Last Friday’s Success Hot Line – 973.743.4690 – reminded me of what I already know: the 5 words that kill more dreams, more potential and more happiness than any other 5 words spoken: “I don’t feel like it.”
I’m not sure of your dream, yet I suspect for many of you it’s more financial freedom, better health, stronger relationships and more connectedness with your community. Yet let’s face it, so many times when you are about to start something toward those dreams the onslaught of excuses flood your mind like water gushing out of a broken pipe. The theme of these excuses always traces back to the same root… “I don’t feel like it.”
How many times have you said, “I don’t feel like it?” How many times have you listened to that thought, allowing it to alter the course of your actions? What if you could make a different choice?
Here is what I know, “I don’t feel like it” is the universal human condition that silently kills dreams. Yet you and I don’t have to accept this dream killer. We can all overcome the feeling and move powerfully towards our goals and dreams. It starts with intention… the intention to live on your terms not the terms of your moods and feelings.
Next time you say to yourself “I don’t feel like it,” consider this 4-step guide to snap out of that feeling and make a choice for action.
Emotion is created by motion. In other words, emotions are linked to movement in our bodies. Think about it… observe your posture when you are slouching, or happy, as opposed to when you are sad. Or what you look like when you are angry, versus when you are elated. Our mothers were correct, proper posture means more than just looking good.
Try this little experiment, right now: stand up smile and raise your hands above your head and say, “yes, yes, yes!” Did your mood change? When you are low on energy, I’ve found movement, any type of movement… getting the body in motion helps. Walk around your office building, if you’re sitting stand up, rub your hands together rapidly. Movement and breathing can change your energy level quickly.
Dehydration is one of the most common preventable medical conditions in the world, and yet it affects millions. For something so common, most of us are unaware of its dangers.
CBS reports nearly 75% of us simply don’t drink enough water. 10 cups per day is prescribed by the institute of medicine. When you function daily in a chronic and persistent state of dehydration you lose focus, you lose energy, you lose your attention span and you increase irritability quotient. Simply drink more water.
Whatever you are feeling, give yourself permission to feel that way. Instead of denying the reality of your feelings acknowledge them. Consider sitting with them for a moment and then make an active decision to regroup. What’s that famous quote? “You can’t stop the birds from flying around your head, yet you can stop them from making a nest.”
Accept, reflect then redirect.
Instead of listening to “I don’t feel like it” now you are in a position to take a different action. To overcome your feelings and move towards your dreams. In business and in life, you state your goals and plot your course for reaching them. However, there will be many days when you don’t feel like doing the work, yet go ahead and do it anyway … “feeling like it” is not a pre-requisite.
Final thought… who’s in charge, you or your feelings of “I don’t feel like it?”
#WinTheDay #RIPCDJ
Real estate has always been a huge part of Daniella Marnelli’s life. It was her first career, and it remains her calling today. She is also a wife and mother, and balancing it all can be a juggling act. But, Daniella shares the secrets behind her schedule and behind her success–in all her callings.
Melissa Horton shares her real estate journey with us on today’s episode of “Success from Scratch.” “Fear was producing excuses everyday,” she says. Fear held her back and put her business into paralysis. It was her decision to “take action” that launched her career. Watch this week’s episode for her full story!
What if today was your last?
JP posted and sent an article out yesterday from Steve Jobs commencement speech at Stanford in 2005. As you know, Steve was an American entrepreneur and business magnate. He was the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and a co-founder of Apple Inc., Chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar, a member of The Walt Disney Company’s board of directors following its acquisition of Pixar, and the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of NeXT. Jobs is widely recognized as a pioneer of the microcomputer revolution.
What can we learn from Steve that applies to being the CEO of your real estate practice? Plenty… read on:
When Steve was 17, he read a quote that went something like, “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on him, and since then, for the past 33 years of his life, he looked in the mirror every morning and asked himself, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, he know he need to change something.
Remembering that you’ll be dead soon is the most important tool Steve Jobs ever encountered to help him make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
No one wants to die. Even people who – like me – want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. Our time, your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
Do that today, do it NOW as if today was your last.
#WinTheDay
