visualization Archives - Debra Kasowski

Insider Secrets: 7 Habits Successful People Do Before Breakfast

March 14, 2017 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” – Jim Rohn

Are you looking to squeeze more hours out of your day so you can get more done? It may be time to quit hitting the snooze button and change up some of your daily habits. If you ever read about a few successful people out in the world, you will quickly learn that they take a unique approach to every day that the average person does not.

Rise and Shine Early Bird

Although the thought of sleeping in is appealing, you can get a head start on your day if you get up early. You have probably heard the saying that “the early bird catches the worm”. Many successful people have committed and disciplined themselves to get up between four and six o’clock in the morning. They say they gain 2 hours of productivity. You can gain a jump start on your day and get more done than most people do by 8 am. When you get up early, you have an opportunity to get so much more done because your time is your time is focused and free of distractions. You can start your day with a clean slate and a clear head. Use this time to your advantage. Imagine how much more you would get done if you got into the habit of getting up early. It may take some willpower initially but as you continue to do it you may surprise yourself.

Get Your Body Moving

By exercising in the morning, you are not leaving your gym time to chance. Meetings, emails, and phone calls can take up a lot of your time and by the end of the day, you may convince yourself that you are exhausted and all you need is a night crashed on the couch. Get your exercise in early. If you cannot get to a gym, go for a walk, do body weight exercises, or follow along on a yoga app. I use an app called Kettlebells. It even sends me alerts if I haven’t used the app in a few days, “Are your abs getting soft?” Now, that’s motivating! Richard Branson, Barack Obama, and Mark Zuckerberg have been known for getting their exercise routines done in the early morning. They have demanding roles that require them to be at the top of their performance.

Eat a Healthy Breakfast

Contrary to what you might think, a cup of coffee or tea with a piece of toast is not breakfast. Choose to prepare and eat a healthy breakfast to get you fueled for the day. Better yet, get your family involved in preparing the meal so they learn about this important habit. If you are stuck for time, consider making a smoothie or preparing a few items to grab and go.

Scan Your Emails for Urgent Items

Many of the emails you get from people are often about requesting something from you. Learn to quickly scan your emails for items you need from other people to propel your work further. You may even choose to quickly check social media and respond to a few comments before you start doing what needs to get done.

Map Out the Plan for the Day

Don’t look at the to-do list unless you are putting those items in your calendar to plan when you are going to get items on the list done. Whenever possible, attempt to work on the heaviest or biggest items on the list in the first part of your day when you are energized and ready to take on the day. When you plan your day with intention, you will get more done than the average person. Look at who you need to contact and follow up with to move your plans forward. What actions do you need to take to get closer to the outcomes you are looking for?

Visualize Your Outcomes

Some people use the morning quiet time to reflect, pray, or meditate. Closing your eyes and visualizing achieving your desired results is a powerful way to start your day. When you are emotionally connected to what you want to do, you are less likely to procrastinate at going after your goals.

Spend Quality Time with Family and Friends

Successful entrepreneurs and executives know when the day is done there is nothing sweeter than connecting with the people who keep you grounded. I have read articles online about how television host Kelly Ripa uses special time in the mornings to make breakfast and connect with her family, Gwyneth Paltrow chose to only take on one movie a year so she could raise her family. Start your day by setting out the door or retreating to your home office on a high note by creating a positive atmosphere to start the day.

A simple shift in the way you approach these habits could be the one change that accelerates your results. How many of these habits are you already doing? Which one would you like to adopt? Why not challenge yourself to get up early and focus on what you need to get done for the next 21 days?

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

EPISODE 26: Start with Your End Game

September 13, 2016 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

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Episode 26 – Start with Your End Game

Life’s adventures are very much like a game. Whether you’re listening to this podcast for action steps for your life business or running an organization, it is all about the strategies you put in place. In many sports you hear about playbooks, where there are pages of strategies or blueprints that can be implemented to reach their end goal of the win. The same can be applied to whatever role you’re playing.

In Stephen R. Covey book, The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People, Habit #2: “To Begin With The End In Mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.” In order to head to the destination, you must have an idea of where you’re going otherwise everything else is haphazardly done. You may be wondering around bumping into walls and obstacles because you are unsure of where you’re heading.

Ask Yourself the Following Questions:

What is it you want to achieve? What is your end game?

What is the vision that you have for yourself?

When you start with your end in mind, you are tapping into your imagination.

You can see it, feel it, and almost taste it.

Everything is first created in your mind.

GRAB YOUR DOWNLOAD

Jason W Gordon from MOBLpixl (www.moblpixl.com) put together my promo video on my website at www.debrakasowski.com. He videotaped a wide variety of video segments andI shared some concepts of what I thought would be possible but nowhere in my imagination did I see that incredible work that he had put together. It was better than I expected. He is very passionate about spreading powerful messages and he loves what he does. He already had the concept in his mind of how he was going to put together the video based solely on our conversation.

Another story…

My family and I spearhead the Spirit of Christmas Shoebox Campaign and Pancake Breakfast with a large number of volunteer elves feeding many children and providing many gifts. When we first got started, it was a bucket list idea. It was something that I wanted to do, little did I realize that it was in a turn into so much more. The first year we supplied 120 shoeboxes to one school. We enjoyed it so much that I called the school back the following year but this time they had a special request. Deb, can you feed us? I had never done anything of that magnitude before. All I could visualize in front of me was a child looking up at me with a plate that said feed me on it. So I said I’m not sure how I’m going to do this but, “Yes!” I will figure it out will make it happen. I got off the phone and I e-mailed all of our family and friends to see if there was a way to make this happen. I knew there had to be a way. The end that I had in mind was that every single child was having a gift and every single child has food on a plate in front of them. I’m happy to say that we ended up serving two schools one of turkey dinner for lunch and another a pancake breakfast. To top it all off every child received a gift. Since that time there’s been no turning back. We’ve had beautiful community support and generous volunteers. And many children with full tummies and gifts in their hands.

You can accomplish so much when you actually just learn to say yes to something that challenges you knowing that you will figure out a way. I find that too many people get stuck on ‘the how” – it will come. It all starts with the decision to make it possible. You need the give yourself permission to dream of possibilities. Once you are clear the how can be determined, you will be driven or motivated by your “why”. When you know “why” you do something, you can accomplish so much. This is where your actions and intention align with your vision.

You cannot enroll others into your dream, if you do not know where you’re heading. You need to create a vision for yourself. For people who get stuck on the how, I think it’s very valuable to use a method called “backward planning” or “reverse engineering” you might hear it called. When you start with the end in mind, you can plan backward. What are the steps that you need to take in order to get to where you’re ready to know you need to go? I find it very beneficial to use questions to help you understand what you need to do- “the how”. For example, “What must I do to become a great speaker? Write down all the things you believe you need to do then break it down into smaller pieces and ask more follow-up questions. You’ll need a speaker sheet, a signature talk, and collections of stories to be shared to start out. What message do you want your audience to walk away with her share with others? What solution do you provide? What is required to make this happen?

You must see it in your mind before you could take steps to start making it happen. When you see it in your mind you can then start setting goals and timelines in which you can focus all of your actions. Whatever you want to achieve, remember it’s your game. There is more than one strategy to get to where you want to go. Tap into your strengths and look for the opportunities. Yes there may be obstacles almost guaranteed! When you have a vision and a blueprint or plan laid out you will find a way to either move through obstacles around them to get to your destination. Don’t forget to enjoy the journey in the process because it’s all about who you become along the way.

I would love to hear about how you begin with the end in mind. E-mail me at Debra@DebraKasowski.com. Thank you for listening to The Millionaire Woman Show where we talk about leadership, business, and human potential to help you live rich from the inside out. Subscribe to The Millionaire Woman Show. Give us a 5-star rating! Sign up for our Newsletter www.debrakasowski.com

Time: 9:17 min

Keywords: begin with the end in mind, habit 2, start with the end game, strategy, blueprint, strategic planning, backward planning, reverse engineering, goal setting, goals, have a vision, imagination, visualization, achievement, sense of direction

EPISODE 25: Influence Starts in Your Own Mind

September 8, 2016 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

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Episode 25- Influence Starts in Your Own Mind

Many people look for influence outside of themselves first when all along that influence starts with one’s self. You have to believe in the possibilities and the ability to make things happen before you can share ideas and opportunities with others so they see the vision that you do. Far too many people, feel that they have no control over their situation to they fail to take action. Pastor Joel Osteen has a book called, The Power of I Am. These two little words can transform your day, your thoughts, and the actions that you take. Osteen states, “Whatever follows the words “I am” will always come looking for you.

So, when you go through your day saying:

I am blessed blessings pursue you

I am talented talent follows you

I am healthy health heads your way

I am strong strength tracks you down.”

“I am…” is often referred to as an affirmation or what some call autosuggestion. Emile Coue, a French psychologist introduced this concept the beginning of the 20th century. In my co-authored book entitled GPS Your Best Life: Charting Your Destination and Getting There in Style, Charmaine Hammond and I talked about the importance of using positive words and statements and “I am” in conjunction with the use of vision boards. A vision board is a visual display of your goals and things you would like to achieve. It is not meant to be a pretty picture it is meant to be a tool to keep you focused and take intentional actions toward achieving what you say you want. Affirmations do work if they’re applied with action. Here’s the catch, you need to believe it because if you don’t find it believable you are not going to put in the efforts.

myvisionboard

At one of our vision board workshops, I was walking by a participant cutting out a wedding dress and she was hesitant about putting that picture on the vision board. She looked at this picture stated out loud “I don’t know why I’m even putting this on the board.” I happen to be near her table as she said this and I asked her “Do you not believe you deserve it?” She paused and she looked at me, “You’re right.” She sat there in deep thought for the next 5 minutes and then she proceeded to paste it on her board. I don’t know she’s married or not, I hope someday I will hear that what she wanted became a reality.

Affirmations need to be positive statements and believable. If you find it difficult to make a statement with I am you may add in the words in progress. For some people this helps to become more believable, we are always in progress evolving into who we are. There needs to be an emotional connection where when you make a statement that it either pulls your heartstrings or it gets you excited and personally drives you to achieve it. This is your why it helps you stay focused on the right things.

Write out your affirmations. Spend time visualizing them and feeling as if you’ve already achieved it. Your subconscious mind does not know the difference between what is real and what is not. Integrate this visualize nation so that you can have the feeling of that achievement and start taking steps that outline with what you want to achieve. You may meditate on it. You may choose to record it and play it when you go for a morning run or before you go to sleep. Some people put sticky notes on the bathroom mirror so they repeated whether brushing their teeth. Other people may spend their time journaling focused on their affirmation to set the tone for their day or reflect on their day.

You may have heard the adage, “Fake until you make it”. As you align your actions with your thoughts, what you want can become reality. But some people will tell you that affirmations don’t work! And the reason for this is that people do not affirm themselves and say these statements consistently to integrate them into who they are, they may not believe in the process of doing, or they learn that they’re not really emotionally connected to what they say they want to achieve. Their “why” is not strong enough.

Your mind may play tricks on you so you need to stay focused. Speak only positive words to yourself and when you catch yourself shifting into negative thoughts and hearing, “Who do you think you are?” stopped that thought immediately and state your affirmation. You are in progress of becoming exactly who you need to be. And you are currently where you need to be so that you can learn the lessons that you need to in order to move forward.

Noah St. John, the author of The Book of Afformations, shifts affirmations into afformations. And he states that, “If human thought is the process of asking and searching for answers to questions, why are we going around making statements that we don’t believe?” The reason for this is that people don’t believe the statements that they say. He realized that people were asking the wrong questions and if they ask the right questions everything would change. Noah St. John believes that you” create your life in two ways: by the statements to say to yourself and others and by the questions you ask yourselves and others.”

You need to ask yourself in powering questions and not questions about why you don’t have this or that or they are not good enough because these are disempowering. Remember you get what you focus on. So shift your question to a positive question that empowers you to take action. Start asking yourself about some of the assumptions that you are making and how you are unconsciously holding yourself back from taking that action toward what you say you want. For example, you might say “Why am I so broke?” Noah St. John says that what shows up in your life is” you find a way to not have money even when it comes in.” The same technique could be used regarding a promotion are getting a raise.

“Why am I so worthy of the promotion?”

“Why was it so easy to get the raise?”

You may start brainstorming what actions you need to start taking to get the promotion or get the raise. What actions do you need to take to get the results you want? Do you need to take a course? Volunteer? Get experience in a certain area? How are you holding yourself back? Are you taking the actions you need to?

You must change the question to empower yourself, “Why do I have enough money?”

When you ask this question your mind will start searching for an answer and as you have answers you will start contemplating taking the actions to make that your reality. It all comes down to whether or not your “why” for what you want is strong enough.

It doesn’t matter if you choose to use affirmations or afformations to help you start influencing your mind. What matters is that you start using these positive statements and questions to empower you so that you can share your ideas with others. You need to believe at first before you can enroll others into your vision. Believe in yourself and trust in your knowledge, skills, and abilities. It all starts with what you say you are… I am. Get out there and take the actions you need to take!

I would love to hear about how using affirmations or afformations has impacted your life. E-mail me at Debra@DebraKasowski.com. Thank you for listening to The Millionaire Woman Show where we talk about leadership, business, and human potential to help you live rich from the inside out. Subscribe to The Millionaire Woman Show. Give us a 5-star rating! Sign up for our Newsletter www.debrakasowski.com

Time: 10:46 min

Keywords: I am, affirmations, afformations, power of the mind, influence, persuasion, belief, believe, positive self-talk, negative thinking, thought, thinking, affirm, visualization, meditation, journaling, reminders, asking questions, asking the right question, vision board, Joel Osteen, Noah St. John, Charmaine Hammond, GPS your best life

3 Ways High Performers Get into the Zone

June 9, 2016 by Debra Kasowski Leave a Comment

Have you ever wondered how they do it? You know how the high performers get so laser focused on achieving their goals.

Some people call it “getting into the zone” or “into the flow”; this is where you are super focused and your concentration is full on. You become an unstoppable force in pursuit – in pursuit of a grand vision.

You may think that getting into the zone was only reserved for athletes; however, it applies to anyone who wants to be a high performer. You could be preparing for the big board meeting or pitching a business idea. You could be an artist painting a picture, a musician preparing for a big gig, or a student studying for an exam. What areas of your life do you what to be known as a high performer?

High performers all have three things in common: motive, mindset, and mastery.

Motive

High performers have a clear understanding of what motivates them. High performers are motivated from within and do not necessarily need someone outside in themselves to push them toward their goals. Recognition and rewards can be motivating but are not often the sole motivators. They know their “why” for doing what they want to do and they make specific plans to get there. They take time to learn how to do what they want to do and break it down into smaller manageable pieces. These performers have a clear picture of how everything may unfold; and they learn to let go and trust in their abilities.

Mindset

High performers prepare their mindset by eliminating as many distractions as possible. Have you ever seen the movie “The Legend of Bagger Vance” with Will Smith and Matt Damon? Matt Damon’s character was a golfer who needed to have the ability to zone the crowd out and focus on his next shot. When high performers get in the zone they are able to move be laser focused on what they are working on without distraction.

They may eliminate clutter or create a space or environment where they feel at their best. Clutter can be external like messy desk or piles clothing waiting to be folded. Internal clutter such as negative self-talk can create self-doubt and sabotage your actions. Listening to music or podcasts can put you in a good mood and leave you in a positive state.

Exercise is an excellent way to set your mindset. It increases blood flow to the brain making you more alert and awake during exercise but more focused after exercise. Yoga, meditation, and prayer also focus the mind. For some high performers timing can be everything, they work when their energy is the highest to achieve the greatest results. An example of this is the person who gets up early or the person who stays up late to do what they need to do.

Mastery

High performers imagine their success and m person mastery. They do this through the power of visualization and acting as if they have already achieved what they already want. Start each day or end every evening visualizing achieving success in details as if it was reality. Actor Jim Carrey credited his success to the power of visualization. He wrote himself a check for $10 million dollars for acting services rendered. Vision boards are a very powerful tool to keep what you want top of mind.

“Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life, because you become what you believe.” – Oprah Winfrey

Journaling your success is another way to focus on what you wish to achieve. Write out the events as if everything was unfolding the way you want it to be. Your perception is your reality.

Remember the brain cannot distinguish between what is real and imagined so putting yourself in the state and imagining yourself as of achieving it makes it real. Your positive thoughts influence your feelings and the actions you will take to achieve your goals. High performers often attribute practice and more practice as the key to their success. They aim to give their very best to succeed.

To be a high performer, you must be persistent and stay committed to your course of action. You must know what you want and why you want what you want. You must enjoy what you do in order to do it well.

What actions will you take to get into the zone and become a high performer?