Commitment vs Apathy

Commitment is the glue that keeps it all together and on the path - a straight  and focused path to what you want to achieve.

Wish – Hope – Want – Commit – Goal – Plan – Achieve

Commitment looks like strong, open, eyes focused and your body is listening, ready and active.

You want to learn, you want to make a difference, you get excited, you have a wider view around you. You push yourself, you motivate yourself and you do this when no-one else is looking.

Do you know these people?  Do you work with these people?

What does apathy look like?

Apathy stops you before you even get started - you are on the roundabout and no intention of getting off.  Apathy will play the victim and hide their true emotions and cop out to "I don't know".

It looks like slumped shoulders, defeated, shuffle rather than stride, head down, all too much, too hard, too tired, give up, lots of sighing, look the other way.

Do you know these people? Do you work with these people?

Apathy can steal away your hopes and dreams and when you see it in the workplace, it will disrupt and frustrate. Apathy is the arch enemy of motivation, killing ideas, suffocating progress.
Yes, apathy is that rotten. You will struggle with improving staff engagement and getting your plans to happen if apathy lives there.

What to do about it.

If only I could jab you with a dose of anti-apathy or call in the anti-apathy busters to clear out the blues but,  IMHO -

1. When you see apathy, name it:  It comes from a place of hurt and lethargy, apathy is a shield to feelings and lack of direction. See it as a thief of your best.
2. Jump: Next, take a jump from the apathy cycle at WANT and make the decision to take the line to commitment.  You may think this is out there, but yes, jump, dance, move, step, stride, do any action. Match your thoughts of changing the attitude with action, even better do it to music. It's time to get silly and brave.
3. Passion squashes apathy every time. Apathy will say, I am not passionate about anything - I do what I have to do and to hell with everyone else.  Apathy tends to love the couch, so get the body heat turned up - add exercise to your day, drink lots of water. When you are at the desk, have a timer and at the minimum every half hour - get up and move. Time to start grooving.
4. Start with the small wins and celebrate what you have done and how far you have come.  
5. Pick one thing, one goal and make it happen
6. Choose one charity and give
7. Say one encouragement to another person every day
8. Wow! you have got to #8 you are showing commitment
9. Go to your employer and say " I want to understand why we are doing ...." 
10. Go to your employees and win them over. Work is creative and it is interesting and goals do work. Goals set by the employee - concentrate the mind, provide intrinsic motivation, support value & identity and fuel the passion. What better way to remove apathy!

 

What do your habits say about you?

Victory is a word that has been rumbling around in my head the last few days and you know when there is a rumbling you need to look at it closer, put it under the microscope and find out what is going on.

Victory

The dictionary meaning conveys a strong force and is referenced mainly to war or military engagement and the one meaning that relates well for me is the success attained in a contest or struggle over an opponent, obstacle or problem. It is the act of triumphing.

For me then victory is when you don't back away or retreat from the struggle.  You are steadfast in what you promised yourself.  You know there will be obstacles, opponents and problems and when you triumph the victory is all the more sweeter. I needed to look closer at my habits and see if they are serving me well and create good habits that will lead me to victory.

The last post was about taking up the challenge and making the choice.

 A choice between standing down or accepting victory. 

Choice gets easier when good habits are involved.
"the last of human freedoms: the ability to choose one's attitude in a given set of circumstances". Victor Frankl

Stephen Covey and the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was one of the first great self- help books I read.  I had the audio as well and on my work road trips would listen to each one and get very excited about what I was hearing.  I knew that the lessons I was learning and applying were strengthening my effectiveness and character.
Covey's 7 Habits start with self awareness, self mastery, personal leadership - those private victories and the sequence of growth continues to those public victories - success with people, for example "Think Win-Win", "Seek First to Understand".  

Habits

 "Successful people daily weave habits of effectiveness into their lives in order to achieve desired results."

Habits have a strong pull on us. They are consistent and can be conscious or unconscious patterns in our life.  A habit starts out as a thought, turns into an action and when repeated turns into a habit. 

Our habits define what we do, what we feel, what we say or do not say.  It is our habits that reveal our character and plot our destiny.

Would you agree? Habits are worth taking a closer look at.

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Turning Challenges into Victories

You Choose.

I am in a place now where I am very blessed. I feel I am on top of the mountain looking at those challenges below me and can see where there has been victory along the way.







You would not wish a divorce, a loss, an injury or any kind of disappointment on anyone, the truth is where would your life be, if those challenges were not in your life.  You were able to exercise profound moments of truth to choose how you will act.
Without your challenges you would find your circle of comfort would get even smaller, no place for learning, no place to grow and certainly no place to nurture yourself or anyone else for that matter.

The quirky thing is, if you are not kicking out and making the most of your life you will still face challenges because we will invent them anyway.



We are wired to seek out challenges and stretch our thinking, build up our survival muscles. We all want to conquer something in our lives. It is up to you how you want to deal with it.

You Choose.  Victim or Victory

You Choose.  Give Up or Get Up

You Choose.  Lose it or Learn from it

You Choose.  Darkness/Despair or Strength & Willpower

You Choose. Anxiety or Determination

You Choose.  Poverty or Abundance

What I know to be true - the world is heaven and hell and we have a choice to choose which life we want. We are a community, we all want the same - to be acknowledged, to know love, to live with purpose, to see and feel joy and beauty in all creation. My life has a destiny, I am in it now, right now the present I am at my best. The people I meet, the places I go are here to help me for my divine purpose and just as I am here for you.

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FOUND SOME PASSION, IS IT YOURS?

YOUR PASSION WUZ HERE

FOUND SOME PASSION, IS IT YOURS? CALL ME

YOU + WHAT YOU LOVE TO DO 4 EVA

I HEART MY CAREER - SIGNED, YOU                             DAMN! GETTING UP IS FUN!

NICE BOUNCE IN YOUR STEP, YOU GOT A COACH?

MEET ME AT YOUR NEXT LEVEL

YOU WANNA DATE WITH YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE, BABY?

DOLLA MAKE ME WANNA HOLLA PASSION MAKE ME WANNA WHAT RHYMES WITH PASSION

Paying Attention is a good starting point

I have found that the best lessons, the lessons that stick are the ones that I have lived as they leave a lasting impression on my psyche.

When you pay attention to those defining moments it leads us to make change happen.

The Before

For two years I was not paying attention and allowed procrastination and excuses to rule, I lead a reactionary life and then had the cheek to feel stagnant and confused, blaming others for my lack of purpose, blaming my environment for my situation.

The anxiety would increase and manifested physically. By not paying attention it cost me dearly, being stuck manifested in lower back pain and there were times I struggled to walk, pain would be in my shoulder and I couldn't lift my arm which made it difficult to do everyday things, like dress myself, drive the car, cook the meals.

By not paying attention, my immune system was weakened, more trips to the doctor, more worries, more anxiety, more struggle.

So I stopped. This was not the best life, I was overdue to pay attention.

In a quiet moment, these are the lessons that spoke to me

What do you see here? How do you relate to this seagull?

• Don't give the power to everyone else's thoughts

• You are only worth what you believe you deserve

• Stop allowing your environment to predict your future

I paid attention

I knew I was to pay attention to the lessons I have lived and recognise that all the skills I have learnt and inherited are useful, that no experience  is a waste.  This lead me to change and action.

 When you are in times of change……

• Seek clarity as it provides the step to unconscious motivation
• Know that setbacks are your steps to success - the scars you carry are a testament to your strength
• Understand what is your purpose, your vision, your unique path you need to walk
• It's more than OK to be vulnerable and ask for guidance
• Act how you want to feel, who you want to be and set up habits that will serve you well

Love this moment. A unique path for everyone

Feeling stuck?  Finish these thoughts

"I am worthy and capable of success because......"

"If I fall I will take care of myself by...."

Successful people are not superhuman or require a super intellect, there is nothing mystical or lucky about success.  Just ordinary everyday people, like you and me, who have developed belief in themselves and in what they do. It appears they have superpowers more than the mere mortal can accomplish. 
Why is that so?  It is because they show strong thinking and belief in their place in this world, they have focus, persistence, innate motivation, they think big on what can be achieved and know that is not done alone and surround themselves with like minded. On the flip side anxiety, indecision, procrastination, self sabotage can cause you to freeze and get stuck in thinking that is not serving you well.

Perhaps, you are stuck and seeing the effects of not having your best future?
Give yourself the time to pay attention to your thoughts, actions and habits and this will lead to the path of change.

Just 2 simple tips here for action

  Act your life into a new way of thinking.  

Don’t overthink – don’t think yourself into a new way of acting..act your way into a new way of thinking, if you want to be enthusiastic, you act enthusiastically. The power is in the doing.

Start with your identity how do you identify yourself – act out who you want to be.

·      Useful Habits

The mind has a memory. And it’s damn smart; it “subconsciously” recognizes patterns.

Once the patterns become a habit, it’s hard to stop. It requires extra mental strength to break the habit.

It takes at least 2 months for the actions to become a habit

“Starting from small, it becomes big.”

·      Start with thinking outside the box, repeatedly, you become extremely creative.

·      Start with getting out of your comfort zone, repeatedly, you become confident and fearless.

·      Start with telling yourself what you want to achieve in life, repeatedly, you will get there.

·      Start with just getting it started, repeatedly, anything you want to be and do, you can be and do.

"Another world is not only possible. She is on her way on a quiet day I can hear her breathing. " - Indian Activist 

All about my business at http://isucceed.info