You Can Accentuate Positive Thoughts To Eliminate Debt
Many people wake up every day in a state of depression and this is entirely because of the debts they have accumulated for whatever reason. Sadly, there are also many people who assume that the reason people are financially embarrassed is because they took out one loan after another when they could not afford a loan in the first place. These people, who have been cushioned with financial abundance all their lives, have no idea what it is to be in a position of lack of money and have insensitive views on the subject.
Sometimes their views are correct. However, for thousands of other people, the reasons why they are in debt are because they may have lost their job through either redundancy, illness, or they may have suffered a breakdown in their relationship, which could have lead to depression and the inability to be able to focus on their jobs. Many others have been caught in world recessions, or purchased businesses which collapsed or are in debt because of their partner’s inability to spend sensibly.
Your health suffers in many ways because of living with the continual fear of debt problems. This can be both mentally and physically, and can lead to many critical major illnesses, at the very least. Spending money to eat properly becomes a luxury as you are fearful of spending more money than you have to and this affects many areas of your body. It becomes a no-win situation. You cannot care for yourself properly because you are not in a position to afford to and at the same time you cannot afford not to!
But, thankfully, there are two sides to every coin! You always have a choice. Your choice is whether to sit and dwell on your painful debt challenge or you can accentuate positive thoughts to inspire yourself out of the depressed state that you are in. A way that you can accentuate positive thoughts is to spend time concentrating on what you want in your life. Create a list of what you want. Make sure that you have big dreams and then smaller dreams. You can use the smaller dreams as stepping stones to your bigger dream. Accentuate positive thoughts regularly to achieve these dreams.
One way to lift yourself up immediately, is to find a place where you normally feel peaceful, the coast, the countryside, a special park, an art gallery or anywhere where you are able to accentuate positive thoughts.
A lot of very successful people have gone from financial bleakness to financial abundance and you can read autobiographies of these people to inspire you. Just visit your library to find these books and if any book is not there, request it. You so not have to buy the books, when they are freely available.
Finally, take one step of action. As we all know, nothing comes without this step. Your computer, your pencil, you pad, your table … all of the ‘things’ around you were just a thought once.
Aine Callan
A victim of the 1990’s recession, understands only too well what people are going through when in debt and has written ‘Be Happy In Debt’ - a book with many surprises in!
http://www.debts-challenge.com
The Serious Harmfulness of Smoking
Most of us know that smoking is indeed a habit that can have many serious implications on our health but there is a tendency to view the problem lightly. It’s important that every smoker be aware of the facts concerning smoking and so I have included certain facts and figures that I hope will serve as eye openers.
I don’t know how it is with you, but as far as I am concerned as soon as I have to look at statistics, my eyes get bleary and something just turns off in my head. But for your own good I implore you to take a good look at the statistics given below, remember, it could save your life.
The World Health Organization has been studying smoking trends and statistical patterns across the globe and has come up with the following statistics:
Most smokers begin early in life, before they are 25 years old. According to World Health Organization studies, the majority of smokers in affluent countries begin in their teens. A decline in the age of starting smoking has been observed worldwide.
As a wannabe quitter, you’re in excellent company. People all over the world are trying to quit and stay away from cigarettes. There appears to be a correlation between a country’s standard of living, level of education, and income and the number of people who have quit smoking. The more and better-informed people are, the more likely they are to quit smoking.
Current estimates are that over 1 billion people in the world smoke. (In other words, approximately one in three adults on the planet smokes.) The majority of these smokers reside in countries on the low end to the middle of the socioeconomic spectrum. Of this majority, about 80 percent live in low - and middle - income countries. The total number of smokers worldwide is expected to keep increasing.
But are things in the USA any better? Not really, as you can see for yourself in the figures of National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics.
In the United States, an estimated 25.6 million men (25.2 percent) and 22.6 million women (20.7 percent) are smokers. These people are at higher risk of heart attack and stroke. The latest estimates for persons age 18 and older show…
Among whites, 25.1 percent of men and 21.7 percent of women smoke
Among black or African Americans, 27.6 percent of men and 18.0 percent of women smoke
Among Hispanics/Latinos, 23.2 percent of men and 12.5 percent of women smoke
Among Asians (only), 21.3 percent of men and 6.9 percent of women smoke
Among American Indians/Alaska Natives (only), 32.0 percent of men and 36.9 percent of women smoke
Studies show that smoking prevalence is higher among those with 9-11 years of education (35.4 percent) compared with those with more than 16 years of education (11.6 percent). It’s highest among persons living below the poverty level (33.3 percent).
And These Figures Spell Death…
One out of every five deaths is caused by tobacco
An average of 400,000 Americans die each year from tobacco
Tobacco to blame for many serious pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases
Tobacco and nicotine are some of the most potent carcinogens and are to blame for a majority of all cancers of the lung, trachea, bronchus, larynx, and esophagus
Tobacco use also produces cancers in the pancreas, kidney, bladder, and cervix
Impotency is sometimes to blame from addiction to nicotine because of its ability to reduce blood flow
Smoking is an important risk factor for respiratory illnesses, causing 85,000 deaths per year from pulmonary diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia
Children and adolescents who are active smokers will have increasingly severe respiratory illness, as they grow older
Smoking during pregnancy causes about 5-6% of prenatal deaths, 17-26% of low-birth-weight births, and 7-10% of pre-term deliveries, and it increases the risk of miscarriage and fetal growth retardation
Cigarettes are responsible for about 25% of deaths from residential fires, causing nearly 1,000 fire-related deaths and 3,300 injuries each year
These are grave statistics and well worth heeding the message of, which is to quit, now.
Give Me One Half-Hour and I’ll Give You Tested Ways To Stop Smoking For Good!
Click here for FREE online ebook!
http://www.waystostopsmoking.net/
Play To Your Strengths
Who you really are is a soul. The soul uses the mind as its instrument to navigate through the world of form. And the soul itself is a spark of God, or the awareness of all that is, was, and will be.
In this experience of being a person, one who is utterly unique, with no one else like you, you may wonder about your gifts.
Your first gift, of course, is simply being alive. It is the gift of awareness. However, you also have gifts of mind, unique perceptions, strengths and talents that others do not have in the same way.
When you focus on these gifts, you feel empowered. When you focus on what you didn’t get, you feel disempowered. You have a choice: focus on what is unique and special to you and feel empowered or focus on what you do not have that other people appear to have and feel disempowered.
Wisdom, of course, would suggest that you enhance your strengths. While it may be necessary to work on a few weaknesses, your best life will come when you can make your strengths even more compelling and impressive. You will experience more healing by reinforcing what already works than trying to fix all your apparent lacks and limitations.
The purpose of your life is to find fulfillment. It is not to survive, but to thrive. And your purpose will become clear to you when you examine your gifts and discover ways to offer them to the world.
Your talents will design your dream.
All of us are talented in some unique way, and none of us are perfect, but we don’t need to be perfect to live a happy and fulfilling life following and expressing our special dream.
However, as you begin the journey to express your gifts, you will encounter obstacles. This adversity itself is a gift. It exists as an opportunity to overcome some personal limitation. It is an invitation to reach for a better answer. Those who can find the gift in adversity have also found the doorway to their success.
What really helps, after you identify your gifts and design your dream, is to have a very clear picture of who you are, what you want, and how you can benefit the world. The more detailed your picture, the more expansive, the more joyful will be the dream that you will one day live.
Success begins with a clear, focused picture of your end result.
Action alone, without vision, is often dissipated as you pursue petty goals that do not ennoble your spirit. On the contrary, a clear vision followed by relentless action, a courageous spirit, and the willingness to learn what you need to know, will create for you a life that will lead others to stare in envy.
In a funny way, life is not that complex. Ask for what you want, and be prepared to receive it. Everything starts to unfold once you perceive your gifts: the gift of life, the gift of your unique talents, the gift of your vision, and the gift in the adversity that makes you grow to fit your vision. If you just keep asking for what you want that is what you will start getting.
Now discover your strengths. Take a few moments to begin accepting your spiritual nature and healing your life with this awareness. Once you discover your strengths, you can play to your strengths and start living the life that you deserve.
Saleem Rana would love to share his inspiring ideas with you. Hunting everywhere for a life worth living? Discover the life of your dreams. His book, Never Ever Give Up is offered at no cost to stimulate your success. http://www.theempoweredsoul.com/enter.html
The 1-2-3 Step Process of Self Improvement
The self improvement process involves steps that will not likely be acheived without the accomplishment of their preceding steps. As humans, we find it very difficult to adjust to changes all at once, because we have already been programmed to do and see things a particular way. It does not mean that it is impossible. It simply entails that completing the final stage of the process requires discipline, patience and persistence.
Rome was not built in a day, as the popular proverb goes. Thus, if we want to reap the benefits and enjoy what our self-improvement changes can bring, we must learn to be patient. The process of self improvement does not and will not happen overnight.
Remember that personal and professional changes take some time to get used to and some degree of adjustment on our part; so we should never seek to push ourselves to adapt immediately, or these efforts will just end up in vain.
Self improvement does not happen with simply thinking that we want to improve. We have to act on this ‘want’ and transform it into a ‘need’. Saying that we want to improve is just the beginning of this challenging process.
The basic self improvement process consists of three simple steps:
1) Deciding that you really want to improve,
2) Acting on it, and
3) Maintaining the goal in mind.
To truly get ahead in life, we have to accept that sacrifices will have to be made. For example, if we choose to join a Stop Drinking support group, we have to exercise maximum discipline to stay away from the ‘enemy’. We should make every effort to avoid situations that put us in a position where choice becomes very difficult and just stay focus by repeating the benefits of the endeavour to ourselves.
We must have a good follow through for the self improvement process to really work. If we only act on it and then change our minds, or fail to stick with it, it would be like we never started to achieve anything, at all. Keeping both our eyes on the goal at all times is key. Self improvement does not stop when something is accomplished, because it is a continuous process.
Who ever said getting ahead in life was easy? Your journey will surely be difficulty, not just based on external factors, but also from yourself. If you truly want to better your life, you must realize that your worst enemy will be yourself, which is, ironically, the most difficult part to conquer. However, if you set your heart and soul into your goal and convince yourself that though the path is rocky there is a great reward waiting for you at the finish line, you will be able to survive and excel.
Life is a challenge. Conquering your inner fears and apprehensions will make your journey much more challenging. However, it will not be so if you know that you can do it. The process of self improvement is challenging, but very rewarding once you surpass the obstacles. You just have to keep a positive and open mind all the time.
Andrew P. Chin is a recognized authority on the subject of Self Improvement. His web site http://www.SelfImprovementsGuide.com provides a wealth of information on everything about Self Improvement.
The Makings Of Great Leaders
It was a tiring day today, packed with activities. It started last night, with my advance class participants. It was pleasant to meet them for the first time at the birth of a new year. It has been two years now since this group has been attending my advance program, and I am happy to see them to have progressed so much in life in terms of happiness, health and wealth. They are much more aware of their thoughts, words and actions.
This morning, I conducted a two-hour in-house workshop entitled “Leadership”, with a group of executives in Bridgestone Armstrong (M) Sdn. Bhd. in Shah Alam which is about 50 km south of Kuala Lumpur. This was my first training session for the year. During the training program, I asked the participants of the qualities of a proper leader. The answers ranged from knowledgeable, disciplined, good time management, intelligent, diplomatic, etc. I smiled and said that these were the common traits in a leader. Then I continued to ask on the special qualities that make a leader great and outstanding, that distinguish the leader from the other leaders. As they gave many more answers which mirrored the answers given earlier i.e, educated, pleasant personality etc, I continued to shake my head that finally they gave up.
Then I shared with them; the qualities that made a leader outstanding were qualities related to the heart of hearts, the spiritual heart. Some of the important qualities are kindness, compassion, genuine interest and of course the most powerful of all qualities, the unconditional love. As I said this, one of the participants asked for an example.
Many a times, leaders stop to check on their subordinates only when there is a problem or when the subordinate has not done his work properly. The truth is, problems usually arise only once in a while. And finally when the subordinate is hauled up with problems, he starts feeling that he is not appreciated and the bosses are just waiting for him to make mistakes and later reprimand him.
Although in front of the boss he may not utter anything, but in his heart the employee would start having resentment towards his superior and the establishment he works for, in general. As this continues, he may not have the motivation to give his best at work anymore, thus reducing the quality of his work; and if this is the outcome of more than one employee at the same time, at the end of the day the quality of the product or the service rendered by the organization will not be up to the mark.
In the above example, even though the leader was doing his job as a leader, at the end of the day it has made an employee bitter, and ultimately caused the company to lose in terms of quality of the service rendered by the employee. If this process goes on throughout the organization, then it is a matter of time before the company closes down. This would be due to the inferior quality of product or services rendered.
Now, let us see how an outstanding leader would handle this. First and foremost, the leader would be the first person to acknowledge in public whenever the subordinate does a good job. The subordinate would receive a pat on the back in the form of genuine gratitude from the leader and further encouragement to perform his best. This would make the subordinate feel good and he would want to further continue perform his best.
At anytime when the subordinate makes a mistake, the leader would genuinely care to find out what caused the disorientation. And he would be gentle in reprimanding the subordinate if at all it was truly the subordinate’s mistake. This would normally be done in private so as not to embarrass the subordinate in front of the rest of the employees. Generally, the subordinate who had always been showered with positive statements in the past, would feel that he should correct his mistakes and prove to his leader that it was only a one off thing, thus he is worthy of the trust placed on him.
I finished off the session saying that the difference between truly great leaders and ordinary leaders lies in the qualities of the spiritual heart; and to this my participants nodded. Then, we all had one practical session to point out what I said; it ran for about twenty minutes. At the end of the session, there were smiles on the faces of the participants as they experienced what I had said earlier.
The Uneducated One is a financial market trader, author and a motivational speaker. He has helped companies and countless individuals achieve their goals and desires. Find out how you can now live a truly happy, healthy and wealthy life at;
http://www.awarenessseries.com/afftool
Find Success Through Persistent Self-Motivation
What is it about a business that can wreck someone? Have you experienced that pain before? It can break you down and make you wonder if there is even a possible way out of it. Have you put your whole heart and trust into something that didn’t work out? I have. I know what that is like and I sympathize with you.
I remember starting businesses with the thoughts of millions of dollars, success, luxuries and enjoyment beyond comprehension. I would stay up all night dreaming about how I was going to be successful with my business. I would do anything to create that success. I would read, study, market, ask questions, whatever it would take and in the end fear set in and hurdles seemed to be too big for me to understand.
I would let the business get the best of me. Sure I had plenty of excuses such as people and circumstances. I know I could blame others, but in the end it always comes down to me. No one can take away my agency. I have to choice of how I will respond to any circumstance. I can let it tear me down if I want or I can learn from it.
I never let it happen again and actually somewhere deep inside feel grateful for that lesson that I was able to learn now rather than later. I know that I have great, cingular capabilities that allows for me to succeed. I believe that exists in you.
Does this story sound familiar? I think it does all to well. I think that it probably doesn’t apply just to business. It applies to everything that you face in the complexities of your lives. It applies my relationships, my faith, my health, everything. The success is not just achieving a goal, but everything that leads up to it.
I want to remind you that every no is one step closer to a yes. Every wrong is one step closer to a right. That is life. The worse thing we could do is not fail, but instead to never try. Failure is a state of mind. I talk to so many people daily that let their own mind beat themselves.
It is like a tragic disease, but what is worse than a physical ailment is that they can go a lifetime without even realizing it. Then the end comes up and you wonder to yourself, “Why didn’t you take that chance?” Honestly what is there to really lose, your pride? Well that is a good thing because there are two kinds of people in the world, those that are humble and those that will be humbled.
I would suggest being a part of the first so that you can be happy. So go out and enjoy your “learning experiences”. Appreciate them and laugh about them because if you do hit rock bottom then all you can go is up. Just make sure that you keep moving.
Courtney helps others to succeed in their search for success. You can find his work at http://courtneytuttle.com/
The 3 Levels of Reality: Perception or Thought, Behavior, & Environment
Are perception or thought, behavior, and environment related? Does good perception or thought improve behavior, improving environment? Does bad perception or thought worsen behavior, worsening environment? Or is there a complete disconnect between these variables?
Perception Affects Behavior
Success, which is something so simple in the end, is made up of thousands of things, we never fully know what.
- Rainer Maria Rilke
Success is simple; it is also complex. It is simple, in that success consists of accomplishing your goal. It is complex, in that there are thousands of things you must do along the way to goal accomplishment. If you view success as simple, you persist confidently. If you view success as complex, you hesitate alarmingly. The former leads to accomplishment, the latter to procrastination. Therefore the trick to getting anything done is to view it as easy rather than difficult. Viewing affects doing; perception affects behavior.
Behavior Affects Environment
Karma basically means that in doing good things, good things will come to you; and in doing bad things, bad things will come to you. Karma generally applies to all human behavior. Karma is the environmental result of your behavior.
Some examples of bad karma are if you disrespect others, others will disrespect you; if you murder others, others will murder you; if you cheat others, others will cheat you; if you steal from others, others will steal from you; if you deceive others, others will deceive you.
Revenge, though not a virtue, is part of human nature. People naturally anger at injustices done to them. In serious criminal acts, the justice system attempts to punish the perpetrator by matching the punishment to the crime. For example, a murderer receives death (execution) or the death of his time (life in prison). Also, a court-ordered fine takes a thief’s property or imprisonment takes his time.
Some examples of good karma are if you respect others, others will respect you; if you help others, others will help you; if you are honest with others, others will be honest with you; if you give to others, others will give to you; if you are loyal to others, others will be loyal to you.
Gratitude is part of human nature. People naturally feel grateful for favors bestowed upon them, and seek to repay the favors. For example, a neighbor would be more apt to give you food and shelter, if you gave the neighbor food and shelter in the past. Also, a coworker would be more apt to give you a loan, if you gave the coworker a loan in the past.
Oftentimes, evil deeds get rewarded and good deeds get punished in the short run; and evil deeds get punished and good deeds get rewarded in the long run. For example, a dishonest bank robber is richer than an honest banker in the short run. But in the long run, the honest banker is richer than the imprisoned bank robber. Indeed, positive behavior eventually leads to positive environment; negative behavior eventually leads to negative environment.
Thought Affects Behavior, Affecting Environment
Nature gave men two ends - one to sit on, and one to think with. Ever since then man’s success or failure has been dependent on the one he used most.
- George R. Kirkpatrick
Action equals success; inaction equals failure. Action or inaction begins in thought, working its way to behavior, ending in environmental success or failure. Actively thinking about accomplishing your goal generates ideas on this. You may make many wrong turns on the road to your goal; but if you keep driving, you will get there. Oftentimes, trial and error teach best, especially if there is no road map to guide you. In contrast, inactive thinking generates nothing. You are parked, going nowhere. Trial and error play no role, since you never begin driving.
Sitting on your rear brings failure near; thinking with your brain brings successful gain.
Behavior & Environment Affect Thought
According to physics, the interaction of mass and velocity produces kinetic energy. Changing mass or velocity changes kinetic energy. Changing Mass: A car hitting you at 50 miles/hour will do more physical damage to you than a housefly at the same speed, because the former has more kinetic energy than the latter. Changing Velocity: A car hitting you at 50 miles/hour will do more physical damage to you than the same car at 5 miles/hour, because the former has more kinetic energy than the latter.
Likewise, the interaction of environment and behavior produces thought energy. Changing your environment or behavior changes your thought energy. Changing Environment: Living in a slum will thoughtfully depress you more than living in luxury. Changing Behavior: Resting away aimlessly will thoughtfully depress you more than striving toward a goal.
Hence, the interaction of luxury and goal striving produces heightened thought energy.
In summarizing, we see that perception or thought affects behavior, affecting environment - and that behavior and environment affect thought. All of these variables make up a universal reality; each of these variables makes up a particular reality.
The Guaranteed Cure for Failure, an electronic publication, costs just $19.95 and is available through http://www.theguaranteedcure.com
The Guaranteed Cure Company, founded by Al A. Gammate, specializes in cures that cure.
Part by Part, Increase Your Force by Doing Your Best
According to the Old Testament, God created heaven and earth in seven days. Day one, God created light. Day two, He created sky. Day three, He created land, ocean, and vegetation. Day four, He created sun, moon, and stars. Day five, He created fish, birds, and whales. Day six, He created cattle, reptiles, wild animals, bugs, and humans. Day seven, He rested (Genesis 1:1-2:3). Whether you believe this story to be fact or fiction, it may reveal the secret of goal accomplishment. In this story, God’s goal was to create heaven and earth. But instead of hastily creating heaven and earth all at once, He deliberately created them one part at a time. With each goal part, God did His best, concentrating His force. God didn’t have to goal-accomplish this way, but is this way best for us mortals? Is God trying to tell us something?
Part by Part
Always aim for achievement, and forget about success.
- Helen Hayes
Success consists of achievements, much like a forest consists of trees. In order to cut a forest down, you must do it one tree at a time; in order to attain success, you must do it one achievement at a time. Tiny parts make up a huge whole.
A huge goal is easily completed, if broken down into tiny tasks - completed one at a time. However, the same goal is difficultly completed, if unbroken and whole - completed all at once. A huge war is won by winning tiny battles - one at a time. However, the same war is lost by attempting to win the war - all at once.
Hence, there are two ways of pursuing a huge goal - wholly and partly. Wholly pursuing the huge goal overwhelms you, influencing you to quit. Partly pursuing the huge goal underwhelms you, influencing you to continue. Being underwhelmed, you are cool, confident, and ready for more.
Part by part, you are smart. One at a time, you win in time.
Force
According to physics, Force = Mass x Acceleration. Not only does this equation explain the relationship between matter and force, it also explains the relationship between product and force. Force = Mass x Acceleration teaches us that accelerating or enlarging an object increases its force. Likewise, it teaches us that accelerating or enlarging a product increases its force.
Promotion Force = Product Number x Production Acceleration.
Promotion Force: It is the extent that a product promotes itself, attracting customers to buy. The greater the promotion, the greater the customers’ attraction, the greater the sales, the greater the force.
Product Number: It is the number of products produced. The greater the number, the greater the availability, the greater the promotion. For example, if only one electromagnetic automobile was produced, chances are most people would not know about it. However, if one billion electromagnetic automobiles were produced, chances are most people would know about it.
Production Acceleration: It is the increased speed of product production. The more speed increases, the more products are produced, the more products are available, the more products are promoted. For example, the fast-food restaurant McDonald’s produces hamburgers faster than most hamburger restaurants. Almost everyone knows about McDonald’s. Almost everyone ate at McDonald’s.
Indeed, Promotion Force = Product Number x Production Acceleration.
Common Sense: In addition to using the above equation, you should ensure that your product is better and cheaper than competing products. Though Production Acceleration is important, it is better to produce quality products deliberately than shoddy products hastily. So go fast, but not too fast.
Do Your Best
Make yourself indispensable and you’ll be moved up. Act as if you’re indispensable and you’ll be moved out.
- Anon.
The Cub Scouts’ motto, “Do your best,” is the key to making yourself indispensable. Most people follow the path of least resistance by doing the minimum. If you follow the path of most resistance by doing the maximum, you will be noticed quickly. Being noticed, you make friends and enemies. Your friends attempt to further your goals; your enemies attempt to hinder your goals. If you continue doing your best, you will achieve your goals, become indispensable, and move up.
However, in moving up, there is a dark side. The dark side is after becoming indispensable, you act indispensable. In acting indispensable, you lose self-restraint and self-control. Intoxicated by success, you begin arrogantly talking too much and slothfully working too little. Then a competitor hungrier than you takes your place, ousting you out.
Therefore you should do your best, talking little, working consistently.
In summarizing this article, the initially discussed Old Testament story seems to be telling us to (1) Break large goals into smaller sub-goals, (2) Do our best, and (3) Focus this way to increase our force. Contrastively, we are to avoid (1) Pursuing large goals all at once, (2) Doing our minimum, and (3) Dispersing this way, decreasing our force.
The Guaranteed Cure for Failure, an electronic publication, costs just $19.95 and is available through http://www.theguaranteedcure.com
The Guaranteed Cure Company, founded by Al A. Gammate, specializes in cures that cure.
Innoculate Yourslelf Against Dream Snatchers
Anyone who has started a business or is thinking of starting a business knows how this feels: You are excited about a new opportunity. You are looking ahead to greater prosperity and financial freedom. You’ve done your research and know the business will get you closer to your goals.
AND THEN … someone, usually someone you respect or love, dumps a huge bucket of cold water over your head and you are left shivering.
More often than not, you also give up on the dream, and the idea that made you so energized in the first place.
WHY?
Why do we let others control our destiny?
Why do others have such control over us?
Don’t let them destroy your dream. Start by asking yourself some very simple questions: Are these people already independently wealthy? Have they gotten out of the rat race and are enjoying the type of life you aspire to have? Are they business owners? Have they taken any steps towards financial freedom?
Chances are the answers to these questions are No … and I am willing to bet they are. stop listening to them. You know what they say about free advise (It’s very expensive!) So, why are you listening. Tune them out.
If the people around you aren’t as excited by what you are trying to accomplish as you are, maybe they aren’t the right influences. That’s not to say that everyone around you should jump on the bandwagon and join you in business, but they should be supportive and encourage you to make yourself more successful.
My approach to negativity is simple. Those people who consistently pull me down, are those with whom I don’t share ideas I am excited about. Those people who undermine my efforts to improve my financial situation, are ones I limit exposure to.
I foster and spend time on the relationships and people with vision. Those who support my efforts and encourage me to grow and challenge myself. These are the people we want to spend time with, not those “negative nellies” who can’t see anything positive in life.
You can’t win the game when you’re sitting on the bench. And, you can’t win when people around you consistently tell you you’re not a good player.
How did professionals get good … practice. In business, it means getting into the game and taking a few swings. Soon enough you’ll hit one out of the park.
Jennifer Lavoie is a home-based business coach. Using Robert Kiyosaki’s teaching, she helping others to build passive income businesses and retire early and free. Visit my blog at www.retirefreenow.blogspot.com or visit http://www.retirefree.ws
An Answer To A Thousand Prayers!
Hope, at best is a fragile thing, but as years pass with no evidence that hope is being fulfilled, it slowly disappears. But as long as there is life, there is hope!
When the call came, it was more than a surprise; more like the heavens had opened and a voice from the dead was speaking; a voice I had never heard before. She was just a baby when I last saw her almost 40 years ago. There was a time during the latter years when I actually convinced myself that she was dead. Now after decades of wondering what had happened to her, my daughter was talking to me.
Her mother and I had been blessed with her when we both were merely kids ourselves, without the good sense to know that life is not always the fairy tale we dreamed it would be. That dream came to an end just a few short years later when my wife and I went our separate ways. They moved to another state a short time later and started a new life as a new family, with a new name and with a new husband and father. That was the last time I saw my daughter until she called that night a few years ago.
“You’re the answer to a thousand prayers!” I exclaimed after I composed myself enough to speak. One month earlier I had reconciled myself to the fact that she was gone forever and that it was time to put the issue to rest. I had one picture of her when she was eleven months old, my constant reminder of the child I had lost. That day, I slipped it into an envelope and stuffed it into the trash can.
Television today generally depicts the father as being a dunce without any noticeable intelligence and with little feelings for anything but himself. In real life it doesn’t always work that way. At least it didn’t for me. Many times I had wished that it did.
The first twenty years were the roughest. Every time my children from a later marriage would reach some milestone in their lives; little league, girl scouts, band, etc., I would wonder how my other daughter was faring in the same situations. Certainly I was proud of my kids for their achievements I, but a little sad at the same time.
There’s no good excuse for allowing someone else to adopt your child when you’re capable of rearing that child yourself. In later years I tried to convince myself that I was young and scared, more boy than man at that time. I remember the brow beating and sage advice from people I thought at the time were friends. Finally it seemed that I would be making some noble and mature gesture by agreeing to the adoption. As I see it now, it wasn’t noble or mature; just cowardly.
Time does not heal all wounds without help from the wounded. While it marches on, the pain of loss always seems to be bringing up the rear. After the initial shock of a divorce and the remarriage of her mother a short time later, I found that I still had a life to live. Years swiftly passed with my new family taking up most of my time and thoughts, but still in idle moments, there would be the vision of my daughter and what she might look like at that moment.
Her mother had told me those many years ago that they were moving to Texas. Not knowing exactly where they moved, whenever I visited that state on business, I would look in the telephone books and hope to find some sign of their presence. That never happened. I’m not sure what I would have done if I had found them.
Finally after I had finally given up any thoughts of finding her, she found me! She was told about me in her teens. Twenty years later, she became determined to find me. Her grandmother gave her enough information about my family and where I lived to give her search a chance to succeed. But still, it took her five years to get up the courage to dial the number she had found. She wasn’t sure how she would be received. Thankfully, she had enough guts to put aside her fears and call.
After that evening’s call, I’ve spent the last seven years running up tremendous telephone bills. I think we talked almost every night for the next six months, getting to know each other again! I have two beautiful grand daughters I didn’t know I had. I’m sure both of them will grow up to be Miss Texas someday.
My daughter and I have a relationship that is stronger than I could ever have imagined. Maybe it’s because we’re both mature now and we both know what we’ve missed not knowing each other. She thinks I’m a pretty cool guy. She gets her intelligence and good looks from my side of the family!
I have to believe that God had a hand in getting us together again. I don’t know why she appeared shortly after I gave up and tried to push her from my mind. Maybe it’s his way of showing us to never give up on anything important. Knowing her and seeing the bright, determined woman she has become, lets me know that God was keeping an eye out for both of us all the time.
I know my daughter well enough now to know that there’s no quit in her. Maybe that’s the way it should be for us all!
Bob Alexander is well experienced in outdoor cooking, fishing and leisure living. Bob is also the author and owner of this article. Visit his sites at:
http://www.bluemarlinbob.com
http://www.redfishbob.com
