Daily Dose of Motivation

A Motivation Metaphor You Can Use

2008-03-12T04:40:00.000-07:00

A Motivation Metaphor You Can Use to Change Your Life:

Picture this. You're standing on conveyor belt. It's carrying you down a long, narrow hallway. Each side of the hallway is lined with closed doors, small signs hanging just above their frame.The messages on those signs is something that you need to pay close attention to. Very close attention. The speed of the conveyor belt isn't too fast - slow enoughto let you comfortably open and step through one of the doors - but not much time to question your choice.

After a few moments, a door has passed you by forever. Peering down the long hallway you see the belt is heading toward a larger door marked 'EXIT.' You have a fair amount of time before you reach this door,but make no mistake, you are forever moving toward it.

What is Written on Those Signs???

After a few minutes, your curiosity gets the best of you and you focus intently on the writing above each door. After passing a few doors trying your best to make out the small writing, you realize that each sign contains a personal goal, a change you've always wanted to make or a dream you've always wanted to achieve.

This corridor is your life. Each door is an opportunity for change, for happiness, for success. Everything you have ever wanted to be, do, and have is represented by each door along the corridor. And just like life, the longer you wait to step through the doors, the greater the chance that they'll pass you by.

Eventually nearly every door will be behind you, impossible to enter. I say nearly because only one will remain - the one at the end of the corridor. Before we move on, I have a question for you.

Do you know what would be written above each door? Do you know what you really want today, tomorrow, and ten years from now? If you don't know what you want, you'll never get anything more than you have right now.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

America's Most Famous Rags-to-Riches Story

2008-02-28T04:49:00.000-08:00

Good Morning,

One hundred and fifty years ago, when a 13-year-old boy stepped ashore in New York with his parents and younger brother, he had no idea that he would one day become the richest man in the world.

This is the story of Andrew Carnegie.

He was born in 1835 in Scotland. During the Depression of 1848 in Britain, his father, a weaver, decided it was best to immigrate to America and brought his family to Allegheny, Pennsylvania, now part of Pittsburgh.

Being poor, young Andrew had to give up any hope of schooling when he arrived, and he quickly got a job in a cotton factory for $1.20 a week.

He studied bookkeeping at night and soon took a job in the office as a clerk. He prepared himself for advancement by doing each job to the best of his ability and seizing every opportunity to take on new responsibilities.

Through trial and error, he developed a personal philosophy that led to a simple formula for success that he followed faithfully.

Quite by accident, he had stumbled onto the same formula for success that had been used by all great achievers throughout history.

Guided by this formula, he accelerated rapidly at everything he did.

At 15, he took a job as a messenger boy in the telegraph office in Pittsburgh, and two years later, he was working full-time as a telegraph operator for the railroad.

When he was 20, his father passed away, leaving him with the responsibility of providing for his mother and 12-year-old brother.

He worked even harder. The division superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad was so impressed with Carnegie that he hired him as his personal clerk and telegraph operator. When Carnegie was 24, he became the superintendent of the Pittsburgh division.

To supplement his salary, he borrowed $500 to buy stocks in businesses that he understood. First the railroad and later in steel production. He became quite successful at it.

At 33, he had an annual income of $50,000 ($1,040,000 in today's dollars) and was toying with the idea of retiring to a scholarly life. But since he was now one of the largest shareholders of the Pullman Company, and a director of the Union Pacific Railroad, he couldn't.

He saw a growing demand for steel and much room for improvement in the way steel was produced. So he started his own steel company, the Carnegie Steel Co. Using innovative methods, he improved the quality of the steel, made production more efficient, reduced costs, and watched his business expand quickly.

Because of his efforts, the United States took the lead away from Great Britain as the foremost steel producer in the world in 1890.

He was now the richest man in America, and in a few years, he would be the richest in the world.
Then, in 1901, at the age of 66, Carnegie shocked everyone when he announced that he was going to sell his holdings and devote the rest of his life to giving away every penny he had for benevolent purposes.

He sold Carnegie Steel to J. P. Morgan, who used it as the nucleus for U. S. Steel.

Then, with the same enthusiasm and determination that built his fortune, he spent the next 18 years systematically giving it all away.

Had he lost his mind? Not at all.

In 1911 he wrote: "My chief happiness lies in the thought that even after I pass away, the wealth that came to me to administer as a sacred trust for the good of my fellow men, is to continue to benefit humanity for generations untold."

It may sound cliche, but Carnegie sincerely wanted to leave the world a better place. One of his first acts was to create a pension fund for his employees. This quote from his workers expresses the common sentiment toward him:

"The interest which you have always shown in your workmen has won for you an appreciation which cannot be expressed by mere words."

Inspired by the heroic but futile rescue effort in which a former Pittsburgh mine superintendent and others lost their lives in the Harwick Mine Disaster in 1904, he set up the Hero Fund to honor and financially reward acts of non-military heroism.

He gave a lot of money to causes: to establish the first great medical research laboratory in the U.S.A. at Bellevue Hospital in New York, to the Institute for the Blind, and to Madame Curie for her radium research. He also funded Carnegie Hall.

But his two main interests were education and world peace.

Believing that people in the teaching profession were underpaid, he established The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, a pension plan that looked after aging teachers.
Though he was denied an education, he knew the value of learning and was determined that everyone should have access to knowledge. His pet project became his free public libraries.
He made the following offer to communities: He would build a library for free if they agreed to stock it with books and maintain it.

Over the years that followed, he built 2,811 free public libraries. It was estimated that at their completion, 35 million people made use of his public libraries each day.

Most of his money went to build new educational institutions or fund existing ones. He created the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute of Washington, and Carnegie-Mellon University, and he assisted more than 500 others, especially the smaller, lesser-known universities and colleges.

World peace was his other passion. He created the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, with headquarters in New York City and Geneva, Switzerland, and the Peace Palace at the Hague in Holland.

Being a full-time philanthropist wasn't as easy as Carnegie thought it would be. Each day, he was flooded with 400 to 500 "begging" letters. After each announcement of some large benefaction, the number would increase to 700 a day.

For instance, when it was reported that Carnegie donated a new organ to the church his father had attended, requests for new organs poured in from all across the country.
When it was over, Carnegie answered each of their requests and donated 7,689 organs.
Contrary to common belief, he did not require or encourage institutions to bear his name.
"I find it difficult to avoid having gifts for new things called after the donors. Carnegie Hall was called by me The Music Hall. Foreign artists refused to appear in 'a music hall.' The Board changed it in my absence in Europe without consulting me."

He said he didn't want to be remembered for what he gave, but for what he persuaded others to give. By building libraries, he inspired communities to fill them with books, asking only that they inscribe the words "Let there be light" above the entrance.

It's true that he was very public with his library project, pursuit of world peace, and the advancement of education for all people. But there was another side to him that few knew. One of his most enjoyable acts of philanthropy was the millions he gave away anonymously.
During his lifetime, he gave away 90 percent of his fortune. To this day, The Carnegie Corporation, the philanthropic foundation he created, still gives away millions of dollars every year.

But there's something else that he gave away that was even more valuable. I'm sure you've heard of the saying ...

"Give a man a fish, and he can eat for a day. Show him how to fish, and he can eat for a lifetime."

He learned that everything we do starts in the mind as a simple thought.
Whatever you think about, you will be drawn to. Taking that a step further, whatever you think about ... will eventually come to pass.

Your thoughts become the blueprint for your life — dictating what you do and expect from life.

For instance, if you think about misfortune, you'll expect misfortune to happen. And it will.

You've probably seen it yourself. A loser will quit at the first obstacle, saying, "See! Things never go my way! Why do I even bother trying?" And if things do go right, the loser says, "It was a fluke. I never win." They lose because they expect to lose.

Winners, on the other hand, think about winning. They are successful because they think of themselves as successful.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape yur destiny!!

Think From A Different Point of View

2008-02-23T06:27:00.000-08:00

Here's a story I heard a few years ago that illustrates the point perfectly.

Imagine you’re in London’s Heathrow Airport. While you’re waiting for your flight, you notice a kiosk selling shortbread cookies. You buy a box, put them in your traveling bag and then you patiently search for an available seat so you can sit down and enjoy your cookies.

Finally you find a seat next to a gentleman. You reach down into your traveling bag and pull out your box of shortbread cookies. As you do so, you notice that the gentleman starts watching you intensely. He stares as you open the box and his eyes follow your hand as you pick up the cookie and bring it to your mouth.

Just then he reaches over and takes one of your cookies from the box, and eats it!

You’re more than a little surprised at this. Actually, you’re at a loss for words. Not only does he take one cookie, but he alternates with you. For every one cookie you take, he takes one. Now, what’s your immediate impression of this guy? Crazy? Greedy? He’s got some nerve?! Can you imagine the words you might use to describe this man to your associates back at the office?

Meanwhile, you both continue eating the cookies until there’s just one left. To your surprise, the man reaches over and takes it. But then he does something unexpected.

He breaks it in half, and gives half to you. After he’s finished with his half he gets up, and without a word, he leaves.

You think to yourself, "Did this really happen?" You’re left sitting there dumbfounded and still hungry. So you go back to the kiosk and buy another box of cookies. You then return to your seat and begin opening your new box of cookies when you glance down into your traveling bag.

Sitting there in your bag is your original box of cookies -- still unopened. Only then do you realize that when you reached down earlier, you had reached into the other man’s bag, and grabbed his box of cookies by mistake.

Now what do you think of the man? Generous? Tolerant? You've just experienced a profound paradigm shift. You’re seeing things from a new point of view.

Is it time to change your point of view?

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!!

What You Can Do Right Now !!

2008-02-20T04:18:00.000-08:00

Good Morning,

What you choose to do in the next three minutes could change your life forever.

'My life change because of a few measly minutes?

I don't think so.' If you're thinking along these same lines, think again. Every action you take, no matter how large or small, has the potential to change your life; even a choice as simple as using the next three minutes to read the rest of this. Making a decision is like choosing which way to turn when you reach an intersection in your car. No matter which way you choose to go, you will find yourself on a unique road consisting of unique twists and turns. Turn left and you'll encounter different circumstances had you turned right. And those circumstances have the potential to change everything because you never know where that next turn will take you.

Routine runs the majority of people's lives. It's a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless. And when you are following a routine day in and day out, your circumstances will rarely change.

You'll think what you thought the day before. You'll feel the way you felt before. And you'll do what you did before. After years of this cycle you'll find yourself far from the kind of life you always wanted to live. I'm sure you know of many people who have let routine run their entire lives. Wake, work, eat, sleep, repeat. It's difficult to see them waste away while routine runs the show because they can never get that time back. Never.

But there is a solution. Making a new decision. One new choice leads to another choice which leads to another unique choice and on and on the pattern goes. Now is the time to make that new choice and break free from the grip of routine.

First, you have to break free from routine. If you're not getting what you want you have no other choice than to stop doing what you've always been doing. You have to make a conscious choice to break the cycle. Think about what you do during the day instead of taking on a zombie-like stare as you follow an ingrained pattern.Take notice of your time and actions and make sure they are bringing you toward the things you want.

Next, you need to start making new decisions and taking new actions. You have to turn down a new road to encounter new and exciting options. Mix it up! Change what you do in the morning, afternoon, and night. Give your brain new information and experiences. And from these two small steps alone your life will begin to take on a new shape. Breaking free from routine and making new choices will create the momentum you need to ensure the changes you want to make last for years to come. But it can't happen if you let routine run the show. A single decision can change your life forever, but it will never get the chance if you keep doing what you've always been doing.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny !!

Why Having a Goal Isn't Nearly Enough

2008-02-19T04:07:00.000-08:00

Good Morning,

If setting a clearly defined goal isn't enough, what's the missing link?

W-H-Y

That's right, the missing link is why you want the goal. Without a strong and persuasive 'why' behind each one of your goals you'll never achieve it.

Take one of your goals in mind and answer the following questions with as much detail and emotion as possible. Remember, the more powerful your reasons for wanting to achieve the goal, the more you'll be motivated to take action and get what you want.

1. What will achieving your goal do for you physically? Mentally? Emotionally? Financially? Spiritually?

2. What will you think of yourself years from now if you achieve your goal?

3. What will failing to achieve your goal cost you physically? Mentally? Emotionally? Financially? Spiritually?

4. How will failing to achieve your goal negatively affect your friends and family? What will it cost them in the long run?

5. What will you think of yourself years from now if you never achieve your goal?

This short list of questions should be enough to get you started on the right path. All of your goals require this type of questioning. Without it, you'll quickly let habit and routine run the show and fall far short of what is possible in your life.

When you answer this line of questioning with your goals you'll finally enjoy the limitless motivation you need to change your life for the better. Every time you encounter an obstacle and you feel like you can't go on, revisit your reasons and you'll have the leverage you need to proceed.

We all deal with moments of indecision and weakness. We know we should do one thing but we have an urge to do another. While the majority of people will give in to their temptations and regret it later, you will have the secret to staying the course day in and day out.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

It Only Takes One To Succeed

2008-02-18T04:38:00.000-08:00

“I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” - Michael Jordan

Good Morning,

If you try and try again, you will eventually succeed. It's the Law of numbers. It's a law of the universe. If your committed to something and you consistently go after it, again and again and again, there will be that one time you get it. That's all it takes, one time.

A real life example could be a salesman. The law of numbers will allow him a certain number of sales per calls. So, the more he calls, the more he sells. The same could be true for a door to door salesman, the more he knocks the more he sells. If the salesman on average gets one sale per 10 doors and he wants to increase his sale to 5 a day. Guess what he has to do. You guessed it, knock on fifty doors and he will hit his target most of the time.

So, the moral of all this, is to not give up. Be persistent and keep trying to score in the game of life. Don't get discouraged when you fail, that's all part of the process.

Until next time, be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!!

2008-02-15T04:25:00.000-08:00

"Your credit score: Those three little numbers can have a six-digit impact on your life." — Phil X. Tirone

Good Morning,

Many people think that a good credit score simply means you can have more stuff — and a bad credit score means less stuff. But it's far more than that. If your credit score is not as strong as it could be, you're losing money. Every day. Your car payment — more. If you own your home, your mortgage — far more. Or, if you rent your home, you're paying thousands more that could be going toward home equity. It's an endless spiral that affects your wallet as well as your spirit.

You need to take total control of all your finances. If you seem to be struggling with money, you need to sit down and do a budget. Write down all your expenses, every single one. The purpose of this budget is to be able to look, see and identify were your money is going.

If you need to free up some money, while looking at your budget, you might have to do some drastic budget costs to save money. Maybe you need to get rid of cable or at least drop it to the basic plan. Stop making long distance phone calls if you can. Get rid of the cell phone or go to a prepaid plan that will save you money. How about Internet? Get rid of the costly high speed, you can still find dial up providers for $10.00 per month !!

You need to eliminate the waste. Get back to the essentials. What you need, instead of what you want. If you cut the wasted money out of your budget, you can free up a ton of money.With the freed up money, you can start to save or send in more towards those credit card bills, your car, your house. Concentrate on getting things paid off and becoming debt free.

Now, I know all the things you waste your money on will make your life a little less fun. But, if you want to get ahead financially, you have to sacrifice some where. So get out that pad and do your budget and figure out what you can do without. You'll be amazed how much money every month you can free up.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!!

It's Time You Do This !!!

2008-02-13T04:43:00.000-08:00

Good Morning,

All things, both good and bad, come to an end. It's a fact of life we all know but work hard to ignore. We spend each day as if we have an eternity to do the things we've always wanted to do. Why rush or confront our fears when we have forever to do so? Why take steps to improve and leave our comfort zone today when we have so many tomorrows? And this delusional thinking ensures the majority of people in the world settle for less than they want. It lures people into putting off their goals and dreams until time runs out. And the end result? People live the whole of their lives far below their potential.

Your job is simple. You need to face this fact of life and use it to your advantage. You need to stop living as if you'll be around forever and let this idea really sink in:You can't live forever. What happens to your body and soul after you've gone isn't up for discussion; that's a personal belief that I have no right to discuss.

But the one thing I can say is that your life as you know it on earth will eventually come to anend. Don't ignore this. Don't overlook it. Don't forget it. Right now, this very moment, I want you to realize that a time will come when you no longer have the chance to do the things you want to do. Just writing the words motivates me to keep moving toward my goals because I know I've got a limited amount of time to do everything I plan on doing.I can't put it off. And neither can you.

Think about it. Not just a quick, 'Yeah, yeah, I know whatyou mean.' You need to give this idea time to sink in. Let it make an impact that changes how you think and feel about your goals. Is your future worth the few minutes it will take to fully realize this truth? I think it is.

All things come to an end. Don't allow yourself to forget this truth. Take your goals in mind and realize that you don't have an eternity to make them happen. All you know for sure is that you have this moment to take the first step toward the things you want.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

2008-02-11T04:30:00.000-08:00

"Energy and persistence alter all things." — Benjamin Franklin

Good Morning,

Ben Franklin hit the nail on the head when he said that quote. To accomplish anything in your life, you must have energy to move. If you try doing a task when your groggy and sleepy, your not going to do it with 100 percent focus. Which in turn could result in errors.

Here's a good example, would you like to fly on a plane where you notice that the captain seems tired, groggy and sleepy. I know I would not feel good about that. If the captain does not have energy to fly the plane, that's not a good sign. I would want a pilot that is full of energy, awake and focused on the task.

Here is another example that you might have went through at some time. Have you ever driven your car when your tired? I remember one night, it was kind of late. I left a friends house and was driving home. I was tired and fighting to stay awake. It was kind of chilly that night, so I rolled down the windows to get some fresh, cool air to try and keep me alert. I had a hard time keeping focused and alert. I remember actually nodding off for a second or two while I was driving. That's when I had to pull over on the side of the road and just take a nap. I did not want to keep driving if I didn't have the energy.

So, energy is your fuel to accomplishing any task you put your mind too.

Now, another ingredient you need is persistence. Meaning, don't give up, keep at it. If there is something you really want to accomplish, you must keep moving forward and keep working on accomplishing your goal. Obviously, if you have energy, you can be more persistent.

If you were a basketball player and wanted to be a better free throw shooter, you would have to practice persistently to become better. Persistence would be practicing everyday to become a better shooter.

If you wanted to become a Blackbelt in Karate, you would persistently have to practice and master certain techniques to become a Blackbelt. You would have to be persistent in your practice.

So, to succeed at accomplishing any goal in life you must have the energy to keep persistently trying to accomplish your goal.

FORMULA : SUCCESS = ENERGY + PERSISTENCE

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

True Formula For Success !!!!

2008-02-08T04:33:00.000-08:00

"A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart." — Jonathan Swift: 17-18th century

Good Morning,

To be truly successful at something, takes more than wanting to make money. You must have a passion, loving what you do.

It's the same way with exercise. If you want to go on an exercise program and you decide to start jogging or lifting weights. You might do it from sure will power for a few times, but, if you don't love doing it or have a passion for it, your not going to stick to the program. Does that make sense?

That's why so many people start doing things and end up shortly after not doing them any longer. Don't start something if you do not have a passion for it.

Another example, people everyday start diets to lose weight. They stick to it for a couple of days or maybe on pure will power they might stick yo it for a couple of weeks. But, if they don't love and have a passion for eating healthy, they will not be on the diet very long. It's as simple as that. The quicker you realize this, the quicker you can start looking for ways to build passion for something you want to accomplish.

This is the greatest success formula for anything in your life that you want to accomplish and be really successful at anything you do. From relationships, finances, business, physically, emotionally, etc. Every aspect of your life.

If you smoke cigarettes, do you want to quit? Yes? No, you really don't. Because you love and have a passion for smoking cigarettes. !! If you try to quit, it won't work! The only way to quit smoking, is to not be passionate about it anymore, you must have a passion, loving not to smoke. Loving the way you feel not to smoke, how much better you can breath, how much better you can taste your food, how much better your overall health will be, how much better you smell, etc.

Do you really want to go on a diet to lose weight? Yes? No, you don't. Because you love to eat, you have a passion to eat unhealthy foods. A diet won't work unless, you find a passion and love to eat a healthy diet. Loving the way a healthy diet will make you feel. Less bloated, more energy, weight loss, less physical problems, looking better, etc.

You can see by just the couple of examples above that you must realize that the only way your going to be successful at anything in your life is to love it and have a great passion for doing it.
If you write down your goals that you have and you do not have a passion or love doing it. You mine as well not even try. You need to love doing it. Otherwise your going to waste your time trying something that will not make you happy and you will not succeed.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

2008-02-06T04:51:00.000-08:00

"The best of us must sometimes eat our words."(From Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) — J. K. Rowling

Good Morning,

Today we are going to discuss your vocabulary. The words you use in your everyday life have meaning and power. Your words can make people feel hurt, sad, happy, mad, scared and much more.

The words you choose can change your state of mind. If your feeling angry about something. You could change your state by substituting a weird sounding word that means the same. Most of would tell the person we are angry with, "I'm angry at you for doing ????". But, to change your state from being very angry to a much lighter anger, you might rephrase what you say too something like this, " I'm HUFFY at you for doing ????". I know if I said this, it would definitely change my state, I might even laugh. It would change the other persons state too.

Can you imagine, if your fighting with your spouse about something and you phrased your anger in that way. You probably would both laugh and be able to communicate more productively. Because responding in anger usually gets a response in anger and just escalates and then you don't talk to each other for hours or maybe even days. And it's usually about something stupid.

When your talking to yourself, you can use different words to put you in different states. You need to realize that the words you use are very powerful. So, my challenge to you is to learn and expand your vocabulary, so you have an extensive list of words. That best way to do this, is to learn a word a day or look up an emotional word each day. Here is an example from a Thesaurus for the word angry:

Main Entry: angry
Definition: mad
Synonyms:
affronted, annoyed, antagonized, bitter, chafed, choleric, convulsed, cross, displeased, enraged, exacerbated, exasperated, ferocious, fierce, fiery, fuming, furious, galled, hateful, heated, hot, huffy, ill-tempered, impassioned, incensed, indignant, inflamed, infuriated, irascible, irate, ireful, irritable, irritated, maddened, nettled, offended, outraged, passionate, piqued, provoked, raging, resentful, riled, sore, splenetic, storming, sulky, sullen, tumultuous, turbulent, uptight, vexed, wrathful

My wife was angry with me the other day, and I said to her, "Honey, I understand your convulsed at me." As soon as I said it, her state changed. She laughed and asked what I was talking about. So choose your words carefully. To change someone from angry to all most laughing, use the weirdest word you can find. If someone is sad, use the funniest word you can find to make them laugh. Example: Instead of, "I know your sad about ?????", use, "I know your
woebegone about ????." Woebegone means sad, but it will surely make you and the other person laugh. And if you can laugh, you cannot be sad. So expand your words and expand your life.

So, until next time, always be aware of your "oracles" (decisions) that shape your ultimate "divine decree" (destiny) !! Ha, Ha, that sounds funny!

2008-02-05T04:31:00.000-08:00

"If you believe it, you can make it happen. That’s all you need, is belief — and of course the willingness to follow through on whatever needs to be done on your part." — Barefoot Doctor

Good Morning,

There’s never been a championship team whose players and coach didn’t believe in themselves. There’s never been a corporate president or CEO who didn’t believe in himself or herself. Believing is not a guarantee of achievement. But failing to believe is a sure guarantee of failure. Before you set your goal to make more money next month, lose 10 pounds, or get that promotion you’ve had your eye on, ask yourself if you believe you can do it. If the answer’s yes, then go do it.

Until Next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

2008-02-04T04:37:00.000-08:00

"Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their
greatest failure."
—Napoleon Hill

Good Morning,

Failure is a learning experience. When you fail, you must learn from it and move on. Don't give up. There are many people who have failed time and time again, but never gave up, never quit on there dream. They always will still pursue there dream until they reach it. One of the reasons they continue to pursue there dream even though they might have failed many times, is because they have a very strong belief that they will reach there dream.

They fail, they learn from it and continue going forward, never giving up. The greatest people are not afraid to fail. They just know they have to continue to change how they are doing things to reach there dream.

Take Thomas Edison for example. He was trying to invent the light bulb. He failed hundreds of times, he could have given up. But, his belief that he can do it, kept him changing and adapting to new ideas. Until he finally succeeded.

Most people will try to reach there goal, if it doesn't work the first couple of times, they just give up. I'm here to tell you, DO NOT GIVE UP !!! If your belief is strong enough that you can accomplish something, than keep moving forward and learning from every failure. Don't do the same thing over and over, you must do things differently. Change and adapt.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

2008-02-02T04:53:00.000-08:00

"I don't care how much power, brilliance, or energy you have, if you don't harness it and focus it on a specific target, and hold it there, you're never going to accomplish as much as your ability warrants." — Zig Ziglar

Good Morning,

One of the biggest obstacles you face, that comes to be in the way of you achieve a lot of your goals is, simply PROCRASTANATION !!!

Everyone has the power within yourselves to accomplish some great things. But, procrastination leads us to just being armchair dreamers. It's easy to sit there and think of great things your going to accomplish. But, you have to conquer procrastination to accomplish anything.

Accomplishing anything means to take ACTION !! You must move and move consistently in the direction of your goal. When you procrastinate, it's like sitting in your car on the side of the highway, not going anywhere. Your car might be out of gas. But, if it is just sitting there and you don't give it gas, that's where it's going to stay.

Whatever goal you have in mind that you want to achieve, the greatest steps you can take to achieve that goal is to, simply be committed to doing at least one thing everyday that will bring you closer to your goal. That could mean one day doing research about your goal, the next day, you put your whole plan on paper, the next day, you go out and join something that will help you in reaching your goal. Whatever it is, commit to taking some kind of action every single day, whether it's a small step or big step. If you take some kind of action everyday towards your goal your more likely to achieve it more than if you just sat there and thought about it.

Let me give one of my real life examples. I was a successful manager at a store. My goal was to grow my customer base. That's probably a goal that every store has. I could of just had me and my staff doing all the normal company marketing tactics. But, I wanted my store to be different and grow to be one of the biggest store in the company. I want me and my team to stand out. I brainstormed and came up with a simple formula, but one that know other store was really doing. It was not part of the company marketing plan and doing it, meant that I had to take some extra action to achieve. I simply came up with a plan to go out and knock on doors and introduce myself as the manager and let them know a little bit about my store and how I can help them in the future. I also gave them a coupon, so when they needed me, they could use it anytime.

Now, this was going over and beyond what any other store was doing. But, in the beginning, I was a little nervous about it, because I didn't know how it was going to turn out. I actually procrastinated a couple of weeks. I didn't do anything. One day I decided to take action, kick the procrastination and get out there and do it. I decided my goal everyday, would be to actually talk to 5 potential customer every day, just 5. If I knocked on the door and know one answered, I would leave one of my stores door hangers on the door.

So, I might leave a door hanger on the first three doors, talk to someone, then leave five door hangers, talk to someone and so on, until I talked to at least 5. I noticed when I would be talking to people, some of them would start to ask me questions about certain products. That opened the door towards a purchase. Now, my whole goal of going out there was not to be pushy or sell anything. I just wanted to introduce myself and let them know my store was there to help them if they ever needed anything. I always had order forms, brochures, our full line catalog, just in case someone was interested.

Guess what happened when I started taking this action everyday? You guessed it, my store did grow to be one of the biggest and most successful stores in the company. Talking to just 5 people everyday, on a consistent basis, snowballed into more customers than I could have imagined if I did not take that action. It was so successful and it didn't take me very long to go out and talk to just five people a day, I upped it to ten a day. It took me only about an hour of knocking on doors to talk to ten people. That's it, one hour.

So you must realize, that when your stop procrastinating, and take some kind of action, you get a ripple effect. Taking action will produce some kind of reaction. It has to. It's a law of nature. Take a positive action, get a positive reaction. And, on the other hand, take a negative action, get a negative reaction. So, get out there and take positive action towards your goal and you will produce a reaction.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

Get More Energy in The Afternoon !!

2008-01-30T04:34:00.000-08:00

"Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded." — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Good Morning,

Do you feel sluggish, tired as your day continues into the afternoon? Do you know why you feel that way? It's one of the worst feelings, especially when you have to work and your feeling tired and sluggish, no energy.

Most of the time this happens after you eat. So, the first thing you need to realize is, probably what your eating is making you feel this way. Obviously, if you are eating a heavy lunch and eating to much, your going to feel tired after you eat. The second reason why you probably feel this way, is your not getting any exercise.

Now, I know, exercise, not fun, who wants to do it. You must realize, even if you do some light exercise, like walking, stretching, practice yoga, there are many light exercises that you can incorporate into your daily routine. It will help you be more energetic thru out your day.

The next thing, eat a lighter, more healthy lunch. Think before you eat. Think of how your lunch is going to make you feel after you eat. Look into the future, about an hour after you eat. You pretty much know what food is going to make you feel tired and what food is light and healthy and will give you energy.

If you have a daily exercise program and eat a light healthy lunch, you will have energy and be way more productive at work. As "TONY" the tiger says, you'll feel great!! Know one likes to feel sluggish and tired in the afternoon, it makes the afternoon drag by slower, because your not concentrating on the tasks you need to do to be productive. Your just looking at the clock waiting to go home and go to bed.

So, start a healthier program today and get more energy that will carry you thru your day and make you more productive.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

2008-01-28T04:47:00.000-08:00

There is more to life than increasing its speed." —Mahatma Gandhi

Good morning,

There is more to life than just working and making money. You must have balance. You must make time for family and Friends. You must make time to be alone with yourself. A great way to take advantage of being alone, reducing stress and contemplate on your day, is to start a meditation routine.

Meditation is a great way to put focus in your life. It reduces stress, it even helps with healing your physical body, gives you energy and so much more benefits. I learned about meditation when I started practicing Martial Arts. I practice meditation along side with Karate.
It helps me perform anything at a higher level, it improves reaction time, it lowers your blood pressure, it reduces headaches and so much more.

One way to meditate is to sit on the floor or chair. You can cross your legs if your sitting on the floor or rest both feet flat on the floor if your sitting in a chair. Just make sure you are in a relaxed position. Close your eyes, Relax every muscle in the body. Take three deep breaths in and out. One breath in and out count as one.

Then breath normally, count in your head "one" when you breath in, then "two" when you breath out and so on until you reach ten. You should only be concentrating on your breathing.

Then count every other breath in, until you reach ten. After the breathing exercises, you want to just sit still for about 10 - 15 minutes. When you first start out, 10 minutes seems like along time. It might seem harder than you think. But if you meditate consistently, you will work your way to doing it. While your sitting still, try to have a blank mind. Not thinking of anything. There will be thoughts that come up, but just let them go. If it helps you can think of one thing to concentrate on. Also while sitting still meditating, you might flinch every once in a while. That's pretty normal. That means your doing it right.

Try to incorporate meditation into your daily routine. Once in the morning and once in the evening. You'll notice yourself being able to concentrate better and be more productive and healthier. You'll feel more refreshed.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

Law of Positive Expectancy

2008-01-22T04:37:00.000-08:00

The following story illustrates how average people can perform at genius level — a simple technique anyone can use:

(This experiment was performed in a San Francisco Bay area school by Dr. Robert Rosenthal of Harvard University.)

At the beginning of the school year, the principal called three teachers into his office.
And to these teachers he said, "As a result of your teaching excellence over the last three or four years, we have come to the conclusion that you are the best teachers in this school. And as a special reward to you, we have identified three classes each with 30 of the brightest students in this school — the students with the highest IQs And we're going to assign them to you to teach for the entire year.

"Now, we don't want to be accused of discrimination, so it's very important that you do not tell these children in any way that you know that they've been selected for a screened class. And second of all, we're not going to tell their parents, because we don't want to cause any difficulties there. I expect you to teach exactly the same way you normally do and use exactly the same curriculum, and I expect you to get very good results with these students."
The results: At the end of the school year, these students led not only the school, but the entire school district in academic accomplishment.

Calling the three teachers into his office, the principal said:

"Well, you've had a very good year."

"Yes we have ... it was so easy," replied the teachers. "These children were so easy to teach.

They were so eager to learn; it was such a pleasure to teach them."

"Well, maybe I'd better tell you the truth," said the school principal.

"This has been an experiment, and those 90 children were chosen out of the school population at random. When I assigned them to your class at the beginning of the year, I had no idea what their IQs were at all."

"That's incredible!" exclaimed the teachers. "But how could it be that they scored so high? They did so well. They got such good grades. Ah hah! Yes! It must be because we are such excellent teachers."

At which the principal said, "And I think I should also tell you the other side of the experiment. At the beginning of the school year, we put all the teachers' names in a hat, and yours were the first three names that were drawn."

The Law of Positive Expectancy — The Secret to Achieving More

These average students did so well because of the Law of Positive Expectancy. This law states that you achieve what you expect to achieve and what others expect you to achieve.

Since the principal expected a lot, so did the teachers. And, sensing that the teachers expected a lot, the students did too. Dr. Rosenthal repeated this experiment 300 times — each time getting identical results.

"To achieve more, you have to expect more. And, to get more from the people who work for you, expect more from them." It really is that simple. But the opposite is also true.

That's why so many bright and capable people never perform up to their abilities. For too long, they've been dumped on by people around them — destroying their self-confidence:

If you expect to fail, you will fail — saying, "See, I never win ... the cards are stacked against me." Even if by chance you happen to succeed, you'll say, "It was a fluke ... it'll never happen again." People are failures because deep down they see themselves as failures. We all achieve what we expect to achieve.

The story I just told you comes from Brian Tracy's The Psychology of Achievement. I could not have said it better myself.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

Becoming A Successful Communicator

2008-01-20T06:52:00.000-08:00

Good Morning,

Today we are going to discuss different ways to become a great communicator. Great communication will open many doors of opportunity in your life. You can achieve great results by having outstanding communication skills.

If you are a salesman, than you need great communication skills. There are three steps in initiating a positive result in getting someone to say yes.

1. Open the conversation with an "open-ended question". In other words, do not open a conversation with a yes or no question. An example: A customer walks in your store, you greet the customer and say, "good morning, can I help you?" The customers first response to this is to say, "No, just looking." A better way to start a conversation with a customer might be, "Good morning, what brings you into out store today?" Now, by asking this question, it wouldn't make sense for the customer to say NO! They have to respond in some way. Now, at this point they could respond by saying, "We just came in to look around." But, that's better than saying NO. You then can keep responding with open ended questions. "Oh, OK. What type of furniture are you looking for?" Again a "NO" or "Yes" response would not make sense. So, that's number one, start conversations with open-ended questions that make people talk instead of just saying YES or NO.

2. Listen with complete understanding. If your asking open-ended questions and your not really listening to what they are saying. That would not be good. You must listen to what they are saying and let them know that your listening. "Oh, OK, I understand." This is also called "Active Listening."

3. Offer a solution, and end it with a question. "Well, I have this furniture over here, this sounds like what you are looking for. We can go ahead and get your order now, how does that sound?" Now, you want to offer solutions that meet there needs. If you were asking the right open-ended questions you should have an idea of what will meet there needs. If they told you they were looking for a black sectional, don't offer the solution of getting a blue one!

These three steps can help start and end conversations successfully. Not just in sales, but in everyday conversations. Do you think you would communicate better with your spouse if you started using the power of "Open-Ended Questions?" You bet it would, because they would have no choice but to open up. "Open People Up by Using Open Questions" When you Open people up, they will enjoy a great conversation. Enjoying a great conversation, makes an enjoyable relationship.

So, try it today. Talk to your spouse or significant other. Don't just ask, "Did you have a good day today?" Ask instead, "So what was good that happened today?" Stay away from YES and NO questions and enjoy a great conversation.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

Finding Your Life's Purpose

2008-01-18T04:29:00.000-08:00

"A person's main task in life is to give birth to oneself." — Erich Fromm

Good Morning,

Today we are going to discuss finding your purpose in life. Most people want to live a life were they contributed something to make a better world for everyone else. They want to make a difference. They want to be well known. They want to find there true purpose.

I found my true purpose in helping people, young and old. I travel around the country giving motivational speeches to our young people in junior and high schools. I do not charge any money for doing this. So, I volunteer my time to go and speak. I touch peoples lives. I speak to them about motivation, goal setting, making sure they understand that they are in control of there decisions when it comes to drugs or alcohol. I believe I make a difference in many of there lives. I'm happy making a positive impact on our young people.

I'm successful, because even though I volunteer my time and make great impacts on young people, I've learned that giving is receiving. I become known for what I do, I'm promoting my self when I speak. When you make your lives purpose to give, to help other people, you will get noticed and you can actually build a career around it. Maybe you can start an organization which helps people in some way. Starting out small will lead to becoming big. Look at some biographies of some well known people who got were they are today, all because they started out giving. Then built a career around it. For example, John Walsh. He's known for speaking at different events and hosting the T.V. show, Americas Most Wanted. But, do you know how he got to were he is today?

Sadly, his career started when his little boy got abducted, later found dead. But, he used that terrible thing that happened in a positive way. He started taking a positive action to help other parents. He did not want what happened to him to happen to anyone else. He had a deep passion about it.

You can think of different organizations that started the same way. D.A.D.D. (Dads Against Drunk Drivers). A father started this organization when a drunk driver killed one of his children.
You can have the same outcomes in your life if you choose to be passionate about a cause and go out there and volunteer your time in making a difference. This won't work unless you are really passionate about a certain cause and really want to make a difference. Don't wait to have a passion about something when something bad happens in your life, like the couple of examples above. Find the one thing you can really care about and start working to make a difference.

When you do that, your purpose in life will be revealed and you will be happy.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

Understanding How To Achieve Goals

2008-01-17T04:51:00.000-08:00

Good Morning,

The answer to achieving any of your goals are all around us. The shirt your wearing has the answer. So does that book on the shelf. The computer your using has the answer. Do you know what it is?

Everything around you was made by small parts that come together to make what you see. Your shirt is made up from small strands woven together. That book on the shelf is made from one page at a time, put together to make the whole book. Same thing with the computer, it's made from a bunch of small things put together to make the computer your using today.

So, to achieve your goals, you must make small steps, put them all together to achieve your ultimate goal. An example might be, you want to start a business and have it be successful.
Well, to achieve that goal, it just doesn't happen overnight. You have to start by taking many small steps and every step you take brings you closer to your goal. Does that make sense?

First, you must start by having a goal. Then start listing steps that you must take to achieve your goal. As you go through steps you might have to evaluate your step and delete or add steps as you go along. Once you do that, make a commitment to do at least one step or more everyday. By doing at least one step, you will be closer than you were the day before.

So go out there and take your steps that you need to take to achieve what you want!

Until next time, be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

Master Your Beliefs

2008-01-14T03:56:00.000-08:00

"As we increasingly master our perceptions, beliefs, and thought/feeling patterns, we magnetically attract that which we most desire." —Luanne Oakes

Good Morning,

One of my earlier blogs discussed "making decisions" and how decisions shape your destiny. This is very true. You also need to align your beliefs along with your decisions. If you make your decisions based on your beliefs, that's the most powerful decision.

In other words, you can make a decision to do something, but, if you really don't have the belief you can do it, than your just sabotaging yourself. Lets say you make a decision to go to the moon. You can find out what you need to do to become an astronaut. An start making the decisions that are going to lead you down that path. But, do you really believe that you will go to the moon? That's what will make your decisions a reality or just a dream. Now, I'm not saying, if that is your dream, and you make a decision to do that and you really believe you can accomplish that dream. Than by all means, go for it. But, you must have a strong belief that you can accomplish a goal. Don't make decisions based upon shaky beliefs. Make decisions based on concrete beliefs. A believe that is very strong, that you have no doubt in your mind that you will make the decision and achieve it.

Once you make a powerful decision and have a very strong belief that it can be accomplished, you will start to see a bunch of resources that will help you accomplish your goal. It's like, when you buy a car, you start to drive it, it's a part of your everyday life. What happens? You all of a sudden start seeing your car all over the place. You start noticing other cars that are the same model as yours, even though they have always been around you! So, if you constantly believe and are making decisions towards your goal, you will start seeing so much resource that you can use to help you accomplish your goal, you will not even believe it.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

Finding Inspiration

2008-01-13T06:15:00.000-08:00

Good Morning,

Today we are going to discuss ways of getting inspiration. Inspiration to get motivated to achieve what you want to achieve in your life.

There are many ways, especially in to days world to get inspired. One of my favorite ways is to read about people who have succeeded in there goals. Especially the people who have attained the same goals that I'm looking to achieve. The greatest stories, that I enjoy are the rags to riches stories. I like reading about how people turned nothing into something. There the greatest, inspirational stories.

Now, you can find a lot of these types of stories about successful people at a website :
http://www.biography.com/ . You can read biographies about many people here. This is a great resource.

Another way I like to get inspired is to read motivational articles. My site here, provides a good amount of motivational, personal development articles. But, there are many other sites out there that have a ton of motivational content. Just type in the search bar, motivational, personal development, etc.

Another way to get inspiration is through audio / video motivational tapes, CD's, Audio books, etc. There are thousands upon thousands of these available. You can pick up some at your public library or buy them at your favorite book store or on the web.

You can also read books! What a concept. Your public library has tons of books you can check out and read on all sort of subjects. I'll tell you, I love the library!!! You have access to so much information and resources. And best of all it's totally FREE !!

There are so many great ways to get inspired. These are a few that hopefully put you in the right direction. But, most of all, inspire yourself.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

Live For Today !!

2008-01-11T04:12:00.000-08:00

"Better three hours too soon, than one minute too late." — William Shakespeare

Good Morning,

Today we are going to talk about procrastination. Most people do not have a sense of urgency to do anything until it's too late. People wait until a doctor tells them that there health is in danger before they quit smoking, exercising or dieting. People start doing better at work when they realize they are about to lose there job. People start to try and make the relationships better when they fear they are about to lose it. Why do we wait to do things when it's to late?

You must not live your life in the past. You can learn from the past, but, don't stay there. You must live your life in the present to the best of your ability. What you do in the present, lays the foundation for the future. Your present becomes your past and your future becomes your present. Does that make sense? In other words, you only live in the present. You can't live your life in the future, you can't live your life in the past. You only have the time here and now.

You must live today! Don't wait until it's to late to set goals and start working on them. Time goes so quickly, that before you know it, it will be too late. Don't fall in this trap. Set your goals, work on accomplishing them and set more goals. Always strive to do your best everyday at whatever it is you do. Give it your all. Stand out from the crowd. Take chances, conquer your fears, live positive, live with passion, do not take the important things in your life for granted. Life is short, it really is. The average age is about 75 years. That's not very long. Do you want to just live your life and go with the flow? Think about it it, 75 years !!

People get so wrapped up in what other people think and do. Break out of the mold, be different, be adventurous, be outrageous, be daring, do as much as you can everyday! What's the worst that can happen? When your time is up, do you think anything at that point is going to matter? You are one person among millions and millions of people. The earth is like a speck of dust among the solar system. Does that put your life in perspective? You need to enjoy every second, every hour, every day of your life! Don't wait to do something tomorrow, because it may never come.

Here is something I learned from my Martial arts training. You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today.

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who has failed a grade.

To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who has given birth to a pre-mature baby.

To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of ONE DAY, ask a daily wage laborer who has kids to feed.

To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who has missed the train.

To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who has avoided an accident.

To realize the value of ONE MILLI-SECOND, ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Treasure every moment that you have!

And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time. .... and remember that time waits for no one.

Yesterday is history
Tomorrow a mystery
Today is a gift
That's why it's called the present!

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

Why We Do What We Do

2008-01-09T04:22:00.000-08:00

Good Morning,

Today, we are going to discuss, WHY we do what we do. Everything we do in life has a reason or reasons behind it. Does that make sense?

Think about this, why do you go to work everyday? There's a reason why you go to work everyday, even though you might not even like your job. You still do it everyday. The reason you do it is probably because you earn money to live. That's a very powerful reason. By understanding the powers of reason, you can use that knowledge to your advantage. How? By simply putting great reasons behind your goals.

If you put better reasons behind your goals you would be more likely to achieve them. We all make reasons why we do the things we do. They could be good or bad, pain or pleasure. We all seek pleasure out of life and try to avoid pain. So you need to come up with reasons that lead you to pleasure. Does that make sense?

You make a living working were you work, because the reason is more pleasurable than painful. If you didn't work, it would cause pain. Mostly financial pain. You might not like your job, so that's pain. But, in most cases the pleasure out weighs the pain. If you tip the scales and make going to work more painful than pleasurable, you would probably quit your job. Then you would look for another job that's more pleasurable.

I think you get the point. The bottom line is, that what ever your goals are you must tip the scales to link more pleasurable reasons to achieve your goal rather than painful ones. If, for example you want to lose weight. What are some pleasurable reasons you want to achieve that goal. Because if you don't have good enough reasons, you won't take action to do it. If you want to quit smoking, why do you continue to smoke? You just don't do it for nothing. You have a reason. You must identify the reason and realign it in a way that links more pleasure in quiting.

My exercise to you today is, to come up with three good reasons why you must achieve your goal or goals. The better the reason, the better the outcome.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

Self Disipline

2008-01-08T04:09:00.000-08:00

"In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves ... self-discipline with all of them came first." — Harry S. Truman

Good Morning,

To me, self discipline is the act of taking action consistently. Many people are what I call coach dreamers. They sit around and dream about things they want to accomplish. They set goals, but never take any type of action to achieve them. Most of them know exactly what they must do to achieve the goals. So, why don't they just do it?

The formula: Dreaming it + Knowing It + Doing It !! = SUCCESS

Doing it is the hard part for everyone. Let's say you want to lose weight. It's easy to dream about it, you know what you must do to achieve it (eat healthy, exercise). Then the final part of the equation, doing it.

To get the self discipline to take action, you must use some kind of leverage. An extreme example of leverage would be, some one pointing a gun at you, telling you, you start exercising or I will shoot you in the leg. Do you think you would start exercising if this were the case? You bet you would!

There's different ways to use leverage to your advantage. Maybe find a partner and make a bet who ever sticks to the exercise program the longest wins. Make it a pretty substantial amount of money, you'll want to win, not lose. That's leverage. Maybe tell people about what you are going to do, will these people make fun of you and give you a hard time if you fail? That's leverage. The more extreme it is, the better the leverage. I'm sure you can thing of many examples. Let's say you love to play online games. Well, tell your spouse, parent, etc., that if you fail and don't take action, they can block you from getting online for a month. Will that be leverage for you? You bet if you love getting online. Leverage something that will bother you if you don't accomplish your goal. You can think of many creative ways to use leverage. But, the key is to really care about that one thing your going to use for leverage.

Until next time, always be aware of the decisions you make that shape your destiny!

2008-01-07T04:53:00.000-08:00

In about the same degree as you are helpful, you will be happy. -- Karl Reiland --

Good Morning,

Today we are going to discuss, the way to true happiness is giving. What you give you get in return. They go hand and hand together. You need to find something to give back to people. Let me tell you about a story I read in a book before, that illustrates this point.

An older man, he was about 70 years old. He was retired. He decided to do something with his remaining years that would give happiness to a bunch of people. One morning, he went outside to the curb on a busy intersection and started hopping around waving and shouting, "have a great day!!" His wife thought he was nuts and told him to get back inside. But, he did not listen. Every morning he continued going to the curb and displaying his happiness. People driving by start waving back, they started honking there Horn. People started going out of there way just to pass by this old man. People just started feeling better and it would make there morning more enjoyable. News crews started doing stories about him. He was on a national morning show. He became a kind of celebrity overnight just by giving back, by making a difference.

You really do get back what you truly give. Another story about a teenager in Philadelphia. He would see the homeless people lying on the steel grates in the sidewalk trying to get warm from the freezing weather. One night he took a couple of blankets off his bed and asked his dad to drive him downtown so he could give a couple of blankets for the homeless people to try and keep warm. On the way, he heated his blanket by the heat vent in the car to get it warm. When he saw a man laying on ground, they stopped the car, he got out and gave the homeless man a warm blanket. The homeless man looked up and said, god bless you, son. The young man felt great that he did a great thing. He start collecting donations, food, blankets, anything that would help the homeless. Eventually, he started an organization that grew and today he continues to help the homeless not only in his hometown, but is starting to expand in other cities as well.

So these two stories are just a couple of the great things people do to give back. And by doing these thing they truly do receive.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

2008-01-04T04:25:00.000-08:00

"Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs." — Henry Ford

Good morning,

This morning we are going to look at breaking down goals into smaller mini goals. This is a great tactic to use on long term goals. When you set a long term goal, it's long term because your not going to be able to achieve it over night.

You must learn to have mini goals within the long term goals. Let's take Henry Ford for example. Here is a man that needed to continuously produce not only one automobile but thousands of automobiles as quickly an efficiently as possible. So, how did he do it? He came up with the assembly line. What this did was to break the task of making an automobile into smaller segments. They would start from the beginning, and at the end of the line, wa la, your finished automobile.

That's what we have to learn to do. We have to design our own assembly line for building our goal. Start with the goal in mind. The goal in mind should be your end result. What you want to achieve. Now, you need to design your assembly line on paper, in steps, in small segments. When you are done with your assembly line, you just start from the beginning and work your way to the end. Now, as your moving thru the assembly line, you must have some quality control to inspect what your doing. You might find that you might have to add another part or even remove a part for your assembly line to be productive as you go along. So always monitor your assembly line and add or remove parts as needed.

People usually know how to achieve a goal, but they just don't ever take the action to go for it. So learning to break it down into smaller steps is easier to handle than wondering how your going to achieve the big goal. Break it down, build your assembly line and you shall succeed.

Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

2008-01-03T04:24:00.000-08:00

"The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak." — Hans Hofmann

Good Morning,

Today we are going to discuss eliminating unproductive actions. My question to you is, if you could pick one productive action you can take everyday to help you reach your goal, what would that be? Think of something that you currently are not doing. Maybe you think you don't have the time to do it.

Now, my challenge to you is to add this one activity to your daily routine. You must manage your time and simplify your tasks. Maybe your one activity you want to add is exercise for 45 minutes, 5 days a week. But, you think you don't have the time to fit that activity in your daily routine. Well, I am here to tell you that your using time as an excuse. If you really want to fit an activity in your routine, you need to make time.

You might have to look at your daily routine and cut some unproductive activities out of your daily life to make the time to exercise. An example, you might wake up every morning, drink coffee and spend about two hours surfing the web before you get ready for work. Well, what you need to do is simply cut your web browsing down to an hour. Than you have a whole hour to exercise or do what ever your activity is.

Now, that's a simple example, but the bottom line is you can cut and shift things around to fit that activity into your schedule. You have 24 hours everyday. Cut eight hours out for sleep. That leaves you 16 hours. Cut, let's say 10 hours for your job. That leaves you 6 hours. 6 hours left!! That's a good amount of time everyday. You can surely cut some unproductive activity and replace it with a productive one. You CAN find the time. So STOP using time as an excuse. Because that is what it is. An EXCUSE !!!

Until next time, be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

Think About This !!

2008-01-02T04:44:00.000-08:00

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently."

— Warren Buffett

Good Morning,

You can build a great reputation, which essentially, does take years. People always have there own ideas, thoughts and feelings about who you really are. It's true, that you can be the most stand up person on the planet, but you do one thing that attacks your integrity and everyone will look at you different, even though you have years of building your reputation.

That's pretty sad, people tend to remember the bad things and not the good. You can do thousands of great things, but, if you do one bad thing, there whole outlook changes.

The best way to avoid this ever happening is to first, always treat people the way you would want to be treated. It sounds simple, but alot of people do the opposite. They talk of treat other people in ways that they would not want to be talked too. But, if you always live by this rule, you'll have a better reputation. Some managers (bosses), are great at not living by this rule. They are the un-popular ones. They do not have a good reputation around there workplace. There employees might even try to sabotage there boss just to get rid them. Now, that's bad.

Second, if you find yourself wanting to do something, but your questioning if it's right or wrong, odds are, it's not right. So, always listen to your inner voice. Your inner voice is very wise.

My exercise to you today, is to think about how other people view your reputation. How do your friends view you? How does your family view you? How does your co-workers, employees and even your boss view you?

Really think about it. Because it could be that some of them view your reputation one way and others view it differently. The thing you really want is for everyone to have a positive view of your reputation. Maybe you have to make some changes, so that everyone is on the same page.

Until next time, be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny. !!

2007-12-30T07:02:00.000-08:00

"It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste."

— Henry Ford

It's pretty obvious, that people who have better time management skills and people that are always in a productive state, are the people that are going to get ahead.

So, if you want to get ahead at your own job or relationship and become a super star. I'm going to tell you how to do it. But, I'm not going to lie to you. It takes work and not being lazy. If you really want to stand out and get ahead, this is what you need to do.

Most people in a work environment, are lazy, they will pretend to be doing something when the boss is around. But, when the boss is not around they waste a lot of time. Maybe talking on the phone (cell), doodling on paper, surfing the Internet, etc.

You might even be guilty of this. But, if you really want to get ahead and be a super star and stand out. Simply start being more productive and stop wasting time. If you don't want to get ahead and your happy in your current situation, then continue what you always have done.

The difference between a super star and a non-super star, is they see things that need to be done and do it. Everyday in work, you see things that need to get done, but, you think someone else will do it or the boss will tell someone to do it. So, you just let it be. You don't worry about it. Well, a super star will see the same thing, but, instead of letting it be they will take care of it, if they know that it needs to get done. They will not wait around to be told or wait until someone else does it.

It could be simple things, maybe a trash container is full and can't hold anymore. Everyone else that has trash will avoid that trash can. But, the super star will see it and take care of it. Can you imagine the impact on your career if everything you see that needs to get done, you take the initiative and just do it. Don't wait around for someone else to do it, get it done. If you consistently are practicing that in your work environment, people are going to notice, including the boss. Because they are going to see someone constantly doing something that needs to get done, when everyone else just ignores it.

I guarantee, that if you put this in practice, you will move up the ladder. But, like I said, it takes work to do it.

Until next time, be ware of your decisions that shape your destiny!

Time - Waits For No One

2007-12-29T04:26:00.000-08:00

"The loving person is a person who abhors waste—waste of time, waste of human potential. How much time we waste. As if we were going to live forever." — Leo Buscaglia

Good Morning,

Today, we are going to discuss time as related to your life. The average person lives to be about 75 years old. Now, when your young, you think you have all the time in the world. But, before you know it, you turn 20, then 30, then 40, until you get to the point where you might just have a few years left. Time will not pause, time is always continuous. The future will surely come, faster than expected.

Eventually, when you reach your "golden years" as some people call it, your going to look back at your life and reflect on things that maybe you should have done or tried. You don't want to grow older and regret not taking certain opportunities that you had when you were younger. Alot of people live in fear there whole life. Fear of what might happen if I do this or if I do that.

If you want to live the best, most fulfilling life, you need to dream and dream big. You need to face any fear that you have. 90% of the time the thing you fear never will surface anyway. People get so wrapped up about what other people think about who you are. They might say your crazy for doing certain things. But, in reality, they wish they had the courage to face there fear to try different things.

You can continue to just go with the flow, whatever happens, happens. Or you can go out there and live, make things happen. If you make decision to take action to do something, that action will give you some kind of result. Will you fail at doing some things, when you take chances? Yes, you will. But, I rather live my life taking chances than never taking any.

What is the worst that can happen if you failed? The answer to that question, is probably really not all that bad. And of course there are many people who are in alot worse situations than you are.

You must live your life to the fullest every day, because you never know when your time is up. Don't procrastinate, and think you'll do something some day. Because that someday might never come. Realize that every minute, every second that you spend on this great planet is precious. Make the most of everyday.

My exercise to you today, is to imagine you are diagnosed today with a terrible illness. Your doctor tells you for certain, that you have one year to live. This would be terrible, but many people really do get told this very same thing. Think of how they must feel. Think of how you might feel. But, the one great things these people can take advantage of is having closure on everything before they go. They can call that someone they haven't talked to in years, they can go travel somewhere they always wanted to go. They will probably do more in that one year they have left than they ever did in there whole life time. But, most people don't have that luxury. They will simply live there life and pass away.

So, back to the exercise, if you had one year left to live, what would you do? Write down everything you would like to do before you go. Just brain storm, who would you get in touch with, where would you go, what would you do, what would you like to accomplish? If you knew you had one year left, I'm sure you wouldn't live in fear, you know no matter what when the year is done, you will be gone. Let your imagination run wild, no matter how bizarre it might sound, write it down.

When your finished you will have a complete list of dreams that you would love to accomplish in that one year. Now, I'm going to give you the gift of time. I give you the next ten years to accomplish most of this instead of just one year!! How does that sound? Surely if you could do these things in one year, you would be able to accomplish most of them in ten years, don't you think?

Think about that !!!!!!

Until next time, be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny.

Worrying - Useless Emotion

2007-12-28T04:59:00.000-08:00

Good Morning,

Today we are going to discuss how worrying puts you in a negative, unproductive state. I am here to tell you that even though everyone has this emotion, it really is a useless emotion. Why do I say that?

Because, if your worrying about something and can actually do something about it, then you would not have to worry. On the other hand, if your worrying about something and you have no control over the outcome and you can't do anything about it, worrying is not going to change anything.

Does that make sense? Really think about this. It's true. Let me give you an example. Let's say, you are driving to work, your on the freeway. Your making good time, but, all of a sudden you find yourself in a traffic jam. You then realize your going to be late for your important meeting at work. At this point if you could do anything to manage not being late, you would do it. But, in this case, you are going to be late, you can't do anything about that, you have no control over it. Most people will sit in there cars and become very concerned and worried. But, being concerned and worried about what the outcome is going to be when you get to work is useless. Because , no matter how you look at it, what ever the outcome is going to be is going to be and there's nothing you can do about it. No matter how much you worry, it is still going to happen.

At this point, you must just go with the flow and realize it is out of your control. You must deal with it and move forward. No reason to worry. Get rid of this useless emotion.

Another example, might be, your waiting for your spouse to come home from work and he is late. You start worrying, even though by doing this, if something did happen, you have no control over it. All you can do is, have hope that nothing happened. But, worrying about it, will do nothing to change anything.

I can give you many examples, but, you must get the point and if you really think about it, you can see, that it really is a useless emotion.

So, try to stop worrying about things that you have no control over and if you do have control over something, than do something, then there would be no need to worry about it.

Until next time, be aware of your decisions that shape your ultimate destiny!!

Getting Answers From Your Inner-Mind

2007-12-27T05:30:00.001-08:00

Good Morning,

Today, we are going to discuss how to solve problems using your inner-mind or many people call it your inner-voice. This is a great technique to use on anything that you are looking to improve in your life or any thing to help you accomplish a goal or dream.

The way this works, by asking you inner-mind a question, it will surely come up with an answer. It's programmed to come up with an answer. No matter what you ask, you will get an answer.

You could ask a ludicrous question, and your inner mind will still come up with an answer. You inner mind is like a huge filing cabinet that holds all your memories and all your references that you have accumulated over your lifetime. So, when you ask your inner-mind a question, it will search through millions of files to bring you answers.

Now, let me explain to you how to do this. You start out by taking a blank piece of paper or open your email or notepad on your computer. Somewhere you can write or type anything you want.
At the top of the page, I want you to type / write a question that you want answered. The better your question is worded, the better results you will have. But, it could be any question.

Now, in your mind, ask the question and start typing. Whatever comes to your mind. Just type and don't stop. Somethings that come to your mind will seem like they don't make sense or that they are off topic. But, that's OK. Just keep typing. You might find yourself typing one word, one phrase, one sentence, one paragraph. Whatever it is just type it. Do this for about five minutes or so. After five minutes you will have typed a good amount.

After your inner mind session, start looking back at what you typed and you will find a recurring theme in what you wrote. That recurring theme is the answer your inner mind has provided.

Let me give you an example that I recently did. The question I asked:

In what way can I lose the weight and get to my goal of 180 lbs. ??

Now, here is what I typed in while I kept asking the question:

think before you act / think of how you will feel after eating / fast forward your realty, when you are finished eating. how will you feel? /monitor intake / no fatty / junk food / don't become a prisoner, become the guard / live with never ending energy / light food / just enough to feel content / slow down, enjoy / vision of yourself slim and trim and light / continue to exercise / always look ahead / avoid obstacles / think how will this make me feel afterward / use food for energy source / be active in everything / be cautious / find the meaning / drink plenty of water /` eat healthy, when hungry / have total concentration and become more aware and alert to everything around you / just know that it's going to happen / stray away from terrible food / think of your body as a temple and worship it / don't let the sinful stuff inside / only allow the greatest energy boosting food to enter the temple / always stay alert / be on your toes / use your mind in stead of your mouth / be conscious of everything / eat and feel content / get up and move / always think of the future and make it a reality

Do you notice anything that I've typed that keeps recurring?

What I discovered is, to think ahead after you have eaten and think how this food is going to make you feel, before you even eat it. If it's bad fatty food, look ahead and you will see yourself an hour from now feeling sluggish, tired, no energy, bloated and not wanting to do anything except sleep. So, the answer is to look an hour ahead in the future and make the right decision. Know how you are going to feel after eating unhealthy food vs healthier food. That is the answer.

So, now, before I make a decision to eat anything, I visualize how I am going to feel after I eat a certain food. That helps me make better, healthier decisions about what I am going to eat.

Before, I would always do the opposite. I would go eat, then a half hour after I was finished, I would say to myself, "I wish I did not eat this". Because I would feel tired, sluggish and bloated after eating a unhealthy meal.

So, my task to you is to put this exercise in practice with questions you need answers to. You can do this exercise daily, asking all kinds of questions and by doing this, you are opening your mind and using the power of your inner-mind to accomplish anything you need to accomplish.

Until next time, be aware of your decisions that shape your ultimate destiny.

Discipline - You Must Master This

2007-12-26T04:27:00.000-08:00

"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments." —Jim Rohn

Today we are going to talk about discipline. This is something I learn practicing Karate. When ever I am learning a new technique, I must practice it over and over again many times before I master it. While I am learning the technique I make mistakes. But, I am disciplined to know that it's part of my progress in learning the technique.

I can never be shown the technique and then perform it with perfection the very first time I try it. Just like in life, you must have the discipline to learn or do something over and over until you master it. Because, you need to realize your not going to do it right the very first time. When your not doing right, you must realize what your doing wrong and change it. You must constantly be changing and adapting to get it right. But, once you get it right, you'll know it. You'll feel it.

Many people will try to do something once, maybe twice and quit. They quit, because they don't get the results they want after a couple of times. That's pretty sad, because each time they try, they are going to get better and better every time, until they eventually get it. If I tried a new technique in Karate once or twice and then quit because I can't get it right, I would never get ahead. I know I must do the technique over and over and over again before I get it.

So, the bottom line here is that whatever your dream or goal is, you need to keep trying to get it accomplished, always be aware of what is not working and change it and keep trying until you get it right. Always realize that it could take 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 or more times to get it right. Never try to accomplish your goal once and just quit. If you have the discipline to keep trying you will eventually get it.

Think of your goal as a Karate technique that you must practice over and over again until it is done right.

Until next time, always be aware of the decisions you make that shape your destiny.

Merry Christmas !!!! Let's Have Fun !!!

2007-12-25T07:05:00.000-08:00

Good Morning,

I just wanted to wish everyone a very merry Christmas !! During this holiday season, don't let go of your goals. It's ok to relax and enjoy the holiday, but as soon as it is over, keep moving down the road towards your dreams.

Don't ever give up!! Make sure you are always aware of the decisions you are making. Because, again your decisions are what propels you towards your ultimate destiny. Don't forget to write down your dreams and goals.

Let's have a little fun today. What I want you do is pretend you are a news paper journalist. It's ten years in the future from now. You are writing an article about yourself, a little bio of some of the great things you have accomplished in your life. First start with the headline, the title of the news story. For instance you may title it: "From Rags to Riches - Millionaire Carl Mills" or "Successful Entrepreneur - Making gadgets". Now to do this you have to think about your dreams, your goals and where you want to be ten years from now. You can't write a news story about yourself if you don't know where your going.

After the title, start your article about where you grew up and maybe a little interesting news about your growing up. Then go into what you started doing after High school. All of this should be the truth about your life up to this point or where ever you are right now. Then start writing about the future, like it all ready happened, like you all ready achieved the things your writing about. Write about all that you achieved, whatever that might be. End your article, on a positive note. Like, "He now resides in Texas with his wife, children and grand children. He continues to do this and that and His passion continues to propel him to lead a greater, more fulfilling life than he could have ever imagined.

You can use what ever ending you want. But, when your all done with your article from the future, you should be able to read it and get exited and motivated to achieve your destiny. Keep the article in a place where you see it at least every few days. This will keep you motivated. An idea to keep the article in front of you all the time or at least every few days is to go to one of those online services that give you email reminders. Send your article to yourself every few days, it will automatically be in your email and you can just open it and read it.

This is really a great empowering exercise to view your future and to always be aware of where you are heading. Until next time, always be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny.

Take The 30 Day Challenge

2007-12-24T04:35:00.000-08:00

Good Morning,

Are you ready to take the "30 Day Challenge"? What I want you to do is pick one thing in your life that you want to change or maybe it's something you want to start doing. It could be for example, quit smoking, eat healthy, exercise, etc.

Now, this is a great time to start the 30 day challenge, because New Years is coming up. What ever it is that you choose to do or change, I want you to make a commitment that you will do it for 30 days. You have to really commit to doing this. If you think about it, 30 days is just a fraction of your life. If after the 30 days you want to stop doing it, than by all means stop.

Your whole goal is to just do it for 30 days, knowing that after 30 days you can stop and go back to whatever you were doing before. Example might be, your not going to smoke for 30 days.
Even if you do it on sheer will power. Commit to doing it for the 30 days. You might actually get used to it and kick a bad habit. But, by having an end in sight (after 30 days), it will help you to focus on really achieving your goal.

Now, you do not have to wait until New Year's to start the 30 day challenge. You can start today, the next day, the 1st of the month. You can start anytime you wish. To help you mentally for this challenge. I want you to close your eyes and imagine that your in a room with your doctor and he is telling you that for 30 days you have to do this one thing to stay alive, if you do not do this one thing, you will surely die. By doing this, whatever you imagine and see in your mind becomes reality. Think about this, if your doctor really told you this, I bet you would not have any problem sticking to this one thing for 30 days. So pretend that it is the truth.

Now, once you complete this challenge, you will learn the power of the challenge. You can do this same challenge many times through out your life to make improvements, start a healthy habit, take a risk doing something, learning, do something to better yourself. Whatever it might be take advantage of this powerful tool.

I would love for you to leave in the comment section, what your 30 day challenge is going to be and then come back in 30 days and let me know that you made it.

Until next time, be aware of your decisions that shape your destiny.

Daily Motivaion - Get Your Dose Today !!

2007-12-23T05:54:00.000-08:00

Good morning,

Today's motivational quote is :

"Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure."

— Napoleon Hill

Think about that. Every successful person in life probably has failed more times than they were successful at doing something. You need to use failure as a learning experience and a motivator. You have to realize you are going to fail, there's no doubt about that. But, if you try ed something and failed and gave up after you failed, it's pretty obvious you will not achieve what you want to achieve.

You must not give up, you must continue to be persistent. You must keep your dreams alive. You must always push yourself to achieve your dream. I myself have tried many different businesses and have failed at them most of my life. But, I never stopped dreaming, I never gave up on the dream. The same goes with my battle over losing weight. All my life I battled losing weight. I would go on diets, lose some weight just to put it back on. I must have failed at this weight game hundreds of times. But, I never gave up. Eventually, I started practicing martial arts, I fell in love with learning Karate and the discipline and motivation that goes with it. It became a fun way to exercise for me. I practice Karate because I love to practice and study Martial Arts. At the same time it keeps me in shape. I also learned after failing many time with my weight loss programs, that I can eat three good meals a day, as long as they were healthy. I didn't have to starve myself. I started eating breakfast, lunch and dinner. I also had a healthy snack between meals. So between practicing Karate and just eating healthier, I lost the weight and I continue to keep it up.

The moral of this story, is that I failed and failed and failed many times before I actually found the formula that worked great for me. It is also amazing, that when I started eating healthier and eating every meal and snacks in between, I am actually eating more food everyday than I was before. What an amazing formula. I just stayed away from the junk food and fast food.

What I want you to take from today's quote, is if you really want something bad enough, realize you are probably going to fail many time before you actually get it. So just knowing that makes a difference. But, if you keep on being persistent, you will get what you want. Don't give up!

Until next time, be aware of the decisions you make that shape your life.

Great Tool For Motivation

2007-12-22T04:40:00.000-08:00

Good morning,

Today I am going to discuss a great way to get motivated. This is a simple and fun way to get yourself pumped up.

Have you ever heard of the song, "Eye Of The Tiger"? It's from a band called survivor. From the film "ROCKY".

How do you think if every morning when you woke up, you listened to that song and that song only. Would you feel pumped up and ready to take any challenge that came your way? Would you have that extra kick in your step? Would you feel unstoppable?

I use this exercise to get pumped up every morning and it keeps me pumped up through the morning. Do you know why? Because if that is the one song that you listened to, you will be singing the song in your head all morning. The last song that you hear usually sticks in your head. This is something you can use as a great motivator every morning.

Now, I'm not saying you have to listen to "Eye of The Tiger." Pick what ever songs get you pumped up. It could be an AC/DC song, it could be any song that gets you moving and pumped up.

You can also use music to change what state your in. Example, if your sad about something, listen to a happy, joyful, inspiring song. It will change your state of mind and by changing your state of mind, you will be more open and productive.

The greatest way to use this is to start recording / burning your own emotional cd's. Pick about 7 - 10 songs that get you really pumped up. Record them onto a cd. Pick other songs that put you in different empowering moods and record them onto a cd. Think about the moods you like to be in and pick certain songs that will take you there. Happy, Inspirational, Motivational, etc.
Record all these on a cd and make sure you write down each track and what each track does for you. That way every morning, if you want to feel pumped up, listen to one of the songs that are going to make you feel that way. If you feel sad for some reason, listen to one of the "Happy" songs you recorded. You'll start to feel better. Keep this cd with you all the time, so you can change your state anytime you want to.

Music is a powerful tool to help you express a large number of emotions, including the dis empowering ones. So make your "Emotional CD" and have fun with it. You can update your CD every once in a while by making a different CD with different songs. But, let music be a part of your life, let it empower you with the motivation you need to achieve your goals.

Until next time, remember to make great decisions and lead a great life.

Think of Your Goal As Becoming A Blackbelt

2007-12-21T04:41:00.000-08:00

Good Morning,

Today we are going to discuss: Goals. I practice Karate. In Karate, the ultimate goal is becoming a Blackbelt. Now, to become a Blackbelt, you have to break down your ultimate goal into small step. Everyone starts as a a Whitebelt. As a Whitebelt your short term goal is to become a Yellow belt and so on until you reach your ultimate goal. To reach a Yellow belt you first start out learning one technique at a time, when you master that one technique, you move on to the next technique and so on.

I want you to start looking at your long term goals just like becoming a Blackbelt in Karate. Of course the blackbelt would be like achieving your ultimate goal. Think about what your ultimate goal in life is. What do you want to do or become in your life? Once you have your ultimate goal, write it down on the top of a blank piece of paper. Now, you have to write down the small steps that you must achieve to reach that ultimate goal. Your not going to achieve your ultimate goal over night. You need to write down a timeline. Like in Karate, to become a Blackbelt, it takes an average of three years. That's a long time and a lot of work. But, it's well worth it when it happens.

You might know the steps you need to take to achieve your goal. If that is the case, you need to do research and become aware of the exact steps you need to take to reach your goal. Your steps should be like a to do list. Check each one off as you do it and realize as you do each step, it brings you closer to your goal.

Now, I'm not saying that it's going to be easy. There is nothing in life that you can achieve without learning and hard work. It could take years for you to reach your goal.

But, taking your goal and breaking it down into small steps and achieving the small steps one at a time, you will eventually reach your goal if you keep climbing up the stairs. You might have to re-evaluate your steps every once in a while and that's ok. But, make sure that your journey to becoming a Blackbelt in what ever you do is your main focus until you achieve it.

Until next time, be aware of the decisions that shape your life.

Decisions - Visual Exercise

2007-12-20T05:27:00.000-08:00

Good morning,

In the previous blog, we learned how powerful decisions are in shaping your ultimate destiny.
Now I want to take you a little further in helping you make better decisions with this visual exercise.

What I want you to do is, take a blank piece of paper. At the bottom of the page, I want you to write: "Today I am going to make a decision to", that's all I want you to write at the bottom.
Now I want you to think of something that you want to change in your life. Examples might be, smoking, overeating, lose wieght, better relationship with spouse, etc. Right now, just think of one.

Now, lets say we you use the example of smoking. I myself started smoking when I was a teenager. I was smoking a pack and a half a day. When I turned thirty, I made the decision to quit. It was a consious decision. I am going to reveal how I did that. If it can work for me, it will work for you.

Now getting back to your page, I want you to write on the left side of the page, right above where you wrote the bottom part. and write what you are currently making a decsion to do everyday that you want to change. Example, "smoke cigarettes". Now on the right side of the page, right across from that, I want you to write what you no longer want to do. Example, "Stop smoking cigarettes".

Circle both of these and start righting above "smoke cigarettes", exactly what this decision will ultimately bring you in the future if you continue to make this decsision every day. Example, might be: "Lung Cancer", "Trouble Breathing", Carrying Oxygen Tank Around", "Age Faster",
"Die Younger", etc.

Now, once your done that, do the same thing on the right side, all the way up the page, as many as you can think of. You should think of as many as you can on both side of the page. Example for the right side might be: "Breathing Better", "Live Longer", "More Energy", "Sleep Better", "Be More Productive", etc. Make the list as long as you can. Anything that you can think of for both sides.

Now, when you are all done with this exercise. You basically have a decision to make, right now. Don't wait, make the right decision now that will put you on the road to the life you want to lead. Really think long and hard about how your decision will shape your destiny in the future.

When I did this, I realized, that if I continue to make this decision to smoke. My life in the future does not look good. I did not want get lung cancer, I did not want to carry an oxygen tank around, etc. I wanted to be as healthy as I can, so I could enjoy life in the future and enjoy my kids and grandchildren. So looking into the future was a geat way for me to shape it. So I decided right there that I was to make the decision to "not smoke" anymore and making that decision, put me on a whole new path that made my life better and healthier. I could have made the decision to continue to smoke. But, to me the future looked brighter on the right side of the paper. So you make the decision, the right side of the road or the left and then your the one who has to live with whatever road you choose. Because whatever road you choose, it will surely shape your destiny. Until next time, Make the right decisions and shape your life.

Carl

Master This One Thing - Shape Your Destiny !!

2007-12-20T04:45:00.000-08:00

Good morning,

My name's Carl Mills. I am a "Motivational Speaker." I book myself to speak at Junior high and High schools to reach out and hopefully motivate young people to set and reach goals.

Today we are going to discuss, the one, most powerful thing that you really need to understand and be aware of to shape your ultimate destiny. Are you ready for this?

The one thing you must master is ----------- "DECISION." You need to understand that where you are today was all based on decisions that you made in the past. Does that make sense? Think about it, you can probably take a part of your current situation and trace the decisions backwards to bring you to where you are today. For instance, if your married, think back and realize some of the desisions that led you to your current mariage or what ever situation you want to use in this example.

Now, as you think back, what if you made one different decision. Do you agree that it would have put you on a totaly different path. You would be living a totaly different life if you just changed one desision. Now, you can see how making decicions are the most powerful tool you need to master.

Goals, dreams, thoughts, they do not mean a thing if don't make the decision to reach them.
If you make empowering decisions, you'll lead an empowering life. If you make ethical decisions, you'll lead an ethical life. If you make better decisions, you'll lead a better life. Do you get the point?

In other words, whatever kind of decisions you make, that will be the kind of life you live. If your overwieght, start making healthier decisions. If you smoke and want to quit, start making better, healthier decisions. Just like they say you are what you eat, "you are what you decide."

I hope that you really realize that if you change your decisions, you will ultimately change your life. So start making better decisions and start leading a better life.