Winning Strategies

Can You Create Your Own Reality?

Today I received a question from the web site-, "Do you believe that you can create your own reality?  You seem to have done that."

Yes.  I do believe that we can create our own reality.  It is a combination of a few actionable steps that I will outline below:

• Dream it:  Creating your own reality entails knowing what you'd like your reality to be.  Create an idea, however audacious, that lays out what you'd like your reality to be.  Dream a position you'd like be in, a place you'd like to live, a hobby youd like to pursue, or anything that you'd like in your life that isn't there today or doesn't exist the way you'd like it to.
• Sketch it out:  Creating your own reality entails tiny steps that , when added it, equal big steps.  When I was a size 14, I had a tiny goal of losing 2-3 pounds a month.  I mapped out a gradual process that got me to my goal in 3 years.  Although it sounds like a long time, it was a sustainable plan that I could stick to.   Sketch out a plan to slowly move IN THE DIRECTION of your goals.
• Pinpoint the Steps:  Once you have a dream and the rough draft of one way that you could possibly arrive at your goal, begin plotting steps to get there.  I wanted to speak to large groups and mentor women both in person and via my website.  When I created the dream, I didn't have a web site.  At the time, not many people knew me and fewer still would have wanted to book me for a speaking engagement.  I plotted out the steps to creating a blog, a web site, and created my first speech (hoping someone would book me- and they did - smile).
• Affirm Your Accomplishments:  Each small step that you take in the direction that you want to go deserves a  celebration.  Buy yourself that new X that you've been wanting.  Take a loved one out to dinner.  Celebrate the baby steps that you accomplish.
• Picture the End Result and Act Accordingly:  If you want to be an instructor, begin gathering lesson plans and preparing lessons (even before you ARE an Instructor).  If you want to take a college class, buy a desk and begin researching classes.  ACT as though you are already taking a class.  Move forward.  Visualize yourself in the scene. 
• Staying Focused- Keep Your Eye on the Goal:  So- how do you stay focused?  I use a bi-annual report card.  Twice a year, once in April (during my vacation time) and once in November (during holiday slow downs) I grade myself on how I'm doing in moving forward on my dreams.  It is not about beating yourself up.  It is more about the Progress Report.  What could you do better?  What TACTICAL PLAN  can you create to start making little steps in the right direction?  S- M- A -L - L-  Steps come together to create vast movement across space and time.

We get overwhelmed because we live in a society that constantly bombards us with instant gratification and FAST results.  TRUE metamorphasis is a VERY gradual process that entails much time.  It took me over 3 years to transform my body into more what I wanted it to look like.  It took me 5 years to build a brand, a mentoring capability, get an audience for the motivational blog and to write 2 books.  Slow and steady progress is your goal.  As you move towards it, it will seem like you've accomplished SO MUCH, SO FAST to the others around you.  To you, it will happen so gradually, that it will be hard for you to recall what it was like before the transformation.

Go transform yourself.  You can create your own reality.  You can live the life you want to live.  It will take a daring spirit with perseverence to succeed. You can do it.  Chase after it.

 

And then I took a Nap

 OK.  When have you heard someone say recently that they took a nap? We are so busy running around and trying to accomplish everything that we are running ourselves ragged.   I dare you to come home from work one night and snooze.  I dare you to take a nap next weekend. 

You will be amazed at the healing power of a few zzzzzz's.  I'm not quite sure why it has become so popular to run yourself to death and so unpopular to consider resting once in awhile.  Well- let's swim upstream.  Let's mold a new trend.  If people could ever like balloon pants, than surely we can get them to accept that we will be taking a nap once in awhile.

I know what you are thinking.  You are thinking that I've fallen off the deep end.  You are thinking that I'm completely crazy.  Maybe so.  I'll let you know next Saturday after my nap.      Grin.

Still Lovin It- Undercover Boss on CBS

After working my way up through the the ranks at Sharp Healthcare from 1985-1995, I saw the 'ground up' view of an organization.  I heard the stories and felt the pains of the people that work and make an organization possible.  I saw what some CEOs never see.  I think it is for that reasont that I applaud the show, Undercover Boss on CBS.  It continues to amaze me as I watch the CEOs discover what many of us that support and mentor the workforce already know:  there are unmet needs and unknown struggles throughout the workflorce.

The CEO of Herschend Entertainment (http://www.hfecorp.com/) was suprised to find the difficulties that single mom's face, among other discoveries.  There are organizations across Dallas and the nation that are still turning a blind eye to the struggles that single moms face on a daily basis, trying to work in an environment that is not condusive to single moms.

 

What if I Gave You 20 Hours this Month? Productivity Experiment part III

My productivity experiment is kicked into full gear.  One month ago I hired a personal assistant in India.  Her name is Midhya.  She is amazing.  For the month of August, she has spent 20 hours of fully dedicated time working on projects and tasks that I couldn't get done.

She completed them.  She organized my schedule and followed up on things that I've been putting off for ages.

She created a marketing calendar of networking events in Dallas consisting of 3 organizations that I follow (ACHE, HIMSS, and HFMA).  It is a combined schedule of networking opportunities.  I can quickly glance across the schedule and determine where my time is best spent.  Ahhhh, it is a dream.

What if you were given 20 extra hours in a month?  What would you do with it? 

I'm giving my productivity experiment an A.  I am 4 weeks into the experiment and still loving it.  I'll keep you posted.  Still lovin it, yup, still lovin it.  I wonder if there is any way I could get her to yell at the kids for me when they don't clean their rooms?

Support the Dallas Heart Walk- 2010

Many of you have a loved one affected by heart disease or stroke.  To help stop this, I will be walking in this year's Start! Heart Walk benefiting the American Heart Association.  I have set a personal goal to raise funds that are needed for critical heart disease and stroke research and education.  I'll be dragging along my sweet daughter Heather and my son Caleb.  (I doubt I'll get the 15 year old to go- but I will certainly give it the old college try for him too-  got that Brandon!)

You can help me raise funds and protect those you love by making a donation online.  Click on the link below to visit my personal donation page where you can make a secure online credit card donation.  The American Heart Association's online fundraising website has a minimum donation amount of $25.00.  If you prefer a smaller amount, you can do so by sending a check directly to me.

Your donation will make a difference in the fight against our nation's No. 1 and No. 3 killers-heart disease and stroke.  Thank you for your support.

http://heartwalk.kintera.org/dallastx/bethanywilliams

Aim Higher, Shoot Further and Reach for the Stars

I've done a survey in the network of people that touch my life and discovered a very important fact: we are not setting our sights on audacious goals! We need to aim higher, shoot further and reach for the stars. It will amaze you if you try this-----you WILL ATTAIN some of those audacious, hard to reach, near impossible goals. You will transform your life. You will do things that you never thought possible, all because you reached higher and stretched your thinking.

The best things in life that you accomplish start with a dream. It begins as a small gleam in your eye ad broadens into a fully vetted idea. That idea moves into a strategy and you begin to gorm a plan. Ultimately, as you follow your plan, you achieve results and the success that you desire.

Reach higher. I'm imploring you to believe that amazing things can happen in your life. I'm asking you to chase after them.
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Are You Struggling with Doubts about Faith?

Are you struggling with doubts about faith? You are not alone, Lee Strobel was too. Once an atheist, now an author and pastor, Lee Strobel has helped thousands of people move from disabling doubts to freeing faith. 

He is a sought-after communicator and the author of several books, including The Case for Christ and The Unexpected Adventure.

Lee will share his interesting perspective on the reality of doubts and how to move beyond them this week at LakePointe Church in Rockwall Texas. After the service, Lee will be signing his newest book, The Unexpected Adventure.

Come hear him speak and explore his 'Unexpected Adventure'. 

LakePointe Church is located in Rockwall Texas at:
701 Interstate 30
Rockwall, Texas 75087
Telephone: 469-698-2200
Find them on the web at:  http://www.lakepointe.org

Service times will be Saturday evening, August 28th, 2010 at 6:00 pm and Sunday Morning, August 29th, 2010 at 9:30 am and 11:00 am.

Hope to see you there.

Are You Stuck in Busyness?

Are you stuck in a rut of constant busyness? Are you loaded up with time saving devices, yet still lacking the time that you need to complete 'necessary' tasks in your day? Workaholism and busyness is killing our relationships, frienships, marriages and it is damaging our children. We lose our connections to the people around us, our relationship with God, and the activities that we should be engaging in.

There is a difference between what is urgent and what is essential. Relationships are essential. Don't allow yourself to choose tasks over relationships--- it will leave you empty in the long haul.

You will have to choose what you can do and what is not going to get done. Select the tasks that line up with your priority system. The most important/vital things that you can do in this world cannot be done with speed. Slowly is the adjective that describes well how we develop relationships, teach life lessons to our children, and impact others.

And possessions- what are they really worth? Don't get caught up in the tyranny of possessions. Does everything really have to be bigger and better every year? Does it really matter what you have in the whole scheme of life and death?

Commit to be worried and bothered by less. Work to erase some of the busyness in your life. Attempt to s-l-o-w-l-y develop relationships and invest in people. I dare you.
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The House on the Lake

There is a beautiful empty house that I hike to regularly that sits on the lake. It has a glistening pool and quiet and solace surround it. It is a writer's paradise. I creep through the gate and sit in the yard staring out at the lake and dreaming. It was here that I dreamed up my most recent book and hundreds of posts for this motivational blog.

It is a dreamy old house that reminds me of fun childhood memories and smells of apple pies baking in the oven and children playing outside. Today I again snuck away to the house to write. I was alarmed to see that the back door was broken down and someone had broken into the house. I dialed the police and had a chance to meet the owners and the neighbors. It wasn't the hour long writing vacation that I expected, but it was nonetheless a 3 mile hike and a mental break from my day.

Take a moment to step out of your routine and discover a moment of solace in your hurled busy day.
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How Many Different Ways Can I Break Your Heart?

So- this raising kids thing- who thought of that?  If it worked well, we could- er, um, give them away during the teenage years.  We could borrow them back after they'd gone through the grumpy, hormone filled, rebellious teenage years.  We could skip the "I know it all and you know nothing" time.  But, unfortunately we cannot.  Sometimes it feels like they are practicing 101 ways to break our hearts (and sometimes, succeeding).  They know the verbal weapons to use on us and they understand just what to say to push us into that uncomfortable zone.

You wonder if they realize that we have their best intentions in mind.  You wonder if they understand how much we love them.  We wonder how they will transform from who they are today into a responsible adult, contributing to society and supporting themselves.

They don't like to clean their room, do the dishes, or contribute to the household.  One day soon, they will be answering their own door, paying their own bills, and responding to their own boss- in order to get a paycheck.  We struggle to picture them going to college and independently accomplishing all that it takes to be an independent adult.

My advice to you?  Keep your resolve.  Stay strong.  They are not going to react well during these years to input, advice, or your resolve and persistence to help them grow into responsible adults.  Someday they will appreciate it.  Someday they will love and recognize all that you have done for them.  Until then, you have to stay strong and continue to love them unconditionally.  No, it certainly isn't easy.  Yes, you will want to give up and go easy on them but don't.  Their future depends on it.