Alexandra Grose

Tuesday, 28 April 2020

Sunrise

Well worth getting up early this morning, when we see this kind of colour in the sky. 😃

In life, we either make an effort, or we make an excuse. Results are proof of the effort you’ve made. You’re not fooling anyone, either. The fruit you bear, is the result you show. Whether you put in effort or excuses, it’s seen by everyone who comes into contact with you.

You have a choice to live in mediocrity, or in greatness. You can be productive, or non-productive. You can be happy, or unhappy. It’s all in the choices you make. How you spend your time, tells you and those around you, who you are.

There’s plenty of free online stuff, which will help you achieve breakthrough, in any area of your life. And if you’re truly unhappy, there is help available. You just have to make yourself available of it.

There’s no shame in wanting greatness either and greatness is different for everyone. For some, greatness is the mansion on the hill. For others, it’s the ‘quiet achiever,’ where things get done, but no one outside yourself, know about it.

You can complain and wallow in self-pity, or you can go after what it is you want out of life. How you utilize your time tells the truth of how much you really want, what it is your going after and commitment shows up in your life, by what you do.

If you want to lose weight, stop smoking, become fitter and more energetic, but still eat cake, light a cigarette, and lounge around in your pj’s all day, it shows your commitment isn’t there. You can make a commitment towards your desire, but you won’t change the result of your life, unless you do something, unless you act on your commitment.

The word commitment, intimidates a lot of people. People who may have failed already, struggle to try again. People say they’ll try, but trying isn’t doing. You either do, or you don’t. There’s no such thing as try…no excuse is acceptable, outside of your commitment.

Commitment is hard to do, especially if it’s something new and your nervous, but it’s good to stretch yourself, past your comfort zone. Just remember; if it’s hard, do it hard. Even if it’s difficult, inconvenient, cold, or wet, don’t give up on your commitment.

Often people find reasons to quit, making excuses, rather than putting in effort. Once you give up on your commitment, it weakens you mentally and you’re less likely to sustain the effort, next time round. That’s why people don’t bother making new year resolutions; they’ve quit so many times, they don’t bother any more.

Dreams are the same. When you don’t keep your commitment, it weakens your faith in yourself and you let the dream die, without giving it the major push, that might just get you there.

When you say you’ll do something, do it, even if it’s just as simple as time management. Managing your time is highly important to achieving your dreams. If you can’t manage something as simple as time, how are you going to manage the big issues that crop up; The challenges to your dreams and the brick walls, that are trying to stop you from arriving at your destination?

When you’re constantly late, your displaying to the people around you, your time is more valuable than their time. It’s generally taken as selfishness. When you consistently arrive late, or leave early, you’re showing a lack of respect and a propensity to tardiness, laziness and sluggishness. You show you can’t be depended upon, because you don’t keep your word.

Try commitment, one time. Commit yourself to something, just one thing and follow through regardless of discipline it takes. Focus and harness your attention and make it a priority. Make your commitment important. Keep that commitment before you. Once you succeed at your first commitment, you’ll want to keep at it, trying more and more new things in life and life becomes more exciting and less mundane, as you strive to achieve.

Exercise your will and find one action, one step, that challenges you. Make sure it’s doable, so you can see results. Start small and increase, as you go along. Don’t start too big, or you’ll quit, as it’ll be too overwhelming. Expand each session and build from there.

If it’s weight you want to lose, don’t look at the 25 kilos, or 50 kilos. Look at starting with 1 kilo. That’s doable. Then you can work on another kilo and then another. If it’s saving, start small. Save $2, then $5, then $10 and before you know it, you’ll be saving hundreds of dollars.

Perhaps you want to travel, write a book, or go to college. What one step could you do today, that will move you closer to your goal? It takes discipline, but it can be done.

Make it manageable. How can you manage to do a little bit more, every day? Have someone to which you will be accountable, a friend who will support you, but won’t let you get away with anything. Have contingency plan, a list of things to do, when things go wrong.

If you don’ know what to do, think instead, of what you would do, if you did know what to do. Come up with something, anything. You can fine tune it later. Brain storm, if you need to, but gather ideas and work on them, until you have a solution. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. Challenge yourself to find results, to find other ways, to make it work.

I know I’ve harped on about commitment, but you’ll only make a difference, when you are committed and when you put yourself in the situation and tackle it. Be willing to be disappointed, until life gives it up and you get what you’ve gone after. Regroup, if you’ve failed and go at it again. Refuse to give up on your dream.

Most of us decide on something if it’s safe, or popular. But what if it’s right? What if it’s right for you. That doesn’t mean quit your job, if you have a family to support, but look at ways you can build a business, or your craft, until it grows to where you can go full time.

If you do decide to go for it, remember, it takes a great deal of courage to stand against what’s safe and popular. The position might be uncomfortable, it might not even go the way you want. Can you live with that? Can you suffer the worst and come out stronger, or do you think the risk is too great? At the end of the day, are you going to say, I wish I had, or I’m glad I did? Start small if you need to, to keep your sanity (and family), intact. Be mindful of those who are relying on you.

At the end of the day, what if you gave it your best and failed? Firstly, you didn’t fail, you just found a way not to do it next time. Sure, you’ll be discouraged and frustrated, but don’t let that define you. You gave it a shot and that’s more than a lot of people would do.

Then take responsibility, assess the situation, ask yourself what happened and don’t judge yourself. Pick yourself up and decide if you could give it another go.

Perhaps you need to take a little time out and then you can start again. Perhaps you need more knowledge, more money, more time. Perhaps you’d like to try something different. In the end, work on your dream and don’t lose the dream. Change it, if it’s needed, but don’t quit.

You may not be a professional yet, but keep going. One day you will be. Enjoy where you are, while striving to get where you’re going. Then forget your failures of yesterday. That’s been and done. We only have right now. Work on this moment. Think only of the best, work as best you can, forget your mistakes and look to the future.

Commit to stretch and get out of your comfort zone and don’t worry about what people think about you. In the end, who cares? Sure, there may be some who talk about you for a week of two, but they’ll move on to someone else very quickly.

Your life has meaning and you have something to contribute. You have something to offer, to achieve, to perform and experience. Look within and make a commitment for health, and happiness, and to make a difference in your community. Don’t just go with the flow. Live with intention.

You don’t have to start as a master, or an expert, you just have to start. Wherever you are in life right now, decide you’re going to commit to something and then honour your commitment.

Monday, 27 April 2020

When Opportunity Knocks;

If you wish to strive to be your most capable and proficient; working to maximize your time and strengths toward achieving your goals in life, strategic planning will help you get there.

Strategic planning helps you break down your goals, into manageable actions. Complex issues, big issues, issues that you haven’t been able to face, become simpler and easier, when you have an action plan in place.

When you decide to make an action plan, questions come to the fore and strategic planning, helps you focus on the issue and helps draw your mind to asking the right questions. Questions such as; what’s the first step I need to take? What would stop me from taking that step? How can I manage this, so I can take that first step? What would be the next step? If I can’t afford it, what do I need to do, to be able to afford it? If I don’t have the time right now, how can I make time?

These questions are many and varied and will help you formulate a plan, which will take you closer to achieving your desired outcome. And you may not get it perfectly right the first time, but every time you try, you’ll get closer to your desired result. Take the time, to acquire the knowledge, so you will be ready when opportunity knocks.

When you try to manage the issue, as a whole, it can feel overwhelming. So, observe what it is you want. Prepare a plan, that will take you where you want to go. Work the plan you’ve prepared and use the strategies you’ve come up with, to achieve the desired result.

Strategic planning, lines up your objectives with your actions. Without it you’re just shooting from the hip and hoping for the best. Shooting from the hip, is not the kind of planning that will get you where you want to be.

Write your action plan. Writing it makes it clear and you’re less likely to get side tracked, once you have your objective in front of you. And it must be in front of you. Put your written plan, where you can view it every day and this will keep it fresh in your mind. See yourself achieving the dream, as this gives you the motivation, on difficult days, to continue to strive.

You can wish all you like, but it’s action that gets you there! It's not wishbone, that gets you there. It's backbone, that gets you there. It’s having the right formula, the right steps, to propel you towards your goal. Being side tracked with other affairs, won’t help move toward your goal. Your time becomes more efficient, when you have a plan in place.

You may not know what your desire is, or what goals you’d like to achieve. To you I would say; if you had unlimited time and unlimited money, what would you be doing today? (Lazing on the beach sipping pinacolato’s doesn’t count because, believe it or not, you would be bored in a couple of weeks or months.)

Your dream, your desire, is something that should fulfil and satisfy you. Your goal now, is to create the steps, to make your dream your reality. And sometimes, you might have to put your dream on hold for a year or two, while other things are in play, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start learning more on the topic of your choice. The internet has plenty of free stuff, to get you started.

So – what are you waiting for? Take action now and turn your dreams, into your reality!