Growin’ Up

“God have mercy on the man who doubts what he is sure of.” – Bruce Springsteen, Brilliant Disguise

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In “Springsteen on Broadway”, Bruce Springsteen’s epic 3-hour journey through his life and music, The Boss tells a REMARKABLE story about his relationship with his father.

Springsteen reveals he sang many of his songs through the eyes of his dad.

Springsteen’s father lived a life very different from Bruce.

His dad was a blue collar, hard drinking, factory worker who struggled through life and his relationships.

Springsteen says, “My father was my hero. And my greatest foe.”

Just days before Bruce’s wife gave birth to their first child, Springsteen’s dad drove over 500 miles and arrived unannounced at his front door.

Bruce said his dad wanted to “Apologize…and warn me of the mistakes he made, so I would not make them myself.”

Springsteen calls this the greatest moment he ever had with his dad.

His dad wanted to change from a GHOST to an ANCESTOR in his life.

What’s the difference?

ANCESTORS show the way forward.

Ancestors create a path.

They make life better for those that come after them.

We build on their work.

We stand on our ancestors’ shoulders.

GHOSTS are the opposite.

Ghosts are focused on themselves.

They have very little or even a negative impact on your life.

They are easily forgettable.

Ghosts pass by and quickly disappear.

Almost like they were never there.

These RELATIONSHIPS also exist in our PROFESSIONAL LIFE.  

What kind of path are your leaving for others to follow?

Who is better off because you showed up?

Will you be missed when you’re gone?

The world needs more ANCESTORS.

We’ve heard enough GHOST stories already.

#GrowinUp

-Joe Ciccarone

http://www.SalesVibe.Net

 

 

 

Take The Plunge

“You have two choices, control your mind or let your mind control you.” – Paulo Coelho

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There is a scene in the documentary “I Am Not Your Guru” where Tony Robbins jumps into a 57° plunge pool immediately after waking up.

Brrrr…

Robbins TAKES THE PLUNGE every morning to tell his mind that he is in charge of the day.

PROFESSIONALS get up and go to work.

AMATEURS wait to be in the mood.

Our brains are hardwired to keep us SAFE and COMFORTABLE.

They are not concerned about our SUCCESS.  

When our brain spots a PERCEIVED threat, it tells us to go in the other direction.

This worked great 10,000 years ago when we were being chased by saber-tooth tigers.

Not so much when this same FEAR crushes our present day CREATIVITY.  

Our minds will try to convince us not to:

  • Wake up EARLY.
  • WRITE that blog post.
  • Make that UNCOMFORTABLE sales call.

We can’t let our MOOD decide if we will execute or not.

There are ways we can PRIME ourselves to do the work that our minds are trying to keep us from doing.

4 WAYS TO TAKE THE PLUNGE:

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COLD

Want to create your mood the moment you wake up?

Cold shower.

Standing in a cold shower for 30 seconds is an incredibly effective way to tell your mind who’s in charge.

CREATE ROUTINES

Before each Jiu Jitsu class, I head to the pull up bar in the back of the academy.

I do a set of 10 pull ups.

This routine tells my BODY & MIND that it is time to train.

No matter what thoughts are bouncing around in my brain when I walk in, after I hit pull up #10,  I am totally focused on training.

FOCUS ON THE OUTCOME

Muhammad Ali said, “I hated every minute of training, but I loved being CHAMPION.”

For me, writing consistently is a struggle but I love having a WEEKLY BLOG.

I focus on how I will feel after I hit the PUBLISH button.

SCHEDULE & PROTECT

Each of us need to use some sort of calendar.

  • SCHEDULE what’s important.
  • PROTECT what we schedule.

If we don’t, life will eat our time for breakfast.

Robbins says, “When you train yourself to do it anyway, you will have a freedom that few people will ever find.”

There will always be things we HAVE TO DO that we don’t WANT TO DO.

Free yourself by taking MOOD out of the equation.

How will you tell your mind that YOU ARE IN CHARGE?  

Feel the fear.

Do it anyway.

#TakeThePlunge

-Joe Ciccarone

http://www.SalesVibe.Net