A Swift Kick In The Ass

A Swift Kick In The Ass podcast episode 57. Lifelong childhood friends Tom Stewart and John Curren discuss the rules of personal change. This is the first in a series on how gamification applies to personal change. This first part discusses the rules of personal change and how to break them if necessary.

Found on psychologytoday.com

The 10 Rules of Change- Change isn't easy, but it is possible: an expert offers 10 rules to change. by Stan Goldberg, Ph.D

All Behaviors Are Complex

Strategy: Break down the behavior. Almost all behaviors can be broken down. Separate your desired behavior into smaller, self-contained units.

Change Is scary – It can result in clinging to status quo behaviors.

Strategy: Examine the consequences.  Compare all possible consequences of both your status quo and desired behaviors. If there are more positive results associated with the new behavior, your fears of the unknown are unwarranted.

Strategy: Prepare your observers. New behaviors can frighten the people observing them, so introduce them slowly.

Strategy: Be realistic. Unrealistic goals increase fear. Fear increases the probability of failure.

Change Must Be Positive - research demonstrates, reinforcement-not punishment-is necessary for permanent change.

Strategy: Enjoy the act. Intrinsic reinforcement occurs when the act is reinforcing.

Strategy: Admire the outcome.

Strategy: Reward yourself

Strategy: Take baby steps

Strategy: Simplify the process

Strategy: Prepare for problems

Slower Is Better

Strategy: Establish calm

Strategy: Appreciate the path

Know More, Do Better - Surprise spells disaster for people seeking change. Knowing more about the process allows more control over it.

Strategy: Monitor your behaviors

Strategy: Request feedback

Strategy: Understand the outcome

Change Requires Structure

Strategy: Identify what works

Strategy: Revisit your plan regularly

Strategy: Logically sequence events

Practice Is Necessary

Strategy: Use helpers

Strategy: Practice in many settings. I did this with my diet coke addiction, testing myself while out to eat, at parties, with specific foods that I always wanted with a diet coke.

New Behaviors Must Be Protected. Even when flawlessly performed, new behaviors are fragile and disappear if unprotected.

Strategy: Control your environment

Strategy: Use memory aides. Because a new behavior is neither familiar nor automatic, it's easy to forget. Anything that helps memory is beneficial.

Small Successes Are Big

Strategy: Map your success. Approach each step as a separate mission and you'll eventually arrive at the end goal.

Direct download: ASKITA057.mp3
Category:self help -- posted at: 9:15pm EDT
Comments[0]

Getting out of your comfort zone is the topic of the day. Lifelong childhood friends Tom Stewart and John Curren discuss how to create personal change by overcoming fear and being uncomfortable.

whatisyourcomfortzone.com - Marcus Taylor created this website that has a tool with a scientifically supported algorithm that leads you to have an idea which he believes is the beginning of someone taking action. Think about it. If you never left your comfort zone you would still be living at home with your parents and lead a life like the boy in the bubble. You would never have any interactions with others, no relationships with the opposite sex, no job, etc..

Some of the data Marcus discovered through analysis of the data he has acquired through his survey.

Men have a larger comfort zone than women.

Our comfort zone changes as we grow older.

Positive correlation between how much we get out of our comfort zone and how much money we make.

He found that entrepreneurs, athletes and successful people scored the highest on the app.

If you want something you don’t already have, you have to do something you haven’t already done.

That is what these people have made a habit of doing.

You have to embrace the challenges that make cause anxiety in order to grow. We have to experience new things. It allows you to get comfortable with the things that terrify you.

Uncertainty is terrifying and most people do whatever they can to stay away from it. The reality is, if you don’t expand your comfort zone and experience that uncertainty, you’re never going to know what you’re truly capable of.

Treat your life as a story. Would anyone want to read your life story?

How to Break Out of Your Comfort Zone

Do everyday things differently.

Take your time making decisions. Think don’t just react. Make educated decisions by slowing down.

Do it in small steps. Identify your fears, and then face them step by step.

You can't live outside of your comfort zone all the time. You need to come back from time to time to process your experiences. The last thing you want is for the new and interesting to quickly become commonplace and boring. This phenomenon, called hedonistic adaptation, is the natural tendency to be impressed by new things only to have the incredible become ordinary after a short time.

 

 

Direct download: ASKITA056.mp3
Category:self help -- posted at: 8:26pm EDT
Comments[0]

Lifelong childhood friends Tom Stewart and John Curren discuss creativity in regards to personal change. 

Change Your "I Don't Know" or "I Can't" Thinking to "What If...?"

”To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination.” 

— Albert Einstein

Instead, come up with open-ended statements and questions such as:

"I have what it takes to figure this out."

"I'm open to the possibility that solutions will come up.”

"I will find the inspiration I need to solve this."

“There’s always a way…”

These open-ended statements and questions are your creative mantras. When you repeat them to yourself, don’t try to consciously come up with answers. Instead, empty your mind,

Take a break. Take a departure from your normal routine: Take a different route to work, listen to unfamiliar music, try unusual foods, visit an interesting store, problem solve in a new environment.

When you are not creative….Exercise. After my father passed away in 2003 I returned to training in the martial arts. I lost all creativity. I gave away a Lego mindstorm set Jen got me for Christmas because I had lost all creativity.

Return to Nature.

Place yourself in someone elses shoes. I used to imagine, what if Lex Luthor inhabited my body? What would he do in order to get him self back to his level of financial security starting with the same resources that I presently have?

Stand on the shoulders of Giants. Use the internet to gather information and watch speeches from famous inspiring people. 

Steal like a thief. Good artists copy; great artists steal. Picasso. Emulate and build upon the work of others. Change it to make it your own. Combine thoughts or objects such as the pen/highlighter.

Substitute, combine, adapt, modify, magnify, eliminate, rearrange or put to other uses. In 1904, The hot dog was created when Antoine Fushwanger was selling sausages at the Louisiana Expedition. The problem was his customers were burning their fingers so he tried using plates and even cotton gloves but it became too expensive when customers would walk away with them. Instead his brother in law who was a baker created a long bun with a slit in it to hold the franks. They MODIFIED the selling of sausages and created a completely new product.

Ray Kroc who was a middle class high school drop out who sold paper cups and eventually milk shake machines which could make six milkshakes at a time. When Dick and Maurice MacDonald purchased eight multimixers, Ray drove out to the California hamburger stand to investigate. The MacDonalds had inadvertently stumbled upon the fast food concept of predictable items that are quick and easy to prepare.

Kroc formed a partnership with them to find new sites, open them and run them. He eventually bought out the MacDonald brothers and he would lease and develop a site, then re-lease it to a franchisee who would have to pay the rent and a franchise fee. That put MacDonald’s into the Real Estate business which still makes up 10 percent of their business.

So Kroc ADAPTED someone else’s idea. He MAGNIFIED it by creating franchises. He PUT TO OTHER USES by creating additional revenue streams for his company by owning the property that each MacDonald’s restaurant sits on.

Mind map. Map your thoughts to spark new ideas.

---------------------
Find out more on www.aswiftkickintheass.com
https://www.facebook.com/aswiftkickinass
https://twitter.com/AKickintheass
https://www.pinterest.com/akickintheass/

----Listen to the podcast on iTunes---

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/a-swift-kick-in-the-ass/id928326346

Direct download: ASKITA055.mp3
Category:self help -- posted at: 7:43pm EDT
Comments[0]

Life long childhood friends Tom Stewart and John Curren discuss how to turn your vision into reality. Last episode they talked about the big picture of why you need a vision, this is the steps you need to take to get there.

 

 

 

---------------------
Find out more on www.aswiftkickintheass.com
https://www.facebook.com/aswiftkickinass
https://twitter.com/AKickintheass
https://www.pinterest.com/akickintheass/

----Listen to the podcast on iTunes---

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/a-swift-kick-in-the-ass/id928326346

Direct download: ASKITA054.mp3
Category:self help -- posted at: 8:00pm EDT
Comments[0]

Life long childhood friends Tom Stewart and John Curren discuss how clarity of vision will drive you forward. They start the show with Feelin' down and dirty, feelin' kind of mean a lyric from the band Foreigner's song Double Vision." I've been from one to another extreme". is another lyric that perfectly describes a swift kick in the ass.

Pictures can say a thousand words. A picture of where you want to be in life can help you attain what you want out of your life. The big picture you create in your mind will help you get to your main goal. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger would imagine his biceps were mountains while preparing for the Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia contests. He knew that he wanted to be the best body builder in the world that would eventually become an actor like his hero Steve Reeves.

Seek solitude to discover what your vision might be. Jesus, Moses, Buddha and Mohammad all sought solitude before they had their great visions.

Focus on the here and now. Control what you can do and do not depend on others to attain your goals. Focus on what you want and not what others expect of you. You must belief in yourself even when others doubt you.

Do not allow fear or imagination to keep you from attaining your vision. Acronym for fear is Fantasy Expectation Appearing Real.

Your vision can change over time due to life experience and changes in values.

Direct download: ASKITA053.mp3
Category:self help -- posted at: 11:09am EDT
Comments[0]

1