Dan Waldschmidt's Blog, page 40

Make New Day Resolutions.

You don’t need to wait until next year to fix what’s broken.

Right now is a perfectly good opportunity to get started doing what needs to be done.

The problem with just making resolutions at the beginning of each year is that they don’t mean much until they’ve been tested. Until you’ve been tested.

The resolution is just a good idea.

Maybe even something more. But being more doesn’t mean anything until you get busy trying to do it. Until you get started.

It doesn’t matter what you’re trying to achieve, each day is a day to make resolutions.

Each new morning is the best time to take stock of where you are and what you need to do in order to get to where you want to be.

Why wait until a new year?

Why waste valuable time you have right now?

If you’re trying to get healthy, resolve to get started tomorrow.
If you’re trying to get your finances in order, resolve to make changes tomorrow.

If you’re trying to get promoted, build your business, or capitalize on an change that has deep meaning for you, resolve to get started tomorrow.

It’s a fresh day. A new beginning.

It doesn’t matter what has happened up to this point — you can be anything you want to be, any person you imagine you want to be — tomorrow.

That’s where you’ll find the hope you’ve been looking for. That’s where you’ll find the smile of satisfaction you’ve been missing on  your face.

No matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done, tomorrow is a fresh opportunity to try again.

It’s a clean slate. A fresh set of tries.

Why would you want to wait on that second chance until next year?

Why not get started tomorrow morning?

Make some new day resolutions.

The post Make New Day Resolutions. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

Make It Work.

There is never a better time to get started.

It’s hard to apologize when you make a mistake, learn from your critics (even when they’re mean), or begin a new part of life that’s scary and unpredictable.

One of the biggest reasons you won’t get started doing what needs to be done — and change your life for the better — is because you think you need something more than what you have right now.

You think you need more information.

More money. More time.

You’re convinced that when you have more of what you’re missing right now you’ll be better positioned to get to where you want to be.

That internal dialog is nothing other than fear.

Your brains survival mechanism trying to protect you from getting hurt.

That’s not logic. That’s not fact. That’s not even likely.

The truth is that it will never be a better time than right now to get started doing what needs to be done.

There will always be another priority standing in your way. You will always have fewer resources than you think you need.

There won’t be a time where you won’t think you’re unprepared.

You have to make it work.

That’s the secret to success. You have to make it work.

You take the resources you have and make things work. You don’t imitate other people’s successes or procrastinate hoping success happens automatically.

You make it work.

Put aside your frustrations about the past. Push aside your fears about the present.

Take what you have and use it to propel yourself towards where you want to be.

Every day. Step by step by step.

If you don’t make it work, is not going to work.

It’s on you. Get busy.

The post Make It Work. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

52 Behaviors Of Highly Successful People.

They don’t rationalize or trivialize failure — and stop themselves when they are tempted to make excuses.
They have an off switch. They know how to enjoy the moment, relax, and enjoy what they have in their life already.
They don’t confuse their job with their identity
They are more interested in getting things done than they are in doing things that are easy.
They make every effort to finish what they start — even when it costs them more than seems reasonable.
They practice what they preach.
They are comfortable with new and different, even though it’s scary at times.
They work to stay in shape personally — eating smart and exercising.
They are vigorously effective — stay busy, productive and thinking ahead.
They associate themselves with like-minded people.
They understand the importance of building great teams and win-win relationships.
They are ambitious and driven — they want to be awesome and work to achieve it.
They always find a way to maximize their strengths and get more out of their performance.
They have clarity about what they want and don’t want for their life.
They innovate new ideas rather than imitate what everyone else is doing.
They fight procrastination and refuse to wait for the “right time” to get started.
They are life-long readers and learners and leaders.
They are always educating themselves, asking questions, and reading about success.
They are positive people – while still being pragmatic and down-to-earth. They find the good in circumstances around them.
They do what needs to be done regardless of how they feel that moment.
They find opportunities where others see problems.
They learn lessons from situations where others just make excuses.
They are focused on finding a solution.
They do hard work step-by-step-by-step to create their own success instead of hoping to get lucky.
They are not controlled or limited by the fear they feel.
They ask better questions. They refuse to let negative thoughts define their emotional state.
They don’t waste time complaining about things that are outside of their own control.
They don’t blame other people for their own actions and results.
They don’t keep stopping and starting.
They take smart risks – financial, emotional, spiritual, and physical.
They deal with problems and challenges quickly and efficiently.
They don’t believe in, or wait for fate, destiny, chance, luck, or someone else to better their life.
They take action before they have to.
They are effective at being aware of and managing their emotions.
They work consciously at being a good communicator.
They do things others won’t.
They become exceptional by choice.
They know what moves them in their core and build their life around being true to that.
They develop life fitness instead of aiming for balance.
They are careful to develop discipline and self-control.
They are strong.
They aren’t scared to do what no one else is doing.
They do not derive their sense of worth from how affluent or attractive they are.
They take pleasure in helping others achieve success.
They are humble and quick to admit mistakes —  and then apologize.
They don’t invest emotional energy into things they have no control over.
They don’t need constant approval to keep putting in hard work.
They set high standards for themselves.
They work hard and put in consistent effort to achieve daily momentum.
They are incredibly resilient. Trying again — and again — to achieve meaningful progress.
They are open to feedback from others and use what they learn to improve.
They refuse to hang out with negative people.

The post 52 Behaviors Of Highly Successful People. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

Where Greatness Is Found.

Anyone can do what is easy.

That’s why we call it easy. By definition, it is not hard to do.

It’s easy. Comfortable. What comes naturally. Second nature.

It doesn’t require much sweat or emotional agony. It’s just something that you do instinctively.

And it won’t be what solves your problems.

If there were an easy answer to your situation, you would have already figured it out by now.

Maybe even started working on it.

The hard truth about hard problems is that they’re never solved by doing what is easy.

It doesn’t happen. Cant. Won’t. Ever.

Sticky, complex problems demand that you do what is hard and comfortable in order to turn things around. Start there.

Start by looking for the uncomfortable, emotionally demanding solution.

Instead of wasting time jumping from quick fix to quick fix, you’ll find yourself building momentum around a plan that ends up actually working.

Your competitors won’t do it. Your peers will think you’re crazy. Your friends and family will try to convince you to not hurt yourself.

If being successful doesn’t really matter to you then enjoy the chaos of avoiding what could really change your life for the better.

The tough road. The hard fix. The uncomfortable grind.

That is where greatness is found.

The post Where Greatness Is Found. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

Take Them Back To Cave Man Days.

It’s already out there. The answer to your question.

The solution to the problem that’s been bothering you. The cure for your sickness.

Times change.

So do countries and movements, society, cultural norms, and economic standing.

People and their problems tend to stay the same.

You might wear different clothes from your caveman forefathers and do different work, but you’re still challenged by the same fears and primal needs.

You don’t want to lose. You don’t want to look like you’re losing .

You don’t want to die. You don’t want to do things that feel like dying.

What has changed over time is the dishonesty of solving those problems.

It used to be that survival was pretty clear.

You left home in the morning with a spear and a rock and came back with a dead animal to eat — or you starved.

There wasn’t a concept of “there aren’t enough jobs out there” or any of the other excuses being made today.

You had to build everything from scratch. It was expected that you would have to find the resolve and courage and stamina to do what needed to be done each day.

Now, those concepts aren’t as clear.

Now it seems like someone else’s fault when you’re not as inspired as you want to be or when things go unexpectedly wrong.

In truth, individual responsibility and personal effort have always been the foundation for living a successful life.

No matter the millennium, what you do matters.

No one else owes you anything. Any help you get should be surprisingly delightful, not something that is owed to you.

It’s on you to figure it out.

If your problems seem too complex, take them back the cavemen days.

Imagine how silly you would sound proffering First World excuses to problems that even a Neanderthal has figured out.

Do the work.

The post Take Them Back To Cave Man Days. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

11 Ways To Find Your “More” When You’re Beat Down.

Most of the time, good ideas go stale simply because of a lack of energy.

Smart people with experience just stop finding a reason to keep putting in the effort.

That happens to all of us one time or another.

You start out with good intentions and plenty of resolve, but get knocked around and quickly find yourself drained of inspiration and energy.

Inspiration isn’t an accident. It’s a process.

Sustaining your energy and finding inspiration are a result of a focused effort by you to selectively cling to a powerful routine that feeds your soul, nurtures your body, stimulates your mind, and ignites your will.

There is always enough time in the day to accomplish what needs to get done.

Time isn’t the challenge. Your energy is. You give up too soon.

You stop looking for answers too soon.

You make excuses to soon. The only way to change that is to change your energy.

Here are a few proven ways to do that.

Drink more water. — Almost 75% of business people live chronically dehydrated. You can’t think straight or stay awake for long without being adequately hydrated. Start each day with several large cups of water. Keep it up throughout the day.
Start each morning with a goal for the day. — Write down one thing you can accomplish that will make the day awesome. Make sure you get that one thing done, no matter what. Imagine if you do that every day.
Get up a little bit earlier. — Use that little bit of extra time to slow down, eat right, and think through what really matters for the day. You’ll act better, feel better, and do better when you’re not running late right from the beginning of the day.
Cut back on eating carbs. — You lose valuable hours of daily productivity feeling sleepy and slow after you eat meals unnecessarily rich in carbohydrates and sugars. Cut back on sweet things to gain momentum throughout the day. Eat green.
Set aside 10 minutes mid day to meditate. — Find a quiet spot where you can shut your eyes and slowly think about how you feel, how the day is going, or just nothing at all. It gives your brain a chance to reboot and be more creative.
Be more candid in your conversations. — You can spend a lot of unnecessary emotional energy hinting at what needs to be said when direct language would solve things quickly. Be clear. Demand accountability. Move on to something else.
Develop cool hobbies and interesting distractions. — No matter how tired you already are, jumping into an activity that you enjoy always rejuvenates your soul. Find time for things that inspire you, no matter how silly they might seem.
Be physically active. — Whether it’s running or CrossFit, lifting weights or taking a walk during your lunch break — physical activity is the key to recharging your body and staying healthy despite stress. Try standing at your desk too.
Surround yourself with people who are positive and energetic. — Passion is contagious. Surround yourself with inspired coaches, mentors, and friends who are unashamed to run full speed after the things that deeply inspire them.
Recap your day by journaling. — Take a few minutes before you go to bed to write down one thing you could have improved to make the day better. Over time, you’ll see yourself developing new life skills and being more successful.
Read nonfiction books about other people’s struggles. — Nothing is more inspiring than to read about the struggles other people have gone through on their journey to success. It puts your battle into context and reminds you that the stress you’re feeling is normal.

There isn’t any secret formula to staying inspired. It is a pursuit. A struggle.

A carefully protected conquest.

One thing is for sure: You won’t go far if you don’t make a focused effort to stay inspired and energetic. It’s just that simple.

The path to success demands all you have and then some “more”.

Build that “more”. Nurture that “more”. Protect that “more”.

Be awesome. One day at a time.

The post 11 Ways To Find Your “More” When You’re Beat Down. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

Who Has Your Back?

When things get tough and you need extraordinary help, who can you count on to stand by your side?

Perhaps a better way to answer that question is to reflect on whose back you have. And what that means in reality.

How far would you go to help someone in need? What are the requirements for earning your love and support?

Bad times will come when you least expect them.

You going to face challenges that you can’t fix all on your own. You’re going to be forced into situations where failure is the only possible outcome unless you get some help.

It’s too late when things are bad to build relationships and earn the trust of people who can rescue you in your time of need.

No matter how good things are now for you, the time is coming that’s going to break your will and leave you feeling unprepared for what needs to be done.

That day for somebody else is today.

That moment of helplessness is behind the nervous smile they gave you this morning. They’re waiting for you to ask again.

They want you to press them and push them on what’s really going on. But you just asked it once and moved on to other things, assuming that whatever they told you the first time is true.

There’s a part of you that already knows something is wrong.

You see the pattern in yourself.

You know what it’s like to hurt and not feel like anyone can help you. You know what it’s like to want to blurt out your anguish but feel trapped behind the social baggage of pretending like everything is going to work itself out in the end.

Be the hero you hope to find for yourself in your darkest day.

Do for others what you so desperately will need for yourself someday.

Love people. Invest in people. Take the time to demand vulnerability from those pretending like everything is still alright.

The question about who has your back is answered easily.

When you love people and make sure they heal, they do the same for you.

Maybe the reason no one has your back right now is because you’ve never taken the time to have theirs.

And maybe it’s time you started acting differently to change that.

The post Who Has Your Back? appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

Endurance Is A Life Skill.

If you can’t go long, you won’t go far.

Great ambition demands great stamina, deep courage, and unparalleled resolve.

You’re going to have to endure hardship getting from where you are right now to where you want to be.

Not the easy, fast, “will-be-over-in-a-minute” kind of hardship.  The dull, throbbing ache of unmet expectations and confused fatigue.

It hurts to change.

It hurts even more if you want to change enough to be the best at what you are trying to accomplish.

One thing is certain: If you don’t persist, your dream won’t exist.

It’s dead. Over. Gone. It’s that simple. When you stop moving forward, you’ve lost.

Life is an endurance sport — physically, mentally, and financially.

Being smart helps. Being witty helps.  Having charm, wealth or powerful relationships — they all help.

Nothing can replace unrelenting forward progress.

Nothing else is as powerful in getting you to where you want to be.

It’s lonely to endure.

It’s scary and disheartening to endure. It feels like waiting. Looks like stubbornness to everyone else around you.

“There has to be a better way”, they tell you. “You’re doing something wrong.”

It’s too much stress. Too much pain.

It doesn’t seem natural.

And most of the time, a daily battle to continue.

You give up because you stop enduring.

You slow down because you stop enduring. You make bad decisions and reap horrible consequences because you fail to find the courage to endure.

Big change in your life demands a series of unglamorous actions. Brutally difficult changes implemented with monotonously daily rigor.

If you can’t do that, you won’t win.

You won’t ever achieve the goals you start working on.

Change won’t happen. Your life will continue to be a series of disappointing stops and starts.

Develop your endurance. Remind yourself of the importance of doing the hard things.

Be unrelenting in your need to keep moving forward. Endure.

The post Endurance Is A Life Skill. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

Its Going To Take Time.

It takes time to turn things around.

No matter where you are or what you’re trying to accomplish, the truth about being successful is that it won’t happen overnight.

It takes time to create strategy that works for you — time, trial, and error.

That’s okay if your life is smooth and you’re making progress each day, but difficult to deal with if you’re in a painful situation.

It’s hard to be patient when you’re living through the consequences of bad decisions from your past.

Getting to a better place can be all consuming.

Don’t lose track of the reality that it is going to take you  time to turn things around.

It took time to get you here. It’s going to take more time to get you there.

Maybe even the rest of your life.

That’s why it is important to manage your daily momentum. It’s not all going to happen quickly.

Change isn’t always something that you can see.

You have to feel it. Create it. Live it.

Use smart tools like Todoist and Wunderlist to keep you scheduled and getting things done each day.
Take time to journal what’s your grateful for and what you can do today to be awesome.
Spend time each day doing some sort of exercise or meditating to give yourself space to think.
Trade the time you watch TV and read books about things that fascinate you.

It’s going to take time for you to turn things around.

There’s always a good reason not to do these things.

Something each day that seems more important.

Building momentum is the result of doing things that matter each day. Whether you feel like doing them or not. Whether it looks like they are working or not.

Prepare for the long haul.Don’t expect to be an overnight success story.

That’s not going to happen for you. It’s going to take time.

The post Its Going To Take Time. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...

It’s Not Good Enough.

It’s not good enough to try again if you’re not willing to keep trying until you figure it out.

It’s not good enough to get a degree if you’re not committed to learning and getting better.

It’s not good enough to have ambition if you’re willing to take shortcuts and hurt other people.

It’s not good enough.

It’s not good enough to want to change if you’re not developing the urgency to start changing.

It’s not good enough to be smart if you don’t use what you know to make your life better.

It’s not good enough to start grand endeavors if you’re determined to do what it takes to finish.

It’s not good enough.

It’s not good enough to feel motivated if you don’t truly believe what you’re doing matters.

It’s not good enough to do some of what needs to be done if you won’t do it all, all the time.

It’s not good enough to be different if you aren’t different enough to actually get noticed.

It’s not good enough.

You’re stuck because what you’re doing isn’t good enough. It might be smart enough, tough enough, sharp enough, and better, bigger, bolder than anyone else around you.

But it does you no good to pretend like everything will work itself out when clearly it’s not good enough. And the only fix for that is brutally honest effort.  You doing what you have never done before.

You’re tough enough to be good enough.

The real question is whether you really want to be.

The post It’s Not Good Enough. appeared first on Dan Waldschmidt: Author of EDGY Conversations.

Copyright by Waldschmidt Partners Intl... Not sure that all that legal stuff really matters. If you want to share this material, do so. Just don't charge for it and don't tell people you wrote it. Both of those are uncool.

Other than that, all rights are reserved to you to change your life. If you are ready to be amazing, now is the time to get started. Onward...