"Sometimes you've got to let everything go - purge yourself. If you are unhappy with anything - whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you'll find that when you're free, your true creativity, your true self comes out."
Tina Turner
What are you holding onto, that's making you unhappy? Are you holding onto the beleif that you're fat, or not too bright, or not too loveable? My mother tends to be pessimistic and she told me "that's just the way I am". That is really an excuse to hold on to a self-image. Her ego has control of her mind and wants to preserve and enlarge itself in any way possible, even if it means keeping her feeling bad. She would rather be right than be happy. Do you know someone like that? Is that you?
Did you know that your thoughts and emotions are not you. You can actually let them go. You can cast them off forever. The truth is that you are like one of those great big statues of Buddha made of shining gold, that has been covered up with all the dirt and muck of the jungle. Once you get rid of the dirt and muck (all the thoughts and emotions that make you unhappy) the shining gold that is really you will be revealed in all its glory. It is when you are free of the muck that your true self shines through. Then your true creativity becomes accessible to you.
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
What You Have
"To be upset over what you don't have is to waste what you do have."
Kim S. Keyes Jr
Do you fret over all the things that you don't have? Do you think it's unfair that your neighbor has a fancy new car and you're stuck driving a cheap used car with air conditioning that doesn't work? Do you wish that you had enough money to go on exotic vacations? Most of us do. Perhaps it starts with when we were little and we were constantly told that we can't have everything we want. Then we see other people who have it and think that it's unfair. What makes them so much better than me? We never learned that nothing makes them better than us except for the quality of their thoughts; and that is something we can always improve too.
The best way to improve our thoughts is to think about all the wonderful things that are already in our lives. Sure you might have a cheap, used car, but it works well enough to get you where you need to go. You don't have to sit waiting for a bus to come by that takes a long time and doesn't go directly to your destination. The truth is that you are lucky to have a car at all, and you know it. You just forget it when you see the fancy cars that some other people drive.
It's very important to appreciate the things that we do have. Everyone has all kinds of blessings in their life. It often helps to forget about other people and what they have. Don't compare yourself to them. Just look at the things in your life and how your life is made better by them. What if you didn't have them? Be grateful for all the good things in your life, and more will show up.
For ideas about how to be truly successful, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Kim S. Keyes Jr
Do you fret over all the things that you don't have? Do you think it's unfair that your neighbor has a fancy new car and you're stuck driving a cheap used car with air conditioning that doesn't work? Do you wish that you had enough money to go on exotic vacations? Most of us do. Perhaps it starts with when we were little and we were constantly told that we can't have everything we want. Then we see other people who have it and think that it's unfair. What makes them so much better than me? We never learned that nothing makes them better than us except for the quality of their thoughts; and that is something we can always improve too.
The best way to improve our thoughts is to think about all the wonderful things that are already in our lives. Sure you might have a cheap, used car, but it works well enough to get you where you need to go. You don't have to sit waiting for a bus to come by that takes a long time and doesn't go directly to your destination. The truth is that you are lucky to have a car at all, and you know it. You just forget it when you see the fancy cars that some other people drive.
It's very important to appreciate the things that we do have. Everyone has all kinds of blessings in their life. It often helps to forget about other people and what they have. Don't compare yourself to them. Just look at the things in your life and how your life is made better by them. What if you didn't have them? Be grateful for all the good things in your life, and more will show up.
For ideas about how to be truly successful, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Destinations
"What you get by reaching your destination is not nearly as important as what you will become by reaching your destination."
-Zig Ziglar
We tend to define success by the things that a successful person has. We think "I will be successful when I have...". It could be a waterfront condo. It could be a spouse who picks up after themselves. It could be an Olympic gold medal. Or it could be something else. We think "I will be successful when..." It could be when I have landed on the moon. It could be when I write my novel and it gets published. It could be when I graduate from school. Or it could be something else. Whatever our goals are, we see success as something that we have or we do. We see success as being an end result. When we do this, or have that, then we will know that we have made it.
But we are missing the point. Real success is having the character and talents to do or have whatever it is that we want. Because even if that thing that we succeeded in getting is taken away, which it quite possibly will be, we will still be the kind of person who can get it again. Even if what we have done doesn't give us the results we want, we will still be the kind of person who can do it again and get better results next time. The kind of talent and character that allows us to duplicate our "successes" can only be derived from "succeeding" the first time. It can only be derived from reaching our destination.
It is not the destination that we have reached that is important. The really important thing is the person we have become in the act of reaching it. The better a person we become, the higher the peaks we can climb. Success is a process. It gets better and better.
For ideas about how to become truly successful, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
-Zig Ziglar
We tend to define success by the things that a successful person has. We think "I will be successful when I have...". It could be a waterfront condo. It could be a spouse who picks up after themselves. It could be an Olympic gold medal. Or it could be something else. We think "I will be successful when..." It could be when I have landed on the moon. It could be when I write my novel and it gets published. It could be when I graduate from school. Or it could be something else. Whatever our goals are, we see success as something that we have or we do. We see success as being an end result. When we do this, or have that, then we will know that we have made it.
But we are missing the point. Real success is having the character and talents to do or have whatever it is that we want. Because even if that thing that we succeeded in getting is taken away, which it quite possibly will be, we will still be the kind of person who can get it again. Even if what we have done doesn't give us the results we want, we will still be the kind of person who can do it again and get better results next time. The kind of talent and character that allows us to duplicate our "successes" can only be derived from "succeeding" the first time. It can only be derived from reaching our destination.
It is not the destination that we have reached that is important. The really important thing is the person we have become in the act of reaching it. The better a person we become, the higher the peaks we can climb. Success is a process. It gets better and better.
For ideas about how to become truly successful, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Joy
"We find greatest joy, not in getting, but in expressing what we are...Men do not really live for honors or for pay; their gladness is not the taking and holding, but in doing, the striving, the building, the living. It is a higher joy to teach than to be taught. It is good to get justice, but better to do it; fun to have things but more to make them. The happy man is he who lives the life of love, not for the honors it may bring, but for the life itself."
R. J. Baughan
We are always talking about how happy we will be when we get..." That is bad, first of all because we are telling ourselves that we can only be happy at some time in the future, never today. But it also misses the point. Happiness is not about what we get. It is about who we are and what we do. If you stop to make a list about what really makes you happy in life, you will realize that most of those things are not material acquisitions, or even ones like the love of another person.
Because most of us only know conditional love, we need the love of another person as a way to validate our own self-worth. Almost all of us judge our worth by how much other people like us. The love of another person does not make us happy as much as it brings us relief. When it comes down to it, it is the act of loving another person that makes us feel happy and worthwhile, not having that other person love us. We only really appreciate this when we perform an altruistic act. Then we know that it's true.
It is the acts of loving, giving, and creating that make us truly happy. We were born to be the givers, not the receivers. We were born to be active, not passive. We were born to grow, to live our lives with enjoyment and enthusiasm. This is what makes us happy.
For ideas about how to be truly successful, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
R. J. Baughan
We are always talking about how happy we will be when we get..." That is bad, first of all because we are telling ourselves that we can only be happy at some time in the future, never today. But it also misses the point. Happiness is not about what we get. It is about who we are and what we do. If you stop to make a list about what really makes you happy in life, you will realize that most of those things are not material acquisitions, or even ones like the love of another person.
Because most of us only know conditional love, we need the love of another person as a way to validate our own self-worth. Almost all of us judge our worth by how much other people like us. The love of another person does not make us happy as much as it brings us relief. When it comes down to it, it is the act of loving another person that makes us feel happy and worthwhile, not having that other person love us. We only really appreciate this when we perform an altruistic act. Then we know that it's true.
It is the acts of loving, giving, and creating that make us truly happy. We were born to be the givers, not the receivers. We were born to be active, not passive. We were born to grow, to live our lives with enjoyment and enthusiasm. This is what makes us happy.
For ideas about how to be truly successful, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Friday, December 5, 2008
Goals
"Before you begin a thing remind yourself that difficulties and delays quite impossible to foresee are ahead. You can only see one thing clearly, and that is your goal. Form a mental vision of that and cling to it through thick and thin."
Kathleen Norris
Are you one of those people who, when faced with a decision to act on something, try to imagine all the possible difficulties and delays that could happen with either option and how to deal with them, and get so overwhelmed that they can't get started. This is a very ineffective way of trying to get things done. The truth is that you can't foresee what difficulties and delays are going to happen; if you knew what to expect in the future, life would be very easy but also extremely dull and boring. By focusing on bad things that might happen, you are actually attracting all the things you don't want to happen too.
It is much better to focus on the one thing that you do have control over; clarifying your goal and forming a mental vision of it. Although you don't know what the future will bring, you do know what you want to happen in the end. When you know what you want to happen, you will be better able to find solutions to problems that come up and you will be more aware of the resources for acheiving your goal that were in your environment all along. Never lose sight of your goal. When your eyes are on the sunlight, you don't notice the shadows.
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Kathleen Norris
Are you one of those people who, when faced with a decision to act on something, try to imagine all the possible difficulties and delays that could happen with either option and how to deal with them, and get so overwhelmed that they can't get started. This is a very ineffective way of trying to get things done. The truth is that you can't foresee what difficulties and delays are going to happen; if you knew what to expect in the future, life would be very easy but also extremely dull and boring. By focusing on bad things that might happen, you are actually attracting all the things you don't want to happen too.
It is much better to focus on the one thing that you do have control over; clarifying your goal and forming a mental vision of it. Although you don't know what the future will bring, you do know what you want to happen in the end. When you know what you want to happen, you will be better able to find solutions to problems that come up and you will be more aware of the resources for acheiving your goal that were in your environment all along. Never lose sight of your goal. When your eyes are on the sunlight, you don't notice the shadows.
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Timing
"I learned that we can do anything, but we can't do everything.. at least not at the same time. So think of your priorities not in terms of what activities you do, but when you do them. Timing is everything."
Dan Millman
Are you good at prioritizing, or do you just feel overwhelmed at all the things you thnk you need to do. How do you make decisions about what activities you need to do now, what activities you need to do later, and what activities you really don't need to do at all? The first thing you need to do is to determine what is important to you. What do you value? What do you value most of all, that you would be really unhappy if it were missing in your life. What is your mission, your purpose in life? What are your goals? Until you can answer all of these questions, prioritizing your activities is going to be very hard because you won't have a benchmark to judge their importance against.
Once you have determined what your priorities are, what actions are most important for you to take, then you need to determine when to take them. After you get rid of the unimportant activities in your life, you'll have much more room to fit in the important ones. Which of those have to be done right now or they will lose their value? Which of them can be done later and still be worthwhile? How worthwhile will they be tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or next year? Make sure you do the most important and urgent activities first. Then do things based on how much value they will lose over time. Once you've identified priorities, timing is everything.
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Dan Millman
Are you good at prioritizing, or do you just feel overwhelmed at all the things you thnk you need to do. How do you make decisions about what activities you need to do now, what activities you need to do later, and what activities you really don't need to do at all? The first thing you need to do is to determine what is important to you. What do you value? What do you value most of all, that you would be really unhappy if it were missing in your life. What is your mission, your purpose in life? What are your goals? Until you can answer all of these questions, prioritizing your activities is going to be very hard because you won't have a benchmark to judge their importance against.
Once you have determined what your priorities are, what actions are most important for you to take, then you need to determine when to take them. After you get rid of the unimportant activities in your life, you'll have much more room to fit in the important ones. Which of those have to be done right now or they will lose their value? Which of them can be done later and still be worthwhile? How worthwhile will they be tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or next year? Make sure you do the most important and urgent activities first. Then do things based on how much value they will lose over time. Once you've identified priorities, timing is everything.
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
Monday, December 1, 2008
Excuses
"Some men have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to,
when all they need is one reason why they can."
Martha Graham
Are you good at coming up with excuses why something won't work. You probably don't see them as excuses, but as explanations. You think you're just facing reality. "The economy is really bad after all, the reports from the media prove that, so I can't possibly sell enough products to make the amount of money I want to."
Of course, the reports from the media don't give you the whole story. You will never hear from them about the people whose businesses are actually improving this year, or about those people who made their fortune during the Great Depression. And you certainly won't hear on the mainstream media about how they did that. The way they did that is by finding at the one reason why they could succeed. They saw the opportunities that the other people didn't see because they thought the situation was hopeless and that there was nothing to do but pull back and wait for it to pass.
This is, of course, just one example of how people find excuses not to succeed. But it happens in all areas of our life. We find excuses whenever we blame outside circumstances for our lack of success. It's always the fault of something else (the economy in our example). Most of us have a great difficulty admitting that we are responsible for everything that happens to us. But that is the reality. Even when something happens that we don't like, we can improve our situation simply by changing our attitude and perception about it, and thereby our reactions.
All we need is one reason to succeed. All we need is one reason why we can. The one reason why we can succeed when everyone around us is failing is because we know we are responsible for everything that happens to us, and that we always have control over what happens, or at the least over how we react to it. The best reason why we can succeed is that we beleive in our ability to cope with any situation, no matter how bad it seems at first.
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
when all they need is one reason why they can."
Martha Graham
Are you good at coming up with excuses why something won't work. You probably don't see them as excuses, but as explanations. You think you're just facing reality. "The economy is really bad after all, the reports from the media prove that, so I can't possibly sell enough products to make the amount of money I want to."
Of course, the reports from the media don't give you the whole story. You will never hear from them about the people whose businesses are actually improving this year, or about those people who made their fortune during the Great Depression. And you certainly won't hear on the mainstream media about how they did that. The way they did that is by finding at the one reason why they could succeed. They saw the opportunities that the other people didn't see because they thought the situation was hopeless and that there was nothing to do but pull back and wait for it to pass.
This is, of course, just one example of how people find excuses not to succeed. But it happens in all areas of our life. We find excuses whenever we blame outside circumstances for our lack of success. It's always the fault of something else (the economy in our example). Most of us have a great difficulty admitting that we are responsible for everything that happens to us. But that is the reality. Even when something happens that we don't like, we can improve our situation simply by changing our attitude and perception about it, and thereby our reactions.
All we need is one reason to succeed. All we need is one reason why we can. The one reason why we can succeed when everyone around us is failing is because we know we are responsible for everything that happens to us, and that we always have control over what happens, or at the least over how we react to it. The best reason why we can succeed is that we beleive in our ability to cope with any situation, no matter how bad it seems at first.
For ideas about how to acheive true success, visit http://www.reachingmypotential.com
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