? How much? Do you want to lose weight? How much? Do you want a spouse? Who? Do you want to travel? Where? Do you want more freedom in your professional life? What would that look like? Clearly define in your mind what it is that you want! Once you do…

You have to decide that you really want it.
Do you really want it? That is the place to start, really, because I have realized working with people that many of them really don’t want what they think they want once I talk them through all of the issues. Is this what you really want or is it a dream you have to escape something else? For example, do you really want to quit your job and start your own company? Do you want the risk to reputation? The risk of capital loss? Do you want to work from six in the morning until nine at night, seven days a week for the next two to three years? Do you really want it? Yes? Proceed…

You have to be willing to sacrifice to get it.
What will you give up to get personal growth? I know what I have to give up to be able to fit into size 32 pants—mud pie! Now, you may not think that is so bad, but you don’t know how bad I love mud pie! I know that it is a sacrifice for me to get to the gym every day of the week (okay, I usually take two Sunday afternoon’s a month off). I know how much I write the check out for each month to belong to the gym—it would feed a small army. This is sacrifice, all of it. What are you willing to sacrifice to get personal growth in your life? Are you willing? Then proceed…

You have to be willing to be criticized.
Surprisingly, the average person doesn’t like the average achiever. Why? Because they make the average person feel, well, average. They resent that the achiever makes choices they don’t make, even though they could too. And they secretly resent that the achiever benefits from rewards that they don’t. It seems odd, but working with thousands of people over the years I have seen enough jealousy and envy to fill every seat in the Rose Bowl. Can you handle that to various degrees? Then see number five…

You have to decide you want it more than other pleasures.
What is more pleasurable: ice cream every night or a proper weight? What is more pleasurable: sitting on the couch or pounding away on a treadmill? What is more pleasurable: spending your money on the things you want right now or saving for later? What is more pleasurable: getting off at five every night or working endlessly on the weekends? What is more pleasurable: reading a favorite novel or a technical book? What is more pleasurable: four weeks of vacation or one? You get the point. In order to grow personally or professionally, there will have to be a desire to work hard in spite of the pleasures that call your name. And if you work it right, in the end there will be plenty of time to reward yourself with the pleasures of accomplishment. Do you want it more than other pleasures? Really? Then let’s move on…

You have to take a long-term approach.
Why do most people fail to accomplish their personal growth goals? Because they take a short-term approach. They know what to do. They do it for a week or a month, then they quit. Every January the gym gets so busy. Then February rolls around and I have no problem getting on the machines! In order to accomplish your personal growth goals, you absolutely, positively, must view it as a long-term goal. For example, when most people want to lose weight, what do they do? They change their diet until they lose it. Then what? They change it back and gain the weight back. Instead, they ought to say, I am changing the way I eat for the rest of my life and slowly but surely my weight will take care of itself. And it does! Are you capable of seeing your personal goals in the long term? Well then you are ready for number seven…

You have to diligently, methodically and relentlessly work at it.
Every day, every week, every year. The more you put into it, the more you get out of it. I was on a conference call with Zig Ziglar and he made an incredible revelation. For 25 years he has read for three hours a day! No wonder he oozes information! That is diligence. That is methodical. That is relentless! Can you do the same for yourself in the area you want to grow in? Certainly! But will you? That is the question. If you do, you will achieve any dream you set forth for yourself!
You can achieve personal growth! It is entirely possible for you to live your dreams! Put the above to work and you will see them unfold before your very eyes! Just remember, it won’t just happen to you, you “have-to” do some things!

Quotes of The Week

Growth

“As long as we are persistent in our pursuit of our deepest destiny, we will continue to grow. We cannot choose the day or time when we will fully bloom. It happens in its own time.”
—Denis Waitley

“Let a person rejoice when he is confronted with obstacles, for it means that he has reached the end of some particular line of indifference or folly, and is now called upon to summon up all his energy and intelligence in order to extricate himself, and to find a better way; that the powers within him are crying out for greater freedom, for enlarged exercise and scope.” —James Allen

“It is the Law that any difficulties that can come to you at any time, no matter what they are, must be exactly what you need most at the moment, to enable you to take the next step forward by overcoming them. The only real misfortune, the only real tragedy, comes when we suffer without learning the lesson.” —Emmet Fox

“The real tragedy is the tragedy of the man who never in his life braces himself for his one supreme effort, who never stretches to his full capacity, never stands up to his full stature.” —Arnold Bennett

From Ron Whites  Newsletter what great stuff.

You Need More Weight by Ron White

How do you build muscle?

If you answered, “Exercise,” then you are partially right. For the most part exercise is not what builds muscle. Exercise maintains the muscle you have already built, yet it only actually builds muscle when that exercise goes into uncharted territory.

“You need more weight.”

That is one of my best friend’s favorite things to say when we work out. If I am throwing up 225 pounds on the bench press and there is no struggle, he is the first to either add more weight or demand reps. I used to say, “No man, I want to control this weight first. I want to do 8 solid reps of 225 before I move on to something else.” His reply would be, “Are you here to build muscle or maintain what you have?”

My particular goal at the time was to build muscle, so I would (knowing he was right) reluctantly say, “Build muscle.” His matter of fact retort was, “Okay, then you need more weight or more reps—maybe both.”

You see, when lifting weights your muscle is built when it goes beyond its comfort zone or literally stretches beyond what you have done before. If I had lifted six reps and I was spent, I also knew that there was no way my set was over. Just as I am about to give up, I hear the voice spotting me blurt out, “One more… come on… it is all you… one more… you got it… push it up.” My friend, Brian, will consistently push me to do one more than I would if he wasn’t there, and that is why when I work out with Brian my muscles are consistently in the growth zone.

If you are doing a set of 10 reps and are spent, you will get 90% of your growth if you do an 11th or 12th rep. The first 10 are maintaining what you have. The final two are the growth reps; these are the reps where you stretch yourself.

I have found that success in life is very similar to building muscle in the gym. If you are doing what you are comfortable with or can do easily you will never grow. You will never expand to reach your full potential. Growth occurs in life only when you push yourself to something new. This could mean learning a foreign language, learning to play an instrument, conquering your fears or pursuing your lifelong dream of building a business, writing a play, authoring a book or talking to people who you normally would shy away from.

Growth in life comes when you push yourself to lift the weights of life that you can only lift with a spotter. This means that you should not be afraid to team up with others and rely on them in your effort to grow. If you are going to build muscle in the gym you are going to need to do two things: No. 1, lift more weight; No. 2, have a spotter. The answers for success in life are very similar. Sometimes a spotter in life could be a personal life coach. There is absolutely no doubt that they will push you to lift more weight and be there to spot you when you feel that you can’t get the weight off your chest.

Go for more weight this week and get yourself a spotter!

Spend Less Time at Work and Get More Done by Chris Widener

Sounds too good to be true? It really isn’t! In fact, studies show that after a certain amount of hours at work each week, the average worker hits diminishing returns for their labor.

Here are a couple of reasons this is true:

Family drain. Does your spouse or family complain that you work too much? This puts strain on you when you’re at work and limits your effectiveness. Cutting out five or more hours a week and spending it with your family will make them happier and that will make you happier too, enabling you to enjoy your work more and get more done. A healthy home life helps ensure a happy work life.

Mental fatigue. Remember the old saying, “All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy”? After a certain amount of time at work, your brain goes on autopilot and begins to work ineffectively. Taking some more time to relax and recreate will put you at a higher level of performance when you do go to the office. Get some exercise, take up a hobby, but take some more time off. It will help your work become more effective!

Chris Widener’s Twelve Pillars audio success system—based on his top-selling book with Jim Rohn—can help you create wealth and achieve financial freedom, have more time to do the things you love, have more time to spend with the people who matter the most to you and much more! Click here for more info or to order.