Are You Ordinary Or EXTRAordinary??

Are You Ordinary or EXTRAordinary??
By Jeff Earlywine
 
I have seen several posts on the internet lately about Colonel Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Yes, his life is amazing. What he accomplished in the midst of all of the setbacks and defeats is nothing short of a miracle. You might have read a similar story about our sixteenth president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. But are there “real” people out there turning their ordinary lives into extraordinary lives? You bet there are, and they seem to have seven daily habits in common. But before I get to those common habits let me quickly tell you about two people.

One is my best friends is Barry Smith (not his real name). I have known Barry for over thirty years. He started his own business back in the early eighties and quickly became known as an expert in his field. Then his life took a real nose dive. He went through a very, very messy divorce. He lost everything. He had nothing but the clothes on his back, his knowledge of his trade, and a few friends and family that cared about him. At that time his kids didn’t even want to have anything to do with him. Furthermore, so much untrue gossip was being said about him he even began to lose his great reputation.

But Barry held on. He kept getting up every day. He continued to build his business and look for the positive in everything. Fast forwarding to today. He is a pillar in the community, has a loving family (even his kids have come back into his life). He has an amazing wife of over twenty years. He has built a business that has an equity of over $3 million dollars – and he is getting ready to sell.

Then there is Tonya Nichols. Like Barry, I could write a book about her. She is a single mom and has eight kids (that is right, eight). Four of them still live at home, and three of those are triplets. Could you imagine how many diapers that she has went through? The triplets are getting close to going off to college now, and that will leave her with a little two year old special needs baby girl that she recently adopted.

Now, don’t think for one minute that she sits at home, washes clothes and cooks for the family. She does do those things (and much, much more) but she also runs a very successful medical practice. She is now working on another advanced degree from a school you might have heard of; Harvard University. Tonya didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in her mouth. She was raped at a young age and had so many other emotional issues that it is a miracle that she didn’t check out of this world.

I have known those two people for many years, and I trust them with my life. But what habits do they apply to their lives every day that you can apply to yours and go from being ordinary to extraordinary??? To be extraordinary, as Barry and Tonya have found out, you must do something different. Below are seven habits that they would tell you to start applying to your life today.

1. Do something spiritually. You will be amazed at the strength you get from beginning your day with a prayer, scripture reading, and/or worship.
2. Do something for yourself. We must remember that we can’t take care of others until we take care of ourselves. Life is just too short to “always” keep our feet to the grind stone; live a little or a lot.
3. Do something for your family. We have all heard the story of the very successful business man that worked his fingers to the bone, at the sacrifice of his family and his health. Now he finds himself lying in a hospital bed struggling to make it through the night because he just had a massive heart attack. The main thing on his mind is “not” how he spent his time, but rather how he didn’t. He now wishes that he had spent time with his family showing them how much he loves them by making them his number one priority. 
4. Do something for someone else. Perhaps you've seen one of my favorite movies, Pay It Forward. If not, it is a movie where a small boy literally changes the world. His plan was to do three random acts of kindness to three different people. And all they had to do in return was the same. At one point in the movie a person stepped assign in a hospital emergency room so a little girl could go first. At another point a person donated a new jaguar to someone. 
5. Do something to increase your personal growth. Successful people know if they are not moving forward that they are moving backward. 
6. Do something to enhance your profession or business. I will make you a promise. If you will daily apply the list below this time next year your life and business will not be the same.

•  Learn – do something that will grow your business.
• Relate – spend time with your customers.
• Appreciate – show your team how much you appreciate them. Appreciation = Action.
• Train – share what you know (and are learning) with your team.
• Tasks list – work on 2-3 large projects each day. Set a timer if you have to so you don’t forget about all the other important people and things in your day.
• Network – Eagles don’t flock with turkeys. In other words, successful people flock with successful people.

 7.  Take time to dream. Dreams do come true, just ask Barry or Tonya. I am convinced that dreaming is not only one of the most important things you will do all day, but quite possibly the most powerful. 

• Dream it – See it in your mind.
• Write it – Schedule time for it.
• Achieve it – Celebrate the success and start over.