Let’s first look at the hard way to succeed; expend an incredible amount of tension and energy. Utilize every waking moment towards its obtainment. Take away or ruin every other important area of your life like relationships, health and wellbeing. You too could be a financial success under these conditions! Yikes, I bet there aren’t too many people that would want to stand on that line. Yet most financially successful people are!
A stressful approach like the one above can reap certain benefits in the short term. However the price paid is far more than the riches gained. As Dr. Stephan Covey says, “You can spend all day cutting down a tree with a dull saw or you can spend the time before you begin to sharpen the saw”.
Athletes perform best when their internal stress is far less than the perceived level calls for. They express it as being in the zone, or in a state of flow. They are conditioned so well that their minds and bodies operate on a high level without the need for excessive thought.
How can this help us? This whole “no pain, no gain” adage has been beat into every cell of our bodies. I am not referring to procrastinators or lazy people here. This is the typical over achiever, striver, type A personality. OK me too! While I do agree that there are moments of pain on the quest for financial abundance, for the people that are able to lessen their stress, as often as possible, they will have a distinct advantage. Not only will they have an edge financially, but the other areas of their lives will continue to flourish as well. Not likely in the typical over achiever, unless they have done this, or similar work to correct their patterns.
Michael Neil describes the easy approach to success as:
Cultivate an inner ease (a flow that accomplishes tasks without breaking you down)
Maintain a steady focus on the task (don’t lose sight of it but don’t allow it to consume you)
Inspired action (not over action, but smart, calculated action)
Inaction (allowing time for things to unfold)
Here are two suggestions:
1) Spend time daily relaxing by yourself in a chair with no sounds or distractions. Start with 15 minutes once a day and work your way up to a minimum of 2 x 30 minute sessions. This is meditation 101. Learn to quiet your mind. As thoughts enter, just acknowledge them for a brief moment, and then gently allow them to leave. The target is to be able to silence your mind to the point that nothing enters it for that time period. When you arise from the session, notice how wonderful you feel, how relaxed, and how clear. This is the time to plot your course, not when you are stressed out of your mind. If you do nothing else, you must do this.
2) Do not listen to that little voice inside your head that is saying, “You can’t do it, you’re no good, and you’re not smart enough or attractive enough”. If you had a friend like that voice in our head, you’d yell at him and never speak to him again. I suggest you do something similar with those self defeating thoughts that you give a ridiculous amount of power and credence to!
Robert Frost said it best: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference” The first road might lead you to an average life at best, the other-to greatness!
“Make this year the best year you’ve ever had! It’s all by design!!”
Steven Arecco is available for lecturing on a multitude of business and personal development topics. Those topics can be found at www.stevenarecco.com. Apart from his time on stage, Steven is happy to support the event with any social or other interactions such as dinners or group activities. He will do everything within his ability to contribute to the success of your event, every time.
