“So, I did most of that stuff about designing an extraordinary year, but mine’s not extraordinary yet…”
“I got all the stuff you listed done, so how do I make sure I stay on track?”
“If we lived on the same continent and I could work with you, what character changes would you encourage me to make for an extraordinary year?”
Each of these questions came from people that are not my clients, and that I do not have a relationship with. I responded to each one, but I realized that what they were really asking for were the “power tips” or the “power secrets” of people I have worked with … so that they could clone them.
I thought you might like for me to provide these for you too.
Over the past three weeks, or the past 15 posts if you follow me on Facebook, I have taught you to do an honest evaluation (https://bit.ly/HonestSelfEval) given you the power steps for designing an extraordinary year (https://bit.ly/DesignExtraordinary2022 and I have delivered five bonus tips (https://bit.ly/FiveBonusTips). If you missed any of those, click on the links above, or go to my business Facebook page: (https://www.facebook.com/DrNeecieMoore) to see the past 15 posts!
For years, I have conducted follow-ups with people who have had great success designing an extraordinary year using my system, or those who have used other systems. All who have strung together two or more extraordinary years.
My friend, Tony Robbins, says: “Success leaves clues.” I believe that totally! So, each year I find more people and ask them to participate in my survey. The survey includes things such as what the power habits are, that they believe, contributed to success in not only designing, but in realizing an extraordinary year.
Although the results are fairly similar year to year, they typically have a bit of a twist. Here are the current results that you can replicate in your life and increase your likelihood of experiencing an extraordinary year!
1. THEY PRACTICE TIME INTEGRITY.
People who have strung together multiple years of ‘the extraordinary’ are very dedicated to time integrity. They define time integrity as doing what they think is the best use of their time, that leads to hitting their targets and realizing the extraordinary year they’ve designed.
They’re aware that this includes designing time for adequate rest, recreation, and restoration. However, they’re also aware that most of us ‘overestimate’ the amount of sleep we need.
Often, we use sleep to avoid things such as stressful events, or even depression and anxiety.
Successful people realize that sleep only increases all of those.
One of the things that showed up in every single response, had to do with use of cell phones, social media, and all forms of entertainment.
Certainly not that they sold their cell phones, or they never watch a sporting event, or never went out to the theater or to see a movie.
But those were REWARDS … not habits.
Hmmmmm … what about you? Are they habits or rewards?
Research indicates the average American spends more than 6+ hours daily on their cell phone, two hours and 37 minutes on social media, and 4+ hours daily watching TV.
You will not find those kinds of numbers among those who aspire for an extraordinary life. They do all those things, but with much less frequency. They refuse to allow their time to be consumed with things that ‘compromise’ their ‘time integrity’.
Often, people ask me things such as:
- Aren’t you on social media?
- Don’t you ever watch TV?
- Don’t you ever use your phone?
- Don’t you ever go out and have fun?
The answer to all these questions is: “Absolutely!” I do all of those things. But minimally and without compromise to my commitment to guarding my time and using it wisely.
Here’s the honest truth:
- I sometimes use television to unwind, perhaps 10-15 minutes at the end of the day. (And I’m a real HGTV, Magnolia Network, DIY fan)!
- I do watch some sporting events, especially if the Dallas Cowboys are involved. (Sorry! I’m a Dallas girl!)
- I am on social media, and I post daily on Facebook. My honest intention is about helping people become all they were created to be. After posting, I allow myself 15 minutes of seeing what’s going on in the Facebook world. And then I shut it down.
- Of course, I use my cell phone. But I rarely talk on my cell phone beyond scheduling clients or quick conversations with family and friends.
- Or using it for Zoom or direct client related matters or for my online business commitments. But you’ll not find me living, addicted to my cell phone. (More on that later in #2).
If this does not cause you to pause and do some serious contemplation, you may need to do some in-depth examination of your time integrity.
No one ever said time integrity was easy, but it’s part of staying on course for an extraordinary year! You can (and I believe you will) practice time integrity!
2. THEY GUARD THEIR MINDS, PRACTICING BRAIN TRAINING THAT KEEPS THEIR TRAIN TRACKING FORWARD.
Most of us are not aware, that every moment, of every day, we are ‘training’ our brains! Let me say it again this time with my Doctor hat on, “we are training our brains” with:
- Every choice we make
- Everything we think
- Everything we focus on
- Every word we speak
- Everything we allow into our brains
People who string extraordinary years together, creating an extraordinary life, take this matter very seriously. Not only do they take it seriously, but they work on it consciously and continuously.
- They are aware that every negative word that comes out of their mouth eats away at their extraordinary year
- They are aware that they are setting themselves up for physical health problems with negative words and thoughts…they know the data and the science
- They know that they are 100% in charge of, and responsible for, how their brains function
For example, this year some studies were released about how cell phone usage (and certainly over-usage) trains our brains.
Here are some of the results from these neuroscience studies on cell phone use:
- Cell phone use possesses the same neuro feedback loop that creates addiction and obsessive-compulsive behavior, and increases current any active addiction
- Cell phone use increases possibility for, and/or exacerbates, depression and anxiety
- Increases irritability
- It produces information overload which can disturb short and long term memory
- Increases selfishness
- Decreases in-person connections
- Decreases empathy
- Decreases compassionate responses
- Significantly decreases attention span
- Lowers the ability to focus
This does not represent who you are!
Do not allow your cell phone use or overuse to ‘train’ your brain into becoming any or all the things listed above!
Successful people in this arena do not allow themselves to ‘negotiate’ regarding the ‘integrity’ of what they allow into their brains.
Does one movie that creates trauma and distress in your body matter?
It does to those who are successful.
Do negative comments about the worst that can happen matter? Things like:
- They need to fix that because somebody’s going to get hurt
- You better be careful or the whole house will burn down
- I can’t stand my husband/wife and they will never change
- Our business will never get off the ground
- Covid is going to ruin our country
People who successfully design extraordinary years do not allow themselves to speak such words, nor to take actions that compromise the course they have carefully charted.
What about you?
What are you doing to train your brain negatively? More importantly, to train it positively.
I’ll be writing a lot about this in the upcoming year!
3. THEY LIVE IN INTENTIONALITY, DEDICATED TO NEURO-TRANSFORMING, BRAIN ALTERING ‘POWER RITUALS’
Intentionality is about charting your course and sitting at the helm to direct it carefully.
‘Target-hitters’ do ‘whatever’ it takes to break out of old ruts.
Do you know what a rut is? It’s something that has deep grooves that are hard to get out of.
I had no idea how deep ‘the ruts’ were to my addiction to sugar when I decided to stop eating it. I was surprised and shocked, at the rituals, I’d established around my sugar intake/cravings.
I automatically wanted to pull into the 7-Eleven on the way to school or work to get my morning cherry Slurpee, and my Krispy Kreme donuts. I cannot tell you how many times I found myself having to remind myself: I do not do that anymore.
I created a new ritual of pulling in across the street, and a few blocks before the 7-Eleven /// taking a few moments to be thankful that I felt better since I’d stopped eating sugar. The ruts were deep but I was resolved to address every bad habit in my life.
In order to break all the rituals that you may not even be aware of, you need to create new rituals. For example, I have a morning ritual that includes:
- Jumping up when the alarm goes off
- Making up the bed
- Saying my power word aloud (the ‘first’ word out of my mouth)
- Brushing my teeth
- Saying these things aloud with determination while lightly working out in my home gym:
- My power word and the phrases and statements that define it
- All seven of my targets
- My proclamation
- I follow it with a prayer
- Then I take my nutritional supplements
And I have a lot of mini rituals that I practice throughout the day too.
Then my evening ritual consists of:
- Facial care
- Relaxing bubble bath
- Body care (lotions, etc.)
- Reviewing my next day
- Writing in my gratitude journal
We all know the drill, but unfortunately, it’s all too true: “If we ‘keep’ doing what we’ve ‘always’ done, we’re 100% guaranteed the same results.”
If you’re willing to step out of your comfort zone and develop some new power rituals, you will be ‘insured’ that YOU WILL see new and greater results!
4. THEY ARE DEDICATED TO HABITS THAT INCREASE THEIR ENERGY
We all know that to have an extraordinary year, it requires energy. Those devoted to stringing extraordinary year after extraordinary year together, are devoted to creating and maximizing their energy levels.
Each year, I ask those who experienced success, to share those things they practiced in order to maximize their energy.
Here are some of mine, along with theirs:
- Mild or no use of caffeine. Being very aware that the more we use caffeine, the more beat up our adrenal system becomes. Then the more caffeine our bodies will require. Kind of an addictive process for creating energy that does us great harm.
- Limited use of sugar. As most of you know, I’ve been sugar free for almost 30 years. Certainly, it’s not something I suggest for everyone. But people who are interested in energy conservation and/or production are very aware that it requires tremendous amount of energy to process any sugar we put in our bodies.
- Limited consumption of carbs, particularly white carbs. Like potatoes, that convert to bad sugar in your mouth before you finish chewing. Also, white rice, chips, crackers, etc.
- Regular consumption of healthy proteins.
- Regular exercise, most conforming with the Heart Association‘s recommendation of 10,000+ steps daily.
- Building muscle mass by doing strength training also increases our energy.
- There are nutritional supplements available on the market that create healthy energy, not energy created from caffeine or other stimulants. For example, significant energy increases are noted from products containing wild Mexican yam.
- Managing stress levels and keeping cortisol dumps in the body to a minimum. Cortisol feeds on your energy.
- Limited alcohol consumption.
There are many other ways to create and sustain natural energy.
People who design ‘extraordinary’ years and ‘multiply’ them, are very committed to a lifestyle that produces and protects their energy.
5. THEY HARNESS THE POWER OF FOCUS.
Focus is the recipe for what each day of your life looks like.
Following up with point #4 above, if you focus on and comment on how tired you are all the time, your brain will assist you in finding moments you are tired and seeing fatigue in others, increasing your battle with fatigue.
When I was first starting my therapy practice, I found myself in a huge battle with fatigue. I went and had every medical test known to man and nothing was discovered.
Finally, my physician sat me down in her office and asked me what ‘words or phrases’ I repeated, when I was tired or frustrated. I wasn’t sure.
She suggested that I go and ask my business partner and my staff. (This wasn’t the ‘medical’ response I was expecting.) Take a co-worker survey? True story.
Hands down, they all answered the question without hesitation and recited the same response: “You say, ‘I am SOOOO tired!’”
It had become a “catch all” phrase and sure enough, I was so fatigued that I landed in a doctor’s office with literally dozens of tests that showed NOTHING! I had focused myself/my brain into a state of severe fatigue, using my ‘own’ words to reinforce it!
Where you focus, your life will go!
Focus on the reasons you will fail …
Focus on the advantages others have that you don’t …
Focus on how “unlucky” you are …
And your ‘brain’ will assist you in your instruction to fail.
Yet if you…
Focus on what is possible …
Focus how you can accomplish something …
Focus on what it takes to defeat the odds …
YOUR ‘brain’ will focus on how to succeed!
What you focus on trains your brain on what will occur. A proverb for the desiring wise, “As a person thinks-so are they.”
When I taught my “Design An Extraordinary Year” course the last time, someone came to me on break. He said, “I don’t want to be a troublemaker, but I just don’t believe all of this will work. At least not for me.”
I pulled him aside, and with sincere care told him: “You’re right. It will not work for you. Because you are focusing on what won’t work. You can talk yourself right out of an extraordinary year.”
I continued.
“But will you do this with me? Will you finish the course, and focus on what might work? If you do, and still feel the same, I’ll refund your fee for the course.” He agreed.
At the end of the course, I approached him and asked him where we were?
He said, he’d focused on what might work and before he knew it, he was into it. He was convinced it was working, even though he had previous thought it was all “BS.”
This year, he told me he was shooting for another extraordinary year, because I had said in his course that “By the time you string two or three years together, you will have an extraordinary life!”
What do you focus on?
If you focus on headline news, you will expect bad things to happen, and your brain will help you hear and accumulate data to support the idea that things are falling apart.
If you focus on great teaching and inspiration, your brain will assist you in finding more of it … and your life will move in that direction.
If you focus on your spouse’s shortcomings, you’ll see more and more of them (even if they don’t increase).
Not only that, but if they begin to make attempts to be more kind, more sensitive, more loving, you’ll totally miss it! Because you are focused on their ‘shortcomings’.
Again…What are you focusing on?
Successful people focus on things that propel them on their journey to ‘extraordinary’!
They focus things that helps them hit/crush their targets and bring great fulfillment to their life.
Harness the power of focus!
See the changes happen!
That’ll guarantee the best version of you!
And will make your own version of ‘extraordinary’ happen year after year after year after year!
Following these 5 power habits will greatly ‘increase’ your chances of having an extraordinary year.
Choose one to start on today.
Choose one weekly to focus on.
That’ll take a bit more than a month.
Then start again (Remember changing your focus, changes your brain, and neuroscience says: changing our brains changes our life).
YOU HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE ANY AND EVERYTHING!
By the end of the year, you will have spent about 10 weeks on each of the power habits. And they WILL change your brain and make all the difference in the world!
You can make your life as rich as you would like it to be.
You can place your head on your pillow each night in great fulfillment. But did you know that once you master this … you will reap the greatest reward of all?
You will be equipped and ready to help others do the same.
I hope you will join me in paying it forward.
This, my friend, will indeed make it our best year ever!
WE GOT THIS!
