Think you can THINK your way to success?

Every time I spot a bike in a public setting, it makes me smile. It reminds me of what has continued to move me forward in what could have been a broken down life back in 2002. My dusty old Huffy, propped up by its rusty old kickstand in my garage for eight years, doing nothing more than taking up space, called out to me when I needed it most. A devine calling is what I refer to it as, my lifesaver. When I had to replace that old thing with a Trek, it was still a bike that brought me to where I am today--a successful and spirited entrepreneur who helps others move their lives forward as well. Therefore, how could the image of a bike NOT put a smile on my face?!

I was thinking about that when I met a woman this afternoon at a networking event. Before we sat down and the meeting began, she cornered me in back of the room and asked if I knew about The Secret.

"Yes, I know about that. I'm not a subscriber, though."

"But don't you believe in the power of positive thinking?" she asked.

"Well, of course," I responded, "But I don't believe you can just think your way to success."

For the next several minutes, while I fidgeted, looking for my escape from this woman who was pushing personal boundaries to the limit, she tried to convince me why she was right. I've explored The Secret. I read parts of the book when it first came out a few years ago. I've discussed it with friends. I've seen the reviews. I'm just not a fan. No big deal, right?

Wrong.

For the rest of the meeting, she made sure to extoll the virtues of her beliefs on the rest of the group, proclaiming, "I teach that," every single time she had the chance.

Now, hey, I'm not one to avoid or chastise self-promotion. It's how we attract people to our products and services. Marketing is necessary and who better to sell what you're selling than you. That's true, provided you don't have to force feed your audience. Any time you feel you must do that, no matter how passionate you may be, it seems inauthentic to me, and I don't trust it. If, while you're talking to me, I'm backing away, it's a good clue I'm not interested. It's not personal; it's just that I draw the line at open-mindedness when I've already explored an idea and rejected it. No use covering the same material all over again.

Besides, it's not that I don't believe in the Law of Attraction. I do. I do think that like attracts like. In fact, I met a man once in a bar where I was having an early dinner. The guy sat right next to me, so I engaged him in conversation. We wound up talking about our divorces. He from his spouse. Me from mine. Then, all of a sudden, he invited me to a singles outing and followed that up with this line: "Like attracts like, you know." Oh, geez. "Check, please," I called out to the waiter, ending the conversation. This couldn't possibly go anywhere good, I thought.

So certainly your thoughts affect your actions, and that's my point. They should be well-thought out thoughts, and they should be followed by well-thought out actions. The Secret, in my opinion, leads one to believe that all you have to do is think you'll have success and there it will be. For as long as it's been around (She claimed, "6,000 years."), I'm just not a believer.

I don't think you can think your way to success or riches or whatever drives your passion. You must do what another speaker I know teaches and take steps to move forward. Thoughts are barely the beginning.

That's why the image of a bike is so moving for me. It reminds me that there is action left to do, that there is movement yet to occur, that what I want is there for me if only I reach out and do something to make it happen. Thus, my thoughts can lead me to success, but only the planning part. The real success comes with that forward movement, taken one turn of the wheel at a time. It's how I've gotten through a difficult childhood, the death of a spouse, a complicated divorce from another. It's how I deal with whatever challenges me now.

If you're looking for a tool or a mechanism to help you map out your success today, I hope you'll consider adopting my special brand of BIKE and make it your own. Yes, there's work to do. But stick with me, and I'll keep leading you onward. You can ask me questions. You can hire me to coach you through it. You can come riding with me, if you like. I'll lead the way. That's what my 8th grade teacher told me to do when she autographed my yearbook with this inscription, "Keep leading them on!" I didn't quite understand what she meant back then. But if I could see her now, I'd let her know I'm finally following her advice.

What do you think?

(Photo above taken by Jackie Dishner, Jerome, Ariz., 2009.)

Reasons to ride a bicycle: Reason #4

For the challenge, for awareness, for time alone...these are three good reasons to ride a bike. The fourth--and final (on this list)--is even better.

Reason #4: It will act as your reminder.

Remember that phrase, "It's like riding a bicycle, you never forget." That phrase applies here as well, in terms of the mental aspect of riding a bike. What happens on the road, doesn't stay on the road. It comes home with you. It stays with you because it's now embedded in your mind.

You remember your thoughts, your concessions, your decisions. The mind-body connection takes over. That's how I transformed what, for me, started out as a metal bike into a "mental" BIKE. As I thought about who I had been, who I was, and who I wanted to be, I realized there were ways that I had behaved in my past that wasn't the me I knew I was. I began striving for the better me.

I wanted to laugh again, to love again, to trust again. I wanted to believe I could have good things in my life. I wanted to believe I didn't have to live the soap opera life for one minute more. But it all had to begin with who I was and how I defined myself. I needed healing.

Just as a deep physical wound can heal, so, too, can a mental wound. There may be scars left as reminders, but reminders are a good thing. They tell you how far you've come, and they tell you what not to do again, because, clearly, it didn't work before.

I was too fearful of challenges before. I wasn't paying attention before. I wasn't taking care of myself properly before. And I wasn't sure about who I really was. I hadn't really given much thought to that. I'd just been going through life in survival mode. That's what I'd learned to do best. But it wasn't the best I could do.

From the seat of my bike, I took a good, hard look inside myself and saw areas that needed improvement. Once I realized where improvements could be made--for one thing, by taking that moral inventory I mentioned earlier--I could begin the real work. Not only that, but I realized I wasn't alone in this process, that I had a spiritual advisor who would help hold me accountable. Some people might call that conscience, but if you're a spiritual person, you know you have a higher power to act as your scaffold. You, alone, do not have all the answers.

When you reach the ability to believe this, you can release the mental chains that pull you down and begin to embrace the freedom found in abundance. Abundance comes from self-love, and I don't believe you can have self-love without your higher power living within your heart. I really don't. I don't define that for anyone other than myself, but that's my belief for me, for how I expect to achieve success.

It's a worthy endeavor to seek personal development and improvement in our lives. But it requires a reminder. Just as a business needs to reevaluate its performance, so, too, does the individual. To hold yourself accountable requires something to remind you of what you're seeking to achieve. My bike did that for me...and still does to this day. Every time I ride, I remember what I've learned about myself. I remember how I expect myself to behave. I remember who I am at my core. But I don't have to ride to be able to go through the letters one at at a time:

B--Who am I when I'm being my Best self?
I--How deep do I need to go for that Inner strength today?
K--Am I listening, am I in tune with my feelings, have I connected with those Killer instincts?
E--Have I spoken up, reached out, asked for help by using my Expressive voice?

The bike I rode became the BIKE in my head. Every time I'm now faced with a new challenge, my special brand of BIKE acts a reminder for me to connect with my core being so that I respond in ways that move me forward. It allows me to be the person I know I was meant to be. It's there for me whenever I need it. I don't have to ride to find it now. It's there, with me, always. It's the spiritual navigation tool that leads me to live a life that I deserve.

Isn't that the best reason to ride a bike?

My first BIKE coaching client

I'm in my third week of coaching my first client (though this one's pro bono) on finding her own BIKE. It's going well. I'm amazed at the ease with with our conversation flows. She's in the Pacific Coast, and I'm here in Arizona, so this is all being done by phone.

But since we've been meeting like this, she's really moving along. And what's even better? She really is coming into her own solutions. No matter how stuck you might feel at any given moment, you really do know your own answers. It's just a matter of learning how to pay attention to your needs, your wants, your desires--and then defining your goals to fit your true self. When your goals match your values, you're going to have an easier time of getting there, because you'll use the systems and processes that work best for you or that you automatically find yourself moving toward. It's that awareness I've been talking about.

It's so important to know how your values play into your vision. When we forget that, or don't even bother to consider that, it becomes so easy to get lost. We might not even know where we're going. We just know to get up and do things. But we're doing it without awareness, or a sense of purpose.

Like makes so much more sense when you live it with purpose.

Your own special brand of BIKE, like mine, will help lead the way, if you let it. That doesn't mean you won't get lost, ever, or take detours. You probably will. That's what those pesky little challenges sometimes do to us. They get in the way, and we get sidetracked. But with BIKE, you'll find your way back to the path that's going to take you forward.

That path can be defined only by you. But I can help. If you'd like to talk to me about that, shoot me an e-mail.

All my best,
Jackie