By David Bush
THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE LIVE YOUR DREAMS AND CHANGE YOUR WORLD
By David Bush ©2008 by eLifePlans, Inc. You have permission to post this, email this, print this and pass it along for free to anyone you like, as long as you make no changes or edits to its contents or digital format. As a matter of fact, I’d love it if you’d make lots and lots of copies and give it to everyone you know! The right to bind this and sell it as a book, however, is strictly reserved. TheExtraordinaryLife™ is a trademark of eLifePlans, Inc.
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INTRODUCTION Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines ex-tra-or-dinary as… Going beyond what is usual, regular or customary. Exceptional to a very marked extent. What is the definition of The Extraordinary Life? The Extraordinary Life is going beyond what is usual, regular or customary in every area of your life and living an exceptional life to a very marked extent. It is living your dreams and changing the world around you for the better through the choices you make and the actions you take. It’s living life to its fullest, inspiring others around you, and leaving a lasting legacy for future generations to follow. About this eBook Over 300 million people live within the borders of the United States of America, yet only a few of them live truly extraordinary lives. This book will reveal some of the secret strategies ordinary people have used to become extraordinary leaders. It also provides step-by-step coaching designed to give you the education, motivation and inspiration you need to design and live your very own extraordinary life. This eBook concludes with a special, interactive challenge to help you take the necessary steps to begin living your dreams and changing your world. Only you will be able to determine whether you are up for that challenge. By reading this eBook, you will… · Learn the Six C’s found in every extraordinary leader and learn how to replicate their success in your life · Understand why we are all called to live "The Extraordinary Life" but only a few of us ever answer that call · Discover real-life stories of how ordinary people created extraordinary lives By taking the special interactive CHALLENGE at the end of this eBook, you will… · Regain your focus on your highest priorities and improve your overall life balance · Gain a firm sense of direction of what you need to do to maximize your opportunities and potential · Breakthrough the obstacles and challenges to achieve extraordinary results in every aspect of your life
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It is my dream to see ONE MILLION lives changed for the better as a result of my work! Please copy, print, post or email this e‐book to anyone you’d like. All I ask is just don’t change the content in any way, or take credit for my work.
HELP OTHERS TO LIVE THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE! Here’s what you can do to spread the word about living The Extraordinary Life: 1. Email this eBook to a friend, family member or co‐worker. 2. Send them a link to www.TheExtraordinaryLife.com so they can download the eBook (or purchase a hard copy) and to take advantage of all the complimentary bonus resources. 3. Print out as many copies as you like and give them away to those you care about.
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Foreword..............................................................................................................................................3 Introduction..........................................................................................................................................4 SECTION 1: THE CALL ....................................................................................................................7 The BIGGEST Problem ..........................................................................................................................8 Quick Quiz ..........................................................................................................................................10 SECTION 2: THE CATALYST ...........................................................................................................14 Magnets, Passion and Purpose ..........................................................................................................15 Why are you here anyway? ...............................................................................................................16 SECTION 3: THE CHOICE ..............................................................................................................17 What’s in your life refrigerator? ........................................................................................................18 Conscious choices vs. Abdication ......................................................................................................19 Living examples of extraordinary leadership ....................................................................................20 SECTION 4: THE COMMITMENT ..................................................................................................22 Abraham Lincoln’s biggest victory ....................................................................................................23 SECTION 5: THE COACH ..............................................................................................................24 Difference makers .............................................................................................................................25 SECTION 6: THE CHALLENGE .......................................................................................................26 Step 1: Gaining clarity and focus .......................................................................................................28 Step 2: Finding balance in your life ....................................................................................................31 Step 3: Are you planning to succeed? ................................................................................................34 Step 4: Implementation and motivation ............................................................................................37 Step 5: Breakthrough: Turn walls into hurdles ...................................................................................40 Step 6: Measuring progress ................................................................................................................43 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................................47
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"We need men who can dream of things that never were." John F. Kennedy 35th President of the United States of America
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THE CALL Back in the early 1960’s, John F. Kennedy made a call. He challenged Americans to dream of things that have never been. Why did he make this call? I believe it was because he knew dreaming was the key to living a full and exciting life. He also faced significant problems, and he knew protecting the extraordinary American legacy would require the courage, ingenuity and sacrifice of people who were prepared to take extraordinary actions. What our 35th President needed were leaders who would answer the call and respond to great challenges, leaders who would live out their purpose and calling, leaders who would help our country remain a beacon for the world. Fast forward to today. Americans are experiencing a unique set of challenges on a scale we have not seen in over 70 years. Once again we are hearing a similar call, a call for extraordinary leaders to step up and take action. Once again, we must find the courage not only to solve the current problems we face and seek new opportunities, but also to rekindle the American dream. Houston, we have a problem! There is a continuous debate over what is the biggest problem we face right now as a nation. Many feel economic problems are the biggest challenge we face. Others say energy dependency, unemployment, environmental challenges, sustainability, or some other major challenge constitutes the gravest threat to our nation over the next decade. I disagree. While I’m convinced each of these problems are significant and their consequences will be dire if we don’t respond with real solutions, I believe the biggest challenge to our success as a nation, as individuals, families, and communities in the next decade (or century) is our COMPLACENCY with our current ordinary circumstances. All the other challenges connect to a shortage of leaders who are willing to go beyond what is usual, regular and customary to live lives that are exceptional to a very marked extent.
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COMPLACENCY: The act of being self satisfied and unaware of possible dangers. Complacency has led the masses to live ordinary lives and accept ordinary results from the efforts they put forth. Our national epidemic of complacency affects everything we do as individuals and everything we produce as a country. It leads us to a life of false comforts, of contentment with the status quo, of stagnation. In 1854, the American author and philosopher Henry David Thoreau wrote, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” This "mass" of quiet desperation seems even bigger than it was in the nineteenth century! Apathy is rampant across the American generations today. We lack the extraordinary leaders who are willing to commit to meeting the challenges we face and to live their dreams instead of someone else’s. The Call and a Calling History has proven our extraordinary leaders come in all colors, shapes and sizes. They share common traits I call the Six C’s. The first is The Call. Every great leader hears a call. There have been some extraordinary leaders who responded to a call from another leader in their life; others responded to an inner calling which challenged them to go beyond the status quo. Extraordinary leaders choose to live out their calling and answer the call to live an extraordinary life day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. As a result, they leave an extraordinary legacy. Unfortunately, many people I talk to want to live The Extraordinary Life but they don’t feel the need to answer the call today. In all the “busyness” of life, they decide not to take the time to identify their true calling in life. Most of them are too comfortable with their ordinary lives to answer The Call of living the extraordinary life.
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QUICK QUIZ: Can you name this country? Here are some hints: • Richest country in the world • Largest military • Center of world business and finance • Strongest education system • World center for innovation and invention • Currency is the world standard of value • Highest standard of living
The answer is on the next page…
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ENGLAND … in the year 1900! Could America experience a similar decline in its world dominance due to the complacency epidemic we now face? I believe the answer depends, more than anything else, on the number of us who wake up and answer The Call to live extraordinary lives. If you look at the statistics, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that we’re headed in a downward spiral. In many of the areas the U.S. was once considered number one in the world, we have now fallen to record lows. Consider this current snapshot of everyday life in America: •
A decline in job satisfaction across all income brackets over the previous nine years. 1
•
25% of American workers admitted they are just "showing up to collect a paycheck”. 2
•
62% of small businesses fail within the first six years.3
•
The U.S. now ranks 9th* among industrialized nations in the percentage of its citizens who have at least a high school degree, and 7th* among countries with citizens who hold a college degree. (* We were #1 in both categories just 20
years ago!4)
•
61% of all adults in the U.S. feel they are overweight, and 19% admit they are "considerably" overweight. 5
•
70% of working fathers and working mothers report they don’t have enough time for their children. 6
•
The national consumer debt is now over $2.2 trillion (double the amount in 1994) and the national savings percentage is NEGATIVE 0.5%.* (* First time since the Great Depression that the savings rate has fallen below zero percent.7)
1
According to The Conference Board Consumer Research Center According to The Conference Board Consumer Research Center 3 According to U.S. Small Business Administration 4 Organization for Cooperation and Development Study among adults age 25 to 34 5 Based on a national survey conducted by American Sports Data, Inc. 6 Family Matters Survey 7 Newsweek Magazine & a recent study done by CreditCards.com 2
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We need more LEADERS in America who will no longer accept this sad state of affairs as our everyday reality at both the individual level or the national level. We need to turn ourselves into the leaders who will to respond to THE CALL to live extraordinary lives and deliver extraordinary results. As the saying goes “We are the people for whom we’ve been waiting!” There are really only two kinds of people in this world; the extraordinary leaders who live their dreams and change the world and those who depend on those leaders who do. The opportunity is here for a new American Revolution – a revolution against complacency and the ordinary life. You can choose to answer the call and live the extraordinary life or you can ignore the call and continue to live an ordinary life. By the end of this eBook, you will need to decide which of those two paths you intend on following. Personally, I believe we all have the power to change the course of things. I believe when enough of us have the same belief, our country (and also our lives) will change for the better. “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States
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THE CATALYST (an agent that provokes or speeds up significant change) Most extraordinary leaders in history started out as ordinary people with ordinary backgrounds, education and upbringing. However, I’ve found in many cases, there was a single significant event that triggered a transformation in certain people and allowed them to change an ordinary life into an extraordinary life. This transformation began on the day they applied a certain CATALYST to their life. The CATALYST I’m talking about is a dream. A dream that provokes and speeds up significant positive change. “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Henry David Thoreau, Author/Philosopher This “dream” Thoreau wrote about can take the form of an energizing CATALYST. One of the greatest gifts we have in this life of ours is the ability to dream – not just any kind of dream, but the dreams that change us and shape the world in which we live. It requires the ability to dream of things that never were, and then take action to turn them into tangible realities. The right dreams can transform our world, capture our imagination, engage all of our senses and all of our energies, and inspire us, day after day, to pursue a worthy ideal. In this book, I’ve chosen to use the word CATALYST to describe this process, rather than the word “dream” --- because the kind of dream I’m talking about has nothing to do with fantasy. A CATALYST dream has a practical effect: it speeds up the delivery of a predictable and significant change in your life, and the lives of those around you. Every extraordinary leader in history has had a dream, vision or mission a unique CATALYST which transformed that person’s life. Each of these leaders’ CATALYSTS was unique and yours is too. If you want to live the extraordinary life, you must spend the time necessary to identify the CATALYST that energizes you and will speed up positive change in your life. Your CATALYST must inspire you to daily action. A good CATALYST wakes you up early and keeps you up late; inspiring you to take action and moves you forward on your vision regardless of the obstacles you face.
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THE CATALYST Read what some of the world’s most extraordinary leaders have said about the CATALYST: “What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him.” – Victor Frankl, Austrian neurologist and Holocaust survivor “When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it.” – W. Clement Stone, American businessman and philanthropist Extraordinary visions spark a change in you. They inspire you to pursue, not just any action, but actions that connect you with who you were truly meant to be. These visionary undertakings become like a large magnet pulling you through all the challenges and obstacles standing before you. As you’re pulled through, you discover who you were really meant to be in this life. You might discover you are meant to… • • • • •
be a top executive in your company, a top salesperson and/or the star of the show own a successful business and create great wealth for yourself and others invent the cure or the answer to a unique challenge, and to make a huge difference in the lives of others achieve something significant and/or remarkable in your field, family or community change the world forever through your passionate willingness to take action
I don’t know whether any of those dreams constitute your CATALYST, but I do believe if you’re not 100% clear on what yours is, you need to be looking for it. Your CATALYST, the thing which truly energizes you, is waiting for you to find it and the world around you is depending on you to apply it to your life.
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THE CATALYST Remember how you used to dream as a child? Look once again for the same sense of wonder, possibility, and complete, unshakeable engagement. When you find a dream “hardwired” into your answer to the question, “Why am I here,” … take note. You have found your CATALYST. To find this dream simply ask yourself the same question grown-ups used to ask you endlessly when you were a kid: WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP? Only this time, ask with an open heart and mind. When the answer is something you feel strong positive emotion about, something you will want to come back to again and again, you can begin the process of becoming that person. “The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfillment.” - Earl Nightingale It’s been reported the average American dies at the age of 40…they just don’t bury them until the age of 80. Don’t be one of them! FIND YOUR CATALYST AND ACT UPON IT. THE TIME IS NOW!
When you identify your CATALYST you change your world. When you change your world you become an extraordinary leader!
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THE CHOICE “We all must try to be the best person we can: by making the best choices, by making the most of the talents we've been given.” - Mary Lou Retton, Olympic Gold Medalist Your world is the sum total of the choices you make. The extraordinary life is reserved for people who are willing to make conscious (and sometimes daring) CHOICES about the life they want to live. The better we get at making conscious choices about what we want to do next, and what we want to do differently than we’ve done before, the better we will get at taking action and producing positive results supporting our choices. To make good choices about where you want to go, you must know where you are right now. Zig Ziglar, one of the world’s most famous motivational speakers, once said: “If you don’t know where you’ve been and you don’t know where you are; how in the world can you know where you are going?” Take a moment and assess your life today on a scale of 10 to 1 with 10 being extraordinary and 1 being a life in crisis. How would you score your life right now? (Please circle one) (Extraordinary)
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
(Life in Crisis)
Now, let’s look to the future. What kind of life will you CHOOSE to live? (Please circle one) An Extraordinary Life
An Ordinary Life
A Life of Failure
(REALITY CHECK: 99% of the people I speak to say they want to live an extraordinary life but they fail to do so because of the CHOICES they make each and every day.) The Extraordinary Life
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THE CHOICE Our lives are like a refrigerator: every once in a while it needs to be cleaned or it will begin to stink. The choices we make on a daily basis determine what goes into the refrigerator and what gets used on a daily basis. Bad choices and decisions we make need to be corrected. It can be scary to have to go back and look at outdated assumptions, old ways of looking at life, or even old ways of looking at yourself. But the stale and moldy stuff in our lives really does have to go, and the only way we’re going to get rid of the stuff is by making better choices. Yes, making a life change and cleaning out your “life refrigerator” can be tough. But making the tough choices means you’re going beyond what is usual, regular, or customary. This is what extraordinary leaders do! As you start going through your Life Refrigerator, you will have to get clear about exactly what’s KEEPING YOU from going beyond what is usual, regular, or customary. Is it a job you don’t love but your afraid to leave because it provides a steady paycheck and a sense of security? Is it the fear of starting your own business? Is it a bad habit reducing the quality of your life -- and perhaps even the length of your life? Is it a negative relationship you’re involved in? Is it the uncertainty of how others may react if you say or do something that “goes against the grain”? Is it a childhood memory or experience you have not yet processed and moved beyond in your adult life? To live the extraordinary life, you must CHOOSE to get rid of the old, moldy stuff in your life refrigerator so you can put in the good stuff. There’s a capacity to what you can hold on to and you must make room for your dreams and goals.
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THE CHOICE Even if you don’t consciously choose to make a positive change in some area of your life, you’ve still made a choice. You’ve chosen to keep something moldy and stale in your Life Refrigerator, and you’ve chosen to let it get more and more putrid with every passing day until one day, you wake up to find that your whole life really stinks! You’ll begin to regret the decisions you’ve made (or failed to make) along the way and you’ll suffer the consequences of your actions (or inaction).
“If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.” - Thomas Edison Think about the CATALYST in your own life. What CHOICE could you make right now that would help you to bring this dream into reality? Could you… • • •
Take a day off to reflect on your life’s purpose, passion and dreams? Take time for yourself to work on your masterpiece? Write a business plan for the product or business idea you’ve been dreaming about pursuing?
Or will you CHOOSE to let someone else make your choices for you?
Your life clock is ticking! Make a conscious choice to live every day as it were your last day on earth. One day, sooner than you expect, you will be right!
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THE CHOICE Below I’ve listed some extraordinary leaders who started as ordinary people just like you and I did when we were born. Each of these leaders made CHOICES that moved them toward the things they wanted to be, do, and have in life. Each of them refined the skill of making great choices to improve their ability to master new habits to pursue their dream(s). It was their ability to make extraordinary choices each and every day that turned their ordinary lives into extraordinary legends of history.
Leader
The Ordinary Life
The Extraordinary Life
Garth Brooks Country Music Legend
Played local clubs and traveled to Nashville in 1985 to get a record contract. Failed in this attempt; went back to playing local gigs.
In 2007 Garth Brooks was named the best selling solo artist in US history.
Michael Jordan Basketball Legend
Jordan attended Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, where he tried out for the varsity basketball team during his sophomore year. At 5 feet 11 inches tall, he was deemed too short to play at that level, and was cut from the team.
In 1999, he was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN. His individual accolades and accomplishments include five MVP awards, ten All-NBA First Team designations, nine All-Defensive First Team honors, fourteen NBA All-Star Game appearances and three All-Star MVP, ten scoring titles, three steals titles and six NBA Finals MVP awards.
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Leader
The Ordinary Life
The Extraordinary Life
Ronald Reagan U.S. President
In 1932, with job prospects grim during the Great Depression, Reagan became a radio sports broadcaster for the University of Iowa Hawkeyes football team, earning $10 a game.
Became a successful actor, President of the Screen Actors Guild, Governor of California, and, in 1981, the 40th President of the United States. Reagan has one of the highest approval ratings of all U.S. presidents.
Benjamin Franklin Author, politician, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman and diplomat
Franklin’s formal schooling ended at the age of ten, and he became a runaway at the age of seventeen.
Franklin is one of the most acclaimed authors, inventors, and statesmen in American history; he was also a chief architect of the movement for American independence.
Making conscious CHOICES in pursuit of the EXTRAORDINARY LIFE means building up confidence and the decisionmaking muscle inside your mind. You can only build muscle through regular use. If you use that muscle regularly, you will strengthen it. If you don’t use it, you will lose it and you will lose out on the choices that could have delivered a life filled with purpose and major accomplishments.
“Too many tomorrows and all you’ll end up with is just a bunch of empty yesterdays.” – Meredith Wilson, American composer, songwriter and playwright
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THE COMMITMENT Commitment is what keeps you going when you hit adversity – which you will. Abraham Lincoln is my favorite example of someone who embodied the principle of Commitment. Lincoln’s life stands as a monument to single-minded purpose. He rose from a very humble station in life, endured fiercer hardships during his span on this earth than most of us can imagine, and ended up making an extraordinary contribution. If you ever need an example of the role undying commitment can play in overcoming obstacles, consider the milestones of Lincoln’s life. 1816: Lincoln’s frontier family moved from Kentucky to Indiana in response to a dispute over who had title to the Lincoln family farm. Seven-year-old Abraham, large for his age, had worked long hours to help ensure the family’s success in Kentucky; he continued to work long hours in Indiana. 1818: Lincoln’s mother dies. He is nine years old at the time. 1831: Lincoln loses his job as a clerk when the merchant who employs him goes out of business. 1832: Lincoln runs for the Illinois state legislature. He loses. 1833: Lincoln borrows money to start a business; it goes under, and he is unable to pay the debts. His possessions are seized by the sheriff. 1834: Unable to afford law school, Lincoln begins teaching himself law. 1834: Lincoln runs for the state legislature again – and wins. 1835: The early love of Lincoln’s life, Ann Rutledge, dies. He enters a profound depression. 1838-1839: Lincoln makes two attempts to become the speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, failing each time.
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1842: Lincoln marries Mary Todd, a deeply eccentric woman who would, years after Lincoln’s death, eventually be committed to a mental asylum. The couple would have four sons, but only one, Robert, would survive into adulthood. 1843: Lincoln seeks the Whig party’s nomination for Congress, and loses. 1848: Following instructions from his party, Lincoln does not run for re-election to Congress. 1849: Lincoln is passed over for the plum patronage position of Commissioner of the General Land Office, a federal post he had sought after having stepped down from Congress. 1854: Lincoln seeks his party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate -- and loses. 1856: Lincoln’s name is placed in nomination for the vice-presidency -- and loses. 1858: Lincoln finally secures his party’s nomination for a U.S. Senate seat – and loses. 1860: Lincoln is elected President of the United States. “Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality. It is making the time when there is none. Coming through time after time after time, year after year after year. Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things.” -- Anonymous Any of Lincoln’s life setbacks would have been enough to bring down a lesser person. What made the difference for Lincoln? The difference was commitment -- that which “transforms a promise into reality.” Are you prepared to summon the same kind of extraordinary commitment to your mission in life Lincoln summoned? Are you prepared to bounce back when adversity strikes? Remember, extraordinary leaders become extraordinary because of their extraordinary commitment and persistence regardless of the circumstances!
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COMMITMENT: THE LINCOLN FACTOR Many people say they want to live the extraordinary life but fail to do so. Why? Often, its because they are short on persistence and short on commitment. When the first (or second, or third, or fourth) obstacle comes along, they give up. What they don’t realize is these obstacles – the apparent lack of resources, the skeptical or dismissive voices of other people, the sudden changes in the larger economy, or any other challenge you care to name – are not “stop signs,” they are indications of human character. I call the act of responding to obstacles with more commitment, as opposed to less commitment, “The Lincoln Factor.” All extraordinary leaders learn to make this ability to expand commitment in the face of opposition a part of their personal character. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Martin Luther King The central reality of human experience is “failure.” The real question is not whether we will fail, but how we will respond to “failure.” Please notice I’ve placed quote marks around the word “failure” because apparent failure is actually nothing more than a test of our personal commitment to stick it out and persist. It’s better to think of this as “the failure test” than as some divine sign we should not pursue our goals after all. Some of us will pass the failure test – others will not. Here’s a brief list of just a few of the extraordinary people who made the “Lincoln Factor” a driving reality in their lives and who passed the “failure test” with flying colors: •
Lucille Ball was tossed out of drama school with a note that advised, “Wasting her time; she’s too shy to put her best foot forward.”
•
The Beatles failed an audition with Decca Records, whose talent scout dismissed their sound and warned their manager that guitar groups were “on the way out.”
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•
Albert Einstein dropped out of high school and failed his entrance exam for college.
•
Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper job because he lacked “imagination” and had “no original ideas.”
•
Harry Truman went bankrupt as a retail clothing store owner in St. Louis, Missouri in the 1920s. He started thinking about going into politics shortly thereafter.
The only people who never “fail” are those who never try anything new! For the rest of us, the question is … what happens AFTER “failure”? One secret to staying committed to your dream(s) is to spend considerable time thinking about it with a positive expectation. A particularly effective way to do this is to create a vision board – something you can see every day that incorporates vivid pictures of all the benefits you will receive from pursuing your dream. In addition, you should create a long written list of reasons to take action on your mission in life, and review those reasons regularly. You must create commitment daily, and take action daily, if you wish to turn your dream into reality. You need to do something each and every day in support of your goal, regardless of how big or little what you are doing appears to you to be right now. If your goal is to write the next New York Times Best Seller, write a little bit of it each and every day, no matter what! Your motive will strengthen your actions in support of your goal and your actions will in turn strengthen your motivation. Your ability to stay committed to your dreams requires daily motivation. Daily motivation is simply the act of having an idea or “motive” consistently driving you to take action!
Motive + Action = Motivation The Extraordinary Life
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COMMITMENT: THE MOTIVATING MESSAGE Life doesn't always go according to plan, and sometimes we veer off course. When this happens, we need to have a motto or message we can repeat out loud that helps us get back on track. My favorite example of a motivating message comes from the U.S. military. As you may know, the NAVY SEALS are legendary for their commitment to their mission, sometimes in the face of hardships most of us cannot imagine. A former NAVY SEALS trainer was once speaking in front of a large audience on the topic of commitment. When he had concluded his remarks, he asked his listeners whether they had any questions. A member of the audience stood up and said, “Yes, I have a question. What happens in the SEALS training that prepares your people to endure such dire circumstances in battle or while in captivity?” The trainer responded, "We teach them to NEVER QUIT.” The questioner wouldn't accept answer. "Come on!” he persisted. “You must use some sort of special program to train them to endure things like emotional abuse, isolation, deprivation, torture and life-threatening injuries – without ever losing their commitment to the mission.” The NAVY SEALS trainer responded quite firmly, "We train them to NEVER QUIT." The reason why the NAVY SEALS are so highly regarded in their field is because they NEVER QUIT. They are legendary for their self-discipline – and endlessly repeated motivating message of theirs, NEVER QUIT, is the reason why. Now let me ask you a question. What if you decided NEVER TO QUIT on your plans, dreams and goals, and to make that message part of your personal identity? Where could you go in the world if you made a personal commitment to make NEVER QUIT your motivating message whenever you hit an obstacle? Where would you be in your life one year from now if you made a habit of repeating that message to yourself, out loud, at least one hundred times, each and every day? Make NEVER QUIT your motivating message – the message you repeat to yourself whenever you veer off course.
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THE COACH “Accountability breeds response-ability.” Stephen Covey, Best Selling Author A British Olympic runner named Harold Abrahams hired a man named Sam Mussabini as his personal performance coach. Mr. Mussabini asked Harold to run around the track. When he was done, he explained to Abrahams he could coach him to run the race “two extra steps” faster – and those two extra steps could win him the gold medal. Abrahams made Mussabini his coach, got the two extra steps, and won the gold medal in 1924. The story is retold in the Oscar-winning movie CHARIOTS OF FIRE and it shows us how a professional coach’s perspective and insight can help a top performer become even better. Extraordinary athletes have coaches to help them get extraordinary results. Leaders who want to go beyond what is usual, regular and customary in their lives also need coaches who can take them farther than they can take themselves. Why is having a coach so important? A coach brings some critical pieces to the success puzzle you won’t find anywhere else: • • •
strategic perspective, insights and knowledge different from your own resources, tools and tactics to help one accomplish the mission in less time with less effort and mistakes accountability, motivation and encouragement to help us go beyond what is comfortable
Once someone has reached the peak of success with the help of a coach, you will find that person rarely takes on a major project, dream or mission without one ever again.
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THE COACH The word “coach” comes from a town called Kocs in Hungary. Back in 1556 the people of Kocs began to make large carriages that would take people from wherever they were to where they wanted to be. This large carriage was the beginning of what we know as the stagecoach. A personal coach is similar to a stagecoach. The primary aim of the coach is to help the leader get from where they are to wherever they want to be. Helping the leader make this trip successfully is the only agenda of the coach and their success depends on their ability to close this gap. Without a coach in one’s life, leaders can experience: • • • • • •
Lack of Accountability Lack of Focus Lack of Direction Lack of Perspective Lack of Systems Lack of Balance
These symptoms can often lead to an ordinary life producing ordinary results in the life and work of a leader. Complacency in a leader’s life can also set in after a certain level of success has been accomplished because of a general resistance to change. This leads to the leader never breaking out of the successes of yesterday. A coach can help challenge a leader to break out of this rut by bringing their dream(s) back to them and holding them in front of them. Leaders are constantly challenged by the elements around them and it becomes tiring to continue to climb the mountain of success. Extraordinary coaches understand this and know where to go to help the leader dig deep within to bring out the courage to continue to journey to excellence.
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THE COACH Often, we think of a coach as the person who works face-to-face to inspire an individual or team to win a championship. This is just one example of coaching. Coaching can come in a variety of forms, including: o o o o o o
A personal or professional growth book, DVD or audio program Interactive websites, podcasts, blogs or other virtual resources Live training courses or workshops A mentor or accountability partner A mastermind group of individuals who challenge one another A personal coach who works with you one-on-one
To live the extraordinary life, we all need some form of coaching to go beyond what’s usual, regular and customary in our lives. Coaches give us the EXTRA edge we need to make our lives “exceptional to a marked extent.” Resolve to find a coach and/or the coaching resources that will take you to the next level!
Where You Are Today
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THE CHALLENGE How you respond to the challenge in the second half will determine what you become after the game -- whether you are a winner or a loser. - Lou Holtz, author, motivational speaker, and former NCAA football Coach of the Year Whether you’re currently in the first half or the second half of your life, you need to know this: It’s not easy to live an extraordinary life. Nothing extraordinary is ever accomplished without sacrifice. If it were easy everyone would already be doing it! Leaders who want to live the extraordinary life must approach life in much the same way a top performing athlete does when it is time to prepare for an important event. Athletes who are serious about winning the championship and performing at their very best will invest some time and effort planning and preparing for the big event. You will have to do the same. Only in your case, the big event is not a single competition: It’s the rest of your life. In the pages that follow I have detailed my Six Steps to Success Challenge. Each and every one of the extraordinary leaders I have studied over the years adopted most or all of this six step challenge. Will you? My vision for you is you will accept the challenge and complete all the activities at the end of this eBook to design and live your own extraordinary life. “Never again clutter your days or nights with so many menial and unimportant things that you have no time to accept a real challenge when it comes along. This applies to play as well as work. A day merely survived is no cause for celebration. You are not here to fritter away your precious hours when you have the ability to accomplish so much by making a slight change in your routine. No more busy work. No more hiding from success. Leave time, leave space, to grow. Now! Not tomorrow!” - Og Mandino, legendary author and speaker
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Take the Extraordinary Life Plan Challenge!
DESIRED OUTCOME
THE CHALLENGE
REQUIRED ACTION
Focus Balance
Clarify Prioritize
Direction
Plan
Motivation
Implement
Results
Breakthrough
Growth
Measure
If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much. - Jim Rohn, American business philosopher Take this interactive online challenge and design your own Extraordinary Life Plan at…
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To get focused you must…
CLARIFY Take this interactive online challenge and design your own Extraordinary Life Plan at…
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Clarify Exactly What You Want to BE, DO and HAVE Webster’s dictionary defines the word focus as “The center of activity, attraction or attention. A point of concentration.” Are you focused to a point of concentration in your life? Do you know exactly what you’d like to be, do and have? Until we can become intentional about achieving this type of clarity in our life, we will feel like we’re lost; we won’t have a clear understanding of where we are going. When we were children, this focusing may have been much easier; we could dream about our future without the fear, doubt and negative influences in life we may have now. With just a little practice, however, we can reclaim that childlike focus any time we choose! For the next few minutes I want you to think about getting into a helicopter and going up in the air to allow us to take an aerial view of your entire life. What is it that you see as you look down upon your career, relationships, finances and health? What is happening as you look at your life from 5,000 feet above? Begin Dreaming About Your Extraordinary Life! What would you like to see happen during your lifetime? What do you see yourself achieving? What do you intend to do “in your life” and “with your life”? What kind of impact would you like to make because of your life? Dream about the possibilities and don't worry if it sounds impossible based on your current circumstances. Start now by getting your dreams down in writing and create your personal life plan!
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Think about each of these areas of your life: Career What would you like to be (position or title), do (responsibilities) and have (specifically)? Education What do you want learn, become and understand? Relationships What relationships would you like to start, improve or eliminate? Financial What are your financial dreams? Fitness What would you like to achieve, quit or start? Fun Where do you want to go, visit, see or experience? Legacy What kind of impact do you want to have with your life? Faith What would bring you more peace of mind, purpose and fulfillment? Take some time today to CLARIFY … and you will begin to experience the benefits of living a FOCUSED life.
“Don't dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer.” – Dr. Denis Waitley Take this interactive online challenge and design your own Extraordinary Life Plan at…
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To be balanced you must…
PRIORITIZE Take this interactive online challenge and design your own Extraordinary Life Plan at…
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PRIORITIZING YOUR LIFE The second critical step is the Prioritization step. There is no balance in life without knowing your priorities. An old proverb says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Truer words have never been spoken. Prioritizing is simply a matter of asking: What do you treasure? Spell out the word treasure vertically, and write the answer to each of the following questions to the right of the letter. T – Where do you spend the most time? R – Where do you invest the most resources? E - Where do you invest most of your energy? A – Where do you dedicate your abilities? S – What occupies the most space in your life? U – What fills your utterances? R – What do you do for recreation? E – What are you most eager to do? WHERE YOUR HEART IS…PRIORITIZE! If you don’t like the way your life is currently prioritized, don’t worry. You can change it quickly and see the benefits almost immediately.
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Prioritizing Your Dreams To live a balanced life of success and significance, you need to be a little bit like one of those people who spins a series of plates on long sticks To make sure the plates don’t slow down to a wobble and crash the whole sequence, a good plate spinner comes back to each plate and continues to spin each of them to keep them balanced. The different priorities in our lives are very similar. Once we’ve PRIORITIZED all of our dreams we can FOCUS our energy on keeping each important area of our lives “spinning” properly. Whatever dream is most important to you will be this first plate. Once you begin to spin this plate at a speed that won’t require all of your FOCUS and energy you can start another….and another…and another. A truly balanced, successful and significant life only happens when all plates are spinning in the same direction --- and you are fully utilizing all your talents, skills and abilities to keep them in balance. Important Questions What dreams are most valuable to me? What needs my full attention? What must I accomplish first? How many hours, days, or months will this take to finish and is it dependent on others? How much money will be required to achieve this dream? What do I NEED to accomplish before I can do what I really WANT to do? Once you’ve answered these questions you can establish due dates for each of the dreams you’ve listed... and create a date-driven “to-do” list that gives your priorities a clear chronological focus.
The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities. – Stephen R. Covey, Best Selling Author Take this interactive online challenge and design your own Extraordinary Life Plan at…
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To gain direction you must…
PLAN Take this interactive online challenge and design your own Extraordinary Life Plan at…
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PLANNING TO SUCCEED Henry David Thoreau once wrote: “Have you built your castles in the sky? Good, that is where they should be. Now build the foundations underneath them.” It is good to have big dreams and to have them prioritized into a timeline, but that isn’t all you need to make those dreams come true. Just as we need an architectural plan when constructing a building or a road map when traveling to an unknown destination, we need sound action plans if we hope to live our biggest dreams. Our dreams require action plans to help us break them down into smaller (and more achievable) goals and action steps so we don’t get overwhelmed with the magnitude of the dream. Without a solid Action Plan, we may never achieve anything we really want in life; we may end up wandering aimlessly, like countless dreamers who have lost their way. Some people prefer to wander without a plan, because they think building a plan is tedious. Actually, wandering aimlessly as a way of life is much more tedious in the long run! If we lack an Action Plan we may easily get lost, led astray, or become discouraged. We end up lacking direction as to where we are, what the next step is and how much farther the ultimate destination is from where we are now. A good Action Plan will alleviate all this uncertainty and give us a clear sense of direction each and every day. Just like a road map or GPS navigation system gives us a clear sense of direction when driving towards a desired destination an Action Plan can do the same for our big dream(s).
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What's inside an Action Plan? A solid Action Plan consists of three items: * A Purpose Statement * S.M.A.R.T. Goals * Action Steps The Purpose Statement is the reason(s) you want to realize your dream. What would realizing the dream do for you? Upon successfully achieving the dream what benefits would you experience? By writing these REASONS down you’ll be reminded of them each and every time you review your Action Plan. “You’ll accomplish your dreams only when you have enough REASONS to accomplish them because when the WHY gets stronger the HOW gets easier." – Jim Rohn S. M. A. R. T. Goals break your dream down into targets that are Specific, Measurable, Agreed Upon, Realistic and Timesensitive. Action Steps are the specific activities you will undertake in support of those S. M. A. R. T. goals – activities you’ll want to review and refine regularly. Just thinking about your goals is not enough. You must take action! With all three elements in place you’ll be able to chart your course and measure your performance in accomplishing the big dream. You will also have something concrete and achievable each day to focus your energy on. There’s an old phrase: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” If you follow this philosophy, you will be on the right path. “One hour of planning is equal to eight hours of hard labor.” – Benjamin Franklin You have a choice: plan now and work less or plan later (or maybe not at all) and work more. Remember, the shortest distance between you and your dream is a straight line. The more complete your plan is the straighter the line.
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Important Questions to Consider for Your Plan Why is this dream important to me? What purpose does achieving this dream fulfill? How do I intend to achieve this dream? What goal would get me closer to this dream? What do I need to do today or this week to better realize this dream? What action will I take today?
“He who every morning plans the transaction of the day and follows out that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the maze of the most busy life. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign.” Victor Hugo, French poet, playwright, and human rights activist
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To get motivated you must…
IMPLEMENT Take this interactive online challenge and design your own Extraordinary Life Plan at…
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IMPLEMENT! IMPLEMENT! IMPLEMENT! Implementing our plans and taking action on our dreams usually comes down to three things: • • •
Getting motivated and inspired enough to take the initiative Maintaining that motivation and inspiration Properly managing our priorities.
Getting and Staying Motivated How do you motivate yourself to tackle your biggest dreams? Do you have a plan in place to stay motivated? You should! The best way to get motivated is to be active in accomplishing tasks that move you closer to your dream. You can also make sure you stay motivated by renewing your mind with positive, inspirational resources such as books, CD's, DVD’s, Bible verses, inspirational quotes, and similar materials. There are days when staying motivated is hard for even the most extraordinary leaders. Most of us require the assistance of others. There are times when we don't feel like tackling a new dream (or staying persistent with an old one that hasn't come true yet). Motivation comes and goes. In fact, motivation comes quickly and leaves even more unexpectedly than it arrived! We hear a song that motivates us to do something special and an hour later we forgot what it was that moved us. We attend a seminar and get completely energized to make a change in our life and we take copious notes on all changes we're going to make. The next day, we can't even find our notes! We are so bombarded with competing forces for our attention (advertisements, phone calls, kids, work, and so on) and often the urgent outweighs the important and something I call the Law of Declining Intent takes over. The Law of Declining Intent says if you fail to act on an idea the moment you are motivated to take action, the odds of you ever taking action begin to decline rapidly from that point forward. Take this interactive online challenge and design your own Extraordinary Life Plan at…
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How do we overcome this? 1. Take action immediately on whatever it is you feel inspired to do. Begin developing your Action Plan for the weight you want to lose, the business you want to start, or the trip you want to take – and do it now! Action is an internal motivator that inspires you to take more action. 2. Invest in yourself and purchase some resources you can use on a consistent basis to regain motivation whenever it lapses. These may be books, movies, audio and video programs, podcasts, blogs or music that changes your emotional state. Good books are particularly important! Extraordinary leaders are extraordinary readers; they know if they grow mentally, they will grow personally and professionally as well. 3. Ask someone to hold you accountable to do whatever you need the motivation to do. Make a promise to yourself about how you plan to take action…then share it with your spouse, significant other, or trusted friend. You’ll be more motivated to execute on your plan!
Plan Your Priorities We're all given 24 precious hours per day – no more and no less. We must become crystal clear about the priorities we set for those 24 hours. If we take action on our highest priorities first and leave all minor priorities to whatever time is left over, our time management efforts will be successful. If we approach items haphazardly, or ignore high-priority items in favor of low-priority ones, we won’t get much traction on our goals. Begin managing your priorities by scheduling in your highest priorities into your daily calendar. Be vigilant with the appointments you schedule with yourself. When you hit a bump in the road – which you will – you must keep your own priorities in place, no matter how dire the emergency seems. Find a way to prioritize the problem … then schedule time to take action on it!
“We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.” - Vince Lombardi Take this interactive online challenge and design your own Extraordinary Life Plan at…
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To get results, you must…
BREAKTHROUGH Take this interactive online challenge and design your own Extraordinary Life Plan at…
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BREAKTHROUGH THE OBSTACLES! "Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb." - Winston Churchill Obstacles are a fact of life yet every successful person learns to breakthrough them. Here are six breakthrough strategies you can use when challenges present themselves en route to your goal. 1) Review your vision board. The struggles of today can distract us from the hope of tomorrow – but reviewing a vision board with photos and images of our dreams helps us to start thinking again about what's possible. 2) Adjust your philosophy and your perspective as needed. Sometimes we just need to make a tiny change in our philosophy, our way of looking at the world, in order to get past a roadblock. Did a past project “fail” – or did it give us exactly the lessons we needed to build a better project? 3) Review your plan often. A good pilot makes constant adjustments based on the winds, but never strays far from the flight plan. The same goes for those who wish to find a life of success and significance. We must keep reviewing our plan(s) and maintaining our course or we will find ourselves off course. Review your Action Plan at least once a month! Pay particularly close attention to the third part of the plan, the Action Steps in support of your goal. What’s getting you closer to your goal? What isn’t? What needs to be reconsidered? 4) Hold yourself accountable. Don't accept excuses – especially when you’re offering them to yourself. Excuses will only prevent you from living your dreams. You and you alone are responsible for executing on your Action Plan. Don’t waste time and energy blaming others!
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5) Seek out positive associations. Positive people go where positive people go. This is a simple rule of which most people fail to leverage! You must find a few positive people you can associate with and share your dreams with on a regular basis. Birds of a feather really do flock together – so make sure you’re investing your time with the right flock! To paraphrase some ancient wisdom: SEEK the right people and you shall FIND them, KNOCK and the door will be OPENED, ASK and you shall RECEIVE! Start assembling your success team today! 6) Create and sustain a positive belief system. Everything – absolutely everything – that happens to you, happens to you for a reason, either as an opportunity or as a lesson. Start thinking like this, day in and day out … and you will start to think like a leader. That’s a prerequisite for breaking through obstacles!
“All personal breakthroughs begin with a change in beliefs.” – Anthony Robbins
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For growth to happen you must…
MEASURE Take this interactive online challenge and design your own Extraordinary Life Plan at…
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WHAT GETS MEASURED GETS DONE! “The unexamined life is not worth living.” - Socrates Here’s my favorite model for success: The more you learn…the more you can become... The more you become…the more you can MEASURABLY achieve… The more you achieve…the more you can learn… The more you learn…the more you can become… (This model repeats continuously!) By taking time to reflect on your plan, your progress and your accomplishments, you will learn more about what you are truly capable of achieving with the time, talents, skills and abilities you’ve been given. Don’t let another month, week, or day go by without measuring your success. By determining what you’re actually achieving in your life you’ll maintain the focus, balance and direction in your life. Just as a home builder reviews the construction plan frequently to make sure he’s hitting the mark, you must take time once a month or so to review what you’re actually achieving in your life. You want to find out what’s working, so you can ramp that up! If you’re not making any progress in accomplishing your Action Plan, you must take the time to find out why that is and do whatever it takes to resolve the problem sooner rather than later. Measuring the outcomes you generate is where a lot of people start losing steam on their journey to success. That’s a shame, because knowing what you’re measuring and how often you want to measure it is a great way to motivate yourself!
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Here’s What We Want to Measure • Our dreams – are they clearly defined? Are they really ours, or are they someone else’s? • Our action plans – do we have a clear plan of action with attainable goals and specific action steps to take? • Our progress – are we seeing measurable progress on the plans we’ve established? Are we headed in the right direction? • Our use of time – are we squandering valuable time on activities that are unrelated to our goals and dreams? Here’s How Often We Should Measure • End of the day – did we do what we needed to do? • End of the week – was our week productive? • End of the month – were our monthly goals accomplished? • End of the quarter – are there achievements to celebrate? • End of the year – was the past year successful? How do we know? And by the way, what’s the reward? By measuring our growth and development we can re-energize, re-vitalize and re-focus ourselves and focus on what matters most right now. Consider Using These Tools to Measure Your Progress • Personal Assessments – you can get a free life assessment at TheExtraordinaryLife.com • Time Tracking - Track every activity you do for a one week. See where you’re really spending your time. • Peer Feedback - Ask your peers, co-workers and spouse or significant other for feedback on your growth and development. • Coaching - Hire a personal coach to help you track your progress over a period of time and use the free on-line coaching resources I’ve given you at the end of this book to monitor your progress! "What you measure is what you get. What you reward is what you get. By not aligning measurements and rewards, you often get what you're not looking for." – Jack Welch
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CONCLUSION As we conclude, let me ask you … Will you accept The Call? The ringing sound you’re hearing regarding the accomplishment of your dreams will not stop. We need more extraordinary leaders like you so we can benefit from your accomplishments. Will you apply The Catalyst? It will take time to discover the dream(s) that act as The Catalyst in your life. Finding this agent that accelerates positive change in your life is going to take some trial and error. You have to sift through the different thoughts, dreams and ideas and find those you know you’ve been called to act upon. It’s your ultimate purpose in life to fulfill the dreams you’ve been given. Will you make The Choice? Every day that passes brings you one day closer to the end of your life. It is in the nature of time to run out, and you will find, as you age, time will move even faster than it does now. There’s no time like today to start living the extraordinary life. Will you choose to start living as if each day were a precious jewel, destined to vanish forever in just 24 hours? The Choice is up to you! Will you embrace The Commitment? You will undoubtedly face many obstacles on your journey. Will you keep pressing on regardless of the obstacles you encounter? Will you make The Commitment required of all practical dreamers? Will you make the Lincoln Factor part of your own extraordinary life? Will you stay the course and follow your dreams? Will you seek out The Coach? The most accomplished leaders know they can’t do it alone. They get ideas and support from the very best experts and coaches. Become a serious player in the game of life – and follow their example. Be both humble and assertive in pursuing your goal and when you are ready to be coached, the coach will appear.
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Will you take The Challenge? The Challenge will be the most difficult part of your journey. It’s where the heavy lifting and hard work is done…but it’s also where extraordinary leaders are born and developed. Most ordinary people will skip this step and make excuses why they don’t need it or they will simply procrastinate the opportunity away. Be extraordinary and take this important step! To make this easy for you, I’ve given you some FREE on-line resources that will help you to complete all Six Steps. Please remember the Law of Declining Intent – and take action right now!
Get these FREE BONUS GIFTS by visiting TheExtraordinaryLife.com: •
Extraordinary Life Coaching Videos from the Nation’s Top Experts and Coaches
•
A Personalized Extraordinary Life Assessment and detailed results report
•
1‐Month free membership to eLifePlans.com, our extraordinary coaching system* (*Design your own Extraordinary Life Plan and access hundreds of recorded extraordinary life coaching webinars & conference calls on a variety of hot topics)
•
6‐Week eCoaching Course with in depth coaching on living The Extraordinary Life
•
30 Minute Discovery Coaching Session with an Extraordinary Life Coach Take this interactive online challenge and design your own Extraordinary Life Plan at…
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It is my dream to see ONE MILLION lives changed for the better as a result of my work! Please copy, print, post or email this e‐book to anyone you’d like. All I ask is just don’t change the content in any way, or take credit for my work.
HELP OTHERS TO LIVE THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE! Here’s what you can do to spread the word about living The Extraordinary Life:
1. Email this eBook to a friend, family member or co‐worker. 2. Send them a link to www.TheExtraordinaryLife.com so they can download the eBook (or purchase a hard copy) and to take advantage of all the complimentary bonus resources. 3. Print out as many copies as you like and give them away to those you care about.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1. To my wife Kristen and our three children (Cassidy, Morgan and Beau), I want to say thank you for the major roles you all play in helping me live the extraordinary life each and every day. I pray you’ll continue to live your dreams, change your world and inspire others to do the same. 2. To my team of staff members who I work with each and every day, I want to say thank you for all you do in helping me and so many others to live the extraordinary life. Your daily contributions of effort, sacrifice and hard work are greatly appreciated and I value your support greatly. 3. Special thanks to Michael Harrison who is an extraordinary leader and coach in West Michigan. Michael has provided me great insight and support over the past few years and I want to acknowledge his contribution to helping me put these thoughts into writing. Find him at
[email protected]. 4. If you ever get the chance to have Brandon Yusuf Toropov at iWordSmith.com help you put your thoughts into writing, grab it. He’s an extraordinary writer and he has become a good friend. You can reach Brandon at
[email protected].
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About the Author
David Bush Extraordinary Results Coach & Motivational Speaker Through his executive coaching and speaking services, David Bush inspires leaders to design and live extraordinary lives. His passion for developing leaders, teams and organizations translates into a high energy and powerful message that empowers individuals to live their dreams and change their world. His captivating message on how ordinary people can live extraordinary lives by taking the Six Steps to Success has become a life operating system for many influential leaders worldwide. With a unique blend of humor, insightful story telling, and take-home success strategies, David takes his audiences on an inspiring ride as he entertains and challenges them to become extraordinary in everything they do. Clients such as Next Financial, ING, 1st National Bank of Arizona, Aflac, Wellmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Vermeer Manufacturing, and other industry leaders have called on David to coach their team to the next level of success. After succeeding as a former All-American collegiate athlete at the University of South Dakota and graduating with a degree in Mass Communication, David pursued a professional football career and landed a starting role with the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League in Des Moines, Iowa. After four years of playing professional football and two trips to the World Championship game ('96 and '97 Arena Bowl), David entered the world of professional sales and quickly became a top producing Mortgage Consultant. His ability to quickly produce results catapulted him into leadership and the position of Executive Vice President of Sales in a regional mortgage company. He later coordinated the merger of two mid-sized mortgage companies with 18 production offices in Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota and continued his success in management and business as a co-owner of the organization. David currently lives in Pella, Iowa with his wife Kristen and their three children Cassidy, Morgan and Beau. You can contact David at
[email protected] or through his website at www.TheExtraordinaryLife.com. The Extraordinary Life
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