Can you imagine if the consequence to everything you did, every decision you made, good and bad, happened immediately? We'd irradiate 95% of our bad behaviors.
Today we're going to listen to 12:30 of Zig on stage, where he opens the door for this concept that I'm going to smack us all in the face with a bit.
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OK, folks, here is ZIG!
Zig leads off with, "You reap what you sow." And, "You put good stuff in, you get good stuff out."
I have a little flip calendar in my kitchen with a quote and a Scripture. Last week it said, "Sin would have few takers if the consequences occurred immediately."
Nothing could be more true. Most of you know I am heavily invested in health and wellness, with the focus being Functional Medicine. Look it up if you want to know more. But I'm actually traveling to San Diego this week for the American Association of Private Practitioners to speak on a panel.
In this business, we see the long-term effects of poor lifestyle choices.
So, to the point of the quote.you can eat donuts, fast food, chips and beer today, and tomorrow you might not feel much different. Eventually, you WILL see the effects, as you age and have chronic issues, immobility, dementia, disease and more.
Imagine, though, if it were a tangible, daily consequence. You eat donuts, fast food, chips and beer, and wake up the next morning to go to work or school and.half your hair fell out. You had 50 lbs. of fat slapped onto your body. You had age spots. Your walk was now a shuffle. You couldn't think with near as much clarity. Your eyesight and hearing were half what they were the day before.
Then imagine you could just as quickly reverse it. You eat high-quality eggs and salmon, a majority of your food is fresh, organic fruits and vegetables. You consume a lot of water. And the next morning, boom. You are back to your peak.
If this happened, would you ever have a day of bad diet? Would you fudge at all.ever?
So, back to Zig's topic of good input in, good input out.
What if our Attitude, Joy, Faith, Happiness, Ability to Serve our family and others, were just as immediate and volatile? What if a day with adequate amounts of negative input and lack of positive input immediately affected us?
We woke up:
- Clinically depressed
- Suicidal
- Emotionally numb
- Angry to the point of losing temper or rage
- Vengefully bitter
- Mentally unable to cope without significant medication
If this were true, would we ever Allow ourselves to engage, whether ourselves or hearing from others
- Complaining
- Whining
- Criticizing
- Crudeness
- Demeaning
- Gossip
- Backbiting
Further, would we listen to crude or angry music? Watch un-redeeming value TV shows and sitcoms and reality TV shows and movies? Would we watch horror movies? How about porn?
POINT
We take in and allow negative, harmful input in so many varieties, every day, because, while often it DOES affect us a bit immediately, the really harmful effects are slow-growing. Like a cancer.
And for those of you who, like me, think, "I don't let much negativity in! Maybe a little bad self-talk, maybe a brief criticism of someone, maybe a glance at the barely clothed red carpet celebrity in the online news site."
My fave analogy is, if I made you your favorite dessert, whatever it is, cake, brownie, ice cream, a pie, and said it's the must supreme, high-end ingredients -- but has just one drop of dog crap in it -- would you eat it? Do it every day and over a year you've literally eaten a pound of raw crap.
We can't be perfect, but we regularly let in drops of crap and don't count the long-term costs.
Long-term costs, great time to recognize a new Ziglar Show supporter.Concur.
Reacting instead of responding
- think of "react" like a reflex, and respond like a thought-out, deliberate decision.
- Lower self, higher self
My wife does developmental cognitive research, and describes it scientifically:
Amygdala - the integrative center for emotions, emotional behavior, and motivation. It reacts. It's where your natural emotions of anger, fear, joy come from. You can't stop from feeling them. But you can stop from reacting from them.
Pre-Frontal Cortex - This brain region has been implicated in planning complex cognitive behavior, personality expression, decision-making, and moderating social behavior. It's a decided response.
But in all of this, my favorite analogy that you've probably heard of is credited to an unnamed Native American elder, about a "two dogs" tale. A version goes like this: "Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog, all of the time." When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied "The one I feed the most."
This is Zig's cry, folks. It's what made him the most revered name in personal development. We're all human. We all have good and bad in us. Which will we feed?
Delays.patience. Folks, I'm not proud to say this, but I'm possibly the most impatient person I've ever met. I live in a small town, my office is a mile from my home. I'm self-employed. I've created a life where I have little obstacles. Well, as few as you can have OUTSIDE of the realities of seven kids! When a delay happens, I can hardly stay in my skin.
And I'm merely poisoning myself. I'm aware, haven't conquered it.
Zig talks about Automobile University. Folks, the point here is redeeming the time. Most of us will fill drive time with nothing, or music, or talk radio. Now I'm not sure if there is a bigger fan of music on the earth than I. I play Spotify all day long. If you use it, search for SpecialK and you'll find my playlist at the top. So I'm a huge fan of listening to great music. And talk radio. We recently had Dave Ramsey on The Ziglar Show. Listen to him, and you'll get your finances under control.and find Financial Peace. Or listen to nothing, and meditate. Pray.
But we often just have meaningless time. We listen to music and talk radio that is just.mind bubblegum. We chew and chew but get no nourishment, fulfillment or sustenance.
So my morning drive is about 10 minutes. I take my kids to school, then pop over to my office. I was in the habit of.worrying. To a degree. Just thinking on what the day held, what I needed to do, etc. My kids were busy talking amongst themselves, right now there are five in the car.
I wanted to change this. Redeem the time. I tried Bible on tape. They were respectful, but just didn't dig it. So I pulled up one of my best friends of all time, Ronnie Freeman. He's a recording artist. You can find him at RonnieFreemanOnline.com, or type Ronnie Freeman into Spotify and you'll find him. His latest album is "Paradise." Chances are high you've heard his songs, but quite possibly sung by other big-name artists.
I started playing his album. The kids love music, and it's our new mood and attitude adjuster. I also drop one kid off and often have five to ten minutes of wait time to drop the other kids. I put a family devotional in my truck and we read and talk about it. Or the kids are in a private Christian school and they recite their Scripture. But I always hit them up on, "OK, great, you memorized it, but what does it mean to you?" Most times, they never thought of the meaning, they are just memorizing. So we.redeem the rote memorization.
Redeem the time.
Positive thinking releases the best of your ability that already exists. The best you have within you is squelched by negative thinking. It's released.with positive thinking.
Back to my story on health and wellness. Sugar, gluten, processed foods, and over-eating squelch your best brain and body function. Fresh fruits and vegetables and whole foods and water and moderation.release your best.
Zig talks about his dentist. Grateful for his positive, enthusiastic outlook, but wants him to have the necessary skills.
We are in a culture that is focused on skills. Fulfilling the role. We have hordes of people in the workplace focused on their role and fulfilling the required duty. But we all know the difference between having your money taken with a smile or a frown is dramatic. It accounts for thousands of our personal dollars. I love coffee. And I love privately-owned, artisanal shops. In my town, we have two options, the locally-owned shop that roasts their own coffee, and Starbucks. I go to Starbucks where they do more than fulfill the role and hand me my Americano -- they act like they appreciate my business.
Who, on average, likes a cupcake without frosting? Fire without heat? We want products and services and duties delivered, with enthusiasm, inspiration, gratitude.
Put skill and attitude together.you are a Linchpin, as coined by Seth Godin.the honored guest in our next show!