After working with several clients and talking to many of my business partners, I have discovered that many people lack one very important concept on their way to finding their personal success and happiness.  That concept is simply to start with your end goal in mind and work backwards.

The concept seems easy enough, yet very few people actually do it.  Here is an example that I will use from my business.  My business, in simplest terms, is about teaching duplication, much like how McDonald’s teaches duplication to all of their franchise owners and employees.  When was the last time you saw your local McDonald’s offer you McPizza?  That would never happen, in fact, like their food or not, you can walk into any McDonald’s throughout the world and you know exactly what to expect.  You know what the menu will look like, what the staff will be wearing, where the fries will be cooked and what the food will taste like.  McDonald’s has mastered duplication.  By doing so, McDonald’s can train almost anyone to to function at the required level to perform their job.  In addition, the process of duplication allows the franchise owner to buy the franchise, hire the right managers and allow the business to run smoothly whether they are present or not.  In order for this to have happened, McDonald’s had to put a lot of time and consideration into what their end goal of creating a system of franchise duplication would look like BEFORE they started to train their employees or build a restaurant.  If they hadn’t started with the end in mind, how would they have been able to ensure that all McDonald’s looked, operated and tasted the same?  They couldn’t have.  So then, let me ask those of you in my business, what is your end goal?  Is it “freedom” so you can do what you want to do when you want to do it with whom you want to do it with?  If so, how will ever reach your desired goal of “freedom” if you don’t teach and empower others to do for themselves, with or without you present?  The simple answer is, you can’t.  IF your end goal is FREEDOM, yet you need to be in control of or do EVERYTHING, you aren’t creating FREEDOM, you’re creating another JOB.  If your phone is ringing non stop, and you are receiving one text after another, its time to remember that your end goal was FREEDOM, therefore you may need to reexamine how you are going about teaching duplication and empowering others to take action with or without you present.  If you don’t, you will always be like the hamster on the wheel trying to keep up.

Here is another example of starting with the end in mind.  Let’s say that we were going on a vacation.  Could you possible know how to get there if you didn’t have a destination in mind?  Of course not.  So why is it that most people wake up living their lives day to day with no “bigger” picture in mind.  Things like, how much money will it take to retire?  What qualities are most important in a partner, how many kids would you like to have, what kind of career will inspire your soul or what your ideal picture of health looks like?

Starting with the end in mind doesn’t mean that you can’t be flexible and change or adjust your ultimate destination, but starting with the end in mind will ensure that when you get there, you ended up where you wanted to go in the first place.

Just imagine how many heart attacks could have been avoided, divorces prevented and careers fulfilled if only a little more time, care and clarity was put into considering the end BEFORE you began.

Have a great day!

  
Last night I “accidently” picked up the wrong journal, packed it in my bag and headed out.  When I got to my destination I was bummbed that I had the wrong book.  With no other choice, I opened the journal and began to read my notes from a 5 day workshop that I attended in Sedona, AZ over three years ago.  It was an incredible and much needed diversion.  As I read my pages of notes, I realized that I had many new topics for my blog.  

Today, the lesson is about love.  The workshop was conducted by a woman whom I owe so much.  She is an incredible teacher and friend. While she was conducting the workshop, miles away, her beloved was home fighting a sickness. And though they weren’t together in a physical sense it was apparent that they were as connected as if they were sitting beside each other holding hands.  So often when we love someone we forget that the love we give is a choice.  It is something that should not be taken for granted, it is something that needs to be given and received from our own free will. 

Here is the lesson, I’m not sure it was meant as such but I witnessed it and it touched me so I wrote it down. I hope that you will find it just as valuable as I did.  

Committing to love

“Good morning, I love you, I’m in”

When I heard the couple exchange these words each morning I realized that commitment wasn’t a ring on a finger or vows you speak in a church, true love is a choice.  It is a commitment and it should be reaffirmed daily.  

Today and everyday moving forward, let the person that you love in your life, be it a friend or a loved one, know that you are “all in” on them. 

I hope that you have a great day.  

  
The last 14 days I have been reading a course in leadership.  The course discusses what God says it takes to be a great leader.  There has been a lot of great information but none better for me to hear than that of self discipline.   Here it is.  
“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭1:7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

http://bible.com/111/2ti.1.7.niv

Self-discipline is needed to stretch us beyond our own comfort zones and areas of personal inertia. For some, the needed discipline will be more in the realm of the emotions; for others the focus of self-control will be in the realm of the mind or of the will.

And for me, it is both!

Have a great day!

Today I wanted to share a couple quotes that I absolutely love.  Let’s be honest.  I LOVE QUOTES.  I find them witty and I enjoy the wisdom that often accompanies them.  Lately I have been doing a lot of driving and one of my favorite things to do while I’m behind the wheel is to listen to audio books.

Last week while driving I heard two quotes, from two different sources, but they were both very similar and provide a nice bit of wisdom for those of you that are wondering how to get “unstuck” from your current situation.

The first comes from a book titled “The Art of Racing in The Rain” by Garth Stein.  It is a story told from a dog’s point of view.  It is a great read and I highly recommend it.  I’ve listened to it twice, it’s that good!  Here is one of my favorite lessons from the book.  “That which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny.  Be it through intention or ignorance, our success and our failures have been brought on by none other than ourselves.”

How powerful is that?  “BE IT THROUGH INTENTION OR IGNORANCE..” In other words,  You can either choose to get what you want by considering where it is that you want to go or you can put no consideration to it at all but regardless of your choice, you are still the one that will ultimately be responsible for where you end up!  If that is true, and I believe that it is, then why in the world do so many people refuse to plan for the future?  Why do so many refuse to dream?  You’re gonna get something, it might as well be something that you wanted in the first place!

The second quote that I heard came from a conference call that I was listening to for work.  One of the best parts about my career with LifeVantage has been my ability to learn from others wiser than me (I know, not very difficult) and yesterday I heard something that simply reinforces, yet adds to the concept stemming from the quote above.  Here it is “Destination is determined by direction.” -unknown  To me, this quote means that before you can get what or where you want, you must determine what or where it is that you want to go, then plan out the steps and take the action required to get there.

That’s all I have for today.  I hope that you have an incredible day!

TRUST. A 5 letter word that is the beginning and the ending to every relationship.  Now let me be clear, I am not just talking about our relationships with other people. I am also talking about our relationships with ourselves, the goals that we make and the opportunities that we embark upon.

As an example, 14 days ago some of you made a New Year resolution to (fill in the blank).  On January first you believed with all your heart that you would commit to and follow through with your resolution.  You had faith and trusted yourself 100%.  However, by January 7th you realized that you weren’t following through with your stated goal.  With that realization, you lost a little faith in yourself that you could actually do what you said you could do.  By the 10th you realized that you were missing your goal completely and because you no longer believed that you could do what you said you would do, you gave up. You no longer trusted yourself to see your commitment through to the end.

When TRUST is lost, progress is stopped in its tracks.

My business is built on trust.  Trust in the company, trust in our products, trust in the science, trust in your business partners but most importantly, trust in yourself.  If you do not trust yourself, my business will never work for you.  You MUST trust yourself to do what you say and say what you do.  If you don’t, you will begin to second guess yourself. Then despite all the reasons that you know you should or all the proof that you see, you will wonder if you truly have what it takes or if this business can even work at all.

So, what do you do if you find yourself in a position that you no longer trust yourself?

1. DO NOT QUIT- whether it is a personal goal (resolution) or a business goal, DO NOT QUIT!  Quitting will only tell your subconscious that your future thoughts, ideas and desires are not to be trusted because you won’t follow through anyway.
2. ADJUST YOUR GOALS- If you your goal was to work out an hour everyday but the reality is that you can’t find an extra hour in your schedule, make an adjustment.  Even working out one hour a week would better than doing nothing.  By following through with a commitment you can keep, your subconscious will begin to trust you again.
3. CELEBRATE YOUR PROGRESS NOT THE END RESULT- Anything worth having will not come easy.  You will have to work for it. That does NOT mean that it has to be all or nothing.  Too often we don’t feel like things are moving at the speed that we desire so we get down on ourselves.  STOP IT! If your goal is to work out once a week and you show up and accomplish that goal, allow yourself to feel good because you did it and to not feel bad because you are not doing it enough.  Following though will build trust and when you start to trust yourself again, magical things will start to happen in your life.

Have a great day!

Yesterday I had an empowerment coaching session with a client.  This woman had it all.  She was a mother.  She had been successful in business, very intelligent and beautiful inside and out.  However, what I found most interesting was that she felt stuck.  She felt like she was missing the “answer”.  After nearly a 90 minute session it was obvious to me that the only thing she lacked was to apply the information that she already knew.  After her session was over I knew that I had the topic for my next post.

The topic?  You already know EVERYTHING you need to know-   Seriously.  How many times have you called a friend for advice and ended up doing the opposite?  Or had a “gut” feeling then did the opposite only to regret your decision later?  I know for me, I found it necessary to read book after book, create presentation after presentation and “perfect” myself BEFORE I was willing to put myself back in the game.  Why?  Did I really not know what to do?  Absolutely not.  I knew exactly what it would take and I knew exactly how to do it.  What was lacking was my ability to apply my knowledge and put it into action.  In addition, I lacked the ability to trust myself and the abilities that I already had.  But why?  Well for me, that answer was pretty complex but I believe what I learned might also help a few others so I am going to share.

What I discovered was that I had been sabotaging my success.  The reason?  I was actually afraid that I would reach my goals and once there, lose them, just like before.  Since I was a kid I out worked the competition.  I practiced longer, worked harder and stayed longer than my competition.  Doing so won me awards, honors and distinctions in sports, music and business.  I had a great life.  In fact, I would say that I had it all. (at least all that I wanted).  But when things turned and I lost it, the pain of losing it again was too much to bear so I began delaying and sabotaging my success.  Sound familiar?  If so, put down the book, turn off the training videos, pull up your britches and engage in life.  You need nothing else.  You just need to get to work.

Have  a great day!

Simple advice from The Bible.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

http://bible.com/111/mat.6.21.niv

Your heart (focus, attention, affection, resources) will center on your treasure (what you supremely value; v. 21).

Have a great day 🙂

Have you ever agonized over making a decision?  I know I have. Sometimes I ponder over my choices for days.  I can’t imagine how much time I waste trying to decide if I should or shouldn’t purchase something or call someone on my “chicken” list and those are only small decisions.  The bigger ones like buying a house or starting a new career are absolutely agonizing for me to make.

Then, this morning I received a text from Daren Hardy.  He is one of my favorite authors and sends out a text called “Darren Daily”.  Today, the subject of his daily text was about making decisions.  PERFECT.

He summarized his message with this…

“More failure has been caused by indecision than poor decisions.  If you want to know “who done it” , who murdered your dreams, it was indecision.”  

Winston Churchill said, “once the decision has been made, all the agony goes away.  It is the indecision that causes the agony.”

The easiest way to make a decision is to run it through a “decision filter”. Today, when faced with a decision, ask yourself this simple question.  Am I more likely to say: “I wish I had” OR “I’m glad I did?” then make your choice and don’t look back.

I hope you join me in changing how you go about making a decision.  I will close today’s post with a quote from another one of my favorite authors, Andy Andrews. “God did not give us the power to always make the right decision but he did give us the power to make the wrong decision right.”

I hope that you have a great day!

  
This is too good not to share. Please watch it and apply it to your new year.  

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae-APl2AwV8

Before the madness that comes with all the last minute preparations for the holidays, I just wanted to wish you and yours a Merry Christmas.  I am so grateful to all of you for reading my blog and inspiring me with your messages and responses.

Enjoy your loved ones and make it the best Christmas ever.

xoxoxoxo

Kevin