I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.

Maya Angelou

Marcus Ellis and Collin Harbour focus on "belonging" and remind everyone that you belong . . . you belong . . . you belong.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.  This is your time - it may take effort and it may not be easy, but you belong.

ARE YOU AT THE END OF YOUR LINE? HOW WOULD YOU EVEN KNOW IF YOU ARE AT THE END, OR THE BEGINNING?

What are you doing to reach your goals now that you have spoken them out loud?

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” ― Abraham Lincoln, former U.S. President

Make sure you are "sharpening your axe" and planning for success. 

But you can’t just speak it ----- we have the ability to plan.  To plan how we are going to do things.

It is difficult reach our goals without a plan.  Success cannot be achieved without action. 

“Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson, poet and essayist

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Speak your dreams into existence . . . but success cannot be achieved by speaking alone.  Take action and find some people to help you with accountability.  

Collin was out of town, so Marcus invited a "regular" on the show to fill his seat . . . Bruce Pulver of Above The Chatter - Our Words Matter

Marcus and Bruce talk about dedication to all things life!

Strike a Chord Live Podcast

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Motivation is in your mind -- literally.  We all know that being motivated and staying motivated require the right mindset.  You make a decision and you start rolling . . . however, Marcus found an article outlining scientific evidence that motivation can be based on certain features in the mind, which are triggered by getting up, moving forward and being active.

Mark and Collin discuss resilience and persistence in the drive to stay inspired.  It is a daily task for most of us.  It can be mundane.  It can be challenging.  But you need to find ways to eliminate the triggers that are holding you back.  Some of the triggers discussed are:

• Fear
• Shame
• Guilt
• Self-Doubt
• Procrastination

We struggle with these, as do others.  Keep in mind that they are holding you back.  Find ways to “kick them to the curb” and move forward.  Develop resilience by finding others with the same challenges and work through them together. 

Most importantly, make sure your mindset is ready to put them aside and achieve your goals.

Don’t worry about what others have . . . this will only place a roadblock between yourself and success.

Others have what you want because they are persistent and resilient.  They do the things that you don’t want to do.

Come join us on the journey!

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Mark Ellis and Collin Harbour

In this episode Mark and Collin discuss the big C word . . . confidence.  Why do you lack confidence?  Where does it come from?  We answer these questions and look at ways that will help you build confidence and use it to increase your chances for success.

What causes a lack of confidence?

• Anxiety – clinical or self-created
  • Look no further than Matthew 6:34: Therefore, do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.
• Fear of Criticism
  • Everybody gets criticized – and most of the time it’s not true. Even if it can be categorized as true, then come up with a strategy to overcome it.
    • “Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.” - Winston Churchill
  • Previous Failure
    • Colonel Sanders (Kentucky Fried Chicken) was rejected over 1,000 times before he achieved success with KFC.
    • Oprah Winfrey was declared unfit for television in one of her early jobs and was terminated. Oprah Winfrey!
    • Thomas Edison was once told that he was “too stupid to learn anything.”
    • Sylvester Stallone, had to sell his dog for $25 and had his electricity cut off WHILE writing the script for Rocky.

Ways to help you gain confidence when you have little:

• On a micro level, write down all that you are grateful for. Write down your self-worth affirmations.
  • Affirmations are designed to help you in programming your subconscious mind for continued success, as well as influence your level of commitment and follow through with the behaviors that will transform your affirmations into your reality.
    • Hal Elrod affirmation for Self Confidence:
      • “I am just as worthy, deserving, and capable of achieving everything that I want, in every area of my life, as any other person on earth. The only thing that separates me from the most extraordinary life I can imagine is my level of commitment to becoming the person I need to be to achieve everything I want. From this moment on, I am 100% committed to my personal development (i.e., The Miracle Morning), each day, so that I can create and sustain the levels of success that I truly want and deserve. I commit now to schedule and follow through TODAY with the necessary actions that will ensure that I create the extraordinary life I deserve to live. From this moment on, I give up being perfect for being authentic. I will be myself; I will love myself, and others will too.”
    • On a Macro level, one has to Feel and Embrace the result of what that affirmation is intended to bring them and truly believe it. e.g., Imagine what it feels like to win the lottery.
    • Have a morning routine. Morning 5, Miracle Morning.
      • Play uplifting/inspirational music first thing in the morning.
      • Celebrate small wins and don’t beat yourself up over not reaching lofty goals
      • Surround yourself with people who inspire you or who you aspire to be.

If you want to see confidence in action, watch pro golf on a Saturday afternoon.  Not Sunday, because they mostly show the good stuff.  But watch it on Saturday, when you get a glimpse of the not so good shots.  BUT, pay close attention to the shot after the bad shot ---- these guys and gals can step up to the ball, and put everything behind them – even the previous failed shot – and hit a clean shot and place it right where they want to.

Or, watch a basketball game, watch a baseball game ---- watch any professional athlete.  They mess up all the time – ALL . . . THE  . . . TIME --- yet, they recover quickly – AND THAT IS CONFIDENCE.

One more Note on Confidence from former Major League Baseball Player, Dale Murphy:

“Just one of the thousands of life lessons I learned from my career in the major leagues: No matter what you do for a living, no matter what your roles are in life, no matter what problem you are trying to solve or goal you are trying to achieve, the battle is always won in the on-deck circle.”

1. Think about past preparation and the fundamentals of a good swing. 
2. And focus on the present, and not think about past failures.
3. And take past successes and figure out how to apply them to this next at bat.

Preparation is key when looking for confidence. 

Mark Ellis and Collin Harbour

Strike a Chord Live Podcast

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Mark and Collin have their first “return guest” and share the mic with Bruce Pulver, abovethechatterourwordsmatter.com.  Bruce is a master wordsmith and focuses on the meaning of words by creating acrostics . . . daily.  In this session we focus on staying In Motion once you have started.  Keep in mind, starting is a huge part of the battle.  The first part of getting out of a rut is to stop digging, right?

But once you are “off the couch”, which is at the very least, BETTER than stagnation, you must keep moving. At the essence of staying in motion is momentum.  Momentum is key and will ultimately lead to success.

The "In Motion" Acrostic prepared by Bruce:

Incline from the decline of the recline.  Lift a little from the decline you experienced from being out of your groove.

Now, want to change more than you want “more of the same”.  It’s so comfortable being comfortable.  You’ve got to want that difference more than the same way that it is.

Make the decision for you.  It’s not for anyone else.  The decision to stay in motion is for you.

Okay.  No you must own it. 

To get there, you must move.  Even if it’s simply lifting your finger.

It will take working harder than ever.  When you do hard things, hard things become easier to do.

Oh, you will want to quit.  Be honest with yourself.  It’s going to hurt before you get there.  Happiness is on the other side of the struggle.

Never give up on you. 

Start and then stay in motion.

Mark Ellis and Collin Harbour

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