Who wants to improve? 

Some people do - they seek out motivational speakers and courses. These people want something and recognize the status quo isn't going to bring that something. 

Some people don't - they more or less do the same things day after day. They discount or ignore the advice they receive (regardless of how it is delivered). Sometimes, they blame others for their predicament...as victims do. 

But - is that actually true? Do some people truly have no interest in improving? Or, is that just what they say...their style of victim-speaking...their way of justifying lassitude or laziness or lack of ambition?

Regardless, there seems to be a disconnect between the people who want to improve and those who do not. The people within each group tend to understand one another, however, there’s a huge thinking-gap between the two groups. Here’s a couple of key indicators:

• People who say and act like they want to improve seem to expect everyone wants to improve.
• People who say and act like they do not want to improve seem to want to left alone …’let be’…not pestered by others who expect them to want to ‘change for the better’.

Most businesses contain people from each group. So, most businesses contain a major communication and performance rift between those who want to improve and those who do not. We will all be much better off if we can span these communication gaps and improve business performance. We can accomplish these improvements…first, with knowledge…then with communication laced with quality questions and quality listening.

Anxiety is the body's way of helping its owner act properly when situations signal danger.

Anxiety - that's the body helping its owner act properly.

We should not complicate this natural process by mixing it with negative over-thinking and rear-view second-guessing.

When anxiety visits us, we should pluck the troubling past and the worrisome future from our thoughts.

And, when situations trigger our natural defense mechanisms, rather than fight, we should embrace the anxieties we have been blessed to experience. We should fully trust those anxieties are there to serve us. Then we should grab hold of the pre-frontal cortices and put them to full use…figuring out how to capture the energy brought through our reptilian-response vestiges and use that energy to spring to much higher places.

Of course, it will be very difficult to do this during the rush of chemistry that hits us when anxieties visit.

So, we must to plan in advance, during the calm between the anxiety storms.

And, we must practice...until we master the art of taking anxieties to better places.

I am fascinated by the English language. Perhaps, some could say I get bogged down in thinking about it. For example, we have so many variations to describe our aspirations and desires...and that causes me to stop and think. This post is about sorting out thinking around those words for aspirations and desires...with a focus on the verbs: with a focus on the verbs 'want', 'hope' and 'believe'.

These verbs, naturally (at least in my mind), raise consideration of the of the 'Law of Attraction'. In the past, I have posted some thoughts about the Law I of Attraction.

Want: Want is in an incredibly common word. Almost everybody says it frequently. It's a word we use to describe a wide range of things we desire. These things can range from fleeting desires to major life goals. The word lines at the low end of the "expectation scale": maybe we will get what we want, maybe we won't. When we use the word we are not signaling our expectation of success.

Hope: When we use the word Hope we send stronger signals. We signal that we think there is a possibility we will obtain the object of our desire. So, the word Hope combines the word Want with at least a small expectation of achievement.

Believe: When we use the word Believe we send even stronger signals of our expectations. We tell people we think our desire will be achieved. That aligns with confidence and bolsters conviction.

Napoleon Hill taught, "What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve."

As hinted at above, there are are many good reasons to reduce our use of the words 'want' and 'hope' and replace them with increased use of the word 'believe'.