Smile Always be Happy

Never Look Back and Never Giving Up!

2009-11-16T19:54:00.002+08:00

Let me share someone's life history with you. This was a man who failed in business at the age of 21; was defeated in a legislative race at age 22; failed again in business at age 24; overcame the death of his sweetheart at age 26; had a nervous breakdown at age 27; lost a congressional 53 of 279 race at age 34; lost a senatorial race at age 45; failed in an effort to become vice-president at age 47; lost a senatorial race at age 49; and was elected president of the United States at age 52.This man was Abraham Lincoln.

One day a partially deaf four year old kid came home with a note in his pocket from his teacher, "Your Tommy is too stupid to learn, get him out of the school." His mother read the note and answered, "My Tommy is not stupid to learn, I will teach him myself." And that Tommy grew up to be one of the great inventors history has ever seen. Thomas Edison. He had only three months of formal schooling and he was partially deaf.

Colonel Sanders, man behind KFC, at age 65, with a beat-up car and a $100 check from Social Security, realized he had to do something. He remembered his mother's recipe and went out selling. How many doors did he have to knock on before he got his first order?.

These people could have quit. But they didn't. They took the defeat as a challenge to conquer. To them, defeat was a detour and not a dead end, and this made them one among the people who reshaped history.

Trust yourself. Create the kind of life you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into the flames of achievement.

Thomas Edison failed approximately 10,000 times before he invented the light bulb. How many of us quit after three tries, ten tries, a hundred tries, and then we say we tried as hard as we could?

Setbacks are inevitable in life. A setback can act as a driving force and also teach us humility. In grief you will find courage and faith to overcome the setback. We need to learn to become victors, not victims. Fear and doubt short circuit the mind.

Ask yourself after every setback: What did I learn from this experience? What should I do to make sure this doesn't repeat again? Only then will you be able to turn a stumbling block into a stepping stone.

Disappointments will cross your path in the future. Every day brings its share of challenges. Still, we can choose to enjoy each day as it comes, purposing not to dwell on the things we can't change. As our attitude towards life changes, we identify the opportunities left in front of us. This Hope re-ignites in our hearts, and we begin to dream again.

In the darkest of your life, see the tiniest spark of light rays. Kindle them. If you decide to give up, you have decided to fail. If you decided to fail, there is nothing more disastrous than that.

Sometimes everything turns upside down. Bad things happen to good people. We cannot choose our parents or the circumstances of our birth. What do we do from here; cry or take the ball and run? That is a choice we have to make.

Between stimulus and response is our greatest power - the freedom to choose. This takes me to the habit of "be proactive". It says that as human beings, we are responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions. We have the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen.

Look at the word responsibility - "response-ability" - the ability to choose your response. Highly proactive people recognize that responsibility. They do not blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior is a product of their own conscious choice, based on values, rather than a product of their conditions, based on feeling.

Success is not measured by how high we go up in life but by how many times we bounce back when we fall down. It is this bounce back ability that determines success.

To deal with a setback the right way, take a step back and look at the situation objectively. You are probably feeling hurt, worried, upset and maybe confused. Most likely, a swarm of emotions is flying around in your head. Try to put these aside so you can seriously ponder the problem you are facing.

People who have overcome obstacles are more secure than those who have never faced them. We all have problems and we feel discouraged some time. Most people get disappointed; but winners don't get disheartened. The answer is perseverance.

An English proverb says, "A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner." Everything is difficult before it becomes easy. We cannot run away from our problems. Only losers
quit and give up.

Success is a journey through thorns. Path is not filled with roses to you. You have humps ahead of you. Your car may get break down. Gas gets over. You seem to get totally lost on the way. Winners never give up. They take it as a challenge.

The game is still going. You are still in the team. Time is running. Plenty of opportunity left before that final whistle ends the entire show.

Remember: BEHIND EVERY SUCCESS STORY, THERE IS A STORY OF A FAILURE. BUT FOR WINNERS, FAILURE IS ONLY A STAGE BEFORE SUCCESS"

Happiness at Work

2009-09-23T12:21:00.003+08:00

A recent article, revealed that we spend "One-third of our life at work." The article explores the notion that "work is more than just a way to support oneself financially. It is a psychological necessity: it is how we express our potential, demonstrate our skills, excel, define our identity and do something useful for ourselves and for others."

Since we spend a significant amount of our lives at work "not even counting the time we spend commuting, working overtime and thinking about work after we go home", it is important to find out if one can be happy at one's job regardless of if one's current role is ideal.

The University of Laval study shows that "while many people develop self-confidence and a feeling of accomplishment through work, it can be a source of stress. The combination of employer requirements and the demands of modern life are a growing burden for individuals."

So how does someone develop a healthy work ethic in which one is committed to excellence without been exhausted from working? The answer, regardless of one's job or employment environment, is to learn how to how to deal with stress; and to have a clear understanding of what happiness means to you.

No matter how you define happiness, the need to be able to sustain that state of being, is one of the reasons we sometimes require employment.

The pursuit of happiness, at work or at play, is a significant driving force. So it is easy to understand that anything or anyone who threatens or compromises one's happiness, is a source of stress.

In the face of a potentially recovering economy, it is important to find the sources of our stability and happiness at work. Here are five practical ways to achieve contentment whether you love your job or otherwise.

Have a life plan: Have a short term and long term goal professionally and personally and review these plans frequently. Having a life plan allows focus because of the realization that there is a purpose to one's current job.

Have an active and Virtual portfolio: A portfolio (on-line) provides the ability for you to showcase all your skills. This allows you to show your range. You might be working as an Accountant but you may also be a skilled Graphics Designer. Should a potential project come up with your current employer, you can showcase your unknown skills or decide to explore a change in career. A portfolio allows you to be detailed in your abilities versus a resume that has length restrictions and requires that you focus on one particular job.

Know what makes you happy and what stresses you: Being able to do so, allows you to attend quicker to stressors. Prevention is better than cure. If one identities a source of stress, one can come up with a viable plan on the necessary course of action.

Become an expert: do a lot of research and learn more about your role. This allows to accomplish two things. First, you are the person, people will come to in your place of work, making you irreplaceable. Secondly, this makes you more attractive to a potential employer or makes you tremendously skilled if you decide to start a company of your own.

It's Good to Be Selfish Sometimes

2009-09-01T13:22:00.000+08:00

People tell you all the time not to be selfish. But in order to succeed in life you have to be selfish at times. If a person wants to succeed they have to look out for themselves and what's in their best interest to succeed. IF people are not selfish, they often let people hold them back from the things that they need to do in order to accomplish something. So why not be selfish if you're trying to do something positive with your life?

To be selfish means that you are looking out for your own interest or your own life. With that in mind, everything you do to live can be considered selfish. When you eat you are supporting your life, is that selfish? When you are happy of your accomplishments and take pride in your character, is that selfish? When you use your mind to do things in pursuit of your own happiness, is that selfish? What exactly makes selfish a good or bad thing?

If you are not selfish, you will never get the things done that are most important to you. People have to understand that they are the most important thing in their life. If they are not in tune with themselves, how do they really expect to help others?

It is good to be selfish sometimes because it is an overall good and understandable goal to look out for one's self. It's also a good thing to be self dependent, and proud of the achievements that you have accomplished. It is only natural that people act in a manner that is positive for themselves.

How can a person honestly say they don't care about how something will impact them and their life? That right there is an act of selfishness. That kind of selfishness is not the same as being stingy and not helping others. But in order to help others, you have to help yourself first.

There is nothing really wrong with being selfish at times. Selfish will never be a bad thing is you follow a couple of rules. When acting in a selfish manner to succeed, you cannot violate the rights of others in order to accomplish your own goals. You cannot represent yourself as something you are not because that is misleading people and misleading yourself. Finally, you must do your absolute best to continuously think at all times while making sure that your actions bring you nothing but encouraging outcomes.

Forgive Everyone in Every Way

2009-08-21T14:11:00.001+08:00

Forgive everyone, everyday, and in every way. Each person is doing the best he or she can. No one, absolutely no one is perfect. Since no one is perfect, this means that we all need to share more patience and more understanding surrounding all aspects of our interactions with one another. Think of the last time you needed to forgive someone. And, think of the last time you needed to be forgiven. When we need to be forgiven, there is a feeling of lack or something as missing. When we need to forgive, we often feel anger. Anger is a secondary emotion for loss. When we lose something, the need to restore what was lost. This sends us on a search within ourselves for attention in a peace filled direction. If you noticed, to forgive or to be forgiven leads you to the same place. Both paths of awareness lead us on a search. What are you searching for? You are searching to find wholeness. What is wholeness? This is often one's perception of reality created by what one believes to be true. This creation of what one believes to be true is the path of one's soul seeking manifestation in the world of form from the formless.

There is no set way to wholeness. Simply being aware that you have a self-defined understanding of wholeness that is within you is what we simply need to give attention to within us. This continued attention on what we seek the most within us will grow in our awareness until the need to place our attention on forgiveness fades away.

If a person was to believe that forgiveness is something obtained through the human psyche alone, we all would find the journey into such a place within us as something to avoid. In the deepest parts of who we are, we want to connect to what is sacred within us. Therefore, to re-create a past interaction with someone who we feel we harmed or who we feel harmed us is a useless attempt to embrace what cannot be. This is not to say that certain relationships close to us do not need verbal efforts to make up for a past action leading to harm. In fact, a person can find this useful, and even, helpful. The point I want to make is the place one's attention may be at the time such a verbal interaction will become vital in the success of such expressions taking place.

Dying patients remind me that there are countless times in all our lives where the issue of forgiveness was perceived and we become aware of it. There is no way a dying person can retrieve all their past life experiences in physical form, but we can recall these moments in time and visualize how we would have handled them differently. This is our soul seeking to make right a wrong our personality may not allow us to do, or it may no longer be feasible to take place in our current circumstances. People are such a vast array of experiences. There are endless paths of attention within us calling for our attention. Perhaps, the instant we remember who we are and who others are in the deepest parts of our being, we begin to remember the love that brings all our lives together, and into, being. This remembrance of who we are as children of our Creator reminds us of the unconditional spirit reflected within our own selves. The transcendence of flesh and blood inspires us to give our Creator our lives, the lives of others, and our very reason for living into the hands that created us.

Keeping Your Dreams Alive - Finding Happiness in Your Goals!

2009-08-20T13:12:00.000+08:00

In this busy, hectic world, it is sometimes easy to forget that our lives are filled with dreams and hope for a different kind of tomorrow. We forget the importance of sitting back and remembering that so much of our happiness in life is dependent on keeping our personal dreams alive in some way.

Everything in life seems to have priority and just surviving, at times, is all we can do. But, think about it. When we stop for a moment and dream about what we can do to accomplish our goals, one day at a time, there is hope for a better tomorrow. And where there is hope, happiness soon follows.

Everyone dreams and develops goals differently but one thing is for sure, if you do not develop a plan of action to meet those goals, the dreams will never happen. If you do not strive to make daily action toward your goals a priority, the meaning of your life is diminished. Don't let life take over your dreams, take action today. Just follow a few basic steps and see what a difference your outlook on life will be. Use the following action plan as a guide. Tweak the guide to fit your particular circumstance, then, just do it! Remember, you have the power of your destiny.

Action Steps:

1. Set some time aside, about 15 minutes a day for one week and journal you're past experiences. Think about the time you were 18. What did it feel like to have aspirations to conquer the world? What made you feel alive and full of energy? The essence of what you have written down is where you will find life fulfilling dreams.

2. Break down your goals into identifiable daily, weekly and yearly actions. Be sure the goals are very, very specific. For example, "start a business" is a broad goal but "to start an internet business" is a more clear, concise goal.

3. Be sure to ask yourself the right questions on what it will take to accomplish your goals. By asking the right questions, you will be able to overcome any obstacles along the way. Instead of saying, "What kind of business can I start to earn income?" You probably should be asking, "What kind of business can I start on the internet that will be fun and bring in income I desperately need?" By asking the question the right way, you are changing the meaning of your desires to meet both the practical and passionate side of your life. By including the dreams in your goal for earning income, your likelihood of success is two-fold.

4. Be sure to work toward your goal every single day. It doesn't matter if the goal seems impossible, what matters is you are trying to get there and that is what is making you happy. A 75 year old woman was on a US television show "America's Got Talent." All her life, she has wanted to pursue a career in comedy but did not have the opportunity. Needless to say, she was a finalist on the show and now, has begun her career as a comedian. The point is, she was always striving to do what made her happy.

5. Don't let other people rain on your dreams. Dreams and goals do not have to meet anyone's approval except your own. If your goals require extra time away from the family or you need extra money from the family, negotiate and communicate their importance to those involved.

6. Lastly, follow through on your goals. Read your goals daily and have an action plan, written out, daily. Do you get my point - daily?!

Dreams are very personal and have different meaning for different people. Without our dreams and actions toward them, our lives are dull and hopeless. The importance of dreams cannot be diminished because without them - life becomes a chore, not an adventure it should be.

Learn to Be Happy and Life Will Be Good to You

2009-08-18T15:51:00.000+08:00

Nearly everyone have heard the hit song 'Don't Worry, Be Happy'. The song has a very catchy way of conveying its message of being happy to everyone. This simple message certainly made several people happy by telling them not to worry.

Living a happy, spirited and positive life is fantastic, and is also great for your health. Being optimistic and happy in reality protects you from the stresses of life. Stress is related to most causes of death like heart conditions, cancer and strokes.

One of the best things ever said is - 'The only thing in life that will always stay the same is change', and in your life you have the power decide of required changes if you want to. Even if you find yourself in an intolerable situation you can always find comfort in knowing that, it also could change.

Relationships are necessary to happiness. People are different, accept them as who or How they are, avoid frictions, ceaseless arguments, and let go of all resentments. If arguments appear inevitable, nevertheless make an effort to try and understand the situation, you might just get along with it.

Happiness is found in everyone, expanding it is a way to make your life better and also healthier.

To be happy is relatively easy, just choose to be a happy person. It's been noticed that most people, most of the time can decide how happy, or stressed, how relaxed or disturbed, how bright or boring their outlook will be. The choice is simple actually, decide to be happy.

There are a lot of ways you can do this.

Being thankful is a very good attitude. We have so much to be grateful for. Thank the cabdriver for bringing you home safely, thank the cook for a wonderful meal and thank the guy who mows your lawn. Also thank the postman for bringing you your mail, thank your spouse for being there and thank God for being alive.

News is a source of stress. Get less of it. Some folks can't start their day without their regular dose of news. Think about it, most of the news we hear or read is bad news. Starting your day with bad news doesn't seem to be the right thing to do.

A spiritual connection is also good advise. Being part of a religious group and meditation foster's inner peace.

Manage your time. Time is priceless and too important to waste. Time management can be considered as a process that includes scheduling, setting goals, planning, lists of things to do and prioritizing. These are some of the elements of time management that should be understood to develop effective personal time management skills. These skills can be polished to include the finer points of each skill that could give you that extra boost to attain the results you want.

Laugh and laugh heartily everyday. Heard a good joke? Tell your friends or family about it. As they say -'Laughter is the best medicine'.

Express your feelings, affections, friendship and passion to people around you. They'll probably copy your actions. Try not to keep repressed anger or frustrations to yourself, this is bad for your health. Rather find ways of expressing them in a way that won't stimulate injury or hurt to anyone.

Hard work brings a lot of personal satisfaction. It leaves an impression of being efficient in completing your projects. Achievements are essential , they give you a sense of value. Work on things that you feel are worth your time.

Learning is a happy exercise. Try and pick up something new everyday. Learning also expands and broadens your horizon. And will give you more opportunities in the future.

Exercise, jog, walk, do things that will make your body happy. Feel alive.

Avoid exposure to negative factors like loud noises, and dangerous places.

These are the few simple things you are able to do day-after-day to be happy.

And always remember the famous quote from Abraham Lincoln, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

Why So Serious?

2009-08-14T14:44:00.003+08:00

Though it's one of the best lines of this past summer's blockbuster movie, "The Dark Knight;" "Why so serious," is also a really good question that most people might like to ask themselves.

Why do we take certain things so seriously? What is it about those particular topics that gets us so worked up and stressed out?

Alot of times we can take a step back and say to ourselves, "Is it really that serious?" or even know right from the jump that, "It's not that serious."

So really; why so serious? If you look at your own 'serious' reactions and those of others you know; you will see that it is always the things that people are ego identified with that brings the stress into the picture. In other words, it its always a concept or idea that has become part of that person's identity which raises all the hell for them.

To illustrate this; everything that your considers, is what the ego identified with. Your car, house, job, wife/husband, bills, retirement fund, etc. If anyone of these things is lost, comes into jeopardy, or is even slightly threatened; You're very identity comes under fire. Why so serious?

This just goes to show you the power the ego has over our minds until we are totally aware of it. Once we start operating above the ego, our minds are free. We are free to be sharper and more intuitive. We are even free to cultivate and protect what we know to be ours. The difference is that the chains of stress and the burden of bondage and attachment will no longer bog us down.

Life is no where near as serious as the ego makes it out to be. As a matter of fact, that seriousness is only a mental construct fueled by the ego. It does not really exist except in your head!

Life is meant to be lived. If there is anything at all stressing you right now; think about what's good right now. You may see that the source of the stress is but a thought and that it's really not that serious.

Having the Confidence to Be Yourself

2009-08-14T14:38:00.000+08:00

It is important that you do what is right for you, that you choose to do the things in this life which suit you as a person. There is no point in doing what you do not like, or do not believe in, in order to please another person. If you do, then you will usually end up resenting the person whom you had chosen to try to please.

We humans do what we want in this life (generally speaking) but we do not always admit to ourselves that this is the case. It is easy to say that it is another person's fault that something happened, and so on, and yet in reality the truth is that we chose to go along with whatever it was. There are many situations which I think the majority of people will relate to as ones in which we knew didn't quite feel right and yet we never the less went along with it.

It is easy in hindsight to see that the wrong choice was made, and possibly that choice was made based upon the wrong reasons. How many people know of someone who stays with their partner because they are afraid of being on their own? Or perhaps you know someone who leaves a good and stable, loving and successful relationship because "something" (which they cannot quite identify) is missing?

In the world of business, how many people go into a job because it is expected of them as opposed to what they are really passionate about? It is so easy for human beings to be swayed by what other people think, or by the local "norms" in our community, or by what we think that others expect of us. It is also easy to be swayed in our very beliefs about what is right or wrong, and perhaps it is also easy to alter our own beliefs in the hope that we will change the beliefs of others.

When the chips are down, the most important thing is to be true to your own path in this life, and this means not being swayed too much by others and also not swaying others to go along with you. We are all on our own paths, and we all have to take our individual course through this life. Your own beliefs should change only because you are discovering more and more accurately who you are as a person and not because you are purely aligning with the beliefs of friends or associates, or because you are trying to impose your beliefs on another.

This does not mean that you should not change. To not change would be to stagnate and die. This is a world which constantly moves and changes and everything within it moves and changes too. Human beings are no exception. The important thing is to have the confidence to move and change in a manner appropriate to you, in a way which suits you and affirms your true beliefs about yourself.

Nor does it mean that you should not compromise in certain circumstances or situations. Compromise is inevitable in a world where everyone is an individual living their own life, upon their own path. The key is in having the ability to compromise without compromising your own beliefs or those of the other person; Balance has to be sought. There has to be give and take in every relationship in life. Life is like a see-saw; as one end goes up there is another end which goes down...but there is an optimal point where both ends are level and everyone is happy. This is the equilibrium which everyone should seek to achieve in their relationships with others.

This equilibrium can only happen if you have self-confidence. To have the confidence to be yourself and to continually grow in your understanding of yourself and the world is the basis of what life is all about.

Enjoy a great song and relax.....

2009-08-03T19:02:00.002+08:00

Mindsets and Goal Success

2009-07-31T15:57:00.001+08:00

On many occasions some people have failed to accomplish goal success, and this is due to the fact that such people failed to analyze their goals and their mindsets before pursuing their goals.

To achieve goal success proper analysis of the possibilities and viabilities of the goals in relation to your mindset should be considered. After all there's little or no sense in setting a goal and deciding to abandon the set goal later.

The ultimate aim of setting a goal is to achieve the goal, which of course could be a feat, or an outstanding accomplishment or a worthwhile desire. Hence the need to have a success frame of mind and adequate preparation. The aim of the excercise would be a waste of time and efforts if the whole thing is abandoned mid way or if it end up without realising the goal.

Setting goals goes beyond just a matter of writing something on paper and thinking that you've set a goal and therefore should automatically expect some accomplishments out of it. You have to sit back and consider all the possibilities and steps which would lead to accomplishing the goal.

Efforts should be made in the area of planning how you would accomplish the goals in a much easier and quicker ways. This is even more important if the goal is complex. The bigger the goal the more time, planning and task needed to achieve the goal success.

Self analysis will give you proper perception of the goal in relation to your self capabilities and frame of mind. These will enable you to know where you stand and the actual efforts and commitments you need to put in to achieve the goal success. With a proper mindset you will get focussed and face each step of the goal with ease and commitment.

Setting Goals

2009-07-29T09:36:00.000+08:00

Your goals, dreams and desires need to be taken out of the mind and written down, They come to life by when you get into action. I have spoken to individuals who had very high hopes for themselves and for many of the goals they had in mind, but have never gotten past the first step of GO. If this is you right now, you can still make it all happen by applying some easy strategies that work if followed consistently and with willingness.

The process of setting goals helps you choose where you want to go in life. That is what helps make your dreams become your reality. It is all in the doing! Did you know that by writing your goals down on paper you increase your chance of chance of success tremendously? Of those who write their goals down, 80% of individuals are more successful and of those 80%, sixty percent who have some form of accountability do succeed. So in simple terms your success rate of achieving your goals increases greatly by writing your goals down and then by being accountable to yourself in some way or form.

To know what you really want you need to take the time to be specific. Broad generalizations such as "I want to be happy", I want to be rich.", "I want a big house", are not specific enough and that is the reason why it is difficult to even really imagine it. These general statements are very vague with no outline or specifics. It is the same as going to a car show room to buy a car and saying to the salesperson, "I want to buy a new car." Without giving the salesperson some details, they cannot help you. What make, what model, what color, what kind of leather or material interior and what kind of fuel - gas or diesel? It is the same with your goals. Just as if you were going to buy a car or plan a vacation abroad, you need to be more specific in stating your goals and plans.

Taking stock right now is a very important step in the process of getting what you want. Do not be too eager to move forward on your goals before you are clear about what you want. If you want to get certain outcomes in your life it is essential that you are clear about your dreams and goals and how they inspire you.

How to Make Your Dreams Come True???

2009-07-28T14:58:00.000+08:00

Whether you are dreaming about writing a book, or traveling to Africa, or dreaming about something for the community - I am sure you enjoy thinking about it. We all enjoy thinking about our aspirations and desires, and of course, we all have the desire as well that someday, we are able to make our dreams into reality.

If you are interested on how to make your dreams come true, here are some simple things that might bring wonders in your life.

* Dream Big. Dreaming is free so set your mind thinking about the biggest dream you would ever want. Even small dreams that matter most to you would be something that is already big.

* Believe in your dreams. Achievers are believers and if you believe that you can realize your dreams, you will have the power to work on your goals and dreams. Believe in yourself. Eliminate self-doubt by overcoming your weaknesses, learning from your mistakes and being thankful about whatever you already have.

* Think Positive. Sometimes our minds are just so full of negative thoughts that we often think about dreams being just our dreams and we tend to believe in them only if there are signs that they are likely to happen. Instead of thinking about doubts and uncertainties, set your mind free and think not of the impossibility of a thing. Think about dreams being achievable.

* Enjoy your dream. To help you get started on achieving your dreams, picture yourself that you already reached your dreams, and enjoy and savor the feeling of being there. If you dream of going to Africa, think about being in the safari and actually seeing the animals and feeling the hot, humid climate on your skin. This will help you get motivated as the excitement and energy builds up in your subconscious.

* Take action. One important factor in knowing how to make your dreams come true is of course working on it. Take advantage of opportunities that come your way. It would be helpful if you make a list of the dreams you have and prioritize them according to whether they can be realized short term or long term. When you see that you are actually making each dream come true, you will also realize that dreams are not impossible. As you work towards turning your dreams into reality, never lose focus of what you want.

* Be persistent. One failure is not the end of it all. Never give up that easy on your dreams. You will never know how close you are in making your dreams come true if you give up on it so easily.

Whatever it is that you dreamed of, may it be big or small, if you believe in it and work hard to realize it, and you open up yourself to the wonders that the universe can give you, you will realize then that you actually have the power on how to make your dreams come true.

In the end, it is actually your choice to make your dreams come true. It is in your hands to make these dreams a reality.

Never, Ever Give Up!

2009-07-23T11:10:00.002+08:00

Are you on the verge of giving up on your dream?
Are you just about to let all your hopes and dreams slip through your fingers?
Has the thought crossed your mind?

Are you despairing because things are not working out the way you expected?
Are you wondering how you will ever accomplish your goal or even whether you really have what it takes to achieve them?

If you are already feeling the familiar feeling of despair that accompanies the fear that your dreams and hopes might go down the drain…DO NOT GIVE UP! Get up and fight for your dream. Fight for what you believe in.

Here are 8 tips to help you hang on and not give up:

1. Take charge of your life.

When you give up, quit, lose hope or abandon your dream or goal, you give both yourself and other external circumstances permission to sabotage your efforts.
You lose the power over your dream. You have to get that power back by taking control of your life.

Don’t give in to self-defeating, self-sabotaging and dream choking thoughts. No matter how bumpy the ride is, don’t abandon your dream. Get on the drivers seat of your life, wear your seat belt and drive to your destination.
It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.

2. Reconnect with your vision.

Before you decide to throw it all away, ask yourself why you had the initial desire to achieve that goal/dream. What compelled and stirred your heart toward that vision? Why was it so important to you? As you reflect on your answers, allow the passion for your vision to give you the strength to carry on.

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

3. Focus on your big picture.

When things go wrong, don’t betray the plan. Don’t let short-term obstacles snuff the life out of your long-term goal. Work on overcoming whatever is momentarily standing in the way of your dream. Bear in mind that achieving the goal is the big picture and not the obstacle in your path to your big picture. Stick to the plan for your life. The race is only over when you reach the finish line. Honor you desire to achieve your goal. Run the race of your life and until you get to the end.

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

4. Believe in yourself.

Having your hopes dashed can damage your self-confidence. No matter how bad the situation seems, believe in yourself and in your ability to succeed. The fact that you thought about your idea, worked on it and turned it into reality counts for something and is evidence enough that you can do it!

With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable.

5. Persevere

The journey to success is usually filled with many obstacles. Dealing with obstacles aren’t only time consuming but can also drain your energy, motivation and drive as you struggle to overcome them.
The temptation to give up may be so compelling but don’t give up…perseverance pays!
Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.

6. Be resilient.

Resilience is an ability to bounce back and stand on your feet after a hard knock out punch. Simple thoughts such as “I will survive” and “I will try again” are enough to get your hopes high again and to set you rolling and in motion again.

When the world says, "Give up,” Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."

7. Change your perspective.

Perhaps you just need to see things from a different perspective in order to understand how you can do it better. You may have to rethink your strategy, revise a few things or be creative.
The saying goes that “It is hard to see the picture when you are in the frame” Perhaps it would help if you got out of the frame and really looked at the Big Picture!

Problems are not stop signs; they are guidelines.

8. Hang on!

There is no better way of saying this. This quote sums it all up…Hang on! Don’t give up! There is surely something in that dream or goal that’s worth holding on to. Find it and hang on to it.

“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on”

Whatever it is that you aspire to achieve…Never, ever give up!

10 Ground Rules For Your New Start-Up

2009-07-23T10:30:00.000+08:00

So you got a great idea. You certain it is going to change the face of the earth, make the world a better place and you a very riche person. Congratulations! However, before you start celebrating here are 10 ground rules that will help you make this dream become a real success:

1. Think about your future customers When you start building up your business - don't think only about the money you are going to make from your new venture, idea or creation. Think about the contribution you are going to make to your future customers life. Remember: creating and selling a new product out of honest intention to help and improve the life of others usually produce the best results.

2. Believe in what you sell. If you won't believe in what you created or in what you wish to sell - why should other people do? Remember: people are no fools. Eventually they will find out you are trying to fool them.

3. Don't be afraid of rejection.There will always be people who will tell you "no", because your idea is too dumb, too ineffective, completely unnecessary or some other excuse. Do not let them discourage you. Just go to the next person. Eventually you will find the one who will say "yes".

4. Set yourself specific and realistic goals>. It's very difficult to work without a plan or specific goals for the next month, quarter or year. Define your goals, write them down, so that you will become more committed to them, but make sure they ate achievable and realistic. However, check your list of goals every once in awhile and make sure it still relevant. If not - make the necessary alterations.

5. Always be honest and fair. If you want your customers to return to you or send their friends to buy what you sell - keep at all times your integrity. Do not cheat, deceive or promise things you have no control of. Remember: your most valuable asset in business is your reputation!

6. Keep improving yourself. So what if you already have a few dozens happy customers. There is always a room for further development, improvement and learning lessons from previous mistakes. Make sure you never repeat the same mistake, and always try to get better at what you do.

7. Give your customers more then you promised, never less. Always promise some - and fulfill a lot more. Surprise your customers and serve them way beyond their expectations.

8.Do not be ashamed to ask questions. Knowledge is power. Never be too shy or ashamed to ask what you don't know, in order to know more. We live in a world full of information resources. All you have to do is reach out and get it. Remember: those who already know everything never learn anything.

9. Adjust your products to your customer's needs. Be always aware of what your customers need and want, and make sure your products, ideas or services are fulfilling exactly that.

10. Encourage and appreciate others. Make sure you encourage and appreciate people who work for you, help you on your way up or support you in what you do. Remember: saying "thank you" is free of charge - but always worth a fortune!

More Pleasure - Don't Feel Guilty About Your Desire For a Happier Professional Life

2009-07-23T10:23:00.001+08:00

We can leave it to the sociologists to pinpoint all of the causes, but it's clear that many of us feel a certain level of guilt when we wish our jobs were more enjoyable. We tell ourselves that "work is work" and remind ourselves that "no one ever said this was supposed to be fun or easy". We accept the inevitability of "the daily grind" because somewhere along the line we've learned to associate the idea of bringing more pleasure to our working lives as some kind of selfish hedonism.

It's time to give up on that perspective. Time is a finite resource and life is short. Over the course of forty years, someone who works forty-hour weeks with annual two-week vacations will spend over nine years of his or her life working. That's a long stretch of time and there's no reason to give up on its potential for enriching our lives and making us happier.

Work doesn't need to be an ongoing party. It's unreasonable to expect that every day at the office will be like a day at the circus. You can't expect forty solid hours of enjoyable entertainment every week and it's unrealistic to think that every moment on your job site will naturally put a big grin on your face.

However, it isn't unreasonable to look for ways to bring more pleasure to your career. In fact, it's just about the most reasonable thing you can do. When you love what you're doing, you'll do it better. When you're experiencing pleasure at work, you'll find yourself naturally reaching greater levels of success. Whey you're work life is happy, it will have a quality of life-boosting spillover effect on all areas of your existence.

Don't sell your life short. Don't give up on the idea that you can experience a professional life that pays the bills, challenges you and supplies a good time on a consistent basis. That's not impossible. It's certainly not something to give up on, either. Instead, you should make finding ways to bring more pleasure to the workplace a goal.

It's not greedy. It's not hedonistic. It's not selfish. It's smart. It's the best way to make those nine-plus years of your life something meaningful.

Why Do We Say Thank You?

2009-07-17T14:18:00.000+08:00

Why do we say thank you? It is a very simple concept, but one that is very often forgotten. Saying 'thank you' is an expression of gratitude for a present, a thoughtful act or complement or for helpful support, eg 'for just being there'. It shows how much we appreciate the gesture and how indebted we are to the person who made the gesture. Of course it displays good manners and we are taught from a young age that manners are part of being a first-rate person, but it goes deeper than that. The recipient of a spoken or written thank you, or even just a 'thumbs up', gets a warm and fuzzy feeling and our relationship with that person is enhanced and improved.

We can say thank you to all sorts of different people in our daily lives, the bus driver, the checkout operator, the receptionist and the driver who lets you out of a side street in heavy traffic; all the people who make our lives a little bit easier and help to make our day more straightforward. Acknowledging when someone has done or said something kind or thoughtful makes us feel appreciative and caring.

However it can be all too easy to forget to say thank you to those closest to us. We can often take them for granted and not be grateful for the help and support we receive. It is often said that 'we take our frustrations out on those closest to us' and this can damage and injure relationships if not remedied.

To say 'thank you' every now and again to our friends and family can repair and protect relationships and make them stronger in the long run. A simple card or a more elaborate gift lets the recipient know how much we care and how greatly we value both the person and the gestures they have made on our behalf.

Saying 'thank you' is such a simple act but it is sincerely cherished and treasured and creates a relationship of respect and regard which is very precious.

Think Happy!!!!

2009-07-15T12:42:00.000+08:00

First of all, Happiness starts with you. You must first be happy with your self before you can be happy in your life. One notion that a lot of people have, is they think that money will solve all there problems, which will in turn make them happy. This has been a mistake that plenty of people have made over the years.

To get happiness we must first give happiness. What this means is we must vibrate with positive, happy thoughts. In the degree that we do this, what happens is we draw more happiness and positive things to us. This is because of the law of attraction. This is the law of like attracts like.

You don't have to look hard for happiness. If you're grateful for the things that you have, and the things you will have, you will receive more things to be grateful for. If you can convince your self that life is great, then you no longer have a reason to be unhappy. There a fairly big number of people that don't believe that it is possible to get more happiness in your life just by thinking and being happy. We must think and feel happy in order to live a happy life.

I've met and worked with many successful people .They all have one character trait about them that sets them apart from the crowd. This trait is the fact that they were first happy with them selves, and that they were grateful to be of the living. They believe that everyday they live and breathe is a blessing that should be cherished. They know that if you're not becoming happier every day, then you're becoming more miserable everyday.

This draws more misery to you. You must focus on the positive things in your life. Stay motivated alive, and keep moving forward. You must get happy, cause this is your life. I you don't enjoy it while you can. You will regret is later. Don't waste your life by being unhappy. It's just not worth it.

Success Means Never Ever Giving Up!!

2009-07-13T10:26:00.002+08:00

Persistence is the foundation of success. Although there are many ways to describe success, there is only one definition of failure – giving up. Whatever your meaning of success, you will only achieve it through persistence.

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.

Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.

Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Babe Ruth had more strike outs than anyone else in history. When asked about the key to his success he said, “I just keep swinging.”

You are born without the concept of failure. How did you learn to walk? The first time you tried you immediately fell. But you didn’t know you couldn’t succeed and immediately tried again. And again you fell down. But you never gave up. Hundreds of times you repeated this process until you learned to walk.

Persistence is getting up one more time than you fall down. Unfortunately, you are taught to give up and fail. How many times have you heard one or more of the following?

“Why bother, you’ll never be able to do that – it’ll never work”

“Don’t rock the boat, just do what you’re supposed to do”

“Why take chances?”

“You’ll never amount to anything”

“Stop dreaming -- come back to reality”

“Why don’t you give up already?”

“I tried that already, it doesn’t work”.

If you had believed any of the above when you were learning to walk you would still be crawling! You didn’t listen to bad advice then so why listen to it now?

When you feel like giving up, you must keep going. Only by continuing, when most others won’t, will you achieve your goals. Don’t join the ranks of those who have given up just around the corner from success. You never know where your corner is so you must never stop.

Stop Focusing on the Little Things That Bug You

2009-07-10T13:59:00.000+08:00

Success has a lot to do with what you don't do, as well as what it is that you do. Imagine doing the right things is like driving towards a destination. If you get side-tracked by wasting time doing other things, you will take longer to get to where you want to go.

You can't do everything. You can't do the right things, things that don't matter and the wrong things at the same time. Imagine instead of working on that project that will launch your business towards success, you spend 30-40 minutes on youtube or wikipedia entertaining yourself.

Sure it's harmless fun, and everyone deserves time to goof off once an awhile, but all this "nothing" that you are doing is getting in the way of your success.

Also, similar to a lot of the 'nothing' that fills your day, there also the massive time wasters. The perfectionist in you will suck up all the available time you have. If you are a perfectionist and can't handle things being not right then you have a problem.

Anthony Robbins have a good quote that says, "The quality of your life is in direct proportion to the amount of uncertainty that you are willing to live with." I believe that the level of your success has to do with the things that you do just as much as the things that you don't do.

You can't be spending hours fixing bugs, or optimizing one part of your system. You can't be wasting your time like that. You should always know what you are going to do next. What you are going to spend time doing. If you just let the 'urgent' things, or the things that your mind picks out as 'urgent', you won't have enough time to do the 'important' things.

Be Happier Now!!!

2009-07-09T14:03:00.001+08:00

Do you spend your life waiting for your child to grow up, or for you to get that next raise, or for the winter to be over or-here's a good one-are you waiting for the next white sale before you buy the sheets? Or the New Year sale? Or the Christmas sale?

If you always find yourself waiting, then the Universe is going to make sure you keep waiting, but never having. You need to take the action now, and live your life now-because if you wait too long, you may never reach it.

How many people do you, or did you know, who had a heart attack a month, or two weeks, before their retirement? So, all their hopes and dreams and travel-they were just waiting for that retirement-it never happened. None of their dreams ever happened.

Do you want your life to run that way? When you want to do something, intend for it to happen. And start taking steps to make it happen.

If you want to take a vacation, make some reservations. Even if you think it's going to take you a year to save up for it, make your reservations now. Show the Universe this is something you are going to do.

Do something every day that you like doing. Do something every day that pleases you. Otherwise, you will never reach emotional well being. You will always fall short of it. There will always be a pang of sadness inside you. Is that how you want your future to be? More of what you have now?

Is somebody going to come along and ring your doorbell, and say, "This is the day your life is different. You won the lottery." And even if you did, does money make people happy?

Your emotional well being depends on your being happy. So what does being happy mean for you? What does your world have to look like? Who has to be in your world? Maybe it is no one you know-yet.

For you to be happy, how do you have to feel? What does your body have to look like? How about all your functioning-your hearing and your sight? Your mobility? How do all those things have to be working for you, so that you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, ah yes-you mastered how to be happier. The happy you sought all your life. You are there!

It's Not About the Money!

2009-07-09T13:41:00.000+08:00

Today's soulful mind shift is geared towards the topic of money. It is one of my favorite topics and an area around which I have struggled for many years. Based on the fact that as human beings we require food, clothing and shelter, much of our waking hours are focused on the pursuit of money.

For most of us, we think about money more often than any other subject in our lives. We are often consumed by it, especially when we don't have enough to meet our basic needs. Moreover, we are inundated by the media with advertisements that encourage us to pursue all the things money can buy - fancy cars, nice homes, fashionable clothing, cosmetic surgery, boats, RV's, vacations in the Caribbean, etc.

We are programmed from an early age to relentlessly pursue the almighty dollar and many of us forsake all that is important to us in the process. What I have I come to realize through the course of many painful experiences over the pursuit of money, is that it's not about the money, but what we think we will have once we get the money.

What do you hope money will buy you?

Will it buy you time with your children, a place to get away from it all, a body that you like better? Will it let you know that you have arrived and that you are worthy? It's different for every one of us.

The bottom line is this. Instead of working your hind end off to make more money, begin right now to incorporate into your life what you think you will have once you have more money. If it's time with your family that you think money will buy you, find ways to spend more time with your family right now.

If you think money will buy you a little cottage by the beach where you can get away from all the stresses of life, instead of waiting for retirement in order to have that experience, rent a cottage near the water and get some much needed rest and relaxation this weekend.

If you don't have the money to buy a camper right now buy a tent instead, and go camping at one of the beautiful state parks in your area. Stop delaying your happiness by being consumed with the pursuit of money. Happiness is available to you right now. Everything you think money will buy you - more time, a stress-free life, excitement and adventure, is available to you in this moment.

It's not about the money it's about what you think the money will buy you once you have it. Although I'm all for having more money, stop putting off the things that make your heart sing and your soul rejoice while you are waiting to win the lottery. You could be waiting for a very long time.

Happiness and Money - Which Comes First?

2009-07-08T14:57:00.002+08:00

You have no doubt often heard the phrase "money can't buy happiness" and there are countless articles and books that explain in great detail why this is true. This is all well and good, but what if you turn the question around? Can happiness bring you more money?

There certainly appears to be a direct link between your level of happiness and your overall ability to attract more prosperity into your life. That's not to say all rich people are happy, but in general terms wealthier people certainly seem to be happier.

So which comes first, money or happiness? Might it actually be the case that happiness is a driver of your prosperity and a pre-requisite to you being able to attract more money and good fortune into your life? I believe that to absolutely be the case.

Consider this:

1. Happy people are more fun to be with. Happier people are just more fun. When
you're happy, you tend to have more friends and more people who want to be
your friend. Other people are going to be much more inclined to share things
with you, including opportunities. The more opportunities you hear about, the
more opportunity for you to participate. The more you participate, the more
times you stand to benefit and the greater your overall level of wealth and
prosperity becomes.

2. Happy people are more attractive. Who would you rather work with, someone who
is happy or someone who comes across as a sour puss? The happy person of
course. There is nothing more inviting than a smiling face, and there is
nothing more repelling than a scowl. So when it comes to getting that better
paying job, or that promotion, or receiving the next big proposal, it only
stands to reason that when you're happy your odds of "winning" are far better
than when you're not happy. This is just plain common sense.

3. Happy people are more relaxed. There is no doubt that when you are happy, you
feel more at ease and are less stressed. That is going to translate into your
overall level of performance. When you are less stressed, your body and your
brain simply work better. You think more clearly, make better decisions, and
are more effective at what you do. All of which must have a positive impact on
your pocket book. When you are relaxed, you are more easily in flow. Because
you are in flow, you are more open and allowing prosperity in as opposed to
repelling. That makes it easier for more money and prosperity to come to you.
And so it will.

Michael Jackson, King of Pop Forever

2009-07-07T13:19:00.002+08:00

Today, we bid farewell to the greatest musician who has been a part of our lives. There will be no other artist who shall replace him. We will all miss him, but has music shall still be apart of us.

You are childhood memories.
You are great songs from our adult lives.
You are an extraordinary talented human being.
I will miss hearing you sing new songs, and I will especially miss watching you dance with so much passion to your music.
Your musical legacy will live on forever and forever.
You will always live in our hearts.
May you rest in peace, Michael.

Stay Open to the Possibilities

2009-07-07T12:39:00.002+08:00

Wouldn't it be great to live in exactly the kind of house you'd like to live in and have it situated in the precise spot in the world you'd most like to live. Of course, you'd also drive your very favorite model of car and if you worked at all, you'd have the job of your dreams and earn scads of money. You get the picture, you'd have it made, you'd have perfection... or would you really? Sometimes the things that we consider to be perfect for us; the things that would surely make our lives complete, are not really the best for us at all.

No one has their life filled with everything that they would desire, but hopefully most of us have lives that are filled with some of the components of what we consider the "good life". That leaves us wishing for and working for the other ingredients to improve our circumstances and enrich our lives and that is good for us. Perhaps having to get by with less than we'd like or having to work diligently to attain that which we lack is somehow beneficial for us in the long run.

Many of us know people who appear to have very little in the way of worldly possessions and who manage to make do with very limited means and yet seem to live lives of richness, joy and happiness. On the other hand, most of us also know people who seem to have the world by the tail. They have an abundance of money, good looks and all the trappings that we associate with happiness and success and yet remain unfulfilled and joyless.

So what is the secret to the happiness that we all desire? If it isn't necessarily having a lot of money or good looks or power and prestige, what is it?

It's certain that we can't all have everything we'd like, however, I am convinced that if we chose to make the most of that which we do have and work with commitment and determination toward that which we desire, we can achieve our goals and find success in many areas of our lives.

Undoubtedly, most of us have found ourselves in situations or circumstances which we didn't request and certainly didn't desire that ended up being really good experiences for us. Sometimes these experiences have changed the entire direction an individual was heading in their life; perhaps taking them on a career path which they had never really considered and yet which would ultimately lead them to great satisfaction and success.

Perhaps we need to be open to the possibilities that present themselves to us even when they sometimes come into our lives as what we perceive as unwelcome intruders.

Happiness - Be Kind to Yourself

2009-07-07T09:30:00.002+08:00

Want to be happier: be kind to yourself.

Jumping out of bed and being spectacular everyday is not necessary for happiness. There are times when you may feel like staying in bed longer to rest and reflect. Give yourself permission to lounge around or do what you want, not what you think you should. If there are tasks that just must be done on a given day, do them quickly and treat yourself afterwards.

No one is as hard on us as we are on ourselves. We push ourselves to exhaustion and berate ourselves for not getting enough done. Good is never good enough for many people. I hope you're not one of them.

Living a happy life depends on how well you take care of yourself. You know that a beautiful flower needs watering, sunshine and care to survive. You, too, as a unique creation need care as well.

Practice taking care of yourself in other ways:

* Avoid taking on more than you can handle.
* Live your dream, not someone else's.
* Schedule breaks in your day and in your week.
* Take pride in your achievements, but give yourself a break when you make
mistakes.
* Pamper yourself on occasion.
* Eat nourishing food that enhances your energy and spirit.
* Breathe deeply, letting oxygen in and toxins out.Get adequate sustained sleep,
even if it requires investing in a new mattress or pillows.

When you are kind to yourself, it increases your energy, improves your attitude and makes you more compassionate toward others. When you are kind to yourself it will be easy to be kind to others, for you will be putting a variation of the Golden Rule into effect: "doing unto them as you have done unto yourself."