Pinoy Big Thinkers

Perseverance

pinoybigthinker — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 09:18:12 GMT

“If were asked to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice for all humanity it would be this: Expect trouble as an inevitable/predictable part of life and when it comes, hold your head high, look it squarely in the eye and say, I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.” Ann Landers

“The possibilities of what life can be if a person has a goal in mind, then puts his or her heart, soul, and mind into meeting the goal.” “Decide what you want out of life; look on the positive side; and never give up until you achieve it.” Bill Porter

“I feel all these setbacks were tools for me to learn from. I used them as stepping-stones and didn’t see them as failures. A failure is when you stop trying, and I never did that.” Tom Monaghan

“Nothing comes easy, you have to work hard for everything. And no matter how small your voice is, I believe you can make a difference.” Laura-Beth Moore

“I knew instinctively/unconsciously that my unyielding/firm drive was my most important asset. Perseverance will always be just as important – important as talent. Never stop believing! Never give up! Never quit! Never.” Joan Rivers

“I persevered against the odds/probability and against the rules because I believed in my dreams. It would have been more difficult for me to live with that unfulfilled passion than it was to fight to make it happen.” Shirley Muldowney

Your Personal Action Plan: Perseverance Rewards Your Efforts

“Never…Never… Never quit”

Step 1: Focus on Your Goal

Unstoppable achievers keep their eyes on the target at all times. They often use visual keys to remind them through the day of goal they’re working toward. Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner arrange his entire apartment so it would remind him everyday of his goal and since the high hurdle was his weakest skill, he placed a hurdle right in the middle of the living room, where he had to step over it as many as 30 times a day.

Action: Create a constant reminder of your goal. By now, I’m hoping you’ve identified your purpose, written your statement of calling, and created a dream that evokes your passion. The next step is to keep that dream and the goals that support it at the forefront of your mind. Here are just a few of the many ways you could do so:

Write your statement of calling and goals on note cards or Post-It Notes and strategically place them throughout your house and office.

Record your statement of calling and goals on an audio cassette and play the tape as you’re driving chores, resting, or meditating.

Put your goals on the screen saver of your computer.

Sir Isaac Newton was asked how he discovered the law of gravity and he replied, “ By thinking about it all the time.”

Step 2: Accept Failures as Learning Experiences

“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.” Confucius

Unstoppable people don’t believe in failure. They see mistakes as opportunities to learn and develop new skills and strategies, not as failure. Failure implies waste, that nothing has been gained. On the contrary, people can gain much from every mistake and setback along the road to success. Mistakes and failures are inevitable/predictable and even essential; they are evidence of action – that you are doing something. The more mistakes you make, the greater your chance of succeeding. Failures indicate a willingness to experiment and take risks. Unstoppable people know that each failure brings them a step closer to achieving their dreams.

“Many people dream of success. To me, success can be achieved only through repeated failure and introspection. In fact, success represents the 1 percent of your work that results from 99 percent that is called failure.” Soichiro Honda

Honda has said that hundreds of other achievers have said before him. You may remember that Edison said he would have invented the light bulb without first failing at 4,000 experiments. Being able to see failure as an opportunity for learning and improvement is critical to becoming unstoppable. People who can’t bear a moment of failure have doomed themselves to mediocrity, for they’ll never be able to push themselves past a point that is uncomfortable or unfamiliar. Yet it is beyond that point where success dwells.

“If you’re not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.” Jim Rohn

Step 3. Be Patient – Cultivate a Long-Term Mentality

We live in a society that demands and has grown accustomed/familiar to instant gratification/fulfillment. Most people today lack the persistence necessary to achieve their goals. Unfortunately, there are no fast-food outlets serving up our dreams. Achieving your dream takes time. Every moment you are working, you can take comfort in realizing you are moving closer and closer to your dream. That work, the journey itself, is the adventure and half of the reward. Don’t shortchange it.

“Don’t let me ever hear you use the word ‘impossible.’ If I’ve learned anything over the course of my career, there’s no such thing as impossible. Overnight, the impossible may not be possible. But over time, the impossible certainly becomes possible.” Earl Graves

Step 4: Never Quit

Ann Landers advises us to “expect trouble as an inevitable/unavoidable part of life. When it comes, hold your head high, look it squarely in the eye and say, “I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.” Pursue your dream with confidence and never, never, never quit. If you don’t give up, you simply cannot fail. Not only will you achieve your dream, but the combination of your commitment, courage, and faith will rise as the greatest triumph of all.

“It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by then I was too famous.” Robert Benchley

Your Legacy: A Bold Unstoppable Spirit!

Regardless of the success you may be currently experiencing, you believe deep in your soul that you are destined for far greater things.

It is important to realize that you possess everything you need to achieve your own unique form of greatness – whether you desire to be an outstanding professional, entrepreneur, citizen, or parent. Like other known people, you too can become unstoppable. By taking responsibility for your life and your future and refusing to allow any circumstance/situation, no matter how formidable/frightening, to be an excuse for failure, you can create your own unstoppable legacy.

Creativity Taps Unconscious Resources

pinoybigthinker — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 09:10:32 GMT

It’s happened to everyone who has a goal. You decide what you want, develop a plan, take the first step, and then the unexpected happens.

“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” Michael Jordan

“What saved us over and over was our willingness to recognize what wasn’t working and quickly identify a new way of looking at it. By remaining flexible and open to creative solutions, the results have been miraculous.” Anita Roddick

“I don’t let obstacle get me down. I focus on how to overcome them. You can work around any obstacle by going under it if it’s too high, going over it if it’s too low. There’s always a way!” James Rocky Robinson

“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” Margaret Thatcher

“All of this was possible because I didn’t stop at the first or 100^th no I received. If one approach didn’t work, I’d try another one, and I never gave up.” John Mautner

“The truth is that the average ‘bottom-of-the-ladder’ person is potentially as creative as the top executive who sits in the big office. The problem is that the person on the bottom of the ladder doesn’t trust his own brilliance and doesn’t therefore, believe in his own ideas.” Dr. Robert H. Schuller

“We weren’t promised a bed of roses,” “and the sun always shines after the rain.”

“Things don’t just happen. You have to make them happen and you can count on nothing working out exactly as planned. By working hard and creatively looking for solutions, you will find your way around all of life’s obstacles.” Eula Hall

Ask ourselves the following question: “What can I do, with what I have, to get what I want?”

Your Personal Action Plan: Tapping Your Creativity

Pursuing a goal is a constantly evolving process. No one who has ever followed a dream has taken a direct, unobstructed path and arrived at his or her destination effortlessly and on time. Following a dream is not a direct highway but a bumpy road full of twists and turns and occasional roadblocks. The journey requires modifications and adjustments in both thought and action, not just once, but over and over. And that means you must be flexible and creative.

Step 1: Develop Your Inborn Creativity

Creativity is a Muscle

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” That’s what Albert Einstein said, and Einstein was one of the most intelligent people who ever lived. He solved some of the greatest riddles of science, riddles that had confounded other scientists for centuries. Einstein was a master problem solver, yet he often said that his greatest asset in solving problems was not his intellect but his imagination.

The good news is you don’t have to be as imaginative as Einstein to be an effective problem solver. All people have an abundance of creativity within themselves to solve any problem that arises. The challenge is to keep your mind strong and flexible. Your mind functions like a muscle. Exercising your mind might require spending less time in front of the television set and more time thinking, creating, and brainstorming with others on how you can identify a solution to your challenges.

Exercise for Expanding Your Creativity

1^st, Identify a problem and write the problem across the top of the sheet. Then write the numbers 1 through 10 vertically down the left side of the sheet of paper. Finally, write ten possible solutions to your problem. The purpose of the exercise is to stretch your imagination and tap unconscious resources.

Next step in the exercise is to examine each solution and crossed out the ones that don’t lead anywhere.

Action: Apply this exercise to one of your current problems. Perhaps you’re looking for a way to fund a new business, identify people who can help you launch a product, or determine the solution to a community problem. Write down ten different ways you could approach the problem and reach a solution. Make sure they are viable options, but stretch your imagination.

Remember, the solution to every problem lies within you. You may need a few minutes of quiet time to complete the exercise effectively, or you may need to brainstorm possible solution with a friend. Feel free to do whatever you think is necessary to connect with your inner knowing. When you’ve completed the exercise, you should find that the solutions you have found will renew your sense of possibility and commitment to your goal.

Step 2: Be Flexible

“Your imagination is the preview to life’s coming attractions.” Albert Einstein

“Creative,” “flexile,” “imaginative” – these three words are almost interchangeable. If you are creative, you can think of alternative ways to work around problems, ways that align with your own skills and reflect your values. If you are flexible, you are able and willing to change and modify plans; you adjust to new circumstances and needs. If you are imaginative, you envision what is not and what can be – you see in your mind what you haven’t yet seen in the material world. All three words refer to your willingness to experiment with new approaches and fresh solutions.

When a great wind blows, that which is rigid will snap and break. That which is flexible will bend. When the wind dies down and calm returns, the flexible will rise again.

Eli Whitney, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford, these people triumphed by using imagination and flexibility. They experimented with new materials and techniques that often seemed unrealistic or unbelievable at the time. For years, they suffered failure after failure, but they never felt regret. Each time they simply abandoned what did not work, revised their theories, and continued to look for what would work. They were flexible and humble enough to learn from other people’s ideas and experiments and to adapt them to their own projects.

Brian Tracy, business writer and consultant, says that to create a successful product, the product need be only 5% different from existing products. If the product is too different, it may be “ahead of its time,” and consumers may not be ready for it. Ideas are products too. Therefore, it is possible that a creative idea need be only slightly different to yield significant results.

Unstoppable people always find their way over, around, or under every barrier that confronts them. A brick wall is intimidating, but it is not undefeatable. Unstoppable people believe there’s a solution to every problem if they keep searching.

No one is asking you to become as creative as Shakespeare, as flexible as Houdini, or as imaginative as Da Vinci. But you may be surprised at how much exists within you. Dip into you well of creativity. Apply imagination, creativity, and flexibility to the challenges that predictably appear as you proceed toward your goal. If you tap only 5% of your potential, you are on your way to being 100% unstoppable.

“We are told never to cross a bridge till we come to it, but this world is owned by people who have ‘crossed bridges’ in their imagination far ahead of the crowd.” Speakers Library

Teams Strengthen the Cause

pinoybigthinker — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:51:19 GMT

You don’t have to do it alone and you shouldn’t. The stronger your team, the more unstoppable you are.

“You can make it, but it’s easier if you don’t have to do it alone.” Betty Ford

“Will you help me? Those are the only words you need to say, and someone will help you.” Tom Harken

“You can’t do it all yourself, Don’t be afraid to rely on others to help you accomplish your goals.” Oprah Winfrey

“It’s easier to be ignorant and say I don’t know about the problem. But once you know, once you’ve seen it in their eyes, then you have a responsibility to do something. There s strength in numbers, and if we all work together as a team, we can be unstoppable.” Craig K.

“The young do not know enough to be prudent/careful, and therefore they attempt the impossible – and achieve it, generation after generation.” Pearl S. Buck

“If you don’t know something, don’t be afraid to ask for help.” Gertrude Boyle

“The most important thing about establishing goals is to make sure they are important to other people in addition to you” Billy Payne

Your Personal Action Plan: Building Your Team

Behind every great achiever is another achiever. No one attains greatness by themselves. Once you’ve committed yourself to becoming unstoppable, you can begin to draw on the vast number of people and resources that can help you.

Step 1: Identify Role Models for Strength and Inspiration

The unstoppable people were inspired by all sorts of individuals: great leaders from the past, people who achieved excellence in a particular field. Inspirational role models demonstrate what’s possible and provide an invaluable source of motivation, strength, and hope.

Arnold Schwarzenegger found hi role model, Peg Park, in a bodybuilding magazine. Peg was the powerful person in bodybuilding at that time, and Arnold dreamed of having huge muscles like Peg’s. Arnold learned everything he could about Peg – his training routine, diet, and lifestyle. The more he learned about Peg and followed his example, the more Arnold realized it was possible for him to become like Peg.

Action: Create your own Gallery of Unstoppable Role Models. To create your gallery, first identify three or four individual who truly inspire you. Find pictures of these people and hang the pictures in a place where you spend quiet time for reflection. When challenging situation or feeling discouraged, look at the pictures of your role models. Draw strength from their spirit. Remind yourself that they have been where you are and that they prevailed. If they prevailed, so can you!

“The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It gives human beings a sense of destination and the energy to get started.” Norman Cousins

Step 2: Inventory Your Existing Contacts

You’re Only a Phone Call Away from ANYONE.

There’s a saying that anyone is only a six people from the president. You know someone who knows someone who knows someone… right up to the Palace. And if you’re only six people away from the president, you’re only six people away from anyone you want to meet, whether it’s corporate CEO, a celebrity whose help you’d like to enlist to support a cause.

Draw on Your Existing Relationships

People like doing business with people they like, and they also like helping people they like. “If you don’t have a big name, borrow one.”

Action: Make a list of all your contacts. Think of everyone you know and have done business with right up to the CEO of a company that has been a past client. Design a strategy that best uses your contacts. Maybe you’d like someone to make a phone call on your behalf, refer you to a contact in a particular industry, or write a letter of endorsement.

Step 3: Develop Your Own “Inner Circle”

The relationships were developed over years of invested time and energy. Networking is a skill that is never taught in school but is absolutely crucial if your dream requires the support of others. What ever your goal is, the principles are the same. Everyone can benefit from their own inner circle.

“From the beginning of time, those who became leaders were not necessarily the strongest or fiercest…but those with the most friends or connections.”

Find Candidates for Your “Inner Circle”

Nonprofit organizations: The absolute best place to find caring, action-oriented people is at nonprofit organizations. The board of directors of most nonprofit, comprise corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and community leaders. No matter how busy you may be, if you’re not involved in a nonprofit, you are missing a great opportunity to invest in people. Identify a nonprofit that compliments your purpose and passion. Volunteer for a committee. By giving of your time and resources, you’ll gain the opportunity to make a difference in your community and meet great people you might not have ordinarily come in contact with.

Professional associations and conventions: People gather from all over the country to share ideas, methods, and techniques at industry conventions. These meeting offer an excellent forum to make a new connections and personally meet top achievers in almost any field. Do your research. After identifying the industry or field you want to pursue, go to the library or go on-line with your computer and look up the associations listed under that category. Call the association and request an information kit along with a list of upcoming conventions, seminars, and available publications and other materials. Identify the people you most want to meet, attend the meetings, and introduce yourself. Don’t be shy!

Your existing place of employment: If you are currently working for a corporation, don’t miss a valuable opportunity to maximize your existing resources. Every employee has a title and a job description. Unfortunately, many employees refuse to do anything outside of their job description. If you want to grow and become unstoppable, you must step “out of the box” and move beyond the confines of your job description. Think of opportunities that you could develop more fully. How could you maximize the job you currently have? What special projects could you volunteer to lead? Whom do you admire in your company and want to learn from? Step outside the “box.” No one will create these opportunities for you. You have to do it.

Find a coach: Personal coaches are becoming a unique profession of the 1990s. Coaches work with all types of individuals to help define and achieve goals: career, personal, or most often both. Find an individual who has expertise in an area where you require support. Think about the skills and abilities you have that could be useful to that person and then trade time coaching each other.

Action: Identify an area where you would like to learn more. Talk to your inner circle, and ask them if they know anyone in that field. Usually, each name you get will result in another referral until you meet the person you need to meet. If all of your leads eventually become dead-ends, do some research. Even Bill Gates can be reached by email. Take advantage of technology, and most important, take action! You have nothing to lose, and each step will bring you closer to your goal.

“A wise man learns by the experience of others. An ordinary man learns by his own experience. A fool learns by nobody’s experience.” Vern McLellan

Step 4: Develop a Mastermind Group – Your Personal Advisory Board

Napoleon Hill defines a mastermind group as the “coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.” If “two heads are better than one,” when you have an entire team, you have an exponential magic. “Economic advantages may be created by any person who surrounds themselves with the advice, counsel, and personal cooperation of a group who are willing to lend him or her wholehearted aid in a spirit of harmony. Many people have similar interests or skills that can help you and who can be helped by your expertise. Members of a mastermind group bring together their varied backgrounds, information, and contacts for one specific reason: to help each group member achieve his or her goals.

A mastermind group provides a great opportunity to allow your inner circle to benefit others. Each of you has a contacts and knowledge that can be of value to a variety of people whether he or she works for a nonprofit organization or is an executive with a Fortune 500 company.

Finally, don’t underestimate who and what you know. Always look for ways you can offer help first. Build a reputation for being a “giver.” Brainstorm how your expertise or contacts can help others. Be the first to give. You’ll derive personal satisfaction in helping others. If you focus on giving and being of service to others, people will want to give back to you!

Action: Identify three areas where you require support. Identify one person this week that could provide support in one of those areas and invite that person to join your mastermind group. Brainstorm with that person about how you could help each other achieve your respective goals. Discuss possible future members for the mastermind group, existing contacts, and resources you might each have that would help one another.

When it comes to teamwork, the math you learned in school doesn’t apply. One plus one equals far more than two. And one plus any other number can equal unstoppable results.

Preparation Builds the Foundation

pinoybigthinker — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:32:44 GMT

The average individual has no real plan for his or her future. He or she may have fantasies and even hopes, but not plans.

“There is no sudden leap into the stratosphere. There is only advancing step by step, slowly and tortuously, up the pyramid toward your goals.” Ben Stein

“I’ve always had a vision to do bigger and better things. Not just for myself, but for my family and community. I know you don’t do it all at once. It takes planning and preparation to get big things done, and I was willing to spend fifteen years preparing myself for the challenge. Lee Dunham

“I learned that confidence comes only after a measure of success, and success comes after a whole lot of practice and preparation.” Maury Wills

“I hated every minute of the training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’” Muhammad Ali

“I believe that all of us have the potential to rise above our weaknesses, and even to use those weaknesses as foundations for our success. If we are willing to diligently practice and develop the skills, we can be successful in whatever field we choose.” Jackie Torrence

Your Personal Action Plan : Preparing for Your Future

Most people have no plan for their lives. Many have an idea that they’ll work a certain number of years, then retire. Some may have fantasies and hopes, but they do not have plans. Instead, they respond to what life brings according to the needs of the day. People may have innovative ideas but then might scrutinize them over and over until they find all the reasons why their ideas will not work.

The following steps will help you prepare your personal plan of action.

Step 1: Identify the Desired Result

The first step in designing a plan is to look ahead at the end result you envision. By developing clear vision of what you ultimately want to achieve, it will be easier to identify the steps to get there.

Action: Write a clear and concise/brief statement of specifically what you want to accomplish and by what date. Make sure the statement is consistent with your purpose and passion.

Step 2: Determine the Skills You’ll Need

Unstoppable people are willing to become students. They exert the energy and make the sacrifices necessary to educate themselves and to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to fulfill their dreams. Many people take training or pursue new job to broaden their experience and knowledge. Without exception, you must have an unwavering/firm commitment to do whatever is necessary to become fully prepared for the tasks ahead.

Action: Research and identify the skills, education, and experience required to achieve your goal. One way to help you learn about those requirements is to talk to people who are doing what you want to do.

Step 3: Create a Plan of Action.

By their very nature, dreams have a tendency to be broad and vague/unclear. To be unstoppable, you must convert your dream into reality. You can do so easily by taking your goal and breaking it into smaller steps. Then arrange the steps in priority order and write dates next to each step indicating when it must be accomplished to meet your ultimate objective. A clear, methodical approach will help you move steadily forward, without danger of being overwhelmed by the ultimate goal.

Action: Now it’s time for you to create your unstoppable plan of action.

Write a clear and concise statement of specifically what you want to accomplish and by what date.
Break your goal down into single steps and activities.
Prioritize the steps and write dates next to each indicating when each step must be accomplished to meet your ultimate objective.
Review your action plan daily.
Do at least one thing every day to move yourself closer to your goal.

Many of you have written plans and we are well on your way to accomplishing your goals. Some of you are just realizing what it is you really want. Regardless of what you want to accomplish, it begins with a dream. But without a plan, your dream may remain just a dream. Start now! Put together your action plan. Then, remember the action part.

Belief – Sustain the Journey

pinoybigthinker — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 07:51:45 GMT

With a believing state of mind, you can transform your purpose and goals into physical realities. Once you truly believe and understand the power of belief, you can withstand any setback and adjust to every necessary change.

When belief develops into a conviction, when it is anchored in your soul and nothing can destroy it, then belief becomes faith. And faith is a powerful force. “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20.

“Don’t say you can’t do something until you’ve tried.” Whenever someone tells that the goal is impossible, You look them straight in the eye and say, ‘Don’t tell me it’s impossible until after I’ve already done it.’ Pam Lontos

Everybody is an expert in giving advice on how you cannot do something. So forget about everybody. And then, when you encounter a hurdle – view it as an opportunity, not the end of the world. Do what ever you need to do to get past it quickly. If you believe in your dream, you’ll definitely get there. Success was built upon our self and determination.

“You can do anything you want to do in life, if you have a fierce/severe belief in yourself, a strong will, a big heart, and some role models to inspire you.” Tyron Boques, 5’3” smallest player in the history of the NBA.

Your Personal Action Plan :Ten Steps to Developing an Unstoppable Belief System.

Step 1: Take Immediate Action.

Your actions reflect your beliefs, and it is what you do that demonstrates what you believe. By taking even the smallest steps, you are communicating to yourself and to the world that you believe in yourself and your dream. By taking consistent action, you will generate the feeling until eventually you are confident, down to the bottom of your soul. Every action you take raises your self-esteem and confidence. You’re no longer sitting around waiting and hoping for something magical to happen. You’re the creator of that “magic”. With your growing self-esteem, you realize your dream is possible. If you want to be unstoppable, show to the world that you believe in yourself. Act confident, act with conviction.

Action: Write down one action you can take immediately that will put your dream into motion. Do it now

Step 2: Acknowledge Your Untapped Potential.

It is commonly agreed that the average person uses only a fraction of his/her potential mental capacity.

Action: Make a realistic assessment of your current abilities. Now imagine that your abilities have increase by 10%. What would you be doing if you immediately possessed 10% more abilities, skills, and talents.

Exercises to help measure our true size

1. Determine your five chief assets. Invite some objective friend to help, possibly your wife, your superior, a professor, some intelligent person who will give you an honest opinion. (Example: Assets frequently listed are, education, experience, technical skills, appearance, well adjusted home-life, attitudes, personality, and initiative.)

2. Next, under each asset, write the names of three persons you know who have achieved large success but who do not have this asset to as great a degree as you.

When you’ve completed this exercise. You will find you outrank many successful people on at least one asset, and the conclusion you can honestly reach: You’re bigger than you think. – So fit your thinking to your true size. Think as big as you really are and never, never, never sell yourself short.

“Everything is possible for him who believes.” Mark 9:23

Step 3: Watch Your Internal Language.

Whatever you think about constantly, you will achieve. If you’re continually focusing on how difficult your goal is, you will never achieve it. You can overcome negative thoughts by focusing on the possibilities. Ex. Think of challenging goal and then say to yourself, How on earth did I think I could ever accomplish my goal? It’s too big, too difficult. It’s impossible! What was I thinking? When those thoughts come to mind, immediately replace them with the following type of mental conversation: I know my goal is achievable because others have accomplished it before me. I am absolutely committed to make it happen and I am willing to do whatever is necessary to achieve my true heart’s desire.

Action: List some of the negative self-talk in which you routinely engage. Think how you could modify that dialog to have a positive effect on your thinking and on the results. Ex. Instead of asking yourself, why me? Or why I can’t? Ask yourself, what can I do to make things better, to turn my life around, to improve the situation, to achieve what I long for? These questions instantly change your focus and empower you.

Step 4: Neutralize Fear and Risk.

Fear is a natural reaction to change. It’s probably the number one reason people hesitate to start anything new and opt instead for the way things are – safe, comfortable, and familiar. Fear is a natural and physiological response designed to alert us to the fact that we need to prepare to cope or we need to escape. However, the difference between successful and unsuccessful people is their response to fear. Successful people acknowledge fear and manage it by confronting the cause and determining how they can prepare for the challenge ahead. They decide on certain actions that will enable them to feel as competent and confident as possible. To overcome fear, we must plunge/force ourselves into the very thing we fear most. Only then, by taking risks, can we build our confidence. Don’t let fear create the same regrets for you. Acknowledge fear. Prepare for it. Then act.

Action: Identify one fear that is stopping you from achieving your goals. Neutralize it by deciding what you can do to prepare yourself for the challenge. Then make the commitment to do so. If the outcome isn’t what you planned, congratulate yourself for your courage and consider what you’ve learned from the experience. Modify your plan and take action again.

Step 5: Visualize Success.

To visualize all that could be is not just to think about it but to actively see it. This process of imagination, when directed, is known as visualization. Visualizing what you want before it happens is one of the most powerful strategies of achievers, thousands of whom use visualization to rekindle their passion, clarify their goals, and strengthen their faith. When you have developed a goal, visualize it with as much detail and imagery as you can, exactly as you want and expect it to happen.

Action: Identify a specific goal that support your purpose and passion. Imagine yourself achieving that goal in every detail. Think about where you are at that moment, what you are wearing, who is with you, what the temperature is, and what kind of feelings you’re experiencing. Create the most compelling/convincing and exciting vision you can imagine. Then write down what you have visualized or record it on a tape or cd. Read your description or listen to your tape every single day. As you do, your belief and confidence will grow.

“Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start seeing yourself as a success.” Dr. Joyse Brothers

Step 6: Practice Affirmations.

Napoleon Hill, author of the best-selling Think and Grow Rich, suggests that repeating positive affirmations/confirmations to your subconscious mind is an excellent method for developing faith. After continually repeating an affirmation to oneself, eventually you come to believe it.

Action: Make a list or write a statement of exactly what you want to accomplish. Go to a quiet spot where you can close your eyes and repeat aloud your written statement. As you repeat your statement, envision yourself having accomplished your goal. Repeat your statement morning and night and you will find yourself getting closer and closer to your goal. Place a written copy of your goal where you can see it morning and night.

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7

Step 7: Find Others to Believe with You.

Unfortunately, it may be difficult to eliminate all the negative people from your life. Your mother or father, a business associate, a best friend, church brothers/sisters, or even your spouse might be a negative influence. And since many of these people have known you for years, they probably think of you in terms of your past experiences and not in terms of who you are today or a person you can become.

Sometimes it’s easier to find support from a complete stranger. A stranger doesn’t carry preconceived/predefined ideas about what you can or cannot do. The message at this point is that everyone needs someone to believe in him or her, and those who are closest to you may not be the best people to fill that role. The key is to find someone who does.

Action: Take an inventory of the people in your life. Identify one or two individuals who are supportive and can provide encouragement. In the initial stages of implementing your dream, share it only with supportive people. As your dream takes shape and you become stronger in your belief, you’ll be able to handle the multitude of naysayer who will inevitably/unavoidably cross your path.

“Negativity works like poison in the bloodstream: if you give into its power, it will weaken your confidence and kill your dream.” Your goals are simply too important to let that happen!

Step 8: Draw Strength from a Higher Power.

So many of the unstoppable individuals we read about drew strength from God. By relying on Him, they were able to overcome profound/thoughtful obstacle and self-doubt. I have drawn strength from adopting two beliefs. The 1^st is that God loves me. The 2^nd is that everything happens for a reason and ultimately that reason will serve me.

Action: “God is with me; God is helping me; God is guiding me.” Acknowledge that God is with you and nothing can defeat you. Believe that you receive power from your Creator. By stating an affirmation such as this several times each day and visualizing God’s presence, your faith will deepen.

Step 9: Dealing with Critic and Rejection.

“I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can’t be done.” Henry Ford

They say that “everybody’s a critic,” and that never seems more true than when you’re pursuing a dream and trying to enlist support. There will always be well-meaning people who want to “protect” you from your “unrealistic fantasies.”

The only opinion about your dream that really counts is yours. The negative comments of others merely reflect their limitations – not yours. There is nothing unrealistic about a dream that aligns with your purpose, ignites your passion, and inspires you to plan and persevere until you attain it. On the contrary, it is unrealistic to expect a person with such drive and commitment not to succeed.

Action: The most effective way to counter negativity is to learn all you can about what you want to accomplish. Identify the primary challenges you will face while pursuing your goal. Formulate strategies for overcoming each one. Armed with knowledge and a plan, you will be in a much stronger position and more confident when your critics offer unwanted advice.

Critics Corner

“How long will you go on training all day in a gymnasium and living in a dream world?” Arnold Schwarzenegger’s family’s pleas for him to get a “respectable” job, not understanding his desire to become Mr. Universe

“Liquidate the business right now and recoup whatever cash you can. If you don’t, you’ll end up penniless.” The attorney of cosmetic tycoon Mary Kay Ash, weeks before she opened her first store.

“It’s a cutthroat/competitive business and you’ve got no chance of success.” Accountant for Estee Lauder, founder of a multibillion dollar cosmetic empire.

“You have a nice voice, but it’s nothing special.” What a teacher said when rejecting Diana Ross after she auditioned for a part in a high school musical.

“You will never make the cover of Vogue because you don’t have blond hair or blue eyes.” A remark to Cher by photographer Richard Avedon. When Cher did appear on the cover, Vogue sold more copies than it had ever sold before.

Step 10: Dealing with Experts.

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few.” Shunryu Suzuki, Scholar

Another type of critic, a little different from naysayer – and certainly more threatening – is the “expert”. Webster’s defines an expert as one who is “knowledgeable through training and experience.” An expert can certainly be more intimidating than your Uncle Joe who knows nothing about your field but everything about what you should do in it.

Experts can offer insight and be a great resource. However, consider the following:

Expert knowledge is based on past experience; it may not apply to an innovative idea for the future.

Expert are seldom known for their creativity and imagination. Pioneers and innovators use their intuitions; experts use data. That data may apply to past models and have no relevance whatsoever to present or future models. Peter Drucker, one of the most respected voices in the business world wrote, “market research does not work. One cannot do market research on something that does not exist.” The dreamer’s domain/field is that of the unproven and the possible, and that domain is alien territory for the expert.

Experts have a vested interest in preserving the status quo. Gene Landrum offers this insight in his book, Profiles of Genius. “A major problem with expert opinion is the tendency of the expert to have a strong desire to preserve and validate the present way of things.

Lets take a look at some actual expert opinions offered to visionary entrepreneurs.

“No one will stand in front of a TV screen and play a game with no physical action, like pinball.” Executive’s comment after viewing an early demonstration of Pong, the first video game by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell.

“No one will buy a tape player that doesn’t record.” Opinion of market researchers at Sony when chairman Akio Morita first proposed the Walkman.

“It’s a huge risk, and it will never fly.” Aeronautical engineer’s evaluation of Bill Lear’s design for a jet.

“Personal computers are a hobbyist fad.” Prediction of IBM, Intel, HP, Atari, and countless other electronics companies.

“People will rent videotapes, but they’ll never buy them.” Opinion of media experts who were later proven wrong by Jane Fonda’s exercise tapes.

“A global, twenty-four-hour news network will never work.” Network executives response to Ted Turner’s plans for CNN.

“There’s no market for it. If there were, major airlines would already be offering it. You won’t be able to find reliable couriers.” Conclusion of advisor's to Fred Smith, founder of Federal Express.

Action: The next time an “expert” attacks your dream, take comfort in realizing that people who achieved some of the greatest accomplishments of humankind were also told their goals were not possible. Trust your intuition and your inner heart’s desire, and continue forward. Your confidence will grow every time you take risk and overcome the fear of the unknown.

“Believe in yourself and there will come a day when others will have no choice but to believe with you.”

PASSION - Fuels Inexhaustible Energy

pinoybigthinker — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 06:48:40 GMT

When purpose ignites the spirit, it generates an inexhaustible fire that burns in the heart of every unstoppable person. That fire is passion.

By living on purpose and pursuing dreams and goals that are consistent with your natural strengths and desires, you can create unstoppable passion almost effortlessly. And when that happens, nothing can stop you.

“You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles, and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you, if you don’t have that kind of feeling for what it is you’re doing, you’ll stop at the first giant hurdle.” George Lucas

“We all face obstacles of one kind or another in life. But if you let your deepest passion serve as your fuel, you’ll be able to travel the road back and move on to make your dreams happen.” Dr. Francisco Bucio

“Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.” Diderot

“Doing something I really love has served my career more than anything else.” Stepen Connel with dyslexia often labeled “Slow” and “stupid” same as Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, and Hans Andersen.

“Make sure that the career you choose is one you enjoy. If you don’t enjoy what your are doing, it will be difficult to give the extra time, effort and devotion it takes to be a success. If it is a career that you find fun and enjoyable, then you will do whatever it takes. You will give freely of your time and effort and you will not feel that you are making a sacrifice in order to be a success.” Kathy Whitworth, Professional Golfer

“Many of us are afraid to follow our passions, to pursue what we want most because it means taking risks and even facing failure. But to pursue your passion with all your heart and soul is success in itself. The greatest failure is to have never really tried.”

“I would rather be a failure doing something I love than be a success doing something I hate.” George Burns

“If you want to achieve great things in your life, you have to take risks. The first risk is daring to feel deeply, to be passionate about what you want and care about. Enthusiasm is the key to breaking through barriers, whether your dream is to touch one person or millions. Ken Kragen organizer of We Are The World 5.5 millions hands in hands for 4000 miles across 17 states.

“Do not allowed ourselves to be define or limited by others. Follow your passion, follow your heart. They will lead you to the place you want to go.” Evelyn Glennie deaf soloist pianist

Your Personal Action Plan : Energizing Your Passion

Passion generates a supply of positive energy far more abundant than vitamins, exercise or other health remedy you can imagine. When you’re passionate about what you do, it’s not just the destination that matters, but the entire journey. From beginning to end, the journey is an adventure. When you love what you do, you have the energy to overcome any obstacle.

Doing what you love has three immediate benefits:

1. You’ll Be Highly Motivated.

Passion is the fuel that drives you. It is an unlimited resources for energy and optimism.

“When you’re passionate, you’re focused, purposefully and determined, without even having to try. Your body, mind and spirit are all working in unison towards the same goal.” Marcia Wieder, Author of Making Your Dream Come True.

Without passion, one simply reduces life to existence, mediocrity, and indifference. The choice is yours. You can choose to access your lifeblood by getting in touch with your purpose and pursuing activities that ignite your passion. To live without passion is to live without fully experiencing life’s wonder, drama, and excitement. Living with passion allows you to experience your senses to their fullest. Passion is the energy that will propel you through any obstacle and turn your dreams into reality.

2. Work Will Seem Like Play

People with passion find it difficult to use the word “work”. Such person are pursuing what they most enjoy and what is a personally rewarding.

3. Others Will Share Your Passion and Enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm draws like a magnet, attracting others to your cause.

“A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one.” Your passion is an asset. Use it to inspire and enlist the support of others. People ultimately have no choice but to honor passionate commitment.

Step 1. Identify Your Passion.

To instill passion in your life, you must first return to your purpose. Purpose can lead you down many different paths. Let your unique personality, desire, and natural strengths lead you to the path that is right for you.

The following exercises will assist you in finding that path:

Action 1: Determine what you love. – realistically assess, based on where you are today, what you love to do and the assets you bring to the table.

LIKES DISLIKES

Learning       Listening to negative people

Asking question      Engaging in small talk

Undertaking challenging, Managing lots of

multifaceted projects              employees

Encouraging others          Giving people bad

      news, e.g. firing or

                                            rejecting them

Reading books                  Doing paperwork

Brainstorming                     Dealing with office or

                                         company politics

Meeting positive, action    Managing details

-oriented individuals

Creating new products      Allowing others to have

                                             control over my life

Working out of my home   Commuting to work

Having big goals                Handling accounting

                                             /bookkeeping

STRENGTHS NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

Visionary/think big	Lacking financial resources
Action-oriented – accept total responsibility for my destiny	Limited network outside telecommunications industry
Passionate/enthusiastic/energetic	Limited accounting/finance knowledge
Successful sales background	Lacking balance in some areas of life
Extremely outgoing	Very hard on myself – perfectionist
Focused/committed	Aggressive – may come on too strong because of my enthusiasm
Resourceful and creative – think “out of the box”	Not tolerant of mediocrity
Believe in myself	Very fast paced, could easily run someone over if not careful
Supported by family	Opinionated
Strong desire to be successful	Impatient

Action 2. Identify activities based on your loves.

Based on your strengths and personal likes, identify three activities or goals you could set that are in line with your purpose. As an example, my purpose is to encourage others to become aware of the greater possibilities for their own lives and to take action.

For example, one could

Become a minister or pastor

Join the Peace Corps

Become a trainer inside a major corporation

Teach an adult or child to read

Donate time to a favorite charity

Become a foster parent or grandparent

Become a mentor

Become a teacher

Spearhead support group at a church or club

Volunteer at a hospital

Become a counselor on a hot line

Spend time with a niece or nephew who needs support

Write a book

Imagine how much richer your life could be if you injected passion into your life and career on a day-to-day basis. When you choose goals and activities that align with your purpose and support your natural strengths and loves, passion will automatically follow. Find what you love and give yourself to it completely. Once you have, nothing can stop you.

PURPOSE – Ignites the Spirit.

pinoybigthinker — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:22:46 GMT

“Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own.”

“You are destined for greatness and you can do anything in life if you’re willing to work hard enough to get it.”

“You may not started out life in the best of circumstances. But if you can find a mission in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you from achieving success.” Kemmons Wilson

“When you come across challenges when pursuing a goal, stay focused on your purpose, and remains determined to deal with whatever comes your way. If you hang in there, your sense of purpose will inspired others, and together, you’ll be unstoppable”. Wayne Barton

Your Personal Action Plan: Igniting Purpose in Your Spirit

- Purpose can ignite your spirit, providing personal meaning and deep satisfaction to your life. Purpose is the why-why you are here – and your own special calling. Purpose is the unique gifts and insights that you bring to the planet and can contribute to your world. Purpose fuels your efforts and gives you the drive to continue, no matter what the challenges.

If the secret to living a rich, meaningful life is to live in accordance with your purpose, the obvious question remains, How do those who don’t know their purpose discover it? It’s a difficult but important question, because lasting happiness depends on your ability to answer it truthfully.

William Marsten, a prominent psychologist, asked 3,000 people, “What have you to live for?” the results revealed that 94% responded by saying they had no definite purpose for their lives and it has been said that “everyone dies, but not everyone really lives.” Meanwhile, they simply survive, going through the mechanical motions of living, without ever experiencing the spark of aliveness, they watch their lives quickly pass by and become increasingly fearful that their lives will end before they experience any true joy or deep sense of purpose. Have you felt that way – that something was missing in your life? I did.

Identifying Our True Purpose in Life.

Step 1: Discover Your Purpose.

Action 1: Start by writing “How I want to be remembered.” List the qualities, deeds, and characteristics for which you would like to be remembered by your friends, spouse, children, co-workers, the community, and even the world. If you have special relationship with other people or groups, such as church, club, or team, include them on the list too. In the process of waiting, you will begin to uncover your true value and the sources of meaning in your life. Ex. I want to be remembered by my wife as a loving husband, who always believed in her, a partner who encouraged her to expand her vision of what was possible and to live her life to its ultimate potential. For my son, I want to be remembered as a father who deeply loved and believed in him and helped him see that there was no limit to what he could contribute. Accomplish, and become if he was committed to achieving it.

The question “ What do you want to be remembered for? will induce you to renew yourself, the question makes you see yourself as the person you can become.”

“The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.” Barbara Kingsolver.

Action 2: The following chart, is an excellent tool to help you clarify your purpose.

Column 1

Describe the action you can see yourself doing for others

Column 2

Describe the type of person, organization, or cause you want to serve

Column 3

Describe the goal you want to co-create with that person, org. or cause

My purpose in life is to:

Column 1: Choose the actions that best represent your personal calling and most excite you.

acknowledge educate help praise

advance elevate illuminate promote

alleviate empower improve prepare

assist encourage influence reclaim

build enroll inspire remember

communicate entertain instruct renew

create explore liberate serve

defend express listen strengthen

demonstrate give nurture support

discover heal organize worship

Column 2: Persons, Organizations, and Causes

Abuse disadvantaged physically challenged

At-risk youth environment politics environment

Animal protection family issues poor

Bereaved grass-roots politics poverty housing

Business professionals homeless safety

Chemically dependent human rights senior citizens

Children hunger teen pregnancy

Child protection immigrants women

Church life-threatening illness women’s issues

Collage students literacy veterans

Community issue minorities youth

Crime victims organ donation

Column 3: This goal should be a core value, ideal, or issue that is so important, you are willing to dedicate your time and resources to make it happen.

Acceptance health/vitality self-confidence

Faith safety enjoyment

Leaving a legacy being capable living responsibly

Achievement independence self-esteem

Freedom security equality

Love competency living life to its fullest

Being the best joy self-sufficiency

Growth self-actualization excellence

Making a contribution dignity learning

Believing in themselves justice serving others

Once you determine where you’re headed and why, you could potentially save years of wasted time by not pursuing activities and vocations that offer little meaning and lack harmony with your true sense of purpose. Life is too short to spend it on anything less than meaningful activities.

Step 2: Integrate Purpose into Your Daily Life.

Once you have a clearly defined purpose, you now know where you focus your energies and efforts. Now you can begin to establish goals and make plans – goals and plans that serve your purpose and help create a life of greater meaning. Present and future goals should be evaluated by one criterion only: Do the goals serve your purpose?

Action: Identify one way you can integrate purpose into your life – through your job, business, or community. Commit yourself to taking action this week, soon, your goals will start taking shape and every aspect of your life will reflect and serve your purpose. When that happens, you will have a power to overcome obstacles that you have never experience before.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF DREAMERS

pinoybigthinker — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 02:50:21 GMT

         1.   Dreamers who dream only on small dreams. Many people whose greatest achievements in life are behind them. A person who dreams in the past is a person whose life is over. That person needs to create a dream in the future in order to come back to life. It is also people who still celebrate in getting good grades, being prom king or queen, graduating from a prestigious university, or being in the military. In other words, their best days are behind them.
        2. Dreamers who dream only on small dreams. These types of dreamers will dream only small dreams because they want to feel confident they can achieve them. The problem is, even though they know they can achieve them, they never do achieve them. These type of dreamers are often the most dangerous. They live like turtles, tucked away in their own quiet padded room. If you knock on the shell and steal a quick look in one of the openings, they often take out and bite you. The lesson is let dreaming turtles dream. Most are not going anywhere and that is perfectly fine with them.
         3. Dreamers who have achieved their dreams and have not set a new dream. This is an example of someone who has successfully achieved his dream and continues to live in the dream. “Twenty years ago, I dreamed of becoming a doctor. I became a doctor and now I am just bored with life. I enjoy being a doctor but something is missing.”
       4. Dreamers who dream big dreams but do not have a plan on how to achieve them...so they wind up achieving nothing.   These people say, “I’ve just had a major breakthrough. Let me tell you about my new plan,” or “This time things will be different,” or “I’m turning over a new leaf,” or I’m going to work harder, pay off my bills, and invest,” or “I just heard of a new company coming to town, and they are looking for someone with my qualifications. This could be my big break.” “Very few people achieve their dreams on their own. People like this often try to achieve a lot, but they try to do it on their own. People like this should keep dreaming big, find a plan, and find a team that will help them make their dreams come true.”
         5.   Dreamers who dream big achieve those dreams and go on to dream bigger dreams. Most of us would like to be this kind of person. The network marketing business encourages people to dream big dreams and achieve their big dreams. Many traditional businesses don’t want people to dream personal dreams.

KILLING THE DREAM
“Be aware of people who want to kill your dreams. There is nothing worse than a friend   or loved one killing your dreams.” There are people who may innocently or not so innocently, say things such as:
   1.   “You can’t do that.”
   2.   “That is too risky. Do you know how many people fail?”
   3.   “Don’t be silly/stupid. Where do you come up with such ideas?”
4. “If it is such a good idea, why hasn’t someone else done it before?”
   5.    “Oh, I tried that years ago. Let me tell you why it won’t work.”

People who kill other people’s dreams are people who have given upon their own dreams.
“People who dream small dreams continue to live lives as small people.”

Questions to consider:

What goals did you set for yourself when you were starting out?
To be worth a million pesos by a certain age?
To own your own business?
To do a lot of traveling?
To learn to play a sport or dance well?
To gain a sense of inner peace?
What do you consider your greatest accomplishment and how does that accomplishment measure up to your expectation of yourself?
Do you consider yourself today the person you started out to be?
If your Doctor were to tell you tomorrow that you were suffering
from an incurable disease and had only a few months to live, what you most regret not having done?
Where do you want to be five years from now and what would you like to be doing? How about 10 years from now? 20 years from now?
Who are the people you admire most and what could you do to be more like them?
What do you least like about your life right now, and how would you like to change it?
Are you able to devote enough time right now to the people who mean the most to you?
What would make you happy or, if you already consider yourself happy, happier than you are today?

There may be obvious questions, but the answer are neither obvious nor easy, They require a lot of soul – searching and probably some fact – gathering as well, because you may not have the information you require to know specifically what you want.

To help you identify your dream. The question are broken down into 7 specific areas:

1. Where do I want to live?

A majority of the successful people attribute a great measure of their success to a wise choice of place in which to live and work.

2. What kind of work do I want to do?

There is no more need to be working at a job you hate than there is to continue living where you don’t want to be or the excitement had meant more than the money.

3. What interests do I want to explore?

The right location sets the stage, the right career gives you the resources, but the end purpose of both is – or should be – to enable you to pursue your passions coincides with your pursuit of a living. Supposed you knew that you had only 5 years to live, How would you live those years? What experiences would you like to have? What interests would you like to pursue?

4. Did I marry the right spouse?

You can be living in the land of your fantasies, holding down your

dream job and enriching/inspiring your life with the pursuit of your

interests, but if you’re not sharing all this with your love ones,

your life will be as sour as month long milk. Part of the process

is to take a hard look at your personal life. Try marriage

counseling if you’re not happy.

5. What do I want to give back to society?

The reward available to those who help others can’t be bought

with money. It’s a feeling that there’s a streak/line of

decency/politeness within you and we find most rewarding is

when we can offer direct help to individuals. We have never met

a happy selfish person. We need to have our skills in order to

make ourselves a valuable member of society. We can be living

where we most want to be, doing what we most want to do,

pursuing the interests closest to our heart and sharing it all with

a partner’s who seems heaven – sent and still not fulfilled. If that

description sounds familiar to us, the restlessness we feel could

be eliminated by a gift of time and talent from us to society.

6. How many years do I have in which to accomplish my

dreams?

A lot longer than we might think, the longer we live, the better our

chances for extending life well beyond normal expectations.

7. How much risk can I stand?

How much is required if you’re to realize your dreams? So with

life ‘Nothing ventured’, nothing gained. You can’t get to the fruit

without going out on a limb/branch. In order to live an exciting

and rewarding life, you’ve got to confront our fears of change

and only by doing so will you ever discover that moving to a new

location on changing jobs or even professions. Isn’t all that big

a deal? The more we risk, the more we potentially gain. So how

much risk is involved in chasing our dreams? How great a price

must we pay?

Pricing Your Dream

"The fulfillment of any dream, no matter how small or big, requires an expense of mental, physical and emotional energy."

ERASING NEGATIVE THOUGHTS

pinoybigthinker — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:31:19 GMT

ERASING NEGATIVE THOUGHTS
“We all have dreams, but to live our dreams, we have to pass ‘some kind of test’ by honoring our commitments in the face of many temptations”
If you are sincere about improving your finances, you have to start by improving your thinking.
“Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires,so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out the wrong, useless, and impure thoughts and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts.”
Like weeds in a garden, negative thoughts keep popping up from time to time because the seeds (which were planted in our minds years ago) lie dormant in our subconscious until one day, booing, a handful of negative thoughts. As a gardener, it’s your job to dig up the negative thoughts and replant healthy, positive thoughts in their place.
One of the ways to do that is a technique I call Effective Erasing. Whenever a negative thought enters my mind, I imagine the sound of fingernails clawing down a blackboard, followed by a giant eraser wiping away the negative thoughts. That imagined sound reminds me to erase the negative thought and replace it with a positive one. I encourage you to think your own Effective Eraser.
Ex. Imagine the sound of a garbage truck backing up to empty a garbage can containing negative thoughts. The key is to think of a sound and an image that eliminates the negative thought. Sound corny, but it works.
Excuses: The Hardest Weeds to Kill
Just as there are there are hundreds of hardy weeds in a garden, some are harder to get rid of than others. Same goes for negative thoughts, and the most stubborn weed of negativity is called excuses.
We’re all prone to excuse making because excuses allow us to rationalize/lessen our failures. Excuses are weeds because they encourage us to give in and give up, instead of remaining positive and thinking of ways to overcome obstacles. People generally make excuses in one of the following seven areas:
Excuse #                                  Self-Talk
#1 Fear of Failure                “I won’t try because I might fail.”
#2 Pain of Change              “I’m not comfortable doing that.”
#3 Self Doubt                      “I’m not very good at (fill in the blank).”
#4 Blaming Others              “Mistakes were made by (blank).”
#5 Justifying                       “Everybody cuts corners, so I did, too.”
#6 Complaining                 "The problems is (company, products, etc.).”
#7 Lack of Skills                 “I’ve never been able to talk to people.”
Excuses might make you feel better in the short run, but in the long run, they won’t you get R.E.A.L. and get rich.
R =   Recurring Income – do the work once and get paid again and again
E =   Equity – own businesses, real estate, investments, and assets
A =   Appreciation – grow your asset over time
L   = Leverage – profit from other people’s time, efforts, or money
BLISS Formula for Financial Freedom
We’re all creatures of habits, and our habits shape every aspect of our lives. We have work habits. Eating habits. Exercise habits.
Morning habits. Evening habits. Sleeping habits. And spending habits. Show me a person with positive, healthy habits, and I’ll show you a happy, healthy individual.
B - Budget: A budget is a monthly money management plan for household. Budgets   are easy to set up, but hard for some people to follow.
L - Learn: Survey show that the average person spends more time planning a vacation than planning their financial future. To have what rich people have, you must do what rich people do. And what rich people do is learn how to get money and keep money. So start LEARNING what rich people do by reading motivational/inspirational books, listening to mentors, and seeking money-making opportunities.
I   -   Invest: Average people work for money and have little to show for it at the end of their careers. Rich people make their money work for them by investing their time, efforts, and money-building networks and in growing their assets. (some via the stock market and real estate).
S -   Save: Rich people pay themselves first by saving AT LEAST 10 – 20% of their gross income and then investing it wisely.
S   - Spend: Rich people Budget… Learn… Invest… and Save BEFORE THEY SPEND, while middle class and poor people ignore the first four letters of the BLISS formula and skip right to the fifth letter – SPEND! Never forget: The true measure of rich is how much you accumulate, not how much you spend.