MAWMonday Motivators 01/31/2016

#MondayMotivation One month of 2016 in the books. Time to reflect on the progress made during the first 31 days of the year. Some like to remain hopeful, but I like to mix my hope with a bit of math. For example, my goal was to publish 1 training per week for a total of 4 during the month of January. I finished two. Not an opportunity to beat myself up, because I am still hopeful. AND, the next 11 months will have to average 4.18 training completion rate in order to meet my goal for the year. It’s not about hoping the Summer will be more productive. It’s not about promising to work harder on the weekends. It’s about being both optimistic AND mathematical with each week and each of the remaining months. Twitter is on some encouragement–a bit of wisdom while you work.

1. Learn From Smart Thinkers
The tweet stimulates a world of analogies from its second sentence. “Success leaves clues.” So, the learning from other smart thinkers is not just sitting as the sagacious sermon is presented. It is investigating with magnifying glass and microscope in tow. It is asking questions curiously, and curating constructively while illuminating intelligently.

200138765-001_XS2. Awaken to Joy
After this past weeks weather, you may already being living the advice of this tweet. But, it’s not talking about the outside of nature. It is referring to the outside beyond yourself. Find the joy that is within you. Live it each day. Grab the flashlight of truth, and the knee pads of “you’re enough.” Go spelunking into the recesses of your emotions, interests, and passions. Bring the fun you find to the surface, and put it on display as a reminder of the coolness originating on your inside.

3. Combine Positives
Action and thought. That didn’t seem to work. Positive action and positive thought. That’s the winning combination. There is something magical about thinking you can, and putting your energy behind it. Even when you are turned away, you reclaim all the energy you spent wondering. You know. Now, you are free to explore other opportunities. Keep combining.

4. Mind Your Feet
“Don’t look down,” they said. That advice doesn’t apply here. Check your feet to make sure you are at the edge. The edge provides a vantage point from which to plan your next risk. You only need one foot balanced and sure. Check it once. Now, get ready for greater success than you imagined.

5. Compete Positively
I created the phrase “positive competition.” This tweet exemplifies what I’m talking about. We are related. We are sisters, brothers…I call them productive dyads. We challenge each other to improve and excel. We show each other another way, a different path, another level. We are not in competition. That would relegate our achievement as fodder for simple comparison. We compete positively, providing that external motivation that is sometimes needed. We make each other better in the process.