These simple disciplines have made a massive difference to our income, our business and our lifestyle!
Feel free to ask questions, leave comments and give feedback below in the comments section and I’m sure that you will find this short video to be incredibly valuable.
Thank you one and all for the tremendous feed back that I have received by e-mail, posts on Facebook, Tweets and comments on this blog following my last post “A reflection on (fairly) recent times” which discussed success, inspiration and how inspiration can be found. I’ve thought about this a great deal and I have come to a conclusion that true inspiration is generated by desire.
We can all read an inspiring book, hear and inspiring story, see an inspiring movie, listen to an inspiring speaker and be motivated into an activity. However, this motivation may be limited to a specific type of activity and perhaps will only last for a period of time. Sometimes the period of time can be extensive but my observation tells me that it’s often short-lived. It is my belief, by observation, that true inspiration is created and sustained by a single strong desire or by a multiple number of strong desires. So here are my thoughts on “Desire” but before I burden you, Dear Reader, I would ask you please to at least debate these ideas and concepts. Debate them with your loved ones, your peer group and if no one is willing have an internal debate with yourself. Most importantly for me, is that you should let me know how you feel about these ideas. So, please feel free to “Leave a Reply” in the box below and feel free to start a conversation!
Desire has a number of meanings according to my dictionary and can be used in a number of different ways according to my thesaurus. So, to make it clear lets us take the word “desire” in this context not to mean lust but rather to mean passion. Lust is at best temporary and can be harmful but to be full of passion with a craving for improvement must generate a positive thought process that engenders a high level of sustained activity in order to bring about the realization of the stated desire.
Did you notice that I just used the words “stated desire”? Most people, unfortunately, never realize a strong desire for anything let alone state their desire. However, you dear reader, are probably the exception to the general rule as I suspect that the very reason you are reading this article would suggest that at least you are interested in the concept of success and probably you have at least a wish to be successful and you may have a strong desire to become so. Should a person state their strong desire publicly they are either viewed as a fool or as heroic, dependent upon their audience. Diana and I often make heroic statements to one another which we evaluate by debating the statement. This tests the strength of desire and ultimately defines a course of action.
I’m sure that there are many different areas of desire but the three that spring to mind are financial, health and relationships. The latter category is perhaps the most complex and can be broken down into at least three sub-categories; love, respect and admiration. All of those are complex so, to keep things simple let me confine my remarks to matters financial.
Perhaps, then, the burning question is how do I find the desire? It seems to me that everybody has desire but in most cases it’s buried deep as lots of people are afraid to acknowledge it through fear of failure. The problem lies within our education and experience in life. We are literally programmed by our parents and as developing children by our schooling. It’s a fact that children hear the word “no” five times more that they hear the word “yes” from their parents! Now we can’t blame parents as usually the word “no”is used to keep you from harm or doing something silly. I do have a problem with our education system. In my opinion most of the education today that is available in the developed world is designed to make you “fit in” rather than “stand out”!
I think the question that needs to be answered is how do you unlock the desire and to take the desire forward into sustained high level activity that will transcend your life to mirror your desire. For Diana and I the biggest tool that unlocked our desires was aspiration. We used to look at people who had started with little or nothing. We would listen to their stories of achievement and applaud their success. Diana and I still have aspirations. After all, my mentor suggested to me, many years ago, that it’s a good idea to have a home for every season. Diana and I are only part way there! We used to admire the philanthropists of this world. Diana and I are nowhere near the same league as Bill and Melinda Gates but now we do have a yearly philanthropic plan. My mentor also stated, often, “If you wish to be successful, study successful people”.
In closing. Is it possible to find the way forward by aspiring to emulate people who are obviously successful? I will leave that as your debating point!
Until my next post……..Toodleloo!
Many of my Facebook friends have been increasingly baffled by the posts that I have been making since the beginning of January 2012. The posts have taken the form of a xxx/155 where x is a number. The theories have all been amusing and some of them highly inventive. However, a few of my friends have guessed correctly the meaning of these digits and if you’re one of the few then well done you! So, now is the time to reveal this baffling conundrum. 155 is the goal and that is the number of miles that I have run since January 1 this year!
Why? I hear you ask. Why get out of bed a little earlier and get outside and pound the pavement? Well it didn’t happen overnight. I decided on December 12 2011 that I was overweight, unfit and had been living “The Good Life” a little too much. So, I started to consider my options, and listed my ideas and thoughts in my journal. Some of the initial ideas were a little extreme but from the original notes, my plans and goals started to become clear and at that time running was not part of the plan!
The initial plan, made on December 14 2011 was to eat a little healthier, cut down on the fats, red meat and alcohol. I decided that on January 2 2012 that I would give alcohol up altogether but between December 14 2011 and January 2 2012 I had Christmas and New Year to enjoy! Starting my regime on the December 14 with a brisk 30 minute walk I continued until January 4 2012 when I stepped up a gear.
I had been discussing my regime with my son Matthew and he stated in no uncertain terms that I should start running. I explained to Matt that this would be impossible as before he was born (rather a long time ago now) I had fallen badly on my right knee while playing tennis and when I ran this knee would hurt. Straight away Matt told me, in no uncertain terms, that my running technique was wrong and I was wearing the wrong type of shoe. Now, I had to listen because Matt in his spare time has been known to run the odd marathon or two and therefore runs more than anyone I know.
I now had the right gear and had some instruction and had even read an instructional book I started. My first run was for an enormous sixty seconds! It was part of the plan. I started using intervals. So, I would run for sixty seconds and walk for five minutes. This was the time that I nearly gave up. Those first sixty seconds were really tough. Why didn’t I give up? That would have been very difficult for me to do as I had already described my goal in my journal and I was aware that the pain of discipline weighs ounces but the pain of regret weighs tons and in this case could bring about an early fatality! I kept my time, distance, heart rate and route on a Nike sport watch. Keeping the statistics for me was very important as I could measure my progress and how hard I was working. Gradually I started to alter the intervals and as I became fitter I extended the time that I was exercising. I was advised (Matthew again) not to be in a hurry to alter my intervals and once I was up to it to try and be as consistent as possible. This brings me to the present day. My aim is to run 5 kilometers/day (about 3.11 miles/day) most days and I seem to do this about 5 days out of seven. Currently my interval times are that I run for 2 minutes and 45 seconds and walk for 3 minutes and 15 seconds. I’m currently comfortable with the distance and my aim now is to gradually increase the running time and decrease the walking time and end up running a full 5 kilometers and I’m now scoping out my next big health goal. So, what’s next after 155/155. Well, I’ve already started and the new figures are 157.64/620!
The benefits have been fantastic already. I have lost 38 pounds up to now but more importantly my blood pressure medication has been reduced three times and is now stable at 120/70. I am much healthier and my stamina levels and general well being have vastly improved.
It is my belief that the power of setting a well defined written goal in a journal and keeping track of your progress ultimately leads you to where you wish to be. There was just a handful of things that have made this journey a success and they are as follows:
1). A well defined clearly written well researched goal.
2). Consistent, persistent action.
3). Monitoring the progress.
I believe that these three simple things are the essence of achievement and can be applied to all the areas in your life. If you are already setting goals that’s great but if you’re not how will you get to where you wish to be? In closing I have a challenge for you. Set some goals (if you already have some, review them and set some new ones). What are your goals? Your wealth goals? Your health goals? Your relationship goals?
Care to share? Then just post a comment on this blog. I wish you well in your continued journey of success!
Clive Leach's Blog 