To Believe in Oneself is the Beginning

Over the weekend I watched the movie “Peaceful Warrior,” which tells the story of a young, arrogant gymnast who encounters a wise mentor. The movie is based on the book “Way of the Peaceful Warrior” by Dan Millman. The movie received only two stars (I actually thought it was better than two stars). However, its message should definitely be rated five stars.

A serious accident puts the gymnast out of commission. His doctors tell him that he will not be able to return to the sport of gymnastics. His coach no longer believes in him. Worse, he no longer believes in himself. He meets a wise man who guides him to see the way – that there is a purpose to all events. In short, Dan lets go of his mental baggage, realizes that you don’t give up on what you love, and understands that life’s journey is important and that through the journey one learns about oneself.

The message is simple—believe in yourself. Many of us don’t succeed because we don’t have the approval or support of our families or friends. How many times have you shared a dream or goal with a family member or friend, only to have your words shot down? When this happens, we often begin to lose confidence in ourselves.

The solution is to look inside and believe in yourself. I know that sounds so cheesy, but it’s the truth. And this takes practice. One has to develop the habit of believing in oneself. And you can say affirmations and think positive all you want, but you must also “do”. You must take action.

This belief is best demonstrated by athletes and how they compete. Regardless of your sport, the repeated coaching line is “get your head in the game”. This should be your mantra whether you are starting a business, building or maintaining a relationship, working to complete a goal, attempting to lose weight, exercising, or trying to achieve happiness. Keep your head in the game and be mindful of your thoughts and actions.

When you look at those who have succeeded (however success is defined for each), you will find that they never gave up on their dream or on themselves. And you should never give up on yourself.

This leads me to a brief story I want to share with you. Over twenty years ago I met with a practice management company to learn how to build my practice. I met with the president of the company who told me that if I didn’t sign with them I would always be in debt and I would never succeed. Well, he was incredibly wrong.

When someone tells you that your idea, goal, dreams or aspirations won’t work, don’t succumb to their thought process or lack thereof. Keep in mind that you just have to try. And if it doesn’t work, try a different way. Remember when facing a mountain you have four choices: turn away, go over it, around it or through it. What would you do?

If you get a chance, log on to www.danmillman.com

Take care of yourself. Believe in yourself.

To Your Health, Wealth & Happiness!

Dr. Michael J. Kaye
Knowledge, Action, Results

P.S. If you need help creating your life map e-mail me at Michael@frompaintopersonalgain.com for your FREE 30 minute coaching session.

Frozen Computer

It has been a week and then some since I last sent out a broadcast. I want to thank everyone who e-mailed me to make sure I was okay or to tell me that my broadcast was missed.

Here’s what happened. On Wednesday, March 19, 2008, I was sitting in front of my computer typing as fast as I can (turtle speed). I was putting the finishing touches to an exercise program when I decided to cross reference an exercise maneuver. I popped over to the Internet and typed in my search. I waited and waited for the computer to respond. Nothing. So, relying on my highly technical computer skills, I hit CTRL ALT DELETE. Still nothing. Now it was time to use my second technical move - when in doubt, reboot. Internet came on but froze. Done! Kaput!

Since that is the extent of my technical skills, the following day I dropped my computer off to the specialist. I had several viruses. Even the anti-virus program was tainted. I went eleven days without a computer. I had a computer at work, but I could not access many of my files or e-mail. I was going through withdrawal. The first two days were awful.

Then things started to change. I was spending more time with the family, reading even more than usual, and actually meeting a few friends for lunch and dinner.

Usually I am in computer mode – e-mail, researching and writing (activities of isolation) – but without the computer I went into social mode. And I liked social mode.

In case you are wondering, I am sharing this with you for two reasons – first, to apologize for not getting a broadcast to you in a timely manner and, second, to share with you how I am currently changing my computer habits to find more time for other things.

The action steps that I have taken to change my computer habits are as follows:

The first thing I did was to unsubscribe to e-mails I receive and don’t read. Now I know I am taking a risk by making this suggestion to you. I don’t want to lose a reader/subscriber, but if you do not feel that you get anything from my broadcast, then you should move on (but I hope you don’t).

The second action step was to view e-mail only twice per day, the afternoon and the late evening. I also turned off the little bell that dings every time e-mail is delivered, since I found that knowing I had e-mail was a distraction that I had difficulty ignoring!

Third, I e-mailed my friends and kindly asked them to call me if they have any questions instead of e-mailing me to avoid back and forth e-mail which takes up more time. I also asked my friends to avoid forwarding chain e-mails.

The fourth and last action step involved specific scheduling for computer time. The goal is to work on projects at a given time. For example, my goal is to write 30 minutes every morning, keeping in mind that some writing projects will take more time.

I hope this broadcast was helpful. I love the information age. At the same time, I feel it’s important to engage in human contact. You can’t get a hug from your computer (at least not yet). If you find that you are spending too much time in front of your computer, create a schedule that will allow you to accomplish your work and manage your in-coming e-mails so that you have more time for social activities.

To Your Health, Wealth & Happiness!

Dr. Michael J. Kaye
Knowledge, Action, Results