Healthy Growth Practices

Growth in self may be subtle almost unperceivable but the overall effects of that change can have a lasting healthy impact. Below are some Healthy Growth Practices

• Receiving criticism and treating it as feed back.

• Moving from the front of the room and being the teacher, to sitting in one of the seats as a student again.

• Walking into a meeting and taking a different seat.

• Taking a new route to work.

• Sitting down rather than standing up.
  

• Asking questions rather than providing the answers.

• Asking for help.

• Going on informational interviews.

• Finding a mentor and/or trusted advisor.

• Taking a day off in the middle of a work week to play.

Now it’s your turn, what are some growth practices that you can suggest for me?

Eliminate FAT

One of the biggest contributors to disease is we take on too much FAT. Now, I am not talking about the fat you find in foods, although that certainly is one causal factor. I am referring to FAT we find in work on life - Fear – Anger – Trouble

Consider replacing Fear with Courage, Anger with Understanding and Trouble with Opportunities. Simple shift, really simple, just not easy. Go forth and be Courageous, Understanding and find Opportunities. Eliminating FAT will add years to your life, energy in your work and joy in your play.

Make SPACE

Life keeps getting more and more cluttered; more stuff, more information, more competition, more challenges, more, more, more… What happens with all this accumulation and there is no room left - fatigue, dissatisfaction, and disillusionment.

How can we make more room in our lives for increased health, family, productivity, contributions? We can make space.

Select what is important. In Wayne Dyer’s The Awakened Life, he mentioned that when we identify that we as human beings really have one business – the people business. Now I realize that that is my business, so all the other clutter that shows up really moves lower on the responsibility ladder.

In family, social and business, understanding and interacting within relationships can become slightly challenging unless one keeps in mind that serving others doesn’t mean sacrificing self. It does mean to serve others and self in a respectful and healthy manner. This already takes some pressure off.

Prioritize our goals. It’s great to have goals. It’s not so great to have copious, competing goals. Come on, you know exactly what I mean. The job, the family, the interests, the wants and needs certainly can stack up and become almost too distracting. Collect all the goals in one area, make a list and establish what is really important. The rest, cross off the list or move to a “someday” list for future reference.

Assess our resources. Having a focus and then reviewing goals is a great start for making space. Next, let’s identify our resources. What tools do we have in our tool kit – skills, knowledge and talents? Who are the people we know that can help us personally and professionally. What about our experiences and community.

Collaborate with others. Last week, in the United States we celebrated Thanksgiving. I heard on the radio that people were cutting back on how many people they were inviting – too much cost and work. Now I really appreciate how much work a large dinner can be, I have even put together one or two on occasion myself, however this can really clutter life and physical space. Whether it’s a family, community or work setting, we can really make space for more enjoyment, more team work if we learn to collaborate. People want to be included and help. Just ask and one is wonderfully surprised with the results.

Enjoy life. When we know what is important, prioritize our goals, assess our resources and collaborate with others, we can really find joy. If we just choose to make SPACE.

A Best Practice - Showing Gratitude

Do you want to see absolute leaps in performance and relationships in business and life? Build practices where people think and feel they are appreciated and acknowledged.

So, how can we show and share gratitude? Let me give you a few techniques that have worked for me and then perhaps some of you would like to share how you are measuring gratitude.

Write Thank You notes to employees.

One practice I adopted years ago was to acknowledge employees thanks from customers. I would make a copy of the thank you note or write the thank you that a satisfied client shared and then give the original thank you note to the employee and kept a copy for my file. At the end of the year, I often had more than you notes than dings for performance appraisals. Employees enjoyed their performance appraisals because now they had been appreciated and well as supported in their areas for improvement. A much more productive experience for all.

Write Thank You notes to customers.

I once received a wonderful thank you note from a company that provide me with extraordinary service. The note shared how they enjoyed working with me and valued my desire to honor them with my business. I still do business with that same company and still enjoy opening the thank you notes.

Write Thank You notes to family and friends.

This one seems obvious, but honestly, I started this practice last. Often times, I am ashamed to say that I was not as forthcoming in writing Thank You notes to my closest family and friends. I still remember a phone call I received from my mother after I had sent her a thank you note for being there in a particularly tough time. Acknowledging tangible gifts of money, etc. is easy. Saying thank you for the really meaningful gifts of time and thoughtfulness certainly meant a great deal more to her.

Send Thanksgiving Cards.

I had a wonderful executive mentor who always sent Thanksgiving cards, a practice that I have adopted over the past few years. I love sending these cards to family and friends. My list keeps growing. Each year I am receiving more and more Thanksgiving Cards. Warms my heart and certainly helps me to stay in touch with clients, contacts, family and friends that I don’t see often enough.

Do you see any value in building more consistent practices that promote genuine appreciation? Any other suggestions for what and how we might build best gratitude practices? I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Thanksgiving a Habit Not Just a Holiday

The great news about Thanksgiving is that it doesn’t have to just the second Monday of every October in Canada or the fourth Thursday of every November in the U.S. Thanksgiving can actually become a habit.

One might ask, “Why make Thanksgiving a habit?”

The reasons are infinite and personal. Appreciating that, I will share with you three of my reasons for creating a habit around thanksgiving.

It’s necessary. For me, taking the time to write or say thank you is a wonderful way to let others know that I was aware of their contribution.

It’s sincere. Saying and showing thank you in a genuine and heartfelt manner. Expressing and acting in gratitude that let’s the person know that it really added value to myself and others.

It’s positive and inclusive. The one person that I have had to become more conscious of thanking was me. Saying and writing a thank you note is something that I do at least once a month. Some months are tougher than others, I’m not always thankful for acting like a jerk or putting my foot in my mouth. Then I may only be writing that I am thankful finding a need to change.

Sound like a good habit to create. Please share with me what might be motivating you to make thanksgiving a habit and not just a holiday.

7 ELEMENTS THAT LEAD TO A POSITIVE, HEALTHY CULTURE

Culture is defined as “the attitudes and behavior that are characteristic of a particular social group or organization.” (Source: www.wordnetweb.princeton.edu)

1. Communicate - "Good, the more communicated, the more abundant grows." John Milton

2. Understand - "Seek first to understand, then to be understood." Stephen Covey

3. Leadership - "Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitudes and actions." Harold Geneen

4. Teach - "We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover within themselves." Galileo Galilei

5. Unite - "Words divide us, actions unite us." Tupamoros

6. Respect - "Respect a man (a person), and will do all the more." John Woode

7. Empower - "The beauty of empowering others is that your own power is not diminished in the process." Barbara Colorose

Making the transition to health

We all realize changing habits is hard to do. Too many times we jump into something without proper preparation, knowledge, and planning of the task at hand. We fail, give up and think of ourselves as someone who will never change. Making the transition is sometimes the hardest part.
Here are some ideas to help you in your transition.

First: Understand what you want to change. Is it diet, exercise, a relationship, or a behavior you don't like.

Second: Journal. If you are not in the habit of journaling, now is a good time to start. It's a great way to discover yourself.

Third; Stop judging yourself. Turn off that voice in your head that critiques your every move.

Fourth: Stay the course. Sometimes the changes we make go against the "norm". It's not what everyone else is doing. It's hard to be different. Stay true to your heart and listen to yourself.

Fifth: Seek out resources and support. Be knowledgeable about what you are trying to accomplish. Seek professional help if you feel that it's needed.

Journal Exercise: This is a great way to raise your level of awareness about yourself.
Pick an area of your life you want to work on. Let's take physical health for example. Write a letter to yourself and describe everything about your physical health. Write it as if you were writing to a friend or stranger and had to describe yourself to them. You may be surprised at what you learn. I know I was.

Judy Rienzi

Waste or Invest Time

Which is a more productive way to spend time, worrying or problem solving. Well if we like to waste time, worry often becomes our choice. However, if we make problem solving our answer than perhaps that can invest our time wisely. I found a very interesting approach in the book The Essence of Success written by Earl Nightingale - Brainstorming.

Here's Nightingale's 11 step Brainstorming Approach:

1. Define the problem (be specific)
   
2. Write everything that you know about the problem (no editing here please)
   
3. Decide who to see (identify who can help you or is involved in the problem)
   
4. Make a note of everything that is germane to the problem (again no editing or elimiting)
5. Conduct a personal brainstorming (make a list of what can you can to do overcome the problem)
6. Consider a brainstorming group (get others together that can help you solve the problem)
   
7. Rate your ideas for effectiveness and facility (disregard cost or speed at this time)
8. Rate your ideas for time and money (now think about dollars and time)
   
9. Evaluate your ideas and take action on them (what steps can you take on those ideas - still not really in any order)
10. Create an action plan (now put together a workable plan of action)
    
11. Give yourself a deadline to putting your plan in action. (target dates help your accountability)

Brainstorming is fun and work, frustrating and rewarding. At least it worth a try, let me know your ideas and issues for brainstorming.

An BIG Impact on Performance and Productivity

Productivity and profits are plummeting, at least it seems that way. The more the focus is on the crises, drama and time wasters,the less thought and time there is for high degrees of productivity and performance.

To turn around that drain on financial, talent and natural resources, the focus needs to shift to the potential. A few years ago I was asked to work with a large critical care department that had 6 different directors in half as many years. In the staff interviews, one common theme kept cropping up - leadership. The lack of leadership, the autocratic leadership, the punitive leadership, the disappointed leadership. Not once, not once did the staff mention anything positive, all were beaten down, but not broken. They had tremendous spirit they wanted to be asked. They had ideas to share, the courage, talent and conviction to do the job - but no one would listen.

After the interviews, I met with the Chief Nursing Officer to discuss the finding. I asked her who she believed were the leaders in the staff. Again, never did she mention anything positive. She launched into what a poor group of performers were in that department. She knew that without someone from the outside coming in to turn them around, they would never be effective and able to provide quality care.

Next, I asked, "Who has the potential to be the leader?"

She stopped briefly and then replied reluctantly, "Well certainly they all have the potential." She proceeded to tell me all the reasons why that would never happen. After all she'd been there for years and had continued to see disinterest and disruptive behavior. She needed some one to turn them around. Then she asked me, "What can you do to enhance productivity and performance?"

I knew that she wouldn't like my suggestion, but I knew it was the only answer, "Focus on their potential."

We both agreed that they needed a strong, positive leader to help accomplish significant change. She decided to continue to search outside and we said our good-byes.

Less than six months later, that same CNO contacted me and asked me if I could refer her, she was looking for a new job. No one helped her focus on her potential and the productivity and performance continued to decline.

Sad story, and unfortunately true all too often. When we fail to focus on the Potential, the performance and productivity will always fall. What are your thoughts?

Whole Sense

We've all used common sense, that sound practical judgment the often engages all of our physical senses. I'd like to suggest expanding to Whole sense, an approach to understanding and interpreting data to get to know the total person. Linda Martin, founder of Resource Associates Corporations said it best,

"Your growth as a person
depends greatly on your ability
to examine the parts of your life
to see if they add up
to the total person that you want to be."

Identifying at least one goal in each of the key elements of “WHOLE SENSE” and taking purposeful, planned action can change your life forever.

FINANCE (Increase income, reduce debt)

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CAREER (promotion, change career, change approach)

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FAMILY (improve relationship, family vacation, family project)

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SOCIAL (join a club/organization, attend a function/event, learn something new about your own community)

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MENTAL ( take a class, teach and mentor)

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ETHICS/BELIEFS (AKA VALUES) (List your 5 most important values, identify the values your company)

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PHYSICAL (lose or gain weight, improve nutrition, create a workable exercise plan)

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Whole sense, makes sense if we just use our common sense and focus on the total person that we want to become

A Business Imperative: Focus On HEALTH as the Essential Element

To succeed today in business factors have to be in play. There is tremendous focus, realistically so most times, but not compulsively so all the time, on the financials, the products, the tangibles. Yes people are always a forerunner but let’s be honest, often times people are mentioned as a focus in terms of production, service, efficiencies, labor costs which include those pesky health benefits. We control, monitor, measure, all in attempts to become leaner and as a result do become meaner. This does not translate into being more effective, more customer/employee/stakeholder friendly.

The business imperative now becomes, how can I optimize the most valuable asset of the organization – the people?

Let’s start by creating a clear definition of health – and no you don’t have to be a doctor or a nurse or therapist - to understand health, but you will need their expertise and advice to help you create a healthier workforce.

Health is elusive to define and ways of thinking about it have evolved over the years. Three leading approaches include the "medical model", the "holistic model", and the "wellness model":

· The medical model emphasizes treating specific physical diseases. Subsequently today a typical definition of health is “the absence of disease and the presence of high levels of function.”

· The holistic model of health is exemplified by the 1947 WHO (World Health Organization) definition, "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".

· The wellness model was developed through the WHO health promotion initiative. The definition that resulted "The extent to which an individual or group is able to realize aspirations and satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment. Health is a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living; it is a positive concept, emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities." (Health promotion: a discussion document. Copenhagen, WHO, 1984.)

Becoming a central focus, HEALTH now supports all aspects of life, not the just the physical aspects. As the essential element, Health emphasizes additional aspects social, family, ethics (includes spirituality or religion), mental, career, financial and life’s purpose (consider Viktor Frankl’s classic book, Man’s Search for Meaning). The Business Imperative - treat HEALTH as the Essential Element for individuals, companies and communities to not just survive but thrive.

Laura and Judy

What's Your Story

Do you enjoy life or do you exist? We all have moments of feeling trapped leaving us frustrated and unable to figure out what changes to make. Poor relationships, lack of self confidence, resentment, anger, and lack of joy are the result of the stories we tell ourselves that direct our lives.

We all have stories and these stories place limits on us. They hold us back from accomplishing what we want. They are deeply embedded in our subconscious mind and we, for the most part, are unaware of them. We use our stories to protect ourselves from making changes for fear of failure or fear of success.

The challenge is becoming aware of when our stories make choices for us and when we make our own choices. If we can recognize and rewrite our stories, then we could live life to our fullest potential.

Do any of these sound familiar?

If I were thinner, I'd be happy.

I'm a failure because I can't do it all

If I can't be the best, then why bother at all

What is your story?

Judy Rienzi

Be a Little Crazy - THINK DIFFERENT

Here’s to the crazy ones. The rebels. The troublemakers.
The ones who see things differently.
While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Appeared on a poster from Apple

Think Different! This slogan was used by Apple from 1997 until 2002. It still is used in some advertising with Apple.

Be a little crazy today and THINK DIFFERENT.

Today, I will think different about...

Instead of being a writer, I am an artist in words..

Instead of being a nurse, I am a health engineer.

Instead of being a consultant, I am a change agent.

Instead of being a teacher, I am a motivator.

Instead of being a student, I am a future leader.

As we actively notice our thoughts, we can appreciate that those thoughts may actually be setting the tone for the day, our live and certainly our success

Instead of being practical, I am a little crazy - No I take that back, today, I intend to be really, really crazy.

How about you? Will you be a little crazy and Think Different. I can't wait to hear the results.

Nurture Growth and Embrace the Results

“Live your beliefs and
you can turn the world around.”
Henry David Thoreau

There is a parable that tells of a farmer who decided to plant a Chinese Bamboo tree, one of the most difficult trees in the world to grow. He planted the seed. For days, weeks and months, he gently and faithfully tended the seed.

At the end of year one, no tree had grown. People in his community thought he was crazy. He was tending a mound of dirt. Didn't he know that the seed was dead. Another year passed and still he tended that mound of dirt. Another year passed and still he tended the spot where he had planted the seed. This continued for two more years, no sprouts, nothing. By the fifth year, people really believed he had lost his mind and ridiculed him.

Suddenly, three months into the fifth year the trunk of a tree shot out of the soil stretching high into the air. Five years and three months later a seemingly dormant seed grows 90 feet!

My point...

Often times, we make the choice to start taking action on a dream and plant a seed. At first, we receive a great deal of support People are excited for and with us. Cheering us on, they want to share in our idea, our dream our passion. Time passes and nothing has sprouted. No tree has broken the ground; people stop asking us how our idea is going. We still want and need to talk about it but we are alone.

We still want and need to talk about it. Rain or shine, our dream still needs to nurtured and tended. Economics cause us to tighten our belt as money, resources and support become even more scarce. Once in a while there are a few believers but for the most part we are on our own. Rain shine. Seasons pass and still we trudge on investing time, blood, sweat and tears.

To keep our dream alive we find new ways to nurture the soil. We repair strained relationships, cultivate new ones. We seek advice. Learn more lessons. Network more. Play and work differently. Adding different perspectives, we travel out of our comfort zone because although we are tired our and bloodied, our head is unbowed.

BAM! One day, that tree bursts from the soil and stands in front of us 90 feet tall.

Just planting the seed would not have been enough. Day-in, day-out, investing talent, courage, determination and passion has to continue. Then the day comes when we can see, feel, taste and touch that 90 foot tree in front of us.

Are you willing to not just plant that see, but to cultivate and nurture that seed that will generate significant growth so that one day you too can embrace significant growth in your business, your community, your life?

Breakdown, Breakup, Breakthrough

Making change seems insurmountable. Before us often looms wants and needs while having less. Finding ways to think and feel more effectively is becoming harder and harder. Unless we stop ourselves this downward spiral can become devastating. we can feel beaten down and up. Ben Zander says it best in the his wonderful book The Art of Possibilities.

"I am so sorry for you,
you're lives have been so easy.
You can't play great music
unless your heart has been broken."

Understanding that feeling sorry for ourselves gives us very little chance. Becoming a creature that focuses on results and then simple processes has much greater potential for sustainable and successful change.

The company is failing. The career is tanking. The project is stalled. Let's move past the heart break and get to work with a new three step process.

Breakdown: This is the phase where you analyze, outline and brainstorm all that is happening in the situation. Be detailed, leave out none of the essentials. Identify all the thoughts, feelings, actions and results related to what is causing you pain.

Ask: "How can I break down the problem to what is causing all the angst?"

1. Lack of money
2. Lack of friends
3. Lack of time
4. Lack of a plan
5. Lack of goals
6. Lack of clear focus
   
7. Lack of action
8. Lack of accountability
9. Lack of creativity
   

Sound familiar. And this is only a short list. Keep the list going.

Breakup: This is the phase where you take your list, find common themes and prioritize.

Ask: What is the best way to break this list up into practical and realistic elements.

If you actually look at the above list, it can at first be broken up into 3 major categories:

• Resources (Money, friends and time)
  
• Planning (Plan, focus, and goals)
  
• Action (Action, creativity and accountability)
  

Now look at your list and break that list up into no more than 3 or 4 major categories. Keep in mind that we are working towards creating a manageable list.

Breakthrough: Think of this phase as getting your life back, your hope back and ultimately your success back.

Ask: What can I do right now, today, to actually help me to breakthrough at least one barrier that is holding me back?

Resources - Find a mentor - Call a colleague, friend, former boss that you highly respect and ask for help in managing time and money

Planning - Get lots of blank paper, flip charts are great, identify where you want to focus and set goals.

Action - For one goal outline a very specific action plan, be creative and hold yourself accountable.

A simple process - Breakdown, breakup and breakthrough! Now it's your turn. Let me know how it works out.

Energy Sappers

Are you less productive at work and at home because you lack energy? Do you feel like your always playing “catch up” but never really do? Do you create goals but lack the motivation to accomplish them?

Energy is our capacity for action-our capacity for accomplishing what we want in life. Energy levels change daily, and sometimes throughout the same day. What causes these fluctuations? Let’s begin to explore what is sapping your energy.

1) Physical Health: Your diet, exercise, sleep, and health practices affect your energy. Write down your self-care habits.

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2) Mental Health: Your emotions, negative self talk, and stress levels can sap your energy. Write down the negative thoughts that affect you.

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3) 3) Behaviors: Your actions, relationships with family, friend and co-workers, and your relationship with yourself all affect your energy. Do you over schedule yourself? Write down your behaviors as you see them.

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4) Environment: Your work and home environment affects your energy. Are they clean, organized, conducive to good health; does your home provide comfort and joy? It is a place you are proud of?

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Create a daily log of what saps your energy, what gives you a boost, and what steps you can take to shift the energy. The key to change is being aware of what needs to change. Prioritize and begin to work on those areas that you value most.

Judy Rienzi

A Healthy Leadership Approach to Change - Flexibility

Although we may not want to acknowledge it, Change is inevitable. Because of this inevitability, we can choose to actively resist, accept or actively engage. Research is showing the degree of flexibility an individual, group or organization possesses often times determines the degree of leadership and success.

Healthy flexibility does not mean with each change we bend and adapt in any direction. It does mean that learning how to deal with change more effectively can actually optimize the experience to ensure that the change or the decision not just accepted but is positive.

Here are some simple leadership steps to healthy flexibility:

1. Name the change, clearly and factually. This may seem apparent but often times we notice a difference and move instantly to like or dislike. When we identify the facts regarding the change we actually have specific information that can help us to make more thoughtful decisions. We meet a new person - Fact - meeting someone new is a change. At this point. we don't know if that change is positive or negative.

2. Identify the risks. This the time to do a cost benefit analysis. What are the costs to me, the team, the family, the community or company at large. We often stay focused in the area of what's in it for me and greatly limit the potential affects of the change. This successful business woman wants to join a community wide task force, boat loads of money, short on ethics. What are the risks?

3. Clarify the degree of vulnerability that the change will elicit to all involved. Same example, the resources that the woman brings to the table are quite useful. Providing codes of conduct and standards up front. She joins the group. She attempts to make some decisions that may not align with your standards. The group shares the ground rules. She agrees and supports or gets angry and threatens to leave and take her money. Now, we need to determine the degree of risk

4. Find the healthiest support systems. These support systems need to be internal and external. Thinking through the above situation independently - my vote lose the money and find another source of income. I can lose my money, I will not lose my character. If the group disagrees, I now have a second choice - accept the change or leave . I gracefully and factually share my concerns. The group makes a choice. Desperate for the dollars, the vote is to follow her recommendations. I make the choice to leave the group or the job and still have my character and self respect.

Four simple, but certainly not easy steps. For me this a healthy leadership approach to change.

Change and Charge Challenges!

Already thinking a typical day is starting. Too little time, money, resources and/or the wrong resources become more and more the prevalent thought with each passing day. Energies and spirits sometimes feel like an all time low. And, often times, the "What I do doesn't matter" attitude prevails. Turning around circumstances, situations and cultures can seem and often is a daunting task.

So what the heck we might as well go back to bed or worse yet, go into the day with little or no motivation. Off to work we go.

A memo shows up on our desks...

Looking for Volunteers -
Individuals that Will Change and Charge Challenges

Need to Bring: Mind, Heart and Soul

Already feeling different - excited, scared, overwhelmed, intimidated or perhaps a little interested? Guess what? No matter what role we play changing and charging challenges is pretty much what is required of us in work and life everyday.

The choice we have today is to be the one who changes and charges those challenges as they show up. Go for it - Change and Charge!

The Mind is the Master Weaver

"They themselves are makers of themselves"

...by virtue of the thoughts which they choose and encourage; that mind is the master weaver, both of the inner garment of character and the outer garment of circumstance, and that, as they may have hitherto woven in ignorance and pain they may now weave in enlightenment and happiness.

James Allen

(As a Man Thinketh)

Our abilities, our intellect, our education are not what is holding us back from success in work and life. What is holding us back is our thoughts. Conversely, our thoughts are what lead us to greater degrees of success and achievement. All actions are directed by what we are thinking at the time and even though we may make a conscious decision to take action, something holds us back - the subconscious. Our subconscious mind helps or hinders us in getting the job we want, the income we desire, the relationships we seek.

A great deal of time is often spend on evaluating what has happened in the past. As we review and reflect our past accomplishments, it become essential to understand simultaneously, that we have undermined or enhanced our own outcomes. If we have not identified those limiting subconscious thoughts, our ability to take positive action to achieve our goals is greatly decreased. For example, an important objective is looming that we are responsible for, but there are repeated interruptions by others requests for help and assistance. These interruptions cause us to become distracted missing targets and responsibilities to others and ourselves. What set us up for failure? Our thoughts. We thought others had a greater need - our work isn't as important. In reality, we haven't thought about creating healthy relationships and limits that support collaborative success.

Our relationship with ourselves is another one that requires serious attention. Another example, I woke up this morning before 5AM and thought instantly, about writing. The bed was nice and warm, I was really comfortable. My second thought,writing can wait. I closed my eyes, snuggled under the covers and my thoughts returned to writing. I realized that I had a great idea - noticing how my thoughts affected my success or derailed me. With a sigh (not a really big one), I got out of bed and started to write. One goal for the day accomplished just as the sun was rising.

A great way to start the day. When we learn to think that our contributions and performance are important, we will stop being derailed and start achieving greater degrees of success. Notice the next time you are off or on track to success. Actively asking, "What am I thinking about right now?" when struggling to get something accomplished becomes a powerful habit for increasing the ability to refocus on what is important.

As James Allen wrote, "The Mind is the Master Weaver." Actively think about what you want to weave today.

Expand the Mind - Throw the Box Away!

Approach every day of your life with new perspective.
Don't just think outside of the box -
Throw the box away!
The Imagineering Way
By
The Imagineers

There is a trend and a tendency to put everything in a box. Now a box can be useful if one needs to carry around a limited object. But what if there is a need for carry something that is so big, so great, so tremendous that a box simply couldn't hold it.

Thousands of years ago the Egyptians and the Mayan's constructed marvelously, ingenious and creative structures. The structures, pyramids were built from rocks so large that even today experts really don't know how they were moved to their specific location. Although knowing the actual method that these architects used is important, what is more significant to me were the mind mastery used to achieve the dream. To me this was evidence of Imagineering.

Walt Disney was the Master of Imagineering, he imagined what life could be like and threw throw the box away. Men and women like Disney are becoming increasing hard to find. For some reason, we are adopting a mental attitude of restricting thoughts, ideas, dreams, and strategies As a results goals, behaviors, action steps and results are limited and quite honestly mediocre at best.

How can we start throwing away the box? Using a four step approach.

• Assess what you put in a box? We often put a label on so many things. Relationships, income, jobs, projects that cause us to become inflexible. The focus is so narrow that we achieve something good, but certainly not great.

Assess what you are putting in boxes today:

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• Create a image in your mind that is too big to fit in a box. Dream big, identify what might be too big for any box. What would your relationship be like without the box. More fun, certainly more interesting.

What can you create today that won't fit in any box?
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• Take Actions so big that the idea of using any box is ridiculous. It doesn't really matter if it works on the concrete level. Become an idealist and allow the architect in you and take action to build or move that idea or project forward. Remember, no boxes.
  

What actions can you take today that won't fit in your box?
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• Finally, Stop trying to find a bigger box and start living without a box. Let go of the box idea entirely and go for it. I know from plenty of experience that all too often we often think that the next size box actually demonstrates grow. In the short term, this is probably true, but if you want to make significant, sustainable change.
  

What is still stopping you?
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When will your start and throw that box away? ________