Josh Hinds Motivation and Inspiration Journal

As I’m writing this I’m looking at my vision board (if you’re not familiar with what that is, don’t fret, I’ll touch on it more below).

On it are several things (goals) I want to see manifest in my life. At the top it reads very simply… ‘Vision Board — with the saying, “Thoughts Become things”. By the way, I’m fully aware that some folks would read that and make the assumption that just because a person thinks they want something, and give thought to it, that it is simply not enough to necessarily achieve it. To which I would concede, that’s partially true.

Notice I say only partially true, because we’re not just talking about fleeting thoughts here. What I’m referring to is one’s dominant thoughts. Those thoughts which are so ingrained in our mind that we naturally, and often I might add, more easily take the necessary actions which are needed to see them through to the point at which they become a reality. There is a BIG difference between a dominant thought and simply thinking you’d like to have something.

When it’s a dominant thought, it sticks with you (think of it like the difference between Super glue and the Elmers glue you used to use in grade school). You are always asking yourself how you can go about making your particular endeavor a reality, and when you find that one plan of action doesn’t work out as you’d hoped it would, you don’t run for the hills thinking, well I tried that and it tanked so I quit… No, when something is a dominant thought you understand that each attempt is simply a part of the learning process from which you can grow — and by trying another approach you will get that much closer to what it is that you truly desire.

So hopefully you’ll give me the benefit of the doubt and believe me when I say there’s a lot of truth in the saying “thoughts become things”.

Now here’s the rub… Assuming that’s true, that the thoughts and ideas we focus on most become real and tend to show up in our lives it’s worth pointing out that the old saying doesn’t discriminate. Listen up, because it’s that important. Here’s what I am saying… if you’re focused in on negative things, you’re going to see negative results and events creep into your life. Just the same as if you were focused in on positive things or events.

Unfortunately, the reality is that it works both ways.

Here’s a little illustration to make my point. Recently I was having a conversation with someone who was telling me about their new manager. This person was just absolutely sure that it was going to be a disaster.

They’d literally made their mind up before the new manager had ever even appeared in the office for the first time. Well guess what? The first week was absolutely terrible! This person almost transferred to another department.

Fortunately, time was given (ironically, not that long) and low and behold, things weren’t nearly so bad after all. Isn’t it funny how life works like that? You see, this person was so absolutely sure it was going to be awful that it literally became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Quite simply, her thoughts, became her reality.

Now I’m happy to report that the last time I talked to this person she told me she was surprised that it might actually end up being a good thing. Now she’s seeing things through a positive lens, and guess what she’s getting? You got it, more of what she’s focused on.

Now I will say that in absolutely every instance this might not work out exactly as I’ve said. However, I think the quote by Zig Ziglar makes a terrific point with regards to that. He says, “positive thinking won’t let you do everything, but it will let you do everything better than negative thinking”. While I may not have gotten Zig’s saying quite right, I think the point is made just the same.

So assuming you’ll concede that our dominant thoughts (either positive or negative) tend to become our reality — doesn’t it make sense to think (and take action on) the things you want to see in your life, rather than those you don’t? Remember, either way you’re going to get something… so it might as well be of your choosing don’t you agree?

Now before you think I’ve broken my promise from above to cover vision boards, here’s a quick overview, it’s by no means exhaustive, but I think it’s worth mentioning in case you’re not familiar with them.

First, there are any number of ways to make your vision board as elaborate as you’d like. I won’t attempt to say you have to include all the bells and whistles on yours for it to be effective. It’s a personal preference.

Personally, I’d have to admit that the one I’m currently looking at of mine is pretty blah — but it isn’t the design or layout that’s powerful, it’s the thoughts/things that are on it. It’s a piece of cut out cardboard where I have included some written goals and pictures which represent the things I’d like to see transpire in my life.

Again, it’s not particularly attractive, but that’s not really the point. What is important is that when I focus on those things on my vision board, my mind can more easily go to work doing the things which will drive me towards taking the necessary actions which are needed if I want to see those things become a reality.

Consider it a powerful reminder of what you want to achieve. Plus, like your success journal (hopefully you keep one) it can end up being quite an incredible source of personal validation as you’re able to see quite literally, the things on your vision board come to fruition in your life.

So that in a nutshell is what makes up a vision board. Again, nowhere near an exhaustive overview, but I think it gets the point across. Needless to say it can be an incredibly effective tool to use in your personal journey towards achieving your goals.

Vision boards work, because they help to keep us plugged into those things which we want to achieve. But like anything, you can’t just keep your vision board hidden away where you never see it. Think of it like a billboard, but instead of advertising (which are things others want you to notice) you’re putting thoughts about your goals and dreams — those things which are important to you into your mind on an ongoing basis.

Action Steps:

One, create your own vision board. Include pictures, or write something, anything that will represent what you want to achieve.

Two, in addition to the more traditional vision board mentioned you could play around with what I call a mini-vision board. Take some 3×5 index cards and basically do the exact same as you would with a vision board. The index cards approach will be a lot easier and convenient to carry around with you then a traditional sized vision board would be. Remember the old out of sight, out of mind saying.

Finally, whatever you do, do something. The more you keep the things you want firmly in mind — and sight, the better the chance you will give yourself of making them a reality in your life.

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

(c) All rights reserved

Have you ever noticed how often we hear the term, “take massive action”? Sure massive action is great, but it’s also a bit relative from person to person isn’t it? Plus, just think about the word itself. Doesn’t it imply that it’s going to be hard, or overly difficult to accomplish?

Sure working on your dream is going to take some level of effort. Most anything truly worthwhile does. But hard? (Massive makes me think of mountains… personally climbing a mountain makes me think I’d better be ready to sweat!..lol) Where’s the enjoyment in that? (the sweating, not the mountain climbing

So while I’m certainly not going to claim that taking “massive action” is a bad thing at all… I am going to say that even the smallest of actions can be a very good start towards stepping in the right direction towards achieving your hearts desire…

Have you ever heard the saying, “success begets success”?

Essentially what that means is with each sense of accomplishment you experience (no matter how seemingly minuscule you may see it at the time) very often it’s enough to move you forward towards the next target you’ve set your sights on.

Consider a person whose just started running or jogging — and eventually moves up to the level where they are ready to run a marathon. Rarely does he or she start out feeling as though they could finish the race, much less enter one prior to building up to that point in their training.

Yet, overtime as they get in better physical shape (i.e. experience one small success after another) they eventually reach the point where not only do they believe they could give running a marathon a chance, but they could even finish the thing, and perhaps have a shot at winning it.

That my friend is what we are talking about when we hear the saying, “success begets success”. You see, each time we stretch beyond one of our self-imposed comfort zones we are in essence experiencing… success leading to another success. Our belief system expands to the point where what once appeared inconceivable is suddenly no longer quite the challenge we once saw it to be.

It’s a lot like building muscles. When you start out with an exercise program chances are, your body is not going to be used to it, and as such, you may feel as though you’ll never get to a point where you could ever imagine enjoying it.

Stick it out however, and before long you won’t feel good unless you’ve gotten that work out in before the day’s over. That’s the old saying, “success begets success” in action.

Give some serious thought on the quote above. Really ponder it in your mind for a bit. Write it down, repeat it throughout your day when you’re faced with challenges. And as you force yourself to move through those challenges (no matter how uncomfortable they happen to appear at the time) notice how the feeling of fear towards the particular thing has lessened once you have reached the other side and attained personal achievement in your particular endeavor.

It’s your life, LIVE BIG! Josh Hinds

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While it’s important to set goals — because as the saying goes if you want to get somewhere you have to know where you’re headed — it is also essential to give yourself the wiggle room necessary to adapt to changes that occur in life.

Be focused and persistent on the path towards achieving the goals you set, but also be willing to take any necessary steps that might reveal themselves along the way.

Success in any endeavor is rarely achieved by following a straight line, but that’s not all bad. Life’s changes and challenges can help to keep things exciting, because it is through overcoming the challenges which pop up that we grow to the point where we can apply our acquired knowledge to any future endeavor.

To further illustrate my point consider what keynote speaker and business philosopher Jim Rohn has to say, “Set a goal to become a millionaire for what it makes of you to achieve it.” Think about that for a moment. When we develop the skills needed to achieve our goal, the rewards of the particular goal may come or go in our lifetime, however our ability to recreate the result is always there — ready for us to tap into at will.

Simply put, learning to adapt to change as it finds its way into our life is an essential part in developing a mindset which is conducive to achieving any and all endeavors we pursue.

– To Your Success, Josh Hinds
GetMotivation.com

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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

(c) All rights reserved.

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

(c) All rights reserved.

When it comes to achieving your goals, keep in mind the old saying, “out of sight, out of mind”. Anytime that we allow ourselves to lose sight of our desired goal it can end up creating a real kink in the goal setting process. Why you ask? The answer is simple — because our lives can get hectic and if we allow ourselves to take our eye off what we want, life has a way of putting some other action that requires our attention in its place. It’s really that simple.

So what’s the solution you ask? Keep lists, to do lists, action tasks… whatever you choose to call them, the point is… keep your goals nearby and in plain sight, and just as important always write down those smaller tasks you can take on an ongoing basis that will support you in reaching your larger goals.

It’s Your Life, LIVE BIG! Josh Hinds
GetMotivation.com

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

(c) All rights reserved.

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

(c) All rights reserved.

In life there are generally two ways of seeing things, we can choose to view them through negative or positive filters (Perhaps you’ve heard it referred to as seeing through rose colored glasses when things are viewed in a positive light). When I’m faced with situations in my life where I’ve got the choice to assume the best, or worst. I like to recite the following quote to myself — and to others….

“Until you’re proven wrong, you might as well assume you’ll receive the best possible outcome”

I think there’s a lot of truth to the term self-fulfilling prophecy. Meaning that if a person runs around thinking of all the reasons things can’t possibly work out for them, they end up giving power to the very things they don’t want to have happen. In summary, we tend to get what we most focus on. That being the case, doesn’t it stand to reason we would benefit from seeing things through a more optimistic lens?

I’d also add that I’m not saying that everything is going to work out for the best in every single instance. However, even in the worst of times we can choose how we respond to the things that happen to us. We can make the choice to do what is necessary to dig ourselves out of the place we are now — reminding ourselves that in time if we refuse to give up and stay in the game our life will turn for the better and we’ll see the positive results we desire.

– All the best, Josh Hinds
http://GetMotivation.com

(c) All rights reserved.

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

(c) All rights reserved.