Tag: Motivation

Shake It Off and Step Up!

Posted on by Heath Hunsaker

Have you ever felt like you’re trapped in a well and life is just shoveling dirt on top of you? So did this donkey, but he just shook it off and stepped up!

Once upon a time, there was a donkey.

It was a stupid, stubborn old donkey and even the farmer who owned it didn’t like him.

The farmer owned a large property and one day he heard in the distance the loud, distinctive “eye-ore, eye-ore” of the donkey.  He wondered what the stupid donkey had done now, so he looked all over his property until at last he found the animal at the bottom of an old abandoned well.

Exasperated, the farmer rang his neighbors and asked them each to bring a shovel.  He’d had enough of the stupid donkey, so he had decided to bury it in the well.

All of his friends came over and together they started to shovel dirt into the well.  At first, the donkey protested loudly, braying with all of his might, but after about 10 minutes, he stopped.

The farmers kept shoveling.

After a while, someone decided to have a look into the well to see what had happened to the donkey.  What he saw astonished him.

Instead of being buried, the donkey would shake off the incoming dirt, standing on the ever-increasing mound.

Now the mission changed and the farmers went from trying to bury the donkey to trying to save him, shoveling more and more dirt into the abandoned well until the donkey jumped out of the top victorious.

Upon his release, the farmers all dropped their shovels and applauded the old stubborn beast with a newfound admiration.

Life is always going to shovel dirt on you at some point. You may feel like you’re at the bottom of a well and it’s coming quicker than you know what to do. Taking real action and shaking the “dirt” off is the first step towards moving on. Learn from the “dirt” and use it as stepping stones to bigger and better things.

Don’t just take it and get buried, shake it off and STEP UP!

What are you going to shake off and use as stepping stones in the coming year? Leave a comment below.

Procrastination…Momentum Killer and Dream Stealer!

Posted on by Heath Hunsaker

We’ve all been there. Knowing what we should be doing and not doing it. Knowing what we want to do and still…not…doing…it!

Instead we are daydreaming, off in our own little universe without a care in the world. We like it there, it’s safe and comforting.

procrastination

Procrastination…it’s a momentum killer and a dream stealer. It lulls us all into a false sense of “time security.” The idea that we have all the time in the world to do whatever needs to be done. The fact is, we all have the same amount of time…24 hours (1,400 minutes or 86,400 seconds) in a day and not a second more. Scientist haven’t developed a way to give us more time and until they do, we must learn how to use the time we have to make a difference in the world we live.

Here are four simple steps to put procrastination back where it belongs and get you, me, us where we belong which is making positive movement towards the realization of our goals and dreams.

1. Determine where you want to end up…Keep it BIG!
One of the main ways procrastination creeps into our lives is that we get too bogged down in the big picture details. We have a goal or dream and then we try to figure out each step we need to take to get there. STOP! Don’t worry about all the little steps need to get there, instead focus on the what the end goal looks like. Visualize what life will be when you arrive and have faith that things will unfold in due time when you need them.

2. Prepare for the next day the night before. 
I usually get up in the morning energized and ready to face the day…then I get to my office. What do I do first? Maybe I’ll check my email…no, let me wrap up this project real quick…wait, I need to return a call I received. What actually happens is I decide to clean up my office and nothing of real importance gets done. One way to not let this type of procrastination set in is to, “Prepare for the next day the night before”. Write down a list of actionable items that you want to finish tomorrow that will help you move closer to your goals. By preparing for the next day the night before you are setting yourself up for a dose of daily success!

3. Start with one or two small tasks 
This may fly in the face of traditional wisdom, but I believe that we all like to see success early and often. It gives us the motivation to keep going and keep pushing on towards the end. Starting with one or two small tasks each day will help build up our confidence and provide the extra gumption to take on a larger task. Another benefit is it allows those who aren’t morning people to shake out the cobwebs or realize the effects of a cup of coffee before moving on to a bigger, more complex task. Think of it like a snowball rolling down a hill…at first it may not seem like much of a threat, but as it continues to roll and pick up steam and snow the more power it generates. Tasks are like a snowball, get a couple of quick wins and some success under your belt every morning then watch out world! Nothing is going to stop you now!

4. Stop starting and start finishing 
Author/Speaker David Allen has said,

”Much of the stress that people feel doesn’t come from having too much to do.
It comes from not finishing what they’ve started.”

Often times we feel overwhelmed with what we need to do. We feel that we have too much to do in to short of time which leads to prolonged periods of procrastination. Instead of focusing on everything that needs to get done, focus on one thing at a time and knock it out! Finish it! Get it off your plate and move on! Having something 99% finished ultimately means it is 100% unfinished! Stop starting and start finishing and take another step towards achieving your goals!

Procrastination can be a momentum killer and a dream stealer but only if you let it. Take the steps to not allow it to happen, and if you feel procrastination sneaking up on you, take BOLD action and keep moving forward!

How have you battled procrastination in the past? Leave a reply in the comment section below.

Bucking the Trend: 5 Ways to Use Failure as Fuel for Your Success!

Posted on by Heath Hunsaker

What’s one word that rips at the heart of any human being? One word that stops us dead in our tracks. One word we allow all to often to identify who we are.failure

That word…FAILURE! We allow our failures, real or perceived, to stall and even stop our progress. We allow failure to define who we are and what we’ve done and even what we can do. But what if we were to look at failure in a different light? Instead of failures holding us back, why not use them as fuel to propel us to new and greater success!

Here are 5 ways to use Failure as Fuel!

1. Take Responsibility!
This may sound a bit off, but think about it. If you are always blaming someone or something else for your failures, then you have absolutely no control to change it! By accepting responsibility of you failures, you are telling yourself and the world to watch out! You are going to find out why you received the results you did and determine what you need to do in order to generate the results you desire!

2. Use failures to uncover additional opportunities!
Once you have accepted responsibility it will free your mind to look at how these failures have opened up new opportunities. Opportunities to look for different solutions in order to to achieve your desired outcomes. Don’t allow failure to limit yourself to only your way of thinking. Use failures as a catalyst to grow and expand your mind and knowledge.

3. See failures as steps in the journey to success!
Failure isn’t the end. In fact the only way you can fail is if you quit! See your failures as building blocks to greater and bigger successes for the future. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day and anything worth working for won’t be either. Use failures as a new launch pad for the next leg of your success journey.

4. Use failures as motivation to drive harder to your end goal.
Just as we view failure as one step in the success journey, use failure to motivate you to drive harder towards your end goal. Failure can be used as either a propellant or a deterrent. How you respond to failure will determine the rate at which you push towards success. Great inventors such as Thomas Edison used failure as fuel to create the light bulb.  He’s been quoted as saying:

“I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

5. Use failures as a time for honest reflection
Failures often hit you like a sucker punch in the gut. They cause you to lose your breath and take a step back. Use this time as a reflection period and have an honest discussion with yourself. Reflect on what has happened, what brought you to this point and what can you do to achieve the desired results.

Failure is inevitable. How we respond to failure is 100% up to us. Take responsibility and use failure as fuel to lead you on to success!

How have you used failures in the past as fuel for success? Leave a reply in the comment section below.