So many people are overwhelmed and can’t keep up but as they struggle to cope, they get more anxious and stressed making the desire to change more elusive.

The secret is to focus on one thing and only one thing.  Then pick one time period (a month, a week, a year, for example) in which to bring it about.  Long lists and constant reprioritizing has proven less effective than focusing on one thing.  There is such value in simplifying goals to get better results, a best-selling book has been written about it.  The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results.

Seth Godin reported that a study of behavior at buffets showed that the first item seen was chosen by 75% of diners even when the order of the items were reversed.  That 2/3 of all the food taken was from the first 3 items.

Your first idea is more likely to be chosen based on this behavior.  However as former radio owner Jerry Lee once told me, if you have three choices on a list, the respondent is more likely to choose the middle option (#2).  But when it comes to brainstorming new ideas, researchers have discovered that the worst idea is the first idea.  All of this gives new meaning to “first” – what you want people to do is all about understanding human behavior.

1.  Don’t get out of bed before you thank 5 people who are a part of your life and who you care about.
2. Spend at least 2 minutes with your family or friends at the end of each day.
3. Send people a “silent message” that says “I wish you well” when you see them in person. When you are wishing people well you’re also wishing yourself well.
4. Activate the rational side of your brain to eliminate adrenaline and steroids in the brain that causes bad decisions so you can build resiliency.

With thanks to Mayo Clinic Professor Amit Sood

Most of us lament that we don’t have enough hours in a day to do everything.  So, when leap year came along as it did this year presenting us with an extra full day, what did we do?  Likely the same things we did on the other 365 days.

This illustrates that we don’t need more time.  Choosing what is important is.  We actually have all the time we need if we will prioritize how to use it.

When a Debbie Downer walks into the room and unloads all that negativity, it’s really hard to come away optimistic and happy.

On the other hand, when a force of nature – a positive person – confronts us, they spread joy, hope and confidence.  They bring out the best in us.  We cannot be what we are not but we don’t have to be what someone else is if it is not good for us.  Today, the right choice is to light up the room, inspire lives and build confidence through sincere caring because we always have the power to be a force for positivity.

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Pencils have erasers, digital devices have delete.  Success is built on the back of how people handle their mistakes – admit them, improve on them, apologize for them.

When you make mistakes, you get stronger not weaker.  Our mistakes help us learn more about ourselves and others.  They can be painful.  In all of Major League Baseball history only 204 players out of thousands had a lifetime batting average over .300.  Ty Cobb was the best at “only” .3662 that means less than 40% of the time, he made a mistake.  Rethink the value of mistakes and free yourself to learn from them and succeed.

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What would happen if a baseball player stepped into the batter’s box with negative thoughts – I hope I don’t see a knuckleball, hope the pitcher doesn’t brush me back, I haven’t had a hit in over 20 at-bats?

So why is it that we let negative thoughts in when we really need positive ones – I have done it before, I can do it again, I’m good at getting the hang of things, no one works harder than me, I not only can, I will.  Just as in sports, accentuate positive and true thoughts when you’re ready to step up.

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This really happened.

An ICU nurse arguing with a post-op patient about taking an anti-nausea medication that they were allergic to.

She said, “we need to have a conversation”.

That term is used a lot but often, as in this case, it means we’re going to talk and I’m going to have my way.

A conversation is talk between two people in which ideas are exchanged.

It is not for purpose of necessarily changing a person’s point of view.

To make people crave you, converse in the true sense without the mission of persuasion.

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We know that practice makes perfect.

But practicing the wrong things is worse than not practicing at all.

Do not repeat things that will not make you better.

Practice only makes perfect when you’re practicing the right things.

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Did you ever take a course that was so important that it changed your life?

May I share one of mine with you?

A general semantics class from a college professor who said this:

“…we ought to keep our expectations of achieving a goal low and our motivation for working to achieve it high”.

When we let our expectations go too high, we are disappointed when they are not fulfilled which is much more likely than the fulfillment of our expectations.

With high hopes you are prepared for BOTH success and failure.

But with high expectations, only success.

“Expect the worst and hope for the best” – the only happiness advice you will ever need.

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