Thursday 16 August 2012

30 Days Says You CAN...



Matt Cutts from TED.com (Technology, Entertainment, Design) gives a brief talk on the power of trying something new for 30 days. Nothing new you might say, but after viewing this brief video your mind will be chalking up fresh ideas by the truckload! Why? Because 30 days is a period most of us can 'see' easily as opposed to say, 5 year goals.

In addition, it gets YOU thinking of possibilities instead of goalsetting being a process whereby most of us feel it's someone else's idea to make us become more than we comfortably feel we can become.

This concept is all the more doable because the period of 30 days means we won't have to stretch ourselves too far, adding to the likelihood that we'll give it a try - something missing from most other goal setting processes.

In addition, you can set another goal the following month without too much emphasis being placed on the preceding 30 days. Encouragement indeed if any were needed.

What I like most about this idea is that its appeal is widespread. Even if you haven't achieved anything you might describe as significant in your life to date, this gets the creative juices flowing! You might also discover during this process, that once you achieve your first 30 day goal, you might get to like the process so much that you extend both the time period and the size of the goal!

After all, as Matt explains, small steps are what count.

If you ever watched the great movie 'Contact' with Jodie Foster, she reaches a distant planet through much turmoil to be met by a superior being resembling the familiar face of her deceased father, who says that 'small moves' are the way forward.

Small steps accumulate leading any one of us to the destination of our choice. This process gets you thinking of destinations and helps cultivate a 'can do' attitude which has to be good. This simple idea is therfore so much more than a 30 day test. It can change our entire lives!

I'd very much to hear your comments and achievements as a result of this one idea. Please do leave your comments.

Monday 13 August 2012

What's in an Attitude?


Why is it some days we feel happy and others well, not necessarily 'down', but in neutral, more likely to react to the day's events positively or negatively instead of being in control and determining how we go through each day?

Have there been or are there external forces at play which strip us of our inner peace and happiness one minute, and restore it the next? Maybe. But I think it has more to do with our overall outlook on life (our own personal 'big picture'), that sets up our attitudes and corresponding feelings one moment to the next.

I mean, if you're thinking about something positive and worthwhile most of the time, you're more likely to have the corresponding feelings of joy and happiness that go hand in hand with your thoughts and objectives/big picture/goals. And whenever you get those moments of distraction which make you feel 'less than', you're better equipped to make them more fleeting. Furthermore, if you monitor your feelings on a daily basis, you're more likely to spot the peeks and troughs and be more prepared to tackle them.

I once made up a chart which lasted a month, and at the top I wrote the days of the month, and running down the left side I wrote descriptions of feelings ie. feeling great, feeling average, feeling bad (you get the picture), and each day I put a cross against the corresponding feeling. At the end of the month I drew a line connecting all the crosses to determine my average feelings on a daily basis. It made for interesting reading! And simply because I was paying attention to my feelings, over the course of a few months my overall 'good' feelings improved.

It's a useful test. You should try it. It works! And of course you can apply this method to any area you want to monitor and improve.

So, what does all this have to do with attitude? EVERYTHING!

Your attitudes create your feelings, your feelings determine your actions, and your actions, well, they speak for themselves! Ultimately, what we believe determines our attitudes and if we have a worthwhile, achievable goal, we're more likely to believe we can achieve it. And of course we choose what we want to believe, and there you have it.

Anytime you want to improve yourself in any way, to improve your results, you can do so at any time you choose. YOU choose your...

... attitudes
... feelings
... actions
... and therefore your results.