Are You Just “Going Through the Motions”?

It wasn’t a very big bush yet - only about a foot or so tall. It did have the promise of developing into something quite a bit larger. Now, I’m not too sure. We’ll just have to see. With a stubby two inch high, frayed trunk sticking up rather forlornly from a small bare patch of lawn, I’d say the chances for survival are about fifty-fifty.

I’m fairly sure it wasn’t my neighbor’s objective to intentionally commit bush murder. He seems like a pretty nice guy and not the type to purposefully do anything mean. Even to a little bush. The best I can tell from the mowing pattern, he just used a bit more of my lawn to turn his riding lawnmower than he originally intended. Or maybe he meant to use this part of my lawn as turning space and for some reason didn’t see the little bush. I don’t really know - and it’s not particularly important because after all, it was just a little bush. Poor little bush…

It does happen to the best of us though, doesn’t it? Sometimes we get distracted by life stuff and we mess something up or we just don’t do quite as good a job at whatever we were working on as we could have. Or - we find ourselves performing a task (maybe even our real job) that we don’t particularly enjoy or maybe didn’t want to do in the first place and we just sort of go through the motions to get it done. Fill the squares, write the memos, hammer the nails, wipe the counter, label the gadget, whomp the whanger, doink the frammitz, and put one more coat of paint on the damn porch railing. Just gettin’ by. Just goin’ through the motions.

With the little stuff of life - painting a porch railing, dusting the knick-knacks, mowing the yard - “gettin’ by” is generally OK. I need to toss in that “generally” because we all know that occasionally a significant other may have an entirely different perspective on the situation and feel compelled to make his or her feelings known. Sometimes even to everyone within a four block radius. “HAROLD! YOU GET THAT PAINT CAN AND GET YOUR BUTT BACK UP ON THAT PORCH AND DO THE JOB RIGHT THIS TIME!!!” Poor Harold…

It works the other way too sometimes, doesn’t it? Once in a while you’ll run onto a person who is absolutely, nit-picky particular about everything. The bushes have to be trimmed just so. The mirrors must be cleaned so there isn’t even a teeny-tiny hint of a streak or spot. A speck of dirt on the SUV is totally unacceptable. Every hair must be in place - and this is on the dog! Geesh folks… Loosen up. Get distracted once in a while. Get a life…

Ahem. Sorry about that. Where were we? OK, back to just gettin’ by. Ya know, if we find ourselves gettin’ by or just going through the motions doing the more important things in life, it would probably benefit us to consider making a few changes. Yes, I know. There are a lot of folks who seem to survive and hang onto their jobs even though we all know they are just cruising through the day. The customers are waited on, phone calls are made, forms are filled out, whangers are whomped and another 347 doogles are inserted into their appropriate place in the mimmers. Another day done. Another day closer to retirement.

People - is that all we want out of life? To just survive? Yeah, survival’s important but wouldn’t it be better to take it a step or two higher? To raise the bar another notch or two? Why be satisfied with “survival” when so much more is available with just a little more effort? Including the knowledge that we have done the very best job we could do - and the distinct possibility that we will be compensated in some way - sometime - for our additional efforts and our focus on the task at hand.

Life is too short - and too precious - to waste it just “going through the motions”. I suggest that it would be really, really beneficial if we all take a few minutes to consider making those changes we need to make - either in our jobs or within ourselves - so that we can feel motivated to do the very best job we can do - no matter what it is. I believe that every single one of us has the potential to perform at a much higher level. That we all have the potential to contribute in a very significant way to society, to those close to us and to our own well being. I wonder what we each can do if we really put our mind to it? I think it’s worth finding out. I think we owe it to ourselves to find out - don’t you?

Gene Simmons, through NuPathz.com, provides an easy reading self-help blog, articles, quotations, thoughts and links along with affordable self-help and self improvement books & materials - all designed to help folks find the road to a more enjoyable lifestyle, to pass on some of life’s “secrets for survival” in a chaotic world & offer a few smiles along the way. It’s a down-to-earth, simple approach to discovering a better life. You can visit Gene at http://www.nupathz.com/

Discover a tried and tested way for you to achieve happiness in 2006.

Imagine being happy all the time. How would your life be different if you were happy all the time?

All of us want to be happy. In fact in most polls people say that they want peace and happiness more than anything else in the world. The problem is: most of us are looking in the wrong places.

But all has recently been revealed thanks to a multi disciplinary team of six British specialists who span a variety of disciplines from psychology, psychotherapy to economics who embarked on an unusual social experiment.

Their unusual challenge?

What does it take to make residents of a town happy?

During their experiment in Slough, a commuter belt town, twenty two miles from the centre of London they discovered 10 “seeds of happiness”.

Ten things which when you do them all regularly will not only improve your life in your community but will make you happy and contented.

What are they?

• Plant something and nurture it. When you water and feed plants they grow. When you water and feed the seeds of your interest- they grow.

• At the end of each day stop and think how fortunate you are. Think of five things in your life that you are grateful for.

• Make time to talk to your partner. Every week sit down for at least an hour and talk with your partner or someone you love. That’s one hour without answering the ‘phone or watching TV or listening to music. One undisrupted hour with your loved one.

• Make that ‘phone call that you keep promising yourself you will make. Contact the friend with whom you haven’t spoken for a while.

• Treat yourself. Give yourself a treat every day and take the time to really enjoy it. Be good to yourself. This simple act breeds; self confidence and positivity and happiness.

• Have a good laugh at least once a day. Laughter helps to stimulate your immune system.
Research shows that laughter is important for people who survive a heart attack. It has been found that people are less likely to have a second attack, need less medication and have lower blood pressure if they allow themselves to see and laugh at humorous situations each day.

• Exercise. Make the effort to walk, run, jog, swim, whatever for half an hour three times a week. Guaranteed to reduce stress and make you feel good.

• Every day smile at and/or say hello to a stranger. Smiling is not only good for the person receiving it also makes you feel good too.

• How long do you spend watching TV? Research show that too much TV actually causes unhappiness. So make an effort to cut your viewing time by half.

• Every Day do a good turn for someone.

Now it’s down to you.

OUR CHALLENGE

Implement the 10 seeds of happiness into your life for two months and see the difference it makes.

It works.

Good Luck

Graham and Julie
www.desktop-meditation.com

When you water and feed plants they grow. So why not learn to water and nurture yourself with meditation at www.desktop-meditation.com. Everything is free.

Motivation and Personality - Which Type Are You?

The level of motivation that a person has depends a lot on the
personality of that person. If a person has the personality of a
quiet, shy type of person, their motivation will come from
living within that personality.

They are more likely to get motivated in different ways to that
of a person who has a loud and bold personality. If a person has
a go-getter personality then their motivation will be strong and
vivacious, with a nothing can stop them type attitude.

Personality has a big impact on how we are motivated in our
lives. Motivation and personality are definitely connected.

There are three basic personalities that seem to be motivation
for what we do and who we want to become.

1. The need for power

This personality has a strong desire or drive to make people act
or behave in a way that they would not otherwise behave.

This type of motivation is usually found in a strong-willed
person. They like to be in charge of situations. The motivation
is more for power and prestige than doing a great job.

2. Need for achievement

This type of personality has a strong drive to excel. This
person usually strives to succeed at everything they try.

They avoid really hard tasks as well as really easy tasks. They
like 50/50 odds and are not gamblers. The motivation is to
achieve it on their own with their own skills.

3. Need for affiliation

This type of personality has the need for strong interpersonal
relationships with others. This person is usually a soft-spoken
quiet individual.

This person strives for friendships. The motivation for this
personality is being cooperative rather than being competitive.
They seek mutual understanding.

There are also combinations of one or more of these types of
personalities, as well. They determine what motivates a person
to do the things that they want and need to do.

Whichever personality a person possesses, they need to start
with goal setting to achieve motivation. The first step is
setting goals that are realistic to your specific needs and
wants.

Try not to set these goals too high, nor too low. Either one of
these will cause undesirable results. The goals must be possible
to attain or they are useless to us. This step is essential to
motivation. You can’t be motivated if you do not have goals.

Rewarding yourself for your hard work and effort is another
essential part of learning motivation. There must be rewards for
a job well done. It is what keeps us going.

Motivation and personality do go hand in hand. As you can see,
different people and personalities are motivated by different
drives. Successes are measured by different motivations and
rewards.

Happiness - Work Now or Later?

Long-term success and happiness follows hand-in-hand with
strength of character.

As I mention in my book, Fast Track Your Success and Happiness, If we want to achieve a certain goal, we simply must do things that are less pleasant now than other alternatives have the potential to be. For example, if John wants to get a degree, he has to study for his exams, and not bliss out at the beach.

In order to become a person who manifests health, wealth,
success, education etc in our lives, we have to want and be
motivated to do those things that we don’t always like to do.
Once we become motivated because we have a specific purpose for
doing those things, they become satisfying because we can see
our lives moving in the right direction.

Life is certainly a journey. And it is not a journey where we
board a train and know our destination in advance. We actually
create our own destination by the steps we take today. So for
me, becoming the kind of person who can amass wealth and then
give it to charity, the kind of person who can love without
expecting back, and the kind of person who can achieve the
wildest goals, is well worth any unpleasantness I might have to
experience now.

In having that mind set, the hard work it takes to achieve our
goals doesn’t seem unpleasant. Even if we never achieve the
goals we set, we will be well on our way to developing an
amazing strength of character.

(C) Copyright Petra Rankin 2005

Petra Rankin used powerful techniques to beat her own long-term
depression. She is now dedicated to teaching others how to be
happier and lead more successful lives. Her first book Fast Track
Your Success and Happiness is due to be launched in
September 2005 and is currently available for download as a free
e-book instead of paying $19.95. Limited time only!