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7 Minutes In the Morning – How To Be Limitless!

“Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless” ~Jamie Paolinetti

Have you ever seen a scary movie or had a nightmare? They use your imagination to create obstacles to your actions. And we don’t need the movies to do that, we’re plenty good on our own. Most people are pretty good at looking at a set of circumstances and letting the potential NEGATIVE outcomes prevent them from acting.

Well, let’s turn that on its head today. What if you use your imagination to see the potentially POSITIVE outcomes in a set of circumstances and use that vision of what could be to pull you into action?! What could you accomplish TODAY if you CHOSE to see the positive potential in every circumstance?

And if you get stuck, you’re in a circumstance that you just can’t see a positive in, remember the words of Chief Tecumseh, “When you rise in the morning, give thanks…for the joy of living. If you can find no reason to give thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.”

Go out and make today…THE BEST DAY EVER!



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How To Make Difficult Decisions

What do you do when you’re faced with a difficult decision? Keep working (or work harder) on the business…or shut it down? Stick with this problem employee…or let them go? Sell the 30-year-old family business…or refinance?

These are just a few of the questions business owners and leaders face every day, and they’re tough! And if this is your first time in the entrepreneurial pool…then can be even tougher.

On today’s installment of 7 Minutes in the Morning, Thom will wrap up the week and talk about how to make difficult decisions!

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Knowing When To Give Up

Have you ever had that feeling that maybe this just wasn’t meant to be? Even though I’ve worked really hard at it, for a long time, I should just cut my losses now?

The good news is, everyone who has ever tried something new, difficult, and/or worthwhile has felt that way…so you’re in really good company. The BETTER news is…well, watch or listen to the podcast…I don’t want to give it ALL away here!

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I Envision A Time When…

Why do you work? Can you clearly articulate the end-state you are striving to achieve?

It’s a simple enough question but one that will probably stump you. I’ve asked this question to hundreds, maybe thousands of people and the most common answers they have given fall into one of two categories: 1) to pay bills, or 2) um, because I’m supposed to.

It is exactly this lack of goals, absence of vision, that lead over 70% of employees to be mentally and emotionally disengaged AT WORK! They just don’t care.

Among business owners it’s slightly better…but not much. In a recent Reddit thread the question was posed, “Why did you start your business?” and the majority of answers centered around what the job allowed them to escape, not what it was providing for them.

So whether you are an employee or a business owner, it’s really easy to get trapped in the “it’s what I’m supposed to do” way of thinking. That’s not intentional thinking and will NOT produce the results you’re looking for!

The reality is, if you don’t have a clear vision of what YOU call success, you will just wander around, doing whatever looks interesting and never really reaching your full potential!

So instead, why not give this thought experiment a try. Grab a piece of paper and finish this sentence, “I envision a time when…” What are the criteria you will use to decide if your journey has been successful?

Not only will this make answering the WHY question easier, but it also gives you a great decision-making tool! Use it when you face a choice and ask yourself which option moves me closer to my vision of success…then choose that one! Over time, you just might get there!

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Overcoming Limits (and Limiting Beliefs!)

Question of the day: What do you want to do but believe you are unqualified or unable to do?

Have you ever known someone who constantly believed they were falling prey to the latest malady in the news? Cancer from styrofoam cups? Yep! Flesh-eating bacteria? You know…my arm has been itching a lot…!

There is a medical condition known as hypochondria where your mind convinces you that you have a condition…so your body begins to act like you have that condition! It becomes a self-reinforcing condition!

So here’s my thought…if you mind is powerful enough to make you sick…why can’t you mind be powerful enough to make you well? Or in the context of your work or business…if your mind can prevent you from being successful, why can’t your mind assist you in being successful!?!?

You’ve probably heard the old axiom “fake it till you make it,” right? Well, there’s definitely a bit of truth in that. In EVERY successful endeavor, the first person you have to convince that it’s going to work…is YOU!

How many times have you seen a great opportunity but passes on it because of {insert your weak excuse here}!

STOP Doing That!

Instead, find the reasons why you should jump head-long into that opportunity and make it a winner. Remember, there are a million reasons why not, only one great reason why!

Drop a comment below and let us know what opportunity you are going to move on today! Make a commitment then take action to make it real! It’s the only way to change your future!

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Unleash Your Potential

Are you living at your full potential? Is your business, your work, and your life as good as it could be? Even if the answer is “almost” then you still have work to do! Read on…

When energy is stored (like in a spring or a battery) and not used it is called POTENTIAL energy…potential because it is not being realized. You have the potential within you and it is stored in the form of a big, hairy, audacious goal…a BHAG…a dream that is so big and crazy that, until today, you have resisted even telling anyone else about it!

Well, today is the day you are going to share your big dream with the world. Here’s why…

Potential does nothing for anyone until it is released…but it can degrade. Over time an unused battery will lose its charge. A spring will be sprung (yep, that’s really what it’s called!) If you don’t begin releasing your potential TODAY you will begin losing it TODAY!

If you’ve been tracking with us all week, you know that Monday I challenged you to refine your BGAG into a clear concise sentence…Well, today is the day to share it with the world and what better place to start than right here!

Within the Thom Rigsby community you have people just like you, similarly situated to you, ready and willing to support YOU! Everybody here has a crazy, non-conformist dream, I just want you to be an UNASHAMED non-conformist!

So go ahead, drop that powerful sentence in the comments and let the rest of the community know what you will pursue and make a reality!

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Why You Can’t Throw That Ugly Lamp Away!

Before you knew how to ride a bike (and maybe while you were learning) you may have thought it was impossible. For thousands of years, people believed it was impossible for mankind to take to the skies.

You are looking at some limitation, constraint, or obstacle today and thinking it is impossible to overcome, yet, all your limitations live only in your mind. Everything is possible. It may require sacrifice or difficult choices…but Everything is on the table for you today!

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Why Average is Good Enough

What are you not trying because you don’t feel qualified or ready?

I love this quote from Bruce Lee because it calls it perfectly…greatness is present in everyone, even the average person, but it requires effort to achieve.

With all the opportunity for distraction available to us…literally in the palm of your hand…we often fall prey to Distraction Over Action. We know that the next task or project is going to be taxing, stressful, or lengthy so we opt for a “quick” distraction. That quick distraction turns into a long one, the BAM…off your game.

One of the best ways I’ve found to defeat DOA is with block scheduling. Schedule a block of time, say 20 minutes, to focus on one task. Turn off all your notifications, don’t check email or answer the phone…just focus. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish in a short period of time.

How do you avoid DOA and get that To Do list knocked out? Leave your best tip in the comments!

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Why Cash Is NOT King!

You’ve probably heard the old saying that Cash Is King…right? What if it’s not?

As business owners and leaders, the odds can feel like they’re stacked against us. With more than 90% of new businesses not making it through the first five years, and their demise often attributed to inadequate funding (wrong, but that’s for another day) it’s easy to understand why so many businesses chase the money. But there’s another currency you should be chasing instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AKmcH4fADo

Harold Geneen once said, “In business, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later.”

Chasing the cash turns every customer interaction into a transaction. The truth is, this is very transparent to the customer, and many times they are fine with that. But there it also prevents the development of a relationship and any semblance of customer loyalty.

Now, I’m not saying you should do the work for free, but do consider what you are gaining from every interaction. There is something you can learn…and that might be worth much more than cash!