Indiana Jones and a Confidence Boost

 2015 is Authorpreneur Almanac year. 

Join me in my 365 Adventures in Writing and Entrepreneurship...

I am well and truly a child of the 80's. I remember dad coming home from Blockbuster video with the latest movie that we'd watch as a family. There was the inevitable minor skirmish between myself and my siblings over whose turn it was to get up and press play on our top loading beta max video player. 

Some of my favourite films were the Indiana Jones movies. Harrison Ford was my first crush and Indiana Jones has definitely been a big influence on the books I read and write myself.

In the Bronze Box and Solomon's Secrets (already available on Amazon) and Gabriel's Game, the third book in the Sheridan and Blake Adventure Series (currently being written), my heroine is British Archaeologist, Dr Sasha Blake and her companion and the hero of the stories is an antiquities expert and former SAS soldier, Tom Sheridan. 




One of those legendary cinematic moments is the opening scene in Raiders of The Lost Ark where Indie escapes from a booby trapped cavern with a golden idol. He is running from a massive boulder, hurtling towards him. I love Harrison Ford's facial expressions, his look of relief and that lovely smile of his when he grabs the vine, then the look of horror as it slips through his fingers. Throughout the movie we feel everything Indie feels and can't help but root for him.







I really felt the pain of Sheldon, Raj, Howard and Leonard when Amy ruined it for all of us in this episode of The Big Bang Theory.




I'm yet to forgive my namesake for doing this to us all, but I still love The Big Bang Theory



The giant boulder in the opening scene of Raiders serves to remind us that we are all running from our own giant boulders.

We all carry heavy stones around that hold us back, these are the limiting beliefs that we have about ourselves.  The things we tell ourselves, or have been told by others, we 'can't do'. The more we and others tell us we can't do it, the more we believe it.

We've been carrying our limiting beliefs around with us, often since a painful memory in childhood, so moving it aside in one step is a daunting challenge.

Break the task down into smaller parts, chip away at that boulder or edge around it slowly and carefully by setting small goals and stretching your comfort zone:

Beliefs are a powerful tool for both positive and negative. We tell ourselves we can't do something and we believe it, the same is true if we tell ourselves what we can do. Positive affirmations are a great way to remind us that we can do things.

Try telling yourself some of these instead:

• If I'm confused about it, that means I'm about to learn something

• I can't change the past but I can make my own future

• There is always a way around an obstacle (Tweet this)

• Whatever decision I make, the important part is to make a decision so things can be different

• Celebrate small victories and take pleasure in little things

• Assume makes an ASS of U and ME

• What other people think of me is none of my business

• What I do today is a the only way I can change tomorrow (Tweet this)

• However bad it gets, there is always someone worse off than me

• Creative energy flows through me and I need to share it

• Only I control me and my thoughts

• My life is filled with wonderful people

• Worry is a waste of imagination (Tweet this)

• I know myself, I trust myself

• If I don't try, how will I ever learn

We also hold ourselves back by aiming for perfection. 

No matter how many small goals we set ourselves, it will never be perfect because perfection is a fallacy. There is no such thing as perfection. It's an unrealistic and unattainable goal so why set it for ourselves? 

Everything we ever do can only be 'good enough' - and that's OK.

If someone had told Indiana Jones that his intervention in saving the ark from the Nazi's would make no difference to the eventual outcome, would it have stopped him from going anyway? If he believed that he wasn't able to make a difference right from the start, it would make him a very different person (and it would have been a boring movie!).

We all live our lives in a narrative in which we are the central character. If your life were a movie, you'd want it to be a good one.

Face the booby traps, go after the golden idol, save the girl, save the world - You'll be a better person for it and your movie will be worth watching. 

Is there one thing you can do today to challenge your limiting beliefs?

Ten Reasons to Train Yourself to be Goal Orientated

The first installment for my brand new shiny 365 daily project:

The Authorpreneur Almanac:

365 Adventures in Writing and Entrepreneurship 

It's the start of a new year and a great time to be thinking about what you want from your future.  

Why you should start setting goals now...

 

Ten Reasons to Train Yourself to be Goal Orientated

For the past two years I have done 365-day projects. Through the experience of completing daily goals I am training myself to be goal orientated, breaking down big projects into baby action steps.

This approach takes discipline, but doesn't have to take a lot of time, perhaps less than an hour a day. It takes 21 days to make something a habit so once you establish that routine, completing daily actions becomes as natural as having regular meals.

Here are my ten reasons to train yourself to be goal orientated:

1) To take control of your life rather than letting circumstances control you

There will always be circumstances that are beyond our control but equally there are things we can control. Focus on the things you can change and take steps to make them happen. Accept the things you cannot change and don't let them rule you. You are in the driving seat of your life and if you want to change only you can make that happen.

2) Focus on the important things

What's important to you? Setting goals will help you to focus your energy on the things you want to achieve rather than wasting energy on things that aren't important.

3) Efficiency

We all have finite resources such as time, money, energy and capability. By setting goals you can use these resources in the most efficient way, getting more done with less.

4) Making progress

If you plot your path ahead and take it one step at a time, you will always move forwards. Every now and then, look back on what you have achieved and reward yourself for small successes.

5) Motivation

If you know where and why you are going somewhere, it's much easier to stay motivated. There are few things as demoralising as drifting about aimlessly.

6) Confidence and self belief

When you move forwards and stretch your comfort zone you realise what you can achieve rather than being crippled by self limiting beliefs about what you can't do. It's easy to underestimate ourselves and our capacity to learn and grow.

7) You move closer to success

Whatever success means to you, with every goal you set and achieve you are one step closer.

8) Developing a positive attitude

Positive thinking is powerful. It gives us the confidence to try new things, grow, develop and learn. Look for the positives in everything and life becomes so much more enjoyable. We are hardwired to recognise patterns and when you focus on something, you see more of it. If you always look for the bad pretty soon that's all you'll see.

9) Making better decisions

Goals help you identify and establish your priorities and when you take a long-term view your decisions will be better informed. You will be focusing on what you want rather than being controlled by things you don't want.

10) Challenging yourself

It’s easy to stay in our comfort zones, the clue's in the name, they are comfortable. It’s natural to fear change, but change doesn’t have to be big, dramatic and scary. Small changes are manageable and lots of small changes add up to a big change. Stretch your comfort zone, but not so far that fear and panic takeover. Only by setting ourselves small challenges can we enjoy the satisfaction of achieving something new.

What do you think?

Do you have any goal setting tips?