How to be successful

“Four short words sum up what has lifted most successful individuals above the crowd: a little bit more. They did all that was expected of them and a little bit more.”
— A. Lou Vickery

Courage, the ability to overcome fear and confront the unknown head on, and will power are all ingredients for success. Often, success is as much the product of will power and a refusal to give up as it is anything else.

The healthy successful person is someone who believes in themselves; someone who can take control of the situation and bring events to a positive end. They do what everyone else can do, and they continue to do it until they have reached the ultimate goal — success.

Happy Days

“Perhaps you think you’ll be happy when you get a bigger kitchen, or a new job, or the perfect someone with whom to share your life. But don’t you want to start making happiness a habit right now? Every morning when we wake up we’ve been given a wonderful gift —another day of life—so let’s make the most of it. No one can do it for us.” — Sarah Ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance

Well, I have certainly been there-done that by thinking the grass is greener on the other side. Have you ever heard yourself say, “If only…then it would be better, then it would be good.”? Thankfully, I woke up from thinking that things outside my control would bring me true happiness. I’m not saying that getting all the material things we need or crave wouldn’t make us feel good…for a while. But true happiness can only come from within, from our authentic selves.

So what is the trick to having this genuine happiness? You must choose to be happy everyday. You must make happiness a habit. Happiness is a state of mind and therefore you have the freedom to choose it. This might seem so simple — and it is. The greatest things in life are simple and should be achieved easily.

Here is an affirmation that you can say every morning on your way to happy days (based on an affirmation from The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, by Dr. Joseph Murphy):

“This is a new and wonderful day for me. There will never be another day like this one. I am divinely guided all day long, and whatever I do will prosper. I am a spiritual and mental magnet attracting to myself all things that bless and prosper me. I am going to be a wonderful success in all my undertakings today. I am definitely going to be happy all day long.”

Keeping your mindset positive

“The thing to do is keep your mind when the world around you is losing theirs.”
— Warren Buffet

If you’re prepared and have the right tools, your mind can be at ease about your financial future. You can create your own micro-economy, and a thriving economy.

History has shown it is possible not only to survive but to prosper in these times.

During the great depression, huge fortunes were made by many. The Kennedy, Rothschild and Rockefeller families all dramatically increased their fortunes throughout the depression. But it wasn’t just the rich who got richer - many ordinary citizens found a way to not only survive but thrive during a poor economy.

What was their secret?

It’s not skills, education or luck that sees the rich getting richer and leaves you in the same situation year after year. It’s mindset.

In T. Harv Eker’s N.Y. Times #1 Bestseller Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, he examines the hardwired programming around money that everyone has, and unconsciously determines your financial success. He calls this your Money Blueprint.

Your Money Blueprint is the level of success you’ve subconsciously set for yourself. And unless you change it there’s a good chance you won’t get the financial results you hope for – when economic times are not easy and the good economic times too.

Power of Thoughts

“Thoughts are things; they have tremendous power. Thoughts of doubt and fear are pathways to failure. When you conquer negative attitudes of doubt and fear you conquer failure. Thoughts crystallize into habit and habit solidifies into circumstances.”
— Bryan Adams

Creative Visualization, Power of Your Subconscious Mind, The Law of Attraction, all very good books that deal with the power of your thoughts. You have thousands upon thousands of thoughts that influence your direction everyday, whether you realize it or not. Your thoughts form habits and your habits create your circumstances.

Have you ever really paid attention to the direction of your thoughts. Even as I write this message, I can note several different thoughts that pop in and out. What am I going to make for dinner? I have to remember to pay those bills. I wonder how my sister made out at the home show. Boy, is my back sore…Sometimes there are so many it is not easy to remain focused on my task at hand and process it all at the same time.

Thankfully, most of those random thoughts were fairly neutral (except for the one about my back). When we maintain a habit of positive thoughts, and focus on our goals, we will begin to see the opportunities in life unfold.

The Secret of Health: Breast Wisdom

Women’s Health Movement Misses the Big Picture When It Comes to Breast Health & Cancer

A new book by Dr. Ben Johnson lays out unconventional ways to prevent and treat breast cancer that most women don’t know about, and that the women’s health industry won’t talk about.

Most women pay little attention to their breasts unless there is a problem. A new book, The Secret of Health: Breast Wisdom (Morgan James 2008) by Ben Johnson, M.D., D.O., N.M.D. and Kathleen Barnes, changes that focus to breast health.

Read more

Likeability

“The more you are liked — or the higher your likeability factor — the happier your life will be.”
— Tim Sanders

Tim Sanders calls this the likeability factor. I would also call it the Law of Attraction. But whatever you want to call it, I believe that it will make your life happier. His book shows you how to raise your likeability factor by teaching you how to boost four critical elements of your personality:

• Friendliness: your ability to communicate liking and openness to others
• Relevance: your capacity to connect with others’ interests, wants, and needs
• Empathy: your ability to recognize, acknowledge, and experience other people’s feelings
• Realness: the integrity that stands behind your likeability and guarantees its authenticity

When people like you because you are friendly, you can connect on their terms, you relate to what they are experiencing, and you live authentically, you tend to attract more people like you in your life.

The Real Tragedy of Life

“The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.”
—W.M. Lewis

How many of us spend our days talking about the life we could have, or will have soon, or should have. Unfortunately, talking about it won’t actually make it happen. Each day you have to consciously decide on the actions to take that will keep you moving forward and avoid the decisions and actions that keep you stuck in the past. Having a desire for change but not taking the necessary actions to accomplish change will leave you at a standstill and probably also leave you feeling disheartened and dissatisfied.

Debbie Ford reminds us in The Best Year of Your Life that now is the time to set clear, concise, structured goals to keep you moving forward. Take the time to set your goals on paper with specific deadlines attached for each major milestone that you need to accomplish. Recognize the action steps that you need to take and do them. With each new action you take you will be one step closer to fulfilling your goals and your desires.

Gut instinct or fear?

“It is only by following your deepest instinct that you can lead a rich life, and if you let your fear of consequence prevent you from following your deepest instinct, then your life will be safe, expedient and thin.”
—Katharine Butler Hathaway

There are two different voices that can call out to you from within, so it is easy to be fooled. One is your true inner self giving you the guidance to follow your heart, to follow your intuition, to follow your gut. Its voice is nudging but in a gentle knowing way. It will lead you to what is best for you. It is often described as a calm sense of knowing.

The other voice is usually more intense so it can be heard often louder than the true voice of intuition. But it can also be described as panicky, even abusive and it is closely associated to the ego. Often there are many judgments attached to the reasoning, and the outcome is usually not a happy or satisfying one. The underlying emotion is one based on fear.

If you are in a moment of indecision and you don’t know which voice to listen to, relax, take some deep breaths and ask in a loving, calm voice for the true answer to come to you. You will be surprised at how clearly the answer arrives when you are open to receiving it.

To understand how to tap into (or unlock) your intuition, check out Andrea Hess’ book, Unlock Your Intuition:

Trying to move away from your true self

“I even moved to a new city, where nobody knew me. [...] Well, I found that moving didn’t help. I had taken myself with me.”
— Neale Donald Walsch

When things are just not going well, it’s such a wonderful thought to change your surroundings. Just move away from all the challenges in your life. New place, new home, new people around you, new distractions. At least at first. Only one small little oversight, you go wherever you move. And if things aren’t right with you where you are right now, chances are it may have little to do with where you live and more to do with the way you are living your life.

Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t move. But while you are going, take a look at all the assets you want to bring with you. Don’t immediately toss out the ones you think are “negative” either. Just like certain furniture, you can save your assets by giving them a quick polish.

As Neale Donald Walsch states, “All of your so-called faults, all the things which you don’t like about yourself are your greatest assets. They are simply over-amplified. The volume has been turned up a bit too much, that’s all.”

So take an inventory: stubborn equals strong, flighty equals spontaneous, angry equals passionate, etc. All you have to do is use these behaviors differently, not throw them out. These “negative” ways of being can be turned into gifts when used properly and with the right amount of energy.

I also highly recommend reading The Dark Side of the Light Chasers by Debbie Ford. It is a wonderful look at embracing your “dark side” and accepting yourself as a whole person.

Are you having fun yet?

“People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.”
— Dale Carnegie

This may come as a surprise to you and you may even want to resist truly hearing this message, but I will share it with you in hopes that it will stick with you if you hear it often enough — life is supposed to be fun!

I myself tend to forget this simple message when I allow myself to get caught up in the messes and stresses of day-to-day life. But I have been hearing this repeatedly the last few weeks and it has finally started to sink in.
If you are doing something with your life that does not bring you joy, why are you still doing it? Or what can you do differently, think differently to make it fun? Life is not supposed to be about suffering and pain. Think of your life as a big sandbox. What do you want to build today? What do you want to play with in the sand?

Stop taking life so seriously that you miss out on all the fun there is to do. Enjoy playing with your family and friends. Live with love and have fun! And the way to do that is to figure out what you love to do!

Now is the time to get absolutely clear about what really matters to you in your life and go for that. What will your life look like when you pull out all the stops, really push the pedal to the floor, and go for your passions with no holds barred?

Ultimately, you’re the only one who can answer that question. And one great way to help you figure it out is to take “The Passion Test”. The Passion Test is first and foremost a decision-making tool. Take The Passion Test as often as you want, and at least every six months. Then, “Whenever you are faced with a choice, a decision or an opportunity, choose in favor of your
passions.” (Janet Attwood).

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