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« Back to Opinion & Analysis
It's Time to Make a Change
Editorial for the Houston Community Newspaper, Inc.
Steven F. Hotze, M.D.
April 18, 2008
Self discipline is a key ingredient for success.
The media has been hyping a coming recession for the past five years. If you worry about something long enough it will eventually come to pass. This is the law of attraction. We attract to ourselves whatever we think about. If you expect things to get worse, then they inevitably will. If you expect your situation to improve, then with proper goal setting and planning, success will come your way.
“As a man (or woman) thinks within himself, so he is.” Proverbs 23:7
So while everyone around you is expecting things to get worse, you should be making plans to succeed.
Success requires planned action directed toward a definite purpose. This means you will have to take personal initiative and work harder and smarter than others are willing to do.
You may ask, “But where will I get the time?”
The average American watches at least four hours of television each day. That is equivalent to 36 forty hour work weeks per year.
Television not only robs you of time but it also changes the way your brain functions.
Studies have shown that watching television induces low alpha brain waves which are associated with relaxed meditative states, making you more susceptible to commercial advertising and the “values” promoted by programs.
Television undermines your ability to concentrate. Researchers have demonstrated that watching television causes brainwaves to switch from Beta -- brainwaves associated with active, logical thought-- to mainly Alpha waves. When the subjects stopped watching television and began reading, their brainwaves reverted to Beta waves.
Allow me to recommend for your consideration that you eliminate watching television for one month. This will give you an additional 120 hours of time to use productively.
Use this time to write down goals. Until goals are written down they are merely wishes. You will need to take time to be alone and write down everything you would like to accomplish during the rest of your life. Just start writing and record anything that comes to mind. Zig Ziglar’s book, See You at the Top, is a great resource which will convince you of the value of setting goals.
Set up categories for your goals: spiritual, family, career, educational, physical and recreational. Here are some examples: Read the Bible 15 minutes per day. Have family reading time every evening. Have a weekly date night with your spouse. Figure out ways to help those with whom you work become successful. Determine ways to anticipate and exceed your customers’ expectations. Read a book on a subject in which you are interested, one that might increase your value to your company. Adopt a healthy eating program. Establish an exercise routine. Develop a hobby.
Adopt these activities for one month and see how much better you will think and feel.
If you keep doing what you have been doing, you will keep getting what you have been getting. Take charge of your life and change the direction of your future. Get after it!
About Conservative Republicans of Texas
Steven F. Hotze, M.D. is president of Conservative Republicans of Texas and founder of Hotze Health & Wellness Center in Houston, Texas.
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