SMALL AND SIMPLE THINGS

  SMALL AND SIMPLE THINGS

It’s one of the simplest and most powerful principles on the planet. Can be applied remarkably quickly to most    

situations. Works really well and gives disproportionate    

rewards. If you are not using this as part of problem    

solving, goal achievement or planning process; you are missing out. In fact you are almost certainly expressing    

too much energy, and getting less than optimal results. 

The principle I’m referring to? The Pareto principle also known as the 80/20 rule. In it’s most basic form it says: 

80% of the output is produced by 20% of the inputs. 80% of the consequences are generated by 20% of the causes. 80% of the results are created by 20% of the efforts. You’ve probably heard that before. But have you asked yourself: 

  "Which 20% of my actions are creating 80% of the results I experience on a day to day basis?" Let that question sink in. Even further. When you do, you will start to see    

opportunities to work less and get more, far more often. 

The name of the game becomes...  How can I get greater return with less effort and having more fun? 

Thankfully you don’t need to have super-powers to be able to leverage this law. It requires only that you become more curious about cause and effect… causation and    

consequence in your own life. 

And willing to do a little thinking up front. The great news is, this law can be applied anywhere. For example take the context of a personal    

problem you are facing. 

If you’ve got an area you are struggling with, ask yourself: 

Which 20% of my actions are creating 80% of my problems? This powerful question presupposes that there    

are a small set of actions that are generating a disproportionate part of the    

problem. And guides your super-smart brain to dial in    

on those. Are you doing a lot and getting little in return? Are little actions/behaviors causing you major problems? Could a small or simple change make big differences in your life?Make a change. Simply do something different. By small and simple things great things are brought to pass. 

IN A HURRY!

      IN A HURRY!

We get convinced by society and media sources that to be responsible we should always be in a hurry. That is simply nonsense! Hurrying ignores the present. Hurrying rejects rewards hidden in the present. Hurrying creates the illusion of completion. 

Many years ago, a young couple became obsessed with finding gold. They sold their little farm and launched their search. It became a lifetime of wasted effort. They eventually ended their searching in England, bankrupt. Years passed. They finally accumulated enough money and help from friends to return to the United States. After arriving, they decided to revisit their little farm, the birthplace of their gold search. A strange scene welcomed them. They were forbidden to enter the area. Government security was everywhere. Why? Their little farm had become government property because it was now…the second largest gold reserve on the North American continent.

In their hurry to search for gold, they had not even examined their own property!

Unhurry yourself. Live simple, steady and deliberate and you'll get so much more accomplished than if you hurry.  All too often, we get in a hurry and look for success and happiness "out there" when it was "right here" all along. We missed it because we were in a hurry!

A THOUGHT ON THOUGHTS

  A THOUGHT ON THOUGHTS

A small and simple thing that is very powerful is a thought. The thing to remember about thoughts is that we become what we think about most of the time. Where you are today, what you are today, is the sum total of all the thoughts that you've had. If you remember, feelings, actions, outcomes, they all start with thoughts. So what you've thought up until now has got you to where you are today. That same process is working right now second by second, this very moment.  If you want to make a change, you need to change what you're thinking, and how you're thinking. An important fact is that what dominates your thoughts influences your results. What you think about most is affecting your results. Now here's where it gets real interesting. A simple yet extremely powerful key is that you've got to start thinking about what you're thinking about. We do this by asking ourselves questions like, "Why do I think that?" "Why am I saying that?" "Why do I feel like this in this situation?" "How do I feel about feeling angry?" "How do I feel about feeling frustrated?" So the place to begin is to start thinking about what you are thinking about!

CHUNKING DOWN

CHUNKING DOWN

We have been addressing change and making simple changes in our lives. We are generally resistant to change, and are too intelligent to put in any work without a good reason. It's important to have a reason for making a change  because change usually means work. But without change...nothing changes! As we have recently been discovering, a small or simple step can generate a big result. When the decision was made to put a man on the moon, it wasn't done in one giant leap. It was a succession of small simple steps, that together, resulted in a great accomplishment. In their thinking, they started from the moon, the goal, and worked backwards. This is also effective when applied to our goals. What is your goal? What will it look, sound and feel like when you reach the goal? Now, working backwards, what steps need to be taken to get from your goal to where you are right now? This is breaking the process down into smaller, doable, steps. Breaking the journey down into smaller, simple steps is known as chunking down. Perhaps a different way to state it would be, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

SIMPLE IMPROVEMENTS

SIMPLE IMPROVEMENTS 

A subtle, even small change, can often result in significant change and over all improvement. Something as simple as changing the way we tie our shoes creates new neural pathways in our brains. These new nerve pathways generate new feelings and thoughts. As we make these small changes, we push the limits of our comfort zones. The fear signal that comes up when you are outside your comfort zone is a signal to be "aware" and not "beware". Fear is part of the process of change. The simplest things in life feel uncomfortable until you get used to them. It's important to continue when we feel uncomfortable. It's so often not that we "can't"do things, it's that we "won't" do them. 

STRENGTH IN SIMPLICITY

STRENGTH IN SIMPLICITY 

Continuing with the theme, by small and simple things great things are brought to pass. At the core of the concept is simplicity. A small amount of water allows a plant to thrive. Too much water and the plant dies. A little sun and the plant thrives. Too much sun will kill a plant. When solving a problem, keeping the issue simple, the lowest common denominator, allows for rapid and effective problem solution. When we seek to elevate a situation to something much bigger or more complex than it really is, it suddenly becomes much more difficult to resolve.  It is in the simple that there is great strength. 

KEEPING EMOTIONS SIMPLE

 KEEPING EMOTIONS SIMPLE

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does!

The past few days we have been addressing the topic of change. We've also been addressing the fact that it is by small and simple things that great things are brought to pass.  We all want to be a better person in this new year and we'd like to be more successful as well. We allow ourselves to become overwhelmed when we think of personal change and generating success according to our personal definition. As human beings, so much of what we do and even the decisions we make we make based on how or what we are feeling. Our emotions are a major driving force in our lives. It's important to remember that our emotions are directly connected to our thoughts. We can control our thoughts if we choose to. By directing our thoughts we can control our emotions. As we choose our thoughts and consider our interactions with other people, it's important to remember that we all view and experience life differently. We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are. Many people view this as a major obstacle to having a happy life. Every event and situation of life has within in tremendous potential for good and a positive outcome. We must first choose to look for it until we see it. The activities, events and happenings in our lives are all neutral emotionally. They do not have emotion or feelings attached or assigned to them. It is when we view, see or experience them that we generate and assign emotion to them. Why else can two people have the same exact experience yet have totally different feelings / emotions about it?  Here now is another small and simple action to apply in our lives that will bring tremendous results.  Our thoughts determine our emotions. Thoughts become increasingly powerful the more attention we give them. If you don't want to feel down or sad, don't give attention to the thoughts that result in those emotions. Give your attention to the thoughts that inspire you, the thoughts that result in happy or what you would call good emotions. It's amazing how doing this small simple thing results in such amazing changes and outcomes. After a brief period of practice, it becomes a natural response and you don't have to consciously focus on it as much. It's a small and simple thing, but oh the power for change it packs!

TRANSFORMATION BEGINS

TRANSFORMATION BEGINS 

I know that by small and simple things great things are brought to pass! So many of us want a better life, better relationships and even simply want to feel better but we don't take steps to have those things because it takes so much work. Well, that is the fallacy! It is in this type of thinking that we have been mislead. We have bought into the idea that we won't see or feel any real change in our life until we've put in a great deal of work for a very long time. That's just malarkey!

I am going to show you, or rather your going to show yourself, that small and simple things can bring amazing results. 

Beginning right now and for the next week, every time someone asks you,"How are you?" I want you to respond by saying,"I'm TERRIFIC!" Yes, it may seem odd or awkward at first, but you will begin to feel different very quickly. By different, I mean you are going to begin to feel better, more upbeat. Also, when you awaken in the morning, and every morning, I want you to sit up in your bed, and before you do anything else, I want you to say to yourself, aloud, "I FEEL TERRIFIC!" 

Begin now with this small and simple thing. I promise you, if you will do it, you will experience results rather quickly.  Respond to everyone with,"I'm terrific!" And sit up in bed first thing upon awakening and say out loud,"I feel terrific!" I'll share more powerful small and simple things tomorrow.