One of the most powerful declaratives/questions is, So what? When you hit a bump in the road or face a challenge, ask yourself, So what?

So what would happen if I chose to do this?

So what would happen if that choice is not the best choice?

So what would happen if someone disapproved of my choice?

So what would happen if I didn’t get the results I intended?

So what is next?

When you take most any situation and break it down by asking the question, So what?, you begin to dive deeper and deeper until you find the root. Once there, it is almost like planting a fresh seed. From that moment, it is up to you to nurture and grow the planted seed. It is your leadership and commitment that harvests the results. No one else can get the results from that seed that you can.

As you take your first step on your journey to creating success, ask the So what question. Keep asking that question to each response and soon you discover your visualization for your journey. Asking So what may not be easy, but it is a simple concept that requires consistency, patience, and calmness.

I am encouraging you to adopt a certain attitude as you encounter naysayers and critics. I call this the SW(4) principle. Multiplied out, you have SWSWSWSW which is an acronym for Some Will, Some Won’t, So What?, Someone’s Waiting! Basically, this implies that some people are going to be supportive and some are not. So What? Someone is waiting who is going to be inspired by your journey.

There is that So what? Keep asking yourself So what? The outcome is a stronger and more determined you.

When was the last time you asked, So what?

Through many Personal Development programs we are introduced to the concept of a Guiding Light, North Star, or as Napoleon Hill writes in Think and Grow Rich, a Definite Purpose. For many, Guiding Light is an iconic daytime drama that brought us such stars as Ian Ziering, Christopher Walken, Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, Cicely Tyson, JoBeth Williams, and Kevin Bacon, to name a few.

Your Guiding Light is not a goal, something you have achieved, or the destination of your journey. It is a guiding principle to live by to attain those goals, create those achievements, and is the basis of the journey one chooses.

Basically, your Guiding Light is the foundation of everything you do to achieve and create success. Can one’s Guiding Light change? Yes. That is part of the alignment and realignment one does along their journey and as one enriches their personal development.

When I began my journey, like many, I struggled with my Guiding Light. Immediately I felt I must have one in order to be successful. I had always been attracted to the quote, “Tomorrow Belongs to Me” from the iconic musical, Cabaret. Other idioms such as the Golden Rule, “Just Do It,” and “Think Differently” were also on my list.

Despite proclaiming this as my Guiding Light and writing it down, it seemed shallow. Shortly thereafter, I was in New York and heard the line, “The only Latter Day that matters is tomorrow,” from The Book of Mormon. I remember thinking, “There it is. Add the two together and I have my real guiding principle.” For the next two years, my Guiding Light was, “The only Latter Day that matters is tomorrow, and tomorrow belongs to me.” This told me that whatever I did today determines the quality of my tomorrow.

Since the first of the year I’ve been expanding my Personal Development, enriching it with podcasts and re-reading books such as Think and Grow Rich.

The more I read, the more I listened, the more I studied; I began to realize that my Guiding Light was out of alignment. The emphasis was on tomorrow. What about today? In a moment of true inspiration I remembered what Professor Harold Hill said in The Music Man, “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to make today worth remembering.”

And there it was, my Guiding Light; “Make today worth remembering.”

Do you have a Guiding Light?

Daily during my workout or my walk, I listen to a Personal Development podcast. One morning, the podcaster quoted Napoleon Hill, author of “Think and Grown Rich.” When I got home I Googled what I remembered of the quote to get the exact saying. There, I found a link to “Think and Grow Rich.” I had read the book many years ago, but only remember a few of the quotes. The Law of Attraction was in motion.

The next morning, while listening to a podcast, the podcaster spoke to how he was not getting the results he wanted, so that evening he sat at his computer and began writing his manifesto. He printed out two copies, placed one next to his computer so that he could read it each morning and one next to his bed so it would be the last thing he would read at night. I thought it was a cool idea, but had no idea how to write a Manifesto. A manifesto seemed too scholarly for me.

That evening, while reading “Think and Grow Rich,” I found the six things one must do to create their desire for riches. There in black and white was how I would write my manifesto.

1. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire.
2. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire.
3. Establish a definite date when you possess the money you desire.
4. Create a plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once – ready or not.
5. Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you intend to accumulate it.
6. Read the statement aloud, twice daily, once just before retiring at night and once in the morning. Read, see, feel, and believe yourself already in possession of the money.

The Law of Attraction is certainly in motion. I have written my Manifesto, and read it out loud every morning and evening. Have you written your Manifesto?

A phenomenon sweeping the globe is The Ice Bucket Challenge. Dumping cold ice water over one’s head is an activity gone viral to raise awareness and money for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Lou Gehrig’s disease). Let’s take the challenge and apply it to our lives and our business.

Daily, we are encouraged to do visualization – where you focus on your goals. Find a quiet place where you can visualize yourself taking the challenge.

• Visualize yourself getting a bucket or large pot and filling it with at least 1/3 ice and the rest cold water.
• Visualize the bucket of water sitting for 20 minutes so that it becomes extremely cold.
• Visualize yourself standing ready for the bucket of ice water. You may be surrounded by friends or family, or maybe you have friends tuned in live via the Internet to watch you take the challenge.
• Visualize the bucket being raised over your head by people standing behind you.
• You do not know when the frigid water is going to hit the top of your head. Visualize the anticipation you feel and the tenseness in your body. You close your eyes as you prepare to get doused.
• The challenge happens!
• Visualize the ice cold water and remaining unthawed ice rapidly soaking your head, your shoulders, and down your body. Do you hear uncontrollable laughter? You gasped as your body went into frigid shock.

Open your eyes. Still freezing wet and in shock, how does the world look to you now? In that spontaneous second what was your first thought? What is different based on how you reacted to the jolt of ice water?

Now visualize if you applied that jolt to your life and/or to your career. How would you react? What would be different? It does not matter if you are the highest income earner or someone still struggling, nor does it matter if you apply this to your career or your personal life; such a jolt instantly changes one’s perspective. You experience something you probably have never experienced before.

Are you willing to take The Ice Bucket Challenge? Once you take the challenge, challenge three other people. That’s the rule of the game! That’s how you build momentum.

21 days to form a habit? Most attribute that theory to a physician who worked with amputees suffering a loss of limb. He theorizes it took 21 days to get accustomed to the loss. Rhetorically, isn’t creating a habit of drinking more water different than adapting to losing your leg?

Many people see habits as routine. Habits are automatic. Habits are decisions we make without even thinking.

New Year’s Resolutions have an 8% success rate and 21 days may seem more like a monumental task. So, how does one overcome that obstacle and create positive change? The secret is in developing mini-habits. Rather than feeling guilty not achieving your goal, break down that goal into attainable results.

I learned of mini-habits from Stephen Guise. The technique comes from Tinkertoys, a creativity book. It is the opposite of an idea you are stuck on. The more ridiculous, the more successful you become.

You may want to create an exercise regimen. Going for gusto of 30 minutes to an hour a day, joining a gym, and hitting it hard often ends in disaster. What if you began by just doing one push-up?

The One Push-up Challenge: As absurd as it sounds, it works. When you get out of bed, do just one push-up. What you find is while you are in the position doing the one push-up you find it easier to do 2, 3, 4, or 5. The mini-habit is born. Habits are built from willpower, not motivation. The reason we fail at creating new habits is we try to do too much at once. It requires more willpower, not increased motivation.

To create a mini-habit, choose a desired change and make it “stupid small.” Say your mini-habit out loud. If it is so small it sounds stupid, then you are on your way. Some mini-habits may include meditation for one minute, one push-up, read two pages daily, walk 100 steps, drink one glass of water, etc.

Choose 3 mini-habits to begin. Incorporate them into one of your 10-minute task. Write down your mini-habit. Check it off daily so you can visualize your progress. When you remove the pressure and expectations, you allow yourself to change.

My mini-habits are: meditate for one minute, read two pages from a book, and drinking one glass of water each morning before coffee.

What mini-habits are you starting?

On my daily walk I listened to a podcast that really had me reflect. The podcast began by relating the message to how Navy Seals are trained.

Navy Seals are one of the most elite military here in the US. They were responsible for taking out Osama Bin Laden. Three words describe the training a Navy Seal receives: cold, miserable, and tired. About 70% who enter Navy Seals never graduate. The only way to quit is when you decide to quit, you must ring a bell for everyone to hear. The choice becomes either you do what it takes to accomplish your goal or live with quitting; knowing that everyone you associated with knows you quit.

That is very powerful.

When you apply that to life, you realize that the Navy Seals’ body did not give out; instead, their mind decided to quit. As we learn in Beyond Freedom Evolution, everything is a decision. Deciding to “ring that bell” is a decision. When you ring the bell, you have indicated that you are no longer willing to consider options and no longer feel there is any opportunity to continue.

Once I hit a “rough patch” I must decide either to show up and continue to forge through or “ring the bell.” Here is what I do know:  Growth and success is not measured monetarily. As with the Navy Seals, it is not the body (or business/work) that gives out, it is a decision I make.

Do we learn from our mistakes? I think not. To me, if you learn then it is not a mistake – it is a learning opportunity. When you learn, you never “ring the bell.”

Have you ever been close to ringing the bell with any part of your life

Have you realized that this very moment is part of your story? There is no right or wrong answers, it is not perfect, but is a blank canvas to use as you please.

You have to live each moment consciously, design your own truth, and share it with others. It’s a process whereby you realize your individuality and can only share it once you have created it.

Consider these six things to love about your life:

1. Spend time on your personal growth and goals.

• The most successful are those who are respect and treasure their time. External influences often try and dictate what “we should do.” This is the herd mentality. Many times we are waiting for some magical resolution. We tend to wait for the right time to make our move. Then, we wake up and discover we are no closer than we were. We never took the journey.

2. Live your truth daily.

• To feel something and believe in it, but not live it, is living a lie. If you do this too long, you only exist. Dreams may become nightmares. Wherever your heart is, there you find reality.  The time to act on your truth is now.

3. Enjoy the freedom of an open mind.

• Your perspective is important; yet different people have different perspectives and yours may not make sense. Most facts are merely interpretations. Success in life does not depend on proving you are right. To make real progress, let go of the assumption that you already have all the answers. Listen to others, learn from others, and successfully work with others, even though you may not agree with them. Respect the freedom to disagree.

4. Engage in relationships that improve you.

• When you connect with someone special, a friend or companion, this person helps you find the best in yourself. You both grow into your best selves and nurture each others growth.

5. Be the story you tell yourself every day.

• Forget what everyone else thinks of you. Chances are they are not thinking about you. You are judging yourself by telling yourself a story inside your head. You are building your future around this story, so tell it right. Create a positive narrative about your dreams and goals

6. Make a positive spin of life’s surprises.

• No matter what life throws your way, you decide what these events mean and how you integrate them into your life. Everything that happens is subject to your interpretation. More important than what happens, is what you choose to do with what happens. The life you live is ultimately the life you choose. 

Remember, “You can like the life you’re living and you can live the life you like.” (Chicago)