So much is unseen yet so powerful

How many of your thoughts are you aware of?

Since your thoughts direct your life wouldn’t it be advantageous to know what they were?

Have you ever wondered why you are not experiencing some of what you want in your life even though you think about it?

Your unconscious thoughts may be the culprit keeping you where you are and away from what you have decided you want.

You are most likely unaware of some of your most self-directing thoughts. Thoughts that guide your everyday actions, your beliefs, your perceptions, your interpretations – actually the general direction of your life.

Most of these thoughts have built up gradually over time, some you may have known about at one time, but most you won’t even be aware of.

How does it feel to know you are guided and directed by you own thoughts – thoughts that you are unaware of?

Actually this should liberate you. The idea that there actually is something that you CAN take command of that will change your life the way you want is exciting!

It’s a lot better than going around believing that you must just live with certain things. The only thing is — is that this puts the responsibility on you.

You are what you think, so you can and actually you must get more control over your thinking and feelings in order to live your dreams

In order to get command of your life it is necessary to clarify your thinking, all your thinking — this includes those automatic unconscious thoughts.

Only with uncluttered, unchallenged without doubt clear thinking can you see the specific results you want.

You will need to do some digging to root out some of your deep set automatic habitual thinking that is no supporting what you now want.

One good way is to go on a mission of self-understanding. Asking probing questions of yourself is a great way to get your awareness to a deeper level.

So, since you are getting what you think, your life is really the evidence of your thinking.

Look carefully at what you are living with right now.

What can you tell about your thinking from your current experiences? What thoughts lead up to what you have in your life?

You don’t want to dig up your deep inner unconscious thinking just so you can dwell on it or beat yourself up about it — you want to find out what it is so that you can see if you want to change it at all.

If you don’t know that certain thoughts are active, below the surface, you won’t know what is the cause of your current living ‘evidence’ and you won’t know what to change.

One of the things that happens to hold you back from something you want is some unknown deep thoughts that sabotage your desires.

So you are harboring competing thoughts, and which ones do you think will win out? Yea, the ones deep down that have been there a long time.

The ones that your ego mind is protecting for you because it wants you to always feel comfortable – and your ego knows comfort comes with the known not the unknown – your new ideas of desire are new and unknown!

The universal intelligence that is responding to your every thought is totally confused when you have conflicting thoughts, so you may not get much of any clear results with this jumbled thinking.

Clarity and focus is what will yield the results you desire and clarity can only be had with single-minded thought. This means getting all your thinking into alignment, supportive of what you want.

Just get rid of the thoughts that negate, confuse or compete with what you want.

It’s common for us to not see how the law of attraction works because we seldom see the results we say we want and this is because we are really actively harboring thoughts that work against our desires.

Until you get to the core of what you think and feel about any and all aspects of life that relate to what you want, you may be sending unclear competing messages to the universe. You are actually getting what you send out, so again, your life right now is the clear evidence of your total thinking.

So if you are not living as you want today, look deeply into your thoughts and feelings – there have to be some that are going against what you want. You need to dig in and uproot them.

Once you know what they are, you can create the new thinking that will be supportive of your desires.

How you ask? Just make it up!

You decide what you should think in order to be supportive. It’s like writing a character for a movie, what attributes would he have in order to think and act in certain ways?

Write your thought and perception characteristics into your life as they need to be to support your desires.

One more point to consider —

This way of looking at yourself may be new to you but it is critical to get a hold of and manage your thinking – this is what you were created to do. You have all the equipment to do it.

This is the great feature humans have over all other creatures – the ability to manage our thinking.

This is what we should be doing to live to our fullest capabilities.

It’s up to you — to live on purpose through a life you design or live by default allowing programming, random thoughts and concepts to govern your daily behavior. The latter is what animals do!

Yes, we humans do have our basic animalistic pre-programmed behavior but it’s our abilities of creative thought that supports our fullest potential and this is done though the management of our thought and feelings.

“The universe never says no to your thought about yourself. It

only grows it.” — Neale Donald Walsch

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” — Paulo Coelho

I know – this self-understanding and thought management is one more thing that will take some time and commitment — you will have to decide if it is worth it to you.

If you are happy with how your life is now – maybe not worth a lot of time. But if dissatisfaction and deep desire for something different have bothered you and it hasn’t been coming together — do your frustration a favor — get into this and get your thinking clear and on target.

Above I mentioned asking yourself questions. This is a great way to probe deeply into yourself beyond what you have currently been aware of.

You’ve got to see what is there in order to decide if it is what you want of not.

Ask yourself questions like:

Why am I thinking this way?

Why do I react this way?

Why do I feel this way when . . . ?

How do I look at _____ ?

What are my core feelings about ____ ?

What are my thoughts about____ ?

Why do I keep___ over and over?

I suggest setting up specific times during the day for this self-discovery, sit down and question yourself, allow yourself to think freely. Don’t question what comes up into your awareness, write it all down – you can analyze later.

When asking questions, don’t just ask one and stop – keep asking why again after each answer you get. This will get you deeper.

Also, make it your intention to notice how you feel, think and act throughout the day. The more you are able to catch yourself the more you will be able to SEE the thought cause behind it all.

This too will take some time, so make a commitment and stick with it, you can create a new habit that includes being more consciously aware of your thinking all the time.

I know this is probably something you are not use to doing (otherwise you would already be clear with your thinking) but just give it a try. It may feel uncomfortable at first, just remember that it is just your ego defense mechanism trying to protect you by keeping your conscious mind away from anything new and unknown.

Just BE with the discomfort and ride through it – don’t let it cause you to back up.

Because something feels uncomfortable does not mean stop or run away. In this case it’s just a signal that something you are doing is unfamiliar.

Any new behavior takes time and persistence to master and make into a base habit.

Remember that having command of your thinking is your most advanced capability.

The universal creative mind is always responding to all of your thoughts, why not make them clear and on purpose?

John

“Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them,

we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them.” — Orison Swett Marden

Every thought we think

Is like a flower in life’s garden,

And not the permanent possession of anyone.

Let our thoughts then

Be fragrant and beautiful,

Not rank and ugly,

That the memory we have behind us

Be felt as a blessing on this earth.

— Omar Khayyam

“It is the greatest good for an individual to discuss virtue (aka aret

Thought can be action too!

But not just any thought.

I’m not talking about the fact that your mind is always on, always working.

I’m referring to conscious active thought, the kind of thought that you and I have been endowed with over the other creatures we share this planet with.

There can be a little confusion when people talk about taking action.

I see conscious purposeful thought as taking action.

Thinking this way takes effort and focus – you can’t do it effectively while doing something else.

Watching TV or driving is not active thought, it is passive – your mind is running, but not active.

Just because your mind is working does not mean you are thinking. You mind performs a lot of functions without your conscious input – I’m talking about managing the outcome of your life experience.

Thought as action is when you make the effort to define something, to analyze something, to visualize, exploring specific emotional feelings and more. It can also be contemplation, meditation, journaling or the like.

This is why so much time goes by and we haven’t done what we want – we haven’t taken the time and effort to think about something specifically.

So, thought can be action when applied to a specific purpose. Of course it is not the only action needed to accomplish anything, but it is a necessary part.

Many people expend so much thought energy while performing their job functions that when they get home all they want to do is relax – and not think.

We need to relax and unwind, but for how long? I think many just do way too much of this, particularly when you have ideas of more that you want to be doing.

If you ‘veg out’ and relax all evening after arriving home from a day’s work, how and when do you apply yourself to any kind of change or development? That is if you want to.

Find the time to manage your thought – take command and build your life.

Become meaningful and specific, take the action of purposeful thought.

John

It’s what you think and do each day

What are you most likely going to do today – something different or something habitual?

You may not want to admit it, because of a negative connotation, but you are most likely going to do things that are habitual.

There is a reason for this . . .

It’s because you are human – this is the way we operate.

Our mental operating system automatically defaults to what we know and are accustomed to.

It doesn’t matter what the habits are, your brain will want you doing them – over and over!

Now you can try to fight this, but fight you will.

Or you can use it to your advantage – work with it – work with your natural normal tendencies.

Your mental operating system does not discriminate, any habits will do.

So why don’t you decide what they will be?

Actually you already have – well sort of.

Your current habits have been developed over the years by you, no one else can do this to you!

You have chosen them. Some by conscious choice but most by the unconscious choice to allow something to take hold.

Now this is not the time for the blame game – you didn’t know that these habits were forming, that they even could form or that they would stay with you as part of your operating system that would keep showing up day after day.

But now you do, so you can make more conscious choices now.

First, habits are not bad – well some are!

Actually a habit just is. Your operating system is not passing judgement on any of your habits, you decide that as well. To your operating system habits are like programs that it follows.

Habits allow us to do what we do everyday with out the need to figure it all out every time – what a drain of brain power that would be. Habits allow our minds to conserve energy, save time, increase efficiency, and so forth – it’s a good thing.

There will always be a set of operational habits serving as the bases of your thought and behavior.

So, since habits are a normal part of the structure of how we operate, why not choose what they will be?

Now that you know that most of what you do is part of an established habit

You can identify habitual patterns of thinking and behavior, then decide if you want to keep them or replace them with some that better support what you want in your life.

The first step is always seeing what you do – then you can do something about it if you choose.

John

Do your thoughts fly in formation?

I’m sure you have seen how geese fly in a V formation when they are traveling between their summer and winter homes. I was thinking about this and how well it relates to our thoughts.

Are your thoughts going in formation towards a common goal like geese on a mission or are they scattered? You know that what you will be living tomorrow will be the direct result of what you think about right now.

The geese make it to their destination, hundreds of miles, because they are all joined together focused on one specific mission.

What do you think would be the result if each goose had a different agenda, a different path they were trying to follow? They would not get to any one destination, if when each goose would take their position at the point of the V they would steer the group in a different direction. They would just end up going all over the place, never knowing where they would end up.

If they never stuck with any one destination long enough to actually get there, they would not end up anywhere specific. Where they found themselves at any moment would be where they were at that moment and this would always be the case, unless by some accident they made a destination, but would they know they were somewhere they wanted to be?

Four key elements are present in the flying behavior of geese that are worth looking at in terms of how your thoughts support your personal growth and development.

1) The consensus of your thought

This is like the cooperation a group of geese exhibits in order to succeed at the journey. Do all your thoughts converge and contribute to the same goal? If some of your thoughts are towards something you desire, some towards what you no longer want, some towards your fears and doubts, and some just distracted by something going on today, what is the consensus of these thoughts? Confusion, disharmony and no particular direction is like being all over the map.

In their V formation aren’t all the birds going in the same direction, keeping close together supporting one another in their single minded pursuit of their intention in order to succeed as a whole group? Each goose is committed to the same intention and each supports the others just as all you thoughts should be.

2) Thought energy invested

While the birds take turns being the lead so that one bird does not bear the brunt of the energy needed to break the wind, all the birds end up contributing to the whole with their energy focused on the one goal. The more they can put their energy into flying in the one direction, the quicker they arrive. This equates to how much of your thought time and emotional energy is focused on your destination

Just like flying the geese, the amount time and emotional energy you focus on the desired direction dictates when and if you will reach the goal. Constant change of focus from what you do want to what you don’t want, to something distracting, to uncertainty is not giving enough thought and emotional energy to what you want. Like the geese you will be somewhere different but it will not likely be very far from where you started, so the scenery will be much the same.

3) Clearly defined and tended to intention or destination

Of course, you need a specific thing, place and reason, this seems simple, but not always quite so in practice. Clear definition is very important, you need to have intention, a target, a goal in order to have something to focus on. But another aspect of this is the clouds. Are you sticking to it clearly and concisely or are you distracted by the clouds? The geese can keep on course and fly through the clouds because they don’t allow themselves to get distracted.

If you allow yourself to get distracted by too much of the daily stuff that goes on in everyone’s life, what is your actual focus? Is it not disjointed and unclear? All the daily goings on can be a huge factor in breaking your focus, thus leading you to place thought and energy on many other things which do not support or contribute to your declared intention.

Just like the geese you need to stick with something long enough with enough energy and clearly to actually get there. Whenever you allow your attention to lock on to something else, there is no energy going to the destination, and it may actually be going away from it as the result of other certain thought focus, such as doubt, fear and worry.

4) Single minded commitment and persistence

This should be clear, but so many people either gives up too soon or they switch gears too often to actually realize any of the desired results. The geese must fly in one direction for how many days to reach their destination? Every day until they get there! Think about it, if there is a lot of head wind they may not make many miles in a day, but they must keep going – they must, it’s life or death. Do geese take side trips? I don’t think so.

Until you persist in spite of your frustrations, doubts and setbacks you will not get there. Whenever you stop, you are guaranteeing that you will not get there. And you will never know how close you were when you did.

If the geese stop flying for a week, how much closer to their destination do they get?

If the geese change directions often, how much closer do they get?

If the geese can’t get together on where they are going, how close do they get?

If all of the geese don’t apply themselves to the one common focus, how close do they get?

If the geese gave up after 2 days and changed direction, where will they be?

Thousands of geese change living habitats twice a year because they are programmed to do all the right things that get them there – they don’t mess it up by allowing distractions to knock them off course.

If geese can do this, why not you. What’s their secret? The only difference is that you have free will and choice. Yes, you have the ability to choose NOT to clearly focus and persist towards your target, the goose does not.

But you can choose to do as they do and succeed on a regular basis. It’s up to you to watch and take command of your everyday thinking if you want your life to be on purpose. Think about how the geese accomplish their twice a year trek over hundreds of miles and how you can use their behavior to get where you want. You have the choice to do or not, it’s all in how you take command of your thinking. Get to where you can place most of your thoughts in a V formation with each supporting the lead or main directing idea and target?

Clearly define your target

Build single-minded focus, get your thoughts in formation,

Watch your thoughts, DAILY, for focus and distraction

Take command of your thinking, drop un-supportive thoughts, and add supportive thoughts

Persist until you get there

John

Planet Earth

Wow, I saw the latest episode of ‘Planet Earth’ on the Discovery Channel. What wonderful photography, I don’t have a digital TV but the picture seems to be of higher quality than with most of what is on the tube. Must be the type of cameras they used in the filming.

Also the way the vignettes and the narration is put together is very appealing, it kept my attention

Understanding more about the intricacies of nature can lead to a better understanding of how you function. We share many characteristics with other living things on earth. To understand nature is to understand yourself.

This is well worth watching

John

Feel Better, Stop All The Complaining

Have you heard about the ‘Complaint free Bracelet’ yet?

It was initiated by one person and has exploded!

Oprah did a segment on it during Tuesday’s show, she spoke with the originator of this great idea, a minister in Kansas City, US.

The minister and his group have fulfilled over 2.3 million requests for bracelets.

They are making rubber wristbands, similar to others you have seen around that people use to remind themselves of various things.

The concept with the ‘No Complaint’ bracelet/wristband is this: You put it on one wrist and leave it there until you complain about something. Then you must move it to your other wrist.

Each time you catch yourself complaining about anything, you move it to the other wrist.

The goal is to have it remain on one wrist for 21days, which means that you have not complained about anything for 21 days.

The reason for 21 days is that many feel that it takes 21 days to establish a new habit.

What a wonderful idea, train yourself to not complain – at all!

Have you ever considered how destructive it is to complain?

The complainer is the one who really suffers.

Think about this, if you get more of what you think about – what happens when you complain?

How about your attitude? What is your attitude when you complain?

And your perspective? How have you allowed yourself to look at things?

Does complaining, with the emotional and physical repercussion do anything to support your being happy in life?

Does it support anything good and positive?

Complaining is just a bad habit that drags you down the road of focusing on negativity rather on positive, supportive and progressive thoughts.

You get more of what you think about – what will complaining get you?

The time you use complaining is time you are not feeling joy and peace. You are not living in the moment.

You are stealing time from thinking about and supporting what you DO want.

Complaining helps you remain stuck in what you now have rather than progressing forward.

You are also bringing up negative emotions, which affect your physical health in adverse ways.

Your negative emotions and attitude that start with your complaining will affect other thoughts and behavior.

Complaining is not solution oriented thinking. You are just rehashing something that you aren’t doing anything about.

What do you want in place of complaining?

Think about this.

If you do any complaining – just STOP. It’s not good for you. . . or anyone else!

The bracelet, that is free, is a great tool that will help you break the complaining cycle.

The bracelet project that a group of people has undertaken is helping many individuals and the world..

With fewer people complaining, it gives us all one thing less to complain about!

Go to http://acomplaintfreeworld.org/ to get one for yourself and whoever you feel could benefit from using one.

“It is only imperfection that complains of what is imperfect. The more perfect we are, the more gentle and quiet we become towards the defects of others.” — Joseph Addison

“Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain – and most do” — Dale Carnegie.

Consider the complaint bracelet.

Use it as a tool to assist with ending your habit of complaining.

Take the challenge to be able to keep it on one wrist for 21 days. You should be well on your way to changing your habit in regard to automatic complaining.

After the 21 days, why not keep it on longer, just to be sure that you firmly cement into your thinking a new way of thinking and talking about what you use to complain about.

In eliminating your complaining, change the way you look at things. Take on a new way of looking at situations that you would have complained about. What other viewpoint and attitude can you have?

What has occurred just IS. Your reaction and complaint is entirely your choice as to how to see it.

Choose to see it from a more solution oriented viewpoint, or in just letting it go. Just because something happened or someone did something does not mean that you must have a reaction and ruminate about it over and over.

Be aware that one of the toughest situations to keep yourself from complaining is when you are around others who regularly complain. Many times we get into gripe sessions with others, even trying to outdo the other with a more extravagant complaint.

Try to remain neutral, not getting involved. In time the others many stop including you in these sessions since you are not goaded by their complaining and you don’t offer you own.

It can also be helpful to introduce the complaint ending process to others to reduce what you are exposed to from them.

Like anything, this will take some attention and effort.

Another thing the wrist band will do for you, is to help you to become more acutely aware of what you are thinking and doing throughout the day. This is another reason to keep up with it after your initial success with 21 days.

Go for it – give it a try.

No – just do it, try really means maybe!

Commit to doing it, be patient with yourself but persistent.

Just don’t stop and success will be inevitable.

http://acomplaintfreeworld.org/

It is free, but do consider donating to the group to assure they can keep this going.

“You can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses” — Tom Wilson.

“Realize that if you have time to whine and complain about something, then you have the time to do something about it” — Anthony D’Angelo

“The life that conquers is the life that moves with a steady

resolution and persistence toward a predetermined goal. Those

who succeed are those who have thoroughly learned the immense

importance of planning in life, and the tragic brevity of time.” — WJ Davison

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination are omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” — Calvin Coolidge

“Success is almost totally dependent upon drive and persistence. The extra energy required to make another effort or try another approach is the secret of winning.” — Dennis Waitley

“Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.” — Thomas Carlyle

What do you think?

Is complaining a problem for you?

For others?

John

We All Need A Purpose

I just read an interview article on Beliefnet with actress Doris Roberts, who is best known for her role as Marie Barone, Ray’s mother on the show “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

She is playing in a new Hallmark Channel movie this weekend called “Our House” where she plays a lonely old woman who gives up on life. That is until she meets Bobby, a homeless woman played by Judy Reyas- from ‘Scrubs.”

In the story the homeless woman helps the Doris’ character find an new purpose, offering her home to homeless people and helping them out.

I know this is a movie but it reminded me of how we all need a purpose.

There are many older people who are living a lonely depressed life because they feel they no longer have a purpose.  Their children are away on their own, they are no longer working. perhaps not involved in any activities and alone.  This is a perfect example of what the mind will do when there is no drive for any reason, it can be a major cause of depression and anxiety.

People need a reason, a why, a purpose to drive and motivate them in order to experience happiness.  Feeling low self esteem can become a problem when you don’t feel you are of use.  There are statistics indicating that a large number of men die within a few years after retiring from high powered jobs, where they were busy, responsible and challenged.

If they don’t find a new purpose to get involved with they feel useless, which can lead to stress, anxiety and depression.  When a person feel useless and of little value the will to live can become extremely low.

And what about the homeless people?  Many of them have lost their drive because how they feel about themselves.  Self motivation is difficult when you see no purpose.  Due to circumstances they may have given up on a purpose they once had, seeing it as no longer feasable.  Maybe  they never had one.  It becomes easier and easier to drop futher away from the average productive life because it takes effort which must be backed by drive — that they don’t have.

These groups of people are but two examples of people who could use assistance finding a purpose to get behind mentally and emotionally.  This should be part of the effort given to help these groups as well as others.

People will do much more for themselves when they have their own reasons to exert effort.

Those who are driven to actively support their own purpose can easily miss the fact that there are people out there that are struggling with life because they do not have this crucial motivational key.  We just don’t imagine someone without a purpose when we are embroiled in fulfilling ours.

But look at all the individual suffering and the burdon on society these people frequently are, just because they lack purpose.  What if we could assist them with finding something they can get excited about?

Pay attention to others you are around.  Better yet, give them some attention by taking the time to find out whether they feel they have a reason to get up in the morning?  Maybe you can help them discover one.  Imagine what could happen if you assisted them in raising their motivation level to match yours?

Pay attention, there are learning and growing opportunities everywhere,

John
Adjust your thinking, your actions just a little each day and your life will change.

Get methods, tips, tools and resources for daily personal growth.

More about how the people around you affect your thought and behavior.

At the end of last month I shared some ideas regarding who you allow to influence you.

There is another way in which who you are around can have a profound affect on you.

Did you know that it is much easier for the son or daughter of a doctor to become a doctor than someone who does not have such a role model?

And I’m not talking about the ability to pay for all the schooling, rather a persons belief that they can do or be something. The child of the doctor may actually have more difficulty with the academic studies than a person from east LA with one parent struggling to cover the basic needs, but they will have a stronger vision of what’s possible for them.

There are many interesting nuances present when we are around successful people. Think about the life you were living when you were growing up. Is there any question in your mind about whether you could do the same for yourself? No, you can easily live as your parents did, in fact you very likely will without even realizing it, unless you figure out that you have the ability to do something different.

You have been around that life all your life, you know it well. you have experienced it and you have seen how others experience it. You are intimate with it, it permeates your subconscious and conscious mind

Your self-image is tied to this life as is your perspective on most things. Your mind has become programmed through the filter of this lifestyle.

Is it any wonder that very few young people from lower socioeconomic households become professionals or business owners. This is certainly not always the case but statistically it is. They have not had the advantage of being exposed to the successful example.

When you grow up having a parent that is, say a doctor, you then know first hand what a doctor is like. What their work entails, the kind of person they are, where they life, how they live, how they interact with others, how they handle money, how they handle problems, the things they do with their time, etc.

A person not close to this does not see and internalize much of these traits at all, they only take in perspectives ABOUT the doctor based on what they see from a distance, which is filtered through their lifestyle experience.

Your ego, the part of your mind that tends to protect you from anything uncomfortable, will try to keep you away from the unknown. So the more you know about what it is like to be a person who is a doctor the less resistance or ‘protection’ you will get from your ego.

If you want to succeed at something it becomes very important to get exposed to the people and situations that relate to what you desire in your life, in fact just broadening your exposure to many different people and activities can help you to determine you desires. Being able to ‘see’ something from a more intimate exposure gives your mind better ways to make the deeper connections that lead to your ability to imagine this for yourself.

The clearer the ‘pictures’ in your mind of yourself being like what you see, the more powerful your thoughts are. You confidence to make the first step is boosted by how much you can see and feel yourself doing it.

No matter your age, if you want to be doing something specific with your life, you need to look hard at who you should be around that can help influence you in a positive way. When you can watch other people close up doing something it becomes easier for you to see it for yourself. Over a period of time it seems commonplace to you. This also goes for any behavior good or not so good. I’m sure you have noticed that you can tend to copy at least somewhat, attitudes, perspective and behavior of people you have spent a lot of time with.

If you want to make a change, you will need to gradually reduce the influence of people that don’t fit in with your desires and add in people that do. As an extreme example, a group of people sitting around the local store with “bottle in bag” commiserating about how unjust the world is are not supportive or constructive to your becoming a doctor.

Find someone who does what you want to do, get familiar with them and what they are like, see what they do and why, get a feeling for their perspectives. Find people who do something similar, they will exhibit similar traits and behaviors. Associate with those who are supportive of your ability to step into what you want.

The proper influence from other people can help you to establish a clear intent for yourself. Your thoughts are the seeds that the universal spirit responds to. What are you thinking? That you clearly CAN do it or that you can’t see it for yourself?

It’s up to your choice and your actions to move yourself towards becoming who you want to be, it won’t just happen., your clear intent, your “seed” must be planted first. Allow others to help you clarify this for yourself.

John

“Our ultimate freedom is the right and power to decide how anybody or anything outside ourselves will affect us.” — Stephen Covey

“If we do not rise to the challenge of our unique capacity to shape our lives, to seek the kinds of growth that we find individually fulfilling, then we can have no security: We will live in a world of sham, in which our selves are determined by the will of others, in which we will be constantly buffeted and increasingly isolated by the changes round us.” — Nena O’Neil

“We cannot consistently perform at a level inconsistent with our own self image” –Dr. Joyce Brothers

How can you use this idea:

Take a look at your situation.

What about your current interaction with people? Do they support your desired life or not?

Take a look at who you are presently around and how they affect and influence you.

Is it supportive of what you want for yourself or not.

What are you like around them?

Is this how you want to be?

What and who do you want to be like?

Who has these traits?

How can you get closer to them, spend more time around them?

Make this your intent –

To spend time around the people who do what you want to do and those who support your desired change.

To assimilate some of the characteristics of those who already are doing it.

To intimately see how their perspectives, behaviors and thinking support what they do, and how those attributes can support you doing the same.

John

“Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, ”What’s in it for me?”” — Brian Tracy

Are getting caught up in thought and emotion gobbling stuff?

The headline on my Comcast homepage reads, “American Idol” Flap: Barba vs Frenchie.

Now lets see, in the scheme of your life, and what you want in your life, is this all worth your time, attention, thought and emotional involvement?

Whatever you think about revealing pictures floating around showing two people that have been on the American Idol show, is it something that contributes to your life.

We are bombarded all the time with news on this and that. What are the Hollywood stars and musicians doing in their life today? Who did what and to whom? I know It’s all very tantalizing to read, but is it worth it?

And particularly when you get emotionally charged about it one way or another, this can use and misdirect a lot of energy that could be better applied. It’s so easy to get boiled over about what the actors, musicians and sports stars are doing or not doing – I’m sure you have an opinion. But does that mean you need to use your time expressing it?

What he/she did today – So what! Let them be – you can’t do anything about it anyway. In the off chance you can, then get with it.

Here’s the thing, what you focus your thoughts and emotions on expands in your life. And the amount of time and energy you focus on something has a direct correlation on the affect it has on your life.

This may seem silly to think that thinking about these performers and their indiscretions, mistakes or bad choices has any bearing on your life, but it does. If nothing else, it keeps you away from thinking about something that may be more supportive to the life you want to be living yourself. How much time do you want to spend watching the lives of others at the expense of doing something purposeful with yours?

It is so easy to allow yourself to get sucked into this stuff when it is all over the news, the internet and people talk about it at work. But there is a thing called self-discipline that you have full command of. Just because you have been in the habit of giving some of your precious attention to this trivia, you don’t have to keep doing so.

If personal growth and awakening is important to you, think more about how you use your thought time. Ask the big question, “does this support my life, detract from it?” This little bit of self-analysis can do a lot for managing your time, focus and emotions.

In looking at how you use your time, it can be helpful to look at both, what you do and don’t do in terms of what you want.

Oh look, what is Britney Spears doing today, and that thing about the Dixie Chicks has risen again, and Barry Bonds, and, and . . .

What about your life? Go do your life.

John

Feed a Refugee & Get a FREE Poster

Are you one who is wishing for more peace and love to be expressed in the world? Soon there will be a way to have some real affect on the state of our consciousness, thought and behavior.

I just received a note from my friend Julian Kalmar that a huge project he has been working on for months is finally starting, it has to do with helping the people of the world to live in peace. I know many talk about this but feel powerless to do much about it.

How does each of us individually do anything about it? Well, I think what Julian has started will help get the masses of us, who want to do something concrete about it, together as a power that can affect change at many levels.

Now this is just beginning and like anything it will take time and effort to get it rolling. In order for there to be any power behind it many people will need to be involved. In time this project will be able to work at developing greater peace at many levels, but the show of support needs to begin now.

Following is the message Julian asked me to send out regarding the mere beginnings of the program –

You may have heard the names of Rick Beneteau or Julian Kalmar more than once around the Internet over the years. Julian is the creator of The Happiness Formula and Rick is probably best known for helping kids at Christmas since 2000 with his annual Internet Toy Drive (in affiliation with Toys for Tots).

Soon, Rick and Julian will be unveiling a project that will help millions of innocent victims of war and violence around the world. It’s a project I’ll be fully supporting in a few weeks when it launches. In the meantime, I want to share a small part of that special project with you.

*Posters of Peace* are absolutely stunning reminders of how to live a rich, and peaceful life. Each professionally designed poster contains an inspirational message from one of the great teachers of peace and you can grab a great one right now at NO COST. Not only that, but each poster helps feed and shelter war refugees!

How could a f*r*e*e poster do that, you might ask? The answer is simple: You pay ONLY a modest shipping and handling charge and an extra $2.00 to help the war refugees. You can look over the special discounts on some nice upgrade options (which further helps refugees) but you can quickly click through to redeem your no-cost poster. Quantities are extremely limited so please get one of these gorgeous posters right now: http://www.10millionposters.com/?a=7

I can’t wait to tell you about Rick and Julian’s massive project to spread peace throughout the world. In the meantime, please do take advantage of these beautiful posters before they’re all gone. You’ll get a great wall piece and you’ll help those who are in such dire need: http://www.10millionposters.com/?a=7

Thank you for helping refugees!

***

I urge you to help the refugees and show your support for what I believe will be the largest mass show of support and action towards world peace ever undertaken!

I will keep you posted of developments with the 10 million clicks for Peace program and the different ways for you to be involved here on this blog

Pass this message around to others that would like to see more effort put to creating a world where peace is more prevalent. The more people involved the more power and impact this will have.

Imagine what 10 million, and more, people behind a common cause can do. In this initial phase they will collect a base group of people who want to add their support to a better world, plus the benefits the poster program will have right now for people in immediate need.

If you want a world of peace, get involved now and help this effort grow in astronomical proportions – and we will have an affect!

John