Chicken or egg?

Did the fact cause the belief,  or the belief cause the fact?

If you don’t believe something is possible for you, it simply isn’t.  You won’t try.  If you do try, you won’t give it your all.  You will quit easily.

“See, I was right” you’ll say.

But if you believe strongly you can and you WILL do a thing, there’s a high probability it will come true. 

You’ll give it everything you’ve got for as long as it takes.

“See, I was right, you’ll say.”

Indeed.

Embrace reality

If you run from it or deny it, it is yours.

But if you can embrace reality, you can do something about it.

Take responsibility.

Then you can make it better.

What do you need to accept now?

Develop your capabilities

How can you become more valuable?  Improve your capabilities.  Learn more.  

When you can solve more problems, help more people, have more skills, become more useful, and make yourself harder to replace, you will earn more money.

Read.  Practice.  Learn from other experts.

What other capacities can you develop now?

No energy? Get moving!

I went to start a motorcycle that had been sitting there for a long time, and the battery was dead.  If I had run it more often, the battery would be fine.

The same is often true of us.  If you are feeling lazy and have no energy, you need to get up and move.  The body PRODUCES usable energy when it is challenged.  A brisk walk, workout, stretch, or diving into a project that requires you to move your body can energize you.

You can’t be lazy, and wait for energy to come.

Use energy to get it.

Legacy Tax

I heard this term lately and it is worth talking about.  

A Legacy Tax is you paying the price for decisions you made in the past.

There are bad decisions you are paying for.  You bought something you don’t need and are making payments on it.  You bought a new car and made payments for two years, and it’s still not worth what you owe (a used car would have been a better choice).  But it’s not just about money. 

You decided to live in this place.  You chose this mate.  You joined this board and now have to go to meetings all the time.  You joined this country club and feel you have to go all the time to justify the dues.  You got this dog and now you can’t go away for long.  You formed this bad habit because it feels good but you are paying for it now.

Here’s the thing.  You don’t have to stick with your decisions.  You can reinvent yourself.  Just because you started, if you don’t want to stay with it because it is not serving you or is taking up all your time, then don’t.

We tend to make decisions early in life and they become who we are.  We stick with them even though we don’t like the results (anymore), or we are over it and could use the time back to do other things.

Now that you are here and knowing what you now know, what would you undo?

What Legacy Taxes are you paying?  

What do you want to change?

Nobody can do your push ups for you

Even with all the support in the world, the work is still yours.

You can’t sub it out, hire an assistant, or schedule it for later.

Stop whining. You’re tough.

Get it!

BELIEF in what you can and will do

Notes from the book “Above the Line” by Urban Meyer – 

“Belief creates strength of will.  Because they believe, elite performers have enormous competitive drive, and that’s what makes them relentless.  Most say “I can’t”; some say “I hope”; but players who believe say “I will” (do whatever it takes for as long as it takes).  Their belief empowers them with unshakable resolve and determination.  It’s what animates their ability to respond to any situation with toughness and tenacity.  They have a never-quit and never-give-in mindset.  They are the top 10%ers.”

If you do not BELIEVE you can accomplish _______________ , you will probably not start or you will give up easily.

If you believe – you know for certain you will get there- you will start and not give up until you are successful.

What do you believe about yourself?

Habits take you there. Where’s that?

Habits produce results.  Those results accumulate.

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

My habits have produced certain results. 

Those results are reflected in my body, my health, my relationships, my business, and my finances.

On airplanes, most times I am the only one I see reading (and writing valuable ideas in a journal.)  Some people are drinking alcohol, some playing video games, and some are watching news or shows.  For me, it is not a chore; it is my habit, my “practice,” and I like it.

Writing (2) Think Daily messages each day for 17 years is a habit, a “practice”, that has made me a better thinker and teacher.

If I want better results in some area, I have to develop a new habit.  The first few days are easy – you can get through them with enthusiasm.  The following days are a slog I have to stick with.  (Suffering is mostly a man-made response or choice).  Then, it gets easier.  It becomes a habit – just what you do.

You can’t change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction – by dropping some habits and forming new and better ones.

What habits do you need to drop?

What habits will produce the results you are looking for?

Finish what you started

The other evening I went riding.  I ride a KTM450 dirt bike on my motocross track.  It has a lot of big jumps, turns, and elevation changes in the woods.

Then I switched bikes and got on my KTM 300 two-stroke bike made for the woods.  It was getting dark, (it gets dark in the woods before it does in the open) and I could hear a thunderstorm coming. Riding for me does a number of things. It is fun, it is exercise, it clears my head, it connects me to nature, and it is something I am just drawn to.  It is “a practice”.

So I set out to take a lap on a woods loop that my son Tanner had laid out, which we have been adding to.  It takes about 18 minutes to do one lap.  Winding through the trees where nobody walks…rocks, roots, up and down the mature New England forest.  Just beautiful.  

About 1/3 of a lap in, it starts raining.  Then harder.  I come over this ledge and start down a hill and had to grab the brakes because there was a big log down across the path.  If I hit it I would go down as it was at an angle and about a foot off the ground.  It rained harder, and thunder was clapping very close.  

It was a moment.  I was getting soaked.  I could have easily turned to the left and hit the road back to the barn, to shelter and safety to get dry.

I had to make a decision.  It wasn’t hard for me, given all my training, ordeals, and experience.  I must finish this lap, no matter what.

I found a spot to lean my bike and shut it down.  I got off and moved the log out of the way with great effort, the rain soaking my back and running down my butt crack. (sorry) Remount.  Carry on.

The rain increased velocity even more.  The rocks were slippery and the dirt turned to black and brown mud.  Puddles formed spontaneously.  

Nobody was around.  Just me.  Just me and what I said I would do.  I knew.  And it was glorious.

A deer with two fawns bob away from me.  I wind through the trees, soaking wet.  Each moment I am closer.  I pop out onto a hayfield on a steep slope.  Another log down. I glide through the high grass, seeds sticking to me and my wet bike.  Back down into the glade near the barn. 

My son Liam, 11, was waiting.  Today, he rode a motorcycle for the first time. Then he switched to an ATV. We had to put the machines away, and we were both out in the heaviest of rains, laughing.

When we did our chores, we went inside to clean up and dry off some.  I showed him a Dad trick –  how to dry his shirt quickly by rolling in a dry towel and stepping on it.  We sat at the table eating sandwiches I brought looking out at the rain we had defied. There was some sense of deep satisfaction and pride.

It was an incredible moment.

Integrity.

How to be happier

This is from Stoic philosopher Epictetus, from his writing “Enchiridion” – 

“Of things, some are in our power, and others are not… Examine it by this first and chiefly, whether it relates to the things which are in our power or to the things which are not in our power: and if it relates to anything which is not in our power, be ready to say that it does not concern you.”

Many people get upset and try to control things that are not in their control.  This is a recipe for frustration and angst.

Things that are not in our control largely involve what other people do or say, what happens at the neighbor’s house or on the other side of the world, the weather, and all that is on the news.

Want to be happy?  Control the controllables, and let the rest go, as it is not your concern.

Easy to say. 

Practice.