The purpose of the golf swing is not to hit the ball. The purpose of a golf swing is to move the ball to a target. That is the WHY behind it.

This reminds me of a lesson I got years back, however, I did not understand it. The lesson, “if you know how something works you will always have a job, if you know why it works you will be the boss”.

Question yourself. Why are you taking the actions you take? If you aren’t clear, the likelihood is frustration, disappointment and exhaustion.

The purpose of action is not movement, it’s not to be busy, it’s not to have done something. The why behind any action is to produce a desired outcome. The purpose behind any step you take is to get closer to the target.

Having an image in mind of what you want and/or where you want to be is paramount. Why? Because the best results come from actions that are in response to a clearly defined and predetermined vision.

Knowing the why is a key to staying relevant in a changing world and is critical to personally driven personal development.

Maybe it was paying a bill before it incurred late fees or you needed to return a call and when you did their emergency was over.

Unfortunately, “I will do it later” is a life strategy for many people. Waiting until you wish you had is not effective. When the doctor says you have six months to live, wishing you had taken care of your health will not change the diagnoses. When your company downsizes and you get laid off, it’s too late to rethink your financial vehicle.

What does it take to get your attention? Sometimes the message comes as a whisper. If we don’t hear the whisper it can become a yell. When the yelling isn’t enough, the universe has a way of using a 2×4 upside the head.

The message though delivered in different forms is the same; there is more to you than you know.  Stop playing small and step into the greatness of who you are. And because you don’t know how long you have, DO IT NOW!

Crossing the bridge from “I’ll do it later” to “I’m doing it now” is key to personally driven personal development and remaining relevant in a changing world.

Why do you believe what you believe? Why are you Christian, Muslim, Buddhist? Why do you vote republican, democrat or independent? Why do you have the opinions you have about different races and ethnicities? Are the views you have about money, your own?

For most people the TRUTH would be “because my mom or dad was democrat” or “because I’ve always been this way”. If you can’t remember when you didn’t believe it, it’s likely a belief that is not your own. It’s social heredity. If you were born in another country or to another family or in a different neighborhood, your beliefs would be different as an outcome of social and/or environmental conditioning.

Most intolerance is out of fear that one might change if exposed to something different. The danger in not questioning why you believe what you do is it restricts the evolution of your beliefs. Not challenging your own beliefs stunts growth.

Our world is changing. There is not reasonable room for debate on this. The gravest of mistakes to make during times of structural change is to not be changing also.

Now is the time to invest in you. Read books that challenge your current way of thinking. Have a conversation with someone who doesn’t practice the religion that you do. Debate politics FROM the viewpoint that is different than your own.

Are you currently missing opportunities because of your unwillingness to challenge your current beliefs? Allot of change is taking place; don’t get caught being the “same old person”. This is key to personally driven personal development and staying relevant in a changing world.

If this is you, stop being selfish. The core of public speaking fear is rooted in being inward focused. You’re most concerned with what other people are thinking of you and because you don’t have the answer you imagine the worst and it leads to the fear of criticism.

There is a solution. Be outward focused. Before and during your speech focus on how you want your audience to feel. What do you want your audience to be thinking about when they leave? If they apply the information, how will their lives be improved? When you are truly being outward focused you’ll get excited about the possibilities for your audience if they take action on what you have shared.

Show your audience that you care. The number one way to do this is through preparation.  It’s utterly disrespectful to stand before a group of people (with previous knowledge that you would be doing so) and be unprepared. Nothing says I don’t value your time like, “bare with me I didn’t care enough to practice this speech”.

No one wants to be bored to death by a speaker. We all want to be entertained and inspired. Your audience wants you to do well. They are rooting for you to blow them away with your stories, insights, and knowledge.

The skill of public speaking is central to personally driven personal development.  Developing this skill will help you remain relevant in a changing world. As the world grows smaller through the ease of connection around the globe the power to influence and share ideas is critical.

For the personal development novice this could come as a demoralizing shock. How could those representing the work not be making application?

Dwelling on this is a deflection and only serves to hinder. My recommendation, focus on your application of the philosophy not the people in position.

Personal application, this is key to personally driven personal development.

If we continue to skip commercials and close the pop-up, how on earth will new products and services get introduced to the market? How will we find out about breakthrough technologies, new innovations and cool stuff? The way we always have, through conversations.

Attention is the new currency. Companies are vying for your undivided attention. The longer they keep it the better chance they have of you becoming a customer. Here is the challenge. How will they get your attention when you aren’t interested?

Relationship marketing is the answer. It’s more than just a little bit interesting that Warren Buffet, one of the wealthiest men in the world, is actively buying direct selling companies. And Donald Trump uses his show Celebrity Apprentice as a two hour commercial for his MLM company. Yet, the great majority of people won’t even view a webinar or attend a one hour meeting if they know its networking marketing. I don’t believe that is very smart.

When DIRECTV offers you $100 bucks for getting your friends and family to switch, that’s relationship marketing. When a new website launches and you can only be part of it with an invitation (like Gmail when it first began) its relationship marketing. When you tell a friend about Hangover 2 being released in May that’s relationship marketing. It’s the way of doing business in the 21^st Century and can be very lucrative.

Now is the time to work extensively on your ability to build relationships and networks. Don’t follow the masses who believe the way to market is through an email blast or post to your Facebook wall and sit back and wait for the cash to come pouring in. It doesn’t work. In truth it’s a way to avoid connection.

Technology and social media have made many things easier and faster. It has not replaced a fundamental principle of business. Business is about people. People are about relationships. And relationships are made stronger through conversation.

Conversation, it’s a key to personally driven personal development and remaining relevant in a changing world.

There is a powerful team being brought together for people who want to make a difference and experience freedom. I would love to have a conversation with you about it. Give me a call at two one four – seven zero two – one nine three seven.

One day he noticed a young African warrior walking on the path toward his hut. The young man walked up the hill and stood erect before the sage. “What can I do for you?” the old man asked.

The warrior replied, “I was told by those in the village that you are very wise. They said that you could give me the secret of happiness and success.”

The old man listened, then looked at the ground for several moments. He rose to his feet, grabbed the boy firmly by the wrist, and led him down the path back toward the lake. Not a word was spoken. The young warrior was obviously confused, but the sage kept walking. Soon they approached the lake, but did not stop. Out into the water the old man led the boy. The farther they walked, the higher the water advanced. The water rose from the boy’s knees to his waist, then to his chin, but the old man said nothing and kept moving deep and deeper. Finally the boy was completely submerged. The sage held the boys head firmly under water. The boy struggled desperately, but it was no use. At this point the wise man stopped for a moment, turned the boy around, and led him out of the lake and up the path back to the hut. Still not a word was spoken. The old African sat again in his creaky chair and rocked to and fro.

After several thought-provoking minutes, he looked into the boy’s questioning eyes and asked, “Young man, when you were in the lake, underwater, what was it you desired most?”

Finally catching his breath, the boy replied, “Why you old fool, I wanted to breathe!”

The sage spoke these word: “My son, when you want happiness and success in life as badly as you wanted to breathe, you will have found the secret.”

Its been stated that knowledge is power. It’s not! Knowing is not enough. What difference does it make to have the right answer if you do nothing with it? Knowledge is only potential power. Knowledge must be combined with action for life achievement.

How do you get into the habit of action? Small daily disciplines.

Not being in action in the direction of what you want is the result of guilt and regret.  These are powerful dream killers because they lead to low self-confidence.  Low self-confidence comes from not doing what you know you could have done in order to have what you’ve said you wanted.

To undo this we must practice self-forgiveness. This practice is done through taking massive action in the direction of what you want.  Massive action is a practice in self-forgiveness. The momentum is created with small daily disciplines.  Keep your word to yourself on the small things for a long enough period of time and you will be taking on the big things that lead to an extraordinary life.

Discipline is a key to personally driven personal development and is paramount to staying relevant in a changing world.

If you took the time to read this article you may be interested to know that a powerful team is being put together for people like you who are proactive and ready to take action. If you have been looking for change and you want to be part of something big this may be it.  Visit courtlandwarren.com/projects/courtland-method

If you are a person who makes decisions based on what it will cost you, you’re allowing circumstances to dictate your life experiences.  A different approach is to make decisions based on the possibilities.  Who is the person you can become if you say yes?

When an opportunity is presented whereby you can become a better person in the process say yes to it no matter the price.  The real value in the right opportunity is the person that you will become.

The greatest price to be paid is not one measured in dollars and cents. The greatest price to be paid is that of developing self-discipline. How would your world be different if you developed self-mastery? What if whenever you gave yourself an order, you followed it? What would your future hold if you simply kept your word, especially to yourself?

Self-discipline is critical to remaining relevant in a changing world. And it’s at the heart of personally driven personal development.

For more information on this subject or similar topics you are invited to visit www.courtlandwarren.com

Depression occurs from a period of inactivity. To be more specific, depression in human beings comes after an extended time of not working on purposeful and fulfilling projects.

Think of carpet underneath a table in your home. Notice that when you rearrange the furniture in that room and you move the table there is an indention. That indention or depression is there because the table was in that spot for some time. That’s what its like for people not living inspired lives.

If you find yourself in this place, understand that there is nothing inadequate about you. Having this feeling doesn’t mean you aren’t worthy of creating the life that you want. The awareness that the feeling is present, is the greater part of you wanting to be fully expressed.

From here the common question arises, “what if I don’t know what I want?” My first response to that is B.S. My more empathetic response is; that is simply not true. As human beings we always know what we want. And so the real question isn’t what do you want. The real question is, why are you afraid to want it?

A recent Be 1 of 1000 strategy session went about like this:

Me: “Time to get moving.”

Client: “On what?”

Me: “Your dreams!”

Client: “What if I don’t have one?”

Me: “Make having a dream your dream.”

Client: “Ok. Got it.”

Me: “Good!”

Einstein said it best, “nothing happens until something moves”. Your willingness to take action is key to personally driven personally development. Working on your self is the ”how to” for staying relevant in a changing world.

The Courtland Method™ is available NOW for those who dream of realizing their own power and greatness. With this program you will not get pity, but you will get moving if you will do your part. The first step is yours to take, contact me to register for the program.  You can call four zero four seven eight seven one two zero seven or send an email to courtland at courtlandwarren dot com