Giving It Your Best - The William Hung "American Idol" Success StoryWritten by Josh Hinds
Never underestimate power that comes from following your passion. It never ceases to amaze me what can happen when we put action to work for us and go after things that we hold a true desire for. I'm not sure if you are familiar with story of William Hung (www.williamhung.net) or not.William was a contestant on reality TV show, American Idol. Incidentally, I should tell you I don't generally watch show. I just don't particularly enjoy how at times host breaks folks down in a sometimes-embarrassing way. In my humble opinion a person's dream deserves more then simply trying to crush them in a mean spirited way. Please don't email me giving me a hard time about this :-). I'm not saying at all that it's not a show worth watching. I'm just expressing my own personal opinion. With that said back to William's story... So keeping in mind that I didn't originally see show, a funny thing started happening... I began hearing talk of this one contestant who after being told he couldn't sing, nor dance, replied, "I have tried my best, and I have no regrets." Whoa! Now if that isn't inspiring, I don't know what is.
| | Stop Scoring Own GoalsWritten by Graham and Julie
STOP SCORING OWN GOALS Own goals are actions, things we do, that stop us from reaching where we want to go or what we want to obtain. When we are out of focus, when we are out of tune with what’s going on, when we do something which takes us in opposite direction of where we were going or should be going, we have scored an own goal. Sometimes they happen accidentally, sometimes on purpose and sometimes simply because we try too hard. First Own Goal To stop scoring first own goal, answer following questions: What is my focus? What do I want out of life? When you have a clear focus then you become more aware of your capabilities and what you need to add to be successful. However, we usually do it other way around. We work out what our capabilities are and then decide what we should focus on. We live our lives like a flea in a flea circus. How do you train fleas? It’s easy; first you collect them and put them in a match box. Then you close box. They keep jumping, hitting all sides of box, until they get a headache, and all of a sudden, noise stops. You then open box and fleas will only jump to height of original match box. How many of us are like this? We have learned to jump only to height of box we have been kept in and sometimes at direction of trainer. The result is, even when you take us out of our boxes, we don’t jump to our true potential. To have a chance of reaching your true potential your focus must come from your feelings. What would you really like to achieve in your life? What is that hidden dream? What is that thought that you are frightened to acknowledge? IF YOU HAVE THE FOCUS THEN YOU WILL PICK UP THE CAPABILITIES ON THE WAY. First identify your Focus Our guess is that this is way you have run most successful parts of your life to date. You already have experience. If you know where you are going, then start looking at where own goals are occurring. Are you scoring own goals because enthusiasm is gone? If you have right focus your enthusiasm is naturally high. Therefore if you don’t have enthusiasm for your focus you don’t have correct focus. Once you have identified it, it is important to keep your aim and objective in front of you. Let it drive all your thoughts and behaviours otherwise you will get lost on way. REMEMBER: Your capabilities and skills will develop as you pursue focus. Your enthusiasm is affected by your focus. Second Own Goal Another common way we stop ourselves from achieving is; we work out of ‘want box’ rather than ‘need box’. It is important to differentiate WHAT YOU NEED FROM WHAT YOU WANT. If you pursue your needs rather than your wants then you have more chance of living a happier life and reaching your focus. If you live in want box (e.g. if only I had this, I would be happy) then you start putting conditions to your focus- most common own goal we score. Third Own Goal What type of relationship do you have with: • yourself • other people. How you treat yourself? How do you treat other people? The best relationship can have is a Win/ Win, a relationship where I win and you do too. We both feel we have achieved what was possible. The result is acceptable to both sides. Neither person feels hurt, used or abused by encounter. In a Win /Win relationship, I feel good about myself and I feel good about my focus; what I’m trying to achieve. When I do make mistakes I don’t immediately become abusive to myself , I just stop to think and examine what’s happened Or, perhaps your style is a Win/Lose style, where you win and other person loses. A style typically used by aggressive sales persons and business people. They have little or no interest in other person provided they buy product or do as they are told. Another way of playing a Win/Lose game is by committing what is now called a ‘professional foul’. If you can’t win you do something to stop other person winning. Ask yourself: How many ‘professional fouls’ have I committed this month? It can be something as easy as pouting or sulking. When you go into a relationship, do you go into it to Win/ Win or Win /Lose?
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