When it comes to meeting and conquering the negativity in your life, here is a key question: what can you do, starting today, that will make a difference? What can you do during economic chaos? What can you do when everything has gone wrong? What can you do when you've run out of money, when you don't feel well and it's all gone sour? What can you do?
Let me give you the broad answer first. You can do the most remarkable things, no matter what happens. People can do incredible things, unbelievable things, despite the most impossible or disastrous circumstances.
Here is why humans can do remarkable things: because they are remarkable. Humans are different than any other creation. When a dog starts with weeds, he winds up with weeds. And the reason is because he's a dog. But that's not true with human beings. Humans can turn weeds into gardens.
Humans can turn nothing into something, pennies into fortune, and disaster into success. And the reason they can do such remarkable things is because they are remarkable. Try reaching down inside of yourself; you'll come up with some more of those remarkable human gifts. They're there, waiting to be discovered and employed.
With those gifts, you can change anything for yourself that you wish to change. And I challenge you to do that because you can change. If you don't like how something is going for you, change it. If something isn't enough, change it. If something doesn't suit you; change it. If something doesn't please you, change it. You don't ever have to be the same after today. If you don't like your present address change it — you're not a tree!
If there is one thing to get excited about, it's your ability to make yourself do the necessary things, to get a desired result, to turn the negative into success. That's true excitement.
To Your Success,
Jim Rohn
Friday, September 29, 2006
Soldier On
I think everybody should study ants. They have an amazing four-part philosophy, and here is the first part: ants never quit. That's a good philosophy. If they're headed somewhere and you try to stop them; they'll look for another way. They'll climb over, they'll climb under, they'll climb around. They keep looking for another way. What a neat philosophy, to never quit looking for a way to get where you're supposed to go.
Second, ants think winter all summer. That's an important perspective. You can't be so naive as to think summer will last forever. So ants are gathering in their winter food in the middle of summer.
An ancient story says, "Don't build your house on the sand in the summer." Why do we need that advice? Because it is important to think ahead. In the summer, you've got to think storm. You've got to think rocks as you enjoy the sand and sun.
The third part of the ant philosophy is that ants think summer all winter. That is so important. During the winter, ants remind themselves, "This won't last long; we'll soon be out of here." And the first warm day, the ants are out. If it turns cold again, they'll dive back down, but then they come out the first warm day. They can't wait to get out.
And here's the last part of the ant philosophy. How much will an ant gather during the summer to prepare for the winter? All that he possibly can. What an incredible philosophy, the "all-that-you-possibly-can" philosophy.
Wow, what a great philosophy to have - the ant philosophy. Never give up, look ahead, stay positive and do all you can.
[By: Jim Rohn]
Second, ants think winter all summer. That's an important perspective. You can't be so naive as to think summer will last forever. So ants are gathering in their winter food in the middle of summer.
An ancient story says, "Don't build your house on the sand in the summer." Why do we need that advice? Because it is important to think ahead. In the summer, you've got to think storm. You've got to think rocks as you enjoy the sand and sun.
The third part of the ant philosophy is that ants think summer all winter. That is so important. During the winter, ants remind themselves, "This won't last long; we'll soon be out of here." And the first warm day, the ants are out. If it turns cold again, they'll dive back down, but then they come out the first warm day. They can't wait to get out.
And here's the last part of the ant philosophy. How much will an ant gather during the summer to prepare for the winter? All that he possibly can. What an incredible philosophy, the "all-that-you-possibly-can" philosophy.
Wow, what a great philosophy to have - the ant philosophy. Never give up, look ahead, stay positive and do all you can.
[By: Jim Rohn]
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Why Some People Have All The Luck
[Warning: May cause dizziness, nausea and possible mental irritation due to disbelief]
By Professor Richard Wiseman, University of Hertfordshire-
Why do some people get all the luck while others never get the breaks they deserve?
A psychologist says he has discovered the answer.
Ten years ago, I set out to examine luck. I wanted to know why some people are always in the right place at the right time, while others consistently experience ill fortune. I placed advertisements in national newspapers asking for people who felt consistently lucky or unlucky to contact me.
Hundreds of extraordinary men and women volunteered for my research and over the years, I have interviewed them, monitored their lives and had them take part in experiments.
The results reveal that although these people have almost no insight into the causes of their luck, their thoughts and behavior are responsible for much of their good and bad fortune. Take the case of seemingly chance opportunities. Lucky people consistently encounter such opportunities, whereas unlucky people do not.
I carried out a simple experiment to discover whether this was due to differences in their ability to spot such opportunities. I gave both lucky and unlucky people a newspaper, and asked them to look through it and tell me how many photographs were inside. I had secretly placed a large message halfway through the newspaper saying: "Tell the experimenter you have seen this and win $50."
This message took up half of the page and was written in type that was more than two inches high. It was staring everyone straight in the face, but the unlucky people tended to miss it and the lucky people tended to spot it.
Unlucky people are generally more tense than lucky people, and this anxiety disrupts their ability to notice the unexpected.
As a result, they miss opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else. They go to parties intent on finding their perfect partner and so miss opportunities to make good friends. They look through newspapers determined to find certain types of job advertisements and miss other types of jobs.
Lucky people are more relaxed and open, and therefore see what is there rather than just what they are looking for. My research eventually revealed that lucky people generate good fortune via four principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.
Towards the end of the work, I wondered whether these principles could be used to create good luck. I asked a group of volunteers to spend a month carrying out exercises designed to help them think and behave like a lucky person.
Dramatic results! These exercises helped them spot chance opportunities, listen to their intuition, expect to be lucky, and be more resilient to bad luck.
One month later, the volunteers returned and described what had happened. The results were dramatic: 80% of people were now happier, more satisfied with their lives and, perhaps most important of all, luckier.
The lucky people had become even luckier and the unlucky had become lucky.
Finally, I had found the elusive "luck factor".
Here are Professor Wiseman's four top tips for becoming lucky:
1) Listen to your gut instincts - they are normally right
2) Be open to new experiences and breaking your normal routine
3) Spend a few moments each day remembering things that went well
4) Visualize yourself being lucky before an important meeting or telephone call.
"The happiest people in the world are not those who have no problems, but those who learn to live with things that are less than perfect."
By Professor Richard Wiseman, University of Hertfordshire-
Why do some people get all the luck while others never get the breaks they deserve?
A psychologist says he has discovered the answer.
Ten years ago, I set out to examine luck. I wanted to know why some people are always in the right place at the right time, while others consistently experience ill fortune. I placed advertisements in national newspapers asking for people who felt consistently lucky or unlucky to contact me.
Hundreds of extraordinary men and women volunteered for my research and over the years, I have interviewed them, monitored their lives and had them take part in experiments.
The results reveal that although these people have almost no insight into the causes of their luck, their thoughts and behavior are responsible for much of their good and bad fortune. Take the case of seemingly chance opportunities. Lucky people consistently encounter such opportunities, whereas unlucky people do not.
I carried out a simple experiment to discover whether this was due to differences in their ability to spot such opportunities. I gave both lucky and unlucky people a newspaper, and asked them to look through it and tell me how many photographs were inside. I had secretly placed a large message halfway through the newspaper saying: "Tell the experimenter you have seen this and win $50."
This message took up half of the page and was written in type that was more than two inches high. It was staring everyone straight in the face, but the unlucky people tended to miss it and the lucky people tended to spot it.
Unlucky people are generally more tense than lucky people, and this anxiety disrupts their ability to notice the unexpected.
As a result, they miss opportunities because they are too focused on looking for something else. They go to parties intent on finding their perfect partner and so miss opportunities to make good friends. They look through newspapers determined to find certain types of job advertisements and miss other types of jobs.
Lucky people are more relaxed and open, and therefore see what is there rather than just what they are looking for. My research eventually revealed that lucky people generate good fortune via four principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.
Towards the end of the work, I wondered whether these principles could be used to create good luck. I asked a group of volunteers to spend a month carrying out exercises designed to help them think and behave like a lucky person.
Dramatic results! These exercises helped them spot chance opportunities, listen to their intuition, expect to be lucky, and be more resilient to bad luck.
One month later, the volunteers returned and described what had happened. The results were dramatic: 80% of people were now happier, more satisfied with their lives and, perhaps most important of all, luckier.
The lucky people had become even luckier and the unlucky had become lucky.
Finally, I had found the elusive "luck factor".
Here are Professor Wiseman's four top tips for becoming lucky:
1) Listen to your gut instincts - they are normally right
2) Be open to new experiences and breaking your normal routine
3) Spend a few moments each day remembering things that went well
4) Visualize yourself being lucky before an important meeting or telephone call.
"The happiest people in the world are not those who have no problems, but those who learn to live with things that are less than perfect."
Monday, September 25, 2006
Trippy Tulips
I had a trippy Saturday. It's spring so the flowers are popping out like zits on a greasy teenager's face. Seeing rows of colours in a go was blinding. But like all trippy journeys, this well-trodden path was a pretty happy one. The flowers were ok. After half an hour, you don't know what you're looking at anymore. It was the Dutch folks that made it spectacular. I have something about people. I have a natural fondness for them. I actually like them. Which may not always be such a safe thing to do but in general, I view people as great objects of observation and interest. This was a good weekend. How did it go for yourself?
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Something Out of Nothing
There are four ways to get strawberry ice cream.
What four?
You can say, "Hmm... I'd like some strawberry ice cream." And you go out and get it.
That's what we normal people do.
Or you can say, "I'll want some strawberry ice cream." And you get your boyfriend or girlfriend; husband or wife; son or daughter to get it.
That's what slave drivers do.
Another way to get strawberry ice cream is to think, "Hmm... how about that strawberry ice cream." And someone walks pass and say, 'Er... excuse me but is this your strawberry ice cream?" and you say, "Wow, thanks!"
That's what dreamers do.
And finally, the best way to get strawberry ice cream is when you just think to yourself, "I love some strawberry ice cream now." And it manifests in front of your own eyes.
That's what magicians do.
We are all magicians, believe it or not. But we forget that. We stop believing. We stop dreaming. We stop knowing. We stop understanding how the universe gives those who asks - where do you think it says, 'Seek and you shall Find'; 'Ask and you shall Receive'?
Holy books, wise men, secret letters.
Would you believe it if we were all once formless beings given form? We are in fact, million zillion of energy atoms.
I am crazy. Hell yes. Crazy enough to believe in things that have no scientific proof. But who proved God? Who proved Hell? Who proved electricity?
The world works beyond our imagination. And the only reason why it happens is because we've let ourselves forget.
What four?
You can say, "Hmm... I'd like some strawberry ice cream." And you go out and get it.
That's what we normal people do.
Or you can say, "I'll want some strawberry ice cream." And you get your boyfriend or girlfriend; husband or wife; son or daughter to get it.
That's what slave drivers do.
Another way to get strawberry ice cream is to think, "Hmm... how about that strawberry ice cream." And someone walks pass and say, 'Er... excuse me but is this your strawberry ice cream?" and you say, "Wow, thanks!"
That's what dreamers do.
And finally, the best way to get strawberry ice cream is when you just think to yourself, "I love some strawberry ice cream now." And it manifests in front of your own eyes.
That's what magicians do.
We are all magicians, believe it or not. But we forget that. We stop believing. We stop dreaming. We stop knowing. We stop understanding how the universe gives those who asks - where do you think it says, 'Seek and you shall Find'; 'Ask and you shall Receive'?
Holy books, wise men, secret letters.
Would you believe it if we were all once formless beings given form? We are in fact, million zillion of energy atoms.
I am crazy. Hell yes. Crazy enough to believe in things that have no scientific proof. But who proved God? Who proved Hell? Who proved electricity?
The world works beyond our imagination. And the only reason why it happens is because we've let ourselves forget.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Haste in Waste
On the road of life, there's always a perfect time for you to pull over to the side of the road, turn off your engine and get out and walk for a while. It's time to feel like you're a bigger part of the journey. If you go too fast, you'll whisk right by beautiful, enriching people and places. Going slow you'll feel more content with where you're going.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Monday, September 11, 2006
What Would Have Been
A girl said to her friends, 'what would life have been if I hadn't spent the best six years of my life in a relationship?'
A wife thinks, 'what would life have been like if I hadn't had kids?'
A young man wonders, 'what would life have been like I hadn't made that promise?'
"... would I be happier?"
"... would I be full of life?"
"... would I have been greater?"
Regrets. Fears. Guilt. Shame.
We blame others but the fingers point back. For the choices we make. For the choices we fail to make. For the choices we never dreamnt of.
Are we awake when we're asleep? Or are we asleep when we're awake?
Because it's never really people, objects, places that limit us to our pallid lackluster lives.
A wife thinks, 'what would life have been like if I hadn't had kids?'
A young man wonders, 'what would life have been like I hadn't made that promise?'
"... would I be happier?"
"... would I be full of life?"
"... would I have been greater?"
Regrets. Fears. Guilt. Shame.
We blame others but the fingers point back. For the choices we make. For the choices we fail to make. For the choices we never dreamnt of.
Are we awake when we're asleep? Or are we asleep when we're awake?
Because it's never really people, objects, places that limit us to our pallid lackluster lives.