Debra Kasowski

EPISODE 5: Your Habits Determine Your Future

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We often think it is those big things or those big events or situations that determine our future. It is really about the little things that we do, the tasks-everything from getting up in the morning and brushing your teeth. The way you get up in the morning if you really broke it down you’ll notice you have certain habits or routines that are the same every day. Thinking about what those habits are. There are bad habits which people can pick up very quickly and there are the good habits those are the habits that support a healthy lifestyle that keeps you well so you can give your gifts and share them with the world.

Some of the bad habits you may have will be listed on the left-hand side and on the right side of the table you will notice ways to reframe them. Talk about how you can shift your bad habits and change them so you can put in more productive ways to improve the habits that you have so you can achieve success that you want. If habits determine your future, it is really important to dig deep, get self-aware and find out what could be holding you back from the success that you desire.

badhabitsandgoodhabits
REFRAME GOOD HABITS Avoiding difficult conversations.I am able to have difficult conversations in a timely manner and respectfully.Missing breakfast.I eat breakfast.Staying up late and sleeping in when you have to go to work or be at the office for a big presentation.I ensure I get adequate rest so I can think properly.Avoiding sales calls.I set a time to do the sales calls I need to do.Being late to meetingsI am on time or at least 5 minutes early.Not getting any exerciseI am exercising and feeling strong and confident.Not drinking enough water.I ensure that I am hydrated.Spending your money today without saving for the future.I pay myself first. I am saving for my future.Procrastination.I put my plan into action.PerfectionI get started and adjust as I go.

We talk about smoking and retail therapy – not only can they be a habit but also an addiction to fulfill a need.

At the end of the day, it is all about making a behavioral change. When we think about a changing behavior, we think “No it is not me who needs to make a change, it is the other person who has to change.” The only person you have control over is you and what you are doing for yourself.

Good habits are … see the reframing in the table above.

Imagine if you procrastinated on taking out the trash. Things would get a little stinky and smelly. The same thing happens with life situations, if you do not tend to them or nurture them- it can get out of hand.

Do what you need to do and get it out of the way.

A bad habit has a consequence. Missing breakfast today might not seem like a big deal but if you are missing it or having additional chocolate or extra portions, the consequences won’t be seen today. They are seen in the future – years down the road like with smoking and lung cancer. The consequences are not seen right now.

TMW_PDFclickhere.fwGood habits can be taken for granted – the healthy eating, going for a walk, walking the dog, or protecting yourself from the sun. These are all things to initiate good habits – good hygiene for example.

Look for the patterns. What are your bad habits? Identify them and write them down. Review your habits and think about 1-2 things you would like to make a plan to change. Financial. Exercise. Your Health. Once you create a plan, get help from someone who has a specialty in that area – someone you trust  or great knowledge to help you develop a change. You might a grab a book from the library or bookstore to help you develop a change.

Remember no one can make you change. The change needs to come from within. For example, let’s say weight loss is a subject. It is about gathering those resources and asking those questions. You could have a dietician come on board. You could have an exercise specialist or trainer. Grab some cookbooks from the bookstore. Learn how to cook differently. You may do research online Make sure you are going to credible websites because it seems like everyone is giving out advice.

Your habits will determine your future. What are 1-2 habits you would like to change in the next 30 days?

It is like a goal. We have a time stamp. We will re-evaluate in the next 30 days. Think about the strategies and make a plan for how you are going to make the change. How are you going to be held accountable?

The other things that can be seen as habits are: not brushing your teeth, not speaking up or making a request in the office, not making those sales calls, or doing the follow up with the people you met at the networking event. These are all habits that affect the success and the results you are getting.

The only way to change what you are doing is to ask:

  • What is working?
  • What is not working?
  • What do I need to improve?

Look at your habits and pick 1-2 that would have the greatest impact right on your life right now. We all have habits. When we take the time to reflect and we are self-aware of them that is when we can start creating the change.

When you show up and be the change in the world, you change the world around you. You may say, “Wow! Everyone changed!” Guess what? The change is actually YOU! It is one of the most powerful transformational changes that could be helping propel yourself forward. Take those habits and break them down into smaller pieces. What are you going to do this week? Today? Maybe you need to find an app for entering the data for how many glasses or water you drank or how many sit-ups you did. You may consider using a journal to track things.

Think about all the little things. The little things really affect the big picture.

DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. Her writing has been published in a variety of print and online magazines. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. Sign up the Success Secrets Newsletter and get your free mp3 download today! www.debrakasowski.com

 

Time 11:12 min

EPISODE 2: Taking Inspired Action and Celebrate Success

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“I have found that there is a difference in the type of action you take and the results that you receive. My definition of action that gets the results you desire – is relaxed inspired action- not desperate action or desperate reaction.”
― Sheri Kaye Hoff, Relax Into Inspired Action: Connect the Pieces and Live Fulfilled

Desperate action versus desperate reaction. How profound…

Some people talk about action being different than inspired action. We can do a lot of little task and little actions but are we doing them intentionally. Think about the actions you have been taking, are you doing them with intention?

Focus your intention and attention on what you want. If you are distracted or just doing things without thinking about the results that you want, you are going to miss out on a lot of different things.

Visualize achieving your end goal. Imagine how it will feel and what rewards you will reap from taking actions that you have.

Set goals and break them down into smaller manageable pieces. Set goals that help you stretch – in our next podcast.

Spend 20 minutes a day researching, reading, listening to a podcast, and increasing your knowledge about your “want”. People make lists of their dreams and when they are thinking about all the things that they want to do – maybe it is their bucket list. They think it is so far-fetched. It’s so far away from what is possible for me. What I want to do is to help you to shift your thinking from thinking of “impossible” to “I am possible”. I can make anything happen. Do a little bit of research and increase your knowledge. It might break down the some of the barriers of your thinking about why something might not be achievable for you. A lot of people do not investigate the things they truly want. They automatically think things are too expensive or they think something is not achievable.

Several years ago I was doing a vision board workshop and I was talking with different people about their vision boards. There was one lady who had cut out a picture of a bride and she said, ‘I do not know why I am even bothering putting this there.” I told her she did not believe she deserved it. She looked at me and said, “Yes you are right!” After a bit of laser coaching, she ended up putting it on her visions board and to have that on there and start believing in something for her was HUGE! You need to start believing in yourself for these things to happen.

TMW_PDFclickhere.fwWhen you take the time to investigate what the cost might be or the things you want, like the promotion or you want more clients, there are phenomenal books and podcasts that you can have these strategies on your fingertips.

We have the internet. People do not have excuses about how to improve their business, how to get more clients – that pipeline and how to improve our lives with living more healthy.  There are books, articles, and podcasts. There is so much information. There are seminars and conferences you name it – things are available to you. You just need to start asking the right questions and spending the time doing it. The world is not going to just hand it to you and say, “Oh, here it is!” It is the positive thinking that a lot of people that people were talking about from “The Secret”; The Secret does have a lot of truth to it. What you need to do is, to take the action and the positive thinking together to take inspired action. The inspired action is the gentle nudge or voice that is telling you what your true calling is that purpose that you need to do something.

The same goes for growing in your industry – do some research and learn more about it so you can ask more thoughtful questions and help where you are to get better results. Success leaves clues. Leave your track record, create those footprints and take the time to mentor others. It is all the little things that are going to help you excel.

ASK questions and learn as much as you can about what you want. Once you find some information as more questions. Find ways to achieve what you want to. There is always more than one way to get what you want.

Find a mentor who is willing to share their knowledge with you and who has done what you want to achieve. They have great wisdom and are not asked for their expertise a lot of the time. They will find it flattering but don’t just go up to them and ask if you can pick their brain. Find a way to create a win-win situation; it might be you who shares what the latest and greatest is in the industry.

Make a list of pros and cons. Simply, put a piece of paper in front you with a line down the middle with pros on one side and cons on the other. Take a look at the list and eliminate any risks so your actions can be deliberate. What can you do so the consequence does not outweigh the positive result? If there is a risk, how can you mitigate the risk so that you can ensure some smooth sailing? This way you are being proactive versus reactive in getting what you want.

Trust yourself to make the best decisions with the information you have. No one is stopping you from asking additional questions. You can adjust your course as you go. If you are going to wait for the perfect moment, you will either procrastinate or it is never going to be good enough to move forward. Take a chance and adjust as you go and you will be better every single time.

Celebrate your small wins and successes along the way. I often encourage the individuals I work with to keep track of the small wins and successes. Show gratitude. When you have a bad day, go back to those small wins and successes and read them over to shift your mindset but also to help you realize you have been through barriers and obstacles before and you have been able to hit a breakthrough to get you to where you are now. Don’t let it stop you from achieving success. Celebrating your small wins and successes will help increase your motivation and momentum to keep going toward your end goal.

DEBRA KASOWSKI, BScN CEC is an award-winning best-selling author, transformational speaker, blogger, and Certified Executive Coach. She has a heart of a teacher and is certified in Appreciative Inquiry and Emotional Intelligence. Her writing has been published in a variety of print and online magazines. Debra Kasowski International helps executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations boost their productivity, performance, and profits. It all starts with people and passion. Sign up the Success Secrets Newsletter and get your free mp3 download today! www.debrakasowski.com

Time 10:37 min

The Game Changer You Cannot Succeed Without

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Have you ever heard someone say, “I can tell if you will succeed in life within a five-minute conversation.” If you have, you will know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, let me tell you how.

I love talking with people but what really gets my juices flowing is learning about what gets people excited about their lives-what they are passionate about. I am a very curious person by nature and I can pick up on whether person will succeed or not. I will not say they will never succeed because as human beings we are always works in progress; however, until these people make a shift in their habits, thinking, and behavior, they may be working hard but not having their personal breakthroughs.

30831154_lThe game changing quality that you must have in life to succeed is personal accountability. When you have personal accountability, you can change your life.

The first indicator of whether or not you will succeed is your mindset. Are you a victim or a victor? A person with the victim mindset resolves to complaining, blaming, and making excuses for not achieving the results that they want. It is always another person’s fault for their lack of achievement. The victim is usually judgmental, pessimistic, or resentful. They avoid any challenge that may not lead to guaranteed success. A victor, on the other hand, is someone who takes 100% responsibility for their actions and behaviors.  A victor will “own their stuff”; they own their words and also reflect on how they are responsible for their own outcomes. They are open-minded, optimistic, and willing to take on challenges to learn and grow.

The second indicator is whether or not the person takes ownership of their thoughts, feelings, and above all, actions. When I talk about personal ownership, I’m not talking about material goods. I am talking about taking that 100% responsibility for what you say and what you do. You only get in life what you put out into the world. You must be willing to put the effort it takes to get what you want. The same holds true for relationships. If each individual in a relationship is only putting 50% effort then they should expect mediocre outcomes. Whereas, if each individual is giving 100% effort into the relationship, the relationship will flourish. The same holds true for your goals in life, your career, or business. The results you get are dependent on the efforts put in.

The third indicator is a person’s attitude. People often forget that attitude is a choice. A successful person knows that setbacks are temporary. They are moments to pause, reflect, and learn from. Sometimes, you need to course correct when things didn’t go your way. By choosing a positive outlook and a “quitting is not an option” attitude, you will increase your chances of being successful. A positive unstoppable attitude allows you to be open-minded and look for the possibilities and opportunities.

In a 5 minute conversation, you can tell if someone chooses to be a victim or a victor. You can tell if they take responsibility for their actions and behaviors. You can tell if they have an unstoppable mindset and if they are determined to succeed. Take time to learn about another person’s goal and discover ways you can help them become victorious. If you realized that you must make some changes to your life, know that it’s never too late.

Life is like a game. Let personal accountability be your game changer.

What Are You Projecting to the World?

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As a leader in life and business, you are on stage all the time. How you show up in the world is a reflection of your self-worth. Even though you say you take people at face value, first impressions are made within the first 30 seconds of interacting with someone.

I am not saying that you need to pull out the plastic and go on a spending spree and buy things which you cannot afford. I am saying that there are several things that you can do to project self-worth and confidence.

Maintain a Good Posture (and Watch the Nonverbals). Poor posture can make you appear weak, fatigued or even in pain. Stand tall and walk with your head up and shoulders back. Confidence is attractive and people are attracted to confidence. The way you carry yourself is a nonverbal communicator that tells people a great deal about you. When speaking with others (unless culturally offensive), maintain eye contact and pay attention to the tone of your voice and the rate you are speaking. Engage others with thoughtful questions.Face of beautiful woman on the background of business people

Make Your Health a Priority. Eat healthy foods – choose foods that fuel your body. Watch your portion sizes – skip the upsize deals. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day. You do not have to go to a gym to get your exercise quota. Go for a walk, jog, swim, bike ride, or run.

Get a Good Night’s Sleep. When you do not get a good night’s sleep, you move slower throughout the day. You may even get bags under your eyes. You do not think as clearly when you are tired and you may have errors of judgment. You want to be sharp and awake so you make astute decisions.

Keep Hydrated. Keep a glass or bottle of water by your side as you work or exercise. Lack of hydration can lead to dry skin which is more prone to wrinkles. Maintain that youthful glow by drinking enough water to keep yourself hydrated.

Speak Highly of Yourself. Speaking highly of yourself does not mean that you are “above” or “better” than others nor is it bragging about yourself. It means that you are proud of who you are. You are not afraid to introduce yourself and offer a firm handshake. You speak positively about yourself and your strengths and how you serve others.

Dress the Part. What you wear says a great deal about you. Ensure your clothing is clean and well pressed. You do not want to look like you just rolled out of bed. Keep your hair well-kept and your shoes shined. Check yourself out in a mirror before you head out for the day and periodically throughout the day.

Get Organized. Nothing wastes more time than looking for your keys or report as you run out the door for an appointment. Lay the items you need out before you go to bed at night to ensure you have what you need and you know where to find everything.

Be Prepared. Going into things blindly can seem like a night at the improv, but it won’t take long before someone calls you on your bluff. Review your materials before presenting or going into an important meeting. You may not get that second chance to make a first impression.

Read to Learn and Be Entertained. Stay on top of current events, industry trends, and the latest books. By being in the know, you can contribute to stimulating conversations, share resources, and make meaningful connections.

What impression do you want to make? Are you showing up as the person you want to be seen as? What do you need to do to make that everlasting impression? Don’t dismay! You can do it; you just need to get started. Start projecting who you are and where you are going. Why not start today. If not now, when?