TIME IS TICKING

Its New years eve and I go thinking about time as I was looking back over the year.  I then was reminded of this great article by one of my mentors and chose to share it. 

Clock of Time By Napoleon Hill The hands of the Clock of Time are moving swiftly onward! We cry out, "Backward, turn backward O Time in your flight," but Time does not heed your cries. It is later than you think! Arouse yourself, fellow wayfarer; awake and take possession of your own mind while you still have enough Time to become, during the yet unexpired future, that which you would have liked to have been in the past. Make the most of your present allotment of Time, with the hope that you will not have to reincarnate in order to do the job all over again because of neglect. You have been warned! Now the responsibility is YOURS. There is a simple test by which you may judge whether or not you have been using your Time to best advantage. If you have attained peace of mind and material opulence sufficient for your needs, your Time has been properly used. If you have not attained these blessings, your Time has not been properly used, and you should begin now to search for the circumstances in connection with which you have fallen short. The truly great people have no such reality as "idle time," because they keep their minds geared eternally to patterns of constructive thought. By this profound use of their Time, they develop an alert sixth sense through which they look, listen, and see from within. If negative thoughts stray into the minds of the truly great, these thoughts are immediately transmuted into positive thoughts and exercised by positive physical action appropriate to their nature. Tick, tick, tick - the pendulum of the Clock of Time is swinging rapidly! The entire face of civilization is undergoing an uplifting operation. Mr. Right and Mr. Wrong are engaged in mortal combat for supremacy. The Time has come for everyone to stand up and be counted. The use each of us makes of his individual allotment of Time will tell whose side each of us is on - Mr. Right's or Mr. Wrong's. Something has speeded up the Clock of Time so rapidly that the last half of the twentieth century will reveal to mankind more individual opportunities for self-improvement that have been revealed during the entire past of man's existence. Your share of these vast OPPORTUNITIES may be embraced and used only by the way you relate yourself to TIME! Source: You Can Work Your Own Miracles. Fawcett Columbine Book. 1971. Pgs. 119 & 120.

LEARN FROM FAILURE

The best lessons we learn are the times that we look at our failure and then identify ways of moving forward. Adversity provides the resistance necessary to develop the strength to overcome great obstacles. This strength consists of self-confidence, perseverance, and, very importantly, self-knowledge. For if you do encounter a setback, it is a clue to a personal weakness. You may have been hasty in judging a competitor, or you may have been too timid in your vision of what needed to be done. Let adversity be your guide to understanding where you mis-stepped and which qualities you need to cultivate. No one rejoices in disappointment, but if you are success-conscious, you can turn the situation into a chance for improving your character, an opportunity you otherwise would have missed. Igniting Lives on Fire www.fraserstirling.co.nz

Failure is Good

Its been a truly blessed Christmas. I was watching the Dawn Treader (Narnia Series)yesterday and was reminded of many personal attributes as I watched it.  One of them is the ability to bounce back after failure. If everything we attempted in life were achieved with a minimum of effort and came out exactly as planned, how little we would learn -- and how boring life would be! And how arrogant we would become if we succeeded at everything we attempted. Failure allows us to develop the essential quality of humility. It is not easy -- when you are the person experiencing failure -- to accept it philosophically, serene in the knowledge that this is one of life’s great learning experiences.

But it is. Nature’s ways are not always easily understood, but they are repetitive and therefore predictable. You can be absolutely certain that when you feel you are being most unfairly tested, you are being prepared for great achievement. As you enjoy a prolonged break, take some time to reflect on whats lessons you can learn from over the past few year and make plans to made steady improvements in 2012. Igniting the Fire within www.fraserstirling.co.nz

Abandonment

This time of the year many people feel alone and isolated. It is always good to think back to that first Christmas and see that even Jesus didn't go alone. Most of us are incapable of “going it alone.” Whether it is in our careers, our personal relationships, or in life, we all need others if we are to achieve the level of success we desire. Besides, what’s the point of having it all if we have no one we care about to share it? You may choose to work with others, you may ignore them, or you may choose to work against them, but the greatest successes in life come to those who work harmoniously with others. When your personal goals coincide with those of another, not only does the power of your combined labors benefit you, but such cooperation also creates a synergistic effect that allows you to achieve far more than the simple sum of your individual efforts. Remember Jesus called on the wise men to help on his special day. This year on Christmas day, take some time to think about the people who have helped you. www.fraserstirling.co.nz Igniting lives on fire.

Habits are Powerful

As Christmas comes nearer, people get stressed and all sorts of traits are displayed. The tense times can show the best and the worst in us. Human faults are like garden weeds. They grow without cultivation and soon take over the place if they aren’t thinned out. Habits are formed so slowly that most of us don’t realize what is happening until the habits are too strongly entrenched to be broken. Seldom can one pattern of behavior be eliminated without replacing it with another. It has been said that nature abhors a vacuum and will always find something to fill a void. The best way to thin out the “weeds,” or faults in your character, is to identify those traits with which you are dissatisfied and replace them with their positive counterparts. If you have a tendency to lose your temper, for example, find a replacement for your anger. Neutralise it with a positive expression or affirmation, such as, “No one can make me angry unless I let them. I will not let anyone else control my emotions.” This festive season take time to review your habits and see if you can reach out to others looking through a different light. www.fraserstirling.co.nz Igniting lives on fire

Whose Report will you believe?

The other fellow’s mistakes are a weak alibi for your own. I have just heard from a good friend that they have separated. I was reminded of the fact there is always three sides to a story. (a) My side (b) their side (c) The truth My heart goes to all the people involved as they are all human and will all be experiencing hurt of some description.  Everyone involved will have their own story to share.  I am not here to take sides, but merely to support and care for them both. The second thing that I was reminded of, was the fact that it is easy to take sides and believe someones report.  Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” It’s easy when you are part of a group to “go along to get along,” but when you are able to maintain your own highest standards of integrity -- regardless of what others may do -- you are destined for greatness. When you have developed a carefully thought out code of personal conduct, you will never have to ask anyone else what the appropriate course of action should be. You will intuitively know. No matter what is going on around us all, we have a choice to live to the life we are desiring or to live like others around us are. Thats what Jacob and Joseph had to do in the bible and the song that was created from this familiar passage still rings true....Whose report are you going to believe...we will believe in the report of the lord. While these two good friends are feeling a stream of emotions I just wanted to say that I am thinking of you both and my prayers and thoughts are holding you both. www.fraserstirling.co.nz Igniting lives on fire

NO MORE EXCUSES

As a teacher it amazes me how much time children waste on creating stories to explain why they don't want to do a simple activity.  However if they just go in and did it, then they would have had it completed in the time it took them to try and reason their way out of it. This is no different to adults though... Some people are so clever at inventing alibis and so dull at doing the job that would make alibis useless? If folks did their jobs with half the effort and creativity they waste in a vain attempt to deceive others, they could achieve great success at anything. It is tempting at times to emulate those who seemingly get by without working very hard, but those who cheat the company by not doing what they are paid to do will eventually pay the price. They will pay with the loss of their most valuable possession: their reputation. The value of a reputation for honesty and integrity is the difference between a career filled with promise and a life of failure.I have made my choice of what I will do.  How about you? Igniting lives on fire. www.fraserstirling.co.nz

HOW TO MAKE IT COUNT!!

It is amazing how many times I have experienced success...only because I kept on going. Most failures could have been converted into successes if someone had held on another minute or made more effort. When you have the potential for success within you, adversity and temporary defeat only help you prepare to reach great heights of success. Without adversity, you would never develop the qualities of reliability, loyalty, humility, and perseverance that are so essential to enduring success. Many people have escaped the jaws of defeat and achieved great victories because they would not allow themselves to fail. When your escape routes are all closed, you will be surprised how quickly you will find the path to success.  Keep going. Igniting lives on Fire www.fraserstirling.co.nz

CAN I START AGAIN?

Though it may not seem so when you first encounter a serious blow, you can never lose two of the most important assets you have. These are the power of your mind and your freedom to use it. Once you have turned them to understanding what laid you low, you can begin forming new plans. You may not have the money you once had; you may lack the allies you had cultivated. But you still have the benefit of a universe that eventually rewards honest effort, as well as gaining the experience of mistakes you will never make again. Remember, no matter where you are now, whatever you can conceive and believe, you can achieve. Make sure that no matter where you are today and what you are thinking, there is always an opportunity to turn it around. Igniting lives on fire www.fraserstirling.co.nz

Defining Success

The Commandments of Success


I am a personal fan of Napoleon Hill and thought I would share his well known philosophy.  I have just been listening to Jim Rohn's CD- Challenge to succeed and the first step is to create our own philosophy.  This is a great place to start.

1. Set your head and heart upon a DEFINITE MAJOR PURPOSE and go to work, right where you stand, to attain it; and begin NOW.



2. Adopt and follow the habit of GOING THE EXTRA MILE by rendering more service and better service than you are paid for, thus enlarging the space you may occupy in the world.



3. Control your MENTAL ATTITUDE and keep it always positive and free from the spirit of defeatism.



4. Apply the GOLDEN RULE in all your human-relationships, no matter what others may do.



5. Learn all that others have discovered in connection with your occupation, job or business, and profit by their experience, thus saving yourself both grief and loss of time.



6. Eat sparingly, of the right combination of foods, and make sure that your "system" is always free from toxic poisoning.



7. Keep your dominating thoughts upon the things you desire and demand of life, and off the things you do not desire.



8. Learn to transmute your sex emotion into the attainment of your DEFINITE MAJOR PURPOSE, at will, remembering that this is a creative force of unknown, unlimited possibilities.



9. If you work for another person, do your work HIS WAY, not yours, and do it in a gracious, pleasing manner.



10. Instead of criticizing others (no matter how much they may deserve it) devote your time to the discovery of traits of your own which should be corrected lest they provide the basis of just criticism against you.


Hope this helps you towards igniting your own fire within.

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