What
feelings truly push people outside their comfort zone?
Jim
Rohn
No one
understands as I do the inherent difficulty in changing old and persistent
habits. But habits begin to change when we begin to change our perceptions.
Most of
us don’t experience a cataclysmic transformation. No, for most of us change
comes as an evolutionary process of almost imperceptible changes. We just keep
nudging ourselves in the right direction, forming one or two better habits.
But what really
makes us sit up and take notice? What really causes us to shed our old
habits and take action?
Disgust with ourselves.
Making a decision when our backs are to the wall.
Desire that won’t be extinguished.
Resolve to do or die.
Making a decision when our backs are to the wall.
Desire that won’t be extinguished.
Resolve to do or die.
Emotions
are the most powerful forces inside us. Under the power of emotions, human
beings can perform the most heroic (as well as barbaric) acts. To a great
degree, civilization itself can be defined as the intelligent channeling of
human emotion. Emotions are fuel and the mind is the pilot, which together
propel the ship of civilized progress.
In this
excerpt from 7 Strategies for Wealth &
Happiness, Jim Rohn describes four basic emotions that can
trigger the most incredible activity. The day that you channel these emotions
to fuel your desire is the day you’ll turn your life around.
1.
Disgust
One does
not usually equate the word “disgust” with positive action. And yet properly
channeled, disgust can change a person’s life. The person who feels disgusted
has reached a point of no return. He or she is ready to throw down the gauntlet
at life and say, “I’ve had it!” That’s what I said after many humiliating
experiences. At age 25, I said, “I don’t want to live like this anymore. I’ve
had it with being broke. I’ve had it with being embarrassed, and I’ve had it
with lying.”
Yes,
productive feelings of disgust come when a person says, “Enough is enough.”
They’ve
had it with mediocrity. They’ve had it with those awful sick feelings of fear,
pain and humiliation. They decide they are not going to live like this anymore.
Call it what you will, the “I’ve had it” day, the “never again” day, the
“enough’s enough” day. Whatever you call it, it’s powerful! There is nothing so
life-changing as gut-wrenching disgust!
2.
Decision
Most of
us need to be pushed to the wall to make decisions. And once we reach this
point, we have to deal with the conflicting emotions that come with making
them. We have reached a fork in the road. Now this fork can be a two-prong,
three-prong or even a four-prong fork. No wonder that decision-making can
create knots in stomachs, keep us awake in the middle of the night or make us
break out in a cold sweat.
Making
life-changing decisions can be likened to internal civil war. Conflicting
armies of emotions, each with its own arsenal of reasons, battle each other for
supremacy of our minds. And our resulting decisions, whether bold or timid,
well thought out or impulsive, can either set the course of action or blind it.
I don’t have much advice to give you about decision-making
except this:
Whatever
you do, don’t camp at the fork in the road. Decide. It’s far better to make a
wrong decision than to not make one at all. Each of us must confront our
emotional turmoil and sort out our feelings.
3. Desire
How does
one gain desire? I don’t think I can answer this directly because there are
many ways. But I do know two things about desire:
a. It
comes from the inside, not the outside.
b. It can be triggered by outside forces.
b. It can be triggered by outside forces.
Almost
anything can trigger desire. It’s a matter of timing as much as preparation. It
might be a song that tugs at the heart. It might be a memorable sermon. It
might be a movie, a conversation with a friend, a confrontation with the enemy
or a bitter experience. Even a book or an article such as this one can trigger
the inner mechanism that will make some people say, “I want it now!”
Therefore,
while searching for your “hot button” of pure, raw desire, welcome into your
life each positive experience. Don’t erect a wall to protect you from
experiencing life. The same wall that keeps out your disappointment also keeps
out the sunlight of enriching experiences. So let
life touch you. The next touch could be the one that turns your life
around.
4.
Resolve
Resolve
says, “I will.” These two words are among the most potent in the English
language. I will. Benjamin Disraeli, the great British statesman, once
said, “Nothing can resist a human will that will stake even its existence on
the extent of its purpose.” In other words, when someone resolves to “do or
die,” nothing can stop him.
The
mountain climber says, “I will climb the mountain. They’ve told me it’s too
high, it’s too far, it’s too steep, it’s too rocky, it’s too difficult. But
it’s my mountain. I will climb it. You’ll soon see me waving from the top or
you’ll never see me, because unless I reach the peak, I’m not coming back.” Who
can argue with such resolve?
When
confronted with such iron-willed determination, I can see Time, Fate and
Circumstance calling a hasty conference and deciding, “We might as well let him
have his dream. He’s said he’s going to get there or die trying.”
The best
definition for “resolve” I’ve ever heard came from a schoolgirl in Foster City,
California. Many years ago, I was lecturing about success to a group of bright
kids at a junior high school. I asked, “Who can tell me what ‘resolve’ means?”
Several hands went up, and I did get some pretty good definitions. But the last
was the best. A shy girl from the back of the room got up and said with quiet
intensity, “I think resolve means promising yourself you will never give up.”
That’s it! That’s the best definition I’ve ever heard: Promise yourself you’ll
never give up.
Think
about it! How long should a baby try to learn how to walk? How long would you
give the average baby before you say, “That’s it, you’ve had your chance”? You
say that’s crazy? Of course it is. Any mother would say, “My baby is going to
keep trying until he learns how to walk!” No wonder everyone walks.
There is
a vital lesson in this. Ask yourself, “How long am I going to work to make my
dreams come true?” I suggest you answer, “As long as it takes.” That’s what
these four emotions are all about.
- See
more at: http://www.success.com/article/rohn-the-4-powerful-ways-to-change-a-bad-habit#sthash.59KuzNpF.dpuf
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