And that’s Plan.

We almost always get to our goal through means other than the ones we put on our schedule. So why plan? Because people who don’t make long-range plans seldom get to where they want to be. In short, a plan will get you to your goal, but not in the way that’s on the plan.

So, plan. And, be prepared not just to change horses in midstream, but to change to a boat in midstream. Keep your goal, your dream. Stay firm and fixed on that. Be prepared, however, for whatever methods come along to get you there. Especially methods not on your plan. Plan on it.

How do you plan? Simple. Take a segment of time, take a goal, and divide up the latter into the former. Keep dividing it up until you have your next action step - something you can do right now to move toward your goal. Let’s say you want to produce a play within the next year. Get some kind of calendar that divides a year into units with which we’re all familiar - months, weeks, days, etc. Twelve months from now, write, “Play opens.” You have the goal (the play), and you have the time twelve months). Now, chop up the goal. (more…)

Affirmations are powerful elements of creative visualization. To affirm means “to make firm.” An affirmation is a forceful statement that something is. It is a manner of “making firm” that which you are imaging. Used deftly, affirmations effect a positive mind control within ourselves that naturally lead to lasting behavioral changes.

Many us are aware that we experience continuous inner “dialogue” chattering in our minds. The mind is busy “talking” to itself, keeping up an endless commentary about life, the world, our emotions, our anxieties, and our neighbors.

The words and ideas that run through our minds are vital. Most of the time we aren’t consciously aware of this stream of thoughts, and yet what we are “telling ourselves” mentally forms foundation of our subjective reality. Our mental commentary influences and colors our perceptions about what’s occurring on in our lives, and it is these thought forms that ultimately attract and create everything that happens to us. Hence, understand this: the mental dialogue we indulge in serves as a powerful mind control which persuades us to growth- or stagnation.

Anyone who has enjoyed meditation realizes how difficult it can be to still this inner “mind chatter,” in order to connect with our deeper, wiser intuitive soul. A traditional meditation discipline involves simply observing the inner dialogue as objectively as possible. (more…)

When you commit to a goal, the methods to achieve that goal will appear. When the methods do appear, they may not be (and seldom are) dressed in familiar garb. Many people are in the habit of saying “no” to all new experiences. Part of this, of course, is the comfort zone: “It’s new, so don’t do it.”

Alas, saying no to something before we know what we’re saying no to has a rather nasty name - one that no one likes to hear applied to themselves. That word is prejudice. It means, of course, to prejudge something. Human beings do it all the time. How many opinions do you have of people you have never even met?

By watching TV, we all have had the chance to meet a number of famous people who we initially “knew” only through the media. Many of them lived up to (or down to) their reputations. Others did not. Some people who had “bad reps” in the press were, in fact, delightful. Others, who are known to be magnificent individuals, were, in fact, monsters. (more…)

I got a pile of stuff. Collections of old laptops, comics, shirts that no longer fit and even tax returns from 1997.

“Joe,” I told myself “I gotta throw some out. Otherwise, how can new stuff come in?”

Sigh. Till 2006, I never followed through on my self-chastisement. The stuff keeps piling up and investing in new cabinets added to the stuff.

How many of you suffer from the collection bug?

Stepping back, I realize that collecting nonestop can be dysfunctional at times. It’s the mind whispering, “you better hoard, coz you’ll never get something like this again.”

That’s a self-defeating mindset. It gets you on a poverty mode of thinking.With such thoughts, its impossible to see new opportunities and take on grand challenges that may truly expand one’s horizon’s beyond the current myopic view. Why? You’ll perpetually be hiding, hoarding and protecting. How can you grow under such conditions- how can you attract things beyond what you already have?

Today, I begin throwing out stuff.

If you’ve just graduated college, you’ve probably begun hiding away all those books and papers. Finally: freedom!! It’s time to get really rich and make a name for yourself. Career. That’s the real world, right?

Wrong.

Graduation is no excuse to stop the learning process. Failure to study is folly! The new information your constantly process determines your edge in life. School learning is static and often decades out of date.

Here’s how to grow your IQ by 50%- after college. (more…)

Picture this: You know someone personally who has a thrilling, exotic life. Some friend of yours - maybe your sister, or your spouse - teaches in Japan, or writes in a cabin in the Rockies, or flies to Hamburg to make a deal with Mercedes-Benz. You daydream about how great it must be to live like that, but know it will never happen to you. You’ve stepped back from the exciting opportunities that came your way, because you wanted safety. Whatever courage is required to take risks, you’re pretty sure you don’t have it. You’re hugging the shore, but you can’t take your eyes off the horizon.

A lot of people hug the shore and are perfectly comfortable hugging it - but you are not comfortable. You are full of longing and regret. Deep down, you want adventure. You know perfectly well that you’ve stayed at your job too long. You know you’ve got more of the explorer inside you than you ever use. You know that a different kind of person would have sprung into action, seized the day, moved to new territories long ago, but somewhere you learned to hang on to what you have and not try for more. (more…)

Leisure is one of those luxuries that’s best in small portions. When it’s all there is to life, it’s as boring as being locked in jail. Leisure presents a terrible quandary for people with money. Either they don’t have enough of it because they’re always working, or they don’t work at all and are drowning in it.

All of us, to some extent, create fairy tales about how good life must be for wealthy people, because we get vicarious pleasure from it, and because we think we might someday strike it rich. One of the tales we tell ourselves is that wealth and leisure are a comfortable, complementary pair. Science shows that that’s usually not true.

The vast majority of millionaires in America are self-made, and one of the primary ways they gain their wealth is by sacrificing their leisure and freedom. I’ve met hundreds of these people, and they almost all work extremely hard - probably even harder than you do. Next time you walk through the first-class cabin on an airplane, check out how many of the passengers have their faces buried in paperwork or laptops. Is that your idea of leisure? Most of these people don’t feel free; they feel frazzled.

All too often, people become financially successful by just following money - engaging in high paying jobs they don’t really like. They may look free, but they feel like prisoners. When happy people choose their jobs, they don’t follow money - they follow their passions. When they do this, they tend not to worry too much about money, even if they’re relatively poor, because they know they won’t have to suffer to make more of it.

Ironically, people who follow their hearts often end up with plenty of money, because they usually become highly proficient at their work and they enjoy working long hours. Loving your job is the ultimate freedom. It means, in effect, that you never have to work—you just play hard and collect your check. You can’t beat that for leisure.

Some people, though, are rich without having to work. They inherit money, marry someone who’s rich, win the lottery, or make their fortune early in life. It looks as if they’ve got it made. But science clearly shows that these people have happiness levels that are only very slightly higher than average. Usually, having a lot of money and no obligations feels good for only a short time. Boredom soon sets in, along with a feeling of worthlessness. Too much leisure is oppressive, a void that’s impossible to fill.

Someone cuts you off. Do you holler?

The last parking slot is taken. Do you scream?

The boss fires you. Did you jump the building?

If you said yes to any, I’m sorry to say, you’re a weakling. You simply react to events instead of choosing your own response.

The real movers and shakers chose proactively. The decide on positive behaviours that serve them well. In other words, they choose to be the cause of events. Not the effects.

Here are some tips you can use to rule your reality.

1) Before you react to something, ask yourself: does this serve me well?

2) Take the initiative. If you know you’ll be fired, resign.

3) Pretend you have just 30 minutes to live. How’d you do it?

4) Take ten seconds before acting on something. This prevents brash moves

5) When you’ve made your decision, don’t look back. Be consistent! Remember: never excuse your decisions. It’s your right!

If you are like many people attempting to live your dreams and become successful, you may find that addictive behaviors may get in the way or prevent your success altogether. Addictions by definition are self-destructive. They erode self-esteem and cause gradual health problems, and impairments in social, occupational, physical, emotional, or spiritual functioning. Our society condones addictions. So much of the social fabric of everything we do involves the acceptance of addictive thinking and behavior that we have become almost unaware of it.

If you may have a problem achieving your goals because of an addition of sorts, then the following list of possible addictive hindrances may help you identify your personal demons and eliminate them totally from your life:

Immediate gratification: All addictions produce instant gratification. You feel better as a result of your involvement with the substance or process in which you indulge. It is enjoyable to experience the altered state (at least temporarily).

Simplistic thinking: You believe that “it” will make everything all right. You believe that “it” is something that is capable of inducing positive psychological, emotional, and physical states, as well as relieving negative ones.

Distorted priorities: Your priorities become distorted, and you become consumed and obsessed with your addiction as the most important thing in life, above and beyond everything else.

Skewed perspective: Your perspective becomes skewed and inaccurate. You are unable to perceive reality accurately. You begin to see people and situations as exaggerations of what they normally are.

Symptoms of withdrawal: As soon as you are deprived of the substance or the process, adverse consequences appear immediately. You experience unpleasant physiological, psychological, and/or emotional symptoms. You experience trauma at the thought or reality of separating from your addiction.

Overwhelming attachment: You are so dependent upon the addiction that you feel unable to function without it. A need/dependency relationship evolves between you and your addiction. You need it to be happy and your well-being is contingent on having it available to you.

Complete loss of power: You feel powerless to alter your situation. You have relinquished your power to something or someone outside yourself. The situation has become bigger than you are, and you are unable to affect a change. You are a slave to your addictions.

Binary thinking: You are a victim of binary thinking. You view situations as black or white, either/or, right or wrong, good or bad, on or off, wonderful or awful. Life is perceived as a zero sum game in which the pendulum swings between two polar opposites with no happy medium.

Public speaking is said to be rank higher in the global list of fears than - guess what? - death! Why? Beats me. I just know that when I stand before the audience and pretend I’m talking one on one with a single person. And you know what? I lose all fear in a second.

Do you want a standing ovation the next time you deliver your speech? Try the following

1) Focus on the crowd, not yourself. Think of entertaining them. Don’t imagine them criticizing you.

2) Walk around. A lot. Act like you’re just bantering at the water cooler. This loosens you up.

3) Crack jokes. Smile. They’ll smile back. And you create rapport.

4) Tell stories. Everyone loves a great story! Watch how their eyes stop glazing over.

5) Finally- encourage audience participation. Ask them questions. Throw them opinions. Banter. Debate. Keep it quick flowing!

Now I came across a cool blog with great tips on the subject. You’ll want to check this out:
Standing Ovations