The balance sheet, as you may or may not know, consist of assets, liabilities, and equity.  On a balance sheet, the assets must always equal the liabilities, plus the equity.

The professor gave an example, he said, if you purchased a home that cost $400,000, and you made a down payment of $50,000, your balance sheet would look like this:

Balance Sheet

Assets: $400,000 ——– Liabilities: $350,000 (Mortgage) + Equity: $50,000 (Down Payment)

As you can see, the balance sheet balances at $400,000.  The balance sheet, must always balance.

The professor then asked the question, “What would happen if the housing market fell, and your home’s value (the asset) fell to $300,000?”  “What would happen to your balance sheet?”  One student said, “All you would have to do in order to update your balance sheet is to reduce your assets to $300,000,” but that’s not correct.

If you just reduced the assets to $300,000, then your balance sheet wouldn’t balance.  You would have $300,000 on one side, and $400,000 on the other side.  But we know that the balance sheet must always balance, so how do we make it balance.

Well since the bank most likely won’t reduce our mortgage amount (our liabilities), and the balance sheet must balance, our positive equity of $50,000 must become negative equity of $50,000 so that the balance sheet balances at $300,000 on both sides:

Assets: $300,000 ——– Liabilities: $350,000 (Mortgage) + Equity: -$50,000 (Negative Equity)

So what’s my point?

My point is that marriage is a lot like a balance sheet, and the marriage balance sheet, also has to balance.  When you got married, your balance sheet may have looked something like this:

Marriage Balance Sheet

Husband: 8.5 (*on a scale of 1-10) + Wife’s Frustration: 0.0 ——- Wife: 8.5* + Husband’s Frustration: 0.0

And then, life happens, people begin to change.  Some people evolve, and some people “devolve.”  It’s devolution that’s usually responsible for marriages ending.

As an example, let’s say the wife works really hard to improve herself and to become a better person.  While the husband, in this example, quits his job to stay home and watch television.  The wife eventually improves to become a 9 on the “wife scale,” while the husband falls to a 5 on the “husband scale.”

So how does this look on our balance sheet.  We know the balance sheet must balance, so here’s what happens:

Updated Marriage Balance Sheet (5 years into marriage)

Husband: 5.0 + Wife’s Frustration: 4.0 ——- Wife: 9.0 + Husband’s Frustration: 0.0

With the husband having such a high number of “Frustration Points,” the wife decides to cut her losses and find a husband who is also a 9.0.

Some combination of this oversimplified scenario becomes the real reason for divorce.  Sometimes the amount of evolution and devolution is slight, and sometimes it’s vast, making divorce imminent.

The Conclusion

Is this the way it should be.

In our example, the wife, clearly 4 points better than her husband, is justified if she wants a divorce, right?…

Wrong!

The truth of the matter is, marriage is a team sport, and when one person decides to grow, that person is obligated to work with the other person to ensure they’re growing as well.

Marriage is a battlefield; you don’t leave a wounded soldier behind.  You pick them up, and bear their burden until they’re able to carry themselves.

When “you” grow-up into a better person, you have the responsibility to ensure that your spouse grows with you; you work with them, you love them.  …This is the right approach to the divorce dilemma.  (Note: In the rare case that you married a complete loser, you’ll need to seek professional assistance for further advice.)

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So you have this goal that you wish to achieve?  It’s a difficult goal, which of course explains why you haven’t achieved it thus far.

How do you best achieve this goal?  Well that’s what this brief article is about.  This article will greatly increase the likelihood of you achieving your goal; this article explains what I do, when I wish to achieve a difficult goal.

So How Do You Do It?

Well, it’s really quite simple.  Let’s say you’re trying to lose weight (my favorite example).  You might think the best alternative to losing weight is to change your eating patterns, and start working out.

However, this is not the best approach.

The best approach would be to significantly increase the activity that you “least despise” when it comes to losing weight.  Let’s say that you “love” to eat fatty foods, and it’s very difficult to stop, but you only “slightly despise” working out.

The easier task for you would be “working out.”  So working out is the positive activity that you need to increase.

If you began to workout “significantly,” as in two or more hours a day, that positive trait would eventually cause you to change your diet (your diet, in this example, being the more difficult of the two tasks).

Why Does This Work?

Because most people aren’t going to spend two to three hours a day working out, without eventually considering what they’re eating; most people aren’t willing to waste that kind of time.

In this example, the over-execution of one task is making it much easier to do another task that would otherwise be very difficult to perform.

Another Example

Let’s say you that have a gambling habit.  One may argue that you need to resist the urge to gamble, but I disagree.  Why?  Because it’s very difficult to resist an urge…

Your gambling habit is caused by a dysfunctional spiritual connection.  If you spent significantly more time exercising your spiritual muscles in prayer or in meditation, the desire to perform dysfunctional activities would dissipate.  The over-execution of a positive activity, one which is correlated to the negative activity, will always decrease the desire to perform the negative activity.

There’s always an easy task and a difficult task, there’s always a positive and a negative.  You do the easy, and the easy will cancel out the difficult.  You focus on the positive, and the positive cancels out the negative.  You focus on the spiritual task, and the spiritual will take care of the non-spiritual.

In Closing

This little secret will give you the power to make real change in your life; by over-executing the positive you can change the course of your destiny.

Is this easy to do?  Nothing worth doing is going to be easy.  It’s not easy to workout two hours a day, but it will strategically position you to succeed.

So begin to perform the one task that you “least despise,” a positive task.  Commit to perform the task for at least two hours a day, and soon the task that you “most despise” will become easy and your goal will quickly be achieved.

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So you want to break a bad habit, well you’re reading the right article.  This brief article will let you know why you have bad habits as well as how you can break those bad habits.

Where Did the Habit Come From?

A parent, a friend, a relative, perhaps the media taught you something that you wish you never learned.  They taught you how to smoke a cigarette, gamble, eat excessively, et cetera, and they may have even taught you this unaware.

So you picked up the habit, it was fun, it was relaxing, the only problem was it was also… “bad;”  bad for your health, bad for your relationships, and ultimately bad for your long-term happiness.

Why Do You Have the Habit?

Well since it’s so “bad,” why don’t you just get rid of it?  

Of course it’s not that simple (it never is); it’s called a habit for a reason.  You have developed a habit that you depend on.  As Samuel Johnson so eloquently said, “The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”

You now depend on this habit for comfort, happiness, freedom from boredom, and as a stress reliever. 

Perhaps most importantly, you’ve come to depend on the habit to relieve you from the pain of living.  Something in your life is causing you pain, and instead of dealing with the pain, you’ve opted for drugs. 

Every time you perform that habit (e.g. eat that extra donut) your brain gets a shot of dopamine and you feel good; like the old saints use to sing, “You feel like going on.”

That good feeling numbs out the real pain in your life.  The pain caused because you feel unappreciated, unimportant, or unfulfilled.

How Do You Break the Habit?

Breaking the habit is the easy part.  The hard part is figuring out why you have the habit and solving the real issues related to the pain that you feel everyday.

It’s very difficult to stop taking Novocain when you’ve just had a tooth extracted from your mouth.  Why?  Because you don’t want to deal with the pain caused by the extraction, you need the drug to cope with the pain, to assist you in continuing to live your life normally.

To break the habit you must find the source of your pain.  You must uncover the pain and deal with the pain.  This is hard work; this may take a long time, you may need to remove some people from your life, you may need to add some people to your life, you may need to forgive someone; you may need to start living.

Whatever the issue, it must be uprooted from the very root, and that root is unhappiness; when you deal with the unhappiness, breaking the habit becomes easy. 

The Easy Part

Once you are free from “unhappiness and pain,” it’s just a matter of committing to replace the bad habit with a good one (a good habit that’s related to the bad habit – i.e. replace overeating with jogging).

You no longer need this bad habit, so get rid of it, don’t let it hang around just because it’s a “habit;” habits that have no use are relatively easy to break. 

So use your discipline to “force your hand” initially into breaking the bad habit with a good one.  With several months of practice the good habit will take over, and you’ll begin to forget that you ever struggled with the old.

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This article is about the pain you experience from changing your habits, or failing to change your habits.

When we talk about changing your habits, we’re talking about changing your roots.  We’re talking about changing the kinds of fruit that you produce.  Do people gather oranges from apple trees, or grapes from an oak tree.  No; every tree produces from its kind. 

Your life will produce results based on your kinds of habits.  You can’t produce a successful life, if you don’t have successful habits.  Like I often say, everybody can run, but everybody doesn’t have the habit of running everyday.  Everybody can work, but everyone’s not committed to having the habits of the best workers.

2 Kinds of Pain

There are two kinds of pain, there is the pain of discipline, and there is the pain of regret.  The pain of discipline will grant you your desires, while the pain of regret will only grant you more unfailing regret.

Which pain will you endure?

The pain of discipline lasts a matter of months, the pain of regret usually lasts a lifetime.

The Pain of Discipline

What is the pain of discipline?  The pain of discipline is the pain that you must endure to create the habits that will grant you your desires.  Only through right habits can you succeed; it is right habits alone that grant you your desires. 

Right habits come through pain.  Fortunately the pain of developing right habits is a temporary pain, but the benefits of right habits will last a lifetime.

It takes about six to nine months to form a sustainable habit.  I didn’t say three weeks, I said it takes about six to nine months, depending on what the habit is.  You may be thinking “That’s hard,” yeah, well so is a lifetime of regret.

The pain of discipline is a small pain to endure, when you consider all that it promises.  

As an example, the pain of creating the habit of working out and eating right over the next nine months is not nearly as grievous as the pain of living an unhealthy life.  The pain of discipline is a temporary pain. 

As another example, the pain of developing the habits that the most successful people in your industry possess will take time indeed, but they will serve you well for the rest of your life.

The Pain of Regret

…And then there’s the pain of regret.  The pain of woulda-coulda-shoulda, the pain of next time I’ll do it, the pain that you are forced to realize because you have not yet committed to changing your habits.  

When you don’t create the right habits, when you’re not committed, it causes regret.

Why do you have regret?  Because you know on the inside of you that you are capable of achieving more.  You’re not regretting the impossible, you’re regretting what you know you could achieve; what you should achieve. 

In Closing

Which pain will you choose?

When you’re on your deathbed, your dreams and your goals will stand by your bedside, if they have not been fulfilled, they will demand to know why.  They will insist on knowing why you chose the pain of regret over the pain of discipline.

Don’t let your dreams down, don’t disappoint your goals.  

Decide today to create the habits that will give you the life you desire, decide today to deal with the temporary pain of discipline.  If you do, you won’t have to live with the pain of regret, you will live knowing that you did your best.

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Below are 25 “tweets” that I’ve sent out over the past few months, in case you missed them:

1. Balance is the key to life. Focus is the key to success. Contentment is the key to happiness.

2. Decisions decide wealth, decisions decide health, decisions decide happiness, …your decisions determine your destiny….

3. Never forget the power of your words! Use your words to direct your life…tell yourself where you are going…several times a day!

4. Great it is, to dream a dream, when you stand in youth, by a starry stream, but a greater thing, is to fight life through, and say at the end, the dream is true. – Famous Poem

5. If you give much, you will in turn receive much, how much are you giving to others? How many people are you affecting…? 

6. Focus on the critical tasks that will give you the results you need. Postpone everything else.

7. When you grow up, you will go up! 

8. The only limits that exist are the ones that you fail to remove.

9. When a door closes, jump through a window. 

10. Become a master at something, anything.

11. You will succeed, yes, I’m talking specifically to you.  The one reading these words right now. 

12. “When they back the ‘hearse’ up, they’re not making a practice run.” – Van Crouch. You only get one chance? Are you going to fight? 

13. The questions you ask determine the quality of your life, nothing is more important than questions.

14. Many people think that they are buying pleasure, when they are really just selling themselves to it and purchasing pain.

15. If you give up now, you will never see your greatness.

16. Control your focus, control your life.

17. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. 

18. Use your will to create the habits that will give you the life you desire.

19. Nothing happens until you get angry…if you can put up with it…you will always have to… 

20. Learn to profit from your losses…

21. Timeout is better than burnout.  Learn to rest before you get exhausted. 

22. Well done is so much better than well said.

23. Push through the pain until you get to the promise.                                                                                                            

24. Never criticize, complain, or condemn; always pull up, never pull down. 

25. You can’t make progress until you get clear as to where you currently are.  Remember, success is not a sprint, it is a marathon.

Bonus: In all thy getting, get understanding…

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I was listening to someone being interviewed who lost over 100 pounds recently; let’s call the person who lost the weight: Sue.  The interviewer asked “Sue” several questions.  He asked her what kinds of diets she had tried in the past, he asked her how she had lost the weight, and he asked her how many years it took for her to slim down. 

And then he asked her the most important question of all, he asked her if she’s scared that she might gain the weight back.

Her answer to this question inspired me to write this article.  She replied, as I have heard many people reply to this question.  She said, “Everyday I am scared that I will gain the weight back.”

So let me help you, and her!  If you’re scared that something’s going to happen, if you fear it everyday, then it’s probably going to happen.

If you fear being poor everyday, then you will probably remain poor, and if you are rich and constantly in fear, then you will eventually come to want.

Faith vs. Fear 

When you believe something is going to happen, you create a channel for it to happen.  When you have faith, when you really believe something, you open the door to experience it.  Faith is a channel that allows you to channel your desires into reality.

Fear is also a channel, and when you fear something is going to happen, you create a channel for it to happen.  Job said, “The thing that I feared the most has come upon me.”  When you’re operating in fear, you have a “vision” of what you don’t want to happen. You begin to meditate and ponder that vision, and you will eventually live into that vision, whether you want to or not. 

Am I Scared?

I’m not scared that one day I’ll be overweight.  To have a “thin” mind means that you don’t fear being overweight.  I don’t fear being poor; to have a “prosperous” mind means that you never fear poverty.

Where there is fear, there is unbelief.  Unbelief is not-belief, it’s not faith, it’s the opposite of faith, and it will attract the opposite of what you desire; it will channel your fears into your life.

An Example

If I started gaining a few pounds, I have faith that I will lose the weight.  If I was in fear and I gained a few pounds, then I would get scared (i.e. have a vision of fear). 

I would fear that I was headed back to being over weight.  The stress of it would cause me to eat more, creating a negative cycle and causing me to manifest what I fear most.

The Conclusion

Some people say that fear is the best motivator…but I must disagree. 

Fear is not the best motivator, the best motivator is a vision of what you want to become. When you have a vision, and you mix it with hard work and patience, you will have the power to manifest your desires.  You will have the power to become all that you’re capable of becoming, you will have the power to succeed.

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I’m 30 years old, and there are several things that life has taught me that I want to share with you.  Some of these things I’ve known since I was young, some of these things I have learned recently. 

I believe these lessons will add to your life.  Without further ado, here are the 5 lessons that life has taught me at 30 years of age. 

5 Lessons Life Has Taught Me at 30:

1. Marry Well

“A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person.” –Mignon McLaughlin

In the movie “Shallow Hal,” Jack Black’s character “Hal” was cheated on by his girlfriend.  Of course, he was very sad given this situation.  His friend tried to comfort him by telling him, “You didn’t know she was bad.”  To which Hal replied, “I knew she wasn’t good.”

It’s critical that you pursue relationships with individuals who are “good,” first.  Don’t let your primary criteria be cuteness or coolness. You only want to get married once, so it’s critical that you marry the right person.  Marry someone who you can fall in love with several times over, because they’re so good.

2. Take Care of Your Body

“I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking. And I plan on finding out what that is.” –Zoolander 

Life is “unfairly” biased towards people who “look good,” like it or not.  So it’s important that you do all that is in your power to look your best.  And by “doing all that is in your power” I mean dressing nicely, working out and eating right.

You will live longer, and you will live happier, if you take care of your body; you may even get promoted faster on your job.  Research shows that people who take good care of their body are perceived to be better workers. 

And if that’s not enough to motivate you, remember that your health is really your greatest wealth.

3. Save Your Money

“If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting.” –Benjamin Franklin

While I believe in having nice things, I’m a greater believer in paying yourself first. 

No one taught me to save when I was growing up, no one told me the importance of saving, fortunately I was able to learn the value of saving through reading great books like “The Millionaire Next Door.”  I want to teach others what I was not taught when I was young, and that message is to save at least twenty percent of your income.  If you are to be wealthy, you must not just earn a lot, you must save a lot. 

4. Think Long-term

“…if you are a long-term thinker, then you are significantly more likely to achieve greater success in your life compared to those that aren’t.” – Jeff Nickles 

In high school I was thinking about college, in college I was thinking about life after college.  In my teens, I was thinking about 20’s, in my 20’s, I was thinking about my 30s.  Now that I’m 30, I’m planning how my life will be in my 40’s.  I’m designing my life and I’m making decisions today that will enable me to live the life I desire when I’m in my 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.

You have to think long-term, you have to see the “big picture.”  If you plan your future properly, you will live into your plans.

5. Realize the Power of Focus

“One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular.” –Tony Robbins  

Focus, focus, focus…  Nothing is more critical than focus.  If you fail in this lifetime, you will fail because of broken focus. 

If you focus on the goals that are most important to you, to the exclusion of everything else, you will achieve them. 

The problem is that there are so many distractions.  What separates the winners from the losers is that the winners learn to focus on their goal.  Winners decide to major on majors, and they even let important things slip, because they focus solely on achieving that which is critical to their goals. 

Focus is the key to success, Tony Robbins said, “Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives.”

You have an enormous capacity to accomplish great things, the question is will you do it, will you focus, will you succeed.

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Below are five random yet crucial life secrets:

1. How to Revitalize Your Week

So it’s Friday, and you’re completely drained from work, the kids, and everything else that takes place during your week, but you don’t have to feel this way.

Usually we begin to wear down on Thursday from all of the stress of the week, so I want to give you a secret.  Here’s the simple answer to feeling energized all week long.

Take a nap.  A 1-1 ½ hour nap on Thursday after work, will give you the energy to finish your week strong.  

Let me tell you from personal experience, it’s amazing how such a small change can make such a drastic difference.  So plan your nap this week, and you’ll have the energy you need to finish your week strong. 

2. Don’t Have a Grasshopper’s Mentality

What exactly is a grasshopper’s mentality?  A grasshopper’s mentality means that you see everything and everyone as bigger than you. 

Try not to be overly impressed with anything or anybody.  You can accomplish whatever is really important to you, so there’s no need to be overly impressed by anything.

I like to say, “If you can do it, I can do it.”  And I may be able to do it better and faster.

Commit today to see things as they really are, you are not a grasshopper, if you can see it and believe it, you can achieve it. 

3. Live Beneath Your Means

Assuming that your goal is to achieve financial freedom, and assuming that you’ve not yet achieved that goal, it’s critical that you live sufficiently below your means so that you can amass a large enough fortune to be financially free. 

When I say live beneath your means, I don’t necessarily mean that you should live like a beggar.  What I mean is that you should live in such a way that you are able to invest and save all of the money that you desire for retirement. 

That may mean only having your housekeeper come once a week or it may mean clipping coupons. 

It may even mean that you need to find additional ways to make money so that you have enough money to save.

The point being, you can not continually spend every dime you have, and accumulate a great fortune, so schedule an appointment with a local financial advisor to ensure that you will be ready for retirement.  The best time to start preparing is when you’re in your twenties (not your fifties).

4. Kick Down the Door and Make it Happen

Things don’t happen, people make things happen.  Whatever your goal, whatever you desire, you’re going to have to make it happen.

You’re going to have to make it happen…in spite of the twenty different things pulling on your attention everyday.  In spite of your circumstances, in spite of your situation, you’re going to have to make some things happen.

If you’re to make progress, you’re going to have to block out the necessary time, daily, weekly, or monthly, to make it happen. 

Things will only happen that you make happen. 

This brings me to my next point.

5. Your Future is hidden in Your Daily Routine

The secret of your future lies hidden in your daily routine.  Everybody jogs, but everybody’s not willing to jog everyday.

What you are doing daily is creating your future, whether you like it or not.  A poor diet daily will cause you to be unhealthy.  Hard work and perseverance daily will bring results.  

You must form the habit of doing the tasks daily that will eventually bring you to success.  If you fail in this lifetime, you will fail because of broken focus. 

Are you focused on your goal, are you committed to it daily?  Your future is hidden in your daily routine.

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Laing Burns Jr. said, “Success often comes to those who have the aptitude to see way down the road.”  One of the major differences between people who succeed and those who don’t is that people who succeed have the ability to see way down the road ahead. 

This article will help you to see down that road.

5 Inspirational Success Lessons:

Lesson 1:  Always Act

“Have a bias towards action – let’s see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away.” – Gandhi

If you’re going to be biased, be biased towards making something happen today.  Tomorrow never comes, any progress to be made, must be made today.  It must be made right now!

If you don’t act now, you don’t have a future, just a longer today.  Gandhi said, “The future depends on what we do in the present.”

Lesson 2: Monitor Your Beliefs

“Your beliefs become your thoughts.  Your thoughts become your words.  Your words become your actions.  Your actions become your habits.  Your habits become your values.  Your values become your destiny.” – Gandhi

In short, your beliefs will create your destiny.  What do you believe?  What do you believe about yourself, your future, and your potential?  What you believe, you will surely become.

Lesson 3: Develop

“A man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he is born with – a man is what he makes of himself.” – Alexander Graham Bell

You are what you make of yourself!

This is why self-development is so important; you are “exactly” what you have spent your time developing into.  You decide what you become.  You can develop into success or failure.  You can get better or worse, you decide.  A man, or woman, is what they make of themselves.

Lesson 4: Repair Your Character

“No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Your thoughts determine your feelings, your feelings determine your actions, and your actions determine your character.

A defected character comes from defective thinking and can only be corrected via accurate thinking (thinking that is in-line with where you want to go and who you want to be).  Better circumstances won’t change a defected character; only “better” thinking can do that. If you don’t decide to think “better,” your way-of-thinking will eventually drag you down exposing your defected character.

Lesson 5: Make Yourself Necessary

“Make yourself necessary to somebody.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you didn’t learn anything from this article, please take this final point. Make yourself necessary! Not just to somebody, but to a host of people. When you work on yourself, and grow yourself, and spend years sharpening your skills, you will become valuable; you will become necessary to somebody.

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Sixty percent of people abandon their New Year’s Resolution within six months.

Ninety-five percent of people who lose weight on a diet, regain it.

And only one in seven patients make any lasting changes concerning their diet and exercise routine after having a heart attack.  Interpretation: Death itself can not force you to change.  Most people will gladly look death in the face and say, “I will not change.  I’d rather embrace your bitter end, then endure the process of change.” And if death won’t change you, what will?

Although these facts maybe staggering, change is still possible, and not only is it possible, it is necessary.

Change – In Four Steps:

Step 1: Desire

If you don’t have a very strong desire for change, then you won’t change. 

You must be able to list the reasons that you desire change.  As an example, “I want to change my diet so that I will live longer; so that I will be at a healthy weight; so that I will be happier.” 

If you don’t have a very strong desire for change, then you can forget about it. 

Step 2: Vision

Secondly, you must be able to see yourself as the individual that you want to be.  If you can’t see it, you will never have it.  You can’t hit a target that you can’t see it.  You can’t drive to a destination with your eyes closed, you will crash. 

You have to see what you will be. You must believe in the vision. 

To have a successful business, you must first see yourself as a successful business person, you must see it as already done; otherwise you don’t have a chance.

Step 3: Thinking

There is no change without a change in thinking.  Ask any person who has broken a bad habit.  There was a time when they thought of smoking cigarettes all the time, and now they never think of smoking cigarettes. 

You have to change your thinking. 

And changing your thinking begins with changing what you give your attention to.  If you focus on the negative, the bad, the habit, you will get more of the same.  If you focus on the positive, the good, the new habit, then that will eventually take over your life.  The good will swallow up the bad.

Step 4: Habits

The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine.  To be a success, you must have the habits of the successful.  And you will only gain the habits of the successful by first finding out what those habits are and secondly by using your will power to ensure those habits become your habits.

The purpose of will power is to create a habit.  Will power doesn’t work in the long-term, it must be used to force your hand in the initial stages.  Will power is used to get your train on the right track.  Once your train is on the right track, it will run on that track, and that track will bring you from where you are to where you want to be.

In Closing

We’ve just discussed the process to change, follow these steps, and in time you will change.  You will go from where you are, to where you desire to be, you will change, you will succeed, you will be your best, you will have the life you desire.

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Below are 15 of the greatest motivational quotes, enjoy:

1. I run on the road, long before I dance under the lights.  I hated every minute of training, but I said, “Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” – Muhammad Ali

2. “Having a plan B only distracts you from Plan A.” – Will Smith

3. “There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love; there’s only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.” – Wayne Dyer

4. “Expect problems and eat them for breakfast.” – Alfred A. Montapert

5. “Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person you become.” – Jim Rohn

6. “Being selective—doing less—is the path of the productive.  Focus on the important few and ignore the rest.  Lack of time is actually lack of priorities.” –Timothy Ferriss

7. “Either you run the day or the day runs you.” – Jim Rohn

8. “Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered – either by themselves or by others.” -Mark Twain

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

10. “If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” -Dale Carnegie

11. “Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now.” -Denis Waitley

12. “One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interests.” -Peter Marshall

13. “Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.” -John F. Kennedy

14. “To be a good loser is to learn how to win.” -Carl Sandburg

15. “To be wholly devoted to some intellectual exercise is to have succeeded in life.” -Robert Louis Stevenson

Thank you for reading.

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You can have whatever you want in life?  If you ask the right questions?

You think you need answers, when what you really need is to ask the right questions?  Answers work for questions; questions employ answers, nothing is more important than the questions that you ask.

As the scripture hath declared, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

No matter the question, good or bad, your mind will dedicate it’s time to researching an answer. 

If you ask disempowering questions, then your mind will provide you with disempowering answers.  However, if you ask empowering questions, the answers you receive will have the power to change your life. 

So, if you’re going to ask questions, why not spend your time asking questions that allow your mind to provide you with the answers that you need to live a happy, healthy, and abundant life. 

Disempowering Questions (the Wrong Questions)

Wrong Question: When will I get promoted?

Your Mind’s Answer:  Probably never.  Who knows when, you’re always overlooked.

Wrong Question: Why is it so hard to lose weight?

Your Mind’s Answer: You don’t have time to workout.  You need food to relieve your stress.

Wrong Question: Why is being happily married so difficult?

Your Mind’s Answer: Marriage is hard, married people aren’t supposed to be happy with their spouse; that only happens in the movies.

Empowering Questions (the Right Questions)

Right Question: How can I make $2,000 more a month?

Your Mind’s Answer: You can start an on-line business in your spare time — in an area that you’re an expert (everybody’s an expert on something).

Right Question: How can I maintain a healthy weight?

Your Mind’s Answer: You can join the gym down the street, or buy Mr. Self Development’s “How to Get Skinny” for $3.99 (shameless plug) and listen to it everyday to change your thinking as well as for motivation.

Right Question: How can I improve my marriage?

Your Mind’s Answer:  My husband and I can go to a marriage seminar.

When you ask the right questions, you will get the right answers!  Whatever you desire, whatever you need, you’re just a question away from the solution.

Next Step

Once you have the answer to your question, the next step is to put your answer into practice as quickly as possible. 

Don’t delay, less’ you never make any progress.  Answers aren’t any good in your head; they need to be put into action, so they’re results can be seen.

When you act, things will change!  So start asking the right questions today, follow through with action, and your life will never be the same.

Thank you for reading.

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Public speaking remains a top fear for most people; lots of us are more afraid of public speaking than dying.

But, it doesn’t have to be this way, because all of us are already competent public speakers.

Why do I say this?  Well, before we answer that question, let’s define public speaking.  Some people think that public speaking is giving a presentation to your boss.  Others think that public speaking requires a crowd.  But “public speaking” is simply speaking, in public.  Given this, you’re already a pro; you do it all the time.  How else would you communicate on your job, at the supermarket, at the mall, or anywhere else outside of your home?

You are currently an experienced public speaker, so today I want to give you four steps that will help you realize your skills and organize your thoughts so that you make the most profound impact whenever you speak.

4 Easy Steps to Amazing Public Speaking:

1. Stop Being Selfish

Why are most people so afraid of public speaking?  It’s because public speaking makes them feel self-conscious, it makes them feel exposed, and vulnerable.  Some people are concerned that if they don’t perform well they will be embarrassed in front of others.

All of these reasons stem from one thing, selfishness.  The reality is, if you’re presenting , the presentation is not about you; it’s about the people you’re presenting to.  Let me repeat that statement, “it’s not about you, it’s about the people you’re presenting to.”

Your focus, when you’re presenting, should not be on how you look, or how you feel, your focus should be on ensuring that your audience understands your message.  You are the servant of the audience; so focus on conveying your message, the way you would convey your message to a friend, forget about you, and focus on the need of the audience.  They need what you have to say; otherwise you shouldn’t be saying it. 

If the audience is better served with you using a PowerPoint presentation, then use a PowerPoint presentation.  If they need handouts, then provide handouts; your job as a public speaker is to serve your audience. 

There’s no need to fill self-conscious, you’re the least important person in the room when you’re speaking; it is your job to serve the listeners. 

2. Rename That Heart Pounding Feeling

So it’s almost time to speak, and your heart is pounding out of your chest, what do you do?

Here’s your answer, “you rename that heart pounding feeling,” don’t dare call that feeling fear, call it power.  Without that power you can’t deliver an amazing speech. 

The key is to use that power the way a surgeon uses his knife, carefully.  Recognize the power, be thankful for the power, and harness the power like a laser: with focus.

All public speakers get butterflies, it has been said that the secret is to get those butterflies to fly in formation.

You have to control your “fight or flight” instincts.  If you “flight” then you will rush through the speech, if you “fight,” you may not even give the speech.  What you want to do according to Susan Leahy is to “stay” right where you are, and let those butterflies’s fly in formation. 

Recognize that the “heart pounding feeling” is about to give you the ability to give a great presentation, so be glad it’s there.

3. Organize Your Thoughts

If you want your audience to easily comprehend your message, then your message must have order.  It must have a beginning, a middle, and an end.

Beginning: You should begin by telling your audience what you’re going to tell them.  Then tell them why you’re telling them this.  In other words, why is your message important to them, and why they should care to listen.

Middle: Secondly, you should tell your audience what you told them you were about to tell them.  Keep the core of your message between three to five main points because that’s all most people will remember.  Let everything you say, support those three to five main points.

End: Finally, tell your audience what you just told them by giving them a quick summary and see if they have any questions, comments or concerns.

4. Practice, Practice, Practice

Some speeches are spontaneous or impromptu and you can’t practice for them, but whenever you have the ability to practice for a presentation, you must practice.  

Practice gives you the ability to get all of the kinks out of your presentation.  It helps you to prepare for the unexpected.  It allows you to get more comfortable with your material, and it helps you to anticipate questions or concerns that people may have.  Proper practice will make you sound profound. 

If at all possible, record yourself with a video recorder when you practice.  Do this to make sure that your words, your tone (pace, volume, etc.) and your body language are all saying the same thing.  Additionally, if you can get someone to listen to your speech prior to giving it, that will give you an added edge.

Perfect practice will make for perfect performance.

BONUS: Learn the Profound Power of the Pause

Instead of saying “Ummm,” or using filler words such as, “so,” “and,” or “well”….learn to use pauses. 

A multitude of “ummm’s” during a presentation can make you sound unprofessional, but a pause, where you would have said “ummm” will make you sound more profound, and in control.  So don’t forget to pause, they won’t even notice.

In Closing

Remember that you are already a great public speaker and following these keys will just make you amazing.

Thank you for reading.

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Who doesn’t want to be happier?  This brief article will give you six ways to increase your happiness. 

You can apply one or all of these keys.

6 Ways to Increase Your Happiness: 

1. Workout

“If it weren’t for the fact that the TV set and the refrigerator are so far apart, some of us wouldn’t get any exercise at all.”  –Joey Adams

Research confirms that individuals who workout regularly are happier than those who don’t, all things considered equal. 

So why are they happier?  The answer is because they feel better about their bodies, because they’ve found an excellent way to relieve stress, and because they’re getting healthier.

Carol Welch said, “Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person’s physical, emotional, and mental states.”

2. Sleep

“No day is so bad it can’t be fixed with a nap.” –Carrie Snow

Without sufficient physical energy, it’s very difficult to be happy, and sleep is the foundation of physical energy.  Ninety-five percent of us require 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night in order to be fully rested, although the vast majority of us get somewhere between 6 to 6 ½ hours of sleep.  Which is perhaps why Thomas Wehr, the chief of  the Section on Biological Rhythms at the NIH said that “we modern humans have never really known what it is to be fully awake.”

3. Get Organized

“Don’t agonize, organize.” –Florynce Kennedy

Order, the accurate arrangement of things.  You may think you need Prozac, when what you really need is to clean your house. 

Order creates a sense of wellbeing.  Disorder creates confusion and uncertainty.  So get organized, organize your day, organize your closet, organize your bathroom, organize your life’s priorities, and your happiness will increase.

John Steinbeck wrote, in Travels with Charley, that “Everything in the world must have order or the human mind rejects it.”  You must give your mind order, or it will reject happiness.

4. Meditate

“During meditation your metabolism and your breath rate go down to a level of rest, twice that of deep sleep.”  –Mike Love

 Why does meditation make you happier?  Primarily because it relieves stress.

Most of us run all day long, like computers; running as many applications simultaneously as possible.  But we’re not computers, so less we burn out, it is necessary that we stop and reflect. 

You will get more done in the long run, and you will be happier, when you take time to meditate.  Remember, time out is better than burn out.

5. Improve Your Diet            

“The cardiologist’s diet:  If it tastes good, spit it out.”  –Author Unknown

Although nothing maybe as satisfying as a juicy hamburger and although it may give your brain a temporary sense of happiness, the after effect, as well as the long-term effect is not as positive.  Research confirms that individuals who eat healthier, are happier and live longer.  These individuals have found ways to deal with stress without the use of food.

Edward “Grandpa” Jones wisely noted, “If food is your best friend, it’s also your worst enemy.”

6. Take a Break (or Vacation) and Laugh

“Laughter is an instant vacation.”  –Milton Berle

All systems in your body pulse rhythmically when you’re healthy – brain waves, body temperature, blood pressure, heartbeat, and hormone levels. 

How you spend your time should “pulse” as well.  It’s true that all work and no play will make Johnny a dull boy.  It will also make Johnny sad and depressed.

Take a break, research suggests that the most we can work continuously, while maximizing productivity, is 90 minutes at a time.  So after 90 minutes of work, or less, take a few minutes to take a break, take a walk, read something funny, close your eyes and do some deep breathing, go talk to a co-worker, spouse or friend, or just take a few seconds to relax your mind, if you do, you will be happier.   

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Julius Caesar said, “It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.”

To succeed you must have a vast amount of enduring patience.

What is patience?  According to Barbara Johnson, it’s the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.  Guy Kawasaki said it’s the art of concealing your impatience, while Titus Plautus concludes that it’s the best remedy for every trouble.

I submit to you that patience is the missing link to your success…

So when things go wrong remember that the grass will grow again, yes it will take time, but in the words of Jean Jacques Rousseau, “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet,” so don’t overreact, don’t over steer, be patient, let things settle, less you find your delay considerably longer than it would otherwise be.

The scripture teaches us that in your patience you possess your soul, which is perhaps why Francis Bacon noted that whoever is out of patience is out of possession of their soul.

Elbert Hubbard said, “How many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more patience would have achieved success.”

It’s true.

You were almost there, you had just about figured it out, and then your impatience got the better of you, which is perhaps why Solomon wrote, he that controls his anger is greater than the mighty.

Christina Milian said, “My advice to someone who would follow in my footsteps is to have patience.  I’ve been doing this for twelve years.” 

Saint Francis de Sales wisely noted, “Have patience with all things.  But, first with yourself.”  And Saadi said, “Have patience.  All things are difficult before they become easy.”

You’ve been trying to succeed without patience!  You failed to apprehend three of the most critical steps to success.  They are: First to have patience, second to be patient, and third to endure patiently.

No one succeeds without patience.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience. 

Have you been over reacting?  Have you been impatient?

It didn’t take you a week to get into your situation; it won’t take you a week to get out of it.

Anxiety causes the waters of life to rage; dooming your success, but patience stills the waters and allows you to navigate safely to your intended destination.

Don’t be like Tom Holt, Tom said, “Everything is out there if you know how to find it, and you have the patience.  I don’t and haven’t, but that’s my problem.”  Don’t just know that you need patience, have patience.

I like to say, there’s nothing you can’t achieve if you have the three “P’s”: Purpose, Passion, and Patience.  You have to have patience.

George Savile wisely observed that, “A man who is a master of patience is a master of everything else.”

Thomas Kempis said, “All men commend patience, although few are willing to practice it.”  Are you practicing patience? 

Benjamin Franklin said, “He that can have patience can have what he will.” Arnold Glasow noted “The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.”

Francis Quarles said, “Abused patience turns to fury.”  But I think he had it wrong.  True patience isn’t putting up with, true patience is faith and works in action, which is maybe why Michelangelo said that “Genius is eternal patience.”

But I believe that Edmund Burke said it best, he simply said, “Our patience will achieve more than our force.” 

Be patient, be consistent, and in time you will have your desires.  In the profound words of William Penn, “Patience and diligence, like faith, will remove mountains.

Thank you for reading mrselfdevelopment.com, where every article increases your faith, expands your mind, and changes your life.  Click here to view my latest mini-audiobooks for $3.99.

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