Turn Ideas Into Action

You have a lot of great ideas. Don’t let them just bounce around in your head. Here are 10 tips to make them happen.

Welcome to the LifeExcellence Newsletter!
October 12, 2005
Written & Published by Brian E. Bartes
http://www.lifeexcellence.com

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LifeExcellence: Empowering People to Pursue the Best
In Themselves - In Business, At Home and in LIFE!

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Table of Contents:

1. Baby Steps
2. Feature Article: Turn Ideas Into Action
3. Quotes
4. Recommended Resources
5. Self-Care: Strength Training
6. Final Thoughts: Attitude is Everything

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1. Baby Steps

You have a lot of great ideas. Don’t let them just bounce around in
your head. Here are 10 tips to make them happen.

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2. Feature Article: TURN IDEAS INTO ACTION

Does your brain bounce with ideas? So many ideas in fact, you feel
overwhelmed? Maybe you have a unique idea for a book. Maybe you
have lots of ideas stirring for a new marketing campaign. Or, maybe
you have a fun idea for a family vacation.

There’s a good reason why you have all of these great ideas—you’re
smart, creative, and talented!

So why haven’t you acted on these ideas yet? Do you struggle with
deciding which ideas to tackle first? Do you wonder how you’ll ever
find the time to see the idea through?

Whether they’re for your professional life or for your personal life,
don’t let these ideas sit and collect dust. Rather, turn them into action!

Tips for turning your ideas into action:

1. Make a list. If you don’t already have one, create a “master list
of ideas.” Create a separate list for work and personal life. Every time
a new idea piques your interest, add it to the list.

2. Identify obstacles. Take a close look at your list and identify what
has kept you from implementing the ideas. Is it lack of time, lack of
resources, lack of confidence, etc.? Figure out how to break the obstacles.

3. Determine impact. From your master list, determine which idea
could have an immediate positive impact on your job or your personal
life. Work on this idea first.

4. Set a goal. Take the idea that you identified in #3 and set a
specific goal. For example, maybe you want to implement a new
training program by the end of the quarter.

5. Create a plan. Now that you have a goal in place, create a plan
to achieve it. Break the plan into small, manageable tasks. The more
tasks you can break it into, the quicker you can complete them. Seeing
this progress will motivate you to keep plugging away!

6. Give effort. The more effort you contribute to your idea, the faster
you’ll accomplish it. If you contribute little effort, you’ll see little
accomplishment and your idea will remain just another idea.

7. Hold yourself accountable. Accountability will help you reach
your goal. For example, in the “implement a new training program”
example, you could share your plan with your boss. When he asks
questions such as “How is the planning coming along?” or “When will
the training take place?” you may get annoyed, but he’ll encourage you
to keep working at it. After all, you don’t want to let your boss down!

8. Stay motivated. It’s not unusual to feel like you’re burning out
when working on a goal. If this happens, focus on the reason you
thought of the idea and keep the end result in mind.

9. Take a bow! Once you’ve finished your goal, celebrate! What
once was merely an idea is now a reality. Congratulations!

10. Start on your next idea. Your momentum is high now, so after
a well-deserved break, start on your next idea!

Repeat these 10 steps for each idea and they’ll all become actions!
So, what are you waiting for? Get started!

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3. Quotes

It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.
Walt Disney

The great accomplishments of man have resulted from the
transmission of ideas and enthusiasm.
Thomas J. Watson

The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond
them into the impossible.
Arthur C. Clarke

If you’re proactive, you don’t have to wait for circumstances or
other people to create perspective expanding experiences. You
can consciously create your own.
Stephen Covey

Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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4. Recommended Resources

Living Your Joy*

Find the time, energy and money to live your dreams! Living Your Joy*,
a new e-book, shows you how. This comprehensive program helps you
figure out how, when, and if to leave your job ... among many other things!
Details and a free sample chapter are at http://www.howmuchjoy.com. The
companion ezine, The Joy Letter, provides practical, bi-weekly tools and
inspiration for living your dreams for free.
Sign up at http://www.howmuchjoy.com/joyletter.html

The LifeExcellence Motivational Screensaver

For those of you who haven't downloaded our screensaver yet, I
invite you to do so today! First, it's FREE, and second, it's COOL!
The screensaver contains a collection of over 100 awesome
motivational quotes and 30 scenic photos! You can download it here,
or from our website. Install it on your PC at home and work, and
forward it to your friends, family and business associates!

The Wheel of Excellence

It really is possible to have an excellent life! It's something we all
want for ourselves and others. This free tool is designed to help
you produce the results that lead to having an excellent life.

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5. Self-Care: Strength Training

Much of our attention to exercise is given to cardiovascular
exercise-running, walking, swimming and bicycling. But strength
exercise also produces many health and fitness benefits. Consider
the following reasons to strength train:

1. Avoid muscle loss. Adults who do not strength train lose between
5 and 7 pounds of muscle every decade, and only strength exercise
maintains muscle mass and strength.

2. Reduce body fat. Basic strength training produces more muscle and
less fat, due to the increase in metabolic rate from such exercise.

3. Increase bone mineral density. Significant increases in bone
mineral density results from progressive resistance exercise. This
is important in reducing the risk of diseases like osteoporosis.

4. Reduce resting blood pressure. Strength training alone has been
shown to reduce resting blood pressure significantly. When
combined with aerobic exercise, the effect is even more dramatic.

5. Reduce lower back pain. Strong low-back muscles are less likely
to be injured than weaker low-back muscles. The fact that 80%
of Americans experience low-back problems is an indication that
we are not getting enough strength exercise.

On a more basic level, proper strength training may help us to look
better, feel better and function better. So make strength training a
regular part of your self-care program!

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6. Final Thoughts: Attitude is Everything

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
It is more important than the past, than education, than money,
than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other
people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance,
giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church...
a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day
regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot
change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act
in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing
we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is attitude....
I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90%
how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our
attitudes.
-Anonymous

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Thank you for reading the LifeExcellence Newsletter.
Turn IDEAS into ACTION this week!
- Brian Bartes

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Are you ready to take action toward the achievement of your
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and encourage you as you play at a new level?
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For more information on coaching, please visit our website at
http://www.lifeexcellence.com.
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