Category Archives: Dr. Jay LaGuardia Blog

Mentors

Thank God it’s Monday,

You have probably heard success requires hard work and discipline. Who would argue with that? I would argue that most of us already work hard. Studies show that most people are only capable of increasing their productivity by an additional 8% before they reach max effort. Lets face it, there is only 1440 minutes in a day. We can’t magically create more time.

There is a universal secret known amongst the most successful people. This secret provides the fuel to exponentially increase the rate of success. It’s not a guarantee because it still requires action, but the chance of failure is greatly diminished. What is it you ask?

Mentorship…coaching, whatever you choose to call it.

I recall as a young fledging entrepreneur an older gentleman telling me ” To increase your chance of success, seek out someone who is already successful and learn all you can from them.” There were never truer words spoken. I have had many mentors in my life for a variety of endeavors.

What I have learned is mentors exist all around us, in every walk of life.

Mentors are the most valuable resource on your path to success. They are able to provide knowledge and perspective from their own failures and success. This helps us avoid similar pitfalls. This often can save us huge amounts of time, money and pain.

Why would we ever try to reinvent the wheel when someone else has already perfected it? Everyday I see people who struggle needlessly because of pride, ego and short sightedness.

It will always cost you more to correct a mistake than to avoid them all together. If you are experiencing frustration on your path or don’t know where to start, seek out a mentor. Find someone who will share his or her knowledge. Sometimes you may have to pay for mentoring, but if the goal is important enough the investment will be worth it.

The return on investment (ROI) for coaching/mentoring, books, seminars etc. has been shown to be 20:.1 What market or investment provides that rate of return? Now that you know the secret, what will you do….

Live inspired, be abundant and fulfill your destiny,

Becoming a Goal Slayer

Thank God its Monday,

My greatest frustration as a coach and mentor is to see people give up pursuing their goals when they are so close to the finish line. There is one simple reason; we lose focus of our WHY.

The father of personal development Jim Rohn once said, “When our WHY becomes strong enough the how get easy.” The reason people fail to accomplish their goals is a lack of a clearly defined WHY.

When we set goals without defining the WHY behind the how we lack the driving force to help us overcome the obstacles and challenges that are inevitable on your journey.

The WHY is your leverage. When you begin to doubt yourself and the likelihood of success your WHY will remind you why you set the goal in the first place.

Your WHY should move you emotionally. It should align with your values and purpose. You should be able to visualize your outcome in vivid detail using all your senses. There shouldn’t be any doubt of your success.

Before setting goals for 2017 define your WHY using the process previously described. Be detailed and specific. Have an emotional connection to the outcome and move forward with a confidence and certainty of your results.

You can become a goal slayer in 2017.

Live inspired, be abundant and fulfill your destiny,

goal-slayer

It’s Easy to See the Negative

Thank God it’s Monday,

No matter what task we take on or idea we consider we can always find something wrong in every situation. Something that is not okay or that is less than perfect. As humans, we have perfected this mind-set. I guess it depends if you are a glass half-full or glass half-empty kind of person.

The flip side to this is that there is also something right with every situation. If we are willing to look hard enough even the most challenging experiences or circumstances have something inherently good and right within.

The question is, what are you focusing on? Are you choosing to look at what is not right or are you willing to look deeper at what is good. It is that simple. I understand that this seems easier said than done, but like any skill it takes practice to retrain your mind.

The next time you are faced with a difficult decision and before you give into the negative self-talk and past programing, ask yourself what is right and good within this challenge? Answer this question first. When you do, you will begin to train your mind to see the good in every situation. It doesn’t mean that you will become a blind optimist, but it will allow you to make better decisions based on fact and less on emotion.

Live inspired, be abundant and fulfill your destiny,

its-easy-to-find-the-negative

Are You Willing to Pay the Price?

Thank God it’s Monday,

It’s not uncommon for me to receive phone calls or emails from clients asking for advice about what business opportunities they should invest in or idea they should act on. My answer is always the same …… Are you passionate about it and are you willing to pay the price?

Your answer will determine your actions.

What matters most is not that others have had success, but that you are willing to do the work! The success of others is not a guarantee of your success. Are you willing to put in the time and energy to make the sacrifices and be all in? If the answer is yes, then you will have a good chance for success.

When you are considering starting up a new venture, you must understand what the pursuit of success might cost:

1. Additional education or apprenticeship.
2. You could do all the right things and still possibly fail.
3. A full financial commitment to give your new venture a chance to succeed.
4. Sacrificing time with family, leisure and other interests.
5. The lack of support of those who do not share your passion or dream.
6. The resentment or jealously of others once you achieve success.

These are a few issues you need to be prepared to overcome. I am not trying in any way to discourage or dissuade anyone from pursuing his or her dreams, however it is imperative that you consider these issues.

I have been an entrepreneur for most of my adult life. It is exciting and exhilarating to start from nothing and build a successful company, but I feel we should be prepared and understand the potential costs.

As I tell my clients, go into it with your eyes wide open. Have a passion for your product or service and never be outworked, but understand the price of success.

Live inspired, be abundant and fulfill your destiny,

are-you-willing-to-pay-the-price

When you look in the mirror what do you see?

Thank God it’s Monday,

How do you see yourself? Another words what is your self-image? Think long and hard about this because how you answer these questions are critical to how the world see’s you.

Your self-image is a reflection of your internal beliefs. These are our deep-seated beliefs about who and what we are. Studies have proven the greater our self–image the more success we experience.

What we believe about our true self reflects back to us every time we look in the mirror. If we believe we are strong, confident, intelligent and an attractive person this is who we see staring back at us. Conversely, if we see ourselves in a negative light this becomes the image we see.

Our deepest held beliefs about ourselves cannot be faked. You might have heard the phrase, “Fake it to you make it.” You can only get away with this for so long until our true self-image becomes apparent to all.

How do we change our self-image? It is actually easier than you think, but it takes work. The 4 habits are authenticity, visualization, affirmation and gratitude.

Begin by identifying the qualities, characteristics and attributes you want to be known for. Are they congruent with your authentic self? Secondly, we must create a new mental image of ourselves. Who do we want to BE?

Once you have clarity of this new you, rehearse it everyday by visualizing the new you in vivid detail. See yourself acting, thinking and behaving congruently with the new you.

Third, create a new internal dialogue. Write an affirmation that reflects who you want to become. Example; I am smart, I am successful, I am fit, etc. Everything that you want to become. Now repeat this multiple times per day out loud with emotion.

Finally, add gratitude. Gratitude is the single key emotion that can change how you see the world and how the world see’s you.

Practice these 4 habits daily. It takes time to rewire your brain, which is what these habits will eventually do. Once this change occurs you will never act or BE the same.

Be mindful that our outer world is a mere reflection of our inner world.

Live inspire, be abundant and fulfill your destiny,

cat-vs-mirror

Commitment to Self = Self-Love

Thank God it’s Monday,

It is well known that having defined values is a critical step to revealing our true authentic-self. Commitment is an important value that most people know is essential to living our highest purpose.

Our life is full of commitments. Everyday we are choosing to honor our commitments. We make commitments to our significant others, families, employers and friends. We also have committed to be good citizens and neighbors. The list is endless.

The most important commitments we make is to ourselves. If you have committed to working out and eating well or working on your daily success habits and you fall short, you are undermining your self-worth and respect. Nothing will erode your self-confidence faster.

While I understand the commitments we make to others is important, let’s be mindful that the commitments we make to ourselves are paramount to all future success. Commitments to ourselves are the greatest expression of self-love.

Honoring your personal commitments will expand your achievement muscle, which will provide you the inner strength and confidence to serve others.

Live inspired, be abundant and fulfill your destiny,

commitment

Embrace Life’s Unpredictability

Thank God it’s Monday,

Are you a control freak? What happens when things don’t go as planned? Do you lose control of your emotions? Do you leave a wake of emotional destruction as everyone feels the wrath of your anger and frustration? These are signs of someone who is out of control. How do I know about this? … Cause that used to be me!

The ironic thing is, to get control we must learn to give up the need to be in control. This has been one of the most important and liberating lessons of my life. The fact is we have very little control over most things. Accepting this lesson as fact is the first step in regaining self-control.

The only thing we have control over is how we react to life’s experiences. This is one of life’s greatest paradoxes. Think about it, when we blindly react we give up our personal power, therefore, our ability to effectively deal with each challenge. When we learn to choose our emotional response we are choosing the experience WE want to have. This is where control is regained.

I understand this sounds easier than it really is. Learning how to choose your response and emotions is a skill like learning to drive or play the piano. It takes practice and patience.

Begin by embracing life’s unpredictability. Things often don’t go as planned, but that can be a good thing. Train your mind to think that new experiences are cool. The juice of life is in the unexpected. If everything were predictable and controllable, life would become incredibly boring.

Change Your Mind, Change Your Destiny!

Next, identify your emotional triggers that cause you to lose your cool. What sets you off? Then ask yourself, “how would I prefer to respond?” When you begin to feel your buttons being pushed, stop, take two long deep breaths, then ask yourself, “what is the outcome I want and how do I choose to react?” Consciously choose your experience.

Learning to master this skill will take time and effort, but I can promise you the benefits are immeasurable. Not the least of which is better physical and mental well-being.

Live Inspired, Be abundant and Fulfill your Destiny,

control

Perception = Experience

Thank God it’s Monday,

In every life experience we can find something we don’t like. If you think about it, there is something wrong with everything.

No matter what life experience we are having, if we look hard enough we can find fault. Finding something wrong with every situation is easy. Finding what is good within every situation is the hard part.

I want to challenge you all to find something right within everything. No matter the experience, find the good. The good exists if we are willing to change our perceptions and therefore, our experiences.

When we change our mind, we change our destiny.

Live inspired, be abundant and fulfill your destiny,

find-the-good

The Power of “What”

Thank God it’s Monday,

If you are a regular reader of these weekly blogs you know that I have written frequently about your WHY. In the context of your purpose, the WHY behind the HOW is essential if you want to experience success. Your WHY is what differentiates your product and services compared to your competition.

Lets look at WHY in a different context.

When we face difficult situations the first question we typically ask is, “WHY is this happening?” This puts our focus on the most useless question there is. If we focus on the why we become stuck, we feel victimized and powerless to change.

We need to ask, “WHAT am I supposed to learn from this experience?” This reframes our mind to the potential solution. The lesson is in the WHAT.

The next time you’re faced with adversity don’t ask WHY, but ask WHAT.  Answering the WHAT will provide you the fuel for future success?

Personal growth occurs when we ask, WHAT.

Live inspired, be abundant and fulfill your destiny,

learn-from-every-experience

The Secret to Success!

Thank God it’s Monday,

You have probably heard success requires hard work and discipline. Who would argue with that? I would argue that most of us already work hard. Studies have shown that most people are only capable of increasing their productivity by an additional 10% before they reach max capacity. Lets face it, there are only 1440 minutes in a day. We can’t magically create more time.

There is a universal secret known amongst the most successful people. This secret provides the fuel to exponentially increase the rate of success. It’s not a guarantee because it still requires action, but the chance of failure is greatly diminished. What is it you ask?

Mentorship…coaching, whatever you choose to call it.

I recall as a young fledging entrepreneur an old gentleman telling me “To be successful find someone who already is and learn everything they know.” There were never truer words spoken. I have had many mentors in my life for many things. What I have learned is mentors exist all around us, in every walk of life.

Mentors are the most valuable resource on your path to success. They can provide knowledge and perspective from their own failures and experiences, which will help us avoid similar mistakes that often will save huge amounts of time, money and pain.

Why would we try to reinvent the wheel when someone else has already perfected it? We often resist mentorship because of pride and ego. We erroneously believe it is a sign of weakness when in fact it is really a sign of strength. It amazes me that people would rather fail then to reach out for help.

It will always cost you more to correct a mistake than to avoid it all together. If you are experiencing frustration on your path or don’t know where to start, seek out a mentor. Find someone who will share his or her knowledge. Sometimes you may have to pay for coaching or mentoring, but if the goal is important enough the investment will be worth it.

The return on investment (ROI) for coaching/mentoring, books, seminars etc. has been shown to be 20:1 What market investment provides that rate of return? Now that you know the secret, what will you do?

Live inspired, be abundant and fulfill your destiny,

secret-to-success