100 Day Challenge, Day 9:

Something has been happening lately that I have been observing.  People doing things they have to do or commited to do and not enjoying it.  I’ve been giving this a lot of thought, because we all have only a certain amount of time here on Earth, not enjoying each piece of it seems like a shame.  Now I know there are times you are not going to enjoy, especially sad times, though you can  still search for the good stuff.  What I am referring to is this more common place scenario:  You commit to going somewhere with friends, you really didn’t want to go, but you do it anyway.  You have already made up your mind that it is drudgery and that you are not going to enjoy yourself- so you don’t.  AND you likely ruin someone else’s time, as well.  Then you get back home and you say “see, that was terrible”, and can list off at least an arm’s length of stuff that confirms it.  Or you have to take a class that you really don’t enjoy, but it’s required.  You hate every minute of it, find it boring and can’t wait until the class is over.  What a waste!  These are just examples and I am sure that you can think of many more. 

A book I have been studying is The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz.  In the book Mr. Schwartz offers a three step plan for becoming more enthusiastic.  One of the points I like most is called Dig Into It Deeper.  The idea here is that the one sure fire way to become more enthusiastic about something is to learn more about the thing that you are not enthusiastic about.  This also works to develop enthusiasm toward other people.  If you want to build enthusiasm for a new community, dig in and learn everything you can about it.  Want to build enthusiasm for a new project, dig in and find out as many details as you can- learn as much as you can.  The next time you find yourself  becoming bored, put this principle to work for you. 

Being enthusiastic about things makes you more attractive to others, making others feel compelled to want to be around you.  Think about the 7 areas of your life- where in your life do you need to have a little more enthusiasm?   This is a question that my clients and I often work on together.  Just pick one area and make a plan to take it up a notch or two.  This is the place to start.  You will see that this automatically raises enthusiasm in all areas of your life!