Applied Happiness Coaching

I was reading an article in Psychology Today last night regarding Self-Sabotage (I’d include the link, but the issue just arrived and there’s no mention of it on the PT site yet), and I coincidentally notice a lot of it in my life recently.  Like the ebb and flow of life itself, doubt and self-sabotage come and go in waves. One week we’re operating on pure power – like the fire inside broke through our cracks and we’re burning to reach our goals.  The next week we’re discouraged, so we find something that “comforts” us – 90% of the time that comfort ends up derailing our progress.  The derailment makes giving up look that much more appealing.

In this light, I went searching for what people use, read, watch, and do to stay motivated in the face of challenges. I stumbled onto some amazing images, and I’d like to share them here for you all to enjoy.  I think I’ll make this a regular column here. “Get Inspired” is a great piece to make recurring, right

What images or quotes do you find keep you motivated? Do you have a favorite? Share yours in the comments below!

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Benny Gold: Stay Gold from hypebeast.tv on Vimeo.

Today’s inspiration comes from Vimeo (I know there have been a lot of videos lately) and focuses on Benny Gold.  He’s a NYC designer that started his own brand because it was something he loved. He felt the passion for his own creative expression, so he followed it – through the boredom of working life, and the struggles of being so meticulous. The message here: If you find something you’re passionate about, and love doing, don’t stop driving toward it. You’ll make it. Guaranteed.

Peace, Love, and a million successes to you all.

Blake

Technorati Tags: appreciation, attitude, attraction, being bold, business, clearing doubt, dream, faith, goals, inspiration, lesson, motivation, personal power, success, wisdom

Easily one of the greatest viral videos of 2010, and perfect for Applied Happiness friends. So many people follow the societal agreement that being alone is a negative thing. This video lends another side of the argument, and I love it. You can experience so many things alone hat connect you with the world – because as long as you’re alive, you’re never alone.

Peace, Love, and a million successes to you all!

Blake

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Have you ever noticed people that jet-set across continents, whether for business, pleasure, or a mixture of both, never seem to lose grip on what they want? They have a clear vision of what they are looking for, and nothing seems to phase them. They’re not chasing a dream – they’re choosing and declaring what they want. Are you choosing what you want, or chasing a dream?

Here’s a better way to look at it: are you consciously choosing life and power, or are you falling victim to circumstance on your journey to your dream destination? Do things happen to you, or do you make things happen?  This is the elemental difference between reacting to life, and responding to it.  While they sound similar, they’re actually worlds apart.  Reacting to life is knee-jerk, emotional, and often comes with blame and elected helplessness – i.e. “it wasn’t my fault that didn’t work; there was nothing I could do – it’s your fault.”  Responding to life is taking responsibility for your place and impact in the world around you. It’s about noticing what is trying to emerge in every interaction (good and bad), and what energy and choice you made, and can make to impact it further.

Many people throw around the phrase, “everything happens for a reason,” electing to acknowledge that there must be something at work below the surface, but moments later find it impossible to see meaning in seemingly random events they don’t like.  I ask what the difference is.  It feels like it’s a type of selective responsibility – one in which you can claim power in accomplishment, but relinquish the responsibility in disappointment.  Look, if you’re not in command of your life, who is?

Wanna change it all?  Tired of struggling to find a better way? Do you want to actually reach those lofty goals?  Do you want to make it happen without relying on the miracle of a winning Lotto ticket falling in your lap?  Take responsibility for your life – your actions, choices, thoughts, judgments, dreams – all of it.  The good, the bad, the ugly – it’s your life, and you’re at the wheel.  Instead of chasing down what you want and reacting to the obstacles before you, choose the life you want, and respond to those same obstacles – this is the art of turning foes into allies, hurt into help, and rags into riches.

In everything you do, you’re committing to one thing or another.  Everything you give permission to (saying yes), you are also denying permission (saying no) to something else.  When you are chasing a dream you just can’t seem to reach, you’re saying yes and no to everything along the way – yes to failure, no to success; yes to struggle, no to learning; yes to familiarity (same old story), no to change / uncertainty etc.

So I leave you with an assignment:

1. With every interaction you have with people, places, things, events, circumstances – everything. notice what choices you’re making, and what you’re committing to.  Is it what you want? Are you choosing or chasing?
2. If (and when) something doesn’t go your way, immediately take a deep breath and ask yourself what is trying to emerge.  Are you going to respond and choose, or react as a pawn in the game?

I can’t reiterate this line enough:  It’s your life and if you’re not in command of it, who is?

“Sedit qui timuit ne non succederet. Audentes fortuna iuvat.” – He who feared he would not succeed, sat still. Fortune favors the bold.

Blake

Technorati Tags: attitude, attraction, being bold, choice, dream, faith, goals, lesson, personal power, reaction, reflection, responsibility, success, Virgil

If any of you have received an email from me, you’ve probably noticed the Latin in my signature.  “Audentes fortuna iuvat” – Fortune favors the bold.  This is so paramount for me, and those in business.  There is so much uncertainty in business – especially in the current economy.  We must not forget that the whole reason we started our own companies it the thrill of venturing out there and ‘doing it ourselves.’  While there are risks in everything you do, it is the thrill of emerging victorious that compels you to press on.

Let’s step away from business for a second – not everyone has a business.  This phrase applies to everything in life.  Think about it.  As a single guy, I know there are times when I’m out someplace and I see a woman I would love to talk to, but I chicken out or convince myself that I have too much going on to worry about meeting someone.  Have you ever been in a situation in which you knew it was going to take some moxie, but if you did it, you had the chance to emerge victorious?  Think about a time you chose to stay back and not risk it.  What do you think you might have missed out on?  What would it have been like if you had just gone for it?

Spend a minute or two and imagine being ‘that guy (or girl)’ for a day.  You know, the super-confident, attractive, intelligent, capable, commanding, yet down to Earth person that has no fear – that’s who I want you to imagine being for a moment.  It’s not about trying to be someone else – it’s about removing that FEAR of uncertainty / rejection from the person you already are.

See yourself walking up to that guy at Starbucks and introducing yourself to him. See yourself having all the right things to say.  See yourself feeling fearless. Now see him smiling at you, and you know the risk was all worth it.

Take a moment and imagine yourself, after eating lunch at the same place for months, finally going over and talking to that woman from the office across the street.  Imagine having all the right things to say.  Imagine seeing her smile and laughing with you.  Imagine how incredible it feels to be rewarded for being fearless.

Good fortune comes at a cost, my friends.  You have to have faith in yourself.  You have to look fear in the eye and press forward.  Faith is the only known antidote to failure, and is truly the golden secret to living without fear.  So today I want you to imagine what it would be like to live without fear, and then go forth and BE BOLD.

AUDENTES FORTUNA IUVAT!

Source – English translation from Virgil’s Epic, Aeneid . (70 B.C.E – 19 B.C.E.)

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I had a pretty poor day yesterday (Wednesday), and I was unsure how I was ever going to make it out still feeling good about my life.  We all have moments like that.  I am fighting with one of the companies I am doing contractual work for, and it looks like I may not get a paycheck for a while. We’ll just have to see how it all turns out.  I went home, grabbed my dog, and headed out to my friend’s place uptown. She bought me dinner and we just had a great time together watching the Olympics.  I laid my head down a little before 11, and tried to be grateful for the wonderful things in my life – even though I was still pretty worked up about the accounts payable issue from earlier.

I had a dream that spun my world in circles, and threw my train of thought out the window.

As a man, sometimes I dream about automobiles. Well, last night it was a brand new Escalade.

I’m driving around some random city in this beautiful new Escalade. I’ve got the windows down, the stereo up, the sun is shining, and I’m feeling pretty good about it all.  The monstrous truck starts to sputter and I see the gas gauge is broken as it wavers slightly, and then falls lifeless to E.  I look up as I roll to a stop, and suddenly I’m in the middle of nowhere.  I get out and I’m very, very upset. I’m cussing, and flailing my arms, and cursing the truck for doing this to me.

A man appears a couple hundred feet down the single lane road, and begins walking to me. As I’m cursing, he walks over and asks me what happened. I tell him the story angrily, and he smiles and tells me that I’m looking at it all wrong, in a tone that can only be described as uncomfortably mysterious – like any minute he was going to wave his hands and say, “That’s not a truck; it’s a kitten!” Poof, there would stand a kitten.

He asked me if I was just going to stand next to it and complain all day.

“You cannot stand here and expect magic to happen. Blake, keep walking down the road and have faith that another ride will come along.”

I didn’t even hesitate to follow his advice.  His voice was comforting – much like when mom tells you it’s all going to be okay when you’re sad as a kid.  Sure enough, just a couple hundred yards down, another Escalade pulled over and the back door opened.  I got in and looked back to see us pull away from the dead truck and the voice of reason.  I didn’t know where we were, but this nameless, faceless driver knew everything I wanted, and where to take me to get it. I simply requested something and had complete faith the driver would take me to it.  I felt so grateful for the new ride, and the random chance of meeting that man when my dream truck died.  I traveled all over in this new truck – guided only by faith that I would always reach whatever destination I asked for.

I woke up and felt like I had been given a gft in my sleep.  I was able to test drive the power of the Universe last night. I was able to run on faith.  And I would not have been the least bit surprised if I woke up with an Escalade keychain at my bedside.

Today I received a recommendation from a former colleague, a phone call from a friend in Ohio to speak at her company, and a brand new business contact for some design work. On faith alone, I have turned worry into wonderful gifts that will bring me happiness…and income!

Have a little faith, my friends. If one day your proverbial Escalade breaks down, you must keep walking and have faith that you’ll reach your destination. I promise you that you will. Every single time.

Technorati Tags: attraction, dream, faith, lesson, personal power, positive thinking

Your life as you know it is based upon faith. That’s right, even those that say they do not believe in fate, and instead choose to control their own destiny by working incredibly hard, making smart decisions, and following their own path are guided by faith. The faith they have is in themselves. No matter what the situation, the words, “have a little faith” echo through them. “It’s all going to turn out alright. It always does.” These are incredibly powerful affirmations! This is the stuff dreams are made of!

Holy cow…how cliche was that?

Napoleon Hill ["Think and Grow Rich"] wrote, “A mind dominated by positive emotions becomes a favorable site for the state of mind known as faith.”  When you smile in the face of adversity and what could be seen as an impassible crossroad, you have faith that you’ll get through it.  This is nothing new.  However, many people discount the power of faith because they feel more comfortable bonding with others about how “it’s just not possible” and/or “man, I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.”

How often do parents tell their children that it’s going to be okay.  How often do you hear people talk about making it through a disaster or negative event because they “just knew they would get through it”?  Have a little faith in YOU.

It is important to remember three very powerful truths:

1 – Faith is the starting point of all accumulation of riches.
2 – Faith is the basis of al miracles and mysteries that science cannot explain.
3 – Faith is THE ONLY KNOWN ANTIDOTE FOR FAILURE.

In my upcoming book, I spend a little time talking about the power of faith, and using it to propel you into manifesting incredible people, profits, and personal growth.  The greatest point I can make about faith is that it truly is the foundation for all your future success.  Success is built from the ground up, brick by brick. An unwavering faith in yourself, your abilities, and the Universe to back you up is 80% of the build process! The other 20% is action – another chapter altogether!

How do you get the faith you need to be the person you always dreamt of being?

“Know you have the ability to achieve the objects of your definite purpose in life. Demand of yourself persistent, continuous action toward its attainment, and promise to render such action” – Napoleon Hill, TaGR.

Wake up every morning, step onto the floor, and take a deep breath. With each breath, thank the Universe for the incredible day you’re going to have. KNOW how powerful you are, and commit yourself to believing you hold the cards to your success – and the faith that you’ll know when you hold em, and know when to fold em!

When you have complete, unwavering, unadulterated faith in yourself, you’ll never fold! You’ll have one winning hand after another! Trust me! Have a littel faith!

Technorati Tags: affirmations, faith, personal power, success