Your Need To Know

Living successfully and getting the things you want in life is simply a matter of solving the problems that stand between where we are now and where we want to be.

Your goal is your future. Your problem is bridging the gap between where you are now and your goal.

Everybody has problems. That is a part of life. And successful people have the same kinds of problems that other people have. There are millions of people with problems identical to our own. And there are millions of people who feel they can never reach their goals because their problems are beyond their ability to overcome.

If the most successful people have the same problems as all of us have, then it boils down to a person’s ability to solve them. Successful people are not people without problems; they’re simply people who have learned to solve their problems. People who can use their mind.

The only thing about a man that is a man is his mind. Everything else you can find in a pig or a horse. Archibald MacLeish

The human mind is the one thing that separates us from the rest of the creatures of the earth. Everything comes to us through our minds. Our knowledge, abilities, talents, beliefs and love - everything - is reflected through our minds. And everything that comes to us in the future will be a result of the extent to which we use our minds!

But our own mind is the last place most people will turn for help. Why is it that most people will not turn to the vast resources of their mind when faced with problems?

Most People Have Never Learned How to Think!

This is a fact… Many people never think at all during their entire lives. They react to stimuli, they remember, they ask other people what to do, but they do not think for themselves. They fall into comfortable routines of daily living, go through the motions, and do it all again the next day.

When these people are faced with a problem, they will go to great lengths to avoid thinking. They may ask advice from someone - usually someone who doesn’t know any more than they do - or do whatever they have done in the past, but rarely will they put on their thinking cap.

Exercise Your Mind

If you want to develop the muscles in your body, you would do some sort of daily exercising. If you want to develop your mind, it is done in the same way except the returns are out of all conceivable proportion to the time and energy spent.

In his Lead the Field series, Earl Nightingale offered the following “mind exercise.”

If you total the hours in a year and subtract the sleeping hours, you’ll find that the average person has about 6000 waking hours of which less than 2000 are spent on the job (40-hour week). This leaves about 4000 hours we can call discretionary hours with which a person can do pretty much as he/she pleases.

I recommend that you devote just one hour a day, five days a week to exercising your mind. You don’t even have to do it on weekends. The best time is in the morning when the mind is clear and the house is quiet.

During this hour every day, take a completely blank sheet of paper. At the top of the page, write your present, primary goal clearly and simply. Then, since our future depends on the way in which we handle our work, write down as many ideas as you can for improving that which you now do. Try to think of 20 possible ways in which the activity that fills your day can be improved. You won’t always get 20, but even one idea is good.

Two important points to remember: 1) This is not particularly easy, and , 2) most of your ideas won’t be any good. At first you’ll find that your mind is a little reluctant to be hauled up and out of the old familiar rut. But as you think about your work and the ways it might be improved, write down every idea that pops into your head, no matter how absurd it might seem.

The most important thing this extra hour accomplishes is that it deeply imbeds your goal into your subconscious mind and starts the whole vital machinery first thing in the morning. Now, this means you’ll be thinking about your goal and ways of improving your performance 6 1/2 full, extra working weeks a year! Six and a half 40-hour weeks devoted to thinking and planning.

Starting each day thinking, you’ll find that your mind will continue working all day long. You’ll find that at odd moments, when you least expect it, really great ideas will bubble up from your subconsciuos. When they do, write them down as soon as you can. Just one great idea can completely revolutionize your life.

I’ve used this system for years and it has given me some of the most gratifying and rewarding experiences of my life. And it costs only five hours a week- five hours out of 168. Is it worth it?

It’s like spending five hours a week digging in a solid vein of pure gold, because your mind is all of that and much more.

Each of us tends to underestimate our own abilities. If we could just realize that we have deep reservoirs of great ability, even genius, within ourselves, and that these reservoirs can be tapped if we will just dig deep enough, we would certainly see miracles in our lives.

Gina

Technorati Tags: Earl Nightingale, Mind Power, Subconscious Mind

“Love of truth shows itself in this; that a man knows how to find and value the good in everything.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Yesterday, a new friend of mine remarked that I was the most positive person she had ever met in her entire life. I thanked her and have been pondering her statement since, this being the first time I have ever received that compliment.

Not so many years ago, no one would have said those words to me. No one could have said those words to me.

It is true. I am living Above Life’s Turmoil. I have consciously chosen to ignore the negative events in my life and look for the positive in everything. This is something that can be done by any one and everyone. It is a process, and something that doesn’t happen over night. But a process that can and will change your life.

“To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.” Robert Louis Stevenson

As I look back on the changes in my life, I see that I have become free of so many things we don’t even realize are keeping us down: Conflict and anger, jealousy and fear, Monday morning blahs and road rage to name a few.

While speaking to my new friend about my outlook on life, she opened up to me about the trials and tribulations she has had and continues to experience. I realized that so many people are living this way and feel there is no escape. This is so untrue. I know. I am living proof.

“The turmoil of the world we cannot avoid, but the disturbances of the mind we can overcome. The duties and difficulties of life claim our attention, but we can rise above all anxiety concerning them. Surrounded by noise we can yet have a quiet mind; involved in responsibilities, the heart can be at rest; in the midst of strife, we can know the abiding peace rising above the turbulence of the world” James Allen

My desire is to do my best to help others understand the implications of living this way. To be able to feel and live “Above Life’s Turmoil”.

Gina
Download James Allen’s “Above Life’s Turmoil” here.

I came across this writing by Christen D. Larson, and I just had to share it with you. This epitomizes much of what I believe, practice and teach.

Promise Yourself
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
To look on the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and to have a smile ready for every living creature you meet.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticise others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world–not in loud words, but in great deeds.
To live in the faith that the world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.
-Christen D. Larson.

Develop your own attitude of positive expectations. Look for the good in every situation. Look for the valuable lesson in every setback or difficulty. Be positive and cheerful about everything that happens and you will be amazed at the difference it makes in your life.
I Promise!

Gina