Learned Helplessness

Hogan Group – If you want to send me a small report that I can include into my product just send it to lynn @ lynnlane.net with Hogan in the subject box. I will print the reports and incorporate them into my package. The report should have your bio. and contact info.  We all contribute to success. From cooking a good meal, teaching others to be a life coach, teaching others about money, health and fitness, to owning you own business. The report needs to be about what you do. Thanks guys.

Learned helplessness is a psychological condition in which a human being or

an animal has learned to act or behave helpless in a situation, even when it

has the power to change its circumstance. The brain just says forget it, I’m

helpless.

The theory of learned helplessness comes from experiments done back in the

mid 1960’s on dogs. Dogs that had been previously conditioned or “learned”

that they could do nothing to keep from being shocked, would just lie down

and whine. Even though they had the ability and could easily remove

themselves from the shock, but the dogs didn’t even try.

Locus of Control

Years ago a man sold all he had to buy a silver mine that looked as though it

would produce enough silver to make him and his family very wealthy. He

worked hard day and night in that mine, digging and shoveling tons of earth

to find his treasure. Though he worked hard for days and weeks and weeks

turned to months he was going broke because the mine never produced any

silver.

Soon his belief, faith and hope of being wealthy began to wear thin. He

started to have thoughts of quitting and selling the mine to some other sucker.

Well he did sell the mine and lost a large amount of money, time and pride.

He became conditioned to believe that nothing he did would ever produce the

outcome he had hoped for in the beginning.

The new owner began to work hard with all the same enthusiasm, hope and

action the previous owner had. As he started to dig he only went about three

feet deeper in the same spot the previous owner had dug and unearthed a

large vein of silver that produced enormous amounts of wealth, he was a very

rich man.

The previous owner quit three feet short. He simply lost hope.

Know that you always have a choice to create an outcome. Zig Ziglar helped

me change my life years ago when he taught me that if you don’t like

yourself, you’re not stuck with yourself. You can change who you are.

Have a Wonderful Weekend!

Personal Power

Most people think of power as the ability to have authority over another. Or

that it’s the ability to conquer others. Hitler had that type of power.

The government seems to have that type of power when it comes to you working

and giving up a huge portion of your earnings. Or taking your tax dollars and

bailing out the airlines, mortgage companies and the list goes on, but that’s

another rant.

That is one type of power.

When I speak of power I’m referring to personal power. The type of personal

power the founding fathers of the United States had. The same type of

personal power Martin Luther King Jr. had to help move a nation. Not the

power of superiority or the power to conquer people. Not the power over

another person, but over yourself.

Personal power is one of the most misunderstood abilities we have, yet so

many people are volunteer victims because they never learn to use their own

personal power.

Personal power is taking control of your own destiny with goals, planning

and taking action. Without action you have no results. Personal power is

bolstered by linking these three things together to produce an outcome you

desire.

Most people never use their personal power because it takes work and some

discipline and action steps. You can flex your personal power muscles by

making a choice to do so, and by making a decision to go forward toward

your desired outcome.

Why is it most people never use their personal power to achieve great things

in their lives and contribute to others? Many suffer from learned helplessness.

Learned helplessness comes from not making the connection between taking

an action and creating the desires we want.

Learned helplessness is a psychological condition that I will talk about in the morning.

Have a wonderful day!

What is Success?

What is success?

Success can be very subjective. We get many meaning from many people.

Many people live a life of wishing and hoping for success, that things will turn out the way they want.

I know a guy that is amazingly bright and his whole life he had people to tell him he should start his own business. One rich businessman with money was ready to help him get started.

This guy would always say, he didn’t want a business because then he would have to make important choices. He thought about having to deal with the taxes, tax laws, people, accountants and paperwork. He didn’t want to risk much or take a chance.

He would decide to work for other people his entire life with very little regret. He does a good job for the people he works for and he is using his skills, abilities and talents. He could use more money and more stimulation from his job, but he settles for what he has.

Now, would you consider him successful?

In the true meaning of the word, sure you could say he’s successful. Success really means to reach a result. He made a choice and he arrived at the end result. That makes him a success.

The word choice is what separates the top achievers in this world.

If Michael Jordan had made the choice to not challenge himself to be a successful basketball player we would not know the Jordan name today. He was cut from his high school team. He could have made the choice then that he had reached a result and quit there.

Top achievers continue to challenge themselves to be at a high level of success (results) and do it at the best of their ability.

When death knocks for me and I look back over my life, I want to say, that I lived my life, all I could, with all I had, with all my ability.

 How about you?

Navy Seals, Model For Success

Navy Seals, Models For Success.

American captain Richard Phillips was taken hostage then freed from Somali pirates after they were persuaded by a Navy Seal Team this week.

Well, only one was persuaded, the others were killed by the Seal Team Snipers.

Special Ops are a great group to model success by. They have things in place that once set in motion have a very high percentage rate of success.

You can use this model in business, your career or day to day living.

Let’s look at it.

1.      They have an objective. They know what the mission is before they start.

2.      They work as a team and back each other up.

3.       They sharpen their skills daily. (Stephen Covey – they sharpen the saw.)

4.      They always have a contingency plan. Expect the unexpected.

5.      They risk.

6.      They commit.

7.      They take action.

8.      They never give up until the mission is complete.

9.      They serve others. And aren’t we lucky.

Then after they reach the goal or complete the mission they go back and work on 2. 3. & 9.

This is only a broad scope, but you can see why they are successful at what they do.

I almost forgot one very important step.

10.  *They gather as much information (intelligence) as possible before the mission starts and as the mission continues. This helps them adjust their approach if needed.

If you are already implementing these steps I salute you.

Got Passion?

Imagine for a moment that you were out in the middle of the ocean on a

yacht. Then all of a sudden you got pushed over the side and fail into the

water. Then you felt a hand holding you down, keeping you under the water.

With all your effort you try to push to the top. You’ll try every possible

means to reach the top. You would be motivated, excited and full of action.

That is the type of passion I’m talking about. That’s the kind of passion that

makes the difference in your life.

With passion and purpose you will always encounter some risk. Along with

risk you will have some fear of the unknown. You may ask yourself what if

this never works out. Instead ask yourself what if it did work out. Don’t die

with your music still in you.

So, how do you create that passion that we’re talking about? How do you

find that one thing that stirs you deep down in your soul?

One - To begin with you must have a vision. You must have a vision of a

definite goal or purpose. Purpose has to come first. That’s why I put it first in

this series Purpose, Passion and Power. The Bible tells us that “those without

vision perish.” The vision you hold constant in your mind is the vision that

helps create the passion that pushes you forward. James Lane Allen said,

“Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the

prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.”

Two - Have faith in yourself and for the things you strive for.

 Faith + Passion + Action = Courage.

Mark Twain said, “Courage is not the absence of fear but the

control of fear.” Create the habit of knowing that you can handle any

challenge that comes along.

A positive knowing that you can learn and grow as you go forward.

You don’t need all the answers when you start. Anything worth doing is

worth doing badly in the beginning. When we learn to walk as babies

 we crawl, stand, fall and then we walk. We never stop when we fall,

that’s why we’re all walking around today. The falls from your past doesn’t

equal your future.

When Bill Gates sold his software idea to IBM he didn’t have any software to

offer. He persuaded IBM to use his software and then he started to work to

find it and become the richest man on the planet. He didn’t have all the

answers that day, but he knew he could find them.

The wake of a ship is only an indication of where it’s been. You don’t captain

a ship by looking behind you. At least the captains I know never do. You

can’t direct your life in the direction you want to go by looking behind you

either.

Three - Seek wisdom. Ben Franklin once said, “Genius without education is

like silver in the mine.” Any fool can become passionate and highly

motivated, and then you only have a passionate highly motivated fool. Work

on yourself daily. Read books and quotes that keep you on fire and

passionate. Listen to audio programs that feed your mind with good

motivational messages that inspire you. Inspire means to be in-spirit which

means breath. If you’re not inspired then you have no breath, if you have no

breath you have no life. Stay inspired.

Four - Create the habit of discipline. Re-center yourself every morning or

when you find yourself getting off track. Morning is the best time of day to

get yourself centered and on course for the day. Take the first half hour to an

hour of the morning to get your mindset in order. When you first wake in the

morning you’re still in alpha state, the same state you go into during

hypnosis. This is the best time to help program your mind for success. Go

over your goals list. List all the reasons why you’re passionate about this

vision or goal. Imagine the successful outcome and how you and the people

you serve will benefit. Make your blueprint for the day. Look for the circumstances

you want and take action!

George Bernard Shaw said, “The people who get on in this world are the

people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they can’t

find them, make them.” Too often people let circumstances stop them dead in

their tracks. When you find your passion, you will find the circumstances you

want.

“If thought is the seed of creation then action is the doorway to results.”

…Rodney (Lynn)Lane

Success Skills Part 3

Nine - Make sure your major goal serves people in a virtuous way. When you

do this you will respect yourself and gain the respect of the people around

you.

Be kind, patient, and generous to others. Remember the Law of Sowing

and Reaping. When you sow a good seed you reap the good rewards every

time.

The greatest gift you can ever give is the gift of yourself. When you

have the virtues of kindness, patients and generosity you build your character

and your inner strength.

Ten - Be bold. We come into this world without fear of new adventures,

without the fear of what others may say or think. Our brain is designed for

greatness, but as we grow we become programmed for failure.

We are born with the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. All other fears

we learn as we get older. The good thing is that our fears are learned and

 conditioned responses.

That means we can unlearn them and recondition our habits. The

best way to defeat fear is through action. Make action a habit every day. The

action habit will help you grow in confidence and lift your self-esteem.

Eleven - Take action. Take some type of action toward your goals as soon as

you finish all the other steps. Action will help you gain momentum.

We all learn in school from Isaac Newton that once an object is set in motion it

remains in motion until acted upon from an outside source. So get in motion

now. Now if some outside source shows up to throw you off course (and it

will), gather more information, reevaluate your options and change your

approach if you need to.

When a plane takes off from Dallas and has a destination of New York, it’s off

course most of the time. The pilot is always adjusting the plane to keep it on course.

The pilot knows where the plane is going and keeps moving in that direction.

The same is true when you’re working on your major goals in life. You’ll be off

course from time to time, but if you know where you’re going and you have the

self-discipline to adjust your path and keep in a forward motion you will get there.

Twelve - Read your goal list daily. We know that we can only hold one

dominant thought in our mind. Emerson said, “A man is what he thinks about

all day long.” The Bible tells us that “As a man thinks than that also shall he

be.” When you review your goals daily you begin the process of focus.

You’ll begin to notice things that will lead you nearer to your goal. People

will show up to help. You’ll find resources that didn’t exist before. The

universe will be on your side. The things you’re seeking are also seeking you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now will it be hard? Yes! Will there be times when you’ll want to give up

and quit? Yes! Will there be times when people will turn their backs on you

and let you down? Yes!

Will it all happen overnight for you? No! But, if you follow these steps and

stay persistent, and continue to learn and grow from the successful people in

life you will arrive at your goals much quicker.

“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though

checkered by failure…than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy

nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory

nor defeat.”

…Theodore Roosevelt