Daily Boost — Motivation and Personal Growth

One Goal is All it Takes

Let me start by saying that goal setting is powerful, and you should be doing it - but there is a good chance that you are overdoing it.

It's human nature to set goals, and you do it daily without thinking. That's why it's so powerful. It's also why it's so easy to set so many goals that you can never get any of them done. 

Let me define how I see goals.

No matter what distracts me, I've come to think of goals in two ways:

1) Legacy Goals that I will spend my entire life achieving.

2) Living Goals that will propel me to my Legacy Goals.

I didn't think this way for much of my life, but one day, I accepted that no matter what I was chasing, it was the "who I would become in my life and how do I get there" thoughts that were constantly rolling around in my head. 

My internal ScottLOGIC told me that if I'm thinking about something anyway, I might as well think about it purposefully.

Also, since I've never met anybody happy to pursue daily activities that didn't lead to something bigger, I knew that everything should always lead to something bigger. Anything else will eventually break your spirit - and that should never happen.

As you set yourself up for a life of satisfaction, no matter how much life gets in the way, think of "Legacy Goals" as the top of a pyramid built on a foundation of "Living Goals." 

"You must build up your life action by action, and be content if each one achieves its goal as far as possible — Marcus Aurelius.

Your mission is to focus on daily "Living Goals" that are designed and intended for you closer to your "Legacy Goals," 

Stoic philosophy also says —

The culmination of human endeavor or end is "happiness" or "flourishing." 

For some, the idea of a single "Legacy Goal" may seem impossible. After all-

How can you possibly know who you will become after an entire lifetime of living?

How is it even possible that you can reach a goal you can't define?

How is it possible to stay focused on one goal your entire life?

Frankly, understanding how that works is something we don't need to worry about today. It's been debated, analyzed, and tweaked for eons. There's no need to overthink; only accept.

If you live a happy and flourishing life, your Legacy will define itself. Someday, you will arrive at the person you are meant to be - and be happy for it.

One goal is all it takes. Everything else is a step on the journey.

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Slow is Fast. Fast is Slow.

I was riding my Harley-Davidson Road King a few days ago when my mind suddenly thought -

“The Chinese Philosophical concept of Yin and yang describes how opposite or contrary forces may be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world.”

What? What? Huh?

It happened right in front of the Daytona Speedway and got me thinking about the advice I give my clients about slowing down. It goes like this -

“You must slow down to get what you want.”

Advice like that is why I get the big bucks for what I do. No, not really. I get paid because nobody believes me, and it’s up to me to prove it.

Let’s go riding.

Whenever I’m cruising on my motorcycle, I love it fast and loud, and it makes me smile. That’s the Yin of riding a bike, but you can only go fast and loud for so long before the light turns red in front of you or blue behind you.  

Occasionally the place you were speeding toward gets congested, and you have no choice but to slow down. But when you are a high-performance machine designed to go fast, slowing down can be challenging - especially on an 800-pound Harley. 

That’s where the Zin of riding a motorcycle comes into play.

Slowing down is the opposite of fast, yet it can yield the same result - if you know what you are doing.

Whether it’s your life or a motorcycle, success requires precision control. If you get it right and trust yourself and your machine, you will continue to make progress. 

On a motorcycle…

1) Slow down but keep moving. Never stop.

2) Rev your engine so that you always have power to your wheels.

3) Since the motorcycle wants to go faster, pull the clutch into the friction zone between nothing and everything while putting your foot on the rear brake.

What?

Slow down? Rev your engine? Hit the brakes?

Yes. That combination virtually assures that you keep moving forward in any situation, in full control, until it’s time to open it up again.

That same thing happens in life.

You can’t run full out all the time, and sometimes you must stop. You keep moving forward for everything else in between, no matter how slow you go.

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Advice For Better Relationships

When I first met my wife, Joi, I knew we would be married and live happily ever after. But there was a problem. Joi didn’t see it that way - at least not right away.

If life has taught me anything, it’s that almost nobody is on the same page when they first meet. We might be in the same book but not on the same page. 

In the early weeks of our relationship, I was in full-on action mode, and I was on a mission to achieve my goal as quickly as possible. I was also getting frustrated since Joi didn’t seem to share my urgency. She was enjoying our relationship and in no hurry. One day, I decided to take action -

I dragged myself out of bed at 4:30 AM, drove 30 minutes, and waited for Joi to arrive at the gym. I met her when she stepped out of her car, nearly scaring her to death, and said,

“I love you. What do I have to do to catch you? We should…” 

Stopped by a kiss, she said, “We’ll know in about 6 months. Let’s enjoy the ride.”

It wasn’t the answer I was looking for, but Joi had given me something even more powerful. She gave me an expectation, I knew her rules, how to play the game, and that she was right. 

All relationships, romantic, friendship, or professional, follow the same path. There is an initial spark, a period of trust-building, and finally, commitment. In time, the relationship grows stronger or will fade. Time will tell.

That’s how it works and how it went for us. Exactly 6 months later, to this day, I asked Joi to marry me, and she said yes.

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The Trick is The Click

If there is anything we learn in life, there is always something to figure out. You would think after a lifetime of figuring things out; we wouldn’t need to do it anymore. But every day, another mystery pops up. It can feel like you are on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon looking for a shortcut to the North Rim. 

Since showing up and going for it every day always serves up challenges. But experience teaches us to trust that something will click. The answer we are seeking will arrive - if we’re patient. Sometimes it will click in our minds in a big way. Others will slip in unnoticed. In any case, the trick is the click. When it happens, life is good. 

We’ve all had clicks in life. It’s a millisecond in time when you figure out a math problem as a child. It’s when you realize that too many french fries, even though they are a vegetable, aren’t good for you. Later in life, it happens when you learn to put your car keys in the same place so that you can find them the next morning. The click is when everything makes sense, you get it, you figure something out, and you know what to do next.

The click is also where you make decisions and momentum is established. It is where dreams become a reality, and you determine your destiny. Those clicks; are pretty powerful.

Whatever you seek in life, refining your ability to focus on your outcome is key. When you allow space for the clicks that unlocks your path, you get there faster. 

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Exploring Your Possibilities

What do I want to be when I grow up? 

The first time you ask yourself that question is when you are very young - if you ever asked it at all. Frankly, somebody else usually asks you, and you probably didn't have an answer and just took off running with this thing called life. 

And then it happens —

Forty or fifty years later, people start asking themselves that question again after a family and career. The smart ones in the crowd don’t wait either; they begin to question who they are right now. It can be a scary time.

If you are looking for a change in your life, here are a few things to understand—

You can't move forward by hanging on to what you have. Remember, you get more of what you focus on in your life. If you're focusing on what you are giving up, you'll get more of that. Instead, you must direct your focus to the unknown future and look for clues about what you will do.

I call the process "Exploring Your Possibilities.

Imagine if anything is possible and there is no limitation or consequence. There is no commitment required, and money doesn't matter. Time has no impact. None of that matters because, once you stumble upon what you want, you will have arrived, and everything will be forever different.

How do you make this happen?

The secret is to put the breaks on what you are doing while you seek new adventures. It will take time to find a good fit, so you'll have to ensure that you don't slide back into your old ways. No matter how comfortable it may feel to get back in your comfort zone, don't do it.

Pump the brakes. Hold the space you've created. Explore your possibilities, and let life unfold in front of you. It may not happen overnight. Then again, maybe it will.

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Is Your Life is Repeating Itself

My friend Louis Gates introduced me to his 9-Year Life Cycle to understand how we progress through life.  

Cycles begin at birth and advance every 9 years and go like this:

Year 1: You decide what you want and start asking for it.  

Year 2: As the pieces come together, you narrow your focus.

Year 3: The resources you need begin to arrive.  

Year 4: You find yourself moving toward your purpose in life.

Year 5: re-evaluation begins. Toss out what you don’t need and keep what works.

Year 6: Your focus intensifies, and you work with the resources you’ve decided will benefit you.

Year 7: You take stock in things that no longer serve you.

Year 8: Clearing the clutter begins. It’s almost time to start the next cycle.

Year 9: You explore and decide what you want to do in the next cycle.

Look back on your life and notice how your 9-Year Lifecycle is always in play.

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What’s Your Personal Ideology?

There’s a lot of talk about “ideology” these days, and it’s usually not in a good way. 

But what about YOUR ideology? 

Do you know who you are?

Before I go on, ideology is simply a creed, culture, dogma, outlook, philosophy, theory, or view. And let’s not forget ideas, principles, and tenants.

At the end of the day, an ideology is what you stand for in this world. And, if you do it well, it’s also how other people know what you stand for in this world. It’s also up to you to decide that for yourself. After all…

If you don’t know who you are and tell the world, the world will decide who you are and tell you who to be.

That’s why I have a living document that establishes who I am, what I believe, and serves as a foundation of growth and change as I live and evolve. I call it my “Who I Am” document. It’s all mine, and I share who I am through my actions.

How do you see yourself?

How do others see you?

How do you act in situations?

What do you believe?

What kind of people do you hang out with?

What are the rules you follow for YOU?

This list is endless and should be. After all, you are a complicated and ever-changing person. 

Can I make you a promise?

It’s easy these days to seek sources outside of yourself to find out who you are on the inside.

It’s also easy to let the agenda of others infiltrate your thinking and pull you down a path that isn’t who you are meant to be in this life.

The very instant that you sit down and document who you are and want to be, nothing else will matter. And the more dedicated you are to documenting YOU… the more you will get to be YOU.

How do you do it?

That’s easy too. Just ask yourself who you are in every area of your life, document your answer, and live it daily.

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Do You Act Like a Happy Person?

If you were to ask my wife if I was always a happy and positive person, she would likely say, "Hmm… it's complicated… but yes."

As a proud high-maintenance man who has never met a conversation, I didn't want to see how deep we could go. I would have to agree. It isn't straightforward. But the answer is yes. I'm happy every day of the week. Not because I was born that way. Nope. As my Italian friends would say, "I had a good learning."

Many years ago, right after high school and just after entering the adult world, I realized that life was complicated and that it wasn't going to change. I also had another learning…

I noticed that no matter how difficult things were, some people I met were happy as they embraced the suck. I wanted to be one of them. I wanted to be the person that didn't need rose-colored glasses to be satisfied. That meant I needed to think like them…

Can you accept that merely being alive means you will run into occasional challenges?

Can you realize that dealing with challenges is a privilege that comes with being alive?

Will you welcome frustration and be satisfied that it only means you are moving forward?

Are you able to accept responsibility for solving your challenges? 

Do you have a "bring it" mindset for everything life throws at you?

Finally -

Are you expecting to get a great night's sleep, no matter what happened today or will happen tomorrow?

That's how happy people think. 

That's how you should think too.

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A Different Look at Time Management 

In my entire life, I've always found it interesting that there never seems to be enough time in the day. Still, most days, everything seems to get done. If it doesn't, the world didn't end, and I survived to check off another item from my to-do list tomorrow.

I know I'm not the first human on the planet to face the problem of time, but I think I'm one of those smartypants who have figured out how our time works in real life. And it was 180 degrees from what I felt that time was all about.

Pay attention now. How you look at time is about to change.

First, when you run as fast as possible to get things done, time moves quicker, and less gets done. Even worse, with every minute filled, there is never enough time to do the things that make your heart sing. If you're like me, that will eventually lead you to sabotage your list so you can do something fun for yourself. It's a never-ending cycle.

On the other hand, when you slow down, hold space for yourself, and focus on results relevant to your goals, time slows down, and you get more done. Not only that, you magically find yourself with lots of free time that you need to fill. Finally, a chance to read a book, binge on Netflix or hang out with family and friends. The choice is yours.

Of course, if you've ever studied Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, this sounds familiar. As he determined—time is relative. In other words, the rate at which time passes depends on your frame of reference. 

So, what is your frame of reference?

In our case, I'm not asking whether you are moving fast or slow; I want to know if you are focused on the essential things in life that matter to you. Everything else disappears when you do, times slow down, and you enjoy your day like you were born to do.

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Being Positive, Practical, and Peaceful

I must admit that I get in trouble because some of the Scott logic that comes out of my mouth doesn’t sit well with many folks these days - and they let me know. 

One of the biggest comments…

“You seem like such a positive guy, and then it’s like something clicks in your head and goes negative and ruins my day.” 

While I don’t think I ever go negative, I’ve heard that many times. 

Here’s the thing…

It would be easy for me to get caught in the feel-good trap of chasing positivity - if only for being positive. But I’m not interested in that. I am interested in the results. For me, that is a peaceful, content, joyful, and meaningful life. If you’ve been alive for over a couple of decades, you know all of that is found lurking in the truth. That’s why I consider myself a practical positive guy, and you should too. 

I believe an optimistic attitude is power in life; I also think that you can never be truly happy until you are willing to dig deep into the not-so-positive challenges in life. Until you do that, you’ll you blocked. That’s why you’ll always hear me cover both sides. Frankly, I’m not interested in what we can and will do in our lives. I’m interested in the millions of interactions, decisions, and feelings we encounter daily that become the life we will have lived someday.

Stephen Fry said, “sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

Almost everything that freaks folks out begins with words from others and yourself. Keep that in mind because… 

When you choose to be positive and practical and ground yourself in the truth, you will become at peace with everything around you - including yourself.

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