Mental Toughness Secret #50
" 'Come to the edge,' He said. They said, 'We are afraid.' 'Come to the edge,' He said. They came. He pushed them . . . and they flew." - Guillaume Apollinaire
Action Step For Today:
Take inventory of your fears: are they adult fears, or adolescent fears? An adult fear is being afraid of a truck about to run over you. It's the kind of fear that can save your life. Adolescent fear is being afraid of the bogeyman under the bed, or of being rejected by a prospect or embarrassed in front of a group. The threat is literally made up in our minds. When we allow adolescent fear to hold us back, we are behaving like children.
Mental Toughness Secret #49
"We do not need more intellectual power' we need more spiritual power.... We do not need more of the things that are seen, we need more of the things that are unseen." - Calvin Coolidge
Action Step For Today:
Take inventory of the ten people closest to you. On a scale of 1 to 7, 7 being the highest, how much faith do these people have in themselves? How much failth do they have in a higher power? Odds are that your level of faith is the average of these ten people. Ask this critical thinking question: "Is this helping me or hindering me?"
Mental Toughness Secret #48
"There can be no failure to a man who has not lost his courage, his character, his self-respect, or his self-confidence. He is still a king." - Orison Swett Marden
Action Step For Today:
ASk this critical thinking question: "Have I been playing it safe to avoid failure?" On a scale of 1 to 7, 7 being the highest, how many risks have you taken in an effort to make your vision a reality?
World-Class Resource:
If you're in the world of selling, read How I Raised Myself from Failure to Sucess in Selling, by Frank Bettger
Mental Toughness Secret #47
"Exercise is king. Nutrition is queen. Put the two of them together and you have a kingdom." - Jack Lalane
Action Step For Today:
Make a commitment to exercise for at least one hour per day, five days a week. The excuse that you don't have time is a delusion. Exercise is necessary for a long and healthy life. Get your calendar out and move things around to make room for exercise, no matter what it takes. Your life literally depends on it.
World-Class Resource:
If you're a man, subscribe to Men's Health magazine. If you're a woman, subscribe to Shape Magazine. Visit www.menshealth.com or www.shape.com
Mental Toughness Secret #46
"The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself." - Mark Caine
Action Step For Today:
Make a commitment to upgrade your environment, beginning with the people around you. Limit your exposure to neutral and negative people, remembering that consciousness is contagious. Befriend a champion and spend as much time with this person as possible. I promise this will raise your level of expectation.
World-Class Resource:
Become an active student of personal development by listening to tapes and CDs from your favorite authors, speakers, and philosophers as you drive. Create a world-class environment by turning your car into a university on wheels. The largest producer of personal development tapes and CDs is Nightingale-Conant Corp.; their website is www.nightingale.com
Mental Toughness Secret #45
"I'd rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I don't." - George Burns
Action Step For Today:
On a scale of 1 to 7, 7 being the most enjoyment, how much do you enjoy your job? If you answered less than a 7, the odds of fulfilling your full potential are slim. If you answered a 7, then you will almost assuredly ascend to the world-class level
World-Class Resource:
Work Happy Live Healthy, by Tom Welch. Visit www.workhappy.com
Mental Toughness Secret #44
"All we really need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about." - Charles Kingsley
Action Step For Today:
Make a list of the five activities in your life for which you have the most enthusiasm. Next, ask this critical thinking question: "Does anyone make a living doing this?"
World-Class Resource:
Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow, by Marsha Sinetar
https://linktr.ee/LemieuxLegacy
Mental Toughness Secret #43
"As your consciousness expands, your level of expectation will grow. Keep asking yourself, am I selling myself short? Most of us are." - John R. Spannuth
Action Step For Today:
Outline your expectations in every area of your life, and then ask the ultimate critical thinking question: "Should I expect more?" If your answer is yes, raise your expectations and upgrade how you talk to yourself and others about your heightened aspirations.
World-Class Resource:
Build a personal and professional board of advisors, comprised of people who have a much higher level of expectation than you. Spend as much time with them as possible. One of the fastest ways to raise your level of expectation is to associate with world-class thinkers.
Mental Toughness Secret #42
"In the second grade, they asked us what we wanted to be. I said I wanted to be a ball player, and they laughed. In eighth grade, they asked the same question, and I said a ball player, and they laughed a little more. By the eleventh grade, no one was laughing." - Johnny Bench
Action Step For Today:
Generally speaking, is your belief system poverty class, middle class, or world class? Ask this critical thinking question: "Do my drive and ambition mirror my beliefs?" If you're not sure of the answer, check your results in the areas of your life where you exhibit the most ambition
Mental Toughness Secret #41
"To succeed in life, one must have determination and must be prepared to suffer during the process. If one isn't prepared to suffer during adversities, I don't really see how he can be successful." - Gary Player
Professional performers are the most dedicated people alive.
Action Step For Today:
Ask this critical thinking question: "How much am I willing to struggle and suffer to make my vision a reality?" Is it a little, a fair amount, a lot, or whatever it takes?
World-Class Resource:
Pick a biography of your favorite champion and read it cover to cover. This will give you an idea of the level of dedication it takes to become one of the great ones. Next month, read another biography. After a few of these books, you'll begin to see a pattern in each champion's thinking and dedication to their dream. Develop the habit of reading biographies of world-class performers and you'll reap the benefits of their wisdom and experience
Mental Toughness Secret #40
"Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is." - Vince Lombardi
As simple as it sounds, many times the only thing that separates winners from losers is pure determination.
Action Step For Today:
On a scale of 1 to 7, 7 being most determined, how determined are you to accomplish your goals and dreams? An assessment of the results you have achieved so far is an accurate measure of how determined you have been in the past.
World-Class Resource:
Watch the movie "Rocky".
Mental Toughness Secret #39
"With self-discipline anything is possible. I believe discipline is the ultimate key to success as it determines your approach toward every day. Discipline keeps you focused and keeps you performing at a world-class level." - Roger D. Graham Jr.
When average performers have had enough for the day and call it quits, champions are usually just getting started.
Action Step For Today:
On a scale of 1 to 7, 7 being most disciplined, how disciplined are you in the different areas of your life? Categories include business/career, family/friends, recreation/fun, health/fitness, faith/spiritual, social/cultural, and personal development.
Mental Toughness Secret #38
"If I had to sum up in one word what makes a good manager, I'd say decisiveness. You can use the fanciest computers to gather the numbers, but in the end you have to set a timetable and act." - Lee Iacocca
Action Step For Today:
Take a decision you have been putting off for a while and decide on a course of action within the next 24 hours. Decision-making skills are like muscles: they can only be built through use.
World-Class Resource:
Read "Grow Up!" by Dr. Frank Pittman
Mental Toughness Secret #37
"A conversation is a dialogue, not a monologue. That's why there are so few good conversations: due to scarcity, two intelligent talkers seldom meet." - Truman Capote
One of the primary differences between the masses and world-class performers is how much attention they pay to develop their conversational skills.
Action Step For Today:
Commit to becoming a student of interpersonal communication. This single skill will do more to help you move toward world-class results than any other
Worl-Class Resource:
How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie
Mental Toughness Secret #36
"What convinces is conviction. You must believe in the argument you are advancing." - Lyndon Johnson
One hallmark of world-class performers is their level of conviction in who they are and what they do.
Action Step For Today:
On a scale of 1 to 7, 7 being the most, how much conviction do you possess about the importance of your work? If you answered less than 7, what can you do to boost your level of conviction?
Mental Toughness Secret #35
"The world has a way of giving what is demanded of it. If you are frightened and look for failure and poverty, you will get them, no matter how hard you may try to succeed. Lack of faith in yourself, in what life will do for you, cuts you off from the good things of the world. Expect victory and you make victory. Nowhere is the truer than in business life, where bravery and faith bring both material and spiritual rewards." - Preston Bradley
Action Step For Today:
Make a list of ten things you're afraid to do, and decide to push past your fear and do one of them. The sense of exhilaration you'll feel will only be exceeded by the confidence you'll gain.
World-class Resource:
Invest ten minutes reading a few of the stories and prayers written by parents who have a child fighting cancer. These people are some of the bravest on the planet. Visit www.kidscancernetwork.org/prayerlist.html
Mental Toughness Secret #34
"Information is the booby prize. The real prize is competence." - Larry Wilson
Action Step For Today:
Mental Toughness Secret #3 4nt activities in which you must continue to develop competence. Make a commitment to invest a set number of hours per week (beyond your normal working hours) to study. One hour of extra study per day in your chosen field will make you a national expert in five years or less.
World-Class Resource:
Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill
Mental Toughness Secret #33
"Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are, and doing things as they ought to be done." - Harriet Beecher Stowe
Action Step For Today:
Write down your five most pressing problems and ask: "Is there a kindergarten answer to this seemingly complex problem?" Let your mind revert to childlike thinking and write down the first answers that come to mind.
Mental Toughness Secret #32
"Reason often makes mistakes, but conscience never does." - Josh Billings
Action Step For Today:
Ask this critical thinking question: "Are all of my dealings congruent with my conscience?" If the answer is yes, you empower yourself to succeed. If not, consider abandoning these deals or behaviors. Universal law dictates that whatever you sow, you shall reap.
Mental Toughness Secret #31
"The creative person wants to know about all kinds of things: ancient history, nineteenth-century mathematics, and hog futures, because he never knows when these ideas might come together to form a new idea." - Carl Ally
While average people are satisfied with the status quo, world-class performers are always searching for new ideas and new ways to interpret old ideas.
Action Step For Today:
Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 7, 7 being most creative. Be honest. How creative are you?
World-Class Resource:
The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron
