The Sun Has No Comfort Zone

The Sun Has No Comfort Zone

Do you believe you have a great idea? Do you have a dream?

Your idea does not become something great until you've shared it with the people in the world around you and it helps them in some meaningful way. 

Yes, you may fail at first. The first time you try to share it, you might not actually help anyone. 

Perhaps the idea doesn't work quite right and needs to be redesigned or tweaked. Failure hurts, but it provides a signal that you need to put forth more thought, more effort, more of yourself.

Perhaps, you're presenting it in a way people aren't willing to accept...yet...so they reject it. Rejection can be painful in a soul-scraping way. 

Failure and rejection create two questions. Each question creates a different path and you need to choose which one you'll answer:

• Why don't they like my idea?
• What do I need to do make my idea recognizably helpful to them?

The first question will take you down the path to becoming afraid of success. It will lead you to think the idea has failed and you'll feel rejected because it was a part of you. You will not like the pain you feel and will want to protect yourself from it in the future. You'll feel overwhelmed by the challenge of helping the unwilling and crawl back into your comfort zone. You like it in that place of comfort and you won't try again so you'll decide to stay. You'll become complacent.

The second question compels you to focus on the problem you need to solve. It provides you with a forward path that helps you get past the pain the failure creates (oh yes, you'll still feel the pain). You will think about why solving the problem is important to you. Conviction will drive you to take the next step. You will shine your idea out to the world again, only it will be better.

Protecting yourself from future pain if your idea, your dream, does not immediately come true only ensures you will not make it come true.

Think about this. Help can only be given to living beings. The Sun only helps one planet out of the eight in our Solar System (sorry, Pluto). The first two planets reached by it's rays are therefore not helped so it fails at it's first two attempts to be helpful. 87.5% of the planets it shares it's light with reject any help it tries to provide.

Aren't you thankful the Sun has no Comfort Zone?

It looks pretty cold out there, doesn't it? 

Shine your light. Find the way.
Find the willing.
PRE-ORDER FINDING SUCCESS NOW!

What life-giving opportunities do you miss by keeping your idea, your dream, protected in your Comfort Zone?

I wrote my book, Finding Success: Get What You Really Want? to help people use GPS Theory to ask themselves the best questions so they can focus on the challenges they need solutions to and find the the conviction to overcome failure. 

It's my way of shining my light so I can find the way to help people in meaningful ways.

BOOM!
Tom Eakin
Success Engineer, BoomLife

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Tom Eakin

One Simple & Easy Way to Help Someone Else

One Simple & Easy Way to Help Someone Else

Not one of us can be successful on our own. It takes people fulfilling all kinds of roles to support our efforts at getting what we want. It's about relationships. It's about our connections to people with whom we've created magical relationships.

Today, as I thanked a new connection on Twitter for following me, I noticed this photo on their profile and it helped me by making me stop and think for a few minutes about how I measure success.

"The test of a preacher is that his congregation goes away saying..." #Preaching #Quote pic.twitter.com/baw7GQ3Tsf
— ProPreacher (@ProPreacher) September 10, 2013

I'm not a preacher. However, I do invest a significant amount of energy in my efforts to help people achieve life-long success. I believe getting someone to say, "I will do something!" is really close to the true measure of success for me. Close, but not quite it. 

The true measure of success, for me, is when someone says, "I am doing <> to get what I want and be the person I want to be!" Some will say I'm splitting hairs; it's a small difference in meaning but significant just the same. There is often a world of difference between what one says they want to do and what they actually do.

The One Simple & Easy Thing You Can Do

Today I'm interested in helping you by getting you to stop and think for a minute. Then, I want you to do something. 

I want you to share a story about how someone else has helped you and the value it has created in your personal life, professional life, or organizational situation.

Don't know how to write a story? Here's all you need to say, "I am sharing news about how <> has helped me solve <> so you'll know they can help you if you have the same problem!" 

Who will you be helping?

• The people you're sharing your story with- By telling them about someone who can help them if they need a solution to the same problem.
• The person, people, or organization who helped you- By promoting their actions and helping others see the value they can create.
• Yourself- You'll be sharing, giving, helping, and connecting people who can create mutually beneficial, magical relationships!

I can't wait to read your stories! And, the stories those stories create!

I want to give you my free e-book, the "BoomLife Success Planning Guide". Download it and get 7 sessions via email that will help you identify and define your core values so you can live life the life you want, with conviction! It's my way of helping people who want to live truly inspired lives! Want to learn more about it first? You can read about it in my last article, "Setting New Goals? You Need a System!"

BOOM!

Tom Eakin

Success Engineer, BoomLife, LLC

Values-Driven-Success

BoomLife provides personal, professional, and organizational success engineering services. Our Values-Based, practical, GPS Theory processes will help you:

• Recruit & Select Inspired Employees
• Evaluate Performance- Inspired, Motivated or Coerced?
• Measure Engagement & Create Improvement Strategies
• Develop people who are inspired to be GREAT at their jobs!
• Develop the Organizational Structure to Ensure Core Values Translate Throughout Your Business Processes.

Sign-Up for BoomLife's Newsletter to stay informed of updates, events and news about GPS Theory!

Looking for the Right Self Improvement Opportunities?

Try our GPS Theory App at www.goboomlife.com

Need an Inspirational Speaker for Your Next Event? 

Tom Eakin's presentation of "What Do You Want?" is designed to challenge the way you define success and inspire you to engineer your own personal, professional or organizational path to success. 

email us at tom@goboomlife.com

GET WHAT YOU WANT! 

Getting what you want and being the person you want to be can seem complicated and confusing! Together, we'll define what you want, what it takes to get it and help you realize the kind of success you never been able to achieve before! Sign up for personal one-on-one coaching. You can sign up for a program or a single-session. It's up to you!:

• 90-Day Success Engineering Program
• Personal Success Engineering Session

How To Become Powerfully Social & Socially Powerful!

How Become Powerfully Social and Socially Powerful!

In the next few weeks, BoomLife will be announcing the beta launch of our GPS Theory App and I wanted to take a few minutes to communicate how it represents an opportunity for you to be both Powerfully Social and Socially Powerful. I like to break systems down to their simplest forms so I can understand how the components relate to each other and learn how they can be best combined to create more value than they could on their own. So, let's take a look at what it means to be "Powerful" and "Social" and how they create value together.  Since we're talking about creating value, let's discussion the concept of "Value" first.

Value

Life is all about satisfying the human craving for success in the form of creating or preserving value. The underlying reason any of us does anything is to realize a net-positive value. Value is

Source: www.visualthesaurus.com

a complex concept with many meanings. Our craving to realize a net-positive value, or success, relates to all forms of the word, it relates to getting what we want and being the person we want to be. I can promise you this, though, you can't get what you want if you are not, first, the person you want to be. But, what does "the person you want to be" look like? How can you achieve your ideal-self? Finding the answer to questions like these is where GPS Theory becomes a powerful tool. The simplest way for me to help you understand where to start is to advise you to know the answers to the following question and do the things it takes to represent, or personify, them so you can be the person you want and live the life you dream of.  

What words do you want others to use to describe you and the life you've lived?

The answers to this question, if you've taken the time to answer it fully and deliberately, equal your Core Values. Chances are, you have an idea of what success looks like but the fear of failure has driven you from doing what it takes to realize the success you seek. The problem lies in the gap between what you say you value, or how you say you want to create value in your World, and the value, positive or negative, you've actually created through your behaviors.

Become Powerful

Source: www.visualthesaurus.com

 Do you want to be powerful?  Or, do you want to do things that are powerful? Here's an example that relates to creating value within your World: Let's say you value "Honor". There are two ways you can approach honor. You can say you honor the people in your World whom you have relationships with. Or, you can show them honor through your actions and prove it to them! What do you want? Honor? Or, the illusion of honor? The same thought process can be applied to any Core Value to help you understand whether you're willing to do what it takes to personify it.

GPS Theory provides the means to be able to tell the difference between living your Core Values and creating the illusion that you are. The articles in the BoomBlog communicate the concepts behind GPS Theory; how you can identify and define the Core Values that can drive your success and the importance of being consistent in doing what it takes to personify them. The GPS Theory App is designed to help you understand if your decisions, actions and behaviors are in alignment with your stated Core Values. The term "stated Core Values" implies that you share the person you want to be with the people in your world.  Do you do that? Does it sound kind of scary? Does it sound like you might be putting yourself in a vulnerable position? You will. Just remember, the key to achieving success is breaking through the barriers your imagination creates when you perceive others may judge you harshly for living for what you believe in. 

So, how can you feel powerful and vulnerable to the judgment of others at the same time? The first step in the GPS Theory App helps you prepare for this by identifying and defining your Core Values.  This exercise is empowering!  With every meaningful Core Value you add to your "What words...?" list (your answer to the question, "What words do you want others to use to describe you and the life you've lived?") you will recognize that you CAN personify that word, especially as you seek to understand its meaning. You will see there is nothing stopping you from doing things that allow you to be that word in your own eyes and in the perspective of the people in your World. Now, that's empowerment! That's knowing how to do things that are powerful! Once you know how to do powerful things you will not need to rely on the judgments of others to determine what you can or cannot do.

Become Social

Source: www.visualthesaurus.com

The adjective definitions of the word "Social" provided by visualthesaurus.com 

Source: www.visualthesaurus.com

communicate what it means to be social. Terms like, "enjoying life," "friendly companionship," and "live together," evoke the sense of community we have the ability to build and share as human beings.  But, those terms are placed next to phrases in the definitions like "organized groups," and "groups or colonies of the same kind," which reflect the human tendency to separate into groups based on characteristics that make us different. Can you recognize how we've used the concept of social to organize ourselves by focusing on what makes us different from others? Is it possible to find common ground based on what makes us fundamentally the same through our human condition? But, what is common to all human beings beyond just our state of being human?  The answer, I believe and propose, is Core Values. 

I've already stated that we all seek to create or preserve a net-positive value. The fact that you're still reading this article implies, or assumes, you agree with that premise.  Take a look at the picture of the visualthesaurus.com rendering of the word "Value," above, and you will find one definition stating it is " the quality that renders something desirable...." That definition connects the concept of "Value" with "Social" through Core Values.  Core Values, remember, represent the words you want, or desire, other people to use to describe you. You choose your Core Values as representative of what you believe to be "good" and "right". So, here's the connection: You can only believe other people will use the words you want them to if you interact with them and show them the words you want them to use to describe you through behaviors that align with them.

Become Powerfully Social

Does the belief that people will use the words you want to describe you and the life you've lived mean they will? As we interact with people our intentions and motives are only known to us. How they are perceived by others through their observations of our behaviors is unknown. Often, our behaviors communicate different values than we intend to others as we interact with them. The GPS Theory App creates the opportunity to find out whether other people perceive our actions as representative of our Core Values.  How? It allows you to share your Core Values with the people in your World while you ask them to rate how well you personify them based on their observations.  

• Identify and define your Core Values. 
• Share your Core Values with the people in your world. 
• Sharing takes trust and courage. 
• Ask the people in your World to rate you on your Core Values. 
• Asking requires even more courage! 
• Pay attention to the feedback you get. 
• Think! 
• Focus on the Core Values you need to improve on and do what it takes to personify them. 

You will be amazed at they way others will react to you and how powerful your social network will become in helping you achieve success.

Become Socially Powerful

When people give you the gift of trust by asking you to rate them with the GPS Theory App, provide them with honest and accurate ratings. They cannot change if they don't recognize the need to do better. They will not change unless you show them gaps between actions they want to be perceived as "good" and "right" and the value they actually create. 
That's why the GPS Theory App doesn't ask you to:

• Judge others based on what you think of them. 
• Tell them how they've done you wrong.
• Tell them what to do. 

The GPS Theory App asks you to:

• Show the people who ask for your help which of their Core Values they already personify.
• Show them through your ratings whether you'd use the words they want to describe them and the life they've lived.
• Compel them to think more about how their behaviors will affect the people in their World before they decide to act in the future. 

The GPS Theory App provides you with a safe and secure environment to communicate without fear of conflict or reprisal. The ratings you provide are confidential. The person you are rating will never know what feedback you, specifically, provide. Your responsibility is to be honest and accurate.   

You can become socially powerful through the legitimate use of the influence you have in helping others recognize what aspects of their decision-making they need to change in order to do what it takes to get what they want AND be the person they want to be.

 

GET YOUR COPY NOW!

If you want to become:

• Powerfully Social
• Socially Powerful

Read Finding Success for strategies on how to define your values and doing the things that reflect them!

Then, try the GPS Theory App on our website at: www.goboomlife.com

How to Provide Feedback to a GPS Theory Subscriber Who Has Requested It

How to "Rate" A GPS Theory Subscriber Who Has Asked For Your Help

Someone you know has just asked you to "rate" them through BoomLife's GPS Theory web-application.  

You received this request through one of the following sources:

• An email addressed directly to you and sent from BoomLife (at their request).
• A Facebook request they recently posted.
• A Tweet they recently sent on Twitter.

You've been given a very valuable gift!  The gift of Trust!  You now have the opportunity to give them something even more valuable! Honest and Accurate Feedback that could change that persons life in positive ways! At this point, you can't even imagine the magnitude of the positive effect your ratings could have on their life...or yours for that matter.

Success is getting what you want.  Life-Long Success is getting what you want AND being the person you want to be.  You can't get what you want if you are not, first, the person you want to be. You can identify the person you want to be by answering this question: What words you want other people to use to describe you and the life you've lived?  The words you use to answer this question are your Core Values, they identify and define the person you want to be. 

It takes courage to share "the person you want to be" with the people in your World so they can help you understand if your behaviors reflect your Core Values. It took a lot of courage for this person to share their Core Values with you.  It took even more courage for them ask you for help!

What's in it for you?

This is an opportunity to:

• Help Someone Grow!- Doesn't it feel great when you help someone? 
• Help Yourself...

You're thinking, "What? How does giving someone feedback, especially feedback they probably won't like, going to be helpful to me? Doing that can only create trouble for me!" Well, what if their behavior has not been in alignment with one of their Core Values AND it's been having a negative impact on you in some way. You've never told them about it because you feared it would hurt their feelings or would make them mad. You've always feared saying something would only make things worse. But, hasn't maintaining the status quo by allowing their behaviors negatively affect your life already caused enough trouble for you?  

Here's the good part: Providing feedback via the GPS Theory web-application is safe and confidential.  You can provide ratings with the security of knowing they will not know who gave them what score on any given value.  You are not alone. They have asked other people to provide the feedback they need. They only see the data. There is no way they can determine from whom each dot (data point) on their GPS Check Report (chart) came from.

Here's the really great part!: What if they actually change because of the ratings you provide them!?!  How much better would that make your own life and your relationship with them? Your trust in them will grow as they show you how important your feedback is...by changing their behaviors...by closing the gap between the standard their Core Values represent and the ratings the people in their World...people like you...have given them!

What's in it for them?

When you provide honest and accurate ratings based on your observations of their behaviors in relation to each of their stated Core Values you are giving them the gift of being able to see what the people in their World see: The person they show the world versus the person they want to be! This is the most valuable information a person who really wants to live the life of their dreams can ever receive! You have the ability to give it and it will cost you next to nothing to give them what they're asking for.

Remember this: Because they're taking the risk of asking for your help, they recognize they will only gain and keep your trust if they change. So, give them what they're asking for and help them change in ways that are meaningful to both of you. 

They will grow only if they step outside of their comfort zone and have the courage to change. They may only find the courage to change if you help them. You have an opportunity to make a difference in someone's life and in your own World!

How long will it take?

The GPS Theory web-app makes it so easy!  It will only take a few minutes.

How do I "measure" or "rate" a person based on their Core Values?

A Core Value represents a standard.  For example, let's say "Truth" is one of the Core Values you're being asked to rate someone on. This person is telling you, "I want to be honest!," and that 100% honest behavior is the standard of conduct they are trying to live by.

The first question you need to answer: Has (place their name here) been (place Core Value here) 100% of the time I've had the opportunity to observe them?

• If Yes, you can confidently give them a 100% rating.
• If No, you have some thinking to do.  Anything less than 100% means they've compromised when it comes to deciding what actions they should take in certain situations.  What message do you want to send them? A higher rating that is less than 100% and indicates it's not that important they change? Or, a lower rating that let's them know their behaviors have impacted you, one of the people in their World, negatively? The answer is up to you.  

Source: http://www.languagemonitor.com/new-words/
number-of-words-in-the-english-language-1008879/

The folks at BoomLife want to remind you of this fact: This person has told you the word you're rating them on is so important to them that they've chosen it as one of only a dozen, or so, words out of over a million words in the English language. It is a word they want other people to use to describe them. You should only use this word to describe them if their behaviors allow you to. This person will only change if the data the people in their World (like you) provide them indicates they need to. Can you see now just how valuable your answer really could be to them? If you don't give them an honest and accurate rating, and their behavior needs to change in some way, they will keep making the same mistakes they've made in the past.

Remember these important things:

• Success is getting what you want.
• Life-Long Success is getting what you want AND being the person you want to be.
• You can't get what you want if you are not, first, the person you want to be.
• This person has given you a valuable gift! They're trusting you to help them be the person they want to be!
• It took a lot of courage to ask for your help!
• The gift you can give them in return could be PRICELESS to them...and to you!
• You can help them without the fear of conflict or reprisal- They will never know how you answer!
• They are asking for the truth. Give it to them!
• The help you provide this person could make your relationship with them stronger than you ever thought possible! 
• You have the same opportunity as this person does to live the life you truly want! Why not take it! 

If you want to be:

• INSPIRED by your Core Values
• The person you WANT to be.

Then try the GPS Theory App on our website at www.goboomlife.com

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GET WHAT YOU WANT! 

Getting what you want and being the person you want to be can seem complicated and confusing! Together, we'll define what you want, what it takes to get it and help you realize the kind of success you never been able to achieve before! Sign up for personal one-on-one coaching. You can sign up for a program or a single-session. It's up to you!:

• 90-Day Success Engineering Program
• Personal Success Engineering Session

The GPS Theory Model

Six Steps to Shortening Your Path to Life-Long Success

I recently wrote an article for exploreb2b.com, an internet platform designed to fulfill the mission to "change and drastically improve Business to Business communications worldwide."  The article, "Six Steps to Shortening Your Path to Life-Long Success," is focused on providing some simple strategies anyone can follow to focus their efforts on what they can control to achieve Life-Long Success.   I hope you enjoy it.

Our newsletter keeps you up to date on BoomLife updates, news and events- CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER!  You will also have the opportunity to download our "Life-Long Success Planning Guide" when you subscribe.

GET WHAT YOU WANT! 

Getting what you want and being the person you want to be can seem complicated and confusing! Together, we'll define what you want, what it takes to get it and help you realize the kind of success you never been able to achieve before! Sign up for personal one-on-one coaching. You can sign up for a program or a single-session. It's up to you!:

• 90-Day Success Engineering Program
• Personal Success Engineering Session

goboomlife.com

“What You Do Speaks So Loudly...”

“What You Do Speaks So Loudly...”

I recently read, and re-tweeted a quote on Twitter. It was something Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” (Thanks Bruce Van Horn for posting this tweet!) 

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say. - Ralph Waldo Emerson #leadership #parenting
— Bruce Van Horn (@BruceVH) July 7, 2013

When I read it, I immediately thought about how Emerson’s words align so well with GPS Theory, the application we created at BoomLife to help people recognize the difference between their stated values and their behaviors by seeking feedback from the people in their World. 

Some people ask me, “Won’t people feel criticized when they’re shown the gaps between their actions and their words?”  Criticism is not the point and anyone who would be offended by receiving honest and accurate feedback after asking for it really isn't serious about what they say is important to them.

GPS Theory is not…a platform for “pushing” criticism onto others.  It’s a “pull” system, meaning no one is going to use it to provide honest and accurate feedback if it's not requested.  If someone doesn’t want to know the truth about themselves then GPS Theory is simply not for them. We're not here to help anyone who wants to stay in one place, we're here to help people who want to grow.

GPS Theory is…a platform for improving relationships with the people in your world by: 

• Sharing the person you want to be with the people you care about.
• Allowing them to share with you ways you can improve as a friend, as a family member, as a co-worker, as a teammate, as a human being.  Don't ever underestimate the value of the gift of letting other people help you!
• Truly taking their feedback to heart and trying to do better.  The people in your World will see what you show them and reflect it back to you.
• Helping others on their own paths to Life-Long Success!

Emerson’s words are an eloquent way to express a sentiment that has been widely shared through human history- Actions speak louder than words!  Does that make the words we use meaningless?  Not by a long shot! The intent of the message is to remind us to make sure our words and actions harmonize with each other.

What amazing things can happen in your life when your actions "say" the same things about you as your words do?  Consider this question:

WHAT WORDS DO YOU WANT OTHER PEOPLE TO USE TO DESCRIBE YOU AND THE LIFE YOU'VE LIVED? 

It's a powerful question, isn't it?  GPS Theory provides you with the means to find out what the people in your World would reflect back to you when you ask for the truth, so you can learn and grow!

Sign-up now for your free GPS Theory account at: gooboomlife.com

Our newsletter keeps you up to date on BoomLife updates, news and events- CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER!  You will also have the opportunity to download our "Life-Long Success Planning Guide" when you subscribe.

When you VALUE yourself, you INSPIRE yourself! BOOM!

GET WHAT YOU WANT! 

Getting what you want and being the person you want to be can seem complicated and confusing! Together, we'll define what you want, what it takes to get it and help you realize the kind of success you never been able to achieve before! Sign up for personal one-on-one coaching. You can sign up for a program or a single-session. It's up to you!:

• 90-Day Success Engineering Program
• Personal Success Engineering Session

Tom Eakin

Success Engineer, BoomLife

tom@goboomlife.com