Last week I mentioned that I am re-reading a book by the name of “No Excuses: The Power of Self-Discipline” by Brian Tracy. Last week I wrote about how self-discipline is all about doing what you need to do even when you don’t feel like doing anything.

This week, I want to talk about getting the answers to… really any question that you have! In his book, Brian says, “All the answers have been found. All the routes to success have been discovered. Everything that you need to learn to move to the top of your field has already been learned by hundreds and even thousands of other people. And if you ask them for advice, they will give it to you.”

Do you get what this means? It means that whatever goal that you have, there is someone out there that has already achieved something similar to your goal(s) and all you have to do is reach out to them and ask them for advice. Now, maybe not everyone is ‘reachable’. Take Tony Robbins as an example. In my journey to be a top Business Mindset Coach, I don’t think that I could just call him up or send him an email and he would simply take a few minutes out of his day to chat with me about the road that I need to take… unless I have the ability to pay a VERY pretty penny to get that one-on-one time with him. (Although, in all honesty, I have never actually asked Tony for help so I could be wrong.) Now, I could maybe get his ear for a few minutes during one of his training events … But, if not, I have already received a plethora of information via the certification training as well as from his videos, seminars, online classes, books, podcasts, etc. So, I have to say that, there is a way to learn from others without actually talking to them.

The next step after reaching out or doing your research? Take action! To ensure that you take action… schedule at least 1-2 hours (or more if you can) on your calendar to take action every day. No putting it off. If you schedule it, you do it! No excuses! Take the class or attend the seminar or read the book.

In short, whatever your goal…

1. Find someone that is doing what you want to do or has what you want.
2. Get the input or tools from them that will help you accomplish your goal(s)
3. Take action!

Again… No Excuses!

I have been reading, or I should say RE-reading the book “No Excuses: The Power of Self-Discipline” by Brian Tracy. I really like this book and read it every few years because every time I read it, I am reminded that I really don’t have any excuses for not reaching my goals.

For example, on page 7, Brian talks about how he had an encounter with Kop Kopmeyer, who is a legend in the field of success and achievement. Brian asked Kop what he felt that the most important success principle of all time was and he responded with a quote from Elbert Hubbard, “Self-discipline is the ability to do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.” Kop also said that, “There are 999 other success principles that I have found in my reading and experience, but without self-discipline, none of them work. With self-discipline, they all work.”

The best way that I have found to win at self-discipline is to schedule time on my calendar to take action. I’ve talked about this before but it is so true. Make sure you schedule time on your calendar. I have found that if I don’t schedule the time on my calendar, the work doesn’t get done. When I schedule the time, the work gets done! The key here is that when you schedule the time, you make the commitment to yourself to keep that time. No. Matter. What!

No matter the goal, whether it is getting in better shape, releasing weight, starting a business, growing your business, or going for that next promotion at work… schedule the time to do the work. Even if it is one hour, five days a week.. that is 230 hours a year (if you count about 6 weeks off per year for vacation or personal events). The first few hourly sessions may simply be outlining a plan, or getting clear on your WHY, or brainstorming the work that you need to do, or all of the above. But that is still progress!

I personally aim for and schedule a minimum of 8 hours a week. Many people say that they struggle to find the time but everyone has time. You may need to get up an hour earlier or go to bed an hour later. Or maybe right now, it is only 30 minutes a day. It really doesn’t matter how much time you devote to your goals every day/week, just as long as it is something. Over the span of a year or even a few months, the hours add up and every hour gets you closer to your goal than you are right now!

Do this now: 

1. Figure out how many hours you can commit to working each week. (Make sure it is reasonable!)
2. Schedule time on your calendar right now.
3. Make a commitment to yourself to honor those times.

You will be amazed at what you can get done!

I was reading an article earlier today and it has been on my mind all day. Unfortunately, I can’t find the article again so I can’t share the author or link. (If you know who it was, feel free to share in the comments below.) Even though I can’t share the article link/author, I can share the “new” concept that I got from this article. I say “new” (in quotes) because I have heard of doing this before, just not in this way.

How many of you keep a journal? Let’s take this a step further… How many of you keep a gratitude journal? Even though I don’t keep a separate gratitude journal, part of my journaling has included listing 3-5 things that I am grateful for. Since Thanksgiving is coming up, pretty much every blog that I have subscribed to is sharing information about gratitude and being thankful. This particular blog that I read this morning talked about the FOUR steps of practicing gratitude. In my mind, I was doing at least one step (writing down what I am grateful for in my journal), so I was curious to find out what the other three steps were.

It turns out that the first step was to start a journal. Ok, I have my journal so that step is done. The second step was to write down everything that you are thankful for. Yup, that’s done too although I just list 3-5 things. Step three was to stretch yourself and think ahead. Huh… I’ve heard of this before but I’ll share more on that after I give you the last step, which is to go back and read your journal every day. I do that too but not every day.

So, what is this “stretch yourself and think ahead” all about? It is about thinking about your goals and where you want to be in the next month or six months or year and being thankful for reaching that goal… and writing it down in your journal like you have already reached it!

I have heard of this before from several different coaches. Jack Canfield talks about “Act As If” in the 12th principle from his book “The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be“. Others simply tell you to write down your daily affirmations starting with “I am so grateful that I am…” and then ending it with whatever your goal might be. It could go something like this: “I am so grateful that I have reached my goal weight of ___ and have so much more energy to play games with my kids.” or “I am so grateful that I am now living debt free and am able to travel to fun, exotic locations around the world several times a year.” You get the idea.

This author took the same concept but added it to the gratitude journaling part of your day. I think that makes so much sense! Think about it. You are already in a thankful state. Writing about your goals as if you have already achieved them when you are already in a thankful state makes them so much more powerful. And it keeps it as a daily habit, like affirmations, but the fact that you are already in a grateful state makes it so much easier to BELIEVE. Honestly, I had problems believing some of my “As If” affirmations because I wasn’t already in a grateful state.

So this is something that I am going to start today. I am going to write what I am thankful for in my journal at night and then read them in the morning so that I start my day off on a note of gratitude. And you know what they say… your thoughts create your actions! This can only turn my goals a my reality that much faster!

Who is with me? Feel free to make a comment below or go to my FB group and share what you are grateful for! (Monica Hirman)