The message of persistence and resourcefulness seem to be coming to me from all directions these last few days.

Since each incident has been inspiring singly, but even more clarifying as a group - seems to make sense to post them all here

• First stop - askdarlenedavis.com

Darlene is a coaching student and friend who, despite personal challenges, never fails to keep on trying and taking baby (and some days not so baby) steps forward. Each time adding to her online marketing success story.

Yesterday she posted her very first video and I couldn’t be more excited for her.

• Next stop - Tony Robbins on leadership.

I have to confess, I haven’t tuned into Tony Robbins the way I’m thinking I probably should.

But every single time I do - I’m glad I did.

And this latest ship passing moment is no different.

This video came to me by way of Facebook friend request - a lesson on leadership and resourcefulness:

What Do Leaders Do? (part 1)

What Do Leaders Do? (part 2)

• And finally - here comes Harvey Mackay this morning.

(I’d link to it, but for some reason he only leaves them online for 3 weeks)

What I like about Harvey is that he’s good at lists and recommended actions - and somehow his way of putting the points to paper usually cause a paradigm shift for me.

So I share him with you

I think his 1a item below is one of the things that I tap into really well in some areas - and in others not so much.

Something to work on…

Enjoy!

Andrea

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Harvey Mackay’s Column This Week

Why do we fail? And how do we fix it?

As any successful person will honestly admit, I’ve had my share of failures. Since this column is limited to 750 words, I won’t bore you with the details!

But from every failure I have learned an equally valuable lesson. The first lesson I learn is that there was at least one reason I failed. The second lesson I learn is that I can rebound from that failure.

According to Shiv Khera, author of “You Can Win,” failures most often occur for one of the following seven reasons:

1. Lack of persistence. More people fail not because they lack knowledge or talent, but just because they quit. It is important to remember two words: persistence and resistance. Persist in what must be done and resist what ought not to be done. We all have had setbacks in life. Failing does not mean we are failures!
2. Lack of conviction. People who lack conviction take the middle of the road. But what happens in the middle of the road? You get run over. People without conviction go along to get along because they lack confidence and courage. They conform in order to get accepted even when they know that what they are doing is wrong.
3. Rationalizing. Winners may analyze but never rationalize. Losers rationalize and have a book full of excuses to tell you why they could not succeed.
4. Not learning from past mistakes. Some people live and learn, and some only live. Wise people learn from their mistakes. Failure is a teacher if we have the right attitude. I’ve always said experience is the name we give to our mistakes.
5. Lack of discipline. Anyone who has accomplished anything worthwhile has never done it without discipline. Discipline takes self-control, sacrifice and avoiding distractions and temptations. It means staying focused.
6. Poor self-esteem. Poor self-esteem is a lack of self-respect and self-worth. People with low self-esteem are constantly trying to find themselves, rather than creating the person they want to be.
7. Fatalistic attitude. A fatalistic attitude prevents people from accepting responsibility for their position in life. They attribute success and failure to luck. They resign themselves to their fate, regardless of their efforts, that whatever has to happen will happen anyway.

The rebound lesson is the more pleasant part of the equation, but it is not without challenges. Here are Professor Mackay’s lessons learned from the problems posed above:

1a. Try new approaches. Persistence is important, but repeating the same actions over and over again, hoping that this time you’ll succeed, probably won’t get you any closer to your objective. Look at your previous unsuccessful efforts and decide what to change. Keep making adjustments and midcourse corrections, using your experience as a guide.

2a. Decide what is important to you. If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing right and doing well. Let your passion show in even mundane tasks. It’s ok to collaborate and cooperate for success, but it’s not ok to compromise your values — ever.

3a. Change your perspective. Don’t think of every unsuccessful attempt as a failure. Few people succeed at everything the first time. Most of us attain our goals only through repeated effort. Do your best to learn everything you can about what happened and why.

4a. Define the problem better. Analyze the situation—what you want to achieve, what your strategy is, why it didn’t work and so on. Are you really viewing the problem correctly? If you need money, you have more options than increasing revenue. You could also cut expenses. Think about what you’re really trying to do.

5a. Don’t be a perfectionist. You may have an idealized vision of what success will look and feel like. Although that can be motivational, it may not be realistic. Succeeding at one goal won’t eliminate all your problems. Be clear on what will satisfy your objectives, and don’t obsess about superficial details.

6a. Don’t label yourself. You may have failed, but you’re not a failure until you stop trying. Think of yourself as someone still striving toward a goal, and you’ll be better able to maintain your patience and perseverance for the long haul.

7a. Look in the mirror every day and say, “I am in charge.” You may not have control over every phase of your life, but you have more control than you realize. You are responsible for your own happiness and success. As I like to say, your attitude determines your altitude!

Mackay’s Moral: You can turn “down and out” into “up and at ‘em.”

For me there’s no other day quite so excellent and free of … well … free of all things unpleasant as the first day of a New Year.

Or maybe it’s this New Year.

As is my typical m.o. … there’s plenty on the ‘ol plate

And yet somehow I’m feeling completely relaxed and confident that everything will unfold perfectly.

Plus this morning, while Skyping with my friend Mark, I had an inspired moment that is well suited to a New Years resolution.

Now, I don’t generally make New Year’s resolutions - it’s always seemed kind of silly to me to wait around a whole year to refresh, revisit and renew again.

Why not do it every month?

Or every week?

Or every day?

After all, every day’s a new day isn’t it??

And if you think about it - that’s just ’cause our planet spins the way it spins - basically an equally random indicator of when to start fresh.

That said - I have a New Year’s resolution and it’s kind of nice and tidy to start on the first day of the year and commit to going right on through the end.

I’ve long been envious of people who have a year of daily something under their belt.

There’s the crockpot lady who loves her crockpot so much she decided to cook everyday for a year with it.

Nice idea, but I neither own a crockpot nor love cooking in one… cooking in general just isn’t a first choice activity for me.

And another cooking every day for a year story - I just watched “Julie and Julia” …

Really enjoyed it especially the part where Julia is trying to find her own niche - her calling. I laughed out loud when Meryl Streep said something on the order of - ‘What do I love? I love to eat.’

Now THAT I can relate to.

But I’ve never quite known what it was I might be able to do every day for 365 days in a row - well nothing that’s not involuntary anyway - lol.

What would keep my interest day in and day out?

What would I not blow off?

And this morning - on Skype - it came out of the tips of my fingers and into the chat without even really thinking about it and I knew it was exactly the right idea for me.

Starting today - and for the next 364 days (this isn’t a leap year is it?) - I’ll be sending out appreciation and acknowledgment by sending out a greeting card everyday.

Just because I can.

And without any concern for what might come back to me.

I want to do this so it becomes a ritual.

One that my children can be a witness to - and maybe embrace for themselves. (I already have one card sender among the three of them - she’s writing some amazing stuff … a 7yo sending her love out across the Internet and into people’s hearts)

The act of physically sending out appreciation every day.

What a cool habit to develop.

Though I don’t ‘expect’ anything, I already know that the Universe will return in kind.

And the momentum will be simply amazing.

What sort of New Years resolutions did you make this year?

Would love to hear

I appreciate you!

Andrea

As always (for me) Abraham - even when picked apart and interpreted by Jerry and Esther is a little too much in the philosophical (and not-clearly actionable) zone.

But now and again - one of their daily messages catches my attention … this one sure did.

Consider these two subjects. Which way do you pass your days thinking?

The subject of money is really two subjects: (1) money, plenty of money, and (2) absence of money, not nearly enough money. Often people assume that because they are speaking the words “I want more money,” they are speaking positively about money. When you are feeling fear or discomfort as you speak, you are not speaking of the subject of money, you are speaking of the subject of not enough money. And the difference is very important, because the first statement brings money and the second holds it away.

— Abraham

Excerpted from the book “Money and the Law of Attraction: Learning to Attract Health, Wealth and Happiness” #282

Our Love,
Jerry and Esther

And what do you suppose are the action steps to switching gears over to the abundant side?

This isn’t some trick question - I’m asking here …

I feel like I am on the gnats edge of rock-solid abundance thinking … but it’s not like you can be “some” abundant thinking.

To me it feels more like a light switch that’s just waiting there patiently for me to get my whole mindset whipped into shape so it can turn on already.

Kinda like I’m living well within the possibility zone, but just not quite there yet.

Does that make any sense?

Would love to hear your thoughts.

In appreciation,

Andrea