Follow the “Take 5″ Plan to Achieve Success!

Follow the “Take 5″ Plan to Achieve Success!

Ask most people about their company’s mission statement, and you’ll receive a blank stare. It’s probably hanging on the wall somewhere, but no one even realizes it’s there. Pausing to consider the organization’s mission may help to orient a leadership team. However, in terms of day-to-day operations, the organization’s stated purpose is practically worthless.
Leaders should quit agonizing over the wording of an abstract mission statement that almost no one will read and that will have almost zero impact on their people. Instead, they should concentrate their efforts on developing and following a “Rule of 5” for their company.
What’s the Rule of 5?
Picture a tree in your backyard that needs to be cut down. If you grab an ax and take five good swings at the tree each day, eventually you will chop it down. It may take a month to fell a small tree, while a big tree may take years to topple. The size of the tree isn’t the issue; the real question is whether or not you diligently take five swings at it every day.
For leaders, a primary challenge is to identify the five activities most essential to success, and then to practice them daily. The Rule of 5 doesn’t ask: “What are the five things I would like to do.” That’s a question related to passion. Nor does it ask: “What are five things I should like to do? That sort of inquiry uncovers your values. Rather, the Rule of 5 asks: “What are the five things I must like to do in order to be successful?” Posing this question cuts to the heart of the daily behaviors necessary to win in your chosen profession.
For example, to excel as an author, there are five things that must happen each day:

1. Reading
2. Thinking
3. Filing good material
4. Asking questions
5. Writing

If someone has raw talent as a writer, and practices these activities long enough, they’ll eventually find an audience for their work.
The Rule of 5 is more tangible, behavioral, and measurable than a mission statement. At the end of the day, you can review the Rule of 5 and immediately assess whether or not you have followed it. Ultimately, your organizational culture will be dictated far more by the things you do daily than by the mission statement you post on your walls or website homepage.
Exercise to Consider
Over the next week, carve out time to consider the five activities most essential to your success. Use them to create your own Rule of 5. Then, for the next month, take five minutes in the morning, and another five minutes at the end of the day, to review your Rule of 5. This simple exercise will sharpen your focus and speed your progress toward success.
Article by: John C. Maxwell

 The Law of Empowerment

The Law of Empowerment says that only secure leaders give power to others. But what does it mean to be secure? Using the analogy of personal finance, let’s look at what’s missing from the lives of insecure leaders. This will help us better understand where security comes from and why it matters.

Paupers, debtors, and hoarders lack the real or perceived financial security necessary to give generously to others.

Paupers have no source of income aside from the financial assistance they receive from someone else. Penniless and dependent, they’re clearly unable to help others financially.

Leaders without purpose are like paupers. They have no passion, low energy, and little drive to grow in influence. Usually, their only source of power is the position they have been given by somebody else. In terms of personal authority, they’re impoverished.

Debtors may have nice salaries, but their expenses exceed their income. They’ve maxed out credit cards and taken out hefty loans. Consequently, they’re stuck paying exorbitant interest rates on the amounts they have borrowed. In an upside-down financial situation, they’re in no position to give generously to others.

Leaders without authenticity are like debtors. Someone deeply in debt may appear wealthy, even though they’re secretly on the verge of bankruptcy. The closer you inspect their life, the more signs of dysfunction you see. Similarly, inauthentic leaders may seem to have all the tools to lead with excellence. However, they are missing the crucial component of moral authority. They do not practice the values they preach, and they prefer to keep others at arm’s length to hide their shortcomings.

Hoarders are sitting on a pile of wealth, but they think only of protecting it rather than of sharing it with others. They have the plentiful resources but are unwilling to part with them.

Leaders without humility resemble hoarders. Having put their talents to work, they enjoy a significant amount of power. However, they’re worried about others taking it from them or gaining more of it than they have. So, instead of using their influence to empower others, they keep it for their own benefit.

SOURCES OF SECURITY

As leaders, we can only lift others up when we’re standing on a firm foundation. Purpose, authenticity, and humility give us a secure, stable base from which to lead.

Purpose is the answer to the question: why do you want to lead? The best leaders have a purpose that is greater than they are. Their “why” involves more than accumulating money or seeking self-actualization. They see leadership as a calling rather than a career, relishing the opportunity to use their unique talents to accomplish something significant that will outlive them.

Authenticity means being comfortable in your own skin. Authentic leaders have self-awareness, self-respect, self-confidence, and emotional maturity. They prize integrity above image, and they seek to build trust with others on the basis of their personal character.

Humility is often wrongly associated depreciating and downgrading ourselves. However, true humility flows out of gratitude and comes when we credit God for our blessings and others for our successes. As Rick Warren teaches, a humble leader doesn’t deny his strengths; he’s simply honest about his limitations. Humble leaders feel no need to trumpet their status, are unthreatened by criticism, and revel in the accomplishments of others. They put their pride aside so that others have room to shine.

Question to Consider

What power do you possess that you could be shared with someone else? What obstacles might you have to overcome in order to be willing to give your power away?

Article by: John C. Maxwell

 The Answer Is Not What You Might Think

You’ve come up against it again: that obstacle to your success or your growth as a leader that you just can’t seem to get over, under, around, or through. You’ve tried everything you know, but there it still looms, mocking you. You’re frustrated and beginning to feel hopeless that you’ll ever overcome this issue, and you don’t know where to turn next.

I’ve been there. I think all of us have. Early in my career when I was confronted with a barrier to my goals, self-reliance was my guide. I worked harder. I put in longer hours. I focused more. Back then, I believed that I had to be the “Answer Man,” that I had to know how to meet the challenge on my own, plus provide answers to the questions of others. And I was afraid to turn to anyone else, because I thought it would make me look inexperienced and reflect poorly on me as a leader.

Maybe you can relate to that belief, and you think you need to have all the answers. Would you be surprised if I told you that there’s another, better way? Ask more questions.

My life and my leadership changed when I started asking questions. I asked questions of peers. I made appointments to ask questions of people ahead of me on the journey. I looked for answers within my team. And even learned to ask questions of myself.

“That’s it?” you may be asking: “Questions?”

Yes. Trust me, there is an art to knowing what questions to ask, how to ask them, and of whom to ask them.  And you can learn that art. More importantly, I can teach you how to ask the right questions.

If you too easily dismiss the idea of asking great questions, then you may be like I was: the very person who needs to learn about this. Ask the right questions, and you will find a way to overcome that seemingly insurmountable obstacle.

I believe that questions are really the key to growth and personal breakthroughs. Questions empower you to be proactive and focused on the front end. And the answers you receive on the back end help you to achieve more.

In my next post, I’ll share how using questions will transform your life. In the meantime, like us on Facebook, share this post with friends, and leave a comment about how asking questions could impact your life. We’ll be reading your comments and responding to as many as we can.

Article by: John C. Maxwell

What Is the Most Effective Daily Habit for Any Leader to Develop?-Part #1

What Is the Most Effective Daily Habit for Any Leader to Develop?

Last year when I began writing Good Leaders Ask Great Questions, we began talking to my Twitter followers, Facebook fans, and John Maxwell Team coaches about the importance of questions, and we asked them to give me leadership questions that they wanted answered. We were flooded with questions related to self-leadership. We got more on this subject than any other. The next-largest category had less than half as many questions. Why so many? I think many people understand intuitively that if you can’t lead yourself effectively, everything else in your life will be a struggle.
Self-leadership is where credibility is established. It’s what makes your leadership appealing to others. Without self-leadership, a leader can’t make any progress or take anyone with him or her.
I want to share just one of the ten questions on self-leadership that I answer in Good Leaders Ask Great Questions. But before I do, I’ll tell you about the offer that the past posts have been leading up to.
Right now, if you preorder the book, we’ll send you a copy signed by me. And if you preorder 10 or more copies, you’ll be invited to join me on a one-hour conference call on the subject of great questions.
Now, here’s the question about self-leadership…
What Is the Most Effective Daily Habit for Any Leader to Develop?
Much of self-leadership is about cultivating good practices or habits. And if you could cultivate only one habit to practice every day of your life, I believe it should be this: giving more than you receive. I say that because having a giving mind-set has so many benefits:
Giving Acknowledges That Others Have Helped Us
No one succeeds in life on his own. Every one of us has been helped along the way by other people. When we give to others, we acknowledge that by paying it forward.
Giving Requires Us to Get Beyond Ourselves
When your mind-set is to give more than you take, it forces you to think of others more than of yourself. You have to pay attention to others and what they want. You have to figure out how to give it to them. These things shift your focus from yourself to others. That very fact makes you less selfish.
When your mind-set is to give more than you take, it forces you to think of others more than of yourself.
Giving Is by Nature Intentional
People rarely give by accident. They must make an effort to give. It is an act of will. That intentionality grows us and makes us more proactive—important qualities for leaders.
Giving Changes the World—One Person at a Time
What would the world be like if everyone tried to give more than he or she took? People would change. It’s difficult for a healthy person to keep receiving from others without giving something back. Out of abundance comes generosity. Give generously to others without the hope of return, and the person receiving is changed and wants to pass it on. Once you have the mind-set of giving, the more you receive, the more you want to give. It becomes a positive cycle. As it spreads, not only do individuals change, but so do communities.
What does generosity have to do with leadership? Well, think about this: How do you respond to people who give? How do you respond to generous leaders? Don’t their actions make you want to give back, work harder, do your best? I know that’s what they do for me.
If you become a generous leader who always strives to give more than you receive, you will create a positive team and organization that others will always want to be a part of.
Article by: John C. Maxwell

Keep Your Mind Free by Napoleon Hill

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Keep Your Mind Free by Napoleon Hill

An open mind is a free mind.

The person who closes his mind to new ideas, concepts and people is locking a door that enslaves his own mentality. Intolerance is a two-edged scythe that on its backswing cuts off opportunities and lines of communication. When you open your mind, you give your imagination freedom to act for you.

It’s hard to realize now that less than six decades ago there were men who laughed at the Wright Brothers’ experiments at flight. And barely three decades ago, Lindbergh could scarcely find backers for his trans-Atlantic flight. Today, men of vision freely predict man will soon fly to the moon–but no one’s laughing. It’s the scoffers who are held in scorn.

A closed mind is a sign of a static personality. It lets progress pass it by and hence can never take advantage of the opportunities progress offers.

Only if you have an open mind can you grasp the full impact of the first rule of the science of success: “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.”

It would be well for you to take stock of yourself. Are you among those who say “I can” and “It will be done” or do you fall in the group that says “Nobody can” — at the very moment somebody else is accomplishing it? An open mind requires faith — in yourself, your fellow man and the Creator who laid out a pattern of progress for Man and his universe.

The days of superstition are gone. But the shadow of prejudice is as dark as ever. You can come out into the light by closely examining your own personality. Do you make decisions based on reason and logic rather than on emotion and preconceived ideas? Do you listen closely, attentively and thoughtfully to the other fellow’s arguments? Do you seek for facts rather than hearsay and rumor?

The human mentality withers unless in constant contact with the stimulating influence of fresh thought. The Communists, in their brain-washing technique, know that the quickest way to break a man’s will is to isolate his mind, cutting him off from books, newspapers, radio and other normal channels of intellectual communication.

Under such circumstances, the intellect dies for lack of nourishment. Only the strongest will and the purest faith can save it.

Is it possible that you have imprisoned your mind in a social and cultural concentration camp? Have you subjected yourself to a brainwashing of your own making, isolating you from ideas that could lead to success? Is so, it’s time to sweep aside the bars of prejudice that imprison your intellect.

Open your mind and set it free!

Source: Success Unlimited. December, 1960. Page 39.

Article by: Napoleon Hill

THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON TO ASK QUESTIONS

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THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON TO ASK QUESTIONS

In my last post, I wrote about what I believe is the first step toward solving many of the problems we face: Asking the right questions. If you haven’t already read the post, take a minute to go back and view it here.

Socrates is quoted as saying, “The unexamined life is not worth leading.” I would add that the unexamined leader is not worth following. Leaders who never take time to ask what they are doing and why they doing it are unlikely to stay on track, lead at their best, and reach their potential. That is why we need to keep asking ourselves tough questions.

As a leader, I can allow others to ask me hard and important questions, and that’s wonderful. But even better, I can take responsibility, be proactive, and ask those questions of myself.

I have come to the realization that by asking myself tough questions, I can maintain my integrity, increase my energy, and improve my leadership capacity. That’s why I ask myself questions every day. My hope is that you’ll be inspired to ask yourself questions every day so that you keep yourself on track and striving to reach your potential.

My first question to myself:

Am I Investing In Myself? This Is A Question of Personal Growth

The most important investment you and I will ever make is in ourselves. That investment will determine the return that we get out of life. Jim Rohn’s mentor John Earl Shoaff said to him, “Jim, if you want to be wealthy and happy, learn this lesson well: learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job.” Jim did learn that lesson well. As he once pointed out, “The book you don’t read can’t help you; the seminar you won’t attend can’t change your life. The business gets better when you get better. Never wish it were easier, wish you were better.”

Since 1974 I have been intentionally investing in myself, and for nearly as long I have been encouraging others to do likewise. Some people do; others don’t. Why is that? I believe three main factors come into play. These will determine if or how you will invest in yourself:

1. Your Self-Image: How You See Yourself

How do you feel about yourself as a person? Are you positive? Are you negative? On a scale of one to ten, what number would you use to describe how you feel about yourself? Take a moment and rate yourself.

Whatever number you picked to describe your self-image also describes your willingness to invest in yourself. For example, if you rated your self-image at a five, you will be willing to invest in yourself up to a five level, but not more. That’s why people with low self-images do not make great investments in themselves. It’s not what you are that keeps you from investing in yourself; it’s what you think you are—or are not. You will never be able to bet on yourself unless you believe in yourself.

2. Your Dream: How You See Your Future

When I sat down to write Put Your Dream to the Test, my desire was to help people make great strides toward their dreams. What I didn’t realize until the book had been written and I starting speaking about it was that many people don’t have a dream. I was shocked. My life has been filled with hopes, dreams, and aspirations. Because of that, I assumed that everyone had at least one dream. I was wrong. Why does that matter? Because the size of your dream determines the size of your investment. If your dream is large, you will invest in yourself to achieve it. If you have no dream, you may not invest in yourself at all.

3. Your Friends: How Others See You

Motivational speaker Joe Larson once said, “My friends didn’t believe I could become a successful speaker, so I did something about it. I went out and found some new friends.” That may sound harsh, but that is what’s needed for anyone who is surrounded by people who don’t believe in them.

People need others to help them stay inspired and growing. Missionary doctor Albert Schweitzer asserted, “In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” If you have friends who light your inner fire, you are very fortunate; they will make you want to keep investing in yourself and growing. If you don’t, find some, because nothing is more important for your potential as a leader than your personal daily growth.

This is one of the seven questions I ask myself as a leader every day. If you desire to lead at your best, you need to know what questions to ask yourself.

Next time, I’ll share one of the important questions that I regularly ask members of my team. In the meantime, like us on Facebook, share this post with friends, and leave a comment on the blog with what you consider the most important questions you’ve ever asked yourself. We’ll be reading your comments and responding to as many as we can.

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GIVE YOUR DREAM A BEAM

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GIVE YOUR DREAM A BEAM

Where do dreams come from? What does dreaming do for a leader? How can I verify whether my dream is a worthwhile vision or a fictitious fantasy?

Let’s begin to investigate these questions by defining what we mean by a dream. A dream is an inspiring picture of the future that energizes your mind, will and emotions, empowering you to do everything necessary to achieve it. Dreams inspire us because they fill us with a sense of joyful possibility. They energize us when our hope that they can come true is rooted in reality. And they empower us by providing a clear picture of the future that we can work to realize.

1) Give your dream a beam of joy.

We discover dreams by following pathways of joy. What makes you sing? What activities make you come alive? What past accomplishments have brought you the greatest sense of satisfaction? The answers to these questions provide valuable clues to your dream.

It’s critically important to realize that authentic joy involves much more than the experience of personal pleasure. “True joy in life,” George Bernard Shaw wrote, is “being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.” We encounter joy, then, only by examining our burdens. What makes you cry? What do you feel must change for the world to be a better place? Dreaming isn’t a purely intellectual exercise; it’s an emotional enterprise. We could all list dozens of things that we know need to improve the world around us, but only a couple of them capture our heart. A dream doesn’t feel like a chore we should do, but like a moral imperative that we must do.

2) Give your dream reality for a support beam.

Dreams, by definition, do not originate in reality. Rather, they are birthed in the imagination through hopes and desires. Yet, there must be some actual evidence that achieving the dream is possible. The more unrealistic your dream, the more you will be tempted to rely on luck to make it a reality. By concerning yourself with things you can control, you strengthen yourself to succeed and you reduce the role luck plays in determining your future.

Influential dreamers keep their eyes wide open to the facts of their situation. As T.E. Lawrence wrote, “All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”
Realism is the foundation on which we must build; the dream is what we aspire to create. Mature persons make sure the right support beams (skills, resources, partners) are in place before they begin construction.

3) Give your dream a beam of light, clarifying it through careful study.

A dream begins as a vague impression, which only disciplined study can give definition. In the words of Giovanni Boccaccio, “You must read, you must persevere, you must sit up nights, you must inquire, and exert the utmost power of your mind. If one way does not lead to the desired meaning, take another; if obstacles arise, then still another; until, if your strength holds out, you will find that clear which at first looked dark.” Bringing a dream into focus takes effort, and ultimately only those who see their dream lucidly are able to seize their dream.

Article From John C. Maxwell.

THE COST QUESTION: ARE YOU WILLING TO PAY THE PRICE FOR YOUR DREAM?

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THE COST QUESTION: ARE YOU WILLING TO PAY THE PRICE FOR YOUR DREAM?

Thirty years ago, Mary Lou Retton vaulted into stardom at the 1984 Olympic Games, becoming the first American to win gold in the women’s all-around gymnastics competition. She wowed the world with her amazing mix of grace, power, and dexterity. Her Olympic triumph, combined with her buoyant, bubbly personality made her an instant media sensation.

The speed with which Retton attained celebrity masked the years of sacrifice, dedication, and determined effort during which the little girl from West Virginia had developed into a world-class athlete. In the words of Sports Illustrated writer Frank Deford, May Lou Retton had “worked a lifetime to become a darling overnight.” Her Olympic victory had come at a tremendous cost. It caused her to move halfway across the country from her parents, required her to miss our on a normal childhood, and exacted a significant toll on her body.

Mary Lou Retton’s dream took shape when she was eight years old. Glued to the television set, the young girl watched in awe as Romanian gymnast, Nadia Comaneci, won gold at the 1976 Olympics. Inspired by the performance, Retton practiced the splits in her living room and declared, “I’m going to go to the Olympics one day. I’m going to win the Olympics!”

Over the next few years, the energetic Retton excelled at gymnastics, winning several local meets. It became apparent that she had special talent, but the training options in her hometown were limited. To go to the next level, Retton knew she needed professional coaching. She begged her parents to let her train with Bela Karolyi, the man who had taught her role model, Nadia Comaneci. At first her parents refused, believing their daughter—only 13—was too young to move Karolyi’s training facility in Houston. Yet Retton continued to plead for the opportunity, and after a year her parents relented. They scraped together the funds to send their daughter to Texas.

Barely a teenager, Retton experienced intense homesickness upon arrival to Houston, but the separation from her parents was “all worth it. If I hadn’t gone, I would never be where I am today.” Despite missing her family, Retton quickly settled into her new life of rigorous training. She went to the gym from 7:00 to 11:00 in the morning, spent the afternoon taking educational courses by correspondence, and then returned to the gym from 5:00 to 9:00 at night. She kept up the demanding regimen for two years. “You give up your childhood,” Retton said of the experience. “You miss proms and games and high school events, and people say it’s awful…[but] I say it was a good trade. You miss something, but I think I gained more than I lost.”

Through the constant leaping and bounding of gymnastics, the body takes a pounding. Even as teenagers, gymnasts feel arthritic symptoms and suffer all manner of aches and pains in their joints. As a 15-year old, Retton missed the World Championships with a wrist injury. Six months prior to the Olympics in 1984 she suffered a knee injury that put her participation in jeopardy. She underwent arthroscopic surgery and then “did three months of rehabilitation in two weeks” to get herself back on track. Long after her career was over, Retton was still paying the price physically: she needed a hip replacement before her 40th birthday.

Looking back on her life, Mary Lou Retton acknowledges that the sacrifices she made along the way were incredible—not only for herself but for her family. But she knows every one of them was worth the pain. “I view sacrifice as a kind of ‘moral investment,’ where what you give up now in the way of immediate gratification will eventually pay you tremendous dividends down the line.”

Thought to Ponder

The dream is free, but the journey isn’t. At some point, you have to make a transition from believer of the dream to buyer of the dream. No dream comes true without somebody paying for it. If you want to achieve the dream, you have to be willing to do more than just imagine the outcome. You have to sacrifice your comfort, money, time, and energy. Over the next year, what sacrifices do you anticipate needing to make in order to move closer to your dream?

Article From: John C. Maxwell

STANDARD OF LIVING, SELF-ACTUALIZATION, OR SIGNIFICANCE…WHAT ARE YOU SHOOTING FOR?

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STANDARD OF LIVING, SELF-ACTUALIZATION, OR SIGNIFICANCE…WHAT ARE YOU SHOOTING FOR?

Truly great men and women are not acclaimed because of what they own and earn. Nor are they admired merely on account of their talents or level of professional performance. Rather, they’re respected because of their willingness to give themselves to people and purposes that will live beyond them.

Some people don’t even dare to dream. The unstated goal of their daily routine is simply to stay afloat. Everyone goes through seasons during which they fight just to keep their heads above water. However, people with a survival mentality continually tread water without ever going anywhere.

Others buy into the American dream. They are motivated by external rewards—a nice car, a spacious home, and a well-paying job. They prize security and a steadily increasing standard of living. Adopting a mentality of material success, they measure accomplishment primarily in terms of their net worth.

Still others have a mentality of self-actualization. They seek personal fulfillment over and above professional stability. They look to identify their talents and to sharpen their strengths, and they search for work that allows them to do what they love.

Obviously, everyone must meet a set of basic needs in order to survive. And, there’s certainly nothing wrong with working toward material security and self-actualization. However, if your dream doesn’t somehow transcend your self, then it will always be somewhat shallow and insignificant.

As Woodrow Wilson stated, “You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.”

The mysterious beauty of selfless service is that it returns benefits to those who charitably spend themselves on behalf of others.

“One man gives freely, yet gains even more;
another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.
A generous man will prosper;
he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”
~ Proverbs 11:24, 25

Question to Consider
In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” Reassess your dream by asking, “Who will benefit the most when it comes true?” If the answer revolves around you, then you still have some thinking to do in order to stretch your dream from selfishness to significance.

STOPPING THE DREAM FROM SLIPPING THROUGH YOUR GRASP

STOPPING THE DREAM FROM SLIPPING THROUGH YOUR GRASP BY: JOHN C. MAXWELL

Having a dream is like holding a glass figurine—it’s fragile and will shatter as soon as you let go of it. As poet Langston Hughes advised, we must “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” What does it mean to cling tenaciously to a dream?

For starters, we keep hold of our dream by refusing to let adverse circumstances dissuade us from following it. Quitting is more about who we are than where we are. Most people give up on their dream far too quickly. They blame external challenges for halting their progress, but in actuality, they have surrendered to internal doubts or fears. The only guaranteed way to lose a dream is to stop trying to achieve it.

We also put our dreams at risk by when we delay action until conditions are ideal. Waiting for everything to be right is wrongheaded. As Jonathan Winters wrote, “If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to meet it.” When chasing a dream, forward motion attracts provision. Too often we want to have the resources in hand before making a move. However, vision doesn’t follow resources. It happens the other way around. First we have the dream. Then we move ahead. Then—and only then—do people and resources follow.

In addition, to persevere in pursuit of the dream, we must learn to think differently. Believe it or not, successful people don’t spend the majority of their time thinking about the specifics of what must be done. Instead, they spend about twice as much time reflecting on what they have already accomplished and on how they are capable of accomplishing what they set out to do. They revisit past triumphs and visualize their strengths leading to future victories in order to give them motivation for the battle at hand.

Thought to Ponder

Your dream will take longer to accomplish than you realize and will be harder to achieve than you anticipate, but it will be far more rewarding than you could ever imagine. Perseverance sustains your dream. It means succeeding because you’re determined to, not destined to. Don’t let weariness weigh you down. Instead, refuse to let your present surroundings dictate the fate of your dream. Press ahead even when everything isn’t perfectly in place, and renew your thinking each day by recalling past successes and by taking notice of your strengths and abilities.

Man in the Mirror

Man in the Mirror By: John C. Maxwell

I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change

~ Michael Jackson “Man in the Mirror”

In leadership, the first person we must examine is ourselves. That’s the Mirror Principle. If our self-perception is distorted, then our attempts to influence others will be misguided or even manipulative.

The first person I must know is myself; this brings self-awareness. Human nature seems to endow people with the ability to size up everybody in the world but themselves! When steering a team, as when driving a car, neglecting to check your blind spots can cause you to wreck.

The first person I must get along with is myself. This leads to a healthy self-image. If we think negatively of ourselves, we will seek validation from others—extracting value from them. On the contrary, if we have a positive view of ourselves, we will be secure enough to add value to the people around us.

The first person to cause me problems is myself. Admitting this truth yields self-honesty. You never win when you play the blame game; you only whine. And complainers drag down the morale of everyone around them.

The first person I must change is myself. This empowering attitude paves the way to self-improvement. “Everyone thinks of changing the world,” said Leo Tolstoy, “but no one thinks of changing himself.”

Here are three basic questions to ask the person in the mirror.

What do I want the future to look like? (PICTURE)

Vision is a picture held in your mind’s eye of the way things could or should be in the days ahead. Vision connotes a visual reality, a portrait of a preferred future. The picture is internal and personal.

You will only be able to accomplish your vision once you’ve painted it on the canvas of your mind. You must define the dream clearly and compellingly before you pursue it. As Michael Hyatt observes, “If the vision is not clear, no strategy will work and it will be impossible to prioritize correctly.” Most people skip the step of clarifying their vision, and their dream remains fuzzy and unspecific. As a result, they never achieve it.

How do I move toward my vision of the future? (PLAN)

To fulfill your vision, you have to have to stop stargazing and start strategizing. People who see their vision materialize are the ones who have devised concrete plans to enlist supporters, gather resources, and upgrade their abilities. By translating a lengthy journey into smaller steps, and by creating mile markers to chart progress, a strategy inspires action.

Am I using my time wisely? (PRIORITIES)

Time cannot be managed. It cannot be controlled in any way. It marches on no matter what you do, in the way a taximeter keeps running whether you are moving forward or standing still. Everyone gets the same number of hours and minutes every day. Nobody—no matter how shrewd—can save minutes from one day to spend on another. People talk about trying to find time, but they need to quit looking. There aren’t any extra minutes lying around.

You can‘t manage your time. So what can you do? Manage yourself! Nothing separates successful people from unsuccessful people more than how they use their time. Successful people understand that time is the most precious commodity on earth. As a result, they know where their time goes. They continually analyze how they are using their time and ask themselves the question, ―Am I getting the best use out of my time?

Article by: John C. Maxwell

Imagination by Napoleon Hill

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Imagination by Napoleon Hill

Locked within the human mind lie powers beyond comprehension.

The imagination is the key which can release them to work for the individual and for humanity.

Only a few of the millions upon millions of men through the ages have recognized this fact and used it to direct their own destinies.

The imagination is our gateway of approach to the Infinite Intelligence of the Creator. It is opened by the state of mind known as Faith.

It is in this state of mind that hope and purpose are translated into physical reality. For it is a fact that all thought tends to transform itself into its physical equivalent.

Faith provides the imagination with the stimulative capacity of desire and enthusiasm with which one’s plans and purposes may be given action.

Through faith in himself, any person can achieve any goal he desires.

Henry Ford once was asked what type of men he needed most for his company.

“I could use a hundred men who don’t know there is such a word as ‘impossible’,” he replied.

And it has been said that Ford’s stupendous business success resulted from two personal traits: (1) He set himself a definite major goal in life and then (2) recognized no limitations in pursuit of his aim.

The imagination is the workshop of the soul wherein every man can shape his own earthly destiny.

Truly, whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.

Clarence Saunders, working as a grocery clerk, conceived the idea for a self-service type of grocery merchandising plan.

He was convinced the idea would pay off and offered to share it with his boss. The boss, lacking Saunders’ imagination, promptly fired him for “wasting time with foolish ideas.”

Four years later, Saunders launched his famed Piggly-Wiggly Stores which yielded him more than $4,000,000.

But it takes will power, too. Sometimes amounting to sheer bullheadedness.

Clarence Saunders might have been tempted to give up the idea for a “cafeteria-style” grocery store if his will power had not impelled him to keep going—even though it had cost him his job.

Your imagination will help you achieve success if you give it a chance.

But once it has done its work, you alone can apply the faith and will power to make your dreams come true.

Don’t make the mistake of eating the husk of fear and throwing away the rich kernels of abundance and plenty.

Ask yourself now: “What am I afraid of?”

The answer probably will be: “Nothing.”

Source: Success Unlimited. October, 1959. page 31-32.

About Napoleon Hill:

Napoleon Hill was born in 1883 in a one-room cabin on the Pound River in Wise County, Virginia. He began his writing career at age 13 as a “mountain reporter” for small town newspapers and went on to become America’s most beloved motivational author. Hill passed away in November 1970 after a long and successful career writing, teaching, and lecturing about the principles of success. His work stands as a monument to individual achievement and is the cornerstone of modern motivation. His book, Think and Grow Rich, is the all time bestseller in the field. Hill established the Foundation as a nonprofit educational institution whose mission is to perpetuate his philosophy of leadership, self-motivation, and individual achievement. His books, audio cassettes, videotapes, and other motivational products are made available to you as a service of the Foundation so that you may build your own library of personal achievement materials… and help you acquire financial wealth and the true riches of life.