Josh Hinds Motivation and Inspiration Journal

In every adversity we have the choice to remain paralyzed in non-action — neglecting to take the necessary steps that will put us on a corrective path. Or we can choose to take the more proactive approach and ask the question — “what is the opportunity that is hidden in this challenge?”

Make no mistake, though hidden from plain sight, on the other side of every challenge is the opportunity to experience immense personal growth. Starting now, make the effort to view all challenges that come your way as hidden opportunities. This simple shift in mindset will make a tremendous difference in the number of accomplishments you experience throughout your life.

– To your success, Josh Hinds
http://GetMotivation.com

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Success is a highly personal thing. Never allow others to define its meaning for you. If you live your life according to others’ definitions of what it means to succeed you will miss out on the very sense of achievement that you’re searching for… And that’s worth considering!
–All the best, Josh Hinds

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Upon checking my voice mail I found the most delightful message… “Josh, I had to call, this is your sister. Your youngest nephew came to me earlier this morning and announced that he’d made some bookmarks and he intended to go out in the neighborhood and sell them. When he told me that I knew that was a story I had to share with you. I guess he has a bit of his Uncle Josh in him eh?”

Aside from the fact that I absolutely ADORE my nephews and niece I took particular pride in hearing this news. Besides the obvious pride I had for my nephew being bright enough to take the initiative to come up with this idea on his own — I was excited for him because I knew that he’d tapped into something that many, many adults tend to lose sight of overtime.

Sadly, as they get older many people begin to focus on why things won’t work, as opposed to cutting through the reasons why they won’t and simply jumping on the horse and giving themselves a fair shot at the success they deserve… the sense of achievement that is theirs for the taking.

Hearing the story of my nephew reminded me that we’re all born with a sense of fearlessness when it comes to pursuing our dreams. I was excited because I knew that his willingness to get out there and do what he wanted to would result in an achievement that will yield results for years to come.

Today it’s homemade bookmarks — and who knows, tomorrow it may be a business that he starts that ends up going public. Who is to say for sure, but at just 5 years old one thing is for sure… my nephew is getting a good start.

My hope is that you’ll take a moment to reconsider the things that you’ve put on hold. Ideas that you believed you would like to have pursued, but for whatever reason did not. Do they still hold that appeal for you? Right now write those things down. Include a few action steps you can take as quickly as possible to get yourself moving in the right direction. Action in the direction of your desires leads to success, and even the smallest of achievements begins a snowball effect. Keep in mind the saying, success begets success.

Another lesson I’d like you to take from the story of my young nephew is that he didn’t overly plan, another thing that we adults sometimes do to much of — to the point that we end up planning ourselves out of ever taking the action needed to get started. Nope, my little nephew had his idea, he made his bookmarks, and before anyone could tell him any different he headed out the door and got started. By the way, I’m happy to report that at a nickel a bookmark he did pretty well.

To your success, Josh Hinds
http://GetMotivation.com

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I’ve heard it said before that if you want to be successful you’ve got to learn to be uncomfortable at times. I think there’s a lot of truth in that statement.

Think about it… What’s comfortable about putting yourself out there and asking for a job promotion? What’s comfortable about asking someone to use your company’s product or service? What’s comfortable about reaching out and making contact with someone you don’t really know that well initially? What’s comfortable about taking the first step towards learning a new skill?

Not a whole lot is there?

Of course this is not all bad news. For one thing if you’re willing to be uncomfortable just a bit from time to time you’re going to put yourself in a much better position to take advantage of a lot of the opportunities that are all around us — even if we don’t always notice them.

In most cases the reason that most folks don’t achieve greater levels of success is because they either don’t recognize the opportunity in the first place, or they lack the ability to move past their self-imposed comfort zones and do the uncomfortable actions necessary to get on with finding success in their given endeavor.

Keep this in mind - if you always feel comfortable it is likely that you’re not giving your success the full chance it deserves. If you are always comfortable, you may be limiting yourself in ways you may not even fully realize.

Action Step:

Develop the mindset to try new things - always be on the lookout for new opportunities and be willing to reach beyond what you think you are capable of and go for it. Even in a worse case scenario where it doesn’t work out, you’ve still gained an invaluable life experience.

It is through trying new things that we grow to the point where we realize that we’ve got every resource we need inside us to live our perfect life.

– To your success, Josh Hinds
GetMotivation.com

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I was reading a magazine recently when something caught my eye. The article mentioned that most people that exercised regularly (and as a result tended to be in the best shape) were those guys and gals that didn’t so much plan out when they would work out, but rather simply worked out regularly without giving much thought to specifically when they would make time to do so.

At first I thought to myself … self, how on earth with such busy lives that we lead do these folks ever find the time to get their work outs in?

After a bit of pondering on this it became glaringly obvious that by taking this approach they weren’t allowing themselves to fall victim to the part of us that over analyzes things. You know the one I’m talking about.

The part of us that says I don’t have time to work out — I’ve got to get home in time to make dinner. I’ve got to stay late at the office. I’ve got to (insert whatever you’d like here). No, they simply acted on their initial impulse to work out. To get that bit of exercise they felt they needed.

Such a simple thought, to do that set of push ups or go for that walk or run instead of going through all the trouble to schedule it in.

I couldn’t help but think, by how applying this same approach to just about any of our goals we wouldn’t find ourselves getting more accomplished.

Consider how many lost goals and otherwise would be achievements we experience simply because we wait around for the right time to get started — and in the process never get the necessary action going to get started in the first place.

Take a moment to really give the above statement some thought…

Is there ever really a “perfect time” to set out in pursuit of your goals? I mean really. Is a month from now, two weeks, or a day from now going to be any better than right now at this very moment. Probably not. That’s just the way things work.

Life is filled with any number of things that will shift and change and inevitably occupy our limited time, if we don’t first take the initiative to fill it with those things we want to implement in our lives.

Each of us is given the same number of hours in the day (24 — last I checked). The same number of days in a week — 7. And days in a year … 365 (unless it’s a leap year).

Starting now get into the mind set that time — or a lack there of won’t stop you from working towards achieving those things that you want to see manifest in your life. Instead of looking for the right time to get started, just get going on them and allow yourself the wiggle room to move and adapt to any change that might be necessary to get you to where you want to be.

As the saying goes, “you don’t have to get it right starting out, you just have to get going”.

Change is inevitable, and in some instances it is true that we can’t control every single thing that happens to us. Even so there are active steps we can take that will help to guide us in the direction of those things we desire. Simply sitting still and idle is one sure way to keep yourself from realizing your dreams.

Dream big and feed your dreams with the necessary amount of action and as a result you are sure to attain your own definition of success.

Keep this thought in mind: Even the best laid out goals are simply dreams until you add the fuel of action that gets you on the path towards achieving them.

– Here’s to your success, Josh Hinds
http://GetMotivation.com

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How do I know when I am successful? Boy, talk about the grandaddy of open ended questions eh? Please bear with me though as I believe we would all do well to give it some serious thought.

Have you ever noticed how many folks choose to equate success with a monetary figure — they place a dollar amount on it and assume that once that figure is attained they’ll suddenly feel successful.

Unfortunately it’s rarely as easy as saying that once we have x number of dollars in the bank we will somehow magically feel as though we’ve truly lived a life of worthwhile achievement.

With that said the question is how do we get past the point where we’re only equating success with a sticker price?

Take your success personally ….

Years ago I heard success defined as, “having the freedom to be yourself” and I think that is about the best definition I have heard to date. It is the gauge I use in my own life to know whether I’m leading a successful life.

My feeling is that as long as I have the resources necessary to move through life fully able to pursue the goals and dreams that are important to me then I am a successful.

At first the above definition might appear to be a bit open ended, but it should get you really thinking if you give it some serious thought.

For starters it gives us the room to dream and really think about what it would take to live out our goals and dreams — the things that we truly place personal value on — not just those things that outside forces may deem as important.

Say for example you want to be the best parent you can be. That doesn’t take a lot of money does it? (unless you think to be a good parent you’ve got to have ample amounts of money to care for your kids).

You see, the point here is not what amount of money you have, or lack there of. In fact only you will be able to decide what is enough for you and your loved ones.

It is far easier to take our due credit for our past achievements when we’re not holding ourselves up to someone else’s standard. Competition isn’t a bad thing, but when it’s the only measuring stick we use it can end up working against us if we are not careful.

In my humble opinion success is best measured on a personal level. If we attempt to put a frame around what we see as being successful or not — if we view others and say, they have this many material possessions so they must be successful we’re missing out.

You see when we frame what constitutes living a successful life around those things that we personally see as valuable then we enjoy where we are now more. Life seems to offer up opportunities to us that we never seemed to notice before.

By the same token when we set out to do the best we can do inevitably great opportunity finds us because we are doing what truly makes us happy. We’re in alignment and ready for the opportunities that life will put in our path.

Don’t misunderstand me here. I’m not saying that acquiring wealth is not a result of achieving success. I’m simply saying that at best it is a result that comes from following your dreams. Working towards achieving those things that you deem to be most important. I’d also suggest that lack of financial rewards most definitely is not the only currency with which we should measure our level of success.

Keep this thought in mind: Success is a personal thing. Define it according to what you value most and you are far more likely to achieve it as well as enjoy it once you have it.

– Here’s to your success, Josh Hinds
http://GetMotivation.com

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Ambition is not something that’s reserved for only the lucky few. If you don’t believe that, look closely at the lives of those who have succeeded in various undertakings and you’ll notice that many high achievers come from low socioeconomic backgrounds just as they do from wealthy families.

While there are those who would lead us to believe that success in a given endeavor is somehow out of our reach simply because of our background, in reality nothing could be further from the truth.

What is required of success is a persons willingness to acquire the needed skills, and the persistence to stay on task until their dreams are realized. Greatness is indeed a part of who you are — never forget that.

– To your success, Josh Hinds
http://GetMotivation.com

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Every day is an adventure. One in which we can write a story line filled with new life experiences. Positive relationships and new found success. Or it can be one in which we see little joy in and sit back believing that success is something that is reserved for only the lucky few.

Truly, the choice in which we see our potential in life is our own. Greatness and abundance is yours as much as it is anyones, but you must be willing to believe that is so, as well as be willing to do the things that are necessary to attract greater success in your life.

Always keep firmly in mind that we create our own luck through a four letter word called “work” and six letter one known as “effort”.

– To your success, Josh Hinds
* Josh is the author of Why Perfect Timing is a Myth: Tips for Staying Inspired and Motivated Day in and Day out! Grab your copy at http://www.getmotivation.com/booklet/

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Having a great idea is just the beginning. Consider the following quote…

“Remember, great ideas can be a dime a dozen. It’s the ability to put forth the necessary action to get started on them, or put together a qualified team of people to execute the idea that separates the wheat from the chaff when it comes to achieving success in virtually any endeavor.” — Josh Hinds

I find it particularly disheartening when I hear someone refer to a persons success and achievements as simply luck. Or even worse… dumb luck.

The word luck implies that the person had very little to do with the positive outcome they are currently enjoying. In fact, it even conjures up the idea that someone that is enjoying their success could have as easily achieved the result from doing something as simple as going to the local store and purchasing a lottery ticket and hoping for the best.

The reality is that “luck” in and of itself in virtually all the cases of those where one might define a person as being successful had little if anything to do with it. Very often, the exact opposite is true. One can easily find countless examples where the ingredients of being action oriented, and persistent had much more to do with the attainment and rewards these people are enjoying.

Assuming that you agree with me that the word luck by itself has very little to do with what it truly takes to be successful in ones ventures — why is it that all to often we don’t associate the true ingredients when discussing the success of others? Rather than use words such as lucky, why don’t we instead celebrate the fact that the person in question worked hard, put forth the ample effort and is being rewarded for all that went into getting them to where they are now.

Perhaps we should look to several examples as to why this is true. First, very often we want the quickest results possible. Knowing this is the case, accepting that having the stick-to-it-ness necessary to achieve greatness isn’t all that glamorous. Perhaps it is easier for us to simply say, they were lucky then to say, “If they can do it, I can learn from this persons example and achieve similar results in my given area of endeavor.

In looking not to just the end result, or glamorous rewards often associated with the success stories of other people, but also in the hardships they had to endure we can gain a needed strength. It is from that very strength that I believe we can in turn move closer to our own definition of success.

The next time you hear someone calling a persons achievement lucky, I hope you will do both yourself and the other person a big favor and disagree with them wholeheartedly. Remind them that far more likely then simply luck was all the effort that we may not even be aware of that went into getting them to where they are now.

It’s a simple shift in the way we choose to view things, but it is a shift that gives us the power and knowing that we are as capable as anyone when it comes to reaching our dreams and desires.

– Here’s wishing you great success, Josh Hinds

* Josh is the author of Why Perfect Timing is a Myth: Tips for Staying Inspired and Motivated Day in and Day out! Grab your copy at http://www.getmotivation.com/booklet/

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