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SMALL WINS CHANGE EVERYTHING (S5) S41:E3 · Inspirations for Your Life

0:34
Well there, hello everyone, and welcome to the
0:37
ever-popular Inspirations for Your Life show.
0:39
It is Monday, it is October 5th, and
0:43
welcome to the show.
0:44
It's so great to have you here.
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If this is your very first time here,
0:49
I want to take the opportunity to say
0:50
welcome.
0:51
Of course, I want to say the words
0:52
thank you to you.
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I really do appreciate you for being here.
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If you've been here one time, five times,
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ten, a hundred, a million, maybe more, maybe
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not a million, but many more than a
1:01
hundred or a thousand, I'd like to say
1:03
thank you.
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But I'd also like to say the important
1:05
words welcome, welcome, and of course the words
1:09
welcome back.
1:10
It always means something when people really enjoy,
1:13
you know, content and the quality that I'm
1:17
producing here.
1:18
So great to have you here on the
1:20
show with me.
1:21
If you're thirsty, if you're hungry, feel free
1:22
to go grab yourself something.
1:23
I have an RO water here with fresh
1:28
lemon.
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Yeah, so let's dive in, shall we?
1:32
All right.
1:34
Don't forget to check out BelieveMeAchieved.com, guys,
1:36
at the end of the show.
1:38
So welcome everyone, once I said, to the
1:41
ever-popular Inspirations for Your Life show.
1:47
And I'm so grateful to have you guys
1:49
here.
1:49
It's really great to have everybody here and
1:51
that you're wanting to enjoy the show with
1:53
me.
1:54
In case you guys did not know, I'm
1:56
your host.
1:57
I'm John C.
1:57
Morley.
1:57
I'm a serial entrepreneur.
1:59
I am an engineer, marketing specialist, video producer,
2:02
podcast host, coach, keynote speaker, graduate student at
2:06
Montclair State University, passionate lifelong learner, and so
2:09
grateful now to be a published author.
2:12
So today I'm continuing our series, Momentum Changes
2:15
Everything.
2:16
With small wins, change everything.
2:20
Okay?
2:21
A lot of people think confidence has to
2:24
come first.
2:25
They think they need to feel confident before
2:28
they act.
2:30
But confidence often works in the opposite direction.
2:33
You act, you create, and that's evidence.
2:38
And that evidence begins changing what you believe
2:41
about yourself.
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So let's get in the show.
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Are you ready?
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I know I am.
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It's going to be another great show.
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Number one, confidence grows when you collect.
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Confidence grows when you collect.
3:00
Confidence isn't built by repeatedly telling yourself you're
3:03
amazing.
3:04
It grows when you have experiences that say,
3:07
I did it.
3:08
Every complete action gives you another reason to,
3:11
then again, guys, trust yourself.
3:14
And I think that's a real important one
3:16
for us to understand, that we need to
3:18
trust ourselves.
3:18
Sometimes it's hard for us to do things
3:20
in life.
3:21
But when we trust ourselves, life becomes just
3:23
a little bit easier.
3:25
Right?
3:26
A little bit easier.
3:26
And I think that's a very important one
3:30
for us to realize.
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Number two, small wins.
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Yeah, small wins give your brain proof of
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progress.
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Your brain needs something concrete.
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Well, small wins says, you're not standing still.
3:42
You move something forward.
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And that proof can make the next steps
3:48
easier for us.
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Now, I know sometimes it's hard because we're
3:52
like, well, this isn't going the way I
3:53
want it to go.
3:54
I get it, right?
3:55
I get that.
3:56
And I think once you've gone through things,
3:58
you've had some challenges, you're like, wait a
4:00
minute.
4:00
This isn't as hard as it actually seems,
4:03
right?
4:03
It's not as hard as it actually seems.
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That's probably the biggest thing that I can
4:07
tell you.
4:08
Number three, stop dismissing progress because it looks
4:12
ordinary.
4:14
Yeah, that's important, guys.
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Number three, stop diminishing progress because it looks
4:25
ordinary.
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We often ignore progress because it isn't dramatic
4:29
enough.
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But ordinary progress is still progress.
4:32
The email sent, the workout completed, the phone
4:36
call that you made, the progress you started
4:39
for the project, the page that was written.
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And yeah, the email or the letter that
4:48
you did all counts.
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But I think sometimes we're hard on ourselves.
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We've got this perfectionist streak.
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And I think that can be a problem
4:57
for a lot of people, why that happens.
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Number four, guys, number four is a really,
5:03
really good one.
5:03
And that is completing something matters.
5:06
There's power in finishing.
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Completion closes a loop.
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And reminds you that you can take something
5:15
from intention to action.
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That matters more than we sometimes even realize.
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Number five, make your first daily win achievable.
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Don't begin every morning by demanding something enormous
5:29
from yourself.
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Choose one meaningful win you can realistically achieve.
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Give yourself an opportunity to create momentum early.
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Don't do it later.
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Because if you do it later, you'll be
5:39
like, you know what, I don't really believe
5:41
in myself.
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I don't know that I really can do
5:42
this.
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But you know what?
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You really can do the things.
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And I think that's something that a lot
5:46
of people, they miss out on life.
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They don't realize that they can do things.
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And that can do is something that a
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lot of people say to me, hey, John,
5:54
where's this coming from?
5:55
Or how am I embracing this?
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I think that comes down to us saying
6:00
there's a lot we can do in life.
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There's a very lot we can do in
6:04
life.
6:05
Okay?
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Number six, finish small tasks.
6:09
Can unlock larger ones.
6:11
I've often said that when we do something
6:13
and it requires some effort, that's preparing us
6:16
for an even bigger accomplishment.
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A reward.
6:20
One completed task changes your state.
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Suddenly the next thing doesn't seem quite as
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intimidating.
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Small, right?
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Doesn't seem small at all.
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And that small action can become a doorway
6:37
to much larger actions in the future.
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But I know what you're saying.
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I know you're saying, hey, John, you don't
6:43
understand my life or what's going on.
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I get it.
6:45
Number seven, progress creates emotional energy.
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Does that make sense to you?
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Hopefully it does.
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And hopefully that means something to why you're
7:01
thinking about something a certain way.
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Right?
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I think that's a really key point.
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So, number seven, progress creates emotional energy.
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But how does it do that?
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How does it do that?
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I think that's a very important thing.
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Right?
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A very important thing.
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And these are things that I think a
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lot of us need to realize.
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I'm just asking.
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Right?
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Maybe you're saying, John, I don't get it.
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But I want to tell you that you
7:50
can get it if you really believe.
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So, movement changes how you feel.
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When you see yourself progressing, you often gain
7:57
energy instead of losing it.
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That emotional lift can help you carry it
8:03
forward.
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It can help you be more proportionate in
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life.
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That's important, guys.
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Very important.
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And maybe it means something to you, but
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maybe it doesn't.
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Right?
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I think that's important.
8:24
Right?
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It's very important to understand that.
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Maybe to you it doesn't mean that.
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But it really does.
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Okay?
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That's important.
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Right?
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That's a very important thing.
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So what I want to say about that
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is number eight.
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Track what you complete instead of only what
8:55
remains.
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If you only stare at what remains, unfinished,
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you can convince yourself if you accomplish nothing.
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Okay?
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Look backward occasionally.
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Notice what you actually completed.
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Number nine.
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Celebrate movement without becoming, well, without becoming complacent.
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I think that's hard for a lot of
9:22
people to understand what that means.
9:25
Complacent is a word I think sometimes that
9:27
we shove under the rug.
9:29
But it's something I believe that a lot
9:30
of us need to understand.
9:32
Okay?
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Number nine.
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Celebrate movement without becoming complacent.
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And giving yourself credit doesn't mean you stop
9:41
growing.
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Recognize the win.
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Appreciate it.
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And then use that energy to continue.
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Celebration and ambition can coexist together.
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Number ten.
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One successful action can challenge an old belief
9:57
about yourself.
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Maybe you've told yourself, I never finish anything.
10:02
Then you finish something.
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That one action becomes evidence against an old
10:07
story you've been carrying.
10:09
Okay?
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I think sometimes, you know, we get stuck
10:12
in these dull dreams of saying, hey, what
10:14
am I doing?
10:14
Or why am I doing it this way?
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And it's not to scare you.
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But it's just to say, wait a minute.
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Are we doing the right thing?
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Am I on track with my life?
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I think these are the questions that we
10:24
want to be asking ourselves.
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Number 11, guys, I think is a very,
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a very, very important one.
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And that is confidence is strengthened through experience.
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Confidence isn't merely an idea.
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It's something you develop through doing.
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Experience gives you memories of handling situations, solving
10:45
problems, and moving forward.
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Right?
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Number 12.
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Build promises to yourself that you actually keep.
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You might have heard the word make promises
10:59
to yourself, but I'm saying build.
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I think build is more important.
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Stop making enormous promises you repeatedly break.
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Start smaller.
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Make commitments that challenge you but are realistic
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enough for you to honor.
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Number 13.
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Every kept promise adds evidence.
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When you tell yourself you do something and
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then do it, you strengthen self-trust.
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Each kept promise becomes another piece of evidence
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about who you are becoming.
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Number 14.
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Create wins before demanding breakthroughs.
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Breakthroughs are exciting, but they're not the only
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form of success.
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Build smaller wins first and they create the
11:44
foundation that makes larger breakthroughs possible.
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Number 15.
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Stop comparing your beginning with somebody else's highlight.
11:59
You're seeing someone else's polished results while living
12:03
through your own beginning That comparison is unfair
12:06
for a lot of people.
12:08
Stay focused on your own path and progress
12:13
at your own level at your own pace
12:15
and speed.
12:16
Number 16.
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Measure progress against where you started.
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I think that's one that requires some explanation.
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Ask yourself a better question or questions.
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Am I further ahead than I was before?
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Or am I further behind?
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That comparison gives you information you can actually
12:37
use.
12:38
Is what am I doing right now is
12:40
it helping in doing something for the greater
12:42
good of all concerned?
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Or no.
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Number 17.
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Tiny improvements compound.
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A tiny improvement may feel insignificant today.
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Repeat it over weeks, months, and years.
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Those improvements can create enormous differences.
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Small doesn't mean powerless.
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18.
13:03
Consistency makes ordinary actions powerful.
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An ordinary action performed once might not change
13:11
much.
13:13
Perform it consistently.
13:14
Its impact multiplies.
13:18
Consistency turns simple behaviors into momentum.
13:22
That's something a lot of people miss in
13:25
life.
13:26
Why?
13:28
Because people are racing to get to the
13:30
end and they don't take the time to
13:32
understand what's going on in their life.
13:34
I think that's probably one of the biggest
13:36
things that I can actually tell you.
13:38
Number 19.
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A difficult day can still contain a win.
13:45
Not every day will be productive or easy.
13:49
On a difficult day, you win and you
13:55
may simply be doing the one thing that
13:58
mattered most.
13:59
That still counts.
14:01
Number 20.
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Define what winning means before the day actually
14:05
begins.
14:06
If you never define success, you can accomplish
14:11
plenty and still feel behind.
14:15
Decide what a meaningful win looks like before
14:18
the day even starts.
14:20
21.
14:22
Give yourself credit for meaningful efforts.
14:26
I think that's an important one guys.
14:29
A very important one.
14:31
Meaningful efforts.
14:32
Results matter, but meaningful effort matters too.
14:35
Sometimes you do everything correctly and the result,
14:39
well, unfortunately guys, it takes longer to actually
14:44
accomplish and I think that frustrates some people.
14:47
That it takes longer.
14:49
Recognize the work you're putting into and being
14:54
able to move forward.
14:55
That's really powerful.
14:57
Number 22.
14:58
Use yesterday's progress as today's starting point.
15:01
You don't have to restart from zero guys
15:03
every morning.
15:05
Yesterday taught you something and moved you somewhere.
15:10
Build from that position today.
15:12
Small victories can restore motivation.
15:15
Number 23.
15:17
When motivation disappears don't always wait for inspiration.
15:25
Create a small victory.
15:28
Completing something manageable can restart the emotional engine
15:31
you thought had stalled on you.
15:34
Number 24.
15:35
Success does not always arrive dramatically.
15:38
Sometimes success, guys, it does something interesting.
15:45
It doesn't come with applause, announcements, or a
15:51
giant breakthrough.
15:52
Sometimes it quietly appears through dozens of small
15:55
decisions made consistently.
15:58
Number 25.
16:00
Learn to recognize quiet progress.
16:03
Maybe you react differently than you did six
16:08
months ago.
16:08
Maybe something difficult has become easier.
16:12
Maybe you recover faster after setbacks.
16:15
Those are wins too.
16:16
I remember when I was in Toastmasters a
16:18
long time ago and I remember getting to
16:22
the very end and I remember this one
16:24
part that was a little bit confusing to
16:26
me.
16:28
So what I did for a while was,
16:30
to be honest, I procrastinated.
16:32
This was after I graduated college.
16:34
I procrastinated.
16:36
I was very close to the end but
16:37
I just procrastinated.
16:39
One of my team leaders said, Hey, John,
16:41
what are you stuck on?
16:43
I'm like, everything.
16:44
Well, what do you have left?
16:45
Well, the last speech.
16:47
Well, where are you?
16:48
I don't really know because the book is
16:50
confusing.
16:50
Oh, so you don't know how to do
16:51
the last speech.
16:52
I don't know what they want in the
16:53
last speech.
16:56
Okay?
16:58
That's an important thing to understand.
17:03
I think that's a very important thing that
17:08
you may not understand.
17:11
And we've got to be mindful of it,
17:12
right?
17:13
And when we're mindful of things, we're able
17:16
to change our perception, which changes our action,
17:20
which is ultimately going to change our result.
17:24
What we did six months ago is different.
17:29
Like I said, something difficult happens but then
17:33
something gets easier.
17:36
You can recover, right?
17:38
But it doesn't seem like when you're doing
17:40
it that you're going to recover.
17:43
I think that's the fear.
17:46
We're worried that we're going to fall.
17:49
Right?
17:51
We're worried that we're going to fall.
17:53
I think that's a very important thing.
18:06
I think a lot of people stop in
18:10
the middle.
18:10
You know what I've heard?
18:11
They fall because they stop in the middle
18:14
of something.
18:16
If they would just go through with it,
18:18
they're not going to fall.
18:21
Okay?
18:22
They're not going to fall.
18:23
I think that's a very important thing.
18:26
It's an important realization for us to make.
18:29
Because you react differently and then your perceptions
18:34
change.
18:36
Your actions change.
18:38
And then your results change.
18:40
Number 26.
18:42
Let one win lead naturally into another.
18:46
It's kind of like the ebbs and flows
18:48
of life, right?
18:49
Let one breath lead naturally to the other.
18:52
And that breath lead naturally back into the
18:55
other.
18:56
People do something.
18:58
They panic.
19:02
They panic.
19:05
Big problem.
19:08
There was no reason to panic.
19:11
Right?
19:12
After completing something, ask, what's the next reasonable
19:16
step I should take?
19:17
Don't immediately demand a giant leap.
19:20
Let momentum carry you naturally into another achievable
19:24
action.
19:25
Don't expect to get to the other side
19:27
of the planet or the universe, right?
19:30
Don't.
19:32
You're going to be, unfortunately, guys, you're going
19:34
to be disappointed.
19:35
And I don't want to see anybody here
19:36
disappointed.
19:37
But that's actually what's going to happen.
19:40
Take baby steps.
19:43
Baby steps get us to the main part
19:48
of our life.
19:51
Consistency.
19:51
Number 27, evidence is stronger than empty self
19:56
-talk.
19:57
I always say to people, you know, the
20:00
talk sounds great, but are they walking the
20:03
talk or are they just talking the talk?
20:06
Are they living, breathing, and acting with their
20:11
own concepts?
20:15
Positive words can help, but evidence is powerful
20:18
instead of only saving and saying out loud,
20:22
I can do this.
20:25
Create experiences that allow you to say, I
20:28
know I can because I've done it before
20:32
and I'm going to do it again.
20:37
That's a very, very important thing, guys.
20:41
Very important thing.
20:43
Number 28, build confidence through things you can
20:47
point to.
20:48
Create tangible evidence.
20:50
A finished product, a project, a completed workout,
20:55
a difficult conversation, a paper, a thesis, a
21:00
book, a song, a program, one that you
21:07
had in your head and you finally completed.
21:09
A commitment you kept and you built confidence
21:13
around reality and now your body's like, hey,
21:15
you know what?
21:16
I can do this again.
21:17
And you can.
21:19
And then it's like you get this inner
21:21
strength to move forward.
21:23
I think that's such an amazing thing when
21:25
we can get that inner strength to move
21:28
forward.
21:31
That's a very important thing for a lot
21:34
of us to realize, that we've got to
21:38
move forward.
21:44
Very important to be able to move forward.
21:49
So, number 29 says become someone who notices
21:52
forward movement.
21:54
You know, a lot of times the movement
21:56
is going forward, but you're really not actually
21:58
moving forward.
22:00
Train yourself to recognize progress instead of automatically
22:03
searching for everything that went wrong.
22:07
What you notice influences the story.
22:10
You tell yourself about who you are, right?
22:14
Who you are.
22:16
And I think when we start to recognize
22:19
that our life just changes.
22:23
When we're aware of those subtle things in
22:25
life, it's like, oh my gosh, I didn't
22:30
know it was that way.
22:32
If I would have known that, I would
22:35
have changed my actions.
22:38
Number 30, guys.
22:40
Stack enough small wins and your self-perception
22:45
can change.
22:46
Now, not overnight, but it will gradually start
22:50
to change.
22:52
This is where everything comes full circle and
22:55
together.
22:56
One small win may not transform your life
22:59
overnight, as I said.
23:01
But enough small wins create evidence and will
23:05
build a momentum.
23:08
Evidence creates belief.
23:09
Belief changes how you act, and repeat actions
23:13
can change how you see yourself.
23:15
See, we act out how we perceive ourselves
23:19
to be, regardless of how we really are
23:21
or not.
23:22
Stop waiting for one enormous victory to finally
23:27
give yourself permission to feel confident.
23:29
Everyone does it like, well, I don't have
23:31
proof.
23:33
Of course not.
23:34
You're trying to build a Taj Mahal, and
23:36
you can't even build the front door.
23:39
Start collecting evidence.
23:41
Finish something.
23:42
Keep one promise.
23:44
Take one meaningful step, then take another.
23:47
Your progress doesn't have to impress everybody else
23:50
to matter.
23:52
Many people think it does.
23:54
It's not a personality contest.
23:56
Then take another step.
23:58
Be consistent on it.
24:00
Say amounts of steps consistently every day.
24:03
Your progress doesn't have to impress everybody else
24:05
to matter, as I said.
24:06
Small wins create movement.
24:09
Movement creates evidence.
24:11
Evidence strengthens confidence, and confidence makes the next
24:14
move easier.
24:15
That is how momentum begins to compound.
24:19
Similar to compounding money in your bank account.
24:23
This is how momentum begins to compound.
24:25
Remember, you don't have to change everything today.
24:29
You just have to create a win you
24:31
can build on tomorrow.
24:33
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm John Seymour, serial entrepreneur,
24:38
and this has been another amazing, powerful episode
24:41
of Inspirations for Your Life.
24:44
Now, I know a lot of things that
24:45
we talked about tonight might seem scary or
24:50
worrisome to you.
24:51
They should not.
24:53
The more that you get in and do
24:55
these things, the easier your life is going
24:58
to be.
24:59
When we learn the lesson, our life changes.
25:03
Again, I don't want to promise and tell
25:05
you that this is going to happen overnight,
25:07
because guess what, guys?
25:08
It will not happen overnight.
25:10
I'm sorry.
25:10
It will not happen overnight.
25:11
Get that out of your head.
25:13
If it happens, great, but don't expect it
25:15
overnight.
25:18
We have to remember something.
25:21
We have to remember that we created this
25:23
pattern long ago in our life.
25:27
30, 60, 90, 108 days or longer, we
25:30
created this pattern in our life.
25:38
That's powerful, guys.
25:45
That's powerful.
25:47
Very powerful.
25:49
So powerful that I think people don't really
25:53
understand what's going on or why something is
25:56
going on.
25:57
Right?
25:59
When we step back and say, wait a
26:02
minute, what am I actually doing?
26:04
That's pretty amazing.
26:13
That's how we have to do it.
26:14
We have to take things step by step
26:16
by step.
26:17
We have to align ourselves to the subtle
26:21
differences.
26:22
I have a candy wrapper here.
26:23
If you're listening, you can't see, but I'm
26:25
holding up a Quaker chewy candy wrapper.
26:28
And if I hold this together in a
26:31
certain way, you probably can't tell that it's
26:34
been ripped depending on how I hold it.
26:38
But if I was to move it or
26:40
if you were just to be a little
26:41
closer on a different angle, you could say,
26:43
wait a minute, that candy bar is actually
26:46
already opened or ripped open.
26:48
So subtle perceptions can help us.
26:51
It could be in colors.
26:52
It can be in our work.
26:54
It could be in our relationships.
26:56
Noticing what doesn't fit in can sometimes be
27:00
the real key to helping us grow.
27:04
So remember, ladies and gentlemen, momentum doesn't always
27:07
begin with a massive breakthrough.
27:09
Sometimes it begins with one small win that
27:13
proves you're capable of more.
27:17
Until next time, keep moving forward, keep building
27:21
your confidence and keep becoming, ladies and gentlemen,
27:24
the person you know you can be.
27:26
I know sometimes this sounds scary.
27:28
I get it.
27:30
But you've got to learn the lesson.
27:34
Once you learn the lesson, life is like
27:41
an open oyster.
27:43
You can have, do, or be anything you
27:45
want to be.
27:46
We first got to learn the lessons.
27:49
Ladies and gentlemen, I am John C.
27:51
Morley, serial entrepreneur.
27:52
Be sure to check out BelieveMeAchieve.com for
27:54
more of my amazing, of course, inspiring creations.
27:57
I'll catch you on another show or piece
27:59
of content real soon.
28:00
Be well, everyone.