Great New Year’s Resolution Inspiration

It took 50 years, but George Roundy finally found the inspiration to lose his extra pounds and keep them off!

Take a look:

I chose this video for today’s inspiration because by this time each year (before, in many cases) we forget our ‘New Year’s Resolution’ and are back to the same old, same old. I suggest that as soon as you finish watching this video, look for your New Year’s resolution list and analyze the resolutions you made and whether or not you are working on them. If you are not working on them, I challenge you (and myself) to get back on track and finish up this quarter and the rest of the year, actively working on achieving your goals.

Greatness is all around us. It’s easy to be great because great people will help you. What is fantastic about all the conventions I go to is that the greatest in the business will come and share their ideas, their methods and their techniques with everyone else. I have seen the greatest salesmen open up and show young salesmen exactly how they did it. They don’t hold back. I have also found it true in the world of sports.

I’ll never forget the time I was trying to break Dutch Warmer Dam’s record. I was about a foot below his record, so I called him on the phone. I said, “Dutch, can you help me? I seem to have leveled off. I can’t get any higher.”

He said, “Sure, Bob, come on up to visit me and I’ll give you all I got.” I spent three days with the master, the greatest pole vaulter in the world. For three days, Dutch gave me everything that he’d seen. There were things that I was doing wrong and he corrected them. To make a long story short, I went up eight inches. That great guy gave me the best that he had. I’ve found that sports champions and heroes willingly do this just to help you become great, too. John Wooden, the great UCLA basketball coach, has a philosophy that every day he is supposed to help someone who can never reciprocate. That’s his obligation. When in college working on his masters thesis on scouting and defensive football, George Allen wrote up a 30-page survey and sent it out to the great coaches in the country. Eighty-five percent answered it completely.

Great people will share, which is what made George Allen one of the greatest football coaches in the world. Great people will tell you their secrets. Look for them, call them on the phone or buy their books. Go where they are, get around them, talk to them. It is easy to be great when you get around great people.

By Bob Richards
Olympic Athlete

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There’s not a problem in America today, crime, drugs, education, divorce, delinquency that wouldn’t be remedied, if we just had more Dirt Roads, because Dirt Roads give character.

People that live at the end of Dirt Roads learn early on that life is a bumpy ride.

That it can jar you right down to your teeth sometimes, but it’s worth it, if at the end is home…a loving spouse, happy kids and a dog. We wouldn’t have near the trouble with our educational system if our kids got their exercise walking a Dirt Road with other kids, from whom they learn how to get along. There was less crime in our streets before they were paved.

Criminals didn’t walk two dusty miles to rob or rape, if they knew they’d be welcomed by 5 barking dogs and a double barrel shotgun.

And there were no drive by shootings.

Our values were better when our roads were worse!

People did not worship their cars more than their kids, and motorists were more courteous, they didn’t tailgate by riding the bumper or the guy in front would choke you with dust & bust your windshield with rocks.

Dirt Roads taught patience.

Dirt Roads were environmentally friendly, you didn’t hop in your car for a quart of milk you walked to the barn for your milk.

For your mail, you walked to the mail box.

What if it rained and the Dirt Road got washed out? That was the best part, then you stayed home and had some family time, roasted marshmallows and popped popcorn and pony rode on Daddy’s shoulders and learned how to make prettier quilts than anybody.

At the end of Dirt Roads, you soon learned that bad words tasted like soap.

Most paved roads lead to trouble, Dirt Roads more likely lead to a fishing creek or a swimming hole.

At the end of a Dirt Road, the only time we even locked our car was in August, because if we didn’t some neighbor would fill it with too much zucchini.

At the end of a Dirt Road, there was always extra springtime income, from when city dudes would get stuck, you’d have to hitch up a team and pull them out.

Usually you got a dollar…always you got a new friend…at the end of a Dirt Road!

Paul Harvey

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They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn’t hear the band – he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.”

Epilogue…
There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled. If you want to feel rich, just count all of the things you have that money can’t buy.
Source: Motivational-Messages.com

Well, I guess this is the occasion.” He took the slip from me and put it on the bed with the other clothes we were taking to the mortician. His hands lingered on the soft material for a moment, then he slammed the drawer shut and turned to me. “Don’t ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you’re alive is a special occasion.”

I remembered those words through the funeral and the days that followed when I helped him and my niece attend to all the sad chores that follow an unexpected death. I thought about them on the plane returning to California from the Midwestern town where my sister’s family lives. I thought about all the things that she hadn’t seen or heard or done. I thought about the things that she had done without realizing that they were special. I’m still thinking about his words, and they’ve changed my life. I’m reading more and dusting less. I’m sitting on the deck and admiring the view without fussing about the weeds in the garden. I’m spending more time with my family and friends and less time in committee meetings.

Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experience to savour, not endure. I’m trying to recognize these moments now and cherish them. I’m not “saving” anything; we use our good china and crystal for every special event such as losing a pound, getting the sink unstopped, the first camellia blossom. I wear my good blazer to the market if I like it. My theory is if I look prosperous, I can shell out $28.49 for one small bag of groceries without wincing. I’m not saving my good perfume for special parties; clerks in hardware stores and tellers in banks have noses that function as well as my partygoing friends. “Someday” and “one of these days” are losing their grip on my vocabulary. If it’s worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now.

I’m not sure what my sister would’ve done had she known that she wouldn’t be here for the tomorrow we all take for granted. I think she would have called family members and a few close friends. She might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend fences or past squabbles. I like to think she would have gone out for a Chinese dinner, her favorite food. I’m guessing – I’ll never know. It’s those little things left undone that would make me angry if I knew that my hours were limited. Angry because I put off seeing good friends whom I was going to get in touch with – someday. Angry because I hadn’t written certain letters that I intended to write – one of these days. Angry and sorry that I didn’t tell my husband and daughter often enough how much I truly love them. I’m trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter and luster to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes, I tell myself that it is special. Every day, every minute, every breath truly is… a gift from God.

Ann Wells, Los Angeles Times

One of my favorite books, “Think and Grow Rich” describes the subconscious mind as ‘a fertile garden spot, in which weeds will grow in abundance, if the seeds of more desirable crops are not sown therein’. You need to fill your mind with positive thoughts about yourself, your goals and the possibilities abound. And it has to become a daily routine, just like exercise. To keep your body in shape you need to have a regular exercise routine, the mind is no different. Here are some suggestions to keep your mind conditioned and create a winning mindset:

a. Create a mind movie and watch it every day. At the very least, create a PowerPoint slide with pictures or images of your goals. More advanced programs like Windows Movie Maker or online programs like Flash Slideshow Maker can also be used. The idea is to have your goals in front of you and top of mind everyday like a vision board or scrapbook.


b. Read self-help or personal development books or magazines. Some of my favorites are Think and Grow Rich, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Develop a collection of these kinds of books and read and reread them often.


c. Read personal development blogs or websites Try to be organized and selective about this in the interest of time. The idea is to subscribe to a handful of blogs, weekly newsletters and read the updates. Its easy to get lost in the myriad of information out there on this subject.

2. Affirmations

Use affirmations to reaffirm specific goals you are working towards or to affirm qualities of the person you want to become or to affirm a new way of thinking. Some examples:



a. I am so happy and grateful now that I drive a Land Rover Discovery, my dream car


b. I am a goal-setting, smart working self-starter who is a disciplined and persistent positive thinker


c. When God closes one door, he always opens another


A few things to note about affirmations:
• Always use affirmations in the present tense,

• Say affirmations with feeling and emotion behind it

• Use affirmations in the affirmative i.e. Say, ‘I am financially independent’ is better than saying, ‘I am not in debt’





3. Gratitude

Be grateful for what you have no matter how bad things get. Things can always be much worse. Once there is life, there is hope, be grateful for that! As soon as you catch yourself starting to think negative, disempowering thoughts, switch to thoughts of gratitude even for the little things. Say it out loud if you have to. List them one by one and see how far you can go. A great exercise which I first heard on Oprah and then on ‘The Secret’ is to keep a gratitude journal. Write down at least 3 things that you are grateful for every night. If it was a particularly bad day, make it 10 things. Or do a gratitude brainstorm, set a time and see how many things you can write down in the allotted time. Until you can be truly grateful for the things you have in your life right now, you will not be ready to receive what you hope and wish for.


4. How can it go right?

Instead of thinking of all the ways that something could go wrong, think of all the ways that it could go right. Whether you are working on a new business idea, a career change or any worthwhile venture. When you make yourself think of all the ways that things could go right, you open up yourself to new ideas.








5. Visualization

Use your imagination and let your mind soar! Visualize your most desired outcome. Rehearse it in your mind. Picture yourself making that sale, closing on your dream home, doubling your income or whatever your goal or burning desire. You can do it. This is a powerful exercise and should be done daily. With preparation and visualization, you can attract to yourself whatever you want and watch it come through in your life.

So how do you plan to control your negative inner chatter? Or do you have an idea that I have not included here? I would love to hear from you.