Daily Thought Archives: April 2010

April 1
YOU MUST DEFINE IT FOR YOU
Many people go through life not really understanding what they want, and then are constantly listening to others as to what they should do. For these people life seems a struggle, as they have been letting others define their life for them. The best person to define your life is you.

April 2
KEEPING A SUSTAINED FOCUS
All people who have achieved something great in their lives have the ability keep sustain a focus. They have kept their focus strong on what they wanted, and this helped them through any problems along the way until they achieved it. Success comes when we have the ability to sustain our focus.

April 3
THINKING IN NEW WAYS
Our thoughts have taken us to where we are today, so it is only logical that today's thoughts will take us to our future. If we want a different (new) future, we then need to be thinking in new ways. What area of your life could benefit from "new" thinking?

April 4
LEADERSHIP IS A CHOICE, NOT A POSITION
Leaders are not only the people who are in a management position, and not everyone in a management position is a leader. Leadership is really a choice. It's first about taking personal responsibility and then helping others do this as well. Leaders have influence, while a position only has authority.

April 5
SUCCESS IS SOMETHING YOU ATTRACT
Many people think they need to search for success and that it is something they need to chase. However, successful people have realised that they attracted success by who they were and the passion & energy they have shown. This enabled them to attract others who helped them to achieve and succeed.

April 6
ABILITY PLUS THE WILLINGNESS
People with the ability are everywhere, and in some cases, there isn't much difference in the ability among co-workers. Willingness is something else, and this is the key difference between the people who achieve and those who don't. Ability starts you on the road to success, but only the willingness will get you there.

April 7
CONSTANTLY CHANGING TO STAY AHEAD
Think of the changes you experienced in your lifetime, and you quickly realise that the pace of change is increasing all the time. To stay ahead in a world of change, we have to be constantly changing. It's the only way to stay relevant and continue to increase the value we provide to others (and thus what we get in return).

April 8
LOOKING BEYOND THE OBVIOUS
Everyone sees the obvious, so most people focus themselves on it. Successful people invest the time to "think" and to look beyond the obvious. They know that the obvious puts you in the crowd, so looking beyond the obvious is the way to break free, stand out, and provide something different.

April 9
PICTURE OUR COMPETITION WORKING HARD
We achieve based on the actions we take and how we take those actions. Also, we are all motivated to take those actions in different ways. A great motivator for all of us could be picturing our competition working hard. Everyone is competitive, and doing this helps to create the sense of urgency to not procrastinate.

April 10
TIME IS YOUR MOST PRECIOUS RESOURCE
Everyone first thinks of others as key resources to help them get what they want. However, our best resource is never others, but our time and how we use it. It's interesting, people who are focused & use their time well, always achieve more and even attract more resources along the way. Focused people attract more help than the unfocused.

April 11
DO YOUR RESEARCH ON OTHERS
Preparation is one of the keys to success, but not everyone prepares the same way. Some focus on what only they need to do and stop there. However, the successful people also prepare for getting others to do too. It's about doing some research on others and understanding the best ways to communicate and get their support & action.

April 12
COMMITMENT SHOWS UP THROUGH ACTION
Our commitment is not something we acquire through thought, but with action. You see so many people seeking an answer from others for increasing their commitment. However, the answer is within ourselves. By taking action we build the commitment in ourselves to take even more action and achieve our goals.

April 13
LET IT GO SO YOU CAN GROW
When we keep holding on to our past mistakes, it is just the same as being anchored to the ground. It prevents us from moving (taking action) and growing to be the person we were meant to be. We need to let go (free ourselves) in order to move forward, grow and reach our potential. Let go to grow.

April 14
THAT ONE THING
We have heard it so many times, about the need to focus. Take a minute to study successful people and you will notice that they have all focused on "one" thing, and that was the key to their success. They say that the toughest decision in the world is for each of us to make the choice on what that one thing is for us.

April 15
NOT TAKING OTHERS DREAMS AWAY
How many times have people talked to us about their dream (and maybe a crazy idea), and we immediately told them that it wasn't possible? How many people have done this to you? A better way is to help people move forward on their dream, by helping them focus on their next actions to move them closer to it.

April 16
PUT YOUR BEST PEOPLE IN THE CHANGE
There are many people in your organisation that can keep the day to day running. However, to get change that really delivers a return, only your best people can deliver that. In whatever change you initiate, focus first on getting your best people involved before doing anything else.

April 17
CONSTANTLY CHALLENGING YOUR ASSUMPTIONS
You could say that the foundation for many of our actions lies in the assumptions we have made in the past. Therefore, fundamental change really starts by challenging our assumptions first. Our success is often the result of setting the right assumptions first.

April 18
SIMPLE ISN'T ALWAYS EASY
We often know what we need to do. It is almost never complicated and in fact quite simple, but simple does not necessarily mean easy. Successful people understand this and invest their focus and energy on making the simple, but very important things a habit. The successful make habits that the unsuccessful are not willing to do.

April 19
THINK IN TERMS OF PROGRESS
Great accomplishments are never done in just one day. It takes a sustained effort over time, and keeping both the energy & motivation up to keep going. A great approach is to focus on always making progress on what you want to accomplish each and every day.

April 20
ASKING FOR HELP MAKES YOU STRONGER
There are many people who are afraid to ask for help, thinking it makes them look weak. However, it is really just the opposite. We always grow faster when we get the help and support from others. Look at every successful person and you will see a person asking lots of questions (continually learning).

April 21
STORIES GET RETOLD
Leaders who are great at driving change are also great storytellers. They understand that the power of their words comes when they are retold to others. That's why getting our key messages across with stories is so powerful. Everyone loves to tell stories and will keep passing great stories along to others.

April 22
WHAT ARE YOU MOST GRATEFUL FOR?
Everyone has bad days where everything seems to be going the wrong way. However, even in days as that, there is always something that we can be grateful for. Gratitude is an attitude that never makes us feel down, and can lift us even in one of our darkest days.

April 23
USING YOUR INSIGHTS ACQUIRED OVER TIME
People who possess good judgment didn't acquire that in just one day. They have been combining their insights, seeing patterns in them, and using them to help them make better decisions along the way. It's how we interpret and integrate our life's learnings acquired over time that provides the foundation for good judgment.

April 24
IT'S JUST A DECISION TO LISTEN
Listening is both a skill and an attitude, and being a good listener can be helpful in many different areas of our lives. The great listeners in the world all started by making the decision to listen to others. Once that decision is made, they became great through practice (creating the skill) and their attitude kept them "practicing".

April 25
CHANGE FROM "BUT" TO "AND"
Our language includes far too many "but's" than it should. In fact, it is probably better to eliminate them, and "eliminate" is the key word. Using a "but" in a sentence is really eliminating whatever you said before the "but". So, you could say that a "but" doesn't add to what we say and only eliminates what we say.

April 26
PULL VERSUS PUSH PEOPLE FORWARD
Leaders need to use both "pull" and "push" to drive their organisations. "Push" comes from their position, their authority. However, "pull" comes from their influence, and especially on communicating the WHY behind the direction. Successful leaders use "pull" before using "push".

April 27
THE "LACK" IS IN OUR MINDS
Most people don't perform to their potential because they have convinced themselves that they lack the abilities to use that potential. That's the major difference between the successful and the unsuccessful. The successful have eliminated the "lack" in their minds.

April 28
FOCUS ON WHAT WE WANT
It's really obvious, and something we all know we need to do. However, most people focus on avoiding what they don't want, versus investing all their energy in what they do want. We could say that success comes from the percentage of our thoughts & actions focused on what we want.

April 29
UNDERSTANDING COMES THROUGH STUDY
Many people go through life knowing a little about a lot of things, and not really investing their time to fully understand them. Successful people know that confidence and action come from understanding, and decide to invest the time to study the key areas that will help them become even more successful.

April 30
ANXIETY IS FEAR BEING EXPRESSED
Whenever we are anxious about something, it is often coming from a fear we have not thought through. People who are calm do not really have any less fears than others. It's just that they have thought through and beyond their fears to focus on what they can do. Their action creates the calm within them.