Identifying Failures Before They Happen
What do I mean by identifying failures before they happen? Well, we talk so much about positivity. We talk about designing your goals, designing your ideal day, looking back and planning for the future. Often times, what we don’t talk about is failures. I mean, by design … How do you know when you fail?
A lot of times people say, “Well Doug, I don’t want to look at failures. I don’t want to look at the negativity. I don’t want to look at failures because, also, it’s painful. It’s painful to think about failures.” What’s more painful, is what by not thinking about it is to fail, what it means to fail to you, means you’re going around blind.
Shoulds Versus Wants In Planning Your Own Story
Now, part of the Author of Your Own Story university, a lot of what we talk about is forward thinking or forward planning. That is projecting yourself into the future and reverse engineering that.
What that can look like is projecting yourself two, five years in advance and looking at where you want to be. Where are you in that time capsule and then how did you get there and then we reverse engineer it and that’s how you get to that successful place. That’s just one way. Now, oftentimes, when working with high-end clients whether it be business owners, executives, or their family members, I look at all the shoulds that come up. Now, this also happens in the Author of Your Own Story university, so what I mean by should is people have this vision. Now, these are societal pressures, pressures based on family, their work environment, their friends, whatever, and they have this idea that they should be doing certain things.
There’s Freedom In A Schedule
Now, what do you mean by there’s freedom in a schedule? A schedule is so constricting. I want to be able to do what I want, when I want. Well, I do too. But I’ll tell you, this is a battle I’ve had over the years. And I can also tell you this is something we’ve talked about in a previous daily growth hack. But the question keeps coming up over the over again in my conversations with coaching clients, but also in the Author of Your Own Story groups that we have. So, I want to clarify it a little bit more.
One Simple Change Can Improve Your Relationships
Today I’m going to do a quick tip on relationships. This is a hack that’s worked for me over time and I’ve seen it work for other people. In any relationship you have, especially intimate relationships, those that are closest to you, seem to trigger us. They seem to bring out certain times of anxiety or despair or anger or upset. I don’t know anybody that’s been in a long-term, intimate relationship that hasn’t seen the ups and downs of that relationship. It’s just human nature.
Go Make Your Bed
Now I was talking to a client early this morning, and by anybody’s outside perspective, he was an amazingly successful man. He had done all kinds of great things. He owns his own law firm. He’s got an amazing family, a loving wife and two beautiful young children. He’s a leader in his community. He sits on civic organizations as well as sits on the board of several nonprofits. If you were looking from the outside in, you would think this guy had it all, but inside he wasn’t feeling good. He was dying inside, and that’s why we were talking.
Five to Thrive Mashup: Business
Today’ Episode focuses on the last in your five to thrive, business. This episode is a mash-up of the best “business” episodes from this past season. Even if you have seen these episodes, do the work again! This work and growth is all about repetition!
Five to Thrive Mashup: Relationships
Today’ Episode focuses on the fourth in your five to thrive, relationship. This episode is a mash-up of the best “relationship” episodes from this past season. Even if you have seen these episodes, do the work again! This work and growth is all about repetition!
Five to Thrive Mashup: Soul
Today’ Episode focuses on the first in your five to thrive, the mind. This episode is a mash-up of the best “soul” episodes from this past season. Even if you have seen these episodes, do the work again! This work and growth is all about repetition!
Five to Thrive Mashup: Body
Today’ Episode focuses on the first in your five to thrive, the mind. This episode is a mash-up of the best “body” episodes from this past season. Even if you have seen these episodes, do the work again! This work and growth are all about repetition!
Five to Thrive Mashup: Mind
So here I am out on a five-day exhibition with my family. We decided to get out of dodge and to explore the wilderness of eastern Oregon and we’re having a great time. What I’ve asked the team to do is to put together a mash up of some of the best listener requests that we’ve had for Author of Your Own Story with the over 100 daily growth hacks we have. I hope you enjoy over these next couple days. We’re going to revisit these older daily growth hacks so you can go ahead and go back.
If you haven’t heard them, go back and do the work and get a chance to actually listen to them. If you remember to go back and listen to the whole library while it’s still available. Now if you have heard these before, don’t worry, doing the work again, you’ve changed so you’re going to have a different outlook on each of these daily growth acts. That’s it for, I’m out living my Author of Your Own Story lifestyle and I hope you’re doing the same.
Your Businesses’ First Impression
Today I want to talk to business owners, and I wanna talk to you about what is your first impression, or what is the first impression your business gets. Now, today it’s all online. Now, we all know that, right? But as business owners, how often is that missed? You know, I was talking to one of my clients today, and we were talking about his business, and he was working on this very sophisticated marketing funnel, and it was really neat, except for the fact he missed his main first impression, or what I call your home base, which is your website.
Take A Whack At It
Do you have a goal, or a dream, or something you want to do, and you just can’t take the first step? Take a whack at it. You know, you can’t hit a home run unless you step up to plate. You can’t catch a fish unless your line is in water. Whatever it is you want to do, go for it right now. I’m giving you full and complete permission. If you want to sing, go sing in the shower. Sing to your friends. Go to karaoke. Give it a shot.
Pain Provides You 3 Choices
Pain is just part of life, we all go through pain. The pain of an event, a loss of a loved one, pain that is physical. Either way, pain provides us three ways to respond to it. I want you to do is think of these three ways and think about which one you actually fall into more often. And just be honest with yourself.
The first one is the initial reaction to ignore the pain, or blame others. Now, this is events in your life, other people, or blaming yourself. Now you could ignore it, and act like it didn’t happen and bury it and stuff it deep down inside of you like we often do. That’s what I used to do a lot of times is do that.
Imagine You Are The Idea
Recently, I had someone reach out to me, and they wanted help with a new product they were developing. What they wanted to do was hire me as a consultant, but truthfully, they just couldn’t afford our fees for our agency. So what I did, though, is I didn’t want to leave them empty-handed, so I provided them an idea.
No One Is Coming To Save You
I want to let you know that nobody is coming to save you. There is no Superman unless that Superman lives inside of you. We all go through challenges and struggles, but you gotta understand, you can’t play the victim role.
Just recently I was privy to a barrage of text messages coming through, and somehow I was copied on them. Through all these text messages, was a barrage of just victim hood. It was a woman complaining. You see, what happened was her baby’s father had left her. They had actually broken up four years ago. During that time, she is still lamenting about the breakup. Now, her beautiful son, I had a chance to spend time with him. He’s just an amazing being. But of course, he got back home and was excited to share with his mother his awesome adventures in the mountains, and all the things that were going on great.
Episode 100
This is episode 100, and we’re calling this the “End cap to season one.” Why? Because season two is going to be new and different, and we’re really excited about it. Yes, we’re going to have the Daily Growth Hacks each and every day, but we want to let you know what’s coming up in season two.
Don’t Be Miserable in Advance
Seneca said, and I’m going to read it because it’s a quote, “It’s ruinous for the soul to be anxious about the future and miserable in advance of misery engulfed by anxiety that the things it desires might retain its own until the very end, for such a soul will never be at rest. By longing for things to come it will lose the ability to enjoy the present things.”
No Man’s Land
Today, I’m specifically going to talk about business. Now, if you’re not a business owner, just stay tuned, because this could apply to you, or at least you’ll learn a little bit more about the things that you should understand.
Often times, I’m very lucky that I get to see the insides of a lot of businesses. Now, I see them through two different lenses. I see them, one, with my clients. So my coaching clients, what I do is kind of more a business lifestyle coaching, so it’s a one year program where I do a deep dive with the business owner and we go over all their Five to Thrive on a weekly basis, and also long-term visioning. And part of that is I actually get to see inside their financials, and helping them strategize their business to help it grow.
