Mi Hamba Blog

I recently had a great opportunity to connect with an extraordinary man with a powerful message…

 

Meet Simon Sinek.

 

Simon is extraordinary because he’s forging a new path for the way businesses do business (and having great success). His message is powerful because when we embrace it, everything changes.

 

What’s the message? Start With Why.

 

Why should this mean anything to you?

 

If you’re a business owner, you’ll want to explore your own “why” for being in business so you can identify and connect and communicate better with your ideal client.

 

If you’re a consumer (and we all are), it’s your wake up call to evaluate Who you do business with. Do they deserve your patronage? If they do, you’ll know why and appreciate the connection on both sides. If they don’t, take your well earned and deserved money to a company that will appreciate you more.

 

This week I’m going to share with you insights that Simon shared with me that have changed the direction of Mi Hamba. There have been both personal and professional nuggets of wisdom that brought about my own clarity that I hope will help you in gaining your own - for both your personal growth and connecting with your life purpose.

 

Simon insists this message be shared - after all, information is nothing if it’s hidden away for only a select few. If you learn something, share it. If something interests or intrigues you, share it.

 

Oh, and you’ll want to check out Simon’s new book (to be released this month). Start With Why

 

Come back tomorrow and I’ll share more of Simon’s story and his “Why”!

 

 

Did you know that personal growth is the key to the richer and more abundant life you’re looking for? It is!

 

To take an up-close-and-personal look at who we are, why we do what we do, why we don’t do what we know we must, and then take action to change our lives takes honesty, soul searching and a huge grocery bag of courage. It’s like learning to ride that shiny new bike - it may seem hard or awkward at first, but before you know it you’re racing down the road and riding hands-free!

 

Solution: Anything new requires a first step before you master it. You know the area of your life where you need personal growth. Start there - one thing at a time, one area at a time. This isn’t a race, but rather a journey for life. Take one small step today towards the one thing you know you must change.

 

Your New Support System:

 

Often we get stuck in our environments, not changing because we’re comfortable where we are - with the people we surround ourselves with, and the circumstances in our life. But are we really comfortable, or just afraid? That fear takes on many forms - fear of alienating our inner circle (family & friends), fear of failure, fear of success, fear of being alone…we have a long laundry list of fear excuses.

 

When we make a commitment to change something in our lives, it often makes those around us uncomfortable. They can (knowingly and unknowingly) sabotage our success because our change makes them look at their lives and they may not be ready to do that.

 

Solution: Surround yourself with supportive people that will encourage you in your personal growth. This could include family members and friends, but if it doesn’t, there are many other doors for you to explore. Join the Mi Hamba Journaling community, get involved in personal or group coaching, form or join a Meet-Up group, connect with other like-minded people on social networking sites and forums or join a masterminding group.

 

Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will your new life. Taking that first step and surrounding yourself with those that support your new life is paramount to you living the rich and abundant life you deserve and desire.

 

 

As life changes, so do we. Personal growth isn’t a one-time shot that we give ourselves and then we’re good to go … for life. It takes work - inner work. It takes consistent and persistent self-awareness and action towards building the life we want, the life we all deserve.

 

We all have things that have happened in our lives that create deeply embedded beliefs and painful memories. They’re how we’ve created our stories. The responsibility of our lives is to choose to create a story that supports us living a life we’re passionate about.

 

Solution: Commit to a lifestyle of personal growth and self-exploration. Do this inner work daily, or at the very least, several times a week. It can be done in as little as 15-30 minutes a day. Participate in a self improvement program, read empowering books, educate yourself in something brand new, listen to audio books and programs. The important thing is to do something … anything - consistently and persistently.

 

A Rich and Abundant Life

 

Hhhmm, you say… this seems like an awful lot of work. Is it really worth it? Only you can answer that question. But first, answer this: Is it harder to struggle in life, be unhappy, worry and stress about money, and have continual conflict in our lives, or to go inside and learn who we are and get in touch with what’s most important to us so we can create that rich and abundant life?

 

Here’s some of the rewards of personal growth:
- Relationships improve and enjoy a deeper connection
- Work environment improves because our attitude improves
- Earning potential increase as our approach to life shifts
- New-found self-confidence and self-esteem that comes with knowing who we are
- The people and other resources you need easily appear into your life
- New opportunities consistently present themselves

 

By taking responsibility for our lives, making a commitment to our personal growth and following through with action, we set the stage for a richer and more abundant life. One that we design for ourselves.

 

Begin building your foundation today. There’s no time like the present to give yourself the gift of an amazing future.

 

 

Do you know anyone that always has an excuse for why their life is the way it is? Do you know them intimately? When we pass the buck and place blame on others for the circumstances of our life, we give others control to create our lives. Guess what we get? Usually not what we want, but what others want for us.

 

Taking responsibility for our lives is what personal growth is all about. When we take responsibility for ourselves - our actions, our words, our thoughts, our results - we’re saying “I’m in control of my life.” If we’re in control, then we have the ability to change whatever we don’t like or don’t want.

 

Solution: Take responsibility for every facet of your life. Remove excuses, blame and accusations from your vocabulary and replace them with the empowering words “I am”, “I will”, “I do”, “I choose”.

 

Take back control of your life by acknowledging that The Buck Stops Here!

 

 

Many of us want quick fixes that involve little work. Many more of us want change, but not necessarily change that involves changing ourselves.

 

Personal growth and self improvement mean building a foundation - one strong enough to support us while we change and while the world around us changes. We wouldn’t build a house without a strong foundation so why do so many of us take the haphazard, bank-aid approach to life?

 

The Quick-Fix Band-Aid

 

Quick fixes aren’t really fixes at all - they’re just expensive band-aids. Sure, initially they do the job, but over time we find that by not addressing the underlying issue (which is usually us) that the problem we just put a band-aid on gets bigger and bigger. That first band-aid may just have been a small scratch (or problem in this case), but because our quick-fix approach has become a habit we’re accustomed to, when we get a big cut (a bigger problem or major crisis in our life), we try a bigger band-aid and find that it just doesn’t work anymore.

 

Solution: Make a commitment to do the work on yourself when those little scratches happen in your life. The problems that come up in our lives are messages - deal with them as they come up and you’ll likely avoid most of those larger cuts. At the very least, you’ll be better equipped to deal with them if they happen.

 

 

I just returned from an overnight trip with my girlfriend Therese. It was her birthday and we decided to head out of town, stay overnight in a nice hotel, order room service and spend the next day shopping. During the 3-hour drive we talked and shared our insights into events in our lives and of the world.

 

It never ceases to amaze me what our friends can teach us. This “blitz-trip” reminded me that we all have wisdom to share, lessons to learn and lessons to teach, and that along this journey we call life, we MUST take time to enjoy the ride and include lots of laughter. We did all that.

 

I wanted to share with you something that my very dear friend said…

 

People generally do the best they can with what they know, what they learn and what they choose to disregard.

 

Whoa! When Therese said that, I had to get her to repeat it and I wrote it down. Read that last part again…“what they choose to disregard.”

 

Now that was bait for my inquisitive mind. Explain!

 

Therese said the everyone is always doing the best they can - in the good and bad times. That comes from what they know - which is what they’ve learned from experience and from others, part of their personal growth - and what they are currently learning. Take all that knowledge of what a person “knows” but doesn’t do - especially when they know it the right thing, or the best thing - and that’s what they’re choosing to disregard.

 

So this is personal responsibility, right?!

 

You betcha!

 

Why do we not do the things we know we must? There are many reasons - insecurity, uncertainty, worry, adversity, fear of failure, fear of success - but it all boils down to fear.

 

Here’s the amazing part …

 

If we take just one tiny step towards doing what we know we must, the fear falls away as we take another tiny step, and another, and another. Pretty soon, we wonder what we were afraid of after all!

 

Here’s a question (or two) to ask yourself…

 

What arm I choosing to disregard right now? What action can I take to overcome the fear that holds me back?

 

 

I will love people and use things.

 

We are not pawns to be manipulated and used for personal gain, but that’s exactly how some of us treat others - if it will benefit us in some way - at work, socially, politically and even with family. Integrity-based people always seek to build others up, supporting and encouraging them to victory. People who lack integrity take a more selfish approach, focusing on their own agenda without concern or regard for others.

 

Our integrity is the benchmark by which we’re judged by others and will determine the quality of people we attract into our life - friends, peers, associates - and the “inner circle of influence” we enjoy as a system of support, personal growth and wealth.

 

We are interdependent beings - we’ve been designed to interact with each other. Choosing to interact from a place of love is what people of integrity do.

 

On a final note to this series, it’s my unbending belief that people of integrity live richer lives - in health, wealth, relationships and spirituality. With so much riding on the quality of our lives, living an integrity-based one will not only have us sleeping better at night, but will reciprocate rewards wholly unanticipated.

 

With love and gratitude.

 

 

I will honor my debts.

 

We live in a culture that promotes living on credit, racking up debt, and then wondering what went wrong when we can’t meet our financial obligations. Many don’t. When’s the last time you turned on the TV without seeing a commercial promising debt relief or financial freedom?

 

Our culture is accustomed to wanting it now - getting it now - suffer the consequences later. The problem with this thinking is that not only does it hurt everyone (it affects our economy) but we repeat the pattern over and over again. Also consider what we’re teaching our children.

 

Not paying our debts will keep us awake at night. Honoring our debts, taking responsibility for our financial life, may feel painful at first, but will have us sleeping peacefully and feeling good about our choices.

 

If there’s accumulating debt in your life, get the help you need to design a plan to get out of debt. Then, work on changing your beliefs about money - they’re likely contributors to your current financial situation. Finally, learn the money earning and building strategies that will have you keeping more of your wealth and spending responsibly. You have the power to create your own life.

 

There is no running out on debt while maintaining honor and respect. A winner will always honor his debts.

 

 

I will show respect for others.

 

We teach our children to respect their elders - parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles, teachers, religious leaders and other adults. In that same way, we as adults need to extend respect to others, both younger and older than us.

 

Everyone, regardless of age, deserves respect. Everyone has ideas, beliefs, and opinions that may or may not differ from ours, but still deserve the same respect that we would expect for ourselves. Everyone has a contribution to society, a role to play, that is worthy of respect. Everyone is a human being living the best life they know how - and that deserves respect.

 

Respect also includes common courtesy in our every day lives; holding the door open for the person following you - saying “please” and “thank you” - listening attentively while someone is talking to you and not checking email, texting or watching everyone else in the room but the person talking - refraining from interrupting - turning your cell phone off in the doctor’s office and movie theater - leaving a respectful “personal space” distance from the person in line in front of you …

 

Respect is much easier received when it is given - and that isn’t age biased. I am certain that when we show our children and youth respect, it is much easier for them to give it in return. Be the example.

 

 

I will relate to others with honesty.

 

All relationships are built on trust - personal, intimate and business relationships. The foundation of trust is honesty.

 

Honesty is so under-rated. Some would justify lies by calling them “stretching the truth” or “little white lies” or “harmless”. The problem with that thinking is there is no such thing as “just 1 potato chip”. One small little white lie leads to more little lies and stretching of the truth until those little lies graduate to bigger and bolder lies.

 

To say that dishonesty doesn’t hurt is a lie in itself; it hurts the giver as well as the receiver. It’s also disrespectful. Who appreciates being lied to?

 

Sometimes we avoid telling the truth because we think it will hurt someone. Ultimately the lie will hurt the person - or it will hurt you. It’s the Law of Cause and Effect.

 

Honesty is:
- Being honest with yourself and others
- Expressing your point of view with respect for others opinions and points of view
- Never justifying or excusing a lie by downplaying it
- Accepting only the truth from others

 

Honesty may feel like the harder road, but it’s the truest, and ultimately the most rewarding. Most people will respect you for telling the truth and feel respected for your honesty. Strength of character is built on the foundation of honesty and respect. So is every relationship you nurture.