A Commitment Creates Magic

"Resolution is the directing and impelling force in
individual progress. Without it no substantial work can be
accomplished." - Above Life's Turmoil

The esteemed philosopher Goethe wrote, "Until one is
committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back,
always ineffectiveness." There are so many opportunities
that could make our lives better if we'd only make the
decision (resolution) to pursue them.

Whether it's fear, doubt or some other insecurity that holds
us back, these missed opportunities keep us from living the
life of our dreams.

In 711 a North African warrior, whose army was backed up to
the Mediterranean Sea, gave the unthinkable order to his men
to "burn your boats," thus taking away his army's only means
of escape.

Faced with certain death unless they were victorious, his
army routed their opponents even though they were
outnumbered five to one. When we are likewise resolved, we
too can conquer all the obstacles in our path.

Don't worry about "how-to-do-it." One of my early mistakes
was trying to figure out how I was going to do something
before I'd get committed to do it. Now I think about all of
the great inventions of our time, and I wonder if we'd have
any of them if the inventor had waited to make his
commitment until he knew how he was going to do it.

Making the decision (the resolution) to do it is the most
important part of any undertaking. As W.H. Murray wrote,
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness
has genius, power and magic in it!"

If you don't feel like you have enough information to make a
decision, then by all means, get the information. But don't
put off getting the information as a means to put off making
the decision. And don't think you have to have ALL the
information that's available - you only need ENOUGH to fully
evaluate and decide. "Paralysis by analysis" has killed many
a dream.

Any decision is almost always better than no decision as it
puts into play some powerful forces. As Goethe also told us,
"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is
one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless
ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely
commits oneself, then Providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one that would never
otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues
from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of
unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance,
which no man could have dreamed would have come his way."
And that's worth thinking about. (Column By Vic Johnson)

Dedicate Yourself To Excellence No Matter What The Situation

Have you ever had to do something you didn't want to do at
work or at home and found yourself grumbling and pouting
through the entire thing?

It seemed as if the work would never get done. The truth is,
sometimes we all have to do things we don't want to do, all
of us. But instead of complaining and being miserable make
sure, no matter what you're doing, to have fun.

The fact is that if something has to get done, it has to get
done. And if we have to do it we have two choices - we can
be the martyr (they're always fun to be around) and huff and
puff through the whole thing asking "Why me?"- or we can
decide to make everything a fun task and make a game out of
it.

Take pride in everything that you do. People will notice
your dedication to excellence, your contagious enthusiasm
and your positive attitude. And even if they don't, you will
feel better about yourself and your work.

Action Step:

In closing, I'd like to offer an exercise to complete in the
week ahead:

What tasks do you absolutely loathe doing? Is it paperwork?
Mowing the lawn? We all have jobs we don't enjoy. And if you
cannot hire someone to do it, then you'll have to step up to
the plate and get the job done. Why not put a smile on your
face while you're doing it?

For homework I want you to think of 5-10 jobs you don't
enjoy doing. That should be pretty easy. At the top of each
page write one job per page in your journal or notebook.
Under each job number 1-10.

Now, I want you to think about these tasks in a different
way. Let's say you don't want to mow the lawn: beside
numbers 1-10, list the positive results that occur once the
lawn is mowed. For example:

1. the yard looks beautiful.
2. the dog enjoys rolling in the freshly cut grass.
3. my family and I can play frisbee or toss a football.
4. the smells are wonderful.
5. my friends comment on how great the yard looks. Etc.

Looking at the positive results that come out of doing a
task will help you become more motivated to get the job
done.

Step into a new you each day. Reach out to greater health,
happiness, fitness, friendship, love and greater pride in
yourself. (Column By Mark Victor Hansen)

How To Achieve All Your Goals And Multiply Your Success

Use Your Imagination. One of the most timeless laws of
success holds that all things are created twice: first on
the picture screen of one's imagination and then in reality.

Those people that create rich, fulfilling lives regularly
flex their imaginations and visualize a better future. By
constantly holding that vision in their mind's eye and
taking action to make it a reality, they overcome their
circumstances and create the life of their dreams.

Create a 'Success Mastermind'. Just as five fingers can
achieve more than one, getting together with a group of like
minded achievers and pooling your knowledge and success
strategies will bring you to your goals much faster.

Set a time every week and meet with your success mastermind.
Share your goals and dreams. Share your frustrations as well
as techniques that have worked for you. Support each other.
Encourage each other. Celebrate even the smallest of
successes as you advance confidently towards a better life.

Love Failure. Failure is the highway to success. Every
successful person has faced endless failures and encountered
adversity. However, rather than giving up and moving on to
another easier pursuit, they persisted. They believed in
themselves and in the importance of what they were doing.
They had the wisdom to know that failure is an essential
teacher. From failure, we grow wise. Failure teaches us how
to win. Without failure, there would be no success.

Get a Coach. The Law of Duplication says that if you do the
same things that someone else did, in the same way that they
did them, you are certain to get the same results in your
life. Whether you are trying to build a great business or
grow a great family, get a mentor.

Find someone who has 'been there, done that.' Why reinvent
the wheel? Use your mentors' own experiences to shorten your
learning curve. Learn from their mistakes and let their
pasts serve you.

Mentors need not be alive. Becoming a serious student of
great people who have lived before us by reading their
biographies and analyzing their personal habits will work
just as well as any association with a living achiever.

Play the Numbers. Success is a numbers game. Smart
salespeople will tell you that the average sale is closed on
the fifth try and yet most people give up after the first.
Similarly, the more times you try to succeed, the closer you
get to success.

The more times you ask for something, the greater the
probability that you will get it. Take more chances, seize
more opportunities and take more action. Just as the farmer
who plants more seeds reaps a richer harvest, you will
attract much more success into your own life.

Work Hard. Successful people will tell you that the harder
they work, the luckier they get. In this age of the quick
fix, where people buy creams to slim their thighs and pop
pills to lose weight, one timeless truth remains, hard work
always produces its just rewards.

No undertaking can ever be successful without patience and
hard work. Have the character strength to put in the effort
required to reach your dreams. Remember, the harder you are
on yourself, the easier life will be on you.

Have Written Goals. Goals that are not written down are
impotent. By writing out your goals, they become embedded on
your subconscious mind and crystallized in your
consciousness.

Write out your goals on 3X5 cards and post them next to your
bed, on your bathroom mirror, on the dashboard in your car
and next to your computer at the office. Never lose sight of
your goals. Never let the busyness of the everyday allow you
to forget about your life goals. By thinking about them
constantly and acting on them daily, you will steadily
create the brilliant life you know in your heart you
deserve.

Master Your Moods. Just as you are not your thoughts, you
are not your moods. Effective people don't let their moods
get in the way of their progress. If they feel tired, they
keep on working. If they feel disappointed, they laugh it
off and keep chasing the dream. If they grow fearful, they
act on their fear. By overcoming their moods, the liberate
their inner power and grow stronger by the day.
(Column By Robin Sharma)

The Power of Belief

They said she would never walk again. Paralyzed from the
waist down, Beverly Kearney the Head Track and Field Coach
at the University of Texas laid in her hospital bed
recovering from 3 five hour surgeries to correct a protruded
spine, skull fracture and severe lacerations - the result of
a car crash.

It's mind boggling what a head on car crash and being thrown
50 feet from the car like a rag doll can do to the human
body. But what is even more amazing is the power of the
human spirit to overcome. Bev, a 5 time national champion
track star in college, never looked in the mirror after her
accident.

She never saw the lacerations or other physical affects of
the accident. She always saw herself as the person she was
before the accident. She never blamed anyone or said "why
me". When visitors came to her room all sad and crying she
kicked them out.

"It isn't a funeral she told them; it's a place of healing."
Bev didn't plan on getting worse. She planned on getting
better. She never embraced the Doctor's diagnosis when they
said she would have pain and other complications for the
rest of her life.

No, Bev was too busy and too focused on the fact that she
was going to walk again. "It's all about what you allow into
your mind," Bev told me. "And I only allowed the positive in
and kept the negative out." She even refused to get into a
wheel chair until they finally convinced her to use it only
to get to rehab to be able to walk again.

Then one day as Bev lay in her hospital bed looking at a
poster of The Texas Relays, the biggest track meet of the
year in front of 20,000 fans, she made the declaration that
she was going to stand up on her own two feet at that event.

An inconceivable notion to the average person since the
Texas Relays was only 4 months away. But inconceivable was
not in Bev's vocabulary. She believed it would be so and so
it would be.

4 Months later on a beautiful April day in front of 20,000
cheering fans Bev Kearney heard nothing but silence as time
stopped and she stood up on her own two legs. The power of
believing was on display for all to witness.

Several years later Bev is walking, and coaching and
thriving. She says she was a good coach before the accident.
But now she is a phenomenal coach. She and her team have won
two national championships since the accident and getting
ready for a third.

Her goals are to keep winning national titles, write books,
and help young women pursue their dreams through her non-
profit foundation "Pursuit of Dreams." Her message to these
girls and the world is: "Thoughts, Words, Deeds. If you can
think it and really believe it then you can do it."

I couldn't think of a better role model to share this
message than Beverly Kearney, University of Texas Head Track
and Field Coach and role model for us all. 
(Column By Jon Gordon)

Build Your DreamTeam

I believe you are only three phone calls away from just
about anyone that you need to contact. There are many
reasons why others would be interested in participating with
you. After all, you're a go-getter with a big dream!

Letting others help you is a form of generosity, because you
enable them to feel good about contributing to your success.
People love to make a difference by helping others. Allow
them to easily assist you by learning how to make powerful
requests. Get clear about what you need, and ask for what
you want.

Begin by reviewing your current resources to see who's
available to help. Your current resources include everyone
you know, every association and organization with which you
come in contact, friends of friends, anyone and everyone.

Talk to people about your dream. Tell them what it is you're
committed to and ask who else they know.

Plan to attend group meetings as a non-member, go with your
purpose in mind, and be clear about the intended result.
Decide in advance what kind of people you want to meet
there, what you want to get out of the meeting, and what you
want to communicate.

Once you're there, you have an opportunity to develop
relationships with all kinds of new people; plan to
participate and interact with them.

Speak your dream from the moment you walk into the room, and
you'll be perceived as a dynamic individual, committed to
making your dream a reality. If you notice that someone is
getting excited about your dream, ask how they would like to
participate. You start with a blank slate among new people;
capture the energy and input from those encounters.

Don't be afraid to call people. If you're not sure what you
want to say, write out a couple of points and keep them in
front of you, or practice speaking to somebody else.

You will find the task less formidable if you break it down
into individual components. First, compile a list of the
phone numbers and have them in front of you. Then commit to
making a specific number of calls each day. Get into action.

Sometimes we feel absolutely sure that we cannot get the
support we want from the people we need it from most. Look
for ways to share your dream and tie it into the other
aspects of your life.

Ask others to support you, even if it's just by believing in
you, and be unstoppable regardless of how they respond;
tenacity often yields credibility. (Column By Marcia Wieder)

Developing Your Vision to Succeed

All great leaders have two main qualities: guts and vision.
This column focuses on vision.

You become what you think about all the time. Leaders think
about the future most of the time. They think about where
they are going and about what they can do to get there.

Non-leaders focus on the present, on the past, and on their
obstacles. When you start thinking about your future, before
long, you'll start getting the results leaders get.

The number one predictor of success in life is how long term
your thinking is. If you can focus on what you want to
happen in the long term while making decisions in the
present, you'll be very successful. The further you focus
into the future, the better decisions you'll make today and
the greater chance you have of realizing your dream.

The biggest single obstacle people face when setting goals
is their self-limiting beliefs. When you allow your self-
limiting beliefs to control you, you set goals far below
what you are capable of achieving.

I made that mistake. I never believed that I could win an
Olympic medal, consequently, I only set a goal to compete in
the Olympics. I made it three times, but, what if I had set
a goal to win a medal? I might have become an Olympic
medalist. At least I would have placed higher than I did.

Don't make that mistake. Aim as high as possible.

Imagine what your life would be like in 5 years if it were
perfect in every way. Focus on creating your ideal life and
you will overcome your self limiting beliefs. I constantly
imagined what it would be like to walk into the Opening
Ceremonies.

By doing that, I overcame my self-limiting beliefs that I
could not become an Olympian. If I had instead imagined what
it would be like to be a medalist, I would have overcome
those self limiting beliefs.

See how this works? If you vividly imagine it enough, you
start believing it's possible. Once you believe it's
possible, you start acting like it's possible. And if you
act like it's possible long enough, before long, you make it
a reality.

Imagine you had all the time, talent, abilities, an
resources you needed to create your perfect life. Imagine
you could not fail. Now, what would your perfect life be
like?

Don't settle for smaller dreams and goals. Go for the gold!
Big dreams have the power to inspire you to action and the
power to inspire others to help you.

Now, what would you have to do today to create your perfect
future?

Where would you be living?
What would your work look like?
Who would you associate and work with?
How much would you be earning?

What would your perfect family life look like?
What kind of relationship would you have with your loved
ones?

How would you look and feel if you were in perfect health?
How much would you weigh?
What do you need to start doing today to reach those goals?

Now, start asking yourself, "How will I do this?" Keep
asking yourself "How will I do it?" The answers will come.
And when they do, start taking massive action like there's
no tomorrow. That's what high achievers do.

What additional skills do I need to pull it off?

What do I need to do every day to acquire those skills and
to become an expert in my field in 5 years?

How will I do it?

I guarantee that once you start focusing and thinking about
the future, start asking yourself how will you do it, and
start taking massive action, you will be a lot happier.
Because happiness is a byproduct of working hard to reach
your goals and dreams.

Make a decision to start thinking about your goals and
dreams all the time. The clearer you are about your dream,
the faster you will attract people to make it a reality.
(Column By Ruben Gonzalez)