Event + Response = Outcome

Events happen – to everybody. 

Good events, bad events.

God knows I have had “events” in my life.  Really great ones.  Really bad ones.

When I watched my dream house with 50-foot flames reaching up to the sky – yea that was a good one. 

It’s the response to events that makes the difference in people.

Good event – what is your response?  Do you make the most of it?

Bad event – what is your response? Do you make the best of it?

And what of the bad events do you carry with you far into the future and how does that shape your thinking and contribute to your suffering?

Response = Outcome.

The event may not be a choice.  Response always is.

See how that works?

We are not all the same.

I am a people watcher.  I find it fascinating.

I was on a flight recently (coming back from my Vegas to Reno race)  and a very large man sits next to me.  He turns on football on his phone with headphones then falls asleep.  Then wakes up to have two glasses of wine and eat snacks.  Then plays Candy Crush for a while.  Then more wine.  Then plays solitaire blackjack for a while.  Then more Candy Crush.  Then sleep again.

Meanwhile, I am plugging away with my reading and my journal.  I am not saying I am superior.  That’s not what this post is about. Just making this observation.

People are not equal.  They do not give the same effort or create the same outcomes.  

Any expectation or effort that people should be equal is bucking reality in a big way.  

Some people want to be healthy, want to win, and want to be productive and valuable and are willing to do the work with the self-discipline that it takes.  Some are not.  It’s cause and effect.

 Which are you?

Do your habits support your dreams?

Your habits, repeated over and over, will take you somewhere.  The question is where?

Will your habits take you where you want to go?  

If your habits are not in alignment with your dreams, you can either lower your dreams, or elevate your habits.

Which is it for you?

Tough people are forged from challenge

“An easy life does not make men.  Challenges make men and it is these men who build nations.” – Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, leader of the United Arab Emirates (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and five other city-states).

Hard times make tough people.  Tough people make good times.  Good times make weak people.  Weak people make tough times.

Stay tough.

Education available to all

A few chapters ago, the king knew more than the people and had the power.

In the last chapter, only people who could afford could get a higher education.

In this chapter where everyone has a supercomputer in their pocket connected to all the world information, education is available to all – for free.

This levels the playing field.  This takes away any excuse that “my family was poor”.

This means the “haves and have-nots” are competing in our abundant world with the “wills”, but not the “will-nots”.

Will you?

Everything is hard before it's easy

The first time I had to change a blade on a chain saw it was hard.  

The first time I had to carry a sheet of plywood it was hard.

The first time I had to do sales training it was hard.

The first time I read a Balance Sheet it was hard.

The first time I had to do anything worthwhile, it was hard.

But it is by the doing that you learn to make it easy – physically, mentally and emotionally.

Do the hard stuff and grow.

Addition by substitution

When I stop doing something, it opens up time to do something else.

If I stop doing something that is not so good for me, and replace it with something that is better, I improve my life.

It’s addition by substitution.

What can you stop doing to make an opening for something better?

A Sense of Control

An experiment was done with people in nursing homes.

One group was told they had control over their schedules.

The other group was told that others would set their schedules for them.

The group that had control over their lives lived longer.

How much control do you have over your life?

Conquering Perfectionism

Many people think they are not supposed to make mistakes.  In order to avoid making mistakes they don’t try much because they might fail.  This of course keeps them from succeeding because they don’t try.

Do you know what percentage of the time a pro baseball player succeeds at getting a hit?  If you get a hit three out of ten times (Batting average of .300) you will be in the Hall of Fame!

270 players have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and only 114 of them had a career batting average of over .300.  Ty Cobb hit .368, Ted Williams hit .344, Babe Ruth hit .342, and Hank Aaron hit .305.

This means they failed most of the time!

In life, when you are ok with being bad at something at first, you try things.  But trying things you learn.  You learn things that people who don’t try will never know.  From what you learn you adjust and try again and get better.  Eventually, you succeed.  If you keep going you can get really, really good and be one of the best in the world at it.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes in order to learn and get better.

Break it up into doable steps

When you have a big project or a long-term goal, you may feel like it’s too big to do all at once, or feel it’s out of reach.  

Break it up into small doable parts.  Then prioritize them – What’s first?  What is second?…

Step 1) – Call _________ and ask for advice.

Step 2) – Call ___________ and have a conversation.

Step 3) – Write up __________ .

Step 4) – Ask __________ for ___________ .

Step 5) – Collect all the materials in the garage.

And so on…

You will have far more belief and motivation that you can get one step done then you will that you can get the whole project done.

Being able to get at least one thing done each day will keep you motivated and feeling forward momentum.

If you keep moving on a path to what you want, even if the path is a little wiggly, you will eventually get there.