This week we are celebrating 23 years of Monday Morning Stretches!
23 years. Every. Single. Monday.
In the beginning, we called it a Focus Fax because, well, we faxed it. Although the industry was using email, it wasn’t what everyone checked each morning. They checked the fax machine. Wild, right?
The first Focus Fax was sent out on September 24, 2002. We had about 20 subscribers. Here’s what I wrote:
Impossible simply means you haven’t found the solution … yet!
On May 6, 1954, John Bannister ran a mile in under four minutes for the first time in recorded history. One year later, 37 runners broke the same record. Two years later, 300 runners broke the record. Today, many high school athletes break this record every year. What happened? What evolved in the human body in 48 years to so significantly move what we once saw as impossible to the commonplace? Is it possible that the only things that really changed were expectations and belief systems?
In the 1950’s and 60’s, it was widely believed that dental insurance would never become an active and important part of the dental industry. In the 1980’s and 90’s it was widely believed that the dentists who did not participate in dental insurance plans, especially those who would choose not to accept insurance assignment, would not survive. We now know that in both cases what was believed impossible … was very possible.
Remember the “lemon” exercise that many of you have done with me: Close your eyes and imagine biting into an actual lemon. If your mouth salivates heavily and your cheeks pucker, you’ve just experienced and been keenly reminded that the mind believes without question whatever movie we play before it… and causes our bodies to physiologically react accordingly. You didn’t really bite into a lemon… but your mind believed you did and so caused your body to react. Our minds do not know the difference between a truth and a lie. This is a powerful concept that can truly change your life.
How can you utilize this powerful lesson? Think of one thing that you feel is impossible to accomplish, correct, resolve or change in your professional life and briefly (but completely) imagine that it has already been accomplished… that you have finally found the answer. This week, every time your mind starts to play the tape of failure and impossibility… eject it! Then, push “play” on the new tape of success. It’s not important that you can’t see the “how” immediately. Much more important is your mind’s belief that it has already been accomplished. You’ll find it amazing how the fear begins to dissolve and the answers start to appear.
I’ll be looking forward to your emails and calls to share the amazingly possible solutions that have solved all those “impossible” tasks!
It’s crazy how much of this still perfectly applies 23 years later.
We began emailing our Focus Fax in March of 2002 though it did not become our Monday Morning Stretch until August of 2009. Allowing for some “recycles,” I’ve written approximately 1150 issues, and we now have almost 7,000 subscribers and growing.
Still to this day, our most popular MMS’s were “Guests in the Kitchen,” “El Tigre,” and “It Must Be Me.” I plan to recycle those (and maybe a few other favorites of mine) over the next few weeks since many of our current subscribers never got the chance to read them. And for those who did, it’s always good to relive the “best of” every now and then.
I have wanted to quit writing this blog dozens of times. Every time I voiced that to clients or audiences, people made a point of telling me how much they enjoyed and even counted on starting their week with it. If I voiced it to my team, they would quickly produce a report of how many speeches we booked, products we sold, workshop registrations we logged, or coaching sessions we scheduled as a direct result of this consistent weekly Stretch. So, I kept at it. And I’m so glad I did.
I’ve become a better writer through this process. I’ve become a more discerning thinker, and I’ve changed my mind about more than a few things. I’m beyond grateful for all our loyal subscribers who give a little piece of their precious Monday mornings over the years to read, consider, and pass along my weekly thoughts to their teams, friends, and families. I’m not sure how much longer I will continue to write these blogs, but for now I’m still feeling inspired and passionate about things which I feel could help us all to do better, be better, and communicate better.
Here’s to commitment and persistence! Here’s to sharing and growing and making an impact! Here’s to continuing to do what we can and what we love!
Thanks for being right there with me on this continuous journey of growth and improvement. May we have many more Monday mornings together!
“Winners expect to win in advance. Life is a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
~ Brian Tracy
