tim brownson is a u.k. qualified life coach, nlp master practitioner, and certified hypnotherapist. he has 20 years experience in sales and sales management and is a published author. read more about tim here and visit his blog, the discomfort zone.
Here are Tim's "Five Rules For Life":
1.) Take responsibility.
I know it’s as old as the hills and usually has people stifling yawns, checking their watch, and pretending they have a dental appointment when I bring it up...but it’s a truism of self development.
About 3 years ago I had a client that told me he was only about 70% responsible for what happened to him in his life. He then went on to list all the things that were out of his control and wouldn’t be his fault if they went wrong. It was a virtuoso performance in ducking out and passing the buck. I explained that I understood what he was saying, but that it wasn’t helpful thinking like that; that mindset gives you a cop-out whenever you need it and stops you looking for solutions because you’re too busy searching for excuses. He left never to return!
If it’s your fault, suck it up. If it isn’t your fault, suck it up anyway - just because you can. Then laugh heartily at the others whining about the economy, the weather, and Colin from Marketing because he ate the last donut.
2.) Ask better questions.
You can ask yourself for the umpteenth time "Why am I such a loser?" and "Why is my job such crap?" Or you could ask yourself "What do I need to do to see myself as a winner?" and "Who can help me get a job that I’ll love and prosper in?"
The questions you ask yourself dictate how you feel about your life. So ask better questions and whenever you can, avoid the word "why" - it’s so accusatory.
3.) Listen to your unconscious.
How often do you have a strong gut feeling and it’s wrong? Hardly ever would be my guess, and there’s a reason for that. Your unconscious mind has a lot more computing power than your puny conscious mind. In fact, your conscious can only deal with 7 (plus or minus 2) pieces of information at once, whereas your unconscious is literally doing hundreds of things simultaneously. It’s an absolute genius and it’s on your side, how cool is that?
The downside is your unconscious can’t talk to you because guess what? Yeh that’s right, it’s unconscious. So it communicates in the only way it knows how...feelings. These often don’t make much sense so we tend to override them. Don’t! Tune in to your feelings more often and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the results. You can still get strong gut feelings that are wrong, but the odds are stacked more heavily in your favor.
4.) Seek peace.
There is a lot of conflict in this world and you don’t have to try too hard to find it. Much of if is external, but a lot of it is internal. Conflict saps your energy and seldom ends in a positive outcome. Take time out for yourself whenever you can. 20 minutes every day (more if you can) will help you disengage, clear your mind, and come back invigorated and ready to kick some ass. Er, metaphorical ass, that is.
5.) Set your own rules.
Forget everything I’ve just said. Super-successful people set their own rules in life. They don’t let society, their friends, or even some dodgy life coach tell them what is and isn’t right. By all means read the rules others have set themselves, but decide what is best for you based on what feels right to you and nothing else. Don’t be swayed.
Tim currently resides in Orlando, Florida.
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