Inch by Inch - Any Given Sunday

“I don’t know what to say really. Three minutes till the biggest battle of our professional lives. It all comes down to today. Now either we heal as a team, or we’re gonna crumble. Inch by inch, play by play, till we’re finished. We’re in hell right now, gentlemen. Believe me. And we can stay here, get the shit kicked out of us, or we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb out of hell. One inch at a time.

Now I can’t do it for you. I’m too old. I look around, I see these young faces, and I think… I mean I’ve made every wrong choice a middle-aged man can make. I pissed away all my money, believe it or not. I chased off anyone who’s ever loved me, and lately, I can’t even stand the face I see in the mirror. You know when you get old in life, things get taken from you. That’s part of life. But you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out life’s this game of inches. And so is football. Because in either game, life or football, the margin for error is so small. I mean… one half a step too late or too early and you don’t quite make it.

One half second too slow too fast, you don’t quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that inch. On this team, we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that inch. We claw with our fingernails for that inch. Because we know when we add up all those inches, that’s gonna make the fucking difference between winning and losing! Between living and dying! I’ll tell you this — in any fight, its the guy whose willing to die who’s gonna win that inch. And I know if I’m going to have any life anymore, it’s because I’m still willing to fight and die for that inch. Because that’s what living is! The 6 inches in front of your face…

Now I can’t make you do it. You’ve got to look at the guy next to you, look into his eyes. Now I think you’re gonna see a guy who will go that inch with you. You’re gonna see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team, because he knows when it comes down to it, you’re gonna do the same for him.

That’s a team, gentlemen. And either we heal, now, as a team, or we will die, as individuals. That’s football, guys. That’s all it is. Now, what are you going to do?”
...............

Oh my God! What a moving speech! I need this...now.



.

7 steps to...yes, being mediocre

This grabbed me by the ears. Thanks

Here's 7 tips to get you started down the path of mediocrity.

1. Worry About What Others Think
Live for the approval of others. Do what you think they want--or won't notice. Check each of your decisions by the benchmark of group acceptance.

2. See the Finished Product
Be overwhelmed by success. See only the clean and shiny after-pictures instead of the small steps that made it possible.

3. Do Safe
Don't take risks. Small, medium, or large. Instead, live safely in the cocoon of seeming comfort. If you've done it before, keep doing it. And only it.

4. Think 'Forever'
Treat each opportunity--or life overall--as infinite. Put things off today because, hey, you can always do it tomorrow. Don't rush. Don't hustle. Wait. Wait until it feels just right. Then keep waiting.

5. Compare Down
Compare yourself with people who have less, give less, do less. This will make you instantly feel better. It will also keep the pressure off. As long as you're not drowning, there's no need to kick hard.

6. Keep It Fuzzy
Don't mess with your fears. Keep them just how they are: fuzzy and heavy. Let that vague feeling hold you back and scare you. Let those unclear doubts make your stomach twist and legs freeze. Don't reduce your fears to their facts. Keep 'em fuzzy.

7. Make Failure Permanent
Always, always, always see failing as a final fall. If you mess up--game over. You can't get back up, you can't brush yourself off. You are done, and you look like a fool for trying.

Follow these simple tips and you too can be average! 

(Or do their opposites and start to live a better, more exciting life.)

101st post..a tendulkaristic Task

Image copyright:101fm.asn.au

used for no motives whatsoever, just for fun

Here it is, the 101st post of Life is a treat. Hardly a reason to celebrate but considering my laziness and lack of commitment to this space, this looks nothing short of a tendulkaristic achievement...well, atleast to me :)  

Thought hard about it and decided to change the look of the blog to a simpler format. What a surprise, the people at blogger had just the right solution at hand in the page itself. The new features for changing the blog layout is mind blowing. One has to use it to feel the ease and beauty of the implementation. Hats off to all those behind such efforts at blogger. I love the way preview works now. Great experience at the blog.

On second thoughts, I went back over time to recollect the flow of thoughts on all the occasions (numerous, to say the least) when the templates were changed here. And I figured out it works likes this. You visit the blog after a while and admire the last written post (!) and get motivated to write a new post. You log in and then stare at the white spaces and realise that the white space in the mind is bigger & brighter than the white space of blogger editor...but the urge to do something pulls you over to...yes...changing the template. 


Wow! now that I have got the psychology part figured out and all that stuff...let me see if I manage a straight record of keeping my commitments.

Many thanks to my wonderful friends (few but I value their thoughts and views much higher than mine) who keep writing and providing the much needed inspiration. 

Be back soon...

Motivation

After a speech one day, Zig Ziglar was approached by someone in the audience who said:

"Zig, it was a great speech, but...motivation doesn't last."


Zig said, "Bathing doesn't either. That's why I recommend it daily!"

Tracking Personal Accountability

It gets really painful to review ourselves, say over the last one year and see that there were so many things that could have been done but were missed out for no reason at all. I am not talking about any huge goals like buying a house or a change of job. It's about very simple and basic things that could have been easily done but we either took it easy or thought it could be done on any day...particularly those simple things that made our lives so enjoyable and joyous....

It could be reading, exercise, developing a habit or even getting in touch with friends. The thought crosses our mind but then gets drowned in the cacophony of so many other internal dialogues. Eventually, it never gets done. And we look back and regret that. The consequence of not doing it may range from negligible to slightly regretful to even painful. 

One such activity (from a really long list) for me was reading books. I was wondering why I missed out and then realized that over the years I have started to look at reading as an activity rather than a habit. I still remember those days when I used to compete with friends in reading maximum number of books. Time & years have really stolen this excellent habit and here I am setting goals for that! A lousy way to lose a good habit, isn't it?


This is just one example. I have many more in my life and so would anyone... Somebody quoted that if we did everything that we are capable of doing, then we will produce amazing results. I was wondering how to get back those good old simple habits...and start some new ones and sustain the initial momentum without losing focus...The best option looked like to start doing it on a regular basis till it becomes a habit again.

And I came across Joe's Goals, a free online tool. that could add some fun and method to doing exactly that.


Here, we can set up such simple activities that we want to do on a regular basis..and one can back there and give +ve marks for having done that or -ve marks for not doing it.


So I promptly set up a set of goals - typically things that I want to start doing, things that I want to continue doing and things that I want to stop doing. Now, scoring +marks & -ve marks makes real sense and what more, I am my own evaluator. All I have to do is to work it on a regular basis. Ten positive things (Start or Continue what is already being done) and five negative things (to stop / never to be repeated - like getting up late etc) and I am ready to score daily.

It gets even more cool that I can tag each of these under categories like Health, Exercise, Habit, Productivity etc. and review them. I can also run reports for a period and I get my score. 

I have decided to put up a graph on this blog (another cool feature) so I can track my progress as an average score over a period. Talking about commitment, huh?

Simple, powerful and amazing! 

Video review here

For a great start

I like this article that emphasises on a great way to start the day.

Hoping to apply immediately and see if it really helps....seems to be a mix of few proven techniques. As usual, parking it here for review later, may be after a week.

How You Start Your Day Counts - Josh Hindshttp://www.GetMotivation.com
 

Whether or not we choose to believe it, for the most part you and I have a clean slate with each new sun rise. Whatever happened yesterday, good or bad is now rooted in
the past.

In the moment in which we now find ourselves, we have the ability to focus in on and do the things which will serve us for the better, or we can give our attention to those things
which will re-ignite whatever thoughts were causing us to remain stuck.

We have a choice, and fortunately, it isn't all that difficult to set the tone early on in your day. Does that mean you're guaranteed not to meet with a challenge early on that will knock you off course or throw you for a loop? Of course not, but in the event that something (or someone) shows up with such an agenda you'll find yourself a lot more
prepared to deal with it and be able to adjust course accordingly.

Here are some simple, but effective ideas you can use to start your day out on a positive note.

Upon waking up, name at least ten people you're thankful for - recount those in your life who've had a positive impact on you. Think of those who have in some way helped to make you the unique person you are.

Don't sell yourself short here. No matter what place you may find yourself in now, you're still an amazing person, with unique gifts and talents. You don't have to believe it, but
it's still the absolute truth!

Practicing gratitude is a powerful thing that helps to reconnect us with our inner power, and the abilities which make up who we are.

Give thanks for your talents and skills - each of us has been blessed with special skills and talents. You may not feel as though you've completely developed all of yours up to this point in your life, but that doesn't change the fact that you've got them.

Think through those things that others compliment you on, those are talents. Don't underestimate all the amazing bits and pieces that go into making you the person you are. As you identify and give thanks for the talents that were bestowed upon you commit to develop them and become more proficient in their use.

Write down your days most important action steps the night before - The simple act of writing down the following days most important tasks will give you a plan to move on the
next day. Keep in mind that you can get the most productive mileage if you'll put your "super tasks" at the top, where you'll complete them first.

For the purpose of this article consider Super Tasks as those things which upon their completion will give you the absolute most bang for your buck. Consider the difference
between a "super task" and say one of lesser importance. A super task might be: calling on a prospective client, while one that doesn't quite hold such importance in the grand
scheme of things might be: cut the grass.

While both are important, and you may very well want to get both done, the simple fact is the first example is going to lead towards a greater reward then the latter. You see, it's
more a matter of separating items which fall into the category of "busy work" versus those which can move us forward at a maximum pace. Another such "super task" might
be to spend time studying your industry or chosen profession.

Review the actions steps you wrote down the night before -As you are looking over the items you wrote down, close your eyes and see yourself completing them and experiencing the wonderful sense of accomplishment for having done so.

After you have visualized yourself finishing the items on your daily action list take a deep breath and begin your day working on and completing them.

Keep in mind that each new day is just that -- an opportunity to turn the page, and implement daily actions that can steer your life in the direction you wish it to go.

You can sail your ship, or choose to remain mired in inaction and float aimlessly, dependent upon whatever life may throw your way. My sincere hope for you is that you will
choose the first option.

- It's your life, LIVE BIG! Josh Hinds

We are all two people

This is some improvement - the second post for 2010.  

This year is meant to be action oriented and it will be predominantly driven through goals & related actions. So, obviously I am pretty caught up deep into stuff like Goals, Goals to action, motivation and related topics.

I really liked this article which talks of two of each of us that we deal with on daily basis. One is the real one that happily flows with the stream and the other one that I like to call as the aspirational version of our self. Thanks to Motivation 123 for this simple yet hard hitting article on making both the versions meet. What a wonderful realization that could be!

I am planning to modify the Homework part a bit to suit my life but here goes the actual version from Jason Garcia

We are all two people.

The man or woman who gets up in the morning, drinks a cup of coffee, drives to work in a daze and snaps out of it a few hours later before repeating the cycle the next day.

And then there is the New You, the man or woman who is confident and cool, in control and able to make things happen. The rock star, the adventurer, the renowned expert. The best-selling author, the CEO, the tri-athlete, the supermom or the superdad.

The New You is the ideal you, the dream you.

Nearly everyone I know will live their whole lives without ever stepping into those shoes.

They'll dream about, sure, but they'll never be it. It will always be a fantasy.

But it doesn't have to be. You can become that person. You can become the man or woman you've created in your head. It all starts with a definition.

A Homework

You can't hit a target you can't see, so the first and most important step is defining the New You.

At some point in the next thirty minutes, get a pen and sheet of paper and describe, in detail, your dream life.

What are you like? What is your personality? Are you calm, patient, lively, nuts?

Where do you live? What kind of house do you own? What do you do for work? How do you feel about it?

What do you have for breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? Who do you have it with?

What do you do after work? What do you think about on the drive home? What do you talk about with your kids and spouse? What do you do on Saturdays? Sundays?

Most people won't take the time to do this, and they're the same people who will never step into the shoes of their rock-star selves.

But if you do, if you put your heart and mind into the exercise, I promise it will pay off. You'll finally have a picture of the life you're going to build.

It's the only place to start. Get started.

And remember, if you want to start 2010 off on the right foot, check out our Motivated Mind special.
http://www.motivation123.com/prd-tmm.html

Have a great weekend and don't just think about doing something. Instead...

Make something happen,
Jason