Mike Robbins' Appreciation in Action

An email newsletter designed to give you
insights and techniques for greater success and fulfillment.

Hello!

Welcome to another issue of Appreciation in Action. I hope you and those around you are doing well. My wife Michelle and I are still in “baby bliss” and we are loving every minute with our 10-week old baby girl, Samantha. There is another cute photo of her at the bottom of this email!

Thanks for subscribing to this e-zine; I am honored and grateful to be able to regularly connect with you this way. Here’s to a day, week, and month filled with many things and people to appreciate, including yourself!

With Gratitude,

It's about Appreciation, not Achievement

Have you ever found yourself waiting for something “good” to happen so that you could be happy? “When I get that promotion, lose those ten pounds, fall in love, graduate from school, pay off my debt, have a baby, buy a house, accomplish that big goal, etc…then, I will be happy!” Sound familiar?

Most of us can relate to this type of thinking. However, this never quite works out, does it? Either we do accomplish our goal, only to find out that in and of itself, the accomplishment did not make us genuinely happy. Or, we do not achieve what we were after and we use our failure as evidence for our unhappiness. It is a classic lose-lose situation.

Having goals and going after them is a wonderfully important and exciting aspect of life. It is also essential to our ability to create success. However, we must remember that fulfillment comes from appreciation, not from achievement. Even our biggest accomplishments are meaningless if we do not appreciate them and appreciate ourselves in the process.

If you think of every goal or dream that you currently have, underneath each one of them is a desire for appreciation. We want to achieve these great things because we think they will make us feel good about ourselves and our lives. What if we started with appreciation? Instead of trying to achieve things to appreciate, we could start appreciating ourselves, our lives, and life in general, right now! If we stop and take inventory of our lives right now, even in the areas where we have challenges or where we have things we want to achieve, there is so much for us to appreciate.

When we remember that it is this appreciation we are really after, not achievement, it makes it easier for us to stop and enjoy what is happening and it takes away some of the intense pressure we put on ourselves. Ironically, with this pressure released and our focus on appreciation, where it belongs, achievement becomes much easier and more fulfilling.

Make an appreciation list. Ask yourself the question, “What is great about my life?” The list will be your answer to this question. If you are willing to be honest and courageous, your list will be very, very long. Specifically in the areas where things are challenging and/or you find yourself waiting to achieve something in order to be happy, see how many things you can find about those areas of your life or those specific desires that you appreciation right now! Have fun! As a bonus challenge, share your list with other people in your life.

Focus on the Good Stuff – Book Deal!

I am honored, grateful, and excited to announce that I have agreed to work with Jossey-Bass on my first book, Focus on the Good Stuff. This book, which will focus on my appreciation work, will be released sometime in 2007. I am very excited to be working with Jossey-Bass, a very successful, San Francisco-based publisher. They are owned by Wiley, a large NY-based publishing house, and have published many wonderful books, such at The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (a book that I regularly recommend to many of the companies with whom I work). The contract will be signed this week and my editor and I have already begun our work on my manuscript. This is a dream come true for me and I am filled with gratitude and appreciation about it. I will keep you posted as we get closer to the release of the book.

The Power of Appreciation is available as an MP3 download:

We are very excited to announce the release of The Power of Appreciation audio program as an MP3 file that you can purchase, download, and listen to on your computer or iPod. You can now purchase this 72-minute audio program as an MP3 file from the online store page of my website. This popular CD is a studio recorded version of my most popular program. It is filled with great information, interactive exercises, and action tips for you increase your level of appreciation personally and to empower the people around you. Click on the link below for more info and/or to purchase:

http://www.mike-robbins.com/online-store.htm

Listen to me on the “Empower Hour” radio show! — May 2nd, 4:00 PM PDT

I am excited to be a guest on the internet radio program, “the Empower Hour” next week – May 2nd at 4:00 PM PDT. Host Susan Schanerman will have me on as her guest for the entire hour and we will be talking about the Power of Appreciation. You can listen to the show live on the internet or listen to a recording of it afterwards from the archives. To listen, click on this link:

http://www.empowerhourlive.com

About Mike Robbins
Mike Robbins is an expert in success, teamwork, and the power of appreciation. As a former professional baseball player and Internet advertising sales executive, as well as a life-long student of personal development, Mike brings a varied and impressive background to the clients with whom he works. Through his keynotes, seminars, writing, and one-on-one coaching, Mike empowers individuals, teams, and organizations to be more productive, appreciative, and successful. Feel free to contact Mike for more information about his speaking and coaching programs.

You may forward your copy of this e-zine to anyone you think might enjoy it. Please keep the broadcast intact, including contact and copyright information. Thanks!

Samantha looking adorable in her towel right after a bath!

Samantha looking adorable in her towel right after a bath!

“Celebrate what you want to see more

of.”

— Tom Peters