Principles for Peace

photo by:  Jeff Kubina

The story is told of Thomas Edison…  (If you Google it, the numbers range anywhere from around 700 to 10,000 attempts or greater, but the numbers aren’t really important.)  The story goes that Edison failed somewhere between 700-10,000 times before he invented the light bulb.  Well, that’s how most people would see it.  It is reported that someone asked him somewhere in the midst of his attempts why he was still trying  to invent the light bulb when he had already failed so many times.  His answer was Read More »

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.” ~ Napoleon Hill

Since the new year has arrived most of us are thinking about the changes that we want to make.  What’s really going to make you stick to your goals, your resolutions and succeed? Let’s face it - within a month most people have neglected their resolutions.  Will you be part of the majority or will you rise above?  If you want to rise above, I have partnered up with someone to help you do just that….

Lance, of the Jungle of Life, and I have worked very hard to put together this opportunity  for each of you who are interested in success - whatever success is to you.  For a long time now, I have wanted to create a site that is purely dedicated to providing entrepreneurs with real information (solid principles) that will help them succeed while also providing a way for them to get recognized.  While this is different Read More »

Choices, thoughts, realities, destinies……

It has long been accepted that Napoleon Hill is the expert in personal development.  I came across this video by Napoleon Hill himself.  It is so profound that I wanted to share it with you.  You might come to the conclusion that I’m saying that money is necessary for inner peace.  If you watch the whole video I think you will discover something different.  This video makes a great follow-up to my post on realities. Read More »

Happy Fourth of July to all of my U.S. readers - and everyone else also!  (Yes, I know it’s a couple of days early.)

I would like to introduce you to Arthur, someone I know personally.  Arthur has a beautiful wife and three teenage children.  Arthur just left last week for training so that he can soon be shipped overseas to protect and insure our freedoms.  He is giving up everyone and everything he loves so that you and I personally can embrace freedom.  You see that’s just it.  Until we personally embrace this freedom can we really pay tribute to our troops????  Think about it for a minute. 

U.S. troops die every day for you and me - to preserve the freedoms upon which this country was founded.  Do you take that lightly?  I know I have taken them for granted.  I hear on the news “10 troops died today, 32 troops died today in battle on the….. ” Soon, a person  becomes hardened to words.

I was thinking this afternoon…. these troops die every day for your freedom, for my freedom - for the peace we enjoy.  The question is “What are you doing to embrace this freedom and make yourself, this country and world a better place?”  You see, we watch them die, all to let the battle in our own minds continue and take over our lives and not even embrace the freedom that is right in front of us.  Until we choose to win this battle we will never appreciate what our troops are doing for us. 

Photo by:  Jeff Kubina

10 ways that you forfeit your freedom:

1.  Holding on to past failures.

2.  Self limiting beliefs - “I can’t.”  I’m not good enough.” 

3.  Trying to change everyone around you to fit your mold.

4.  Trying to fit the mold of all those around you and fulfill the expectations that others have for you.

5.  Bad attitudes and filling your mind with negative thoughts.

6.  Victimizing yourself because of your circumstances.

7.  Seeking revenge.

8.  Beating yourself up.

9.  Quarreling and fighting.

10.  Do nothing.

Men and women are dying every day so that:

1.  You can learn from past mistakes and look forward to better things.

2.  “YOU can!”

3.  You can make YOURSELF better.

4.  You can set yourself apart

5.  You can have so many blessings.

6.  You can let go of everything that holds you back.

7.  You can CHOOSE to forgive and love anyway.

8.  You can think of all the reasons “you can” and DO it.

9.  You can unite with others to do great things.

10. You can make yourself, this country and world a better place.

The troops are working to clear out any outside circumstances that might hold you back from your dreams and the peace that can be yours.  It’s up to you to clear away the mental blocks so that you can help make this country and world a better place.  Until you let go of all that is holding you back from peace and personal success you will never fully appreciate what your troops are doing for you and reach forward to great things.  Will you rise to the challenge our troops have set for YOU?   The freedoms are yours.  Will YOU embrace them?

What are some other ways that you see people forfeit their freedom?

In what ways can you better embrace your freedom?

As we look closer at what holds us back from inner peace this may very well be the most crucial topic that we have discussed so far.  Not only that, I also believe it is the most critical thing that could ever hold us back from acheiving inner peace or any goal we ever set for ourselves.  Although, a person’s desire to have inner peace and willingness to let go of the things that hold them back are certainly the foundations.  If you are new to the discussion you will find it very helpful to first read our previous posts on this subject by clicking here and here.

We have hit on this several times over the past couple of posts, especially in the discussion sections, but I didn’t want to go too deep into it at the time.  I was waiting for the right time…..

IR Rating

Okay, my question for you is, “What is your IR rating?”  You may think I’m a little confused here and that the “R” should be a “Q.”  No, we’re not talking about your intellegence quotient.  I think we can safely say that you can have peace with about any IQ score.  So what in the world is IR?  I thought you would never ask.

In the latest issue of Success Magazine, the publisher, Darren Hardy, does an exclusive audio interview with Paul J. Meyer, an incredible icon in the personal growth industry.  I have been totally blown away by this man through this interview. 

Darren asked Paul what he did to combat fear in the beginning of his ventures.  He told the story of how he was fortunate to have his mother to tell him at the age of 12 about the IR theory.  She said that who he was was his IDENTITY and on a scale of 1-10  asked how would he RATE himself?  She told him to rate himself a 10 for the rest of his life.  She said, “Do not let anyone, any time, ever say anything or do anything that affects who you are and your identity.  You’re a 10.  You came into this world a 10 and you’re going out a 10.  You started the day a 10 and your going to finish the day a 10.”  (If you haven’t figured it out yet, IR stands for Identity Rating.)  We could also call this IR a belief in yourself. 

Mr. Meyer said that he enters every day without the possibility of defeat.  It never enters his mind that he could fail at anything.  He says that he has a no limitations belief in God and a no limitations belief in himself.  The question is: Has this worked for him?   His life is example that it has.  He walks his talk.  Is he successful in business?  Oh yeah!!!  Just do a little research on him.  For our purposes here, was he a master at inner peace?  His life speaks of that very loud and clear.

Are you beginning to see how a score lower than 10 can hold you back???  If you don’t have a score of 10 do you think it is possible to acheive anything?  I believe that belief in yourself is the number one ingredient necessary to acheive anything in life, whether it be peace or any goal you set for yourself.

A few things for you to consider:  *IMPORTANT* These are not things to take lightly.

* What is your IR on a scale of 1-10?  (Do you have limiting beliefs in yourself? )

* Why is that your score?

* Who have you let tell you that you are not a 10?  Why?  What can you do to move forward? (Is forgiveness in order?)

* Have you allowed yourself to tell you that you are not a 10?  Why?  How can you overcome that?

* Do you have limiting beliefs in God?  What can you do to change that?

* Is your IR causing you to fear failure?   Remember: the past does not equal the future!  (that is…. unless you allow it to do so.  Then you allow your thoughts to become a self fulfilling prophesy.)

* The world gives you the exact same IR you give yourself.  You project that number at all times.

* Make a resolution to change your rating to a 10 - TODAY.  Write on an index card   “I am a 10.  God made me a 10 and that will never change.”  Carry it with you wherever you go.  Look at it when you get up in the morning and when you go to bed and often through out the day.  (I just made this card for myself.)

I HIGHLY recommend subscribing to Success Magazine if you are interesting in growing to become a better person.  Each issue has a free audio CD in it that is worth more than the subscription itself in my opinion.   You can download a free copy of the current issue to your computer, but you miss out on the CD that has so much great information.

Consider learning other gems from Paul J. Meyer.  He is an amazing man with lots to teach us.  Some of his most influential works are in a series called “Believing in Yourself.”

Harness the Power of Your Attitude (Believing in Yourself Set, Volume 1 of 5)

Positive Expectancy to Win (Believing in Yourself Set, Volume 2 of 5)

The Courage to Succeed (Believing in Yourself Set, Volume 3 of 5)

Never, Never, Never Give Up! (Believing in Yourself Set, Volume 4 of 5)

There’s Magic in Believing (Believing in Yourself Set, Volume 5 of 5) 

(Last I checked there were only one or two copies of each one.)

Share your thoughts on this post.  Tell your score if you want and how you plan to move your score to a 10. 

photo by: Darren Hester

Have you ever wanted something so bad you just couldn’t stand it?  Have you ever wondered why you just can’t achieve something or move forward?  You want something or you set goals, but no matter how hard you try you just can’t get there?  You’re not alone?  There have been many times in my lifetime when I set goals and I could never seem to reach them.  One goal after another and nothing, nothing.  Very frustrating to say the least. 

I have been thinking about a question related to this now for several weeks.  It has pervaded my mind and I keep thinking about it.  So I posed the question to my husband a week or so ago.  Do you have to figure out what is holding you back from acheiving something in order to acheive it or can you simply make a goal and be so focused that you acheive it?  My husband thought for a moment and then said, “I don’t know.”  Later he said to me “Honey, I think you’re becoming a philosopher with some of the questions you ask me.”  :)  I certainly never thought of myself as a philosopher, but I do enjoy thinking and figuring things out now - something I never took the time to do earlier in my life.

My conclusion, from years of expereience, is that yes, you have to recognize and figure out what is holding you back from accomplishing something and work to process and remove that thing so that you can move forward.  Everyone may not agree with me here, and I’d love to hear what you have to say if you don’t.

Do you want inner peace and happiness?  Do you want success?  Do you want to be the best at something important to you?  Do you want to leave a legacy?  What is stopping you?  That is what I want us to discover.

How do I figure out what is holding me back?

* Look deep and ask the quesion, “Why?”  Now there are two ways to ask the question, “Why?”  One way says, “Why me?”  or “Why is this happning to me? (or why did this happen to me?)”  In other words, “poor pitiful me.”  The other way to ask “why?” is to ask it in order to find the answers to what is holding you back and what you can learn from it.  This could be in the form of “Why am I not reaching my goals?  What is holding me back?  How can I learn from it and change it so that peace can prevail or so that I can move forward to reach my goals? 

* Realize that when you ask the question “Why?” that it is probably something deep burried in your subconscious mind.  This is not always the case, but often it it.  Nonetheless, it is something you are doing or not doing that is holding you back.  It is your weaknesses that you are not aware of.  Keep looking deeper and deeper and asking “why?” over and over again until you figure out the answer.  In Jeffrey Liker’s  book, The Toyota Way, he tells of how the Japanese in the Toyota company ask the question, “Why?” five times in order to find the source of a problem so they can improve upon it.  What you will likely discover when you do this is that…

* Beliefs are usually the things that are holding you back.  When you find these beliefs the next questions to ask are “Why?” (yes, again!)  Why do I hold these beliefs?  Where did they come from?  Are these beliefs real or accuarate?  Now that I see these beliefs what can I learn from them?  How can I change my thinking in order to change my beliefs, in order to accomplish what I want?  How can I use this information to help me have peace of mind and/or success at something? 

* Understanding how beliefs work can go a long way.  Beliefs form habits, habits that we are often not even aware of and these habits dictate your actions and your entire life without you even realizing it is happening.  You see, no amount of positive talk can get you where you want to be if you have negative beliefs burried deep within you telling you the complete opposite.  Uncover and remove the negative so that you can believe the positive.  Once you believe it you can acheive it as Napolean Hill says in his time tested best seller book, Think and Grow Rich.  If the voice burried deep within you says, “You’re no good.  You’ll never accomplish anything.  It’s not really possible for you to have peace” then it is right.  You will not until you first recognize that voice, figure out where it came from and then replace it with an accurate thought and belief.

One of the reasons I like Dr. Nicole  so much is because she uses the “why? approach to physical problems.  She digs deep asking why, why, why til she gets to the root of the problem, exposes it and there finds the solution.  She figures out what is holding people back from good health.  This is evident in her post about McInflamation and Tell Me What’s in Your Shopping Cart and I’ll Tell You What Is Wrong with You.

* Often the beliefs burried deep within you that are holding you back are fears.  Benny Greenberg is doing an excellent series on this topic of fear now which helps to reveal those fears that you may have hidden deep within you.  Recognizing these fears and learning to replace them can go a long way towards helping you have the life that you want - that peace of mind we all want. 

In the next few posts we will discuss some tips and some more things that hold us back along with the things that we can do to overcome them. 

In the meantime, this is open for discussion.  I would love to hear what you have to say about all of this.  What are some things that you have figured out that has held you back? 

 

To read the precious articles in this series please go to:

Are You a Puppet on Strings? - Taking Back Control of Your Life
Steps to Happiness – Part 2Steps to Happiness - Part 3 - Does this Stuff Really Work?
Steps to Happiness – Part 4 - Who is Master?
Steps to Happiness – Part 5 - Choose What Kind of Chicken You’ll be before an Egg Hatches
Steps to Happiness - Part 6 - Happy People Don’t Seek Happiness

A thankful heart is the parent of all virtues.

- Cicero

This last article on Steps to Happiness has come to be my favorite although I didn’t know it would at the time. This gratititude thing has presented itself to me over and over again and I soon came to see that as Cicero said it truly is the “parent of all virutes.” The more this idea presents itself and the more I think about it the more I come to see that it is the foundation of all the other steps. Maybe it should have been first. But, then again maybe the other steps are necessary in order to be grateful…..I guess you could look at it both ways. Either way, I’m just being constantly reminded that I need improvement in this area of my life (and for that I’m grateful!).

As this idea kept presenting itself me I was refered to a book. After researching the book I can say that it will be my next purchase (soon) and one that I can recommend to my readers. It is called Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier. I can’t say it’s a “new science,” but it certainly looks like something we can all learn from. (Don’t you love how in this world of blogging we can end a sentence with a preposition.:) I always wanted to do that. My English teachers would not be proud. :))

When we take on this new attititude (really, it’s like a whole world view) and TRULY INTERNALIZE it, it changes how we see EVERYTHING and how we think and act and treat everyone including ourselves.

Well, enough babbling……

Gratitude….

Does it ever seem like you just don’t have anything? Do you often find yourself complaining about the things you don’t have? Are you not getting what you want out of relationships? These are serious issues for many people and it seems like a solution is nowhere in sight. So what can be done about it?

Developing and maintaining an attitude of gratitude is a must in order to find solutions to these problems and to lead a life of happiness. Without this attitude one will lead a miserable life at best, but with it the blessings abound. So the question arises, “If it is so important then what is it and how do I achieve it?” That’s the question I asked for a long time. Discovering the secret was life transforming.

I remember the first time that I encountered someone who had a true spirit of gratitude. I totally could not understand it. I remember thinking “I wish I could be like that.” – not realizing that I really could be. She had always been one of my favorite people, but it wasn’t until this day that I figured out why. Her husband was basically in a vegetable state and at the point of death and she said to me, “He may not live, much longer. I’m just thankful for the time we’ve had together.” I thought, “Wow, that is an amazing attitude!”

What is an attitude of gratitude?

Before we go any further, we need to recognize that attitude is a mindset; it’s a way of life, a constant way of being – of looking at things. It is something that we internalize. We define gratitude as being thankful. So we could define attitude of gratitude as a constant spirit or state of thankfulness.

So how do I develop this attitude?

First, and probably the most obvious recommendation, look around at all the people who have it worse than you do. There is always someone out there that is in worse shape than you are. If you’re not convinced then watch the news (although I try not to do that because it is so negative.) You will always find someone who is in a more troubling situation than you. It will put you in your place very fast.

Second, recognize that EVERY blessing you have is a gift from God – everything from, a roof over your head, to food to eat, to (hot) water to take a bath, to the people in your life, to the air that you breath, to life itself, to time. Not only is it a gift from God, it is a gift from God that you do not even deserve. This is not a “poor pitiful me, I’m not good enough for anything” attitude. It is exactly the opposite - recognizing how truly blessed you are and realizing that we are all sinful people that God chooses to bless anyway. He just blesses those people much more who live their lives for Him (I am not talking monetarily, although it can be included).

Truly happy people recognize that everything they have is not only a gift that they don’t deserve, but that it is a gift to be used for God’s glory. (This attitude changes how you treat everyone.) God really blesses these people. They also recognize that any of it could be taken away at any time and that is okay because they never really even deserved it in the first place.

When you view everything as a gift something almost magical happens. These things begin to transform into something beautiful. If we treat the people in our lives as a gift, then our relationships start to change and take on a whole new beautiful form.

Third, focus on what you DO have, not on what you do not have. There’s a secret. It goes like this: What you focus on expands. If you think about and focus on what you do not have you will just keep having nothing because nothing expanded is still nothing. If you focus on what you do have, you will be amazed at the blessings that come into your life. (Focusing on positive things always creates more positive thoughts. Focusing on negative things always creates more negative thoughts.)

Fourth, give of your abundance – your newly discovered blessings- cheerfully (even if it seems like very little). You always get back in direct proportion to what you give. If you give a little, you get a little back. If you give a lot you get a lot back.

Remember how we deal with life is always a choice. From experience, I can tell you it is well worth finally choosing gratitude.

Exercises:

1. Make a list of all your blessings. Read the list at least twice a day.
   
2. When you start to think about all the things you don’t have, just replace it with 3 things that you do have (and your mind will show you even more blessings that you do have.)
   Ex. If you only have $2 to you name. Think “Wow, I have $2, instead of thinking I ONLY have $2. Then think of two other blessings to go along with it. Remember someone out there has lost everything they owned in some tragic event. Even if you have lost everything you own, be thankful for life itself and the opportunities ahead of you instead of focusing on the problem itself.