Saturday 31 May 2008

George Sampson - The Dancing Version Of Rocky!

Tonight was the final of the TV show 'Britain's Got talent' where, against all the odds, 14 year old George Sampson beat an amazing array of talented singers, musicians and dancers to walk away with the £100,000 prize as well as the coveted 'spotlight' where he gets to play live in front of Prince Charles at the Royal Variety Performance.

Now, George is a fantastic dancer, no doubt, but that's not the only thing making him worthy of mention to my readers.

What has really caught my eye (and the eye of the judges, of course) is that this young fellow exhibited a quality of commitment and perseverance that that is rare in most adults, let alone 14 year old boys.

George was a contestant on last years show and 'failed' in as much as he didn't get through to the final.

Yet he didn't quit.

He knew what he wanted and, although he'd already been knocked down once, he got back up, got back into the ring and gave his best yet again.

He had no guarantee that he'd do any better than last time.

He had no evidence to suggest that he'd even get through the preliminaries, let alone all the way to the finals.

But he did.

He went further.

He won!

That's why Simon Cowell called this remarkable young man 'The Dancing Version Of Rocky', because even though he'd been hit hard and knocked down, he didn't quit like most people would. He got up. He went forward and he put forward all he had.

What a different life most of us would lead if we all had the courage and determination of this amazing 14 year old boy huh?

Worth thinking about!



Truth, joy and love

Dax

P.S - George Sampson doesn't come from a 'priviledged' background. He doesn't have any 'breaks' that made success any easier.

He just committed to getting up every time he got knocked down and that made all the difference....

Wednesday 21 May 2008

Act Now For Success!

Here's A Great Quote I Thought You'd Like...

"I will act now. I will act now. I will act now. Henceforth, I will repeat these words each hour, each day, everyday, until the words become as much a habit as my breathing, and the action which follows becomes as instinctive as the blinking of my eyelids.

With these words I can condition my mind to perform every action necessary for my success. I will act now. I will repeat these words again and again and again. I will walk where failures fear to walk. I will work when failures seek to rest. I will act now for now is all I have.

Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labor of the lazy. I am not lazy. Tomorrow is the day when the failure will succeed. I am not a failure. I will act now.

Success will not wait. If I delay, success will become wed to another and lost to me forever. This is the time. This is the place.
I am the person."

- Og Mandino


What a truly amazing quote huh?

And what a truly powerful philosophy to live by too!

Just think of how much your life would change if, instead of 'thinking about it' the way most of us do, you simply committed to 'acting now'.

It would change everything, right?

You know it would!

So what are you waiting for?

You know there's something you could be doing to make your life the success you dream it will someday be.

Stop dreaming... act now!

Truth, Joy and Love

Dax Moy
www.themagichundred.com

P.S - The MAGIC Hundred program is 100% committed to having you follow the 'act now' philosophy every day for 100 days.

Do you think that that much acting now might change things just a little?

You betcha!

www.themagichundred.com

Tuesday 13 May 2008

Why Positive Thinking Hasn't Helped You To Achieve Your Goals

I've given over 80 talks about mindset and goal achievement in the last 12 months to groups ranging from 20 to 2000 coming from all walks of life and practically every nation on the planet.

Whenever I begin one of my talks I always lay out the three 'big myths' about achieving your goals and why falling for them can cost you not only your goals but your passion and your happiness too.

In a later post I'll cover the other 2 myths but today I wanted to cover the myth of positive thinking as I believe that this is probably the most pervasive and negatively impactful myth around achievement and success that most people fall for.

Now, don't get me wrong; I'm a big positive thinker myself focusing upon the possible rather than the impossible, on the can rather than the can't and on the power, possibility and promise of a situation rather than the drain, strain and lack of gain that most people seem to focus on.

But that doesn't mean that I believe positive thinking creates positive results in and of itself.

It doesn't.

You see, depite what most people think, positive thinking has very little power to create the end-result you're most looking for whether that's earning more money, getting a better job, travelling the world or anything else that you may hold as being important to you.

Now, if you've read around mindset and goal achievement very much then you'll probably disagree with me on this. I don't blame you, this is how you've been trained to think.

So let's be scientific about this shall we?

Go and sit in the middle of a very busy highway. The busiest you can find.

Put a massive smile on your face and think happy, positive thoughts as the traffic whizzes by you at 70 miles an hour. You feel pretty good, right?

But just how long do you think your positive thinking will keep you from harms way?

Hmmm...

Another test.

Walk out in to your garden and smile and say over and over "There's no weeds, there's no weeds, there's no weeds"

Follow this little ritual on a daily basis for six months or even a year, maintaining a positive attitude to your garden.

Check out your garden at the end of six months and record the result.

Weeds right?

So look, positive thinking isn't the be all and end all of getting what you want.

Yes, it's an important part (after all, negativity certainly doesn't help ANYTHING) but positivity by itself only creates what I call 'Happy Fool Syndrome' where you maintain a smile despite whatever else is going on in your life. Sure, it's a better approach than going through life with a frown but it definitely won't guarantee your success in anything.

You see, positivity is only valuable to the degree that it gets you to take positive action.

That's critcially important so I'll say it again just to let it sink in.

Positivity is only valuable to the degree that it gets you to take positive action.

If you maintain a smile but don't DO the things that are PROVEN to create success then success simply won't come. It can't!

Only action changes anything, positive thinking doesn't.

So here's a little experiment I want you t try out for the next 30 days ok?

Stop judging your probability for success based upon how positive you're thinking and start judging it only on the actions you took toward making the goal happen; no matter how small.

Eating right, drinking right, cutting back on toxic load, getting enough sleep, exercising and controling your stress are all positive actions that will contribute to positive results in your health, energy and mindset.

Saving 10% of your income, paying yourself first, investing in learning new skills and using those you already have to their maximum are all positive actions that will see your income, your savings and your net worth increase.

Small actions, but they soon add up.

Thinking positively, on the other hand changes nothing, other than how you FEEL about things. (This IS important, of course, but not as much as most people think)

By all means, maintain a sunny, cheery disposition and a 'can do' attitude to life. I'm not knocking it, but make EVERY day a day where you took action on that positivity and things will change more than you'd ever believe.

Truth, joy and love

Dax Moy

P.S - My personal mentors Bob Proctor and Joe Vitale of 'The Secret' both agree with me on this. They believe 100% in maintaining a positive mindset but also recognise that only action has the power to bring about change.

That's why I wrote The MAGIC Hundred. I was fed up of being positive but achieving little....

Thursday 1 May 2008

The American Idol Success Strategy

Yesterday I told you about one of my clients who's a world-famous musician and what he told me about how he and his band 'made it'.

I got some great email comments about that post so I thought I'd tell you about another of my clients (also a celebrity) who beat the odds and and made a career, a life and a ton of money by following her dreams... and taking action on them.

My client went through audition after audition for the UK show 'Pop Idol' which is the sister show to American Idol over there in the states.

Her amazing voice, passion for her music and obvious love of performing quickly won over the judges in the early stages and she eventually made it to the televised stages of the show.

All good so far, right?

Now, if it had come down to passion, performance and skill as a singer alone then she was always the clear choice for the winner's spot as she had those areas down to a tee but there was a fly in the ointment.

Quite a big fly in fact.

You see, the trouble with most of the music and television industry is that they tend to go for a 'certain look' and, well, no two ways about it, my client didn't have that look.

In fact, by her own admission, she was far, far from that look.

She was over 200lbs heavier than that look!

Every week she'd have to read newspapers and trashy magazines putting her down saying "She's got a great voice but no-one who looks like THAT will ever win a show like this!"

Every week she'd take the stage and perform in front of a live audience and a TV viewing audience of MILLIONS who, whilst rooting for her on the one hand, were writing her off on the other with statements like "Well, she's done well to get this far but I can't see her getting any further"

And every week... she proved them all wrong!

Week after week, despite the 'negative support' ("You should be really happy to have got this far, but don't expect more") she was standing on the stage at the end of the show whilst others who, by appearances at least, seemed more likely to win were sent packing.

Come the final, people were still saying "she's good but..." and, despite what she'd already accomplished, were as certain as certain could be that she couldn't possibly win.

They were wrong.

Dead wrong.

Despite everyone telling her to 'be realistic', or 'be happy with with what you've accomplished' or even 'you'll never make it' (and an even more vicious beating up in the national press), this powerful, passionate and purposeful singer went ahead and achieved 'the impossible'.

She won!

Later, when I started working with her for a TV show we were filming together, I had the opportunity to ask her why she thought that she succeeded where everyone thought she would fail.

She told me "My belief in me was stronger than the doubt of others. Besides, most of those who were putting me down never even had the courage to apply for the show, let alone get up there on the stage and show the world what they were capable of. Just by being there I was already a winner..."

Four things stand out to me most.

First, she put herself forward, not for the thing that seemed 'logical', or 'do-able', or 'sensible' but for what she wanted most of all and, because of this, she invoked the power and the passion to accomplish her hearts desire.

Second, she took massive action and got 'into the arena' rather than sitting on the outside 'thinking about it' like most people tend to do. This immediate, massive and persistent commitment to pursuing her dream was a huge part of making it happen.

Third, she believed in herself fiercely. More than this, she refused to accept the judgement of others as to what was possible or not. In doing so, she made what she wanted far more important than what others thought and freed herself from the bonds of others (we could all do with learning this valuable skill).

Fourth, she provided a valuable service to millions of people, not only through the gift of her voice but through the hopes and dreams she rekindled by pursuing and finally winning her prize.

Imagine what would happen if you took and applied these four 'American Idol' steps to your goals and dreams.

Imagine if you focused on what you most wanted to be, do and have in your life rather than limiting yourself to what others say is logical or possible.

Imagine if you took immediate, massive and consistent action to bring that 'silly idea' of yours to life.

Imagine if you could learn to believe in yourself so much that you pursued your goal regardless of the judgements of others.

Imagine if your dream was based upon providing an amazing service to others and rekindled their hopes and dreams.

Imagine....

Truth, joy and love

Dax Moy
www.themagichundred.ning.com

P.S - A big part of winning the game is getting onto the field where the game's being played!