What Are You Spending Your Time Thinking About?

It's April 26th, 2011. As we speak there are wars for freedom and democracy raging in several parts of the world, not to mention a war in Afghanistan where our troops have been dying for almost a decade now, a war in Iraq and in this part of the world, a federal election looming in little more than a week. What was the number one news story on the radio today? The wedding of two people half a world away with little or no connection to our part of the world. I have just one question;

What in the world is going on?

So what does this have to do with you and your success? Lots. What are you spending the greater part of your energy, time and resources on? What do you think about most often? Are you focused on your goals and dreams and how you plan to achieve them, or are you bogged down with the details of life, or worse, with frivolous things like the wedding of Will and Kate?

Now let me just state for the record, that I have nothing against the royal family or Will and Kate. I wish them all the best of life and happiness and hope their wedding is all they hope it will be. My point is not that there is anything wrong with being interested in the royal family per se, Where there IS something wrong, is when we let distractions to get in the way of what really matters.

The amount of time, energy and money that has gone into reporting, analyzing every details of this event is ridiculous. I have the tv on as I write this and in the time since I started writing this blog (about 20mins) there has been a commercial for: the Will and Kate movie, a special on Kate's dress and another one on the menu of the big day. In 20 MINUTES! Is this really what matters most to people right now?

The truth, of course, is no it isn't. There are dozens if not hundreds, of things more important to joe average right now, especially in light of all of the others issues our world is facing, and yet, many people will be taking time out of their lives on Friday to watch this ceremony. The important issue here isn't the wedding itself, but WHY so many people are being taken in by it?

Why do we care?

For some people, taking time out of life for things like the royal wedding is just a matter of curiosity, and there's nothing really wrong with that as long as you don't spend too much time on it. But for many, this is just one, in a line, of distractions used to avoid dealing with real life. And that is dangerous.

Why do you think most people fail to achieve what they want from their lives? It's not because they lack the talent, skill or desire. It's because they lose focus. Most of us start with great goals and plans for our lives, but then life gets in the way. We have to work, make meals, do laundry, pay bills, prepare meals, care for our family and then we get home at the end of the day and are too tired to focus on anything but watching some tv and going to bed. So where is the time to focus on our goals and work toward a better future? There isn't any... or is there?

If you aren't where you want to be in your life right now and think you have no time to get there, ask yourself the following questions:

• How many hours do I spend watching tv each day? (Keep track for a week. It might scare you)
• How many hours do I sleep? (You may not be getting enough, but you may also be getting more than you need. Most people only need 7hrs/night)

This week I challenge you to spend some time thinking about what you spend your time on. Is it constructive? Is it taking you closer to, or further from, your goals? A small investment of time each day, compounded over the years of a lifetime can make a huge difference. Good luck and stay focused.

I'm trying to have patience with this. I understand that people ar

If you Believe It You can Achieve It

There are few universal truths in life but this is one of them. I firmly believe that there is nothing that you can’t achieve if you completely believe that you can do it. What is equally true, and evident in the lives of far too many people is, “If you can’t believe it, you won’t achieve it.” In other words, it has to be true in your mind and your heart before it can come true in your life.

Belief is a powerful thing. It is much different from hoping, dreaming or wishing. Believing you can do something means that you know you can do it. You may not know how you’re going to do it, or when, but you know in your heart that you can make it happen. What do you believe you are capable of?

When I was first listed for my transplant, I had a meeting with the head of the transplant team. During the meeting he explained how the transplant process worked. He made sure that I fully understood all of the risks involved in the surgery. He said that if everything went as it should, that I should be able to go back to work part-time someday. That was his ultimate goal for me.

If I had suggested that not only would I return to work, but that I would start my own business as a speaker, travel all over North America helping people realize their potential, I’d write a book, and that I’d run three marathons, he would never have believed me. I shudder to think today where I would be in my life if I had lived within the confines of my doctor’s expectations. I know they were only trying to prepare me for every possibility; but if I had not decided that I was going to expect more from myself than they did, I would never have achieved half of what I have. Expect more from yourself than anyone else does.

If you have people in your life who impose limiting expectations on you, you must have the courage to politely listen, and then ignore them. It doesn’t mean you have to shut these people out of your life, just don’t let them impose their limiting attitude on you.

So many of us will never achieve half of what we could because deep down, we don’t really believe that our goals are attainable or that we’re worthy of the great things in life. We’ve bought into the lie that most of us are just ordinary folks who should only do ordinary things, work at ordinary jobs and make ordinary money. There’s nothing wrong with that. But if you want more, and you believe that you can do more, there is nothing to stop you… except you.

In order to achieve everything you are capable of, you must believe that it is possible and chances are good that, because of the negative messages you’ve received throughout your life from the world around you, you don’t believe you’re capable of much. This week I want to challenge you to reconsider your potential.


Action Item
Consider this week what you believe is possible for you and your life. Take a moment here and write down the goals that you believe in your heart you can achieve:

You will never achieve something that you believe to be impossible but you can certainly achieve something that OTHERS think is impossible. So start focusing on what you want to achieve with the mindset that it is possible.