Living Life Intentionally!

13 resolutions, 13 affirmations, 13 weeks: Farrah Sargent is Resolved to make a change!

After reading Orrin Woodward's book, Resolved, 13 Resolutions for Life, Farrah found an inspiration to begin a growth process that is creating amazing changes in her life, and I know this first-hand because I have personally watched her improve in great strides over the last 2 months.

Having the opportunity to mentor Farrah, along with growing a personal friendship, it was evident to Marc and me that something had changed in Farrah's life.  An excellent student she has always been, but  it was clear she had hit a new level.  Of course, I was curious (and excited!) about what we were seeing, so I had to ask.  I was so impressed by her answer, that I thought we would share it with everyone.

Farrah began her study of "resolutions and affirmations" after finishing Orrin's book.  She started putting thoughts together on how to improve in each area of her life.  She started with a list, a long list, of areas and thoughts to improve upon and statements to say to herself.  She started using the list in her life daily.  That's when the real growth spike in Farrah as a leader started to appear.

Always the student and never satisfied, she went to work on her list.  Working with it and the Resolved book tweeking and changing what she had written, she arrived at an excellent source of personal growth designed by her, just the right size to fit her family, business and personal needs.

After weeks of thought and practice, Farrah arrived at her final product, well at least for now.  Armed with color coated note cards, the Sargent Resolved Affirmation Plan goes something like this.  Each week she reads a set of cards focused around each Resolve.  Week 1, is Purpose, because Purpose is the first resolution in Woodward's book. So on her card she has her Purpose driven affirmation and her Purpose driven tasks or skills or any area in which she is  striving for growth related to her Purpose.  Every day for week 1, she reads just that card or cards.  Then week 2 she moves on to resolution #2, Character and repeats the same process for 13 weeks covering each of the 13 Resolves.  At the end, you guessed it, she will start over!

What impresses me most about Farrah's plan is that she created it over time, making sure that each part reflected her life and her specific plan for improvement in each one of the resolutions.  We are already seeing the results of her hard work, and we are certain it's just the beginning for this truly Resolved for Greatness lady. We look forward to watching over the next weeks and year to see the resolutions take shape in Farrah Sargent's life.  Keep on striving for excellence; the world needs more people like you.

Kristine

Living a Resolved LIfe!

Personal growth doesn't happen through wishes or luck. Personal growth comes when one chooses to change. The Wolschleger family is an excellent example of a family resolving to be their best!

Jeff and Gail have been on the LIFE subscription series since November 1st, when it launched with Orrin Woodward's book, Resolved, 13 Resolutions for Life.   After reading the book, the entire Wolschleger family got together to launch a family growth plan!

With Lindsey and Wesley, their two children, by their side, the Wolschleger's resolved to become better.  At a family meeting, each person, with the help of the other family members, picked one area to focus on as a future strength.  Allowing each family member to provide input allowed for immediate feedback to be sure everyone was working on an area that needed improvement.  What a show of trust.  It's difficult enough to admit that one could stand a little improvement here and there, but to allow others to comment? This family is serious about being their personal best.

With the target in place, the next step was the game plan. (See chapter 5 of the Resolved book.)  The family decided to post the target areas of growth on a white board for all to see.  Under the list is each family member's name.  When the principle is violated, the responsible member is called upon to place a tally mark under his or her name.  (Now that's using the scoreboard!)  He with the least tally marks at the week's end wins!

The best part of the Wolschleger plan is, it's truly a win for all!  A family working together to improve can have no loser.  But, in true Resolved spirit, this family is KEEPING SCORE! When I heard their story, I was excited to see people living their lives intentionally, together.  This family is a true example  on so many levels.

Lindsey expressed to her mom that she couldn't  wait until the week was over.  "Not talking so much is killing me!" she said.   Gail, true to the spirit of personal growth replied, assuring her daughter, the idea isn't to do it for one week.  The idea is to do it for life and next week build another skill on top of this one!

Congratulations to the entire Wolschleger family for being an example of what the LIFE business is all about!

Swing Through Failure

      "Leaders learn from failures while most others avoid them," Orrin Woodward.  The question is why such an avoidance of failure?  Did you avoid failure when you were learning to walk? Did you avoid failure when you were learning childhood games?  Why then do we fear it now?  The older we get the more conditioned we become by our culture that "failure is fatal".  "What will people think of me?" is the self talk we listen to.  This mind frame then becomes the biggest reason we hold ourselves to a settle-for-lifestyle, a justification to not do our best!
     In Orrin's book Resolved he states, "Perseverance is one of the traits that all long term successful people have in common."  The ability to fail forward.  Failure is not only part of perseverance but an essential part of success.  Imagine making a decision to start a new hobby.  You decide to take up golf.  You watch the golf channel you go out to the local golf course and watch people hit balls, you talk with successful golfers but because of your fear of failure you don't ever swing the club. You say to yourself, I will study the game and then go out and show the world that I am a success!  After three months you finally decide you are ready, so you go to the golf course and tee up the ball on the first tee. You address that ball, pull back the club and proceed to miss the ball several times before eventually shanking it into the trees!!  WHAT DID YOU EXPECT WOULD HAPPEN?!  You can study the game forever but if you don't get out and continue to swing the club through repeated failure to ultimately succeed you may as well just watch the golf channel and live through others' successes!
It is easy to see in this example that we wouldn't learn the game this way.We understand that we have to put in the time if we want to be good at THIS GAME.  What about the game of life?  We are capable of so much, but we allow a warped view of failure to hold us back. Success needs failure.  Success does not come without it.  It is a package deal.
     Orrin and the Life Personal Development system have taught me that success is getting back up after each failure knowing because I did, I am that much closer to success.  I don't fear failure anymore in life because I realize that I must welcome it as part of that package deal.  If I want to succeed faster then the answer is fail faster!  You must reframe your view of failure.
As far as the self talk, what will people think of me?  As Chris Brady says "When you are on your death-bed the farthest thing from your thoughts is what people think of you!"  Living a life of no regrets means to go for it all!  Swing the club as many times as you can, all the way to success!

God Bless

Marc