Tag Archives: personal growth

Pull the Trigger I Dare You

We the people are a reflection of our habits.  Good habits and bad habits.  This quote should come as no surprise then.

Success Trigger

Success Trigger

The human brain isn’t exactly a VCR (if you’re old enough to know what this is), but it can be programmed almost exactly the same way.  So how can you accomplish this?

The answer is in your triggers.

What is a trigger?  Psychology defines it as, “A trigger is something that sets off a memory tape or flashback transporting the person back to the event of her/his original trauma.”  Triggers drive our habits and these habits run our lives.

How do I know?  I had a nasty tobacco habit for a few years, and it amplified as I introduced the habit to additional triggers.  I chewed tobacco when I had a long drive.  Then it became: when I golfed, mowed the lawn, read a book, etc.  Many of my activities throughout the day were impacted by the habit.  When the activity began, my brain triggered the need for nicotine and oral fixation.  I found out my biggest challenge when kicking the habit was preparing my mind for the guaranteed trigger reaction.  Conquer this and the habit would disappear, and it did.

I learned the same energy and focus could be applied to adding positive triggers to my life instead of only removing the negative.  I use these triggers to refuel my brain with: positivity, new insights, challenging viewpoints, and more positivity.  If you’re wondering why I listed positivity twice, it’s because there is so much damn negativity around I have to fight it off with twice the effort.

The mediums I utilize once the trigger is activated are:

  • YouTube Videos
  • Motivational Quotes
  • Podcasts
  • Audiobooks
  • Success blogs
  • Encouraging emails from clients
  • Cards from friends

The key is to understand your triggers and then insert a positive habit to reinforce the activity.  We’re creatures of habit and we have hundreds of them.  It shouldn’t be hard to find a time or activity to insert some positive mental training into your day.

ACTION ITEM: The time to start wiring your brain for positivity is today.  Science tells us it takes 21 days to create a habit.  If this is true, and you start today you will be a refreshed individual in three weeks time.  Make the choice to implement a new habit, you already have the triggers in place.

 

The Hardest Work You’ll Ever Do

I hate to gossip.  But, this one is juicy.

I’m about to tell you the inside scoop on the toughest working relationship I have and the painstaking work I’m enduring to make the best of it.  I promise not to name names, but you can start guessing if you know me that well.

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First, a little background on the relationship is appropriate. 

My challenge is pretty simple really.  However, it’s a relationship years in the making with both ups and downs.  Great successes and challenging failures have resulted from this individual.

I’m trying to make this person the best they can possibly be, but I don’t exactly know where that ceiling is.  I continue to challenge and push, but no two days are the same.  I struggle with what sometimes feels like two creatures wrapped in the same person on a different day.

Here are some of the other challenges I have with the individual:

  • Can sometimes lack focus and have too many things happening at once
  • Works too much from time to time
  • Is always looking for more
  • Has a hard time letting go and delegating
  • Will not accept mediocre
  • Can be selfish
  • Is a picky eater (ok that’s not a real gripe, but it is true)

So who is this person and how can I stand to keep him around?

 

Any guesses?

 

It’s me.  Zac Keeney.

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The hardest work I’ve encountered in my career is responsibility for my own path.  It continues to be the hardest work I’ll do because I’m not satisfied with where I am today and what the future might hold.

Please don’t misunderstand this for being ungrateful.  I’m extremely thankful for all the people I get a chance to share the day with.  But success today is far from final.

I will promise my readers this.  No one else is going to take responsibility for your career or your future.  It’s on you and those you surround yourself with.  You and I hold the keys.

That is exactly why this is the hardest work you’ll ever do.  There is no one else to blame for your results.  IT’S ALL ON YOU!  If it were easy, everyone would be doing it and it would become a mundane task lacking joy.

The books to read, people to meet, challenges to take head on, and the passion to continue growing.  It is the hardest work you’ll ever do and it won’t end.  It will also be the most fulfilling because YOU OWN IT!

Yes, you will have many people help you along the way.  No one truly does it all on their own.  Thank them.  Offer to help them and repay your success with an obligation to send them down a similar path.

If you’re anything like me, my strong personality pushes back from time to time and I need a wake-up call or a swift kick in the ass to continue.  Just don’t give up!

ACTION ITEM: If you can look in the mirror and say the work you’re doing on yourself is sufficient, I challenge you to look for more.  What more can you do to challenge yourself?  It wasn’t meant to be easy and the product (you) isn’t finished yet.