I recently heard about an author who writes three books in just nine months every year. How exactly does he accomplish this incredible task? Surely he must possess some extraordinary amount of motivation and passion. 

That is not the case at all. He does it by writing 1,000 words per day for 253 straight days. Compare that to the alternative approach of locking yourself away (for me, it’s a hotel room) and trying to jam out 25 pages a day for as long as you can, until you crack. As you can well surmise, the consistent and daily habit of writing 1000 words a day results in getting things accomplished. Whereas the approach of mustering up a burst of motivation to put in some sort of monumental effort will, more often than not, result in things not getting done. 

This lesson extends far beyond writing. It holds true for your work habits, your eating habits, your relationship habits, and virtually every other area of your life.

Most of us repeat this mistake over and over. We often approach a goal or task by getting motivated and pushing for a short period of time. Often it seems easier and faster than maintaining a consistent effort every day or week for a long period of time. However, it is these consistent daily habits that will lead to incredible accomplishments in any area of your life.

What I want you to remember is that great accomplishments and results do not take a massive effort to achieve — just a consistent one.

Iron Mike Stone 2.23.2018

The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth!

 If you never feel uncomfortable, that’s not a good sign.  Life is a journey, not a destination.  Comfort zones are      not always pleasant places to be; they are  just familiar. Your comfort zone may be a job that pays  the bills to keep you in a life that you hate; it may be a  relationship that is going nowhere but is too safe to  leave;  it may be physical place, a hometown that you  won’t leave because of family and friends even though  your dreams won’t ever happen if you stay. Take some time to consider where your life is, and if it’s on the right path to the life you desire. Awareness is always the first step. However, it’s not an easy step. Be brutally honest and carefully examine everything in your life. It may be time to get out of the rut before the rut becomes your grave!

 So if you’ve lost the way, how do you find your way  back?  Check out this blog on: 8 Signs You’re Not  Following Your True Path It’s both useful and interesting.

So, you’ve gone ahead and set big ambitious goals for yourself. Perhaps in your business, your health and fitness, your family, or community. Congratulations! Setting goals and starting a plan of action are critical. However, I’m going to talk about what I call “staying in the moment”. This means not over focusing on the end result during your day to day activities. This will only causes stress and anxiety. The goal may appear too far out. You may get fatigued, stressed and discourage if you concentrate on how far you have to go too often. Rather the trick is to have confidence in your plan and then focus on the simple, achievable every day activities.
 

What do I mean by this? For example on your business– perhaps you’ve got a goal to double your income this year. You’ve set about a proven plan that you believe can accomplish this goal and you’ve broke it down into smaller tasks. Key in on what you need to do today to move down the right path. Maybe that means making three sales calls today? Focus on just that activity. Do it and log it. Develop “daily habits” of the activity. Do not focus everyday on doubling your income, that can cause you to feel overwhelmed and discouraged. Have faith that executing the small details will result in the successful completion of your goal. You almost have to block out the bigger goal as you go down the path. Develop a dual mind set- intensive focus on the task at hand or daily work, while reserving focus on the bigger picture for later.

As another example, perhaps your goal for health and fitness is to lose 30 pounds or more this year. What is your plan to get there? What can you do in small increments to ensure success of the plan. Focus on eating a healthy breakfast. Eating a low calorie light lunch. Counting your calories and going for a walk. Then log this every day. Do not focus on how far you have to go or how slowly it seems to be progressing. Have faith that your small daily habits repeated day in and day out will dictate your success. Of course there will be a time to evaluate your progress and adjust the plan if needed. “Staying in the moment” will energize you day in and day out, and you will develop the daily habits that cause your successful accomplishment of your goals.

Check out this article I discovered in Psychology Today. It’s useful and interesting:

The Secret to Achieving a Big Goal Is… Daily habits that keep you productive lead to long-term success and happiness

Iron Mike Stone 2.2.2018
 

What to do if you don’t know what to do!

One of the all-time most popular Christmas movies is Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. The main themes are widely considered to be redemption, compassion and forgiveness.  I certainly agree that these are important and obvious lessons in the movie.  
One other lesson that can easily be missed is transformation.  Notice how it is that Ebenezer Scrooge transforms his thinking, beliefs, and feelings in one night. And, by changing his thoughts, beliefs, and feelings, his actions change accordingly.
This is right at the heart of what I have been learning and studying. When we change our thoughts and our beliefs, we directly affect our feelings. Whatever our thoughts and beliefs and feelings are, will dictate what our actions are. And of course, what follows from our actions are RESULTS!  The most amazing part of this is that we can indeed change our thoughts and beliefs in an instant– just as Ebenezer Scrooge did that faithful night.
Scrooge changed the results in his life for the better by changing his thoughts that did not serve him. The old thoughts gave him negative results. By changing his thoughts to those that served him better, he was able to change his results.  Are there areas of your life that you would like to change the results in? Financial, Career, Personal, Health, Family, Spiritual—any area at all. I invite you work backward and consider the actions (or lack of actions), that caused your results. Then consider the feelings you are having that are causing those actions. And last, what thoughts and beliefs do you have that are causing those feelings.  Once you change your limiting beliefs, you may find that much like Ebenezer Scrooge, your results will change in an instant.

Here’s a glance at what you’ll learn from Dan in this episode:

• A tool for getting clear on where you are in your business, increasing your cash flow and growing your business 10x
• Dan reveals the greatest way to engage another person
• The secret to eliminating perfectionism and procrastination
• The A-B-C Breakthrough Business Model: How to eliminate irritants and focus on those activities that fascinate and motivate you
• Identifying the one game changer activity that can transform your business over the next 90 days
• The 25-Year Transformation: A simple way to create a future full of breakthroughs
• One action you can take to increase your capabilities and confidence
• How to make your competitors your biggest customers and promoters
• The 4 C’s Formula for achieving bigger and better results
• What to do when your children face failures and setbacks
• Becoming An Entrepreneurial Hero: “There is nothing that makes us more a hero in the eyes of other people than c________ and c_________.”

STAYING IN THE MOMENT

So, you’ve gone ahead and set big ambitious goals for yourself. Perhaps in your business, your health and fitness, your family, or community. Congratulations!Setting goals and thenstarting a plan of action are critical. However, I’m going to talk about what I call “staying in the moment”. This means not over focusing on the end goal during your day to day activities. Over focusing on your goal will only causes stress and anxiety. The goal may soon appear too far out. You may get fatigued, stressed, and discourage if you concentrate on how far you have to go. Rather the trick is to have confidence in your plan and then focus on the simple, achievable every day activities in the plan.

What do I mean by this? For example on your business/income– perhaps you’ve got a goal to double your income this year. You’ve set about designing a solid and well researched plan of action that you believe can accomplish this goal. Next, you’ve broken it down into smaller tasks, that will lead to the goal’s accomplishment. Key in on what you need to do today only to move down the right path. Maybe that means making three sales calls today. Or, perhaps it means completing a new course that gives you a new marketable skill.  Focus on just that activity. Do it and log it. “What we measure we accomplish!”  Develop “daily habits” around this activity. Do not focus everyday on the goal of doubling your income, that can cause you to feel overwhelmed and discouraged. Have faith that executing the small details will result in the successful completion of your goal. You almost have to block out the bigger goal as you go down the path. Develop a dual mind set- intensive focus on the task at hand or daily work, while reserving focus on the bigger picture for later.

As another example, perhaps your goal for health and fitness is to lose 30 pounds or more this year. What is your plan to get there? What can you do in small increments to ensure success of the plan. Focus on eating a healthy breakfast. Eating a low calorie light lunch. Drinking 8 glasses of water. Counting your calories and going for a walk. Then log this every day. Remember– “what we measure we accomplish!” Do not focus on how far you have to go or how slowly it seems to be progressing. Have faith that your small daily habits repeated day in and day out will dictate your success.

Of course there will be a time when you will need to evaluate your progress and adjust the plan if needed. Be aware of the difference between a plan that doesn’t work and your failure to properly and completely follow the plan. Often, it is our activities, or lack of activities, that need adjusting.

Here’s what I want you to take away from this:

“Staying in the moment” will energize you day in and day out. It will allow you to develop, manage, and focus on the daily habits that result in the successful accomplishment of your goals– no matter how big. (And please, please, please… make them them BIG, BIG, BIG!!!

Iron Mike Stone 12/7/17