In one of his clever commentaries, journalist David Frost talked about how a certain person has turned his life around. Frost said, “He used to be depressed and miserable. Now he’s miserable and depressed.” I thought that his comment was both witty and pathetic at the same time. After all, we all know lots of people who desperately want a great deal more success and happiness in their lives, their careers, and their relationships.
But the sad truth is many of those people simply do not know how to make that happen. You may even be one of them. You make a number of stupid choices that do not bring the results you’d like to see.
Well I’ve got some good news for you. You can have dramatically better outcomes in every part of your life if you will adopt three simple words.
And if you open up your Tuesday Tip on August 13, 2019, you’ll find an incredible offer. August 13, 2019 will mark the 1000th issue of the Tuesday Tip, an amazing milestone that has hardly been attained by any other newsletter or blog in the world. On that day I will give you a compilation of my best tips ever and give away free books. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity you don’t want to miss.
So what are those three words that will put you in charge of your emotional life? Because that’s where all improvements in your levels of success and happiness begin.
You’ve probably heard them before. But these three words have power. They are act-as-if.
I believe they are the three most powerful words in the English language. Act the way you want to become and you’ll become the way you act. Act confidently, for example, and you will become confident.
Let me explain.
► ACT I: DECIDE to have a good day.
As silly as it sounds, the only time you’re going to have a good day is when you decide to have a good day. After all, happiness is an inside job. It starts in your head … with a decision.
Unfortunately, the losers in life think happiness comes from the outside. They think their happiness is dependent upon certain things “happening” in their lives … such as a raise in pay or the acquisition of a customer. But if other things “happen” … such as a drop in the stock market or a conflict with their spouse … they’re unhappy.
That, my friends, is a lousy way to live. If you wait for happiness, if you wait for certain things to happen, you become the victim of circumstances, rather than the master of them. And you simply cannot do that if you want to be in charge of your own life and career.
You’ve got to decide to have a good day … no matter what is happening all around you. You’ve got to decide that today and every day is going to be a good day.
► ACT II: ACT like it’s a good day.
It’s simply a matter of taking the right pill or taking the right approach. Let me explain.
Suppose there was a magic pill that gives you more energy … makes you less stressed … gives you more confidence …and … makes you more productive. You’d probably take that pill, just like I would. In fact, you’d probably want a lifetime supply.
Well, the good news is … there is such a pill on the market right now. And you don’t have to go to a doctor, get a prescription, or worry about any side effects. The pill is to be found in the three magic words of act-as-if.
And this isn’t some new, fancy, passing-fad psychology. William Shakespeare wrote about this magic pill 500 years ago. He said, “ASSUME a virtue if you have it not.”
In the 20th century, psychologist William James advised, “Successful people ACT as though they have accomplished something. Soon it becomes a reality. Act, look, feel successful, conduct yourself accordingly and you will be amazed at the positive results.”
Even the world-famous personal development specialist Dale Carnegie wrote about these words. He wrote, “ACT AS IF you were already happy and that will tend to make you happy.”
So you want a good day? Then all you have to do is ACT like it’s a good day and you’ll tend to have one.
As a former professor, I assigned these three powerful words to my students. Every student was to ACT AS IF he/she was the world’s greatest student in their class of choice. They were to do such things as sit in the front row, sit in the middle, sit up straight, ask questions, answer questions, and laugh at the professor’s dumb jokes. Then they were to write a report on what happened.
The typical report went something like this: “My very next class was math. I hate math. I hate the professor. I was hungry, tired, and bored. But because you made me, I sat in the front row, sat up straight, asked questions, answered questions, and laughed at the teacher’s dumb jokes. And even though I was totally bored, every once in a while, an amazing thing happened. Every once in a while, I lapsed into states of attention.”
After completing the assignment, the students unanimously agreed on one thing … if you act interested, eventually you’ll become interested.
And as I said before, if you act like it’s a good day, you’re more than likely to have a good day … or at least a better day than you would have gotten by dwelling on the negative.
► ACT II: ACT like it’s a good day.
It’s simply a matter of taking the right pill or taking the right approach. Let me explain.
Suppose there was a magic pill that gives you more energy … makes you less stressed … gives you more confidence …and … makes you more productive. You’d probably take that pill, just like I would. In fact, you’d probably want a lifetime supply.
Well, the good news is … there is such a pill on the market right now. And you don’t have to go to a doctor, get a prescription, or worry about any side effects. The pill is to be found in the three magic words of act-as-if.
And this isn’t some new, fancy, passing-fad psychology. William Shakespeare wrote about this magic pill 500 years ago. He said, “ASSUME a virtue if you have it not.”
In the 20th century, psychologist William James advised, “Successful people ACT as though they have accomplished something. Soon it becomes a reality. Act, look, feel successful, conduct yourself accordingly and you will be amazed at the positive results.”
Even the world-famous personal development specialist Dale Carnegie wrote about these words. He wrote, “ACT AS IF you were already happy and that will tend to make you happy.”
So you want a good day? Then all you have to do is ACT like it’s a good day and you’ll tend to have one.
As a former professor, I assigned these three powerful words to my students. Every student was to ACT AS IF he/she was the world’s greatest student in their class of choice. They were to do such things as sit in the front row, sit in the middle, sit up straight, ask questions, answer questions, and laugh at the professor’s dumb jokes. Then they were to write a report on what happened.
The typical report went something like this: “My very next class was math. I hate math. I hate the professor. I was hungry, tired, and bored. But because you made me, I sat in the front row, sat up straight, asked questions, answered questions, and laughed at the teacher’s dumb jokes. And even though I was totally bored, every once in a while, an amazing thing happened. Every once in a while, I lapsed into states of attention.”
After completing the assignment, the students unanimously agreed on one thing … if you act interested, eventually you’ll become interested.
And as I said before, if you act like it’s a good day, you’re more than likely to have a good day … or at least a better day than you would have gotten by dwelling on the negative.
That’s what happened at Merck, where I’ve been speaking for a number of years. They wanted to increase morale and teamwork in their various departments, but they knew that would have to be accompanied by the way people think and behave … thus the training in my Up Your Attitude program
The results were amazing.
One participant, Jeanene Townswick, wrote: “I’ve been practicing the ‘Act-as-if’ principle at home and the results have been amazing. In fact, one day my husband said to me, ‘I don’t know why, but I’m feeling happy all the time. Ever since you took that Zimmerman training, you’ve been rubbing off on me. It was the greatest thing he could have said to me.”
► ACT III: PLAN a good day.
Most people don’t bother to do this. They just go through life on auto-pilot, hoping for a good day, but never planning for it. They’re hoping that accidental happiness will somehow land upon them.
In fact, I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their days or their lives. They approach their days with “another-day-another-dollar” attitude, doing just enough to get by, hoping things will be better today than yesterday.
Well that’s not how you inject more success into your life, work, and relationships. You get more when you plan more. You need to take a few minutes every day to reflect on your priorities so that you make sure you use every minute of every day well.
If you want a good day, every day, you’ve got to DECIDE to have one, ACT as if you’re having one, and PLAN for it.
Dr. Zimmerman’s Tuesday Tip, Issue 993– 3 Words That Will Put You In Charge Of Your Emotional Life