When Life Stinks

Digging Deeper with Allison LaMarr…

**Attention all 30 Day Sprint Participants:
Please see the bottom of this edition for an important update!**

Today we’re going to deviate from our typical conversation just slightly.  Our conversation will still focus on the pursuit of excellence, but we’re going to analyze it from a different angle.  Today we’re going to confront the uncomfortable discussion on how to maintain that pursuit when life gets tough.  This conversation is specifically targeted to anyone and everyone who is dead set on achieving a life of ongoing excellence.  As we all know, highly accomplished people don’t achieve success because they simply faced fewer obstacles along the way.  On the contrary, many of the world’s most successful people dealt with more disasters and life-challenges than we would ever imagine.  The difference is that they made a conscious choice and learned to press forward in spite of world-rocking obstacles.  If we truly intend to achieve that same level of full-out excellence, then we must also prepare ourselves and learn how to rise above the bumps (and boulders) of life.

So, first of all, what exactly do I mean by “excellence”?  My dictionary defines it this way: of superior virtue, high in repute.  It originates from the Latin word “excelsis”, which means lofty. It could also mean “high, elevated, or lifted”.  Different forms of the word include “excel” (to rise above) and “excellent” (outstanding or extraordinary in quality).  As I’ve shared before, the antonym of excellence is just as telling (mediocrity).  To state it simply, we are exploring what it means to live a life of extraordinary quality and rise above the mediocrity that threatens to cave in all around us.  We are striving to become independently successful, financially stable, and emotionally healthy in order to wage war on mediocrity in our own corner of the world.
Along our journey, life will happen.  And if we’re not careful, it can send us into a tailspin and totally derail us.  At the end of the day, our purpose and vision must be stronger than our circumstances.  But what happens when life all of a sudden gets ugly and you find yourself in the midst of heartache, heartbreak, loss, confusion, frustration, sorrow, anger, or grief?  In these seasons of crisis, are we supposed to put on a happy face and continue in a machine-like manner?  When the wind is knocked out of you, is it OK to take a time-out?  And how long of a time-out is acceptable?  Should we just forget about our original goals and plans for the time being and come back to them down the road after we’ve had sufficient time to re-group?

Our natural inclination would be to throw in the towel, cave, forget about, or at the very least, “take a break” from our quest for excellence. These are all tough questions, and I honestly don’t think there is one universal answer.  I think we must all make these decisions personally. But I do think there is a “wise way” and a “reactionary way” to approach this decision.  First of all, this isn’t a decision that anyone else can make for you.  It must come from within, and you’re probably going to have to dig deep within to find the best truth.

Secondly, we must be aware that this is very likely one of those truly life-altering crossroads that we’ve stumbled upon.  As Winston Churchill so eloquently stated, “To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour.” But let’s be honest, when we find ourselves at this particular crossroads, none of us is here by choice.  This isn’t the type of defining moment we were hoping for, we would all gladly give it back, and we wish we could give it back with every fiber of our being.  The gut-wrenching reality, however, is that we can’t undo it, we can’t press rewind, and we can’t make it go away.  So, what do we do?  How do we keep moving forward when all we want to do is crawl in a hole and ignore our new reality?

There is a tough-but-true saying that character isn’t created in adversity, it’s revealed in adversity.  There’s also a biblical verse that says, “If you falter in times of trouble, how weak is your faith”.  I’m not sure that any of us should be disillusioned to expect a stone-cold, emotionless response from ourselves.  But I do believe that both of these wise admonitions can serve as a self-imposed benchmark for our behavior on how we strive to conduct ourselves as we work to catch our breath and regroup.

When your world has been shattered, or you’ve had to endure so much pressure, stress, or pain that you feel as if you might literally shatter into a thousand pieces, it’s actually a very natural feeling to want to cry out at God, shake your fists in the air, and demand some answers.  Of course, if you believe in the Bible, you also know that God can handle it.  We may never get an audible, clear answer that our finite mind can be satisfied with.  In fact, we’re told that God set eternity in the heart of men, so there are some questions that we’re just going to have to hang onto until we can ask Him personally. But again, if you choose to believe in the Bible, you can eventually find a resolution to sustain you on this side of Heaven. While we may never get an answer we are happy with, we can find answers that provide a strange, but very real peace and contentment.   It doesn’t necessarily make the pain go away, but it empowers us to find survival, then victory, and finally joy in spite of the pain.
You see, life will never slow down enough for us to get it together. Life will never allow us a “pause” button while we get caught up.  So, we each make a few decisions as to how we’ll proceed from this crossroad of crisis:
1.    Do you need to take a time-out and allow yourself to heal?  If so, what will best serve you during that time?

2.    Is the impact, impression, or influence you’ll make on the people around you important to you during this time?  If so, what do you want your “message” to be?  Not the message you verbally deliver, but the message you send through your character and choices.

3.    Can your current goals and pursuits afford to be put on hold, or are they bigger than your crisis?

4.    When the dust settles and you can look back on this season, how do you want to have handled it?

Let me say again, there is no right or wrong answer to these questions, and only you can answer them for yourself.  This isn’t a pass or fail test, and it isn’t a cruel joke. It is, however, a matter of who you want to be when you are tested.  Like the Psalmist says, “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.”  Put another way, “Those who plant their crops in despair will shout hurrahs at the harvest.”

I believe in the ministry of daily life, and I also believe in the trap of self-pity. I believe that one day we will each be called to give an account of what we’ve done with what we’ve been given. On that day, we won’t be able to point fingers or start any defense with the word, “But…!”.  I believe that each of us has access to all of the strength we need through our Infinite Well that never runs dry.  If we will tap into that source of strength, allow it to carry us when we can’t even seem to put one foot in front of the other, allow it to heal us, and allow it to sustain us, our darkest hours can become a beacon of light, hope, and strength to people around us in ways we never dreamed possible.  But if we take the path of self-pity it becomes a suffocating boa constrictor that can’t ever squeeze tightly enough to be satisfied.

Yes, it is perfectly acceptable, and in fact highly encouraged that we take the necessary time we need to mourn, grieve, heal, catch our breath, and then reposition ourselves for life with our new reality.  But we must each decide, how long is appropriate, how long is too long, what does “healthy healing” look like, and what is total sabotage? Is it OK to cry, kick, scream, and want to crawl up inside your own shell?  Yes.  But eventually, it will be time to come out, amidst the tears and find the strength that is waiting for you.

And, you know what else?  It doesn’t always take a full-blown life crisis to make us feel this way.  “Crisis” can be a relative term, and sometimes we can even feel guilty that we’re letting a particular challenge knock us down so badly, when there is so much other hurt and “worse” pain in the world.  But the reality of other pain doesn’t necessarily make ours any easier to swallow.  So, whether you’ve had to face an excruciatingly hard day, month, or year – or whether you’ve experienced true grief like no one should have to handle, the path to reemergence can be the same.  It will be a defining moment.  But, we must each decide, am I going to let this circumstance defeat me?  Or will I slowly allow it to propel me into the person I was created to be?  Will this be the end of my story, or the beginning of a whole new chapter?

You know, this isn’t anywhere close to an uplifting, pleasant, exciting, or exhilarating topic.  But sometimes, if we desire excellence in it’s purest and truest form, we must be willing to have these tough conversations with ourselves – the conversations that are easier to sweep under the carpet or just ignore altogether.  The Pollyanna approach may be prettier, but dealing with life head-on will always get us further. And that is what I want for all of us – victory, when it’s all said and done.  Even when it hurts, even when it’s inconvenient, even when it means we have to take the gloves off and fight with every ounce of fight we’ve got in us.  So, bring on the fight if you need to.  Because you are worth it.

30 Day Sprint Update
Hello Sprinters!  I am truly blown away by the response and participation during this first week of our challenge.  Remember, many a race is won at the starting gate, so these first few days are very important to your final outcome.  Today you are already 10% of the way through your sprint.  Take a quick moment to measure your activity versus your plan so far.  What is going well, and what needs adjusting?  During a sprint, you cannot afford to punt to tomorrow. You must be disciplined to make each today count.  Don’t allow yourself to be defeated or fall behind.  Both of those are just emotional traps of human nature that will keep you stuck in the status quo.  It’s OK to feel fear or pressure – they are both very real indications that you are pushing past your comfort zone.  So accept those feelings as affirmation that you are on the right path and keep leaning into your goal.

Also, it’s not too late to join us!  This challenge is open to anyone…just pick your area of focus, grab a power partner, and hop right in.  (Click here if you’d like to read the background and details of the 30 Day Sprint.)  The key is daily accountability through your daily post to my Facebook Wall.  (Remember, private messages to my Facebook Inbox are NOT read.)

One last thing…unfortunately Facebook has a limit of 5000 friends.  I am very grateful to have that number of you Digging Deeper with me, but I don’t want to have a limit on what we can do! The best solution is my new Facebook “Fan Page”.  Now, I am SO not a “fan” of the name of this feature, as I think sounds extremely vain to have something called a “fan page”.  But it is definitely the best tool around to communicate & stay in touch with all of my friends – YOU!  That being said, please click the link below and choose “Become a Fan” even if you are already my Facebook friend. Effective immediately, the 30 Day Sprint will be switched to my new Facebook Fan Page, so I look forward to seeing your updates there!

Allison LaMarr on Facebook

Visit us on the web at www.allisonlamarronline.com

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30 Day Sprint: Commitment Day!

Digging Deeper with Allison LaMarr…

Once again, I am energized beyond words at the overwhelming responses coming in for our 30 Day Sprint! Are you ready to stop talking about excellence and start living it as a daily reality in your life?  If so, then today is Commitment Day! Mediocre is miserable, and we are done living in the status quo. Today is the day that we start to take back our power and stop settling for our own excuses.  If you are ready to step out of frustration and into forward motion, then you are invited to take my 30 Day Sprint.

Let’s review the details of the 30 Day Sprint to make sure you are prepared for kick-off:

• By today, you are to select one frustration that you are sick of allowing in your life.  It could be something about your finances, physical health, family situation, career, time management – anything.
• This will be an interactive challenge where we all participate and communicate together through my Facebook page.
• The 30 Day Sprint will begin Monday, February 1.
• Today is Commitment Day, which means you will post a message on my Facebook WALL if you are committing to the 30 Day Sprint.  (PLEASE NOTE: All 30 Day Sprint correspondence should be done via my Facebook Wall as opposed to sending me private messages through my Facebook Inbox.  I do not monitor or respond to my Facebook Inbox.)
• In your Wall post, you’ll specifically include four things: 1) your selected area of focus, 2) your specific 30 Day Sprint activity 3) your power partner, and 4) your desired end-result goal.

Remember, the purpose of your power partner will be two-fold.  First, it will be an opportunity to connect with another like-minded person with similar goals of excellence for their life.  But secondly, I challenge you to use this as an opportunity to encourage someone who didn’t participate in our challenge last time.  Perhaps this will be someone who doesn’t already dig deeper with us on a weekly basis.  Just forward them this message and invite them to join you!  Once you’ve picked your power partner, have them send me a “friend request” on Facebook to Allison Lee LaMarr, so that we can all participate together.

As we discussed last week, a “sprint” is a short, swift, race; a fast, finishing run; a burst of activity. I believe we have a need for a sprint as we begin this new year.  Your sprint may need to be followed closely by a long-distance marathon to really travel your road to long-term success.  But we’re going to kick it off with a bang that delivers short-term, fast results to fuel our belief and confidence in this new season of life!

Depending on the lane you select for the challenge, you’ll want to map out a clear plan of action to ensure that you’re ready for a strong start.  Remember, many a race is won at the starting gate.  You have 5 days left to prepare for this challenge.  Do whatever you need to do to be ready to start the challenge with me on Monday.  If you need to go back and re-read last week’s introductory message to our 30 Day Sprint, just scroll down.  On Monday, I’ll post a message on my page to kick off the challenge.  Then, each day you will post a quick comment on my wall to update me on your progress.  A daily update may sound extensive, but if you’re not willing to take 30 seconds to post a quick update for personal accountability purposes, are you really in a position to create a quantum leap?

One final note, if you are planning to participate in the 30 Day Sprint with us, make sure that you are subscribed to Digging Deeper, this weekly eColumn.  You’ll find a subscribe link at the bottom of this page.  Across the next 30 days, I will periodically include messages, updates, and encouragement relating to the challenge, and I don’t want you to miss a thing!

The message we’re sending to the world is clear.  Simple. Changes.  Now.  No more waiting, no more excuses.  We are going to create a life we can be proud of – one day at a time.  Through some group accountability, daily consistency, and e-encouragement, we are going to wage war on mediocrity.  Together we will create a life of excellence, victory, and abundance, and finally step into the person we were each meant to be.

Visit us on the web at www.allisonlamarronline.com

You may copy this article if full credit and an active link is given to http://www.allisonlamarronline.com

30 Day Sprint!

Digging Deeper with Allison LaMarr…

Many of you remember the 90 Day Victory Challenge we participated in from August – November of this past year.  Our best estimates show that we had somewhere around 3500 people across six or seven different countries join us for that challenge.

Of course, not everyone finished the challenge, and not even everyone who stuck with the challenge for all 90 days accomplished 100% of their goals. But the feedback we received on lessons learned and progress made was nothing short of phenomenal.  We got reports of people losing 30 – 40 pounds, some finally gaining a healthy understanding of financial wisdom and money management, and some made quantum leaps in their professional pursuits. Many of you wrote in to share your lessons learned about yourself, about commitment, about falling on your face and getting back up again, about navigating the emotional roller coasters, physical setbacks, and realities of life.

The great thing about a 90-day challenge is that you have sufficient time to overcome defeating habits, replace them with new winning habits, and create significant long-term changes.  The tough thing about a 90-day challenge is, of course, the extensive time-span.  Often, considerable results aren’t seen until the third month, which can make it very tempting to fizzle out in months one and two.  As we neared the finale of our 90 Day Victory Challenge, I began to receive a surprising number of requests to immediately begin another one.  As many participants shared, it took them the first couple of months to really “work out the kinks”, and they felt like they were really just getting into the swing of things as we were wrapping our challenge.

Well, as you know, we didn’t immediately commence another challenge.  But as the fog of the holiday season finally begins to clear, there is a fresh sense of “newness” in the air.  New decade, new year, new hunger, new desire, and renewed commitment to a life of excellence.  So, we are going to begin a new challenge, but this one will be a little different from last time.  Instead of a 90-day challenge, we are going to do a “30 Day Sprint”.

By definition, a “sprint” is a short, swift, race; a fast, finishing run; a burst of activity.  Synonyms for “sprint” include run, dash, race, hurry, and tear. Whereas a 90-day challenge is more like a marathon, this 30 Day Sprint will require you to give it all you’ve got, to operate all full throttle for 30 consecutive days.  You’ll need to come out of the gate swinging, and not stop until the buzzer sounds.

A quick Google search will tell you that running a marathon involves low levels of muscle exertion over a long period of time. All muscles are being used at well below their maximum strength, but for long periods of time. On the other hand, sprinting involves short bursts of higher intensity muscle contractions at a much greater percentage of their maximum contraction strength. While professional runners usually excel in one area or the other, it’s important that we master both speeds of life if we truly want to achieve a life of excellence.  Why?  Because different seasons, different needs, and different situations require different speeds. To meet some challenges, we’ll need to have the patience, endurance, and discipline of a marathoner.  And for others, we must be able to give life all we’ve got, holding nothing back, for a short stint of time.

I believe we have a need for a sprint as we begin this new year.  Your sprint may need to be followed-up closely by a long-distance marathon to really travel your road to long-term success. But we’re going to kick it off with a bang that delivers short-term, fast results to fuel our belief and confidence in this new season of life!

Are you ready for a 30 Day Sprint?  Our Sprint will begin on February 1.  Just like last time, this will be an interactive challenge where we all participate and communicate together on Facebook.  If you’re thinking of joining us, here are my suggestions on how to prepare:

1. Go back and read (or re-read) the August 12 & 19, 2009 editions of Digging Deeper, because you’ll need to have a fresh and accurate perspective of our reason for the challenge.
2. You’ll have eleven days to prepare for your Sprint.  Just like last time, I challenge you to select one frustration that you are sick of allowing in your life. It could be something about your finances, your physical health, your family situation, your career, your time management – anything.
3. Next Wednesday, January 27 will be Commitment Day. By that time, you’ll want to have your area of frustration identified, along with a rough plan of action for how you’ll attack that frustration through our 30 Day Sprint. I’ll help you solidify your plan of attack in next week’s edition of Digging Deeper.
4. On Commitment Day, you will post a message on my Facebook wall (as opposed to a message) if you are committing to the 30 Day Sprint.  You’ll specifically include what your selected area of focus will be and your 30 day end-result goal.
5. I also challenge you to select a running buddy – a power partner.  But this time, the purpose of your power partner will be two-fold.  First, it will be an opportunity to connect with another like-minded person with similar goals of excellence for their life. But secondly, I challenge you to use this as an opportunity to encourage someone who didn’t participate in our challenge last time.  Perhaps this will be someone who doesn’t already dig deeper with us on a weekly basis.  Just forward them this message and invite them to join you!
6. Once you’ve picked your power partner, just have them send me a “friend request” on Facebook to Allison Lee LaMarr, so that we can all participate together.     On Monday, February 1, I’ll post a message on my page to kick off the challenge. Then, each day you will post a quick comment on my page to update me on your progress as a measure of daily accountability.  Next week, I’ll provide more explanation and instruction.  But for now, just decide what you want to start fixing and what you’ll want that area of your life to look like by the end of our 30 Day Sprint, and who you want to race with to the finish line.

Again, through some group accountability, daily consistency, and e-encouragement, we are going to create a change we can be proud of – through 30 mad-dash days of sprinting like crazy.  Lace up your running shoes, my friends.  It’s time to show the world what you’ve known all along – you really do have it in you!

In the spirit of kicking off this challenge, I’ve been asked to mention my Success Coaching Program.  This coming Tuesday I start the next 12 week session, and we have a few spots left for those who are willing to leave mediocrity behind and unleash their true potential, both personally & professionally.  For details, reviews from past participants, and to setup an interview, click HERE.

Visit us on the web at www.allisonlamarronline.com

You may copy this article if full credit and an active link is given to http://www.allisonlamarronline.com

How to Produce a Payoff

Digging Deeper with Allison LaMarr…

Would you like to produce a payoff in your life this year?  Not just lessons learned and abstract growth, but real, tangible results?  Learning and growing are both extremely important in life, but every now and then we reach a point where we desperately need quantifiable payoff to keep us going.  We need a victory to refuel us.  If you’re in that boat this year, I know how you feel.  In fact, I’m right there with you.  We’re grateful for the blessings we have, and we know God has been good to us, but we’re ready to take life to a whole new level.  I’ve been thinking a lot about exactly what it will take to create massive change, and I’d like to share a three-part formula that will allow us to produce a payoff:

1.    Learning to harness Unwavering Belief is the first step to producing a massive payoff.  You will never outperform your beliefs about yourself.  To state it another way, victory only comes to those who believe.  Doubt and belief cannot co-exist.  They cannot occupy the same brain and same body at the same time.  One will always be stronger in your life, thereby defeating the other.  You can tell which one is stronger, based on which one is acted upon.

Trying to produce significant change without belief is like trying to run a marathon in your bare feet.  Sure, you can still go through the motions.  But your results will be poor, you’ll endure a great amount of unnecessary pain along the way, and ultimately you will fall short of the goal.  Trying to produce significant change without belief is also like setting a goal for massive weight loss without changing your diet or exercise habits.  You can say you want change all day long, but until you align your daily choices with your professed goal, the goal will continue to remain a passing wish.  Belief is the cornerstone of change.  Until you believe your change is possible, you will never follow-up with the necessary actions to create that change.

But, how do you create belief?  How do you increase belief?  Well, belief is a mental muscle.  To strengthen any muscle – physical or mental – you obviously must work that muscle consistently.  And supplements also make a big difference.  If you’re strength-training your body, you might consider vitamins, minerals, and protein supplements.  When strength-training your mind, books, CDs, and affirmations on the subject will make a big difference.  Of course, just like a personal trainer can help expedite your workout goals by customizing your fitness plan and offering accountability, a personal or professional mentor can coach you and help strengthen your belief.  All of these suggestions will help you put a stop to the old records of disbelief that have been playing on repeat in your mind and replace them with true, pure belief.  This is the first essential step for any payoff worth producing.

2.    The second piece of our formula to producing a payoff is to Execute with Diligence. I recently read a book called The Richest Man Who Ever Lived,  based on the wisdom of King Solomon.  In it, author Stephen K. Scott spelled out an incredible definition of the word diligence: “a learnable skill that combines: creative persistence, a smart-working effort rightly planned and rightly performed in a timely, efficient, and effective manner to attain a result that is pure and of the highest quality of excellence.”  Scott goes on to explain that if the definition sounds complicated, it’s because true diligence involves many qualities, and that is why it’s so rare.  But, he says, before you dismiss the definition as something that’s “just not me,” you need to know that it can be you.  Anyone can become this type of a person through the choice to learn, develop, and practice the necessary skills.

This means making corrections along the way as you experience setbacks, hit dead ends, or learn new information.  This means seeking wise counsel to guide you in your efforts.  This means making a fresh commitment to your desired end result every day.  This means going above and beyond what is “expected” of you and seeking out ways to separate yourself from the crowd through exceptional delivery of “and then some” performance every day.

Whether we’re competing against other people, cirumstances, or simply time, diligence gives us an undeniable advantage, one that will produce real results. Those who are truly diligent really do write their own destiny instead of taking whatever life may bring along the path of least resistance.

3.    Here’s the final piece of our formula for producing a payoff this year: Stay the Course with Gumption.  By definition, gumption means “the courage to act”.  Not just thinking about it, not just talking about it, but actually doing it.  This world is full of people who talk a good game but never know true fulfillment.  Because fulfillment only comes to those who take decisive action and stay the course and fight like mad to battle every obstacle until the destination is reached.

So, quit whining, quit feeling sorry for yourself, quit being a wimp, quit making excuses, quit giving up so easily, quit being lazy and get to work.  This week I heard two phrases that both perfectly elaborate this point.  First, “Success comes disguised as work,” so we must embrace the task without exception before we can expect to see the fruit of our labor. We can’t qualify our efforts with ifs, ands or buts.  Success doesn’t respond well to threats and it doesn’t negotiate with quitters. So, quit threatening to quit if success doesn’t show up fast enough.  In fact, that brings us to the second phrase I heard this week that I want to share with you: “We must stop the habit of quitting!”  Your rewards in life (and business) come in direct proportion to what you put into it.

I’m always shocked at the number of people who quit on goals in life with the claim that “they gave their best” and that the results were just unattainable or beyond their control.  What saddens me the most is that many of these people with amazing potential really believed they gave their best and they really believed that nothing they could do would alter their outcome.  And again, since we will never perform beyond our beliefs, their dreams of creating change and producing a payoff died with their efforts.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to go down in a flame of potential. To step out of potential and into our purpose, we must first simply not quit.  But to create a real payoff, we must go way beyond not quitting.  We must stay the course with gumption.  We must fan our spark of desire into a flame of action.  We must find the fight within us.  We must be bold in the pursuit of our payoff.  Do you have any ‘kick’ left in you?  Can you muster some moxie?  Wimpy people never produce big change, and half-hearted pursuits will get you exactly nowhere.  So, roll up your sleeves, find a megaphone, dig deep, and don’t be afraid to live out loud!  Remember, the world makes way for people who know where they’re going – and who refuse to settle for any other destination.

Well, there you have it.  Our three-part formula to producing a real, live, bona fide payoff.  Learn to harness the power of unwavering belief, execute with diligence, and stay the course with gumption.  Of course this formula is easier to discuss than it is to do.  But if you really want what you say you want…if it’s now or never, then you know what to do. We all deserve a victory, but we’re only going to earn it through living out what we’ve discussed today.  So, stop stalling and get out there!  Your payoff is waiting.

Visit us on the web at www.allisonlamarronline.com

You may copy this article if full credit and an active link is given tohttp://www.allisonlamarronline.com

2010: The Hero Within

Digging Deeper with Allison LaMarr…

Happy New Year, my friends!  I’d like to personally thank you for carving out a few moments to dig deeper with me each week. This is our chance to dig a little deeper into life on a weekly basis…to stop for just a few moments amidst all the hustle and bustle to take a deep breath and make sure that our perspective is clear, our priorities are in order, and our mindset is healthy.  Whether you are a working professional, a full-time parent, or an aspiring dreamer, the objective of our weekly discussions is to help empower you to wage war on mediocrity and achieve a life of daily excellence!

The launch of a brand new decade has no doubt caused us all to stop and consider the crazy phenomenon of the passage of time.  What were you doing a decade ago?  Where were you a decade ago?  Who were you a decade ago? A decade = 10 years = 120 months = 520 weeks = 3,650 days = 87,600 hours = 5,256,000 minutes = 315,360,000 seconds.  This New Year’s Eve as James and I sat on the couch in our pajamas watching Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest host the Times Square happenings, we couldn’t help but laugh at how different our celebration was 10 years ago.  Not three feet away on a bookshelf stood a framed picture to commemorate the moment.  I was a senior in college, we were 6 months from being married, and we were all dressed up in a roomful of friends, wearing party hats, dancing and singing along at the top of our lungs to Prince’s famous words, “Tonight We’re Gonna Party Like It’s 1999”, with silver metallic numbers “2000” decorating the entire room. 10 years ago, the future was bright, the world was at our fingertips, and we didn’t have a care in the world.

Now, we’ve got a house payment, a toddler, and a closet full of clothes that used to fit.  Yes, we partied our way into 2000…and we yawned our way into 2010.  But the funny thing is, I wouldn’t go back and trade it for the world.  As I watched my son sleeping on the monitor and my husband “tweeting” his New Year wishes, there wasn’t a place I’d rather be.  If we could rewind and do things differently, I think we would all make different choices, based on the lessons we’ve learned.  I’ve made more stupid mistakes than I can count, and some of them cost me dearly – both financially and emotionally. Some of my mistakes hurt other people, and some of my mistakes I’m still paying for.  Of course, we can’t go back, but we can choose to move forward. We all have a clean slate before us, beginning in 2010.  What will you choose to write on yours?

This is so much bigger than the cliché of annual resolutions that are forgotten by Valentine’s Day.  It’s about a deep-seated desire to continually change and grow into our potential, into our purpose, into the person God created us to be.  The challenge, of course, is that becoming that person depends on our choices.  We must make the proactive choices that defy human nature.  Remember, human nature isn’t on our side.  Human nature is lazy, apathetic, narcissistic, naïve, and always takes the path of least resistance.  Human nature’s inclination is to do as little as possible to get what we want.  So, to combat and overcome those internal inclinations, we must be aware of and alert to the fact that living in response to our feelings and emotions will lead us straight to destruction.  I have rarely felt like getting off the couch or turning off the TV.  I have rarely felt like getting up at 5 AM or passing on chips and queso. I have rarely felt like lacing up my running shoes or making one more business call.  I have rarely felt like saying “no” to the stores and stores of beautiful clothes, shoes, and purses that call my name from the mall.

Gosh, when you stop and think about it, it would practically take a hero to make those kind of iron-strength choices every day.  But, guess what?  That’s exactly what you can be.  A practical hero.  An everyday hero.  A hero within.  Sound silly?  Of course it does! But wouldn’t you feel more inclined to make the right decisions if you were running around with a red cape and super powers?  So, throw on the cape – at least at home – and step into that power of potential that already lies within you.

Last week, James and I conducted our third Annual Review.  (For more details on conducting your own Annual Review, see the 12/24/08 edition of the Digging Deeper archives.)   There were two things about this particular session that stood out to me. First of all, heading into a brand new decade caused me to go back and analyze what I want to change from the past one.  Of the past 10 years, if I had to give a painfully honest assessment, I would say that I lived four of them proactively and six of them reactively.  The sad – and shocking – piece of that revelation to me was that I easily thought that at least two more of those reactive years were proactive while I was living them.  But, from a hindsight perspective, the results of those years speak for themselves.  It really is shocking to see how blind we can be to our own naïveté and apathy.  And, the second thing of note that struck me during our Annual Review was the insight that tracking can provide.  Because we had now conducted this session for three years in a row, we were able to go back and document our performance against our plans in 2007, 2008, and 2009.  We were able to see patterns and trends of poor decisions along with wiser ones.  And we were able to learn from those patterns and trends as we head into 2010.

As we looked back at our past three years of documented goals and activity, it was rewarding to look at our progress and humbling to study our errors.   But, the thing that stands out to me most about the past decade is the wonder of Father Time. We’ve all ticked through the past 5.2 million minutes, and God willing, we’ll tick through at least that many more.  So, when this decade winds to an end, what story do you want yours to tell?  As those seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years tick by, a few of them will be momentous and noteworthy.  But most of them will be humdrum and forgettable. And believe it or not, it’s those most forgettable days that define an everyday hero.  It’s the most humdrum hours that separate a victory from a loss.  Because in those un-notable moments, we either get swept away by the current of human nature – or we don’t.

The past decade may have been horrific, fabulous, or just so-so for you. You may desire a complete turnaround in this new season.  Or, perhaps you just want to keep building on your progress from the past. To create different results, we must approach our situation differently.  Whether you need a quantum leap or just incremental improvement, your future results depend on how you handle you.  How you handle yourself today, and how you handle yourself tomorrow, and the day after that. There’s no magic formula or magic pill.  The cape may give you confidence, but the hero is already there.  You hold the power of change, but you must turn the key daily to unleash that power.  Ignore the naysayers, and stop playing that broken record of past defeats and unkept promises to yourself in your head.  My prayer for all of us this year is Deuteronomy 33:25.  May God work such steadfastness of mind in you that “the bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days”.

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The Looking Glass

Digging Deeper with Allison LaMarr…

Merry Christmas week!  I invite you to clear your mind from the last minute Christmas frenzy for just a brief moment with me today.  Last week we started a two-part discussion on how to step into your potential and step into your dreams in the coming year.  I’d like to wrap up that conversation today with exactly how to make it happen.

In the last edition of Digging Deeper, I challenged you to ask yourself the following questions: Am I pleased with my situation? Am I pleased with my performance and results?  Am I capable of doing more (or doing better)?  Do I have a hunger or desire to achieve more than what my current performance is producing?  Are other people counting on me?  Am I falling short, meeting or exceeding their expectations?  Are there things about my situation that frustrate me? And, as far as I’m concerned, is there anything I can do to eliminate those frustrations to clear the path for better workflow and a better outcome?

We then discussed why these questions are important for each of us to answer. Because the way we do anything in life is the way we’ll do everything in life.  Your projects are nothing more than an extension of who you are in life.  So, if your life is a mess, your business is more than likely going to follow suit.  It’s impossible to keep them separated forever.  Sooner or later, our inner character shines through to the outer results of our business.

So, what are we to do with this information?  Well, this is where the Looking Glass comes in.  My suggestion: go stand in front of a full-length mirror.  Yes, really.  And I mean this both literally and figuratively.  Have you ever stood in a full-length mirror and just stared at yourself for awhile?  I don’t know about men, but for women, this is usually a very dangerous thing to do – and something that I would normally advise against.  Because what we usually ‘see’ are all the things we don’t like about ourselves…all the flaws and weaknesses.  But for this particular exercise it will be worth it – trust me.

Let’s get the worst part over with first.  If you were to go literally stand in front of a full-length mirror right now, what would you see?  What things would jump out at you?  Stick with me here, because we are going somewhere with this.  Human nature leads us to be hypercritical of ourselves, but I’d like to ask you a question about those ‘flaws and weaknesses’ that eat at you. How long have you hated those things?  How long have you been complaining about them?  How long have you allowed them to rob you of your personal power?  You see, those things that bother us about our physical appearance (and it could be anything: weight, hair, skin, or teeth) begin to weigh on us like heavy burdens, and they become baggage that serve as a lid on our life’s accomplishments. Because an unhealthy body image can damage your self-esteem. Once you feel bad about the way you look, you may be inclined to think that you, as a person, are less capable and less worthy of achieving excellence in other areas of your life.  Of course, when we discuss it out loud in a public setting, we can clearly see the absurdity of what we’re doing to ourselves.  But left alone with our own thoughts (even subconsciously), we can really do some damage here.

We’ve discussed this briefly in the past, but it’s worth mentioning again.  We’re not going for perfection, and some of your challenges may be permanent.  But, for most people, almost every single thing that eats at us in relation to our physical appearance CAN BE FIXED – without surgery! We should perhaps also remind ourselves that we cannot complain about what we allow.  Even if it would take an entire year to fix the problem, wouldn’t it be worth it?  Imagine if one year from now, you had the hair, teeth, weight, skin, and style you were proud of!  How much more self-confident would you be?  Would that help empower you to embrace and tackle other areas of your life?  Absolutely!  Because another law of human nature is that when we look better, we feel better about ourselves.  So, let that looking glass become your best friend.  Use it as a tool to point out opportunities for growth, instead of allowing it to beat you up and tear you down.

Now before you start thinking I’m preaching about outer “beauty”, let’s take a glance into the figurative looking glass.  If you can believe it, this may be an even tougher exercise.  Because this one challenges us to face the truth on a much deeper level than just the physical realm.  This is where our character – who we are on the inside – comes into question.  And I believe this is why people are ‘quitters’ by nature.  Because, when a situation gets tough, it’s easier to walk away, or throw in the towel than it is to address the weak areas of our character.  This is why most entrepreneurs aren’t entrepreneurs for very long.  Because it’s easier to have someone else hold you accountable for your actions and decisions.  But when you can choose to hold yourself accountable, an entirely bigger, greater, and deeper level of living becomes available to you.

As we discussed, stepping into your potential requires submission, obedience, and self-discipline.  And for most people who desire excellence, but never step into their full potential, the problem lies in weak skills.  Weak “field” skills and/or weak “life” skills.   So, let’s wrap up our discussion with how to position yourself for victory and abundance in the New Year.

Remember, before you can earn the promotion, you must first outgrow your current position and your current level of character.  You outgrow your current position by mastering it. And you strengthen your character by submitting to personal growth. Only when we’re willing to hear the honest truth, accept responsibility for the weak links in the chain, and shift gears into learning, growing, and making the correcting changes where necessary, will we begin to see the kind of quantum leap growth that we desire for our life.

If every single skill that you need to succeed in life and business is a learnable, repeatable skill, how do you take on this task?  Look in the mirror. What skills are necessary to succeed in your field of life?  What skills are missing?  There is a difference between knowing and doing, and simply being aware of the necessary skills isn’t enough.  You must choose to master those skills.  Remember my challenge: Commit 2010 to skill mastery and just watch what happens!  It’s all about skill mastery. Have you mastered your particular field-required skills and the life skills we’ve discussed?  Again, if you’re not sure, just take a quick peek at your results.  They speak louder than words.

So, based on your particular field, business, or endeavor, sit down and create a list of every single skill you think you would need to become a top producer in that field, and then rank yourself currently on a scale of 1-10. Take an honest, introspective look at the life and leadership skills that are essential for you to create all-out victory, abundance, and success in your life.  This list would include things like time management, emotional management, personal and professional boundaries, communication and people skills.

When you can combine those two mastered skill sets – the field skills and the life skills – it will be like combining two sticks of dynamite in your life.  Explosive results are guaranteed.  The looking glass will tell you where to begin.  Look carefully.  Look closely.  It’s all up to you.  Let the journey to personal excellence begin.

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Skill Check

Digging Deeper with Allison LaMarr…

The week after Thanksgiving, I had the privilege of working with some amazing men and women in Springfield, Shreveport, Dallas, and New Orleans.  As I sat on the plane headed home from my last business trip in 2009, I watched the sunrise through the window and reflected on the topics of discussion from my seminars in each of those cities.  Our conversations covered a wide range of material, and they were all related in some form or fashion to successfully building (and sustaining) your own business, but an interesting theme rose out of those conversations that had nothing to do with business at all.

As you read along with me, I challenge you to consider how this applies to your particular situation. Maybe you’re a volunteer with a never-ending list of needs to meet, or a student with finals caving in all around.  You may be a business professional of some sort – either an entrepreneur or employee with specific deadlines and responsibilities to meet.  You could be a parent with a plate full of tasks and a house full of little ones counting on you each day.  Or, like many of our readers, your life could be a combination of all of the above. Whatever your day-to-day duties entail, I want you to ask yourself the following questions: Am I pleased with my situation?  Am I pleased with my performance and results?  Am I capable of doing more (or doing better)?  Do I have a hunger or desire to achieve more than what my current performance is producing?  Are other people counting on me?  Am I falling short, meeting or exceeding their expectations?  Are there things about my situation that frustrate me?  And, as far as I’m concerned, is there anything I can do to eliminate those frustrations to clear the path for better workflow and a better outcome?

Here’s why these questions are important for each of us to answer.  The projects you produce are an extension of you.  Everything you create or sign your name to is an advertisement of your workmanship. Do your “finished projects” advertise excellence or do they display the “just enough to squeak by” seal?  Like it or not, this is a testament to your own personal character.  Regardless of your background, upbringing, education, or situation, I know without a doubt that God desires abundance and victory for your life. He also planted seeds of greatness within you, and He wants to see you grow into His purpose for your life. Walking in that purpose requires submission, obedience, and self-discipline.  But, as with all things, there is a difference between knowing and doing. And for most people who desire excellence, but never step into their full potential, the problem lies in weak skills.  Weak “field” skills and/or weak “life” skills.  Before you can earn promotions in life, you must first outgrow your current position and your current level of character.  So, as 2009 draws to a close, I’d like to talk about positioning yourself for victory and abundance in the New Year.

Remember, before you can earn the promotion, you must first outgrow your current position and your current level of character.  How do you ‘outgrow your current position’?  You master it.  So, based on your particular field, business, or endeavor, sit down and create a list of every single skill you think you would need to become a top producer in that field, and then rank yourself currently on a scale of 1-10.

How about your character?  Take an honest, introspective look at the life and leadership skills that are essential for you to create all-out victory, abundance, and success in your life.  This list would include things like time management, emotional management, personal and professional boundaries, communication and people skills. How are you at building relationships?  Do people want to be a part of your projects, or do they exit as quickly as they enter?  How about your leadership skills?  You can measure this by asking this question: Do people work hard to keep their commitments to you?  Or do the people you lead seem to have a theme of flakiness?

And how about your own personal integrity?  Are you reliable? Can people count on you to keep your commitments?  Do you show up when you say you will, or have you built a reputation of excuses?  Are you an “extra mile” person, or do you have a habit of stopping short of the finish line?  How often do you operate with double standards?  In other words, do you expect certain things from others, but justify your own situation differently?  Are you quick to blame others, point fingers, and throw out excuses?  Or are you committed to being exceptional, no matter what?  Have you learned how to manage your own passion levels?  Do you know how to keep your head in the game, even as life unravels around you?  Do you know how to get unstuck when you find yourself in a rut? It’s been said that character – or integrity – is who you are when no one else is watching.  It’s not about false pretenses to make a good impression. Excellence is about doing what’s right and giving your personal best all the time, because it’s who you are on the inside.

You see, these character questions are SO important. Because the way we do anything in life is the way we’ll do everything in life.  And your business is nothing more than an extension of who you are in life.  So, if your life is a mess, your business is more than likely going to follow suit.  It’s impossible to keep them separated forever.  Sooner or later, our inner character shines through to the outer results of our business. This right here is why most entrepreneurs aren’t entrepreneurs for very long.  Because it’s easier to have someone else hold you accountable for your actions and decisions.  But when you can choose to hold yourself accountable, an entirely bigger, greater, and deeper level of living becomes available to you.

And guess what?  Every single skill that you need to succeed in life and business is a learnable, repeatable skill.  Quit holding out for luck.  As a first-century Roman philosopher once said, “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.”  But you must choose to master the necessary skills.  Commit 2010 to skill mastery and just watch what happens!  It’s all about skill mastery.  Have you mastered your particular field-required skills? Have you mastered the life skills we discussed a moment ago?  If you’re not sure, take a look at your results.  They speak louder than words.  Also, poll your family, your peers, your mentors, and your team. But be prepared for an honest answer. Only when we’re willing to hear the honest truth, accept responsibility for the weak links in the chain, and shift gears into learning, growing, and making the correcting changes where necessary, will we begin to see the kind of Quantum Leap growth that we desire for our life.

I would love nothing more than to watch you step into your potential & step into your dreams in the coming year.  But you must be the one who moves out of the passenger seat and into the driver seat of your own life.  It’s no one else’s responsibility but yours. I know you can do it, and we’ll discuss how next week.  Between now and then, I hope that you will take some time to analyze these components of your life and business as you head into 2010.

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Leading Lady

Digging Deeper with Allison LaMarr…

As James and I make our way through my Top 10 Favorite Christmas Movies this month, I couldn’t help but republish this column from last year on the same day that I watch this particular movie.  So here goes…enjoy! Are you full swing into Christmas mode yet?  Have you been working on your holiday cheer?  Or are you fighting with the holiday hustle and bustle?  One thing I love to do to get into the Christmas spirit is to watch Christmas movies.  I have an entire list of them that I like to watch every year, but I want to discuss one in particular today.  Have you ever seen The Holiday?  I absolutely love this movie—it’s one of my favorites.  But there is one specific scene that provides a perfect fable for us if you stop and dig deep enough to uncover it, so let me tell you about it…

In the movie, Kate Winslet’s character (Iris), who is a beautiful young English woman, befriends an elderly gentleman in Hollywood named Arthur, who was an Oscar-winning screenwriter in his heyday.  Throughout the film, we watch their relationship grow and even though they may have seemed like an odd pairing to begin with, the two become great friends.  One night they go out for dinner, and over the course of the meal, Iris spills her guts about her man troubles, becoming quite emotional.  Arthur kindly listens to everything she shares and then looks across the table at her and says very softly:

Iris, in the movies we have leading ladies and we have the best friend. You, I can tell, are a leading lady, but for some reason you are behaving like the best friend.

At those words, she literally begins to cry in her soup and sobs out:

You’re so right. You’re supposed to be the leading lady of your own life!  Arthur, I’ve been going to a therapist for three years, and she’s never explained things to me that well. That was brilliant. Brutal, but brilliant.

In my opinion, this scene hits dead center with so many of our lives today.  Arthur gave Iris some extremely empowering words of wisdom, so let’s examine them a little further.  If someone were to watch a movie of your life, would you be playing the role of leading lady (or man)?  Or is it more likely that you would be found playing the role of the best friend?  Now, if deep down in your heart, your true honest desire is to play the role of the best friend in your own life, that is perfectly OK.  But for most of us, if we were to be totally honest with ourselves, that wouldn’t be the case.  So many women today want to step into the role of leading lady, but we’re just not sure how to get there.  With the chaos of our daily hustle and bustle, it seems like the years just keep slipping by and our good intentions never materialize into reality.  We set goals and miss goals, dream big dreams but live paycheck to paycheck, and promise ourselves that this will be the year, only to have the months tick by with no real progress.  How do we catch our own lucky break that will catapult us from best friend status to the leading lady limelight?  The answer is very simple, and also very familiar: we must care enough to prepare.

Let me explain with a quick review of this concept from one of our recent Digging Deeper discussions. Think back to the days of high school or college.  Do you remember being assigned an exam by your teacher, followed by the explanation that “group study” would be permitted?  Most of the time, while group study was permitted, the test itself was still an individual assignment.  So, regardless of how the rest of the “group” fared on the test, you had to be personally accountable to the information on the test in order to score well and pass the test or class, right?  Which means that at some point before test time, you had to walk away from the group and make sure that you were prepared.  Well, the same concept holds true with your business skills.  You can faithfully attend workshops, success events and seminars for eternity, but until you make the on-purpose choice to carve out some alone time, study the information and commit it to memory, and become accountable to the technical skills of your business, you may very well spend your entire life clapping only for other people’s successes.

And here is the most beautiful part: You can create anything you want in life, if you’re willing to believe in yourself, manage your emotions, master the needed skills, work hard enough, and commit to never give up until you find the solution.  Does that sound like a lot of work?  Absolutely.  But that’s the price tag for leading lady status.  You’ve seen her before…you know what she looks like: graceful as a swan.  Above the surface she’s poised, prepared, and glides with grace as she embraces her role.  But below the water, behind the scenes, she’s paddling like crazy.  She has the same obstacles and challenges that we have, she just refuses to let them drown her.  It’s time to become your own leading lady!

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The Power of One

Digging Deeper with Allison LaMarr…

Does doubt ever creep in to your life?  Left alone with your thoughts, do you ever question the point of your efforts?  It’s something I think we all struggle with from time to time.  During those moments of vulnerability, we must remember the Power of One.

As we discussed a couple of weeks ago, depression rates are higher during the Holidays than any other time of year.  But it sadly makes sense, because many people begin to reflect on their lives during this nostalgic time of year and can’t help but notice that things haven’t turned as planned.  What if you’re middle-aged, your life has fallen apart, and you’re not even sure that you can muster the energy to even think about starting to put the pieces back together?  What if you’re just getting started in life, but you can’t seem to find you’re footing in the world?  What if life just hasn’t turned out the way you thought it would, regardless of your particular circumstances?  What do we do now?  Is it worth it to put up a fight?  Would it really make a difference and pay off?  Is it possible to make a real, lasting change?  Do we even know how to go back to square one and recreate the life we once dreamed of?

I’m going to say YES, and let me tell you the two reasons why.  First of all, I am a big believer that God isn’t going to plant a dream within your heart without giving you the ability to attain those dreams.  God planted within you the seeds of greatness!  And He also planted great big huge scary dreams within you as well.  Do you know why He didn’t give you little tiny, mediocre, easily-achievable dreams?  Because then you wouldn’t need to rely on Him with every fiber of your being to reach them!   And choosing not to settle for your current circumstances doesn’t mean that you’re ungrateful for your existing blessings.  You can have a heart full of gratitude and still know deep down that you are destined for more than your eyes can currently see.

Secondly, choosing to fight shows character.  Remember the Law of Entropy:  “Left unattended, everything naturally flows to a state of disorder”.  So keeping things in order takes work!  You must be willing to fight for what you want instead of simply settling for what you can get.

A book I recently read called The Richest Man Who Ever Lived spelled out an incredible definition of the word “diligence”, which I believe lies at the core of the Power of One.  Here is how the author defined “diligence”: “a learnable skill that combines: creative persistence, a smart-working effort rightly planned and rightly performed in a timely, efficient, and effective manner to attain a result that is pure and of the highest quality of excellence.”  The author goes onto explain that if the definition sounds complicated, it’s because true diligence involves many qualities, and that is why it’s so rare.  But, he says, before you dismiss the definition as something that’s “just not me”, you need to know that it can be you.  Anyone can become this type of a person through the choice to learn, develop, and practice the necessary skills.  The choice to develop new habits and rise above who you used to be, regardless of what the crowd – or your track record – says about you.  That is a result of the Power of One.

It’s like the butterfly effect, which you may be familiar with.  The butterfly effect is the supposed influence exerted on an entire system by one small change in initial conditions.  That is the Power of One.  One change.  One decision.  Getting started is always the hardest part.  But that one decision, managed over time, can create the reality that you’re barely daring to dream right now.

And your story doesn’t have to involve money, fame, or recognition.  Maybe your heart is burdened by a need you see around you.  One by one, people do affect change in their own little corner of the world every day.  Do you ever feel that with so much going on in the world, it would be nearly impossible to make a lasting impact?  On Thanksgiving Day, James and I spent a couple of hours working at a Salvation Army in Missouri.  The hall was overflowing with several hundred people looking for a warm meal on the holiday, and I was deeply humbled by what I witnessed.  We were making a couple of trips to the grocery store to help them stock up on much-needed supplies, so we had a conversation with the Director to find out what they specifically needed.  He shared with us that on an average day they fed 90 people who would otherwise have no food at all – and that was just in one station on one side of town.

This man went on to tell us a brief history of his particular center and the community it served.  While he was talking, I couldn’t help but notice that he probably wasn’t more than a paycheck or two away from needing help himself.  He had a very worn face with kind eyes, and he was neatly groomed even though his stained fingernails showed many years of hard labor.  The three-piece suit that he wore with pride was at least one size too big and probably 25 years old.  But he walked through that Salvation Army hall with his head held high and pride in his eyes – because he knew that he was making a difference.  One meal at a time, one person at a time, his years of diligence showed the impact of the Power of One.  As we loaded up our grocery carts and started counting quantities, it was at first disheartening to realize that all of that food was only enough to supply the center with a few days worth of meals.  But as we delivered it back to the men who eagerly unloaded the bags from our car, we realized that it did make a difference to those 90 people who wouldn’t go hungry on those upcoming days.

Remember the law of compounding interest.  And I don’t mean the compounding interest of money.  I’m referring to the compounding interest of time and choices.  You keep going even when no results are evident.  When it’s easy to get tired, frustrated, emotional, disenchanted, lose focus, get distracted, get bored, grow weak, and throw in the towel.  Instead, you simply choose to keep going.  That one choice begins the butterfly effect in your life and the world around you – the Power of One.

You press ahead, even when it seems dull or pointless.  And every time the rest of the world is starting back at zero with their “new commitment” to a “new idea”, you’re adding one more day of compounded interest, compounded effort to your endeavor.  And with nothing more than a little discipline and a willingness to make some short-term sacrifices, a few years from now your dream world can be your reality. Maybe it will mean a change to your bank account, maybe it will mean a change in your family’s future, maybe it will mean a change in another person’s hunger.  But it all starts with your decision to apply the Power of One.

Visit us on the web at www.allisonlamarronline.com

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Digging Deeper with Allison LaMarr…

Happy Thanksgiving!  We truly do have so much to be thankful for, and I am deeply grateful that you allow me to spend a few moments Digging Deeper with you each week.  As another holiday season commences, we are all likely to take a nostalgic walk down memory lane at some point over the next few weeks and wonder where the time has gone.  That actually is a very good question for us to ask ourselves on an annual basis—where exactly has the time gone?  Where has my time gone?  Just as any publicly traded corporation must publish an annual report to show their shareholders what transpired during the fiscal year, any wise entrepreneur will hold themselves accountable for the past year’s productivity.  And to take that thought one step further, anyone, whether in business or not, who wants to accomplish great things and take advantage of all of the gifts God gave them during their lifetime, would perform their own personal annual review to assess whether or not they are on track to achieve those goals and dreams.

For complete details on how to conduct your own annual review, see the 12/24/08 edition of Digging Deeper in the online archives. But before you take a look at the big picture, I’d like for us to put on our micro-managing hat for a few minutes and really inspect the smaller picture.  Get out your microscope, because today we are going to dig deep into the small details of where exactly our time goes.

Do you ever fall into the common trap of working hard and feeling busy, only to have little or nothing to show for your efforts at the end of the day?  I think we’ve all been there more often than we would like to admit.  And the problem only compounds itself, because when we allow multiple days of running in place, they turn into weeks of nothing gained, which become entire months of making no progress that lead to years of getting nowhere.  This is why it’s so important to analyze both the big and small picture separately and then use them together to create a powerful life.  The big picture helps keep your sights set on where you want to go, and the small picture empowers you to actually create that big picture through the daily monotony of life.

It’s been said that champions are motivated by their dream but created by their routine.  Truer words were never spoken.  Many people dream of winning an Olympic medal, but few actually develop the routine to take them there.  Many people dream of making a name for themselves, but few people are willing to create the success habits, do the work, and take the risks to make it possible.  Many people want to create success and wealth in their own life, but few implement a plan and stick with it long enough to achieve it.  As we have all heard at least a thousand times before, success in life isn’t for the chosen few—it’s for the few who choose.  So, how do we become one of “the few” that moves beyond the stages of wishing, hoping, and dreaming into actually creating and living that life?  Of course, that is the million dollar question, but let’s address it today in terms of the daily routine that creates that dream.  You might be excited to know that the daily management of your routine is really quite simple.  All we need to do is ask ourselves two simple questions:

1. 1. Am I putting in enough time to reach my goal within the timeframe I’ve chosen?
2. 2. Am I doing the right things with that time?

Let’s look at the first question.  Addressing the amount of time you want to devote to your business, dream, or goal is totally up to you.  But I would encourage you to take a good hard look at how long the realization of your dream will take with your allotted hours.  If putting in a few extra hours each week would shave a few years off the finish line, it might be worth looking in to.  Also, keep in mind that balance is different for everyone.  What kind of schedule keeps you most energized?  It doesn’t matter what your friends, family, neighbors, or peers are doing.  They may all have different perceptions of the word balance, but more than likely they really haven’t given it much thought at all.  The average family today just lives in response to adult peer pressure (in other words, what they see or assume that all the people around them are doing, whether or not they ever stop to evaluate if it’s actually the best thing for their family, or if they even want to be doing those things to begin with), so be careful what you’re using as your benchmark.  The main point here is to avoid the frustration that comes from trying to live someone else’s balance.

And don’t forget, you must carefully track the time you’re putting in each week to ensure that you are in fact devoting the amount of time that you think you are.  Many of the people I’ve coached have been shocked when they got serious about tracking their time.  Many of them who thought they were easily working 40-50 hour weeks were maybe putting in 20 hours toward their goal on the high end.  So before you assume that would never happen to you, just track to be sure.

OK, let’s move to the second question we must ask ourselves: Am I doing the right things with the time I’m devoting to my goal?  In other words, are you properly aligning your time with the activities that will produce your desired end result? The dictionary describes “alignment” as the “positioning of something for proper performance”.  As I go throughout my day, I’ve made a habit of constantly asking myself the questions, “Is what I’m about to do taking my closer to my goal?  Am I properly aligning my time with the specific activities that will produce my desired end result?”  And if the answer is no, then I must find a way to either release them altogether, delegate them to someone else, or at the very least minimize the amount of time and effort I invest in those areas.

Here’s an illustration that I’ve shared with you before.  A while back, we took my car in for a tune-up only to find out that I was in desperate need of a front-end alignment.  This procedure lines up the direction of the wheels so that the vehicle is pointed in a straight line and goes where the driver wants it to go.  This tune-up is sometimes needed because when an automobile is out of alignment, it can quickly wear down the tread of a tire and can cause a “pull” in one direction, which can obviously become very dangerous.  In that instance, even though the driver has a specific destination in mind, and she wants to get there as quickly and safely as possible, there could be forces at work against her that she isn’t even aware of.  These hidden problems could be causing her minor irritants in her journey, such as constantly pulling her car to one direction while she’s driving.  Or they could explode into life-threatening situations in the blink of an eye with something disastrous like a blow-out.  So, how do you do your best to prevent either one of these circumstances from happening?  With regular maintenance and tune-ups, of course.

I can now see that my own personal daily management and alignment of my time literally determines my annual income.  When I allow myself to take the easy route of coasting on maintenance mode, then my income stalls and my results are at major risk of a disastrous blow-out.  But when I force myself to exercise self-control and switch gears to “growth mode”, I make the on-purpose choice to really align my time with the results I want to produce, and the difference is shocking.  The work is more rewarding, the time I invest actually pays off, and every area of my life seems to ride more smoothly like a well-oiled machine after a much needed tune-up.  Are you in need of an alignment today?  If so, make an appointment with yourself right away to inspect your situation and get yourself back on track in no time!  Your time is too valuable and life is too short to risk a major blowout.

Have a blessed, safe, and truly wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Visit us on the web at www.allisonlamarronline.com

You may copy this article if full credit and an active link is given tohttp://www.allisonlamarronline.com