Misc
This is a guest post.
Life requires that we make decisions, often and continuously. Some decisions are small with limited impact, like “where should I park?”; but some are very large and potentially life changing, like “should I go back to college?” We make decisions in our personal lives, within our families, and related to our employment to name just three of the many channels. There came a time in my life that I realized that a structured process for decision making would improve the outcomes, potentially worth much for the larger decisions. Here are the steps in that process:
1.
Recognize you have a decision to make and how important it is to you. Allocate appropriate attention to it based on its importance. Select the right day for making the decision.
2.
Resolve to keep all options and NOT make the decision or over focus on just one option until it is time to narrow the choices.
3.
Determine what information, skill, viewpoint or other input you could use that might improve the probability of getting it right. Move out right away on accessing that help. Keep notes.
4.
Use your head. By this I mean that you should be careful to analyze the objective data in the early going. Your feelings in the matter are part of the fact set and can be cranked in as such, but the strong tendency is to allow feelings such as fear, love, excitement, anger, fantasy, etc. to drive the process and determine the outcome you WANT which you then use your head to JUSTIFY. At this stage resist letting feelings take over…keep the process in your head.
5.
Are you keeping notes? Do it. It is easy to revisit the issues, track the process and order your thinking. Reorder the notes from time to time as the imperative considerations begin to emerge.
6.
As the time for the decision approaches, narrow the choices to the 2 or 3 best alternatives and focus on them. Be disciplined and focus only on these best alternatives.
7.
When the time comes DECIDE, using the facts you assembled and analyzed and now in full cognizance of your feelings about the matter. Applying the heart driven judgment at the end is a powerful part of the process and takes human intuition fully into account, but the process does not get derailed from reality if you limit this step to the end.
8.
Implement your decision with zeal and conviction. It is the best call you could have made. Have confidence in it.
A tremendous advantage of being careful about this process for the big calls in life is the freedom of knowing you have done all you could do. You were careful, methodical and diligent giving the matter the importance it deserved. You made the best call that was possible at that time, knowing all that was knowable. So, do not look back, even if subsequent events temp you to think you went the wrong way. The only reason to look back is to review the process you used so you can improve it the next time.
Based on my experience, this process will offer you freedom and confidence.
Written by Lamar C. Smith
Lamar C. Smith is Chairman of the Board of Directors of H.O.P.E Farms Inc., a non-profit organization for high-risk boys, and a director of Torchmark, Inc., a leading provider of life and health insurance products and annuities. Smith is a former CEO of First Command Financial Services, a retail brokerage firm with more than 300,000 clients. He was an Air Force Special Operations Fighter pilot with over 114 combat missions and has earned decorations including Silver Stars, six Distinguished Flying Crosses and 11 Air Medals, which are awarded for gallantry and heroism. A board member of Search Ministries, Inc., he resides in Fort Worth, Texas with his family.
Lamar brings extensive personal, professional, and life experience to lessons for Balanced Living told through the exciting story in “There’s More to Life Than the Corner Office.”
To learn more please visit: www.ImprovingYourBalance.com
We’ve all been there and we will all be there again; standing at a crossroads with four possible directions to head but with no directions to tell us which way is best.
One road leads to what appears to be the Promised Land. Another road is shadowed by dark rain clouds. The third seems nonthreatening and calm. And the fourth road leads back to where you just came.
The fourth road should be instantly out your picture. You can’t turn back around even when you feel the decisions are too tough to handle. Going back brings you to a place with no progress and to a place that fills your mind with “what ifs?”.
Not having to worry about the fourth road doesn’t make your decision any easier. You still have no idea which way you should head. Other people can offer you advice but the reality is they don’t know which is best either. So where does the answer lie?
It lies within.
It comes from your heart and your guts. It’s the direction you’re draw to or pushed towards. It might be a road that you just want to explore more.
It may be the road that is full of pot holes and rain in the beginning. It doesn’t always have to be the path that’s sunny, full of flowers, and picturesque, because even those roads will have their rocky patches and need their fair share of rain.
The best road to take is the road that forces you to believe in yourself and forces you to keep hope close and tests your hope and belief along the way.
Survival of the fittest – a phrase coined by philosopher Herbert Spencer. Spencer based it on Charles Darwin’s theory concerning natural selection; where the strongest and best adapted animals survive changes in their environment.
Now we humans don’t have to worry as much about natural selection and being the fittest to survive as we did, but I’ve development my own theory. That those who thrive, not just exist, but truly live life to the fullest, are the most persistent. I call the theory “Thrival of the persistent.”
Power of persistence –Why the most persistent people thrive
So why do the most persistent people thrive in life? There are four main reasons:
1. They continue to improve
2. Create the change
3. Understand that persistence is the toll through obstacles
4. They just do it
- They continue to improve
As they follow the path to achieving goals, persistent people look at what’s not working, figure out how to fix it and do it. They learn more as they strive for more, so in a sense they are becoming more fit, with knowledge and adapting to change, but more likely, they’re creating the change.
- Create the change
People who are existing wait for change to enter their lives. People who are thriving go out there and create the change in their lives and more often it’s positive change. But for those who wait, it’s more often change they don’t want in their lives.
- Understand that persistence is the toll through obstacles
Thriving people know that persistence is the toll you have to pay to get past the border of obstacles.
The one thing that stands in the way of thriving is an obstacle (or sometimes a bunch of obstacles). Obstacles mark the state line between the state of existing and the state of thriving.
- They just do it
Those who are thriving don’t wait for tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year; they just do it. They’re so focused that they don’t care what other people think, or about failure, or even about too far into the future. They know that tomorrow is not guaranteed, but the present is.
Quotes on persistence
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race” – Calvin Coolidge
“Energy and persistence conquer all things.” – Benjamin Franklin
“A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.”- Elbert Hubbard
“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“If you are going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill
Other articles on persistence
- How to Doggedly Pursue Your Dreams in the Face of Naysayers – ZenHabits.com
- 7 Sure-Fire Ways to Develop Persistence – LifeOptimizer.org
- Persistence Isn’t Using The Same Tactics Over And Over – HunterNutall.com
What did you think about this article? Do you believe those who are thriving in life are the ones who are the most persistent? Have any other tips about persistence? Please share in the comments below.
“If being crazy means living life as if it matters, then I don’t mind being completely insane.” -Revolutionary Road
That’s what actress Kate Winslet’s character in Revolutionary Road said after friends began to think that her dream of moving her family to Paris was a crazy idea.
People will call you and your dreams crazy and insane. Embrace it! You need to be completely “insane” to achieve what you want and to live life to the fullest.
To help you embrace it here is the incomplete guide to being completely insane.
Laugh in the face of criticism
When met with criticism about their aspirations “insane” people don’t fight back, cry, become frustrated, or give up. They laugh right in the critic’s face and get right back to working on their crazy dreams.
Go big
Small-minded people – they’re often the critics – will call even the smallest of dreams crazy so don’t try to quiet or satisfy them by going for something smaller, instead go bigger and dream bigger.
Know that insane dreams are the most profound
Insane ideas and dreams are often the most revolutionary. People call them insane because they just can’t fathom such a goal since it’s rarely or never been accomplished before.
Know that the critics are the most insane
Critics are the ones who aren’t going after their dreams and for that, they are the most insane of all. They’re wasting their lives and trying to ruin the lives of others.
What did you think of this post? Do you have any other insane tips to add on how to be insane and live life like it matters? Please share your comments below.
Related articles:
- Escaping Cape Fear: 9 Ways To Not Let Fear Stop You
Today, April 29, bloggers across the world are uniting to raise awareness for world hunger by publishing a post about the subject. This article is in conjunction with this Unite For Hunger and Hope initiative.
I not only want to awaken your mind the severity of hunger worldwide, but I also want to encourage your heart to help out those in need, today.
The Stats
The statistics on hunger are startling and really put things into perspective.
Remember when reading these stats, that there are about 6 billion people in this world.
- According to the UN Millennium Project over 800 million people go to bed every night hungry. And of that 800 million, 300 million are children.
- Every 3.6 seconds a person dies from starvation according to the same UN project. That’s about 25,000 people every day.
- This UN project also states that more than 1 billion people don’t have access to clean drinking water sources.
- Care.org states that 6 million children, of ages 5 and under die each year because of hunger.
- According to UNICEF 1 in 4 children in developing countries are underweight.
- And hunger doesn’t affect just developing countries. According to Bread.org 1 in 10 households in America are living with hunger or are close to going hungry.
What won’t help the fight against hunger
I know that you want to help those who are going hungry but before you can, you need to know what’s not going to help the fight against hunger.
Feeling guilty
“Finish your dinner. You should be grateful to even have any food. There are children starving in Africa.” This was a common thing parents used to say to their children to get them to finish their meals. Now it’s not recommended that you say such things to force your kids to eat more. Not only can it create overeating problems but it makes people feel guilty.
You may feel guilty, even as an adult when you can’t finish an entire meal. But you can’t beat yourself up. You aren’t making people starve and you aren’t going to help them by feeling guilty about it either.
One of the biggest misconceptions about hunger is that there isn’t enough food to go around. However, there may be enough food but the difficult part is transporting it. Think of how remote some of the hunger-stricken regions are.
Perhaps it’s better to feel obligated to do something instead of guilty. Feeling guilty demotivates you.
The “I can’t eliminate hunger” mentality
This is a sad excuse people give when they try to explain why they don’t help the hungry. Though one person may not be able to eliminate all the hunger in the entire world, they can certainly eliminate hunger for one person’s world around them or for an entire family or even town.
How you can help
Direct ways
- Look through your kitchen
If you can’t really afford to donate money to a hunger charity (which is hard to believe, it doesn’t take much) then you should look around your kitchen. See what kind of can and packaged foods you might have had lying around for awhile. You might not think you have a lot but once you start digging around you’ll be surprised at all the small items you’ll find that you can donate.
Take these items to a local food bank or soup kitchen.
- Persuade a restaurant
Perhaps you can persuade a local restaurant or market to donate their leftover food and packaged items to a local food bank as well. A lot of times people are very willing to help, they just don’t know where and how to do it. You can be the one to show them the way.
- Donate to hunger charities in need
A lot of these charities have been hit hard because of the economy so they need more help than ever. Here’s a list of charities, but I encourage you to search for others:
- Freedom from Hunger: http://www.freedomfromhunger.org
- Meals On Wheels: http://mowaa.org
- Feeding America: http://feedingamerica.org
- The Full Belly Project: http://www.thefullbellyproject.org
- Heifer International: http://www.heifer.org
- Share Our Strength: http://www.strength.org
- Project Angel Food: http://www.angelfood.org
Indirectly help fight hunger
You don’t have to just donate to hunger charities to help those who need access to food. You can also help people obtain clean water; which is just as desperately needed as food; provide shoes for people to get where they need to go, and help people help themselves out of poverty. Here are other types of charities in need:
- Soles 4 Souls: http://www.soles4souls.org
Provides shoes to those in need.
- Kiva: http://www.kiva.org
Provides microloans to small business owners in developing countries. Helps people help themselves out of poverty.
- Tap Project: http://www.tapproject.org
Restaurant owners ask patrons to donate $1 for the free water they receive during a meal. You can also donate online.
- charity: water: http://www.charitywater.org
This charity builds wells that access clean drinking water.
- Playpumps International: http://www.playpumps.org
Builds water pumps that are powered by the play of children. Children get to have fun and play, and access clean water at the same time.
Know of any other great charities? Please post in the comment section below so we can all check the organization out.
