Success Lessons From 2014 - Part 9 - Make Each Day The Very Best

Dear Loving People,

Has it occurred to you that every single day in your life is an opportunity to be your best? We live in a very different time now than we did 10 years ago. No other generation has enjoyed such an impressive shift in technology and lifestyle changes. But guess what, time is running out. I know that is cruel to say, but it's true. For us to forget ahead in a better way, we need to realize that our time is now limited, so we need to make the very best of it. As a matter of fact, time is a tool. It can be manipulated, shared, divided, and saved. There are guaranteed ways to make the most of your time. In your quest for success, you have to realize that time is you most valuable resource. If you learn how to control and use it wisely, you will maximize your output both spiritually and financially.

Mark Twain says, "The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." Part of the finding out why lies in your capacity to say “No” at times. You must realize that every time you say "yes" to a request, you are in fact saying "no" to something else. Time is yours to use so don't let someone else use it up for you. You will be surprised how easy it is to deflect non-essential requests for your time by others. Simple things like keeping your door shut while working on priority tasks, not answering the phone, and letting people know that you are too busy will help you find more time for yourself.

One fact is that no matter how you plan your time, its not going to be a bed of roses all the times. Dr. Robert Schuller puts it clearly that “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” It’s true that even the toughest of times don’t last forever, and as long as you remain strong you’ll make it through and be able to weather whatever storms come your way. The human spirit has shown that it’s capable of making it through tough times, and getting to the end of the tunnel. The best part of dealing with adversity is that it toughens you up for the next trial in your life. Knowing that you’re only getting better with each new struggle can be an inspiration during those times when you feel like giving up. Being a tough person doesn’t mean you have to be callous, it just means you have an inner strength that’s battle-tested.

Above all, keep in mind the words of David Foster “There is no dress rehearsal. You can either lay in bed all day and feel sorry for yourself or you can get up every morning at 6 and try to make the best of the day.”

Success Lessons From 2014 - Part VI - Get Your Mind In Shape

Dear loving people,

If you asked every ten people you meet, chances are high that you would get a I would say that what goes on inside you (in your mind) is much more important in determining whether you're happy or miserable than any of the outer circumstances of your life. Did I just say that? Yes of course and does what you just read sound reasonable? Do the inner workings of your mind really have a greater effect on you than, say, your possessions or your surroundings? After all, big companies spend billions every year trying to convince you that the opposite is true! In their eyes, your best shot at achieving happiness is to buy whatever they're selling. They appeal to the "if only" mentality: If only you drove a fancier car, lived in a bigger house, wore the best clothes you can find in the market, and used a softer perfumed toilet paper — then you'd be truly happy. Even if you don't believe everything advertisers tell you, don't you believe that the external conditions of your life determine how well off you are?

To get a picture of what I mean, consider the following situation. Two friends of yours, call them Jovi and Joni, take a vacation together to Zanzibar in Tanzania. They stay in the same luxurious guesthouse, eat the same food prepared by the same master chef, and engage in the same recreational activities. But, when they get home and tell you about their trip, their stories sound like they vacationed in two completely different worlds! For Jovi, Zanzibar was heaven on Earth, but for Joni, it was pure hell. For every wonderful experience Jovi brings up, Joni tells you about two awful ones. This situation is hypothetical, of course, but doesn't it sound familiar? Hasn't something like this happened to you or your friends? True stories like this scenario aren't rare, so how can you account for them?

The example (and relevant ones from your own experience) demonstrates that the outer circumstances of your life aren't the only factors or even the most important ones in determining whether you're content or not. If external conditions were more important than the condition of your mind, both Jovi and Joni would've loved Zanzibar, and no rich and famous person would ever contemplate suicide.

The more closely you look, the more clearly you'll see that your mental attitude is what mainly determines the quality of your life. This is not to say, however, that your outer circumstances count for nothing, any more than a person has to give away all of his or her possessions to be a sincere spiritual seeker. But, without developing your inner resources of peace and mental stability, no amount of worldly success, whether measured in terms of wealth, fame, power, or relationships can ever bring real satisfaction. Or, as someone once said, "Money can't buy happiness; it can only allow you to select your particular form of misery."

Cancer survivor Lance Armstrong says: “Real healing meant getting my mind in shape; it meant getting my confidence and priorities in shape, too.”

 

Carolyn Warner adds, “I am convinced that attitude is the key to success or failure in almost any of life’s endeavors. Your attitude, your outlook, how you feel about yourself, how you feel about other people, determines your priorities, your actions, your values. Your attitude determines how you interact with other people and how you interact with yourself.”

You are Your Own CEO!

Dear loving people,

Have you noticed that when you have such a burning desire to get something, you easily figure out how to get it? Friedrich Nietzsche says “He who has a strong enough why can bear almost any how.”

It is only when you realize that you are the only one responsible for your own life, that you must take charge and take control of your own fate, will you begin to shape your destiny. John Atkinson says “if you don't run your own life, somebody else will.”

At one point in my life, I had to decide like William Blake Plan states that “I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man's.” Today, life goes easy for iPhone owners because Steve Jobs (1955-2001) had a burning desire to take a paradigm shift in mobile phone technology. He said “Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do. - Steve Jobs,

Fortunately or unfortunately, it has to be clear when you take upon the task of shaping your life that there is no free lunch, there is no reward without sweat and as a matter of fact, Vidal Sassoon says “The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.”

Everybody wants things from and for their lives. Various forms of abundance, financial wealth, building a great house, starting a successful business or charitable foundation, creating a family are a few of many possibilities. Effective CEOs take the time to identify what they truly want.

Excellent CEOs make vision attainment appear to be almost effortless ventures. This is because the decision has been made that their life and causes are so important to them and their families that effort represents a very minor price to pay. You can do same, you have to do same.

Only you can make or mare after all, what you become in life largely depends on you because and as I always say, only you are the CEO of your own life.

Self-confidence is a Building Block

Dear loving people,

Self-confidence is an attitude which allows individuals to have positive yet realistic views of themselves and their situations. Self-confident people trust their own abilities, have a general sense of control in their lives, and believe that, within reason, they will be able to do what they wish, plan, and expect. Having self-confidence does not mean that individuals will be able to do everything. Self-confident people have expectations that are realistic. Even when some of their expectations are not met, they continue to be positive and to accept themselves.

Self-confidence is extremely important in almost every aspect of our lives, yet so many people struggle to find it. Sadly, this can be a vicious circle: People who lack self-confidence can find it difficult to become successful. After all, most people are reluctant to back a project that's being led by someone who was nervous, fumbling, and overly apologetic.

Self-confidence is exactly the difference between feeling unstoppable and feeling scared out of your wits. Your perception of yourself has an enormous impact on how others perceive you. Perception is reality — the more self-confidence you have, the more likely it is you’ll succeed.

One way to start boosting your self-confidence is to affirm your worth, truly, affirmations work magic. Write a list of statements that say what you want and how you want to be in life such as, "I get more confident everyday". "I am an expert at what I do, I know I am". State all affirmations in the present. Some people stand in front of a mirror and say them. I also encourage you to record them and play the tape over and over. Read your affirmations at least once a day.

Then you have to evaluate your relationships. Assess the relationships in your life. Do they support you or sabotage you? All relationships change with time; some get better, some get worse. If you have relationships in your life that are more of a burden then a joy, it may be time to get rid of them.

Evaluating your existing relationships give room for you to start new relationships. Identify people that have the qualities you admire - people you feel you could learn from and who could learn from you, as well. Look for people you can have fun with. Boosting your confidence can be really fun, if you want it to be. This may be time for a traditional support group. Chatting over a cup of palm wine with your pals might be a remedy. Organize your own group of confidence boosters and support each other in making changes. Remember my post on Fulcrum Of Success (FOS)? You might want to read that again.

Above all and most importantly, you will have to change your behavior.
What do you do that boosts your confidence and what do you do that brings it down? Exercise, getting enough sleep, speaking your mind, and dressing well are behaviors that tend to boost confidence. Staying up late, spending all your time with some lousy friends, and saying "yes" to avoid confrontation when you really want to say "no" will bring your confidence down.

Never forget to speak up. When we withhold communication because we are afraid of how we will be received, we chip away another bit of our confidence. Share your thoughts, opinions, and preferences. Speak up in all situations. As part of a formidable human potential development organization – Gold Touch International, I learned that you should make it a point of duty to speak-up wherever you are. The insignificant situations will be practice for the important occasions that are sure to follow.

In doing all of this, ensure that you take a risk a day. A risk is something you would do in an instant if you knew you would be successful. It is the fact that you do not know how it will turn out that makes it a risk. The best way to bolster your confidence is to start doing things you are afraid to do. Make a list of risks for you and start to do them one by one.

Sometimes, it takes a few days to boost your confidence, sometimes, it takes a few weeks. Occasionally it can take a few months to overcome a confidence deficiency. Know that if you are consistent with your confidence boosting techniques, you will eventually find yourself renewed, stronger, and more confident.

Let the Natural Law Work for You (Part 1)

Dear loving people,

Our topic this morning sounds weird isn’t it? Do you believe that above the imperfect laws written by man there exist a higher, perfectly just, unwritten natural law created by God? Well, the interesting fact is that human laws are valid only insofar as they correspond to the natural law, and everybody can discover for himself what this natural law demands simply by using reason.

Guess what, you are not alone in believing so; as far back as some 2,000 years ago, a Roman writer and politician Cicero in his book Laws wrote: "There is in fact a true law - namely right reason - which is in accordance with nature, applies to all men, and is unchangeable and eternal. ... It will not lay down one rule at Rome and another at Athens, nor will it be one rule today and another tomorrow. But there will be one law, eternal and unchangeable, binding at all times upon all peoples; and there will be, as it were, one common master and ruler of men, namely God, who is the author of this law, its interpreter and its sponsor. The man who will not obey it will abandon his better self and, in denying the true nature of man, will thereby suffer the severest of penalties, though he has escaped all the other consequences which men call punishment."

Cicero in such a concise statement summarized all the essential features of what became known as the natural law. First, it is the direct expression of the Divine Will. Therefore it is universal, eternal and unchangeable. Second, its rules can and must be found with the help of right reason. Third, man has a sacred obligation to obey these rules. Whenever he breaks them, he violates his own "true nature" and therefore automatically punishes himself.

Thus, the concept of a Natural Law implies that moral principles are immanent in nature, and that they tell us exactly how we should behave. As long as we obey them, we fulfill our true destiny. All our actions will not only be natural, but also perfectly moral. In other words, if everybody acted according to his nature, i.e., his "better self", the world could forever live in harmony, justice, and peace.

The truth is that even before Cicero; such an appealing idea had long been introduced by a popular school of Greek philosophers including Plato, Aristotle and then Stoics. These Greek philosophers equally only updated a much older philosophy originating from some of the earliest religious beliefs of mankind that evolved from animism through polytheism to monotheism.

Let’s get one point straight, my objective here is not to take you into an exploration of some ancient Greek mythology but rather to enable you understand the Purpose of Natural Law in relation to your quest for success. Like a strong current in a river, natural law propels life in an evolutionary direction. It is the invincible force in nature from the level of the unified field that continually creates, maintains, and evolves life.

Sitting under a tree one day, Isaac Newton saw an apple fall.  Watching the apple fall led him to theorise that there was an unseen force, which he later called gravity that causes objects to not fly off of the earth.  Natural laws like the law of gravity are fundamental truths and can be applied to our own endeavours. Life is easier if we notice the way things work and use that knowledge to our advantage. 

Obviously it is easier to work with the force of gravity than against it.  You can achieve wondrous results by trying to work with natural inclinations. So how does that apply to our lives?  Let’s take a look at other natural phenomena.  One thing we notice in nature is that babies are born small and they take a long time to grow into full maturity.  They can grow into a huge man or woman given time and a nurturing environment.

 

To be continued...