How Successful People Think - Taking the Earl Nightingale Challenge by Generating Great Ideas - Update

At the beginning of March 2017, I shared wisdom and a challenge from Earl Nightingale, to use our minds to develop ideas for our own benefit.

Providing an update in April proved more challenging than I had anticipated. June is as good a month as April for updates.

Earl Nightingale encourages us to purposely plan time to focus our minds on the activity of generating ideas. We should spend an hour, if possible, each day, immersed in writing down ideas which come to mind. By making this a deliberate act, we cultivate and exercise our brain's capacity to look for ways we can create opportunities to improve ourselves, and earn through thought.

I decided to take this seriously.

I wanted all my ideas to be recorded in the same place, so I selected a pocket sized note book, small enough that I could take it anywhere, yet sized so I could write comfortably. Why not my mobile phone? I will say something about this later on.

I selected a note book with no lines on the page, so my thoughts would not be limited, nor influenced by the page style.

I experimented with the time of day, to find a time where I could condition my mind to get ready to work. I tried the first thing in the morning, all the way through to last thing at night. My schedule during March proved quite erratic, so I wrote mostly while I was travelling by train. This gave me about an hour each week day.

Sometimes, I sought inspiration by listening to recordings from great speakers and reading positive messages prior to setting my mind to work.

I also took time to clear my mind on occasion, to see if there was a difference in the quantity, or quality of ideas produced.

As stated by Earl, the first attempts to generate ideas yielded little as my brain felt unprepared, being forced to create on demand, but as I got past this initial feeling, I started writing everything, as thoughts came to me.

At first, my thoughts were about physical things, mostly something I could design, or make. I had seven ideas on my first attempt.

I thought about everyday problems and how I could solve them.

Then came the challenges. Life getting in the way. I found it quite challenging to force my mind to become, or remain creative, while I had life challenges fighting for the same resource.

There were several days where I could generate one, or two ideas at best.

I kept putting in the time though.

Some ideas were duplicated along the way, but I generated over 60 ideas and a system.

So what did I learn?

I am capable of generating great ideas, and with practice over time, I will generate a few brilliant, possibly life changing ideas, provided I keep this going.

I stopped myself censoring my ideas. It is so easy to dismiss our own ideas, judging them before even writing them down, so I committed them to my note book regardless of how naturally successful I felt they would be.

Keeping all these ideas in one place may appear risky, but I have trained my mind to get working on ideas every time I see the note book. It is inspirational to me to see all these ideas flowing from my mind. I can look through them and select an idea to act on, knowing if it does not blossom into an immediate success, I can relax. There are many more where that idea came from, already written down, and I can always go back to my mind at any time to generate even more.

Generating ideas is actually fun. I observe everyday occurrences with the possibility that an idea will formulate, should something happen unexpectedly.

Some of the world's greatest ideas came to life that way.

Some ideas just arrive. No preparation, no warning, so carrying a note book and pen, ensures I can capture them.

I tried capturing my ideas on my mobile phone a few times. The interface of my phone, and the battery dependency of electronic devices, forced me straight back to the note book. This is before I get to the interruption of emails and texts.

Pen and paper provide an instant, flexible and unrestrained way to record thoughts.

I am still writing ideas in my note book. I carry it around with me and review my ideas whenever I hear a great idea, generated by someone else. I compare it to mine and usually, my ideas appear more useful than they originally were written down.

I encourage you to take Earl Nightingale's advice. Set time aside to regularly engage your mind to come up with ideas.

Who knows, the next big idea may be one of mine, or yours.

Thank you Earl Nightingale.

Thank you for reading.

Patrick Nairne

Starting Your Self-Improvement Journey Part 1

Starting out with Self Improvement Part 1

As with any journey, starting, is most important part. The pursuit of self-improvement requires an investment of both energy and time, to make sure there is a start.

Have you observed how sprinters meticulously seat themselves into their starting blocks with ritual focus, wiggling their way into the perfect starting position? 

The starting block enables the sprinter to channel as much of their their energy as possible into the start of their race, which is crucial to the sprinter's moving from stationary, to maximum speed, as quickly as possible. 

There is a lot more to sprinting than the start, of course, but the reference here, is all about making a connection to starting out with self-improvement.

Starting out with self-improvement is closer to starting a sprint race, than an endurance race, although actual self-improvement is definitely not about quick fix. 

If you ever ran races as a child, you most likely did not use a starting block. You probably assumed a standing start, or crouched into a start position. You probably noticed some of your energy was not utilised in getting you moving forward as you slipped, or tentatively started out, ultimately preventing you unleashing your maximum potential.

As with sprinting, you can choose a starting block, or work with the flat bare track. 

Judging from the uptake by all the World's best sprinters, starting blocks deliver some great advantages over going without.

When starting out with self-improvement, just like starting a sprint race, the aim is for all of your energy to propel you in the intended direction only. No slips, no slides.

The starting block is only effective if adjusted to fit the physical dimensions of the sprinter if they are to provide the best start, reducing, or even removing the slipping and sliding, which can prevent you achieving your best start.

Once you have started running, the starting blocks are no longer needed, until the start of the next race.  

So what are these starting blocks in relation to self-improvement?

Acknowledging your current strategy cannot take you where you want to go, and that You, need to upgrade yourself, to be able to take you where you want to go.


Sprinters need their starting blocks adjusted to fit them perfectly for the greatest effectiveness. A little off, and the sprinter could false start, start poorly, or in the extreme, injure themselves trying to launch into their start. 


Starting your self-improvement is much the same.

What is your current strategy? Spend the time to honestly detail your approach right now. This will be a lot more challenging than than it may at first appear.

This is the true start of your self-improvement journey.

I look forward to you joining me for Part 2.

Purpose - Drive - Why - Success

Dick's Sporting Goods & Dr. Eric Thomas: I Can, I Will, I Must

Today I took another step toward my goals for 2017.

In spite of many challenges this morning, I made it to the Internet Business School to start my Internet Marketing Diploma course, learning from Simon Coulson. Simon teaches cutting edge knowledge and skills, which are mandatory for successfully creating and maintaining an online presence if you aim to be a thought leader, or an entrepreneur.

I faced several moments when it would have been easier to turn back and go home to where I would be both comfortable and warm. 

The course is available online after all.

Putting it all into context, I was experiencing challenges which were inconvenient, not insurmountable. Nothing approaching a threat to life. The challenges were reason enough to quit though.

I heard this affirmation for the first time over thirty years ago and it stuck in my mind from that time until now. 

Normal people need a reason Why, to keep going when it seems easier to quit.

If you are thinking of quitting something which is essential to your future success because it gets a little challenging, please listen to these inspirational words from Dr. Eric Thomas now.




Thank you.

Patrick Nairne

Mel Robbins presents the 5 second rule

Mel Robbins presents the 5 second rule.

 

Two weeks ago I attended the JT Foxx weekend workshop in London and and sure enough, JT Foxx presented a 5 second rule for making decisions.

Why agonise over decisions? Make the decision, then give it everything to make the decision work for you.

Do you take too long to act? Why not give the 5 second rule a try?

Let me know what you think.

Patrick Nairne 

How Successful People Think - Earl Nightingale

I often heard extracts from Earl Nightingale on the radio, before I became a teenager, and remember thinking these were words of true wisdom. 

I always wanted to hear more. I knew at the time, there must be more than those extracts I was exposed to. 

This is a time before the Internet, and access to information as we enjoy it today.

I think about the challenges, which any person seeking real Self Improvement in those days, would have to overcome, when it was not as easy as searching worldwide databases, or search engines electronically in seconds, as we do today.

We have so much access to wisdom in digestible formats today, yet, self improvement remains a pursuit for only the most determined to change.

Earl Nightingale references the capacity of the human mind, and encourages a simple method to cultivate opportunities, yet in his day, just as now, many people choose to not develop this natural, free resource in this way.

I speak to so many people who appear amazed that humanity has a reusable resource which can be literally 'mined' in this way. Many believe this idea is merely over simplification. If it was that easy, surely everyone would do it.

I have witnessed on more than one occasion at an event called The Power to Achieve, Andy Harrington, through a simple demonstration, revealing many people actively distorting, or deleting the obvious answer, to the amazement of those who decide to accept the simple answer as it is presented.

Today, I am implementing Earl's mind 'mining' technique. I have a paper notebook, which I will use to note my ideas for the month of March 2017. By the end of March, this should become a habit. I hope to post an update on my progress during April.

In the meantime, please take the time to listen to Earl, and perhaps, have a little fun implementing his mind 'mining' technique for the next month too.

Let me know how you get on.

Patrick Nairne

 

Working on My Self Improvement

I recently completed a workshop to start my Online Marketing Business. The course was over two days, run by Paul O'Mahony. 

I learned how to create this blog through Paul's lessons and support. 

Paul is, among his many talents, a public speaker who clearly believes in developing a mindset which produces Self Improvement. 

Patrick and Paul at Paul's OBM workshop © Patrick Nairne 2017

I first met Paul in late 2015 at an event called The Power to Achieve, run by Andy Harrington, and immediately saw how the solution presented by Paul, was a vehicle for me to create a lifestyle I had always thought possible, but had not yet realised through my own efforts.

Paul's message during the workshop, was simple. The likelihood of success, depends upon a willingness to prioritise clarity on goals and completing the actions required to reach those goals.

My likelihood of creating my online business would depend completely on my willingness to prioritise my Online Business Goals and completing the Actions required to reach them.

Ok Paul, so it is not just about learning what you do and copying it?

Mindset, Willingness, Actions? This sounds more like Personal Development Paul. 

Ok, so I understood there was a need for me to do 'something', but it turns out that the most important 'something', is to work on me.

I started working on Me, some time ago, and to be fair, I have come a long way. I have realised that my journey is about to become supersonic in 2017 and would like to help others, who like me, want to take part in life at a higher level, but could do with a little help to get there.

This blog is a place to find inspirational people, who can help you make a positive difference to your life. I look forward to sharing them with you in 2017 and beyond.

Patrick Nairne.