What You SAY is What You Get: How to Speak Your Way to Success

In order to be successful, we must first define what success
means to us, and that means getting clear about what you
want, writing it down, and thinking big!

If you are going to be successful in creating the life of
your dreams, you have to believe that you are capable of
making it happen. You have to believe you have the right
stuff, that you are able to pull it off.

You have to believe in yourself. Whether you call it self-
esteem, self-confidence, or self-assurance, it is a deep-
seated belief that you have what it takes - the abilities,
inner resources, talents, and skills to create your desired
results.

Ultimately, you must learn to control your self-talk,
eliminate any negative and limiting beliefs, and maintain a
constant state of positive expectations.

Control Your Self-Talk...
Researchers have found that the average person thinks as
many as 50,000 thoughts a day. Sadly, many of those thoughts
are negative - I'm not management material... I'll never
lose weight... It doesn't matter what I do, nothing ever
works out for me.

This is what psychologists call victim language. Victim
language actually keeps you in a victim state of mind. It is
a form of self-hypnosis that lulls you into a belief that
you are unlovable and incompetent.

In order to get what you want from life, you need to give up
this victim language and start talking to yourself like a
winner - I can do it... I know there is a solution... I am
smart enough and strong enough to figure this out...
Everything I eat helps me maintain my perfect body weight.

You Are Always Programming Your Subconscious Mind...
Your subconscious mind is like the crew of a ship. You are
it's captain. It is your job to give the crew orders. And
when you do this, the crew takes everything you say
literally.

The crew (your subconscious) has no sense of humor. It just
blindly follows orders. When you say, "Everything I eat goes
straight to my hips," the crew hears that as an order: Take
everything she eats, turn it into fat and put it on her
hips.

On the other hand, if you say, "Everything I eat helps me
maintain my perfect body weight," the crew will begin to
make that into reality by helping you make better food
choices, exercise, and maintain the right metabolism rate
for you body.

This power of your subconscious mind is the reason you must
become very vigilant and pay careful attention to your
spoken and internal statements.

Unfortunately, most people don't realize they are committing
negative self-talk, which is why it is best to enlist
another person - your success partner - in monitoring each
other's speaking. You can have a signal for interrupting
each other when you use victim language.

Use Affirmations to Build Self-Confidence...
One of the most powerful tools for building worthiness and
self-confidence is the repetition of positive statements
until they become a natural part of the way you think.

These "affirmations" act to crowd out and replace the
negative orders you have been sending your crew (your
subconscious mind) all these years. I suggest that you
create a list of 10 to 20 statements that affirm your belief
in your worthiness and your ability to create the life of
your dreams.

Of course, what to believe is up to you, but here are some
examples of affirmations that have worked for others in the
past:

* I am worthy of love, joy and success.
* I am smart and make wise choices.
* I am loveable and capable.
* I create anything I want.
* I am able to solve any problem that comes my way.
* I can handle anything that life hands me.
* I have all the energy I need to do everything I want to
do.
* I am attracting all the right people into my life.

Believing in Yourself is an Attitude...
Believing in yourself is a choice. It's an attitude you
develop over time. It's now your responsibility to take
charge of your own self-concept and your beliefs.

It might help to know that the latest brain research now
indicates that with enough positive self-talk and positive
visualization combined with the proper training, coaching,
and practice, anyone can learn to do almost anything.

You must choose to believe that you can do anything you set
your mind to - anything at all - because, in fact, you can!

Wake Up to the Life You Love

While speaking at a San Diego university recently, I was
fortunate that I was not asked to leave the stage. You see,
I chose to share with the students in my audience some
frightening statistics.

I announced that, while many would receive their degrees,
few - very few - would end up pursuing careers in their
chosen field. At this point, the faculty began giving me
dirty looks.

I went on to say that, while most students were there to
pursue a dream, the dream they were chasing was not their
own. Many students enter college to live up to the
expectations of family, friends, and society.

They've been told they should become an accountant, lawyer,
doctor or teacher because of the great future and financial
gain. In trying to do what others think they should do
rather than following their individual passions, they rarely
continue along the same path once they leave campus.

Instead, I painted a different sort of picture. Using an
off-the-wall example to illustrate my point, I asked each of
them to imagine that he or she really wanted to become a
banjo player.

I said, "What if you took the same period of time and energy
pursuing that dream, your dream, your passion? What if you
began as an apprentice at a banjo shop, and then worked hard
to learn everything about banjos?

After four to six years, the same time you would have spent
earning a degree that you would not use anyway, you would
instead have become an authority on banjos. A real banjo
aficionado. Know why?"

"Because you'd be following your passion," I continued. "You
would become captivated by the topic, and the pursuit of
this goal would no longer feel like work, as much as it
would be a part of who you are.

Staying up late reading and learning everything there is to
know about banjos, listening to old songs and then creating
new ones would not be a chore; it would become your joy,
because you'd be doing what you love."

Now here's the best part. There will always be a call for
authorities in any area. So no matter if your pursuit is
toward playing the banjo, inventing new ice cream flavors,
or discovering the latest medical breakthroughs, there will
always be a demand for your services, thus creating success
in your chosen field of endeavor.

This is where true happiness and fulfillment comes in:
getting paid to do what you enjoy most while living the life
you love. Because...

When you do what you love, and love what you do, you'll have
success your whole life through! (Column By Greg Reid)

The Two Choices We Face

Each of us has two distinct choices to make about what we
will do with our lives. The first choice we can make is to
be less than we have the capacity to be. To earn less. To
have less. To read less and think less. To try less and
discipline ourselves less.

These are the choices that lead to an empty life. These are
the choices that, once made, lead to a life of constant
apprehension instead of a life of wondrous anticipation.

And the second choice? To do it all! To become all that we
can possibly be. To read every book that we possibly can. To
earn as much as we possibly can. To give and share as much
as we possibly can. To strive and produce and accomplish as
much as we possibly can. All of us have the choice.

To do or not to do. To be or not to be. To be all or to be
less or to be nothing at all.

Like the tree, it would be a worthy challenge for us all to
stretch upward and outward to the full measure of our
capabilities. Why not do all that we can, every moment that
we can, the best that we can, for as long as we can?

Our ultimate life objective should be to create as much as
our talent and ability and desire will permit. To settle for
doing less than we could do is to fail in this worthiest of
undertakings.

Results are the best measurement of human progress. Not
conversation. Not explanation. Not justification. Results!
And if our results are less than our potential suggests that
they should be, then we must strive to become more today
than we were the day before.

The greatest rewards are always reserved for those who bring
great value to themselves and the world around them as a
result of whom and what they have become. (Column By Jim Rohn)

The Time To Start Working On That Dream Is Now!

Most of us are hesitant to start anything because we are
afraid we might make a mistake or fail. Go ahead make
mistakes! Don't wait for more experience or to be good
enough to start. You don't have to be good to start, but you
have to start to be good.

Some may tease and laugh at you. They will warn you, and
recite all the reasons why you shouldn't take the risk.
These will be the ones to wait around patiently hoping to
say, "I told you so." Brush them off. If you let these
people influence you in any way, you will never, ever be
ready to go ahead and start making your dream a reality.

You will never have enough money, enough time, enough
support, or experience to start. But once you muster up the
courage to take that giant step forward and start, the rest
will fall into place. But only you can make it happen! Start
now with whatever you know, whatever you have, and wherever
you are.

Don't let money be your handicap. You don't need money to
make the phone call, attend that networking event, or go as
a guest to an association meeting in your field. How about
volunteering a few hours a week to work for someone in the
business arena that you're thinking about? Do you see what I
mean? You have so many opportunities out there. Do
something!

Be sure to keep a good database. Record your contacts and
touch base with them every three months. And guess how much
that will cost you? Zero. Most computers already come with a
database program. All you need is a little time which you
can choose to create right now.

Your assignment: This month, write down what kind of
resources you will need and which people can help you make
your dream a reality. Be creative! Go for it.

Normal Chaos

You have probably heard it said by someone wanting you to
repeat a monotonous activity that "practice makes perfect."
As many times as you and I may have heard this, it is quite
simply not true. Practice does not make perfect. Practice
makes consistent.

If you practice something at a high level of performance, it
will reinforce that same level of performance. On the other
hand, if you practice an activity over and over in a
substandard manner, you will do little more than reinforce
this substandard level of performance.

You have probably dealt with people or organizations that
consistently perform at an unprofessional, impolite, and
substandard level. Like me, you probably wonder: How did
things ever get so bad in this organization? The answer is
simply that mediocrity has been going on for so long, and
reinforced so deeply, that it now seems normal.

Human beings always seek their own level of comfort. You
have probably heard about prisoners who are finally released
after spending many years behind bars. Then, more often than
you would think, these individuals will go out and do
something stupid, get caught, and get sent right back to
prison.

After years of counseling within the prison system,
psychologists have determined that some inmates become so
accustomed to living within prison walls, that it becomes
their comfort zone and, on a subconscious level, they prefer
it to life in society with you and me.

So much of what we do in our personal and professional lives
is done out of habit. If you will consider your morning
routine as you get ready to go to work, you will realize
that dozens of things happen in a mindless habitual fashion.

This is a powerful tool if you use it wisely, because we can
control our habits if we will simply become proactive and
choose our own course of action.

Anything we do for 21 days will begin to become a habit.
This means that, on the 22nd day, something will seem
strange or out of place if you do not follow the routine you
have established.

Excellence can become a habit. Chaos can become a habit. And
mediocrity can become a habit. The process is inert. It does
not care at what level you perform. Our minds simply want to
reproduce that with which we are familiar.

As you go through your day today, remember: You are
currently a product of yesterday's habits; but take heart,

because tomorrow will be a product of the habits you form

now. (Column By Jim Stovall)

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)