Yorktown Heights, NY

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

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Matthew Cossolotto

3481 Wildwood Street

Yorktown Heights, NY 10598

914-245-9721

Matthew@ovations.com

www.ovations.com  

www.theempowermentpro.com

Go Ahead … Be A Scrooge!



How The "Ebenezer Effect" Could Change Your Life

Matthew Cossolotto

The new Jim Carrey movie based on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol has rekindled interest in the lessons we can learn from the trials, tribulations and transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge.

In the classic tale, Dickens' miserable miser comes face-to-face with the effects of his lifetime of negative habits and attitudes when a series of ghosts show him his past, present and potential future. The first apparition to pay him a visit is Scrooge's deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, who tells Scrooge: "I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it."

The links of Morley's chain sound like they could well be the same negative habits and attitudes that also shackle poor Scrooge.

After Scrooge encounters disturbing scenes in the Past and the Present, the ghost of Christmas-Yet-To-Come transports him to a time just after his own funeral. He pays an uncomfortable visit to his own gravestone.

"The Spirit was immovable as ever. Scrooge crept towards it, trembling as he went; and following the finger, read upon the stone of the neglected grave his own name, Ebenezer Scrooge."

Spurred on by this shocking, up-close-and-personal rendezvous with his own mortality, Scrooge exclaims to the Spirit: "I am not the man I was. I will not be that wretched creature any longer."

And he is indeed transformed overnight. He awakens the next morning, Christmas Day, a changed man. "I am as light as a feather," he cries. "I am as happy as an angel. I am as merry as a schoolboy!"

That's the power of what I call the "Ebenezer Effect." And it's one important lesson we should all learn from Scrooge: Personal transformation can happen quickly, even overnight, if you believe it can and if you have the right motivation.

Another life-changing lesson is that we all have the ability to project ourselves into the future and imagine what people are likely to say about us after we're gone. Scrooge almost waited until it was too late. The good news is you don't have to wait for a ghostly escort service. You can take this journey anytime you want through the power of your own imagination.

Write Your Own Eulogy

Here's a great way to maximize the positive impact of this imaginary excursion to the future: Sit down, grab a pen and notepad, and write your own eulogy. But don't go around delivering it. Just write it and keep it to yourself.

I know that to some this may sound a bit morbid. But I assure you it's an extremely enlightening, worthwhile and potentially life-changing exercise.

Now, before you exclaim, "Bah, humbug!," let me explain how this will benefit you.

They say nothing focuses the mind like the guillotine. In the same vein, writing your own eulogy will help you jumpstart and sustain positive change in your life by establishing a clear blueprint for the life you want to lead, what you want to accomplish, what kind of person you aspire to be, and how you want to be remembered.

As you write your eulogy, record your life's accomplishments in the past tense. Did you write that book you've been talking about? Did you set a positive example? Did you donate and volunteer to help those less fortunate? Did you raise a wonderful family, start that business, travel the world, or learn another language? In what ways did you make a positive difference to your family, your community, your country and the world at large. In short, did you live up to your potential or did you fall short?

This eulogy exercise helps to focus the mind on long-term goals and on big questions about your life's purpose. The sooner you write your eulogy, the better. Jacob Marley never got around to it and he ended up chained and condemned to eternal purgatory. Scrooge almost waited until it was too late. So don't put it off. This is something you should do right now!

A Mission Statement You Can't Ignore

Your written eulogy amounts to a uniquely powerful "mission statement" for your life, designed intentionally to grab and keep your attention over time. Once written, this eulogy is a document that you ignore only at your peril. Remember this: The eulogy you write today isn't etched in stone like Scrooge's name on that tombstone. You can always go back to the document periodically and make some edits, add new goals or even remove things that no longer apply. The main thing is to get something on paper that reflects your long-term goals, heartfelt values, and deepest principles. Those things shouldn't change very much over time.

Ebenezer Scrooge should be seen as one of the great literary role models for personal change. He shows us that it's never to late to change and that change can happen literally overnight. There's no time like the present to put the past into perspective and project yourself into the future but writing your own eulogy. This will enable you to harness the power of the "Ebenezer Effect."

This time of year, it's a good idea to clarify what's most important to you and to set your life's course in the direction you want it to take -- before it's too late.

So this holiday season, go ahead -- be a Scrooge!



About Matthew Cossolotto, aka "The Empowerment Pro"

A former aide to Congressman Leon Panetta and US House Speaker Jim Wright, Matthew Cossolotto is an author, guest speaker, executive speechwriter and coach. His private-sector career includes stints as a CEO-level speechwriter and communications executive at MCI, Pepsi-Cola International, and GTE. In 1996, Matthew launched Ovations International – "Home of the Standing O®." Author of The Real F Word (FAILURE), HabitForce! and All The World's A Podium, he conducts Podium Power! and Harness Your HabitForce! keynotes and workshops for corporations, associations, nonprofit organizations, schools and community groups. For more information, please visit www.Ovations.com, www.PersonalChangeYouCanBelieveIn.com.  

Matthew Cossolotto

President/Author/Speaker

Ovations International, Inc.

Yorktown Heights, NY

914-245-9721

First Url: The Real F Word (FAILURE)

Second Url: The Empowerment Pro