Getting the start and focus you need.

I hope you all had a great and safe New years Eve.
I had a great time at the Mount beach. 1000's of people and the energy of the place was amazing. I love crowds of people and the atmosphere and the energy that they give you.
I was thinking about what they said last night and it was mentioned the grim word...resolutions.
I can't stand them and don't believe in them as 99% of them fail. Its not enough and I personally don't set or have any resolutions. For those of you who are regular readers will know goals are important....therefore how can we help you maintain focus and energy.
Hope you have a great long weekend.

Do you find yourself butting your head against the wall of success? Are you caught up
in a revolving door going around and around? When you look at where you are in life, do you think you should be further ahead?

Not long ago, I reviewed my goals. If you know me, you might realize that I am a
dreamer. I have BIG dreams. But there are days when I, too, am frustrated. I feel like I am spinning my wheels of success in one place.

On the outside, many people think I have it all together. They think I am so successful and I have arrived. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy with the success I have had so far in my life. I am living my dream every day. I am blessed! I wake up and face everyday with excitement and passion.

I am doing something I truly love. Life is wonderful compared to what it was. I am successfully pressing on to greater things. But I have had my share of frustration along the way.

Well, unlike many who are too busy trying to make a living instead of designing a life, I took the time to examine what I might be doing wrong. And my findings are really astonishing. I discovered that my doings are not in alignment with my being. And that may be your problem, too. Let me explain.

Imagine for a moment that your mind is a garden. It is impossible to grow tomatoes from a watermelon seed. But it seems as though that is exactly what we are trying to do when it comes to aligning the seeds in our minds versus the harvest we want as a result.

Seeds of doubt and fear planted in our minds can reap their own sort of crop. If you wake up doubting whether you will make it or not, it doesn’t matter how much you have done for the day, you will not make much progress. You must believe!

That’s why you and I can’t afford to let others dump their negative opinions in our heads and take them as the gospel truth. It’s dangerous to our success! Most people will not utter one sentence without injecting some kind of fear or doubt in us. And keep in mind that the more influence others have on you, the more damage you allow them to do.

One seed of fear is like a weed. Once allowed to enter our minds, it can grow wild and suffocate the good in you. I am sure you have heard that success is an inside job. We must first create it in our minds and intensely believe it is ours before it can become a reality. God never lets us down. We let ourselves down. Does that make sense to you?

Until we meet again, take a good look at your own personal garden (your mind), and notice all of the weeds that may have overtaken it. Do you know how those weeds got there? Five years from now, if you are not careful, you may become what the people around you believe instead of what you wish for yourself. Be sure to always surround yourself with positive and successful people..

I wish you incredible success in 2011!

2011..what will you do?

For those of you who know me well know that I spend a lot of time reflecting on where I have been and what I can to to make it better.

Therefore for the New year I thought I would share an idea of what you could do to reflect on 10 and look ahead to 11.

Have fun and make it the best ever.

Here's to the New Year
May it be a great one.

Try This End of Year Exercise...


As we approach the New Year, it is a valuable practice to set aside some personal time to look back on 2010 and assess where we have been, and to look ahead at 2011 and lay out where we are going. I have created the following exercises to help you walk through this reflective process, and hope you make the commitment to yourself to complete it. Enjoy!

2010 Assessment
What are your disappointments, failures, and breakdowns?

Let's acknowledge what these items are. All failures are feedback. This is an opportunity to learn from them and let them go, or carry them forward and make a new promise or commitment. Reverend Michael Beckwith offers three strategies for change to keep in mind:

* Accept what is
* Harvest the good
* Forgive all the rest

What are your successes, wins, and accomplishments?

This is a chance to celebrate and own who you have become this year. Where did you step into your power and greatness? Please don't skimp on these. The little stuff counts. No modesty allowed. Let's validate all your accomplishments. You might want to look through your organizer and any of your files to help remind you. Remember to looks at your accomplishments in all the aspects of your life, such as:

* Health
* Relationships
* Finances
* Career/Creative expression
* Spirituality

What have you learned about yourself and your life? What insights have you gained?

True insights have the transformational capability of shifting us into a new, more alive place. As we are blessed with insights, it is important to nurture and deepen these new understandings. Inventory your learnings in the last year in the following categories:

* Growth in understanding
* New perspectives
* Letting go
* Shifts in beliefs

What are you grateful for?

This list might include some of the above, as well as things you truly appreciate about the people, the things, and the circumstances in your life last year. And don’t forget to include the things you appreciate about yourself. There is a basic principle: whatever you appreciate and give thanks for will increase in your life.

How will you celebrate and honor 2010?

This is an opportunity to do something that honors all you have done, been through, and grown this past year. What’s something special that you would like to do for yourself? What would be a powerful way to celebrate? What would be fun? Celebrating is a way to bring completion, and there are countless ways to do it. The key is to choose something, plan it, and do it.


2011 New Year Creation

This is your vision or dream for 2011. Picture yourself one year from today, one year into the future, having had an incredible year. Think about what kinds of things might have happened during the past year, and what it was like for you. Now write a short story about who you were and what you accomplished in 2011, as if you were writing it at the end of 2011.

Some things you might include:

* What was the year like for you?

* What did you feel energy and excitement around?

* What did you accomplish? What did you get? What did you do? Who were you being?

* Who was in your life and who was not?

* Where are you financially?

* Where are you spiritually?

* What has changed in your physical environment?

* What were the big fun things you did?

* What is the condition of your career?

* How is your love life?

* What’s one outrageous or wacky element to your vision?

* What did you let go of?

* What did you take less seriously?

* What old rules or limiting beliefs did you eliminate?

Include anything else you might think of that stands out for the year. When finished, print a copy, seal it in an envelope, and file it somewhere in your home or office for you to read in one year. Mark down on your calendar one year from today where you have filed this envelope, so you can find it and read it on that day. And have fun with this.

As always, I’m here to support you in your journey, and would enjoy knowing how you’re doing and get any feedback you may have


Fraser

New Year= New Attitude?

Read this and thought it was worth sharing...

Take Control of your Attitude by Jim Rohn

We all have tremendous potential. Each of us has the ability to put our unique human potential into action and to acquire a desired result. But the one thing that determines the level of our potential, produces the intensity of our activity and predicts the quality of the result we receive is our attitude.

Attitude determines how much of the future we are allowed to see. It decides the size of our dreams and infl uences our determination when we are faced with new challenges. No other person on earth has dominion over our attitude. People can affect our attitude by teaching us poor thinking habits or unintentionally misinforming us, or providing us with negative sources of infl uence, but no one can control our attitude unless we voluntarily surrender that control.

No one else “makes us angry.” We make ourselves angry when we surrender control of our attitude. What someone else may have done is irrelevant. We choose; not they. They merely put our attitude to a test. If we select a volatile attitude by becoming hostile, angry, jealous or suspicious, then we have failed the test. If we condemn ourselves by believing that we are unworthy, then again, we have failed the test.

If we care at all about ourselves, then we must accept full responsibility for our own feelings. We must learn to guard against those feelings that have the capacity to lead our attitude down the wrong path, and to strengthen those feelings that can lead us confi dently into a better future.

If we want to receive the rewards the future holds in trust for us, then we must exercise the most important choice given to us as members of the human race by maintaining total dominion over our attitude. Our attitude is an asset, a treasure of great value that must be protected accordingly.

When you have the right attitude, you can do the remarkable.

When you recognize your gifts, you can change anything for yourself that you wish to 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!

Having the right attitude is an essential prerequisite for success and happiness. The right attitude is one of the fundamentals of the good life. That is why we must constantly examine our feelings about our role in the world and about our possibilities for achieving our dreams.

It is our emotional nature that governs most of our daily conduct in our personal and business world. It is the emotional aspect of our experiences that determines our behavior. How we feel about life’s events is a powerful force that can either freeze us in our tracks or inspire us to take immediate action on any given day. With the right attitude, human beings can move mountains. With the wrong attitude, they can be crushed by the smallest grain of sand.

Have a great new Year and aspire to greatness.....

2011 Goals

At this time of the year, many people are starting to think about 2011 and what they may like to achieve. Therefore it is timely to share some thoughts on goal setting.



There has never been a better time in all of human history to be alive than today. There are more opportunities for you to accomplish more things, in more different fields, engaging in more different activities, than have ever existed before.
This can be relationships, career, sporting, financial etc

Resolve today to make the coming year the very best year of your life. Resolve today to draw a line under your past and to focus very clearly on your future. Resolve today that you are going to set goals, make plans, take actions and achieve more in the coming year than perhaps you have ever accomplished in any one single year before.

One of the great rules for success is this: "It doesn't matter where you're coming from; all that really matters is where you're going!"

No matter what you have done or accomplished in the past, "that was then and this is now."

The very best days, weeks, months and years of your life lie ahead. The most exciting accomplishments and the greatest achievements are still to come. As Shakespeare said, "The past is merely a prelude."

As it happens, everyone has goals. But some people seem to accomplish their goals far more systematically and with greater assurance than others. Why is this? The answer is simple. People who accomplish goals at a higher rate than the average are people who use a systematic, proven method of goal setting and goal attainment.

Perhaps the two most important qualities of success are focus and concentration. Focus means knowing exactly what it is you want and concentration means having the discipline to concentrate single-mindedly on one thing, the most important thing, until it is complete. (Napoleon Hill calls this Chief Aim)

If you have these qualities, and both of these qualities are learned through practice, you can accomplish virtually anything. There are no limits on your future if you can focus and concentrate every hour of every single day.

The starting point of setting goals for the coming year is for you to project forward and think back. Practice what we call "Back from the Future" thinking. Project forward to the end of the next twelve months and ask yourself, "If everything happens perfectly, what will it look like?"

The one quality of men and women who become leaders in their own lives and societies, throughout all of history is the quality of vision. They have the ability to visualize. They can see the future well in advance of it becoming a reality. They can then see the steps that they will need to take to get from where they are to where they want to go.

So if your next twelve months were ideal, in every respect, what would happen or, what would have happened, at the end of that twelve month period?
You need to set goals that are multi-dimensional. You need to set goals for every part of your life so that you function like a well-oiled machine, like a balanced wheel that goes around smoothly in every respect. You need goals for your health, for your career, for your finances, for your relationships, for your personal and professional development, for your community and for your spiritual growth. Nothing happens by accident. Everything happens for a reason. And you are the "primary creative force" in your own life. You are the reason. Things are happening in your life because you make them happen, not because you sit around and wait for them to happen.

Here is the basic seven-step model of goal setting. You can use this like breathing in and breathing out on a regular basis to accelerate your attainment of any goal you can imagine for yourself.

Step number one is for you to decide exactly what you want. This immediately moves you into a separate category of people because most people have no idea of what they really want. Clarity is the most important single quality of goal-setting and perhaps the most important single quality of success. Decide exactly what you want in each area of your life. Instead of fuzzy goals like more money, better health and happiness, be specific about exactly how much more money you want to earn in a specific period of time and combine that with exactly what level of health and fitness you desire.

Most people are unconsciously preoccupied with the fear of failure. It is the greatest single obstacle to success in adult life. And the fear of failure can work on you unconsciously by blocking you from setting clear specific goals. Why? Well, if you don't set clear, specific goals, then you can't fail to achieve them. So your subconscious mind is actually protecting you by helping you to avoid failure.

You must resist and overcome this tendency by having the courage to be bold and specific about exactly what you want. This is step number one.

Step number two is for you to write it down. Only three percent of people, or adults anywhere for that matter, have written goals. Everyone else that thinks about a written goal and plans to write them down, someday. But they never get around to it. Most people spend more time making a list of groceries before they go shopping or planning a vacation than they do in planning their lives. But again, this is not for you. Success begins with a pad of paper, a pen and a few minutes of your time. One of the most important keys to success is to "think on paper."

All successful people "think on paper." And here are two important points. If you cannot write it down clearly and specifically on a piece of paper, then it means that you are not really clear about it yourself. Perhaps you don't even want it. What is worse, it may be that you are afraid that you may not attain it. Nonetheless, a goal that is written down is merely a fantasy or a wish. A goal that is clearly written and described on a piece of paper takes on a power of its own, it is now something concrete that you can touch and feel and work with.

The second principle of writing goals down is that something miraculous happens between the head and the hand. When you actually write a goal down, it is as if you are programming it into your subconscious mind and activating a whole series of mental powers that will enable you to accomplish more than you ever dreamed of. By writing it down you intensify your desire for the goal and you increase your belief that the goal is possible. You begin to expect to achieve the goal and you start to attract people and circumstances into your life that are consistent with the attainment of the goal. Writing your goal down is one of the most amazing of all goal-setting skills and it is a key to your success.

The third step is for you to set a deadline. If it is a large goal, set a series of sub-deadlines. A deadline acts as a "forcing system" on your subconscious mind and begins to move you toward your goal rapidly while it moves your goal toward you.

Sometimes people ask me, "What if I set a goal and I don't achieve it by the deadline?" The answer is simple. Set another deadline. Remember, a deadline is a guess-timate of when you will achieve it. Sometimes you will achieve your goal well in advance of your deadline. Sometimes goals will take much longer than you expect. But you must have a target time before you set off.

It is like making a reservation at a restaurant. You may be five minutes early or five minutes late, but you always have a specific time for which your dinner is reserved.
The fourth step is for you to make a list of everything you could possibly think of that you will have to do to achieve your goal. The more comprehensive your list, the more motivated you will become, the more intense will be your desire and the more you will believe it possible.

One of the things that hold people back is even if they get to the point of a written goal; they do not take the time to lay out a list of all the little things they will have to do to get there. And with additional experience, you will add new items to your list until it finally becomes complete.

The fifth step of goal setting is for you to take your list and organize it into a plan. A plan is really quite simple. It is a list organized by priority and importance. You decide what you will do first and what you will do later. You decide what is more important and what is less important. And most of all, you decide upon the one thing that is more important than anything else that you can do immediately to begin moving more rapidly towards your goal.

Step number six is for you to "take action!" This is the big killer for most people. They are procrastinators. They have great ideas combined with great hopes and dreams. They may even get to the point of writing down their goals. But when it comes to taking action, they always have a reason or excuse to procrastinate to put it off until a later time. However, as the Bible says, "Faith without deeds is dead."

It is when you launch toward your goal that you begin to feel the desire and power that goes along with goal setting. And once you have launched toward your goal, it is much easier for you to continue moving in that direction.

Step number seven is for you to do something every day to move you toward your major goal. Never let a day go by without you engaging in some action that helps you move another step in the direction of what you really, really want in life.

Remember, you can't hit a target that you can't see. And if you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there. The simple seven step act of deciding exactly what you want, writing it down, setting a deadline, making a list, organizing the list into a plan, taking action on the most important item on your list and then doing something every day towards your goal will change your life and your future in ways that you cannot even dream of today.

Remember to leave a comment on what you are attaining in 2011.

What are you thinking?

I have been thinking and identifying goals for 2011 and was reminded on the importance of what we think about.

First of all, you must realize that we create our own reality! This has been said by every great spiritual leader, metaphysician, leading-edge scientist, and non-physical entity. Also, we must realize that nobody can do it for us, only you and I create our reality! This is an essential metaphysical principle.

Once we understand this, the first thing we'll want to know is how we can consciously create a "better" reality for ourself. The answer is through the law of attraction. The Law of attraction is the Universal Law through which we create our reality. It is the same for everyone, it doesn't matter what race we are or what our current financial status is. If an average rich person and an average poor person both jump off a building, they will both hit the ground. This is the law of gravity. The law of attraction works the same way.

I've come to understand the Law of Attraction as thoughts are very powerful things, and every thought attracts to you that thing which you are thinking about. It doesn't matter whether you consciously want that thing or not. Another way to put this is you become what you think about, or thoughts become reality. If this is your first time hearing this, it may come as a shock. But the law of attraction is evident everywhere. For example, the people who speak most about abundance of money are usually wealthy, the people who speak most of health and wellness are usually healthy.

The law of attraction only attracts things, it does not repel what you do not want. So if you are constantly thinking about what you do not want, you are still attracting that. So if you are focusing on preventing illness, you are actually attracting illness. Instead focus on health and wellness, since this is what you really want.

Now you may be thinking why don't thoughts manifest instantly. This is actually a very good thing, it is a buffering effect. You would not want to be in a reality where your thoughts manifest instantly. If you were watching a scary movie then you would instantly manifest that thing into your life. This is why the Law of Attraction only attracts what you focus on over a period of time.

You may also be thinking that it is going to be very hard to monitor and control all your thoughts. The beautiful thing is that you do not have to, because we are born with a wonderful guidance system called emotions. Your emotions are created by your thoughts and beliefs (we will get into these a little later). There are only really two types of emotions: good ones and bad ones. We give these all sorts of names, but they can be classified as either good or bad. If you are experiencing a good emotion then you are attracting that which is in line with what you want. If you are experiencing bad emotions, then you are attracting that which you do not want. So basically, to create the life of your dreams all you must do is feel good, and you will attract the perfect life for you!

To immediately put this law to work for you:

# Identifly exactly what you want (be clear about it)

# Expect Universe/God/Spirit to answer

# The Universe always knows the best way to your goal. Therefore it is best if you do not create the strategy to achieve your goal, instead let the Universe bring it to you

# Be grateful, as if you have already recieved what you wanted

# Allow yourself to have what it is you want, by feeling that you have it (even if you don't!)

Remember, if you follow these steps correctly, the Universe/God/Spirit must bring that which you wanted into your life, it is LAW!

Now you can begin to consciously create your reality and make sure that you wish and think great things into existence for 2011.

Till next time.

Fraser

Thanks

Its just been Christmas day and I know many people that I have spoken to throughout the day have not had a day they wanted. I have been fortunate and have had a great day.

No matter how much do, eat, see, give and or do our level of happiness and gratitude is up to me.

LIVE WITH AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

Imagine for a moment one of those nights when you just can't fall asleep and you have to get up early the next morning for a very important meeting of which you are the keynote speaker. Your alarm clock goes off early in the morning waking you from what little sleep you had. You stumble out of bed, have a quick shower, grab a coffee and some toast, and off you go to fight the traffic on the way to work.

Does that sound like the start of a terrible day? Most would answer 'yes'. Few people however, would answer, 'no'. These are the people, who are in my opinion blessed with a gift. A gift that determines how they view their life. These people live with 'an attitude of gratitude'. For them, the situation described could be worse. Much worse. For example, think of the man who doesn't have a bed, let alone a roof to over his head. When he is awoken from what little sleep he is able to get, it is by the rain falling on his cold body. He too stumbles to his feet and begins his journey to work in his bare feet. His work is in the field of survival. He searches though garbage cans for scraps of half-rotten food to eat and odd bits of clothes to keep him warm.

The purpose of this example is to illustrate that we all have so much to be grateful for. Even in times when it seems that nothing could be worse, there is always a reason to be grateful. And when you feel a sense of gratitude, you feel a sense of happiness and content. My challenge to you today is to learn to look for the good in every situation and live with 'an attitude of gratitude'.

I assure you, if you were the fellow searching for food in garbage cans you too could find things to be grateful for. You just have to look hard enough and 'open your eyes' to what is around you. You have to focus on what's good in your life, not what's bad.

"I once was distraught because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet." - Unknown

Life works in mysterious ways. Time and time again there have been stories of people who are in a dire strait yet they are found helping others who are experiencing greater turmoil. This is because once you have helped someone in greater need than yourself, you always feel better. You feel better because you have helped another human being, and this forces you to change your mindset from focusing on your problems to focusing on their solutions.

Always focus on the solution, not the problem and live with an attitude of gratitude! Mother Teresa was a primary example of this phenomenon. Her entire life revolved around helping others in need. As a result she experienced a great deal of love and self-satisfaction in her life.

I challenge you now to take a moment to think of five things in your life that you are grateful for today. For example, your friends, your family, your job, your sense of smell, touch, sight, and sound. The list can go on and on. Imagine what your life would be like without these things. Write them down on a piece of paper and really think about the things you are grateful for. You will be amazed at how great you will feel!

Till next time

What words are you using?

What words am I using? This is a great article I came across by Zig Ziglar. I hope you enjoy.

Positive Words Create Positive Actions

By Zig Ziglar

In our society today we tend to accentuate the negatives instead of the positives. One example is the “alarm clock” we use to wake ourselves up in the morning. Realistically, when we hear an alarm it generates fear or anxiety. When somebody robs a bank, an alarm is sounded; when there’s a fire, someone sounds an alarm. Perhaps waking up to an alarm helps explain the profusion of negative words we use. If you rethink the issue of your clock you will realize that it is really giving you an opportunity. When you hear it ring, you have the opportunity to get up and go. A whole day full of possibilities is available to you once you hear your “opportunity clock.” If you can’t hear it ring, that might mean you’ve gotten up and gone! That could be bad.

Some people refer to the electrical appliances on street corners as “stop lights,” “red lights,” or “traffic lights.” Factually speaking, they are “go lights.” They were put there to make traffic “go” more quickly, safely and smoothly.

Many people refer to the first slice on a loaf of bread as the “end,” when in reality every loaf of bread I’ve ever seen has two beginnings. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that is not necessarily earth-shattering, but I challenge you to use the terms “opportunity clock” when you relate your wake-up procedure and “beginning” when you describe the first slice of bread in a loaf. And the next time someone asks you for directions, send them down to the first “go” light. I assure you, a smile will cross your face and that’s the first step in developing the right mental attitude, which is prerequisite for optimum performance. Think about it, and I’ll SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

Christmas Blessings

For me Christmas carried lots of bad memories, therefore it would be a time that I did not enjoy and would find things to complain about. However I have learnt that I must appreciate all things.

Here is a story that makes my trivial things seem like nothing:

A little thing can be enormously significant. Retired Brigadier General Robinson Risner was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for more than seven years. He was in solitary confinement for five of those years. He suffered from cold, heat, malnutrition, and lack of fresh air.

He was totally deprived of any human comfort. He jogged in his cell by the hour. When he became so frustrated he had to scream, he stuffed his underwear into his mouth to muffle the scream. He would not give his captors the satisfaction of knowing his frustration.

One day, in the depths of despair, General Risner lay down on the floor and looked all around his small cell. He put his eye next to the cinder blocks, hoping that there would be a crack in one of them. Fortunately, there was a minute opening and he saw a single leaf. Later he stated that seeing that evidence of life outside was a tremendously uplifting and life-changing event.

When I heard this story, most of my complaints in life suddenly fell into context, and I resolved to be more appreciative of the many blessings I had instead of complaining about what I did not have.

Fact: A quiet glance around you will reveal many blessings that you have already received and will continue to receive. Expressing appreciation for these blessings is a winning approach to life.

Have a great Christmas everyone.

Quick quick (Time is an illusion)

With the last day for shopping just about on us I have been reminded of time and how relative it is...

One of the most powerful illusions we confront as spiritual beings who are experiencing a temporary journey in the physical world is the illusion of time.

The concept that time and space are not real is not a new one for most students of spirituality, but the way in which it is explained in the channeled spiritual teachings that follow should help to shed new light on it.

The Illusion of Time

Time, as it is perceived in the human consciousness, is a false concept - another illusion that you have allowed to disrupt the calm of your consciousness.

Time is Irrelevant

Patience is a virtue, it has been said. This is very true. In fact, it is a necessity if you are to maintain yourself in the flow of your good. Impatience, which is a very common trait of human consciousness, is directly tied to the illusion of time, which also becomes so overwhelmingly important to those absorbed by the physical environment.

Time has no importance whatsoever. You are living in eternity. Your being is part of mine, and we have always been and will always be. The scope of eternity is impossible for you to understand, for you try to measure it in time. Time implies a beginning and an end, but these do not exist.

Just as you heard a scientist trying to describe the dimensions of the universe in terms of light years (which, again, is a human point of reference based on time) and found it completely unfathomable, the concept of eternity is the same. The universe and eternity are one and the same. They are without boundaries - without limits.

As you progress in consciousness, these terms will begin to be easier to understand. But at the moment, they are beyond your comprehension. If you can accept my word that the concept of time is meaningless (even if you cannot yet fully comprehend it), then it will be easier for you to understand the folly of the concept of impatience.

Impatience is a Sign that the Human Mind is Trying to Control

Impatience implies that it is important that a certain thing come to pass by a specific time - or before it is too late. "If I don't get my check by Tuesday, I'll never be able to get the car fixed. (Even the word "never" in this illustration is a reference to time.) If, however, you can accept time as an irrelevant factor in your existence, you will not allow the quality of impatience to enter your consciousness.

Impatience implies that you know and understand, better than I do what the right "timing" of the arrival of your good should be. Think back to the belief that there is only one power and one presence in the universe - God, the good, omnipotent. If you believe this, can you doubt that your good will come to you at the most appropriate time?

Patience, Peace, and Faith

Patience, then, is faith in action. It rejects the concept of time and the artificial "deadlines" that accompany it. It totally accepts the belief that one's good is his or her entitlement, and that it will arrive in life at the moment that is most appropriate.

Patience and peace also go hand in hand and reinforce each other. If you draw on the peace that is already within you, patience will be a natural byproduct. The byproducts of impatience are frustration and irritability, but peace will always counteract them.

This is an important lesson for you at this point in your life. Be at peace and be patient. It is my good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Don't be in a hurry. Do not allow the pressures of the physical world to affect you. Remember that time is a false concept of the physical world and has no bearing whatsoever on your reality. To be rushed or in a hurry means that you are reacting to pressures relating to time, and this is not only unnecessary, but counterproductive, as well.

Disruptions Caused by Impatience

Of course, you are living in the physical world, and your daily routine must be dictated to a certain extent by time constraints. There will be times when you are late and feel a need to rush. While this type of hurry is different from the emotion that I want to discuss with you, even it can be detrimental to you.

You are very familiar with the feelings that can overcome you when you feel rushed to get somewhere or do something by a certain time. The stress and pressure of the situation prevent your body from functioning peacefully, and your emotions are also affected, making it much more difficult to maintain your attunement with me and the feelings of joy and peace and love that are so essential to it.

The emotional turmoil causes a cloud of static to form around you, and your receptivity is decreased. So being in a hurry is disruptive to your daily existence.

Being in a hurry to achieve the goals you have set for yourself is also a disruptive factor. Rest assured that your good is, in fact, assured. Live with the complete certainty that it will come to you in the physical world in the form and in the manner and at the time that is perfect for the fulfillment of the divine design for your life. In your human consciousness, you are not able to understand the many factors that are part of the process.

Yours is a test of faith. Accept your unity with the source of all goodness, and you have accepted the goodness itself. Know that the desire for the particular good came from me and that its fulfillment will, as well. Be not concerned at all with the timing. There is no hurry. There is no rush. My timing is perfect. Be at peace

Giving Thanks

I have been reminded of the importance of being thankful for where we are and what we have.

If you've been on your own personal development journey for
any amount of time you've undoubtedly met with some
challenges along the way. Challenges aren't a bad thing.
They can certainly be difficult, but provided we are willing
to accept it as part of the process, they can bring forth
some pretty awesome opportunities from which to grow and
become better for having experienced them.

Again, it's not about things being easy, it's about working
through whatever you happen to be facing, and ultimately
accepting that you will emerge better and more prepared as a
result of having overcome or worked through whatever given
adversities you've had to deal with.

Gratitude -- a source of fuel to move you forward during the
difficult times...

I found the following definition of gratitude: "a feeling of
thankfulness and appreciation."

While that definition is a good start, I think gratitude is
so much more than that. Particularly when we begin to
explore all the different  ways it can serve us.

Something magical happens when you and I take the time to
recount all the things we have to be thankful for in our
lives. The past, present, and even the hopes we have for the
future.

First, a sense of gratitude allows us to reconnect with our
past achievements. This can serve as a powerful reminder
that in-spite of whatever doubts we may have about our
abilities in the present moment, we are capable of reaching
whatever destination we desire for ourselves. That is to say
that we can change our circumstances and lot in life to a
more desirable one.

The proof is found in the very fact that in the past we have
done so, and as such we are more than capable of doing so
again. Looking back on, and reconnecting with positive
experiences and past achievements as you can see is a
particularly powerful way to go about providing fuel for
your current goals and dreams.

If you will accept the ideas above to be true then the
question inevitably becomes what is the best way to go about
expressing gratitude in your day to day life. The answer, to
put it bluntly is to express it however it most feels right
to you!

Since I don't know what that is in your unique situation
I'll have to settle on showing you some of the ways I go
about it on a daily basis. Before I do so, please keep in
mind what I often say, "personal development is a hands on
project", which is to say that other people's ideas are
great, but you should be looking for ways to adapt and make
whatever ideas you want to try your own.

Don't assume that something doesn't work because it isn't a
fit for you. While at the same time, don't assume something
is wrong with you because a particular idea isn't right for
you. It's not about right or wrong. It's about adapting what
works into your life, and giving yourself permission to kick
to the curb whatever doesn't happen to resonate with you.

Now that I've gotten that rather long disclaimer out of the
way, as promised here are some of the ideas I use to allow
gratitude to work in my life.

1. Upon waking up I begin running through my mind various
things I'm thankful for. Inevitably one thing, person, or
event will lead to another. This is a very laid back
experience, all the while I'm trying to remain in the
moment, but not forcing it. If I find my mind moving onto
other thoughts or ideas I'll gently bring myself back to
this simple exercise.

When I do this, almost immediately I can see my current
state perk up a bit -- and I take on a more positive
outlook. I find it a simple, yet highly effective way to
start my day off on the right foot. I believe you will as
well!

2. Throughout the day, I like to write down and record what
I call my "daily wins". It's worth pointing out that these
aren't always monumental achievements. In fact, to the
outside observer many of the accomplishments which get
written down might appear down right mundane.

The point of the exercise mentioned above is to remind
myself of something I discovered a long time ago. That
being, the idea that what it takes to meet with success in
virtually any endeavor requires a lot of little
accomplishments along the way.

When I'm speaking to groups I'll often say that the path to
"success" is paved with more than its share of boring
moments. Meaning that contrary to popular opinion, when one
looks back on a worthwhile accomplishment, there's rarely
one particular event with which they can credit being
totally responsible for having allowed them to reach the
pinnacle of success.

Rather, if we're honest with ourselves we would likely have
to agree that more often then not it's a matter of doing
those tasks, day in and day out which were required of us.
The journey, you see, takes many forms. Certainly at times
things are fast paced and exciting, but at others
persistence and stick-to-itness are required.

If you're not already tracking your day to day achievements
I'd strongly encourage you to get started. The benefits of
doing so are many, not the least of which is that you'll
have a trail to look back and read over when you find
yourself feeling as though you're not quite as plugged into
your dream as you wish you were. You'll have proof positive
that you're making progress right in front of you. Then, at
the end of each day as you look through your list of "wins"
you can take a moment to be grateful.

3. Take a walk and literally recite out loud to yourself all
the things, people, and experiences for which you have to be
grateful for. I have to give credit to my colleague, friend,
and fellow speaker & author Jon Gordon (www.jongordon.com)
for this idea.

While I had actually been doing this for a long time prior
to first hearing Jon mention it, he deserves credit for
putting the name "gratitude walk" to it, and in turn helping
to validate in my mind that it was a worthwhile thing to do
(and that no matter what my neighbors who happened to see me
talking to myself might think, I wasn't actually nuts for
doing so. ha ha :-)).

It sounds like a simple idea, but I would challenge you to
give it a try. If you will do so, I believe that in
relatively short order you'll find it to be a welcome
addition to your routine.

As I've illustrated above, expressing gratitude is a
powerful thing. It can literally change your state from one
in which you may be feeling doubt towards one of hope, and a
sense of literally being filled with encouragement. It can
put you in a mode to accept the good that surrounds all of
us, while acting as a sort of shield from the part of our
minds that wants to seek out and look for the negatives in
life. Give it a a few of the ideas above a try. If you have
other ideas which work for you I would appreciate it if you
would share them!

Igniting the Fire Within!!!
Fraser

Napoleon Hill Tribute

I was reflecting on yesterdays post and had to share this from napoleon Hill's site.

Napoleon Hill Philosophy and the Idea of Cosmic Ordering
by Jack Kennedy

"What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve," an axiom of the motivational philosophy of the late Napoleon Hill, a Wise County, Va. native turned journalist, presidential speechwriter, and bestselling book author, leads one to the metaphysical concept of "Cosmic ordering."

Cosmic ordering sounds like some New Age religious cult or, some newly conceived physics theory, but it is a conceptual mental construct of Napoleon Hill as to the power of positive thinking and bringing dreams forth to reality. Some see the concept of cosmic ordering as a phony mystic belief of "wishful thinking." On the other hand, one only need look to many of the 20th century science fiction scriptwriters, such as the late Gene Roddenberry of the Star Trek series, or the late Sir Arthur C. Clark of 2001 and 2010 movies, to realize the power of an idea in the mind of man to beget the creation of future reality.

In the book Keys to Success, based upon Hills' observational power of learning the traits and actions of very successful people of the 20th century, the motivational writer provides insight as to seventeen traits humans may opt to undertake to achieve most anything professionally or personally. Many successful business leaders of the 21st century attribute their readings of "Think and Grow Rich" and "Keys to Success" as essential to their own personal success stories.

"The Philosophy of Achievement," as Hill adeptly later branded his teachings, has its foundation in the belief that freedom, democracy, capitalism, and harmony serve as the basic tenants of any personal success in life. Hill readily denounced the negative emotions of fear, selfishness, and jealous as the traits of the unsuccessful. These negative emotions are to be rooted out of our lives wherever possible, just as he composed for President Franklin D. Roosevelt with, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."

Central to embracing Hill's philosophy is the understanding of thinking positively, or the subconscious channeling of positive mental energy to think more affirmatively about our own human undertakings whether it be at work, hobbies, relationships, or play. One must constantly look to what one shall be as opposed to what they are now. Without mastering a positive mental attitude toward challenging goals, they are often lost to the negative side of mental energy.

The principal of 'Definite Major Purpose' suggests that a student of Hill's philosophy undertake self-examination of what is important. Without knowing what is truly important to us, it is improbable, at best, to achieve any great success. Hill wanted his book readers to question what is important to them first; then the reader could endeavor to apply the cosmic ordering or the keys to seek to undertake meaningful personal achievements.

Recently, Don Green, the adept executive director of the Napoleon Hill Foundation in Wise, spoke of the late Napoleon Hill to a new generation of Wise County students during a dinner break from building their first rockets to launch skyward the next morning. Each young rocket scientist received a copy of Hill's Keys to Success book as their own. Each would-be rocket scientist student has in his or her hands the means to begin their own cosmic ordering by adopting a positive mental attitude and a definite purpose.

While not providing each of the seventeen keys to success verbatim, Green gave the twenty or so Wise County high school students paraphrases of the meanings of Napoleon Hill's Philosophy of Achievement to apply in preparing for their individual cosmic ordering of their respective futures, to wit:

• Set a specific goal and pick a specific and reasonable date to achieve it,
• Project an image to the world of who and what you intend to be, and that will help you achieve it,
• Choose your own goals by not pursuing what someone else expects of you,
• Employ a 'mastermind alliance' network of friendships among people to form expert teams,
• Go the 'Extra Mile' by doing a little more each day than what others may expect of you,
• Turn thoughts into positive actions and avoiding procrastination and indecision,
• Power is in how to apply knowledge gained as opposed to knowledge without application; and,
• Dedicated practice of balance and self-discipline to stay focused on 'Definite Major Purpose.'

The Napoleon Hill philosophy is adaptable to almost any humanistic goal or aspiration - not just youthful Wise County rocket scientists, though their importance to the next generation is unquestionable. Men and women of the arts, sciences, and business apply the 'Nap' Hill school of thought around the world, as his works are today available in numerous languages.

By way of the Internet, a local newspaper report of Don Green's remarks to the aspiring aerospace engineers participating in the rocket building and launching weekend, made its way to the San Francisco, California radio station studio of Dr. David Livingston, a doctor of business administration. "Dr. Space," as his global radio listeners affectionately call Livingston, has booked Don Green to his niche interest space show next January. Green will share Hill's philosophy of the keys to success with commercial, civil and military space aficionados, perhaps to better enable their cosmic orders, so-to-speak.

While Wise County may only legitimately claim to be the birthplace and youthful home of Napoleon Hill, his works are applicable everywhere from teenage would-be aerospace engineers building rockets in Wise County's classrooms to the maverick inventor, space agency engineer, or international planetary scientist who may listen in to The Space Show, (www.thespaceshow.com), come January from around the planet.

One 21st century aerospace engineer has successfully applied the Philosophy of Achievement with great success. Eric Anderson, a University of Virginia aerospace engineering graduate and founder of Space Adventures is an avid reader of Napoleon Hill. Anderson frequently quotes Hill in remarks to audiences --- as he pitches the sale of seats to ride in momentary zero gravity for $5,000 or a Russian-made Soyuz rockets to the International Space Station for about $25-million, or as Anderson urges purchase of a would-be space trek around the moon for about a mere $100-million. He has sold hundreds of Zero Gravity flights, eight successful orbital spaceflights, and he expects to sell seats for the over the moon flight in the next few years. It makes me wonder if Napoleon Hill would have dreamt of such metaphysical manifestations of the future in 1930's.

Let us hope it is in the Cosmic Order for one would-be aerospace engineer now in a Wise County high school to one day utter in 2037, "What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve," as she or he makes a stand on the planet Mars in freedom, democracy, capitalism, and harmony. A young Appalachian student aspiring to a 21st century fulfillment of Napoleon Hill's then 100-year old words would be most appropriate in the grand scheme of the cosmic order.

Wealth Goals for 2011

WHAT does rich mean to you? A million? 10 billion? What’s plenty to some, falls far short for others. You need to decide what’s rich for you. And then it’s just a matter of making one of the 10 roads that lead to big wealth work for you. There’s a right road here for everyone who desires riches, if you can navigate the common pitfalls.

1. Start a successful business. Have a compelling vision? Leadership skills? An understanding spouse? You just might be a visionary founder. Founding your own fi rm can create astounding wealth. Half of the 10 richest Americans did this, including Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and Google wunderkinds Sergey Brin and Larry Page. This road works with scant restriction by industry, education or pedigree—Ph.D.s and college dropouts are equally welcome. Be warned: This road is not for the fainthearted. It requires courage, discipline, strategic vision, a talented supporting cast and Tefl on skin.
2. Become a CEO of an existing firm and juice it—a very mechanical function. Responsibility and running things come easy? But you’re no visionary founder? Some of our finest CEOs didn’t found the fi rms they lead—like GE’s Jack Welch. Non-founder CEOs can take firms to unthought-of heights. Fully half of America’s largest-fi rm CEOs make in excess of $8.3 million. Warning: Heavy is the head wearing the CEO crown. CEOs must be tough—more now than ever. Failed CEOs don’t just lose their jobs— they frequently end up vi l i f ied by the media, even indicted.
3. Hitch to a successful visionary’s wagon and ride along—it’s high value added. Good at picking winning horses? Think being boss is tough? Your destiny could be to ride along. Ride-alongs rise high, play critical roles, are well-respected leaders and get rich, but never bear a CEO’s pressure. Some famous ride-alongs ride high on the Forbes 400—Buffet’s sidekick Charlie Munger, for one, with about $2 billion.
4. Turn celebrity into wealth or wealth into celebrity and then more wealth! Seeking fame and fortune? Don’t mind abdicating privacy? Try cruising the rich-and-famous road. This road has two forks: One is talent, like Cameron Diaz or Derek Jeter; and the other is mogul, like Ted Turner or Rupert Murdoch—who run and own media empires.
5. Marry well—really, really well. Seem ridiculous? Then this isn’t your road. See it like this: You wouldn’t marry someone physically repulsive to you, so why marry someone fi scally repulsive? If money moves you, shop among the rich. If you don’t like the notion, fi ne. Leave the rich to those who care.
6. Steal it, legally. No guns necessary. Ever wish you could just take the money? Would you like some to see you as a hero? And others fear you? You can legally steal and be a hero as a plaintiff ’s lawyer, today’s Robin Hood. Idolized by Hollywood, plaintiff’s attorneys posture themselves as crusaders for the helpless—fi ghting big bad business to save the little guy. My apologies to other lawyers and law students if this sounds harsh, but it’s true: Most plaintiff law is a perfectly legal twist of thievery and thuggery. With targets the media loves skewering—big business, pharma, tobacco—your odds improve.
7. Capitalize on other people’s money (OPM)—where most of the rich are. Like telling folks what to do? Have nerves of steel? This road is paved with fees from other people’s money—money management, private equity, brokerage, banking and insurance. Some OPMers end up heroes, some in prison—there’s ample room for conflict of interest. But a good OPM richie effi ciently and ethically makes his (or her) clients rich at the same time.
8. Invent an endless future revenue stream—even if you’re not an inventor. Have wild imagination or none at all? Here you make an annuity-like future cash fl ow from something you create, own or patent that just keeps spewing cash. A gadget, book, song, movie or even experience. The big money is in getting rights, licensed or patented, for future reuse and generating reuse.
9. Trump the land barons by monetizing unrealized real estate wealth! Dream of building skyscrapers? Collecting rent? Don’t let the recent residential hoopla dissuade you—there’s huge money in being a land baron. Like other roads, it’s not easy. Successful land barons don’t just have a knack for fi nding tasty, unappreciated land and willing investors. They have the strategic vision of successful firm founders. They borrow!
10. Go down the road more traveled—save hard, invest well—forever. Like boring, predictable paths? The least sensational, but the most reliable, road to riches is saving linked to good investment returns. The road is wide enough for anyone with a paycheck. This road is not sexy. Frugal isn’t known for sexy.

I was thinking of my goals for money in 2011 and came across this and had to share it.

Thriving on What Is

I have just finished my Level 2 coaching and have been thinking about what is next on my journey....

It is so easy to look around at life and assume that life needs fixing to make it right. We don't have to go much farther than the evening news to notice what's wrong with the world: the violence, hunger, corruption, environmental issues and so on. We want to do something to be a part of the solution, rather than a part of the problem, whether it is through outer social action, through financial support good organizations or through working on ourselves. We notice so little change from our actions and wonder what else can be done. We pray, we meditate, we wonder...

The orientation of seeing a world that needs fixing to be the "right" world can actually be deconstructed if we are willing to explore that. The beginning point is in the realization that we are thinking that we know what a "right" world would look like. We think that rape and murder and awful things like that can obviously be known to be "wrong" and a "right" world would not contain things like that. But look again at the way that we know this... what is it based on? Do we really have the big picture, or are we making judgments about right and wrong based on our own personal tendency to want to avoid pain and move towards pleasure? Of course we want to avoid pain and wishing that others avoid pain too is just an extension of our own preferences to include the world. In a way, if my neighbor is hurting, I am hurting with him or her. We are all in this together.

But if we look at our own lives with honesty and open-mindedness, is it clear that avoidance of pain is the "right" thing for us personally? Have pain and suffering played a role in our lives that in hindsight we respect? Most often the answer is yes. If we look deeply into the painful points in our history, these are the growing points, the places where new energy and new life has had an opportunity to enter our lives because the old patterns have been destroyed or disrupted by some loss, accident, crime or sickness. These things make us move on, even if it is through touching into the depths of despair.

Meanwhile life just is what it is. Without our having decided that it is supposed to look a certain way, or end up a certain way, it just is what it is. Not only that but also, it just ends up the way it ends up. Far from being the invitation to idleness that this may initially seem (but really is not at all) the above are just plain statements of what is so, at least before our judging/thinking minds get started. When I look into this it seems clear that we really don't know what should or shouldn't be happening in ourselves or in the world. Just because we may feel a dark emotion and start behaving badly towards our loved ones, do we know that this is "wrong"? Do we actually know that we are a bad person because this has occurred? Could the experience instead be looked at as developmentally necessary, helpful and illuminating? Could this alternate perspective actually be a way out of the endless repetition of our patterns?

Do we know for sure that the car accident or the crime in today's news should not have happened? The latest war casualties? Although mind will claim to be sure that these things are wrong, are we certain that they really are? Are we certain that something critical won't be changed by this "bad" happening that will make all the difference in some significant "good" happening later that we care even more about? Do we know for sure that the critical world situation (being a threat to our survival as a species) is not exactly the circumstance that will motivate a positive response that otherwise would not have been dreamed of?

Accepting our own not-knowing gives us entry into a new relationship with the world and with our own selves. If we don't spend all of our energies resisting what is, we can open up a deeper relationship to it. Our own dark feelings become pointers into whatever in us is still needing to be awakened. The negative situations in the world become as important a part of things as the positives, maybe more, as we accept them as having a part to play.

Without resisting what is, we are able to connect more fully with ourselves and our world, and through this deeper contact we are nourished. While mind was busy resisting the "wrongness" in ourselves and our world, our heart connection was jammed-up with judgment. Through acceptance of what is, we can begin to feel more deeply and be nourished not only by the positive happenings in ourselves and in life, but also by the negatives. They are also being welcomed in our open-heartedness, and through this welcoming we are able to thrive in the world as it is, rather than starve in a mentally constructed world of lack and disconnection.

What could be a more perfect example of thriving on what is, than the summer flowers.

What better example of us each doing our own part and tending to our own blossoming without judgment about whether it is "right" or "wrong" or if its going to end well or not. The flowers all just end up on the compost heap and back into the soil!

Sure, ok, they don't have these minds to contend with, it's true, so maybe its totally easy for them. But they show up in our gardens and homes as an example of the extraordinary yet fleeting beauty that we experience in this thing called life, and how little we need to refer to our ideas about right and wrong or good or bad to come to blossom in a totally unique, natural and easeful way. We draw nourishment from the ground of all that has come and gone before us into our own expression of who we are, and then let that go back again to the ground. Just the way it is.

Till next time....

Christmas thoughts

With the business of Christmas, my mind has started to think of the madness that many people associate with the festive time.

One of the surest ways to achieve your own success in life is by helping others to attain theirs. Almost anyone can contribute money toward those less fortunate. But the truly affluent person is the one who can afford to give of himself, of his time and energy, to the benefit of others. In so doing he enriches himself beyond measure.

John Wanamaker, the Philadelphia merchant king, once said that the most profitable habit was that of "rendering useful service where it is not expected." And Edward Bok, the great editor of Ladies Home Journal, said he rose from poverty to wealth through the practice of "making myself useful to others without regard to what I received in return."

Helping Takes Effort

It takes a conscious effort to give your time and energy to others. You can't simply say, "All right, I'm willing to help anyone who needs my help." You must make a creative project of rendering service to your fellow man.

Perhaps some down-to-earth examples will help you think of ways you can win friends by helping others. There was, for instance, a merchant in an eastern city who built a successful business through a very simple process. Every hour or so one of his clerks checked the parking meters near the store.

Pennies Win Friends

When the clerk spotted an "expired" sign, he dropped a penny in the slot, and attached a note to the car telling the owner that the merchant was pleased to protect him against the inconvenience of a traffic ticket. Many motorists dropped in to thank the merchant—and remained to buy. The owner of a big Boston men's store inserts a neatly printed card in the pocket of each suit he sells, It tells the purchaser that if he finds the suit satisfactory, he may bring the card back after six months and exchange it for any necktie he chooses. Naturally, the buyer always comes back pleased with the suit—and is a ripe prospect for another sale.

The highest paid woman employee of the Bankers Trust Co. in New York City got her start by offering to work three months without pay in order to demonstrate her executive ability. And Butler Stork gave of himself so freely as a prisoner in the Ohio State Penitentiary that he was released, beating a 20-year sentence for forgery. Stork organized a correspondence school that taught more than 1,000 inmates a variety of courses without charge to them or the state. He even induced the International Correspondence School to donate textbooks. The plan attracted so much attention that Stork was given his freedom as a reward.

Put Your Own Mind to Work

Assess your own ability and energy. Who need your help? How can you help them? It doesn't take money. All it takes is ingenuity and a strong desire to be of genuine service. Helping others solve their problems will help you solve your own.

Remind you of Charles Dickens?

A Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens

Yes! and the bedpost was his own. The bed was his own, the room was his own. Best and happiest of all, the Time before him was his own, to make amends in!

"I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!" Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. "The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. Oh Jacob Marley! Heaven, and the Christmas Time be praised for this. I say it on my knees, old Jacob, on my knees!"

He was so fluttered and so glowing with his good intentions, that his broken voice would scarcely answer to his call. He had been sobbing violently in his conflict with the Spirit, and his face was wet with tears.

"They are not torn down!" cried Scrooge, folding one of his bed-curtains in his arms, "they are not torn down, rings and all. They are here -- I am here -- the shadows of the things that would have been, may be dispelled. They will be! I know they will."

His hands were busy with his garments all this time; turning them inside out, putting them on upside down, tearing them, mislaying them, making them parties to every kind of extravagance.

"I don't know what to do!" cried Scrooge, laughing and crying in the same breath; and making a perfect Laocoon of himself with his stockings. "I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world! Hallo here! Whoop! Hallo!"

He had frisked into the sitting-room, and was now standing there: perfectly winded.

"There's the saucepan that the gruel was in!" cried Scrooge, starting off again, and frisking round the fireplace. "There's the door, by which the Ghost of Jacob Marley entered. There's the corner where the Ghost of Christmas Present, sat. There's the window where I saw the wandering Spirits. It's all right, it's all true, it all happened. Ha ha ha!"

Really, for a man who had been out of practice for so many years, it was a splendid laugh, a most illustrious laugh. The father of a long, long line of brilliant laughs.

"I don't know what day of the month it is," said Scrooge. "I don't know how long I've been among the Spirits. I don't know anything. I'm quite a baby. Never mind. I don't care. I'd rather be a baby. Hallo! Whoop! Hallo here!"

He was checked in his transports by the churches ringing out the lustiest peals he had ever heard. Clash, clang, hammer; ding, dong, bell! Bell, dong, ding; hammer, clang, clash! Oh, glorious, glorious!

Running to the window, he opened it, and put out his head. No fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold; cold, piping for the blood to dance to; Golden sunlight; Heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells. Oh, glorious. Glorious!

"What's to-day?" cried Scrooge, calling downward to a boy in Sunday clothes, who perhaps had loitered in to look about him.

"Eh?" returned the boy, with all his might of wonder.

"What's to-day, my fine fellow?" said Scrooge.

"To-day?" replied the boy. "Why, Christmas Day."

"It's Christmas Day!" said Scrooge to himself. "I haven't missed it. The Spirits have done it all in one night. They can do anything they like. Of course they can. Of course they can.

Charles Dickens (February 7, 1812 - June 9, 1870) was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. His masterful prose soon won praise by critics and his ability to create memorable characters solidified his position in the ranks of must-read authors. The fact that none of his works have never gone out of print attests to the popularity of his novels and short stories. Charles Dickens died on June 9, 1870 after suffering a stroke. He was buried in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. The inscription on his tomb reads: "He was a sympathizer to the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world."

Shape your future

On average, two or three of these individuals will admit to having goals out of the 50 individuals in attendance, and typically only one of these people will actually have their goals written down. I then ask the group what would happen if I got into my car after the presentation, not knowing my next destination. Where would I end up? Most people laugh and answer "nowhere!"--which is my point exactly. It seems like a silly question to ask, but if we don't know where we want to go with our lives, where are we going to end up? We spend more time planning our vacations than we do planning our lives. Why is that? A goal is nothing but a dream with a deadline. Creating a road map is necessary if we are to become successful individuals.

Ask Yourself...
* Have I established goals for the next year, 5 years, 20 years?
* Am I truly living the life that I want to live?
* Have I made myself accountable for what I want in life?
* Will my failed goals lead to unwanted consequences?

Our goals drive us, they allow us to shape our future and provide us with the ability to grow and excel in each of our endeavors. That being said, it is important to remember that in order to achieve our goals we must first document them. When we do write down our goals something amazing happens; we become creators, creators of our own paths. Remember, what the mind can imagine, it can create: Anything is possible. HOW we are going to achieve our goals at the time of setting them may not be clear, but if reasons come first answers will come second. If you have a big enough WHY, the HOW will manifest itself--you will find a way to make things happen!

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Albert Einstein

Ask Yourself...
* Do I have goals that have been left unaccomplished for an extended period of time?
* Am I truly making strides towards accomplishing my goals, or am I hindering my own efforts either consciously or unconsciously?
* Am I willing to look at things differently so that things can change?
* Am I open to new ideas or strategies that may positively assist me in the achievement of my goals? Where can I get ideas? Who could help?

Each year on the first of January, I take the time to reflect upon my goals from the previous year. I like to evaluate what I have accomplished, and review everything that has manifested throughout the year. It always makes me smile to see how things have unfolded for the goals which had a strong WHY even if I did not really know at the time how I would get them accomplished...amazing how that works! To continue, now that I have reviewed my previous year's goals, I am ready to set new goals and design a roadmap for the next year's journey. My successes motivate me to create new goals for the coming year and open up my mind to all the future possibilities.

My Goals, Categorized

1. Personal development and relationships -- What skills do I want to develop? What do I want to learn? What relationships do I want to create?

2. Career -- What do I want to accomplish? What kind of impact do I want to have?

3. Fitness, nutrition and food for the soul -- What level of physical fitness do I want to maintain or achieve? What can I do to improve my eating habits? What practices can I partake in that will cultivate my spirituality?

4. Material things and time savers -- Have fun with this one -- have I been dreaming about purchasing a new car or installing the latest home entertainment system? Or do I want to hire help for household duties so that I can have more time with my family and friends?

5. Economic -- What income level do I want to achieve? Are there investments that I would like to make within the next year?

6. Legacy -- What do I want to leave behind? What do I want to be remembered for?

7 Steps Goal Setting Strategies

1. Brainstorm each of the categories for 5 minutes, don't think too hard and allow your thoughts to come naturally.

2. Next, establish a timeline for each of your goals, whether it be a year, 5 years, 10 years or 20 years.

3. Decide upon a few goals (three or four from each category) that you wish to focus the majority of your attention on.

4. Now determine the WHY of each of your top three or four goals.

5. Decide if the WHY of each of your top three or four goals is "strong" enough--does it empower you enough? If not, pick another goal from that category which does get you motivated and excited.

6. After that, put your goals through the "SMART" system.

S -- Specific -- Is your goal too vague? Specifics help us to focus our efforts and clearly define what we are going to do. Answered by what, why, and how.

M -- Measurable -- How will you know when you have succeeded? Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. If you can't measure it, you can't manage it.

A -- Attainable -- A goal needs to stretch you slightly so you feel you can do it and it will need a real commitment from you.

R -- Realistic -- To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Set the bar high enough for a satisfying achievement!

T -- Time-bound -- Do you have a timeline? Putting an end point on your goal gives you a clear target to work towards.

Finally, beside each goal -- write one action step you can take this week to get you closer to your goal. (i.e.- If you want to start doing Yoga -- Your action step would be to contact the Yoga school you wish to attend, and ask about their classes and schedule.)

Make sure to place your goals in an area of your home, or office, which is frequently visited. The probability of accomplishing your goal(s) is increased when your ambitions are reviewed on a day-to-day basis.

Finally, have fun with your goal setting. Remember to THINK and PLAY BIG -- the more successful and fulfilled you are, the more you will contribute to the people around you and ultimately, to the world. Furthermore, embrace the fact that what we can think about we can create. Leverage the power of your subconscious to plant the "right" seeds in your brain and watch what can happen!

Inner Talk

Over recent times I have been battling the small inner voice inside. It has been saying strange things. This reminded me of the things I say to myself...my inner talk.

One of the more frequently faced challenges experienced by people is performance expectation. They express frustration that they often possess identical, if not superior, physical attributes to their competition, yet they're consistently being out performed by the competition. In many of these cases the factor that separates their performance from the competitions has been found to be rooted in their belief as to their ability to outperform the competition.

In other words they are operating with a limiting belief as to their athletic ability and level of their performance. Yet it is well documented that an individual's core beliefs in any given area of their life will ultimately determine the reality they draw into their life-positive, negative or stagnant.

So how does one go about changing a limiting belief to a positive one -- one that will result in improving your performance? It has been established by psychologists and neuroscientists that every person in the world carries on an ongoing dialog, or self-talk, of between 150 and 300 words a minute. This works out to between 45,000 and 51,000 thoughts a day. Most of out self-talk is harmless thoughts that serve our daily activities like, "I need to stop at the cleaners."

The danger is when inner dialogue takes on a negative connotation such as, "I'll never be as good an athlete as he is," "I don't have the mental toughness to compete at this level," or "I'll never be that fast." The ongoing negative reinforcement created by habitual negative self-talk results in the creation of a limiting belief(s) that goes on to become self-fulfilling prophecy.

Beliefs -- positive or negative -- are literally etched into our brain in comfortable grooves or neural pathways. Incoming data from our senses travel on these neural pathways on the way to interpretation in the brain. Therefore, if you desire to change an unresourceful/limiting belief into an empowering belief, you must rewire the negative neural track created in the brain.

This can be accomplished in precisely the same way the tracks were created: by using self-talk or, more specifically affirmations. An affirmation is a statement of fact or belief -- positive or negative -- that will lead toward the end result you expect. Anything that follows the phrase "I am," such as "I am a peak performance athlete" or "I am quick and agile," is an affirmation. The simplicity of affirmations often causes them to be overlooked. Nonetheless, affirmations are regularly used by professional athletes and successful business people.

The process for changing a limiting belief to a resourceful belief using affirmations is a simple one. First, identify the areas of your life which are not working to your satisfaction.

Next, write out the affirmations that represent things the way you desire them to be, they will be the vehicle for creating new resourceful/positive pathways.

Basic to formulating a new self-suggestion is that your affirmation is short and to the point -- simple enough that a five year old child will understand it -- and is always stated in the positive. Further, your affirmation should be stated in the present tense -- as if it has already happened, for example, "I am a strong athlete."

Now you are ready to begin your daily (minimum) reprogramming process:

• Sit upright in a comfortable chair.
• Close your eyes and take a couple of minutes to progressively relax.
• Release your body's tight sharp focus on the physical world by taking yourself to an even deeper level of relaxation.
• Speak your affirmation aloud from five to twenty times (depending on the time you have and the number of beliefs you are reprogramming).

By speaking your affirmation aloud you are down-stepping your thoughts to the brains electrical network to speech, and you are involving more of your brain by including two more of your senses: auditory and kinesthetic. It is important that you trust this process and give your affirmation(s) time to achieve their desired outcome. Worry or self-doubt as to whether your affirmations are working only conveys to your subconscious worry and the belief that your desire may not come to pass or the affirmation may not succeed. Be patient, success is on the way.

In conclusion, remember that your beliefs are what produce your life's experience and can lead you to performance enhancement, not the other way around. Orchestrate your beliefs using affirmations to create a life filled with successful experiences that reinforce the beliefs that created them.

Till next time

The Power Of Perseverance

Perseverance Is Holding Your Chin High, Remaining Steadfast And Continually Advancing Toward Whatever Your Individual Desires Might Be

"At times the climb can seem strenuous, challenging, and sometimes
even impossible. The Power Of Perseverance combined with determination is the
power that will take you to the top." - Chuck Danes

The Power of Perseverance

"Only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find his right road."
- Dag Hammarskjold

There's no denying that perseverance is often required to realize the hopes, dreams, desires and visions we hold for ourselves.

What exactly is perseverance and how can you utilize it to bring about the desired results in your life?

What does perseverance have to do with attracting Abundance and Happiness and how can it be utilized in the most effective way? That is what we will cover here.

First of all let’s look at what perseverance is according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary. It states……..

per·se·ver·ance Pronunciation: "p&r-s&-'vir-&n(t)s Function: noun : the action or condition or an instance of persevering : STEADFASTNESS

As we can see perseverance is an action that we must take...to remain steadfast in that action until the desired outcome is achieved.

By remaining steadfast and determined in whatever it may be that you are desiring to see manifest in your life is of crucial importance if you are to bring about those results that you truly do desire.

It's often perceived that the Power of Perseverance is strictly of a physical nature.

My personal perspective is that the greatest power that you hold is using The Power of Perseverance to shift the quality of consciousness...the underlying beliefs that can make the physical journey difficult.

Developing the perseverance to hold fast and shift the quality of consciousness which is ALWAYS at cause, provides the greatest assistance in fulfilling whatever it might be that you desire to accomplish. It makes the physical journey more enjoyable and less strenuous.

In using the Power of Perseverance in this way, you are in essence reprogramming and removing the subconscious blocks that are keeping you from immediately and effortlessly attracting and receiving those things that you desire to see manifest which have already been promised to you.

In the case of bringing about desired results into your life, the formula looks like this.

Awareness + Desire + Belief + Action + Perseverance = Phenomenal and seemingly magical outcomes in your life.

So why is it that perseverance is sometimes necessary and at other times it seems that things just come into our lives with almost magical ease?

The answer to that is based on what you have previously established to be truth for you.

It's truly just a matter of perspective. Do you believe that your goal is going to be hard, difficult to achieve, and it's attainment requires great sacrifice? It will.

Do you "perceive" the actions necessary to achieve the end result must be unpleasant? They will be.

Do you see the outcome in your minds eye and hold the picture of seeing it's completion as fulfilling, rewarding and enjoyable as you work your way towards it? That's precisely how it will unfold.

It's due to falsely established beliefs that many have established and continue to hold on to are the very reason that the events, conditions, and circumstances that you desire to see manifest can at times seem impossible to reach.

It is times like these where the Power of Perseverance is necessary to initiate, and is the force that will allow you to continue to take action until you develop the awareness of the correct action that will allow you to quit going against and begin going with the "flow." The kind of action that enables you to begin attracting the means to fulfill those things that you most desire, whatever they might be.

Put another way...

The Power of Perseverance is best and most effectively utilized when you hold fast and shift the underlying, unseen cause that is creating the "physical reality." It's what allows you to hang on to the dream or desire long enough to establish correct beliefs that enable and empower you to begin attracting the people, resources and circumstances for bringing your desire into physical form. It enables you to hold fast long enough to begin taking the correct action which cannot and will not fail to bring into the physical realm those things that you most desire to bring about.

It is perseverance that is responsible for and is the fuel that empowers and keeps you traveling down the road of higher self awareness and deeper understanding.

Although the Power of Perseverance is and can be utilized in a physical sense, it is the underlying cause...the beliefs and perceptions held that can make the physical activity less than it has the potential to be. The belief held is what is responsible for producing less than the desired outcome or far greater than many perceive to be attainable.

It's all a choice...your choice. There is none right or wrong. Each choice only leads to an experience that enables you to learn and grow and take another step forward in fulfilling whatever it is that you came to fulfill.

Utilizing The Power of Perseverance to advance in your understanding, to build upon the truth of who and what you "truly" are can and will dramatically reduce the need for "physical" perseverance.

Falsely established beliefs + a lack of perseverance equates to a life of mediocrity, struggle, discord and perhaps even hopelessness.

Developing enlivening and empowering beliefs combined with perseverance create what are often perceived to be miracles.

Regardless of the outcome, it's all a miracle. A creation that you choose. If you find that what you are choosing isn't bringing about the desired result, initiate The Power of Perseverance. Persevere in heart, mind, spirit and physical activity until the underlying cause shifts, no longer requiring struggle and excessive effort.

It's all about flow. It's all about what you choose. It's all about the beliefs that you allow to determine your outcomes.

For me, The Power of Perseverance is best utilized and most powerful by choosing to become more aware...to remember who and what I "truly" am which empowers me to become more.

How you choose to utilize the Power of Perseverance is an individual choice. Using it to advance your understanding, to elevate your beliefs and enhance your awareness is, what I believe to be the "best way."

Regardless of your individual choice the following quote holds great wisdom and will serve you...

"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not quite, the not yet, the not at all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours."- Ayn Rand

Till next time...keep moving closer towards your worthy ideal....

Little things matter

I was thinking about how I have been weary over the last few weeks and thought about all the little thoughts matter. Just like a rain drop alone does not make much difference, but if I add lots of thoughts with it, then it can become an issue. Theat reminded me of how the universe only mirrors what I give out.

Life is Really Very Simple. What We Give Out, We Get Back

What we think about ourselves becomes the truth for us. I believe that everyone, myself included, is responsible for everything in our lives, the best and the worst. Every thought we think is creating our future. Each one of us creates our experiences by our thoughts and our feelings. The thoughts we think and the words we speak create our experiences.

We create the situations, and then we give our power away by blaming the other person for our frustration. No person, no place, and no thing has any power over us, for "we" are the only thinkers in it. When we create peace and harmony and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives.

Which of these statements sounds like you?

"People are out to get me."
"Everyone is always helpful."

Each one of these beliefs will create quite different experiences. What we believe about ourselves and about life becomes true for us.

The Universe Totally Supports Us in Every Thought We Choose to Think and Believe

Put another way, our subconscious mind accepts whatever we choose to believe. They both mean that what I believe about myself and about life becomes true for me. What you choose to think about yourself and about life becomes true for you. And we have unlimited choices about what we can think.

When we know this, then it makes sense to choose "Everyone is always helpful," rather than "People are out to get me."

The Universal Power Never Judges or Criticizes Us

It only accepts us at our own value. Then it reflects our beliefs in our lives. If I want to believe that life is lonely and that nobody loves me, then that is what I will find in my world.

Till next time

Fraser