Cultivating the Success Habit
We are all creatures of habits. We have great habits like brushing our teeth twice a day and not so great habits like smoking (because it damages our health!) and if you look at where your life is right now you can pretty much see where your good and not so great habits are.
For example if you have the habit of exercising 4 times a week chances are you are in great shape. If you’re not in great shape (like me!) just take a look at your “habit” called exercise.
So habits are important if we want to experience real long-term benefits (and not just dabble in short term success) in life and the habit you need to adopt is the “No excuses” habit. It’s a tough one but here’s what someone told me years ago “Diane. You can have your results or you can have your reasons and excuses for not getting your results.” Naturally I wanted results and got to work on become a “no excuses woman”
Of course when you begin to take on the habit of not making excuses first you become aware of just how many times an excuse for not getting something done falls out of your mouth like rain from the clouds and then you realise just how hard it is to stick to not making excuses!
Imagine a life where you told your mentor you were going to get something done and you did it when you said you would without excuses. You just did it! How would that make you feel?
Now I’m sure the excuses are forming even as you read this and let me tell you living this life isn’t easy. Wanting to be successful isn’t easy but it is possible and it becomes possible when you make a commitment to make it happen.
In order to be successful you must create a new habit for yourself. This mentoring and anything you decide to do is something you are about to “fit in” with all the other things you have going on in your life. How much time you spend on it will be in direct relation to how important you see it and what it can do for you.
You should also know that the results of your bad habits will not show up immediately. So if something isn’t working in your life right now it’s because of past bad habits, which of course means that once you identify what it is and change that you can do something about it.
What will you have to give up to make time for this? Maybe less time spent in the bar drinking with your friends. Perhaps you can wake up an hour earlier than usual or maybe watch an hour less of TV at night. I am not asking you to give up living, just to sacrifice a little of your time to create a new habit.
It’s been said that it takes 21 days to form a new habit (or to break an old one) so my challenge for you – if you choose to accept it – is to decide on what your new habit will be and stick to it for 30 days. Make sure you share it with your mentor of course!
If you really want to be strict with yourself here is what you do….. if at any time during those 30 days you don’t stick to your new habit then you start again from day one until you can do 30 days straight of whatever you committed to get done.
Here’s an important lesson I learnt (and paid a fortune to learn it too LOL) if you want to separate yourself from the sheep (the masses of people that do the same thing) and enjoy an abundant, unique lifestyle that you designed by choice then you must understand this one thing – everything you do today will affect what happens in your life in the future.
Your habits (or lack of them) will determine how successful you are in the future so get used to telling yourself (especially when you don’t want to do something) that negative habits produce a lack of results and negative consequences. Developing successful habits produces rewards on a consistent basis.
Until next time….. Stay focused, stay committed and stay in (consistent) action
Diane
Inspirational Guidance
http://www.inspirationalguidance.com
Inspirational Goals for 2009 have you set any?
Have you set yourself any inspirational goals for 2009? What are they? How are you going to achieve them?
If you would like to share your intention for your life in 2009 please feel free to leave a comment below. I would love to know what your “IT” is for 2009 – what purpose and passion will be driving you.
Its 2009 and time to decide on your new year
“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions asthey exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” Denis Waitley
Its 2009 and time to decide on your New Year.
Happy New Year.
Its a time of promises and new year resolutions.
Once again you are given an opportunity to walk through one of two doors. The door that leads to everything staying the same and the door that opens up new possibilities.
Where do you want to go?
Imagine beginning your new life by simply walking through the door….. what would it be like? Who is with you? How does it make you feel?
The door to success is always open.
The question is are you ready to walk through it?
May God bless you with an abundance of spiritual health, financial wealth and ongoing happiness.
Revelation 3:8
I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close
Success University courses that made a difference to me in 2008 – Six Of The Best
I wanted to share Success University courses that made a difference to me in 2008 – Six Of The Best
Success University has a fantastic business opportunity but I’ve never really made use of it to it’s full potential but what I love are the courses, they are fantastic. You get access to over 150 of the best self help minds on the planet. Every day I can log in and enjoy motivation, inspiration and an injection of personal growth whenever I want to. The only thing missing for me are more spiritual based courses but with the number of new pastors and ministers joining I’m sure it won’t be long.
There are several categories under which are a large range of courses including communication, family, financial, health & fitness, motivation, sales etc etc. I tend to make use of the courses under the headings of financial, motivation and personal development. There are so many great ones included that I haven’t had a chance to explore any of the other categories yet!
Below are the top six that I listened/read/watched in 2008 and not just once either!!!!
A setback is a set up for a comeback Willie Jolley – Video (Top course for 2008)
If you are currently going through a setback giving up is the worst thing you can do because this setback could be your setup for a come back.
Willie Jolley talked about via video what kind of people succeed so you can understand what you need to do to keep going. Listening to Willie made me realise that 2008 was all about a setback and 2009 will be my comeback as long as I am determined to keep going because at the time I logged in I was about ready to give up and get myself a full-time job. This one video set me up to continue on my path.
Charting Your Course by the dream in your heart Gary Eby (6 part audio)
Gary Eby outlines people who had a dream and never gave up
- Walt Disney went broke 7 times and had a nervous breakdown
- Thomas Edison’s teacher called him a dunce and he failed 1400 times at inventing the light blub
- Abraham Lincoln failed at every venture he tried until he became president
Are you getting the picture here? These people went on to make history because they never gave up on the dream in their heart.
It’s all about charting your own course by the dream you have in your heart and never giving up.
Fear of Being Fabulous (audio) by Judith Sherven and Jim Sniechowski (husband and wife)
It was the heading that attracted me to this video because I love talking about being fabulous! This audio laid out why you might have a fear of being as fabulous as you could be!
Master Your Money Type with Jordan Goodman “America’s Money Answers Man”
I realised I had hit upon something when I started reading this information and it started with a few typical sub texts about people and how we view money. I recognised mine immediately. My underlying conversation for spending is “I know if I take one more chance I will hit the jackpot and have everything I ever wanted” There were a few others that people typically say and Jordan has created a way for you to identify what your money type is and how you can master it.
The 8 steps to creating wealth is another of my favourite audios by Marcus de Maria and Marcus did a teleseminar back for us in January 2008 which you can listen to it here. So you get that one for free 
http://inspirationalguidance.com/2008/01/8-steps-to-wealth-with-marcus-de-maria/
Make Your Money Work For you – Vanessa Summers
A wonderful human being who empowers women and couples to be wealthy and successful in any economy, in any market, at any time in order to attract more abundance, make more money and work smarter. I only found this audio this month so have only listened to it once but it’s amazing and I will be listening to it again and again during 2009. Vanessa believes that wealth is important because the more you have the more you have to give to the world in every possible way. She also talks about the fact that in every economic change there is an opportunity to make money and that we are all programmed to react to money in a certain way and we need to overcome that to avoid coming back to the same result.
The great thing about all of these courses and all the others available through Success University is that I can listen to them over and over again. It’s repitition that makes a difference to keep us motivated and uplifted. If you are looking to change your life in 2009 I definitely recommend Success University. Invest in yourself and enjoy Success by joining Success University.
To visit the main page you can go to http://expand.successuniversity.com
If you think you would love this as a potential business opportunity visit http://expand.successuniversity.com/specialoffer and enjoy 14 days free
A lesson in getting things done
I had a really vivid dream last night about having a suitcase full of stuff at a house that needed collecting. I could have just taken the suitcase with me to the car that was waiting up the road with my children in it but instead I decided to just leave it and get the car to come round to collect it.
When I got to the car we drove round to the house but first I needed to find the owner who had to pay back a deposit. I found him and we went to the house. When we arrived the door was open and the house had been broken into and everything was gone. All the Christmas presents my children had received and everything that was in the suitcase (except my sons school jumper that they left behind for me!)
I was really mad and started screaming at God to put it all back. I was banging the wall crying and screaming at God to bring back everything that had been taken away RIGHT NOW! My youngest son (who always seems to be in my dreams) was there watching me. I woke up upset and annoyed at having lost everything….. and here is the lesson that came to me.
Too many times I need to get something done and I don’t. I put it off for another day. For the last few days I have had a plan to write and get my accounts complete (yes I know it’s Christmas but the kids are away so I’m on my own and completing stuff ready for the New Year!) and because I haven’t been writing but moving it forward to the next day I am not now getting as much done as I wanted to. That has an impact on everything else I need to do and there will be consequences for that.
It’s a huge lesson for me about not doing what I need to do immediately but being lazy and putting it off. If I had just taken the suitcase with me I wouldn’t have lost everything but I didn’t want to. I decided it could wait while I go up the road and bring the car round instead. I just didn’t want to carry it with me so I left it behind.
When I don’t do something purely because I am being lazy and for no other reasons I will experience negative consequences as a result.
That was my lesson for today!
Take good care of you
Personal Self Care
A common trait among many women is to look after everyone except themselves. It is important that you take time to do things that will support you in taking care of yourself. Providing self nurturing as an expression of self-respect will support you in appreciating yourself in your own eyes.
When you nurture yourself you are saying that you are worth spending time with, spending time on, and finding time to do things for yourself. So look at your basic self care routine. Do you get enough exercise, sleep and food? Do you find time for hot baths with soothing music and candles, time by the sea, or walks through the park? How much fun do you have in your life? What rewards do you give yourself when you accomplish something big or small?
When you can schedule time in your diary to take care of yourself and believe that you are worth taking care of then you will begin to make a huge difference in your life.
Keep an empowering journal or diary and write about your achievements and strengths. This can be one of the most daunting and embarrassing things for some people to complete because talking about how great we are can make us uncomfortable and if that’s how you feel I invite you to push through that and do the exercise.
Another important step is forgiveness. Forgiving yourself for not doing everything you had hoped to do, for not empowering yourself when you could have, and for whatever other reason you may use to put yourself down. Instead of putting yourself down reward yourself for being willing to try. If you didn’t even try reward yourself for considering trying! Do whatever it takes to break the habitual pattern of being hard on your self and try a little bit of forgiveness instead.
One of the biggest times you will have to learn to forgive yourself is when you don’t feel you deserve to be self nurtured or you choose to indulge in something that fits into your old patterns of putting yourself down. Forgive yourself, make a commitment to change your pattern and start again.
Yesterday is done, tomorrow hasn’t arrived and right now is the only moment that matters, so right now, decide to do something different and forgive your self for what wasn’t done in the past and for ever thinking you did anything wrong.
Self nurture becomes a habit when it is practised consistently, the more you self nurture the more you will feel the willingness to self nurture. You will begin to let go of the “trash” that is negative internal chatter and embrace the “jewels” that appear when you work on nurturing yourself.
Remember this is a different way of thinking and behaving so there will be times during this journey when you feel a little lost. At those times call on the people who love you, read your journal that outlines your strengths, do whatever you need to do to remind yourself you are loved by you, and if you slip, forgive yourself and start again.
About Diane Corriette
Diane Corriette is a mother of three living in London, England. Her purpose and passion in life is to empower women to discover their greatness using personal development. She also empowers women to enjoy financial security by running their own online business system.
For more information on Diane visit http://www.inspiraitonalguidance.com
If you are looking for a turnkey business opportunity that works well offline and online, which uses personal development as its tool to empower visit http://www.expand.successuniversity.com/slim
Opportunity often it comes disguised in the form of misfortune or temporary defeat
I LOVE this quote by Napoleon Hill
Opportunity…Often it comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat. ~ Napoleon Hill
It demonstrates something very clear for me that I hope helps you too…. if you are currently ready to give up, throw in the towel, you’ve had enough, don’t want to try anymore (all of which describes me over the last few days!!!! ) take a look at whether what you are working for has a hidden opportunity or if there is an opportunity in your current circumstances.
I know when we are going through “bad” times it’s easy to want to give up so what you need to do is find the strength to continue from whatever source you can.
A great source can be your immediate loved ones (and I include friends in that because I love my friends!)
Talking your issue through can help bring a new perspective to it. Sometimes without knowing it something a loved one said can help you see a way out of your misfortune or temporary defeat. And even better…. a good cuddle can take your mind off many things
A recent source of strength for me has been going to church. While I am not sure about becoming a dedicated Christian and prefer my life as someone who loves spirituality I have found a sense of peace and serenity surrounds me after listening to a motivational sermon from the Pastor.
Another source of strength is in films, books, videos and audios. Being able to hear the message of people who overcome adversity always helps me. Knowing that someone was where I am now (or sometimes in a worse position) and got through it is a real source of strength for me. This weekend I watched the film The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith and if you need inspiring that film will help you! My main source of inspiration is Success University because it gives me access to a ton of personal development material – my main problem is knowing which one to choose!
If you are willing to work through your current circumstances you will find the gold at the end of the rainbow. Unfortunately too many people give up before they even get there which is a real shame. All those broken dreams and left behind visions that could have been something great. Of course its never too late to reconnect to that passion and bring it back!
For a daily source of inspiration I can definitely recommend Success University at http://expand.successuniversity.com
Enjoy being motivated and inspired every day by accessing hundreds of personal development courses. Download them, put them on your ipod or on CD and listen in the car. Its this kind of material that gets me through all challenging times in my life.
Right now if you are going through a challenge what you need to hear is that you can get through it…. you really can handle it…. so do all you can do surround yourself with sources that will help you.
http://expand.successuniversity.com
Why Friends Are A Blessing
I spent the last few days in self reflection and looking at the relationship I have with people that I consider my “Inner circle”
I have never been one for having a large number of friends but always preferring to have a small group of people that I trust my life with.
Over the last few months work has stopped completely. Knowing that my life is a reflection of what I believe I really had to look at why I had chosen to put myself in that position and I realised that there was a payoff in what I was doing.
My payoff for having no work coming in (and therefore no money) was that I got to stop having to be the “great” one. I call myself a reluctant leader because so many people look to me for inspiration and sometimes I really don’t want it. I just want to sit down and be ordinary and hide away so I can be prone to self sabotaging my success.
So the work stopped and the money stopped. Now I needed help and I had to go out to those who know me the best (I will only ever ask for help from people I have known for years!) and tell them I’m in trouble. What I had hoped (remember this is going on unconsciously and I only realised it after self reflection) is that they would think I was useless. I thought they would believe I am not the great person that they thought I was because I was sitting at home with no work and no money.
The payoff for not having work and not bringing in money was
1. People would think I was hopeless and give up on me – which meant I no longer had to be great (its hard work being great in the eyes of others!)
2. I had to be rescued by close friends who helped me out financially
3. I could get a job, receive a monthly salary, go in and do the job and go home… never having to think about finding new clients, speaking at events, inspiring people or doing anything like that ever again….!
That was my payoff… did I like that…. of course not which is why I put my life back on track. When you know what the payoff is for any situation in your life you have two choices
a. Live with it
b. Do something about it
At least if I had chosen to live with my payoffs I would know that I could never blame anyone for how my life turns out except me!
The thing is my friends still kept telling me I was great. They still kept telling me they believed in me. They put money in my bank account because they believe in my ability to fulfill my dreams. Not having work and not making money did nothing to change their opinion of me at all.
The most powerful thing was the newest member of my inner circle and the man I call “my future husband” – when I told him about getting a job he just flat refused to accept that I would do that. He reached in me and found something I couldn’t find in myself and in that moment everything changed.
Sometimes living with the payoff can seem easier than going for your dream but what you do is rob yourself of experiencing the life that God (or whoever you believe in) has planned for you. At the end of your greatest challenge is your greatest gift if you can only see the challenge through.
I am still on my path and I have a circle of friends who wouldn’t let it be any other way. For that I am eternally greatful. Yesterday the door opened to bringing in the potential of a fairly large coaching contract and I was told of an area I could do some work in that would bring a lot of work for me. I decided not to live with the payoff and get back to the job of helping people “discover greatness” and when I did that opportunities presented themselves.
When you are open to looking at what’s wrong and working through it you then open the door for new people, opportunities and events to enter your life.
So my friends have been a true blessing.
How are your friends a blessing? What would they do for you or with you to help you?
When was the last time you told them about the difference they made to you? I truly believe in always telling people when they made a difference to me and thanking them for it. Sometimes they don’t even realise that what they said had an impact on me – which is another reason why its important to tell them.
So let your friends know they mean the world to you and if you don’t have friends that you feel that way about go build yourself a new circle of friends!
What’s Your Passion
What’s your passion and how can you apply it to the real world to actually benefit people or animals, the environment, the world
I remember being asked this question years ago and it took me a long time to finally express my passion for writing because I really didn’t think that anything I wrote would really impact people.
Once I began writing articles and receiving emails from people who had read them and enjoyed them I knew I had to overcome my insecurities and reach out for moments of brilliance because in those moments I write my best work.
We all have a passion for something and we don’t always have to save the world or make it a deep far reaching impact kind of passion. You can put all of your passion into raising healthy, well rounded, loving children who are ready to live their life according to what they are passionate about.
Or you can choose to take in damaged and abandoned animals giving them a loving home where they can flourish and overcome their fears and hurt.
Having a passion helps to take you out of any concerns, fears and worries you may have and place you into a place of joy and “in the moment” living because when you are truly engrossed in a passion you forget everything and every one around you!
In all my years of coaching when I listened to someone in the workplace talk about why their performance is failing fast I always knew it wasn’t whatever reason they presented. They had convinced themselves that the reason they were not getting as much done, or hitting their targets was become of something related to their job.
However I knew something different! Because living your passion doesn’t mean you have to give up your job. I have a passion for dancing but being a dance teacher or a professional dancer at 41 is definitely out of my reach… I am a realist after all. But just being able to go out and dance, whether it was to salsa, in a club, to African drumming music… whatever I was dancing to I didn’t care just as long as I got to dance. Dancing brings me a sense of joy that cannot be matched by anything, it makes me laugh, and provides me with some exercise.
Dancing is one of my greatest loves, my biggest passions next to writing and I give thanks every day for being able to get up and shake my thang!
If your passion involves helping others this has a wonderful effect not only on the people you help but on your life, especially during times of uncertainty. When life is not working the way we feel it should be it’s very easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of not knowing what to do and trying to “fix” the problem. When your passion involves you helping others it gives you some time away from your own problems and in those moments, when we are not focusing on what’s wrong, it is easier to find solutions.
Whenever I meet an under performing employee my first task would always be to identify what their passion is and how they can apply that to the real world to actual benefit not only themselves but also other people. Everyone has a passion, even those people who believe they really don’t and all it takes is the willingness to look at what it could be.
Of course a few clients went on to leave their job and actually live their passion which I always love to see happen because none of us should be doing anything we are not 100% passionate about not even for the money! But the majority found a new lease of life, a new sense of purpose that changed their perspective.
When you have something in your life you are truly passionate about life becomes a joy. It doesn’t matter how much work you have to deal with, what your colleagues are like, if you are worried about money, whether your children are driving you crazy… in fact what you find is that all of that stuff seems to “magically” change yet nothing has really changed except your outlook on life!
So please take the time to discover your passion especially if you find yourself in a place where you are fearful about the future or uncertain about what to do next and allow it to give you some “me time” because during those moments we can receive our greatest answers to whatever questions we may have.
Write if you love to, paint if you love to, walk for miles if you love to, make plans to visit a different part of the world every six months…… Do whatever you have to, to ensure that every day you have something to look forward to, something that fills you with passion and makes your soul sing with joy.
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Looking to be inspired every day? Check out Success University.
Earl Nightingale taught me that making money is a result of being successful not the other way around! Learn how to be successful first and earn money second. You can do both with Success University.
http://expand.successuniversity.com
[Your IT Session 3] What’s Your Lifes Purpose?
The search to discover what your life purpose is really doesn’t have to be that difficult. People spend a fortune in time and money to discover what it might be when really it’s quite simple.
All you need to do is ask yourself!
I know, that’s way too simplistic but consider this…. Who knows you better than you do?
The thing is we have been taught to find answers from our parents, from our teachers, from our boss, from our friends, we are so caught up in discovering answers about who we are and what we should be doing in other people that we forget to stop and ask ourselves.
What have you always loved to do?
There will be something since childhood that you have spent your life doing. Its completely natural to you so you may be overlooking it.
Now’s the time to begin the journey of trusting yourself and the answers you have within you.
Start small. Every day smile at someone, or if someone is unhappy cheer them up. Say thank you to someone, praise someone for a job well done. Begin to be of service to other people in small ways that are completely free and take up seconds in your day and see how that makes you feel.
Also ask the question. “What is my purpose in life? I am ready to discover it and I give thanks for having it revealed to me”
Say that (or even better make up your own line) as often as you can. Say it in the morning, during the day, before going to sleep and allow your unconscious mind time to bring it to your attention.
There is no time limit to this so don’t give up after two days because you don’t have an answer, just keep asking the question and the answer will be revealed to you.
In the meantime while you wait be of service to others in whatever way fills you with joy and you will find that before long your purpose will be revealed.
Diane
Are you looking to get your “IT” Back? Whether your IT is to travel the world, find the relationship you always wanted, start your own business or re-connect to a past dream what you will need is the motivation and inspiration to keep going. Success University offer a range of courses to help keep you motivated and inspired. Visit http://www.expand.successuniversity.com