We recently saw the movie, How Do You Know. We give it two BIGG thumbs up.

In case you haven’t seen it, Lisa (played by Reese Witherspoon) is a jock. She’s been a softball star her whole life.

However, now she’s struggling to keep up with the younger players. She doesn’t make the cut for the USA softball team.

In trying to find herself, she decides to see a psychiatrist. After all, she reasons, insurance pays for six sessions.

But she’s not comfortable being there. She leaves within minutes. She comes back.

The first two keys

The psychiatrist (played by Tony Shalhoub, one of our all-time favorites) gives her the two key things to life:

Figure out what you want.
Figure out who to ask for it.

We agree with the first one. But we don’t agree with the second. We think it should be:

Figure out how to get it.

“Who to ask” may be part of it, but it will only be a small part. We suspect this advice comes from the old saying, “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.”

But that doesn’t work anymore (if it ever did). It may get you in the door. But it isn’t enough to close the deal.

You have to be good. You have to execute. You have to get results.

The third key

Which brings us to our third key to the life of your dreams:

Get it.

All the “figuring” in the world won’t do you much good if you don’t take action. Planning is an essential activity. It’s one which many people never give much thought.

Let’s say that a little differently: it’s an activity that unsuccessful people rarely undertake.

The first two keys help you identify the “what” (your life plan) and the “how” (your strategic plan). But they aren’t enough.

Contrary to popular advice, the life of your dream won’t suddenly be bestowed upon you just because you’ve figured out what you want.

You have to go. You have to get it yourself.

Or settle. Settle for what you have know. Settle for where you are now.

The choice is yours!

The fourth key

But we’re not through yet. There’s a fourth key if you want to live the life of your dreams.

Keep getting it.

You will face obstacles. This is the final filter on the path to BIGG success.

Losers quit. But you’re a winner.

You will live your dream life. You will reach BIGG success!

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As we look forward to another weekend, we have a question for you. Actually, a series of them. But the first question is…

Are you rich?

We’ll come back to that one. Before you answer, ask yourself:

Assuming you can see, what is your sight worth?
Take a minute and think about all the things you see in a day.
Nature in all its beauty.
A work of art. A photo.
The joy you see reflected on the face of a close friend or family member.

If you can hear, what value do you place on that ability?
Music.
Birds.
The voice of a loved one.
Even silence.

What about your sense of smell? Is it worth anything?
Flowers as you pass by them.
Food as it cooks.
You can often even smell danger, which triggers your survival instinct.

How about your taste?
You know what sweet means. And sour.
Spicy has meaning for you.
You know when something has no taste. Or tastes bad.

What would you trade for your experiences?
Think about how much you’ve grown over time.
For just a few seconds, think about a low time and how much you learned.
Remind yourself of your highest highs.

How much would you take to give up the people in your life?
If you’re married, your spouse. If you’re attached, your significant other.
What about your children, if you have them?
How about your parents?
Even if they have passed, what are the memories of them worth?
What would you exchange for all of this?

Are they worth $10,000? $100,000? $1,000,000? Much, much more?

So we return to our original question:

Are you rich?

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BIGG success is life on your own terms. So today on The BIGG Success Show, we had another installment of Terms from a Hat. The term we pulled out of the BIGG hat was “inkling”.

We recently talked about why you should pray to get laid off. So many people are so unhappy at their current job. Yet many of them have an inkling of how they would like to spend their days.

Do you? Do you have an inkling?

Maybe this will help – here are seven clues to finding your passion:

Listen to this post! Click a player to hear George & Mary-Lynn on The BIGG Success Show Podcst.

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1) What makes you feel alive?

Get in touch with your feelings. When you are most excited, what are you doing? That’s a clue to discover your passion.

2) What gives you energy? We tend to think that work consumes our energy. And a lot of it does.

But your life’s work will generate energy within you. Energy you didn’t know you had.

What does that for you? It’s a hint about the kind of work you should look for.

3) What brings you joy?

There are things you hate to do. C’mon, you can admit it.

There are things you do about which you are somewhat agnostic; you can take them or leave them. (Although you’d probably rather leave them.)

Finally, some things make you happy. What are they? It will give you a notion about your passion.

4) What do you look forward to doing?

Are there certain types of projects or tasks that you eagerly anticipate? Is there an annual event you eagerly anticipate? Is there a time of year you particularly long for? These may be clues to what you should do with your life at work.

5^th) What is your default?

When you’re not thinking about what to do next, what do you do next?

You probably naturally gravitate to certain kinds of activities. This may be a hint to how you spend your days.

6) What do others comment on when you do it?

What do you do that sparks a response from other people? They often feel the need to tell you how good you did, or how it helped them. It’s a great clue to find your passion.

7) What did you abandon?

What did you leave behind? Maybe a hobby you used to enjoy.

When you were younger, you had dreams. What were they? What did you never take up, never start? Maybe now’s the time.

But in any case, you may get your BIGG idea from thinking about these things.

Thinking about your inkling leads to BIGG success!

Do you have an inkling but don’t know what to do next?
Maybe we can help.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00773-012012.mp3

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Research shows that the majority of all the people in the workforce aren’t happy with their current job.

Of course, there are a number of reasons for this. See if you relate to any of these:

Listen to this post! Click a player to hear George & Mary-Lynn on The BIGG Success Show Podcast Player.


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Yet most people will never pursue their dream.
Unless they get laid off.
Until somebody somewhere sometime forces them to do it.
Until circumstances somehow leave them with no other options.

The riskiest action you can take
Wait a minute, you may argue. You don’t “choose” to do nothing.
You just do it.
It just happens.
It doesn’t require any action.
It’s inanimate.

Here’s what many people don’t understand: you can’t do nothing.

We’re using bad grammar to make the point:

Doing nothing is doing something.

Many people just don’t see it that way.
They think doing nothing is safe.
They feel a false sense of security.

In reality, doing nothing may be the riskiest action you can take.

Your two options
You have two options – you can either be reactive or proactive. And we all know which of those two lead to BIGG success!

It’s the reason we say you should pray to get laid off. Because then you will be forced to take action.

Of course, it’s much better to be proactive before then.

But if you’re not going to be proactive, pray to get laid off. It will shake you out of being complacent.

Take control
BIGG success is life on your own terms. It’s about taking control of your life. You’re in charge. You’re the entrepreneur of your life.

If you’re not happy with your present circumstances, don’t wait. Do something about it NOW!

By doing it now, you get to set the schedule. It’s your timetable – not someone else’s. You’re not forced to do something because of circumstances. You’re in control.

So instead of praying to get laid off, why not be proactive while you still have a job? Start building your dream life while you still have an income.

That’s freedom with security. It leads to BIGG success!

Not sure where to start building the life that fits you perfectly? Maybe we can help.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00772-011912.mp3

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In his wonderful book, Success is Within You – an oldie but a goodie – Howard Whitman uses an analogy to illustrate a point about what he calls the “two main criteria of success.”

He talked about the straw and the ice cream soda. He says:

“If you want to fully an enjoy an ice-cream soda it is nice to have both. But if you are to have one only, it is certainly far better to have the ice-cream soda than to have only the straw, for the straw is quite worthless alone.”

What is the straw? When other people think you are a BIGG success.

The ice cream? When you feel like a BIGG success.

Other people will place their success criteria on you. But BIGG success is life on your own terms.

It’s all about YOU! It’s singular, individualistic.

And that’s the way it should be.

Only you know (or can know)…

• what makes you happiest
  
• how you want to spend your most valuable resource, time
  
• where your passion lies
  
• what you need to achieve to feel good about yourself
  
• how you measure success (fame, fortune, status, power, peace of mind)
  
• what fulfills your purpose
  

And that’s as it should be.

Because recognition and adulation from others is great. But they are empty on their own.

You’re the supreme judge of your own success. Your opinion is the ice cream soda. It’s the only opinion that really matters.

What does life on your own terms mean to you?

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