Inspiration – your own inner greatness

by Marianne Williamson in “A Return To Love”

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear
is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I
to be brilliant and gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?
Actually who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people
won’t feel insecure around you.
We are meant to shine as children do.
We were born to make manifest
the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some of us: it’s in everyone.
And, as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

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The Benefits of Visualization

What is visualization?

Visualization is a mental rehearsal of what you want to happen in reality. The hit film Secret, introduced millions to the Law of Attraction and describes how powerful visualization can be. Imagining your goals and dreams can lead to actually experiencing them, because your body and even the universe responds to your mind.

The key however is the level of emotional input you add to the process. Emotion adds fuel and power to the process and aligns your mind, body and spirit, which is the real secret to manifestation.

When you visualize, you rehearse how a problem can be solved, how a new idea could be implemented, or what a piece of art looks, reads or sounds like. You mentally practice achieving and living your goal, which leads to the real thing.

Three benefits of visualization

New neuro pathways are created. These are like templates which are “patterns of mind-body reflexes that prepare you for what you are going to do”. When you visualize, your muscles experience electrical impulses that correspond to the physical event you are imagining. Take Liu Chi Kung, for example. He was a talented pianist imprisoned for seven years during the Cultural Revolution; when he was released, some say he played better than ever. How is that possible without practicing? He said, “I did practice, every day. I rehearsed every piece; I played every note in my mind.”

Visualization is also used by athletes, sportsmen and women. Scientists at NASA reported that the same muscles and nerves fire in the mental rehearsal as in the actual event.

Leaving your comfort zone. Visualizing your goal takes you into a whole new realm – which can be scary and weird, but much safer in the confines of your mind. You can practice examining your success from a new perspective with all sorts of different scenarios! This sets you up for the real thing, and when it actually happens you’ll be ready. This can be of great use prior to an interview or big exam.

Visualization also allows you to see the big picture, from the perspective of your family, friends, co-workers – and even from talk shows, the daily news, or local radio (depending on what your goal is). You can imagine the Big Picture; the more you picture it in your mind, the more likely it is to become reality.

Problem solving. If you’re facing an obstacle you don’t understand or haven’t ever experienced, your intuition can work its magic. Your mind will reach back into your past for ideas, resources – your intuition will bring forth inspirations that you hadn’t previously considered. It will prompt you to turn left or right, or take a whole new road altogether. It will let you know if you’re on the right track, and will supply you with motivation and insight.

There are a variety of tools for visualization; one of the most effective is mind movies. This combines visual and audio to create an emotional response.

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Leadership Wisdom from Robin Sharma

Robin Sharma is the globally celebrated author of 10 bestselling books on leadership and personal development. His work has been published in over 50 countries and nearly 70 languages, making him one of the most widely read authors in the world. He shot to fame with The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, which has topped international bestseller lists and sold millions of copies.

Robin is the founder of Sharma Leadership International Inc., a global training firm that helps people in organizations Lead Without a Title. Clients include many of the FORTUNE 500 including Microsoft, GE, NIKE, BP, FedEx and IBM. Organizations such as NASA, Yale University and The Harvard Business School are also SLI clients.

URSuccess – How did you get the idea for your book, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari? And why do you think it has resonated with millions of people around the world?

Robin Sharma – The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is largely a book that reflects my life’s journey. I was a very unhappy litigation lawyer, just like the lead character Julian Mantle. I had two law degrees; I was working with a very successful firm, but in many ways, I was living someone else’s life. I was living by an external definition of success rather than by my own. So I decided to do some soul searching, and get my life on a new path.

I wrote The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari in the form of a story because fundamentally, adults are nothing more than deteriorated children. Every one of us loves to be entertained. Every one of us loves to be inspired. I thought that if I wrote a book that was entertaining and fun, yet shared real and powerful ideas that help people achieve greater success, people would enjoy it.

URSuccess – Who inspires you?

Robin Sharma – My two children are my heroes. They teach me what passion, curiosity, joy and unconditional love looks like. People like Bono, Richard Branson, and Nelson Mandela inspire me. Unknown human beings reaching for their own unique form of personal and professional greatness inspire me. My readers – and all their stories of personal and professional transformation – inspireme deeply.

URSuccess – In these uncertain times, what is your advice for people going through some difficult situations?

 Robin Sharma – We must remember that the most successful and resilient people are able to transform challenges into opportunities. Each distraction or challenging situation that life throws our way must be interpreted as a learning point and as an opportunity to improve as human beings. This is the time to shed our old ways, to create and be remarkably innovative, and remake old business models. A simple way to deal with stress is to focus on the positive and distanceyourself from the overwhelming negative news in the world right now.

URSuccess – You talk and write a lot about this concept “Lead Without Title”. Explain what leadership means to you.

 Robin Sharma – Every person within an organization has the opportunity to show leadership behaviour each day. To Lead Without Title. Leadership is far less about position than it is about attitude and the way you show up each day. Leaders without a title are able to seize opportunities amidst setbacks, constantly innovate, and treat people with compassion. Every person can be the CEO his or her own role. For example, frontline sales staff can become ‘CEOs’ of the division or business they’re responsible for. This enables them to assume job ownership and foster a sense of freedom to control their own careers. The role of great leaders is to help their staff to realize their own potential, driving them to do their best and work towards excellence.

The best companies get that. Their race is to grow leaders faster than their competition. My company, Sharma Leadership International Inc., helps the best organizations do exactly that.

URSuccess – In your books, you encourage people to spend 60 minutes a day reading. What are your favourite books?

 Robin Sharma – Reading is having a conversation with the author. Just imagine having a conversation today with Mahatma Gandhi and Richard Branson and Lance Armstrong and Salvador Dali and Madonna – by reading their books. One idea read in one book has the power to revolutionize your life or your career. Ilove to read. My greatest gift to my kids will be my library.

Some of my favourite books are “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho, who has become a good friend. “The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius” and “The Prophet” by Kalhil Gibran. I still love classics like “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie as well as a lot of the popular business books out there like “Winning” by Jack Welch and Jim Collins’ “Good to Great”.

URSuccess – Could you name 3 of your best tips, or pieces of advice, that people can quickly adopt into their daily lives?

 Robin Sharma – Be the greatest you can be before it is too late, because no one knows how long we are going to live. Run towards your fears rather than away from them. Within your business or organization, show leadership in whatever title you have and help build a culture of success, and build strong relationships.

Robin’s latest book The Leader Who Had No Title is now available

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Slowing down to speed up

Do you ever have days where you do nothing but sit at your computer and answer emails, and at the end of the day you’re completely exhausted and you still don’t feel like you got anything done?

In my early days as a salesman, somebody told me, “Massive action solves every problem.”

That has to be one of the worst pieces of advice I ever got from anyone.

Did you know that it’s possible to be productive without being frantic and rushed all the time?

Lots o’ people are celebrating the US 4th of July by taking today off. Today is the perfect day to slow down for a minute and see how you can get more done with LESS effort and less stress.

A few weeks ago I did an interview with RC Peck about the “Critter Brain” or “Lizard Brain.” It’s the part of our brain that hijacks our best intentions when we most need to be strategic and deliberate. The lizard brain takes over and we do stupid stuff.

RC said, “The way to speed up is to slow down. Rarely is a rush of frantic activity helpful.”

If you’re a spontaneous person like me it’s hard to slow down and really think. I don’t know about you, but I get excited about new things and generate a whirlwind of activity. A lot of energy gets wasted.

TIP #1:

The worst place to get REAL thinking done is with your hands on your keyboard. The best place to think is in your favorite quiet spot with a pad of yellow notebook paper.

TIP #2:

Get up and go for a walk.

Physical motion switches your brain on. I guarantee you, you will have more thoughts, better thoughts, more creative thoughts when your body is active than when your butt’s on a chair.

If you play a sport, run, ride your bike or play music, that’s even better.

When I put on my shoes and head for the door, I say “Time to go give my head a shake” and my family knows exactly what I’m talking about. I go for walks even when it’s freezing cold outside. It stimulates my brain.

TIP #3:

Learn to recognize when you’re stuck in reactive mode. If you can’t get your mind to focus and all you seem to be able to do is react to emails and click on things and surf, it’s a good sign you need to bleed off some excess energy.

Yes, there are times when you just need to answer emails and phone calls and take care of miscellaneous things. Much better to do that stuff within a deliberate time slot instead of all the time.

My formula is:

Speed up to slow down to speed up.

Which means:

Stop the frantic activity and plan your work. Plan your work by physically speeding up (a brisk walk or run gets your juices flowing) then (slow down) write down your plan on your strategic yellow pad of paper. You’ll speed up getting more done.

You’re an entrepreneur, which means the world does YOUR bidding. YOU are the person who organizes resources and moves things from low value to high value. You don’t just sit there and let your day get nibbled to death by a thousand mosquitoes.

There has never been a time when one person could accomplish so much in so little time. But you need to run the world, not let the world run you.

If today is a day when the phones aren’t ringing and people aren’t demanding your time, then it’s the perfect day to go for a walk, figure out what you want to accomplish in the next weeks and months, map out your plan and EXECUTE.

Seize the day – and start by going outside and getting a breath of fresh air.

How about right now?

Perry Marshall

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Half Time Team Talk – What’s Your Goal Tally?

Half way through the year is a great time to reflect and take stock of our goals and progress so far. Did you start the year full of hopes, dreams and expectations? How are these working out? It’s time for a half time team talk.

A great business maxim is that ‘what gets measured gets managed’ and the same can be true of life. If you want to lose weight for example you need to know where you are now, if you intend to create more wealth, again you need to know your starting point. A vague notion of wanting to be a bit fitter or to have some more money lacks the specificity required to power your dreams.

The wheel of life is a popular coaching tool which enables you to examine the key areas of your life, health, finance, careers, relationships and so on. It not only measures current or intended ratings but also shows areas which are out of balance.

You may like to print the diagram below and mark your current rating.

A client was experiencing some money worries and scored a 4 in Finances. Rather than becoming negative about ‘only a 4’, we switched energy by assessing what factors had made it a 4 rather than a 3, 2 or 1. By doing so he became grateful for his job, his ability to have a bank account, credit cards etc. Even though he may have wanted more, being firstly aware and secondly appreciative of the current position is an important starting point.

Setting clear and effective goals is a great way of putting your request into the universe. Almost immediately, via your brain’s Reticular Activating System, you will begin to notice new opportunities and resources to help achieve your goals.

Something important to consider is how the goal makes you feel. If setting a goal to lose 20lbs or 10kg makes you feel dispirited then perhaps a smaller goal like 5lbs would be a more motivational place to start. Law of attraction teachers tell us that desire plus emotion plus action equals results. Therefore your goal should feel possible, even if you are not sure exactly how it will be achieved.

“You do not need to see the whole staircase, just take the first step in faith” Martin Luther King Jr.

Other great tools in achieving your goals are the use of affirmations and visualisations. By mentally rehearsing having already succeeded, you are training your subconscious mind to go to work on your behalf.

Regular use of positive, empowering, present tense affirmations, such as “I am feeling fit and healthy at my ideal weight of xyz”, will condition your brain to support your goal.

Visualisations help because the brain works in images. Find a picture of the former slimmer you and put it on the fridge or next to your bed. Perhaps use an image from a magazine, but remember to consider how it makes you feel. If you chose a ‘perfect’ model type figure, does that inspire you or depress you into the biscuit tin?

Finally reward yourself for your progress. Follow these simple steps:-

• Measure
• Set goals
• Take action
• Review
• Reward.

The reward will enable your brain to associate pleasure with the progress towards your goal, which in turn, will make even more progress come quickly and easily.

A simple, fun tool to help with the setting and acheivement of goals is The Goals Workshop Program -  goal setting software.

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What personal issue troubles you the most? Are you too uptight or easily stressed? Do you work too hard? Do you struggle with an addictive personality? Are you compulsive about details, or do you forget them too easily?

 Building a personal development plan will help you to improve those aspects of your personality that you want to change. Personal development is the process by which people become more aware of their own strengths and weaknesses. They seek to solve problems and improve interpersonal relationships by capitalizing their strengths and minimizing their weaknesses. Before an individual can successfully accomplish this, however, he or she must take a serious look at problematic aspects of their personality and determine how to change them. Creating a formal personal development plan requires honesty, perseverance, and hard work.

First, evaluate your strengths and weaknesses as honestly and openly as possible. Then, decide which of these you are willing to work hard to change. Making these difficult decisions is a part of personal values development. Next, you must be willing to work to change those aspects of yourself that are least congruent with your own personal values.

Building a personal development plan often requires input from another, trusted person in your life. Find someone who knows you better than anyone else, and ask that person to offer his or her perception of your strengths and weaknesses. Explain your interest in self improvement, and ask this person to help you in your quest for personal development. Many self help books offer personal development tips that are extremely general. While these can sometimes be of use, they aren’t always very helpful in specific situations. Furthermore, it is almost impossible to construct a formal personal development plan without interaction and feedback from a trusted professional.

Other traditionally used techniques for self improvement include behavior therapy and support groups. Although these can be helpful, they can only assist people to focus on those aspects of negative attitudes and behaviors of which they are aware. These approaches focus on the symptoms, rather than the actual root, of the problem. A newer, more effective way to help people deal with personality issues and capitalize on their strengths is personal development hypnosis. Hypnotherapists can use this therapy to assist clients to develop a formal personal development plan. These professionals help people to objectively identify their weaknesses and to focus on creative, effective ways to work toward self improvement. Often, people who are critical thinkers or resistant to directional suggestions find the traditional forms of self help hypnosis to be less effective than people who are very suggestible do. For these critical thinking individuals, Ericksonian methods of personal development hypnosis, as well as Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), are much more effective. These methods are very successful in helping analytical people work toward self improvement.

People who struggle with stress in their lives often benefit greatly from self help hypnosis. During the therapy session, either through regression or simply the increased recall that is possible through hypnosis, the client may be able to explain some causes of stress that are subconscious and pervasive. After learning about the causes of the client’s stress, a professional hypnotherapist can then offer personal development direction that will help the client to eliminate stress from his or her life. Often, simply becoming aware of the causes is enough to motivate and encourage many people to work toward resolving these issues.

Individuals who struggle with addictions to food or tobacco often benefit from Ericksonian or conventional traditional types of self help hypnosis as well. Through hypnotic suggestion, they become less psychologically dependent on food or cigarettes to deliver feelings of peace and tranquility. Furthermore, hypnotherapy practitioners can help clients conquer the unconscious associations between food, cigarette smoking, or tobacco chewing and pleasurable activities such as reading or watching television.

Developing a successful personal development plan may take the help of a detached third-party professional. The challenge is to be able to honestly identify one’s strengths, and to use these strengths to overcome undesirable weaknesses. Many people have difficulty even admitting their weaknesses to themselves; they struggle even more with discussing these weaknesses openly in behavioral or group therapy. Self help hypnosis is an ideal tool for helping people to address these problems at the unconscious level, where they originate. Professionals who practice this approach can also help clients by offering direct or indirect suggestions for helping them in their quest for personal development.

Summary: Most people have some aspect of their personality or behavior that they would like to change. Conventional self improvement books and behavioral therapies that try to help people form a personal development plan are limited by their inability to address the problem behaviors in the unconscious mind, where the problems originate. Personal development hypnosis that uses either traditional or Ericksonian methods is an ideal therapy for helping clients to overcome their weaknesses by focusing on the root, rather than the symptoms, of the problem. Since many people are reluctant to admit their shortcomings to others, or they lack the necessary funds to afford the help of a therapist, quite often hypnosis recordings made by a competent hypnotherapist who is proficient at Ericksonian Hypnosis and NLP can be very successful.

A list of the common uses of hypnosis. © 2008 By Alan B. Densky, CH.

This document may NOT be re-printed. All Rights Reserved. Unique “spun” versions of my hypnosis articles are available for publication directly on your website without charge, as long as the byline and the links back to Neuro-VISION are kept intact.

Alan B. Densky, CH has helped to guide the self development efforts of clients since 1978. He specializes in stress related symptoms and addictions, and offers a comprehensive list of self help hypnosis titles on his Neuro-VISION self-hypnosis for self-development website.

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Life Lessons From Sport – Are you Playing to Win?

I have always believed that sport can provide many valuable lessons for life, team work, discipline, fair play, learning how to lose as well as win, to name but a few.

Watching some of the tactics in recent matches at the soccer world cup made me think about how often in life are we playing to win, or merely not to lose. For many, the fear of failure is so great, that it prevents us from taking the chances necessary to succeed. But in playing safe, we run the risk of never achieving anywhere near our potential.

Thomas J Watson, the founder of computer giant IBM was once famously quoted:

“Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple really. Double your rate of failure. You’re thinking of failure as the enemy of success, but it isn’t at all… you can be discouraged by failure — or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember that’s where you’ll find success. On the far side.”

Think of a tennis match, if the first service goes out, the server will usually try a safer, more predictable second serve. This often results in getting beaten by the return. In cricket, the batsman or team that are merely aiming to survive will often score much less than if they had played with more adventure. Consider also the football teams who are so focussed on defence that they have little or no chance of ever winning.

The same is true for life away from the sports field. Imagine for second a pendulum, with failure to the left and success to the right. The more the pendulum swings into failure, the more it will swing into success. Conversely if it stays in the centre or just oscillated slightly into failure, it can only ever experience little success.

How then can you challenge and embrace failure? Often the perceived fear of failure is far worse than failing itself. Courage isn’t the absence of fear but acting in spite of fear. Take a deep breath and go for it! Build up your courage muscles by taking just a few tiny steps every day.

Are there sales calls that you are putting off or talking yourself out of, is there a business or personal connection that you would love to make, but have convinced yourself that they are going to reject you? Do you desire to learn a new skill, take a course or start a new venture but are fearful of what ‘others’ might say?

As my friend Dr Terry Cole-Whittaker titled her bestselling  book – “What you think of me is none of my business”. Worrying about what other’s might think is truly a waste of time and energy and is a poor excuse for not achieving the success in life that you seek.

As you go about your day today remember that pendulum. Take it back just a little further into failure and celebrate as it swings into success.

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The Value of An Hour – John Assaraf

When I was 21 years-old, a gentleman asked me what I thought the value of an hour was. I honestly did not know how to answer the question. He went on to teach me one of the most valuable lessons I have ever learned.

He suggested that the value of an hour was priceless. This confused me some, so this is what he said to me.

“If you invest one hour each day in understanding yourself and your environment better, you will accumulate nine 40-hour weeks over the course of a year!”

Yikes! As you can imagine I was blown away when he put it to me that way.

Nine 40-hour weeks? This seemed impossible until I did the math. 365 days, times one hour each is…yup, nine 40-hour weeks!

He went on to ask me how good I could get at something if I did it all day, every day for just over 2 months. Well, you already know the answer to that.

I thought I could be awesome!

He went on to tell me that over the course of just five years, I would have invested the equivalent of 1,825 hours of focus on whatever I desired to accomplish my life.

Imagine for a minute, how good you can become at anything that you did one hour a day for the next year. How fit could you get? How much more in love would you get and give? How much more money could you earn?

Let me suggest that one hour is a small price to pay in comparison to the payoff. Just one hour a day may be the razor’s edge you need to really get the results you want in your life.

For me, the decision was easy. I have been studying human potential and the mind for over 20 years. Each time I think I’m getting a good handle on it, I am gently reminded of how much there is to observe and learn.

Is getting what you want worth an hour a day? I certainly hope so.

I still manage to set aside my hour to read motivational stories or listen to inspirational people. They are the fuel for my mind and it keeps me learning and yearning for more.

Please adopt an hour a day for yourself! Pick one area of your life that you want to improve and commit the next 90 days to that one thing.

I assure you that the results you achieve will be well worth the decision! And remember…you can’t take out of life more than you put in.

John Assaraf

Breaking News

John is putting together an interview series with 21 of his friends and influences in what promises to be a fantastic series called Success Manifestors

Even better its FREE! Go here now to sign up

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Visualize success in 3D

However you define your particular view of success, taking a 3D view will provide better clarity and help you reach your goals with more speed.

Success can mean different things to different people and each one is right. Whether you are seeking to improve your finances, your health, relationships or connection with your spirit, the good news is that right now there is more information and materials available on the topic than at any previous time in human history.

What then is stopping you from achieving success in any area in which you chose? I believe the answer comes down to the 3D approach.

The first D stands for Desire – are you clear about what you want and why you want it? Is it for you or for someone else? Do you have what Napoleon Hill referred to as a white hot desire that will get you up early and keep you up late?

The derivation of the word enthusiasm is en Theos or through God. In other words when we have passion or enthusiasm for a task or project, we are expressing the divinity within us. Take a minute to reflect on this statement:

Your heart’s desire and God’s will is the same thing

These incredibly powerful words are a key component in you achieving the success you are seeking. If you are in touch with a strong will and purpose you will find the motivation and resources you need to be successful. If you are half hearted or seeking something out of alignment with your true self then it will be all the more difficult to achieve. This is why it is so important to believe in what you are doing rather than trying to run someone else’s race.

The Second D stands for Discipline – the daily actions which take you in the direction of your goals. The word discipline often has negative associations yet can be seen as an expression of self control and mastery.

The price of discipline is always less than the pain of regret – Robin Sharma

Let’s imagine your success goal is losing weight and feeling vibrant and healthy. The discipline involved may be to cut out certain foods which don’t serve you, or committing to exercise 3 times per week or drinking 2 litres of water per day.

Discipline is like a muscle which can be developed and just as you would not start at the gym by lifting the biggest weights, you can begin by taking small steps and gradually increasing. Start by setting a goal for something that you can achieve and stick to it. Then gradually build momentum.

Researchers on the NASA space programme found that it can take between 21 and 29 days to create a new habit. The neuro pathways in the brain are like a well trodden path through a forest. At first there is no trail to follow then it gradually becomes clearer, until eventually with regular use the forest trail and the brain connections have been clearly formed.

So if it’s that easy to do why don’t more people achieve success? Because it’s also easy NOT to do it. It’s easy to stay in bed rather than go for a walk or run. It’s easy to eat that cake or smoke that cigarette and that’s the problem. If you have not exercised your disciple muscles for a while then it is easier not to stick with your commitment. So begin with something small, experience success, build the muscle and then look for more.

The third D stands for Determination – this is essential for when the bumps in the road appear. You have your strong desire, you have your daily disciples in place but almost inevitably, things will not always go smoothly. This is when you need you determination to succeed.

You may find that other people are critical or try and hold you back. Visualise crabs in a bucket. When one tries to make a break for freedom the others grab and pull it back. It’s hard to create a new set of habits and routines in your old environment and therefore it makes sense to surround yourself with supportive and energising people.

Look for new associations, whether face to face or online. Read empowering books and listen to uplifting audios. If necessary reduce or even eliminate your old associations which are not in alignment with the new person that you are seeking to become.

So now you have the 3D view of success. Desire, Discipline and Determination. Set your goals, commit to daily action and stay the course. Stop reading and go do it! Your bright future starts right now!

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Video – Wisdom from Will Smith

I thought you might enjoy this collage of interviews from Will Smith as he discusses his feelings on success and life.

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