A single action to get more of what you want

At the lowest point, at the darkest hour chance seems to be something that kicks in. To be truthful, there is no such thing as chance but more attracting what you think and pray about. To meet someone you have to get up and get there, wherever "there" is, and the other person or persons also have to do the same. Who you meet intentional or not, it is the plan of God or of the universe that will take control. God knows what and who you want and he makes it happen and this defines the "chance" encounters of your life.

I question every day "why am I here at the bottom and struggling each day?". For so long that is the wrong question to ask and making my so called "chance" encounters not quite what I want. "How can get more of the "chance" encounters I want?" I asked myself.

The answer was in the question I need to ask and how to ask it. I need to ask "why am I not at the top?".
Asking the old question, I get lots of answers to the question but answers showing me more reasons why I am at the bottom. In this frame of mind my "chance" encounters bring more of those things that highlight the things I am not liking - lack, sadness, tiredness etc

In rephrasing my question I think more of the "top" and my "feelings", the vibration as Bob Proctor calls it changes. With the rephrasing I get guidance to get to the top and answers to why I am not there; the "chance" encounters improve bring who and what I want - abundance, happiness, success.

At a very low point I have done an about turn. The change of question surrounding my circumstances brings a happier feeling inside me, it will you. Its bringing positive changes almost instantly - it got me to post this for a start!

This blog is me, sometimes it rambles and that is me. I am growing and changing and blogging my progress. If this post, or anything else on this blog inspires you or even challenges you then I am pleased! Thank you for reading.

How to Be Positive in Thoughts and Actions

Do you sometimes wonder, how to be positive in your thoughts and actions, especially when you are unhappy and unsatisfied, or when life is difficult and tough? For many, it is difficult to be positive, even when things go well.

Though it's so simple, most people don't know how to be positive. Sometimes, they prefer to stay negative, because it is a more familiar state of mind.

Like every other subject, the know-how of how to be positive can be learned and the skill developed. It has much to do with changing your attitude and your mindset.

If you keep thinking the same thoughts, day and night, they might, sooner or later, manifest in your world, becoming your reality. This means that if youe want your life to be as you want it to be, you have to be careful of what you think. You need to start thinking more positively.

Your Mind Creates Your Reality

As you think, so your life becomes. Changing your attitude and expectations, will sooner or later, change your life accordingly.

It is your mind that creates the kind of life you live. If you think positively, you will transform your life accordingly. Everything starts from within, from the most simple action, to the greatest achievement.

We cannot always control our external circumstances, but we can control our inner world of thoughts, where everything starts. We cannot always control our outer universe, but we can, with some effort, control our inner universe.

If you are unhappy and negative, you can change the way you feel and think.

With a little work and effort, you can change your attitude, expectations, actions and reactions, and this will lead to more motivation, happiness, and improved life conditions.

How to Be Positive

1. Substitute your negative thoughts with positive ones, thoughts about poverty, with thoughts about wealth, weakeness with strength, lack of self esteem with self esteem, disharmony with harmony. Whenever you catch yourself thinking negatively, fill your mind with opposite thoughts, of happiness and success.
2. Focus on what you want, not on what you don't want.
3. Focus your mind on the good things you already have in your life. This will cause them to increase in your life.
4. Do not fill your mind with thoughts of lack. Think and believe that you already have abundance, success, love and happiness.
5. Learn to feel, think and even act, as if you are already living the life you want. If you can feel, think and act consistently in this way, you will become happier, and will attract new opportunities into your life.
6. Think about what you want, create a picture of it in your mind, and make it very clear and precise. Hold it there and focus on it in a positive way, until it becomes a reality in your life.
7. Always tell yourself, "I can", "I am able", "I can do it".
8. Often, during the day, repeat positive affirmations about what you want. Do so with faith, feelings, intention and focus.
9. Look for the good in every situation. There is always something good, or at least something useful to learn, even in difficult or unpleasant situations.
10. Follow your positive thoughts with positive actions. It is not enough to think, you also need to act to make things happen.
11. Always focus your mind on the full half of the cup, not on the empty half.
12. Be aware of your company. Choose to be around positive people.
13. Read about other people's success. Read things that inspire you and make you feel good.
14. Focus your mind on how to be positive and you will discover more ways to be so.

We get what we expect to get. Therefore, begin right now to expect the very best of everything that this world has to offer, and wish the same for everyone else. There is plenty of everything in the Universe for everyone, and the Universe can create more of the good things for everyone.

Don't think lack, think abundance, for you and for everyone else.

Remez Sasson is the founder of Success Consciousness. He is the author of articles and books that teach how to use the power of the mind to create success and to improve one's life, gain inner strength and inner peace, and live a better life.

Overcoming all odds

Overcoming all odds is something every motivational speaker seems to know about, the truth is against all odds is something we as humans witness and experience every day. Our lives are so busy, constantly chasing another Dollar, Zloty, Rand or Yen that we fail to notice the miracle that each day is.

Look at the universe around us, Earth little more than a breadcrumb in the overcoat of God from a sandwich He packed for his lunch. Earth is a remnant of something so much bigger that for this planet to sustain life it’s very self is against all odds.

The path to true success is something when looking at it before it begins that looks unachievable, the odds totally count against anyone truly achieving it. The odds to just get through and complete the task at hand are fairly even but to come out at the other end with a standing ovation are odds few of us dare to take. We end up taking an each way bet on even odds that we will come out ok and get rewarded with a pay cheque that pays the bills and perhaps allows us to have a taste of some enjoyment only to be back at the betting shop a few days later looking at the horses or the grey hounds in the race of life only to place that same even bet yet again and again.

Against all odds I am alive today, sat writing this blog having made some crazy, outrageous and pretty much (at the time) unplanned moves. Against all odds I am changing who I am and beginning to do a dream – yes DO a DREAM! My odds were stacked against me but God placed the bet on my future, not me! The Law of Attraction, the will and grace of God have placed all I need directly in front of me each and every day. I cannot see everything and often, as in today cannot understand why something is moved. There is a plan, not a destiny, but a plan that I know is right for me and God clearly agrees and moves things, shakes things and even upsets things to keep me on my path.

I was privileged to hear Dan Lian, the Gospel Ninja speak earlier this year, and he spoke about the storms of life and knowing all will ok because Jesus, God is in the boat with you.  Thinking back to how he told an audience that as the storm raged over Galilee and the fishermen panicked Jesus kipped on a cushion.  This teaching has stuck with me and I think of it every day and it comforts me. This to me makes the Odds of success very much more in my favour and I am learning that having faith in Jesus, you may choose the universe or God by another name, and having that belief system makes things happen. Bob Proctor frequently mixes the Law of Attraction with his faith in Jesus Christ, quite rightly too. We call the Law of Attraction what it is because it not what it is but a description of what it is that is at the limit of our human thinking – Bob Proctor has studied this law all his life and he often admits he doesn’t fully understand it but knows it is true as is God. I am sat tonight knowing, feeling exactly what it is, how it works but cannot truly describe it. Placing faith with experience and a doing attitude makes things happen and those things happen because not only does the law of attraction say so but God, the universe or your belief is pleased with you and your plans. Explaining it will take a while and trying to keep this post short I will leave the explaining for now but don’t feel afraid to ask me and I may just take the time to sit with you and tell you.  I just know things are turning out not as I planned or even hoped but better than that, much better and the be honest anyone can have the same.

How heavily are the odds stacked against you? That much? Ok… REALLY?  If the odds are stacked against you who are they stacked towards? Remember, just like the true law of attraction each action has an equal and opposite reaction, so those odds must be stacked in someone’s favour – true?

Going out there and doing is the only way to unstack those odds and restack them in your favour. You have to have faith, bucket loads of it… even truck loads and it needs to be kept full at all times whatever vessel you choose to carry your faith in – you should invest in a faithometer I have been told before. That faith, that willingness to trust is so vital that without it success remains a little mediocre and humdrum or even just a dream… with it though the success becomes miraculous. The level of miraculousness is defined uniquely by each individual, some want fame and fortune and others just one dollar more than enough with some extra freedom and time to spend time doing what they enjoy more.  You may say, and many do, that this is simply not possible, that the job you are in cannot be escaped and promotion not so easy. Those are the odds stacked against you. Grab some faith, find a little nerve and unstack the odds to restack them. Find your belief system, don’t let anyone tell you “it’s a crutch”, crutches help a man get stronger, when he is broken crutches give him movement – there is nothing negative in it often those saying it’s a crutch are the ones looking for support in some area of their life. With a belief system such as my proud Christianity you have a support and a true way to move forward. Christ to me is not a crutch, I lean on him yes but it’s me who physically stands up and walks, He just tells me that I can and then tells me “go on you can do just a bit more” and sometimes not even gently, He knows my demand, my desire for success and pushes me. Christ is one hell of a gym trainer when he is with you, listen and do as you are told and things happen you never thought possible – trust me I am a result of this!

Tonight I write with Odds so stacked against me it’s not funny but by writing I have unstacked them and restacked them in my favour. I find my contentment and thus my peace, relaxing and thinking about how I can survive another day. I look back and look at how Gods giant chess board on this Breadcrumb in His pocket has been played upon, his moves pre-empt, predict, encourage and often force (by simply leaving no other choice) my next move and I gladly make it no matter what the odds are because through belief and trust the odds are always in my favour.

What is your next move towards achieving success? Its Friday, the end of a week with another week – another evenly placed safe bet of a week - starting in a few days’ time. Do you have the courage to ask what your next move on the chessboard must be? Dare you  ask that the moves made before be shown clearly to you like a child learning the game with his Grandfather? It’s an easy ask and every successful man or woman has asked the question, buckled to a little pressure, succumbed to a little grace and listened, watched and learned to take a small brave step with odds seemingly so high now reversed completely. You can do it.

Have an awesome weekend. 

Follow @MattNewnhamZA

A first class life inside

2014 has been a year of change. It’s something I never saw coming, God did,  and I never made provision for, God did.

I have come from a life where I had all I needed. But did I really?

I look back over my shoulder on my route to success and question “what is the thing that changed me to demand more”?. By demand more I don’t mean a fast car, swimwear model girlfriend, tons of money in the bank… No just more in terms of contentment, happiness and a single Dollar (or any currency for that matter) more than I need?

Where does contentment lie? How much is enough? Where and when is happiness at its optimal peak?

The answers to these lie in being knocked out of the ball park and landing in a sandpit being forced to find your way back with no limbs to not even first base but simply the entrance gate to the park at the back of a queue. The mind races at this point, when you have this all hell is breaking loose and nothing feels quite right. No matter how little feels right it is as this time that you know exactly what is just perfect, your own goldilocks zone because it’s what you wish for.

When you look around at the bottom, the scrap heap of life and one is scrambling to find the top, the choices made are the ones that will define, secure and sustain the guaranteed success that the person seeks. Values change from brand name and newness to functionality, purpose and reliability. Those changes matter, whilst a millionaire may own a few Ferraris and nice houses he may not be truly happy on the inside, the cars and fast life may mean very little – what purpose do they truly serve?  The truly most successful don’t waste their time, money or effort their life, they know their happy spot in life, they can afford the fast car yes but know they don’t really need it. The wealthy as opposed to the rich are very different, they have matured from being a “teenager” in terms to money and lifestyle buying things they want but don’t really need to an “adult” where they are comfortable and need no more to express who they are by possessions – they know who THEY are!

How are you defined? How do others see you? How do you want others to see you?

I used to believe the fast car, the nice big house with the pool was sign I had made it and that others had made and were doing well. Now at the bottom I see that is far from true. I know now that 90% of what people have is pretty much mortgaged and whilst they may be their own boss or in a position earning a five or six figure salary, they are no less a “pay day to pay day” person like those down the ladder. Down here I find my reality, I find me and what and who I attract now will more than likely be there appreciating me as I am when I am richer financially and in a position to do for them what they are doing for me whilst I have nothing or indeed less than nothing. Aren’t those the things and people you want in life?

Learning to make do is key to success, if you can do what you do and be you on a shoestring or even a frayed shoestring held together with a knot in the middle, you can and will become a better person and a stronger person, able to motivate and inspire others with humility and reality.

I make do with what I have down here, my knock in life has shown me reality. I am lucky to be me, lucky to have my faith and hope and blessed indeed to be who I am and able to share my story with you. Mine is not a story of hope, I am the one who has to have hope; mine is a story of life from a man who lives and grows and shares. This is me, this story is who I am, my Facebook page has my daily affirmation and my whatsapp with friends is my encouragement, my words of support individually sent from me a humble and true open man. What you are reading is me, on a journey to success and I am happy and grateful you are joining me.

I am living with second hand, I have my fears and my concerns but what I know is that my life is truly first class. I won’t compromise on my values and I know what I need and what I don’t, accepting that has been an eye opener and it’s that I share.

Thank you… and yes… its nearly weekend!

Follow @MattNewnhamZA

Give up is not an option!

The Psalms in the bible contain a great deal of truth that can be so easily related back to the world of today. Written over 2000 years ago the Psalms, like the book of Proverbs could easily become a blueprint for life as we all know it. Whether you are a believer or not, the words written very much apply to any man be him me or you or a complete stranger. Many of the books in Bible were written in times of hardship for the writer and it’s these hardships that define the world today just as much as it did then.

Worrying, as in my recent post, is still a prominent pastime among us all and the worrying can so easily change our course of success to a course of a just about average outcome. As I sit now I am worried, it’s a financial worry and one I can see answers too that may be just a little too late to save my day. Making the move I did, my finances have taken a turn for the worse and I now need to find about ZAR12,0000 or $1100 or £700 to take the worry of paying my rent and bills away. This fact could very easily steer me away from my course of growth and success, and it’s a common problem for many of us. My blog is about honesty and is real at all times.

How does one stay on the path of success and not end up on that ship that 97% of us are on, sailing towards the land of “I’m ok” with its would famous port of “payday to payday”?

The answer is found in a couple of areas and each is fairly simple, however the way in which we as humans have been conditioned makes it uncomfortable. The way to stay on course and not give up is to dig deep, understand why you hunger for your success so much, know your values in life and have absolute faith in what you are doing and what you will achieve and above all don’t be afraid to ask for some help.  Visualise your success, create that feeling inside that you have already achieved your success or your goal and carry on. In faith cast your worries aside and then take bite sized chunks out of your problems and some bigger mouthfuls of your goals and walk forward, use your appetite for success as fuel to go forward.

Everyone who has had success even mediocre success has had some hardship or another to face to get there. Even the simple sale of a photocopier for example is fraught with hardships, the majority of which come from competition and other salesmen. You cannot change the competition, you cannot remove the other salesperson; all you can do is be your best but not just your best believe you are THE best. Keeping notes of all you do, how the other party performed and perfecting your technique – be it listening, be it being less aggressive or more assertive – know yourself better is essential. The hardship is always there but again so is the success.


Giving up is a cop out, giving up because you “can’t go on” or because others say you can’t do it or you must “get a job” and end up back on the boat to “I’m ok” is worse still.

I am not afraid to carry on, I am more afraid of giving up and not seeing what is on the other side of my hardship, hence I am not afraid to ask if you reading this are prepared to advance me my success – bank detailscan be provided or you can simply donate below.  How hungry are you for success? How desperate will you get? Desperate enough to reach out and ask “help me”?  It’s that hunger you need to find to stay on course and keep your ship afloat in the sea of success. The never say die attitude, to man up, the knuckle down and to find sheer grit – is that inside you even when all hell is seeming to break loose around you?

Psalm 126:5-6 reads “those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go on to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest” 

Don’t be afraid to carry on, the hardship is always going to be there. Be happy as you go forward, the hardship in front of you when confronted with confidence and positive feelings becomes less of a hardship, if the hardship is people mix the confidence and positive feelings with a smile and the people will see you differently and see you as their hardship, dress the part, be the part.  Success has a greater chance of manifesting in this manner and from the success you must payback and reward those who have helped you achieve it for that is a golden key, the ability to pay back and pay forward is something success should mean and create for us all.

I am hanging in there, I am not afraid to ask for help. Success is only around the corner for each of us and for those of us who are determined. Don’t be afraid to seek help, don’t feel ashamed and have absolute confidence in your dream. This is the only way to stay on course for success. Matthew 7:7-8 is perhaps one of the most well-known Bible verses of all time and serves to illustrate something we have all done ever since we came out of the womb. The first thing we as babies did was cry when we needed something and every time our mother answered the cry and gave, and soon this cry and process grew until the cry became an ask and we knew how to get something we needed. The passage reads “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened”. Don’t be afraid to ask, seek and knock.

Don’t give up on your goal, no matter how large or small it may be, no matter how impossible or implausible it may sound, it can be achieved. History and every single day is littered with goals and dreams being fulfilled and made real.   

 

Follow @mattnewnhamZA

Stick to your idea

How many ideas do you have?  Plenty I expect.

How many ideas do you follow through on and stick to without wavering or changing direction?  Very few I expect. 

Determination to see an idea through is something that is needed by many people; whether it is redecorating your child’s bedroom or growing a billion dollar business the effort in terms of determination is exactly the same.

Taking ideas and finding out which will and which will not work is key to the success of any of them. Your plate must not be as full as you cannot dedicate time to each that they deserve.  I have thousands of ideas and in the last few months I have dropped a large number of them.  I haven’t so much dropped them because I don’t think they will work, No any idea can work if you set your mind to it, but I have dropped them because I have chosen the ones I want to work.

 

Dropping an idea or venture is never easy. It could be done simply but one should really make a list of ideas before just dropping one. The reason for this is that The Law of Attraction has a habit of bringing pieces together that can only work if all the pieces are there. Writing down your ideas and what you are doing makes them come real gives clarity to the idea and you will soon see which ideas complement each other. It may be that one idea cannot truly become reality until another is realised so that idea must not be dropped but rather prioritised.

Sticking to the right idea at the right time is the key to success not sticking to all ideas at the same time.  If Edison was thinking about light bulbs, the perfect cup of coffee, an electric kettle, and even just ten other ideas the light bulb will quite likely have never come about. He knew certain ideas had to be tried and tested and he knew others simply wouldn’t or couldn’t help in his endeavour – he chose to stick with his one idea for an end result and used smaller ideas that he knew were needed as pieces of his own jigsaw puzzle.

Have you written down your ideas? I would suggest you do, you may find a lot of answers to perhaps why you cannot move forward or why perhaps you are not happy doing what you are. Write them down, choose one or two that you really feel can work for you and of course that fit into your values and go for it. Don’t worry about the ideas you have dropped, if they are meant to be they can be side-lined for now and they will come into being when needed. You are now on the road to your own success.

If this has helped you or inspired you then I am happy to have helped.  Have a superb day.

How to stop worrying

Matthew 6:27 says “who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

Problems come and problems go and how you handle them pretty much dictates your life path and where you are right now. Overcoming problems is something some people thrive on and for some they go into a deep depression over – they worry.  How much time do you waste on worrying? How can you overcome worrying?

Biblical texts, historical and modern day thinkers all encourage us to think positive thoughts, not to worry. Matthew is just one verse I have chosen as it marries the wasted time with the act of worry. But despite all the “hellooooo… stop worrying!” there is in the world we all do. So how do you worry less?

To overcome worry one first needs to know what worry is and copy it –sounds crazy but read on….

A dictionary definition of the word worry is:  to (cause to) feel anxious. The word worry is from the old English “Wyrgan” meaning “to strangle” which is exactly what worrying does; worrying strangles your thought process and thus drains you of life.  But what is worry? How does worry work?  Worry is merely the act of thinking about something often perceived as negative or difficult to overcome over and over again taking you in ever decreasing, downward circles.

If worry is thinking about something negative over and over again it can easily be stopped by doing exactly what worrying is but using something positive. Try worrying about something you really, really like… it’s not easy and I dare say you can’t, but the continued thinking is exactly what worrying is but with the positive suggestion, for that it all it is, you now you have a smile on your face. Like a glider that has found a thermal of warm air you to will rise upwards in increasing circles freely. Allow yourself to dream about and visualise the something you really enjoy or love, you will do it natutrally while worrying and picture every negative outcome possible so you can do it just as easily while unworrying . A worry can give you an unpleasant dream called a nightmare, unworrying  leads to an unnightmare or happy dream!  

When you unworry and have your unnightmare your mind becomes happier, your thoughts become clearer and you can see an answer or choice of answers to your hurdle and your approach to tackle it will result in a positive outcome.  Simply replacing the item you are worried about with something happier changes your state of mind, in this clear, happy state of mind visit the issue you were worried about and you will see it in a very different light thus changing your attitude and your approach.

This is so simple and it really works. Just one of the things I have learned to do at the bottom and just one of the things that keeps me smiling and happy.

I hope this helps you, if does tell me. 

Follow @MattNewnhamZA

Valuable Values

From the very outset this blog is personal. I know what it’s like to have money and to lose it all, unable to pay my rent, sleeping on the floor, I know what it’s like go without, have no or very little food, know what tears of pain and of “why me?” are and it really makes sense to document my story, inspire some others and simply tell my story from where I am at the bottom and making why back up using lessons from mistakes made in the past and gaining a new understanding of me as a person.  At all times remember I am a Christian and proud to be so, however I know others who read this do not come from a Christian background; I will refer to the Bible for reference as my faith is one of my values but likewise I will refer to other leaders, spiritual and otherwise and their texts for there is tremendous merit in using and understanding the words, actions and beliefs of others. I am a single dad to an 11 year old son, Sebastian and thus have a massive resource of comical, crazy, sometimes simple and always innocent questions, anecdotes and observations that inspire me to write down and fathom out how a child’s mind can apply to success, business and generally life. Today is one of those “life stories” I am only now gaining the courage to tell – enjoy.

    

How many of you are stuck in a 9 to 5 job just to pay the bills?  Its madness isn’t it?

How many of you dream of not working but doing something you love? I expect that’s nearly all the fully employed and whilst there are some who are employed and enjoy what they do there are more who don’t really enjoy. I won’t say love because if thought about really closely anyone employed is truly doing what they love, their job may simply be something that pays enough to allow that person do something they love and thus the job does have some kind of reward but I firmly believe this is not quite how life and nature was intended.

Wouldn’t you rather be spending your finite time on earth doing something you love as opposed to just paying the bills? 

So many people come up to me and say “I am amazed at you, you quit your job and made a jump to do your own thing with no real income to support you. How? Why?”. Trust me it’s not easy,but It’s a question I answer easily and with some astonishment with “I did it because I can” you only realise that when you do it, and the how is answered every day by happiness within and small incomes and other plans I have and work on daily. So many of you find a reason or a way NOT to do what you love and that is so sad, there is so often an invisible wall or invisible chasm that only you can see and cannot remove called, I am now told a blockage! Key to my decision to live a dream has come from adversity and deep personal set of circumstances that forced me to make some drastic changes and very difficult decisions.

From experience I can begin to advise and perhaps motivate change.  

Look at your values in life, what are they? I can tell you for a start that one of your values is not to work in a job you don’t really enjoy or a job that makes you live payday to payday. How much do your values form  part of your day, your week, your life, you?

At a major, life changing crossroads that defined the last  11 minutes of 2013 and first half of 2014 with something so painful it changed me completely my world was shaken. Luckily I was given a life coach and my very first session I was set the task to review my values. The timing was profoundly perfect and without the life coach I doubt you would be reading this today.

When  I reviewed my values in life I soon found that what I loved doing and previously was doing were a million miles apart and success, no matter how hard I tried was never going to be attained I was merely going to be a payday slave. Worse still I didn’t have much of a plan to move forward. My former employer also indicated, less directly, that perhaps I was in the wrong job “you are not really an ERP salesman Matthew and never will me” with some jest and a huge smile, he was to be honest 100% right and I thank him every day for what he said and how he said it – although I don’t think he truly realises how much I appreciate and value him for all he has done and still does for me. I did not realise than on that February day that my life was about to change and change dramaitically as a decision to move on was made and stuck to for very personal reasons. My values now define who I am and where I am going, it’s not easy as I repeat to you all reading this and success initially is never easy – in Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” the stories of hardship and rags to riches are common place, the rags to riches are in many cases riches to rags and then back to riches and each story of success shows how each successful person had at some stage made what seemed like a ludicrous decision at the time that was to become the catalyst for success – mine was 20^th February 2014.

 I have a plan each day and a structured and well defined Life Goal made up of steps that get checked off as they are completed. Without either a goal or a plan nothing can or will happen, in life or in business. My plan and my goals are structured and reinforced around my values with income, enjoyment, time and effort all measured; when you are employed you do not have the freedom to measure in this way – Freedom, this kind of freedom is one of my core values. My foundation  for success was fundamentally set 6 weeks ago because of this and things are moving, aspects of “The Secret” and promises from The Bible are happening.

It took me well over a week to define my values, it wasn’t easy but I knew it had to be done and it was painful being brutally honest. The inner feeling, the inner voice as Billy Selekane described it was at the heart of the choices I made. I selected values that I won’t or can’t compromise on and these make me feel good inside with a warmth of satisfaction. My values created a tremendous self-belief mechanism and have been chosen to define who I want to really be and how I want to be seen by others and in this it really makes me feel comfortable in my skin.

You cannot have too many core values, I came to a total of 6 with one being a bit of a combination as two elements were intrinsically linked; I couldn’t have one without the other.

It’s the core values that drive me and now, after some considerable hardship and challenges that still exist, attracting the things and people I want and need in life, dispelling what I don’t want or really need is  truly giving me some amazing results that I often I only realise after the event when the dust has settled. I have now stopped the puzzlement of “this does not make sense” as in the big picture, God’s plan, the plan of the universe each part always moving and will align itself within your core values or simply fall away – this is truthfully happening as I sit and write.

Values must define your business and its path, success is one thing but sustained success with staff that enjoy their work in an environment that matches their values is something altogether something else. In a business, very often the success of the business is about the team and when their values are taken into consideration greater success is often found. The best companies to work for have defined their successes more often than not around core values not always what may seem like a good idea thus creating steady, sustained success – the reason for this is that whilst an idea may be a sure-fire way to bring in income it may not be what makes the company and staff happy, the success may be hard won and easily lost if a decision to make a change does not fit in with values. Unhappy staff and doing something contrary to values is hard work and feels even harder. Business values become part of your brand and likewise in life with you as the brand your values define you.

Have your values been defined?  Without them success and happiness cannot be so. In defining your values comfort and warmth will be found and with that warmth good things and endless possibilities of an amazing life become clear and doors open. With definition and clarity the path to live your dream opens up, you begin to find ways, attract ways that make doing what you love become something that becomes your life – mine is writing, speaking and now I am learning my story is key to part of this and ways to do this with zero finance are now starting to arise.  For business, with this warmth avenues of good business that have a great chance of success appear, values ensure you are doing the right thing and by doing the right thing good things happen. Within your values your thinking process is perhaps as close to perfect as you can make it.

A simple review of your values can bring about significant change. Whether you are a business looking for more success or growth or perhaps at a pivotal point maybe a merger or management buyout, or if you are the individual stuck in the dead-end job with  a dream of doing something you love, defining your values can and will clear the path forward ensuring success. Write down your values and for every decision you make from now on use them to help you make the right or most suitable choice – the answers will amaze you and change will happen. Don’t expect change in a day or so, but over 4 to 6 weeks definite changes occur. For me I am lifting myself up, changing me and overcoming some very challenging obstacles and success and my life goals are now within reach thanks to my values, my plan,  my gratitude, my determination and my perseverance.

Your values become you, become your business and thus are valuable.

Have an awesome day further,  remember your values define you and define your business!

If You Want Happiness, Do These 4 Simple Things

1. If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap.
2. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing.
3. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune.
4. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else.

From Chinese proverb

How to recover from an out of control day

How often do you get a day when nothing quite goes to plan?  How often, once the plans starts to fold do you lose focus on the end goal and your overall success?

Success isn’t just completing the to-do list it’s about completing the plan with each task not only being checked off but having a next step.  Once the plan starts to collapse focus is easily lost, how then can you get focus back.

Step 1 – Finish the task you are on

Get the one task you are on complete. This gives you thinking space and that allows you to see clearly.

Step 2 – Take a 5 minute breather

At this point just stop. Don’t even think about your plan. Grab a cup of coffee and think about your dreams, happy things and your success

Step 3 – Pull out and review your written plan

Your plan has not failed.  Repeat after me “My plan has not failed” . Now take your plan and adjust what you need to adjust,  don’t get angry with it and don’t think you now need to complete everything on it. Prioritise the key parts of your plan, if there is something that can be easily moved to tomorrow then move it and adjust your plan for tomorrow accordingly.  Now write down the changes.

Step 4 – get back out there

Once your plan is now adjusted you are back at a fresh start. Your coffee should have kicked in and you should be ready to get going again. Your focus has now returned. And the key to it is Step 2, the 5 minute breather.

Now you are back on track you have taken back control of your day, your week or even your life

My day today has been exactly that as above, hence this blog is later than normal… I told you this blog is real.

I hope this helps someone. 

Highway or the better way?

Walking rather than driving slows you down and changes the route a little. Walking also opens your eyes and delivers a little more respect.

Every business and every person today is all rush, rush, rush, trying to cram as much in as possible and ignoring many opportunities for increased success of simply less stress.

Have you ever just wished you could slow down time just to get things done? Have you ever wished there were more hours in the day? Neither of these are possible but you can slow down and with a better planned day you can squeeze more hours out of your week.

Have you got your plan in place?  Have you stuck to it?

What sort of plan do you have?  There are a couple of ways to get to any destination and some quick and others less so but those that are less so often come with a greater reward.

How much of your daily plan allows you to slow down and wake up to what you have and perhaps say thank, randomly, to some customers?  Those random thank you's are the ones that generate results, its the diversion from the highway to the country road if you like. You will slow down by stopping and saying thank you, you will be less stressed and your heart rate will reduce, you will I am certain feel really good inside and you will I am confident be surprised at the result.

Random acts of kindness bring about unexpected and generally amazingly good results. What you sow you reap, its written in the bible on multiple occasions, The Secret makes no secret about the fact that if you give good you get good...  I believe if you give good and keep doing it you actually get awesome! 

I know some of you have started to wake up and think about what you are thankful for because of a previous post but how many of you have done the reverse and simply thanked those who make you who you are and/or what your business is?  End of the year pretty much every business gives thank you gifts but surely these should come all year. 

For business success you are so often focused on the road ahead that you forget those around you, often your customers and even your suppliers,  why not take the next fork in the road, or make a fork in the road, take a sideways step and head down another road for a short while?  It will get you back to the same road for sure and it will get you back on it with a full tank of fuel, new tyres and a the feeling of a fully serviced car.

Don't just take my word for it, I am learning and teaching you as I go along. I have slowed down today and I have got results I didn't exepect... all of them positive.

If this Blog inspires you and helps you why not donate a dollar or two, it helps me keep going and allows me to share my adventure with you. Thank you. 

Lemons and a recipe for success

As a child, my father made lemonade, he made cider too but that’s a story for another day. As a 12 or 13 year old boy I remember my dads lemonade, there were bottles of it all over the place and each batch was different. It started off almost undrinkable, sorry dad but it did, and over time he improved his recipe to the point where it was a very enjoyable drink, much like the cider that made people very merry.

When life gives you lemons, so it is said, you make lemonade. There is quite a lot of truth in this, in life and in business but do you know the recipe for Lemonade?

Life and business take many twists and awkward turns, we don’t always get what we want and we always stand a chance of coming second and the prize, the reward or the contract goes elsewhere, in fact it goes not where we want it to all. Having been in sales I think I talk from experience and in life I have also had the same results, I have lost and won much and I suppose it’s what can be called balance. But there are those who always seems to win, the ones who for some reason always get the sale, “always get the luck” as my mother says and always just seem to have everything. How does one take themselves or their business to become one of those “have everything” types?

The answer has three elements, two are easy and the third a little more challenging.

Part one is simple and is key to so much in life. Being content with what you have. What you never had you will never miss. Accepting the fact you lost the deal, lost the prize and appreciating the very fact you had a chance to compete, is for many a massive step and one that will grow the person and by growing the person the business.

If you can accept contentment your mind and thoughts will remain positive and happy. A positive and happy mindset is the only way that part two can work. Part two is something everybody and every business says they will do but in reality tend to brush off and get on with the next task. Taking time to think is vital, slowing down, pausing and relaxing is key to the second part of not being the winner and turning it around.

Upon not getting the prize step back, step outside your box and examine not only why you came second but examine why the other party came first. Your failures or weaknesses will become very clear when you are happy and positive as in part one. Write down a list, don’t’ just think write down for when you write your brain connects, of the following.

ü  List one -  what I did right

ü  List two – what could I have done better or extra

ü  List three – what did the other party have or do that I didn’t

ü  List four – 5 lessons learned from this experience

I have recently, after 20 odd years in sales, started to do this. I think back to my early days and something I was taught as a young man,  in a winter garden by a sadly missed and much remembered mentor, and only now am I beginning to apply. These lists can apply to anything; looking back it even applies to growing roses, mowing lawns and pruning trees – its natures law.

From part two in the mind state of part one your third and sometimes most difficult part in answering the question starts to form. You get an image, you have been given the Lemons before you started this little exercise and now having taken time to think you have the foundations of a recipe. What you choose to do with the Lemons and then your answers is up you, but no matter what they become your Lemonade. It can either become sharp and bitter, or it can become sweet and enjoyable. It will take a few attempts to get it right and many minor adjustments for it to become perfect.  I must point out that there is one ingredient not supplied and this Lemonade cannot even become Lemonade without it no matter how many lemons you have. Without the most important ingredient you merely have your pile of Lemons from your success or un-success. This other ingredient is so important but is sadly often neglected, especially when the lists in step 2 are merely thought about and not written down. The other ingredient is Action; do it, take action.

To improve your recipe don’t only make your four lists when you don’t succeed, make them when you win. Even when you win, as it is for a Lemonade recipe, there is always room for improvement.

Success in business and success in life all only work with one thing. Doing. A dream without a plan is only a wish, but likewise the dream with the plan that is not acted upon will remain a dream that has no plan thus become a wish. 

If this blog has inspired, motivated or helped you please tell others (use the share buttons below) and please give a donation to keep it going. Thank you

That Friday Feeling

Everyone seems to love Friday and not many really like Monday. Why is that?  Is it because you have something to look forward to on a Friday and on a Monday you look back on the weekend and simply groan that Friday is so far away?

That Friday feeling is something I think we can all appreciate that happiness inside despite being in a position that’s not so great or doing a job you we don’t particularly enjoy. I would hazard a guess, not that I have done any research, that Friday mornings are probably the most successful times for many people. Sales close, work gets done with fewer errors, nice things happen and time simply flies. Have you noticed this?

The reason why all those good things happen is simply because it is how you feel. You feel upbeat, positive happy and others around you feel the same. Happiness and the Friday Feeling is contagious and highly addictive.

How can this feeling be applied to every day, give the same or better results every day not just Friday? How can it be applied to a Monday when you are feeling down and look ahead to tasks in front of you and you just feel down with the feelings growing slightly better each day until again Friday is found?

Many would say “I can’t feel like that every day, I simply can’t” the truth is you can.  I look at my own situation, not a penny to my name, worried about bills I haven’t paid, no food in my cupboards and problems all over. I am not ashamed to tell you I am at the bottom and worried. But I am learning that that Friday feeling inside me every day makes all the difference. 

How is it done?

I do it because I can and I don’t really feel like wallowing in a pit of despair and self-pity but I do it in a easy, controlled and an “anyone-can-do-this” way. Firstly I have my list of things I am grateful for, I read it out loud (yes my son thinks I am mad), I absorb it and let the feelings of gratitude fill me. I look around me and see sings of happiness every day of the week. I count my blessings every day of the week.  I then get to my plan, its written down and its submitted every day to my life coach and I am held accountable, I know I have to get things done and I could be down but I fill my plan with happiness awards.  A happiness is award is a small milestone met in my day, it maybe that I allow myself to listen to a happy song, have a cup of coffee or just sit and close my eyes for a few minutes – I reward myself and I look forward to the reward. And guess what?.... I smile! My troubles still exist but I am coping and overcoming and I know the rewards are coming.

That’s how I keep my Friday Feeling, you can too!

If this post has helped you find your Friday Feeling then please comment or share or better still donate a small amount and share the happiness!

Have a great Friday and I now know the Friday feeling will be yours in Monday too… trust me!