WRITE IT DOWN

Posted on 25/04/2008 by Grumpa Joe

It seems to me that we will fill our time on this earth with activity regardless if we have any goals or not. Why not make a better use of our time by directing our energies toward useful ends? Personally, I write down all of my goals. One reason is to remember them. The list is always there for me to review. It keeps my sub-conscious mind focused on the things on the list. Another reason for writing down goals, is to let me review and prioritize them regularly. Lets face it, what seems important today, may be insignificant tomorrow. Don’t waste your time on things that are not important to you. Reviewing a list allows us to narrow our choices to those things that are really important to us. I worked for a man who became a billionaire by writing down all of his goals and dreams.
I am surprised how often, when I review a list of my goal ideas, that they have been accomplished. I now keep a “Dream List” of things that I feel are out of my grasp. The sub-conscious will keep looking for answers to achievement. My advice is simply this: “WRITE IT DOWN.”

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Lions “Strides Walk For Diabetes Awareness”

Posted on 13/04/2008 by Grumpa Joe

Finally, I am coming down from an adrenaline high. The high is the result of helping to organize an event with my local Lions Club. It’s been years since I participated in an event that involved getting the public to come and have fun. Talk about baby steps and motivation. I committed by suggesting the event. Never suggest something unless you are willing to “walk the talk.” When I talk, I am ready to follow up with action too. This walk was no different from the many scouting events that I organized and participated in.

The weather was crappy, although none us who worked noticed. We were too busy having fun to care. The baby steps planned in advance were unfolding and moving forward by many people.  We had a good turn out of Lion members, local Boy Scouts, and the area hospital. We marked walking trails of three lengths, put up sponsor signs, erected a tent, set up tables for registration, had 200 goodie bags prepared, and ready to go. In the week prior to the event today, four area newspapers, and the local TV channel gave us publicity. All planning and organization was  done by  a three man team. Our objective was threefold:

 1. Make people aware of Diabetes and its complications,

 2. Promote walking as a healthful tool to manage diabetes, and

3. Raise money for the American Diabetes Association.

In spite of the weather we accomplished all three of our goals. A beautiful side benefit is that our Lions Club is considering the walk as an annual event. 

Our day was a drizzle, forty degrees, and windy. Amazingly, we registered 23 walkers. On a nice day, the same trail would have seen several hundred walkers from the town. We think the 23 should be honored as heroes for coming out to support us in such hypothermic conditions.

I can’t begin to count the baby steps that we took to get this event off the ground. It took constant communication, and brainstorming to identify the steps. After logging the steps, it took energy to take action to make the steps happen. With regular meetings, e-mail, and the phone, the planning made it come to fruition.

We started on March 4 with the idea, and excuted it on April 12th. We visioned a successfull turnout of two hundred walkers. When someone warned us about poor weather, we saw the day as being warm and sunny. 

The vison was realized!

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Making a Good Day Better!

Posted on 10/04/2008 by Grumpa Joe

Today, I planned to get a number of things done. It started with a breakfast omelet loaded with chopped garlic, onions, with wheat toast and coffee. Cooking the omelet was a good thing, and provided me with a sense of accomplishment followed by the reward of eating the omelet. Next, I watered my house plants, and soaked my orchids under the spray on the sink. I sent my daughter-in-law a birthday card. The kitchen was calling me back, so I chopped onions, garlic, carrots, celery, and put them in a large pot with green peas and a ham bone loaded with meat. Once the goodies were covered with water, I put it on the stove to boil and simmer.

While the soup cooked, I mounted a fixture for my new flat screen TV. At this point, my day slowed to a craawl. My son-in-law came over to finsih installing an electrical outlet for the TV. He is one of my favorite people so I spent time talking with  him about ponds, and the HVAC business. While he worked, I sat reviewing my income tax statements so I could mail them to the IRS. I also wrote some big fat checks to pay taxes. Jeff disappeared for a short time, but came back with my grandson. I actually got a chance to work on homework with my namesake.

 After a brief review of the meaning of antecedents on the internet, my grandson and I were underlining pronouns and their antecedents when the phone rang. It was the leader of my Wednesday night supper group asking if I minded if we brought the wives with us this evening. Of course the answer was yes.

My list of goal steps for the day went to hell this afternoon, but I can’t get into a snit about it because the activity that came to me was more important than my original plans. How much better could it get? Visiting with my oldest grandson, followed by dinner with my wife and friends. Goals are good, but fun with family and friends is better. Visiting with family and friends is one of my “high payoff activities.’ In fact it is number one on my list of “high payoff activities.”  This activity carries the highest priority and is the most important thing in my life. All else pales in comparison.

What are your High Payoff Activities? 

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Picture it!

Posted on 03/04/2008 by Grumpa Joe

See it clearly in your mind. Think in color and exact details. Make mental image of your goal, then make a physical image. Create a collage of your vision. Use photos from the net, magazines, wherever you can scrounge them. Paste them together into the vision you are trying to achieve. Place the picture on your mirror so you can see it first thing every morning. Make a copy of the dream for your pc. Put it next to the screen where you can see it all day long. Whatever the goal is, a car, house, vacation, job, picture it in your mind.

Visioning is a powerful tool. Many men have advised that

 “If you can see it, and believe it, you can have it.” I have used mental visioning many times very successfully. In my career, I used visioning when I had to make a presentation before the CEO and the president of the company. I saw myself giving my report in a confident, knowledgeable way. I rehearsed the report over viand over again in my mind. I could see myself overwhelming these powerful leaders with my confidence.  When the time came to report, I was prepared, nervous, but prepared. Each time , I received kudos from the CEO and the president.

In my private life, I see my goals clearly and keep them in front of me all the time. As the goal becomes more and more clear, the reality of achievement steps in and the vision of accomplishment takes over to finish.

You too should use visioning to “see” your goals. “See” the benefits you will receive after you complete the goal successfully. In other words, “PICTURE IT!”

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Itsy Bitsy Steps

Posted on 01/04/2008 by Grumpa Joe

Do you have a dream? Is your dream materializing? If not, why not? Are you procrastinating? Are you afraid to take a step forward? Why? Most of us are afraid of failure. If we make a move it might just lead to something bigger than we are. The move may be very uncomfortable for us, so we put it off. Realize your goal by taking a small step. Put a tablet of paper in front of you. We write our goals down don’t we? The act of putting the tablet in front of yourself is a step on the right direction. Next, find a pen to write with. Start small, think smaller to get started. Realize your dream. 

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