Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - February 26th

If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right. - Henry Ford

Visualization is daydreaming with a purpose. – Bo Bennett

I see myself doing what it is I want to do, and I do not let go of this picture until it manifests. – Suzanne Somers

Imagination is everything.  It is the preview of life's coming attractions. - Albert Einstein

Does visualization really work?  Is there science behind it? 

Australian psychologist Alan Richardson conducted a study to determine if visualization would help basketball players improve their free throw percentage.  He selected random students that had never practiced visualization before and divided the students into three groups.  Group one practiced free throws every day for 20 days, group two practiced free throws on the first and twentieth day of the study and group three practiced free throws on the first and twentieth day of the study AND ALSO spent 20 minutes every day of the study visualizing making free throws.  If they missed their shot, they practiced getting the next shot in the basketball hoop. 

According to Richardson’s results, group one, which practiced their free throws every day, improved their free throw percentage rate by 24 percent.  The second group did not improve at all.  Group three, which visualized their free throws for 20 minutes every day, improved their free throw percentage by 23 percent, which is almost the same as those who practiced every day. 

The Llewellyn Encyclopedia states that visualization assists athletes in their success by increased confidence and motivation.  They also believe that a less obvious benefit of visualization is that it sharpens the muscle memory of athletes, which helps the athlete when they physical engage in the activity.

If visualization provides confidence, motivation and increased muscle memory, how would it assist someone who visualizes paying off debt, walking across the stage to receive a diploma for college graduation or finishing a marathon?

CHALLENGE: Based on last week’s “scenes” to visualize, what thoughts/actions do you need to visualize to accomplish your goals?  

Resources

https://expertenough.com/1898/visualization-works

http://jnsci.org/files/html/2017/e384.htm

Visualize Your Dream Life - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqu81F4WZq8

http://www.sportpsychologytoday.com/sport-psychology-for-coaches/the-power-of-visualization/

https://www.llewellyn.com/encyclopedia/article/244

https://www.powerofpositivity.com/7-incredible-studies-that-prove-the-power-of-the-mind/

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - Febraury 19th

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. - Thomas A. Edison

You become what you believe. - Oprah

What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract. What you imagine, you create. - Buddha

Now that productivity has increased, it is time to start focusing more on goals and dreams.  Many successful people visualize accomplishing their goals before they actually accomplish them.  In essence, they have thought through every aspect of the dreams and goals before they achieve success.

According to Merriam -Webster dictionary, visualization is:  

• formation of mental visual image
• the act or process of interpreting in visual terms or of putting into visible form
• the process of making an internal organ or part visible by the introduction (as by swallowing) of a radiopaque substance followed by radiography

In Alejandro Reyes’s article Does Visualization Really Work? Here’s Evidence That It Does, he says in layman’s terms that visualization is “recreating all the images, sounds and feelings in your mind surrounding an activity in order to practice in a perfect environment”.

Here are a three people that have visualized their way to success: 

• Kenya Moore said in People magazine in 2018 that she visualized that she was already Miss America and even had “everyone referring to me as ‘Kenya Moore, Miss USA 1993”.  She won Miss America that same year.   
• Nate Sharansky was imprisoned in Russia for 13 years after being accused of spying for the United States.  While in solitary confinement, he claimed to mentally have played chess against himself to remain sane.  Ten years after being released he defeated Garry Kasparov, which was the world chess champion at the time, based on his visualization during his imprisonment.  
• Jack Nicklaus said: 

I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head.

CHALLENGE: Start thinking about your dreams and goals for 2019 and what “scenes” you want to visualize as if you were accomplishing them because you will!

Resources

https://www.powerofpositivity.com/7-incredible-studies-that-prove-the-power-of-the-mind/

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17792517

https://expertenough.com/1898/visualization-works

http://jnsci.org/files/html/2017/e384.htm

https://www.wikihow.com/Visualize

Visualize Your Dream Life - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqu81F4WZq8

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/celebrity/beauty-queens-whove-had-the-most-success-in-hollywood/ss-BBMX8zi#image=38

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natan_Sharansky

https://www.jackcanfield.com/blog/visualize-and-affirm-your-desired-outcomes-a-step-by-step-guide/

https://www.gltgolf.com/golf-news-tips/golf-psychology-pre-shot-routine-jack-nicklaus-and-visualization.html

Success Secret: Visualization Part 1 - https://www.terri.com/success-secret-visualization-pt-1

Success Secret: Visualization Part 2 - https://www.terri.com/success-secret-visualization-pt-2/

Success Secret: Visualization Part 3 - https://www.terri.com/success-secret-visualization-pt-3/

Success Secret: Visualization Part 4 - https://www.terri.com/success-secret-visualization-pt-4/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expectancy_theory

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - Febraury 12, 2019

If I need to remind myself to bring something with me in the morning, I’ll usually put my car keys on top of it. - Des Traynor

Where your attention goes, your time goes. - Idowu Koyenikan, Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability

Time management is about life management. - Idowu Koyenikan, Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability

Consistency established your reputation. – Terri Savelle Foy

Here are the last three productivity suggestions:

Reclaim Dead Time

Going to a lot of events in D.C., I often have a lot of “dead time”.  With the traffic in this town and metro issues, I allow extra time in my schedule to make sure I am not late to an event.  Quite often, I arrive early and have a 20- or 30-minute wait before a meeting.  With this “dead time”, I have learned to take a book with me to read, sometimes I listen to a podcast or catch up on phone calls.  By having something to do during “dead time”, productivity increases!

Limit Number of Times Checking Email

Technology is wonderful, but it can be one of the biggest prohibitors of productivity.  It is very easy to get distracted when a “ding” sounds or when waiting “patiently” for someone to respond to an email.  Many experts suggest limiting the number of times in a day email is reviewed.  Some productivity experts recommend two times per day (morning and evening).  To make sure email does not overwhelm at the end of the day, the author suggests three times a day.  Check in the morning, around lunch to handle any issues from the morning and then check at the end of the day.  For the mid-day email check, it would be wise to limit the amount of time spent checking email or the whole afternoon could be spent “cleaning” out email.

Get Organized and Clean Out

When Opportunity Comes, It’s Too Late to Prepare. – John Wooten

As we are going full force and dreaming of “magic” for the year, it is important to be prepared when it comes.  During slow times when the weather is cold and now that football is over, it is a great time to prepare for dreams.  Does that mean a busier life may be in the future and cleaning out the house needs to occur?  Does that mean writing a book and being prepared when you meet the publisher?  That is for you to decide!

Preparation time is NEVER wasted time! – Terri Savelle Foy

CHALLENGE: What actions can you do now to prepare for when your dreams come true?   DO IT!

Resources

Terri Savelle Foy - https://www.facebook.com/terrisavellefoy/ - February 2, 2019

5 Bad Habits Successful People Ditched Long Ago - https://www.themuse.com/advice/5-bad-habits-successful-people-ditched-long-ago

The World's Most Successful People Don't Actually Start Work at 4 a.m. They Wake and Work Whenever the (Heck) They Decide - https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/the-worlds-most-successful-people-dont-actually-start-work-at-4-am-they-wake-work-whenever-heck-they-decide.html

The Top 5 Regrets Of The Dying - https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/03/top-5-regrets-of-the-dying_n_3640593.html

15 ways to be more productive and manage your time better, according to career experts - https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/career/15-ways-to-be-more-productive-and-manage-your-time-better-according-to-career-experts/ss-BBQxtk1?ocid=spartanntp#image=1

The "Block Schedule" System - LIFE CHANGING productivity hack! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BKuSlstIBM&t=720s

10 Habits Of Unsuccessful People You Don’t Want To Copy - https://dariusforoux.com/10-habits-of-unsuccessful-people-you-dont-want-to-copy/

10 Bad Habits That Successful People Avoid - http://www.theelpodcast.com/10-bad-habits-that-successful-people-avoid/

5 steps to stop procrastinating once and for all  - https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/career/5-steps-to-stop-procrastinating-once-and-for-all/ss-BBPMchz?ocid=spartanntp

5 Morning Rituals to Boost Your Productivity - https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/5-morning-rituals-to-boost-your-productivity.html?cid=sf01001&sr_share=twitter

Terri's Tuesday Tip of the Week - February 5th

People think, 'If I could only get motivated, then I'll act.' Nope. In actuality, it's the opposite. - Brendon Burchard

Waking up early, connecting with nature, and having my quiet time are priorities to me, and they are non-negotiable. - Danette May

If I fail to follow my morning routine I try to get a hard workout in. A hard workout is like a manual restart of the day. - Aubrey Marcus

Routines are powerful when they become rituals that no longer require conscious thought and willpower. Without iteration, however, they can become stale and can be hard to keep up. - Joel Gascoigne

Readers of this blog know I am a routine person.  Recently, I had a dream about my morning routine and that is when I knew had come to a new level of intention about my routines!

Morning Routine

Some articles state that to be successful a person has to be a morning person that gets up at 4am or they have to work out before they go to the office.  However, I would challenge that there is no right way to have a morning routine.  I am an individual that wakes up at 5am no matter what time I go to bed probably because I have been getting up early for so many years of my life.  However, there are some people that can not get out of bed until 7am.  No matter what time you get up, it is important to incorporate a morning routine into your life. 

Now is a great time to think about what you want to accomplish each morning.  Being a month into the year, have you said, “I wish I still didn’t do that” in the morning?  What do you need to incorporate or change in your life to make it easier in the morning?

For me, I have my morning routine of getting up, turning on a podcast, going to the gym and then return to my apartment to start completing my daily tasks.  Rarely do I stray from this and when I do, I can honestly say my whole day feels off.

Nightly Routine

After my technology detox realization, I did start thinking about what technology I wanted to remove from my life.  For me, I love to read and always want to take time to read when I can.  One of my favorite things to do in the evening was to complete my nightly activities and then climb into bed to read.  However, the problem for me is that reading in the evening actually puts me to sleep. 

At the beginning of 2019, I changed my nightly routine.  I changed my routine to where I now read from 7-8pm allowing me to be awake and learning while reading.  After that, I now clean up my apartment and prepare for the next day.  Then, I climb into bed and do something with technology.  Many scientist and doctors would be aghast at this because they believe the light from phones or iPads, etc. can actually spark brain function causing people to stay awake.  However, at this time, I do not agree with these individuals.  I have no problem falling asleep after scrolling through Facebook, watching a television show or a movie on my phone.  For me, it allows my mind to wander, relax and then I fall asleep. 

CHALLENGE: Evaluate your morning and nightly routines.  What changes do you need to make to make your life more productive?  Remember that there is no perfect way and it should be what is best for you. 

Resources

The 5 Morning Habits That Make Me Super-Productive - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMrnsi8Vgxw&feature=youtu.be

The World's Most Successful People Don't Actually Start Work at 4 a.m. They Wake and Work Whenever the (Heck) They Decide - https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/the-worlds-most-successful-people-dont-actually-start-work-at-4-am-they-wake-work-whenever-heck-they-decide.html

15 ways to be more productive and manage your time better, according to career experts - https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/career/15-ways-to-be-more-productive-and-manage-your-time-better-according-to-career-experts/ss-BBQxtk1?ocid=spartanntp#image=1

The "Block Schedule" System - LIFE CHANGING productivity hack! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BKuSlstIBM&t=720s

10 Habits Of Unsuccessful People You Don’t Want To Copy - https://dariusforoux.com/10-habits-of-unsuccessful-people-you-dont-want-to-copy/

10 Bad Habits That Successful People Avoid - http://www.theelpodcast.com/10-bad-habits-that-successful-people-avoid/

5 steps to stop procrastinating once and for all  - https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/career/5-steps-to-stop-procrastinating-once-and-for-all/ss-BBPMchz?ocid=spartanntp

5 Morning Rituals to Boost Your Productivity - https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/5-morning-rituals-to-boost-your-productivity.html?cid=sf01001&sr_share=twitter

Craig Groeschel – It’s About Time – Part 1 - https://api-assets.life.church/uploads/message/378/podcast_show_notes/its-about-time-part-1.pdf

Craig Groeschel – It’s About Time – Part 2-  https://api-assets.life.church/uploads/message/379/podcast_show_notes/its-about-time-part-2.pdf