Get the Results You Want: Persistence & Commitment

What results are you committed to in your life?

The results you've got today are a reflection of what you've been committed to in the past -- they reflect the personal persistence and commitment you've demonstrated through your past decisions, choices and actions.

The first time I heard someone tell me this, I rejected the suggestion outright. I hadn't chosen the results in my life that I dislike -- and I certainly didn't feel committed to negative results. Why would someone suggest such a thing?

And yet now, I've come to understand that this is precisely true.

That's not to say I wanted the results ... I clearly didn't. But there's no disputing the results come to me as a direct result of the decisions I chose to make (or not make), the choices I made about where and how to spend my time, and the actions I took along the way.

And this is true for you and your results as well.

This is a key tenet of the concept of personal responsibility. And it's at times a bitter pill to swallow.

And yet the solution is readily apparent. If the results I have today reflect the decisions, choices and actions I've made in the past, then the results I get in future will be determined by the decisions, choices and actions I take in the present.

So right now, based on where I'm at, what is it I want that's most important to me? What is it I'm committed to? What outcomes are reflective of the life of inspired abundance I truly desire?

Tomorrow's results are determined by today's choices

And how, from this moment forward, do I choose to operate differently than I have in the past? Because I know that in order to get a different outcome, I must make different decisions, better choices, and take different actions than I have in the past.

By now I'm sure you've come to realize, as have I, that the degree of persistence you bring to the party is reflective of your level of commitment.

If what I say I want is to lose weight, but I opt for 2 scoops of ice cream after dinner, how committed am I to the outcome? Apparently not very ...

And if I don't immediately see the results I want, do I choose to quit? If I quit and choose not to persist, then how committed am I to the outcome? Not committed enough.

Every day, we all get the opportunity to examine the results we're getting, take personal responsibility for them by acknowledging we took certain decisions, choices and actions which led to them, and then take stock and make the conscious choice to commit to something different.

And if you operate throughout your day within the context of understanding that it's the decisions, choices, and actions you take today that demonstrate the results you're committed to and want for tomorrow, then more often than not you'll find yourself getting more of the results you want over time.

So, with all that being said, what results are you committed to today? Are the choices, decisions, and actions you're taking reflective of that?

3 Simple Steps To Overcoming Your Fears And Firewalk

Here are 3 simple steps you can take to overcome your fears. I'm going to use a firewalk as the analogy or context for these steps.

Last year, I -- make that we (since my wife Michelle and our daughter Jalyna, who just turned 12, also participated) -- participated in a firewalk while in Australia. The coals were 1200 degrees fahrenheit, glowing red and still flaring. It was an unnerving sight and it brought up more than a little bit of fear.

As I've written before, fear is for the most part all in your head. In my case, the primary fear was imagining that I'd end up with severe burns to my feet and unable to walk. Then of course that would lead me to fall down onto the hot coals, and have my clothing catch fire. Heck, perhaps I'd even spontaneously combust! (We did have to sign a waiver acknowledging death as a potential outcome.)

Of course, none of those things happened. We all successfully navigated the bed of burning coals and felt exhilarated when we got to the other side. We were able to successfully overcome our fear by following three simple steps.

Step 1: Decide

The first step is to decide you will proceed in the face of your worry, doubt, or fear. In the absence of the decision to proceed, nothing will overcome the inertia and fear will rule the day.

In the case of our fire walk, we each made the decision that it was something that was important for us to do. Why? Well, for me, it was a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate to myself that I'm able to rise above my fears and do something my mind is telling me I can't or shouldn't do. This was important to me. Besides, other people were doing it, so why couldn't I do it?

A strong desire for something that's on the other side of your fear is a prerequisite to making the decision. But the decision is the foundation.

Step 2: Keep Moving Forward

Once you've embarked upon your goal, you must keep moving forward. If you allow fear to set in, you have a tendency to freeze (like a deer in the headlights) which is when things you don't want to happen are most likely to happen.

In the case of the firewalk, if we stopped part way along the path and simply stood there, then there was a very high likelihood that we were going to start suffering burns.

Moving forward means taking the step by step actions required to maintain momentum.

Step 3: Focus On Where You're Going

You must keep your eye on your destination ... don't look behind you or off to the side to see what's happening. When you do, you will be prone to misstep.

In the case of the firewalk, if we started to look behind us or at the crowd, we would be putting our safety in peril. That is how we'd most likely trip or misstep and then really hurt ourselves. We had to keep our eye on the other side of the coal bed, which served as our "lighthouse" of sorts that served to guide our navigation.

And then, celebrate!

You can be sure there were a lot of high fives and hugs in celebration when we made it to the other side of the hot coal bed ... as there should be. Living a life of inspired abundance means deciding to go after what you desire, moving constantly forward, and keeping your eye on where your're going at all times ... and then celebrating your successes along the way.

There you have it, 3 simple steps to overcoming your fears that I believe apply to literally any situation ... including doing a firewalk.

The Power of Team In You Personal Life

How is the power of team relected in your personal life?

In sports, it's generally pretty easy to identify the power of a cohesive team. And the notion that we win as a team or lose as individuals is pretty easy to comprehend. How many times have we seen examples of a team's chemistry being ruined by one selfish star player? And how many times have we seen storybook finishes where the team was able to rise far above the individual skill level of its players?

Even in individual athletics, the power of team is readily apparent. There is the coach, the athlete, the training partner, the nutritionist, the therapist, etc. A whole team of people working together to enable the athlete to reach peak performance.

Similarly, it's not at all uncommon to see an emphasis on team work in business. Companies create mission statements, establish goals, and put mechanisms and people in place to promote working together as a team to achieve its goals and fulfill its mission at many levels. Again, it's not very difficult to recognize and understand.

But what about in our personal lives, day-to-day? Where is the team power you (or I) is tapping into? Assuming we've determined to go out and live a life of inspired abundance, what team have we assembled to assist us in achieving that vision?

How many people do you know who have explicitly assembled a team of people around them to assist them in achieving their life goals? Conversely, how many individuals do you know who wander through their life without goals and without any semblance of a team in their day-to-day life?

It seems to me that most of us are out there working on our own. Perhaps we have a supportive spouse or partner, but often even that appears to be missing. It's no wonder so many of us live our lives with a sense of quiet desperation.

I know I'm guilty of trying to do it all myself often. I've got a whole bunch of programming that tells me it's somehow a failure to ask for help, or that I'm somehow less worthy if I can't figure things out for myself. And so I'll flounder around on my own, often for what feels like an eternity.

Yet it doesn't have to be that way and, in fact, nor should it be that way.

You could very easily assemble a formal or informal team around you. You could easily appoint one of more coaches to assist you in specific areas of your life. You could easily recruit team members to play with you in particular pursuits within your life.

I'll expand on this more in my next post, but suffice to say, if we were to approach our personal lives with the same level of focus on being a successful member of a powerful team as is done in the sports world and the business world, we'd all be much more successful and powerful people.