I just finished a book by Jon Gordon called The No Complaining Rule. This simple concept can be a tough application when we let our natural fight or flight instincts overrule the rational and compassionate core. Jon suggests that there are other things we could CHOOSE to do rather than complain including:
1. Practice Gratitude
2. Praise Others
3. Focus on Success
4. Let Go
5. Pray and Meditate
“No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse.” Jeffrey R. Holland
I’m co-hosting an event this coming Saturday in Salt Lake City that I would like to personally invite you to attend – visit www.thrivesummit.com to see what I’m so excited about and register. Now for the main message…
The way people feel about you is most closely associated with the way they feel about themselves when they are with you. Dr. Ann Demarais explains in her book, First Impressions that we can have a powerful impact on others through giving them any of four powerful social gifts:
1. Appreciation – showing and expressing gratitude for whatever that person brings to our life.
2. Connection – finding ways that you connect or intersect with that other person in your interests or experience.
3. Elevation – everyone likes to feel good; your cheerfulness, smile, or positivity will be well received by others.
4. Enlightenment – find a way to share new knowledge or information with others.
Your challenge today: Pick one of these social gifts and try it out with three people in your world today. Let me know how it works!
Bruce Wilkinson, in his book The Dream Giver, defines a giant as “a very real and completely overwhelming obstacle you encounter on the road to your dream.” This giant then stands in your way, trying to bully and intimidate you from moving forward. Has it occurred to you that your giant can’t be IN YOUR WAY unless you are already ON YOUR WAY to something? Revive your vision of where you were headed in the first place. There are at least two great reasons to achieve your dreams, and only one of them is that you will accomplish your goal – the other is that conquering your giant frees others to do the same.
When I take the family on road trips to Seattle to visit family, we have to cross the beautiful Cascade mountains. When weather is such that there is a likelihood of snow over the pass, a big sign over the freeway reads “CHAINS REQUIRED”. Life gives us many crossroads and unanticipated challenges. Life’s warning sign may read, “ROUGH ROAD AHEAD, CHANGE REQUIRED.” The other direction is the more comfortable and easy route where no change is required, but it leads to stuckness. Robert Frost wrote some timeless lines about this choice…
Two roads diverged in a wood and I—
I took the one less traveled by.
And that has made all the difference.
Choose well!
Last week I took my son out to the West Desert in Utah looking for bugs for his 9th grade biology assignment to make a collection. While we were driving along this dirt road, we saw something moving and stopped the car. It turned out to be a tarantula, which we excitedly collected and returned as a live specimen to his biology teacher. I thought to myself – that thing is a GIANT. Well, that is only true compared to other, smaller spiders. Compared to me, that spider is pretty small. As you face the giants in your life, whether it be a large debt, a challenging relationship, or a daunting health condition; remember that it is only “giant” compared to something else – usually compared to what you have experienced before or compared to what you think you can handle. Keep the perspective that giants are all relative, and work on finding something in your life that is bigger than your giant – like your God, your vision, or your purpose.
It’s smaller than a dollar!
Visit THRIVE! Summit to join me, idea guru Shaye Larsen, and best-selling author Leslie Householder for a half-day event that could change your life – we want to help you DO what you KNOW rather than just give you another hyped-up positive thinking seminar. Hope you will join us on October 25th in Salt Lake City!
M-Power 