The GoalTribe Blog

We frequently encounter things that seem to make us stressful, fearful, or otherwise upset. But it’s not really the thing that is making us upset, it’s how we interpret and react to it. My friend Isabelle Stahl recently started a site to promote a simple, powerful method for transforming stress in 4 simple steps. Great stuff! I find it incredibly helpful. Take a look at KindMind.ca

The passing of Michael Jackson is truly the end of the era. I still remember seeing him dance for the first time and being just astounded that a human could physically move like that. He’ll forever be my King of Pop. Like all great

The 5 Most Important Things I Learned From Michael Jackson

1. A single person can still move a planet of 6 billion people to tears of joy, heart-pounding excitement, and gasps of sheer wonder.
2. With dedication and commitment, you can do things nobody has ever done before – ever – in the history of the planet. (What could you do?)
3. The media loves to create super stars – and it loves to tear them down. (What would it take for our press to be a more purely positive force in our world?)
4. Fame and fortune do not = happiness. (Only changing your habitual ways of thinking can make you happy.)
5. Plastic surgery still has a long way to go…
6. Bonus Lesson: The concept of a flawless “hero” is a myth. Nobody has ever lived their life perfectly.

Thanks for all the great times, Michael. May you rest in peace. Your pain is over…

What did you learn from Michael’s life and death? What are your favorite Michael Jackson memories? Please share in the comments.

Tim Brownson makes an interesting point about the reaction to Michael Jackson’s death that I recommend reading.

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Part of creating a fulfilling life for yourself is discovering the things you love to do and filling your life with them. It’s amazing when your profession is your passion and you volunteer doing things that are both profoundly helpful and enjoyable to you.

But inevitably you end up having to do things that make you want to scream, or make your eyes glaze over like a Dunkin Donut.

Don’t dispair! You can adjust your enjoyment of these things with a few simple tricks:

1. Know Why: Why are you doing this task? Focus on the outcome you’re after and how it will feel to achieve it. For example, how great will it feel to have all your finances organized and fully understand them? And how will it feel to be able to spend knowing that it’s in budget?

2. Watch Your Focus: When working on a project we tend to keep focusing on problems and things which aren’t complete yet, so we can fix them. But be sure to take a moment to look at what’s going right. What’s great about this?

3. Watch your Body: Often if you’re doing something you don’t like, you’re holding that tension and stress in your body - in your muscles, your breathing and your face. Get up and move a little, shake out your body, take a deep breath and let out a sigh as if you’re looking out over a beautiful scene. Let you body relax. Smile. Feel how that change of state feels in your body and try to keep that relaxation as you work. Remind yourself regularly to check how you’re using your body - and relax!

4. Take a Break: Studies have shown that you can’t concentrate too continuously for too long without it affecting your mood and performance. It’s recommended to take a short break every half hour or so. In fact, one study showed that people who watched YouTube or checked FaceBook at work were more productive because they could relax with a laugh or a smile very quickly! (Just don’t let it get carried away.)

5. Reframe & Find Meaning: Often you just picked up a bad attitude, belief or feeling about the task that is just unfairly making you suffer. You think you hate finances - why? Where did that belief come from? Take some time to write out all the ways in which that belief is making your life miserable, then write a new belief like - “I love mastering my finances!” and then write down all the reasons that could be true.

I got to thinking about this topic from the conclusions Glen came to on his inspiring 7 Day Discipline Challenge.
Read about his challenge here: http://www.pluginid.com/pure-self-discipline/

And his conclusions here: http://www.pluginid.com/self-discipline-challenge/

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