Discovering Internal Motivation
The company that my family owns, Bursts of Joy, is currently in the process of restructuring. I am temporarily taking on the role of president and CEO because my dad is assigned elsewhere. My mom has been invaluable in teaching me a lot about how to be successful as the one in charge. The best lesson she taught me was to always have a personal why so you can push through challenging times. She said, "All good leaders find their motivation internally."
I am not just talking about work either! When it comes down to it, every decision we make should be based on what makes us feel happiest with who we are as an individual and not what society expects us to do or feel like. That's easy to say, but how do we apply this to everyday life? The best way is to find the thing you love to do and what motivates you.
Often, we get wrapped up in whatever society or friends around us are doing. We begin to think that whatever they are doing, is what we should be doing. We forget about all of the things that excite us, or about our passions and dreams. After all, our friends are our sounding board to what's going on in the world and say we need to do things differently.
Here's an example: When I was in college I wanted to get away from the city where I was living and move somewhere rural. My parents wanted me to stay around my friends and study business at a local community college. For some reason, they thought that if I was with my friends then it would be easier to go through the academic environment so that's what I did. They also felt that without dealing with all of the distractions of college life in a big city, it would be easier for me to focus on my studies. I can't say they were completely wrong, but I could not get my college degree out of my head.
We got into an argument one night and that was when my mom revealed the secret to getting through difficult times: "You need to figure out what it is you love to do the most in the world and do it. If you do anything else, then you will always be unhappy." I'm sure she did not expect me to drop everything and go into business with her and dad right then, but she knew that I needed to start focusing on what my true passion was. Little did I know at the time, it was something that would eventually lead me to where I am today. I just needed to find it.
(Read the full story here: https://www.businessinsider.com/author-interview-david-penn-2015-12/#ixzz4bF0DVX0W)
David Penn
Title: How to Stay Fit While Traveling for Work
If you're anything like me, you like to stay fit while traveling for work and the side effect of it is that you actually save money on travel and food. I've found that staying active while on the road will not only save you money but help wake my creative juices as well. So what are some ways I accomplish this? Here's one method I use when traveling...
So how do you stay fit while traveling? Take a look at your destination and figure out what kind of activities you'd like to do while traveling. For example, if you're going to be doing a lot of hiking or trekking, then find a local gym that offers those types of programs. If you're going to be on the beach every day, then find a local gym with a nice indoor pool. There are also many other places you can go like yoga, taekwondo, or cycling classes for example. In my case I like swimming, so I have found gyms that offer those sorts of activities locally as well. Once you find something you like, then your next step is to sign up. Take advantage of promotional offers that they like to offer. For example, I signed up for a month at my local YMCA on an introductory deal. That way I didn't have to pay anything at first, but if I liked it enough then I could pay full price.
Remember there are many other ways you can stay fit while traveling. Go to the gym with your friends or family members and work out together so you can get stronger and healthier while traveling as well!
(Read the full story here: www.davidpennauthor.com/blog/how-stay-fit-while-traveling-work/)
David Penn
Title: How to Work Remotely as a Family and Still Co-Create Success
I've been working remotely for years now and it has allowed me plenty of flexibility in my personal life. I'm able to work around my wife's schedule and give her the flexibility she needs as well. I'm also able to spend more time with our children, which is something we both wanted more out of.
The main thing is that we make it a point to work around one another instead of on top of one another. So instead of feeling like I'm trying to fit my work into my family's schedule, I feel like my family is working around me. We try to keep a fairly consistent schedule for the kids and one for me as well. We do it this way so we all can co-create success together instead of having somebody win and somebody else lose.
For example, our children go to bed at a decent hour every night and get up early in the morning for school (they're on a rotating schedule), but I usually am up earlier than that if possible. I try to keep a consistent schedule for my work at the office and it works out perfectly. I can get in a lot of work and get it done early. So by the time my family is up in the morning, I am catching up with them on chores and other things around the house that need to be taken care of. At night, my wife works while I'm at the office, so as soon as she's done with her daily tasks, she comes over to help me finish mine up so we can spend time together.
It used to be a bit confusing trying to merge both lives together because they were very different schedules. It also used to be a bit hard on my kids when they were around me at work and they did not see their dad a lot because we would have days off together and it would be very hard for them because they wanted to see him all the time. Now with our new system, it works out perfectly for everyone involved. I'm able to get more done at work and my family gets more quality time with me as well. It doesn't feel like being apart anymore, it feels like being together!
(Read the full story here: www.davidpennauthor.
Conclusion
We have spoken to hundreds of authors and over the years, we have learned a lot. So many times talented people are not even aware that their own journey is going to be an important and necessary component in their success. They are completely focused on the immediate areas of their lives that they need to improve upon, like their writing or marketing, but they don't see themselves as the main creator and entrepreneur in their lives.
As I see it, when you create your own success, it is not just about the places where you get your next paycheck. It's about the months, weeks, days and hours where you look back at what you've created and recognize that it took a long time for them to happen.