Successful Home Business

Millionaire Mind Set

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:43:00 +0000

Most of us have an idea about what success means to us, and we have a mental vision of what it will look like when it arrives in our lives. We might finally get the career recognition we’ve been working so hard for, earn a lot of money, find the man or woman of our dreams, start a family, purchase our own home, buy the sports car we’ve wanted since we were a teenager, or reach any number of other personal accomplishments.

Is this success? For some of us, it might be. Perhaps you have a different vision of what success means to you.

Regardless of your personal definition of success, you likely have one thing in common with the rest of us: you are still seeking the level of success you want to attain. Maybe you’ve had success in certain areas, but not in others. Your career might be going great, but your relationships are lacking.

Or you’ve met the love of your life, but you just can’t seem to earn the amount of money that would make you happy. Or everything else is great but you can’t seem to lose those last 20 pounds and get into better shape.

It’s a maddening position to be in, especially if you don’t understand why it’s happening. You may think you’re doing everything right, but circumstances just won’t bend to your will. You constantly run into obstacles, sabotage your own efforts, berate yourself for your “failures,”- and the struggle continues.

This struggle continues because of one reason, and one reason only: you are focusing your energy and effort in the wrong direction!

In this modern age, we have the misguided notion that success is some elusive quality “out there” that we need to hunt down and capture. We believe that if we say the right things, do the right things, take exactly the right steps, success will fly right into our little butterfly net and we can pin it down on a sheet of cardboard and hang it proudly on our wall.

We can’t capture success, nor can we buy it, stumble across it, or fall into it. We can only create it, from the inside out. And the only way to create it is by changing our thoughts and habits. What do thoughts have to do with anything? Everything! What we expect to see, we see. What we expect to have in our lives, we have. What we focus on the most, expands.

If your life isn’t what you want it to be, your thoughts have not been in alignment with it. This can be a tricky concept to understand, but the most important point to get is that it’s a cumulative process.

Think of a scale. If you place a grain of sand in one of the trays, it probably won’t make much difference to the balance of the scale. But if you add another grain, and another, and another, before long the scale will begin to tilt in that direction. Your thoughts work in much the same way, and if you have enough of one particular type of thought, it will affect your quality of life.

This may sound bad, but it’s actually a good thing! If we can create imbalance and lack with our thoughts and habits, we can also create abundance and success. It’s all within our control.

What if I told you that just by changing your mind-set, you could begin to effortlessly attract the success you desire? What if you could not only attract success, but become successful at a core level?

You can! By following the techniques in this book, you will learn how to transform your thinking processes and develop a true success mind-set. And with the right mind-set, there is no limit to what you can create in your life.

The important thing to remember as you embark upon this journey is that it’s a process. Take your time and enjoy it. Don’t expect perfection – simply relax and have fun with the techniques!

Trust me, they will work much better if you have fun with them, rather than getting mired in frustration or placing unrealistic expectations on yourself. Remember that a large part of success is the contentment you feel in each moment. Allow yourself to feel it now, even if everything in your life isn’t the way you wish it were. Soon enough, it will be.

Happiness: A Cause or Effect of Success?

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:31:00 +0000

Are you happy with your life the way it is now? There are probably aspects of your life you’d like to change, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this book. But overall, can you say you’re truly happy? Most of us can’t, but it’s not because we’re still seeking success. Rather, we aren’t happy because we haven’t made the choice to be happy.

When we think of being successful, we imagine that happiness is an inevitable side effect. We may envision ourselves with the perfect job, the perfect mate, the perfect children, the perfect level of income, the perfect home, the perfect car, etc. And we believe that all of that stuff will make us happy.

However, that view is skewed. Material objects and other people cannot make us happy – only we can make ourselves happy. And it all begins with a choice to be happy.

Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.

- Henry Ford

You probably don’t believe that, especially if you are experiencing challenges or lack in your life right now. But think about this: why do rich people still experience unhappiness? Why do successful people still experience unhappiness? Because money and success do not automatically create happiness!

Neither do power, status, romance, or material objects. We simply believe they do because we are looking outside of ourselves for the solution to our problems.

Truth About Money and Happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:30:00 +0000

Intellectually, we may know that money can’t buy happiness, but some part of us still believes that we’d feel better if we were rich. Yet when we really look at wealthy people, we must wonder if they are any happier than the average person.

Do wealthy people laugh more, experience more joy, or have greater fulfillment in their lives? Perhaps some do – but how much of it is a direct result of their wealth?

In fact, you can probably point to a handful of wealthy people that appear to be completely miserable. Not surprisingly, some people seem to become less satisfied the wealthier they become!

Perhaps they were under the misconception that money would solve all their problems, or having a large amount of money brought along its own challenges.

I’m sure you’ve heard the horror stories about people who win the lottery or come into a large sum of money through an inheritance or other means. Many of them experience a few years of heartache and struggle, and end up flat broke again. Money didn’t solve their problems – only made them worse!

Another reason why wealth can make us miserable is that it distracts us from what is truly important for a happy and fulfilling life. We find ourselves focusing more and more on material objects and end up feeling disconnected from our inner selves.

If you are feeling unhappy in your life right now and you’re thinking that money will solve your problems, it's time for a reality check! I won’t deny that having material abundance can make our lives a little easier.

Believe me, I’m all too aware of what it’s like to struggle to pay the bills, or feel like you’re living on the edge of a cliff and the ground is crumbling beneath your feet. I know the terror of worrying whether the electricity will be shut off for nonpayment, or wondering if you’ll be able to afford to buy groceries this week.

I’m not trying to minimize these types of struggles – but I want you to be clear that having a lot of money will not automatically make you feel happy and content in your life.

Money can definitely help us to enjoy a greater quality of life, but only if we have a healthy attitude toward money; otherwise it will just add bigger burdens.

A Genuine Sense of Security

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:29:00 +0000

One reason we’re so focused on wealth acquisition is the need to feel secure. We believe that if we have a large amount of money in the bank, we’ll be protected from lack, pain, difficulty and struggle. In a limited sense this is true. However, security is simply a state of mind!

It’s not the money itself that makes us feel secure; it’s our belief that adequate financial reserves protect us from bad experiences.

If we look logically at this concept, we realize that having a lot of money really can’t protect us from anything, except perhaps surprise expenses. Still, a fat bank account doesn’t guarantee we’ll never experience anything negative.

There will always be car accidents, terror attacks, illness, job loss, troublesome relationships, and more. Having a lot of money won’t matter when we find ourselves in those situations, because they are completely out of our control.

The only true security we have is what we can create in our own minds. There is true security in believing in ourselves, in having confidence to overcome challenges, in our spiritual beliefs, and in doing our small part to make this world a better place.

Imagine living your life with the unshakable belief that you have what it takes to succeed, no matter what else is happening around you? Imagine never feeling frightened by outside influences again.

Imagine knowing that even if the worst case scenario were to happen, you could easily and quickly pull yourself up by the bootstraps and do what needed to be done to get back on track.

THAT’S TRUE SECURITY.

Believing in our ability to handle whatever comes our way is much more effective than trying to guard against potential negative experiences. That’s the best kind of security, because it empowers us to feel in control of our lives – if not every situation, at least the outcome of the bigger picture.

Quest for Empowerment

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:28:00 +0000

Another way we try to create a sense of security in our lives is by seeking power. We believe that if we obtain a position of power, happiness and success will automatically follow.

Power, just like security, is an illusion. It can’t prevent us from experiencing anything negative. It can’t erase our deep-seated feelings of inadequacy or insecurity. It can’t make us successful.

In fact, power over others often becomes a burden all its own! Along with the ability to control people and situations come the responsibilities and obligations that flank a position of power. Rather than feeling in control, we feel more out of control than ever.

As much as we might like to, we can’t control certain events in our lives, and we can’t control others. We can control only our own thoughts and actions.

What most of us are really seeking is a sense of EMPOWERMENT. Not control over others, not control over outside circumstances, but control over our own thoughts, emotions, and actions.

As frightening as it may seem to release the illusion of power, it’s also very freeing in a way. Once we “get it” that we don’t HAVE to be in control of anything except ourselves, we learn to relax and let go of what we have no control of. We learn to go with the flow and do our best without trying to meet some vague, impossible standards we set for ourselves in an effort to feel in control.

Dissolving Emotional Blockages

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:26:00 +0000

Even if all outer aspects of our lives seem wonderful, our emotions can still cause us to feel unhappy. Traumatic memories can stifle our development. Negative thought habits can fill us with feelings of frustration and powerlessness. Negative self-talk can cause us to sabotage any goals we set.

Emotions can be a tricky thing to understand, but it becomes easier when we consider that our emotions are fueled by our thoughts.

If we THINK negatively about ourselves, we will FEEL badly about ourselves.

If we focus on the negative in our lives, our lives will seem to have a negative theme. It’s all about what we focus on the most that determines how we feel.

Think about the last time your day took a sudden nosedive because of something simple.

Let’s say you were driving to work, singing along with a song on the radio, and some jerk cut you off in traffic. Your first thought might be, “What a jerk!” (Or a more colorful term) Your next thought might be, “People are so rude these days, and I seem to encounter the rudest of them all! What did I ever do to deserve this?”

From there your mood can continue to spiral down as you ponder your bad luck in having to deal with inconsiderate people. Do you see what happens in situations like these? You have a negative experience, and then you internalize it. Not just for the moment either, but for the rest of your day.

Even worse, because your attitude tends to attract most of your experiences, feeling negative will continue to attract more rude and inconsiderate people into your day.

Though it seems impossible, we can control our emotions. We can choose our emotions, moment to moment. And we begin by choosing our thoughts. Using the example from above, what would be a more empowering response? You could simply say, “That wasn’t very nice,” and then turn your attention back to the song you were singing.

That may seem like a difficult thing to do when your anger is ignited, but with practice it gets easier. Rather than internalizing the things that happen to you (especially things you can’t control), simply let go of them and keep your emotional balance. If you pay attention to how you feel throughout the course of your day, you’ll become aware of whether your thoughts are negative or positive.

Then you can simply choose to release your negative thoughts and replace them with positive thoughts – which will make you feel better. Again, it takes consistent effort to fully master this technique.

Releasing the Past to Make Room for Something Better

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:23:00 +0000

Letting go of past traumas is a little more challenging because they are often buried deeply in our subconscious minds. But buried or not, they can still wreak havoc on our level of happiness.

To bring one’s self to a frame of mind and to the proper energy to accomplish things that require plain hard work continuously is the one big battle that everyone has. When this battle is won for all time, then everything is easy.

- Thomas A. Buckner

One of the most powerful techniques I’ve learned for releasing old baggage is to relive the painful experiences. It doesn’t sound like much fun (and in fact it isn’t) but it is definitely freeing.

If you stop to think about it, much of our emotional baggage is “buried” simply because we didn’t allow ourselves to work through it the first time around. We squelched down the feelings and tried to ignore them, and there they still lie, festering.

If we unearth the painful memories and work through them like we could have done when they originally happened, we are able to release them and achieve closure.

This is a simple process you can undertake on your own, but if you’ve had very large, life-altering traumas, you may want to consult a counselor or therapist to help you work through them. While the process is simple, it can be emotionally overwhelming, and having a trained professional as a guide can provide invaluable support.

Once you’ve worked through your emotional blockages, you may also want to examine the underlying beliefs that formed because of them.

For example, an abusive childhood might result in a deep-seated belief that you’re not worthy of being loved. Working through painful memories can be freeing, but it won’t automatically change your underlying beliefs about your worthiness as a human being. You could still find yourself avoiding intimacy and sabotaging your efforts to create a fulfilling life.

The good news is that once you identify your limiting beliefs, you can begin changing them with a little conscious focus.

Transforming Limiting Beliefs into Empowering Beliefs

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:23:00 +0000

Changing your existing beliefs is a simple process. The only thing you need is the determination to keep at it until it “clicks” in your mind.

To start with, try these three steps:

 Replace negative thoughts with positive ones. While positive thinking alone will not alter your existing beliefs, it is a practice that can help you get in line with your thought patterns in a more conscious way.

Rather than being a victim of your own thoughts, you can take control of them and choose them moment-to-moment. As you become aware of negative thoughts throughout the day, consciously replace them with equally positive (and usually opposite) thoughts.

For example, if you find yourself thinking that you’ll never be successful because you just can’t seem to break out of your limiting behaviors, consciously affirm that you have just as much potential to be successful as anyone else.

Visualize yourself with the determination, courage, and optimism you’ll need to succeed. And the next time negative thoughts arise in your mind, go through the same process again.

Remember that it is a process and it will take time to get into the habit of thinking positively, but it does begin to have an effect on how you feel on a regular basis. And the better you feel, the more positively you’ll think. You end up creating a continuous cycle of positive thoughts, positive feelings, positive beliefs, and positive actions!

 Develop a stronger belief in yourself. While you’re working on transforming the quality of your thoughts, you can also purposely develop a strong belief in yourself and your abilities. A good way to start is by making a list of your positive character traits, qualities, skills, and talents. Write down every positive thing you can come up with about yourself, even if you don’t think it’s that amazing.

Then simply spend some time every day reading this list and affirming your ability to accomplish whatever you set your mind to. Over time, you’ll begin to feel more positive about yourself and more confident about your abilities, just because you’ve developed the habit to do so.

 Empower and motivate yourself. Another wonderful tool for forming new beliefs is using your imagination to change your self-image. Visualization is an easy yet effective tool to replace your old, limiting self-image with an empowering new one. You simply close your eyes and conjure a mental image of yourself as you want to be.

See yourself feeling confident, inspired, courageous, and successful. Before long, you’ll find that you won’t have to manufacture these feelings; you will feel this way nearly all the time – naturally! Again, this exercise is most effective if you do it every day, even for just a few minutes

What ARE The Keys To Happiness?

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:22:00 +0000

We already know that basing our happiness on external circumstances can be tenuous at best. So what does create feelings of happiness? Happiness is a personal concept that is probably different for each of us.

Take a moment to consider what happiness means to you. That’s one important step in understanding how you can bring more happiness into your life.

Think about the people, places, and things that fill you with joy and peace. Do you feel happiest when you’re at home, or at work? How about when you’re spending time with friends and loved ones?

Or when you’re reading an uplifting book, watching a funny movie, or donating your time to help others? Whatever activities you enjoy the most, make an effort to bring more of them into your life.

It’s easy for us to sabotage ourselves by placing restrictions on our happiness. We affirm that we’ll be happy if this happens, or that happens, but not when the other happens. Of course, certain situations just aren’t pleasant no matter what – but for the most part, we can choose to enjoy most of our experiences and outcomes, even if they aren’t what we originally expected.

Beyond all of this, however, most important is our willingness to accept that happiness is largely a choice we make in every moment, regardless of our surroundings. Happiness is not a gift we’re waiting for; it’s already within us. All we need to do is choose to embrace it; which can be easier said than done, especially if we’re in the midst of difficult circumstances.

The true skill we should be strengthening within ourselves is learning how to be happy on a basic level, even if our lives aren’t perfect. By acknowledging that our lives will never be “perfect,” we give ourselves permission to enjoy our lives as they are now.

When it comes right down to it, I think Abraham Lincoln said it best: "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

Learning How to Love Yourself

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:21:00 +0000

You may wonder what self-love has to do with success. The answer is: more than you can imagine! Self-love and self-worth go hand in hand. If we don’t believe we’re worthy of success, we’ll keep pushing it away or find ways to sabotage ourselves from achieving it.

Our self-image is formed from a set of inner beliefs about ourselves. These beliefs are based upon past experiences and what we determined they meant at the time.

Exploring the beliefs that form your self-image is important because they will determine your thoughts, feelings, behaviors – and ultimately your level of success in ALL things.

Have you ever uttered statements like these?

“I stink at math.”
“I’m terrified of public speaking.”
“I could never be an airplane pilot.”
“I don’t have what it takes to be successful.”
“I’m just not a people person.”
“No matter what I do, I can’t seem to get ahead.”

It’s very easy to buy into these “excuses” (yes, that’s what they are!) because they remove the responsibility from our shoulders. Convincing ourselves that we’re just “not good” at something means we no longer have to try hard or take risks. It’s out of our hands.

Consequently, we end up holding ourselves back from the lives we really wish we were living. We end up feeling stuck in a cycle of frustration, wanting something better but not believing we have the ability to create it.

Overcoming Negative Preconceptions

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:21:00 +0000

In order to break free from limiting beliefs, we need to change our preconceptions.

Preconceptions are previously formed opinions or ideas we hold about ourselves. These beliefs have the power to influence how we feel about ourselves, what we believe we are capable of, and the actions we take (or don’t take) to create the life we want.

So how do we overcome these negative preconceptions? Just like changing our negative thinking to positive, it takes consistent effort and focus.

Changing our negative self-talk into positive self-talk on a consistent basis is key.

Rather than tearing ourselves down, we can choose to fill our inner dialogue with empowering affirmations and build ourselves up.

Think about this: how would you speak to someone you loved and respected?

Would you be cruel and unforgiving? Or would you be kind, encouraging and supportive? It doesn’t matter what others say to you, or how others treat you. What matters is how you treat yourself!

(Ironically, the better you treat yourself, others pick up on that and begin to see you differently – and ultimately treat you better. It’s all about what you believe you deserve.)

At the same time, you can also shift your focus from what you don’t want, to what you DO want.

For example, if you fear failure you are motivated to avoid failure at all costs (which usually means procrastinating on your goals and avoiding risk-taking). If you instead focus most of your attention on being successful at whatever you do, you’ll find that the fear of failure diminishes.

The more you focus on what you WANT, the less you will attract what you DON’T WANT.

Getting to Know Yourself

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:20:00 +0000

It's so ironic that we usually avoid the very thing that would help us build a strong foundation of confidence and self-esteem: spending time with ourselves.

How does that help anything?

Getting to know yourself can blast through any negative preconceptions you may be harboring. Remember, your self-image is usually based on the conclusions you formed from your past experiences.

You may hold a belief that you are not a good writer, or you’re not a “people person”, or that you don’t have any special skills, but is that really true? How do you know for sure?

Please don’t say, “Because I tried it once and I sucked at it.” Trying something once (or only a few times) doesn’t count.

The truth is, you can become good (or even great) at anything if you want it badly enough and you’re willing to put in the time and effort to get there.

Here’s the million dollar question: Do you really want to get “there”? Getting to know yourself helps you separate what YOU really want from what others expect of you.

You might think you want to be a great writer because your mother praised the short story you wrote in sixth grade. You craved her approval, so your desire to be a writer might be all wrapped up in the illusion of receiving praise and recognition.

You don’t want to write, you just want to be a “great writer.” If you constantly procrastinate on writing and can’t seem to push yourself to do it, you might want to question whether you really want to be a writer after all.

Perhaps your true passion lies elsewhere. That is just one example of the many ways we can deceive ourselves.

If you take time to get to know yourself – REALLY know yourself – you will discover things that were previously hidden (or denied because they didn’t match others’ expectations of you).

Here is the best and quickest way to get to know yourself: spend time alone as often as possible. Shut off the television and radio, block outside distractions, and simply allow yourself to BE.

If this suggestion sounds frightening or intimidating to you, it’s a sure sign that you are NOT in touch with your inner self. If you were, you’d know that there is nothing to fear about spending time with yourself – in fact you would be excited at the prospect of doing so!

As soon as possible, begin a new habit that can change your life in dramatic ways: begin spending some quiet, quality time with yourself each day. If you feel intimidated, start small with increments of just ten minutes or so. Sit quietly in a private place and let your thoughts flow naturally.

Think about yourself, who you are, what you feel passionate about, what you want out of life, the things you’ve accomplished, the things you want to accomplish, your relationships – whatever comes to mind.

The more you do this, the more connected you become to your inner self. You begin to tap into your inner dialogue, and a deeper understanding of yourself will surface. The changes you experience from this process might seem small at first, but they quickly gain momentum.

Another good exercise to get to know yourself is journaling. Get a lined, spiral bound notebook and start recording your thoughts during your quiet time alone. Don’t worry about spelling, grammar or context. If you understand your scribbles, that’s all that matters.

Write down your thoughts, feelings, struggles, fears and dreams. Draw pictures. Ask yourself questions, and answer them. Vent your frustrations and strengthen your resolve to do better. It doesn’t matter WHAT you write really, just that you connect with yourself genuinely and frequently.

Falling in Love with Your Uniqueness

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:19:00 +0000

Getting to know yourself if one important part of the growth process, but equally important is loving and appreciating yourself. Self-deprecation is a habit, just like all types of negative thinking.

Unless you begin to appreciate your strengths, believe in yourself and reinforce your true capabilities, you will not move forward in life! Sure, you might stumble across the random opportunity and make some progress occasionally, but you won’t accidentally achieve the level of success you desire.

First and foremost, choose to forgive yourself NOW. Forgive yourself for anything you may feel guilty about, for allowing fear to hold you back from what you really want to do, for not believing in yourself, for allowing other people to define you. Affirm that you did the best you knew how to do, but now you know better – and will do better.

Stop the cycle of self-abuse and begin honoring yourself for the beautiful and brilliant person you were meant to be.

Begin a habit of encouraging yourself. Speak kindly to yourself and affirm your ability to accomplish anything you want. Eventually, you will begin to believe it.

At the same time, work on forgiving anyone who has harmed you, belittled you or held you back. Even though these experiences may have affected you in profound ways, they do not have the ability to affect you now – unless you choose to let them.

Let go of your anger, hurt, disappointment and bitterness. They do not serve you, and they do not punish the guilty. They only punish you by acting as a heavy weight bearing down upon your shoulders. If you release them, you free yourself to create the joy and success you truly deserve.

Starting now, choose to believe in yourself and your abilities. Believe that you can form your life into anything you want it to be. Believe that you can overcome any obstacle, strengthen any skill, tackle any challenge and conquer any fear you may have. The more strongly believe you can do it, the more likely it is that you WILL.

It really is a CHOICE!

Creating Meaningful Work

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:18:00 +0000

Does your work make you happy? Or are you simply trading hours for dollars doing something you couldn’t care less about?

Meaningful work means different things to different people.

Some of us believe that in order for our work to be meaningful it must have a huge impact on the world. Discovering a cure for cancer, feeding millions of starving children around the world, or protecting endangered species are good examples of what most people would consider meaningful work. But is that all? What if our passions lie elsewhere? Can any type of work be meaningful?

Yes – to those who benefit from it!

Consider an alternate definition of meaningful work: something that you feel passionate about, which also provides value to the world.

The very first step towards success in any occupation is to become interested in it.

- Sir William Osler

Any type of job or career can be valuable, if you think about it. Doctors, lawyers, accountants, caterers, musicians, artists, housekeepers, dog walkers, party planners, product manufacturers, hair stylists – they are ALL providing something of value.

In that sense, any job at all can be meaningful. But is it meaningful to YOU?

This is where a lot of people go wrong, by choosing work that “has meaning” but is not exactly meaningful to them.

Perhaps your high school guidance counselor convinced you to go into medicine, but your true passion is music. Or your father was a lawyer, so you felt obligated to follow in his footsteps. Or you weren’t sure what to study in college, so you picked a field that seemed simple and paid well but now you feel bored.

You may not think it matters what you do, as long as you’re able to pay the bills. Or you may be a “weekend warrior,” devoting weekdays to a mundane job and following your passions on the weekends.

There is nothing wrong with this if it makes you feel happy and fulfilled. But if you walk around with a constant feeling of frustration and emptiness, you might want to re-evaluate your career path and choose something that truly fulfills you.

Doing What You Love For a Living

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:18:00 +0000

What were your dreams when you were a child?

Did you dream of being a heroic firefighter? A famous singer? President of the United States?

What happened to those dreams? If you’re like most people, you were told how unrealistic your dreams were and you were encouraged to be more practical. “Get a real job” is the phrase many of us heard from parents, teachers and other authority figures in our lives.

If you have buried those long-ago dreams so deeply in your subconscious mind that you can no longer even remember them, don’t despair! A little introspection can help bring them to the surface, but even if they remain hidden, there is one important thing to remember:

You are not the same person now that you were back then!

While it is possible to rekindle a dream you’ve held since childhood, you do not have to. Instead, let new dreams make themselves known to you. Ask yourself what type of work would make you feel most fulfilled. Ask yourself how you can best make a contribution to the world by doing something you truly love.

It sounds simple in theory, but how do you start? Many of us have fallen completely out of touch with our passions. We’re so focused on the things we HAVE to do that we have no time for play or exploration.

I’m going to be blunt with you: there is no other alternative but to MAKE time. Set aside some time to really get to know yourself. Figure out what you like to do, or explore new activities so you can decide whether they might be one of your true passions. You don’t have to devote dozens of hours to this, perhaps start with 30-60 minutes a day.

Identifying and Nurturing Your Talents

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:04:00 +0000

A good place to start is by gaining a clear idea of your skills and talents. Make a list of the things you are naturally good at, as well as the things you’ve become good at through repetitive effort. Write down the skills you use in your job, the things you learned in school, and the things you enjoy doing in your spare time.

When you’ve listed everything you can, look over your list and consider whether any of these skills and talents might be marketable. How can you use your talents to provide something of value to others?

Take your time with this exercise!

Seriously, don’t rush through it. You’re trying to get an idea of the work that would make you feel passionate and fulfilled – therefore it deserves your undivided attention.

This exercise is also important for another reason. Your dream is NOT just about you. It’s about all the lives you will touch when you do what you were meant to do on this planet. It took me a long time to understand that by holding myself back I was denying others something special I had to share with them. And I don’t mean that as a boast.

We are each special and unique, and we each have something to offer this world that no one else does. By denying our own talents, we deny others the gift of what we have to share.

So please, don’t skimp on this exercise. You owe it to yourself and others to be ruthlessly honest about your passion(s).

Once you have a clear list of your existing skills and talents, make a check mark next to the ones you use on a regular basis, whether in your work or personal time. Can any of those skills be enhanced or strengthened? Can you enroll in a continuing education course to expand on any of your skills? Make notes about possible opportunities to grow and develop what you already have.

(Note: if any of the skills on your list are not things you truly ENJOY doing, cross them off the list and do not consider them as career candidates. That doesn’t mean you’ll never use those skills, just that they won’t be your main focus.

A good example might be bookkeeping or accounting skills that you use in your day job. You may be good with numbers but if working with them doesn’t thrill you and move you, you should simply consider it an additional tool that can help with your work.)

What’s left on your list? Look at the talents that were not checked as something you use frequently. Would you like to spend more time developing those talents? Again, if they don’t thrill you, cross them off the list. If they do interest you, consider ways to expand and develop them further.

Finally, make one more list: of things you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t yet. These will be things you can explore gradually and see if they have potential to be your passion.

Then, be sure to MAKE TIME to explore them! Check out courses and classes in your local area, or do a few internet searches for groups of likeminded people. Give your interests a chance, and one (or more) of them might blossom into a life-changing passion.

Work Smart Not Hard

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:04:00 +0000

Many of us fall into the trap of believing that becoming successful will require a lot of hard work. While hard work can be good for us, too much of it can create the opposite effect we’re going for.

Think about it: we crave fulfilling work because we want to enjoy our daily lives, not feel exhausted or bored. Taking hard work to the extreme only holds us back, personally and professionally.

Contrary to what you may have been taught, hard work alone has little (if nothing) to do with success. Think about people who are working long hours at low-paying jobs every day. Are they becoming successful because of their hard work? Or are they simply scraping by, paycheck to paycheck – as so many of us do?

Simply working hard is not the answer to becoming successful. Working steadily in a FOCUSED direction is. That’s why I led you through all that “identifying your talents” stuff at the beginning of this chapter. If you don’t know what you’re working toward, you will be spinning your wheels no matter how hard you work.

Once you know your objective (passionate, fulfilling work that contributes value to the world), it is easy to come up with focused action steps that will make it a reality.

Working hard in THAT context can be extremely effective. You know where you’re going, you know exactly what to do to get there, and all you need is the discipline and determination to see it through.

We’ll explore taking action more completely in a later chapter.

Making Time for What Really Matters

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:03:00 +0000

It is crucial to avoid getting caught in the trap of all work and no play. Often when our dream is big, or it has been a part of us for a very long time, we become consumed by it. We trick ourselves into believing that sacrificing our relationships and family time in order to achieve our goals will pay off in the long run – but sadly, this is rarely true.

If I had known what it would be like to have it all, I might have been willing to settle for less.

- Lily Tomlin

Instead, keeping a healthy balance between work and play automatically helps us feel energetic and enthusiastic, therefore we are less stressed, and therefore our focus becomes sharper and we get more done in less time.

Think about it this way: whatever you focus on the most expands, and whatever you turn your focus away from shrivels and dies.

That may be the reason you don’t feel like you have achieved the success you desire; because you have not given your career path the focus it deserves. Likewise, if your relationships are lacking, or you struggle with financial strain, or your health and fitness leaves something to be desired. It works the same in all areas of your life. Everything needs nurturing to help it grow.

So, believing that it won’t matter if you neglect the other areas of your life while you are actively pursuing success is a grave mistake.

If you make a conscious effort to see all aspects of your life as an INVESTMENT in your productivity, you will reap great rewards! What do I mean by investment?

The time you take to care for yourself, build strong relationships with your family and friends, and recharge your mental and physical batteries will DIRECTLY affect your ability to succeed at anything else in life. Not only will you feel happier and more centered on a daily basis, you won’t grow to resent your passion because it sucks the life out of you.

You will accomplish more in less time with short, focused bursts of activity,
rather than depleting your energy with longer, watered-down work sessions.

Take it from someone who learned the hard way: less is more. Be reasonable about the amount of time you devote to your passion(s), and leave room for your other priorities. You’ll enjoy the journey to success much more.

Show Me the Money

Finally, I’d like to end this chapter by revisiting something we covered in the first chapter of this book.

IT’S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY!

Just as happiness is not about money, neither is success about money. Do yourself a favor and:

 Don’t choose your passion because of the money it can bring you.

 Don’t overwork and exhaust yourself in an effort to earn more money.

 Don’t focus on what you stand to gain from sharing your passion with the world.

Such requests may sound counterproductive since abundant financial rewards are undoubtedly one indication of success.

Read that last sentence again, especially the part that reads, “… abundant financial rewards are undoubtedly ONE INDICATION of success.”

Did you get that? Money does not guarantee success, but is rather a side-effect of success (and a rather welcome one, at that!).

The reason I don’t want you to focus on the money angle is because it will dilute your focus. You begin worrying about what you will “get” rather than what you can contribute to others. That might not seem like a big deal, but it is.

There is an old saying that everything you do is infused with your energy. We might clarify that to say everything you do is infused with the QUALITY of your energy. Think about this for a moment and you’ll realize the truth of such a statement.

Have you ever done a task out of sheer obligation but your heart wasn’t in it? Perhaps you wrote a report for school, or completed a project at work, or even attended an event because your spouse wanted to go but you had zero interest in it.

What happened with those activities? The report or project was likely passable as far as quality goes, but it probably didn’t have any “oomph” did it? And what of the event you attend for someone else’s benefit? You probably spent the majority of time bored out of your mind and didn’t take anything valuable away from the experience.

There’s a good reason for this: you did not put forth high quality energy, so you ended up with lukewarm results. And the same thing will happen with your level of success!

You might be thinking, “Great! If I put a lot of energy into the thought of money, I’ll get a lot of money back!” Actually, no. It’s not about the specific thoughts you are thinking, but the quality of ENERGY you are putting out.

If you focus on what you stand to gain, you are detracting from what you plan to give. That means that you are not putting anything of value out there into the world, and you will therefore experience lackluster results with whatever you do.

Ask yourself why successful people all seem to passionately love what they do for a living, and you’ll be moving in the right direction!

Developing a True Success Mind-Set

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:03:00 +0000

Have you ever observed successful people? Think about in-demand movie stars, business professionals, politicians, or any person in a position of power and affluence.

What quality or qualities do they all seem to have?

 Confidence
 Determination
 Discipline
 Focus
 Self-Worth
 Self-Esteem
 Self-Assurance
 Creativity
 Flexibility
 Resiliency
 Vision
 Patience
 Courage
 Self-Sufficiency

Which of these qualities do YOU have?

You might be able to check off one or two (or perhaps a few) of these qualities and call them your own, but you might struggle with the rest. Most people do, until they understand the foundation of success:

DEVELOPING A BELIEF IN YOURSELF

That is the root from which all of the above qualities stem, and it is the same root from which success grows.

A man can only do what he can do. But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day.

- Albert Schweitzer

If you don’t believe in yourself, if you don’t believe you deserve to be successful, if you don’t believe that you have what it takes to create the successful life you crave – you will remain exactly where you are right now.

You may be thinking, “Okay, I get it, I need to believe in myself in order to be successful. But how am I supposed to believe in myself when I really DON’T believe in myself?!”

It seems like an impossible challenge, but once you begin making small changes in your mental and physical environments, you will be surprised how quickly your circumstances begin to shift.

Taking Responsibility for Where You Are Now

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:02:00 +0000

The first step in developing a true success mind-set is often the most painful, but it is also the most necessary. Before you can move forward, you need to understand that where you sit right now is no one’s doing but your own.

That’s not fun to hear, I know. You might be inclined to argue with me and point to any number of horrible, debilitating challenges you may have faced in your lifetime, and you may further argue that they damaged you beyond repair, forever limiting what you are capable of achieving.

I won’t presume to tell you that these experiences don’t matter, or that you are weak for letting them hold you back. I won’t dare try to belittle the pain and struggle you have faced, because I know firsthand how paralyzing fear and pain can be.

However – it’s important that you understand something about these challenges. They have not made you who you are today, and they have not determined the level of achievement you have reached in your life thus far.

It is only your perception of these events that matters!

It’s not what happens to you that is important, only what you choose to do with the experiences and the conclusions you draw about yourself because of them.

Let’s use a common example to demonstrate this point. If your mother was highly critical and constantly belittled you and everything you did, you might now have a belief that you are no good, that everything you do is worthless, and that you will never be successful at anything.

Is such a thing true? Yes, if you agree with it and internalize it.

But what if you decided not to believe it any more? What if you decided to prove your mother wrong? What if you made a promise to yourself that you will persevere, no matter what else happens to you? What if you decided to stop focusing on your “flaws” and instead worked on building your strengths?

It is all within your control.

Do you realize that there are people in the world who have survived absolutely horrific experiences, and then went on to become multi-millionaires, set new world records, and positively affect millions of lives?

Why can’t you do the same?

You absolutely can – if you stop using your challenges as an excuse not to try.

The whole point of taking responsibility for where you are now is to stop believing that you would have been more successful if you hadn’t faced challenges in life, and acknowledge that you could have excelled IN SPITE of your challenges (and you still can!).

However, don’t beat yourself up over this insight. Taking responsibility is not about abusing or browbeating yourself into doing better. Simply admit that you could have done better if you’d known how, and you will begin to try harder beginning right NOW.

Making the Right Choices, Moment to Moment

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:22:00 +0000

A common misconception that many of us share is the belief that success is a cohesive state of being that we will eventually claim as our own. In other words, we are under the false impression that we will one day take a giant leap from unsuccessful and frustrated to rich, happy and successful.

It may surprise you to learn that success is instead a process of making the right choices. It rarely (if ever) happens in one fell swoop. Rather, you go from making mostly poor or destructive choices to making better choices more often.

Take a look at the three stages below, and note the progression of a success-mindset:

Poor Choices

- Procrastination
- Self-doubt
- Defeatism
- Resignation

Better Choices

- Self-belief
- Trust
- Hope
- Taking small actions

Still Better Choices

- Building confidence
- Believing in abilities
- Taking bigger actions
- Identifying true passions
- Willingness to risk more

Results

- Lack
- Stagnation
- Frustration
- Victim mind-set

Results

- Growing confidence
- Optimism
- Exhilaration
- Eagerness for more

Results

- Greater progress
- Accomplishment
- Deepening belief in oneself
- Freedom
- Growing SUCCESS!

Again, this is a PROCESS. It is virtually impossible to start with a mind-set of lack and powerlessness and leap immediately to a mind-set of success and accomplishment.

Right now you may be feeling that it will take forever to get where you want to go in life. You may feel that the challenge is too big, the road is too rocky, and the obstacles are too intimidating. Not so!

Luckily for us, this type of process creates its own momentum. We start by making small changes both mentally and physically. We begin strengthening our desire for more, believing in ourselves and our capabilities, and taking small steps toward the lives we truly desire – and BOOM! More and more opportunities begin to appear before us.

As we grow in confidence, we begin NATURALLY gravitating toward choices that will support our deepest desires. We begin feeling an urge to do the things we know will create success, rather than shying away from them as we did in the past.

Do yourself a favor and avoid looking at the big picture, at least while you are just getting started. Instead, narrow your focus so you are looking at each teeny, tiny step you take along the path to success.

Focus ONLY on these little steps and remind yourself that every decision you make (no matter how small or inconsequential it may seem) will serve to move you closer or farther away from your desired result.

Make a promise to yourself right now that you will begin listening to your intuition about which choices are right for you. Reinforce your awareness about how your actions determine your results, and vow to consistently make better and better choices until the process becomes more natural.

Question every move you are about to make. Ask yourself, “Will this help or hinder my ultimate objective?” Do this not only with every ACTION you contemplate taking, but also every INACTION you feel drawn to.

Keep in mind also that there are no right or wrong answers here, only what works best for you. For example, you may feel a desire to sit on the sofa and watch television for several hours in the evening. This can be both a positive and negative choice.

If you feel burned out from working too hard and need some downtime, taking a break is a positive choice.

If you are procrastinating on taking action and using the television as a distraction, it’s a destructive choice.

Again, use your intuition (listen to your gut feelings) to determine whether you are making choices that will make you successful. Brutal honesty with yourself will be required, I won’t kid you. It is astounding how easily we can fool ourselves and justify destructive behavior.

The only person we hurt when we do this is ourselves. There are no “success police” that will force us to make better decisions. We will receive no citations for laziness and procrastination. (Actually, the results we experience are worse than any citation we could receive.) It is up to us what we do with our time and talents. It is up to YOU what YOU will do with YOUR time and talents!

Clear Out the Cobwebs and Make a Fresh Start

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:21:00 +0000

Want to make a great new start, right now? Begin by clearing out the cobwebs from every corner of your life!

You may not think your corners have cobwebs but I assure you, if you have been mired in negative, fear-based thinking for any length of time, your entire life is filled with stagnant energy that will continue to drain your power.

Clearing out the cobwebs is a very simple process of sweeping away old, stagnant situations that no longer serve you so you can make room for shiny new circumstances that DO. What do I mean by “stagnant situations”?

 Destructive or unfulfilling relationships, partnerships and friendships
 Boring or unchallenging jobs
 Unhealthy habits
 Unfinished business
 Unnecessary expenses
 Excessive obligations

These situations will vary greatly from person to person, and only you will know when it is time to let something go.

You might be in a marriage that has become a drag, but that doesn’t mean you have to eliminate it unless you feel a need to do so. There are other options, like having a heartfelt talk with your partner and working on improving the relationship together.

Your job might be boring and unchallenging, but you balk at the thought of quitting without another job to take its place. That’s okay! You don’t have to quit, but at least give some thought to obtaining a better job that makes you feel happier.

The point of clearing out the cobwebs isn’t to go on a “wrecking-ball rampage” through your life, but rather to identify situations that are out of balance and in need of attention. Once you have identified these areas, you can decide on the best course of action for each one.

Little by little, begin addressing any areas of stagnation or blockage in your life, and little by little you’ll notice yourself FEELING BETTER. As your mood improves, so will your ability to look to the future with hope and enthusiasm, rather than dread and fear.

Special areas to pay attention to:

Work

Incomplete tasks and projects, overloaded schedule, cluttered office, unproductive habits, unresolved resentment, unhealthy work relationships, unclear objectives, lack of long-term planning.

Relationships

Unspoken truths, bitterness, unaddressed anger, grudges, guilt, regrets, dishonesty, destructive behavior, abuse, trust, passion, cooperation.

Financial

Increasing income, reducing unnecessary expenses, proper money management, long-term planning, saving and investing, budgeting, reducing debt, collecting monies owned to you.

Physical, Emotional, Spiritual

Poor health habits, excessive work, procrastination, work/life balance, recreational time with loved ones, proper rest and nutrition, anti-social tendencies, moodiness, anger, spiritual disconnection, inner emptiness, lack of purpose or direction, personal time, personal growth, self-improvement.

Do you see the importance of this process? It’s like clearing a logjam out of the river so water can flow freely downstream again. If you clear the situations that are causing a blockage in your life, you will open the door to greater success and prosperity – in all areas of your life

Allowing Yourself to Be Successful

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:20:00 +0000

Even without your conscious awareness, your current beliefs may be holding you back. Whether you struggle to believe in yourself, your capabilities, or the vast array of limitless possibilities for your life, you may be shutting out the very thoughts that can propel you to the success you desire.

Pause for a moment and answer this question: Can you really “see” yourself as a confident, successful person? If you close your eyes and call up an image of yourself, what does that self look like?

Is he or she enthusiastic about life, willing to take risks, eager to grasp the joy and abundance he/she deserves? Can you imagine this person with endless opportunities for growth and advancement in life?

If you can’t quite “see” yourself as being successful (or at least having the potential to be successful), it is likely that your own beliefs are creating an inner blockage.

Unless you turn this around and open your mind to what is possible, you will continue to sabotage your own efforts.

Dissolving inner blockages is not as difficult as it may seem. The two main things you need to have are: 1) the willingness to believe something different, and 2) the courage to take action on your new beliefs.

The first step requires a large dose of faith when you first begin to shift your beliefs. All of the “evidence” in your life seems to reinforce your current beliefs, right?

You believe you are not successful, not confident, not courageous enough to take risks, and perhaps not the “lucky” type of person that finds great opportunities to move forward.

If these are your beliefs, your outer life probably “proves” them to be accurate. You may struggle with lack, fear, procrastination, confusion and frustration on a daily basis. Therefore you know your beliefs are “true”.

What many people fail to understand is that their beliefs are what create the “evidence” in their lives.

Here is how it usually happens:

My mother said to me, “ If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general, if you become a monk you’ll end up as the pope.” Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.

- Pablo Picasso

As a child, you are naturally confident, optimistic, open-minded and ready to tackle challenges. You’ve got all the potential in the world at this point, and your life is a blank slate, waiting for you to turn it into a masterpiece.

Then the negative conditioning begins. You are given conditions and limitations by the adults in your life (whether your parents, teachers, pastor, or other authority figures).

These conditions and limitations begin to alter your belief in what is possible for your life. Rather than encouraging your dream of becoming an astronaut (or whatever your personal dream is), you are scolded into being more “practical”.

You start to believe that your dream is foolish, and you are foolish for believing in useless fantasies.

Even worse, the adults in your life start attaching limiting labels to you: learning disabled, dumb, unlucky, accident prone, head in the clouds, challenged, sensitive, weak-willed, irresponsible (and sometimes much more damaging ones).

Eventually, after you begin to believe these things, your actions are affected by them. Instead of choosing Path A, you move toward Path B because you just don’t have what it takes to be one of the “elite” in life.

Throughout your lifetime, every decision you make is based on the beliefs you formed as a child and young adult.

Beliefs prompt specific actions
which create specific results
which reinforce the beliefs.

Changing your limiting beliefs requires a willingness to have faith that you are NOT dumb, challenged, irresponsible, weak-willed, or unlucky – even though your experiences thus far seem to have “proven” those things as being true.

But here’s the good news: if you suspend your beliefs and dare to hope that maybe your impressions are false, and once you start taking actions that correspond with more positive beliefs, your results will change!

What Does Attitude Have to Do With Success?

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:20:00 +0000

One of my favorite old rhymes perfectly demonstrates the power of perception:

Two men peering through prison bars,
One sees mud and the other sees stars.

One of these men is looking at the negative side of his situation. He looks out of his prison cell and, rather than seeing the beauty of the night sky he sees only the mud on the ground.

The other man ignores the mud and looks to the heavens, letting himself be inspired and dazzled by the display of light in the sky.

In other circumstances, which of these two men would you expect to become successful?

If you think of success as a recipe with carefully measured portions of specific ingredients, attitude is one of those vital ingredients that give life to your concoction. It’s like yeast added to a bread recipe to make the bread rise. Without yeast, your bread will end up flat, dense, and hard as a rock.

Likewise, a negative attitude will deflate your efforts to be successful.

Why?

A positive attitude gives you the ability to overlook setbacks and continue toward your goals. It gives you the courage to tackle challenges and believe in yourself. It helps you keep obstacles in perspective, rather than feeling intimidated and giving up.

I’m sure you’ve heard the famous quote by Henry Ford, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”

It’s all about perception!

If you knew for sure that there was no possible way for you to accomplish a goal, would you still try? Of course not. What would be the point?

If, on the other hand, you believed in your heart that you could achieve something, you’d be chomping at the bit to get started, and nothing would deter you!

Your attitude is what makes the difference in these two scenarios.

Developing a positive attitude is a simple matter of consistently training your brain to see the positive side of every situation.

Rather than peering at the mud, look to the stars. Rather than feeling powerless against challenges, affirm that you can get through them. Rather than letting other people determine what you are capable of – determine it yourself!

There is No Try, Only Do

noreply@blogger.com (Guru Creation) — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:19:00 +0000

We often think of failure as the inability to accomplish a certain objective. We give it our best shot and the results are less than favorable. We’ve failed.

Ah, but does that have to be the end of the story? No! We can consider it a failure ONLY if we stop trying after we experience the less than favorable result.

If we keep working at it, we might turn a “failure” into a success!

Do yourself a favor and change your definition of failure right now. Here is your new definition of failure:

Not having a plan, not working a plan, and giving up too soon.

Think of any great achievement in history, and you can be certain that the achiever had to attempt it more than once – sometimes hundreds of times!

If you’ve “failed” at anything in the past, be honest with yourself: how many times did you try? Did you give it a halfhearted effort and then give up when it seemed too hard? Did you let yourself become intimidated by challenges, or disempowered by negative comments from friends and colleagues?

Though you may believe that it was out of your hands, it’s important to understand something:

You made a choice to fail.

You gave up. You stopped trying. It doesn’t matter what the reasons were, even though they may have seemed perfectly logical at the time. The fact is, you allowed external conditions to erode your motivation and determination, and you threw in the towel.

You may resist this idea because let’s face it; it’s not a comfortable thing to hear. But this painful little insight comes with some good news!

If you made the choice to fail, you can also make the choice to succeed.

Whether you decide to pick up an old dream and dust it off or choose an exciting new path to travel, the outcome is within your control!

With the right attitude, focused action steps and a solemn vow to never give up, success will be yours.

Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.

- Louis Pasteur

Don’t approach your goals with an attitude of “try,” only an attitude of DO! That little gem by the fictional character of Yoda actually holds a tremendous amount of wisdom.

“Trying” means you are not going to give it your all. It means you will keep going until the going gets too tough. It means you are giving yourself an out in case you grow weary of the battle. It means you are giving yourself permission to surrender to mediocrity.

“Doing” means that failure is not an option. It means that you vow to give every ounce of blood, sweat and tears you have available because you believe in your dreams that much. It means that you cannot and will not accept defeat because the stakes are too high.

It means that you are willing to work as long and as hard as necessary to achieve the outcome you desire, even if it takes years.

This is your life and you must decide that there is no going back, no giving up, no giving in – NO MATTER WHAT!