Are your thoughts wrecking your life? | March 5, 2009

This week you've gotten a good status update on your life. Tuesday, you received a life check-up. Wednesday, you received the diagnosis. Today, you'll get the prognosis and cure.

Your diagnosis may have shown that you were a little -- or a lot -- dissatisfied with your life. The prognosis for a life that is not going well isn't good. Things will continue to coast along until some catastrophic event happens or you'll keep going in a disjointed and frustrating dance of highs and lows that leave you confused and even more unhappy. Your income won't increase. Your relationships won't get better. Your work will leave you less than thrilled.

But that doesn't have to be the case for you. Instead, you can go for the solution -- the cure -- to your dissatisfaction with your life. The cure is to first address your thoughts. I believe our thoughts create our lives. If we dwell on certain things, those things have a way of showing up. Don't believe me?

Research tells us that 87 percent of our self-talk -- the things we tell ourselves -- is negative. We tell ourselves such things as, "I'm not good enough," "I'll never make it," "I am too ...".

And so, that's what shows up in our lives. All those negative things we've been telling ourselves end up coming true. Self-fulfilling. And that makes us even more miserable.

So start taking charge of your life by taking charge of your thoughts. Now, this does not mean that one day you are beating yourself up with negative thoughts, then the very next day, you're Mr. or Ms. Positive. That's not what this is about at all. What I am saying is that you must become conscious of the power of your thoughts to create your reality.

Then work to change them. Read books that uplift, inspire and empower you. Surround yourself with friends and contacts who support you in your new quest. Educate yourself about achieving a big goal or dream.

Read my book, Zoom Power: Your Key to Hitting Your Personal, Business and Financial Targets. It includes strategies and suggestions for achieving your big goals and creating success. It also helps you develop the mindset to create success. When you finish reading Zoom Power, you'll have at least two things: the confidence and motivation to do something big and a plan to make it happen.

So don't just settle for life as it is now. Take charge of your life and take it to the next level when you harness the power of your thoughts and transform.

Go for the cure.

Is just OK good enough for you? Or do you want more? | March 4, 2009

Yesterday, we discussed life check-ups. As with a medical check-up, your life check-up may not have been particularly fun, but it was necessary. Your life check-up made you look at some critical areas -- are you getting the results you want out of life? Are you doing meaningful work? Are you revved up about your future?

Now, today, we will get the diagnosis. If you answered "no" on any of the five check-up questions, you have some level of dissatisfaction with your life. If you answered "no" to more than two areas, then you have a seriously high level of dissatisfaction. That's the diagnosis.

Your life is not in great shape. That may sound a bit harsh, but it's nothing you did not know. Having the check-up provided a way for you to get in touch with your emotions about it and ideally, a desire to change it. This was an important step. Many people prefer to coast through life striving for not much and receiving not much and telling themselves they are doing OK.

You've decided that will not do for you.

Now that you know what's wrong, let's figure out how to fix it. You can begin to take charge of your life. Now. Tomorrow, we'll look at the prognosis and the cure.

It's time for your life check-up | March 3, 2009

Have you had your check-up? Your life check-up, that is. March is an excellent time to take stock of where you are. It is early enough in the year for you to make needed changes and produce great results, but it's not so early in the year that you make insincere New Year's resolutions you have no intention of keeping. March is a time to clear your head.

Here is a brief life check-up for you: 1. Am I working on any big goals? 2. Am I at the point I thought I'd be by now? 3. Am I excited about the direction of my life? 4. Am I using my gifts, talents, time and skills to create impact -- make a good living for my family and me, touch lives around me, etc.? 5. Am I interested in improving in any area of my life?

Your answers to these questions will help you figure out where you are. If you find that you are not working on any big goals (or goals at all), you're not excited or happy about the direction your life is taking and you're not tapping into your potential, then now is the time to make some changes. If you are achieving at a high level, then this check-up helps you look toward the next big thing.

Figuring out where you are -- getting your life check-up -- is the first step. Answer these questions honestly. Once you've gotten your check-up, we'll give a diagnosis. I'll help you with that tomorrow.