Step 2: Commit Yourself

by Preston Squire

This is an extrapolation of Step 2 in the 5 Key Steps To Achieving Goals

Step #2

Commit Yourself

We are at the start of a new decade.  Whenever a new year, decade, century rolls around we like to look ahead at the possibilities.   But let's look back for a second.

Ten years ago was the beginning of the new millenium, the best calendar change any of us alive today will ever witness.  While we all remember the overblown threat of Y2K once the clocks moved to 12:01am we all breathed a collective sign of relief and moved on looking forward to what the 2000's would bring.

It was the year that George W. Bush was first elected President, the USS Cole was badly damaged by suicide bombers in Omar, Tiger Woods became the first golfer in 47 years to win three majors in a calendar year and Madonna married Guy Ritchie.
Thinking back, do you remember what your hopes and dreams were then?  Are you today where you envisioned yourself to be in ten years back in 2000?

Most likely you've succeeded in some areas but not in others.   Barring severe unforseeable events, the reason you succeed in some areas but not others all boils down to your decisions.   Day by day the decisions you made inexonerably lead you to this point.   Consciously or subconsciously you made value decisions on what to focus on.

Now the areas where you succeed may not be the areas you felt were the most critically important.  So why didn't you focus on those areas instead?   Because you never truly decided to.  You never commited yourself fully.

The word 'decision' comes from the latin word 'de', which means 'from' and 'caedere' which means 'to cut'.   So to make a decision literally means to cut from all other alternatives.   You decide to do one thing and cut away any other choices so you are left with only the one path to follow.
©Preston Squire 2009
Preston Squire is an author devoted to providing free inspirational, motivational and success materials. You can find more articles at http://www.thecuphalffull.com/

Step 1: Clearly Define Your Goals

By Preston Squire

This is an extrapolation of the first step in the 5 Key Steps To Achieving Goals

Step 1

Clearly Define Your Goals

As we approach the end of the year many of you will be reflecting back on the year that was and asking yourself how it went.   Are you better off than you were a year ago?  The same?  Worse?  Regardless of the answer, you probably want 2010 to be even more productive.   The very first step in ensuring it will be, is to decide how you want it to be different than 2009. 

Okay, I know last time I said I was going to do a series based on those 5 Key Steps of Achieving Goals but you know what?   I hate doing these series.  I like to write what's on my heart each day and really, while it may be more haphazard, I know I'll produce a better piece if I'm writing about what's inspired instead of some pre-determined topic.

So without further ado:

Without Action Law of Attraction Has No Traction

By Preston Squire

This has always been one of my biggest pet peeves.   People who want to just sit on their couches, visualizing away and expect the universe (God) to hand them whatever they want.    And we are all guilty of it at some point, myself included.  We simply don't want to do the work involved.  We want the easy way out.  In the sensational hit movie 'The Secret' it appears that all you have to do is 'Ask' and 'Recieve' but that's oversimplifying.

5 Key Steps to Achieving Goals

By Preston Squire


Step #1: Be Clear on What You Want

Be clear on want you want and why.  If you're not sure, ask yourself what you don't want.   Whatever is the polar opposite of that is what you ought to be shooting for.

Be clear on why it's important to you.   Make a list of all the benefits that achieving that goal will deliver and a list of all the adversity not achieving it will bring.

Set definite goals.  Be specific.  If you want money, for example, you could state that you want to earn an additional $250,000.00 by the end of next year. 

Make the goal something you believe you can reach even though you can't see how it's possible.

Great Expectations

By Preston Squire

"Now, I return to this young fellow. And the communication I have got to make is, that he has great expectations." - From 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens

If you want to achieve greatness in this life, you must first develop your own great expectations.

Go to through life hoping for money, health, happiness but expecting none of it is totally self-defeating.   Let me restate that.  To hope for one thing, but expecting another is totally defeating ones own self.  You are causing your own defeat before you even begin.

"What the mind of man can conceive and believe, It can achieve." - Napoleon Hill

5 Steps to Creating Empowering Beliefs

By Preston Squire

To Be(lieve) or Not To Be(lieve); That is The Question

You don't need to believe in God, the Law of Attraction or any other such thing to accept one simple fact.  

If you hope to achieve anything in life, you had better first believe you can.

4 Ways to Create Burning Desire

by Preston Squire

Consider the story of the disciple who went to his guru one day and asked, “Master, how do I achieve enlightenment?” The wise old guru directed the disciple to the bank of the Ganges River and had him kneel with his head over the water. Then the guru put his hand on the young man’s neck and pushed his head below the surface of the water. After a minute and a half the young disciple was frantic. He pulled and heaved and flailed his arms, but the grip was like iron. He could not get his head back out of the water. After two minutes, when it seemed as though his lungs would burst, the grip was released.

The young man’s head jerked out of the water and he took great gulps of air into his tortured lungs.

The guru smiled. “Tell me,” he gently asked, “ what was your greatest desire just then?”

“To breathe,” the young disciple stated emphatically.

“Ah,” the guru said. “When you desire enlightenment to that degree, it shall be yours.”

To be able to persevere and succeed, despite whatever obstacles life puts in your way, requires burning desire.


This is most everyone falls short. While we all have desires, few us of ever cultivate a desire so strong that we will stop at nothing to achieve it.
 

Pushing Through to the Next Level

By Preston Squire


When the Student is Ready, the Master will Appear.

 I met Active Image President Cathy Morenzie at a very fortuitous time.  She had just started the Start Fast, Finish Strong 100 Day Challenge and prompted me to get involved too.   I had already decided to get more serious about my health and had recently joined a local gym.   So when I signed up for The 100 Day Challenge I made one of my goals to put on ten pounds of muscle mass.

That may not seem like a lofty goal but I had tried for years to put on weight, including going to a gym for a year in my thirties and working out with weights while drinking high protein weight gain shakes in my twenties and had only ever managed to gain five pounds at most.  For better or worse I was one of those people who could eat like a starving hippo and remain remarkably slim.

Cathy was kind enough to give me a fitness evaluation and set me up on a workout routine.  After that I was on my own.   During the fitness evaluation Cathy did mention something that really stuck in my head.

The Law of Exposure

By Preston Squire

You are what you eat.

"You are what you eat" is a common expression and it makes perfect sense if you think about it.   Your body converts whatever food you're consuming into energy and body mass.  If all you eat is fatty junk foods, you can expect to end up with a fatty, junk body.   If all you eat is sugar laced foods, you'll likely end up a tired diabetic.   If you eat healthy, nutritious choices you'll have a energetic, healthy body.

The same can be said about our minds.  Have you ever stopped to considered what you are feeding your mind?   Like your body, your mind has no choice but to take the the food of whatever you are exposing it to on a regular basis and use that to build your mental muscles and energy.   Everything you see, hear, feel and experience is food for your mind.  Everyday there's a plathora of experienes that you draw from but it's the recurring experiences that will have the most impact.   There's no better way to hammer something into our subconscious mind than constant repetition.

5 Keys to Thrive - Anthony Robbins

Be sure to check out this link to a free video by Anthony Robbins on '5 Keys to Thrive'.

He explains the 5 core strategies he uses to improve his life when the chips are down.


http://tonyrobbinstraining.com/378/5-keys-to-thrive/

I don't know how long that link will be active so check it out now!!

Also be sure not to miss the Nick Vujicic video as well.  Just scroll down after watching Tony and be prepared to be amazed.

And for all our visitors from the States - Happy Thanksgiving!

Preston Squire

Tips for Maintaining Momentum

This is from my blog Preston's Path to Prosperity where I'm keeping a journal of my successes (and failures) in my life.

Currently I'm tracking my progress a I do the 100 Day Challenge. You'll see I'm struggling, like most people, but the advice was solid so I thought I'd share it here as well.

Six Minutes To Success

Bob Proctor's Six Minutes to Success Review
Our Two Cents on Bob Proctor's Two Minutes
By Preston Squire


Overview

Bob Proctor is one of the leading experts in the field of Self Help information today. In his twenties he was given a copy of Napoleon Hill's masterpiece: Think & Grow Rich. He took the book as truth and opened a cleaning business. Within a few years he had offices if five major cities and was a self-made millionaire. As promised. From there Bob actually left his own company to study under radio talkshow legend Earl Nightingale - the leading self-help authority of his day.

Bob has now been teaching self-help material for over 40 years. He was featured prominantly in the hit movie 'The Secret' and the book based on it. He's the white haired gentleman who initially tells you what 'The Secret' is.

Bob was written books (Born Rich), and created many audio and video programs over the years.

Six Minutes to Success is one of his latest endevours and one of the most original.

The Law of Paradoxical Intent

by Preston Squire



The Problem



I was talking to a friend and she's big on The Secret
and The Law of Attraction. She uses visualization daily, has a vision board, does everything she should be doing, at least according to the movie, and yet, she lacks the results she wants.

This does not surprise me for as well and good as 'The Secret' is, and it IS well and good, it is not the full story. It's more like an introduction than a complete answer in itself. In fact, there's so much missing they could, should, and probably will one day make 'The Secret 2'.

Watching that movie (or reading the book) gives you the impression of mere wish fulfillment. Just visualize what you want and the universe will give it to you. Are they wrong? Not really, but there's more to it than that.
Giving it your 'All'

Do You Have a Strong Enough 'WHY?'

By Preston Squire

Whenever you set a goal in your life, you need to be sure to have a strong enough 'Why' attached to that goal.

The 'Why' is what drives you.   The motivating factor that makes the difference between just wanting something in your life and absolutely needing it.  Between it being a 'wouldn't it be nice' and it being an insatiable itch that you cannot continuously ignore but must tend to, causing you to always be moving towards accomplishing that goal.

Site Re-Branding

New Title

Effective immediately, Preston's Pearls is now been rebranded as The Cup Half Full.  This is in line with the direction the website is going from being a mere blog to becoming more community based with forums and user content.    This new name effectively conveys the ideas of optomism and discussion (along with the new logo which will be a half full coffee cup).   So one could envision sitting in a coffee shop with a half finished cup of coffee while discussing motivational, self help techniques with their friends which encapsulates what this site will be aspiring to become.

"Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value."

Albert Einstein

Freeing Yourself of Doubt

By Preston Squire

 I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.
- Thomas Edison

Creeping doubt is one of your worst enemies and I have been struggling with it myself as we all must do.

I was listening to an interview with Helene Hadsell an 80+ year old woman who has used the Law of Attraction to obtain outstanding results in contests winning a house, two cars, numerous trips and a ton of other things.

The interview was a sales pitch but they revealed a lot of nuggets of wisdom.

Website update

Just a couple quick notes on what's happening here at The Cup Half Full

 - I will be away for a week at a conference and unlikely to be able to blog or update the site for the duration

 - A full fledged website is now in the works!!  Development has only just begun and it won't be unveiled until early next year so I don't want to go into too many details at this point.  Obviously the new site will be much more robust than just the blogspot blog I'm currently using. 

The biggest and most important change will be the addition of a forum so members can discuss various personal development products that are on the market, ask other members for advice on why something doesn't seem to be working for them, talk about their favorite personal development coach, or to ask me or other regular contributors questions.   

The changes will also allow many of the lessor known personal development coaches, speakers, authors, (and even the big boys) to have a platform to connect to people looking for personal development.

Look for more details in the months ahead.

Your Ultimate Goal

By Preston Squire

Failure - Why You Want it in Your Life


Yes, you are reading that right.   Your ultimate goal in life should be the very thing most of you are trying desperately to avoid.


Why on earth would you want to seek failure?  Because if you're not failing, it means you are not pushing yourself hard enough.  You are not reaching for your true potential.  You are staying within your comfort zone, maybe pushing the edges of it but certainly not exceeding it.

Excellence and Boldness

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do."
Helen Keller

"If you are not striving for excellence in your life, what are you striving for?  Mediocrity?"
Preston Squire

Law of Influence

My good friend, Cathy Morenzie, invited me to go to an evening conference at her church. The guest speaker was Pastor Paula White who I must admit, I'd never heard of, although she is apparently a televangelist of some note. She was one of three major pastors that the church had arranged to come for the conference but due to unforeseen circumstances the other two had to cancel.

Why the Rich get Richer and the Poor get Poorer

Tony Robbins sent me a video a couple days ago that I just got around to watching last night. In it, a couple of internet marketing gurus are visiting him to get a better understanding of why people who buy their products don't utilize them fully and what they can do to get people to put more effort into achieving results.

The video is about 40 minutes long and I'd love to link to it but I doubt it'll be available for a long period of time, unlike this blog.

Most of what Tony was saying, is the same things Tony is always saying, but he did surprise me with a couple really cool things which I want to share with you now.

In answer to the poised question Tony acknowledged that it's the same factor that makes a person complain about their weight and then eat a chocolate or be told by their doctor they have to quit smoking and then light up.

People want to make the change but lack the sense of certainy that they can.

What he did next really excited me because it made a somewhat complicated idea really simple to grasp. He drew four boxes, two over two. In the first box (and it doesn't really matter which is first) he wrote in 'Potential'. This represented the potential people have, which, generally is actually unlimited but greatly affected by your own perception of it. The second box was marked 'Action' for the amount of effort people put into their goal. So the more Potential someone has (or rather thinks they do) the greater the Action taken.
The third box (below) was named 'Results'. The greater the amount of Action the better the achieved Results. The last box was labeled Beliefs. The greater the Results achieved, the more you believe you can and will succeed which immediately pours into your Potential.

This very effectively explains why the rich get richer and the poor gets poorer.

Follow:

A person who already has achieved a level of success has a new idea. Since he's succeeded before he feel pretty positive about his potential in this new venture. He puts in a corresponding amount of action into it achieving positive results. Maybe not as much as he would have hoped or liked but positive results which means he can do it which then strengthens his beliefs which in turn increases his potential, resulting in greater action, better results, stronger belief, more potential and so on spiralling ever upward. The rich becomes richer. Even if initial results were below expectations.

Another person has the same idea but has never achieved anything that they consider noteworthy. They have little faith in their potential but a desire to achieve so they give it a go. You can guess what happens. With such a low (stated) potential they don't put too much effort into their actions (expecting failure), poor action nets correspondingly poor results, which fuels the belief that they will not succeed, which limits their potential, which reduces their action, decreasing their results, compounding their negative belief, and so on and so on and so on. The poor get poorer. Sadly, even if they achieve better than expect results, their poor beliefs will often attribute it to luck. If better than expected results continue they will begin to spiral up but generally as soon as they achieve less than expected results they drop quickly into a negative spiral again.

The lynchpin is belief. If people can be given a sense of certainy that they will succeed then they'll put in enough action too succeed. But people are naturally doubting Thomas', so how do overcome that?

Pain. Pain is one answer. People will always avoid pain naturally. For many who have succeeded, the thought of failing to achieve the goal was greater pain than the fear of failure itself. In other words, they felt they HAD to achieve the results, for whatever reason. In this case, they realize they may fail, but may is infinitely better than the will that will happen if they didn't even try. Failure is not an option. If they don't get the results they want they continue to try, since they don't feel they have a choice, until they do.

Visualization is the other answer. As per usual, Tony gave the example of Roger Bannister the first man to run a mile in under four minutes. Prior to him breaking the record (and according to Tony he had to repeatedly break it in his head mentally before he actually did physically but I am not able to substanciate that) it had never been done in all of recorded history but once he broke that mark, it was subsequenty broken by 24 people over the next two years. Now that is partly because athletic training was improving but also, truly, because the mental belief that it wasn't possible had been shattered. Today some high school students are running the mile in under 4 minutes.

More interestly than his tired Roger Bannister story was the fact that those two internet marketing gurus had themselves broken all concept of what was possible to acheive in online sales. One having set a record my earning $600,000 in a mere 7 days, only to be bettered by the other who subsequently earned one million in one day, a terrific result quickly bettered again by his peer.

Then Tony did a neat thing which I encourage you to try as well. He had the men put one arm up, finger pointing out in front of them and then asked them to turn around as far as they could without moving their feet and without strain. Once they had done this Tony had them put their arm down and repeat the exercise, only in their minds, but to see themselves going twice the distance. Then again doing three times the distance. Once they had visualized that he asked them to try in again in real life. Both comfortably, and effortlessly turned about 50% further than they had before. A result I also achieved as I did it with them to my own amazement. According to Tony, most people only do 25% better but this is a nice example of the power of visualization.

So by using visualization one can change their Belief, increasing their Potential, resulting in greater Action, producing better Results and giving credence to their Belief. However, visualizing success cannot be done once. It must be a habitualize way of being. You must always see yourself achieving the result you want even without any reference to support that. The golfer Jack Nicholson always visualized hitting the ball exactly as he wanted, before actually taking a swing at it. He was one of the very best in his day. Again, it was habitual, he always did it and consistantly produced results as a consequence.

There's much more I could say on this topic but I'd highly recommend you buy Tony's book (see link on the side) Awaken the Giant Within which goes into great depth on this matter.

Enjoy the Journey

One element people tend to forget once they become goal oriented is to enjoy the journey.

"Live your bliss"

It's not uncommon for people to become so fixated on achieving their goals that they put everything else in life aside until so they can focus on meeting that end.

This is similar to the person who has bought a cottage in a beautiful resort area and when he goes to travel there he's solely focused on arriving at the cottage. So he hussles his family, speeds along the highway and skips dinner to make it in record time. In his mind the fun doesn't start until he reaches the cottage, and probably not even then because there will no doubt be work that's required once he arrives. In this approach he's denied himself and his family the ability to relax, enjoy the scenery and have quality time together, all reasons he purchased the cottage in the first place, until after he's reached his goal.

You might ask what is so wrong with that. The problem is with life goals, it could be months or even years before you reach your goal. In that time, your goals might change or even met some unfortunate end. If you've been waiting until you reached your goal to allow yourself to relax and have fun then you would have lost all the time for naught.

Also, once you reach your goal, you will want to set another. Personal growth is only achieved when you have something to strive for. So if you deny yourself the ability to enjoy the journey, you will find life one continously endless and joyless journey as you continue to set new goals for yourself.

Another issue is the fact that you will enviatably become tired and discouraged when unexpected issues arise. You've lead a joyless life for years to achieve this goal and then when it seems certain, another roadblock that looks like it'll take more years to overcome. When you've allowed your life to become nothing but drudgery in pursuit of your goal, this might seem like a total deal breaker. More years of drudgery? Is it really worth it?

The answer is no, the end result isn't. All along it was the journey to the end result that was worthwhile. For along that road are all new experiences you havn't taken the time to enjoy, new sites to be seen, quality time to been had with your loved ones and the enjoyment of your own personal growth. If you had allowed yourself the ability to smell the roses, enjoy the views and laugh at your mistakes along the way, such a setback is disappointing but isn't a loss of years. You've enjoyed those years of growth and you will continue to enjoy them as you continue your journey towards your goal.

Invest in Yourself

I've heard this nugget of wisdom twice in the last week, once from one of the founders of modern success thinking: Earl Nightingale and again in different form from billionaire Bill Bartmann. It's solid advice and I thought I'd share it with you.

Earl eloquently but drolly expounded on the power of the human brain and correctly concludes that it, moreso than anything else in your life it will affect the level of success and enjoyment you achieve. However it is terribly underutilized but the vast majority of people.

Now I'm sure you are using your brain all the time. You use it at work, use it to figure out problems around the house, deal with family issues, romance issues, maybe exercise it with puzzles and problems. But how often do you sit down and proactively use it to plan out your life? Once in a while I'm sure. Once in a very long while.

What Earl proposes is that you use it a little more often than that. He suggests an hour a day. Yes, I agree, it'd be very difficult for most anyone to squeeze an hour out of every day but consider this. You might be spending time daily working out, or beautifying yourself, watching tv, browsing the internet, talking to friends and family, sleeping in, playing video games or even doing work around the house. Is any of that getting you closer to your goals and desires? No, it is not.

However through the consistant application of your mental facilities on the matter of how to achieve your goals, followed by action, surely you would see marked improvement.

Earl suggests that once you have a clearly defined goal (Bill calls them promises, which I like better) you spend that hour daily brainstorming for up to 20 ways to achieve that goal. You may not come up with 20 ideas and that's okay. In fact every idea you come up with for a week or two may be crap. You're not a certified genius after all but you don't need to be. All you need is one genius idea. Anyone who consistantly applies their abilities to solving the problem of how to achieve their goals will eventually come up with some gems. Keep refining those gems of ideas and eventually you'll come up with something truly compelling that no one else is doing. Why is no one else doing it? Because vertually no one else is applying their brains in this manner!! If they are, they likely have different goals than you anyway.

It is famously stated the Edison had over ten thousand failed attempts to create a lightbulb. No one says he was a moron or a failure becuase he had ten thousand ideas that didn't work. He's considered a genius because he continually applied his mind to finding the one idea that did. You can too.

If you met your future self, and they told you that you became amazingly successful by taking an hour a day to apply themselves to how to better achieve their goals, you would immediately rearrange your life to make room for that hour. You are not going to meet your future self obviously but you can meet the future of your desires in the same way.

Bill Bartmann's take was a little different. First off, not only does he state that you need a clearly defined goal or promise, he suggests that you create a business plan on how you are going to achieve that promise. In the same manner that a business lays out a course of action, budget and timetable to achieve the company goals you can do the same with your goals. Once you have your business plan Bill recommends you review it daily for twenty minutes. What are you doing that's working? What's not working? How can you do it better? Is the currently set goal serving you? Is it even your goal? Too many people are trying to achieve that which other people have told them they should be doing. Parents most notably.

By taking twenty minutes (much more digestible than an hour) daily to review your progress and brainstorming new ideas you will fastforward your progress.

If you were requested by your workplace to find ways of improving workplace efficiency you might find it a frustrating exercise but you would still do it because that's what you're getting paid to do. By finding ways to improve your own life inefficiencies and coming up with ideas on how to reach your promise you will be, in effect, paying yourself, as you will be consistantly making improvements in your life and increasing your earning potential.

You invest time in everything else around you - work, family, friends, responsibilities. Certainly you can take 20-60 minutes to invest in yourself.

What is Success?

If you follow my sister blog Preston's Path to Prosperity, you know, or at least I sure hope you do, that the premise is to document one person's rise from living an average, non-exceptional life to one that is truly outstanding and the thinking and beliefs that lead to that rise.

The problem is, it's a bit of a lie. Why? Because, I have already achieved success. However, you probably wouldn't define it that way.

By and large people have a very superficial definition of success. It looks something like this:

Must be a millionaire or better
Must hold a position of importance
Must have an attractive partner or partners
Must be healthy and in North America that generally means muscular/sexy body and plastic surgery so you have an attractive, youthful appearance as well as good overall health
Probably famous
Owns beautiful mansions, cars, clothes, etc.

I think most anyone would agree a rich, handsome, well built man with a gorgeous young wife and lots of ostentatious wealth would be a poster child for success.

Motivational Speaker Anthony Robbins understands this and that's the life he leads. He has to. Not for his benefit but for yours.

Let's face it, if Tony gave all his money to charity and lived and dressed very modestly, if he didn't work out and was as skinny as he once was, (although still healthy), if he married a very average or below average looking woman (even if she was an outstanding personality) and if you had never heard of him, you would not for a moment think he knew anything special that was worth listening too. At least, not without someone else recommending him.

So even though, at his core he was the exact same person, living his life exactly as he chose, living a life of boundless happiness, married to someone whom he loves and is loved by deeply, with fantastic knowledge that could change your life in an instant, you would not perceive him to have achieved success, at least not unless you got to know him. Anthony must have all those superficial signs of success on display so people will listen to what he has to say.

Here's another example of success that flys contrary to the thinking of the masses.

Mother Theresa.

Was she rich? Heavens no. She lived an extremely modest life.
Was she beautiful? Internally yes, where it mattered but she not a women men would look twice at.
Did she hold a prestigious position in life? Not my most people's standards.
Did she have an attractive mate? Not a worldly one, no, never.
Was she healthy? Yes, but not in the Hollywood sense that North Americans use to define it.
Did she own lots of great things. No.
Was she famous? Yes, but she did not seek it nor would it have made her any less of a success if she wasn't.

Let's face it, if you took her out of her religious attire and put her on the streets people would sooner think she was a baglady than a truly successful person. I'm sure you would agree they would be horribly wrong.

So then how do we define success? What makes a person successful?

The difference between a successful person and everyone else, is a successful person is defining the life they live while everyone else is allowing life to define them.

To put it another way, successful people are walking in faith. They are asking God for what they want and walking towards that in faith that the Lord will provide. They are not limiting what they are asking for, for they know that the Lord has no limitations. They are not living in doubt or fear.

Although they face daily uncertainy because the way forward is not clear it does not disway them. They have come to the firm realization that like walking through a dense fog, as you make each step forward you'll be able to see your immediate surroundings and take another step forward. Even when they do bump into something, that's okay, they expect and accept that that is going to happen. They just move around the obstacle and keep going. If they come to a wall they trust God will provide a way over, under, around or through and diligently search for that until they find it. If they step off an abyss they know God has a rope around them and will pull them back up. So while it may frighten for the moment, they do not doubt in their heart they'll soon be back on solid ground. In time they make it to where they are going.

Everyone else meanwhile avoids the fog, worried they'll get hurt or lost or merely be directionless because they don't know where they are headed to begin with. So they either move away from the fog, and have their path defined for them by the fog of life or sit still, not going anywhere, until the fog and their life passes away.


So to succeed you must have a clear vision of where you want to be that emboldens you, you must have deep lasting faith in your heart that you will arrive there and you must, must, must be taking action to achieve that vision (do not wait for God to place it before you, boldly go and claim it).

Vision, faith, persistant action those are the hallmarks of success. Even if you have not yet arrived, you are defining what life you are living and that is success.

What everyone else is doing, irregardless of their place in life, irregardless of how many of the superficial signs of success they have, is merely existing.

So our poster child of success could be rich and famous because of his parents, could have a gorgeous partner and many fancy things because he has money, he may even be given ownership of the family business but without vision, faith and persistant action of his own, he is still merely existing and is no more spiritually rich or fulfilled than a pauper. He is not successful, he is merely a dim shadow of the success that came before. So do not put stock in those worldly things.

Success is a state of mind, a state of being. And I have already arrived.

20 Years - Don't Let Life Pass You By

On Saturday I was contributing my time to a Christian Concert event (http://www.musicinthesquare.com/). A friend and I decided to take lunch at the Wendy's across the street. We arrived at an ideal time as there was also no line ahead of us but one quickly formed behind us. As we were being served the manager opened another cash to help out. Upon seeing the manager my friend remarked she thought that the manager (a woman) looked familiar. So she went over to talk to her and sure enough, they did.

My friend had worked with this woman at Wendy's 20 years ago (and I had worked next door at Culture's) and here this woman was was still working at Wendy's 20 years later.

20 years of Wendy's?? No offense to the fine establishment that Wendy's is but we had a hard time grasping that reality. In those twenty years we had each held half a dozen different jobs and had our own businesses, gaining unique experience from each position along the way. What experiences has she had in 20 years of working at Wendy's? A whole lot of the same old, same old.

Now to be fair, it's possible she left Wendy's pursued other things and for whatever reason returned, although I doubt it. I doubt anyone would return to Wendy's once they had expanded themselves in their careers. Regardless, if someone told her 20 years ago this is what she would be doing now, without question, she would have venomously called them a liar and assured them she would not. So what happened?

Without interviewing her on the matter we can only speculate but some of the answers are clear.

Comfort - Staying at Wendy's was more comfortable than trying to do something new. Possibly she has limited education or just doesn't believe she's all that bright. Either way she has vastly underestimated her own potential and allowed herself to settle for what was easy and safe.

Fear - There's always some fear in changing careers. Fear you may not be successful in your new job. Fear you will be rejected and never find another job. Fear you may not like your new job. Fear can conjure all sorts of ridiculous notions into your head.

Doubt - Clearly she doubts she could do better. Ties closely into fear.

Lack of Vision - Does not have any dreams or vision for her life. So she's just cruising down the river of life, caught in the current, seeing where it goes, better or worse.

Lack of goals - As above. She's not setting goals for herself. Even if she doesn't have any dreams or aspirations, she should still have been goal setting to get ahead in her life. After 20 years she should, at least, be regional manager, not still working front line manager.

Not before we pass judgement on this lady let's look at ourselves first. While very few of us, nowadays are in the same career for 20 years, many of us are stuck in some area of our lives where we haven't really moved on. Most likely, we aren't even aware of it or if we are, we choose not to think of it. Reflect for a minute on all areas of your life. Is there some area where you've allowed yourself to sit for 5, 10, 20 years? Looking back 20 years, are you now where you would have envisioned yourself being at this point in your life? If not, why not? Most likely for these same reasons.

Do not allow any more time to go by, you've been idle long enough. Decide, right now to change. Define what you want that change to look like and then take immediate action.

Don't allow the next 20 years to slip through your fingers.

Steps to Success - Part 1 - Dreams

When I was a child, I used to write and draw my own comic books. I had a whole binder full of various heroes and villains I had created. I dreamed of the day when I would be a grown up writing comic books for real. Imagined the touching fan mail I would receive and how the fan boys would interrogate me at the comic conventions for some tiny little juicy tidbit of information about what was going to happen to their favorite characters.

Changes are when you were a child you had such dreams of your own. Of being a music star, a major league sports player, a model, a doctor, a airline attendant or whatever your heart desired.

Whatever happened to those dreams? If you are like most people, they somehow got lost in the process of growing up. You had to set them aside and 'get real'. Find a 'real' job and make ends meet. Some of you may have kept a little fire burning for your dreams but the sad truth is most people just abandon them. Instead they allow society to mold them. They fall into a career, make a decent living and just accept that as the way it is.

They go through life comfortably but without content. Something is missing and they know it. Sure they have a spouse, kids, a home, a car, a dog or cat and enough money to live comfortably but it all seems somehow unfulfilling still. Sure they like their job but it's not the job they really want to have. The house may serve adequately and harbour fond memories but it's not the home they really desired. The car or two certainly gets you around but it's not the car they want to be seen in.

However the single biggest factor in the discontentment is the fact that they simply don't know what it is they they even want. They have no clear idea what career they would rather be doing, what their dream house would actually look like or even what car they would own if their was no limit to what they could choose. They have given up on their dreams. Instead they have only loosely defined wants and desires with no passion behind then whatsoever.

Without vivid dreams life has no passion. Without passion life loses it's flavour. It's like steak without salt or condiment. It may fill your belly but you don't really enjoy the experience the way your know you should.

When you goto a restaurant the first thing they ask when you order steak is how you like it. What type of steak do you want? How do you want it cooked? Do you want mushrooms on that? What sides would you like? I bet you could quickly answer all those questions with little thought but when it comes to the steak of life are your answers so clear? They should be.

Before you can actually engage life and live it on your own terms you must clearly understand what those terms are, otherwise you are doomed to failure as you'll aimlessly zig and zag uncertain of where you're going. That's like going on a long roadtrip without a destination. You'll end up somewhere but without a clear objective you'll probably settle for the first decent thing that comes along. Which is probably how you got to where you are now in the first place.

Dust those old dreams off or chart out new ones!

Take 10 minutes right now and write out what you would like to do with your life. For now, put absolutely no limitations on your dreams. If you would like to visit the space shuttle, write it down. If you dream of marrying a movie star jot that down. Want millions and millions of dollar? Write down an amount irregardless of how crazy it seems. Go crazy, these are your dreams after all. Dreams are suppose to be the stuff of fantasy, it's goals that need to seem achievable and we'll cover that later.

Make 4 lists - Love and Social goals, Finacial & Career goals, Fun/Toy/Adventure goals, Life Enhancement / Charity goals.

Social goals are all your romantic notions, friends you'd like to have, social status you would like to obtion, etc.

Finacial & Career goals set what you want to be doing with your life and what that will look like. How much you want to earn, house you want to have, etc.

Fun/Toy/Adventure goals are spice of life. Where do you want to travel? What activities would you like to do? Do you want a sports car or outroad vehicle?

Life Enhancement & Charity goals are those things that will make you feel better and more complete about yourself. Want to learn more languages? How to dance? It's also important to have charitable goals too. You cannot recieve without giving so define what you want to give back to this world and how. Do you want to be a big brother/sister? Want to travel to some staving nation and distribute aid? Or finally start tithing a full 10%.

Spend 2-3 minutes on each. Just let it flow. Be crazy and adventureous and have fun!

Continue reading once you've finished.

Done? Okay...


Put a timeline beside each goal. Whatever you think is a reasonable amount of time for you to achieve that goal.

Then pick one 1 yr goal, one 10 yr goal and one lifetime goal for each list.

For each of those write out two paragraphs. The first paragraph says why this is an important dream. How it'll make you feel. What benefits it would bring to your life or those around you. The second paragraph says what the repercussions of never accomplishing that dream would be. How would that make you feel? What lost opportunties does that create? Make these paragraphs as compelling as you can.

Now transcribe all that onto a sheet of paper or series of card and put that somewhere where you'll see it everyday. Review it twice a day, everyday until it's ingrained into your subconscious. This is where you are heading in life and why. Once that becomes a part of your make-up you will automatically start seeing all sorts of potentials for getting there that you never even realized before because now your mind it aware that this is what it should be looking for.

One Life to Live

I watched the Curious Case of Benjamin Button in which Brad Pitt plays the role of a man who is younging instead of aging. He's born old and gets younger as the years go by.

It's a thought provoking and touching movie and ultimately I found it very sad but not for the reasons you may think. While my daughter was crying because he died a baby in the arms of an old woman who had been the love of his life, I wasn't really touched by that (it was a pretty obvious conclusion), I was greatly sadden because here was a man who had lived a truly unique life, held a unique view of the world, unique experiences and challenges and although he had done and seen a great many things in his time, once he was gone, there was nothing left of him except a journal which because of it's inconceivable tale would probably never leave his daughter's care. A daughter that had never even know him. Really, when the old lady passed away so did any last trace of Benjamin Button. Like vapour in the wind.

What a tragic waste. Yet, it is any different than you and I? If you were to die, right now, what mark will you have left behind? Think about it. Most people will at least live on through their kids, somewhat, and hopefully they were a positive contributor to their child's psyche and didn't instill unwittingly a lot of their own limitations into their children's lives (got you thinking now, didn't I). But once those who knew you die, what's left? Anything? Will it have mattered at all that you ever lived? Does that even matter to you? Perhaps you're content to just go through life, experience it and then when it's up it's up. Like a day in school, and you're just another student passing through for a few years.

But the greatest thing we bring to this world, is our diversity, our individuality, our unique outlook on life. We are all Benjamin Buttons. We all go through life on our own unique journey, gaining experiences that while maybe shared, still hold a unique meaning to us, developing our own unique outlook on life. And while it was tragic to lose Benjamin Button's perspective because of his special circumstances, is it really any less of a loss to lose your special perspective? Of course, none of us live forever, we are all but passing through. While we are here, we have an opportunity to shape this world, to craft it in our own image, our own vision and leave a lasting impression on this world that will signal out to generations yet unborn and be a warning, an inspiration, a statement, a question or a general betterment of life so that because you suffered, you have made sure no one else will ever have to suffer again.

Everyone who has left their imprint on this world from Napoleon, to Shakespeare to Nelson Mandela to Alexander Graham Bell have all been great men but they are still just people, exactly like you and I, no different, no better, no greater except they determined that they wanted to make the world a better place (from their perspective and in their own method) and didn't allow the general river of life to pull them along. Instead of going with the current they stuck their paddles in the water and made their own way charting a new path for all to follow or learn from.

Benjamin Button did touch on a couple of interest life points too, like you never know what tomorrow may bring. At one point Benjamin is just a happy crew member of a tugboat company, a comfortable if unambitious position but one day, that boat is commission by the navy as they enter the second world war. For the most part life continues as it had before, only what they were hauling changed, until they come across a u-boat that sinks them and destroys the life Benjamin had taken for granted.

Despite the fact that the last 5 years have been rout routine does not guarantee that tomorrow will be. You could win the lottery or be shot. You could find true love or get into a violent quarrel that ends it. You don't know, so you have to work on today, making the most of it, being the most of what you can be and doing what you can to make this world a better place, now, while you still can.

On the flip side, Benjamin meets a woman who had a dream, to swim the English Channel and she tried as a young lady to do so only to fail because of inclement weather. She had always meant to try again but her faith was crushed and instead she fell into a life of comfort and quiet desperation. However before the end, she somehow regained her faith and tried again as a mature woman and succeeded.

In the same way, it's never too late to realize your dreams. Certain opportunities may pass you by never to return, you cannot become a star Olympic athlete at 80... unless you switch from being a gymnast to being an equestrian jockey. Unless you change from being the star to coaching the star or sponsoring the athlete. As long as your alive and of right mind, you can still find a way to make it happen and you absolutely have an obligation to yourself to do exactly that.

We are here, with but one shot at this thing called life, even if you believe in reincarnation, do you really want to do all this over and over again until you get it right? My son had to repeat grade 10 math three times and trust me, he never wants to do it again. He'd have been much happier if he had applied himself the first time and never needed to repeat it at all. So commit yourself to live the life you truly want to live and be the person you truly want to be. You will not always succeed, sometimes inclement weather will scuttle your swim across the channel but take heart, if you're alive then your dream is alive too and you have but to try it again, and this time you'll give yourself the grace to postpone a day or two if need be to get the right weather. Nothing is ever a failure as long as we do not fail to learn. Any experience from a failed relationship to a fail business is not a failure in our lives or out character as long as we've learned from it and can apply that knowledge going forward. There are always more people to love and more business opportunities to try one's hand at and if you stick with it, you will succeed. Successful people don't fail less, they fail more and learn from each misstep how better to proceed.

You are your own unique creation. You are your very own Benjamin Button or Edward Scissorhands. Embrace that, don't follow the wide path but strike out on your own in a direction that seems best to you. Win or lose, the world is better off for your endeavors and so are you. Find a better route and suddenly the world will stop calling your crazy for going into the harsh bush country and call you genius for having the foresight and fortitude to find a better way. In doing so you'll leave a legacy for the world will be forever altered for the better by your presence.

What Are You Thinking About?

It's pretty basic really.

Whatever you are focused on is what is getting the bulk of your energy and attention. And regardless on if you want to look at that in the metaphysical 'Law of Attraction' way of calling that into existence or just the purely phyiscal reality that while you are fixated on one thing you cannot be constructively doing anything else it all boils down to the same thing.

You are what you think about.

But what are you thinking about?

People, by and large, are not in the habit of monitoring their thoughts. They just let them flow wherever they want and after a time, like water running over loose soil, your thoughts start to flow into well worn tracks. You have a habituated pattern of thought whether you realize it or not.

Are those thought patterns serving you? Do they inspire you? Or merely frustrate?

For the vast majority of people, their thoughts are focused on the things they do not want. They see the world as it is, complain about it to themselves, tossing and turning it over in their minds, contemplating it's unfairness, before sharing their discontent with other likeminded people.

This is pointless and worse, distructive. It goes without saying that if the situation makes you unhappy then you should be seeking to change it but if all you are doing is looking at what you don't like, then no energy is being spend on creating or moving yourself towards what you do like. You're merely wasting your energy, time and life.

Take the 10 day challenge!

Over the next 10 days I want you to be conscious of what it is you're thinking about. If you find you're thinking in negative terms, immediately change it into the positive. So instead of complaining about how it's wrong, try to see how it could benefit you, or on what you could change to improve your situation. If nothing else, force your mind onto another, positive subject altogether.

Do not let your mind dwell in the negative for more than 1 minute. If you realize you've been dwelling negatively for more than that, restart your 10 day challenge.

Daunting isn't it? But why should it be? Really?

It takes no more energy or effort to think positive, enlifting, productive thoughts than it does negative, disempowering ones.

The purpose of this exercise isn't to make you into a polly-anna person who only sees the cup as half-full. It's to make you aware of your own habituated pattern of thoughts and how limiting they are.

Most everyone who takes this challenge seriously will be stunned by how much they dwell on what they don't want and equally surprised by how much they improve their lives, in many dozens of little ways, by focusing on solutions or what they can be grateful for instead.


I myself am taking this challenge and will report in my sister blog, Preston's Path to Prosperity, daily as to my results.

Purpose

While struggling with some feelings of loneliness I decided to utilize my spare time productively by listening to the next tape in Bob Proctor's Freedom Series - which is part of the free bonus material you receive when you sign up for the Six Minutes to Success program.

The message was very profound for me today. Very profound. In a nutshell, one of the core distinctions between successful people and everyone else, is that people who have achieved outstanding results have all habituated the act of doing those things which they don't want to do but moves them towards their goals.

Most people are not so much driven by their goals as they are by the ease and comfort of their methods used. People tend to accept the easiest path that leads to sufficient results. They would rather accept a lower standard of living than consistently do those things with which they are uncomfortable.

So how do successful people become comfortable with doing those same things? They don't. But they are driven more by end results because they have associated a powerful driving purpose with those results. So they do those things they don't like anyway and they do it as part of their regular routine.

Now, I'm not speaking of anything illegal or unethical here just simple daily things like trying to convince people, who do not want to be convinced, that they would be better off with what you're offering. Or obligating yourself to produce results that you haven't previously achieved.

Now the driving purpose needs to be practical and not visionary.

And that is the statement that gave me great pause. It seemed to run contrary to everything else I had learned as far as creating a compelling future goes. However, it immediate sense.

I had always defined my purpose as:

To be a world famous author who's work touch the lives of millions of people from all over the world, spreading the seeds of profound truth and hope while entertaining people through a variety of mediums including books, movies, tvs, video games, plays, cartoons, MMORPGs, etc. Some of my works will be past down generations, touching billions of people and being immortalized like the works of Shakespeare, Shaw, Dickens and Twain.

Which is all well and good but hasn't been driving me still and that's probably because it's too visionary and not practical enough. Not immediate or real enough.

While practical, purpose doesn't need to be logical. It should be based on wants and desires that have emotional pull for you. If based solely on need that will drive you for a while, but only until your needs are met. Whereas a purpose based on wants and desires will keep on pulling you along even if there's no logical reason for wanting that as long as there's emotional desire for it.

So my new purpose looks more like this:

I want to easily earn enough that my wife never needs to work and can merrily spend on whatever suits her without ever considering costs. I want to be able to put my children through university and help set them up in life. I want to earn all that money by writing inspirational stories for children that meets them where they are at, provides a great distraction from the real world while providing profound knowledge to help them improve their lives and using stories with compelling, morally upstanding characters.

Beware The Emotion Manipulators

There are people out there who, usually due to poor self-esteem feed off of making other people miserable. The go out of their way to either take you down a peg, show their superiority or perhaps control your actions through guilt trips or emotional threats.

Cut these people out of your life. They may be family, or loved ones but if they are uncompromising in this sort of behaviour then they are a huge liability on your life.

How hard is it to continually move towards your goals when you have someone constantly reminding you of past failures or current deficiencies?

There is a song by Casting Crowns Entitled Voice of Truth:

Oh, what I would do
to have the kind of strength it takes
To stand before a giant
with just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound
of a thousand warriors
shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out
my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
time and time again
"Boy you'll never win,
you'll never win."

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
the Voice of truth says "do not be afraid!"
and the Voice of truth says "this is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of truth

There will always be people in your life who will only want to discourage you. It is often disguised as 'help' but do not allow these people to influence your thinking. Keep your mind shut tight against negative thinking.

People who succeed in life do not think in negative terms, nor do people who do ever reach any great level of success.

Worse are those people who seek to emotionally manipulate you to controls your actions or your love. In my experience these people have all been women but certainly it's possible for a man to behave in a similar fashion.

Typically these people will say things like, "If you really love me then you'd...", "I can't stay with someone who won't...", they may also nag or badger incessantly until they break down your resolve.

They may not be hurting your ego but they are constantly causing a huge distraction in your life. Nor is it possible to stay focused on your goals when you're constantly having to do other things to prove yourself time and again to someone who will never be satisfied.

The Power of Prose

The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword.

The written and spoken word can create and maninfast ideas and concepts that no sword or shot can ever destroy. Once an idea is created and shared until it gains some traction it takes on a life of it's own.

A few well chosen words can, and have, changed the course of nations. Martin Luther King, Mahatma Ghandi, William Wallace, Nelson Mandala all rallied nations around their ideas - ideas which changed the course of history. They can change your course as well.

Do not underestimate the power of words on your life. Words shape your (and others) perception of life. The way you consistently describe your life is the way your subconscious will view it and therefore work to keep it that way. Another way to look at this is that you are speaking prophesy into your life.

You may be visualizing success or praying for it but if your words speaking only of lack, loneliness and loss then that is what you are sowing into your life in future. Worse, you're getting others to buy into that concept and add power to them.

Speak (and write) only of that which you want to call into existence. Have faith that they will in fact come to pass. Try not to speak of how little you have but instead of how much is eminently coming. Instead of speaking of how lonely you are or why you can't attract a partner, talk of how wonderful you are and the equally wonderful partner you're about to meet. Speak not of how poor your health is but instead on how quickly and fully you will recover.

Speaking of lack while awaiting fortune is sending mixed messages into the world. In a Christian perspective, you are not walking in faith. You cannot just pray once a week or even once a day, you have to live your life in faith that God (or the universe) will in fact deliver. If you know richness, love and health are all about to show up in abundance then why are you still talking about lack? Let lack pass and embrace your riches.

Sometimes of course it's impossible to not need to address it.

In this case Anthony Robbins has a wonderful chapter in his book Awaken the Giant Within. In it he suggests using silly phrases to de-empathize the negative and over empathize the positive. For example instead of saying 'I'm totally broke' you would say, 'I'm a trifle tight for money at the moment.'

So remember to always speak on the life you are moving into not the one your moving out of because like seeds, your words will grow into tomorrows realities.

Review - Six Minutes to Success

Having launched my first video edition of Preston's Pearls I have refreshed and revived this review for the benefit of those joining us for the first time.



Six Minutes to Success is one more tool for achieving success from the mind of Bob Proctor. While Bob Proctor has been conducting success seminars for decades he is now best know for his work in the movie 'The Secret' (He's the white haired gentlemen who initially tells you what the Secret really is).

He has a lively and infectious energy in that movie and that is what prompted me to check out his Six Minutes to Success program when I caught sight of it one day.

The program is unique - as far as my experience goes - in that instead of offering a weekend seminar or a collection of books, videos or audio recordings the Six Minutes instead sends you one video clip of Bob Proctor each and every weekday morning.

That concept certainly appealed to me personally since I've been studying personal success long enough to know that consistency is absolutely critical to success. Too many people spend $2000.00 going to a weekend seminar, to get greatly motivated - for a little while. With Six Minutes you would get a daily dose of motivation or food for thought.

The website however, to be frank, is simply not impressive. In fact, considering Bob Proctor is always quick to point out how successful he is with his many businesses, the Six Steps website comes off as embarrassingly cheap and amateurish. It also reeks of used car salesmanship which goes on extensively. Does anyone actually read all that?

I was rather dubious, despite my genuine trust in Bob Proctor's abilities. However the site did offer a free 7 day trial and since I really liked the idea of a daily message I decided to take it for a spin.

I do have a grievance with the trial offer in that it requests your credit card info in advance - meaning you need to remember to cancel or be enrolled. However, in actual practice, it was quite clear when your trial period was up and you're in no danger of getting enrolled by accident (unless possibly you're just not paying attention).

I received the first couple of free videos and then... nothing. It was as if I somehow just fell off their radar. Again, I wasn't impressed. Still, I e-mailed them to find out what happened. I received a prompt reply and resolution to the problem from a pleasant CSR. The rest of the videos flowed accordingly on a daily basis from there on. Edit: In hindsight, it's possible, although unlikely, those two days were the weekend when the videos do not run but if that was the case the fact that they are weekday only should be more clearly articulated.

One of my biggest surprises was the fact that the videos are not, in fact, six minutes long. On average they run about two. However the remaining minutes are meant to be taken up by you doing exercises which generally amounts to filling in answers to three questions. This was a little disappointing but it's still a very helpful tool as it gives you some food for thought and then forces you to think about the subject matter at hand and how it relates to your life.

Does it actually take six minutes? Rarely. Most days I fill in the answers within two to three minutes but some days I can take fifteen or twenty due to the amount of thought involved.

The videos were solid information but not Earth-shattering or life changing. Still what do you expect within such a short daily burst? It's the cumulative effect that counts here.

In the initial videos Proctor is often holding and referring to Napoleon Hill's masterpiece work of self-help Think and Grow Rich. This annoyed me somewhat as I am very well versed on Napoleon Hill's works having read many of his books and that particular one multiple times. Still, it is a classic for very good reason and serves as a very sound basis for discussion.

Satisfied that the service was as useful as I had hoped I decided to enroll in the program past the initial seven days.

Now the program is not inexpensive, or perhaps it is, depending on your point of view. You are looking at $40 a month (less if you sign up for a year, as I did) which might seem like a large chuck of change for what you're getting. However, many people spend that much to exercise their bodies so why not their minds? Also, compared to the cost of just one weekend seminar this is dirt cheap and has the additional benefit of being with you every day (Mon-Fri) all year long. It's easy to work into your routine and won't break your bank. Let us not forget the goal with a program like this is to enable you to break your own mental road blocks that are holding you back from achieving your full potential and unlimited success. Obviously if it helps you to become wealthier or otherwise significantly improve your life, it's more than worth the cost.

Finally, there is one last twist. Six Minutes to Success has an affiliate program. Meaning you can earn money by promoting it to other people. For every person you get to sign up you earn $10 per month for each month they remain enrolled. So if you get 4 friends signed up, it's free. That's enticing in one way but seems somewhat like a scam in others. I did not refer anyone to this program though, at least not until I became convinced of it's long term worth.

Aside from the daily video messages, the program does come with a large selection of 'bonus' material. Proctor's book Born Rich - which is excellent, a series of audio messages and .pdf files. Occasionally various daily videos will also have a link to more free 'bonus' content, usually either a page or chapter about the topic at hand. The bonus content is all online, useful, plentiful and much appreciated. I am still slowing making my way through all of it.

I have been using the service for about four months now and continue to be quite pleased with it. It should go without saying that some days the message will be more impactful than others, and what really clicks for you will be different than for everyone else. I have been studying motivational material for over twenty years so most of what I hear on these videos is stuff I already know but still some is fresh and even the stuff I know, I need to be reminded about and prompted to put it into action.

It's hard to really access the overall quality of an ongoing service but so far so good. There have been no repetition of ideas and every day has had a good message. One complaint I have is that Dr. Proctor needs to put more long term thought into the over arching flow of the videos as I do not feel that they really build on one another. With the exception of the odd 'series' of videos (7 positive emotions for example) they could pretty much be given in any order to the same effect. This I feel, is a bit of a lost opportunity. Of the flip-side, if someone is not routine about watching them, this may be preferable because you won't feel like you need to watch 3 days worth to enjoy the message today.

You can go back and view previous videos and if you don't get around to watching one it'll always be there to watch later. The site indicates which videos have been missed. This is of huge value because the messages that really impact you, are available to be re-watched over and over to keep yourself motivated to keep performing in that particular area.

I also have a hard time recommending this to anyone totally new to the world of modern success coaching. Largely because the videos do not build on one another so there's no real opportunity to start at the very basics and progress gradually to advanced distinctions. Instead Proctor seems to assume you've watched The Secret and goes from there. Let me note that rarely does he talk about The Law of Attraction in this series though. Since each video is self contained the info is still useful to anyone but I would think someone versed in success material would get more out of it. If you are new to motivational/success material and want to try this, I'd advise you to read Bob Proctor's book Born Rich and the audio series early on to get up to speed - all of which is free bonus material.

Is it worth it? That depends on how serious you are about making a change in your life. If you really want lasting change, then I recommend the following in this order: Buy and read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (available through the link to the right). Then read it three more times. Then buy and watch The Secret (also available through the link). I'm sure you'll watch that over and over without my telling you. Once you have thoroughly digested those works, then I would recommended enrolling in Six Minutes to Success to help maintain your newly developed good mental practices and to learn and develop more. You might also want to consider Anthony Robbin's Awaken the Giant Within which is a great exercise book which really breaks things down to the nitty gritty.

Has it helped me? Yes, immensely. It has allowed me to break away from limiting negative thought patterns and focus all my energies into new creative endeavours like this website you're viewing now. I took a leap of faith by enrolling in the program for a year but right now, I'm am very pleased with it overall and feel confident enough about it to recommend it to anyone - as long as they are serious about change and preferable if they are already familiar with many of the basics of modern self-help methodology.

Prioritize

This week I cleared my schedule of all social functions so that I could address the backlog of work and projects that I have. However on any given day I found I was at a bit of a loss as to where to start and often felt demotivated to even start since it seemed overwhelming.

It's not that they aren't important, they problem is they are all important. And that is the fundimental problem right there. I had neglected to prioritize all my various goals and tasks. So everything is more or less of equal importance and the list is truly overwhelming because no matter how much I could possibly do, it would barely make a dent in the list. It hardly seemed to matter.

Once the time is taken to prioritize, things suddenly become a lot clearer. Even if you can only get to one or two items on your list, you know that those are the items that will have the greatest positive impact on your life. Therefore your feeling of accomplishment is much greater and you're not concerning yourself with not having gotten to more trival tasks.

Now this might seem obvious, and it is but have you taken the time to prioritize your goals? Stop for a minute and think about it. If you could only accomplish one life goal which would it be? If the answer isn't immediately clear then you need to clarify that. Rank them in order from more to least important. Sometimes it may be a real toss-up between two competing interests. In this case it might be helpful to write out all the pros for each and weigh them. If your still stuck, just go with your initial gut instinct - Then stick to it. You won't do yourself any favours if you're flip-floping on priorities. If circumstances change you can reevaluate at that point.

Once your have your goals prioritized then act accordingly. Send the majority of the time and effort on your top priority, some time on your secondary priority and occasionally work on lower priorities - probably when your stuck waiting for something to happen in your higher priorities.

The Art of Self-Sabotage

If you're keeping abreast with my concurrent blog - Preston's Path to Prosperity - then you know I've recently met someone that - at first blush - is the very essence of everything I'm looking for in a woman. I won't get into details here except to say she is gorgeous and wonderful.

After our first date I was estactic to have met such a high quality woman. After the second date with everything going very smoothly, I was feeling like the master of the Law of Attraction.

But now, the next day, my subconscious mind is already at work undermining my confidence.

Have you ever wished for something and wondered day in and day out why it couldn't be more like 'X'. Then when for once you actually get exactly 'X' you're feeling it's just too good to be true? That there simply must be something wrong. Some string or catch and you start looking for any tattletell sign of what's wrong with this picture.

That's where I am right now. If she doesn't pick up the phone, does that mean she's lost interest? Perhaps she only wants to be with me because I'm a Canadian citizen and she's not or she assumes I'm well established in life and able to look after her and her child. Looking back on our relationship so far there's no valid reason for me to assume any of that is true, it's merely my own poor self-image working against me.

In his seminar, Bob Proctor said that we must reach 'levels' before we can advance our life. For example, it's unfathomly hard to go from working poor to vertually non-working millionaire in ones mind. Sure they can envision it, but if they were to suddenly have an inspiration of what to do to make that reality they will almost certainly shoot it down as rubbish. Simply because that reality is too far removed from all their past and present references of life. It just can't be that easy. Right? Wrong.

While not every idea is a surefire winner, there ultimately are some of them out there. The people who succeed are the ones who can believe in them long enough to prevail.

For that hardworking poor person striving to get ahead, they need to go after a shorter term goal of something that they can actually fundimentally believe they can acheive. Like reaching middle-class. Surely they know some people living at that level and certainly they can reaffirm that those people are not significantly, if at all, any different than they are. That way when success comes, they can accept it.

Once they become acclimatized to living life at that level they can dream and pursue bigger and better goals.

We must always be on the lookout for those self-limting thoughts and behaviours though.

I recently read that in a study of a couple dozen millionaires that had succeeded from all different walks of life, the one recurring theme amoungst them all was a belief that they could not fail. They did not take reckless, foolish risks, and it would be next to impossible to maintain that beleif system if they did, but whatever risks they took, and it wasn't uncommon for them to risk it all, they proceeded on that unwavering belief that they would find a way to make it work.

Now someone could argue that there would also be a set of people with that belief who tried and failed. This is true. What constantly amazes me is how many successful people have been bankrupt at some point, often multiple times. Bankruptcy seems like the end of the world to most of us but to these people it's merely a stumbling block and they merely try another venture utilizing what they learned in the last attempt.
Again, they've maintained that belief that they will not fail over the long run. They have seen others be successful and figure that therefore, it must also be possible for them to achieve success as well.

This extends into all other areas. It's well documented that pretty much any successful person you can think off dealt with failure or rejection at some point.

"Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" - Winston Churchill

Therefore if we accept that failure is a part of life but certainly not the end of a voyage we must also come to an acceptance that success is also a part of life and we must learn to accept both in good graces.

So while my concerns might may some basis and should be considered, it's counterproductive to allow oneself to become consumed with looking for reasons why one's success isn't in fact valid.

Remember we attract what we focus upon. So stay focused on how wonderful this success will feel and what future opportunites it opens up while staying mindful of the potential pitfalls.

Guard Your Mind - Part 2

Aside from fears and doubts growing from within our mind we must also be vigilant about those trying to enter from outside.

When you are using the Law of Attraction, you are fixing your attention onto something that hasn't happened and for the most part, something that there's no 'rational' reason to expect to happen, at least not in traditional thinking.

Often family and friends will kindly offer 'advice' on your dreams. Be wary, while some advice my be insightful, too often they are just sharing their doubts and fears with you. Lock those out of your mind! Guard your mind from negative influences. "Practical", "reasonable" and especially "realistic" are all words that often hide what is really just doubt. I assure you, no one who has truly broken from the crowd and achieved outstanding success did it by doing what the crowd thought was practical, reasonable or realistic. No, those people set unrealistic goals, unreasonably believed they could achieved them and went ahead without knowing exactly how they would end up accomplishing that goal - something totally 'impractical'.

But when doubt is dressed as 'common sense' it is all too easy to shallow it and allow it to deter you from your goals. However think about this; by definition 'common sense' is the sense that is common to the masses. So if you want to continue to achieve the same results as the masses then please continue to use the same sense that is common for those results. If you want to achieve greater results then you need uncommon sense. Sense that is use by only an enlightened few.

Where do you find uncommon sense? It all around you but for an start try Six Minutes to Success or one of the books recommended on the right. Or just keep on coming back here.

Guard your mind Part 1

I was just e-mailing two of my friends about two completely different matters but the advice I ended up giving them had the same truth in them. It was also the same truth I had just read in Bob Proctor's book Born Rich and one I've known about for many years. So here it is for all to enjoy.

Yesterday I was watching 'Canada's Worst Drivers'. They were putting the drivers through an obstacle course, on ice. As expected, many were slipping and sliding around, fishtailing into pilons. One driver however, when confronted with a cardboard moose or policecar as an obstacle continual ran directly into them.

The judges explained to that person that when you seize your brakes the car will slide directly forward but that wasn't their problem, their problem was they were seizing their eyesight onto the obstacles they wanted to avoid, to the same effect. Instead, he was instructed, he need to look where he wanted to go and then he would naturally turn in that direction.

Too often people focus on the very things they are trying to avoid or dwell on the very problems - that haven't happened - that they don't want to happen. But life is much like driving a car. If that's what your fixing your attention on, then that is what you will move towards. We need to always be fixing on attention always and only on the end result we want.

Of course, we are not blind or stupid. You do not just ignore the obstacles that crop up in your life but you need to not focus on them either. Just adjust course and continue on your way.

Life is always full of challenges but do not let that bother you in any way. Just accept that as the way it is, deal with each one accordingly and keep moving towards your goal. If you look at the overall situation, sometimes it can feel overwhelming but you need only to address one day at a time. Surely any of us can get through one day no matter how difficult it may be. Now you may think 'but if every day is difficult then I'll get worn out' and that may be true if that is your focus. IF all you are looking at is the difficulties of each day you will tire but if your focus is on what the end result will be and how good that'll feel, you will find enough energy and enthusiasm to get through each and every day. Nor will they remain difficult forever.

Patience is a Virtue

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful" Hebrews 10:23

The one item success coaches do not talk about enough, at least, not enough for my impatient self, in the need for patience. An entire chapter should be given to this subject for it is that critical to success.

If we accept Napoleon Hill's notion of "Whatever a man can conceive and believe, he can achieve." or from Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” then we except the notion that whatever righteous thing we have fixed out minds on we can achieve.

But even given that, it requires two critical things - persistence and patience. I've spoken about a third; faith, already. It is obvious that if you want a thing, then you must put it into motion, not just once but continuously. This is one area where you have only to look around you to see that the overwhelming majority of people do not put it into practice. That talk a good talk but only timidly actually take rubber to the road and drive down the path to success. First road block they come to usually stumps them as this road has no GPS to tell them in advance what is the proper way to proceed but if they were to just take to the side street they would discover the detour is marked.

"Success it the ability to go from one failure to another without loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill

We must remain persistent with our actions even when the results are not indicative of success.

I have seen it commonly said that Thomas Edison had almost 10,000 failures before he successful invented the electric light bulb. That's not entirely true. The electric light had already been invented in Britain by Swan and Canada by Woodward before Edison even started. Edison bought Woodward's patent and eventually merged with Swan's company to sell electric lights in Europe. The reason Edison is credited is because he is the one that persisted in refining the idea until he had a design that would be practical and affordable to the average consumer.

Did it take 10,000 tries? Perhaps but in the end it was Edison's persistence and vision that enabled him to become rich off of it even though the initial idea and brilliance was from someone else. Edison expected success.

Had Woodward had the faith, persistence and patience to continue trying we might all be calling the electric light bulb a Canadian invention instead.

However the stumbling block for many of us, often myself included, is in the lack of patience. We persistently continue to try, continue to hold the vision - with faith but when we do not see the results we become frustrated. This is why patience is so critically important. We do not know when the breakthrough will come.

In the movie - The Secret - they talk about how the Law of Attraction has a delay factor. We must first create the seed of an idea and then plant that idea into our subconscious minds, from there it will germinate but like any seed growing into a plant or tree the process takes time. Depending on the seed it could be a day before we see a sprout, a week or even years later when certain conditions are met.

A plant seed has an advantage in that it never doubts itself. It doesn't sit on the surface of the ground and worry that it isn't planted under the earth to grow, nor does it fuss that perhaps it's been planted too deeply and won't reach the surface once it starts to grow. It simply waits for the right conditions and then it merely grows be it minutes after it's fallen or three years later. The universe provides the soil, the water, and the light it needs.

In the same way, once we have created an intense desire, we need to be able to live in a state of patient expectation that the desire will manifest itself into reality. Patient being the operative word for anxious or impatient expectations will only draw those things we don't want, those factors that could stunt our growth into our lives since that's what we've begun to focus on.

There will always be road blocks and detours on the way, that's natural, do not let them sway your expectations - remember, "He who promised is faithful". Cultivate a mindful state of relax and joyous expectation. Thank God every day for your success, envision what you will be doing once you have achieved it, mentally see yourself as being that person already. This will seem weird and like you're living a lie at first because your current reality is always a reflection of your past thinking patterns. Do not dwell on the current realities. Acknowledge them and act accordingly but do not dwell on them. Dwell only and always on the future you're in the process of creating.

Bob Proctor - Live - Multiple Sources of Income

Here are some other gems I picked up from seeing Bob Proctor live and in person.

There are three ways people in this world make money.

The main way, which is the way no doubt you and everyone you know is currently employing is to exchange time and effort for money. IE - hold a job. That is the way 96% of the world earns a living. And combined the earn something like 3% of all the wealth in the world. That is one ugly statistic.

But it makes sense if you think about it. Think of all the rich and famous people out there. Did a single one of them become that way by 'working hard'? I'm sure they did put in some hard work, but no one gets rich by hard work alone in and of itself. Any fool can simply work harder and many do.

The second means to achieve wealth is to use money to make money. In other words, stocks, buying and resell property, etc. About 3% of the world does this and in exchange that 3% earns something like 1% of all the wealth out there. That is infinitely better than 96% splitting 3%. The only problem here is not that many people are really good at the stock market, and it's risky, damn risky.

The third means to achieve wealth is to multiply your time. How? By having multiple sources of income. Not multiple jobs but finding various means to generate cash without heavy time investments to yourself personally. The 1% of people who master this are earning 96% of the world's wealth. They are multi-millionaires and billionaires. Nor are they exactly 'sweating' to earn that cash.

Think about it. Billionaires like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and major corporations like Sony or Pepsi don't own one business - they may be best known for one but inevitably they have spread their wings and have multiple businesses or revenue streams going. Even rappers have gotten in on the act. How do you think people like Jay Z, P. Diddy and others are getting so rich? Not by their music alone, that's just their foot in the door, they are using the cash and fame they earned by rapping to start clothes lines, colognes, to produce other artists, etc. They are rich because they understand this principal.

But how do you find these multiple sources of income?

Let me share another of Bob's keys - The Prosperity Formula

Their are 3 'C's in this formula.

Consciousness - You must first be aware of how success works. If you're reading this site, reading the books I've suggested, and subscribing to things like Six Minutes to Success then you will have a solid understanding or awareness of what allows success.

Creativity - Where do songs, inventions, stories, ideas and all creative thought come from? Ask anyone who's written a song, book, or created an invention or idea. Unless they stole it from someone they'll enviably say 'It just came to me'. All creative thought is pull from the spiritual plane or thought plane of existence. It must be because it certainly doesn't exist in our physical plane until it first enters someone's mind and they physically manifest that thought.

That spiritual plane of thought, where all ideas past, present and future exist and has always existed is there for any and everyone to use. You only need to tap into it. How? In simple terms, by first believing that you can and then allowing it to happen naturally.

When we reflect back on our billionaires we can see that creative thought is what set them apart from everyone else. They tend to think of new ideas that either improve existing processes or better peoples lives in some way and put those things into action.

Think of any business. Who is paid more? The front line staff or the President/CEO? Obviously the President/CEO and those around him are paid the most. Why? Because they are highly educated? No. In fact someone on the front line of the organization may have had the exact same education, and possibly even better grades but they are still making a small salary while the President/CEO is racking in many times their earnings. People on the top are the ones with the creative vision to propel the company forward. They don't even necessarily need to be educated at all. Thomas Edison and Henry Ford were both High School drop outs.

So creative thought and not hard work alone is the key to success.

The last C is Connections.

Surround yourself with people who are also on the road to success. Who will encourage and support your ideas and purpose.

Also expanding your network of friends will allow you to have access to more opportunities.


So going back to Multiple Sources of income, you need to understand that 'how' you are going to find them shouldn't be a concern. Once you understand the Prosperity Formula you will find the ideas for them will start to merely come to you in alignment with your goals and purpose and in direct response to your passion and belief in what you are doing.