Success Rule 28 - Create a Vision/Dream Board

Recognizing many of us tend to make New Year Resolutions only for them to fall by the wayside, today, and for the next few upcoming Rules and Tools I'll share with you tools you can use to increase your success . If you've been following LDI's Rules and Tools for Success for any period of time you know how important it to be self-aware of the seeds you sow in your mind with what it is you think about. To help, it's important to have many different sources that continue to remind and reinforce those thoughts and hence your success.

This week's tool for success is to create your own Vision Board. Now, the last time you had anything to do with a collage was probably in your third grade art class, well no need to dig out the scissors, poster board and Elmer's glue, however, if you have young children in your life you might consider doing this as a project with them - a great way to help them stay focused, think about goals (clean room, good grades, new bike, etc) and their own success. This can also be an effective teambuilding exercise for your office or department in identifying values, vision, mission and goals.

Assuming you have your goals, resolutions, vision or dreams identified, the next step is to collect pictures that reflect them. If you are using a poster board this will be pictures from magazines, newspapers, photos you've taken yourself, or printed from pictures taken from the internet (Google images is a great resource). In addition to the tried and true poster board approach, I prefer the use of technology and use PowerPoint and photo editing software (Depending on your skill with photo editing software you can really go wild). In this manner I first collect my pictures in a folder on my hard drive (you can also simply copy and paste right on to your Power Point slide if you prefer). From here I can then piece them together until complete. Once you have your collage looking the way you want, either simply print it out on an 8.5X11 sheet of paper(preferably photo paper) and frame, or, as I prefer, email(or take it on a flash drive) it to your local Staples, Office Depot or Office Max and have them put on a poster board with foam backing (less than $30, depending on size). This gives it a nice glossy, professional look on a hard backing easy to hang or lean against something without curling up. You can also save it as a background on your desktop or as a screensaver. A second approach is to create an actual slide show with a different picture and or text on each slide and specifically use it as your screen saver where it rotates through each photo.

Good luck, have fun, and email me a copy when you're done, I'd love to see it.

Be Extraordinary!

Success Rule 27 - Practice Gratitude

The practice of gratitude as a tool for happiness has been in the mainstream for years. Long-term studies support gratitude’s effectiveness, suggesting that a positive, appreciative attitude contributes to greater success in work, greater health, peak performance in sports and business, a higher sense of well-being, and a faster rate of recovery from surgery.

But while we may acknowledge gratitude’s many benefits, it still can be difficult to sustain. So many of us are trained to notice what is broken, undone or lacking in our lives. And for gratitude to meet its full healing potential in our lives, it needs to become more than just a Thanksgiving word. We have to learn a new way of looking at things, a new habit. And that can take some time.

That’s why practicing gratitude makes so much sense. When we practice giving thanks for all we have, instead of complaining about what we lack, we give ourselves the chance to see all of life as an opportunity and a blessing.

Remember that gratitude isn’t a blindly optimistic approach in which the bad things in life are whitewashed or ignored. It’s more a matter of where we put our focus and attention. Pain and injustice exist in this world, but when we focus on the gifts of life, we gain a feeling of well-being. Gratitude balances us and gives us hope.

There are many things to be grateful for: colorful autumn leaves, body parts that work, friends who listen and really hear, chocolate, liberty and freedom, warm jackets, a job, the ability to read, roses, our health, butterflies. What’s on your list?

Some Ways to Practice Gratitude
•  Keep a gratitude journal in which you list things for which you are thankful. You can make daily, weekly or monthly lists. Greater frequency may be better for creating a new habit, but just keeping that journal where you can see it will remind you to think in a grateful way.
•  Make a gratitude collage by drawing or pasting pictures.
•  Practice gratitude around the dinner table or make it part of your nighttime routine.
•  Practice gratitude around the conference table or make it part of your office routine.
•  Make a game of finding the hidden blessing in a challenging situation.
•  When you feel like complaining, make a gratitude list instead. You may be amazed by how much better you feel.
•  Notice how gratitude is impacting your life. Write about it, sing about it, express thanks for gratitude

As you practice, an inner shift begins to occur, and you may be delighted to discover how content and hopeful you are feeling. That sense of fulfillment is gratitude at work.

Success Rule 26- Expect Adversity

Do you know successful people live by a set of closely followed rules and values? LDI's Rules for Your Success will help you hone in on the best success practices that benefit you in all areas of your life.

About once a month or so, you will receive a new Rule that will set you on a path to achieving ultimate success. Tips like “Volunteer for More Work” (#3), ‘Know What You Want” (#14), and Leverage Your Why” (#25) will set you on the path to training yourself for success. 

Don't have rules 1-25?  Click Here to find out how to receive them.

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 SUCCESS RULE # 26 - EXPECT ADVERSITY 

Look around you, there isn't a single person you know who hasn't faced some challenge(s) in their lifetime. It may be a bully at school or in the office. It may be someone badgering you because of your beliefs. It may be just the aches and pains of growing older. In today's economic crisis it may be unemployment, foreclosure, or the income isn't enough to cover the expenses. Whatever it is in your life, someone has got it just as bad - or worse. How do we face that something like that? How do we face that adversity in a way that can actually benefit us?

I'm sure you've heard the story of the two shoe salesmen who landed at a remote location where the locals didn't wear shoes. One saw it as a waste of time and got back on the boat and returned home. The other called back and said send all the shoes you have.

The point about this Rule for Success is - are you prepared - mentally prepared? What is your perspective of the adversities you face? How will you choose to deal with the adversity in your life? Maybe you're like me. Suddenly, bursting into your life, there it is adversity that you've never experienced before. You're wondering, what now? First of all, have the attitude that you expect adversity to come; and when it comes, you're not surprised.

One of the very first choices I make is that I accept the fact that adversity comes to everybody and it's not always a sign that there's something wrong with me or my life. Get over yourself, you're not a victim. This in itself is a huge first step. It's foundational. It sets the stage for all the subsequent choices you make.

Another attitude we need to bring to adversity table is to see it as an opportunity - embrace it. As the saying goes, when given lemons make lemonade. There are plenty of feel good stories where, during economic downturns, people who lose their jobs, file for bankruptcy, or lose their homes and come out the other side with greater financial success and /or a happier life as a result of starting a business, a new career, or getting a better job.

As I write this week’s rule, it occurs to me that extraordinary success actually requires adversity. It sounds weird, but it's true. I don't think it should surprise us that expecting and subsequently accepting adversity comes as a process, that it's not something that you turn on and turn off. But here's the thing: Self-awareness is in the process. Being self-aware is a way of getting to know adversity.  But, there's still a little more to this attitude of acceptance.

Let me suggest a third attitude that you need to bring to the table. When faced with adversity, don't expect an answer to the question, "Why me?" If you are like I am, the first thing you want answered when something goes wrong in your life is why. Why me, Lord? Isn't that true? It's the common, normal, natural think to ask. When you have an automobile accident, you ask, Why me? When the boss hands you a pink slip and says, "It's nothing personal," you say, Why me? When the bank is knocking on your door asking for the keys, you say, "Why me?" It's common. That's a normal action. Consider this, if you expect someone else to explain everything that goes wrong in your life, you're going to be sorely disappointed.

Another attitude we bring to adversity is surely the attitude of courage, the courage to face adversity in a way that will lead to greater success--whether that adversity is loss, hurt, damage, or any other kind of adversity. I say courage because, generally, adversity is not seen as something that brings blessings; it's seen as something that brings pain. For success minded individuals who watch for and experience adversity for themselves, they can see the benefits. Not everyone is going to understand this, do you?

In the bible Romans 5:3-4, Apostle Paul says, "We can also rejoice when we run into problems, trials and tribulations, for we know they're good for us, that they help us to learn to endure, and endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our expectation of hope". Life brings adversity to us in such a way that it also brings character. If I could say one thing to you today, it would be this: You don't have to fear adversity. You don't have to welcome it, but you don't have to fear it as long as you bring the attitudes to adversity that are attitudes found in successful thinking. When you do that, you face adversity as an opportunity, not as something to be dreaded or feared.

My wish for you is that whatever you're facing today will not overwhelm you but will show you the gift that is given to you in adversity can be used to bring you not only great success and happiness in yourself but for you to know how to use it to help someone else.  

 Here at LDI, we want to find out more about the success process associated with adversity. So our research team at Leader Development Institute (me) has decided to interview the experts on success - you. You're one of those experts. We want you to share your experiences on how you turned adversity into success.

Be Extraordinary!

Associated Rules and Tools: These rules and tools do not stand alone. You can not apply them independently. You cannot just pick and choose the ones you like. Revisit these tools and see how they relate. Don't have past Rules and Tools? You can purchase them in e-book or hard copy form here. 

Success Rule Number 4 -Take 100% Responsibility For Your Life.Success Rule Number 15 - Be ProactiveSuccess Rule Number 17 - Know ThyselfSuccess Tool Number 19b - Skip and Google Your BrainSuccess Rule Number 21 - Don't WhineSuccess Rule Number 22 - Be Cheerful

Success Rules 26 -42 can also be found on our website at http://www.ldiworld.com/success-rules.html

The P.O.W.E.R. of One

Leader Development Institute is proud to offer a new topic, The P.O.W.E.R. of One.

Are you good at what you do? 
How would you like to be extraordinary? 
With The P.O.W.E.R. of One, you can be!

While some are leaders of others, each of us is a leader of at least one, ourselves.  By learning how to be the best you, you will experience greater personal and professional success, as well as become more valuable to those around you.  Through examining the power we each possess and taking control of our lives, we can have a more positive effect on the lives we touch both on a professional and personal level.  This dynamic seminar will show you how to have the extraordinary character you need to be an extraordinary leader of one.

One person can make a difference and that person can be you!

Be Extraordinary!

With this seminar you will learn:

• How to go from Good to Extraordinary
• To be proactive for positive change
• What it truly means to be open minded
• Where wisdom comes from
• How to be enthusiastic when you don’t feel it
• What it means to be responsible 100% of the time
• Motivation from within

Visit our website www.LdiWorld.com/attend-a-seminar to see where this new topic is being offered. Or, requst more information at www.LdiWorld.com/contact-ldi

Be Extraordinary!