The Power of Asking!!!

Do you deserve a raise or a promotion? Have you asked for it?

Is there someone you like? Have you asked them out?

Do you need money to start a business? Have you asked for it?

Is there something you wish you knew? Have you asked for the answer?

To get what you want you have to ask for it.  Nothing happens in life on its own. You need to ask.

Stop doubting or speculating what the answer will be and start asking. You will find the truth, you will get answers. The more you ask the more you will receive. Crush you fear, make the call, have the meeting and ask.  

LOVE YOUR LIFE AT ALL TIMES

The day you decide to start loving your life, regardless of what is happening, is the day your life will explode into positive change. Loving your life means appreciating all the things that happen to you and all situations you find yourself in. If you are successful, love it. If you are at a crossroads, love it. If you are a wreck, love it.

Think about the last time you went to a birthday party, a wedding or a funeral where they played a slideshow of pictures of the person’s past. The pictures show good times, bad times and moments of complete embarrassment. Everyone looks back at those happy, trying and embarrassing moments with fondness. The key to your happiness today is becoming fond of your moments as they happen instead of 10, 20 or 30 years later.

Think about a time in your life that was truly amazing – did you appreciate it then as much as you do now? Think about a disastrous time in your life, when you thought things would never get better – was it as really as bad as it felt then? Think about something you were afraid doing but you did it anyways and now laugh at yourself for being afraid in the first place.

Pay attention to your life today. Be proud when you deserve to be proud. Know you will make it through the tough times and come out stronger. Get to work on something new when you are at a standstill. Stop thinking about the past and worrying about the future. Focus on today and be happy with all that is happening in your life. Remember, in every moment of your life there is opportunity and the challenge of making tomorrow even better.

Love your life at all times!!!!

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO?

Everyone including YOU has something special about them, a unique gift that will make them successful. The trick is spending the time it takes to know yourself and find out what that is and what you are meant to do. What makes you happy, what will get you up early and keep you up late because you are excited about your life?

Singers need to sing, doctors need to help and teachers need to teach. One of the most important things for you to work on is discovering what you NEED to do. Once you know what you are passionate about, then with all you heart, energy, intelligence and drive, go after it. You will find everything comes easier when you are doing what you are meant to do.

This sounds good but there is a problem – most people do not act on their desires and do not utilize their uniqueness. If you believe you are meant to do something with your life and you are not acting on your true desires, you are fighting against yourself. It is time to think long and hard about what you want to do and decide if you are going to live up to your potential or not. The decision to do what you need to do can be hard because you have been on another path. Make the hard decision, start doing what you need to do and give it everything you have. Your unique gift will carry you past doubt, fear and any obstacles. Success and happiness are inevitable when you do what you are meant to do. 

Put Your Oxygen Mask on First – When to Help the Suffering

Do you know people that overly concerned with the welfare of others but are in serious need of help themselves? Their charitable behavior and empty handouts are often a projection of their own inner needs. They need to understand and believe that their main purpose in life is living and achieving individual growth. Those that take care of their emotions, desires, aspirations and personal progress first are the people best suited to help fellow man. Of all the people in this world that wish to serve society, those that make the biggest difference are those that have their own lives in order. The more you make, the more you become and the more you become - the more you can help.

Quiz: Who is the REAL YOU?

Most of us don’t have a very good grasp of who we are and even less whom we can become. Good news before we start, no matter who you are today, who you will be in 21 days, one year, five years, ten years or more is up to you. The future you is anything you want to become.  

Let’s start with who you are and move to who you can become. To find out who you are you need to start looking. One of the best ways of looking at yourself is to look at the way you see other people. Sounds weird but play along and you will understand.  

First, I want you to think of three people you admire or look up to. Next, think of three people that you don’t like, that you complain about or that piss you off on a regular basis. 

People I Like:

1. __________________

2. __________________

3. __________________  

People I Do Not Like: 

Now, with the people you like, list five to seven attributes or characteristics that impress you:

1. _____________________

2. _____________________

3. _____________________

4. _____________________

5. _____________________

6. _____________________

7. _____________________ 

Now, with the people you do not like, list five to seven attributes or characteristics that do not impress you or really piss you off: 

1. _____________________

2. _____________________

3. _____________________

4. _____________________

5. _____________________

6. _____________________

7. _____________________ 

The things you just listed are a window into the real you. You need to take a good hard look at the attributes of the people you like and the people you don’t. This is not science but it comes pretty close. At a minimum it is an opening into who you are now and who you can become. 

Both sets of attributes are equally important. The attributes you listed that impress you are attributes you should strive to possess. The attributes you listed that don’t impress you are the attributes you should fiercely avoid possessing. Unfortunately, most of us possess more of the attributes that we hate than the ones we admire. 

Take a closer look at the attributes of the negative people in your life. Do you act like this often? Answer yourself honestly. Take a closer look at the attributes you admire. Do you act like this often? 

Now it is time to take a look at you. Remember, the entries you make are for your yes only. Don’t write down anything thinking someone else will read it or what they might think. You won’t grow unless you are honest with yourself. I know it can be hard to take a real look into your life but if you don’t start from reality, you are at the wrong starting line. 

Now list five to seven attributes or characteristics about yourself that impress you: 

1. __________________________________________

2. __________________________________________

3. __________________________________________

4. __________________________________________

5. __________________________________________

6. __________________________________________

7. __________________________________________ 

Now list five to seven attributes or characteristics about yourself that do not impress you or really piss you off: 

1. __________________________________________

2. __________________________________________

3. __________________________________________

4. __________________________________________

5. __________________________________________

6. __________________________________________

7. __________________________________________

Are any of the negative things you wrote about others similar to the negative things you wrote about yourself? It is time to make a change and act like you are being looked up to by yourself. Watch your own behaviors like you are being watched 24/7 by your kids. Pay close attention to how you act with every decision everyday. 

Remember the things that you are not impressed with and stop yourself anytime you are carrying out these behaviors. Start paying attention to your actions and do more to be like those you admire. By understanding what you honestly like and dislike you will start to understand who you really are and will start to act like the person you want to become, a person you will admire. One of the most valuable things in life is to be your own favorite person. I am not talking about narcissism but living a life as the person you truly want to be. The real you. You will reach your potential and your purpose in life.

1. __________________

2. __________________

3. __________________

NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS!!!

The old saying goes – “Necessity is the Mother of Invention”. When you are at your worst, stand tall and figure out who you are going to become tomorrow!

Don’t Take it Personally

There is one thing that happens often in your mind that can hurt you. At a minimum it will cause damage to your personal progress and it could possibly ruin all of your aspirations. It is allowing yourself to consistently get hurt because of what others do or do not do – hurt by what you believe they think about you or don’t believe about you and hurt by what they say or do not say to you. These things are out of your control – let them go and live on your own terms.

Searching for Purpose?

People search and search for the purpose in life and still wake up day after day wondering what they are on earth to do.

How many times have you wished you had a clear purpose in life? If only you knew what your true purpose was, you could get to work, be happy and achieve it. Well, I am about to tell you. Simply put, your life purpose is to become all you are capable of becoming.

You were born with a brain, body and limitless energy. Your job is to work daily at becoming the best at who you are and to achieve nothing less than you can. You don’t need to be famous, super rich (although that is nice) or the most well-liked. You just need to work everyday at becoming a better you, putting in your best effort and achieving nothing less than you are built to achieve. This also means knowing honestly when you are not doing your best, stopping, kicking yourself in the butt and getting back to making the right decisions minute by minute.

Your purpose is to decide what you would like to achieve, what you want to become, who you want to help, where you want to go, who you want to touch, who you want to inspire, what you want to have, who you can teach and anything else that you would like to get done while you are alive - then do everything in your power to achieve all of these things.

Set your goals, go after them, reflect on how you are doing, do even more, reach your goals, write new ones and repeat until you die. That is your purpose.

45 Books You Should Read

The following is a list of recommended books. They cover many topics. You will find a focus on business, success, wealth, health, history and lifestyle. They are in no particular order. I suggest you spend time on Amazon, at the library or at the bookstore finding books that will expand your knowledge in areas that interest you.

The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand

Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand

Thick Face Black Heart - Chin-Ning Chu

The Art of War - Sun Tzu

Wooden on Leadership - John Wooden

Food for Fitness - Chris Carmichael

Trump, The Art of the Deal - Donald Trump

What Would Machiavelli Do? - Stanley Bing

The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time - Will Durant

Good to Great - Jim Collins

Built to Last - Jim Collins

Titan - Ron Chernow

Hard Drive - Wallace Erickson

Outlier’s - Malcom Gladwell

The Tipping Point - Malcom Gladwell

Do It - Peter McWilliams

Illusions - Richard Bach

Made to Stick - Chip Heath & Dan Heath

Meditations - Marcus Aurelius

The Billionaire Who Wasn’t - Conor O’Cleary

The World as I See It - Albert Einstein

The Power Broker - Robert Caro

Blue Ocean Strategy - W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne

Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill

Wealth 101 - John Roger & Peter McWilliam

The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli

The Instant Millionaire - Mark Fisher

Psycho-Cybernetics - Maxwell Maltz

The Singularity is Near - Ray Kurzweil

Horse Sense - Al Rise & Jack Trout

Intelligent Investor - Benjamin Graham

Happier - Tal Ben Shaha

The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins

On Bullshit - Harry Frankfur

Five Essentials for a Winning Life - Chris Carmichael

The Outline of History, Volume I & II - H.G. Wells

The Essential Gandhi - Mahatma Gandhi

The Snowball - Alice Schroeder

My Early Life - Winston Churchill

The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

The Art of Happiness - Dalai Lama

Serpent on The Rock - Kurt Eichenwald

Body for Life - Bill Phillips

Eating for Life - Bill Phillips

Adventure Capitalist - Jim Rogers

The Power of Simple Choices

One of the fastest ways to turn your life in a better direction, no matter what direction you are in, is choice awareness followed by making the right choice. Everyday we are subconsciously making hundreds of mini choices. By mini choices I mean things like tossing something toward the trash, missing by just a little bit and walking on. In that moment you made the choice to not turn around, pick up your trash and place it in the garbage can. Or leaving a pile of clothes on the closet floor because the hamper is in the laundry room. Deciding not to read today, you will just read an hour tomorrow instead. Putting off a call that needs to be made but might be uncomfortable and you will do it tomorrow (you said that yesterday too). Buying just a few of the things you need at the grocery store because you don’t feel like hauling more bags into the house. Stopping your three mile run at two and a half because you got close. Having just one brownie because you didn’t eat anything for breakfast and it all evens out. I bet you can think of many more choices you came across in the past few days.

You have literally hundreds of these little choices everyday. By choosing the lesser choice nothing bad is going to happen today. You won’t even notice it. Most people choose the easy way out of these little choices 80% - 90% of the time and they never know the difference. But guess what, 80% - 90% of people are not living to their potential. 80% - 90% of people are unhappy with the direction of their lives and they hold little hope that things will get better baring some miracle, God answering their “please give me prayers” or the big daddy, the Lotto.

Even though you don’t know you are making the lesser of two decisions over and over everyday and it isn’t doing anything noticeably damaging, something worse is happening. Your subconscious knows. It knows and records every time you chicken out just a little. It knows every time you choose the easy road. It knows every time you hope someone else will do what is your responsibility. And it REMEMBERS. This is the process that kills self confidence. That makes you weak. Good news is it is easy to change and the changes come immediately.

Simply pay close attention to the little choices you come across everyday. Don’t dismiss them as unimportant. Make the right decision, take the high road, and choose not to put things off. You will understand the power of this discipline in one week.

Potential

Everyone has heard the old line parents have told kids for years, “You can be anything you want to be when you grow up.” It is a real shame so few teach their kids how to make that saying a reality.

Tuesday Morning Quote:

“Money will not purchase happiness for the man who has no concept of what he wants; money will not give him a code of values, if he’s evaded the knowledge of what to value, and it will not provide him with a purpose, if he’s evaded the choice of what to seek. Money will not buy intelligence for t…he fool, or admiration for the coward, or respect for the incompetent.” Francisco d’Anconia

Purpose!!!

Many people search for “Purpose” in life. I have a surprise for you - you are the purpose in your life! You’re job is to achieve all you are capable of achieving. That’s it! You should be doing all you can do and be the absolute best you can be. The question is, are you becoming all you are capable of or are you settli…ng? Be honest with yourself and never settle being less than you can become.

SEIZING OPPORTUNITY:

When you come across a new opportunity that excites you, do not hesitate. Start by thinking it through and decide if it is a real (rational) opportunity. If you conclude it is real and you are excited about it, start working on it and seize it.  Too many good opportunities are lost to doubt brought on by delay and hesitation. - Mark Quam 

Get busy living or get busy dying! There are two types of people!