A friend of mine who has known me for many years, came to visit and asked me a powerful question I really had to stop and think about. As we were up late one night talking, he asked me, “What is the biggest lesson you have learned in this whole process of bringing forth your vision?” I sat there and thought about it for a moment because there have been so many powerful lessons and insights I have gained, but the one that stands out above the rest has been learning that my self-worth is not my net-worth. 

The challenges you encounter along the way are in direct proportion to the benefits you gain from the outcome. I have had serious financial challenges as a part of my journey. I have always known that there was a large financial bounty for me and this has kept me holding on during the lean times. If I believed that my net-worth was my self-worth, I would have stopped in my first year as so many start-up businesses do. Did you know that the test of lean financial times is a common thread that weaves through the tapestry of most of the greatest success stories? 

I have been studying prosperity and abundance for many years and early on in my readings, I remember a book about creating abundance and the author said, “You will know you are ready for wealth and abundance when your emotions are not attached to your money.” Wow! At the time that seemed like a misprint or an impossibility. At the time, I just couldn’t understand how someone could be in a place where their emotions are the same regardless of their checking account balance. The two were directly related in my mind. 

Now, I fully understand what the author was talking about. In order to be ready for financial abundance, you must be in a place that you are the same no matter what your bank account balance says. Whether your balance is overdrawn by $25 or you have a balance of $25,000,000, you need to be consistent and unchanged. Read this one again, because it is so important as you make the moves to live your vision. Can you be the same no matter how much money you have or do you get excited and happier the closer it gets to payday? Do you feel secure when you have money in your wallet and insecure when you don’t? Do you feel like more of a person with money than you do when you don’t have it? 

People usually treat people with money very differently than people without money, so it can be a challenge to truly live this understanding. You have really got to “get” this. Your self-worth is NOT your net-worth. You are who you are no matter how much money you have, what kind of car you drive, or what restaurants you can afford to eat out at. Your level of self-esteem is not dependent on the amount of cash in your wallet or the balance in your checking or savings account. 

Learning how to be consistent and truly understand that I am an incredible person called to do great things in this world and walk in that at all times has been my greatest lesson. Yes, at the beginning a low balance in my bank account would incite panic and could even drive me to tears, but now it doesn’t move me one way or the other. I know what is coming, and I just have to keep the faith and believe in my own ability to succeed. 

Here’s the magic… Once you understand that your self-worth is not your net-worth and you detach your emotions from your money, you then move to the next level of understanding – your net-worth is a natural result of your self-worth. As your self-worth increases, you will be comfortable sharing your work out to more and more people and a natural result will be financial wealth. The great news is that by the time you get to that point, you will be completely detached from the money and it will be free to  do what you want it to do – multiply.

My father ran one of the biggest businesses in his town, and when he’d spy one of his men dithering over what to do next, he’d simply say, “Son, you can’t do everything first.” And neither can you or I. If all your options are good, then it doesn’t really matter which one you choose first. Throw a dart if you have to, but move. Make a decision. Get yourself into motion. 

Recently, I was reading an interview with Paul Hartunian, the master of free publicity, who successfully juggles several very different careers. Paul commented: 

“People don’t act because a lot of things are in front of them. I’ve gone to lots of seminars where there was so much information you were on information overload. The vast majority of people then froze; they wound up doing nothing. All this information and all these experts were right there, willing to help the seminar participants do what they want to do, accomplish what they want to accomplish.” 

They may have been given lots of great products to sell; they were given SO MANY options in that one day that they froze. 

Paul’s point was that when we’re confronted by too many possibilities, we can freeze up. 

Trying to decide which of 15 or 20 options to pursue can be frustrating, especially if all of them appear to be good choices. 

My father used to say, “A dog that chases two rabbits won’t catch either one.” He’d pause for a second, then add, “And he’ll go hungry tonight.” He was trying to get me to realize how important it is to just pick one thing and do it. 

Let’s take an example that we often see here on the Internet. How many eBooks have you bought within the last six months? Of that number, how many of them tell you how to do marketing or to make money online? 

If a book is any good, you’ll be impressed; you’ll say, “Yeah, I can do this.” But then, after a few days, you’ll read another really great sales letter, you’ll feel that you really, really need the knowledge in this new offering. Then you’ll buy yet another eBook, and you’ll again be impressed: “Yeah, I can REALLY do THIS.’ 

This cycle is being repeated over and over every day all around the Internet. 

This may have happened to you. I’ve done it. Lots of people have. 

So there you sit with perhaps dozens of books, all good, dozens or even hundreds of affiliate offerings, some excellent, and page after page of website ideas, all interesting. 

In fact, you’ve got so many options that you may not know what to do first. 

For many people, getting into motion means you’ll be stepping into unfamiliar territory, doing things you’ve never done before. So what? At least it’s interesting and exciting. But never terrifying. 

If you think starting your very first business is terrifying, you need to think again. 

Wrestling a grizzly bear is terrifying. Falling from an airplane without a parachute is terrifying. 

But starting a business? Nah… that’s not scary; it’s just unfamiliar. 

And right there we have the main reason most people lock up when they face a long list of options. It’s unfamiliar ground, so they think they don’t know how to choose. They do, but they THINK they don’t. 

Here’s a strategy for taking the terror out of decision-making. Take that long list of options. Say there are 15 items on it, and you’ve never done any of them before. 

Once you’ve examined all the items on the list, do this: Decide if all the items are REALLY about equal. If there are any that clearly don’t measure up, cross those off. You’ll still be left with lots of choices. 

Let’s say you’re left with only 10 items on your list. 

Take out a new sheet of paper. 

Write item number one on it, the first item from your original list. 

Okay, that’s it. That’s your new list of options – just one item. 

We’ve already agreed that all the choices are more or less equal. 

So now you’ve got your action agenda. One item. No more indecision. 

Now just go do it. 

And those other 9 items? They’ll be there waiting when you get done with the first task. 

See how easy decision-making can be?

Organizing your home will bring you different benefits than it might for someone else with the same goals, but with completely different outcomes. 

First off, you need to know organizing your home is different for you than it is for someone else. 

Some folks don’t have a lot of clutter and junk but need to know how to maintain organization and have a place for their stuff. 

On the other hand, some homeowners have piles upon piles…a big mess, and still think it’s just a matter of needing storage. 

When, in fact, storage is the last thing you need. The first step is getting rid of clutter, rather than adding more storage just to keep more stuff. 

The thing is, once you start organizing your home, you’ll see how great and real the benefits are: 

-It’s reducing stress by having order and discipline. 

-It’s having more space by keeping clutter out for good. 

-It’s simplifying the way you live (and work?) at home by creating useful systems that work for you personally. 

-It’s a way of being on time, and not feeling the strain of running against the clock. 

Quite simply, when you finally start to make the simple changes of organization, it all adds up to give you more room to breath so you can enjoy your family and friends more. 

Being organized isn’t a matter of being rich or poor, young or old. We were never taught organization in school and, in fact, were taught to multi-task and go in too many directions at once. 

This was how they told us to live. 

Personally, I have always gone against the grain and never worried about keeping things we don’t need.  I make sure if something is not being put to use or it’s out-of-date… it’s getting sold or thrown out. I also utilize smart, affordable storage to keep only useful items.  

The funny thing is I don’t think I was raised to be organized. Nobody knew much about “organization” back then, although I was always a little “neat” as a kid. 

But somewhere along the way I figured out it made the most sense. I like to be on time and being organized makes that possible. I don’t like wasting time looking for things, like tools or ingredients for cooking or paperwork or bills. 

Being organized makes it all a lot easier. 

It’s not going to make you rich, but it will certainly save you money by avoiding duplicate purchases and late bills. 

It’s not going to make you any younger, but it will certainly give you more time to do things you might think you don’t have time to do. 

Being organized isn’t going to give you a bigger house, but it will clear clutter and open up some space so you’ll feel like you have a bigger house because there will be less congestion and “stuff” all over the place.

If you are an entrepreneur, you know that your success cannot depend on the opinions of others. Like the wind, opinions change…like the weather, opinions change, frequently. To succeed in any endeavour, you must stay the course… no matter what the cost! Here are some surefire tips to help you on your journey.

1. Avoid Negativity

Negative people are all around us. They can include our loved ones as well as a dear friend. Most often, it is the opinions of total strangers that breed the most negativity …. as if someone who doesn’t know or understand you is able to voice a reasonably thought out opinion about you.

No, you shouldn’t avoid those who are close to you, rather there are areas of conversation that are less profitable. Accept criticism constructively, but steer the conversation away from nonstop negative banter. Negativity will grow on you unless you take control.

2. Build Yourself Up

No, I do not mean for you to puff yourself up with pride, rather you can be your best source of encouragement by encouraging yourself. How can you do this? Read the testimonies of other entrepreneurs who have gone before you. Current day success stories of people who have gone from “rags to riches” [or from simple means to great influence] include personalities like Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart and Bill Gates. Yesterday’s success stories are numerous and include: Thomas Edison, Harry S. Truman and Abraham Lincoln.

3. Go Back to Square One

Should you find yourself wavering, recall those things that encouraged you to take your “leap of faith” in the first place. Recall what it takes to succeed: discipline, self confidence, independence, hard work, sacrifice, etc. Look forward to the anticipated results: a good income, independence, a job you love, etc. Finally, remember the worst job you ever had… imagine yourself working there again. Use whatever it takes to motivate you.

So, toss off the negative thoughts and embrace that which is uplifting, inspiring, encouraging, warm, friendly, and helpful. You are on track to achieving great things as long as you do not let yourself become derailed by the negative words of others.

Browsing the Internet using keywords such as self-improvement will lead you to several pages, articles, blogs, and sites that discuss self-help programs, giving tips on how to achieve goals, guidelines to create smooth working relation, and many others. But what exactly is self-improvement? 

Self-improvement is part of a larger system called personal development that involves programs, tools, and methods. Also known as self-help, self-improvement focuses on the level of individual which includes one’s goals, lifestyle, plans, dreams, and quality life to name a few. It is a self-guided improvement and self-help in terms of economic, intellectual and emotional aspects. 

It is a continuous endeavour to improve one’s self by analyzing his actions, understanding his past, studying successful people, and taking action each day. Hence, if we say self-improvement, we mean uplifting self-esteem, developing self-awareness, skills and talents, improving self-knowledge, building or repairing identity, realizing goals and aspirations, and enhancing one’s quality of life. 

An example of old self-help book is authored by Samuel Smiles in the 19th century. The book is titled “Self-help.” Another author of self-help books is Dale Carnegie who considered by many the pioneer of self-help movement. He wrote the book titled “How to Win Friends and Influence People” in the 20th century. In 1937, Napoleon Hill wrote the book “Think and Grow Rich” where he described the use of repeated positives thoughts to draw wealth. 

Since then, various self-help books have been published discussing several issues such as women’s rights, marriage and wedding, religion and spirituality, leadership and goal setting, positive attitude, depression, and meditation. A survey company estimated self-help and self-improvement materials to be worth around nine billion dollars in 2006. Infomercials, holistic institutes, books, personal coaching market, audio cassettes, and stress management programs are examples of the abovementioned materials.

Furthermore, there are different self-help movements that have varying focus, associated beliefs, proponents, leaders, techniques, and models. A common denominator to all is that they use available information from support group of people coming together because of similar experiences and interests. 

An example of self-help groups is the ones for mental health such as Emotions Anonymous, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, and Recovery International. They are voluntary associations of people who share a common goal of overcoming mental illness or boost level of emotional being. 

The self-help claims also received criticisms from scholars. One scholar called a self-help movement as ineffective in achieving its goals in 2005. Stand-up comedian George Carlin said that a person looking for help from somebody does not technically get “self” help. Following such argument, there is no self help. 

The self-help subject also attracted the attention of parody writers making itself the topic of many parodies. An example is the book-length parody of Walker Percy, which included parodies on self-help. In addition, W.R. Morton and Nathaniel Whitten authored a book titled “The Superoptimist” and introduced the term “superoptimism.” The term is a “humorous antidote to self-help book category.” 

The criticism however led the field to further include the presence of scientific research and well-engineered models. As a result, the newly-established branch of self-improvement focuses analysis, design, and execution of qualitative personal growth. This branch is called personal effectiveness.

Stress is a feeling that’s created when we react to particular events. It’s the body’s way of rising to a challenge and preparing to meet a tough situation with focus, strength, stamina, and heightened alertness. 

The events that provoke stress are called stressors, and they cover a whole range of situations – everything from outright physical danger to making a class presentation or taking a semester’s worth of your toughest subject. 

Stress and the way we think

Particularly in normal working life, much of our stress is subtle and occurs without obvious threat to survival. Most comes from things like work overload, conflicting priorities, inconsistent values, over-challenging deadlines, conflict with co-workers, unpleasant environments and so on. Not only do these reduce our performance as we divert mental effort into handling them, they can also cause a great deal of unhappiness. 

What is the effect of acute stress?

The best way to envision the effect of acute stress is to imagine oneself in a primitive situation, such as being chased by a bear. 

The Brain’s Response to Acute Stress

In response to seeing the bear, a part of the brain called the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system is activated. 

Release of Steroid Hormones. The HPA systems trigger the production and release of steroid hormones ( glucocorticoids), including the primary stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol is very important in marshalling systems throughout the body (including the heart, lungs, circulation, metabolism, immune systems, and skin) to deal quickly with the bear. 

Release of Catecholamines. The HPA system also releases certain neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) called catecholamines, particularly those known as known as dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine (also called adrenaline). 

What is a Stress Ball?

What if we told you that it’s possible to work out and relieve stress at the same time? And that it’s easy, requires little concentration and won’t cause you to break a sweat? Or that by consistently using this hand-held object, you will notice an increase in strength? 

Well, it is a stress ball! So what are you waiting for? Get yourself a stress ball today!

I know from my own life experiences that whenever I have been filled with dread or doubt I am unable to perform at a satisfactory level. Just the other day I was using a claw hammer and a lever to dismantle a packing crate. At the time I was making quite a noise hammering away when my wife came down to the workshop to see what I was doing. 

Jokingly, I quipped: “I haven’t hit my fingers with the hammer yet!” Guess what I did within minutes of uttering those words? Yep. Bang. Bother! Actually, I didn’t say that. It was something more colourful. 

You see, in retrospect, what I did was plant the seed in my mind that I was going to hit my fingers with the hammer. My mind set about fulfilling the thought. 

Not only do we become what we think about, we do what we think about. Whether your thoughts are positive or negative your mind will act on them. 

If we are directed by our dominating thoughts, why not implant our minds with things that will benefit us? For instance, if you really want to become a pilot then concentrate on that. Become obsessed with it. Learn all you can about it. 

Do you think that Michael Jordan became the greatest basketball player of all time by not thinking about and concentrating  on the game of basketball? During his brief sojourn into baseball was he successful? Basketball was his love. He couldn’t get it out of his mind. So he returned to basketball to lead the Chicago Bulls for another three years before retiring, making yet another comeback then retiring for good in 2003. 

What are your dominating thoughts? Are you thinking about the things that will make you the person that you ultimately want to be? Do you have deep and powerful thoughts about these things? 

If the first step to becoming the person that you want to be starts in the mind then set that train in motion. 

One thing that can really help you is to sit down and write out your life goals. Take as many pages as you need. After you have crafted your life story and the way that you want it to unfold start summarizing it. Try to get it down to a single page. 

Once you have done this you should read it as often as possible. At the bare minimum you should read it at least once a day. Preferably you should do this first thing in the morning and make it the last thing you do before going to bed at night, then as many times in between as you desire. It all depends how strong your desire is. 

The more times you read your plan, the more you will implant it into your mind. Remember, your mind cannot discern between reality and fiction. It will simply act on it – just like my mind did when I joked to my wife about not hitting my fingers with the hammer. 

Think negative and you will receive negative. Alternatively, think positive and that is what you will receive. 

So, do you have a plan? What thoughts are dominating your mind?

Did you ever stop to think what an important part your thoughts, I mean real concentrated thoughts, play in your life? 

The ability to concentrate all your attention is so important, no matter what task or job you have to get done… as nothing great or significant can be accomplished without proper effort and concentration. 

And almost all of us have some sort of difficulty in the concentration of our attention. 

Workers in business and industry, students in high school and college, and even professors in universities, complain of the same difficulty. 

It is said that the power to concentrate all your attention is vital as it stands at the very centre of most (if not all) mental activity. No matter from what angle we view the mind, its excellence always seems to depend upon the power to concentrate all our attention. 

Concentration may be defined as being that state of mind in which the entire energies of the individual, physical as well as mental, are focused upon the thing they are doing or thinking. All actions and all thoughts NOT connected with what they are doing or thinking are kept out of the mind… 

If we examine a growing child, one of the first things we will see is the power they have in them to “pay attention or to notice things”. 

When we examine the ability of normal adults we do so by means of tests that require close concentration of attention, and we regard anyone who is able to maintain close focused and concentrated attention for long periods of time as a person of strong mind or will. 

So real concentration may be broken down into just 2 parts: 

1.  The voluntary focusing of all our power and attention in the selecting of certain objects to be attended to. 

2.   And the ignoring of other objects which act as distractions. 

But even in spite of our most careful provisions, there will still be distractions which cannot be eliminated. For example, you cannot stop the noise of planes flying over or cars driving past while you are trying to work, plan or study. 

And you cannot build a fence around the thoughts and focus of your mind so as to keep out unwanted and irrelevant ideas… the best thing you can do is to accept the inevitable that the presence of some distractions will always exist, and to realise that in order to concentrate and pay attention properly, it is necessary to form the habit of ignoring these distractions. 

You can simply start out by making a strong determined effort to ignore all distractions… practise ignoring them, and try your best not to let a slip occur. 

Also at the same time, try to develop interest in the object you are concentrating all your attention on, because we tend to pay more attention to those things in which we are most interested. 

It’s easy for any one to say, “concentrate”… but you need to know exactly how to concentrate.  Remember that to concentrate is merely the act of applying your entire body and mind, to the task or action in hand. 

Every effort of the mind, whether it’s to… 

•   Perceive something 

•   Recollect something 

•   Associate something 

•   Imagine something 

•   Even to judge something 

Must all involve some concentration of the faculties of the mind upon that particular action, task or act, whatever it may be! 

As you start to develop a firm interest in your field of work or study, and as you develop the habit of ignoring distractions – you will be able to concentrate your powers of attention with less and less effort. 

Another important fact to note is that as you develop the power to select objects for the concentration of all your attention, you also develop (at the same time) other mind power processes; you will improve the ability to memorize and recall much more, to fine tune and manage better your time and effort. 

And also the power to control your future thoughts and actions… 

In short “developing your power to concentrate and focus all your attention means developing power in all the mental processes”. With that being said, we want to finish by giving you. 

The 2 TOP Keys Of Concentration 

For every one of us, concentration will always mean: 

1.    Selecting and focusing on what is most important to us, and disregarding what is not… and also knowing which tasks and jobs have top priority. 

2.    You must identify for yourself what is most important and essential to you – and try to filter out everything else. 

These are the two main steps towards developing strong concentration… recognising the essential… and leaving out the non-essential.

So I tried a little experiment to see how I could conceive of reality differently and walked around for a day embodying my inner wizard just to see how it felt and how people reacted to me. It was interesting at first as I noticed what was happening in my body. As I tapped into this inner magical power I felt tremendous joy as if I was finally finding my true power and potential – I felt like I could do anything I wanted for a little while. People’s reactions to me started to change as well. I was walking around downtown just looking for people to interact with. What I noticed was people started to look up more when I engaged my wizard and intersected their energy field. They’d look me in the eye longer as they passed by and some even paused as if about to ask me a question before moving on.

After a little while I started to get tired of putting all that focused energy into engaging my inner wizard and I relaxed a bit allowing the wizard to just sit in the background. I started to do some work with the wizard energy in me and all of the sudden the reactions around me shifted again – for a moment I was wondering if people could read my thoughts. Then I realized the difference between engaging and embodying! For me it was rather subtle but it was about “turning it on” vs. “being” the wizard. When I was “turning on” the wizard people noticed me like a bright light in a dark room. But when I was “being’ the wizard they simply responded to the power that enveloped me and extended outwards towards them.

As I sat and pondered this I wondered how others might experience this difference. For me it was about trusting myself to have and utilize the skills and abilities I’d acquired over the years. Rather than focusing my attention on them externally I was turning them internal – but reflecting them out in the process. I wasn’t engaging anything, I was simply creating what I already knew how to do.

Then in a flash it hit me – magic is what builds walls! Last month I was tearing them down and this month I was building them up! Ever since then I’ve been walking around and working with this incredible power surging up inside me and I’ve been having revelations of clarity for days since then! I feel as if my life has taken a giant leap forward and all I did was embody who I already know I am.

So how do you engage this powerful wizard of clarity and power for yourself? Simple. All it takes to engage your inner wizard is some support at the beginning, a little focused attention, releasing the need to be actively engaged, accepting the skills we know we have, and embodying the process. After that, well, magic happens!

The saying is old but also true “if you think you can’t do it or you think you can, you are right”. Unfortunately all of us have been programmed in our early youth by our parents and even the school with negative thoughts and more important with conventional stereotypes which led us to many unjustified limitations.

We live in a world full of negativity and it has become daily routine. All we have to do is to read a newspaper or watch the TV and absorb into our subconscious mind the tragedies we see. Strange as it may seem, world is not only destruction and misery but it also consists of individuals who achieved extraordinary things started with nothing. Media don’t consider these cases “saleable” but that’s another story.

You have to reprogram your subconscious mind in order to achieve better results and improve your life in every aspect, Business, Personal, Health etc. The first step to reprogram your subconscious mind is to focus for 30 minutes on positive thoughts. The first 15 minutes when you get up in the morning and the last 15 minutes before you go to sleep. It’s very critical the first and the last daily thoughts to be positive and especially before you go to sleep.

That time is the best time of the day to meditate and focus on your positive messages. The mind in that condition is more receptive to messages because of the mode of relaxation.

Avoid retaining the range of previous days for unimportant things. That condition will increase your negativity, offering you nothing but stress, anger and worse health.

When you have a serious problem to solve and you are troubled, try to relax and leave it to your subconscious before you go to sleep. Sometimes answers come along because they already exist in the subconscious mind.

Many scientists have used their subconscious mind to resolve scientific problems. The same have done successful writers like Marc Twain. Olympic Athletes imagine they win the race many times and do continuous meditation before they start racing.

There is an important note here. You CAN NOT fool your subconscious mind. What ever messages you want to develop have to be real. If you don’t feel the message you want to send to your subconscious mind it will be rejected.

Finally do not expect to change your programming in a day or two. It requires patience and time. Negative programming of a lifetime can not be transformed into positive mindset in few days. If you don’t account that seriously you will be disappointed quickly and drop all your efforts.