Hi Friend
This has been a super productive week! Monica and I finally shot our eight customer service training videos. We’ve been working with EMBARK, our city transport organization, to create a world-class customer service experience training. It’s been a blast and we’ve created some really killer proprietary strategies for service.
My daughter landed in Madrid for her study-abroad semester. I’m gonna miss the heck out of her, but she’ll be back in no time. I also am hopeful I can find a way to get over there to visit her. The beginning of the year also means my annual fasting to set my heart, mind, spirit and focus in alignment with purpose.
I’ve probably fasted the first of the year for 25 years now. It’s been a variety of things from food to coffee to tv to social media and I’m sure other things. It certainly removes the excess and clarifies priorities. The combination of discipline, denial, prayer, reading and openness purifies the soul. I’m grateful for the re-alignment that occurs.
Denial is an accelerated strength builder. Denying ourselves of our wants, needs & desires fortifies our will and bolsters our convictions. Have you ever had difficulty sticking to a commitment? Have you lacked follow-through? Has your persistence been frail? Incorporate a little fasting in your life and you’ll find benefits in so many areas which will enhance determination.
WORDS
Speaking of determination, that’s my word-of-the-month to kick off the year. People love their word-of-the-year, but I just can’t sustain it. This is my third year to do a WOTM and it’s been effective. I write it in the same Evernote that has my identity statements, values, calling and motivations. I’m wanting to add affirmations this year, because as you know I’m attacking small thinking.
If you do them, please send me some samples of your declarations. The power of words is almost unmatched (except by the power of actions). 🙂 Since most of our lives are lived in our minds, then put on display in a tangible way, I passionately want to alter my thinking. Articulating robust phrases about my becoming-self seems like one reasonable strategy.
ACTIONS
The only thing better than words for transforming our lives is to act ourselves into being. I’ve never been a fake-it-till-you-make-it kind of person, but I have been an act-on-it-even-if-you-don’t-feel-like-it guy. Simply by doing, we become. The paradox of enlarging our capacity is to do the things that kind of person does and then we are that person. It’s simple and complex.
Operating out of a feel, see, certainty disposition before acting keeps us the same. If we require palpable before doing, we will continue to be as we are. Words and actions filtered through faith offers the best chance for expanding our current existence. Fear is another filter they can pass through, shrinking our life in every way!
Instigating Ideas…
1. Attempt a fast of any sort for any length of time.
2. Consider if your internal dialogue needs altered.
3. Encourage someone who is doing the work of growth.
4. Evaluate your faith/fear filter.
I’m determined to grow. I’m reading, I’m watching, I’m increasing my exposure, I’m testing and trying… I’m taking both conventional and unconventional paths for progress. One other element, besides words and actions, is a strong catalyst for advancing our lives forward:
PAIN
Man, I wish this wasn’t so. I paused before writing it because I’d rather avoid it. I know in gym settings, choosing pain is a common refrain for strength building. In real life, emotional, relational, mental and physical pain can be debilitating.
What if we consciously incorporated real pain into our existence? Most of the time it appears in our life unwanted and unexpected. If we accept it as an invitation to grow, that lessens its blow… just a bit. Fasting is a small sampler of practiced pain.
I hope this week you align your words, actions and pain with who you envision yourself being. Intentionally incorporating all three equips us with the best chance of living a fulfilled, meaningful live that makes an impact.