We will open the book. Its pages are blank.
We are going to put words on them ourselves.
The book is called Opportunity.

Its first chapter is New Years Day.

~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce

What do you want? Do you have any idea how hard it is for most people to answer that question?  Even many who practice productivity management are sorely lacking in details.  Maybe you, too.

New Years is for reconnecting with the cycles, realizing how many choices we go around making every day, and thinking about making this cycle count for something different, or special.

It makes sense to decide what you want before trying to get it!
What do you want your life to look like in 3 months? — a year from now? — 5 years?

What are the secrets of making and keeping good plans?  Extraordinary Minds say…
(To learn more about the League of Extraordinary Minds free broadcasts, go here.)

One secret is in Reaching Out.  Here are some ways to connect with your opportunities more clearly:

Reaching Out with your mind.
The beginning of all change starts with an idea.
Think of what you want and reach out for it with your mind.

Reaching Out with your heart.
The beginning of motivation is in the heart.
Connect your desire with your ideas, and reach out with your heart.

Reaching Out with your hands.
The visible beginning comes from daily action.
Reach out with your actions and connect motivation with practice.

Reaching out with your heart and mind is powerful, and takes courage.  You risk wanting something without knowing the outcome.  This ‘inner game’ part of reaching out is scary for many people.  If we admit to ourselves how much we want something to change, it brings the tension of unknowing and responsibility.  And if we take no action, that can cause inner conflict and all kinds of negative emotions, like guilt and shame, even feelings of low self-worth and failure.

Enter: Daily Action.
(Daily Action wears a Mighty Mouse cape, and is singing, “Here I come to save the day…”).

If you want to find those opportunities and keep your resolve, there is a secret within the secret:  Repeat steps one and two, reaching out with mind and heart, again and again, to shore up Daily Action.

As you start to practice the new habit, revisit your ideas and motivation daily. Think of more new ideas, about how to keep motivation high, and about exactly what will help you want to succeed. Then act upon your ideas.  Observe your progress without judging.

Where are Your opportunities?  How do you get involved in your own goals? After the thinking, and desire, doing your dailies is the only answer which brings success.  It’s the one that falters first most of the time.  But you can be different…

By reaching out.  And reaching out.  And Daily Reaching Out.

As you listen to one of the last free broadcasts of the world-class coaches in the League of Extraordinary Minds, start imagining yourself moving toward that kind of success.  Then Reach Out to your goals bravely and make a New Years difference in your own personal and professional life.

Go for Your New Years Opportunities!

54 Master Success Coaches in Conversation

It is near Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.  Not that we should save gratitude for a feast day, but still, a good reason to pause and reflect.  The following is taken from the Ultimate Feel-Good Article. Enjoy, and practice the surprise!  And don’t forget there are some League of Extraordinary Minds Panels still to be aired. You can listen to them Here.

What if the Ultimate Feel-Good Article is something WAY DIFFERENT than you expected? Something you can’t even look for. Kind of like what they say about a solution to a puzzle only showing up after you sleep on it, or the answer to a prayer not coming from where you thought it would.

What if the Ultimate Feel-Good Article is one you write yourself? Hey, don’t feel cheated, at least not yet. Like Billy Mays said, “Wait, there’s more.”

• Proposition 1: Spend 15 minutes a day (5 min. for new mothers/fathers and other time-challenged creatures) being with yourself, and jot down a few things you are grateful for. Lists, prose, poetry, outlines, stick-up notes, napkins, doesn’t matter. What matters is that you practice — five minutes every day that you don’t have an all-day migraine.
• Proposition 2: Let the habit sweep you into a new mindset.
• Proposition 3: Allow yourself to think this is important, and it carries the potential to make a BIG difference. Keep your tidbits, WRITTEN.

THE BIG PROP: Read the stuff on the days when you least want to do so.

Read it aloud.

Recite your lists to pets, babies, sleeping squirrels in your oak tree, house plants, mirror, friend on the phone, partner if you have one, favorite lamp, doesn’t matter. What matters is that you listen. Listen, huh?!

The Ultimate Feel-Good Article turns out to be ephemeral, unless it gets to take root in your psyche. So you have to actually listen to yourself to have this work for you long term.

(Short-term yada-yada is quite acceptable, however, because it gets your brain used to the messages, even if your mind still thinks it’s hogwash.)

Try this. Yes, of course, come back and explore our offerings, but first…

Go read YOUR Ultimate Feel-Good Article. Then come back and leave us a comment, or questions about getting the hang of it. We’ll be here for you.

Spot-on.  We agree.  Give your mind this extraordinary habit-gift.  It can be yours.

And bend an ear toward these conversations.  That gift can also be yours.

Both opportunities can morph into game-changing habits that last a lifetime!

Two friends, one who obviously had training, and one who appeared to be a newbie, were having a little contest to see who could balance the longest, and do it the most times in a row without a shin-skinning fall.

The person who had been mentored got up on a rock and showed the newbie how to hold out the arms, bend the knees, etc.  The newbie followed suit, laughing and learning, and having some beginner’s success.

Newbie and ‘Daniel-san’ enjoyed a good little contest on the beach — until one fall ended the fun.  While ‘Daniel-san’ was good at helping Newbie learn the fun part, ‘Daniel-san’ hadn’t covered how to fall off the rock without getting hurt.  When Newbie’s balance faltered, Newbie felt helpless and more than skinned a shin.  There they were, the Keen and the Clueless.

~~ Cut to a Scene in Your Own Life ~~

~~ Cut to the most powerful business brain-trust ever assembled ~~

Now imagine combining scenes two and three and see what happens…Your Own Life getting access to over 50 of the most accomplished coaches and business strategists ever, gathered for one purpose:  To help Your Business.  To help you get started, take off, scale to huge proportions.  To give you hope and courage to pursue your dreams and goals…

…and… to help keep you from self-destructing when you fall off a ‘rock’.

Oh my, I would LOVE to have access to The League of Extraordinary Minds!

If Newbie had all these perspectives and balancing skills, Newbie could have:

• Avoided a lot of pain
• Learned how to cut the Newbie-losses
• Found out about consistency and continuity and how to survive the long-haul
• Been privy to the Missing Pieces which can make ALL THE DIFFERENCE in success.
• Learned how to risk without killing off the Newbie-juice, or our so-many chances for success.

There is a tremendous amount of “Buzz” around this august group and their League of Extraordinary Minds project.  It’s all good, so just go find out for yourself right now!

Even for those of us who are experienced business owners and entrepreneurs, there is always another barrier to jump over, another meadow where we are ignorant about which new plants to cultivate, and about where the hungry, eager markets hang out.

So vetted and trained marketers are always perpetual beginners — we live and operate in that creative tension between the keen and the clueless.

Go join this series of free listening opportunities to hear panels of wildly successful minds discussing how they went from clueless to keen, and how you can apply those principles to Your Business.  DO NOT MISS THIS!  All we have to do is show up and listen.

No books or CDs to buy, in order to listen.  No obligation at all.  It’s all FREE.

The free line is within your reach.  Grasp it immediately.

Do it quickly — because the kick-off first call with Tony Robbins is this Thursday, the 29^th.
(Yes, THAT Tony Robbins!)