Survey Says…
Read just about any survey where the respondents said something was important to them versus whether they do it. Everyone has an opinion as to what is important. Question is: is it important enough to do it? Take any Family Feud type question for example. One hundred American men surveyed said this is the most important thing to them. The top six answers are on the board. There seems to be this pat answer in the politically correct order. Can’t you see the top answers as the bell dings when the board flips? GOD! The contestant yells. “Good answer, good answer,” his family claps and cheers. Ding! God/church/religion. Number one. We’ll play Steve, and the game goes on. Spouse. Good answer. Ding! Family/children. Ding! Country. Job. Ding! Ding! Entertainment/ pleasure. Ding!
Priorities
What if we stopped the game right here? C
ontestants, where do you spend most of your time, energy, and money? If I were a betting man, I would say you could probably flip the list upside down. There’s a saying that goes like this: “What you do speaks so loudly, I can’t hear what you are saying.” If there is a disparity between what we say and what we do, it begs the question: why? Any problem can be boiled down to the cause by asking “why” at least five times. Usually, it doesn’t take all five “whys.” So let’s take the number one New Years’ resolution: to lose weight. Followed by exercising more so we will take both together. People will join gyms like crazy in January, and then the attendance drops off shortly around February.
The Five “Whys”
Number one: Why do people make these resolutions? Normally, it is because they have guilt or remorse. Some want to do better.
Number two: Why does the attendance drop off in February? People quit their resolutions.
Number three: Why do people quit their resolutions? Too hard, peer pressure, it hurts, I can’t look like that, no really cares, lack of discipline, really not that important. They have tried it in the past and didn’t make it. Certainly not going to make it now, etc.
Number four: Why do people think these things? Because that is the script that is going on inside their head.
Number five: Why do they have this script? The reasons will be as varied as the people themselves. I believe it comes down to this: they have lied to themselves over and over, year after year. They don’t believe the resolutions and therefore do not do what they say to themselves. And you’re saying “Huh?”
The Ant and the Elephant
Vince Poscente has a short, but powerful little book called The Ant and the Elephant. I highly recommend it. In short, the ant is your conscious mind. The elephant is your subconscious mind. The ant tells the elephant that we are going to lose weight and exercise. The elephant laughs at the thought because it has heard it so many times before and knows the ant is lying. Again. So the elephant lumbers on as it did before according to the script as written. We believe something is the truth because we have heard it over and over again. We have ingrained it in our script. We have to change the script to change what we believe which in turn changes what we do. Don’t miss this.
Hit the Target
Case in point, in an earlier article this year I laid out several lofty goals. I will hit these goals. You how I know? I have hit them before and will do it again. My elephant knows I can, so I will. I am no more special than you or anyone else. How did I do it before? I changed my script. I chose to. Was it easy? Heck no! Was it worth it? Absolutely and you can do it too. Here is how I did it and will continue to do it.
- Lead. First off, know that you can lead your elephant. You can school the mind, soul, and body. You can change your script. It starts with the “want to.”
- Feed. Change what you feed your elephant. Your elephant feeds on what you give it. What is the daily diet of your elephant? Is it healthy or hurtful? It is fed through what and who you watch, listen to, and read. If your daily elephant diet is soap operas what do you think your life will be like?
- Speed. Too many resolutions fail because people want instant success. Know that it takes time to change the script. Know that it takes some work as well. Start small and keep track.
- Read. Be selective. You should read more than you watch or listen. Listening is important, but a different part of the brain is engaged when you read. Again start small. Start with “The Ant and the Elephant.”
- Weed. You are what you think, and you are only as successful as you think. Pluck the negative thoughts as if they are weeds. Replace them with positive thoughts. Keep doing this. A perfect example was given to me by a friend about my garden. He said when you till the garden you bring inactive weed seeds to the surface, and they sprout. Kill those weeds and then till the soil again. Then kill the new weeds. It may take many times of this process to kill the weeds, but they will always come back, but not as strong.
Summary
You can do this. It helps if you have someone to partner with you and challenge you. If you are one of the fortunate ones that can find a mentor you will be miles ahead. You also can sign up for several self-directed education courses. I would be glad to recommend books and audios for you. You can see the books I have read and are reading at Goodreads.com. I also have several blogs where I recommend books. As always I welcome your comments and questions. You can reach out to me at thesaltyeclectic@gmail.com.
But what does it mean to you? Ben Franklin said, “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do things worth writing.” I try to do both. Did he live a life of significance? I think we will all agree that he did. If you ask the average American to name something about Ben Franklin you would get a varied response. You might hear such as he created the potbellied stove; he created the bifocals; he was struck by lightning when flying a kite in a storm, or more likely, he is on a $100.00 bill. But was he more significant today than he was in his generation?
If you have ever read the 
mind is a true maxim. Never underestimate the value of a 3×5 card. List your goals on several and strategically place them so you see that list every day, several times a day. Put one on your bathroom mirror so you can see it in the morning when you get up and before you go to bed. Put one on your refrigerator, one on the dashboard of your car, one on your desk, in your lunch box and so on. Keep your mind focused on your goals.
You have a goal, and you have a plan. Now you have to measure the plan. There are several ways to do this, monthly, quarterly, biannually, and annually. In some cases, depending on the goal, you may have to measure and review weekly or daily. For you to save $1200.00 a year, you will have to save around $23.08 a week or $46.15 every two weeks. What if you get paid every two weeks, and you rounded it up to $50.00 a pay period? At the halfway point of the year, you would have $650.00. You would be $50.00 ahead of your goal for that timeframe.
To start, let’s define the Golden Rule, rather than just assuming everyone knows. It was first spoken by Jesus and is a basic principle of life. The premise: treat others as you would have them treat you. If you want respect, give respect. If you want loyalty, give loyalty. If you want courtesy give courtesy. Will you always get what you give? Not always, but here are five reasons why you should still employ and encourage others to employ the Golden Rule in business dealings. They work in tandem with each other.
Recently, several people have asked me this question. For the first time since September I don’t have a looming deadline for an audio book. It was in August of last year that I started my audio book narration career, stint, what ever you care to call it and through it all I did not have time to write anything. The answer to the title question: It didn’t go at all.
like that), it actually taught me to see the OPPORTUNITY in the hardships. If not for my biological father leaving, I never would’ve met my Dad. If not for that broken home, I never would’ve had the benefit of going to school in Illinois and summering in Alabama. If not for the stark differences between my Mom and Dad, I never would’ve gotten my serious Christian walk, which is coupled with a strong “what if” personality. All of the seeming trials in my life flow together to create a unique experience that created a unique me, as it does with EVERYBODY’S life. 🙂
Jeremy: I’ve been writing since I was a kid. I was always all over the map with how my creativity manifested, but I had “specialties” for different stages of my life — angsty poetry as a teen, songs as a young adult, and fiction as a mature adult. My interests in writing tend toward the fantastical, thanks in no small part to my Dad who raised me on a steady diet of Star Trek and Dragonlance. No, I didn’t get into the Hobbit until I was well and truly grown, and even then, it didn’t really appeal to me. I LIKE it, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t speak to me like other fantasies do. It’s quite like Grape Nuts cereal — hard to chew for an interesting yet unimpressive flavor and it settles thickly in your stomach. I guess that’s the price you pay for being the first in a field.
met at the coffee shop, I saw him again a few weeks later when I was at the veterinarian office for my cat. He came in to take care of some business with his pet. When we spotted each other, we smiled and greeted each other. With “we meet again” and “so soon”. One of those “it’s a small world” experiences because we both use the same animal doctor. As you can tell from this interview and pictures, Jeremy has quite a sense of humor and adventure.
er to her as one of my SSFs and had explained to her what it meant. She also left a wind chime hanging from a hook in the corner of my office. It had the usual little pipes that rattled and on top was a metallic sun. Where I work we have helicopters fly over on a regular basis and when they do the wind chime rattles ever so slightly. You have to know what it is when it rattles or you will miss it. It reminds me of Cheryl every time it does and I cannot help but smile. It has brought sunshine on some very down days. I say a little prayer, thanking God for my SSFs.
horse lover, and seller of Amish goods. I was first introduced to Ashley when we both worked together. I had recently been promoted and was given a budget for the first time in my new position. Honestly, I didn’t understand the process and codes. It was all Greek to me. I was told to “go talk to accounting.” So, the testing of patience for Ashley and her fellow accountants began and continues even to date. And patient she was, as well as understanding and helpful. Truth be told, I do my best to make the folks in accounting my best friends and they truly are.
visiting the Amish in Tennessee several times each year. I have accumulated several of the things that they make. After having people repeatedly tell me how they like my purchases and how much they would like to have the same thing; I decided to start trying to sell some of the smaller Amish handmade items myself. So, in the summer of 2015 I started selling Amish handmade wooden items such as birdhouses, cutting boards, bird feeders, rolling pins, etc.”
Me: “Somehow I see you loving this too much to call it a job. So, you have a store online. What is it called?”
Me: “You have been recently married and I understand that your mom wanted to let someone else make the wedding cake and the groom’s cake, but you convinced her to let you do it. You also created the cake for your husband-to-be’s man shower.”
Michelle: “I love to paint on canvas and create other things like door hangers. I also like to draw and illustrate.”
The Salty Eclectic 