Excuses

This is a fan favorite of all the victims out there. Nobody can be a good victim without making excuses for all that happens in life. Whatever the circumstances, there is always a reason for it transpiring. Personal responsibility is not in the cards for these individuals.

The successful take the exact opposite track. They know they are responsible for all that happens in their lives. This is how they retain power. Whenever I blame someone (something) else for what occurs in my life, I am giving that person power over me. When this happens, if I want change, I will have to wait for that person to change. This is not the definition of personal power.

Whenever you encounter someone who is continually making excuses, rest assured that you are dealing with one who comes from a place of weakness. Their conditioning is such where they need to play the victim in everything they do. And, a victim never wins. Remember that.

The simple truth is that there are times when things do not occur as planned. Business deals go awry. The stock market goes the wrong way. You one and only love runs off with another person. Life is full of surprises. This is true for everyone who walks the planet. Nobody has a crystal ball to predict the future. The strong know this and accept what happens. The weak make excuses.

One of Warren Buffet's investment criteria with looking at a company is the strength of management. When looking at the ability of a CEO, Buffet says to read the annual reports. In his estimation, this is where you can garner the type of person leading the company. He looks for those who stand up and take the blame when things do not go as planned. Everyone makes mistakes. Buffet wants to deal with someone who doesnt make excuses while trying to pass the blame to someone else.

You should expect the same thing in your life. If you are one who habitually makes excuses for things that happen, it is time to stop that behavior. You are free to decide whether you are going to come from a place of strength or weakness. Making excuses is always a weak man's approach. The strong take responsibility.

The same concept applies to those around you. Involve yourself with people who resist the desire to place blame and make excuses. Cut these people out of your life like a surgeon does cancer. When it comes to your success, these people are just as fatal.
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The Greatest Obstacles

People consistently will talk about all the obstacles they face in life. There is no doubt that issues such as illness, finances, and relationships can create tremendous challenges. However, these are not the things that hold people back. It is what is inside that creates the greatest obstacle to personal success.

People are not stopped from the outside. Rather, the obstacles that hinder people's progress are totally within them. This sounds insane to the untrained person yet all successful people know this to be true. What is it that has consistently stopped you your entire life? It was not the situations since they change over time. We are stopped by those thoughts and feelings we consistently carry with us.

A successful life is accomplished on a daily basis. Many look for the "big bang" success which is rare. Overnight successes are the oddity. Most attain success by taking daily action in the direction they want to move in. This is done by a daily conquest of one's thoughts and emotions.

The self help industry has existed for thousands of years. I believe Jesus was the greatest self-help teacher there was. He laid a program that helped people to overcome fear and showed people how to live a successful life. Notice none of his strategies dealt with making money or running a business. He focused on the internal makeup of an individual.

This concept was also stressed by other great teachers throughout history. All spiritual leaders talk about "going inward" to find solutions. Conquering oneself preceded the conquering of the world. This is something that held since the early times.

If you want to master your world, it is best to master yourself. We need to identify and focus upon those things which are stopping us. All success is first created within. Take control of your life on a daily basis. Overcoming fear and procrastination is not a one time event. It is something that needs to be achieved on a daily basis, multiple times a day.

In summation, the greatest challenge you face is controlling your thoughts and your emotions. Everything that you realize on the outside is a manifestation of what occurs on the inside. If you are consistently experiencing lack and need, concentrate on motivating yourself to take the action to solve these problems. Fear is something that your mind invents. It is not real. However, we all buy it until it controls our lives. We should no more believe in this animal than we do in Santa Claus. They both are equally as real.

To achieve all your success, first go inward. That is where your solutions lie.
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What Qualities Do You Need?

Success is the result of certain actions taken in a specific direction. However, to get to that destination, there are certain qualities one needs to have. Implementing the proper attitudes and mindset are crucial if you are going to achieve anything substantial. For this to occur, you might need to alter how you view yourself.

Contrary to popular belief, your personality is something that is developed. It is not something that we are born with. People like to say "he is naturally..." or "this is how I was made". These are untrue statements. We all select the behaviors which we impact our lives. Most of these actions are determined by how we view ourselves.

"I played Cary Grant so long I actually became him"-Cary Grant

How would you describe Cary Grant? What words come to mind when you think about him. Mature. Sophisticated. Suave. Regal. Contrast that with Pee Wee Herman. What words come to mind to describe him? The reason I bring these two individuals up is neither of them are really that person. They both were born someone else. However, over time, they developed the qualities of their on screen persona (at least in our eyes).

Now that you see this concept, what qualities do you need to create the success in your life? How do you need to view yourself to achieve all you want to achieve? This is the first step to developing the personality which will carry you through.

Let us look at it another way. What is confidence? How do you know a person has it? Are you sure that they truly are confident or do they just hide their fear while taking action anyway? The point is, what you see on the outside is not what is necessarily on the inside. Yet, many times, it matters none. What comes through to others is what is important.

Therefore, we need to develop a list of all the qualities we need to succeed. Take out a piece of paper and write them down. Make a list of 5 characteristics which will get you to the next level. This is how you are going to view yourself. Start with words such as intelligent, confident, experienced, driven, etc... Take a look at some of the people you admire and ask yourself, "what qualities do I like in that person". If you want more success in business, choose someone who is successful in that arena. Perhaps it is best to start to see yourself as a business owner instead of an employee.

The idea is to create the image in our minds of how we want others to see us when we are successful. However, we know that before anything can happen, the vision needs to be clear in our mind. If you want to be something, see yourself as that first. Before long, that will become a part of you. This worked very well for Cary Grant.
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The Written Plan

Having a list of goals combined with a list of corresponding actions to take each day is a powerful combination. With these two items, you are almost guaranteed success. The only remaining component is to ingrain these actions into your daily routine. Repetition creates a habit which puts our success on autopilot.

We created the list that requires our daily attention. Now it is time to start utilizing this concept. We start by putting a couple of the actions into our daily plan. Do you not have a daily plan? Then it is time to start writing one down each day.

Before going any further, you have the freedom to get as sophisticated or simple as you like with this. Personally, I prefer simple. The idea is to have a list of activities along with the times that you are going to do them. It is your daily schedule. Writing each task down enables you to control the direction of your day. Time is used effectively when you do this.

Therefore, start with a piece of paper (or a notebook). Draw lines across in breaking the day into hourly segments. Do this for the hours that you are typically awake. For example, if you arise at 6 AM and retire at 10 PM, mark those times off. Now, list the activities which occur each day. Start by putting "Create plan for day" 15-30 minutes before you go to sleep. This will start to create this as a habit.

For most, work consumes a fair portion of the day. Therefore, block off the work hours. If there are things you regularly do like attending luncheons, put that down. After filling the work time, take the activities which move us towards our goal and assign them to a specific time. Try to do the hardest activities when you have the most energy. Some prefer to workout in the morning while others like the evening. Decide what is best for you.

The actions we want to make into habits are written in everyday. Once you complete your plan, your next task is simply to follow what you wrote down. Of course, situations will arise which requires some flexibility. However, having a written plan will increase the likelihood that you achieve the results your desire.
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Nugent's Passion

Last night I caught Ted Nugent on Glenn Beck's television program last night. Watching the episode really got my mind turning. To me, I was witnessing someone who had that one thing that everyone needs: passion. You could see it oozing out of every pore of his body.

You might not like Nugent's music. His politics might be opposition to yours. You might detest his lifestyle choice of being a hunter and the killer of animals. However, you have to admire the zest for life this man carries with him each day. Passion is the one thing that makes it all fun. Too many trudge through life just trying to make it.

Passion is that one quality which will keep you going. It is the thing that causes you to jump out of bed in the morning instead of rolling out to face another dreary day. Basically, it is loving this gift called life. Making the most out of everyday is what our journey here is all about. Far too many miss this concept. They make all the other things more important only to look back and see they missed a whole lot.

What truly inspires you? This is a question that everyone needs to answer. People who live with passion achieve tremendous things. They have the drive to persevere when things get tough. Each moment is lived to the fullest. The polar opposite of that is someone who drags themselves to work looking forward to the next holiday. They take no joy in anything that happens in their life. It becomes an endless cycle.

Passion is the game changer. It is the one quality that makes things instantly better. People instantly have a different outlook when they find something they are passionate about. Time loses all perspective with the hours flying by. It is as if that person is continually "in the zone".

I will give you an example. There are certain topics which I absolutely love writing about. At the same time, there are those which are a total drag. When I am writing about something that I am passionate about, I can write 10,000 words in a few hours. However, get me involved with those subjects that have little interest and 500 words can be an all day affair. The passion that I have makes the difference.

How much passion is presently in your life? Take a look at this idea and be honest with yourself. If you find that each day is unexciting and a repeat of the previous, perhaps it is time to add some into your day. Picture how Nugent approaches life. Put that zest into everything that you do. You will see immediate results.
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