Earn the Respect of Others

"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do." - Johann von Goethe


THE MOST IMPORTANT MEASURE OF SUCCESS
Being respected by others is very important to each of us. A survey done by the Gallup organization found that the most prominent living Americans rated the respect of others as the most important measure of success in life. They worked very hard to earn the respect of their parents, the respect of their spouses and children, the respect of their peers and colleagues, and the respect of mankind at large.

WHY YOU RESPECT YOURSELF
It seems that we truly respect ourselves only when we feel that we are respected by others, and we will go to great lengths to earn and keep that respect. When we feel that someone respects us for who we are and what we have accomplished, we tend to be more open to that person's influence.

TWO THINGS YOU CAN DO
We can do two things to put ourselves in a position to be respected by others. The first is to develop our knowledge of our field. The more people perceive you know about your subject, the more they will respect you. The highest-paid people in almost every field are those who know more than the average people. They are recognized as experts, and they develop what is called "expert power." Because of their superior knowledge, they are looked up to and listened to, and they are much more capable of influencing others to act in a particular way than they would be if their knowledge level were just average.

KNOW YOUR BUSINESS WELL
The best salespeople are those who know their products cold. They deeply understand every aspect of their products and the ways in which their products can be used to achieve the most important goals of their customers.

DEVELOP YOUR EXPERTISE
Another way to put ourselves in a position of being respected by others is to develop our expertise. Expertise is closely tied to knowledge, but it is a little different. Expertise is the ability to do, the ability to perform well in your chosen field. Men and women with expertise are those who practice over and over in whatever they do until they become known far and wide as the very best in their field.

ACTION EXERCISES
Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:

First, study your field in detail. Dedicate at least one hour per day to reading, listening to audio programs, studying to become more and more knowledgeable about what you do.

Second, continually upgrade your knowledge and skills in your field. Identify your weakest important skill and go to work on that.

Knowledge and know-how are the keys to the 21st century.

Decision Making

The story given below is quite interesting and really gives us an insight into DECISION MAKING.

Which one will you choose?

A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use while the other disused. Only one child played on the disused track, the rest on the operational track. The train came, and you were just beside the track interchange. You could make the train change its course to the disused track and saved most of the kids.

However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the disused track would be sacrificed. Or would you rather let the train go its way?

Let's take a pause to think what kind of decision we could make.















Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice only one child.

You might think the same way, I guess.

Exactly, I thought the same way initially because to save most of the children at the expense of only one child was rational decision most people would make, morally and emotionally. But, have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on the disused track had in fact made the right decision to play at a safe place?

Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was.

This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday. In the office, community, in politics and especially in a democratic society, the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter
how foolish or ignorant the majority are, and how farsighted and knowledgeable the minority are.

The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined. And in the case he was sacrificed, no one would shed a tear for him.

The friend who forwarded me the story said he would not try to change the course of the train because he believed that the kids playing on the operational track should have known very well that the track was still in use, and that they should have run away if they heard the train's sirens.

If the train was diverted, that lone child would definitely die because he never thought the train could come over to that track! Moreover, that track was not in use probably because it was not safe.

If the train was diverted to the track, we could put the lives of all passengers on board at stake! And in your attempt to save a few kids by sacrificing one child, you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people to save these few kids.

While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that need to be made, we may not realize that hasty decisions may not always be the right one.

"Remember that what's right isn't always popular...and what's popular isn't always right."

The 4 D's of Financial Success

"The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn't like to do." - Thomas Edison


START FROM NOTHING AND BECOME FINANCIALLY INDEPENDENT BY DEVELOPING FOUR QUALITIES
More than eighty percent of self-made millionaires in America began with nothing or in many cases, less than nothing. I can certainly relate to that because when I was growing up and right into my early 30s, I never had any extra money with which to start a fortune. It seemed to me that there was always enough, if not more than enough bills, to absorb every penny I earned. I was always in debt.

BE READY FOR YOUR OPPORTUNITY
And even if a great business opportunity did come along, I wouldn't have been able to do anything with it. As I began studying financial success and self-made millionaires, I noticed that almost everyone around me was in pretty much the same boat. The idea of becoming really wealthy was a distant dream with very little possibility of coming true. You may be in the same situation, with more bills than money or assets.

LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
The statistics are a little scary. Of 100 people who reach retirement age, according to insurance industry statistics, only one will be wealthy. Four out of the hundred will be financially independent; fifteen will have some savings put aside. And the other 80 will be dependent on pensions, still working or broke - this after a lifetime of well-paid work in the most affluent society in human history. Now why does this happen?

WHY PEOPLE RETIRE POOR
There are two main reasons why people retire poor. First, they never decide to retire rich. They wish and hope and pray, but they never make a firm, unequivocal decision that they're going to do it. Second, even if they do decide to retire rich, they procrastinate until it's too late. They always have some good reason for putting it off.

START WITH DESIRE AND DECISION
If you sincerely want to beat the odds, to achieve financial independence and retire wealthy, there are four critical steps that you must take, all starting with the letter D. The first step is desire. You must want it badly enough to make an unshakable commitment and to be willing to make sacrifices. The second D is decision. You must make a decision right now to do whatever is necessary, to be willing to pay any price, go any distance, to achieve your goal.

PRACTICE DETERMINATION AND DISCIPLINE
The third D is determination, which is to keep at it until you succeed in spite of all the problems and obstacles you will experience. And the fourth D is discipline - the discipline to master yourself to develop the habits necessary for achieving financial independence. Those are the four Ds: desire, decision, determination and discipline. And you can measure how successful you're going to be in the future by measuring how well you're doing in each of those on a scale of one to ten.

PUTTING THESE IDEAS INTO ACTION
First, make a decision, right now, that you are going to be financially independent, no matter what obstacles you face in the short term. Then write it down, make a plan and start to work on it every single day. Second, resolve in advance that you will persist in the face of every setback or obstacle you face. You will never give up. You will keep on moving forward until you finally achieve your goal.

A Janitor's 10 Lessons in Leadership

By Col. James Moschgat, 12th Operations Group Commander

William "Bill" Crawford certainly was an unimpressive figure, one you could easily overlook during a hectic day at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Mr. Crawford, as most of us referred to him back in the late 1970s, was our squadron janitor.

While we cadets busied ourselves preparing for academic exams, athletic events, Saturday morning parades and room inspections, or never-ending leadership classes, Bill quietly moved about the squadron mopping and buffing floors, emptying trash cans, cleaning toilets, or just tidying up the mess 100 college-age kids can leave in a dormitory. Sadly, and for many years, few of us gave him much notice, rendering little more than a passing nod or throwing a curt, "G'morning!" in his direction as we hurried off to our daily duties.

Why? Perhaps it was because of the way he did his job-he always kept the squadron area spotlessly clean, even the toilets and showers gleamed. Frankly, he did his job so well, none of us had to notice or get involved. After all, cleaning toilets was his job, not ours. Maybe it was his physical appearance that made him disappear into the background. Bill didn't move very quickly and, in fact, you could say he even shuffled a bit, as if he suffered from some sort of injury. His grey hair and wrinkled face made him appear ancient to a group of young cadets. And his crooked smile, well, it looked a little funny. Face it, Bill was an old man working in a young person's world. What did he have to offer us on a personal level? Finally, maybe it was Mr. Crawford's personality that rendered him almost invisible to the young people around him. Bill was shy, almost painfully so. He seldom spoke to a cadet unless they addressed him first, and that didn't happen very often. Our janitor always buried himself in his work, moving about with stooped shoulders, a quiet gait, and an averted gaze. If he noticed the hustle and bustle of cadet life around him, it was hard to tell.

So, for whatever reason, Bill blended into the woodwork and became just another fixture around the squadron. The Academy, one of our nation's premier leadership laboratories, kept us busy from dawn till dusk. And M Crawford...well, he was just a janitor.

That changed one fall Saturday afternoon in 1976. I was reading a book about World War II and the tough Allied ground campaign in Italy, when I stumbled across an incredible story. On Sept. 13, 1943, a Private William Crawford from Colorado, assigned to the 36th Infantry Division, had been involved in some bloody fighting on Hill 424 near Altavilla, Italy. The words on the page leapt out at me: "in the face of intense and overwhelming hostile fire ... with no regard for personal safety ... on his own initiative, Private Crawford single-handedly attacked fortified enemy positions." It continued, "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty, the President of the United States ..."

"Holy cow," I said to my roommate, "you're not going to believe this, but I think our janitor is a Medal of Honor winner." We all knew Mr.Crawford was a WWII Army vet, but that didn't keep my friend from looking at me as if I was some sort of alien being. Nonetheless, we couldn't wait to ask Bill about the story on Monday. We met Mr.Crawford bright and early Monday and showed him the page in question from the book, anticipation and doubt on our faces. He starred at it for a few silent moments and then quietly uttered something like, "Yep, that's me." Mouths agape, my roommate and I looked at one another, then at the book, and quickly back at our janitor. Almost at once we both stuttered, "Why didn't you ever tell us about it?" He slowly replied after some thought, "That was one day in my life and it happened a long time ago. "I guess we were all at a loss for words after that. We had to hurry off to class and Bill, well, he had chores to attend to. However, after that brief exchange, things were never again the same around our squadron. Word spread like wildfire among the cadets that we had a hero in our midst-Mr.Crawford, our janitor, had won the Medal! Cadets who had once passed by Bill with hardly a glance, now greeted him with a smile and a respectful, "Good morning, Mr. Crawford." Those who had before left a mess for the"janitor" to clean up started taking it upon themselves to put things in order. Most cadets routinely stopped to talk to Bill throughout the day and we even began inviting him to our formal squadron functions. He'd show up dressed in a conservative dark suit and quietly talk to those who approached him, the only sign of his heroics being a simple blue, star-spangled lapel pin. Almost overnight, Bill went from being a simple fixture in our squadron to one of our teammates.

Mr.Crawford changed too, but you had to look closely to notice the difference. After that fall day in 1976, he seemed to move with more purpose, his shoulders didn't seem to be as stooped, he met our greetings with a direct gaze and a stronger "good morning" in return, and he flashed his crooked smile more often. The squadron gleamed as always, but everyone now seemed to notice it more. Bill even got to know most of us by our first names, something that didn't happen often at the Academy. While no one ever formally acknowledged the change, I think we became Bill's cadets and his squadron.

As often happens in life, events sweep us away from those in our past. The last time I saw Bill was on graduation day in June 1977. As I walked out of the squadron for the last time, he shook my hand and simply said, "Good luck, young man."

With that, I embarked on a career that has been truly lucky and blessed. Mr. Crawford continued to work at the Academy and eventually retired in his native Colorado where he resides today, one of four Medal of Honor winners living in a small town.

A wise person once said, "It's not life that's important, but those you meet along the way that make the difference." Bill was one who made a difference for me. While I haven't seen Mr. Crawford in over twenty years, he'd probably be surprised to know I think of him often. Bill Crawford, our janitor, taught me many valuable, unforgettable leadership lessons. Here are ten I'd like to share with you:


1> Be Cautious of Labels. Labels you place on people may define your relationship to them and bound their potential. Sadly, and for a long time, we labeled Bill as just a janitor, but he was so much more. Therefore, be cautious of a leader who callously says, "Hey, he's just an Airman." Likewise, don't tolerate the O-1, who says, "I can't do that, I'm just a lieutenant."

2> Everyone Deserves Respect. Because we hung the "janitor" label on Mr. Crawford, we often wrongly treated him with less respect than others around us. He deserved much more, and not just because he was a Medal of Honor winner. Bill deserved respect because he was a janitor, walked among us, and was a part of our team.

3> Courtesy Makes a Difference. Be courteous to all around you, regardless of rank or position. Military customs, as well as common courtesies, help bond a team. When our daily words to Mr. Crawford turned from perfunctory "hellos" to heartfelt greetings, his demeanor and personality outwardly changed. It made a difference for all of us.

4> Take Time to Know Your People. Life in the military is hectic, but that's no excuse for not knowing the people you work for and with. For years a hero walked among us at the Academy and we never knew it. Who are the heroes that walk in your midst?

5> Anyone Can Be a Hero. Mr. Crawford certainly didn't fit anyone's standard definition of a hero. Moreover, he was just a private on the day he won his Medal. Don't sell your people short, for any one of them may be the hero who rises to the occasion when duty calls. On the other hand, it's easy to turn to your proven performers when the chips are down, but don't ignore the rest of the team. Today's rookie could and should be tomorrow's superstar.

6> Leaders Should Be Humble. Most modern day heroes and some leaders are anything but humble, especially if you calibrate your "hero meter" on today's athletic fields. End zone celebrations and self-aggrandizement are what we've come to expect from sports greats. Not Mr. Crawford - he was too busy working to celebrate his past heroics. Leaders would be well-served to do the same.

7> Life Won't Always Hand You What You Think You Deserve. We in the military work hard and, dang it, we deserve recognition, right? However, sometimes you just have to persevere, even when accolades don't come your way. Perhaps you weren't nominated for junior officer or airman of the quarter as you thought you should - don't let that stop you.

8> Don't pursue glory; pursue excellence. Private Bill Crawford didn't pursue glory; he did his duty and then swept floors for a living. No Job is Beneath a Leader. If Bill Crawford, a Medal of Honor winner, could clean latrines and smile, is there a job beneath your dignity? Think about it.

9> Pursue Excellence. No matter what task life hands you, do it well. Dr. Martin Luther King said, "If life makes you a street sweeper, be them best street sweeper you can be." Mr. Crawford modeled that philosophy and helped make our dormitory area a home.

10> Life is a Leadership Laboratory. All too often we look to some school or particular class to teach us about leadership when, in fact, life is a leadership laboratory. Those you meet everyday will teach you enduring lessons if you just take time to stop, look and listen.

I spent four years at the Air Force Academy, took dozens of classes, read hundreds of books, and met thousands of great people. I gleaned leadership skills from all of them, but one of the people I remember most is Mr. Bill Crawford and the lessons he unknowingly taught. Don't miss your opportunity to learn.

Bill Crawford was a janitor. However, he was also a teacher, friend, role model and one great American hero. Thanks, Mr. Crawford, for some valuable leadership lessons.

Make Every Minute Count

"Those heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept were toiling upward in the night." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


SAVE HUNDREDS OF HOURS AND THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS IN PERSONAL ADVANCEMENT
Your mind is your most precious asset. You must be continually working to increase the quality of your thinking. One of the best ways is to turn driving time into learning time. Listen to educational audio cassettes in your car. The average driver, according to the American Automobile Association, drives 12,000 to 25,000 miles each year, spending 500 to 1000 hours in the car. That is the equivalent of 12 1/2 to 25 forty-hour weeks. This is the same as two full university semesters spent behind the wheel of your car each year.

USE TRAVELING TIME AS LEARNING TIME
If you did nothing but use that traveling time as learning time, this decision alone could make you one of the best educated people of your generation. Many people have gone from rags to riches simply by listening to audio programs as they drive to and from work.

ATTEND EVERY SEMINAR
In addition, for personal and professional development, you should attend every seminar you can. You can often save yourself hundreds of hours of reading and researching by attending a seminar given by an authority in his or her field. You can learn ideas, techniques and methods that can save you hours, days, even months of hard work and research on your own.

INCREASE YOUR INCOME
Remember, to earn more, you must learn more. Your outer world of results will always correspond to your inner world of preparation. Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field.

ACTION EXERCISES
Now, here are two things you can do to put these ideas to work in your life immediately.

First, purchase an audio program that can help you to be happier and more effective today. Begin listening to it immediately. Resolve never to listen to music in your car when you can turn driving time into learning time.

Second, seek out seminars and training programs given by experts in your field. Sit close to the front, take careful notes, and apply the best ideas that you learn immediately.

Two Principles for Financial Success

"Four little words sum up what has lifted most successful individuals above the crowd: 'a little bit more.' They did all that was expected of them and a little bit more." -Lou Vickery


There are two great principles for achieving financial success. The first Principle is what we call the law of attraction. The law of attraction says that you are a living magnet. It says that your thoughts create a force field of energy that radiates out from you and attracts back into your life people and circumstances in harmony with them. Any thought you have, combined with an emotion, positive or negative, radiates out from you and attracts back into your life the people, circumstances, ideas and opportunities consistent with it.

HOW TO ATTRACT THE SUCCESS YOU DESIRE
Many people feel that this is perhaps the most important of all mental laws. It says that if you have a very clear idea in your mind of your desired goal, to become wealthy, and you can hold that idea in your mind on a continuing basis, you will inevitably draw into your life the resources that you need in order to achieve it. Every person who has become wealthy or successful has become wealthy and successful as a result of holding the idea of wealth and success in their mind long enough and hard enough, until they drew into their lives the resources they needed to accomplish it.

YOUR WORLD REFLECTS YOUR THOUGHTS
The second principle is called the law of correspondence. This mental law is very powerful. It says, "as within, so without." It says that your outer world is like a mirror that reflects back to you what is going on in your inner world. And this law of correspondence says that everything that happens outside of you corresponds to something that's going on inside of you. When we say that your outer world is a reflection of your inner world, we mean both at a conscious and at a subconscious level.

VISUALIZE YOUR GOALS CLEARLY
If you consciously believe that you have the ability to achieve your goals and you can hold a picture of those goals clearly in your mind long enough and hard enough, eventually your outer world will correspond with it.

THREE REFLECTIONS OF SUCCESS
There are three places where we see this law of correspondence. First of all, your outer world of people will correspond exactly with your own attitude. You will always see your attitude reflected back to you in the faces and the behaviors of the people around you. If you have a positive, optimistic attitude, people will respond to you almost immediately, even before you open your mouth, in a positive and cheerful way.

RELATIONSHIPS SHOW YOU WHO YOU ARE
The second area where we see the law of correspondence is in your relationships. Your relationships will always mirror back to you exactly the kind of a person you are. When you are happy and optimistic and at peace, your relationships will be happy and harmonious and loving. But when your thinking is disrupted or negative for any reason, consciously or unconsciously, this will be immediately reflected in your relationships.

INNER AND OUTER WEALTH
The third place you see the law of correspondence is with regard to your wealth. Your external world of wealth and financial accomplishment will be a mirror image of your inner world of preparation. The only part of the equation that you can control is your conscious thoughts, and if you can keep your conscious thoughts on what you want, on your images of wealth and affluence, eventually your external world of reality and experiences will reflect it back to you.

ACTION EXERCISES

First, guard your thoughts carefully. Whatever you think about, combined with the emotions of desire or fear, you will attract into your life. Be sure that you are attracting what you want by continuing to think only about what you want.

Second, keep feeding your mind with new information, ideas and pictures of the person you want to be and the life you want to live. By creating this inner attitude of mind, you change the outer aspects of your reality.

Focus: The Winner's Advantage

A scientist marvelled at how a seemingly harmless magnifying glass
could create such intense heat, when the suns rays passed through its
glassy surface. He asked the magnifying glass, 'How can you do what
you do? You have this incredible ability of tapping into the rays of
the sun. You then take those vast rays and bring them to a powerful
point that burns holes in leaves and sheets of paper.' The magnifying
glass replied to the scientist by saying, 'Well sir, I have learnt
this one thing throughout the years. The hotter it gets, the more
focussed I become.'
That is what gives the winner in life their greatest advantage.

THE HOTTER IT GETS, THE MORE FOCUSSED THE WINNER BECOMES

Winners have become tough because they have been through tough times.
Winners become strong because they have replaced their weaknesses
with newfound strengths. Winners appreciate what it takes to win,
because they know what it is to have tasted the bitter taste of
defeat and yet have risen once again. Winners have known what it is
to be in the heat of battle, and yet they know that when all else
seems beyond their grasp, the very worst thing that could ever happen
to them would be for them to lose their focus.

However, for those who choose to lose....

DISTRACTION IS THE LOSERS COMPANION

Losers allow themselves to be moved by circumstances. They are like a
ship without an anchor and are tossed to and fro by whatever storm
decides to head their way. They flit from here to there and back and
forth with no plan in mind, no dream in their heart and no hope of
ever seeing a change in their circumstances. They are locked into a
state of never ending misery.

The winner, on the other hand, no matter what is happening around him
or her at the time, has deep within their heart a dream, a goal or
some purpose that is far bigger than what they are presently
experiencing. It provides them with clarity. It gives them the
courage to push through. It guides them, leads them, directs them in
the decision making process. It brings a smile in the sadness and
sunshine in the storm. It allows the winner to make sense of the
tragedy or the disappointment and allows them to reset themselves so
that if they ever stall or become bogged down, they can go again. It
can be summed up in one word, and that word is FOCUS.

A bunch of prisoners decided that they were going to break out of
jail, so that they could all spend Christmas with their families. So
they devised a plan. The plan was this: to construct a tunnel that
would take each and every one of them under the prison wall and out
to freedom. All went well in the ensuing months. The tunnel was built
and none of the prison officials detected a thing. It was finally
Christmas Eve and the prisoners had decided that they would break out
when all was dark and quiet that night.

Unfortunately, one of the men 'lost it'. He had waited for so many
years to get out of prison, that when he knew that the time was
drawing near, he suddenly snapped and decided that he couldn't wait
any longer. Without warning, he pushed everybody aside and raced down
and through to the end of the tunnel. Before anyone could stop him,
and to everyone's horror, he had pushed up and through the opening on
the other side of the wall.

Now there were two immediate problems. One, it was in the middle of
the day in broad daylight and two, whoever had designed the tunnel
had miscalculated somewhat. The escaped prisoner was not standing in
the middle of an open field, but rather in the middle of a preschool
with preschool children running all around him.

But unperturbed, his excitement overflowed to the point that he cried
out in a loud voice, 'I'm free, I'm free, I'm free!'

Well, this prisoner was surely a sight for sore eyes. He had dirt all
over his clothes, grass sticking out of his mouth and a clump of mud
stuck to the top of his head. Once again he cried at the top of his
voice, 'I'm free, I'm free, I'm free!'

A little girl wandered over to where he was yelling and looked at him
with a stern look that only a little girl can give. She promptly put
her hands on her hips and looked straight at the man, who at that
point had his mouth wide open. In a loud booming voice she responded
to the prisoners cry, 'So what, I'm four!'

The moral of this little story? Whatever you do, don't lose focus.

IF YOU LOSE FOCUS YOU'LL BE BLINDED TO THE TRUTH

And what is that truth? The truth is this: that no matter what you
experience in life, if you maintain a fixed focus on your dream and
on the pursuit of your goals and on your destiny, you will burn a
hole in whatever stands in the way of you experiencing the success
that you most richly deserve.

You were born to win. In order to achieve victory, understand that
there may need to be a fight to achieve it.

Focussed people see the good when others see the bad. They see the
opportunity when others see disaster. They buy when others sell and
sell when others buy. They watch others being carried by the tide and
then swim the other way. They are winners and leaders because they
live not by circumstance but by their inward focus. This is what sets
them apart from the masses and it is this that others admire and at
times misunderstand the most.

Motivational Memo for the Week: A blind man with focus can see better
than a man with perfect sight, but yet has no vision.

You can do it!

Peter Sinclair
============================================================
How To Stay Highly Motivated

The degrees of success and happiness we achieve in life result
overwhelmingly from the actions we take. But the actions which matter
most are not those we do every now and then. It is our consistent
actions
(our habits) which more than anything else determine the direction
and
success of our lives. Thus, the first key to success is to adopt good
habits.

However, the problem with the above bill of advice is that in the
vast
majority of cases our habits are not the result of conscious thought
and
logical decision making. Instead, our habits tend to be "reactions"
to our
experiences. If those experiences are disproportionately negative,
they
will tend to produce negative reactions and when this happens
consistently, the mental foundation for the bad habit would have been
laid.

Always remember that while all experiences count, the ones which
count
the most in shaping our habits are those which are most emotional and
which occur most frequently, especially when we are young. But
despite
their obvious power and near control over our lives, we do not have
to be
slaves to our past experiences. Indeed, if those experiences have
produced low self-esteem, self-defeating habits and other negative
behaviors, we must not be slaves to them.

The most important tool to employ in order to take control of you
habits
(and as a result become the master of your destiny) is to be highly
motivated. You must be driven. Your desire for success must be
greater
than your fear of failure. You must step outside your current
comfort zone
and take a chance. If you are not currently a highly motivated
person,
here are some steps you can take to become a more focused and
motivated individual.

Establish Clear, Specific Goals !

You life goals are the things which give purpose to your life. They
are the
reason you live. Your desire to achieve these goals will be your
greatest
motivator. Thus, you must organize you life around the achievement of
those goals. Write them down and read (internalize) them at least
twice a
day.

Take An Action A Day !

You must establish an action plan which requires that you do at
least one
thing each day which brings you closer to your goals. Never forget
that it
is action which turns goals and dreams into realities. Do something
each
day. Habit is nothing but repeated behavior. Just do it, do it, do
it. And
one day you will wake up and find yourself taking productive actions
without even thinking about it. That is when you would have formed a
habit.

Instill Emotion !

Rational thought and logic can enable us to figure out what to do and
how to do it, but it is only emotion that will make us do it. Human
behavior
is emotionally driven. The two chief emotions are desire and fear.
Strong
desire will make you take action. But fear can also prompt action.
You
act because you are afraid of the consequences if you fail to act. I
recommend the use of self-hypnosis to instill strong, positive
emotional
desire. And self-hypnosis can be as simple as retreating to a quiet
place
twice a day and emotionally repeating positive affirmations.

Take Charge !

Repeat this mantra, "If it is to be, it is up to me." There may be a
host of
reasons for current bad habits ranging from having been raised in a
dysfunctional home to falling in with the wrong crowd, to just not
having
correct information. Regardless, if things are going to change for
the
better, it is up to you. No one else is responsible for bettering
your life. If
you find someone or group which helps, that's fine. But the chief
responsibility is yours. Stop playing the "blame game" and take
charge
of your life.

-- By Robert N. Taylor

The Golden Hour

"There is scarcely an instance of a man who has made a fortune by speculation and kept it." - Andrew Carnegie

THE GOLDEN HOUR


You become what you think about most of the time. And the most important part of each day is what you think about at the beginning of that day.

START YOUR DAY RIGHT
Take 30 minutes each morning to sit quietly and to reflect on your goals. You'll find when you read the biographies and autobiographies of successful men and women that almost every one of them began their upward trajectory to success when they begin getting up early in the morning and spending time with themselves.

FEED YOUR MIND WITH POSITIVE IDEAS
This is called the Golden Hour. The first hour sets the tone for the day. The things that you do in the first hour prepare your mind and set you up for the entire day. During the first thirty to sixty minutes, take time to think and review your plans for the future.

USE YOUR QUIET TIME EFFECTIVELY
Here are four things that you can do during that quiet time in the morning. Number one is to review your plans for accomplishing your goals and change your plans if necessary.

Number two is think of better ways to accomplish your goals. As an exercise, assume that the way you're going about it is totally wrong and imagine going about it totally differently. What would you do different from what you're doing right now? Number three, reflect on the valuable lessons that you have learned and are learning as you move toward your goals.

PRACTICE DAILY VISUALIZATION
Number four, calmly visualize your goal as a reality. Close your eyes, relax, smile, and see your goal as though it were already a reality. Rewrite your major goals everyday in the present tense. Rewrite them as though they already existed. Write "I earn X dollars." "I have a net worth of X." "I weigh a certain number of pounds." This exercise of writing and rewriting your goals everyday is one of the most powerful you will ever learn.

DO UP YOUR SEATBELT
Your life will start to take off at such a speed that you'll have to put on your seatbelt. Remember, the starting point for achieving financial success is the development of an attitude of unshakable confidence in yourself and in your ability to reach your goals. Everything we've talked about is a way of building up and developing your belief system until you finally reach the point where you are absolutely convinced that nothing can stop you from achieving what you set out to achieve.

EVERYTHING COUNTS!
No one starts out with this kind of an attitude, but you can develop it using the law of accumulation. Everything counts. No efforts are ever lost. Every extraordinary accomplishment is the result of thousands of ordinary accomplishments that no one recognizes or appreciates. The greatest challenge of all is for you to concentrate your thinking single-mindedly on your goal, and by the law of attraction you will. You must inevitably draw into your life the people, circumstances and opportunities you need to achieve your goals.

BECOME A LIVING MAGNET
Once you've mastered yourself and your thinking, you will become a living magnet for ideas and opportunities to become wealthy. It's worked for me and for every successful person I know. It will work for you if you'll begin today, now, this very minute, to think and talk about your dreams and goals as though they were already a reality. When you change your thinking, you will change your life. You will put yourself firmly on the road to financial independence.

ACTION EXERCISES

First, get up every morning a little bit earlier and plan your day in advance. Take some time to think about your goals and how you can best achieve them. This sets the tone for the whole day.

Second, reflect on the valuable lessons you are learning each day as you work toward your goals. Be prepared to correct your course and adjust your actions. Be absolutely convinced that you are moving rapidly toward your goals, no matter what happens temporarily on the outside. Just hang in there!

The Power of Pausing

"In the sales profession the real work begins after the sale is made." -Jim Rohn

THE POWER OF PAUSING

BECOME A MASTER OF THE PAUSE
All excellent listeners are masters of the pause. They are comfortable with silences. When the other person finishes speaking, they take a breath, relax and smile before saying anything. They know that the pause is a key part of good communications.

THREE BENEFITS OF PAUSING
Pausing before you speak has three specific benefits. The first is that you avoid the risk of interrupting the prospect if he or she has just stopped to gather his or her thoughts. Remember, your primary job in the sales conversation is to build and maintain a high level of trust, and listening builds trust. When you pause for a few seconds, you often find the prospect will continue speaking. He will give you more information and further opportunity to listen, enabling you to gather more of the information you need to make the sale.

CAREFULLY CONSIDER WHAT YOU JUST HEARD
The second benefit of pausing is that your silence tells the prospect that you are giving careful consideration to what he or she has just said. By carefully considering the other person's words, you are paying him or her a compliment. You are implicitly saying that you consider what he or she has said to be important and worthy of quiet reflection. You make the prospect feel more valuable with your silence. You raise his self-esteem and make him feel better about himself.

UNDERSTANDING WITH GREATER EFFICIENCY
The third benefit of pausing before replying is that you will actually hear and understand the prospect better if you give his or her words a few seconds to soak into your mind. The more time you take to reflect upon what has just been said, the more conscious you will be of the their real meaning. You will be more alert to how his words can connect with other things you know about the prospect in relation to your product or service.

THE MESSAGE YOU SEND
When you pause, not only do you become a more thoughtful person, but you convey this to the customer. By extension, you become a more valuable person to do business with. And you achieve this by simply pausing for a few seconds before you reply after your prospect or customer has spoken.

ACTION STEPS
First, take time to carefully consider what the customer just said and what he might mean by it. Pausing allows you to read between the lines.
Second, show the customer that you really value what he has said by reflecting for a few moments before you reply.

Your Belief Becomes Your Reality

"Money never starts an idea; it's the idea that starts the money." -Mark Victor Hansen

THE DETERMINANT OF YOUR SUCCESS
Perhaps the most powerful single factor in your financial success is your beliefs about yourself and money. We call this the Law of Belief. It says simply this: Whatever you believe, with feeling, becomes your reality. Whatever you intensely believe becomes your reality. That we have a tendency to block out any information coming in to us that is inconsistent with our reality.

WHAT SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE BELIEVE
What we've discovered is that successful people absolutely believe that they have the ability to succeed. And they will not entertain, think about, or talk about the possibilities that they'll fail. They do not even consider the possibility of failure.

POSITIVE THINKING VERSUS POSITIVE KNOWING
You always act in a matter consistent with your beliefs. The most important belief system you can build is a prosperity consciousness where you absolutely believe that you are going achieve your financial goals. We call this positive knowing versus positive thinking. Positive thinking can sometimes be wishing or hoping. But positive knowing is when you absolutely know that no matter what, you will be successful.

THE FOUNDATION OF WILLPOWER
Another principle related to your beliefs is willpower. We know that willpower is essential to any success. Willpower is based on confidence. It's based on conviction. It's based on faith. It's based on your belief in your ability to triumph over all obstacles. And you can develop willpower by persistence, by working on your goals, by reading the biographies of successful people, by listening to audio programs, by reading books about people who've achieved success. The more information you take into your mind consistent with success, the more likely it is that you will develop the willpower to push you through the obstacles and difficulties you will experience.

BEAT THE ODDS ON SUCCESS
Remember that success is rare. Only one person in one hundred becomes wealthy in the course of a lifetime. Only five percent achieve financial independence. That means that the odds against you are 19-to-1. The only way that you're going to achieve your financial goals is if you get really serious. To succeed, you must get serious. You must get busy. You must get active. You must get going. Remember, everything counts.

RESOLVE TO ACHIEVE GREATLY
Self-mastery, self-control, self-discipline are essential for anyone who wants to achieve greatly. And control over your thoughts is the hardest exercise in self-mastery that you will ever engage in. See if you can talk and think about only what you desire and not talk or think about anything that you don't want for 24 hours. Then you'll see what you're really made of. It's a hard thing to do but with practice, you can reach the point where you are thinking about your goals and desires most of the time. Then, your whole life will change for the better.

ACTION EXERCISES

First, continually repeat to yourself the words, pictures and thoughts consistent with your dreams and goals. Whatever you repeat often enough, over and over, becomes a new belief.

Second, set a goal for yourself to think and talk only about the things that you want for the next 24 hours. This will be one of the hardest things you ever do. But if you can keep your mind on what you want and off of what you don't want for 24 hours, you can begin to change your entire future.

Gap Analysis

"The more you say, the less people will remember." - Anatole France


IN THIS ISSUE:
Identify the Real Need of the Prospect and Show Him How Your Product or Service Satisfies It
Use Questions As Sales Tools
Clarify the Need
Build Buying Desire
Putting These Ideas Into Action
Recommended Brian Tracy Program

IDENTIFY THE REAL NEED OF THE PROSPECT AND SHOW HIM HOW YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE SATISFIES IT
As a salesperson, you are in the business of gap analysis. You are a "problem detective." Your job, somewhat like a police inspector searching for suspects, is to find problems for which your product or service is the ideal solution. In a way, your product or service is a key. You make calls looking for locks that your key will open. In the prospecting phase, you insert the key and find that it fits. In the presenting phase, you twist the key and open the lock. In the closing phase, you turn the handle and push the door open.

USE QUESTIONS AS SALES TOOLS
Like a verbal detective, the tools of your trade are questions. You use them to get appointments, uncover problems, and discover gaps between where the prospect is now and where the prospect could be by using your product or service. You then show the prospect how much better his situation could be by owning and enjoying what you are selling. 24 Techniques for Closing the Sale: Learn the 24 best sales closing techniques ever discovered! You will double your sales with this incredible, best-selling video training program - guaranteed! Click here


CLARIFY THE NEED
There is an old saying, "No need? No presentation!" Before you begin your presentation, it must be clear to the prospect that there is a distance between where he is and where he could be. The prospect must recognize that he has a need that is unsatisfied or a problem that is unsolved. The prospect must also feel that the gap between the real and the ideal is large enough to warrant taking action.

BUILD BUYING DESIRE
Buying desire is in direct proportion to the intensity of the buyer's need on the one hand, and to the clarity of the solution represented by your product or service on the other. This process of taking the prospect from cold to luke warm to hot is accomplished by the skillful use of questions that uncover the gap and then expand it to the point where the customer is ready to take buying action. The Psychology of Selling: Triple your sales in one year! Learn to get more and better appointments, spend more time with better prospects, build high levels of trust and rapport, and set and achieve every sales and income goal! Click here to learn more


PUTTING THESE IDEAS INTO ACTION
First, ask good questions aimed at uncovering the real need or problem the customer has. Listen attentively to the answers. Never assume that you know already.

Second, the larger the gap the customer sees between where he is today and where he could be by using your product or service, the greater is his desire to buy. Show him continually the size of this gap.

Ways to Become Rich

Ways to become rich:
1. by marrying someone for his or her money
2. by being a crook, a cheat, or an outlaw
3. through inheritance
4. by winning the lottery
5. by being a movie star, a rock star, a sports star, or someone outstanding
in one field or another.
6. by being greedy
7. by being cheap
8. by being financially smart
9. by being generous

A Dream is Not Enough

In the last issue of Leadership Wired, I talked about the three types of
jobholders. This issue and the next are devoted to those who know what
they'd like to do, but don't do it.

Every once in a while I run into people who say, "Well, I just have a
dream." Having a dream and fulfilling a dream are two different things. Let
me tell you something else--if your dream does not match your abilities,
it'll be a nightmare. I see people all the time who have unrealistic dreams.
Please understand that I'm not trying to dash your hopes or suggest that you
listen to naysayers who try to dissuade you from doing what seems impossible
when you know deep down in your heart that you can do it. I'm merely giving
you a reality check because if you don't have the aptitude or the skill
level to do it, you're going to have some real frustrations and you're going
to have to change your mindset.

For example, I love music and I'd like to be a great singer; but there's a
problem--some would say that it's minor, but I think it's major--I can't
sing. Isn't it awful when you can hear music one way in your head, but when
you open your mouth it doesn't come out right? Fortunately for other people,
I know I can't sing, so I don't torture them with my caterwauling. I've been
places where there was a person singing who didn't know they couldn't sing.
I don't know about you, but I wanted to look at the people around me and
say, "You know, somebody ought to go up there and tell them."

Here's the problem: if I can't sing, but my dream is to be a great opera
singer, I will either be very frustrated or I will torture audiences
everywhere who don't have the heart to tell me to give it up. Can I tell you
something? It isn't going to happen. Not because I lack desire or lack the
dream. It isn't going to happen because I'm not any good in that area--I
simply lack the ability.

Too many times, people work on their weaknesses. Don't work on your
weaknesses. On a scale from one to a ten, if you're a two at something,
don't spend a lot of time trying to improve in that area. If you work on it
hard, you'll probably only become about a four. In other words, if I take
music lessons, voice lessons, and bring all kinds of people around me to
help me sing, after two or three years, I will have spent a lot of money and
worked very hard, but I'm still not going to be able to sing.

If you're a two and you go up to a four, you're a little bit below average.
I know many people trying to do average things wanting people to stand in
line and buy it. Average will never get you anywhere. So quit working on
your weaknesses because if you work on your weaknesses, at best you're going
to be average.

You have to find your strengths; you have to find out what you're good at.
If you're a six at something, you can get up to a seven or an eight. People
pay for eights. So when you ask yourself whether or not you can do what
you'd like to do, you need to be honest with yourself before you invest a
lot of time and energy into it.

By the way, when I say don't work on your weaknesses, I'm talking about your
skills and abilities. The personal illustration I gave was my singing. There
are three weaknesses you need to work on at all times, but they have nothing
to do with your skills.


The three weaknesses you have to work on are:

1. Attitude issues.
If you have a bad attitude, fix it because your attitude will disqualify
you. I know several people who have great potential, but their attitude is
the disqualifier of their life.

2. Discipline issues.
Work on your discipline issues if you're weak. If you can't get somewhere on
time, if you lack initiative, if you're lazy, you won't make it.

3. Relationship issues.
You'd better work on your relationship issues because if people don't like
you, you're not going to be successful with them. Remember, people won't go
along with you if they can't get along with you.

Let me give you five quick questions to ask for yourself to determine your
abilities:

1) Do I have experience in my desired area?

2) Do I have any success in my desired area?

3) Do I have any training in my desired area?

4) Do I know what is essential in my desired area?

5) Do I know someone who's successful in my desired area?

I love this quote: "Find something you like to do so much that you'd gladly
do it for nothing. Then learn to do it so well the people are happy to pay
you for it." That's the way to live. Don't worry about what you're going to
get paid and what kind of benefits there are; do something you love to do
and do it so well that after a while you'll be paid to do it. If it's
something you are capable of doing, and if you seek answers to the five
questions I have given, you'll be on your way to doing just that.

John C. Maxwell

Career Advice and the Three Types of Jobholders

Find a passion and follow it is all the career advice that you'll ever need.
Michael Nolan was right when he said, "If you love what you do, you will
never work another day in your life." I can say "Amen" to that. I've never
known what it is to work a day in my life. I love to do what I do.

Sadly, not everyone is as fortunate as I am to do work they really love. I
think that the world would be a much better place if everyone were happy
with their jobs. Still, many people just go to work day in and day out,
trading hours for dollars simply because they don't know what they'd like to
do or they are afraid to leave a secure job to go after their dreams.

I have found that people tend to fall into one of the following three
categories:

Those who don't know what they'd like to do.
This type of person is confused. Everybody knows somebody just like that.
These people have no clue--they just get up in the morning and float through
life without much of a plan of action. They don't know what they'd like to
do and when you ask them about it, they just look at you with a blank face
and don't have an answer.

Those who know what they would like to do, but don't do it.
This type of person is frustrated. In fact, they'll tell you what they'd
like to do. "Oh, I'd like to be this or I'd like to do this, I'd like to go
there." You might ask them, "Well, why aren't you there, and why don't you
do that?" Their answers usually consist of a bunch of excuses. In other
words, they know what they'd like to do, but they don't do it. They don't
seem to have the initiative, the energy, whatever it is takes to get to
where they want to be and so they go through life knowing what they'd like
to do but never doing it, and as a result, they're frustrated.

Those who do what they'd like to do.
This type of person is fulfilled. They have a sense of significance and
fulfillment in their life. They really like to do what they do. They say,
"I'm accomplishing something that brings not only worth to me but also worth
to others." If you have made your dream come true (and continue to make it
come true each day you live and work), this is who you are. If you know what
you would like to do, but don't do it, this is who you want to be. Even some
or most people who fall into the first category want to be here.

The Law of the Seed

Take a look at an apple tree. There might be five hundred apples on the
tree, each with ten seeds. That's a lot of seeds. We might ask, "Why would
you need so many seeds to grow just a few more trees?" Nature has something
to teach us here. It's telling us: "Most seeds never grow. So if you really
want to make something happen, you had better try more than once.

This might mean:

You'll attend twenty interviews to get one job.
You'll interview forty people to find one good employee.
You'll talk to fifty people to sell one house, car, vacuum
cleaner, insurance policy, or idea.
And you might meet a hundred acquaintances to find one special
friend.

When we understand the "Law of the Seed", we don't get so disappointed. We
stop feeling like victims. Laws of nature are not things to take
personally.
We just need to understand them - and work with them.

IN A NUTSHELL

Successful people fail more often. They plant more seeds.
When Things Are Beyond Your Control, Here's a recipe for
permanent misery...
a) Decide how you think the world SHOULD be.
b) Make rules for how everyone SHOULD behave.
Then, when the world doesn't obey your rules, get angry! That's
what miserable people do!

Let's say you expect that:

Friends SHOULD return favors.
People SHOULD appreciate you.
Planes SHOULD arrive on time.
Everyone SHOULD be honest.
Your husband SHOULD remember your birthday.

These expectations may sound reasonable. But often, these things won't
happen! So you end up frustrated and disappointed. There's a better
strategy. Have less demands. Instead, have preferences! For things that are
beyond your control, tell yourself: "I WOULD PREFER "A", BUT IF "B"
HAPPENS,
IT'S OK TOO!" This is really a game that you play in your head. It is a
shift in attitude, and it gives you more peace of mind. You prefer that
people are polite ... but when they are rude, it doesn't ruin your day. You
prefer sunshine ... but rain is ok!

To become happier, we either need to

a) change the world, or
b) change our thinking. It is easier to change our thinking!

IN A NUTSHELL

It's not what happens to you that determines your happiness.
It's how you think about what happens to you

What people WANT

You've heard people in your company on stage, saying,
"It's not about the money." You've also heard them at
the party afterwards, saying things that strongly
suggest that it is, indeed, very much "about the
money." They're not speaking with forked tongues: both
points are correct.

Even when "It's not about The Money," believe me, it's
about The Money. And even when it is about The Money
-—it's not about The Money.

"The Money" is shorthand; it's a code for something
else. When you say, for example, "five thousand
dollars a month," you are really talking about
something entirely else -— something real. (Money is
not real.) Could be "No more debts" might be "Move to
Maui" or "Feed starving kids." Whatever is real and
meaningful to you.

It is remarkable to see how many people get stopped in
this business -— you're sitting in a gorgeous sailboat
in the middle of the lake, and suddenly all breeze
comes to a halt—because of their uneasy, ambivalent
feelings about The Money.

Perhaps the cultural roots of that ambivalence trace
back to the famous, oft-misunderstood Biblical dictum,
"the love of money is the root of all evil." That
aphorism, penned an aging Paul to a young Timothy (who
evidently had grown up without a father) has been
misquoted to death: "Money is the root of all evil."
Money: Look out! Dangerous stuff! No: it's the "love
of money," says Paul, that gets people in trouble.
(Can some sharp reader write in and tell me which
wit it was—Mark Twain? Woody Allen? Dennis Miller?—who
quipped, "Lack of money is the root of all evil."?)

"Loving The Money" means you've become captivated by
the shorthand, forgotten the reality. You're staring
at the road directions as if they were the destination
-— as the Buddhists say, you've confused the pointing
finger with the moon to which it points.

If you forget about what The Money means to you, why
it's important to you, then sooner or later, your
business will come to a grinding halt. That's true for
your people, too -— which is why it's your job as a
sponsor to know what The Money means to each person
you're working with.

What people want, changes too. This is surprisingly
easy to forget. All of a sudden, I'm using the same
shorthand ("$25,000 per month"…"financial
freedom"…"Master Blue Diamond," etc.) -— only I don't
really know what it stands for any more. I'm standing
here, knocking on the door to an exclusive club, this
guy pokes his head out and mutters, "Password?" and
I'm pretty sure I know the password -— but am not so
sure whether or not this is the door I really meant to
enter.

The truth is, achieving financial success in this
business takes tremendous persistence and endurance.
Is it worth it? Honestly, YES —- BUT YOU NEED TO HAVE
GOOD REASONS.

Your Reasons, and the results of your Reasons -— not
The Money -— are what you need to love.

John David Mann
Editor, Networking Times

Gems of Life

"Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the
air. You name them - work, family, health, friends and spirit and you're
keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a
rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls
- family, health, friends and spirit - are made of glass.

If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked,
damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand
that and strive for balance in your life."

How? Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is
because we are different that each of us is special. Don't set your goals by
what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you. Don't
take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as they
would your life, for without them, life is meaningless. Don't let your life
slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living
your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life.

Don't give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over
until the moment you stop trying. Don't be afraid to admit that you are less
than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us to each together.

Don't be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn
how to be brave. Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible
to find time. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way
to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to
give it wings.

Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been,
but also where you are going. Don't forget, a person's greatest emotional
need is to feel appreciated.

Don't be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always
carry easily. Don't use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved.
Life is not a race, but a journey to be savoured each step of the way.

Refusing to Accept Failure

Sir Edmund Hillary was the first man to climb Mount
Everest. On May 29, 1953
he scaled the highest mountain then known to
man-29,000 feet straight up. He was knighted for his
efforts. He even made American Express card
commercials
because of it! However, until we read his book, High
Adventure, we don't
understand that Hillary had to grow into this success.
You see, in 1952 he attempted to climb Mount Everest,
but failed. A few weeks later a group in England asked
him to address its members.

Hillary walked on stage to a thunderous applause. The
audience was recognizing an
attempt at greatness, but Edmund Hillary saw himself
as a failure. He moved away
from the microphone and walked to the edge of the
platform. He made a fist and pointed
at a picture of the mountain. He said in a loud voice,
"Mount Everest, you beat me the
first time, but I'll beat you the next time because
you've grown all you are going to grow...
but I'm still growing!"

Brian Cavanaugh, T.O.R.
"The Sower's Seeds"

The Life We Choose

Here's the premise: We are all, right now, living the
life we choose.

This choice, of course, is not a single, monumental
choice. No one decides, for example, "I'm going to
move to L.A., and in five years I will be a waiter in
a
so-so restaurant, planning to get my 8-by-10's done
real soon so that I can find an agent and become a
star," or "I'm going to marry a dreadful person and
we'll live together in a loveless marriage, staying
together only for the kids, who I don't much like,
either."

No. The choices I'm talking about here are made
daily, hourly, moment by moment.

Do we try something new, or stick to the
tried-and-true? Do we take a risk, or eat what's
already on our dish? Do we ponder a thrilling
adventure, or contemplate what's on TV? Do we walk
over and meet that interesting stranger, or do we
play it safe? Do we indulge our heart, or cater to our
fear?

The bottom-line question: Do we pursue what we
want, or do we do what's comfortable?

For the most part, most people most often choose
comfort - the familiar, the time-honored, the
well-worn but well-known. After a lifetime of
choosing between comfort and risk, we are left with
the life we currently have.

And it was all of our own choosing.

Peter McWilliams
Do It! Let's Get Off Our Buts
Prelude Press

Preliminary

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of champions
by champions
for champions