Mental Cleanse – Chapter 7

Wow! Chapter 7 of the Think and Grow Rich was looong. It was filled with so much information that I'm going to have to reread it in smaller bits. So, for this chapter I will focus on the subheading dealing entitled "The Thirty Major Causes of Failure – How Many of These Are Holding You Back?"

This was an interesting portion because this section really required me to ask hard questions of myself. Why is it that each time that I start making progress in an endeavor I allow something to derail me? This list of reasons really has helped me to see what I need to improve on. For one thing (maybe the biggest obstacle for me) is the lack of self-discipline. When I am focused, I get so things accomplished and I do it in a short period of time. I have witnessed this when I attended online college courses and in other endeavors. However, when I let my "flesh" (that lazy section of my brain) take over everything goes down the tubes. And I realize it is because of my focusing issues. I allow myself to be distracted by other people's drama and that takes its tolls on my goals. So, I have to be more aware of this awfully big pitfall.

Although this isn't a problem now, I can attest to the wrong selection of a mate to being a big hindrance to achieving success (or anything else for that matter). Without the support and love of someone who "gets you", it is impossible to succeed. I'm not saying that single people can't succeed, but if you marry someone they should be your biggest cheerleader. It's bad enough having to deal with the negativity of the rest of your blood relatives and friends whom you've grown up with through the years. When you add the negativity of a spouse that you have to deal with intimately on a daily basis, it is extremely difficult to put yourself in a positive mindset and to produce positive things for yourself and others.

Then there's the ever present problem of making a Wrong Selection of Associates in Business. My main concern has always been to earn enough money to do what I wanted to do, however I wasn't the best researcher when it came to work-from-home opportunities. Most of my "choices", if you could call them that, were made out of love and wanting to support my niece as she ventured from one company to another. The decisions were based upon emotions and not knowledge. I think that one of the best improvements that I've made so far in my journey is to start learning about the network marketing business from the ground up. It is helping me to be comfortable with my company choice and giving me the confidence to speak to others. But if you don't realize that you don't know how to choose, or who to choose for your business partners, this mistake will cost you a lot of money and hard feelings.

Coupled with my lack of self-discipline is my lack of concentration or effort. I have a very bad habit of switching gears in midstream and that has cost me a lot of money and opportunities to excel in one field. Out of all of my networking adventures, the only industry that actually interested me involved health and nutrition. However, I have allowed myself due to the reasons I mentioned above to move into different industries which I quickly lost interest in after spending money to invest into the company. So, I have resolved to keep a simple eye and concentrate on what I've started. I can be a patron of other great ideas without trying to participate in the business end of it.

After reviewing this information I agree with the author that by taking annual assessments of ourselves and asking a friend/mate/relative who will be honest with us about our progress is so important towards reaching success. I was listening to an interview with Teresa Romain, and she mentioned how adults don't benchmark their lives. She gave an example of how each birthday her friend's family would measure how tall she'd grown. One year, they included Teresa in the ritual and at first all she could see was how much smaller she was than her friend. But the next year, when they measured her again, she wasn't interested in how tall her friend became, but how much she had grown. From this chapter, and her example, I can see why I need to put pen to paper and record what I'm doing. When I go back and review the information a year later, it can only serve as an inspiration (and perhaps a warning) that I'm on my way to my ultimate goals, without stressing out about week-to-week progress. And although I'm not one to really care about what everyone else on the planet is doing, it will also help me to focus on my growth and not to get distracted by other people's drama. So, this week I'm getting a journal to mark my progress down for my first annual review next February.

There is so much more to this chapter than the little pieces I've touched on, but I'm learning that little bites are better than trying to choke down the whole enchilada. Not only will it sustain me longer, but I can manage my new insights in a more productive manner.

Respectfully,

 

 

Cheryl