October 2020 - The Goalden Lady

#TBT: Why Consistency Is Key

Consistency is key when it comes to making progress in life. The daily habits you develop play a major role in being consistent and can help with making incremental improvements over time.

Why is consistency so important? What happens if you don’t follow a certain pattern everyday? Will consistency enhance your life?

Daily Habits

We all have different daily habits that help move our day along. We perform most of these patterns unconsciously and it provides a foundation for the rest of the day.

Habits, such as brushing your teeth and taking a shower, are things you do from a necessity standpoint. If you weren’t consistent with these things, no one would want to be around you. Hygiene habits are critically important.

Other habits, such as folding your clothes or writing down your expenses, are things you choose to do to keep organized. No one has to do these, but it helps you on a personal level and allows you to promote your own development.

Consistency Has It’s Benefits

Being consistent naturally falls in line with your habits. Since you do them everyday, you’re already consistent with them.

Imagine if you didn’t brush your teeth everyday. What would happen? It definitely wouldn’t be in your best interest personally and it could lead to possible health issues. The fact that you brush your teeth consistently, is beneficial to the people around you and your health.

When folding your clothes, you are prepping for when you have to choose your outfit for the day. If you didn’t fold your clothes, you could waste time looking for something you need, as opposed to knowing where it is and putting it on right away. When you’re organized, you can focus on more important things and avoid draining your energy on the simple things.

The Power Of Consistency

Having a habit of consistency enhances your life, especially when you have productive habits.

If you exercise on a daily basis, you’ll see and feel the results throughout your body. Not only will you look good, you’ll feel good. This is a powerful habit that leads to being physically healthy, along with other advantages.

When you develop a habit and you’re consistent with it, you’re ahead of the game. Others who aren’t consistent with their good habits will have a harder time becoming more productive and won’t enjoy the perks from being consistent.

It’s a win – win situation. The more consistent you are with your good habits, the more progress you will make in your life.

The Key To Being Consistent

Don’t overwhelm your mind with how hard something is – if you do, it will seem hard and you won’t even begin.

The key to being consistent is to keep going. Start small and take action everyday. As time goes on, you will become better and it will allow you to put your mind power towards accomplishing your goals.

Consistency also helps with your confidence and puts you on another level. Because you take the time to enhance yourself on a regular basis, your confidence will rise, which prepares you for the next level of your life.

Unless you practice being consistent with the productive habits in your life, you will remain stagnant. Growth doesn’t happen where consistency is absent.

Develop some good habits and don’t allow any distractions to get in the way. You’ll soar beyond your potential when you continue to be consistent with the good, productive habits in your life.

#BeGoalden

Discipline Picks Up Where Motivation Leaves Off

Having discipline is one of the foundations for success. Motivation is great in the moment, but it can only carry you so far.

Have you ever heard an inspirational story or read an article that made you want to become the best version of yourself? Yes, we all have.

What happens after that? Do you go on and finish the rest of your day without thinking about it again, or do you make a plan and start taking action?

Motivation Gives A Good Push

Who doesn’t like a good motivational movie or speech? We all need that good push every now and then, to get us going in the right direction, with the right mindset.

It seems to always come at the right time – when we start a new project or when you need something to give you that energy to get going. There’s nothing wrong with motivation, but it’s only temporary.

How many times have you told yourself you were going to start Monday and Monday comes and goes? At the time, motivation gave you the mental strength to think enough to follow through, but the actual work never happened.

Being motivated gives you a winning feeling, but it doesn’t force a winning action – that’s where discipline comes in.

Discipline Forces Action

Where motivation ends, discipline begins. Discipline is when you do the actual work, whether you feel like it or not. If it has to get done, having discipline will make you do it.

There are many times when you are tired, had a long day, your child gets sick, your car broke down, you don’t understand, it’s too much right now – the list of excuses are infinite.

Motivation gives you a choice, but discipline doesn’t. If it needs to get done, it needs to get done. Instant gratification is not an option. You do the work because it will move the needle and get things done in a timely manner. It doesn’t matter what’s going on, discipline teaches you to be responsible with your actions and words.

Intentions don’t give results, but discipline will. No matter how you feel at the moment, there’s something in you that will give you enough willpower to follow through and perform according to plan. Imagine how far along you would be with your goal if you were more disciplined with your actions.

Make Discipline Work

Develop a habit. Break your goal down into something you can do daily. If you want to write a book, get in the habit of writing 500 words a day. Don’t let external factors drive your decision of if you’re going to do it or not – just do it!

Don’t break the chain. Jerry Seinfeld developed a habit where he would create a joke once a day. He would then mark a red ‘x’ on the calendar everyday he performed this habit. The point is to keep up with the daily habit, or you’ll break the chain on the calendar. You’ve worked so hard to create the chain, you wouldn’t want to break it. In the meantime, your habit gets sharper and your discipline builds up.

Once you create the habit of discipline successfully, it will also increase in other areas of your life. It gives you responsibility and control over your life. You are disciplined because you did the work and the outcome is a feeling of self-confidence and satisfaction.

Never allow the negative voices in your head to guide your decisions. This is where discipline steps in – it tells you to keep moving forward so you can make progress.

Giving in to your emotions will definitely make you comfortable, but the art of discipline will make you an achiever. Practice your discipline today!

#BeGoalden

#TBT: Are You Cheating Yourself?

What do you do when no one is looking? Are you the same person? Do you sneak an extra cookie? Do you skip putting money into your savings?

Your character and integrity are best defined as what you do when no one is looking. Some of us have the same, disciplined demeanor, as if someone is watching us all of the time. Others of us, think a little differently.

What Are You Doing?

When you have a goal, everyday can be a challenge. The plan to make it to the next level can be trying, especially if you’re doing it alone.

No one may be watching, but you know what you’re doing. Your guilty conscious will reprimand you with the quickness. It hurts just as bad as getting caught by someone else.

Why Cheat?

Most people cheat themselves for one of two reasons: either they’re a bad person, or they don’t believe in their own abilities.

The first reason is obvious. There are just some bad people in the world and they seem to always have a ‘better idea’ about how to do something. They will take every chance they can to get over, not realizing that they’re only creating a negative pattern for themselves.

The second reason has to do with limiting beliefs. You think that you’re unable to perform at a decent level, so you cheat. This only drives you further into your own disbelief about yourself, because you’ll feel even worse after you’ve cheated.

Bet on yourself and have confidence. Confidence won’t allow you to cheat yourself. You can do anything, as long as you stick to the plan and respond accordingly to any situation. Know that you can do it, even if it doesn’t work out the first time.

Always Do The Right Thing

Even if no one is there to make sure you are acting within your responsibilities, you should want to do the right thing. That’s what makes you dependable and trustworthy.

So many people will try to cut corners and get away with things that they know are wrong. They may think they’ve figured out a better way, but life doesn’t work that way. It may appear to work for the moment, but it all works against you in the end.

When You Cheat, You Suffer

You may feel that eating one more piece of cake won’t matter. Or spending your savings won’t hurt.

In both cases, you may not see the effects of it at that moment, but it will come back to haunt you. When you get on that scale and you gained, instead of losing weight. Or, when your water heater breaks down and you’re stuck microwaving tap water to take a shower (good luck with that).

Don’t suffer your own consequences. We are all fully aware of what’s right and what’s wrong. Whether you do it in front of someone, or by yourself, it doesn’t matter – always act with integrity.

The End Result

Be level-headed. Don’t let little things tempt you to take shortcuts. It’s almost, always, never worth it.

We only have so much control in our daily lives, so why make it harder on ourselves by cheating? If you do things right the first time, you won’t have to suffer the outcome later.

Use your energy for good. Be consistent with your attitude and actions, inside and out. Besides – you never know who’s watching.

#BeGoalden

Create A Habit of Living On The Edge

Creating a habit is a good thing. When you live by them, it can alleviate large amounts of unwanted stress from your life. The more you follow those daily patterns, the more smoothly your day will go.

What happens when we become to robotic with our habits? Is there a time when we should kick them to the curb and live on the edge? Is there a such thing as being too habitual?

The Everyday Habit

Having a few habits that you follow everyday is actually a responsible and productive thing to do. When you know what you’re doing, it gives you a feeling of being in control, along with an instant dose of self-confidence.

There’s nothing wrong with going through that same ritual day in and day out. It allows us to save more brain power for other important decisions and constant developments throughout the day.

At the same time, we should allow a little wiggle room for the unexpected to happen. You must allow for mistakes and adapt and adjust, just in case your plans don’t go the way you thought.

Don’t Let Comfort Become A Habit

Going through the motions of your habits is comfortable, but it also doesn’t allow for growth. It can be disturbing when something happens out of the ordinary – it may even throw you off track.

Know that when something happens out of your daily routine, it’s okay. Take a breath and know that you can handle what needs to be done next. If you let it take a hold of your emotions, you’ve already lost.

When things happen unexpectedly, it gives you the opportunity to think past what you know. This gives you a chance to grow – as a result, you become more flexible with your thoughts and actions. It’s never a bad thing to get out of your comfort zone.

Give yourself the space to adjust. Create new habits and see if they’re more efficient than what you were doing before. You shouldn’t have the same exact habits you had five years ago. Show a little creativity and do it a different way.

Try Something New

Exploring a new place is an awesome way to escape your daily routine. It forces you to think a little more and to try something new.

If you happen to go on a vacation, don’t do the same thing that you would do at home. Eat something different, go to a museum or learn a new hobby. Being in a new place should spark new ideas – it defeats the purpose if you choose to do the same things that you would normally do.

Don’t be afraid to schedule a little spontaneity. Make time on a certain day to go out and “feel” your way through. If you turn left, see where turning right will take you. Get lost and find your way back. Eat spicy instead of mild. Go to a random public event. Accept the challenge and participate in a contest.

Whatever you do, just do your best at it. If you’re unable to find your way back, you can always use your GPS or (dare I say) walk up to someone and ask for directions. You don’t have to eat spicy ever again – now, you know what it really tastes like. Some things are better when you find out for yourself.

Everything is just an experience. You might make a new friend, develop a new hobby or find a new place you like to go. Make the time to do something out of your ordinary routine.

Create A New Habit

Throughout all of this, you’ve grown. You stretched your mind more than you usually do and it guided you to a new adventure. Instead of always asking someone what is it like, you have your own personal opinion to offer.

Keep your daily habits – no one is saying to give them up completely, but allow yourself some room to evolve.

Habits are great, but don’t forget to live a little. It doesn’t have to be a huge undertaking, but something as simple as shopping at a different grocery store can give you a nice challenge.

If you think your life is boring, drop your habits and live on the edge for a little while. Adventure will find you sooner than you think.

#BeGoalden

#TBT: The Best Investment To Make When You Have Nothing

#TBT: The Best Investment You Can Make when You Have Nothing

What is the best investment to make, when you have nothing? Is it stocks? Real estate? Car collection or hand bags?

Before you even think of making an investment, you must have a lot of money, right? Wrong. There’s one thing you can invest in that’s free and well worth your time and energy.

The returns on this specific investment is infinite. All you have to do is have a mindset of discipline, confidence and resilience to begin.

What Can You Invest In Without Money?

You don’t necessarily need money to invest in something. People invest their time and energy into things they want to see grow and become better.

The biggest investment you can ever make in your life, is investing in yourself.

Yes, you! There is something that you enjoy doing or want to know more about – this is what you invest in. You put forth extra effort and stay up late because you want to see it develop into something more.

Throughout that process, you are learning and building yourself into a valuable resource. You are investing the time and energy it takes to become an unstoppable version of yourself.

How do you invest in yourself?

Know what you want to do. What are you good at? Is there something you do everyday, flawlessly, that is hard for others? There is something you’re awesome at. If you’re not, you can become awesome at it. Know what you want to do (or have an idea) and be clear on it. Some people get caught up in the idea of knowing and they forget to take action, but the process doesn’t stop there.
Read and research. Learning never stops. You can always read and discover something you didn’t know and apply it to your life. It doesn’t take money – you can do research on the internet or listen to a lecture full of gems. Have an open mind when it comes to new information. Improvements can always be made.
Develop strong habits. Habits create your identity. Routines put those habits into practice. It’s good to be spontaneous, but habits must be in place to promote productivity. No one is spontaneously successful. Constructive habits and skills will increase your personal value.

Make Time For Your Personal Investment

Most of us are looking for ways to impress other people so we can get a job, be in a certain circle or get to the next level. We do things to gain attention from other people, as opposed to building ourselves.

When you invest your time and energy into others, it can be a disappointment. They may not see your significance and dismiss it, without a thought. You’re at their mercy.

Now you’re stuck, trying to figure out who to impress next so you can move on. Instead of making other people see your value, see the value in yourself. Why not attempt to put your future into your own hands?

Invest in yourself. Benefit yourself before you give your benefit away to others. When you invest in yourself, you open up doors to new possibilities and endless opportunities. It also gives you the highest advantage of profiting from your own skills, first.

The investment that you make in yourself is priceless. You are the best investment that you could ever make and no one can take that away. Stocks and real estate will go up and down on a whim, but the constant investment you make in yourself will allow you to grow in many ways throughout life.

#BeGoalden

4 Tips To Planning Your Goal Effectively

We think up big and small goals on the regular. Anything from what we will eat in the morning to how we will plan for retirement. No goal is too great or insignificant, but it still involves mental and physical action to get the best outcome.

It seems like pursuing a goal should be as easy as moving forward with everything already in place, but it’s not magic. Your life is in your hands and the results come down to the basics of strategic planning and decisions.

Goal-Making Questions

Every goal should be actionable, but some will require deeper thought. Here are some goal-making questions to ask yourself:

What do you want? If you don’t know what you want, how will you get there? It’s a simple question, but a lot of people act without knowing exactly what they want. Knowing what you really want will give you the best possible results. Write it down, detail by detail.
How will you start? Some people believe you need to have all of the stars aligned before you can start. That’s not true – you simply start where you are, with what you have. Take note of your resources and figure out how to move the needle. Everyone doesn’t have the same advantage when starting – some will have more, some will have less, but you must make it a point to focus on yourself and start where you are. If you don’t, you’ll be in the same place as you were before.
What can you change? This is where a lot of people get stuck in life. They worry about things not going their way or some circumstances that didn’t turn out in their favor. Although you aren’t able to control what happens, you CAN control how you react and what to do moving forward. You can’t control everything, so learn to adapt and adjust. When you give up the anxiety and stress of worrying, you’ll quickly begin to see improvement.
What can I do to move it forward? Working on your goals and strategies takes focused work, but don’t forget to take some time and have a little fun. When you make time to take a break, you allow your mind to breathe and create more ideas and figure out challenges. Visualize and create your blueprint – improve it as you go along.

Productive Habits Will Get You There

It takes daily practice to drive yourself towards your dream. Prepare a set of helpful habits that will guide you into working on your goals daily. This helps out, even when you don’t “feel like” following through.

Self-improvement is a lifelong task. Having focus, discipline and resilience will make that journey a little easier. Once you accomplish one goal, there’s always a bigger and better one to go after. Put your goal in place with these tips and become the successful person that you visualize!

#BeGoalden

#TBT: How Creating Better Habits Can Prevent Future Problems

By not having strong habits in place, we can become our own worst enemy. Potential obstacles can be a challenge, but it can be handled effectively, beforehand, with the right effort.

Little things that we tend to overlook for too long, can become big distractions. If we aren’t careful, snowballs can become avalanches and spiral out of control.

Yet, some of it is in our control. There are many situations we can prevent from happening, but we must intentionally practice building our habits in a productive way.

Weak Habits Won’t Help

Building powerful habits can help you avoid falling into small, predictable traps. By procrastinating on the little things and putting them off, you forget about it and then it becomes a bigger issue that should have never happened.

Let’s take paying monthly bills, as an example. Most bills are due at the same time, every month. We know this, but we’re so used to the thought of it being due, that it slips our minds and we forget to pay it on time (or some of us just ignore it completely).

Before you know it, the lights have been turned off, due to our lack of attention. Now, we have to make phone calls and wait for the services to be restored. Late fees have to be paid and we may have to wait 3 business days before they can turn them back on.

Time and money have been lost, due to weak habits.

It Happens In All Areas Of Life

You know what needs to be done, but for whatever reason, you decide to procrastinate and do it later. It doesn’t just happen with bills – it happens in all areas of our lives.

The diet that was supposed to start today, doesn’t start because you didn’t prepare for it. You’re still eating entire pizzas and cheeseburgers for lunch and dinner. In your mind, you’ll start tomorrow, but you need just one more day.

Every weekend, you’re still shopping online and buying what you want. That’s fine for some people, but if you want to improve your life and you keep telling yourself that you’re going to save money, that’s not going to work.

How To Advance Your Habits

Everything seems simple in your mind, but it’s hard to do when it comes to taking action. If you want to make a change for the better, here’s what you need to do:

First, make the commitment. You’ve already done that part in your mind, but now, you must physically act on it. Your commitment to yourself should be held to a high standard. Give yourself consequences, if that helps. If you eat that doughnut, you must do 50 push ups. Think before you procrastinate.

Secondly, prep yourself. Put your bills on auto-pay. Get rid of the junk food in your house. Put internet controls on your computer to limit your lazy time. When you prep yourself, you put yourself in a better position to be successful.

Third, take action. Even if it’s not perfect action, do it anyway. The worst thing you can do is nothing at all. You learn along the way and get better as you go along. If you have to do it over, do it over, but don’t stop. Always move forward.

Always Think 2 Steps Ahead

Once you develop these productive habits and more, you’ll experience less of those ‘preventable’ situations. This part of your life can run on autopilot to your benefit.

Think prevention – what can I do so this won’t happen, again? Are there routines I can put in place to avoid these annoying interruptions? Figure it out before it happens.

By being a progressive thinker and action taker, you will be able to stay 2 steps ahead of the game. Reacting at the last minute, especially when you were capable of handling it earlier, places you in a better position to be more productive and ready.

Don’t wait for it to become a problem – position yourself to manage it ahead of time. When you think 2 steps ahead, you win back your money, time and energy.

#BeGoalden

Thinking by Walter Wintle

If you think you are beaten, you are;

If you think you dare not, you don’t.

If you’d like to win, but think you can’t,

It is almost a cinch that you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost;

For out of the world we find

Success begins with a fellow’s will

It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you’re outclassed, you are;

You’ve got to think high to rise.

You’ve got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win the prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go

To the stronger or faster man;

But sooner or later the man who wins

Is the one who thinks he can!

by Walter Wintle

#TBT: How To Find The Opportunity In Fear

It sounds impossible, but you can find the opportunity in fear. Depending on your mindset, fear can either hold you back or take you to another level.

We’ve been trained to see fear and hurt as something to avoid. It’s something ‘bad’ that we want to get away from and we don’t ever want to experience it.

Have you ever considered that maybe your fear is pushing you in the right direction? Let’s examine how we normally react to fear.

Blaming And Complaining

Fear gets the best of our emotions. As soon as something makes us fearful, our feelings kick in and take over.

For some of us, that means we automatically become defensive. We create different excuses as to why we haven’t done something. The excuses are portrayed through blaming and complaining.

We say things like, “I couldn’t make the speech because they didn’t give me the right microphone…” or, “The lights were so bright, I couldn’t see the audience.” That’s fear consuming your mind and your attitude.

Those may be somewhat legitimate reasons (to an extent), but they’re still excuses. Sometimes, you will have to get things done, whether you are comfortable or not. Everything is not guaranteed to happen to your personal satisfaction. The end goal is to make it happen, the best way you can.

Practicing Fear

Some of us actually practice the fear within us. When you have pity parties and feel sorry for yourself, that’s being supporting of a negative emotion.

We say things like, “They said I’m no good at singing. I never was and I guess I never will be…”, or “I flunked the test twice already – I guess it’s not meant for me.” You’re indirectly inviting negative energy to take hold of your life.

If it’s something you really want to overcome, don’t feel bad because it didn’t happen the first time around. As long as you breathe, you can make another attempt.

There will always be people who are critical of whatever you’re doing. Never allow what someone else thinks, to interfere with what you’re doing. It’s their insecurity, not yours, so don’t claim it.

The Pity Party

The pity party is the ultimate setback. Some of us were raised to think and be fearful of things we’ve failed at. We’ve been taught to accept that we’re not ‘good enough’ and that’s not okay.

We’re used to reacting to obstacles by putting ourselves down. “Why me? What did I do to deserve this?” Then, you begin playing all of your failures from the past, over and over in your mind.

This is not the ONLY way to respond to fear. Yes, it hurts when challenging situations happen, but have a mindset of power and opportunity. Stop practicing fear by having a “woe is me” attitude and thinking that you’ll never succeed.

Be Proactive

All of our lives, we’ve allowed fear to steal valuable moments from us. We’re so used to believing in a negative, emotional power, that it literally takes up our most important asset – time.

Reclaim your time and take advantage of your fear. Be productive by turning it into an opportunity to become better. Make it a personal project that you must successfully complete!

Instead of letting fear control you, take control of it. See the benefits of what fear has to offer and use it in your favor. On the other side of fear is improvement. See through it, then, see it through.

#BeGoalden