Three Simple Words = The Path to Success

Three Simple Words = The Path to Life-Long Success

Something is not quite right...

Be. Know. Do. I am not the one who identified those three simple words to describe the character and competencies of an effective and genuine leader. It was someone else. I learned them from FM-22-100 (now, FM-6-22) the U.S. Army Leadership Manual years ago and these words were "at the heart" of my training and experiences. I've never forgotten them. They've helped countless people achieve success in many ways. 

I recalled "Be. Know. Do.," the other day during a conversation with a woman who was asking for my coaching services. I've invoked them many times to help people understand how to be successful in situations where the changes they need to make seem confusing and overwhelming. This time, an interesting thing happened, I recognized after all these years there's one critical problem with these three words.  Can you see it?

"Be" Success

Try it. "Be" success. It's a simple instruction, what are you waiting for?

You can't do it with the instruction provided, can you?

My client told me, "Happiness is the top value in my life but I am miserable most of the time...I want the rest of my life to have some good value...I have no idea as to how to do that right now..." Her problem was obvious. She has been living her life following the Be-Know-Do model as her path to Life-Long Success. She wants Life-Long Success and happiness is of major importance to her. It's achievable, but not the way she's been trying to get it.

Here's the problem: You can't "Be" success (happy) if you don't "Do" things that will lead to your success (happiness).

"Know" Success

Try this one. "Know" success. I suggest this instruction is easier to answer. You may not "Know" yet exactly what success (happiness) looks like, but I guarantee you "Know" whether, or not, you're feeling it at this very moment.

If you don't yet "Know" what success looks like, especially Life-Long Success, then your first step is cut out for you.  Figure it out. Focus. Take your time. Don't rush it.  My understanding of it has taken over twenty years to develop and I'd be a fool to claim I have it nailed yet. Just keep working at it, getting ever closer. Think!

"Do" Success

Try it. "Do" success. This instruction is just as simple as the last one, isn't it?  My first response to my client was, "You can't "Do" happiness."  Go ahead and try.  "Do" things that make you happy. Can you "Do" it?

It's possible.  It might just work for you...if you're lucky.  If you hope for it, there's a chance it will work. 

The point is, you can't "Do" things that will lead to success (happiness) if you don't "Know" what success (happiness) looks like. 

Success is getting what you want.


Life-Long Success is getting what you want AND being the person you want to be.

Why Be-Know-Do Doesn't work

As I said earlier, the three words themselves are the key components to the path to success through genuine self-leadership. The problem with Be-Know-Do as a model for anyone to follow is: the probability of success is only influenced by chance. Why? The words are not quite in the right order and it makes a world of difference.

Let me illustrate with a logical test.



Assumptions:

"Be" = The emotion(s) you feel.

"Know" =  The inputs (facts, beliefs) to the reason and logic behind the decisions you make.

"Do" = The actions you take.

"Value" = The intrinsic and/or extrinsic worth you place on any single person, place, thing, or emotion; or any combination of those conditions present in a given situation.

Now, let's test those assumptions for the Be-Know-Do Model (Warning: Thinking is required if you wish to proceed):

The emotions (Be) you seek lead to the knowledge required to logically decide what creates value (Know) for you which leads to taking actions (Do) that will create value.  

OR

Feeling (Be) successful leads to knowledge required to logically decide of what it takes to be successful (Know) which leads to doing what it takes (Do) to be successful.

OR

Feeling (Be) happy leads to knowledge required to logically decide what it takes to be happy (Know) which leads to doing what it takes to be happy (Do).

Is there an acceptable level of probability you can you get what you want and be the person you want to be with the logic provided in those three statements ? 

Photo Source: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/images/
bmx/significant_events/2000/02_13/tree_on_car.jpg

If you answered, "Yes," you can stop reading here if you'd like. I've recognized the folly of trying to help people who don't recognize the need for continuous improvement. But, just the same, put my phone number, 1-888- 743-6838, in your contacts list so you can call me when you recognize you've made yourself, and probably some of the people in your World, "miserable most of the time." The choice is yours. I urge you to read on though. I'd prefer to help you now before the seeds of hubris completely germinate and grow into some big tree that falls down on the people and things around you because it didn't grow deep enough roots.

If you answered, "No," we're on the same page, so far.

When you follow the Be-Know-Do model, because your focus is on "being" or maintaining a particular emotion, you have a tendency to do things mainly because you think it will feel good. 

You skip right over understanding, or knowing, what it really takes to feel good about yourself. Without self-satisfaction, there is no real satisfaction in anything else. Keep looking for satisfaction externally and your internal craving will grow and grow. You will eventually feel miserable and your craving for success becomes stronger and more powerful, driving you to do more things you think will make you feel good. But, you probably won't.

An intense feeling carries with it its own universe, magnificent or wretched as the case may be. Albert Camus http://t.co/oYAcaP0Tih
— American Revival (@GodReviveUSA) September 14, 2013

Here's what my client had to say about this, "Thanks for what you said about not being able to "do" happy. What you said makes sense and helped me see that maybe I am unclear about just what "values" are."

Do you know what "values" are?  Do you know what your Core Values are?

Know. Do. Be.

Now, let's test the Know-Do-Be model. Same words, different order. Same assumptions as before, we just change the logical path.

The Know-Do-Be Model test:

The knowledge required to logically decide what creates value (Know) leads to doing what it takes to create value (Do) which leads to the emotions you seek (Be).

OR

The knowledge required to logically decide what creates success (Know) leads to doing what it takes to be successful (Do) which leads to feeling successful (Be).

OR

The knowledge required to logically decide what makes you happy (Know) leads to doing what it takes to be happy (Do) which leads to feeling happy (Be).

Are these statements realistic? Is there an acceptable level of probability you can you get what you want and be the person you want to be with the logic provided in those three statements? 

Photo Source: http://socal.reliefposters.com/rp/2008/01/02/hope-2/

If you start with "Know" the odds get significantly better.  Once you think you "Know" what to do, if you "Do" (try) and keep evaluating and refining what you "Know" and "Do" your odds increase significantly over time.

Some people just get it. They "Know" right away, so they "Do" the right things.  Some people are just lucky. It's really hard not to get frustrated and think "I can't do it," if you don't fit into one of those two categories and compare yourself with people who do.  Stop measuring yourself against them.  Measure yourself against the person you want to be.

Know-Do-Be = GPS Theory = The Path to Life-Long Success:

• The key is to stop doing the same things and start to change (read this article) what you think you "Know" so you can "Do" the things it takes to be successful and get on a path where you can "Be" successful.
• Start to focus on the person you want to be (this article provides a simple strategy).
• Don't be afraid to be the person you want to be (read this article and get out of your comfort zone!).
• Identify & define your Core Values- Your criteria for Life-Long Success!
• Declare your criteria for success to the people in your world- State your Inspirational Hypothesis!
• Ask the people in you World for help! Improve you relationships with the people you care about the most!
• Get your results and evaluate.* Never accept the status quo! Continuously improve!The best part about that first conversation with my client is, she's recognized Be-Know-Do hasn't worked for her and she wants to change. How do I know this? She told me.

 "I want the rest of my life to have...value. I want to help other women who have struggled as I have."

She will need to do the work. I will help her. I started BoomLife with one simple but audacious mission: Helping people achieve Life-Long Success! I'm the Success Engineer.

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What do you want? What are you willing to LIVE for?

I

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Four Tips for Identifying YOUR Core Values

Four Tips for Identifying YOUR Core Values

I'm writing a book titled, "What Do You Want?," right now. There is a section in the book where I ask the question, "What are you willing to die for? Are you willing to live for it?"  The first time I considered these two questions together it hit me that most people do not really understand what is truly important to them.  I can say with absolute certainty that up to the point of the birth of GPS Theory, I really didn't know how to find the answers to those questions either.  Oh sure, there were areas of my life that I had a grip on, but when it came to getting past the obstacles between my current "place" in life and my Life-Long Success destination, I didn't even realize what the real obstacles were. It turned out I had left some of the answers up to the people in my world, I had abdicated some of the responsibility of determining the person I was going to be to others, their perceptions and their opinions. Their expectations of what I should do and what I'm capable of accomplishing somehow had bled into my expectations. I didn't even see it at the time. I can't blame anyone but myself for it.

How are you allowing the people in your world to influence your own path to Life-Long Success?

@oscarwilde: Most #people are other people. … Their lives a mimicry. Their #passions a #quotation. pic.twitter.com/7lHjYKlTct
— Cory Kelly (@MarineCory) August 25, 2013

My last article covered the critical insights you need if you want to achieve Life-Long Success. I wouldn't be the Success Engineer if I didn't keep breaking down the concept of success and what it takes to get it, now would I? Those insights are critical, you need to believe them if you want to chase your dreams with conviction, but they don't help you figure out who you want to be, and figuring that out has to be the first step!

These tips will help you identify and define the words you would want other people to use to describe you and the life you've lived:

TIP #1- Identify what you like to do more than anything else in the world. 

What makes you most happy while you're doing it or just after you've finished it? What word would you use to describe the source of that feeling? Here's an activity, fill in the blanks:

I feel ______________(feeling/emotion) when I  _____________ (favorite thing) because in that moment I am a/an ______________ person (the Core Value you fulfill).

Start a list. Write that last word down.

TIP #2- Repeat Tip #1 thinking about your second most favorite thing to do.

I feel ______________(feeling/emotion) when I  _____________ (favorite thing) because in that moment I am a/an ______________ person (the Core Value you fulfill).

Add that last word to your list.

TIP #3- Do it again and again until you think your list is complete! 

Feels good doesn't it? Now you're thinking! You're feeling like you're on to something BIG, you can begin to picture yourself experiencing those feelings all the time.  The good news is, it's entirely possible!

I feel ______________(feeling/emotion) when I  _____________ (favorite thing) because in that moment I am a/an ______________ person (the Core Value you fulfill).


Keeping writing the third word in that sentence down as you complete it!  When I first started writing down my answers to the question, "What words do you want other people to use to describe you and the life you've lived?," or, what I call the "What words...?" question, before I knew it I had written down 64 words. I quickly realized that was way too many "criteria for success" to keep track of. So, I just figured out how to use most of the words to define a few key words, Core Value words (see graphic, below).  This way, I didn't lose any resolution with regard to the ideal-self I envisioned and I was able to pare my "What words...?" list down to eight Core Values ...a more manageable number of success criteria.

TIP #4- Start! Begin! Change your thinking! Get going!

Don't worry or wait if your list of Core Values is not perfect.  Waiting for perfect conditions to begin will only waste more of your precious time (See Critical Insight #3)! It's OK to keep refining your Core Values.  As you focus on your Core Values, you'll find yourself making more decisions that align with them.  You'll also start to gain a different, more refined understanding of some of the words on your "What words...?" list.  Don't be afraid to change a word or two as time goes by.  It doesn't mean you were lying, or wrong, it means you were learning! Life-Long Success requires a life-long journey.  My current eight Core Values were twelve up until about a week ago. I hope to keep making the list smaller as time goes by through continuous improvement efforts at understanding and implementing. Why? I want to keep things as simple as humanly possible.

The journey to Life-Long Success isn't about just doing what feels good.  It's about feeling good because you know the things you're doing are good. It's feeling good about what you're doing.  It's about believing in what you're doing.  This is how we find the conviction to live the lives we want, my friends!                    

A person who looks at these tips at the surface level may respond sarcastically, "Yeah, Tom, great tips, a kid could have come up with those!" The point of the exercise is to THINK!  And, why shouldn't we listen to kids, or take a kid's approach, when it comes to understanding the possibility of being happy? It seems to me we've forgotten how to think like we did when we were kids- when we were happy and the world of possibilities wasn't influenced by the fears of failure we learn from our culture & society. Think for yourself! What do you want?

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Use these Tips to prepare before you use GPS Theory 

If you're planning to interact with BoomLife's GPS Theory application on our website (www.goboomlife.com), I strongly urge you to follow the first three tips from this article first.  Don't even create an account until you've done this! You'll find the experience so much more meaningful when you get the feedback you really seek from the people in your world!  Why? Because you owe it to yourself to put forth real and deliberate effort into identifying your Core Values, the criteria for your Life-Long Success you actually care about! You can interact with GPS Theory on a superficial level if you want to, but just like with any other process: Garbage In = Garbage Out.

Our Newsletter can keep you informed on the status of the GPS Theory web-app, new articles, workshops, events, etc. SIGN UP HERE

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

Six Critical Insights You Need If You Want Values-Driven Success

Here are six critical insights you need to understand if you want Values-Driven Success:

1) Values-Driven Success happens when you get what you want AND you are the person you want to be.
So, it's important, critical really, to identify what you want AND the person you want to be. Living the life you want depends on identifying the destination these criteria define.

Life-Long Success happens when you get what you want AND are the person you want to be! #SuccessEngineer #GPSTheory
— Tom Eakin (@goBoomLife) August 21, 2013

2) What you want AND the person you want to be are not as easy to understand as they seem.
I recently read an interesting article titled, "How Facebook (FB) is Altering Your Mind." In it,David Rainoshek helps us understand a powerful biochemical human behavioral driver, dopamine, and its effect on our habits.  While this article is intended to explain why it's easy to become addicted to Facebook, what I took away was the application of this biochemical impact on all aspects of our lives.  I believe the concepts discussed in the article reinforce the principles behind The External Rewards Model I developed to compare and constrast with my GPS Theory Model (see my previous article, "Why Are People Afraid of Success?").

When we follow the External Results

 Model, our focus is on seeking rewards, avoiding punishments, or trying to keep our situation from changing, depending on the circumstances we're facing at any given time.  In the GPS Theory Model, the primary focus is on our Core Values.

Rainoshek cites an article by Krista Peck who provides an easy to understand description of dopamine's powerful influence in our drive to seek rewards.  Rainoshek and Peck explain why people are less productive in their lives due to the dopamine rush created when we engage with various internet social media channels in search of rewards such as entertaining releases from the stresses of our world (jokes, games, etc.), great deals on material items or recognition, attention, and affection from the people we interact with directly and indirectly online. According to Peck, studies indicate we don't get the same rush when we actually receive rewards as we do while we are actually working towards getting them.  Therefore we are driven to constantly seek rewards and when we get them the dopamine supply stops compelling us to look for more.  I propose we get the same rush when we are in a situation where we are trying to avoid a punishment. The concept of rewards and punishments does not only apply to the internet. We perceive rewards and punishments in virtually every situation where risk is involved. The important questions to ask are:

• Is the majority of my time spent seeking results that add real value?  
• Do my decisions and actions contribute to situations where there is a need to avoid punishments?

3. We each have a finite amount of time to achieve Life-Long Success and the duration is unknown.
In cases where we focus only on The External Results Model, we sometimes confuse rewards with punishments, especially when an addiction has developed.  For example, time spent on Facebook looking for little "gold nuggets" increases the dopamine rush at the cost of irreplaceable time. The truth is, every tick-tock cycle of the clock indicates another morsel of time has passed which will never come again.  So, wasting time on the internet is truly a self-inflicted punishment. Because of the effect of dopamine, we perceive a greater value in seeking something of value in a place where it only exists temporally.  When you think about it, don't all bad habits have the same wasteful effect? Thinking about getting what you want AND being the person you want to be, what do you really want?  Are you really doing what it takes to get it?

4. The only constant in life is change...so you must change!

Photo Source: http://www.inc.com/magazine/june-2013.html

Getting what you want AND being the person you want to be is excruciatingly hard.  Most of the time, you will get one without the other.  The reason for this imbalance and for  the constant nature of Change is a simple concept that applies to every living thing on Earth- there are limited resources AND we are all competing for them.  What you have today and want to keep, you might lose tomorrow.  What you don't have, and want, you might get...or, you won't. The Situation dictates.  That's life.  Get used to it. The rewards and punishments we receive in life are all externally controlled and temporal in nature. The idea that we can control our situation is an illusion.  The best we can expect to be able to do is have influence.

You can limit the negative influences of the dopamine rush on your productivity when you have the mindset for Values-Driven Success. Once you know and accept the fact that you'll always struggle to get what you want AND be the person you want to be you can look at every reward as merely a step toward a destination and not the destination itself. You can avoid the spiritual and emotional pitfalls created when the dopamine drip stops after every accomplishment if you focus on doing what it takes to make the next step happen instead of getting the result.  This mindset also provides you with the emotional and spiritual foundation you need to keep going when some of the steps you take do not reap the rewards you seek. Rather than feeling like the destination is impossible and unattainable, perceptions that tend to create feelings of depression and hopelessness, you will simply recognize the need for additional steps. Further, by devaluing the result of each step you lower the magnitude of the impact the dopamine has on your drive to take it. When you get to this mindset, it becomes much easier to make the choice between the easy good feeling that comes from wasteful addictive habits and the more challenging and difficult things you really need to do to reach your destination.

"The road to success is always under construction." -Lily Tomlin #business #leadership
— Cameron (@ManagersDiary) August 20, 2013

5. There is one thing we can control...
When you follow the GPS Theory Model, your primary focus is on your Core Values and your decisions and behaviors become driven to make decisions and take actions you expect to influence your situation in the ways you want them to. When you continuously try to follow this model you remain on the path to Values-Driven Success.

“The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance.” 
― Viktor E. Frankl

Instead of intense emotional highs followed by extreme lows, you find the means to gain a consistently positive outlook.  You're not where you want to be, perhaps, but you're moving in the right direction. So, you drive on! You perceive you can take on all challenges, refusing to quit just because everything isn't going your way! By mastering your mindset, the way you plan, decide and behave, you master your attitude!

The most important part of life, and the only part of life that we can truly control, is our perception. #TDL
— Mastin Kipp (@TheDailyLove) August 19, 2013

6. If you want your situation to change, you have to lead the change.
There is no getting around it. You can and must create the changes in the conditions (relationships, other people, environment, challenges, finances, etc.) you believe will have the greatest positive impact on your situation by taking definitive and decisive actions that will get you on, and keep you on, the path to getting what you want AND being the person you want to be.  It doesn't matter what you've accomplished in the past.  The mistakes you've made do not need to be repeated and do not need to limit what you're capable of. The only thing that matters is what you will do next!

The next time you're feeling the dopamine rush in anticipation of a dubious reward that you recognize will cost you valuable time and effort to seek, ask yourself:

• What is the real value of this reward? 
• Am I spending my resources right now doing something that will help me get what I want AND be the person I want to be within the context of Life-Long Success?  
• Can I afford to keep doing this?
• Should I change this habit/behavior?
• What should I do instead? (NOTE: I believe the word "should" is only effective when we apply it to ourselves. Applying it to others (as in "He should...," "You should...," or "People should..." versus "I should...") is a habit that reduces personal accountability and creates false expectations.)

Be less concerned with what you're going to GET and think more about what you're going to DO. #Smile & Move
— Sam & The Smovers (@Give_More) August 19, 2013

My own long and winding path has been rife with self-inflicted obstacles. I constantly strive to overcome them in my own pursuit of Values-Driven Success. What I've learned is that life creates enough challenges for a person to deal with without creating more through ill-formed decision-making and poorly chosen behaviors. I encourage you to start taking steps to evaluate what drives your decisions.  Are you primarily driven to seek rewards, or your Core Values?

My Core Values inspire my efforts as the founder of BoomLife.  I've been there- It's more than having credentials that indicate I'm qualified to help (although I have earned them). I've done that- It's more than an intellectual exercise for me (although I've invested a lot of brain cells in understanding how to get out of the holes I've dug and how to stop digging more). It's about practical experience in applying the principles of Values-Driven Success. I'm focused on helping people achieve Life-Long Success and I'm willing to do what it takes to help.

How can I help you start the change in your life that will make the difference between survival-mode and Values-Driven Success?

How can I help you get to a place where you will have the strength to help the people in your world?

To let you in on a little secret, we start by answering this fundamental question:

What words do you want other people to use to describe you and the life you've led?

The power to live those words is within you!

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If you'd like to learn more about the process we developed to help people answer that question, download our Success Planning Guide for FREE! This guide is full of tools designed to help you through GPS Theory's process and is a companion to my new book, Finding Success: Get what you really want. 


Tom Eakin
Success Engineer
BoomLife

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Tom Eakin

The Birth of GPS Theory

One morning, back in November 2012, I had a great idea!  It was the kind of moment where one sees things clearly.  I had a realization. I recognized a behavioral trend that explained the root cause of not only my greatest successes but also my deepest failures and my situation at that point in time.  The way I perceived myself didn't always match up with the way others did.  My professional performance hadn't always matched up with my behaviors in my personal life.  My career progression hadn't always reconciled with my accomplishments. Mainly, the disconnect centered around trust.  The people who had the most influence on the results I sought didn't always trust me.  The trend had nothing to do with whether I'm trustworthy, it goes much deeper than that.  

You see, I strive for excellence and I have a track record to prove it.  When I served in the Army, I earned the right to wear the Ranger tab. In the corporate world, I've led teams to triple-digit performance improvements and saved the companies I worked for millions of dollars.  I've been this way consistently for two decades.  In short, I've shown, time and time again, that I am willing to do what it takes to lead others and exceed expectations! So, why hadn't I moved up the corporate ladder as quickly as others who mainly "just put their time in"?  Why was I unemployed?  Why did I just lose a dream job opportunity to someone else? What was going wrong and how could I stop it? 

The answer came to me that morning. The facts were telling me, "People don't trust you because you try to push them out of their comfort zones."    

"What!?!," I resisted at first, "That's crazy, I've only given them what they've asked for.  They said they wanted something and I helped them understand what it took to make it happen!  I was always willing, they weren't!"  It didn't make sense!  Why would people say they want something if they aren't willing to do what it takes to get it? Nothing of value in life comes without risk! "How am I ever going to be successful if I have to work with people who think like this!?!"  

The question stopped me in my tracks.  It was a helpless thing to say. I sounded like I was a victim.  I'm not a helpless person.  I believe my life is the result of my own decisions and actions and therefore I am not a victim of circumstances!  There was an important message here.  So, I asked myself a question, "What does "success" look like to you, Tom?"

@goBoomLife Thank you for sharing your blog. My 1st thought was, & is, "When the Student is ready, the Teacher appears". Truly touched.~Deb
— Deb (@portlandrose143) November 13, 2013

I decided to take a minute to answer the question about the meaning of success.  As I did that, reason and logic began to return to my thought process.  I realized the main point isn't about money, power or authority.  It's about being able to look in the mirror and ask myself if I always try to do the "right" things.  The guy looking back at me already knows the truth, and he knows I have not always been successful at this.  The good part is, as human beings, we don't need to be perfect, what we need is to continuously try to be better. But better at what? Being right?  Life just isn't that black and white. The conversation I had with myself that morning led to the most powerful question I've ever been asked and it gave me the greatest insight into what trying to be better means to each and every one of us, "When it's all said and done, what words do I want other people to use to describe me and the life I lived?"  

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Making my "what words?" list was easy.  It was empowering!  There I sat, with a list of words I want other people to use to describe me and the life I've lived.  Now what do I do with it? How would I ever know if anyone would ever use those words?  After all, it's the kind of question that implies you won't get the real answers until you're dead, as if you could hear what people were saying at your funeral... and anyone can see the irony in expecting to find out anything at that point.  

It felt like I was getting close to something.  If I could help people create their "what words" list to identify and define their criteria for Life-Long Success (their Core Values) and then provide them with the means to find out if the people in their World would actually use those words to describe them, it would open doors for positive change.  You see, Life-Long Success has two components which must work together:

• Results which are material and temporal in nature.
• Behaviors that represent human Core Values.

Results are easy to measure.  Honest and accurate measurements of behaviors against the standards of Core Values seem impossible to acquire, but they're not.  You see, the people in our World provide us with what we need to know every day but they don't do it in a way that is easy to understand.

I set to work creating the measurement system that would help people improve the relationships with the people they need to succeed by clarifying the signals we often misinterpret because of the intricacies of ambiguous communications and our limited ability to translate them.  Why? So we can understand the true gap between the person we are and the person we want to be.  This system is called GPS Theory and it's available at www.goboomlife.com. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tom Eakin is the author of Finding Success and the Success Engineer at BoomLife. LEARN MORE ABOUT TOM...

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Why Are People Afraid of Success?

Why Are People Afraid of Success?

In every Situation, we make a Decision, take an Action (Behavior) and there is a Result.  This cycle is repeated continuously.

Every Result can be placed into four categories.  I call them "The Four Universal Results: Reward, Status Quo, Punishment Avoidance and Punishment.  

What we want are the Rewards.  

Seeking valuable Rewards requires Risk of Punishment.  We don't want Punishment so we tend to operate in our Comfort Zone, the place where we feel safe because the situation doesn't change.

The balance we have a tendency to seek by remaining in our Comfort Zone is intended to mitigate Risk of Punishment as we seek Rewards which means we limit our potential to truly grow.

I propose when we allow "The Four Universal Results" to be our primary drivers, we become most limited and fearful.  I call this "The External Results Model" (shown later).  

Before we try to find "Success" we need to understand what we truly value. 

 When we truly want to live according to our Core Values, we have less concern with the externally controlled and temporal results and more focus on being the person we want to be.

If we overlay the Core Values diamond over the The Four Universal Results, we can begin to recognize several insights:
1)  When we place the primary focus of our Decision-Making and resulting Behaviors on the person we want to be, our Core Values Inspire us to expand our Comfort Zone. 

2)  It's possible to be the person we want to be and enjoy the Results we desire when circumstances allow (Green, inside the Blue).  

3) Sometimes getting the Results we desire causes us to be someone other than the person we want to be (Green, outside the blue).  

4)  Often, being the person we want to be means nothing changes for us and we're stuck with the same Situation we were in before we decided to act (Yellow & Orange, inside the Blue).  

5) Sometimes, when we're not the person we want to be, nothing really changes either, but we don't have any control over that, do we?

6) Bad things can happen to us whether we choose to be the person we want to be, or not!

Life-Long Success happens when our Behaviors are in alignment with our Core Values.  We are afraid to succeed when we are afraid to be the person we WANT to be.

Be courageous! Be Bold!
BUY FINDING SUCCESS NOW!
GET WHAT YOU REALLY WANT! 

Getting what you want and being the person you want to be can seem complicated and confusing! The GPS Theory Method will help you define what you want, what it takes to get it and realize the kind of success you never been able to achieve before! It's up to you!

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