The Top Ten Rules of Success

Identify what you want

After you have written out your goals and broken them down to the daily activity you must maintain in order to achieve those goals, dig deep. Look deep within your soul and identify what you want out of life. What is your WHY? Why do you do the things you are about to do? Why are you going to live such a disciplined life rather than laying on a beach all day every day? What is your “End game”?   Identify, plan, and take action.

Maintain unwavering passion and energy

Once you identify your “why”, go after it as if it is all you have. Live life with the intensity and passion needed so when something happens (and something always happens) it will not shake you. It will not take you off track. It will simply be another obstacle that will make you wiser, stronger and stimulate your unwavering passion to succeed where others have failed.

Focus on your vision

Keep your eye on the prize. Break things down to a granular level and achieve each of the individual tasks in order to build up to the ultimate goal. Keep the end in mind and never waiver on your mission.

Stay true to yourself and value system

Each of us has our own need and greed. We have our way of getting it. Do not justify why things happen, own it. It is never someone else’s fault. You control your own individual universe. If you communicate your needs, desires and wants to everyone around you, they will act accordingly. If you don’t, they will not know and at best they are going to guess, then act the way they want to act, not the way you want them to. Control your world around you. Live life on the path of your vision and act accordingly.

Surround yourself with like-minded people

When you live your life according to your vision, you must surround yourself with like-minded people. The naysayers will try to drag you down. The jealous people will always have something to say. The mediocre people will put their two cents in and claim it can’t be done. Hire the right people that can identify with your vision. Average people allow time to impose its will on them; exceptional people impose their will on their time.

Be sincere – Don’t do it for the money

No amount of money will ever make you wealthy. Because when you make the money that you set out to make, you will ratchet up the amount. Do what you enjoy. Embrace the obstacles and tackle your fears. Then and only then will you achieve your individual success. The dividend will be the money. Money is the way most of society keeps score. Wealth is achieved when you are the best you can be. Not a diluted fraction of a person because you worked 15 hours a day and made a pile of money.   Be sincere in every aspect of your life and the wealth will follow. Make the mistakes along the way, fall on your sword and move on. Don’t dwell on the past, you can’t change that. Make today everything you want. Look to the future and achieve everything you set out to do and you will get what you want out of it.

Work on yourself

Life is fluid, you must always evolve. Read, learn and identify with what is going on around you, as well as the world. Know who you are and what makes you tick. Have someone in your life that you can bounce ideas off of, share your vision and goals, a person that will keep you accountable and keep you on course.

Never procrastinate

Do what needs to be done. Do it NOW. Have a sense of urgency at all times. Don’t allow people to give you their time line, tell them what your expectations are. You cannot expect from people what you are not willing to do for yourself. Lead by example and act accordingly.

Never compromise

Always maintaining your character.   In every aspect of your life, inclusive of business, family, social and relationships maintain your “standard”.   Your standard is your individual characteristics. Identify your top three characteristics and always maintain them. If you find yourself veering away from them anytime, stop and re-align yourself with them.   If you do not like who you are, FIX IT.

No excuses

Never ever let yourself off the hook. When you choose not to get out of bed, in order to work out, when you chose to not complete something you set out to do, when you do not follow your calendar, OWN IT. It’s your choice to make and you must live and die by the priorities you set for yourself. Prioritize what is most important for you and when it does not happen, own it and FIX IT. It is no one else’s fault but your own.

You are the master of your universe, as such you make it happen

Wake Up!!

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?

The words and what you tell yourself are not only powerful but IMPACTFUL.  With that said, keep in mind that if and only if you say them in the right way, will they change your mindset?

Wake up every morning with a purpose. You should have clear goals laid out on how you plan to carry on with the rest of your day from the moment you open your eyes. You should technically have the goals set up the night before because like I’m often heard saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”  You need to develop the discipline necessary to focus and write down what needs to be done daily for the following day, the evening prior.  As individuals, we make up a myriad of excuses as to why we didn’t write down our goals.  Again, the word is discipline, because all success is built on discipline and consistency.

I’m tired of hearing about all the noise you tell yourself as to why you aren’t functioning at the level you should be.  Give it up!  I don’t care what happened yesterday, that’s the past. You were not born wealthy, so what?  You had a bad childhood?  Okay, you are all grown now.  You made bad choices? Got it, make different ones today.  I don’t want to hear the NOISE!!!  What you do today will determine your future tomorrow.  Write down and live your action plan, because I don’t want you just going through life, I want you to LIVE IT to the fullest!

You are basically living in fear and you don’t even know it. You don’t take risks because you are afraid, yet if you listen to what I’m telling you, you would realize that the antonym of fear is greatness and accomplishments.  It’s your goals coming to fruition.

Go to sleep with a plan…..Wake up with a purpose!

Prove Them All Wrong

It may be a long shot but when you get rid of the “Noise” you keep telling yourself over and over again as to why you can’t succeed and replace it with beliefs and expectations of winning, soon, great things will begin to occur.

If you have a goal in your mind, take action today and make sure that your mission in life is to fuel that goal until every action, word, or response you command, replicates that of a winner. Do it and you will defeat your Goliath and better yet, capitalize on it.

Do whatever it takes to be a winner.

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malc… http://t.co/dCHwP3MBX4 via @amazon #FridayReads

— David Findel (@DavidFindel) September 18, 2015

“Anything the Mind Can Perceive it Can Achieve”

Engage in the life YOU want

“If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.” We’ve all heard that saying before but how many actually understand its meaning?

Who wants to extend themselves beyond their comfort zone? Of course no one wants to leave their comfort zone, because that would mean that our flaws would be visible to all those around us. Stress would enter our lives and even worse, if we fail, the embarrassment would set in.

 STOP THE NOISE! Change your pre-conceived limits right now!

In life, MOST conform. MOST stay stagnant and MOST never stretch past their comfort zone. I’ve often said this and I will say it again…..

“Mediocrity is UNACCEPTABLE!!”

Most people do not understand that your beliefs and more importantly, the beliefs you have about yourself, will determine your behavior in the long run.  Sure you can convince yourself to let’s say, go to the gym or eat healthy or better yet, start working on your goals list, but if you don’t shift your thinking, if you don’t actually push yourself, physically and mentally, then you will not be able to create long term growth and satisfaction.

I realize that on the surface you believe that you will stick to your desired goal, but this is simply not factual. YOU need to reach down deep. YOU need to go to the root of your desire. YOU need to realize that “Thing”, whatever that thing is that you are truly passionate about. YOU need to challenge yourself to take action today, NOW, so that your desire becomes the driving force and your mindset is so in tune with the belief that you can and will accomplish whatever you set out to do. Then and only then will nothing stand in your way.

Stop running away from challenges. Stop telling yourself the “Noise” of what is possible or not. Why it can not be done. Make it so that not only do things get done, but get done the way YOU want it to be done.   You know that “to do” list that you have?  Do the hard things first.  Dream and do the things that scare you the most first.  Then and only then will you grow, develop and satisfy your inner desire.  Build an identity around that goal of yours.  Stop looking for easy. EASY DOES NOT WORK!  Easy will not get you the life of your dreams.  Easy doesn’t allow your God given gifts and talents to shine through. Trust me, the things that you are passionate about will only begin to monetize when you challenge yourself.

It is time to embrace who YOU are.  Show the world who YOU are.

And most importantly, ACT ACCORDINGLY!!!

Take Action, Today!

Sitting at my local Starbucks recently, I overheard a young adult asking her mother; “Why did you let me quit?”  The young lady was making reference to her younger days as a ballet dancer. The mother was taken aback by the questioning.  Her reply was simple, “I let you quit because you wanted to.” I of course, being my shy self introduced myself and stimulated a conversation. The mother didn’t want to push her daughter. She felt she didn’t show any passion for the activity.  Now, years later, the mother found herself in a catch 22 situation.  The daughter felt that she didn’t know better.  That she needed someone to tell her what to do and yes, even if it was forced, she felt that her life would have turned out differently had she had that push. The young girl felt that she would be thinner today, more confident and more importantly, she would have been confident enough to have conquered life, and so forth and so on.

Are you that young lady in some way shape or form? Do you need a push, someone to tell you to jump as you stand at the edge of the cliff called life?

JUMP! Yes…..DO IT……JUMP!!!

I am here to tell you that if you want to be successful, if you want to go farther than you ever imagined, then you need to jump. Take that leap of faith; Trust that I know what I’m talking about and take the first step to making your dreams a reality.  As you stand on that cliff of life, you may not have those white wings that you need to carry you safely to the bottom, but guess what?  Sooner rather than later those wings will extend and YOU WILL land safely.

Now hear me when I tell you this, you will stumble, you will lose control and descend faster than you would like. You will feel uncomfortable and you will lose faith that you will not be able to attain your goals. You will face all that and much more, but in the end YOU WILL SUCCEED!

Standing on the edge of the cliff, do you want to be that young girl full of regret, or do you want to jump and try to spread your wings?  The choice is yours.  I’m here to tell you that it’s better to jump and try to accomplish something, rather than to stand there and look out over the horizon and wonder why life isn’t fair.

Here are a few steps on how to prepare for your leap:

• Determine what EXACTLY you want to achieve, and then write it down.
• Formulate a precise plan, a road map if you will on how to get there.  Make sure you have specific milestones and a specific timeline as to when you will hit each milestone.
• Take action. Implement your plan with passion, desire and unwavering conviction that you will succeed.

Give More Of Yourself

It is said that the difference between steam and hot water at its boiling point is 1 degree; One simple degree. On paper and in black and white, one degree seems so insignificant, correct? Yet, to leap from that one stage to the other in business, seems so insurmountable when it comes to obtaining our goals. Why do you think that is? 

I have clients who first start out with me and spew out the barrage of excuses.

Think of yours now, go ahead, I know your brain is rattling them off anyway………..NOW STOP THE NOISE!!!!

I’m here to tell you that No excuse that you can come up with will stop you from succeeding. I believe if you have the drive, the passion and the persistence, you WILL make that dream come to fruition. 

You can choose to be mediocre or you can choose to be spectacular but at the end of the day you need to choose which path you would like to travel down. It’s not enough to work hard. Working hard will make you relatively successful but it is those who excel that bring the water from hot to boiling, those individuals that hunger to reach the pinnacle of success and without a certainty of doubt know that one degree is just that, a number, nothing else.

Whether in business or in your personal life………….bring it to a boil. Give more of yourself and don’t quit. You are just one degree away from brilliance. 

There Is No Substitute For Passion

Is it drive, Passion, or is it Purpose?

Are you thinking no matter what you do, no matter how small or how big, no matter what you complete, you are constantly thinking or even stressing over the next big “Thing”, the next milestone in your life. Is it hard to simply take pleasure during the journey on the road to your accomplishments? You feel the heated need for the next success all the time.

When is enough really “ENOUGH”? The need to do more and making more happen, is a clear indication that you are being motivated by your drive, not by your passion.

The difference between drive and passion…

There are many different factors that can motivate you.  When you are motivated by your passion, you are in line with your vision, your goals with every part of your being and belief. You are focused on getting things accomplished because you are really inspired to see this vision become a reality.  You truly have a sense of urgency and importance of not only manifesting your goal, but enjoying the path in making it happen.

When you are motivated by passion, you are able to take a step back and enjoy the fruits of your labor once you have achieved your goal. You have the ability to take a break and feel good about what you have done. You are satisfied with your accomplishment.

Now, being motivated by drive may yield similar results to being motivated by your passion.  You achieve your goals, however, it feels very different.  If you complete goal after goal, and still feel like you haven’t accomplished enough, you are most likely being motivated by drive. When you are motivated by drive, you are being driven from a place of fear and insufficiency.

When you are motivated by drive, your desire for success, recognition or materialism overtakes your sense of purpose and your true vision. When you are motivated by drive, you are actually disengaged from your passion.

How can you recognize if you are motivated by drive and not passion?

No matter how much money you make, you still feel like you need to make more. Even after you have reached your goals.

You achieve the goal you had been working on, and immediately change focus on the next goal. Not stopping to enjoy the moment.

You have difficulty committing to and sticking to your “C” time, your personal time.

You spend more time working then you want to, even though when you dissect it, you are actually only working four hours a day productively.

You are often exhausted and overwhelmed. Your adrenaline is carrying you.

You feel most comfortable when there is “too much” going on.

Do you want to stop having your drive motivate you and get real?

Once you recognize that it is drive that is motivating you instead of your passion, it’s time to take a closer look at your fears and your limiting beliefs. Some common limiting beliefs that are behind drive are: “There is never enough”; “I don’t know what I want out of life, so I will work harder and I will find it” (without purpose). And the good old standby, “I have to prove myself to my _____________” (insert father, mother, wife, sibling. Or even worse, some insignificant person that should not even be allowed in your head anymore).

Take some time to identify the fear and limiting beliefs that are behind your drive, and work with them. Next, take some time to get clear on what excites you. What is your purpose?  In other words, begin to connect to your passion; what is exciting about your career, your business, your family, and your vision. Examine if you can excel forward from the position of passion, vision and purpose to get things done.

At the end of the day, the single most important reason to be motivated by passion and purpose instead of raw drive is sustainability.   If you are passionate about achieving your goals in all aspects of your life, you will act upon them consistently. Not merely go through the motions in order to feel fulfilled by your drive.

Get passionate about life and all it holds in store for you.

Get focused on what is really important to you.

Get real with yourself and the world around you will be real to you.

And most important, ACT ACCORDINGLY, with passion focus and a true sense of purpose.

Wake Up Call

https://twitter.com/Awareness323/status/593830295486406656

Changing The Game

QUOTE:

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
— Michael Jordan

Failure can be such a disappointing Blow. Ouch! Frustrating! 

You work hard, you push everyday, you give it your all, you think you have mastered “It” and at the end of the day, sometimes… after all of that, some thing still gets in the way.

I don’t know about you but I would NEVER consider Michael Jordan a failure. He didn’t let fear stop him and neither should you. I’m not encouraging anyone to fail but when we do, we should learn from that experience and understand that failing helps us grow and become even more successful. Stronger, wiser and yes even more accomplished!

I want you to take risks. No matter what you have experienced in the past, make today the day you will commit to dusting yourself off and begin anew.

Let me ask you: What is one action you have been putting off that would change the game for you?

Identify it. Strategize how to tackle it. Embrace it.

NOW TAKE THE FIRST STEP IN ACCOMPLISHING IT!

What Is Your Cookie?

In Jewish tradition, it is customary during a funeral, especially a funeral for one’s spouse, to ask for forgiveness from the deceased spouse for any transgressions that may have occurred throughout the entire marriage. Clearly, after 54 years of marriage, one would think that we would have plenty to ask forgiveness for. Maybe an ill thought, a bad word spoken in anger, something, anything and yet, during the funeral of the great Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach’s wife, people were stunned to hear the following message out of the mouth of the great Rabbi himself:

“Although it is customary to ask forgiveness from a person that has passed on,” “I shall not do so. Throughout our entire marriage we never offended or hurt one another. We conducted our lives according to the laws that govern our faith, and I have no reason to ask her forgiveness.”

After many, many years of marriage and what must feel like a lifetime, how could he utter those words with complete confidence? Surely one must have something to be forgiven for, no?

The Rabbi, a great teacher who was described as a “Gentle Giant”, once told a story that I feel shows a great sign of self-control. And better yet a “work around” that can be used in every aspect of todays life, especially in the business environment. He stated that everyday before he walked into his house, a home in which his lovely wife (Chaya Rivkah Ruchamkin) would be waiting to greet him, prior to walking through his front door, he would eat 2 COOKIES before entering the dwelling. He did this in preparation for the “unexpected.” What if dinner wasn’t ready? He didn’t want his hunger pangs to inflict any ills on anyone, especially not his wife, so he prepared ahead of time. 2 cookies, everyday before entering his home controlled any ravenous hunger pangs and thus caused the Rabbi to remain in control.

My question to you today is, What is Your Cookie?

What do you do everyday in anticipation for your less than perfect reaction? Reactions that if not anticipated ahead of time would hinder your progress in all you do or say. It is time to find your cookie. “Stack the deck” as we say in business. Don’t be blind to the behavioral traits you have that can cause an undesirable reaction. Don’t just stand there and say that you know you have this habit and you are “working” on breaking it. Work around it. Use the cookie and walk through life knowing you are in control of your thoughts, actions and ultimately your life and the way you want it to play out.

Develop a thorough understanding of what may cause you to react according to your surroundings and allow for a design to circumvent, that which may cause your legacy to be tainted. Like the Rabbi, whom, upon his death had a turnout of nearly 500,000 people at his funeral, you want to be remembered for your greatness in all areas of your life too; family, friends and not just business.

What are they going to think when you are not only gone, but simply when you step out of the room.

Leave your mark starting today……………What is your cookie?