Moving Forward to 2013

Moving from Fear to Faith has been a journey I’ve undergone…and I must say it has included some great lessons in life. When you are learning people transform gradually through a series of steps.

You may recall the first time you learnt to drive a car, use a computer or any other new skill, mastering the new information was a staged process for you. It is the same when you move from Fear to Faith:

 Stage One – Impossible. You repeatedly refer to a manual.

Stage Two – Possible. Now you can remember a few of the instructions.

Stage Three – Mastery. You remember many commands and you continue to master your skill

 

 My Tips to Help You:

1. Realise that life is a big school and every day you have a lesson.
2. Let go of the past, live in the present, enjoy today, create your future.
3. You are unique, no-one has your fingerprint…learn to be your best.

If you want to be ahead of the rest of the pack...coaching and classes available.

Email for details. janice@attitudespecialist.co.nz

 

Lacking Confidence to Be Happy? Learn the Movie Stars Tricks!

 Fifty percent of the people in the world are searching for happiness, success, confidence, money and love. At birth new babies were not given a book with instructions and neither were most new parents, so everyone bungled along as best they could. Teenage years and adult hood came along and folk continued bungling along in life...searching for an elusive 'something'. Many people fail to find it and wonder if happiness and success is possible for themselves. In the movies and magazines it seems the celebrities and stars have the answers, but everyone can learn from them. 

Many successes stories start with a decision and commitment to achieve something or follow a dream. Whether it's losing weight, saving money, finding a partner or job, or happiness, it first begins with a negative feeling or thought that really upsets you. You feel unhappy, unworthy, unloved and so much pain around it, that you become entrenched in a rut in your life. Everyone has different levels of not feeling okay but when your uncomfortable feelings and thoughts dominate you day and night you can become depressed and engage in activites that ‘shut out’ your negative thoughts.

 But don't worry you are not alone, every person has the ability to learn the skills to move forward in life and it's a choice between A and B. Choice A you continues to live your present life. Choice B you take steps every day to change your thinking to create a new life for yourself. No-one has control of your thoughts except you, so no matter what others say, your life is in your hands...or head.

It's like walking on a swing bridge when you imagine you will fall off. You get caught in fear and the possibilities of what could go wrong. However, when you finally overcome your fear and find the courage to walk across it, your feelings of absolute achievement and ecstasy have you elated.  You bask living life on a high as you are caught up in the feelings with adrenalin and endorphins pumping through your body.

 This is the same every time you try something you are fearful in your life, so don’t delay your happiness.  Here are three tips that movie stars use to help you.

 Find your passions

Discover something you are so passionate about and enjoy, that life without it would seem unconceivable. Some movie stars come from the life of hard knocks, unhappy families, lack of schooling, money and other challenges...but their commitment to a goal overcomes all the hiccups on their way to success. A sports or movie star does not become a success instantly. It maybe years of starting to act at school, or playing a sport from a youngster that has started the road to their dream.

 With our 'New Zealand Has Talent' appearing on television we are seeing this in action. All of these talented people have been learning about their passion and gifts long before appearing on television

Life is a learning curve - one step at a time.

No-one learnt acting, singing, computer, television, microwave, mobile phone or anything the first time they used it. They went through these three stages of learning.

1)      You think it is so difficult you will never master it without reading the manual each time.

2)      You have been practising and realise this is possible to learn. You start to remember partially how to use it.

3)      After more practise you master the skill. You are proud of yourself and can teach others.

When we watch a movie, we view the final take, when the actors and actresses may have had one or twenty attempts to film that scene. Sometimes we are lucky enough to see some of the 'bloopers' and people have forgotten the words, laughed or a number of other mistakes. So - perfect does not happen the first time you attempt something.

Don't listen to people who don't support you and put you down.

Don't let them upset you. These people have not got the courage to try themselves and learn how to feel good when they achieve something; instead they attempt to 'upset' you. If this happens they have achieved their goal and feel okay. However, you have not achieved your goal and feel not okay. Their emotional intelligent is low and they are may even by jealous, so do not let them deter you.

 In New Zealand, there are many people who criticise your attempts to try something new without even attempting it themselves. Our country is known for the tall poppy syndrome which is where underachievers constantly criticise people who are trying new ideas and achieving. The movie critics are the same. They do not act themselves and are easy to criticise others.

 Having confidence in life is a learning curve. Every time you learn something new, you feel better about yourself. However, to enable you to keep moving out of your comfort zone you have to control your thinking. As you master each new skill into your life, your confidence grows.

If you are not sure what you are passionate about, write down three things you would like to learn. Research them and decide what you have the courage to learn and as Nike says: Just Do It.

Life is about choices. As children we lived under our parents rules but as adults you need to learn new rules that suit your life today. The world is a different place, so it is imperative you update your thinking. We do it with our mobile phones and technology and it is vital you rewire your brain as well.

You need to find the courage to work through your fear to 'get to the other side' or chose to stay living life moaning, grizzling, eating, drinking, and unhappy. You attract other people who live their lives the same and your life will be wasted as you live in a circle of negativity, lack and under achieving.

Everyone has the same time frame, so find a minute a day to write down a quote and read it and learn to recite it. Repeat it the next day and slowly you change your thoughts. Alternatively there are free books and resources in libraries on the radio or television, or attend workshops and courses to learn more quickly to change your confidence levels and ‘get on track’ in your life.

 There is a famous quote" if it's to be - it's up to me”. No body is going to 'learn' things for you. Your life is a big school and if you want to be loved, successful, confident and happy you have to learn the lessons. If a relationship doesn't work, learn more about yourself before finding a new partner. If you lose your job or don't like it, learn what you want and up skill yourself. If you are unhappy, learn how to be happy. The only thing stopping you is your thoughts and if you change those, you will change your life.

 

Janice Davies has four Live Life Confidently workshops from 17 October to 17 November in Auckland. Details at www.attitudespecialist.co.nz  Also free ebooks at www.xfactorconfidence.com

Email Janice@attitudespecialist.co.nz or phone 021 514 511.

 

 

Joe Girard - FROM Humble Beginnings PART 2

The Detroit Free Press can probably be credited with the first insight given to Joe with regard to exceptional progress.

A contest was proclaimed for the solicitation of new readers. The grand prize was to be a new, sparkling two-wheeler bicycle. Now 12 years of age, this driven youngster had never possessed a bike. Joe knew the secret that could win the bike. He would spend every unused, waking moment knocking on doors and asking for business. This had always been his secret. He knew that it worked - what he could not comprehend was why the other newsboys did not see the obvious. Joe won more than the bicycle. He won the knowledge that if he planned his work and worked his plan, he could succeed. He learned that most people were not willing to make this sacrifice. As he once said, "any one of those kids could have beat me, but they weren't willing to work. They didn't want it badly enough."

Joe's teen years were difficult and bitter, especially at home. His natural spirit and pride brought him, time after time, into direct conflict with an increasingly bitter and vengeful father. Almost regularly he ordered Joe from the Gerard home. From the age of 14, Joe spent many of his nights sleeping in boxcars at the Grand Trunk Railroad yards, located directly across the street from his home. In bad weather, he used 25¢ a night flop houses. At this age he was now able to seek more rewarding employment after school, such as dishwasher, dock loader at the produce terminal, delivery boy, and pageboy at the Book-Cadillac Hotel. He also devoted some evenings to the neighborhood pool hall, trying to hustle additional dollars. He lived with the constant fear that if he didn't bring home sufficient money he would have to face his father's anger.
Formal education for Joe ended during the eleventh grade.

He was talking during a study period and was addressed by the school principal, but not by his name. Well aware of the existence of bigotry, but not willing to bow to it, Joe advised the man that he would not respond until he was called by his proper name. The principal stated "you people don't seem to understand how society will be run" and then called Joe a derogatory name reflecting upon his Sicilian ancestry. Joe's heated reaction resulted in his permanent dismissal from school.

At the age of 16, Joe obtained full-time employment at the Michigan Stove Company as a stove assembler. He earned $75 weekly, his greatest earnings thus far, even though it required 12-hour days, six days a week.

He then went to work as an assistant to a fruit and vegetable vendor who merchandised his goods on the east side of Detroit from the back of a truck. He enjoyed the outdoor work and was proud of his sales ability, but he realized one day that there was no future in this pursuit.
Dispirited and aimless, Joe joined the United States Army Infantry at the age of 18. Ninety seven days later, at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Joe fell from the rear of a speeding military vehicle and badly injured his back. He was given an honorable discharge after admitting to previously injuring his back diving for the school swimming team.

During the next two years, Joe would move from one unsatisfactory job to another, constantly frustrated with the belief that his lack of education kept him from all but manual labor.
He was often discouraged, but never gave up hope. He felt that somewhere in the world there was a place for him. He had the good fortune to meet Mr. Abraham Saperstein, a building contractor. Mr. Saperstein, a warm, generous, and understanding man, became his father surrogate when he invited Joe to enter the building business with the pledge that he would teach Joe everything he knew. He'd finally found his niche in life. The relationship between Joe and Mr. Saperstein grew over the years until his dear old friend retired and turned over the business to Joe.
Joe contracted to build a number of private homes in a Detroit subdivision. He accepted the word of a real estate speculator that the area was to have a sewer system installed, but this was not true. Individual septic tanks would have to be installed, greatly reducing the value of the homes. As a result, Joe lost his business. Joe Girard found himself without a job, without savings, and in debt to the tune of $60,000. It was the lowest moment in his life.

The next year Joe would find himself in an endless struggle trying to recover his losses and his ego. Things would finally hit rock bottom when June Girard tearfully told her husband that there was no food in the house and that their kids were begging for something to eat.

Joe had been job hunting without success, but on that day he pleaded with the sales manager of a Chevrolet dealership to hire him as a salesman. The manager was reluctant because of his lack of experience and traditionally slow sales in the month of January, but Joe stated that he would only take a desk somewhere in the rear of the dealership and count on the telephone to provide prospects. That evening he sold his first car and borrowed $10 from the manager to bring a bag of groceries home to his family. In his second month he would sell eighteen cars and trucks and was beginning to feel he had a secure breath. Much to his amazement, the owner of the dealership fired him for being too aggressive. Some of the other salesmen had complained.