"Personal Development"

A little over a year ago I watched the movie Good Will Hunting. In the movie, Robin Williams made the following statement to the character played Will Hunting, played by Matt Damon.

“You are bound by nothing.”

This quote resonated with me “big-time” for many reasons, but I think especially due to the turbulent financial times we’ve been experiencing. I think the most disappointing thing about the current state of affairs in our world is a lack of leadership…a lack of positive thinking…a lack of excitement at solving problems…a seeming inability or desire to overcome adversity. We seem paralyzed!

There is no doubt that we’re in tough times…but is this the first time? Is this worse than what we faced during the Great Depression…during World War II or the Civil War or most importantly our fight for freedom as a country.

Bottom-line, great men and woman throughout history faced great challenges and overcame them to create a better world for themselves and others. YOU can do that too!

We are indeed in a time of great adversity, but this is not a time to sit back and complain. After all, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, adversity will never go away. There is never a “better time” than NOW! It’s time for YOU to seek the opportunity in the adversity!

This past year, despite the turbulence, has been one of the best years for my consulting business, which is 8 years old. I attribute this success to the belief that I am indeed “bound by nothing.” Miracles, opportunities can manifest with each and every day. We’ve just got to take the initiative, develop strong goals, take action and solve for the obstacles that come our way.

Each and every day offers us the opportunity to achieve your goals, become the person you want to become and live the life you were meant to live – because you are indeed BOUND BY NOTHING!

Another daily dose of one of my favorite motivators – James Allen. Once again a great piece on our thoughts and how they effect our lives…some good “food for thought!”

By practice, association, and habit, thoughts tend to repeat themselves.

By daily dwelling upon pure thoughts, the man of meditation forms the habit of pure and enlightened thinking which leads to pure and enlightened actions and well-performed duties. By the ceaseless repetition of pure thoughts, he at last becomes one with those thoughts, and is a purified being, manifesting his attainment in pure actions, in a serene and wise life.

The majority of men live in a series of conflicting desires, passions, emotions, and speculations, and there are restlessness, uncertainty, and sorrow; but when a man begins to train his mind in meditation, he gradually gains control over this inward conflict by bringing his thoughts to a focus upon a central principle.

It is easy to mistake reverie for meditation.

Everyone wants to be successful, but so many people don’t know what steps to get there. The key is to first and foremost, to look inward – understand your behaviors and what drives or motivates you.

Learn more about your path to success with your personalized Success Insights Report®. The Success Insights Report® consists of roughly 24 pages of tailored information about you and includes the following (click on image to see actual “sample” report):

• What is your behavior style
• How do you communicate and how should others communicate with you
  
• What motivates you
• What is your ideal work environment
  
• How do you deal with things such as change, risk and conflict
• How do other people perceive you
  
• What are areas of development to help you grow
• What is your customized action plan based on the results of the report
  
• What is your behavior style ranking within eight common areas in the workplace

This report is based on a 24 question survey to be completed by you and the output includes a valuable tailored and personalized report (see the sample report by clicking on the image).

For just $49.00 you can receive this report and take the first step towards learning how to drive your success.

To find out how you can receive your personalized and tailored Success Insights Report®,  just call Steve Gavatorta at 813-908-1343 or email him at steve@gavatorta.com (Please place in the subject line: BABM Promotion)

I wanted to share more Wisdom from James Allen – this from the James Allen Library:

Every man is a mind-builder.

Pure thoughts, wisely chosen and well placed, are so many durable bricks which will never crumble away, and from which a finished and beautiful building, and one which affords comfort and shelter for its possessor, can be rapidly erected. Bracing thoughts of strength, of confidence, of duty; inspiring thoughts of a large, free, unfettered, and unselfish life, are useful bricks with which a substantial mind-temple can be raised; and the building of such a temple necessitates that old and useless habits of thought be broken down and destroyed.

“Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, As the swift seasons roll.”

Each man is the builder of himself.

As many of you already know, I’m a huge fan of James Allen. I attribute his practical wisdom to be a huge reason for the success in my life as well as many other influential motivators, and great leaders. I subscribe to the James Allen Daily Motivation newsletter and received this wonderful note a few days back – I thought I’d share it with you.

As a being of thought, your dominant mental attitude will determine your condition in life.

You are the thinker of your thoughts, and as such you are the maker of yourself and condition. Thought is causal and creative, and appears in your character and life in the form of results. There are no accidents in your life. Both its harmonies and antagonisms are the responsive echoes of your thoughts. A man thinks, and his life appears.

If your dominant mental attitude is peaceable and lovable, bliss and blessedness will follow you; if it be resistant and hateful, trouble and distress will cloud your pathway. Out of ill-will will come grief and disaster; out of good-will, healing and reparation.

The boundary lines of your thoughts are self-erected fences.

I hope you enjoy.

Steve

Seek First To Understand Then Tailor Your Approach To Motivate!

A few weeks ago I was asked to by Toilet Paper Entrepreneur to give my opinion on the question “how t0 create an energetic work environment” with a 3-4 sentence response – My response is below:

“You must realize that motivation is a personal thing, so what “energizes” YOU to take action might not be the same with others. The key to energizing others is to clearly understand what motivates them and take necessary steps to feed that motivation. Great leaders realize this and tailor their approach accordingly.”

I fully believe this response. We all have different DNA, fingerprints, backgrounds and experiences, so wouldn’t make sense that they way we are motivated and energized is unique to each of us as well? Of course. So I urge you to think about this point from 2 perspectives:

• Personally – You need to clearly understand what motivates and energizes you. Once you have a clear understanding your motivators your life can take a new dimension because you can align yourself to those motivators as much in your life as possible – both personally & professionally
• With others – If you are managing, leading or generally having to motivate and energize others you will need to understand those people’s motivators to lead and drive them…each person is different, so it is incumbent upon you to find out and motivate accordingly

If you don’t believe me, take it from one to the greatest leaders and motivators in the sports world, the late Vince Lombardi who said the following:

“On my teams I do all of the motivation and it is my job to understand how to motivate 40 men, 40 different ways.”

In other words, he realized his team were unique and it was up to him to understand the motivational “drivers” in each of them.

I hope this helps and that you enjoyed…please feel free to provide your insights. Until then, see the link below to Toilet Paper Entrepreneur website to see how other folks responded to the question, “how to create an energetic work environment.”

• http://tinyurl.com/22w2xm2

Steve

I’m a huge fan of the great motivator Napoleon Hill. So with that said, I wanted to share with you his Mental Equipment Checklist.

Hope you enjoy.

Steve

Mental Equipment Checklist
by Dr. Napoleon Hill

There follows a list of very desirable qualities which almost any normal and reasonable person can come to possess and exercise. The list is long and perfection may be only slowly attained. Therefore, before entering into a detailed consideration of the things you would like to have your mind and body capable of doing, let’s at once enumerate those which are absolutely necessary.

1.       Physical fitness is of tremendous importance for the simple reason that neither mind nor body can function well without it. Therefore, give attention to your habits of life, proper diet, healthful exercise and fresh air.

2.       Courage must be the part of every man or woman who succeeds in any undertaking, especially that of selling in these trying time of intense competition after a devastating period of depression and discouragement.

3.       Imagination is an absolute requisite of a successful salesman. He must anticipate situations and even objections on the part of his prospective customer. He must have such a lively imagination as to enable its operation to place him in sympathetic understanding with the position, needs, and objectives of his customer. He must almost literally stand in the other man’s shoes. This takes real imagination.

4.       Speech. The tone of voice must be pleasing. A high-pitched squeaky voice is irritating. Words half swallowed are hard to understand. Speak distinctly and enunciate clearly. A meek voice indicates a weak person. A firm, clean-cut, clear voice that moves with assurance and color, indicates an aggressive person with enthusiasm and aggressiveness.

5.       Hard work is the only thing that will turn sales training and ability into money. No amount of good health, courage, or imagination is worth a dime unless it is put to work; and the amount of pay a salesman gets is usually fixed by the amount of very hard, intelligent work that he actually puts out. Many people side-step this factor of success.

Source:  How to Sell Your Way Through Life, 1955, Ralston Publishing Co., Cleveland, Ohio, pgs. 72-73.

One of my favorite motivational books is James Allens, As a Man Thinketh. The book is so practical and full of wisdom that I highly recommend everyone read it. Whenever I’m struggling and need to clear my head and get back to the basics of a successful life, I fall back on his writings. He basically believes that the circumstances in our lives are most often created by what we think. And by thinking right thoughts we can greatly influence the trajectory of our lives. He also believes what thoughts are planted in our heads will come to manifest. Hence, if we plant “right” thoughts, good will manifest. If in turn we plant “wrong” thoughts, bad repercussions will occur.

As part of my morning routine I read James Allen to start my day on a positive note. I receive a daily thought via email and wanted to share today’s with you. Please see his points below on breaking bad habits – I hope you enjoy.

In the training of the will the first step is the breaking away from bad habits.

He who has succeeded in grasping this simple, preliminary truth will perceive that the whole science of will-cultivation is embodied in the following seven rules:

1. Break off bad habits.
2. Form good habits.
3. Give scrupulous attention to the duty of the present moment.
4. Do vigorously, and at once, whatever has to be done.
5. Live by rule.
6. Control the tongue.
7. Control the mind.

Anyone who earnestly meditates upon, and diligently practices, the above rules will not fail to develop that purity of purpose and power of will which will enable him to successfully cope with every difficulty, and pass triumphantly through every emergency.

In upcoming months, 2011 and on, I will be offering several customized Webinars and/or Tele-Classes for you. In effort to best serve your needs I want to solicit your input as to what topics you’d be most interested in and/or find most helpful – both personally & professionally. The two main areas of focus in my programs are to enable you to have great relationships and achieve your goals.

To best understand your needs and custom build programs that will be relevant to you, I’ve created this survey to garner your input. Once received, the input will be used to custom build practical & relevant programs that can help you achieve your goals. Please feel free to expand on your responses. To participate in the survey, please click on the link below (or paste the link in your browser):

• http://tinyurl.com/23g2frd

Also please let me know if your preferred learning media is Webinar or Tele-Class. I appreciate your participation in the survey and very much value your insights.

Sincerely,
Steve