Finding Focus Through Our Natural Talents
August 26, 2017 by MarkHaroldsen
Filed under blog
To continue with the theme of these past couple weeks, here are some more key traits of super successful people. And when I say successful, I mean in any part of a person’s life as well as financially.
A big part of being successful is being focused and staying focused. That is a super vital trait that all millionaires and multi-millionaires seem to possess. Finding Focus Through Our Natural Talents in his book, Outliers, makes the claim that anyone who spends 10,000 hours focused on one thing will be become the best or one of the best in the world. I agree in part, but I also believe a person needs to look at themselves and determine what their natural abilities and strengths actually are. You can’t be great at everything, so it’s wise to look at ourselves and ask the question.  “What is it that I really want to do and become very successful at?â€
Also, it’s important to ask yourself, “What do I love to do?”, because if you hate what you are doing there is a very strong possibility that you can’t and won’t stay focused on that thing that you would otherwise become super successful doing.
So, if you want to become highly successful in a chosen endeavor, you must first take a look at yourself and determine what you’re naturally good at and what you really love to do before you start setting goals to rise to the top. I have noticed that all the millionaires and billionaires I’ve known have been very focused on making their business or investment work, becoming and staying profitable on their way to making millions of dollars. Granted, once they have arrived at the goals that they set for themselves their focus is usually diminished or starts to focus on something else.
In my own life and experience, I set a goal to make a million dollars by age 30. I had noticed that I was really good with numbers and had read how important this was in making a fortune. I also had a passion for negotiating and making deals. Those two natural talents gave me a great advantage, especially when, after researching different methods of making millions, I discovered that many millions have been made, starting from scratch, by the use of leverage on assets that can be fixed up and improved. That, combined with meeting my first of many mentors, led me to that first million dollars.
Wow. Did I ever stay focused! That’s all I thought about and all that I did and I kept that focus because I loved what I was doing. Yes, my focus has changed now and it’s more on tennis and helping others including trying to give back because so many people helped me along the way and I felt a need to pay it forward. I have so much gratitude. I’m working hard to have more of that great thing called “An Attitude of Gratitude”.
If you want super success or just want to add more to your current success, take a hard look at yourself to determine your natural talents and what you are or can become passionate about, then set some goals and get started! And don’t forget to pass it on to your kids, grandkids, friends and anyone you want to help.
Stress as Good And Bad
March 18, 2017 by MarkHaroldsen
Filed under blog
This week I want to talk about stress. I am even a bit stressed about getting this written in time to post it! There is a lot to stress about. Because of that people have come up with all sorts of ways and methods to reduce stress. However, stress can be good because it can push you to get more done and try harder to reach your goals. And, get this, you can actually learn how to make it so that even a ton of stress doesn’t hurt or ruin your health! I think you will be surprised and delighted to learn how to do this, as I was. But let’s examine how we think about stress for a minute.
As most people know, stress seems to be caused, for the most part, by our thinking and worrying about some future event–near or far. There is, however, two bits of really good news about stress. We all know that if we wanted to be a better or even a great tennis player, golfer, singer, writer, public speaker, etcetera, there are ways to become just that. One of the best methods is the “10,000-hour rule” as explained in Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers. (If you haven’t read the book, I think it’s a must.) It says you need to put in 10,000 hours at something to become world-class in that field.
From my experience and from what I read, we as humans can do “work outs” and do lots of “practice sessions” with and for our brains, just like we can invest those 10,000 hours to become the best at something. Part of the good news is that, when it’s needed, it doesn’t take 10,000 practice hours to reduce stress.
So, before I get to the good news about how stress isn’t always bad for you and your health, let me just list a few simple techniques that are easy to do to reduce or eliminate stress when you know it isn’t doing you any good:
- Take a walk outside.
- Take a run in a new neighborhood.
- Take a Hike.
- Meditate.
- Go to a yoga class.
- Share your problems or stress with others.
- Get a massage.
- Take a hot bath or jump in a hot tub.
- Do a good deed for someone else.
- Give or get hugs and kisses from friends and relatives.
These simple things are easy to do and are well known to work.
Okay, that is all well and good but what about the big shocker I’ve been hinting at? This is something that hit me hard. It has to do with changing a person’s thinking and how what they believe changes their health and life span. It is pretty amazing and I will cover it next week. But in the meantime, de-stress as needed and start getting used to the idea that it’s not always bad to be stressed. Then tune in next week to see what I mean!
Active Reading
Great books can do great things for you in your life. They certainly have for me and I use a simple method to make sure I don’t forget what I’ve learned from the best books I’ve read. It’s really simple and I highly recommend you give it a try.
First, as I read, I underline the best points made by the author, the ones that jump out at me and instruct, inspire and motivate. Next I make a note in the front or back of the book, with the page number and a short summary of what struck me as a real gem. After I have finished the book I take an 8†X 11†piece of card stock paper and transfer all the page numbers and quotes onto that paper. Then, anytime I need a mental, emotional or motivational push I quickly and easily review my notes of a particular book. It’s easy and simple.
As I have said in the past, and as it was preached to me by my mentor Paul J. Meyer, “It’s better to re-read or re-view over and over, 20 or 30 or 100 great books than to read 1,000 average books”. I have never forgotten that and it have served my life and dreams very well.
In looking through my stack of 8 X 11 cards I see my notes on books like “Satisfaction”, “Outliers”, “Flow”, “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway”, “Tipping Point”, “Fat Chance”, The Power of Now”, “The Willpower Instinct”, The Four Doors”, and of course a couple of my books “The Next Step to Waking up the Financial Genius Inside You”, “How to Ignite Your Passion for Living. That is to name just a few. Next week I will give you a few of what I think are the best short summary statements from a few of those books to show you exactly what I mean, what jumps out at me and what helps me like I am pretty sure it can help you.