Trying harder doesn't always work

What if you are doing it wrong?

Notice the results you are getting, adjust how you are doing it, and try again.

Repeat.

Persist in that cycle.

Waitresses who smile get bigger tips

A study showed that waiters and waitresses who smile a lot get 140% bigger tips.

What does that say about how to – get rapport, make friends, get agreement, sell well, be happy?

Smile.

Friends of the new you

If you were going to throw your life away and turn to crime, you’d get some new shady friends who accepted you as a criminal, right?

Well, what about when you want to change to be a higher version of yourself? Some friends will be happy for us. But it may be possible that we have friends who don’t like the idea that we are getting better and spending our time in different ways. Those are friends you’ll have to leave behind.

When given a choice to be our best selves or staying a lesser version to make others happy, the choice is clear. Don’t you think?

Confusion Comes with Improvement

When we are moving from the old us to the new one, we can feel confused. We had our old habits, our old self-image, and we were very comfortable with it. Maybe it didn’t yield the results that we now call our goals, but it was familiar and predictable – and others knew “who we were.”  

Now that we’re trying to grow and be a new version of ourselves, we are doing different things, spending time with different people, learning new things, and it feels strange and foreign. We question ourselves. Our ego says “This is not you. Go back.”

This is a normal part of growing. Like your first day of high school – you’d rather go back to 8th grade where you were a big dog and had some command of your life.  

Don’t turn back. You’ll get through it and soon enough it will feel comfortable.  

Grow.

Make tomorrow better

We can’t live in the future.  The future will never get here.  When tomorrow comes, it will be today.  It’s always today.  But what today is like is a direct result of what we did yesterday.

Do you make a direct connection between what you are doing today and what tomorrow will be like for you?

Stress – is it bad?

Stress is what arises when something you care about is at stake.  Therefore, it’s impossible to live a meaningful life without it. 

Get excited, use your head, and make something good happen.

You can.

Don't give up

So long as your mission is wise, don’t give up.  Too many people just don’t stick it out long enough and give up when it gets hard or when the excitement of beginning is gone.

“Victory belongs to the most persevering.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

Don’t give up.

Work all the time you work

The best performing, most successful people work all the time they are at work. People who do the least and take advantage of any opportunity for idle chit chat and social media are not likely to be considered for more opportunity and advancement.

That makes sense, right?

How to get depressed

Eat, sleep, watch tv, repeat, repeat, repeat.

Do something.  Anything.  Go outside and live.

Expand your group

Many of us have our fairly limited circle of friends and associates who we are either comfortable or familiar with, and stop there.  

Keep the door open.  It’s amazing what a few new people in your day can bring to your thinking and to your life.

Never take in the welcome mat.