Five Transformational Steps to an Extraordinary Life

Many of us, whether we are actively pursuing it or passively standing by and wishing, would like to see transformations occur in our life. How many of you have had those “aha” moments? Whether it was a fleeting thought of sheer genius or a genuine sense of peace and joy that may have only stayed for a moment. We look around us and see people with relationships that some would say “only happen in the movies,” and either say they must be one of the lucky ones or there is something wrong we don’t know about because nothing in life is that good. We look around us and see the Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffets, and Tony Robbins and proclaim with confidence that they are so successful because they are really lucky or born with abilities that we don’t possess. We look around and see people with great physiques and abundant amounts of energy and vitality and assume they must have been born that way. The fact is that there are certain characteristics that differentiate success from failure, excellence from mediocrity, financial freedom from the chains of living paycheck to paycheck, and superior relationships from the hell of just co-existing. Here are what I call the Five Transformational Steps to an Extraordinary Life

#1: Take leaps of faith:

How many of you have felt the excitement of entering a new relationship for the first time? Upon just thinking of the other person you get a rush of the blood coursing its way through your body; your heart thumping out of your chest; a surge of energy where you’re paradoxically sleeping less yet have more energy than ever before; the feeling of butterflies moments before they open the door for a date; the excitement of bringing flowers just because you can’t get them off of your mind; or a text or a phone call just to let them know you are thinking about them. That may have never happened if you let your fear of asking that person out overcome your faith in the wonderful possibilities that could occur. You had no idea how it was going to work out. Many of you who live your lives passively from the sidelines thinking you’re playing it safe, but what your really doing is the riskiest thing of all – leaving life to chance. Choose today to step up to your greatness. Choose today to take a leap of faith and enjoy the best of what life has to offer.

“You've got to go out on a limb sometimes because that's where the fruit is." - Will Rogers

#2: Lighten the “F- - -“ up:

This is one of the best pieces of advice one my mentors ever gave me. For those of you who know me, I have one speed – GO! There is no in between for me. The most common word people have used to describe me is INTENSE. I remember I came to him because I was stressed out about something in my life. He let me vent and complain and then looked at me dead straight in the eyes and said ,”You need to lighten the f--- up! Just lighten up! You take life way too seriously!” It was exactly what I needed. It totally broke my pattern and I was able to change my state to one that served me, and interestingly enough, the more I began to “lighten up,” the more fun life became for me and I got better results in the process. All of us are going to have trials and tribulations along the way. The important thing to understand is that it’s just a normal part of life. The key is to laugh about it, learn from it, and move on.

“Stop taking life so seriously. You’ll never get out alive!” – Van Wilder

#3: The difference is in the details:

You know the book Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff? I’d like to revise the title and it would be called SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF! Create a profuse amount of sweat over the small stuff. The difference is in the details. If you do not think the difference is in the details, try and forget you and your spouse’s anniversary or forget to pay your rent. The difference between ordinary and extraordinary lies in the details. When it comes to your business, every detail must be accounted for. In our practice, we keep statistics about new patients, report of findings, conversions, percent conversions, referrals, missed appointments, rescheduled appointments, PVA, OVA, total office visits, total patient volume, individual patient numbers, income, objective and subjective progress of our patient’s progress, names of family members and friends, and these are just a few. And another thing, we review them constantly and have systems in place to not let a single detail slip through the crack. And if a detail slips through the crack, we find it, figure out why, and create new systems to back up and reinforce our other systems, and if we have to, systems to back up those systems. It has transformed our practice. When you have a system for doing things and keeping track of the details, you can put all of your focus where it really counts. This leads me to step number four.

#4: Obsess over your people and get them to obsess over you:

In our practice, we do anything for our patients to ensure they have a legendary experience. We treat them like they are family. We really view our practice like one big family. We obsess over creating an outstanding experience each and every time a patient enters our office. We want to provide them with an experience they cannot get anywhere else in their life. The sad truth is most people are not truly happy and fulfilled in their lives. Most people go through life in a semi-comatosed state where life consists of just “going through the motions.” What would your business look like or your relationships look like if you brought a level of intention, focus, and presence that someone has never experience before? Not only would it transform their life, but it would transform your life and the success of your business and relationships as well.

#5: Confrontation is king!

One of the surest ways to guarantee the failure of your relationships and your business and guarantee yourself to live in a state of inner turmoil and frustration is to not confront issues IMMEDIATELY when they come up. The two most common reasons people don’t confront issues is because of fear or low self-esteem. Some people will even say is because they are “too nice” which is BS. It isn’t because you are “too nice.” It is because you are scared of what other people will think of you or because of the perceived worst-case outcomes you have gone over in your head. Either way it comes down to fear or low self-esteem. Now two things I must discuss about this topic. First, the type of confrontation I am talking about is not the aggressive, or even worse, the passive aggressive comments and actions that undermine and destroy relationships. I am talking about discussing issues from a place of love and compassion that may be blocking or prohibiting you from giving your full self into that relationship, whether that relationship be with a spouse, a business associate, client, customer, or even yourself. The second thing is I know confrontation is not easy. It is one of the most difficult things I’ve had to overcome. But you know what? If you want to take your life to the next level and live in the world on the other side of ordinary called extraordinary, it must be done.

Living a life of success, joy, and abundance is not for the lazy or weak at heart. Prosperous living requires a level of presence, focus, and intensity that very few are willing to put in. But life works in a very simple way. You only get out of it what you put into it. If you put in a poor effort, you get a poor response. If you put in an extraordinary effort, you get extraordinary results. There is only one question you need to answer for yourself right now. How great do you want your life to be?