Stop Calling Your Income Disposable!
February 6, 2009
While driving home tonight from dinner I was having a conversation with Ray Stendall about how I built up disposable income for my new car. It struck me that the term “disposable” is a terrible term for individuals to use. It inherently makes you think of money as something that gets thrown away. Stay with me on this thought… If you think of money as something to be thrown away it means that you do not value it or respect it because its “trash.”
When it comes time to allocate where you spend money and how you decide to manage your income you will make different decisions if you change the way you talk about money. I challenge you to think about money as an investment. Say “I invested” in buying, food, clothes, paying rent, buying books or spending money on building my business. The fundamental shift in your thinking will over time change the way you spend money and your relationship to it.
By respecting money and taking it from being disposable to an investment you will have much better control of what happens when it comes time to balance the checkbook at the end of the week. Eventually you will also start to make mental choices you never thought possible. I personally want to continue to build my business. When I go out or make choices about where to spend my money, I think to myself “can I invest this” in my business or am I going to take the instant gratification that this purchase provides. It makes a difference. Often the smallest change in habits, especially your thinking habits, pay the biggest returns.
Christina Helwig
www.GlobalSuccessILG.com
Retrain The People In Your Life
January 29, 2009
Now this title might seem a little controversial but the topic really has more to do with retraining yourself to not accept things from others that you do not like. I watched a great video this morning by Patricia Fripp who talked about this topic. She said that we start to run like trains through our lives. Always on the same track and if we are not careful the track we choose takes over.
In terms of the relationships you have with your friends, family, co-workers and even just general acquaintances this can add up to a lot of unconscious habits. I had a friend a few years ago that was constantly late. She never arrived on time and she would cancel after I had already arrived at a restaurant. Her behavior was totally unacceptable. However, I let her get away with it. I would say things like “oh I understand” or “its okay,” when what I should have been doing was telling her how I really felt.
After being stood up for several different events I finally broke and told her exactly how I felt. I let her know that I valued my time and I expected her to value it as well or we could no longer be friends. That shocked her. No one had ever spoken up for themselves with her and she had been doing this for years. Did my actions totally change her behavior? Sadly no, but I was able to stop being upset and feeling resentment over her treatment of me. For awhile she stopped flaking on me. When she started it again I made my choice and choose to be around people who treated me with more respect.
While the above example might be a little extreme I am sure that you can think of a few things that are going on in your relationships that bother you. Let me tell you a little secret. If you don’t tell the other person you never give them the option to fix it. You resent their actions unfairly.
Start to train yourself to speak up. Step off the railroad track you have laid down with the people around you and lay new habits. While you’re at it you should also take a hard look at your own actions to see if you are being the best friend, spouse, child, parent or co-worker you can be. Habits change overtime and sometimes the people around you will need gentle reminders before they can really implement the changes you ask for. Just be open and honest and have patience, your relationships will be stronger and happier if you adopt this process.
To learn more from Patricia Fripp visit www.GlobalSuccessILG.com
Christina Helwig
Causation by Thomas Troward
January 25, 2009
This is a great little video on the subject of Causation written by Thomas Troward. The music that the person set to the video is a little different [more appropriate for belly dancing in my opinion, but that's okay]. Be sure to read and really think about what is said/written in the video. For more great videos visit:www.GlobalSuccessILG.com.
Are You Providing Real Value?
January 23, 2009
“The Law of Value. Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.” ~ The Go-Giver.
Ask yourself today what are you doing to provide more value to the people around you? How are you improving the lives of your family, friends, co-workers and customers? Without providing value we stagnant our growth. We can fall into the trap of thinking that we will “never make it” or that we cannot do that which we most deeply desire.
To really live on purpose you should be providing value to as many people as possible. But remember that it is about quality, not quantity. For some time your business will only be able to provide the highest quality service to a few people. As you grow that will expand and then so will your economic power and reach.
Take a few moments today to think about how you can improve the level of service you offer to the people around you. Often a simple change in behavior brings huge results.
This is the very first law discussed in the book “The Go-Giver.” Again this book is a critical component of your library.
Please post how you will provide more value to cement your commitment inside your mind. Once you put something in writing it is 100% more effective at creating a change in your life.
To your success,
Christina
P.s. If you have not done so already you can join me in my Facebook group “Living on Purpose with Christina” for great discussion topics, homework assignments and questions to really make you think.
Napoleon Hill on Franklin Roosevelt
January 23, 2009
I Wish You Meaning
January 20, 2009
This is an excerpt from “Think and Grow Rich.” It was written by Henry Viscardi.
As for me, I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon if I can. I seek opportunity, not security. I want to take the calculated risk, to dream and to build, to fall and to succeed. I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout. I will not cower before any master nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid to think and act for myself. To enjoy the benefit of my creation and to face the world boldly and say, “This I have done.”
I have a wish for you. It is the same wish I have for disabled people. I suppose the conventional thing for me to do would be to wish you and them success and happiness for the rest of your lives. But success and happiness as the world measures it is too easy. I would wish you meaning for all the remaining years of your life.
www.GlobalSuccessILG.com
Mental Toughness ~ Do You Have It?
January 18, 2009
Yesterday I listened to Steve Siebold talk on mental toughness. Steve is a faculty member of ILG and he also runs the Gove-Siebold Group. Bill Gove was the father of public speaking and he trained almost every major personal development speaker out there including Brian Tracy, Bob Proctor and Larry Wilson.
Needless to say Steve knows his material. Steve also is my boyfriend’s direct mentor and is an amazing person. I got to spent some time with him on the Bob Proctor Cruise I took in October of 2008. Steve and his wife, Dawn are some of the most incredible people you will ever meet. When he coaches people on mental toughness he has them answer a series of important questions.
1. If you could wave a magic wand and have whatever you want in your life, what would that be?
2. What would your perfect lifestyle look like terms of health, wealth, relationships etc.?
3. If you could design your perfect calendar by day, week, month and year, what would your days look like?
4. Lastly, write a letter to a friend as if it was five years from today and you are filling them in on what has happened in your life.
These questions are important for you to think about when trying to build a life for yourself. The reason that Steve has you go through all these steps is that he wants you to emotionalize your goals. Without emotion mixed in with your dreams you will not accomplish anything.
You have to know your WHY? Without a strong why it will be difficult for you to achieve anything. This detailed process is one of the techniques that Steve uses to coach people on mental toughness. His book is absolutely fantastic and is a constant reference of mine. You can get a copy here: 177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class
Most people will say that they want to be rich without any understanding what that means. Let me tell you something very plain and simple right now. THE RICH DO NOT SIT AROUND ALL DAY AND DO NOTHING. They WORK! Building businesses and developing products and new concepts is not an easy process or one that takes little effort. It requires a great deal of mental energy and long days and nights, especially in the beginning.
Answer the questions I raised above and make sure your answers are clear and crisp. Anyone picking up your responses should be able to clearly see what you want. The clearer you are, the more likely you will achieve what you write down. Don’t just pass this opportunity by. Really sit down and do this simple assignment. It will help immensely.
Christina Helwig
Start Your Day With Great Affirmations
January 14, 2009
Here is another great affirmations video from the movie “The Secret.” Enjoy this and watch it often. Many of the teachers from “The Secret” are faculty members of iLearningGlobal. I watch at least one new video from this service everyday. It helps me stay focused on my goals and is the inspiration for many of my blog posts. Learn more here: www.GlobalSuccessILG.com
Christina Helwig
Are You Wishing Or Believing?
January 13, 2009
There are a couple of points in “Think and Grow Rich” that Bob Proctor said changed his life. Napoleon Hill wrote in his Chapter on Desire: “There is a difference between wishing for a thing and being ready to receive it.” “No one is ready for a thing until they believe they can acquire it.”
How many times do we ponder our goals and think “wouldn’t that be nice.” We sit and daydream and for some reason nothing seems to happen. The goal sits and gathers dust and we eventually move on to other goals or feel bad because we have not achieved what we set out to do.
Let me ask you this, do you actually believe that you will accomplish your goals? If you say “I will be a millionaire,” do you actually believe it? Can you see yourself living as a millionaire, doing the things that a millionaire does? Or do you have some vague, misty concept of what that life is like and merely think about having the million dollars only if you were to win the lottery?
This is not enough. You can’t just dream. Your dreams have to turn into a reality in your mind. When you think about your goal it needs to be like a movie in your head. Almost like you are replaying a memory, smell the smells, feel the breeze and all other senses you can engage. Pretend that you are stepping into a virtual reality machine and really “live” in that mental movie.
This is the only way to switch from wishing to being ready to receive a goal. Bob Proctor realized that he had been wishing for things as a boy but he never really believed he could receive them. He could not see himself with the new bike or winning a baseball game. Bob realized that he was not ready for the good that he desired. He was not ready for what he really wanted. He was wishing but he wasn’t ready.
I recently went out and toured multi-million dollar homes. I had no concept of what living in one of these homes would be like. In fact I had never even been inside one. How could I imagine living in that type of a house without ever walking through one? One of the best things you can do for yourself is go take tours of homes, sit in nice cars and go out to fancy restaurants. This will give your mind some mental muscle to help you “live” in your mental movie. Take action and go out and do some of these exercises this weekend. You will be so happy you did.
To view videos from Bob Proctor and other great personal development teachers visit: www.GlobalSuccessILG.com
Christina Helwig
Perform More Tasks Of Higher Value
January 11, 2009
“Perform more and more tasks of higher value, and delegate, delay, outsource and eliminate tasks of lower value.” ~ Brian Tracy
This important advice from Brian Tracy is something you should take a look at. Are you currently doing more than you need to? Can you delegate any of the activities that are consuming your time? Often when we start a new business or work on a project we believe that we have to do everything ourselves. We think that everything has to be “perfect” and “just right.” This just isn’t the case. Things do not need to be perfect or just right. They merely have to provide great service and fulfill a solid need that your customer has.
To implement Brian’s advice take a look at what you are spending your time on. For example can you delegate the grocery shopping, watch a little less t.v. or hire someone to help you with paperwork? Doing this will help you focus on your core business and more importantly will help you focus on completing the tasks which advance your business and increase your income.
I encourage you to break all your activities into higher and lower value tasks. Then delegate or eliminate the ones that eat up your time.
To watch videos, listen to MP3s and download e-books from Brian Tracy visit: www.GlobalSuccessILG.com
