the keys to exceptional achievement - … 3 keys to exceptional achievement how to build a winning...

The 3 Keys to Exceptional Achievement How to Build a Winning Mindset

Dr. Larry Iverson

© 2010 The Institute for Advanced Development. All Rights Reserved 1

Overcoming Limitations

Born in 1452, there was a boy who was so socially awkward and unable to

concentrate that his single father, had to educate him alone at home. He never

had friends because he couldn’t relate or communicate well with other people,

especially children. He was so wrapped up in his own mind that he would

instantly forget what he just learned. He would just wander off mentally.

It was a challenge to even carry on a conversation with this boy no matter who

you were. When he was 15 he joined an artist’s group studio. Within four years

he was working as an independent artist at his own private studio. When on his

own, he began to develop all aspects of his mind and personality. He blossomed

in effect. He started mentoring others in art which increased his skills

significantly in both his art and his abilities to communicate.

Since he had to explain the details to others he found himself becoming much

more eloquent and able to get along with people better than ever before.

His desire for knowledge was insatiable. He studied philosophy, natural history,

anatomy, biology, botany, medicine, optics, acoustics, science, mathematics and

hydraulics in detail.

He became a renowned architect, a musician, an engineer, a scientist and an

inventor. He sketched the very first parachute, the first helicopter, first airplane,

first tank, the very first repeating rifle, a swinging bridge, a paddle boat and the

first motor car.

When Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa, it took him six years to

complete. When he finished the painting the King of France bought it, but

Leonardo was so attached to the painting he didn’t want to part with it. So he

convinced the King of France to let him keep it in his studio so he could observe

it regularly and ongoingly until he passed away in 1515.


Dr. Larry Iverson


Many of the traits of the ultra achievers we’ll be discussing today were part of the

attitudes and the skill sets used by Leonardo da Vinci that propelled him to such

great achievements.

Success Traits

In 2002, after spending seven years interviewing over 500 very successful men

and women in dozens of areas including medicine, business, art, music, martial

arts, actors and actresses, architects, inventors and numerous others, educational

researcher Richard St. John concluded that there are really 8 things that help them

achieve highly in their specific niche.

The 8 attributes will take you from okay performance to exceptional performance.

From just being average in whatever the things are you chose to do, to being truly

one of the best.

#1 Passion

The first of these 8 things was passion. He found that each of the men and

women he interviewed had massive amounts of energy derived from their deep

level of passion for what they’re doing. They could “feel it in their gut” was an

expression that many of them used.

For example think about a sport you love, something that you really like doing or

a hobby that you really enjoy. For instance, it might be hiking. When you think

about hiking, you mentally imagine yourself up in the mountains or along a beach

or walking a trail or perhaps going through a forest somewhere and when you

imagine it you can feel it inside. It feels refreshing, it feels good, it lifts you up,

makes you feel alive.

You can imagine breathing the air and feeling the environment around you as you

hike. You can imagine what it’s like to put one foot in front of the other, and


Dr. Larry Iverson


notice what it’s like to be in that wonderful place in nature that gives you such a

lift.

Or perhaps the thing you love to do is skiing or snowboarding. You can imagine

sitting on the chairlift and you’re riding up and as you go up you have this

beautiful wonderland of white around you and you notice the trees and the

environment. You can see far, and it’s quiet.

You can feel the crisp air on your skin and smell the smells of the Alpine air.

And as you begin to move down off the mountain you can feel the enthusiasm and

excitement as you make your cuts and turns coming down off the hill. You get a

sense of your body and mind working together in this free fashion.

Perhaps one of the things you have passion for is to occasionally give speeches to

people. You love that feeling of organizing your thoughts. And, you see it on

paper, right there in front of you and you have the key points organized by step.

Then when it comes time you envision yourself in front of your audience, you’re

organized. You know what you’re going to say, and how you’re going to say it.

You use bits of humor, you make points, you pause to emphasize certain things.

You can see people’s faces and their responses and you get this wonderful

sensation inside. No matter what it is you love to do, it begins with passion.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Every great achievement is the victory of a flaming

heart.” Think about that. Every great achievement is the victory of a flaming

heart, literally we come awake from within, that passion, that enthusiasm charges

and energizes you.

You feel so good doing what you’re doing, that you’d do it even if somebody

didn’t pay you for it. You’d keep doing it just because it makes you feel good

mentally and physically to do this activity, whether it’s a hobby, a sport, a job or

part of the work that you do.

In your work and the field that you really want to excel in, you need to have this

passion. You do what you do just because you like doing it. Because it feels


Dr. Larry Iverson


right, and because you get the satisfaction from doing it. Passion is one of the

crucial key ingredients.

#2 Taking Action Toward A Goal

The second factor in moving from average to exceptional is that you have to be

taking action towards a desired outcome. Some people call that work. Some

people call it play. Some people call it both.

You have to be taking action towards some result you want to achieve. As the old

saying goes, if you work long hard hours and keep your nose to the grind stone

you’re guaranteed to get two things—very tired and a flat nose.

Work should be enjoyable. These people, ultra achievers who gain super success,

are not workaholics. If anything they’re “work-a-frolics”. They have so much

fun doing what they’re doing that they choose to do it and they love doing it.

They can see the results.

Now this does not mean that it’s not occasionally frustrating, but for the most part

they have passionate energy for doing whatever it is they’re doing. It is being a

work-a-frolic, having fun in the process.

A friend of mine in sales, earns an upper six figure a year income doing his job.

He said his job is like being at a non-stop party. He has such a great time

interacting with his customers that he loves it.

Does that mean it’s never hard? No, there are times it’s really hard and there are

times when he has a huge amount of pressure to come up with results. But his

main focus is on the relationships, the great products he sells, and having a good

time interacting and serving in a way that makes a difference for his customers.

Yes it’s work, and at the same time, you’ve got to be getting something out of it

beyond just a paycheck. It’s needs to be fun and worth doing.


Dr. Larry Iverson


#3 Be Very Good At “It”

Third, you’ve got to be very good at it. You need to be exceptional at whatever

you do.

You need to have a great hobby, job, relationship interaction, whatever,--just be

exceptional at those things.

If you have a hobby for making wood products like tables and chairs, then be

exceptional at doing that. Find out all the little nuances of exactly how to fit them

together so that there are no spaces. So that they are jointed tightly together.

If you want to get better at having great relationships, then make that happen.

Find out, what do the people who have great relationships? How do they talk to

each other? What are some of the things they do together? What are things that

are the bottom line?

What about your job? Are there things there that would make a difference on

how you excel and move forward faster, easier or better? Sure there are. It

doesn’t matter what it is, you need to be very good at what you choose to do.

Here’s a story to illustrate that point. There was a woman who was taking a long

earned vacation in New York, it was somewhere she’d always wanted to go.

During her week she saw all the sites. She went to Broadway plays, ate in many

different places, and went to the garment districts and shopped. She had an

absolutely wonderful time.

When there was only one day left of her vacation she decided that she really

wanted to see the famous Carnegie Hall. She looked on her map and found where

it was located, went there, but it wasn’t there. She walked around the block, but

couldn’t find it.

As she was searching, she saw a gentleman walking down the street with a violin

and she said, “Excuse me, how do I get to Carnegie Hall?”


Dr. Larry Iverson


He looked at her with a very somber expression and said, “Practice! Practice!

Practice!”

How do you get to be very good at anything? You practice, practice, practice.

Anything you do and do well you’ve practiced. Not only did you practice but you

practiced correctly.

In order to learn to ride a bike you probably fell over, at least a few times, but you

kept getting up. You found the correct ways of staying up, and pretty soon you

could ride that bicycle.

Envision what you desire. You make a plan, you take action, and you review. If

you got the results you wanted you keep going, if not then you revise the action

you took and you go again. Then you practice it correctly again and again.

This is the method for achieving what we want. You go, and you go again, and

you keep doing it, revising and correcting until finally you get it down, so you

really have it in your skill set.

#4 Focus on One Thing at a Time

The fourth thing that the ultra successful do, is they focus on only one thing at a

time.

There is no such thing as multi-tasking—there is only serial mono-tasking.

For example, you hear people say, “I can sit and carry on a perfectly good

conversation with you and listen to everything you say and remember every word

while I’m typing up this memo I have to type.” Not even.

Or, “I’m just going to watch TV while I study and it will record in my brain just

fine.” It’s proven that’s not true.

Or, “I’ll play a game of tennis while I eat dinner on the court.”


Dr. Larry Iverson


Right, well I hate to tell you, but you’re either playing tennis or you’re eating.

You’re either watching TV or you’re studying. You’re either listening to

someone or you’re typing. The brain doesn’t work any other way than that.

Now you can switch back and forth one to the other really quickly, but you’re

only doing ONE-OF-THEM-AT-A-TIME!!!

You need to maintain focus. You pick something, you get a target and you stay

with that target.

If a baseball player is standing at the plate when the pitcher throws a baseball, and

at that moment the batter is thinking about his family instead of thinking about the

ball coming at him—he’s in trouble.

It only takes four tenths of a second for the ball to go from the pitcher to the plate.

If he’s dwelling on his family instead of being absolutely focused on that ball,

what do you think the likelihood of him actually hitting the ball is when his focus

split? It’s fairly low.

We have to focus on the big stuff. We focus on one thing at a time and we stay

with it. If you’re going to focus—then pick the big stuff.

You can catch a thousand little teeny trout, but those thousand little teeny trout

are not equal to one giant whale. You can either be fishing for one trout, or a

dozen trout, or a hundred trout, or a thousand trout, or one whale. The size is

significantly different. Catch one whale and it’s worth millions of trout.

It’s the same thing. Focus on the big stuff, pick one thing at a time, and stay on

track.

#5 Push Yourself

The fifth of the ultra success traits is “push”. You have to push yourself.


Dr. Larry Iverson


When you were little you had a person who pushed you—Mom, Dad,

grandparents, other people in authority around you, but it’s not their job any more.

It’s not your spouse’s job, it is not your friend’s job, it’s your job to push yourself

forward into an ever better day and better experience.

Negativity is normal. Push through it. So what if you blew an exam? Push

through the negatives so you can do better on the next one. You can berate

yourself and think “Woe is me! I’m choking on tests. I’m never going to be any

good at this!”, and it’s never going to help. You’ve got to push through and move

on. Buck up, another day is coming.

What if your team performance was horrid. The team didn’t do well at all.

Whatever the sport is you’re playing. Push through it, take responsibility for your

part, work hard, and keep moving.

For instance, LaBron James carried the Cavaliers in basketball for a number of

years with very little support. He didn’t whine, he kept working, and he kept

making his game better, while believing that his partners would either step up or

new ones would come in.

This trait, this push is absolutely central to making it through when you need to.

There are times when the negativities or the experience we’re in, is so big and so

overpowering that it just stalls us. Well if you feel stalled, there’s a part of you

that’s got to go inside and become a cheerleader, “Push! Let’s move! Let’s go!

Let’s do it! Yes, it was a bad day, or bad experience, it didn’t go the way I

wanted—AND I’m still going to keep moving forward! I will not give in! I will

not give up! I’m going to keep moving! Why? Because I ultimately believe I can

get there!”

So push is an absolutely central component to making it.

#6 Providing Service


Dr. Larry Iverson


The sixth trait of the ultra successful is service. Dr. Sherman Nuland, Professor

of Surgery at Yale University, said he feels absolutely privileged every day. He

said, “I feel so fortunate to be able to serve as a doctor, and to be able to make a

contribution to the people around me. I can have a positive effect on the lives of

the students and to patients that I treat.” He lives with an attitude of gratitude for

the service he gives.

Zig Ziglar said, “You can have everything in life you want if you’ll just help

enough other people get what they want”. How do you do that? You serve.

Bob Dylan years go wrote a song “You’ve Got to Serve Somebody”. He talked

about that we all have to be giving. We have to serve somebody, whether it’s

good or bad or in between, he was absolutely correct. Serve with thankfulness

that you can serve.

You are moving, you’re breathing, you can think, you have skills, you can grow,

you can learn, and you can move forward. You can serve.

Thinking about someone who’s ultra successful, how about Sir Richard Branson,

the multibillionaire owner of Virgin Records, Virgin Airlines, hotel chains, etc.

This man lives all over the world. He is truly a world citizen.

He’s created this reality for himself and how has he done it? By taking really

good care of the people who work for him. By creating products to sell to other

people that they can use at a reasonable price. He serves everybody. He once

said “My job is to do what I do so well and serve other people so effectively that

they just give me their money”, so that’s the case.

Each of us in the same position, we’ve need to serve, just like Dr. Nuland, as Zig

Ziglar said, and just as Richard Branson does in his own life, we need to serve

people into a more effective experience and a better life.

#7 Generate Ideas

The seventh trait of the ultra successful is they have ideas.


Dr. Larry Iverson


Once when being interviewed, Bill Gates talked about how he started Microsoft.

He said he was chatting with friends while doing his homework in college, and it

hit him that no one had created a microcomputer software creation company. The

brainstorm came in to his mind.

He began to talk to people, and thought, “I’m going to do this. This can happen

and it’s going to be great. It’s going to work for me; it’s going to work for others.

I can make this come alive.”

And as he became more passionate about it, he began to talk to others. And as he

talked to others, they got excited and wanted to contribute, and the ideas flowed.

Ways to Trigger Ideas

What are some of the ways to trigger ideas? There are many. One is to listen.

Listen to the news. Listen to people you’re living with, listen to neighbors, listen

to the radio. Listen to those things that are being said about problems in the

world. Listen to trends that are going on around you.

Observe what other people are doing. Observe what other people are not doing.

Pay attention to the things that seem to work really well, and notice the things that

don’t function quite as well as they ought to.

Another way to generate ideas is to be curious about how things work. Be

curious about why minds work the way they do. Be curious about why an

instrument does what it does, in the way that it does it. Be curious about

everything. That kind of curiosity is what makes genius happen.

Albert Einstein said, “There’s genius on three levels. The first level of genius is,

there’s something that already exists and you look at it and you see a new or

unique use for it and you apply it to that new or unique way of using it. That’s the

first level.”

“The second level of genius is where there’s something that already exists and

you see it and you say, “Aha I could alter it in these ways and make it into


Dr. Larry Iverson


something new that would do a different function or the same function better.”

Build a better mousetrap as it were.

“The third level of genius” he said, “is the result of all of the things that I’ve

looked at, and learned, and experienced through my life that are residing in my

brain. One day seemingly out of nowhere, something spontaneously pops into

mind, and I come up with something brand new, whatever it is.”

It’s like the concept of quantum physics, where did that come from? It

spontaneously erupted but not really. The things that made that happen have been

around for a long time. So be curious.

Another way to trigger ideas is to ask questions. Nothing really happens

without questions. The more questions you can ask of yourself, of people who are

brilliant and have the ability to assist other people, the more questions you can ask

of how to use a device or how to work with a piece of software or how to get

along better in your relationships, the more you learn.

Another way to trigger ideas is to problem solve. Think about how something

is working but what would happen if something did go wrong. How could I fix it

if this didn’t work the way it was supposed to be working. Problem solve if an

issue comes up. You brainstorm, you think about it, you may talk to people, you

go online, you read, you brainstorm possibilities and solve that dilemma.

And another way to trigger ideas would be make connections with people,

with concepts, with machines. The more you’re connected to other people around

you, the more things will automatically come to you. Our mind is a random

accessing device. The more connections I have with people, the more time I

spend thinking about things. The more time I spend talking and brainstorming

and problems solving and interacting with all these various connections in my

world, the more I will learn and the more ideas will come up about what to do and

how to do it.

#8 Be Persistent


Dr. Larry Iverson


And the eighth of the 8 Strategies used by the ultra successful is persistence. You

will at times do things poorly. Things will not always go the way you want them

to. You’re going to blow it and you still have to keep going.

Oxford University said the average person makes about ten to twenty mistakes a

day, big ones and little ones. So as you make these mistakes on a regular and

ongoing basis, know that it’s part of the human condition.

That does not mean you’re failing, you only fail if you stop. You have to keep

going. Persist, keep moving forward.

The actress Mary Pickford said, “Today is a new day. You will get out of it just

what you put in it. If you made mistakes, even serious mistakes, there’s always

another chance for you. And even if you’ve tried and failed and tried and failed

again and again, you have a fresh start at any moment you choose. For this thing

we call failure, is not the falling down, but the staying down.”

A friend of mine, author and researcher, Steve Andreas said to me years ago,

“Anything worth doing well is worth doing poorly at first. Learn the correct

actions and persist.”

You’re going to make mistakes, that’s life on planet Earth in the 21st century.

Things are not going to flow smoothly. There are all kinds of glitches in all sorts

of things.

You buy a product that’s supposed to be an absolutely perfect product. Some of

them are going to come out not working the way they’re supposed to work. Why?

Because it’s not a perfect world and mistakes are made. There is error. You’ve

got to keep going anyway.

You’ve got to persist through what friend calls CRAP. CRAP is an acronym for

Criticism, Rejection, Antagonists and Pressure. You’ve got to persist through

CRAP because CRAP happens. And as CRAP happens, the criticism, rejection,

antagonists and pressure – you need to keep moving. Don’t let them get in your

way. As Mary Pickford stated—there’s nothing wrong with falling down, just

don’t stay down.


Dr. Larry Iverson


To review some of the 8 aspects of someone who wants ongoing success, they

have passion, work light-heartedly, be really good at something, focus on one

thing – usually one big thing and keep moving, push yourself, serve others, trigger

ideas that improve things in some way, and persist until you get the results you

want.

Release from Negatives

John Wooden the winningest coach in basketball with 10 NCAA National

Championships in 12 years while at UCLA, said he had to create his own

definition for what success was.

He looked in many dictionaries. He read what they said, and they all sounded

right but didn’t quite fit for what he wanted to do.

He said his definition is, “Success is giving all you’ve got, every time, so you can

be the best you that you can be”. He said that he taught his players that every shot

counts, every time, whether in practice or a game, alone or with others, every

single shot counts. Don’t get lazy, don’t be unfocused. Every single time, shoot

it as if it is the game winning shot!

When he was coaching these young men, he said he would get great players. He

would select well to bring good players on to his team. They were at the top of

their game for their ages. Were they the best? No, but they were good, but some

of them were probably the best ever.

He also said, “What I did was get a young person who was really good at free

throws for example. So I would have him practice shooting free throws every

day. He’d do his regular work out, and on top of that he would shoot an

additional one or two hundred free throws a day.”

“He’d come to me and say, ‘Coach, I already shoot pretty well, why do I have to

shoot more?’”


Dr. Larry Iverson


And I’d tell him, “Because when you are in the heat of the moment, you’ve been

running hard for the entire game, and there’s one foul shot left to make, and

you’re at the line—I want you to have shot so many shots that no matter what

kind of state you’re in, no matter how tired you are, no matter how you’ve been

playing. that you can do this in the clutch. That every time in the heat of the

moment, you have automatic play!”

He’d have another person who was really good at rebounding, and he would have

him practice rebound, after rebound, after rebound until the person felt like his

legs were going to fall off because he couldn’t jump any more. But through this

process of repetition of the fundamentals, he won 10 NCAA Championships in a

12 year period!

Coach Wooden went on said, Your reputation is what you’re perceived to be, but

your character is what you really are deep down inside. When you’re practicing

those fundamentals, when you’re making sure that every single shot, every single

move, every single jump is as good as you can make it, that is character. You’ve

got to be the best you that you can be. It’s a choice. You get and you become

whatever you are focused on most.”

Work the fundamentals until you are absolutely stunning. So by doing that over,

and over, and over, and over, Coach Wooden built these powerhouse teams that

were absolutely unstoppable. Was it because he had all of the best players? No,

but each one of them was really good at the fundamentals and at their own skill

sets.

Handle Negatives

In line with what Coach Wooden said and did, and what Richard St. John’s work

focused on, is the process of handling negativity.

We all have challenges, we have problems, we have things come up that were

unanticipated that knock the blocks out from under us. Personal problems,

professional problems, money problems, sickness, weather issues, whatever it is

but there’re things that get in our way.


Dr. Larry Iverson


There’s a secret to coping with negativity. Here it is—Do what you can to resolve

it, then let it go, and focus on something else.

The prayer of St. Francis says, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I

cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know

the difference.”

For instance, Bill Gates is wealthy, he has power, and he has hundreds of people

at his beck and call. He can do pretty much whatever he wants. But he knows he

has limits.

Bill Gates is working at eradicating multiple diseases from the face of the earth,

and he’s making progress! BUT, he knows he cannot eradicate ALL diseases, so

he picks his battles. Malaria is one of those that he’s chosen, and he is making

gigantic strides worldwide to eradicate it. He knows he can only do certain

things, so he puts his time, his energy, his focus, his resources, and his people into

doing those specific things.

Work On The One

He quit focusing on what he couldn’t do anything about, because he can’t do

everything. He chose one thing to do really well. Then, as he gets that going, he

can move onto another thing to begin, moving on, and do it well.

Most negativity happens because you’re focused on the problem only—instead of

analyzing the problem, and then focusing on the solution. And if there’s no

solution, then focusing on something that energizes you to move on to something

else. Because once again, if you can do something about it, DO IT! If you

can’t—GET OVER IT, and move on. You’ve got to be able to do that.

Negativity is going to happen. Why? Because we get afraid, hurt, frustrated or

sad when things don’t work the way we wanted. That’s normal. That’s human.

It’s going to happen. But, do what you can.


Dr. Larry Iverson


Once you’ve done what you can, once you’ve focused on the problem, you’ve

figured out what it is, you begin to implement a solution. If it works, great, if it

doesn’t, try something else or know when to say ‘enough’ and move on because

you can’t win every single battle.

Keep A Wide View

Recently my wife and I went to a superb Bon Jovi concert. The band was

exceptional. They were tight. They knew the moves, they knew exactly how to

play off of each other. They had the show choreographed. They knew precisely

what the others were doing, and it showed.

A few days before we went to the concert, I read an article about Jon Bon Jovi.

He said that there’s much more to life than just being a star and doing concerts.

He said he loves his career. He is so thankful to be able to make music and affect

people in this positive way, but there’s more to life than that.

He spends many more hours working to help feed the hungry, to raise money, to

get donations, to help house the homeless, than he does playing music. He’s

using his fame to help others. He donates his own money and his time, and he

helps others bring in money to make change happen.

When he’s on the road he goes to homeless shelters, to food centers and he meets

people. He talks to and encourages them, and gives what he can at that time to

help them move forward just a little better. He’s chosen his focus—and he’s

helping those that need it.

To overcome the negative, catch it, be solution focused, do what you can to

resolve it. If there’s nothing you can do, don’t worry the situation. Get over it,

get on with something else. You’ve not failed until you give up and quit. Until

then the game is on.

Even if you’re way behind, keep going. You can make a difference. You can

help many people in a way no one else possibly can. Why? Because you can be a


Dr. Larry Iverson


great you. You can inspire, you have skills, you have the ability to make a

difference for yourself and for many of the people you encounter.

So overcome those negatives, catch them, release them and move on. Take

advantage of those steps and be proactive. You can make this happen, it is truly

your choice moment to moment, day to day.

Health, Longevity, and Achievement

In order to have your life thrive, you must build positive habits. You must set up

a routine for how you live your life.

That doesn’t mean you have to do it exactly the same way every single day. And,

a routine does not have to be drudgery. It can be fun, energizing and fulfilling.

But you have to have a method for going through it. You have to have habits of

good performance to make it work.

So let’s spend time on how to create a daily routine that will deliver better health,

more fulfillment and increased performance—all three.

In 2005 the results were published of a multiple year’s worldwide study that was

funded and conducted by the National Geographic Society. They started off by

trying to answer the question, “Who are the longest lived groups of people in the

world?” But what they learned was much more than that.

They found, interestingly enough, there are three places in the world where people

live on average—25 years longer than the rest of the population. That’s in

Sardinia, Italy; the Okinawan Islands off Japan and Loma Linda, California.

Why? Well let’s take a moment to look at each and then we’ll break it down.

Sardinia, Italy

In Sardinia, Italy, the normal life is very rural. They’re hard working people,

some of them do regular office jobs, but they have varied components to their life.


Dr. Larry Iverson


They all have an outdoors component. They eat relatively well. They have some

meat—lamb, and beef often. They eat many fruits and vegetables many of which

they either raise themselves or they buy from the farmer’s markets—the food is

not processed.

Most all Sardinians tend to drink at least some red wine or some alcohol, once or

twice daily. They have alcohol with their mid-day meal and then again with

dinner, and perhaps even a night cap before bed.

They all get exercise, they either get exercise in their work or they get exercise by

being outdoors. They’re energized and active people.

They have large family systems normally, and they’re closely connected to

friends and neighbors and the community itself. They have large interactions.

The majority of them are strong Catholics. They have very devout beliefs and

their religion supports them in their faith.

Okinawan Islands

In the Okinawa Islands off Japan it’s similar. Once again they eat very fresh

foods. Fresh fruits and vegetables—much of which they either grow themselves

or buy from the farmer’s markets.

They have a diet of chicken and fish primarily, and rice.

They also have alcohol at times. Saki wine and/or beer but it’s done minimally.

They all get exercise. They’re outdoors either working or playing. They’re an

active people. They spend a lot of time up and moving around.

They have devout Ryukyuan religious beliefs that support their lifestyle and

support them in believing in good things around them. They have a strong social

community with a sense of family and connection to help one another. Whether


Dr. Larry Iverson


that is their own personal family or the people they live near—neighbors,

community, church, etc.

Loma Linda, California

Let’s look at Loma Linda, California. Loma Linda is the center for the 7th Day

Adventist Church. They’re almost all strict vegetarians. Some have a little bit of

meat or fish but most of them are exclusively vegetarian. They have a well

balanced diet of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as beans and nuts.

Most of them are fairly active, though they may be more office bound than are the

Sardinians or the people in Okinawa, they still have an active lifestyle and they

move around.

They’re engaged in their community and they do things for one another. They are

positive.

They have a strong Christian belief and faith that supports them.

They do work for one another and they assist each other in achieving more and

going where they need to go faster and easier. They help each other.

Similarities Between Them

So what are some of the commonalities? Why do these three groups of people

tend to live up to 25 years longer than the rest of the population of the world?

One of the things they all have in common is they start each day positively. They

each live with an attitude of gratitude. They’re thankful for what they have.

They’re not griping about what they don’t have, they think good thoughts about

themselves, their world, the people, the earth, the air and so on.

They take the middle path. Nothing is really too radical. They don’t go too far

one way or the other. It’s more of a balanced perspective. They spend time


Dr. Larry Iverson


outdoors and they do those things but it’s not overdone. They may have alcohol

but it’s not over done. They may eat meat but it’s not over done. They don’t just

eat one kind of vegetable, they have a blended diet.

They have strong social support systems. Every single day is another positive

day. That’s one of the traits, start the day positively and keep focused on the

positive.

Second, daily exercise whether the exercise is from working, or walking, or from

working out, or from playing sports or hobbies—they are active. All three of

these groups get some sort form of activity and that activity keeps them going

longer. It keeps them moving so that daily exercise boosts their system and

moves them forward.

A third thing that they all have in common is they have close connections to

family and friends. They care about each other, they care about doing things that

will benefit them and their communities. They have others to love and share fun,

laughter, enjoyment, learning together, playing together, working together.

They help each other when bad times come. This strong family and social

support system makes a difference. This close connection really lifts them up and

moves them forward into a better day to day experience.

They have celebrations and when they celebrate, they celebrate with everyone.

It’s quite common that they celebrate at meals. Literally it’s a celebration where

they give thanks, they are there with each other, they look around and appreciate

the moment and the people they have in their lives. There’s a close connection

between the people and that lifts them up and makes them feel cared for.

A fourth thing that all three of these groups have in common is they have a

spiritual belief. In God, in Mother Earth, in The One, in The All, in whatever you

want to call it. However they imagine the life force and energy that’s in all

things, and that is something that inspires them. They have a spiritual belief in

life and those spiritual beliefs give them hope and courage. Those beliefs support

their being the best person they can be.


Dr. Larry Iverson


A fifth thing each of these groups has is a decent diet—not perfect, but decent.

Veggies, protein, maybe meat or fish, maybe a little alcohol, not perfect but

everything was good quality.

They didn’t have much processed food. That doesn’t mean you can’t eat good

things from cans but most of it is fresh fish, meat, beans, seeds, nuts, grains,

vegetables, fruits, and so on. So the diet made a difference. That quality of diet

gave them the physical energy and the mental boost they needed to keep moving.

Because the mind and the body are a system, feed the body, stoke the mind, it

does them both.

And the sixth thing that they all had in common was that they had goals. They

had a reason to live. They had friends, they had hobbies, they had work, and they

had play and fun. They felt like they had value to share. No matter how old they

got, they were learning, they were growing, they were engaged, they were trying

new things, they were experiencing and experimenting.

They felt as if they were making a contribution. They could teach, they could

learn, they could experience and grow with one another. They had a reason to be

alive.

Got to Have a Reason

It’s well documented medically that when we lose our reason to live, our life span

becomes much shorter. You’ve seen it often times in elderly couples where one

of the couple passes away and within not too long a period of time, the other one

just seems to wither and die as well. That process is because they no longer felt

like they had their partner to play with. They no longer had that reason to live.

Their primary source of nurturance so to speak went away.

There have to be goals. There’s got to be a reason to live and these groups have

that. They have goals, they have a reason to be there, the friends, the hobbies, the

play, the work, they felt like they were doing something which was of value for

themselves or for others.


Dr. Larry Iverson


Every day they did all of this. All of these were part of their routine. They had

that reason to live, they had a good diet, that spiritual belief. They had a

connection with family and friends, they got some exercise, they themselves were

positive and encouraging of one another and in what they did.

They began the day positively. They asked themselves and others positive

questions. They lived with that attitude of gratitude. They prioritized their goals.

They put them in order of importance so even on play days or recreation days

they knew what was most important to them. They were active. They got out of

their chairs, they were doing things. You’ve got to keep your body moving, or it

will begin to waste away.

Last, number seven, they had a manner that helped them blow off the negative.

They focused on the positive and kept moving forward. Every day was a growing

day.

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale once said, “Empty pockets never held anybody back,

only empty heads and empty hearts can do that.”

Create Exceptional

As you begin to apply these strategies for success, you will truly move ever closer

to the exceptional achievements you want for yourself and for those you care

about. You don’t have to do every piece of what we just talked about starting all

right now.

What you do need to do though is to take one chunk. You begin to work on it,

you play with it, you exercise it and you begin to apply and refine it. When you

get that one down and it’s working pretty well, take another. Refine it, work it,

make it come alive, own it then take another.

You can be, do and have whatever you desire. Get out there and go for it. Make

today and every day a great day!

The Best of Success to You! Dr. Larry Iverson


Dr. Larry Iverson


http://www.DrLarryIverson.com

http://www.drlarryiverson.com/

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