This video is such a great illustration of how much we operate by habit!  I started to comment on it, but I really think you should just watch for yourself.    

Today I wanted to share a great video by Brendan Burchard.  It goes along with what has become the theme for my year:  raising your standards enough to challenge you, but not so much that you become frustrated and quit.  Enjoy!

BJ Fogg is a professor at Stanford University.  In this video, he shares with us an incredibly EASY way to make changes for the better and have them last long term.  It is right in line with raising your standards and making sure you CELEBRATE!!!

Many small changes add up to create huge change overall.  Tony Robbins refers to this as the two millimeters that make the big difference over time. 

This video gives you three steps to creating new habits.  They are:

1. AFTER I (exisiting behavior or trigger):  After my morning coffee...
2. I WILL (new easy behavior that will become your new habit):  I will straighten up on thing.
3. CELEBRATE!  I'm awesome!
   
   Watch the video and decide what tiny habits you are going to start creating NOW for lasting change.
   

Would you cheat on your spouse?  Would you abuse a baby?  Would you beat a puppy?   Hopefully you answered no to each of those questions!  What prevents you from doing those things?  Is it a standard that you adhere to, or do you have to write it down and force yourself to comply?  Is it a battle of will and discipline, or is it simply a matter of the identity you hold for yourself that doesn't allow you to engage in such behavior?

What is a "standard?"  According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a standard is "a level of quality, achievement, etc., that is considered acceptable or desirable."  The standards that we hold for ourselves are like our own internal thermostat.  We all know how a thermostat works.  It's designed to keep the temperature at our chosen level of comfort.  If our thermostat is set at 70 degrees and the temperature drops to 65, the thermostat turns the heat on to get it back up to 70.  On the flip side, if the temperature goes up to 75, the thermostat will kick in to cool things down.

Our standards are our thermostat.  They keep us in our comfort zone, and they can help us or hinder us in reaching our goals.  They speak to our very identity.  Trying to achieve a goal without looking at who we need to become in order to achieve it is like trying to suddenly adjust our thermostat from 70 to 100.  In a very short time, we are extremely uncomfortable and will do whatever it takes to cool things back down!

However, what happens if instead you focus on consistently adjusting the thermostat two or three degrees?  After a while, you're fine in 90 to 105 degrees, and suddenly 70 is cold.
Looking at each area of your life, how do you determine what your standards are?  Take a look at the results you've been getting.  A person who holds a high standard of optimum health will usually look very different from the person whose walk from the dinner table to the couch to watch TV is their exercise for the day.

Take an honest look and ask yourself what standards you have been holding.  Then identify what it is that you really want.  What will your new standard be in that area?  How will you turn up your thermostat a few degrees?  What will you no longer tolerate less than?  What new rituals do you need to put in place to set that standard? 

Happy new year!  Today is the first day of the first 90 Day Challenge for 2014.  Have you decided what you are going to accomplish in your life by the end of March?  If you haven't , I suggest you watch this video and then get busy!  It's going to be March before you know it.  Make this year the best one of your life!

I am always sad to say goodbye to summer.  I miss the long, sunny days, warm weather, and grilling out on the deck.  However, I really love fall!  I love the gorgeous fall colors and the crispness in the air.  I love being able to sit by the fire and cook up our favorite stews and casseroles.  And I love Halloween.  For me, it's a fun holiday, an opportunity to think of transitions, and a great time to address one of our biggest and most heartfelt emotions:  fear.

What exactly is fear?  According to the dictionary, it is "a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined (emphasis mine)."  In fact, sometimes it can be very difficult to differentiate between fear and excitement.  Have you ever gone on a big scary roller coaster, or gone skydiving? 

Dan Brown said, "Men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire."  Rather than allowing fear to become your driving force, consider it to be one of your advisors.  When it offers its opinion, ask yourself what's really going on.  Is this situation truly dangerous, or is it simply unfamiliar?  Then you are able to make a decision based on your experience, intellect, or instinct.  As Marie Curie said, "Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.  Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."  Understand that most of the time, fear is simply False Evidence Appearing Real.

What are you afraid of?  Write down your biggest fears in all areas of your life:  relationships, finances, health, business, etc.  What is showing up for you?  How do these fears stop you?  Once you have identified them, decide what actions you are going to take.  Decide to be courageous.  Tony Robbins says, "It is in our moments of decision that our destiny is shaped."  The question is whether you choose to decide that for yourself or if you choose to let fear make that decision for you.  Choose wisely.

It's been a busy summer at my house.  Right before I left for Chicago to attend the UPW and the Advanced Skills Training for our new coaches, we discovered our ice maker had been leaking.  When I first left town, half my kitchen floor was ripped up and there were four huge fans, a heater, and a dehumidifier running to dry everything out.  Thirteen days later, they were still running.  The damage was a little more extensive than they thought.  Shortly after getting home, I had an amazing opportunity to attend SRI University's NLP course and become re-certified in NLP.  And now I am in a hotel yet again, as they replace the damaged hardwoods and sand and refinish the entire floor.  I am getting lots of opportunities to be resourceful and decide what emotional state I want to live in today!  Flexibiity is key!  How can you be more flexible today?

I had the privilege of attending Unleash the Power Within in Chicago earlier this month, then helping with an Advanced Skills Training for our new coaches.  It was an amazing, exhausting, inspiring, incredible nine days!  This is one of the videos shown during the training.  If you haven't seen it, give yourself the gift of ten minutes to watch it right now.  If you have seen it, watch it again.