MOTIVATE THIS. ( 51 Ways to Get Up off Your Buns and Start Enjoying Life) By Mike Moore. Copyright 2005 Mike Moore

Transcription

1 MOTIVATE THIS ( 51 Ways to Get Up off Your Buns and Start Enjoying Life) By Mike Moore Copyright 2005 Mike Moore

2 TEN TERRIFIC SELF- MOTIVATING TIPS By Mike Moore No one can motivate anyone to do anything. All a person can do for another is provide them with incentives to motivate themselves. Here are ten very effective strategies to help you get up and get moving toward actualizing your enormous, untapped potential. * Be willing to leave your comfort zone. The greatest barrier to achieving your potential is your comfort zone. Great things happen when you make friends with your discomfort zone. * Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Wisdom helps us avoid making mistakes and comes from making a million of them. * Don't indulge in self-limiting thinking. Think empowering, expansive thoughts. *Choose to be happy. Happy people are easily motivated. Happiness is your birthright so don't settle for anything else. * Spend at least one hour a day in self-development. Read good books or listen to inspiring tapes. Driving to and from work provides an excellent opportunity to listen to self-improvement tapes. * Train yourself to finish what you start. So many of us become scattered as we try to accomplish a task. Finish one task before you begin another. * Live fully in the present moment. When you live in the past or the future you aren't able to make things happen in the present. * Commit yourself to joy. C.S. Lewis once said, " Joy is the serious business of heaven." * Never quit when you experience a setback or frustration. Success could be just around the corner. 1

3 * Dare to dream big dreams. If there is anything to the law of expectation then we are moving in the direction of our dreams, goals and expectations. The real tragedy in life is not in how much we suffer, but rather in how much we miss, so don't miss a thing. Charles Dubois once said, " We must be prepared, at any moment, to sacrifice who we are for who we are capable of becoming." Happiness in life comes from loving people and using things, not from loving things and using people. 2

4 THE SIMPLE SECRET TO HAPPINESS After a talk I gave in Niagara Falls recently a woman approached me and shared her father's secret to happiness. She said, " My Father believed that there were four requirements to happiness. TO BE HAPPY... 1.You must have someone to love. 2. You must have something meaningful to do. 3. You must have something to look forward 4. You must have someone to laugh with. A pretty sound philosophy! Happiness doesn't depend on being in a certain set of circumstances, but rather on having a certain set of attitudes. Happiness is discovered when we leave loving footprints in the lives of others. This an excerpt from Mike Moore's booklet " How to Overcome Shyness and Connect with People more information on how to obtain a copy visit Count lost that day whose low descending sun Views from your hand no act of kindness done. Anon 3

5 ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING If we are the products of our attitudes then it is important for us to examine our attitudes, both positive and negative, to discover the impact they are having on our lives. This is even more important if we are determined to maximize the potential that is ours, a potential which, in the vast majority of us, remains grossly underdeveloped. Positive attitudes release a power to achieve that will astound you, while negative attitudes severely hamper our becoming the people we are capable of becoming. It become the central task of anyone interested in actualizing their enormous potential to become involved in the process of attitudinal transformation. Attitudinal transformation takes time, effort and determination but it can be done. Don't expect perfection, just progress. It took a long time to develop negative attitudes and it will take time to transform them. It is also important not to concentrate on more than one or two negative attitudes at once. If you overload your agenda for change you run the risk of becoming discouraged and giving up. Once you have identified the negative attitude you wish to transform, commit yourself to the process of becoming conscious of that attitude cropping up throughout the day. You will be surprised at how quickly you will become aware of your target attitude. When you are focussed on the attitude, visualize it leaving your body and flying off into the great beyond. Now replace it with a positive attitude and give yourself the suggestion that from now on this will be your dominant thought pattern. Whenever your old negative attitude creeps back into your mind engage this process of thought replacement. Soon the new attitude will become dominant and you will find yourself enjoying its positive power in your life. 4

6 Be gentle with yourself when you fall back into the old pattern of thinking. Believe that the change you desire will come more frequently and it will. It might help to remember that human beings use between 2 and ten percent of their mind's potential so you have a huge reservoir of unused potential to help you over any periods of discouragement. Don't forget to continue to use humour to keep your spirits up and put the entire process in perspective. HUMOUR MAKES GOOD THINGS HAPPEN. * Pain in life is inevitable, misery is optional. Anon 5

7 The Healing, Motivating Magic of the Night Sky I love the night sky. Not only does it motivate me to live more fully and happily, but there is something comforting, mysterious and hopeful about standing under a canopy of swirling stars. Each summer I go camping alone in Canada s beautiful northland to satisfy a hunger for solitude, wilderness and the night sky. Away from city lights there is nothing more awe inspiring than a star studded sky in the stillness of the wilderness. I usually set up camp beside a lonely northern lake providing me with a long horizon and an uninterrupted view of the heavens. As darkness approaches I begin to sense an overwhelming closeness to the mysteries of the universe and a strong connection to the source of all that is. I become aware of an alternate rhythm to life - a rhythm which is so easily lost amidst the frenetic pace of contemporary existence. Embraced by darkness, with stars too numerous to count and comforted by the gentle lapping of the waves I begin to realize how much I miss living in a city with its incessant, invasive brightness. It is as if I am rediscovering an enormous part of a lost spiritual heritage. When sleep begins to engulf me and my eyes start to close, I reluctantly move toward my camper not wanting to miss a moment of this celestial display but realizing that I can t resist the call to slumber any longer. In the warmth of my sleeping bag I let the silence and stillness lull me to sleep with the immortal words of Sophocles gently echoing across the centuries, Mortal I know I am, short lived. Yet whenever I stand and watch a multitude of swirling stars I no longer tread this earth, but rise to feast with God and enjoy the food of the immortals. And so to sleep. 6

8 * The sea never sleeps and in its vigil there is consolation for the troubled soul. Gibran * If there is no God then the stars are a staircase to nowhere. M.M. * The main objective in life should be peace of mind. M.M. To really make things happen in your life make friends with your discomfort zone. 7

9 HOW TO STOP WASTING PRECIOUS TIME Twenty four hours a day minus the eight hours we sleep leaves us with 16 productive hours to accomplish things that need to be done at home and at work. Of these 16 hours, a lot of time is wasted due to distractions, interruptions and disorganization. We just don't manage our time well. THE TOP SIX TIME WASTERS 1. Television: We average four hours a day watching television. If we live to be 72 it works out to 12 solid years wasted watching TV. This doesn't include time spent on the internet. SOLUTION? Go on frequent television fasts. 2. ing back and forth: becomes time consuming when you consider how often we check it and how frequently we are involved in sending back and forth messages. A survey was done by the American Management Association with these results: Of the 400 business managers polled...35% use to communicate with clients...26% prefer the phone...15% would rather have face to face meetings. Interesting results when you consider the time consumes. 3. Junk mail of the traditional kind. Too much time is wasted opening and then trashing unwanted mail. 4. Drop in visits: When you are in your office with the door open you are an open invitation to those with nothing better to do to drop in for a chat. When they do, they eat up a lot of your precious time. SOLUTION? Keep your door closed. If you don't want to close your door arrange your desk in such a way that people passing by can't see you and drop in for a visit. 8

10 5. Reading every word of every document that crosses your desk. We are living in the age of information and it seems that much of it ends up on your desk each day demanding your attention. If you don't learn how to scan it quickly and either discard it or place it in your " for further study" pile you will end up overwhelmed and stressed. 6. Phone calls that are too long and too frequent. Some people just won't get off the phone and let you get back to work. SOLUTION? Let people know that it is a bad time and then give them a better time to call when you can spare a FEW minutes. Before they call back get an egg timer and put it on your desk. As soon as their call comes in get the egg timer going and then see if you are able to bring the conversation to a conclusion within the three minutes provided by the timer. The message is clear...take back your time or you will never get anything meaningful accomplished. We will never find time for anything. We ve got to make time. 9

11 LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE AND BE HAPPY Life is a mystery to be lived and celebrated not a problem to be solved. Motivate yourself to live life to the fullest. 1. For the next 24 hours, deliberately speak and think positive thoughts about people and events.. If a negative thought enters your mind, visualize it leaving and replace it with a more positive one. 2.Look for the good in people. Overlook the bad. 3.Make time to relax your mind and body. Think of a beautiful scene, a sunset, a moonlit night, the ocean etc. Let the scene quiet your mind and relax your body 4.When tense and uptight about people and situations, take three deep breaths. Visualize the tension leaving your body as you exhale. Recall a happy event and enjoy the feeling. 5.Listen to quiet music and be still. Let it soothe your anxious spirit. 6.Learn to be amused by the weaknesses of yourself and others. Don't let those weaknesses upset or distract you. 7.Don't take yourself, others, or life too seriously. 8.Remember that good health requires a healthy body and a healthy mind. 9.Health of body, mind and spirit is within your control. 10.Learn to laugh and let laughter heal your spirit. Laughter is the best medicine. 10

12 11.Love your work and enjoy it. Change your attitude toward your work and the people with whom you come in contact and joy will return to your life in abundance. 12.Love others as they are, not as you want them to be, and your world becomes a much more joyful place. 13.Remember that worry and fear are destructive. They rob you of happiness and joy. Let go of worry and fear and trust in a power greater than you. 14.Count your blessings each day. 15.Live fully, laugh heartily, relax daily, love completely and enjoy the journey. 11

13 Thoughts to Move You I will always include an author s byline if the author is known to me. If there is none you know I haven t a clue who wrote or said it. * I think it was George Bernard Shaw that said, Some people should have on their headstones, DIED AT 30, BURIED AT 82.. * We all die but very few of us really live. * Make sure you die living. Don t live dying. Kuschner * Thoughts rule the world. Emerson. * The mind can make a heaven out of hell or a hell out of heaven. Milton * We choose the attitude with which we face our fate. V. Frankl * We are what we think about all day long. ( I said this to a group of teenagers awhile back and one young guy stood up and said, If that were true I would be female.) * Sow a seed of kindness and reap a harvest of friends. 12

14 * There are no fixed limits to human potential. * The future arrives before we are willing to give up the past. * You re never too old to become what you might have been. * Life is meant to teach us not overwhelm us. M. Moore * Laziness: the habit of resting before fatigue sets in. J. Renard * Worry is like a rocking chair. It will give you something to do but won t get you anywhere. 13

15 BECOMING ASSERTIVE Our failure to accomplish our dreams is frequently the result of not being motivated but our lack of motivation is often due to the fact that we are afraid to assert ourselves. We are frequently reluctant to assert ourselves because we hunger fo approval, acceptance and belonging. If we do assert ourselves we might lose what we hunger for. I say if you fear having the approval and acceptance of the person you are confronting withdrawn they weren t worth having in the first place.. Go ahead. Assert yourself. Take the risk. Remember, you don t exist on this planet to be someone s doormat. 1. Don't avoid expressing your negative or critical feelings. They are not bad or improper, they are just your feelings and you are entitled to them. 2. Feelings aren't facts. They are just feelings. 3. Use "I" Language to indicate that the feelings you are expressing are yours. You are not accusing or judging anyone. 4. You don't have to justify your feelings, you only need to state them. 5. Assertive behaviour discloses your wants, needs,preferences and opinions. Aggressive behaviour discounts, ignores and over-rides the wants, needs, preferences and opinions of others. 6. Assertive behaviour supports your own dignity, while aggressive behaviour demeans the dignity of others. 14

16 7. Toxic people usually put others down when relating to them, with a look of distain, a sarcastic remark or direct verbal bullying. 8. You must have the courage to be assertive. WE RECEIVE THE KIND OF TREATMENT WE TOLERATE. Note If we can t motivate ourselves to assertiveness can we motivate ourselves to anything? 15

17 Anything Worth Doing is Worth Doing Badly Our culture seems to have elevated the quest for perfection to the status of virtue. When someone is described as a perfectionist they are frequently admired and envied. A perfectionist, in my opinion, is someone living in a constant state of dissatisfaction and that isn t healthy. To perfectionists, no one, including their spouse, children, family, friends and themselves ever measures up to their impossible standards. Perfectionists spend their lives never being happy with what they have accomplished, always wanting things to be perfect. I could have or should have done better becomes the motto by which they live. Can you imagine the anxiety involved in living with a perfectionist? I recall teaching a bright highschool senior whose mother was a perfectionist. After receiving an A in my subject she looked rather emotionless. I asked her if she was pleased with the mark she achieved and she said, Yes, but my Mother won t be. She ll want to know why it isn t an A+. I don t know if full blown perfectionism can be changed without psychological intervention,but I do think that it can definitely be avoided by adopting more reasonable expectations of yourself and others. How? * Make friends with your imperfections and those of others. Sure it is important to strive to do well in what you attempt,but if your best efforts don t result in what you wanted to achieve, don t be too hard on yourself. It is more important to strive to improve than to insist on perfection. * Strive to find pleasure in what you do, not perfection. 16

18 * Believe in the old saying ANYTHING WORTH DOING IS WORTH DOING BADLY. If you enjoy playing the piano but play it poorly, keep playing for the sheer pleasure it gives you. It isn t important how well you play. It is more important that you get pleasure out of doing it. * Never let your urge to do something well become a compulsion to do it perfectly. Just commit yourself to the joy of doing and enjoy the thrill of improving at it. * Live by the law of reasonable expectations rather than by the law of perfection. Not only is perfection stressful, it s also boring. Imperfection evokes humour and laughter while perfection evokes stress, frustration and anger. One promotes health and well being; the other, anxiety and dis-ease. * Learn to laugh at yourself and your imperfections. If you don t, you leave the job to someone else. * Human beings, by nature, are imperfect so relax and enjoy the fact. I want people to feel motivated but I don t want them to become obsessed with perfection. If we feel compelled to perfection and then never achieve it ( because no one ever does) then we risk not even trying to achieve anything. 17

19 The Law of Expectations The Law of Expectations states that we move toward and eventually realize what we expect from life. If you expect to be successful, if you work hard to achieve success and if you never give up, you will achieve your expectations. When you combine the law of expectations with visualization you compound your possibilities. If you expect to be successful and visualize yourself as successful the likelihood of you achieving success is certain. Remember, we tend to become what we expect to become. When applied to everyday situations it looks like this. Let s say you have a job interview. Prior to the interview you start expecting it to be a sparkling, enthusiastic success. Visualize yourself as an interesting, witty, well informed master of your domain who totally enjoys the opportunity to shine. Hold this expectation and vision in your mind firmly. Don t let go of it for anything. Repeat over and over, I tend to become what I expect to become and achieve what I expect to achieve. If you commit yourself to this process you will begin to see improvement in every aspect of your life.. You will be on the way to becoming the confident and capable person you want to become. What s more, people will want to listen to what you have to say and your charisma quotient will increase significantly. I believe this to be true because it worked in my life as a speaker. When I stand in front of an audience I put the Law of expectations to work for me. The results have been remarkable. 18

20 Overcoming Fear Today, more than ever, we need to learn how to handle fear. We are definitely a frightened people and our fear seems to be increasing every day. If we don t learn how to confront and control fear, we risk losing our emotional and physical health and ultimately the joy of living. A life of fear brings with it anxiety, stress, frustration and anger th which inevitably result in a loss of joy and hope. Prior to September 11 we lived in fear of many things- getting old, losing our hair, heights, water, mice, speaking in public etc. All these seem rather trivial in light of the terror experienced on that insane day in September. Now we seem to be engulfed by a fear which is depressing and brings many to the brink of despair. We MUST do something about it. I REFUSE TO LIVE ENGULFED BY FEAR In my talks and seminars throughout North America I tell people that, while they have no control over the events of life, they have total control over their response to these events. This is where we begin to wage our battle with fear. Here are a few suggestions I have found helpful in my fight with fear. Reflect on them, select those you find appropriate and prepare your own battle plan. YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE. Don t let fear of failure, rejection or perceived threat prevent you from going for the gusto. * Say this many times throughout your day. 95 percent of what I fear will never happen and the five percent that does happen will never be as bad as I envision. 19

21 * Picture yourself living fully and happily in the midst of turmoil. We do tend to live out of our vision. * Take all reasonable precautions and then get on with the business of living well. * Say to yourself, I REFUSE TO BE RULED BY FEAR. * Make humour and laughter a huge part of your daily life no matter what circumstances you are in. Laughter is good therapy and a very pleasant diversion.. * Search your Holy Book for inspiration and hope. * Think thoughts of peace, not thoughts of affliction. * Lose yourself in action or you will wither in despair. *Remember, we might be forced to live with the shadow of fear, but no one can force us to live in its shadow. * Never stop believing in the power of your potential. I would like to close with these words from Eleanor Roosevelt... You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, I ve lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along. You must do the thing you think you cannot do. 20

22 Live in peace, Live in joy, Live in love Live in hope And you can conquer any adversity. Mike Moore Mike Moore is an international speaker on human potential, motivation and humour. You are invited to subscribe to his FREE newsletter LIFELINE at 21

23 The Healing Power of Laughter Laughter isn't just fun and enjoyable, it's good for our health. Each month modern medicine is discovering more about the therapeutic dimension of humour and laughter and is encouraging us to add them to our wellness program. When we laugh we... * lower our blood pressure. The Health Benefits of Laughter * promote relaxation and reduce stress. * increase the oxygen level in our blood giving us more energy. * increase the endorphin activity in our body resulting in a sense of well being. * are able to keep things in perspective * banish boredom * are more socially attractive. People enjoy being with those who laugh easily and often. * increase our enjoyment of life. Laughter has been called social glue because it bonds us to the people we laugh with. The message is clear: To live better...laugh more. 22

24 If it feels good to laugh then laugh to feel good. This is an excerpt from Mike Moore's latest book Light Up With Laughter available at 23

25 Links View a 5 minute video of Stress and Humor Subscribe to Mike's FREE newsletter Lifeline at mailto:sendlifeline@sendfree.com Committed to the enjoyment of life A funny, stress reducing photo To explore the exciting world of Professional Speaking For Mike s books, CDs, manuals and special reports More motivational cartoons 24

26 CONCLUSION I really do believe that, while we have no control over what happens to us in life, we have total control over how we respond to what happens to us. It is within our power to make a heaven out of hell as Milton so eloquently says. I hope this e-book helps you realize that life is a gift to be treasured in spite of its obvious pain and suffering. It isn t something to be endured and tolerated. As I wrote in one of my books, Just because we have a pain doesn t mean we have the right to be one. The tragedy in life is not in how much we suffer but in how much we miss. Carlyle Do Take care and Live well. Mike Moore If you are ever in need of a speaker with a great message in a fun package give me a call. 25