Sunday, January 31, 2010

Daily Inspiration 1-31-10

"Every day we slaughter our finest impulses. That is why we get a heart-ache when we read those lines written by the hand of a master and recognize them as our own, as the tender shoots which we stifled because we lacked the faith to believe in our own powers, our own criterion of truth and beauty. Every man, when he gets quiet, when he becomes desperately honest with himself, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source. There is no mystery about the origin of things. We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up, to discover what is already there."

-- Henry Miller


Yes!


How Does It Feel To Be A King Or Queen? Awesome!

Spread Some Joy Today--If we are all kings and queens, who is leading who? No one but ourselves, baby, no one but ourselves!

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Daily Inspiration 1-30-10

"I was thinking of my patients, and how the worst moment for them was when they discovered they were masters of their own fate. It was not a matter of bad or good luck. When they could no longer blame fate, they were in despair."

-- Anais Nin


"Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie
Which we ascribe to heaven."

-- William Shakespeare


It has become the American Way to blame. America is a litigious nation. And it doesn't stop there. We have been trained to find fault and to assign blame and seek "justice." We even blame God, heaven and earth, fate (that mysterious thing), circumstance, the devil, evil spirits and on and on. It seems sometimes with some people that the absolute last place they look to blame is themselves--their own beliefs and thinking. Yet, this is the key place to look first and I found it hard at first to get the hang of that myself. Nonetheless, I have found that it has been the most beneficial of all things I have learned.

I have a sign on my wall from the coaching of Bob Proctor and I repeat it every time I see the sign, which is every day. The sign reads, "I am responsible for my life, for my feelings, and for every result I get." So now, when something is not working well, I seek to find what I've been thinking or have been thinking in the past. Then I can see how the results I've been experiencing came about. Some are challenging to find, because I hide them from myself.

The way I was brought up and so many that I know had similar lives, I was taught very well how to find fault outside of myself for my problems--and that even more important, I had to look outside of myself for the solutions to those problems because they weren't really my fault. I was just a victim in the scheme of things. I learned to first find fault and then affix blame, then seek justice through judgement. That is how the court system works after all.

If I on the other hand, accept responsibility for my thinking, my results and even the solution to my problems, I have no need for blame, just understanding. It's not the high interest rates on credit cards, it is using them as if it were my money. It's not the external thing, but the way I think that creates the problem. Credit cards are neutral. How I choose to use them, creates results. If I choose to follow my thinking to determine where this philosophy came from and how I adopted it, I then can understand and then change the thinking to change the result. In this situation, there is nothing external that will help. It is an inside job as they say.

"Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie
Which we ascribe to heaven."


I Mold Myself Daily By What I Think And Believe.

Spread Some Joy Today--Look at what is happening in your life that you are not pleased about, then look back seriously into your past thinking around that subject. You will find it if you look. Now understand it and resolve it to your satisfaction.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Daily Inspiration 1-29-10

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

-- Marianne Williamson


Only as high as I reach can I grow,
Only as far as I seek can I go,
Only as deep as I look can I see,
Only as much as I dream can I be."

-- Karen Ravn


You are so much more than you think. Celebrate!


As I Expand, I See Evermore Room For Expansion. There Is No Telling What Joy I Can Create. Workin' On It!

Spread Some Joy Today--Share some of that extra joy you've been receiving with someone else today who seems a quart low. What a great day you'll have.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Daily Inspiration 1-28-10

"Too many people overvalue what they are not
and undervalue what they are."

-- Malcolm S Forbes


"Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-brake on."

-- Maxwell Maltz


"We probably wouldn't worry about what people think of us
if we could know how seldom they do."

-- Olin Miller


Seeking approval is a very common activity. I've most likely spent several hundred hours on it throughout my life. It's part of the programming many of us were given at a young age and unless there is something that happens to change that, it becomes a lifetime endeavor. It is only in recent years that I have really changed that and now give myself approval, and though I like getting approval, I no longer require it from others as I once did.

I'll tell you a very short story. I was a sales manager at a car dealership and in my early 30's, having been a sales manager since I was 25. The owner of the store was there almost every day, but he let the general manager run things. I had a talk with the owner one night and since he was a quiet man, I asked him what he thought of me working for him. You know, what kind of job I was doing--seeking approval, of course. I will never, ever forget what he said after I asked that question. He said, "you know, the subject of Terry Minion is not something that comes up very often." You might as well of shoved an ice pick in my heart, but I made a clear note to myself that I needed to not worry about what others think so much--even the owner.

Building confidence and feeling good in your own skin is so darn important. Matter of fact, I would rate that as so high on the list, that it is of primary importance. Veronica A Shoffstall said it nicely: "Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers." I concur. It is excellent advice.

So many of us think that praising ourselves and building ourselves up is like being boastful and a braggart. It is absolutely not that at all. A long time ago I studied Transactional Analysis and in that they say that the best place to be is, "I'm okay, you're okay." Being a braggart is saying, "I'm okay, you're not okay." That is not a good place to be and it wouldn't help us in the least.

I really like what Oscar Wilde said: "To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance." The Bible also says in several passages to "love your neighbor as yourself." Clearly, the more you love yourself, the more love you have for others. To love others and not yourself is a sham.

So, I hope this will give you permission to, as Oscar Wilde said, to begin a life-long romance and love yourself. One of the most helpful books to aid you in moving in this direction is "Psycho-Cybernetics" by Maxwell Maltz, M.D. I highly recommend the original version, though some references are dated. It is a powerful book.


I Love Myself More Everyday! I Am My Best Fan!

Spread Some Joy Today--Think about loving yourself and feeling really good about yourself. It should bring a big smile to your face. You are awesome! A fantastic creation. Now, when you encounter others today, keep that thought--and add one more: you love them as much as yourself. Think how powerful that is!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Daily Inspiration 1-27-10

"You cannot hold on to anything good.
You must be continually giving--and getting.
You cannot hold on to your seed.
You must sow it--and reap anew.
You cannot hold on to riches.
You must use them and get other riches in return."

-- Robert Collier


"For true love is inexhaustible: the more you give, the more you have.
And if you go to draw at the true fountainhead,
the more water you draw, the more abundant is its flow."

-- Antoine De Saint-Exupery


The Bible says, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." -- Acts 20:35 and "Give, and it shall be given unto you: good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over. . ." -- Luke 6:38. Most of us have heard these two, particularly the quote from Acts. But what does it mean? Give what? How? To whom? For what purpose? Each of us gets a shot at answering those questions ourselves.

Much of giving I hear is of giving money to charity, or church, or needy people, or the Red Cross, or whatever-the-current-crisis-is, etc. That is important and valuable--and easy. The more money you have, the more you have potential to give to help even more. I'm all for financial giving.

You can give your time, your energy, your blood, your sweat. There are an infinite number of projects that are always in need of people to volunteer.

Or, you could teach.

Teaching is the most powerful and long-reaching method of giving that I can think of. As the old saying goes, "give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach him to fish, and he eats for a lifetime." The fundamental issue in all need is what will happen when you stop giving the money, time, energy, sweat? So many times, things revert to what they were. As Michael Todd said so well, "being broke is a temporary situation, being poor is a mental state." The only thing that will create long-term growth and improvement will be those concepts, ideas, procedures, that are learned through teaching.

Whatever you know well, I highly recommend that you find a way to share it with others. You never know who you will touch or how powerful that little touch may turn out to be down the road. Teaching is without a doubt the most powerful and rewarding thing that I do. And, I try to do it every day in some way. Obviously, this is one way by writing these pieces, but I do it in many other ways as well.

Here's a formula that works for me and I highly recommend:

1. Get inspired. Read and listen and watch inspiring things every day. There's a lot of UN-inspiring things all around you all day. Most of it is in the papers and on the TV and coworkers and friends have a tendency to spread it. Without daily inspirations, you will only hear that other stuff.

2. Study and Use What You Study. Hearing something, reading something or even watching something once is not nearly so helpful to your learning as some repetition. One way that is effective for me to study is hearing it over and over again until I almost have it memorized. Each time I hear it, I hear something I missed the other times. Then, put it to use. Feel it. Try it out. Mess with it. Take it for a spin around town. Use it in your life.

3. Share it. Teach it. C.S. Lewis said it this way: "Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours." Sheldon Kopp said, "you only get to keep what you give away." If you look at that on the surface it doesn't make any sense, then it does. For me, it is in teaching all of this that I keep it--that it means so much more to me and that allows and even encourages me to share it wider and more confidently. You just never know who you will touch and encourage and inspire. It is the absolute best!

4. Celebrate and Bless. I have to add this fourth point because it will be most helpful. Celebrate those who receive your teaching and respond by learning. Celebrate those who grow by doing as a result of the teaching and their learning. A few will tell you, most will not. It's okay. Bless those who don't receive your teaching or respond by learning. They are happy where they are. That is okay. Bless them and keep moving.

Here's to the inspired teacher in all of us!


By Teaching, I Become A Stronger, Better Student!

Spread Some Joy Today--Get inspired. Feel it. Share it. Celebrate. Joy is that easy! [Of course, that is only one way to joy. . . the reality is that all you have to do, is decide to be joyful, then act joyfully. That is the shortcut. . .]

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Daily Inspiration 1-26-10

"Let not your mind run on what you lack
as much as on what you have already."

-- Marcus Aurelius


"My crown is in my heart, not on my head,
Nor decked with diamonds and Indian stones,
Nor to be seen: My crown is called content;
A crown it is, that seldom kings enjoy."

-- William Shakespeare



I have had money and have been without it at different times and I can say without a doubt that having it is better, but it is not happiness or contentment that comes from having it. The times I remember when I was the least cash rich, I remember fondly enjoying what was at hand. It's not that I look back and think being broke made it that way, but being broke has a tendency (if you pay attention) to see if you can enjoy life on its terms. If you do, the memories are very good.

Giving presents to each other is even better because it comes from the heart since there may be little else. The situation encourages creativity. Later with cash plenty, the presents were much larger and expensive, but held less heart.

Though these things have been true for me and I think many, we have this tendency to focus on what we lack rather than what we have--even, and maybe even especially, when we have much. That is strange, isn't it?

I want more. A lot more. Nonetheless, I am learning better and better how to enjoy thoroughly where I am and in what I have currently have. I am happy regardless of the current situation or the potential outcome. My happiness is not dependent on external circumstances, but merely--or rather, powerfully--on my decision to be that way. It is all internal.

What a difference from how I grew up! I love it. The power to decide is always in our own control. In that realization, I am content and celebrate my independence!



I Lack Nothing That I Need To Be Happy And Content!

Spread Some Joy Today--There is nothing so glorious as my wife smiling at me. It shows in her eyes, and they are bright and happy. If her smile affects me that way, just think how yours affects others. Wear it today!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Daily Inspiration 1-25-10

"We all have voices in our heads which talk to us
 on an almost constant basis. Our voices give us messages
continually, and what they say to us affects us. . ."

-- Juliene Berk


"This inner speech, your thoughts, can cause you to be
rich or poor, loved or unloved, happy or unhappy,
attractive or unattractive, powerful or weak. . ."

-- Ralph Charell


"One comes to believe whatever one repeats to oneself
 sufficiently often, whether the statement be true or false.
It comes to be the dominating thought in one's mind."

-- Robert Collier


It's those voices in our head! It's your own voice, as well as other people's voices as you play out scenarios of what was, what is or what might be. There seems to be a tendency with most people that I have talked to about it, that these voices and the situations played out are not usually uplifting and inspiring. Though we don't want things to happen that way, or interpret things that way, it is repeated over and over in our head anyway. Sometimes there even is a battle going on between opposing views of the same scenario. It reminds me of a cartoon I saw as a kid where the little devil was on one shoulder and the little angel on the other arguing at each other with the head in between.

Well, there you go. That's it. The real you is in the middle of this grand battle going on between the dark side and the light side, good and evil. It's hopeless. There is no way anyone can win in this battle. As much as we might want good to win, there will always be evil . . . what can a person do? Take Prozac? Get therapy? Accept the life you live?

Rubbish!

James Allen says, "the path to cheerfulness is to sit cheerfully and to act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there." He also said, "the greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." When I first read this last statement, it was like a light turned on in my head. These are not new thoughts, but it was to me.

But, just understanding what these quotes say and making the change are two different things. I thought, since humans have this tendency to complicate everything, I have to find the SIMPLE solution to make the change. I found it and I only found it in the last few years, but here it is:

How I talk to myself and the theme of the scenarios in my head are who I really am. If I want to change, I must change what I am saying to myself and change the theme.

Here are some simple steps to get started:

1. Start praising yourself. Yes, you read it here. Start praising yourself. You are a valuable creation and don't let anything or any book tell you otherwise. You are God's gift. Yes. You are. You can be or do anything you choose to be or do. You are worthy and deserving. Your organic chemicals that make up your body may only be worth about $32 as they say, but the you that is inside that organic suit is worth millions of millions (that's trillions!). The fact is, as they say in the commercial, you are "priceless." You are the world's greatest! God made you and threw away the mold. You are, as they say in manufacturing, a one-off. The one and only one.

2. Gobbledegook. I learned this technique from Anthony Robbins, although I changed the name, so now it's mine. . . When you detect that you are thinking stinking things, immediately, and even in mid-sentence, STOP! Now play it backward with cartoon images and listen to the voice talking backward. It's such fun. Then, pretend there are some hands with a very sharp, large knife, chopping that mass of gobbledegook into a million little bits and the wind just blows them away and they are no more. Change it up each time, so it's all fun. Next time, take the sentence out of the air and throw it out on the freeway and let those big trucks just run over it. Or, pretend you take the whole paragraph and run it through a wood chipper into the back of a truck. What fun!

3. Change the picture. Instead of being the foe in your movie, become the hero. See yourself winning, making the right decisions, and being recognized and rewarded for your wisdom and intelligence. See the world clamoring for your products. See the 50,000 friends on Facebook. You are going to play the movie no matter what. It cannot be helped. But, you are the director. That's right. YOU are the director. The director makes the movie! You and only you choose who plays in it and how they play. You are in total control. It is awesome! You are awesome!

Well, there you go. Simple. It doesn't need to be hard. You don't need drugs. You don't need anything external at all. It is an inside job. You don't need a resume. You are already the boss.


I Am The Director! I Am In Charge! I Love My Movie!

Spread Some Joy Today--Praise yourself every chance you get. No, it's not conceit, it's love. Conceit is thinking you are better than everyone else. You are unique. There is no other exactly like you. Love yourself first, love everyone else for their uniqueness next. That's another way of saying, what comes around, goes around. . . or was it the other way around? It's a circle no matter. . . a circle of love.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Daily Inspiration 1-24-10

"Patience, persistence and perspiration
make an unbeatable combination for success."

-- Napoleon Hill


From this Napoleon Hill quote, let's call this the 3-P's: Patience, persistence and perspiration. It might even seem strange to have patience in this sentence, but it is a wonderful formula.

Patience. To me patience is confidence. It is belief. It is the prerequisite for accomplishment that can be finalized with the help of the other two P's. Patience is necessary--critical in fact. It would be belief that would give you the patience to hang on when things don't look like they're working. It is the control mechanism for the machine.

Persistence. Without the ability to keep going, your mind will easily talk you out of making the trip. The people around you will talk you out of it. It might seem like no one wants you to succeed. That's why it is only you who can persist. No one can do that for you. The best they could do is encourage you, but the coach doesn't run the race, the runner does. You're the runner. Strong desire is the engine that runs persistence.

Perspiration. There are things that need to get done. It is only done by doing them. It may be physical or mental or a combination, but it is action. Without action, there is no result generally. You can change your thinking, but if your actions don't change, your thinking won't matter much. Sometimes it just doesn't matter what you do, so long as you are doing something on what you have decided. It's like looking in the mirror and deciding to comb your hair differently. You can see the picture of it done in your minds eye, but you actually have to make use of the comb to have a result that matters.

I think these are in order of importance as well.


It's A Threepeat!

Spread Some Joy Today--Demonstrate your patience and persistence to others today through your perspiration. Maybe it can be a group workout!

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Daily Inspiration 1-23-10

"Every memorable act in the history of the world is a triumph of enthusiasm. Nothing great was ever achieved without it because it gives any challenge or any occupation, no matter how frightening or difficult, a new meaning. Without enthusiasm you are doomed to a life of mediocrity but with it you can accomplish miracles."

-- Og Mandino


"To become enthusiastic, act enthusiastically."

-- Frank Bettger


There is great advice in the Og Mandino quote above, and even simpler and easier to deal with advice from Frank Bettger. I like them both, but I have adopted Frank Bettger's advice because it works every time I do it. No matter how I am feeling at the moment, if I want to change how I am feeling, I know I can instantly by acting enthusiastic. It always results in the change I desire. How can you beat something that works every time.

Frank Bettger wrote several books beginning in the late 1940's. His most popular book was first published in 1949 and was titled, How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success In Selling. Long title. Great book. I've read it more than 10 times and first found it as a brand new salesman for a car dealership in 1972 at the public library. It was an immense help to me starting out in that business, and there are many aspects of that book that I use to this day. The greatest and most rewarding of these is his chapter on enthusiasm which is the first chapter in the book. Anyone in sales of any product or service can benefit from this timeless classic.

Nothing happens without some excitement; some enthusiasm. It is not only a catalyst for you, it is a catalyst for others at the same time. It is contagious.

When you're enthusiastic, you are optimistic. It is impossible to be enthusiastic and pessimistic at the same time. They cancel each other. When you're enthusiastic, your body shows it with a brightness in your face, a smile, looking forward, energetic posture. It is impossible to be enthusiastic and hang your head low. Much of this aspect, I learned from Anthony Robbins. He says, you can change your thoughts just by changing your posture. He is right.

There is nothing quite like the feeling of being enthusiastic. It is a high. You feel wonderful and excited and interested. It can come in an instant and through your practice of acting enthusiastically, it will begin to come naturally. You can be sitting at home alone and just start thinking enthusiastically and the grin on your face will have you feeling so darn good about everything. That is worth it, don't you think?

Now, let's take this where it needs to go:

To become ____________, act ______________.

Fill that in as many ways as you can. Here are some ideas:

To become cheerful, act cheerful.
To become more loving, act with love.
To become smarter, act smart.
To become more intelligent, act intelligent.
To become more organized, act organized.
To become more generous, act generously.

Fake it 'till you make it, baby!


Yesterday, I Couldn't Spell It, Today I Are One!

Spread Some Joy Today--Be a faker today. Fake feeling good and see if anyone notices your deception. Instead of wondering what you're up to, they will probably want some of that feeling good stuff too.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Daily Inspiration 1-22-10

"I can change. I can live out of my imagination instead of my memory. I can tie myself to my limitless potential instead of my limiting past."

-- Stephen Covey


We can change. That is such a powerful idea. We have the power. And it's not really will power or determination, although those can be useful. It is so much easier than that. It is simply a decision to do so. So incredible to be able to change by just making a decision to change.

Vincent Roazzi says, "for things to change, you have to change." So there's the whole formula in as easy and simple a language as can be said: For things to change, we have to change and we can change by deciding to change.

So. . . what do you want to change? You now have the formula.

Ain't it grand?

Kick that wonderful tool you have called 'imagination' into gear! Napoleon Hill says, "what the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve." Read the story of Walt Disney and how Disneyland came to be. What an imagination! What courage! Forget how things are and think how you want them to be and get into that picture!

Tie yourself to your limitless potential instead of your limiting past. I can't do anything positive about the past except be friends with it. It is gone. But, the good news is that my potential is unlimited. Only I can allow that or argue against it. People who argue for their limitations, always win.


The Power To Change Is Such A Gift. Thank You!

Spread Some Joy Today--Make a decision to change something. You've probably been putting it off for some time. Do it now. Notice how good that feels. Feel it. People around you today will notice something different about you. I guarantee it!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Daily Inspiration 1-21-10

"Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary
to a worthwhile achievement."

-- Henry Ford


We may think mistakes are a problem. We might even use words like failure, or consequences, or bad. Those are some ways of looking at it, but consider these mistakes:

Silly Putty

Due to a rubber shortage in World War II, the U.S. Government asked scientists to try to find an alternative to use in the war effort. James Wright, a General Electric engineer mixed boric acid with silicone oil. He was so happy with the outcome, he threw some on the floor and found that it bounced. Yet GE didn't really know how to utilize the product, and sold it to toy store owner Ruth Fallgatter and her friend Peter Hodgson. Ruth gave up marketing it after a year and Peter Hodgson took over and renamed it Silly Putty in 1950. The rest is history. See more about this story here: History of Silly Putty.


Velcro

From Wikipedia: "The hook-and-loop fastener was invented in 1941 by Swiss engineer, George de Mestral who lived in Commungny, Switzerland. The idea came to him one day after returning from a hunting trip with his dog in the Alps. He took a close look at the burrs (seeds) of the burdock that kept sticking to his clothes and his dog's fur. He examined them under a microscope, and noted their hundreds of "hooks" that caught on anything with a loop, such as clothing, animal fur, or hair. He saw the possibility of binding two materials reversibly in a simple fashion, if he could figure out how to duplicate the hooks and loops." And the rest is history. You didn't know Velcro was that old, did you? Here is more of the story: Velcro History.

Post-It (R) notes

From Wikipedia: "In 1968, Dr. Spencer Silver, a scientist at 3M in the United States, with the help of Jesse Kops, a fellow scientist, accidentally developed a "low-tack", reusable pressure sensitive adhesive. For five years, Silver promoted his invention within 3M, both informally and through seminars, but without much success. In 1974, a colleague of his, Art Fry, who had attended one of Silver's seminars, came up with the idea of using the adhesive to anchor his bookmark in his hymnbook. Fry then developed the idea by taking advantage of 3M's officially sanctioned "permitted bootlegging" policy. 3M launched the product in 1977, but it failed as consumers had not tried the product. A year later 3M issued free samples to residents of Boise, Idaho. 90 percent of people who tried them said that they would buy the product. By 1980, the product was being sold nationwide in the US; a year later Post-its were launched in Canada and Europe." See the rest here: Post-It History.

There are countless products that have become mainstays and started as accidents. Foam rubber is another. Now, don't you wish you made mistakes like this? You most likely can! Never fear making mistakes for "even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement."


The Word 'Mistake' Is A Judgement Of An Event Or Decision. I Am Now Less Critical And More Interested!

Spread Some Joy Today--Try looking back at some of your so-called mistakes. Now that there is time between you and the event, do they look less negative? They should. They are partly what led you to here. Here is good! Let it be okay!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Daily Inspiration 1-20-10

"You are a success when you have made friends with your past, are focused on the present, and are optimistic about your future."

-- Zig Ziglar


Success is one of those words that are problematic because it has so many definitions and shades. The vast majority of the definitions I have seen relate to money in one way or another. This is but one of the ways a person can define success. There is so much more.

I have kept my eyes open for a definition of success that I think is simple and that the vast majority of people could get behind. I think I have found one in the quote above from Zig Ziglar.

In so many, myself included, it is the past that has been a problem. Regretting the past is a complete waste of time and counterproductive in the present. Doing this even creates more of the past in the present, thereby repeating it over and over again. Making friends with the past and letting it be what it is without judgment is critical to success I have found.

Focus on the present. There is only today, this moment, one at a time. Enjoying each moment, each day, each experience as we travel where we will is also critical to success I find. Plus it sure makes life worth living! This cannot be possible without making friends with the past, can it? And, I will say this is my favorite part because now I enjoy it all the time every day no matter what is going on. To me, that is so powerful I want to just jump up and down with joy!

Optimism. The glass half full. If we don't have something to live for; to work toward; to have desires to be somewhere, there is pretty much nothing worth living for. Einstein said this: "I think the most important question facing humanity is, 'Is the universe a friendly place'. This is the first and most basic question all people must answer for themselves." What you believe about that says what you believe in the future I think.

Making friends with the past, enjoying and living fully in the present, while looking forward to a bright future--that is motivational to me. How about you?

Of course. . . I really do love this quote too: "The secret of success is making your vocation your vacation." -- Mark Twain. Yeah! That'll work!


I'm Having The Best Time Of My Life Right Now!

Spread Some Joy Today--Look in the mirror. Pretend you're having the best time of your life right now. What would your face look like with that thought and feeling? Ooooo! There it is. . . now wear that all day today!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Daily Inspiration 1-19-10

"Create your future from your future, not from your past."

-- Werner Erhard


I laughed when I read this quote because it is way too simple and way too brilliant. After I read it a few times, I thought, "of course! It makes total sense."

I've set goals a lot of times and failed to achieve them or have them make a difference in my life because I was "creating my future out of my past." What that comes down to is the very same thing that Albert Einstein so eloquently stated--"you cannot solve a problem with the same thinking that created it." Yet, many of us do.

Take for example credit card debt. How many of us have amassed credit card debt, paid it off and charged them up again? Been there, done that. That's creating a future with past thinking. Future thinking will probably be more like, zero credit card debt and all the money I used to spend paying back credit cards now goes into investments.

That is a tangible example, but there are many others, less tangible. How about frustration and anger? We sigh and say phrases like, "whatever. . ." or we express our frustration with this or that, or we complain about not enough of this or too much of that, or what someone else is doing, all the while trying to change. More creating a future out of the past. The better future will only come from less caustic thinking. You really can get to a place where there is almost none of that if you decide to change it and create your future out of your future.

I see what I want in my future and I see what I need to be thinking, who I need to be associating with, how I need to handle and think about money, how to open my thinking to partnerships rather than trying to hold it all (100% of nothing is nothing, 20% of something is 20%. . .). As Jim Rohn said, "to have more, you must become more." That requires creating my future out of the future. He also said, "success is something you attract by the person you become."

That has little to do with money, but everything to do with everything.


I'm In Charge Of My Future Today, Right Now.

Spread Some Joy Today--Start your reading list and get started reading some classic titles that will inspire you. Here's one for you: "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. Powerfully good book about changing your thinking.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Daily Inspiration 1-18-10

"We must learn to help those who deserve it, not just those who need it. Life responds to deserve not need."

-- Jim Rohn


I read past this quote many times and then today, as I read it again, it really had new meaning to me. This is the aspect of quotes that I dearly love. Quotes, especially short ones, can be a true catalyst to a new way of looking at something. It's sort of like looking at a map, then seeing the Google Maps satellite view, then street view. It's a whole new view of the same thing.

So I read, "we must learn to help those who deserve it. . ." I think that means that they are the people who are seeking. They are the ones reaching out; wanting; looking for change. To me, they are deserving. They have desire. They are hungry for answers and hungry for improvement. I think we need to help everyone as much as they are willing to be helped who are in that frame of mind, for as long as they desire it. This is service at its finest.

Next is, "not just those who need it." Those who need. . . I think of that sort of like the Bible refers to the poor. Jesus said, "the poor you will always have with you." They need. It is a condition of thinking for most, and for others a way of life. Mike Todd stated that "Being broke is a temporary situation. Being poor is a state of mind." There are a large number of poor people and we have a duty as humans to do what we can to help them.

The last sentence ties it so sweetly together--"Life responds to deserve not need." Wow. Isn't that the truth! The poor get our donations, our leftovers, a bit of our excess. If it is a tax write off, maybe a bit more. But the world responds to deserve. The world responds to people who seek, who open doors, who reach out and who create. The world rushes to their aid and gives them everything they need, even sometimes smoothing the path ahead of them in anticipation of their arrival. And the ones who need, who try so little, who whine and complain, who make the same mistakes over and over again--they get what is left over.

The advice that this quote gives to me is that I have renewed motivation and interest in being deserving rather than needing. I seek everyday. I seek more knowledge, more skill, more ideas, more networking, more partners, more opportunities, more joy, more calmness, more confidence, more life. I share openly, heartily and enthusiastically with those who deserve.

Guess what? If you're reading this, you are deserving!


I Have Great Joy In Being A Deserving Person! There Is No Joy In Being Needy.

Spread Some Joy Today--Open your eyes and your heart to deserving people in your life and share all you have in helping them in every way you can. Do this for large numbers and your reward is off the chart!