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May 2005 eNewsletter
 ‘Live Your Greatest Life’ eNewsletter is written by Margie Warrell, a Life Coach, speaker and writer who is passionate about empowering people to live lives they love. The eNewsletter is designed to inspire, challenge and support you in being your greatest in life – to doing what you love better, with more success, balance and much less stress.
Margie Warrell International encourages you to invest a few minutes in yourself in the midst of your busy day to read this newsletter. Regardless of where you are now in your life we hope you find something of value in it. Perhaps you might identify some beliefs of your own that are limiting you and in doing so be able to move forward toward being the person and living the life you would love.
May you have a wonderful day!
Your Life’s Biggest Decision: Have You Made It?
By Margie Warrell
Many people live by the assumption that if they HAVE what they want in life (more money, big house, status job, great body, cute girlfriend, rich husband, fame etc) then they’ll be in a position to DO what they want and ultimately will be able to BE the kind of person they want to be (confident, happy etc). But this assumption is wrong. It’s actually the reverse.
Your BEing
First decide on who you want to BE as a person. A good way to help you do this is to think about the people who you really respect and admire. What are the attribute of the kind of person you would feel inspired to be? For instance: confident, generous, thoughtful, courageous, positive, respected, honest, kind, loving, adventurous, encouraging, open, happy, responsible, reliable, warm, strong, persistent, humble, a community maker, a leader, peaceful, self-expressed. Which of these resonate most strongly with you?
Your DOing
Once you have made a decision about who it is you want to be then what you begin to DO will flow naturally from your commitment. Instead of not taking a risk with something you will muster up your courage and go for it anyway. Instead of not getting back to someone you said you would because you are busy you will get back to them anyway because you are committed to being dependable. Instead of succumbing to negativity about a situation you will search for the positive and behave accordingly. Instead of engaging in gossip you will choose to change or leave a conversation because the person you are committed to being isn’t one who gossips.
The fact is that you will not always feel like being courageous, generous, persistent, kind, honest, encouraging or whatever. Who does? Just do it anyway because that’s what you’re committed to. If you want more love in your relationships, be loving. If you want a greater sense of self-worth, do worthy things. If we always acted on what we felt like doing in the moment our lives would be a complete bloody mess (you likely don't have to look too far to see an example of this). A proven strategy you can use when you don’t feel particularly loving, self-assured, positive etc is to “Act As If” anyway. That is, “Act As If” you were feeling like the person you aspire to be. The irony is that if you continually “act as if” you eventually don’t have to act at all. You will just be.
Recently I had a client who was suffering a lack of self confidence. I suggested he think about how he would hold himself and how he would behave if he did feel the way he aspired to. That is, to “Act As If” he felt self-assured and a great sense of his own self worth. He later shared that “acting as if” has been incredibly powerful for him and he’s now enjoying more confidence and self-respect than he ever has. His work colleagues have even commented that he looks different.
What you HAVE
When you behave in ways that are consistent with the person you want to be you will ultimately end up living the kind of life you really want to HAVE. Success will follow you. Success always follows those who have made a conscious decision about what they want and have persisted in pursuing their goals with integrity. The great thing about the “be-do-have” approach is that what you thought you needed to have in order to feel happy will change and you will discover that you need to have a whole lot less that what you thought. The irony is you will end up with more anyway simply because decisiveness breeds success.
Chart your own course in life or let life chart it for you. You choose.
Decisiveness breeds success.
People who are clear on what they want attract more opportunity and prosperity than those who don’t. Studies have found that the most successful people in life are decisive people who are quick to make their decisions and slow to change them. They also found the less successful procrastinate longer on making decisions (if they make them at all) and then, lacking persistence, quickly change them as soon as they come to the first bump in the road.
If you haven’t given much thought to who you want to be and what you want to do with your life, I encourage you to do so. If you fail to make this decision, by default choosing the disempowering path of indecision, then the future you are living in to may well take you in a direction that you really don’t want to travel. It’s your call. Deciding on something – one way or another – places you at the helm of your life. You chart the course you decide on.
Who you decide to be in the world – in your career, in your relationships, in your community and in your life in general - is the greatest decision you will ever make. Take a moment to make a very conscious decision about who you want to be and as you do so, have the courage to make one that really inspires you!
Your life will be as successful, as happy and as fabulous as the person you choose to be.
Margie is available to do key-note and workshops in your organization or association. Please contact her for a summary of her key speaking topics. For speaking testimonials please visit www.margiewarrell.com.
For more information about Margie Warrell, please click here, or visit the Web site at http://www.margiewarrell.com. |
