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The 100th in-person IFAI Expo kicked off Tuesday morning with a keynote address from Steve Rizzo focused on optimism even in time of struggles.
Rizzo, a former stand-up comedian, is the author of the bestselling books Motivate THIS! and Get Your SHIFT Together who focuses on what he calls “Common Sense Strategies” for tapping into the positive reserves people have to rethink and reshape their lives and businesses.
The key is unleashing the power of your “humor being” every day, Rizzo said, by focusing on three principles:
- You are the creator of your success and happiness
- You need to know without a doubt that you are the only problem you will ever have. Somewhere within you there is always a solution waiting to be discovered – get out of your own way
- Whenever you’re confronted with a challenge of any kind it’s never a matter of managing the situation. It’s always a matter of how you manage your mind.
“Most people go their entire lives never knowing they have this power,” Rizzo said. “Your humor being can bring you peace of mind and emotional stability. That’s up to you on how to get that.”
The most successful people allow themselves to take time out to laugh. It’s important to laugh at all the craziness of life, even as we manage the challenges of family and business.
“When you allow yourself to laugh in a challenging situation, your brain is no longer focusing on that stressful situation,” Rizzo said. “It’s not as overwhelming as it was before; you’re in control of the situation rather than letting that situation control you.”
What’s your attitude like when things aren’t going your way? Controlling your thoughts and not focusing on the events of life will determine our success and happiness. Successful people become what they think about day in and day out, Rizzo said.
“Your thoughts create your beliefs. Your beliefs write the story of your life,” he said. “Every once in a while we have to ask ourselves what type of story are we writing.”
That attitude is at the very core of your success and happiness, he said, and feeling good is the fuel that drives motivation and inspiration. “The No. 1 reason people consistently fail in business and in lifeis not just because of the situation, the event and the circumstances, it’s because somewhere along the way positive momentum ceases.”
With everything that bombards us throughout the day, it’s important to start your day with an unstoppable attitude. Rizzo recommends doing that by steering your thoughts from the moment you wake up. Instead of thinking about and focusing on the problems ahead, think about what is working in your life.
“You can choose to seize the day or you can let the day seize you,” he said. “Create an attitude of gratitude. Everyone can find that one thing that they are profoundly grateful for. The attitude that you have in the morning is the attitude you’re going to have throughout the day.”