Tag Archives: personal effectiveness

Take on some pain to get real gains

The life we live today is very different to that of our elders. The lives they are able to lead is also very different to that of their elders, and so on. But there are a substantial number of factors in this generational change which are eroding our natural ability to overcome difficulties and endure a little bit of ‘pain’ in order to achieve some kind of gain in the future.

I’m not talking about overcoming illnesses or mental issues that can have a serious effect on how we live our daily lives here. This is different, very serious in many cases and can have a fundamental effect on every aspect of someone’s life. I’m talking about some basic things that you can do to avoid the ‘quick fix’ route and improve your life in a number of ways.

We have become hooked on quick fixes. We are more sedentary than ever before, stuck at desks sitting for long periods. The ready meal category has grown up around our desire to feed ourselves quickly, whatever long term damage the meal itself can do to us based on its ingredients. We get ‘stressed’ very quickly and see this as a negative thing that is purely destructive. We drive everywhere and rarely take a healthier option. We spend money, sometimes borrowed at crazy interest rates, on ‘looking good’ and everything that that entails. And we are online so much that we can have stronger online relationships than real ‘face-to-face’ ones. Today, we put more value on ‘chillin’ out’ than we do on achieving anything, learning something new or improving ourselves and the lives of those around us.

So, what else can we do? How else can we approach life in order to improve it?

Take on some stress and use it to fuel your drive to achieve more. Get out of your comfort zone and look for opportunities to push yourself – really, push yourself hard – into places where the good stuff happens. I think we quite often feel we are really doing everything we can to make changes or improve ourselves, but we haven’t tried as hard as we can if we are being honest with ourselves. We would have done those exercises every morning, or we would have made those calls or joined that group. We would have fully committed.

Nothing comes easy and it all requires hours and hours of effort. Don’t give up – be persistent and make a simple choice in every decision: stick where you are now or improve. Good things will happen as long as you stick at it and change can take a long time but it is definitely worth it.

I have a couple of examples that spur me on and maybe they can also help you. One is my friend Richard who runs marathons – check out the photo on his Twitter bio here and you will see why he is an inspiration to me and many. It can never be said that he has taken the easy route in life and his successes will always stand out. The Spartan way of life and the way they trained and educated their young is also worthy of some further research and their mentality has been adopted into everything from feature films to adventure races. But whatever you do or whatever you research, be sure to then act on it and make the changes in your own life that will have the biggest and best effect. You won’t regret it.

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Ian Mountford is a Strategy Coach providing motivation and guidance to entrepreneurs, wannabe or fully-fledged. He draws from his own experience of building businesses from the ground up and spending many years helping clients to consistently achieve their goals and aspirations. Ian works with clients face-to-face and internationally.

Consciously Positive

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So what does ‘Consciously Positive’ as a way of being mean to me?

Choosing the right attitude to get things done
Focussing on the goal and being single-minded and determined enough to achieve it
Executing on good ideas
Delivering the best results you can in any given situation
Showing up, checking in, doing the work with no excuses
Making things happen
Helping others to learn and develop
Being proactive
Being prepared to fail
Never stopping learning

All of these things bundled up together make a very powerful mix. I get a lot of satisfaction when I’m working this way and things are happening for me and those around me and, conversely, lose a lot of energy and find it very hard to deliver when some of these things are difficult or require some change within me or in my immediate environment.

I believe this is a state of being that we can all aim for in order to be the best we can be. Sure, we might not be 100% in everything immediately but we can use this as a template to constantly improve ourselves. The effects on our lives, our businesses, our relationships and every aspect of our life will be significant and is definitely something worth working towards.

Breaking new ground

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It can be very tempting to start something new in order to improve an area of your life, like getting fit, eating better or working smarter. The thought process goes something like this:

“I’m fed up with being (out of shape, overweight, tired all the time, late home from work every day, etc). I’m going to read up on the topic and try and make some changes that will help me to change things. Easy!”

But rarely is it easy to make these kind of changes. There have been many times in my life when I’ve got down on myself for not being great at something and it can be a huge frustration – “everyone else is good at (getting up early and exercising, writing blog posts every day, etc). Why can’t I do the same?” – making you feel even worse.

Good intentions are one thing, but turning them into habits or rituals is the key to making lasting changes. I have a few bad habits, the worst of all being an addiction to biting my finger nails that I’ve had for as long as I can remember, but the way this habit works acts as an indicator of the power and strength of habits. If you can make an action or activity a habit you are very likely to continue with it and deliver on it every day.

Try setting some realistic goals for a start. It can help to set some targets that you have a really good chance of achieving that will also act as milestones on the journey to something even bigger. Saying today that you’re going to read a new book every week for the next 12 months is great but very hard to achieve and your confidence would be seriously knocked if you gave up after a few weeks. But aiming for a more achievable target – two books in the next month, for example – can give you something to aim for that will help the habit to form and you can then set a slightly bigger target once that one has been knocked off.

Once you’ve set a realistic goal and achieved it, give yourself a reward. It doesn’t have to be chocolate or a whole new wardrobe, but a small and simple token to say you are on your way and you’ve made the first step is enough to keep you on track. Small rewards can also increase your motivation as the challenges come along so as you set another new target, also set think up another reward.

And finally, don’t be too hard on yourself. Life is short and time spent harming yourself or running yourself down with constantly negative thoughts about how bad you are for having three glasses of wine instead of the one you were aiming for is negative energy that will stop you from making a positive impact in your life. Give yourself a chance to start afresh and set another goal as quickly as you can. Believe that you can achieve whatever target you have set and give yourself every chance possible of making it happen – such as not going to the pub for a few days.