Your Success will either DIE or LIVE on How You’re Thinking - Part II

“A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.”
Mark Twain

PART II

This is the second of a two-part blog that examines how “Your Success will either DIE or LIVE on How You’re Thinking.” In Part I we examined “The Natural Enemies of Promise” - Doubt, Indecision and Entropy. If you cannot defeat the Natural Enemies of Promise by changing how you think, the possibility of your promise will D.I.E.

In part two of how “Your Success will either DIE or LIVE on How You’re Thinking”, we will examine the Natural Allies of Promise that will enable you to L.I.V.E. the possibility of your promise.

I often hear people espouse about this dream and that dream and how they will, “Achieve it because they believe it!” Goody for them. Having a dream is a good start toward achieving the possibility of your promise. But, dreams can be misleading. What is a dream? It’s vaporware at best. You can’t hold it or mold it. A dream is born of your unconscious mind’s need to express a combination of experiences both vividly imagined and real into a synthesis that, for a fraction of time, makes sense.

If you want to use a dream as a platform for launching your toward reaching the possibility of your promise you will need to take it to the next step; converting your dream into a desire. Your success in converting that desire into a reality will L.I.V.E. on How You’re Thinking when you engage the Natural Allies of Promise as a framework for desire-based thinking.

THE NATURAL ALLIES OF PROMISE

The thinking-shift from a D.R.E.A.M. (a Deeply Rooted Emotionally Achievable Manifestation) to a D.E.S.I.R.E. (a Deeply Emotional Self-Interested Realistic Expectation) is pivotal if you want to reach the possibility of your promise. But, like all things, it’s tough to do it on your own. So, just like any project where you would look to fill in the gaps between your talent and your needs, the Natural Allies of Promise can help you fill the gaps in your desire-driven thinking, helping you keep focused on your intended goal. The Natural Allies of Promise are Longing, Intention, Viability, and Enthusiasm. Let’s briefly examine each’s role as a natural ally of promise.

Longing

When I was seven years old I saved up a bunch of box tops and sent away for a medal model of a red, Ford Thunderbird convertible. The process of waiting to receive that “prize” was my first exposure to desire-driven behavior. My yearning to hold that shiny red auto in my hands became the singular focus of an entire summer. I would plan my days around the mailman’s delivery schedule. In the days before tracking numbers, expectation that “today would be the day” was as close to instant gratification as I could get. My longing to achieve the possibility of the promise of this car as fulfillment of my expectation was the prime catalyst of my success.

Longing is a powerful ally in your desire to achieve something. A longing is more than an idle or passing thought. A longing is a persistent hunger for something accompanied by a burning, obsessive craving, unquenchable thirst to achieve a promise or reach an objective. A longing says you are in it for the long haul and it can be sufficient to sustain you through the temporary troths of your desire-driven thinking.

Intention

In my keynote presentation, “Hope Less Success”, I make a big deal out of telling my audiences there is no such thing as an accidental success. By the very definition of success (the achievement of an intention) you can see how crucial focused intention-based thinking is in achieving the possibility of your promise. In learning to LIVE your promise there is no substitute for intention. Intention is a keen awareness of your current state of progress toward your promise and the distance you will need to travel to close the gap between desire and achievement.

Intention is your internal resolve to do something; to be in control of the outcome as the active, driver of the initiative rather than a passive spectator willing to settle for the result regardless the score or its net effect on you. Intention is the “line in the sand” you will draw that says, “I will not retreat from where I stand. I will only move forward with every fiber of my body dedicated to achieving the possibility of my promise.

Viability

Success does not happen in a vacuum. It requires energy. Lots of it. Without a continuous supply of positive energy your drive to succeed will encounter the friction of entropy and will eventually erode both your attitude and aptitude. To counter this phenomenon, you will need to engage your viability engine.

Viability is your operational state of mind. It tells you that you cannot achieve the possibility of your promise without a deeply committed belief in the sustainability of your vision. Viability is your capacity for tenacity. It is that singular quality of mind that enables you to sustain your desire through belief in your promise’s right to exist. Viability is the reflection of both the competence and confidence you have in your ability to achieve the possibility of your promise.

Viability is your passport into the world of possibility where your desire can be actualized, limited only by your belief in your desire.

Enthusiasm

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

In short, there is no substitute for enthusiasm. Recently, I have encountered several startup companies whose reason for being has less to do with an enthusiasm for the customers they serve as it does for the “big pay day” when then can get acquired. Some of these companies are struggling to hang on. Some are finding it increasingly difficult to define themselves both internally and externally. Others are finding it difficult to attract both customers and investors because they have lost that “lovin’ feeling” for the enterprise they began.

Enthusiasm is an essential element of reaching the possibility of your promise. The phrase, “Do what you love, and the money will come”, is fantastic advice. When you have endless enthusiasm for what you do, your energy will be unlimited as well. Enthusiasm is a clear manifestation of mind over matter. When you hit “the wall”, encounter seeds of doubt, or begin to feel weary enthusiasm can provide the regenerative energy to jump start your desire-driven thinking and propel you toward achieving your promise.

THE CHOICE IS YOURS

Over the last two blogs we examined how Your Success will either DIE or LIVE on How You’re Thinking. In Part I, we looked at The Natural Enemies of Promise – Doubt, Indecision and Entropy and the roles they play in derailing you from achieving the possibility of your promise.

In Part II, we examined The Natural Allies of Promise – Longing, Intention, Viability and Enthusiasm and how they can be harnessed to redirect, reinvigorate and regenerate your desire-driven thinking en route to achieving the possibility of your promise.

Whether you are willing to let the possibility of your promise D.I.E. or L.I.V.E. is a matter of how you think. The choice is up to you.

Thanks for your support as a reader of my blog and I eagerly welcome any comments on how you’re thinking about achieving the possibility of your promise.  Also, I would appreciate any suggestions you might have for future posts in this blog on a topic near and dear to you in the comments section below. As always, please feel free to share this post with a friend or colleague.

Bringing Positivity to Everything,
The Brain Tamer

Your Success will either DIE or LIVE on How You’re Thinking - Part 1

“Perceived failure is oftentimes success trying to be born in a bigger way.”
Chinese Fortune Cookie

PART I

As either a speaker or leader, the possibility of your success is ever present, ever changing, and never ending. The one certain thing I know, is that you will take and remain in control of that success potential when you discover how to define and refine your success mindset. The seeds of success must be planted and nurtured in the mind of the achiever if they are to have any possibility of taking root and reaching maturity.

If you’re looking for the most direct route to achieving success, look between your ears. Examine your current state of thinking toward your destination and become intimately aware of both the natural Enemies and the Allies of your promise.

THE NATURAL ENEMIES OF PROMISE

It might be hard for you to imagine (or not) that lying within the same fabric of energy from which you weave the dream, desire and eventual positive outcome of a promise are the same threads from which you may sew its destruction. These natural enemies of promise lurk beneath the surface of your positive energy waiting for that moment when the slightest crack in your resolve presents the opportunity for them to insidiously strike at the heart of your desire.

Without any fanfare or warning they will inject their venom into your thinking system causing the possibility of your promise to D.I.E.

The natural enemies of promise are Doubt, Indecision and Entropy. Let’s briefly examine each’s role as a natural enemy of promise.

Doubt

You’ve may have heard the expression, “sowing the seeds of doubt.” It’s true. Doubt is an easily planted, quick-rooting seed. Once planted it becomes self-nurturing, feeding upon a growing bed of uncertainty about the outcome of a possibility. Doubt can cause the deeply convicted to consider questionable or unlikely the strength of their conviction. Doubt is that critical moment when you hesitate to believe the possibility of your promise. Doubt is never an ally of the bold, the innovative, or the achiever.

The purveyors of Doubt are all around you. Even in places you might consider “safe”. Eliminate doubters from all facets of your endeavor. This might include friends, family, peers, superiors and subordinates, partners and patrons. If your goal is to succeed at achieving the possibility of your promise, you must build a wall of resistance and learn to cast away all signs of doubt. Steel yourself to the struggles ahead while learning to plant seeds of positivity nurtured by the faith of your conviction.

Indecision

My dad was one heck of a very successful salesman. Not only was he a success, but many of the people who worked for him were successful as well. One of the favorite expressions he used to inspire and instruct his sales force in helping them learn how to close for the benefit of the customer was, “Not to decide, is to decide.”

Indecision is an infectiously paralytic mindset that inflicts upon a person’s possibility of promise the inability to decide in both initial and critical situations. Unlike doubt that causes one to reconsider a belief, indecision robs the possibility of promise of its right to exist by shutting down all forward momentum. Indecision is the quicksand of the mind in which a current state of sinking in overwhelm becomes the accepted norm. Indecision is treading water with no apparent safe shore in sight.

Your goal in dispelling indecision is latch on to your resolve. See the possibility of your promise for all of the wonderous reasons that initially inspired you. Deepen your intention and take the leap of faith you dreamed of at the start.

Entropy

All endeavors exist on the same basic ingredient, energy. For most speakers and leaders this energy is limitless. It is culled from the intensity of their vision and the desire to share their vision with a wider, deeper impact.

Entropy is a doctrine of inevitable decline and degeneration. It tells us that, universally, reaching the possibility of your promise is an uphill battle. Things have a tendency toward deterioration. When pursuing the possibility of your promise you must know that whatever energy (enthusiasm) you amassed to begin will not be sufficient to sustain. To overcome the forces of entropy you will need to find ways to continually add to your supply of energy.

It’s not easy, but it is possible. Positive mindset techniques like expanding your vision, increasing the scope of your pursuit, and increasing the number of people that are aware of your promise are all ways you can add energy to your endeavor to counter the effects of entropy.

DON’T LET YOUR PROMISE D.I.E.

The natural enemies of promise are formidable, but not controllable. To become the master of the enemies you will need to intensify and solidify your positive mindset. When doubt, indecision or entropy begin to surface, you will need to learn how to adeptly hit the reset button without losing momentum. Remember, the solution lies between your ears.

TO BE CONTINUED…

This is the first of a two-part blog that will examine how “Your Success will either DIE or LIVE on How You’re Thinking.” In this part we examined “The Natural Enemies of Promise” - Doubt, Indecision and Entropy. If you cannot defeat the Natural Enemies of Promise by changing how you think, the possibility of your promise will D.I.E.

In part two of how “Your Success will either DIE or LIVE on How You’re Thinking”, we will examine the Natural Allies of Promise that will enable you to L.I.V.E. the possibility of your promise.

Thanks for your support as a reader of my blog and I eagerly welcome any comments on this post or suggestions you might have for a future blog on a topic near and dear to you in the comments section below. As always, please feel free to share this post with a friend or colleague.

Bringing Positivity to Everything,
The Brain Tamer