February 27, 2018 EXCITEMENT AND PASSION
Excitement and passion can add juice to anything. Passion can turn any challenge into a tremendous opportunity. Passion is unbridled power to move our lives forward at a faster tempo than ever before. To paraphrase Benjamin Disraeli, man is only truly great when he acts from the passions. How do we “get” passion? The same
February 26, 2018 CURIOSITY
If you really want to grow in your life, learn to be as curious as a child. Children know how to wonder—that’s why they’re so endearing. If you want to cure boredom, be curious. If you’re curious, nothing is a chore; it’s automatic—you want to study. Cultivate curiosity, and life becomes an unending study of
February 25, 2018 APPRECIATION AND GRATITUDE
I believe that all of the most powerful emotions are some expression of love, each directed in different ways. Appreciation and gratitude are two of the most spiritual emotions, actively expressing through thought and action my appreciation and love for all the gifts that life has given me, that people have given me, that experience
February 24, 2018 LOVE AND WARMTH
The consistent expression of love seems to be able to melt almost any negative emotions it comes in contact with. If someone is angry with you, you can easily remain loving with them by adopting a core belief such as this marvelous one from the book A Course in Miracles: all communication is either a
February 23, 2018 LONELINESS
Anything that makes us feel alone, apart, or separate from others belongs in this category. Have you ever felt really lonely? I don’t think there’s anybody alive who hasn’t. The message of loneliness is that you need a connection with people. But what does the message mean? People often assume it means a sexual connection,
February 22, 2018 WHAT’S BETTER LEFT UNSAID
There are those times in life that you read something and it just speaks to you. You have every intention of changing, to implement what you have learned, only to find out how hard it is to change. Life is full of good intentions that never get done. Today’s stoic reading is one of those
February 21, 2018 OVERLOAD OR OVERWHELM
Grief, depression, and helplessness are merely expressions of feeling overloaded or overwhelmed. Grief happens when you feel like there is no empowering meaning for something that has happened, or that your life is being negatively impacted by people, events, or forces that are outside your control. People in this state become overwhelmed and often begin
February 20, 2018 What if?
There are times in life that we may ask ourselves \”what if,\” or \”if only?\” It is important that we learn from previous \”what if\” experiences and work towards taking actions that will limit our \”ifs\” in life. We should work towards gratitude for what we have and not wish for the \”what if.\” Happiness
February 19, 2018 THE BANQUET OF LIFE
“Remember to conduct yourself in life as if at a banquet. As something being passed around comes to you, reach out your hand and take a moderate helping. Does it pass you by? Don’t stop it. It hasn’t yet come? Don’t burn in desire for it, but wait until it arrives in front of you.
February 18, 2018 Charity
There are times in life when you know, you need to learn something or better yet become something more. Reading of Christ we see that Charity is the greatest of all traits we can obtain. To obtain charity we must humble ourselves and request the gift of charity from the Spirit. I find this to
February 17, 2018 Start your engine
There is a quote I reference often by Zig Ziglar that says, “you do not have to be great to start but you have to start to be great.” Martin Luther King Jr said, “you do not need to see the whole stair case to take the first step.” Another way to think about this
February 16, 2018 INADEQUACY
This feeling of unworthiness occurs anytime we feel we can’t do something we should be able to do. The challenge, of course, is that often we have a completely unfair rule for determining whether we’re inadequate or not. First, understand the message inadequacy is giving you. The message is that you don’t presently have a
February 15, 2018 GUILT
The emotions of guilt, regret, and remorse are among the emotions human beings do most to avoid in life, and this is valuable. They are painful emotions for us to experience, but they, too, serve a valuable function, one which becomes apparent once we hear the message. Guilt tells you that you have violated one
February 14, 2018 DISAPPOINTMENT
Disappointment can be a very destructive emotion if you don’t deal with it quickly. Disappointment is the devastating feeling of being “let down” or that you’re going to miss out on something forever. Anything that makes you feel sad or defeated as a result of expecting more than you get is disappointing. The message disappointment
February 13, 2018 FRUSTRATION
Frustration can come from many avenues. Any time we feel like we’re surrounded by roadblocks in our lives, where we are continuously putting out effort but not receiving rewards, we tend to feel the emotion of frustration. The message of frustration is an exciting signal. It means that your brain believes you could be doing
February 12, 2018 ANGER
Angry emotions include everything from being mildly irritated to being angry, resentful, furious, or even enraged. The message of anger is that an important rule or standard that you hold for your life has been violated by someone else, or maybe even by you. When you get the message of anger, you need to understand
February 11, 2018 FEAR
Fearful emotions include everything from low levels of concern and apprehension to intense worry, anxiety, fright, and even terror. Fear serves a purpose, and its message is simple. Fear is simply the anticipation that something that’s going to happen soon and needs to be prepared for. In the words the Boy Scout motto, “Be prepared.”
February 10, 2018 ANGER IS BAD FUEL
“There is no more stupefying thing than anger, nothing more bent on its own strength. If successful, none more arrogant, if foiled, none more insane—since it’s not driven back by weariness even in defeat, when fortune removes its adversary it turns its teeth on itself.” —SENECA, ON ANGER, 3.1.5 As the Stoics have said many
February 9, 2018 Professional Will
At times we will have to do things that we do not want to do but are required for our success. It is at this time our resolve or professional will is tested. When learning of Lever 5 leadership most think of the humility required. But Jim Collins points out, “It is equally about ferocious
February 8, 2018 Get Confident
Get confident that you can handle this emotion immediately. The quickest, simplest, and most powerful way I know to handle any emotion is to remember a time when you felt a similar emotion and realize that you’ve successfully handled this emotion before. Since you handled it in the past, surely you can handle it again
February 7, 2018 Get Curious about the Message This Emotion Is Offering You
Remember the power of changing emotional states? If you put yourself in a state of mind where you truly are feeling curious about learning something, this is an immediate pattern interrupt to any emotion and enables you to learn a great deal about yourself. Getting curious helps you master your emotion, solve the challenge, and
February 6, 2018 Acknowledge and Appreciate Your Emotions, Knowing They Support You
You never want to make your emotions wrong. The idea that anything you feel is “wrong” is a great way to destroy honest communication with yourself as well as with others. Be thankful that there’s a part of your brain that is sending you a signal of support, a call to action to make a
February 5, 2018 Identify What You’re Really Feeling
So often people feel so overloaded they don’t even know what they’re feeling. All they know is that they’re being “attacked” by all these negative emotions and feelings. Instead of feeling overloaded, step back for a moment and ask yourself, “What am I really feeling right now?” If you think at first, “I’m feeling angry,”
February 4, 2018 Diligence
One definition of diligence is careful and persistent work or effort. The key in accomplishing that which other see as impossible is the willingness to persist. Constant sustained effort is what will lead to success. Have you ever seen a stone cutter working on a bolder? Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his
February 3, 2018 What are you waiting for?
The best way to accomplish your goals is to get started. Zig Ziglar would always say, “you do not have to be great to start but you have to start to be great.” Often you will find people want to know how things will end before they are willing to begin. Then they wonder why
February 2, 2018 Careful what you wish for.
Garth Brooks has a song called, “Unanswered Prayers.” It is a great reminder that even in life when we think we know what we want, we should be grateful for what we have instead. Have you ever noticed that someone really great at something or with a certain color hair wants the opposite of what
February 1, 2018 FOR THE HOT-HEADED MAN
“Keep this thought handy when you feel a fit of rage coming on—it isn’t manly to be enraged. Rather, gentleness and civility are more human, and therefore manlier. A real man doesn’t give way to anger and discontent, and such a person has strength, courage, and endurance—unlike the angry and complaining. The nearer a man
January 31, 2018 DON’T TRY TO BE PERFECT.
You are entering a race that you can’t win; you can’t even finish as the finishing line always moves beyond your reach. Your race to reach perfection is an optical illusion; it’s a mirage. People who seek and appear to need perfection have been proved to be the unhappiest and most unsatisfied people in the
January 30, 2018 LIKE YOURSELF. OTHER PEOPLE WILL LIKE YOU TO THE DEGREE THAT YOU LIKE YOURSELF.
We can all find something to like about ourselves. What you look like is just the wrapping. Think of all the compliments you have ever been given and remember them. The more you like yourself the more other people will like you and feel reassured around you. The minute you like yourself your sense of
January 29, 2018 Talk the Walk
What we say to ourselves will determine what we do, how we act and how we feel. The human brain believes what you tell it and will work in the body to make what you think come to reality. If you want to go from good to great you have to tell yourself you are
January 28, Who\’s boy are you?
When Ben Hooper was born many years ago in the foothills of East Tennessee, little boys and girls like Ben who were born to unwed mothers were ostracized and treated terribly. By the time Ben was three years old, the other children would scarcely play with him. Parents were saying idiotic things like, “What’s a
January 27, 2018 Be Disciplined
Remember: We are not just talking about money here. This refers to being successful in all areas of life—and to do so, you will not be able to compromise this thing called discipline. Discipline is an orderly, prescribed conduct that will get you what you want—and it\’s a requirement for 10X players. Unfortunately, most peoples\’
January 26, 2018 “Reach Up” in Relationships
If it were up to me, this would be a basic course for every year that someone attended school. It would include drills in which people are encouraged to do things that they are not comfortable doing. The successful constantly talk about having people around them who are smarter, brighter, and more creative. It\’s unlikely
January 25, 2018 Be Uncomfortable
Those who succeed were—at one point or another in their lives—willing to put themselves in situations that were uncomfortable, whereas the unsuccessful seek comfort from all their decisions. The most important things I have done in my life were not the things I was comfortable doing; in fact, many of them made me very uneasy.
January 24, 2018 Be Dedicated to Continuous Learning
The most successful CEOs are reported to read an average of 60 books and attend more than six conferences per year—whereas the average American worker reads an average of less than one book and makes 319 times less income. Although the media often discuss the disparity between the rich and the poor, they frequently fail
January 23, 2018 Be Interested in the Group
You can only do as well as the people around you. If everyone around you is sick, underperforming, and struggling, then sooner or later, you will become afflicted like everyone else. For example, pensions are strangling city and state governments because handfuls of people were interested in their own situation and didn\’t consider the impact
January 22, 2018 Be Highly Ethical
This is an area of confusion for many people—especially when they see supposedly successful individuals going to jail. Well, as far as I\’m concerned, it doesn\’t matter how much success you amass. Going to jail would be an immediate dis-qualifier. Even if a criminal does not get caught, he or she is still criminal—and therefore
January 21, 2018 Commit First—Figure Out Later
At first glance, this might be appear to be a highly undesirable—even perilous—trait of the highly successful. However, it\’s far less dangerous than the alternative frequently practiced by the unsuccessful. Most people assume that they have to figure everything out first and will commit once they do; however, they never seem to get around to
January 20, 2018 Create Your Own Reality
The successful are a lot like magicians; they don\’t deal in other people\’s realities. Instead, they are bent on creating a new reality for themselves that is different from the one that others accept. They aren\’t interested in what other people deem possible or impossible; they only care about producing the things they dream are
January 19, 2018 Have Big Goals and Dreams
Successful people dream big and have immense goals. They are not realistic. They leave that to the masses, who fight for leftovers. The second question of the 10X Rule asks: How big are your goals and dreams? The middle class are taught to be realistic, whereas the successful think in terms of how extensively they
January 18, 2018 Be Interested in Results
Successful people don\’t value effort or work or time spent on an activity; they value the results. Unsuccessful individuals attach great importance to the time they spend at work and their attempts at getting results—even if nothing happens. The difference here is connected to the concept of being unreasonable. Let\’s face it: Like it or
January 17, 2018 Have a High Level of Motivation
Motivation refers to the act or state of being stimulated toward action. To succeed, it is critical that you be stimulated, excited, and driven to some action or actions. Although the definition of motivation suggests that there\’s a reason behind the action, the study of successful people also makes it apparent that their high levels
January 16, 2018 Be on a Mission
Whereas the unsuccessful spend their lives thinking in terms of a job, successful people approach their activities as though they are on a religious mission—not as work or merely “a job.” Successful employees, employers, entrepreneurs, and market changers consider their daily activities to be part of a more important mission that will change things significantly.
January 15, 2018 Be Goal-Oriented
A goal is some desirable objective—typically something yet to be achieved—that a person or company needs in order to move forward. Successful people are highly goal-oriented and always pay more attention to the target than the problem. They are seemingly able to bend bullets because of their commitment and focus on the goal. Far too
January 14, 2018 Break Traditional Ideas
The most successful of the successful go beyond the concept of mere change and challenge traditional thinking. Look at organizations like Google, Apple, and Facebook, and you will see companies that challenge traditions and create new ways of doing things. They break that which already works in order to get to a better place. The
January 13, 2018 Determine and Take the Right Approach
The successful know that they can quantify what works and what doesn\’t work, whereas the unsuccessful focus solely on “hard work.” The right approach may be to institute a public relations program that softens the market, provide consumers with the right tool, or compel management to make the most powerful connections, find the best first
January 12, 2018 Embrace Change
Successful people love change, whereas the unsuccessful do everything they can to keep things from changing. But how can you create success when you are trying to keep things from becoming any different? It is impossible. Although you never want to alter the things that are working, you should always look for ways to improve
January 11, 2018 Demonstrate Courage
Courage is that quality of mind or spirit that compels people to face dangerous situations in spite of fear. It\’s rare that people feel or are described as courageous before the event that compels them to act in this way. Rather, they\’re referred to as such as a result of taking action regardless of their
January 10, 2018 Focus on “Now”
There exist only two times for the successful: now and the future. The unsuccessful spend most of their time in the past and regard the future as an opportunity to procrastinate. “Now” is the period of time that successful people utilize most often to create the futures they desire in order to dominate their environments.
January 9, 2018 Go All the Way
As they say in AA, “Half measures achieved us nothing.” For members, this means that you can\’t get sober if you are drinking—even a little bit. In the world of success and achievements, half measures achieve nothing in terms of results—except for tiring out the person engaging in the half measures. This is why most