Make Life Unique

Jim Rohn is a master with words. His ability to convey thoughts and engrave them on your brain is astounding. In this post below you'll see why I adore learning from Jim Rohn. Enjoy, and grow. 

The Key to Making Life Unique and Worthwhile by Jim Rohn

The key to making life really unique and worthwhile is to share. Sharing has a certain unique magic of its own. Here’s what I learned in sharing ideas.

If you share an idea with ten different people, they get to hear it once, and you get to hear it ten times. So here’s part of self-interest for yourself, getting you even better prepared for the future. Share ideas. Share with your family, share with the people around you, share with other employees, share with your colleagues.

Because, by sharing, two things happen. Here’s what we call it. I don’t know how to explain it, but I do know it happens. And I don’t know all about how it happens or why it happens, it just happens.

When one person shares with another, two things happen. The audience could be transformed, and so could the speaker. If you share with someone else, they could be transformed. You may have dropped in at the right time. This may be their moment. They’ve got three numbers dialed into the lock already, and if you say it well and say it right you’ll be the fourth number that they can dial into the lock of their personal experience and the door will come open and there’s opportunity they never saw before. The person who hears could be transformed.

But here’s what else is exciting. The person who speaks could be transformed. Guess what we’re all looking for… transformation for our new life. The new life tomorrow, the new life this month, the new life next year, the new life this year.

The caterpillar one day says, “I think I was made for more than this crawling on the ground.” So the caterpillar climbs the tree, attaches himself to a leaf and spins the cocoon. Who knows what disciplined effort it takes to spin a cocoon. But something inside the caterpillar says, “I was designed for something more than being just a caterpillar.”

And then when the cocoon is ready and it opens up, out comes a butterfly that flies away, maybe singing, “I believe I can fly! I believe I can touch the sky! I used to be a caterpillar on the ground, now I fly.”
I’m asking you to go through such a metamorphosis. I’m asking you often to go through a period where you say, “New skills, new things are waiting for me,” and part of this will come if you’ll translate for other people what you feel in your heart and in your soul. As awkward as your language might be at first, don’t hesitate to do it.

Here’s what sharing does… makes room for more. Key question: If the glass is full of water, can it hold any more? And the answer is yes. Yes, if you pour some out. So jot that down. If you want more, you’ve got to pour out what you’ve got, and then you have the opportunity to receive more.

Now, unlike the glass that remains the same size when you pour some out, it’s not so in the consciousness of human beings. Your capacity will increase the more you share. You’ll get bigger and bigger and bigger.

Now, why the self-interest wish to be bigger? Here’s why: to hold more of the next experience. Some people can’t hold much happiness because they’re too small, their thinking is too small, their activity is too small, they’re too small in their ability to share, they’re just too small. Can’t hold much. They’re too small.
But the bigger you get, the more you will receive. When happiness is poured out, you’ll get more. When joy is poured out on the nation, you’ll get more. When bounty is poured out from the economy, you will get more, if you share what you’ve got and become bigger and bigger and bigger.

Planting Seeds For Your Future

What are you planting? – A Story

by Connie Mcknight 
Here’s a story to inspire you to be the best you possibly can. I hope you enjoy it, and like Jim, admit it didn’t work.

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.

Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.

He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you. “The young executives were Shocked, but the boss continued. “I am going to give each one of you a SEED today – one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you.
I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one
I choose will be the next CEO.”

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.

Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing.

By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by — still nothing in Jim’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn’t say anything to his colleagues, however, he just kept watering and fertilizing the soil – He so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.

Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful — in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.

Jim just tried to hide in the back. “My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown,” said the CEO. “Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!”

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, “The CEO knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!”

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed – Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, “Behold your next Chief Executive Officer!

His name is Jim!” Jim couldn’t believe it. Jim couldn’t even grow his seed.

“How could he be the new CEO?” the others said.

Then the CEO said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead – it was not possible for them to grow.

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!”

* If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
* If you plant goodness, you will reap friends
* If you plant humility, you will reap greatness
* If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment
* If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective
* If you plant hard work, you will reap success
* If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

Think about this for a minute….

Lighting The Way by Gidget Giardino

Light houses have enjoyed an almost three hundred year era of guiding ships safely along their seafaring voyages. Every lighthouse had a keeper whose responsiblity it was to keep the fiery light of the beacon burning bright. The houses were built along shipping lanes as well as other heavily-traveled areas of the oceans and the seas. Their sole purpose was to assist the captains and the crewman of passing ships to aid them in figuring out their locations. The lighthouses also helped to warn the ships' crews of impending dangers such as coral reefs, etc.

For hundreds of years, lighthouses have provided guidance and direction - a point of light in a time of need, a beacon of help and hope. 

There will come a time in your life when you will be searching for something more for yourself and your family. When you find yourself there, it is my hope you will look to me. My beaming support shines brightly on everyone I meet. Let me light the path to your success. 

Dream Grand Dreams Only by Gidget Giardino

 Pay attention to your dreams; the ones you are conscious of and the ones you aren't conscious of.  If it is true that we are what we think about most, we had better start paying very close attention, and, only let in what our hearts truly desire. 




by Daniel Wood

If you are interested in personal development you have probably heard Brian Tracy’s words, “You are what you think about most of the time”. 

It is true, by thinking about something enough you push it into your subconscious, your mental computer that works 24 hours a day.

Dreams are your window to the mental computer
When you dream your conscious turns off, giving you a view of what is going on in your subconscious. 

You most important work will be done when you sleep. Your mind will be working without your conscious getting in the way, it will be solving problems you don’t even know you have and present your with solutions you didn’t realise your needed.


What you think becomes what you dream
Your dreams mirror your thoughts. It is your subconscious.
By pushing a message into your subconscious it will be a part of your dreams. But to get something into your subconscious takes effort. You need to think about it constantly, write it down, visualize it, repeat it to yourself and almost become obsessed by it.

You are what you dream
Once you have pushed your thoughts into your subconscious you will start dreaming about solutions.
You will then start to see changes in the world around you and before long you will become what you have dreamed about.
In shorter time then you can imagine you can do extra ordinary things.

If you have read “Think and Grow Rich” By Napoleon Hill, he shares this advice in his book and shows examples of how some of the most successful men and women have changed their lives and gone from rags to riches in just a short matter of time.

Change your mental programming
Most of us have a knack for dwelling on the negative, the danger of this is that you will be pushing this into your subconscious, making your mental computer work on solutions to give you even more greif.
If you are to succeed you have to change your mental programming, you have to become a more positive person, focusing on the good and on solutions.
This can be done in mainly 2 ways.

Affirmations
Keep repeating positive messages to yourself throughout the day, for example a cure for low self-esteem is to repeat over and over again hundreds of time a day “I like myself, I like myself”. A solution for low work moral is “I love my work”. If you want to rekindle the romance in a relationship it can be enough to repeat to yourself day in and day out “I love my wife/partner”.

 This will push it into your subconscious and your will start finding solutions to make it reality.

Goal Setting
The other way is by clearly stating your goals in writing. When you have your goals in writing it becomes easier to dwell upon them. You can spend time reading them every day. You can write down plans, think about ideas and so on. 

All this will push your goals deaper into your subconscious and help you speed up your success.

Conclusion
Getting your subconscious working on your goals will bring you closer to success because your subconscious works on solutions 24 hours/day every day.

It will present you with new ideas, insights and plans. 
Remember that the most important thing is that you act on these ideas and insights, because no plan ever mattered that wasn’t put into action.

A Wonderful Thing by Gidget Giardino

Isn't it a wonderful thing that we're all different? Each of us has strengths and skills to share. And when we link our individual strengths together, we're invincible.

Because of the truly special and spectacular people in my life, I am blessed beyond anything I could ever wish for. All of my successes in life were made possible by the loving, caring relationships that were built. A person is never successful alone. It takes the help of those around us. 

Today, take a moment to recognize your successes, and give thanks to those who stood by you, gave a helping hand, whispered words of encouragement, or just simply believed in you. Thank them for being part of your success.

Get On Your Way

One of my favorite authors of all time, Jack Canfield, wrote this article.  His easy to read and understand way of writing make him one of the most successful coaches. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Get On Your Way by Jack Canfield

Starting toward your goals is up to you. No one can hold your hand and take you to your goal safely. No one can take every step with you and make sure you do not have any struggles. You must take responsibility for what you want and you must begin.

Beginning need not be scary. It is as simple as making a few decisions. Will you decide what you want for yourself? You do not have to decide how it will all come about; you only need to decide what it is you want for your life. How do you want to be living? You must also decide what your first step will be. Will it be signing up for more education or training? Will it be making a list of people to talk to? Will it be getting a new job, or even a second part-time job in the field you want to be in?

Come up with the first action you will take and take it! Just jump in and figure out each step to take next. Once you start, keep your eyes and ears open to the possibilities. Energy in motion stays in motion. Just keep taking steps. Learn as you go. Find out what you can do right now and do it. If you need to learn how to do the next thing before you can do it, then the next step is to learn it!

Be willing to ask questions and be rejected and feel your fears. Allow yourself to be human just like everyone else. Ask for help from people who can help you. Learn how others are doing it and practice what they do. The main thing is to begin.

When you begin, you set the cycle of cause and effect into play. You cannot possibly know all that will come about as you set off for your desired lifestyle. But as you take your steps, there are things happening behind the scenes, and opportunities will unfold before you when you are ready for them. Your horizon will shift into focus as you approach your goals and then change into another distant prize for you to keep marching toward. You cannot see all that can be yours from just one viewpoint.

Acknowledge your present state of happiness even if your life isn’t all that you hope it will be. Just be grateful now and keep our sights set on being grateful. Open yourself to accept new beliefs about yourself and what you can accomplish, and you will find yourself accomplishing them. Be grateful then, too. Because as you grow and develop yourself you will always be creating new goals to improve your life; it is important not to wait for that “perfect” life before you are grateful to be living.

Keep yourself inspired and motivated. Get a mentor or personal coach, a group to be accountable to, an audio program and books to keep your internal fire lit. Surround yourself with positive energy, especially from within, and make the changes you need to in your life.

Visualize your success every day. Pay attention to your habits. Decide every day to take more steps toward improvement. Make your life a wonderful adventure that you are fully engaged in!

Be Proud by Gidget Giardino

BE PROUD of even the smallest accomplishments. They are the building blocks to greatness. And, YOU ARE GREAT!

If every day you did one thing, just one thing to improve yourself or build your business, at the end of the week you'll be amazed. Keep achieving these little mini goals and by the end of the month your be thrilled to see how far you've gone. Imagine where you'll be, how grand your life is at the end of the year!  

Now, I know all about making new year resolutions that never get off the ground. I used to be one of those people. It all boiled down to discipline. Taking the extra few minutes each and every day to actually do the things you know you need to do in order to have a better life, or having the willpower to quit doing the self destructive habits you have. Because you are afraid you can't shake them isn't going to make them go away, and it certainly isn't going to improve your life.

Take it one day at a time. If something is truly important to you, you will make it part of your daily routine to improve. It isn't as hard as it seems. You just have to take a deep breath every morning and live your life the way you know you need to.

 

BE PROUD of your positive improvements. Even if they seem small. All your accomplishments add up to greatness. And, you ARE great!

Are You Happy?

The Head Games of Happiness
by Darren Hardy

What makes you happy… really?

That’s a serious question… maybe one of the most important questions of your life. But did you know most people can’t answer it correctly?

In his book Stumbling on Happiness, Harvard professor Dan Gilbert explains that most of us think we know what makes us happy, but typically we are wrong.

I have found there are three major traps in which you might be unknowingly making yourself unhappy.

The first unhappiness trap is postponing happiness. The “when I (fill in the blank), I will be happy” syndrome. The reality is that happiness isn’t something to be acquired in the future. You are either happy now or not; “then” never arrives. Living and striving for “then” results in a constant state of unhappiness. Now is the only time you have to be happy. If you can’t be happy now, you most certainly will not be happy later.
The second unhappiness trap is we spend our lives trying to make other people happy, which can make us very unhappy. Many times we are living a life we didn’t even choose ourselves. We might have simply, and unconsciously, started pursuing the idea of happiness programmed by our parents, peers, societal culture, or the examples given to us by Hollywood or commercialism. Whose idea of success are you living out?
Third unhappiness trap is contrast. For the most part happiness is really an illusion. In other words, you make up the idea of whether you are happy or not. And you really only know how to judge something by comparing it to something else. Typically this means comparing yourself to other people. This is dangerous business because there will always be reference points that will cause you to be unhappy.

The bottom line is this, happiness is not derived from the outside, it is only derived from within. Happiness is a state of mind. And you can continually choose to be happy.

Here is the best way I know to live in happiness—live in gratitude. When you focus on all you have and all that you are, right now, that is where happiness is born. Once it is born now you can nurture it further by discovering those other experiences that bring you increased joy, happiness and exhilaration.

http://www.darenhardy.success.com/

Business or Hobby ? by Gidget Giardino

Unless somebody is making the phone ring or the customers come through the door, it's not a business. It's just a very expensive hobby.


Depending on what kind of business you are in the activities you need to do in order to bring the customers to you daily varies. Traditional business may need more advertising, direct mail campaignes, radio scripts, etc. But, if you Work From Home you need to stay in touch via internet, the phone, or both. 


A Home-Based Business does not usually require a large start-up cost. You should not have to take out a sales ad in the newspaper or spend your cash on advertising campaignes. However, you will need to choose the right company and get a mentor.


The things you need to look for in choosing the right company are:
1. The Owners must have integrity and a solid success record.
2. A Mentor who will keep you on target and help you achieve your goals.
3. A step-by-step System that anyone can follow.
4. Tools to deliver the information professionally without delay. 
5. Generous and fair Compensation plan designed to last.
6. Highly consumable Products that work.

Tomorrow I will post details on the above six necessary things you need to choose a Successful Company.

A Small Success by Gidget Giardino

There are lots of small successes leading up to a big success. One of my small successes has just happened and I wanted to share it with you.

For more than 25 years I owned a retail florist in busy Fort Lauderdale, FL. Recently I sold it and have felt kind of sad. After all, that business was a huge part of my life I let go. All three of my sons were raised right there in the shop. Every milestone was made primarily in my office among the flowers. And, before I go any further... that is not the small success I am talking about.

For the very first time EVER in my life, my Christmas tree is up AND decorated before the end of November! Usually I am throwing ornaments on in a hurry somewhere around the 15th of December (and I'm lucky if the tree isn't lopsided when I'm finished.) This may not seem like something to consider as a success in life for most people, but for me it surly is.

Success is measured in may different ways. Today I am considering this small success a stepping stone toward a bigger success. I LOVE WORKING FROM HOME!

Road To Success by Gidget Giardino

We all start our lives small and grow considerably into our adult bodies. Along the way our brains develop similarly. The things we learn through our experiences make up much of who we become as adults. This is important to think about because when we set goals sometimes it is difficult to picture the outcome. Our goal has not fully developed in our minds. It has not grown into its full size yet. It is still a baby.

That baby goal needs to be loved, cherished, cared for, and most importantly it must be fed.
So, how do you do that?

Write it down. Use lots of details like where, when, how much, what color. Project what the outcome will look like once you've reached that goal. Visualize your goal as already achieved. Then take that written goal and write a few more copies of it. In your mind see the goal completed while you write. When you've finished, put one in your purse or wallet. Stick another in your sock drawer. Set one in the dashboard or console of your car. And, tape one to the mirror of your bathroom and look yourself in the eye as you read it out loud.

Every time you see your goal you need to close your eyes and visualize once again what it looks like accomplished. How does it feel? What does it smell like? Where are you standing? Who is there sharing it with you? Then, read your goal aloud.

Success In Life by Gidget Giardino

You will find no new revelations here.

Integrity

Self-discipline

Kindness

& Courage

These are the secrets to living a successful life.

Sure, you can add in a few other ingredients, but if you do not have integrity people will certainly figure that out and you'll have egg on your face. Without self-discipline the actions you take will not be consistent, thus you may move one step forward and two steps back. Kindness is such a simple thing yet it is so unbelievably powerful. People do not ever forget your kindness. You absolutely must have the courage to see your success through. Courage makes you go after what you want in life and not take no for an answer!

Decide What You Want by Gidget Giardino

When we were babies we knew exactly what we wanted. We knew when we were hungry, needed to be changed, wanted to be held. If we saw something we liked we moved toward it. No question, we were born to instinctly go for what we wanted.

So what happened?
Someone told us we couldn't have everything simply because we wanted it.

The problem with that is, we can have what we want, do what we want, be what we want. Scientists used to believe we responded to information flowing into our brain from the outside world. Today they are learning we respond to what our brain expects to happen. Because our brain expects something to happen a certain way, often what we expect is exactly what does indeed happen.

Stop settling for less than what you want. When you are confronted with a choice, no matter how small or insignificant, act as if you have a preference. Be clear about what you want. You will find yourself taking control and feeling better and better about having exactly what you want in your life.

Decide What You Want.

Art in the Street with a Side of Cold by Gidget Giardino

Today I bundled up and went out in the chilly 50 degree weather to view something I can never get enough of - art. For the past 28 years Downtown Gainesville has held a festival and art show that spans several blocks and has everything it should. There were paintings galore, gorgeous one-of-a-kind jewelry, fantastic wood crafts, amazing sculptures made out of all sorts of stuff (literally!), beautiful photography of everything from nature up close to architectual masterpieces, and unusual sculptures and glassart. Along with musicians, dancers, jugglers, etc.
The kids enjoyed puppet making, face painting and various other activities meant to attract the entire family. And, WOW, the number of dogs I saw there was incredible. Many of the booths offered doggie bowls full of water, and we saw one man carrying his very large and heavy Golden Retriever while the dog napped. (Wish I had taken a pictue of that.)

But, the reason I am writing to you today is.....
I want to share with you something I had never seen before. You already know, art comes in all sorts of shapes, sizes and mediums. Many times you see art that resembles someone elses work. Today I saw art that pictures will NEVER do justice. This artist takes a white material and starts applying thousands of super tiny squares of fabric. She builds her art up one teeny piece at a time and mixes colors to come up with a fabulous look that is so intricate a picture simply cannot show the beauty and patience. The stitching used is also in various colors and patterns. These one-of-a-kind works are accompanied by a very special poem. Special because each poem was written by the artists grandmother, Margaret H. Brooks.

The artist I am speaking of is Rhanna Nyman. A very lovely lady who took the time to not only explain in full detail how her pieces are created, but allowed me to take photographs. She even stopped to chit-chat about our names and their uniqueness. I felt I had known her a lifetime.
Visit her website: http://www.rhannanyman.com/  It's worth taking a peek.


There I am. Bundled up in the white coat. You can't see the turtleneck sweater underneath, but trust me it's there. Boy was I glad, too. The large buildings kept most of the sun from reaching the streets where it would really have helped the masses to stay warm. Funny. Here in Florida, we would normally prefer the looming concrete structures known as buildings because we like to hide from the sun's rays. But, not today. Today was pretty darned cold.
There was another artist who deserves to be mentioned. Hugo Cruz is a self taught artist who uses other mediums aside from photography. What I saw today were photographs of typical things around us which we take for granted everyday, captured through an infrared lense. His infrared photos were absolutely gorgeous.
Visit his website at:  http://www.hugocruzgallery.com/

It was 38 degrees when I woke up this morning and I seriously thought about ditching the art show. I'm grateful I didn't though. I would have really missed out. The 29th Annual Downtown Festival and Art Show in Gainesville, FL was a treat for all who attended. (Even the dogs enjoyed it.)