Victor Terekhovskyi, Author at Author of Your Own Story

You Have To Have A Stake In The Game

There’s a story about a fishmonger, and there’s a very successful fishmonger selling fish, only the finest qualities, and his business was really good. He started specializing in one particular type of fish, and this fish became complacent. They just stopped swimming around, and overall, just got pretty lazy. Now, the quality of this fish started to drop. The flavor profile just wasn’t there. The fish weren’t swimming around, they weren’t getting the exercise they needed, or absorbing the correct amount of nutrients.

He started to see his customer base dying quickly. Then a friend had a suggestion, and said, “Geez, these fish are lazy. Why don’t you put a predator in the tank, to really give those fish an extra push so they’re swimming around, and really being active?” Well, he did this. He followed his friend’s advice, and all of a sudden, the flavor profile went through the roof once again, and his business soared. The fish had something at stake, they had to be active.

The same could be used for you. Now, I’m not saying anything that you need to put a predator in there, but you need a mental predator sometimes to give you that push. Not always, but sometimes. I’m going to share with you a few ways that I’ve done it successfully with clients that I work with.

Now, one is a financial investment, right? If you have a goal or a dream that you’ve had for year after year, and you just haven’t really achieved it. Now, 2018 is coming up around the corner, and many of us have had New Year’s resolutions that we had from last year that we just haven’t hit. I get it, but sometimes making sure you have something at stake, or something in the game really helps give you that extra push.

Something I’ve done with clients, one, is I have them pick an organization or a cause that really triggers them, something they really don’t like. For one client, for example, he really had a problem with the Aryan Nation, right? A racist, white supremacist group, and I understood. I have another client who was a staunch Republican and hates the liberals. Hated democrats. Now, my job as a coach is not to judge. We talk about these issues, of course, but I use these as leverage; little bits of leverage to get people to move.

So for one client, what I had him do, is I said, “Hey, you know what? I need you to write me a check for $5,000. Don’t write it to me though, what I want you to do, is I want you to write it to the democratic party. You’re going to write it and endorse it to them, send me the check, and I’m going to hold onto it.” He just looked at me like I was crazy. “Why would I give them money? That’s ridiculous. I absolutely hate them. They’re what’s wrong with this country, Doug,” and he went on a slight rant.

Once I calmed him down, and I explained. I said, “Look, I’m not going to cash this check, I can’t get anything from it. I’ll tear it up as soon as you hit your goals, as soon as you get progress to where you need to be.” Now, this goal that he had was a six-month goal. He thought that “Yeah, it’s a stretch goal, but maybe I can get it done in six months.” So what I told him is, “Here’s our agreement. I’ll have this check, and when six months, if you haven’t done the desired work to get to the goal, I’m mailing it off to the democratic party.”

Right away, what’d he do? He achieved his goal within three months. He halved his time. Now, you’ve got to imagine, this was a big goal he had, and so six months was a stretch. Knowing in the back of his mind, that to him, what was wrong with America was going to get his money, and his name was going to be listed as a contributor, was an ego blow more than the financial blow.

I did something very similar, although it was a smaller amount. It was $1,000. I did this for a client who had a problem with losing weight. Now, what they were doing, is they were just self-sabotaging. They were going out on the weekends, they were drinking, they were having nachos, they were doing all these things. They said, “Doug, I desperately just can’t figure out how I can lose this weight. I just don’t really do it.”

Now, this was the time when in the news, I think it was the Aryan Brotherhood, I don’t remember the organization, but one of these hate groups, and it was a white supremacist group was in the news causing trouble. He expressed to me how much it really bothered him. He happened to be of another ethnicity, so it really bothered him, because it affected his kids.

When we were talking about it, I said, “Look, this is what we’re going to do. I want you to write me a check for $1,000, and address it to the Aryan Nation.” That wasn’t the exact group, but we actually found an organization on there that listed all of their contributors online. I said, “I’m going to mail them a check, so if you don’t get to the gym six days a week, and follow your diet six days a week, and hit your fitness goals within a one year period, I’m mailing this check. Not only am I going to mail this check, I’m going to do something more. I’m going to go to the website, take a screenshot, and showing you as a contributor, and I’m posting that on social media.”

Is that motivating? Well, I’ll tell you what, it was. He hit his goals in less than half the time. The idea of contributing to a hate group that he believed directly would affect and potentially harm his family and have all his friends see that he contributed, was the motivation he needed. He had a stake in the game. He needed to do it.

Now, I know this might sound aggressive to you, and picking something with hate, and I know a lot of people have different issues with that alone, but it works. You got to pick the right organization, so what organization right now in your mind, just really ruffles your feathers, really just gets you pissed off? For me, it’s any organization that abuses kids or picks on people that can’t defend themselves. It’s easy for me to do any one of those, I’m happy to have. If I had any way of contributing to them, it would hurt my heart, and tear my soul down.

I’ve used this effectively against myself by mailing my check to a friend. It’s got to be a trusted advisor, right? Somebody that you actually trust, who’s not just going to mail it off to be a jerk, but you can actually hand it to a friend, or a co-worker. Somebody who will hold you accountable to make sure you hit your goals, but also somebody who will hold you accountable so if you don’t hit your goals, will take action.

You have to know that they’re going to take action, and mail that check. It’s not to be mean, but they’re going to do that to hold you accountable. When you know that somebody’s going to do something like that beyond a shadow of a doubt, whether it be a coach that you’re working with or somebody else in your life, then you’re going to take action. You’re going to take dramatic action each and every day.

Another option is by making a social declaration, and what this could be is before and after photos. I use this a lot with weight loss. I say, “Take a picture of me right now in your underwear.” I ask them to take a picture of them. Usually, this is somebody that’s 40 plus pounds overweight, they don’t feel good about themselves, so this is a hard thing. Again, my clients are business owners, so they have a lot of pride in their business, but maybe their physical appearance has slipped a little bit.

Do they want a picture going out of them in their underwear? Heck no, so here’s what we do. I have them send me the picture, and again, I’m a trusted advisor to them, so you’ve got to be careful who you’re sending this to, and I have them hit their goals. Now, the same example. “I need you to check into the gym X number of days a week, and send me your food log. I’m going to look over this. If everything looks good, and you followed that plan, that picture gets deleted. Now, if it doesn’t, I’m posting this on social media, I’m tagging you, and I’m tagging your friends.”

Now, most people know, I own two different marketing agencies, very easy for me to get this information out quickly. I’m very, very good at it. I make sure that they understand this, but I also have a relationship with them that they know that I would never deliberately hurt them, and this is really just a motivating factor, so they trust me completely.

With this, now they have skin in the game, right? So now you’re having each and every person for me as a coach, they’re actually diving deep, and going towards their goals because the motivation is there. Now, yes, this is a little bit of a fear motivator, but this is a motivator that gives you skin in the game, right? You could spin this around and make it a positive impact too, right? You can do the same thing and say, “Hey, look. $5,000 if you don’t hit your goal goes to the democratic part, but if you do hit your goal, what do we get to do in a positive reinforcement?” That’s the way that I approach it, and that’s the way you can do it too.

Anyway, just wanted to give you this quick tip. It’s got a lot longer than I anticipated, but it’s about having skin in the game, and you really need to have skin in the game to push yourself forward, because life happens. At the end of the day, if you have a goal or a dream, and you wake up in the morning, and you’re not motivating by it by any means, there’s nothing really pushing you or pulling you … ideally, you’re being pulled towards it, but sometimes we need a gentle push. This could be just the one that works for you.

If you need someone to send it to, let me know. I’ll be happy to be your accountability partner. That’s it for me today. Have a fantastic day. Remember, go over to AuthorOfYourOwnStory.com, where you get the latest tips, tricks, and techniques right to your inbox. Go out and inspire someone, simply by being the Author of Your Own Story.

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Stop Being So Stiff

Oftentimes as business owners especially, we can find ourselves being really constrained, very stiff. This is especially true if coming out of your shell is newer to you if you’ve … having experienced the Spotlight Effect in one of our previous Daily Growth Hacks, make sure you check that out.

When you’re being stiff, you’re actually limiting yourself. You’re limiting your energy. You’re actually having a lot of constraints on you. The key is monkeying around and being playful with it. If you have a problem or a situation you’re dealing with, maybe it’s with an employee, maybe it’s you’re actually innovating a new product, or new solution engineering something coming up with your business, or maybe it’s other areas of relationships and your very stiff around your kids, your loved ones, or your friends for that matter, try something different.

Try playing, try monkeying around. Take a cue from children. Children are always playing, and when they find a problem, they look for a creative solution by playing whatever that problem is. Oftentimes for children, it’s actually a physical object, but for us, for us who are on the path of being the authors of our own story, it can actually be an inanimate object. It can be a problem within us, within ourselves. Finding a loose way of looking at it.

Today, if you’re faced with a problem or a situation, what I want you to do is write it down and look at where you can be playful with it. Look at it differently, embrace your childlike behavior. In fact, I encourage you to act like you’re a five or six, or seven, or even a 10-year-old. Don’t go with any older than that, but go up to 10 years old and face that problem, and how would you act it? Act goofy. Look at the problem differently. It’s going to spawn some creativity and has those juices flowing within you, which is going to allow you to see it from a different angle and a different way. When you can see things from multiple angles and multiple different perspectives, it gives you the opportunity to shift and change when you need to.

Today, I want you to stop being stiff. Grab your journal. Write out your Five to Thrive, your mind, your body, your soul, your relationships, and your business, and where are you being too stiff. I talked to a friend the other day who is extremely regimen in around his exercise program. He looks great, and he’s feeling well. However, the stiffness is actually affecting his relationships and his business. Now, when I told him to play around with it, he got upset. I looked at him, I said, “Okay, what supplements are you taking?” and he gave me this laundry list. I said, “What exercise routine are you doing?” “Doug, I have this periodized routine structured out for three months.”

I said, “Great. How does that make you feel when you’re going through this?” He paused for a second. He said, “Actually, it makes me feel kind of crappy. I feel like I have to get this done. I feel like this is just something I have to do no matter what.” I said, “That’s fine. Look, what if you took an adaptive playful attitude around the situation? What if you did that? Just give it a second.” He got back on a phone call and he’s like, “Wow! Dude, totally different, totally different outlook. In fact, when I’d look at a playful situation with a problem …” which is around his macros in his diet, he actually spawns a creative idea for his business. That’s what I want to leave you with today. Just remember, when you’re stiff and you can feel it within your body, I want you to loosen up, take a couple of deep breaths and get playful with it. That’s the key today, have some fun, monkey around, and be a child.

All right, that’s it for me today. As always, go to authorofyourownstory.com where you can get the latest tips, trips, and techniques delivered right to your inbox. I highly encourage you to do this. We spend a lot of time delivering valuable content that we hope will allow you to take another step on your journey. Go out and inspire someone today by being the Author of Your Own Story.

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Give Yourself A Pat On The Back

When’s the last time you gave yourself a pat on the back? Follow along with me. Go ahead and raise your right hand really high. Raise it high. Now, what I want you to do is I want you to bend your elbow to a 90-degree angle, so your hand is behind your head. Then I want you to rotate your palm so it’s actually facing the ground, and then I simply want you to pat yourself on the back.

That’s right, what I want you to do is give yourself a pat on the back. We’re often our own worst critics, right? We often criticize ourselves for the things that we’re not doing. The conversations we’re having in our own heads make us our own worst enemy. We criticize ourselves on the things we didn’t eat — or the things we did eat, probably more likely if you’re like me — or the tasks we didn’t do. On the whiteboard behind me, I have more things than I could possibly do all week, yet I’m hoping to get them done here today. Now, of course, I’ve prioritized them, because I’ve learned from my own mistakes, but I still have them there, and it’s easy for me to criticize myself, rather than pat myself on the back for all that I’ve already done today, or in the past.

So I’m going to ask you this question: What is it that you’ve done recently that you can give yourself a pat on the back? And I want you to write that down, and then I want you to think back, when was it another time? And I want you to come up with five, five ways that you should give yourself a pat on the back. You get bonus points if you come up with reasons for each of your Five to Thrive. This will give you a whole listed representation of why you should give yourself a pat on the back. What have you done? What obstacles have you overcome in your mind, in your body, in your soul, in your relationships, in your business?

If you’re a business owner, you definitely have obstacles in your business every single day, and obstacles in relationships, because business is about people, but also as a business owner, we’re often criticized for taking too much time away from our friends and family. So this is something you could think of, but I bet you’ve come up with ways around that, and ways to achieve success despite the obstacles in front of you. So I want you to write down these obstacles that you’ve faced in the past that you’ve overcome, and the more you can do, the better, because what you’re doing is you’re reinforcing your brain to discover wins, not losses, and that’s going to point you in the direction of winning, and winning more often.

Now, there’s a story that I’ve heard before, and I absolutely love, and I tell it often, is when you actually look at the ride on the 15 highway to Las Vegas, coming from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Now, you’re on that road, and it’s just desert for miles and miles and miles, and on that desert, there are telephone poles. These telephone poles are probably, I don’t know, 300 to 500 yards apart, or meters, internationally. They’re far apart, but yet, when accidents occur, if you look at this whole stretch, when cars veer off the road, more often than not, what happens? They hit a telephone pole.

Now, how is this possible? These poles are stretched so far apart that it would be so much easier to miss them, right? You would think statistically, you’d miss them. The problem is, is people hit what they focus on, and so if someone’s steering off the road, they’re veering, what they do is they look up at the obstacle in front of them, which is the telephone pole, and that’s what they’re focused on, and that’s where their car goes. Race car drivers will always tell you if you look just a little bit ahead of the track of where you’re going, that’s where you end up, and that’s how they’re able to zip around curves at lightning speed.

This is the same for people that have already become the authors of their own story. They can tell you that what you’re focusing on the right in front of you is what you’re going to hit, and oftentimes, we focus on the obstacles, not giving ourselves the pat on the back. So today, you’re going to flip that script, and you’re going to give yourself a pat on the back, and you’re going to discover and focus on your successes, and by doing that, you’re going to get even more. That’s it from me today. Remember, go out and be the Author of Your Own Story, share this with somebody that you love and you care about, and now, after you’ve given yourself a pat on the back, I want you to go out and earn another one by being the author of your own story and inspiring those around you. Take care and have a great day!

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Picking Up the Paperclip

The other day I was walking in my office, and I walked by a paperclip on the ground. As I walked by I felt the urge to bend down and pick it up, but I also felt the urge to just keep going because it was just a paperclip on the ground and I was in the middle of packing for a trip. Then I realized that it was just a part of the energy that was going occupy a part, of my mind. The paperclip, that is.

So I stopped and remembering the little things that matter, and I turned around and grabbed the paperclip. And all of a sudden, unbeknownst to me, a small weight felt like it lifted from my shoulders as I placed the paperclip back where it belonged. So I started noticing that, and I went through the rest of the day making sure I picked up the paperclips in my life, meaning make sure I did the little things. Those little things that you just kind of let go, that could be taking out the trash a little earlier than maybe you want to, filing paperwork, organizing your background, organizing your desk, cleaning your whiteboard. Whatever that may be for you, picking up the paperclips is just an analogy, just a symbol for those little things in our life that we put off because they’re easy to do but easy not to do.

Also maybe you might think, walking down the street, “Oh, that’s a piece of trash, that’s kind of annoying but somebody else will get it, you know. Somebody else will do it. I didn’t leave that trash; I don’t need to pick it up.” But I can almost guarantee, if you pick up a piece of trash or you pick up the paperclip in your office, or whatever may be around your home, you’ll feel a little less weight, a little weight come off your body, because it frees the energy. It frees the energy in your headspace as well. Because I believe somewhere, subconsciously, you’re actually storing the memory of actually forgetting to pick up the paperclip and leaving something, leaving something you know you should do. This is almost like chipping away at your self-discipline, right? So if we say we’re going to go out running in the morning and we don’t go running one morning, it becomes easier the second morning and the next morning, doesn’t it? It does, and this goes the same thing if we say, “You know what, one doughnut, one hamburger is not going to hurt,” and that one turns into two, three, four. And next thing you know it’s been six months, and you’re off your diet.

I think the paperclip is just a symbol and just a representation of all these little things that occur in our life. So today what I want you to do is look at the paperclips in your life, and especially what I want you to do is grab your journal and put your Five to Thrive down. This is going to be really important. In each of your Five to Thrive, identify the paperclips that you regularly encounter. Where are those paperclips in each of those categories? For me, it was in my office, and the little things that were left around. That’s a paper clip in my mind, because it’s occupying my mind space. I always used to say that I live in organized chaos, but the truth is that when I clean my office, and I detail, or maybe it’s just the house in general, and I detail it, I just feel better.

Why? Do I know where things are more? No, I just feel better because I think it cleans the actual space around me, the head space that is being occupied. So I want you to identify your Five, your Five to Thrive, and where are those paper clips? We all have them, where are they in your life? And then immediately I want you to take action right after you listen to this and have written down your Five to Thrive, and identified your paper clips. Take immediate action to at least one of one those, just one. Take immediate action in the moment. That’s it from me today. Remember, go over to authorofyourownstory.com, where you’ll get the latest tips, tricks, and techniques delivered right to your inbox each and every day. And go out and inspire someone by being the Author of Your Own Story.

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Knowing What Matters

Here I am down in Orange County, California down at a private beach, a house located in a gated community with its own private beach just beyond the wall that I’m standing next to. An absolutely amazing place. I’m down here for the holidays visiting my family.

The reason I bring this up isn’t to brag about being at a beautiful location. The reason I bring this up is because, on Thanksgiving Day, I realized something. My newborn baby, seven months old, had to be rushed to the emergency room. We had to take him in for an emergency eye infection. Now he had pus coming out of his eyes, and I won’t get into the details because it wasn’t pretty, but I can tell you, as a father, it has struck a chord within me, as it would all of you. Now, what it made me realize is money doesn’t buy you happiness. Living in a private beach community certainly doesn’t buy you happiness, but what money does give you and the ability to have the freedom to live life on your terms gives you the opportunity to take care of those things that are most important for you.

For me, this is my family. Going on this Author of Your Own Story journey started off very selfishly. It started off with wanting to live life from my terms, a life that I dreamed of, and a life that would allow me to do more and give back more to other people. But what it’s turned into along this journey is also giving more to my family. Now what I’ve realized is since I started this journey, I’ve gotten married and I’ve had a family, so I have a new child, and I’ve realized that living the Author of Your Own Story way, having balance in my five to thrive and really going after my goals and my dreams and applying that to my family allowed me the versatility to go to the best hospital in Orange County and get the best care for my child.

Now, he’s on the mend and everything is great, and we’re actually able to enjoy a gorgeous, sunny beach walk this Thanksgiving, and I’m so grateful for it. But what I want you to do is, right now, write down in your journal, write down where are you stopping your journey because of some limitation, some belief, and what pushes you through. What could you do right now? If you had a loved one that was sick, can you provide for them? If you can’t, why not? You have the ability. You have all the strength. You have all the resources and resourcefulness available to you. It’s just for you just need to go out and get after it. That’s the secret of very successful people. They go after their goals and dreams. They go after money because they know money doesn’t buy you happiness, but it buys you the ability to do things when you need to; ability to be prepared and do things when they matter.

That’s what I want to leave you with today is just the thought. I know there’s so many of you out there that listen to these Daily Growth Hacks, and you’re getting a lot from these little tidbits here and there, but you’re not taking that big leap. Why? You don’t need money right now, and it’s not just about money, but it’s also about the freedom. It’s about your health. Maybe you’re healthy enough, but you need greater health because when you get sick in times of adversity, you’re going to want that health, you’re going to want that bank or that deposit, so to speak, that you have to draw upon when you need it the most. The thing is, is you can’t just go get it when you need it. You can’t just go get healthy immediately when you get sick.

Now you had to have already been healthy, had been extra healthy, to allow you to bounce back from sicknesses much quicker. You had to have money in the bank in your savings account to allow you to take care of your family. You had to have emotional bank accounts, emotional deposits in order to tap into relationships when you need them the most. You don’t want to wait until you actually need something to have it available to you. This is what I want to leave you with today.

So grab your journal. Write in your five to thrive and write out where you think in the future you can need more deposits that you need to put in today. I want you to take action. So if it’s in your mind, just learning a foreign language or learning a skill, learn that skill now before you need it. If it’s in your body, take care of your health now before you need to take care of your health. If it’s in your soul, it’s the same thing. Meditate now. Take care of your peace of mind now in this moment. In your relationships, make those emotional deposits before you need them. Before you need help from friends, give, give, give and contribute. If it’s in your business, this is time to sow. You not only plant the seeds for tomorrow but go ahead and reap the benefits, grow your business, scale it to unimaginable levels so you can actually take advantage of all that has to offer.

So when times come when your child is sick, when your family needs to go on vacation or something happens, you’re able to provide the resource. That gives you freedom, and that allows you to be the author of your own story. That’s it for me today. Have a great day. Remember, go out and be the author of your own story and spend time with those you love. Take care.

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Revisit: Talent Always Wins

Throughout my life, I’ve played soccer, and I’ve played soccer at a very competitive level. Although I only played one year in college, I played after that as well. I can tell you, I have never been the best guy on the field. Just haven’t. I’m not the most talented soccer player. I certainly don’t have the build, and I certainly don’t have the skills the other guys have had. Yet, I’ve been able to maintain being able to play at a competitive level because I will outwork the other guy.

I know in my mind that I am willing to put in the work, put in the hustle, and actually do what it takes to run through and make that extra step to get the ball. Now, in soccer, I can make this analogy apply to almost anything I’ve been involved in. I’m not the most talented in business, certainly. I’m not the most talented or gifted speaker, but I’m willing to do the work. I’m willing to do the work that pushes me forward.

I’ve seen this time and time again. I didn’t get this as some innate being or something that was just inside me. In fact, my father, one time when I was a kid, told me I always give up. I remember that. But what I started to see over and over again was hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. Now, what I saw was, in my sporting career, was actually the guys on the team who tended to be the most talented would give up. They were lackadaisical. They knew they were good.

Yet, I was always picked at the top five on every soccer team I’ve ever been involved in. The only reason I was picked at the top is that I’ll hustle. I’ll actually go out there and grind it out each and every time. I love it. I love the competitive nature that soccer gave me. I love the physicality. I loved everything about the sport. I also had a mentality. People listening to this … a lot of the guys I played soccer with through the years listen to this, and they know. They’ve heard me say this sometimes. I’m a defender.

When I’m going down the field, and someone’s got the ball, and they’re coming near me, I’m mentally thinking, “That’s my ball. They took my ball, and I want it back,” and I go in with that ferocious feeling and I get that ball back most of the time.

Now, I’ve applied the same philosophy to business. Not an aggressive, competitive stance, but in the idea that I know I can grind it out. I know I can have the longevity and pull myself up by own bootstraps and get the work done.

There are a lot more talented business people out there, but most of the people that I run into that are extremely talented stop short of the finish line. They don’t actually push themselves and run through their goals. See, it’s just like training or just like working out. If you and I were to get on the field and we were to sprint 40 yards, would you run through that 40-yard line or would you stop just a few yards short? Now, I know you’re listening to this or watching me right now, and you’re the type that would run through each and every time.

But what I want you to consider is that there are times in our lives that we don’t push through. There are times in our lives that we don’t run through the finish line. These are the times that we want to recognize and recognize as patterns. Why aren’t we doing those little things necessary to push ourselves through that little bit extra?

Now, I also often hear from people like, “Hey, there are other people doing this. They’re more talented than I am,” “There are more talented graphic designers, so I won’t start my own graphic design business,” “There are more talented people in the acting field, so I won’t become an actor even though that’s my passion. I’ll sit back and I’ll work in my accountancy office instead of following my dreams.” I can tell you that my personal life experience, and life experience of most of the people that I talk to and my mentors, is that talent works and talent works well only when talent is working hard. But, unfortunately, talent doesn’t tend to work hard.

You have the opportunity of just pushing through just that little bit extra. So I’m going to ask you this, in your Five to Thrive … Write this down. That’s your mind, body, soul, relationships, and business. Where are you not pushing through that 40-yard line? Where are you running towards the finish line but stopping just a little bit short because you can see the end goal right in front of you? Where are you not sprinting through that finish? Now, what I want you to do is write those areas down. Don’t judge yourself, but write those areas down and ask yourself why.

Why are you not sprinting through? Is it your career? Are you just kind of coasting? 5:00 comes around, and you have a normal job and 5:00 is your let-out time and so 4:50 you’re starting to shut down the computer. That’s not going to get you to your goals. Sure, we all have done these things at times, but where can you put that little bit of extra effort in and push through? Because you know when you put that extra effort in, time flies, you have more fun, and you enjoy it better. You feel better about yourself.

So, where are you doing this across your Five to Thrive? Now, when you’ve got this down, ask yourself why you’re doing it. If it’s something you want to do, push through. Then, what I want you to do is ask yourself, “How does that feel?” How does that feel to push that extra little bit through?

Remember, your competition, whatever that is, even if that’s a competition with your old self, they’re coasting through the 40-yard line as you push through. That’s is for me today. Remember to go to authorofyourownstory.com where you can get more tips, tricks, and insights from experts in all across different fields. Have a great day!

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Revisit: You and the Million Dollar Thoroughbred

Imagine that you just went out and invested in a million-dollar Thoroughbred. A racehorse of supreme quality. Now when you take this horse home, are you going to go to the stable and feed this horse junk food? Are you going to push this horse beyond its breaking point causing injury, causing fatigue? Are you going to allow this thoroughbred to stay up late, are you going to keep it up really late and wake it up early in the morning so it gets sleep deprived? Are you going to treat this horse poorly? Of course, you’re not.

You’ve made a solid investment. Not only that, but this is a beautiful animal that you probably love and cherish. You’re going to treat it with respect. You’re going to feed this million dollar racehorse with the finest foods. You’re going to make sure that it’s eating really well and optimally trained. You’re going to make sure its body is worked out on a regular basis, but not pushing it too hard, but pushing it harder each time so it continues to get better. You’re going to make sure this million dollar race horse actually gets that quality sleep it needs, and you’re probably going to make sure it gets the love and respect it deserves.

So step back, you know that you’re worth way more than a million dollars. Your health, your wellness, your relationships in your life. Then why is it that we feed ourselves junk food on a continuous basis? You know your body is worth more than a million dollars. Why is it that we stay up later than we should watching TV and filling our minds with junk food? You know that you’re worth it. Why is it that in your relationships you beat them down or you ignore them all together, and in your business. Are you treating your business as if it was a million dollar thoroughbred? If this is your business you should be growing it, it’s your job, it’s your duty to your family. It’s your duty to the rest of the world that you’re bringing value to. To show up every single day.

I ask you this, in your five to thrive, your mind, your body, your soul, your relationships and your business, where are you not treating these areas as a million-dollar thoroughbred? As a million-dollar investment into you, you’re worth it, and I want you to have that.

Remember, you can go and get our seven-day jumpstart course to become the Author of Your Own Story, it’s free. We did this just so you can get a jumpstart on actually writing your own life and living your own dreams on your terms.

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Being Grateful

Here in the States, we have a holiday called Thanksgiving coming up. And Thanksgiving really, whenever you think about the history of Thanksgiving, I like to think of it as a time for gratitude, a time for getting together with friends and family. But I also use it as a time to reflect. A time to reflect on all the things that I am grateful for.

Now, I do this a step further as I go around in the holiday and I annoy everybody and I ask them what they’re thankful for. Now, I jokingly say, “Annoy everybody.” Because really, people love talking about it. They love talking and thinking what they’re thankful for.

And most of the times, I get tears out of people who normally you wouldn’t see get emotional. Because we all, regardless of whether it’s last year or the year before, go through emotional trauma. And when we really think what we’re thankful for and really dive deep, it really strikes a cord within our heart and within our soul.

So what I’m going to ask you to do today, or I’m going to present to you, is a possibility of doing two things. One, grab your journal and make a list of the things you’re thankful for. Make a list of all of them. Are you thankful because you have your arms, your ears, you can hear me right now? Are you thankful for that? Are you thankful because loved ones are still in your life? Are you thankful because those loved ones that have passed on have passed on to a higher place?

What is it you’re thankful for? Now, I hope that you’re like me, that you can come up with at least a hundred things right away. And you should be able to. And I’m going to encourage you to dig deep and really come up with a couple of pages of items that you’re thankful for.

Think of this as a thankful journey that you’re on, and really discover with inside yourself all the things in the past year – and you can go deeper than that – that you’re thankful for. What has brought you here along this road and this path of becoming the author of your own story?

Step two, go and ask the people around you – and you don’t just have to do this just during the holiday – but ask them what they’re thankful for. You know, my wife is fantastic. And whenever we’re at dinner with people, she asks them, “Hey, what are your three thankfuls?” What she’s saying is, “What are three things today you’re thankful for?”

And oftentimes, it throws people off, if they’re not used to this level of conversation. But each and every time, you see people light up when they talk about what they’re thankful for. And it could be in that moment of having a conversation with a good friend. So I ask you to do this, ask other people. And be that power, be that spot of power to allow them to share.

You know, this doesn’t have to be something that people have to come from an emotional spot. But it’s been my understanding, and it’s been my experience, I should say, that people do. You’ll be surprised at what people are thankful for. And really, when they think about it, it touches their souls.

One of the reasons is you can’t be angry, and you can’t be fearful in a state of gratefulness. So if you allow people to experience gratefulness in that moment, they’re no longer fearful, and they are no longer scared, but they also are able to be present in the moment with you.

And that’s an energy that you can give. That’s a gift that you can give somebody else, is standing in your own power and allowing that space for them to be present and to be able to share their gratefulness.

That’s it for me today. Have a fantastic day, and I’m extremely thankful for you and all of my team that makes this possible. Thank you so much. Make sure you go out today and be an example by being the Author of Your Own Story.

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Be A Tourist in Your Own Life

Today, I want to talk to you about being a tourist. Hopefully, you’re like me, and you love to travel. What if you were a tourist in your own life? Let’s look at your life from a one-month perspective. You’re able to tour your life for one month, and one month only. Now, this is a question I often ask people. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you want to go? I’m going to buy you a ticket. A one-way ticket. Anywhere you want to go. Where do you want to go? And what are you going to do when you get there?

Now imagine this ticket is a ticket to the life of your dreams. What are you going to do? You have one month, and that’s it. One month to be this tourist, to take in all this life that has to offer. What are you going to do? First step, write it down. Next, what I want you to do is take action. Take massive action. You’re a tourist, enjoy it, have fun. This is your life, and you have one life to live. So take massive action right now. Go ahead, calendar out in your day, those things that you want to do. Take a step right here, right now, in this moment. Stand for yourself.

Stand for being not only a tourist in your life but also the tour director. That’s the key, that is becoming the Author of Your Own Story. Where you write your own ticket, your own life the way that you want to live it. Now, if this feels overwhelming or too fanciful for you, well, just think this: Is there somebody, somewhere doing what you want to do? Is there somebody, somewhere that’s done it? Or is there somebody somewhere that’s on that road or on that path? If so, that means it’s doable for you. I want you to take action right now. The only thing that holds you back is yourself and fear. Those are two things that are all fake, and you can eliminate them right away.

That’s it for me today, remember to go over to authorofyourownstory.com, where you can get the latest tips, tricks, and techniques delivered right to your inbox. Have a great day, remember to go out and be the Author of Your Own Story.

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11 Attributes of Great Leaders

Over the weekend, I reread the book by Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich. Now, this is an iconic classic, especially in personal and business development. The reason it’s been so prevalent over the years is because the message still rings true today. In fact, most of the seminars and workshops I’ve been to over my lifetime have actually included elements of Think and Grow Rich within them. So I’d like to go back to the source, and plus I really find that is just as applicable today as it was before.

One of the things that Napoleon Hill talks about is in order to actually think and grow rich; you must be a great leader. You need to be a leader or a follower. Now, followers everybody … There has to be a group of followers, but followers don’t become successful, leaders become successful. This doesn’t mean you have to be an entrepreneur or a leader into the political space, but a leader within yourself and a leader within your community.

So here are Napoleon Hill’s 11 attributes of great leaders. Number one, an unwavering courage, right. So no follower really wants to follow somebody who’s scared or timid, and a leader needs to have unwavering courage. The courage to step out above and beyond themselves. Now if you’re listening to these daily growth hacks, and actually doing the work, this defines you. You have the courage to go into the uncomfortable zone. That’s part of growth.

Number two, self-control. Right. You have to have self-control to be a great leader. You have to have control of your emotions, control your temperament, control of yourself, so you don’t overindulge in lots of areas, but also control when you’re actually doing business dealings, if you’re a business person and control in your personal relationships.

Number three, a keen sense of justice. Now, this is just really about being fair. It’s actually having an innate ability to understand what is fair and what is not. Nobody wants to follow a leader that’s not fair.

Number four, definiteness of decision. This is just the ability to make a decision. This is something you can exercise like a muscle because I know a lot of people talk, well, I’m just not the decisive. Well, that’s not true, or maybe it’s true for you now, you can become decisive. Becoming decisive is just a matter of making decisions more readily and more often, and that way you build that muscle, you just make decisions. Being a decisive leader allows you to move forward. It also gives the people that are following you a sense of confidence.

Number five, definiteness of plans. Now what he’s talking about here is that you should actually be able to make a plan. This could be a plan for your business; this could be a plan for relationships. This could be your plan to travel. But making that plan and then following through. Can you actually follow through on that plan? Having a roadmap is critically important, but making sure you follow through on it also is.

Number six. This is the habit of doing more than paid for. Right. We’ve talked about this in daily growth hacks. You have to do more than. Right. So you have to add more value to the marketplace, to your boss, if you’re an employee, or if you’re a business owner add a more value than your customers want than they’re paid for. This is a key aspect of being a leader.

Number seven, a pleasing personality. Napoleon Hill just basically say you can’t be a dick, right. You can’t be a jerk and be a great leader. You just can’t. No one wants to follow them. We’ve seen this throughout history. People will follow a tyrant for a time right, but they don’t actually follow them when the road gets rough. Now when that tyrant, thumb is off them, they leave immediately, or they rebel.

Number eight. Sympathy and understanding. You have to be able to sympathize with people in what they are going through and understand their plight. We’re all on a different journey. We’re all the authors of our own story, and you have to be able to understand your followers, understand the people around you, what are they going through, and be able to sympathize with them, having that sympathy. Remember, this is people to people. Understand that everybody’s got a different struggle and everybody’s got a different journey.

Number nine, mastery of detail. You have to be able to get into the weeds and look at the details. You can’t just be a visionary. Of course, you have to have a vision. All leaders do by definition, but you have to also be somebody who can execute on that plan and get into the details and know those things about your business or relationship or whatever it is you’re working on.

I am going to use business as my example here because it’s so clear to me as a business owner, and I coach business owners, that you have to be able to get into the details. You should know your numbers, in your accounting, in your bookkeeping. You should now what your employees are doing, your tasks, everything. You got to know the details.

Number 10, willingness to assume full responsibility. Now, we’ve talked about this before on different daily growth hacks. So the willingness to actually assume that you are taking full responsibility for everything that’s going on, regardless of you’ve actually touched an issue or a problem, you take full responsibility. You’re the leader; the buck stops there. Remember, the stuff rolls down from the top.

And lastly, number 11, cooperation. A leader must be able to cooperate with other people. You’ve got to work well with others or play well with others. Right. Cooperation is a key cornerstone to a good leader and a good leadership.

Now Napoleon Hill wrote this many, many decades ago, but it still applies today. If you look at these 11, what I want you to do is write them down really quickly in a journal and see where you stand on each 11 factors. If you notice that you’re faulting on one, two or maybe all 11, go ahead and make a note of what the next step you can do right here in this moment. The next step you can do to improve those particular items. Right.

I believe you do need to have all 11 of these to be an effective leader. There’s more, in my opinion. But these are 11 key steps to becoming a good leader. Anything that you’re doing whether it be a nonprofit, whether it be a school organization, whether it be a multinational corporation or a political aspiration, you must have all 11 of these traits to be an effective leader or your actual foundation will crumble behind you.

Now once you have those things written down, identify those one or maybe even 11 for you, areas that you need to work on. Again write down that one action step. Put it in your calendar right now. Push pause on this. Put it in your calendar and then come back.

Remember to go over to authorofyourownstory.com where you get the latest tips, tricks, and techniques delivered right to your inbox. Have a great day and remember be the Author of Your Own Story.

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Next Entries »

You Have To Have A Stake In The Game

Stop Being So Stiff

Give Yourself A Pat On The Back

Picking Up the Paperclip

Knowing What Matters

Revisit: Talent Always Wins

Revisit: You and the Million Dollar Thoroughbred

Being Grateful

Be A Tourist in Your Own Life

11 Attributes of Great Leaders

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