How to Succeed 10X – Put Your Foot Down and Soar! (Part 3)
Image source: Unseen Studio @craftedbygc
Finally on Saturday, I changed out my computer mouse. It took me only 2½ months to take the plunge.
A couple of months ago, my mouse started acting weird. I would click and the computer would dance – double or triple clicks for the price of one.
For me, tinkering let alone trying to repair anything technology-related, makes me Very Anxious.
I Always Worry that I will tweak, twang or snip something that will set off some crash or other cataclysmic event.
Years ago, I was making a customer presentation in our offices. For some reason, we couldn’t get the PowerPoint to display on the big monitor on the wall. Cindy from Marketing stepped in to save the day. Or so we all thought.
Except she somehow plugged the cord into the wrong port (jack) in the wall and shorted out the office’s computer system.
It took the IT Team nearly Two Hours to identify the problem and reboot the system. Ouch!
Imagine a service business losing computer access for two hours. Very Costly.
That clinched it for me. I Never wanted to tinker with computers again. Leave the repairs and maintenance to IT Support.
For my home computer, my neighbor Howie has been handling them since 2006. He comes to my house twice a year to clean out the hard drive and remove malware and other nasty stuff. Or so I thought he did.
Again, a few months ago, my mouse started acting weird. I would click and the computer would dance – double or triple clicks for the price of one.
This was especially difficult because Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel files would close, sometimes before I saved the work. Often, multiple browsers would open when one would have sufficed. Very Irritating.
The spring must have been broken.
Howie told me that the cause must be my trigger-happy index finger.
Seemed off base to me. But who was I to argue with an ‘expert’?
I guess his comfort zone was limited to cleaning the hard drive and removing bad links and viruses.
But how would I really know? Recently, I just learned how to use the Microwave Oven.
I dawdled. My anxiety kicked in and it took me six or seven weeks to get up the gumption to change out my computer mouse. Which is pathetic because changing a mouse is a no-brainer, a manual event, that takes 45 seconds at most. No programming or rebooting required. No manual needed. I even had a brand new mouse, which I had received in a Secret Santa (Holiday Honey) grab bag. There shouldn’t have been any excuses.
The final straw was that on Tuesday, American Express blocked my access to my account on the Amex web portal. Because I had requested the one-time security code for double authentication Three Times Within a Few Seconds. As the umpire says, “Three strikes and you’re out.”
Finally, just now I said goodbye to my old mouse; out. In with the new. Works like a charm.
One click, one move. I felt like I Accomplished something!
I believe in loyalty, but enough is enough! Goodbye Howie!
Time to test drive Best Buy’s Geek Squad™ Tech Support service (1-800-433-5778 or 1-800 GEEK SQUAD).
But what does this saga have to do with Budget and Grow Rich® and increasing your Success 10X?
A Lot Actually!
It all comes down to Inertia. . .
Which means being stuck, frozen, in the same spot, for too long.
How many tasks and goals do you have on your list that are well, still on your list after months?
I have more than a few.
And I Don’t mean a long-term goal, which is the end-point or culmination of a series of tasks or smaller goals. I’m talking about tackling one task that’s Important, Mission Critical, to achieving your success.
What’s holding you back?
You deserve to be successful – a great success in fact.
As my Uncle Milt used to say, “Who better than you?”
Grab these 17 sure-fire ways to break through your comfort zone, take action, learn, grow, succeed, 10X your success and win the gold medal:
For a given project or goal, make a list of the tasks you have to tackle. Or if you have made a list already, review your list and make sure the items still mesh with what you want to accomplish currently. And that the tasks are still relevant and meaningful to you and their order is still the best or optimal. Especially if some time has passed since you made or updated your list.
What single task will bring you one step closer to finishing the project and one step closer to achieving your desired goal?
Be honest with yourself – how important is it to YOU to achieve your stated goal? If it’s important to You Now, get started right away. If not, modify your list of tasks and action steps. Then get started.
Set a deadline or series of deadlines.
Enter an appointment in your Outlook or Smartphone Calendar or better yet both – when you will actually tackle the task.
While I’m not wild about procrastination or pushing tasks out/delaying them, it happens. Sometimes something pops up – a family matter or work assignment/crisis that takes priority. That’s understandable.
But keep at it. Get started! Get it done!
Sometimes, it takes me a while to get into gear and tackle a task too.
But I do put the car in gear and step on the gas, even if it takes me several attempts to get going.
If You want to succeed 10X, you should get going too. Denzel Washington spoke at the University of Pennsylvania graduation in 2011. He shared his spouse’s sage advice, which can help all of us succeed 10X: “To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.” [Denzel Washington’s speech runs approximately 23 minutes. You can find this one line at 13:15] Click here.
Take out a pen or pencil and a piece of paper – a sheet of 8½ x 11” photocopy or printer paper will do just fine. Get ready to draw.
Close your eyes and count to 10.
Draw a circle. Don’t worry about its shape or whether this sounds hokey. But for a moment, let’s assume that the circle represents your comfort zone. Please go with me for a bit.
Open your eyes. How big is your circle? The size of a quarter? A golf ball or a pool ball? A grapefruit? Does this represent your comfort zone?
Expand your envelope – your comfort zone – one step at a time. Even a ‘baby step’ will do the trick. Just Outside the edge of the circle, write down the One Thing, the One Task that you really want to do. The One Task or Step that will Really bring you one step closer, actually or mentally, to achieving your goal and succeed 10X your success.
Next, draw a new, larger circle around your original circle, large enough so the task that you wrote down before is now in between the outside edge (circumference) of your original circle and your new circle.
Let this bigger circle represent your new comfort zone. I want you to expand your comfort zone and tackle a task that has been lingering or a task that you haven’t done before.
Set a specific time to do it. Enter a new appointment in your calendar or Outlook.
Start your task Now.
Finish your task. Don’t stop until you complete your task!
Review your list and select the next task.
Get Started on the Next Task Now.
Keep going until you finish, and then. . .
Start your next task in your journey to 10X your success. . .
Turning back to me. . . However simple changing – installing – a new computer mouse may be for most people, it was NOT easy for me.
But once I did it and discovered that the new mouse worked like a charm, my computer didn’t crash, no sparks flew and that I Could Do It, I felt I accomplished something.
That small, manual task made a Big Difference to me!
Hopefully going forward, I’ll be more comfortable identifying the problems and repairing technology – or at least tackling the simple tasks.
Goodbye Howie – from the bucket list into the bucket! Loyalty had to end with my so-called ‘trigger finger’ and his off base advice.
Hello Geek Squad™.
Put Your Foot Down.
Decide to Succeed.
Start Taking Action Right Now!
To 10X Your Success, click here.
See you next week,
Arthur V.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Arthur’s Adventures!
Well, last Friday night, I finally went out with Tracy again. It was a very enjoyable evening.
Three weeks earlier, we had met for coffee on a Saturday afternoon. This time, we met at a local restaurant.
She’s a journalist and newscaster on local radio. The conversation was lively, free-flowing and interesting. We talked for nearly two hours, non-stop.
She’s sweet, single, nearing 50 years old, never been married, no children and attractive.
She’s an only child and was Very Close to her Dad. As one might say (my guess), the ‘apple of her Daddy’s eyes and heart’. Tough to compete against that. Or so I figured.
When we got to talking, I asked her two questions:
“What are you looking for?”
Tracy said, “To fall in love.”
Sounds good to me. I’d like to fall in love again myself. Who wouldn’t. I’m actually a ‘hopeful romantic’.
She said she never settled down and didn’t want to have children because she never fell in love.
Despite my challenging marriage, we have three amazingly wonderful children who thankfully survived their parents. They are the apples of my eyes and hearts.
Which led me to wonder how our date actually was going – you know, beneath the surface. Hmmm. . .
Could she possibly fall in love with me?
Could I possibly fall in love with her?
While the odds of me being the ‘one’ for her, seemed pretty low in general and given Tracy’s history, one never knows. But as they say, “Old habits die hard.”
2. “What’s the longest time you were in a committed relationship?”
“One year.” she replied.
Hmmm. Red Flag to me.
The next day, my brother and I were texting. He’s quite humorous btw and said it’s likely that Tracy and I could potentially enjoy each other for 365 days and that’s it. Then, I would have to look for a new girlfriend.
I was married for 16 years and had three long-term relationships after that. One ran for two years, one for five and one for four. I think this shows commitment, or at least some ability or desire to commit.
The day after the date, I texted Tracy, thanking her for an enjoyable evening and I made a joke. She replied, “Have a good day. Lol.”
I haven’t heard from her since, although I haven’t reached out either.
My view?
While I am not a psychologist or relationship expert by any stretch of the imagination, if she really wants to find someone to fall in love with and settle down, I think she has to change her ways a bit.
As Denzel Washington’s spouse said, “To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.”
Maybe Tracy is Looking for Perfection which in my experience is very difficult to find.
As the old adage goes, “Nobody’s perfect except for you and me.”
And as my friend Marty told me a few months ago, “Lately I’ve been wondering about you.”
Time will tell.
Tomorrow night, I’m going to my friend David’s son’s wedding. Maybe I’ll meet someone there.
Hope springs eternal.
How to Succeed and Achieve Your Dreams!
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