Daily Boost — Motivation and Personal Growth

Daring Yourself To Live Your Dreams

“Please! Can somebody stop the world? I want to get off!”

Okay. Just for you, I pressed the magic button, and the world stopped. 

Whatcha gonna do now?

If you don’t have an answer, there’s no need to freak out. It’s common for people to get slowed down, and think about what their life could be like, and I have no idea.

But let’s say you are one of the few who decide the time has come to turn directly into the challenge.

Many years ago, I adopted a philosophy that became the driver that would change everything. I decided I would always turn face-first into any challenge that stood between me and my dreams. Yes, I would face my passion head-on and do whatever it takes to make it real. 

Do you know what happened next?

I tripped, stumbled, and fell into a pile of my own crumbled dreams. That’s when I realized that deciding to face your passion was only the beginning. Before you can face your passion and live your dreams, a few more things must be faced first.

You must face your stress.

You must face your relationships.

You must face your health, finances, and spiritual beliefs.

You must face your friendships, the clothing you wear, what you eat, and what you dream.

Yes, living the “I know there must be more lifestyle” is freakishly simple and no big deal; you do whatever you want whenever you choose to do it. But it doesn’t take long to realize that getting whenever you want requires that you face a few things first.

It’s simple. As scary as it may feel, no matter how much you don’t want to do it, everything becomes possible when you deal with all the stuff in your life and take control. 

So, the next time you find yourself trying to figure out what’s stopping you from living your dreams, there might be a few things that you want to handle first.

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Do Leftovers Make Happiness?

When I began training and competing with my dog in agility, I made a rookie dog trainer mistake. I wasn't consistent, and my dog was getting confused. One day, my trainer said, "For a dog, one time means all the time. Every time you let them do something new, they're just going to keep doing it."

Now, as silly as it sounds, that came to mind a couple of weeks ago when my wife, a creature of routine and habit, did the same thing.

We were invited to attend Thanksgiving with family, and Joi's training kicked in instantly—

"I like going to their home, but what about leftovers? I like leftovers?"

As a guy who has experienced Joi's "No eating out at the restaurant until all the leftovers are gone" rule, I knew this was a big issue. But, like a good husband, I got out of the way and let her figure it out.

A couple of weeks later, after enjoying a nice day, I watched as Joi carried her share of leftovers to the car, thinking to myself, "Good. She got her leftovers." Boy, was I wrong—

Joi came home from the gym the following day, headed for the kitchen, and started cooking - LEFTOVERS! She wasn't reheating them. She had purchased a small turkey and all the ingredients she needed to keep with her routine for the weekend. At that moment, I couldn't control the look on my face.

"What? I like leftovers, and I look forward to it. It's what I do, and it makes me happy."

Like a good husband, I didn't say a word. My only thought was, I guess we're not having pizza tonight.

Do leftovers make you happy? Maybe. YOU make you happy. Do what you do. You can always have pizza next weekend.

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Success With No Will Power Required

When will you get yourself to do what you say you want to do? 

More people than you know lose sleep over that question. If that sounds like something you have experienced, you’re not alone. 

Almost everybody begins their journey when a thought pops into their mind. Then, day-to-day life keeps them busy, and they spend frustrating months fixin’ to get ready. You know, starting to prepare… so you can begin to do… so you can do… and say you did. 

If that doesn’t work, you summon your friend, Will Power. 

Will is not a person, but more like a kind of friend that you don’t know why you keep letting into your life.

They are a bit of a slacker, live rent-free in your mind, say they want to help, and never deliver on their promise. Will’s job description should read -- to force you to do things you say you want to do but can’t get yourself to do. When you give up, Will leaves.

The good news is, there’s no need to force yourself to do anything. Achieving your biggest goals in life has nothing to do with Will Power. Instead, shift your mindset - 

“To act at your discretion without constraint.” 

That’s the definition of Free Will, Will Powers, good cousin. 

Use your Free Will to harness your excitement and choose the path of least resistance. Start making the slightest changes in your life. Those steps will lead to big results sooner than you think.

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Somebody Need You Right Now

When I was a teenager, I was a weekend moviegoer, and it was the age of Rocky, Star Wars, and Jaws. Besides, with only three channels on television, getting out of the house was the top item on my to-do list.

As a kid with big dreams, it was easy for me to slip into the fantasy world of films and let my mind run for a couple of hours. By the end of the film, I was always excited to get on with life and become like the folks I watched in movies.

That’s when life got in the way.

Like many young folks, I graduated high school, charged into the world, and waited for Somebody else to lift me into my dreams. Well, things didn’t work out the way I expected. That’s when my mother-in-law gave me some very useful advice that I needed to hear —

“You know, right now, Somebody needs what you have to offer, but because you’re sitting around the house, they don’t even know you exist. Get out there and let them know you are here.”

I can’t tell you how many times in my life I’ve said to myself —

“Somebody out there needs what I have to offer. My job is to find them and let them know I’m here.”

It’s the same for you.

If Somebody needs what you have to offer, your job is to find them and save their day.

That’s how you write and star in your own life movie.

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Wisdom of Gratitude

I woke up this morning with an incredible zest to expand my feeling of gratefulness. Well, there is not so much to expand as to recognize all the things that I am grateful for but haven’t thought about lately.

That’s the thing about living in a fast-paced world where our daily activities, big and small, fly by and are quickly forgotten. It’s always been that way. There is nothing new in the world. That got me thinking about one of my favorite quotes —

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” —Robert Brault

As a no-regrets kind of guy, I admit to sometimes not living in gratitude. Thankfully, the wisdom of others is always making sure I remember what is important—

Here are a few of my favorites.

“If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get.”—Frank A. Clark

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” —Eckhart Tolle

“Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.” —Estonian Proverb

“Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: It must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.”—William Faulkner

“Enough is a feast.”—Buddhist Proverb

“When you are grateful, fear disappears, and abundance appears.”—Anthony Robbins

“When eating fruit, remember the one who planted the tree.”—Vietnamese Proverb

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”—William Arthur Ward

“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue but the parent of all the other virtues.”—Cicero

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”—Robert Brault

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Be The Change You Wish To See

People have always sought change for themselves, their life, or the world. 

There is a constant truth if you want to change; you must change before anything else changes.

Many intelligent folks agree -

Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

Leo Tolstoy, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

What about Albert Einstein?  

“The world, as we have created, is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”

Do you want to change something about today, tomorrow, or the future? You must change before anything else changes.

Have you learned lessons from past experiences? You have already changed, and your future is better for it.

Rumi said, “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”

If tomorrow you want to be better than today and Yesterday, something has to change. That something is you.

If you want to make more money, serve more. Do you want to be happier? If you want this life to be well-lived, something has to change today. That something is you.

What if you want everything about your life to be perfect? Listen to Winston Churchill. “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”

It’s so simple.  

You Must Change Before Anything Else Changes.

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The Freedom Formula - Choice and Means

Every time I walk into the gym, I pump myself up to exercise my body and have somebody else exercise my brain. 

This morning I found myself in a conversation when Ron asked me a question…

“Since you’re a Coach, tell me if I’m right. Your most important goal is always to have freedom in your life - right?”

You should have seen his face when I said, ‘Nope.’ 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m an American, and freedom rings in my bones - but there is a cost to getting that freedom, which makes life fun.

I went on to tell Ron that, after a lot of experience, I have settled on two driving forces: the ability to choose and the means to make it happen. 

I believe true freedom comes from choosing the path that makes you a better and happier person AND makes the world a little better because of your choice.

I also believe that having a true choice almost always comes down to having the means to make it happen. Whether it be skill, friends, or money, without the means, you have a minimal choice.

Choice + Means = Freedom. That’s a winning formula no matter where you are in your life.

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Why Instant Gratification is The Secret to Success

Russ, from North Carolina, is asking for help with an instant gratification issue. He wrote-

So many people want everything now, thanks to modern technology. Educating people is becoming more difficult because they are looking for instant gratification. If their empty void is not filled quickly enough, they get easily frustrated and give up.

Please do a podcast on converting from instant gratification to goal-driven.

My take on this is probably not what Russ is expecting because instant gratification drives people to get what they want. 

Let me apply a little Scott Logic…

First, there is not one person on the planet who doesn’t want what they want right now. No matter how satisfying hard work is, nobody in their right mind willingly puts off getting what they want. That’s not how humans are wired.

While I know it can be frustrating, business people, governments, and great communicators figured out a long time ago that everybody wants what they want now. That’s never going to change. 

But I have a different take…

‘I want my cake and to eat it too’ - and there’s nothing you can do about it!

In other words, I want little bits of instant gratification to enjoy while working toward my BIG ASS goals. That’s what they call motivation! So does everybody else.

It’s widely known that humans have an attention span that’s less than a goldfish - but as long as I’m willing to keep dropping food into the tank, I can keep their attention.

BIG ASS goals are driven by little bits of reward along the way.

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Ugly Sweaters Make Good Conversation

With the arrival of ugly sweaters and too much egg nog, the holiday season is upon us, which means that you may find yourself involved in more conversations with more people than you do at any other time of the year. 

To make sure you enjoy every conversation you have, I want you to remember two things…

First, unless you live under a rock, you will find yourself in the middle of a calorie and alcohol-induced conversation that, as Dave Ramsey would say, 'That's stupid!' When you find yourself in that situation, keep those two words in mind, keep your mouth shut, smile, change the subject, and take a walk outside. Never let anybody else ruin your day.

Now that we have the negative out of the way, let's talk about being the most fun and interesting person at any event you attend. If you do nothing else, remember that everybody is listening "WIIFM' broadcasting live in their mind. All anybody cares about is 'What's in it for ME?'

The secret to starting or participating in a conversation that will make you a communications expert is to never make it about you and always make it about who you are speaking with. When you do, magic happens…

When you make OTHERS the most interesting person in the room, YOU become the most interesting person.

So, take a breath, enjoy the season, and see if you can learn a little bit about every person you meet.

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Where Did Your Motivation Go?

Today is the day I use my Perfect Week Planner to figure out where I will spend my time next week. And, like every week, I have the same realization…

Where the heck did my week go? And now, with the weekend in sight, my mind moves to riding the motorcycle mode and all best are off. Oh well, Monday is coming - right? 

More on that in a minute.

Wait, Scott! 

How the heck are we going to stay focused, progress toward our goals, and get important stuff done if we run out of juice before the week is over? 

Why does that Monday motivation that has my hair on fire run out before I get everything done? 

Okay, let’s cover two things:

1) Motivation is a finite resource that will fade. On average, your brain runs out of motivational calories after about 48 hours of focused work. It would help if you had a recharge.

2) God willing, no matter how much you don’t get done this week, there is always the next week in your future. Yes, another Monday is coming. What doesn’t get done this week will get done next week.

A long time ago, Tony Robbins said, ‘Most people overestimate what they can do in a week and underestimate what they can do in a year.’ 

Keep your eyes on the prize that is driving you. Your goal should be to reach your stated outcome, no matter what gets in the way or how long it takes.

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