Tag Archives: John J. Murphy

YOU ARE YOUR HABITS

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#habits #GoodHabits #BadHabits

“Excellence … is not an act, but a habit.”
That Aristotle quote leads off a book called “Habits Die Hard: 10 Steps to Building Successful Habits,” by Mac Anderson and John J. Murphy.
The authors talk about ways not only to build good habits, but to break bad ones.
We think of most habits as bad, such as smoking, overeating, drinking too much etc.
We also think of habits as things we cannot help, or change. The authors disagree.
“Experts worldwide agree that one of the most essential characteristics among successful people is the ability to visualize where they want to be in the future,” the authors write.
“This powerful practice elicits passion and conviction, and if the vision is shared, … it inspires teamwork,” they write.
They apply that success principle to habits – replacing bad ones with good ones. “There are always options. We just have to let go of one to allow another,” they write.
Changing one’s belief changes one’s thinking. And changing one’s thinking can change one’s life, the book says.
Since we can all visualize bad habits, let’s see whether we can do the same with good ones.
Living above one’s means is a bad habit. Saving money out of every paycheck for one’s retirement is the corresponding good habit.
Overeating is a bad habit. It usually happens when one continues eating when he is full, or eats when he’s not hungry. Eating in moderation at mealtime, or until one is full, is a good habit. We can break it down further on what the best foods are, but if you are, say, a choco-holic, indulge your habit selectively and lightly.
Let’s go back to that quote from the book about success. Success is built on good habits. It’s also built on being able to visualize where one wants to be in the future.
In other words, if you’ve been taught not to dream, to accept your life the way it is, etc., it may be time to change your thinking.
When you visualize where you want to be, you are dreaming. That’s not only OK, it’s encouraged by experts on success.
If where you are now is not where you want to be in the future, and you are willing to look at something that may get you closer to where you want to be, there are many such vehicles out there to help you get to that place. To check out one of the best, message me.
In summary, you may have to adopt better habits to be successful. You may have to learn to visualize where you want to be and look for a way to get you there.
The book offers exercises in writing down bad habits, or a habit you have that you want to break. Habits are NOT permanent, not engrained, not carved into one’s brain.
But they may require one to change his way of thinking, if they are keeping him from succeeding. Only you know what you need to change to make you better.
Don’t let those who would urge you to settle for mediocrity influence your habits. The power to visualize is the power to change.
Peter

THE MYSTERY OF PARADOX

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#paradox #mystery #change
Want to jump past the competition?
Want to be a better you, so you can better help others?
Consider the mystery of paradox, which includes these five statements:
• We know how to work less and accomplish more
• We know how to go more slowly, and move more quickly.
• We know how to sell more with fewer salespeople and efforts.
• We know how to get customers to chase us.
• We know how to communicate more effectively, often without saying a word.
Authors Mac Anderson and John J. Murphy discussed this mystery, among other things, in their book, “Leapfrogging the Competition: 9 Proven Ways to Unleash Change and Innovation.”
Regardless of what you do, working hard can be a waste of time, if you are working hard at the wrong things. Effective people indentify the tasks they should spend the most time on, and focus on those tasks.
Working hard on “busy work” won’t get you where you want to go.
Sometimes it’s best, and more cost-effective, to have others handle some tasks while you focus on what will make you successful.
How do you determine that? What tasks, if you concentrate strictly on them, will put the most money in your pocket? Which tasks will help make you grow more as a person? As a leader, do you lead by empowering others, and helping them succeed? Or, are you a “boss,” who gives orders for others to carry out?
Are you stuck in old ways, that don’t seem to work anymore? Do you tell people, “we’ve always done it that way,” or “we’ve never done it that way?” In the long run, sameness is the fast track to mediocrity, Anderson and Murphy write.
“While we don’t have a choice about whether change happens, we do have a choice about how we react to it,” the authors write. “The choice really boils down to this – either we manage change, or it manages us.”
If you need your life to change, but don’t quite know how to go about it, be open to looking at different solutions. There are many ways out there to improve one’s chances of success, that may require one to look outside his comfort zone. To learn about one of the best, message me.
Perhaps you are a person whose life needs to change, but you don’t know it. If so, take stock of where you are and ask whether you are where you want to be. Chances are, you’ll discover that you are not where you want to be.
Anderson and Murphy offer this checklist for success:
• Determine which behaviors will drive your values forward, and communicate those to all your employees (or all concerned, if you have no employees).
• Make your core values the guideposts that shape your decisions.
• Take every opportunity to reinforce those core values every day.
• Lead by example, especially when the going gets tough.
Success awaits anyone who wants it, is willing to look for it and willing to do what he or she needs to do to achieve it.
Peter

UNCERTAINTY: THE NEW NORMAL

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Most of us just want to fit in.
We value community, rules, an education, a good job, a life box.
But what if we think outside the life box?
John J. Murphy did just that. The author of “Half Full: Your Perception Becomes Your Reality,” was born on Friday the 13th. His last name is synonymous with the law of things going wrong. He’s had many life-threatening mishaps, gave up a good job and got divorced. Yet, all of these things have made him look at life as “the only time that matters is right now.”
We were all taught to plan for the future. Make sacrifices now and reap the rewards later. That is great advice that has helped many people. But Murphy teaches us that life is filled with unexpected turns and unplanned moments. As he says, we must learn to let go, and let flow.
Murphy doesn’t advocate doing nothing and letting life happen. One cannot go through life with no purpose, no action and no ambition. But he recommends not getting attached to your situation to the point of being miserable, or unable to respond to an excellent opportunity that you may not have expected.
Murphy had a great job that he hated. He was willing to give up that job, take another that paid less, but that he enjoyed more. Today, he’s a well-regarded teacher, consultant and author. His divorce hit him like a ton of bricks at first. But as soon as he gained perspective, he and his ex-wife became, and are still today, great friends.
His message may boil down to being open for the unexpected. Your parents, teachers, bosses and preachers may have given you solid grounding throughout your life. But only you can know what’s right for you. Sometimes, you may not know what’s right, but you definitely know what’s wrong.
Are you not where you want to be financially? Do you have a job that pays you well, yet is killing you? Are you ready to find your way, but may not know in which direction your way is?
If you are open and ambitious, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. It could not only give you potential financial security, it may take the work stress away and could show you the direction of your way.
So don’t give in to life. Give yourself life. If you view your glass as half-empty, as Murphy puts it, you have to wonder whether what’s in the glass is worth having anyway.
It’s easy to need something, and not know what that something is. To find it, you have to keep looking. You have to go through a lot of what you don’t want, to find what you do want. Sometimes, what your elders and mentors thought was good for you, may not be.
Author and speaker Andy Andrews also talks a lot about perspective. When he was homeless, living under a beach pier and eating sardines, his mentor, Jones, taught him that he was enjoying seafood with an ocean view.
We hear a lot about clouds and silver linings. When bad things happen, good people always, eventually, see the positive. If they don’t see the positive right away, they know it will make itself evident. God may close a door and leave a window cracked. We may not see the cracked window right away. But we have confidence to keep looking.
Peter