A Good Leader Inspires Followers

by Harvey Mackay

Every election year we have a remarkable opportunity to make things better. And those of us who take the time to vote help make some serious decisions in this country. Right now the word we hear over and over again is leadership - who is better at it; who has the better plans; and who can assemble the masses and try to reach some agreement on how to progress.

Leadership is critical at every level of business as well as government. John Brock, who teaches leadership classes at the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University, shared a list of thirteen principles of leadership he adapted from the United States Military Academy, and I think he's dead on. Can you identify these traits in your management? Could your management team win a re-election if business was structured that way?

1. Know yourself and seek self-improvement.
2. Be technically and tactically proficient.
3. Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions.
4. Make sound and timely decisions.
5. Set the example.
6. Know your employees and look out for their well-being.
7. Keep your employees well informed.
8. Develop a sense of responsibility in your subordinates.
9. Insure that the task is understood, supervised and accomplished.
10. Train your employees as a team.
11. Employ your team in accordance with its capabilities.
12. Set your priorities.
13. Take the initiative.

What I like most about this list is its simplicity. It cuts through the doubletalk that so often disguises incompetence. It leaves little room for misinterpretation. You are either following the rules or you're failing as a leader. Case closed. Brock maintains that all great leaders have four common characteristics: bedrock principles, a moral compass, vision and the ability to form a consensus. I couldn't agree more. The minute you compromise your principles, you lose respect. That goes hand-in-hand with the moral compass, I think. Knowing and doing what is correct even when it may be unpopular or perhaps unprofitable requires a strong character. Keep your moral compass pointed straight ahead and you will never have to apologize for your actions. General Robert E. Lee, widely respected for his military and personal leadership, summed it up: "You have only always to do what is right. It will become easier by practice, and you enjoy in the midst of your trials the pleasure of an approving conscience."

Vision is a little harder to acquire. I firmly believe it is an acquired skill. You can train yourself to see what's ahead and determine an appropriate response and plan of action. Consensus building used to be simpler, when competition wasn't as cutthroat and civility ruled. That's not the world we live in now, and the gauntlet has been thrown down. You need only look at the hostile political climate for a prime example of the difficulty in reaching agreement. But this trait, possibly more than the others, is what defines a leader. Dwight Eisenhower, who led our army and the country, advised, "You do not lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership."

Through example and information, finding common ground is a very rewarding accomplishment - a win-win situation for all. Consider the story of Christopher Columbus. His crew became discouraged and threatened rebellion as they searched for the New World. They wanted to turn back, citing their voyage a "fool's errand." Columbus was undeterred, but attempted to reach a compromise: If they would be patient and faithful for just three more days, he would agree to abandon the search unless they had discovered land. From history, you know how that story ended. I'm adding one more trait that I find central to leadership, the ability to maintain your perspective. I remember hearing the story of how the Roman emperors handled Roman generals returning victorious from battles. The generals were welcomed in grand parades that featured their soldiers, all the wealth they acquired, and the prisoners they captured. Accompanying the generals in their golden chariots was a slave, who in the midst of the celebrations would whisper in the generals' ear, "Remember, you are a mortal man, all glory is fleeting."

Mackay's Moral: True leadership must exist for the benefit of the followers, not the enrichment of the leaders.

An Undisputed Advantage

by Ron White

Sometimes success in life is a result of setting yourself apart from your competition or simply everyone else. There is one behavior that, without a doubt, will give you an advantage over those around you. I will allow Thomas Jefferson to share what that is. He once said, "Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances."

Have you ever been in a stressful situation or in a storm of life in which you were not able to maintain your cool? It happens to all of us. Billy Joel puts it this way in his hit song "Pressure":

But you will come to a place
Where the only thing you feel
Are loaded guns in your face
And you'll have to deal with
Pressure

Jefferson and Joel are in agreement that you will have to handle pressure. Jefferson suggests that how you respond to that pressure can give you a distinct advantage over those around you. Accepting the fact that you will encounter adverse situations, how do you prepare yourself to always remain cool?

You must run through this checklist before the moment of truth arrives, because under pressure this list is clouded and feels miles away.

Remind yourself that your life has seen many challenges and you worked through each one and are still standing today.

Remind yourself that you are not the first to encounter obstacles and others have made it—so can you.

Unless you are being attacked in a physical manner, never allow yourself to respond without knowing all the facts.

Again, unless being attacked in a physical manner, practice the rule of five, and that is slowly counting to yourself to five before you respond.

Do not fear walking away from the table as you allow the issue to cool. Do not shirk from asking for help. A team is always stronger than an individual. The question is not, will you encounter struggles in life. The question is how will you respond? For a distinct advantage over others, remember the words of our third president and keep your head.

Avoid Fair-Weather Supporters

by Denis Waitley

When you seek support and feedback, be sure it is from people who are truly interested in seeing you succeed. Don't seek feedback from fair-weather friends, competitive peers, or any person who doesn't have your best interests at heart. Neutral doesn't count. Get feedback from someone who is on your side but will still be objective and brutally honest with you.

Misery truly does love company, and jealousy creates some of the most miserable people. Surpass the achievements of your particular social crowd or your business colleagues, and look out for the slings and arrows of those who wish you were back where they are.

You have to dodge the snide remarks and catty comments. Let them roll right off you. Don't internalize them. Only pay attention to feedback from those who have similar goals or who are working actively alongside you to achieve goals of their own.

Motives and fears run deep. Study them in others. The manager who supports you and comforts you when you're down may like you best when you are in just that state: down and dependent. When you start succeeding beyond his expectations and comfort level, he may be among the first to get you to back off, limit your horizons, and lower your goals. Recognize this feedback for the insecurity it is. It will rarely be objective or well-intentioned.

Even parents and significant family members aren't immune to emotional conflicts that can pollute their feedback. Many relatives and siblings have difficulty accepting the success of others in the family or encouraging further success.

Ultimately, nobody else is responsible for your life but you. Nobody else is accountable for your actions but you. Therefore, nobody's expectations for you and opinions about you are as important as your own. So make sure your opinions take precedence in your mind over all others, and when you do need to consult with someone else, think very carefully before you choose exactly who.

Giving/Sharing/Generosity

by Jim Rohn

It's best to start the discipline of generosity when the amounts are small. It's easy to give ten cents out of a dollar; it's a little harder to give a hundred thousand out of a million.

Giving is better than receiving because giving starts the receiving process.

Nothing teaches character better than generosity.

Here's what is exciting about sharing ideas with others: If you share a new idea with ten people, they get to hear it once and you get to hear it ten times.

Sharing makes you bigger than you are. The more you pour out, the more life will be able to pour in.

Somebody says, "Well, I can't be concerned about other people. About the best I can do is to take care of myself." Well, then you will always be poor.

What you give becomes an investment that will return to you multiplied at some point in the future.

When somebody shares, everybody wins.

The amount you give isn't important. What matters is what that amount represents in terms of your life.

Only by giving are you able to receive more than you already have.

Made for Success Quote and Commentary

Zig Ziglar

"When you develop a game plan to get what you want, you will develop a belief that you can get it." -- Zig Ziglar

Chris' Commentary:

Do you have a dream that you just can't get yourself to believe that it can become a reality? Then perhaps you need to get a plan to achieve that dream! If you don't believe it, it is probably because you don't know how or can't conceive of how it will happen. This is why it is imperative to put together a well thought out plan. When you plan it out, you cover all the bases and deal with all of the possibilities. When you have done this, the dream is all the more a possibility in your mind! And if you believe it, truly believe it deep down in your heart, you will achieve it!

Action Point: What is that dream you have a hard time believing you will achieve? Take some time over the next week to plan it out. This will put some power in your believer!

Accelerate Your Abilities

by Chris Widener

In today's fast-paced life, the wins usually go to those with exceptional skills and abilities. The old quote is true, "The race is not always won by the swift and the strong, but that is the way to bet."

With this in mind, and with your desire to become increasingly successful, here are some ways to accelerate your abilities, thus enabling you to achieve greater and greater things.

Become dissatisfied with your current state. Growth for growth's sake is good. Those who will achieve much are those who say to themselves, "I want to grow. I want to be better. And I am willing to do what it takes to get there. This current state is not enough!" This dissatisfaction will create for you an insatiable drive to do what it takes to get your abilities to the next level.

Visualize the benefits of increased abilities. Put them at the forefront of your mind. This will saturate your mind with the motivation that it will take for you to do what it takes to increase your abilities. What good will come out of my increased ability? How will I be better off as well as the others around me? The answers to these questions act as the carrot before the horse, moving you forward.

Understand your weaknesses. If you want to improve, one of the best ways is to start with some area that you aren't particularly good at. This is the "shoring up method." Sometimes it is easier to improve something you aren't good at than something you are. And the gains will still look great for your overall situation! Take some time to consider what areas you are weakest in and focus in on them for a while. The results will obviously be much more pronounced than getting better at something you have already somewhat mastered.

Attempt greater levels of what you are already good at. Another tact to take would be to stretch yourself in an area that you already have some skill and ability in. What areas do you excel in? Now understand that when you leave the weaker areas weak and make extraordinary gains in one area, then you will be moving more toward "specialist" rather than "generalist." That is okay, but needs to fit in with your overall goals.

Commit time each day to improvement. Steady improvement is the way to go. In fact, you may not see improvement for days or weeks. You may feel like you are failing each time. But alas, eventually you will get it and your skill will increase to the next level. The key is day in, day out, spending time working on improving. Even five minutes a day equals a half hour a week, 2 hours a month. That adds up! Remember, Practice, practice, practice.

Seek out and spend time with someone who has greater ability than you. One of the best things to do to increase your ability is hang out with people who are already more skilled than you. Watching, them, studying them, interacting with them, even competing with them will make you better. As in sports, to improve, you play with people better than you, not worse. They will raise you to a new level. Who around you can you get involved with who will help you with your ability?

Take a class or hire a coach. Go to school my friend. Take a course at a local college or vocational institute. Take a class online. Hire one of the many coaches available today. Pick a specific skill you would like to improve upon and find someone who is a specialist in that area. At the very least, pick up some audio or videotapes to help you grow.

Be the tortoise, not the hare. Slow but sure. Take your time, do it right. Keep going in the right direction. Learn your craft correctly. Don't give up quality for speed. The whole idea of acceleration is this way: Slow start, work up to high speeds, go the distance. Luckily life isn't a sprint but a marathon!

Hope these ideas help you as you commit to accelerating your abilities! -- Chris Widener

The Most Important Meetings You'll Ever Attend Are the Meetings You Have With Yourself

by Denis Waitley

You are your most important critic. There is no opinion so vitally important to your well being as the opinion you have of yourself. As you read this you're talking to yourself right now. "Let's see if I understand what he means by that… How does that compare with my experiences? – I'll make note of that – try that tomorrow – I already knew that… I already do that." I believe this self-talk, this psycholinguistics or language of the mind can be controlled to work for us, especially in the building of self-confidence and creativity. We're all talking to ourselves every moment of our lives, except during certain portions of our sleeping cycle. We're seldom even aware that we're doing it. We all have a running commentary in our heads on events and our reactions to them.

• Be aware of the silent conversation you have with yourself. Are you a nurturing coach or a critic? Do you reinforce your own success or negate it? Are you comfortable saying to yourself, "That´s more like it". "Now we're in the groove." "Things are working out well." "I am reaching my financial goals." "I'll do it better next time."

• When winners fail, they view it as a temporary inconvenience, a learning experience, an isolated event, and a stepping-stone instead of a stumbling block.

• When winners succeed, they reinforce that success, by feeling rewarded rather than guilty about the achievement and the applause.

• When winners are paid a compliment, they simply respond: "Thank you." They accept value graciously when it is paid. They pay value in their conversations with themselves and with other people.

A mark of an individual with healthy self-esteem is the ability to spend time alone, without constantly needing other people around. Being comfortable and enjoying solitary time reveals inner peace and centering. People who constantly need stimulation or conversation with others are often a bit insecure and thus need to be propped up by the company of others.

Always greet the people you meet with a smile. When introducing yourself in any new association, take the initiative to volunteer your own name first, clearly; and always extend your hand first, looking the person in the eyes when you speak.

In your telephone communications at work or at home, answer the telephone pleasantly, immediately giving your own name to the caller, before you ask who's calling. Whenever you initiate a call, always give your own name up front, before you ask for the party you want and before you state your business. Leading with your own name underscores that a person of value is making the call.

Don't brag. People who trumpet their exploits and shout for service are actually calling for help. The showoffs, braggarts and blowhards are desperate for attention.

Don't tell your problems to people, unless they're directly involved with the solutions. And don't make excuses. Successful people seek those who look and sound like success. Always talk affirmatively about the progress you are trying to make.

As we said earlier, find successful role models after whom you can pattern yourself. When you meet a mastermind, become a master mime, and learn all you can about how he or she succeeded. This is especially true with things you fear. Find someone who has conquered what you fear and learn from him or her.

When you make a mistake in life, or get ridiculed or rejected, look at mistakes as detours on the road to success, and view ridicule as ignorance. After a rejection, take a look at your BAG. B is for Blessings. Things you are endowed with that you often take for granted like life itself, health, living in an abundant country, family, friends, career. A is for accomplishments. Think of the many things you are proud of that you have done so far. And G is for Goals. Think of your big dreams and plans for the future that motivate you. If you took your BAG – blessings, accomplishments and goals – to a party, and spread them on the floor, in comparison to all your friends and the people you admire, you'd take your own bag home, realizing that you have as much going for yourself as anyone else. Always view rejection as part of one performance, not as a turndown of the performer.

And, enjoy those special meetings with yourself. Spend this Saturday doing something you really want to do. I don't mean next month or someday. This Saturday enjoy being alive and being able to do it. You deserve it. There will never be another you. This Saturday will be spent. Why not spend at least one day a week on You!

Action Idea: Go for one entire day and night without saying anything negative to yourself or to others. Make a game of it. If a friend or colleague catches you saying something negative, you must put ½ dollar in a drawer or container toward a dinner or evening out with that person. Do this for one month and see who has had to pay the most money toward the evening. -- Denis Waitley

Seeds of Greatness

Seeds of Honesty: Integrity is 24/7

If you have real, internal value, you don´t need a loud, expensive imitation.

It is not what you get that makes you successful, it is what you are continuing to do with what you´ve got.

Identify with excellence, put your name on your work, and both your work and name will stand the test of time.

It is not so much what the job gives you, it´s what you give to the job.

Give your best effort, because you are worth your best effort.

---

About the Author:
Denis Waitley has studied, counseled and trained leaders in virtually every field including Apollo astronauts, Olympic gold medalists, Super Bowl champions, returning POW's, heads of state and Fortune 500 top executives.

Denis is recognized as a world class speaker and author and has traveled the globe sharing success ideas and strategies to thousands of companies the past 25 years. To book Dr. Waitley to speak for your company or to be part of your upcoming Regional or National Convention send an email to speaker@deniswaitley.com or call 877-929-0439 and ask for Hilary.

PROCRASTINATION

by Denis Waitley

One of the best escapes from the prison of procrastination is to take even the smallest steps toward your goals. People usually procrastinate because of fear and lack of confidence and, ironically, become even more afraid when under the gun.

Experience has shown that when people go after one big goal at once, they invariably fail. If you had to swallow a twelve-ounce steak all at once, you'd choke. You have to cut the steak into small pieces, eating one bite at a time. So it is with prioritizing. Proactive goal achievement means taking every project and cutting it into bite-sized pieces. Each small task on the way to the ultimate goal becomes a mini-goal in itself. Using this method, the goal becomes manageable. When mini-mistakes are made, they are easy to correct. And with the achievement of each mini-goal, you receive reinforcement and motivation in the form of positive feedback. As basic as this sounds, much frustration and failure is caused when people try to "bite off more than they can chew," by taking on assignments with limited resources and impossible timeline expectations.

This week make your mantra: "By the inch it's a cinch, by the yard it's hard!" -- Denis Waitley

Four Strategies for a New Business

by Brian Tracy

There are four strategies you can use to find a new product or service to start or build your own business.

LOOK IN YOUR OWN FIELD

The first strategy is to find a new product or service in your own field or skills. You may have a million dollar idea in your own mind. Many people have had the experience of having an idea for a product or service nag at them over and over again, and you keep pushing it away or ignoring it. They say the average person has four ideas each year driving to and from work, any one of which would make them a millionaire if they would just follow it up. So look into your own field or skills. Look into your own mind. Look into your own ideas.

LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES WHEN YOU TRAVEL

The second strategy is to find a new product or service while you travel. Keep your eyes open for opportunities. A very good friend of mine who is now a multi-millionaire, started his fortune by traveling east and seeing a unique type of orange drink called Orange Julius and then getting the exclusive rights to sell it in a large Western city. From there, he expanded into other restaurants, into real estate, and into apartments. He developed a high positive cash flow from his Orange Julius business that made him a millionaire. Sometimes just finding a new product or service that is doing well somewhere else that hasn't come to your market area can make you wealthy.

GET THE RIGHTS TO SELL

IT Remember your objective, when you find a new product or service, is to acquire the rights to sell the product or service exclusively in your market area. Sometimes these rights are available for the asking. A gentleman I know named Peter Thomas got the rights for Century 21 to Canada simply by going to the offices and asking for them when Century 21 was a young company. From that, he turned Century 21 into one of the most successful real estate franchises in Canada. He is now worth millions of dollars, having taken the cash flow from Century 21 and channeled it into other real estate investments.

BE SURE IT IS ALREADY SUCCESSFUL

Sometimes just asking for the right to sell it in your market area is all you have to do. Here's the key, though. Before you bring a new product or service back to your market area, be absolutely sure that it sells well somewhere else. Many people advertise products outside their market area because they are not selling inside their market area, so make very sure that the product is selling well already in other markets.

DEVELOP A MONEY MAKING ATTITUDE

Strategy number three is to keep your eyes and ears open and alert to new business opportunities occurring around you. Develop a money-making attitude. A friend of mine became very successful by building commercial property across the street from a new shopping center that was being developed. The traffic from the shopping center made that commercial space extremely valuable. He opened two businesses in it, and started his fortune. So be alert to what is going on around you.

BE SURE YOU LIKE IT YOURSELF

And strategy number four is this. Remember you will only be successful marketing and selling something that you believe in, use yourself and would recommend to your best friend. Many times, I see people who make the critical mistake of trying to sell a product or service that they themselves would neither use nor afford, nor would they recommend to someone else, but they think that other people will buy it even though they wouldn't. So remember you must really, really believe it the product. You must be excited about the product. You must absolutely believe that this product can enhance the life or work of someone else and then be eager to tell them about it.

ACTION EXERCISES

First, develop a new business mentality. Continually look around you for new products and services that people need, want and are willing to pay for.

Second, develop a money making attitude. Look around you for opportunities to sell products or services that are not currently being offered, at either higher prices or in greater quantities. The possibilities are everywhere. -- Brian Tracy

Finding the Right Business Partner

by Robert Kiyosaki

One of the best pieces of business advice I ever got was "You can't do a good deal with a bad partner."

Having had many partners over the years, I can say that this statement holds true. So I thought I'd offer some personal experiences I've had with partners both good and bad.

All Play and No Pay

The first partner is a former CPA who does spectacular pro forma projections. His numbers on the future viability of a real estate project are always well laid out and convincing.

In fact, after first meeting him and his business partner, a Wall Street whiz kid, and looking at some photos of a property they were interested in and an architect's rendition of what it would look like upon completion, I was sold. I became their money partner.

So far I've done three deals with this pair, and to date, we haven't made a dime. The numbers still look neat and tidy every quarter, just the way a CPA should present the financials. The problem is in execution: The projects never finish on time or on budget. Something always goes wrong, and there's always some kind of drama -- problems with environmentalists, city planners, or banks.

Finally, after years of squabbling, his partner (the whiz kid) left the relationship. The projects of theirs that I invested in are still operating, but to date I haven't made any money on them.

A Complementary Relationship

The second partner is Ken McElroy, a writer and personal friend. My wife, Kim, and I have made the most money with Ken. There are several reasons why:

• We share the same investment philosophy.
We buy, improve, hold, and refinance. We generally don't like selling our properties.

• His expertise makes up for gaps in mine.
Ken owns the largest property management company in the Southwest, and his partner, Ross, is a real estate developer. Both men have nearly 20 years of experience in their respective fields. Because of Ken's years as a property manager, he has the experience and skill to evaluate the value of an existing property. And Ross has the know-how to bring the reconstruction of properties in on time and often under budget.

• We adhere to the same strategy.
Ken, Ross, Kim, and I like to put our money in, improve a property, bring in better tenants at increased rents, reappraise the property, and then borrow our money out and move the equity on to the next property. We then repeat the process.

A Near-Infinite Return

For example, we put approximately $2.5 million into a $9 million, 300-unit apartment house, and secured a construction loan to improve the property. A year later, due to attracting better tenants at higher rents and a lower vacancy rate, the property was appraised at $14 million.

With the higher appraisal, we refinanced the property with a new loan at a better interest rate, and were able to take out $4 million tax-free. The money is tax-free because it's a loan, not profit. The debt service -- the monthly mortgage payment -- is paid for by the tenants.

With this investment strategy, our ROI is practically infinite. We have no money in the investment, yet we collect a monthly cash flow and still have control over the property. To me, this is better than buying a property, selling it, and having to pay taxes on our gains -- or be in a rush to buy a new property just to avoid capital gains taxes via a 1031 tax-deferred exchange.

(A 1031 tax-deferred exchange gives sellers a certain number of days to move money from a sale into another property and defer paying taxes on the gains. The process is more complicated than it sounds, which is why I strongly recommend using an exchange agent to guide and assist you in the process. Most real estate brokers can recommend an exchange agent if you live in the United States; other countries have different rules.)

Lip Service

Finding a great partner like Ken is similar to finding a great husband or wife -- you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find the prince or princess of your dreams. I don't know of a magic formula other than to keep kissing.

My rich dad often said to me, "You need to be a good partner if you want to find a good partner." Obviously, this is as true in business as it is in love. In my opinion, the best way to begin is by looking in the mirror and asking yourself, "What do I bring to the table? Am I the kind of person I would want to do business with?" It's important to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses honestly.

One of the reasons Ken, Ross, Kim and I do so well together is because we all love real estate; we complement each other in terms of our individual strengths and weakness; and we're all adept at raising money. We make a good team because there's synergy between us, and synergy is money.

A Way Out

My most important partner is my wife, to whom I've been married for nearly 21 years. When Kim and I first met, I was deep in debt from a disastrous business partnership. Regardless, on our first date I asked her, "Do you have a problem with being rich?" It's tough to get rich if your partner doesn't share that goal, and I would never have become rich without her.

That brings me to my next point: All partnerships should have an exit strategy. My partner Donald Trump says that married couples should always have a prenuptial agreement. True, a prenuptial is important if one partner is much richer than the other before marriage, but Kim and I don't have one. Instead, we have our own corporations that we control independently.

Still, Donald is right: The best time to think of an exit strategy is before becoming partners -- that is, after you've kissed a few frogs and have found your ideal business companion. But remember: They sometimes turn back into frogs, and you can't do a good deal with a frog. -- Robert Kiyosaki

Thinking with Charlie "Tremendous" Jones

• People who know the most, know they know so little, while people who know nothing want to take all day to tell you.

• Self-improvement can be harmful if you are doing it to look better. If you live your life in helping others look better, you'll be better without trying.

• If you give to get something, you're not really giving you are trading. Giving is never to get, because you have it and are not aware of how much you have until you give.

• Big people are always giving someone credit and taking blame; little people are always seeking credit and giving blame.

• Don't worry about having to make a right decision. Make it and then work to make it right.

• An attitude of gratitude flavors everything you do. Learning to be thankful is the golden thread woven through every truly successful life.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
"The guy says, 'When you work where I work, by the time you get home, it's late. You've got to have a bite to eat, watch a little TV, relax and get to bed. You can't sit up half the night planning, planning, planning.' And he's the same guy who is behind on his car payment!" ---Jim Rohn

"The ultimate reason for setting goals is to entice you to become the person it takes to achieve them." ---Jim Rohn

"The reason why most people face the future with apprehension instead of anticipation is because they don't have it well designed." ---Jim Rohn
___________________________________________________________________________________________

To learn more about Charlie "Tremendous" Jones or his books go to http://ctj.jimrohn.com

Vitamins for the Mind

by Jim Rohn

LEADERSHIP

Leaders, whether in the family, in business, in government, or in education, must not allow themselves to mistake intentions for accomplishments.

Managers help people to see themselves as they are. Leaders help people to see themselves better than they are.

Leaders must not be naive. I used to say, "Liars shouldn't lie." What a sad waste of words that is! I found out liars are supposed to lie. That's why we call them liars -- they lie! What else would you expect them to do?

We must learn to help those who deserve it, not just those who need it. Life responds to deserve not need.

My mentor said, "Let's go do it," not "You go do it." How powerful when someone says, "Let's"!

Leaders must understand that some people will inevitably sellout to the evil side. Don't waste your time wondering why; spend your time discovering who.

When dealing with people, I generally take the obvious approach. When someone says, "This always happens to me and that always happens to me. Why do these things always happen to me?" I simply say, "Beats me. I don't know. All I know is that those kinds of things seem to happen to people like you."

We could all use a little coaching. When you're playing the game, it's hard to think of everything.

A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better.

As a leader you should always start with where people are before you try to take them to where you want them to go.

"The ultimate reason for setting goals is to entice you to become the person it takes to achieve them." ---Jim Rohn

From Making a Living to Creating a Lifestyle

by Jim Rohn
(excerpted from the Day That Turns Your Life Around)

"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they may have planned for you? Not much." --- Jim Rohn

After having struggled for so long, it took a shift in attitude for my family and me when success started to happen. When I started making a little extra money at age 25, Shoaff taught me to also let it serve as a new inspiration for lifestyle. To take my family to dinner after I'd had 2 or 3 pretty good weeks and it looked like it was going to continue. I would say, "Today we get to order from only the left hand side of the menu, we don't have to look at the right hand side". Didn't cost much, just a little extra. But you can't believe the effect on the family, wow, that these are new days.

It's called changing your life as well as changing your skills and earning more money. It's best to invest some of that early money in lifestyle. Go to the movies. Take two vacations instead of one. Just some little extra things that now the family gets inspired by this new commitment to earning more and becoming more and learning more, taking some night classes, whatever you have to do. Now you make it more worthwhile for the family by thinking of lifestyle changes that now become very exciting. Go to the concerts. My parents said don't miss anything. Don't miss the play, the music, the songs, the performances, the movie - whatever is happening.

When I started making some extra money I opened up an account for my wife and I called it the "No Questions Asked Account". I said, "here is the checkbook for a new account and it's called no questions asked". I'll just keep putting money in there and you spend it for whatever you wish. It was life changing. It wasn't a fortune. But she didn't have to ask for money any more. I could sense that it was a little embarrassing at times when she had to ask me for money. I thought, that's not good, so the first time I get a chance, here's what I'm going to do. And sure enough, I did it. The "No Questions Asked Account". You can't believe what that did. It was absolutely amazing.

With that little extra money, work at creating lifestyle. Social friendships, church, community, country. All those things that make a composite of our overall life. Start furnishing that with new vigor, vitality, money, whatever it takes to expand your life into what I call the good life as well as economics.

And it doesn't always take a lot of money. How much is a movie? Even for a person of modest means. $8 or $10? It might cost $60 million to make it and it only costs $8 to see it.

When I discovered those kinds of concepts at age 25 you can imagine it was hard for me to sleep nights that first year. I got so excited about changing everything. And one discipline leads to another. One change leads to another. Feeling good about yourself and starting to make the turn to do something you've never done before, then it starts to work, wow, and then you get excited about changing other areas of your life as well.

Now after you have made your fortune, the money and extravagance might not seem as big a deal. And fortunately you can then create even more powerful opportunities, in particular, opportunities for benevolence, philanthropy and giving.

Now I'm certainly not saying to focus only on external pleasures and rewards. Your relationships, health and spirituality are all of more consequence.

But in the beginning, when the rewards of your hard work begin paying off, make sure and treat yourself and those closest to you to a new world of lifestyle and celebrations.

To Your Success,
Jim Rohn

The Last Word...

by Chris Widener

Most people think that failure is bad and success is good. I want to help you change your thinking about that if you fall into that category. I will give you that failure isn't fun and success is, but I think the following is true: Both failure and success are good... if you know what their specific purpose is.

Of course we know that success is good, but why? Success is good because it confirms things for us.

Success confirms our plans.
Success confirms our decisions.
Success confirms our resources.
Success confirms our strategies.
Success confirms our hunches.
Success confirms our teamwork.
Success confirms our risks.
Success confirms a lot of things!

So when you are successful, ask yourself the following question: What does this success confirm in my mind?

Now, what about failure? What is the role of failure and how in the world can it be GOOD? Failure's role is to teach us. We learn from failure.

Failure teaches us that we need to change our plans.
Failure teaches us that we need to change our decisions.
Failure teaches us that we need to change our resources.
Failure teaches us that we need to change our strategies.
Failure teaches us that we need to change our hunches.
Failure teaches us that we need to change our teamwork.
Failure teaches us that we need to change our risks.
Failure teaches us that we need to change a lot of things!

But at least now we know one more thing that won't work! With every failure, we learn one more way we can abandon and focus in on what may be the correct way in the future! When we look at it that way, we set ourselves up for a powerfully successful future! So when you fail, ask yourself this question: What does this failure teach me? Remember, Success and Failure are both good. They can both be your friend... If you know what role they are to play in your life. Learn From Failure and Confirm with Success. -- CW

Made for Success Quote

"The best ad is a good product." -- Alan H. Meyer


Chris' Commentary:

Why is it that some products succeed wildly while others languish and are even discontinued? This even when their companies spend the same amount on advertising? It is because one product is good and the other isn't and people who use them pass that information along. The same is true in our lives. We can tell people we are good at what we do until we are blue in the face but the true test for them is what kind of product (whether that is who we are, what we do, or what we make or sell) we produce. And it is what kind of product we produce that they will pass on. So if we want to succeed, it is better to produce a good product than merely tell people we can.

Action Point: Take some time today to give some thought to this question: Is the quality of my "product" the same as what I tell people it is? If it isn't, write down three steps you can take within one week to improve your product.

Start with the Basics

by Chris Widener

So the other day I was at the club getting ready to go work out, and I was standing in the row of lockers talking to another guy. I heard a couple of kids come in behind me, but didn't turn around. It is obvious from their conversation that they were about five and three years old and they were going to go swimming.

Suddenly the older boy says to the younger one in a scolding voice, "Joey, you have to take your shoes off before you take your pants off." I turned around and there is this three-year old sitting on the ground, trying to take his pants off over these huge waffle-stomper boots!

The guy I was talking to said, "That is good basic life instruction!"

I said, "I'm gonna use that for an article someday."

Indeed: Always take your shoes off before you take your pants off. It made me think about how we often try to get so sophisticated in our quest for success and personal growth but isn't it really true that all success begins with the basics? In fact, perhaps the struggles we have are because we have gotten away from the basics. With that in mind I gave some thought to the basics in a few areas. Here they are.

Business
- Always produce a good product
- Be honest
- Under-promise and over-deliver
- Help people and money will come
- Pay your people well

Family
- Put them first as they will be with you last
- Treat your spouse like they are the most important person in the world - they are!
- Give your kids more time than even you think that you should
- Be sure to discipline your kids - they need boundaries
- Take the time to create family memories
- Travel as far and spend as much money as you need to make it home for special occasions - in the long run you'll be glad you did

Relationships
- Treat people the way you want to be treated
- Don't speak ill of others
- Always help if you can when others are in need
- Find ways to make others feel special
- Always tell others what you like or appreciate about them

Health
- Significantly lower your intake of "junk"
- Exercise more, even if it is just a short daily walk
- Drop the bad habits, like alcohol and cigarettes
- Eat more fruits and vegetables

Finances
- Eliminate debt - be ruthless about this
- Take a look at where you are currently spending
- Tighten up on (or cut out) the loose stuff in your budget
- Save some money each month
-Give some money away to charity each month

Spirituality
- Pray regularly
- Trust God, even when it seems hard
- Live what you say you believe
- Get involved in a community of faith

Emotions
- Take an inventory of your emotional health
- Work to control extremes in any emotion (emotions are good when they help to feel what we are supposed to feel, but destructive when they get to extremes)
- Allow yourself to feel emotions you have suppressed

If this list seems a little overwhelming, pick a few items you feel will make the most difference and focus on those basics!

Made for Success Quote

Paul Thomas Mann

"I have always been an admirer. I regard the gift of admiration as indispensable if one is to amount to something; I don't know where I would be without it." -- Thomas Mann

Chris' Commentary:

In many ways we become what we admire. We look at something and roll it around in our minds as something good and then try to emulate it and it draws us to become like it (or them). We can admire a character trait, a skill, or a person. Sometimes we have to purpose to admire. Sometimes those traits or people who are most worthy of admiration are not those we would think of at first. Rather, we tend to be drawn to celebrity or panache. If we truly want to achieve balanced success in this life, we would be well off to find people who are truly deserving of our admiration. Then, as we admire them, we can have our lives shaped by that which we long to become.

Action Point: Find someone today who you haven't necessarily admired in the past. Think about those things in his or her life that are admirable. Then decide to work on those things in your own life. And if you want to double your blessing, tell that person what you admire about them!

The Power in Praising People

by Chris Widener

One of the keys to success is to have successful relationships. We are not islands and we don't get to the top by ourselves. And one of the key ways to grow successful in our relationships is to be "life-giving" people to others. Every person we meet, we either give life to or take life from. You know what I mean. There are people who encourage you and when you are done being with them you feel built up. Then there are others who you feel torn down by. Successful people are people who have mastered the art of building others up.

One of the ways we build people up is to praise them. There is power in praising people! Something begins to happen in them, in you, and in your relationship when you praise someone. Remember a time when someone told you something about yourself in a praising manner? It was great, wasn't it? You probably liked that person more after they praised you, didn't you?

Now I am not talking about praising people for the sake of praising people. I am talking about honestly looking for and praising positive character traits and action of others around you. Don't lie to people. If they have done something wrong, correct it, but when they do something right, Praise it!

With that said, here are benefits of and ways to start praising people.

Benefits

Your relationship grows. Life is about relationships. Family relationships, friends, and co-workers. When we begin to praise people for their positive aspects, our relationships grow. It puts them, and us, on the fast track. Your leadership and influence grows. Who is going to have greater leadership and influence capacity in the lives of their followers, the one who tears down or the one who builds up?

Stronger relationships and loyalty. When the person is appreciated and praised, they become fiercely loyal, because they know that you care for them, love them, and appreciate them. This will take you to success.

Happier, more fulfilled people. I truly believe it is our job to build others up and that they need it. It is a good thing, in and of itself to invest in the lives of others by praising and encouraging them. Even if we never get anything in return, it is the right thing to do to build up other people. Someone else will always come along to tear them down; the successful person will instill in them the power of praise!

Some ways to praise

Character traits. Is there someone you know who is joyful? Hard-working? Honest? Then let them know how much you appreciate that in them. You can do it with a word or a card, or a phone call. Say something like this, "You know Tom, I think it is great that you are such a hard-worker. It seems like you are always the first one here and the last one to leave. You really set a good example and I want you to know how much I appreciate that." Simple!

Action

Same idea as above. "Sue, I don't know if anybody else has told you this, but your work on the Johnson account was excellent. You have a wonderful ability to communicate the vision of the project and that helps all of the rest of us out in our roles and tasks. Thanks for that. It is greatly appreciated."

Other ways you can show praise and appreciation is with a card, a gift, or time off from work.

Make it your goal to praise at least five people a day. If you can, praise ten people a day. Or perhaps you can try to praise everyone you come in contact with. It will take work but it is possible. It just takes discipline and a little work.

Any way you cut it though, there is power in praising people. First for them, then for you! -- Chris Widener

Seeds of Greatness

by Denis Waitley

Love: The Greatest Four-letter Word

L - is for Listen. To love someone is to listen unconditionally to his or her values and needs without prejudice.

O - is for Overlook. To love someone is to overlook the flaws and faults in favor of looking for the good.

V - is for Voice. To love someone is to voice your approval on a regular basis. There is no substitute for honest encouragement, positive strokes and praise.

E - is for Effort. To love someone is to make a constant effort to spend the time, to make the sacrifice, to show your interest.

As Tall as You Want to Be

by Dr. Denis Waitley

When he was two years old, this adopted child of two college professors suddenly and inexplicably stopped growing, and his health started to fail. A team of doctors gave him six months to live after they diagnosed him as suffering from a rare disease that inhibits digestion and nutrients in food. Intravenous feedings of vitamins and supplements allowed him to regain his strength, but his growth was permanently stunted.

Confined to hospitals for long periods of time, until the age of nine, he quietly plotted his revenge on the kids who taunted him and called him "peanut."

He recalled many years later that subconsciously "the whole experience made me want to succeed at something athletic." Sometimes his sister, Susan, went ice skating at the local rink, and he would go along to watch. There he stood, a frail, undergrown kid, with a feeding tube inserted through his nose and down into his stomach. When he wasn't using it, one end of the tube was taped behind his ear.

One day, as he watched his sister whirl around the ice, he turned to his parents and said, "You know, I think I'd like to try ice skating." Talk about two adults, looking at their life-threatened child, with glances that were beyond belief!

Well, he tried it and he loved it, and he went at it with a passion. Here was something fun at which he could excel, where height and weight weren't important.

During his medical checkup the following year, the doctors were startled to discover that he had actually started growing again. It was too late for him to reach normal size, but neither he nor his family cared. He was recovering and succeeding. He believed in his dream, although he had little else to hang on to.

None of the kids taunt him and tease him today. Instead, they all cheer and rush to get his autograph. He has completed numerous dazzling performances on the world professional ice skating tour, including long strings of triple jumps, complicated maneuvers, and athletic moves, capped off with a racing front flip that brings him to a sudden stop inches from the audience. Although he has retired from professional skating, he remains a coach, mentor and commentator revered by everyone in winter sports.

At five feet three inches and 115 pounds of pure muscle and electrifying energy, former Olympic gold medal figure skating champion, Scott Hamilton stands as tall and as proud as any winner. Scott's size didn't limit his faith and reach. Don't let doubts and critics limit yours. This doesn't mean that you'll close almost every sale or get promoted in record time. Scott Hamilton certainly didn't hit every triple-axle jump he ever attempted, especially during the initial learning phase. Success in developing any skill requires a basic trust in your ability that should never be allowed to waver.

You can stand tall, no matter how small! -- Denis Waitley

Be Generous This Week and Beyond!

I've always viewed money as transportation or a library card. It should be employed rather than hoarded. A great deal of money is not necessarily a blessing; the lack of it is not necessarily a curse. Certainly, it is easier to have a wholesome abundance than not. It is better for humankind to have enough for daily needs, plus a little for comfort, culture, hospitality and for charity.

Extreme poverty and extreme wealth often have equally negative effects on human nature and society. The destitute have no money for their needs, much less creature comforts. They can't give to others. The very rich are sometimes no better off. Some purposefully neglect the comforts of home and family. Think of the recluse multi-millionaire, Howard Hughes – he denied himself even food and proper medical care. There are wealthy individuals who never give a dime to charity and who are disdainful of others less fortunate than themselves. They hide behind a shallow veil of conceit.

Wealth is truly a source of happiness when it is used to improve society and the planet. What you are doing with what you have is much more important than having the Midas touch. To quote the indomitable Dolly Levi, the wise matchmaker in the musical Hello, Dolly: "Money is like manure. It doesn't do anybody any good until you spread it around!" -- Denis Waitley

Seeds of Greatness

by Denis Waitley

Seeds of Optimism: The Biology of Hope
(These quotes were taken from Denis Waitley's Excerpts from The Seeds of Greatness Treasury booklet)

Life is a self-fulfilling prophecy. You may not get what you want, but in the long run you will get what you expect.

A good life is a collection of happy memories.

The good old days are here and now!

Happiness is the experience of living a life you feel is worthwhile.

To be enthused is to be infused with life!

Accept yourself as you are right now; an imperfect, changing, growing and worthy person.

You are a masterpiece of creation.

Each human being on earth has equal rights to fulfill his or her own potential.

You are an uncut gemstone of priceless value. Cut and polish your potential with knowledge, skills and service and you will be in great demand throughout your life.

View stumbling blocks as stepping stones to the stars.

Optimism creates energy and is contagious.

The Formula for Failure and Success

by Jim Rohn

Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. We do not fail overnight. Failure is the inevitable result of an accumulation of poor thinking and poor choices. To put it more simply, failure is nothing more than a few errors in judgment repeated every day.

Now why would someone make an error in judgment and then be so foolish as to repeat it every day? The answer is because he or she does not think that it matters.

On their own, our daily acts do not seem that important. A minor oversight, a poor decision, or a wasted hour generally doesn't result in an instant and measurable impact. More often than not, we escape from any immediate consequences of our deeds.

If we have not bothered to read a single book in the past ninety days, this lack of discipline does not seem to have any immediate impact on our lives. And since nothing drastic happened to us after the first ninety days, we repeat this error in judgment for another ninety days, and on and on it goes. Why? Because it doesn't seem to matter. And herein lies the great danger. Far worse than not reading the books is not even realizing that it matters!

Those who eat too many of the wrong foods are contributing to a future health problem, but the joy of the moment overshadows the consequence of the future. It does not seem to matter. Those who smoke too much or drink too much go on making these poor choices year after year after year... because it doesn't seem to matter. But the pain and regret of these errors in judgment have only been delayed for a future time. Consequences are seldom instant; instead, they accumulate until the inevitable day of reckoning finally arrives and the price must be paid for our poor choices - choices that didn't seem to matter.

Failure's most dangerous attribute is its subtlety. In the short term those little errors don't seem to make any difference. We do not seem to be failing. In fact, sometimes these accumulated errors in judgment occur throughout a period of great joy and prosperity in our lives. Since nothing terrible happens to us, since there are no instant consequences to capture our attention, we simply drift from one day to the next, repeating the errors, thinking the wrong thoughts, listening to the wrong voices and making the wrong choices. The sky did not fall in on us yesterday; therefore the act was probably harmless. Since it seemed to have no measurable consequence, it is probably safe to repeat.

But we must become better educated than that!

If at the end of the day when we made our first error in judgment the sky had fallen in on us, we undoubtedly would have taken immediate steps to ensure that the act would never be repeated again. Like the child who places his hand on a hot burner despite his parents' warnings, we would have had an instantaneous experience accompanying our error in judgment.

Unfortunately, failure does not shout out its warnings as our parents once did. This is why it is imperative to refine our philosophy in order to be able to make better choices. With a powerful, personal philosophy guiding our every step, we become more aware of our errors in judgment and more aware that each error really does matter.

Now here is the great news. Just like the formula for failure, the formula for success is easy to follow: It's a few simple disciplines practiced every day.

Now here is an interesting question worth pondering: How can we change the errors in the formula for failure into the disciplines required in the formula for success? The answer is by making the future an important part of our current philosophy.

Both success and failure involve future consequences, namely the inevitable rewards or unavoidable regrets resulting from past activities. If this is true, why don't more people take time to ponder the future? The answer is simple: They are so caught up in the current moment that it doesn't seem to matter. The problems and the rewards of today are so absorbing to some human beings that they never pause long enough to think about tomorrow.

But what if we did develop a new discipline to take just a few minutes every day to look a little further down the road? We would then be able to foresee the impending consequences of our current conduct. Armed with that valuable information, we would be able to take the necessary action to change our errors into new success-oriented disciplines. In other words, by disciplining
ourselves to see the future in advance, we would be able to change our thinking, amend our errors and develop new habits to replace the old.

One of the exciting things about the formula for success - a few simple disciplines practiced every day - is that the results are almost immediate. As we voluntarily change daily errors into daily disciplines, we experience positive results in a very short period of time. When we change our diet, our health improves noticeably in just a few weeks. When we start exercising, we feel a new vitality almost immediately. When we begin reading, we experience a growing awareness and a new level of self-confidence. Whatever new discipline we begin to practice daily will produce exciting results that will drive us to become even better at developing new disciplines.

The real magic of new disciplines is that they will cause us to amend our thinking. If we were to start today to read the books, keep a journal, attend the classes, listen more and observe more, then today would be the first day of a new life leading to a better future. If we were to start today to try harder, and in every way make a conscious and consistent effort to change subtle and deadly errors into constructive and rewarding disciplines, we would never again settle for a life of existence – not once we have tasted the fruits of a life of substance!

To Your Success,
Jim Rohn

Seeds of Greatness

by Denis Waitley

Being Self-Reliant

To be self-reliant adults, we need to set some guidelines:

• Be different, if it means higher personal and professional standards.
• Be different, if it means being more gracious and considerate to others.
• Be different, if it means being cleaner, neater and better groomed than the group.
• Be different, if it means putting more time and effort into all you do.
• And be different, if it means taking the calculated risk.
  

The greatest risk in life is to wait for and depend upon others for your own security.

The greatest security is to plan and act, and take the risk that will ultimately ensure your personal freedom and independence.

From Motivation to Motive-Action

by Denis Waitley

With the current times, each of us needs to understand the magnitude of social and economic change in the world. In the past, change in business and social life was incremental and a set of personal strategies for achieving excellence was not required. Today, in the knowledge-based world, where change is the rule, a set of personal strategies is essential for success, even survival. Never again will you be able to go to your place of business on autopilot, comfortable and secure that the organization, state or government will provide for and look after you. You must look in the mirror when you ask who is responsible for your success or failure. You must become a lifelong learner and leader, for to be a follower is to fall hopelessly behind the pace of progress. The power brokers in the new global arena will be the knowledge facilitators. Ignorance will be even more the tyrant and enslaver than in the past. As you look in the mirror to see the 21st Century you, there will also be another image standing beside you. It is your competition. Your competition, from now on, will be a hungry immigrant with a wireless, hand-held, digital assistant. Hungry for food, hungry for a home, for a new car, for security, for a college education. Hungry for knowledge. Smart, quick thinking, skilled and willing to do anything necessary to be competitive in the world marketplace. Working long hours and Saturdays, staying open later, serving customers better and more cheerfully. To be a player in the 21st Century you have to be willing to give more in service than you receive in payment.

These are the new rules in the game of life. These are the actions you must take to be a leader and a winner in your personal and professional life. By mastering these profoundly simple action steps, you will be positioned to be a change master in the new century.

Action Step Number One - Consider Yourself Self-Employed, But Be a Team Player. What this means is that you are your own Chief Executive Officer of your future. Start thinking of yourself as a service company with a single employee. You're a small company that puts your services to work for a larger company. Tomorrow you may sell those services to a different organization, but that doesn't mean you're any less loyal to your current employer. Taking responsibility for yourself in this way does mean that you never equate your personal long-term interests with your employer's.

The first idea is resolving not to suffer the fate of those who lost their jobs and found their skills were obsolete. The second is to begin immediately the process of protecting yourself against that possibility – by becoming proactive instead of reactive.

Ask yourself these questions:

How vulnerable am I? What trends must I watch? What information must I gain? What knowledge do I lack?

Again, think of yourself as a company. Set up a training department in your mind and make certain your top employee is updating his or her skills. Make sure you have your own private pension plan, knowing that you are responsible for your own financial security.

Entrusting the government or an employer, other than yourself, with your retirement income is like hiring a compulsive gambler as your accountant.

You're the CEO of your daily life who must have the vision to set your goals and allocate your resources. The mindset of being responsible for your own future used to be crucial only to the self-employed, but it has become essential for us all. Today's typical employees are no longer one-career people. Most will have five separate careers in their lifetimes. Remember, your competition is a hungry immigrant with a laptop. Action Step Number One is to consider yourself to be self-employed, but be a team player.

Action Step Number Two - Be Flexible in the Face of Daily Surprises. We live in a time-starved, overstressed, violent society. Much of our over-reaction to what happens to us every day is a result of our self-indulgent value system, where we blame others for our problems, look to organizations or the government for our solutions, thirst for immediate sensual gratification and believe we should have privileges without responsibilities. This condition is manifested in the high crime rate and in the increase in violence in the work place where employees blame their managers for threatening their security.

I have learned how to be flexible in the face of daily surprises, which is one of the most important action traits for a leader. I really haven't been angry for about 17 years. During that time, no one has tried to physically harm me or someone close to me. I've learned to adapt to stress in life and reserve my fear or anger for imminently physically dangerous situations. I rarely, if ever, get upset with what people say, do or don't do, even if it inconveniences me. I do react emotionally when I see someone physically or emotionally abusing or victimizing another. But I've learned not to sweat the small stuff.

The Serenity Prayer, "Grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference.’, is a valuable measuring tool we can apply to our lives. Simple yet profound words to live by. -- Denis Waitley

About The Author:
Denis Waitley has studied, counseled and trained leaders in virtually every field including Apollo astronauts, Olympic gold medalists, Super Bowl champions, returning POW's, heads of state and Fortune 500 top executives.
Denis is recognized as a world class speaker and author and has traveled the globe sharing success ideas and strategies to thousands of companies the past 25 years. To book Dr. Waitley to speak for your company or to be part of your upcoming Regional or National Convention send an email to speaker@deniswaitley.com or call 877-929-0439 and ask for Hilary.

Vitamins for the Mind

by Jim Rohn

"Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune." ---Jim Rohn

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

Don't become a victim of yourself. Forget about the thief waiting in the alley; what about the thief in your mind?

It is not what happens that determines the major part of your future. What happens, happens to us all. It is what you do about what happens that counts.

You say, "The country is messed up." That's like cursing the soil and the seed and the sunshine and the rain, which is all you've got. Don't curse all you've got. When you get your own planet, you can rearrange this whole deal. This one you've got to take like it comes.

Walk away from the 97% crowd. Don't use their excuses. Take charge of your own life.

Take advice, but not orders. Only give yourself orders. Abraham Lincoln once said, "Since I will be no one's slave, I will be no one's master."

You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of. You don't have charge of the constellations, but you do have charge of whether you read, develop new skills, and take new classes.

Your paycheck is not your employer's responsibility; it's your responsibility. Your employer has no control over your value, but you do.

Doing the Remarkable

by Jim Rohn

When it comes to meeting and conquering the negativity in your life, here is a key question: what can you do, starting today, that will make a difference? What can you do during economic chaos? What can you do when everything has gone wrong? What can you do when you've run out of money, when you don't feel well and it's all gone sour? What can you do?

Let me give you the broad answer first. You can do the most remarkable things, no matter what happens. People can do incredible things, unbelievable things, despite the most impossible or disastrous circumstances.

Here is why humans can do remarkable things: because they are remarkable. Humans are different than any other creation. When a dog starts with weeds, he winds up with weeds. And the reason is because he's a dog. But that's not true with human beings. Humans can turn weeds into gardens.

Humans can turn nothing into something, pennies into fortune, and disaster into success. And the reason they can do such remarkable things is because they are remarkable. Try reaching down inside of yourself; you'll come up with some more of those remarkable human gifts. They're there, waiting to be discovered and employed.

With those gifts, you can change anything for yourself that you wish to change. And I challenge you to do that because you can change. If you don't like how something is going for you, change it. If something isn't enough, change it. If something doesn't suit you; change it. If something doesn't please you, change it. You don't ever have to be the same after today. If you don't like your present address, change it — you're not a tree!

If there is one thing to get excited about, it's your ability to make yourself do the necessary things, to get a desired result, to turn the negative into success. That's true excitement.

To Your Success,
Jim Rohn

The Ant Philosophy

by Jim Rohn

"We must learn to apply all that we know so that we can attract all that we want." ---Jim Rohn

Over the years I taught children about a simple but powerful concept - the ant philosophy. I think everybody should study ants. They have an amazing four-part philosophy, and here is the first part: ants never quit. That's a good philosophy. If they're headed somewhere and you try to stop them; they'll look for another way. They'll climb over, they'll climb under, and they'll climb around. They keep looking for another way. What a neat philosophy, to never quit looking for a way to get where you're supposed to go.

Second, ants think winter all summer. That's an important perspective. You can't be so naive as to think summer will last forever. So ants are gathering in their winter food in the middle of summer.

An ancient story says, "Don't build your house on the sand in the summer." Why do we need that advice? Because it is important to be realistic. In the summer, you've got to think storm. You've got to think rocks as you enjoy the sand and sun. Think ahead.

The third part of the ant philosophy is that ants think summer all winter. That is so important. During the winter, ants remind themselves, "This won't last long; we'll soon be out of here." And the first warm day, the ants are out. If it turns cold again, they'll dive back down, but then they come out the first warm day. They can't wait to get out.

And here's the last part of the ant philosophy. How much will an ant gather during the summer to prepare for the winter? All he possibly can. What an incredible philosophy, the "all-you-possibly-can" philosophy.

Wow, what a great seminar to attend - the ant seminar. Never give up, look ahead, stay positive and do all you can.

To Your Success,
Jim Rohn

Four Steps to Success!

by Jim Rohn

Let me pass on to you these four simple steps to success:

Number one is good ideas. Be a collector of good ideas. My mentor taught me to keep a journal when I was twenty five years old. I've been doing it now all these years. They will be passed on to my children and my grandchildren. If you hear a good health idea, capture it, write it down. Don't trust your memory. Then on a cold wintry evening, go back through your journal, the ideas that changed your life, the ideas that saved your marriage, the ideas that bailed you out of bankruptcy, the ideas that helped you become successful, the ideas that made you millions. What a good review. Going back over the collection of ideas that you gathered over the years. So be a collector of good ideas for your business, for your relationships, for your future.

The next step to success is to have good plans. A good plan for the day, a good plan for the future, a good health plan, a good plan for your marriage. Building anything is like building a house, you need to have a plan. Now here is a good time management question: When should you start the day? Answer: As soon as you have it finished. It is like building a house, building a life. What if you just started laying bricks and somebody asks, "What are you building?" And you say, "I have no idea." See they would come and take you away to a safe place. So, don't start the house until you finish it. Now, is it possible to finish the house before you start it? Yes, but it would be foolish to start before you had it finished. Not a bad time management idea. Don't start the day until it is pretty well finished -- at least the outline of the day. Leave some room to improvise. Leave some room for extra strategies, but finish it before you start it.

And here is the next piece that is a little more challenging: Do not start the week until you have it finished. Lay it out, structure it, then put it to work. Then the next one is a little tougher yet; do not start the month until you have it finished.

And finally the big one, don't start the year until it is finished on paper. It's not a bad idea, toward the end of the year, to sit down with your family for the family structure plans, sit down in your business for the business plans, sit down with your financial advisor for your investments and map out the year... properties to buy, properties to sell, places to go with your family, lay out the year. I finally learned to do that. It was also helpful for my family to show them where they appeared on my calendar. You know I used to have my business things on there and I used to have my lectures and my seminars all laid out on my calendar, and guess what the children said, "Where are we on the game plan, please show us our names on the game plan." So you need to do it for your children, for your spouse, for your friends.

Now, here is the third step to success, and it can be really challenging. Learning to handle the passing of time. It takes time to build a career, it takes time to make changes, so give your project time, give your people time. If you're working with people, give them time to learn, grow, change, develop, produce. And here is the big one, give yourself time. It takes time to master something new. It takes time to make altered changes and refinement in philosophy as well as activity. Give yourself time to learn, time to get it, time to start some momentum, time to finally achieve. It is easy to be impatient with yourself. I remember when I first tried to learn to tie my shoes. The shoe strings, it seemed like it would take me forever. Finally I got it and it didn't take forever, but it seemed like for a while I'd never learn, I'd get it backwards; the bow goes up and down instead of across. How do I straighten that out? Finally I got it, it just took time.

Mama taught me a little bit about playing the piano. "Here is the left hand scale", she'd say. I got that, it was easy. Then she said, "Here is the right hand scale." I got that, that was easy. Now she said, "We are going to play both hands at the same time." I said, "Well, how can you do that?" Now one at a time was easy... but at the same time? Looking at this hand and looking at that hand, finally I got it. Finally I got where I could play the scales with both hands. Then I remember the day she said, "Now we are going to read the music and play with both hands." I thought, "You can't do all that." But you know, sure enough I'm looking at the music, looking at each hand, a little confused at first, but finally I mastered it. It took a little time to read the music and play with both hands. Then I remember the day she said, "Now we are going to watch the audience, read the music and play with both hands. I thought, "Now that is going too far!" How could you possibly do that? But see adding them one at a time and giving myself time to master one before we went to the next one; sure enough I got to where I could watch the audience, read the music and play with both hands. So the lesson here is: Give yourself time, you can become a better pro, you can better master the art of parenting, you can better master the art of managing time, conserving resources, working together as a partner. Give yourself time.

And here's the last one; learning to solve problems. Business problems, family problems, financial problems, emotional problems, etc. -- challenges for us all. Here's the best way to treat a problem: As an opportunity to grow. Change if you have to, modify if you must, discard an old philosophy that wasn't working well for a new one. The best phrase my mentor ever gave me was when he said, "Mr. Rohn if you will change, everything will change for you." Wow, I took that to heart, and sure enough the more I changed the more everything changed for me.

So learn to master good ideas, have good plans, handle the passing of time and solve problems, and you will be on your way to more success than you could ever imagine!

To Your Success,
Jim Rohn