Attitude Towards Discipline

Many people associate discipline with punishment. When growing up children learn that if they do not do what their parents or teachers want, they will be punished in some way. So they develop an uncanny ability to do just enough to avoid punishment. That ability becomes the genesis of mediocrity.

It is shocking how many people are like that. It is a negative trait that is honed overtime. To rise above mediocrity, you must change your attitude towards discipline.

Discipline means getting more out of yourself and giving your best towards your goal. Think of discipline as a surefire way of getting to your success. Learn to associate discipline with success not punishment.

If you are productive today, then slack off tomorrow, you will only get minimal results. Be disciplined everyday for the best results in your life.

Discipline Training

You can be trained or train yourself to be progressively more disciplined. If you can only concentrate at your job for 1 hour, try and add an extra half an hour. If you become comfortable with that, keep increasing the period until you get full concentration.

The best way to be disciplined is to learn how to set boundaries. Learn to say no to distractions from your goal. It may mean that you will not answer your phone when “in the working zone“. It may mean denying yourself some pleasures or finer things in life or set a limit to your sleeping hours.

Without boundaries, you will just go with the “flow”. Discipline is about taking deliberate action towards your goal not just going with the flow. Define what consists work or actions towards your goal, stick with it and eliminate all else.

Multitasking wastes time especially when switching from one task to another. Progressively train yourself to be more disciplined by  focusing fully on the task at hand.

Practical Discipline Examples

• Physical Health & Fitness – Be disciplined in taking care of your body. Do not just set new years resolutions in January to keep fit then forget it as the year progresses. Discipline means carrying on with your resolutions even when your emotional state has changed. Eat right and keep a regular exercise routine.

• Work – Many people do just enough not to get fired. The average office worker is productive for only half the time they are in the office. Research has shown that many workers spend time in idle socializing, checking email, reading news and other activities not directly related to their job. Set yourself apart by being more disciplined. Improve your productivity, work the required hours everyday and give your best.

• Financial Freedom – Many people read financial freedom books or attend seminars and resolve to change their financial future. But after the dust settles, they get back to the old habits. Financial freedom is a long road, expect to get bored or tired as you go along. Put in place automated systems, e.g. regular savings to help you carry on. Watch the small dollar bills regularly even as you aim for the the big bucks.

• Home & Family – Be disciplined in the amount of time you spend with your family. Be disciplined in taking action and responsibilities at home even when the going gets tough.

• Mind – Keep training your mind, feed it positive thoughts regularly, visit positive websites like this one, regularly. Train your mind to think outside the box. Keep learning new ideas and develop mental strength by stepping out of your comfort zone. Do this regularly.

• Time Management – We only have 24 hours in a day. Learn how to prioritize your activities and stick to a schedule. Do not take on more than you can chew, but when you commit to something, find the most time effective way of following through. If time management does not come naturally for you, train yourself to be more time conscious, productive and/or learn how to delegate.

Summary

Work towards your goal even when the going gets tough.  You will achieve a lot in your life if you stick to your mission day in day out. Don’t keep on falling in and out of love with your passion.

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You were born lucky

My sister says that I swim like sediment. But every time she says that, I am quick to remind her that I once won a swimming contest.

The average man’s ejaculate is 280 million sperms. Only 1 is required to make a baby. If you are reading this it means you won a nearly impossible swimming championship. Even champion swimmers Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe never had to compete with that many people at the Olympics.

Always remember that you were once a winning sperm. Even when faced with life’s difficulties, remember you were born a winner. You were born lucky.

Create Your Own Luck

If you are waiting for your lucky day while lazing & sleeping all day, I have news for you; in your dreams!

You get lucky when you decide to be lucky.  Luck will meet you when you are ready for it. I have decided to be lucky this year. I will work hard for my luck, I will work smart for my luck, and I want to inspire you to do the same.

What kind of lucky break are you looking for? Are you looking to meet the love of your life? Are you looking for a recording contract? Are you looking at doubling your profits? Whatever your heart desires, you can do it if you put your all into it. Your luck is the sum total of your thoughts and actions.

You can create your lucky break by becoming clear on what you really want. No one can decide for you what your true desire is. Harness the power of your mind to zoom in on exactly what you need to do to achieve your goal.

For example, if you want to get your dream job, what are the right steps to follow? What contacts would you need? How would you position yourself to potential employers? Where would you find those employers in the first place?

Remember that you have to be in a game to win it. Spectators never legally score a goal. You have to practice and make it to the team. You have to turn up for the match. You have to do your part to get lucky. Action and thoughts are the building blocks of luck. They are the master keys of a lucky break.

A Few Lucky Men (and Woman)

• Richard Branson – He was busy selling his student magazine and distributing records on mail order. Then the unexpected happened. There was a postal strike and he suddenly realized just how reliant he had become to the postal service. That was the beginning of setting up of Virgin Megastores. He decided to invest in a place where young people could go buy records and listen to music. What could have been a death knell of his business, turned into a window of opportunity and luck.

• Napoleon Hill - He was working for a magazine that required him to compile success stories of people who had made it in life. One of his first assignments was to interview Andrew Carnegie, one of the richest men in the world at the time.An interview originally intended for three hours went on for three days and nights. Andrew Carnegie then decided to entrust Napoleon Hill with the task of teaching his success principles to the world. He introduced him to various rich men such as Henry Ford, and helped set in motion the study and philosophy that would turn Napoleon Hill into the success teacher of millions in the world for decades. What a lucky break!

• J.K. Rowling – J.K Rowling is a classic rag to riches story. She was on government welfare support while writing the first Harry Potter book. Within 5 years, she moved from welfare to multi-million dollar status by following her passion. Her book was first rejected by 13 publishers, before being taken in by Bloomsbury who advised her “to get a day job, since she had little chance of making money in children’s books.”Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released on 21 July 2007 and broke its predecessor’s record as the fastest-selling book of all time. It sold 11 million copies in the first day of release in the United Kingdom and United States. Harry Potter is now a global brand worth an estimated $15 billion and the last four Harry Potter books have consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history. Lucky indeed

• Sir Donald George Bradman – He was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. He practiced batting incessantly during his youth. This form of practice developed his timing and reactions to a high degree. He may have looked like an overnight sensation, a lucky bloke, but his luck was years in the making.

• You – You can create your own luck by setting your goals, and following your passion. Do not let that internal voice called fear stop you. Do not let the challenges of the road ahead cause you to despair. Set your mind right and take action towards your goals. It is only when you are out there doing it that you will meet your lucky break. Luck does not come to you while you sleep. You meet half way.

Some Lucky Quotes

• Be prepared, work hard, and hope for a little luck. Recognize that the harder you work and the better prepared you are, the more luck you might have. – Ed Bradley
• Diligence is the mother of good luck. – Benjamin Franklin
• I believe life is a series of near misses. A lot of what we ascribe to luck is not luck at all. It’s seizing the day and accepting responsibility for your future. It’s seeing what other people don’t see and pursuing that vision. -Howard Schultz
• People always call it luck when you’ve acted more sensibly than they have. Anne Tyler

Summary

You can use the power of your mind to attract luck to your life. Your thoughts and actions bring success that others may deem as your lucky break.

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Every year without fail, the words “resolutions” and “valentine” spike up on web searches. Millions of people log in to their favorite search engines and google for goals and love. According to Google Trends, the searches for the word “resolutions” spike up right at the end of each year. The searches for the word “valentine” spike up at the second week of February. Let us ride the wave and set some post valentines resolutions.

Where is Your Horizon?

How far into the future do you set your goals? Are you only looking at the next 18 months? Your actions and choices today will affect your future. Successful people think further into the future than unsuccessful people. They are willing to invest for the future instead of getting instant gratification. They are willing to sow the seeds and wait for them to bear fruits.

Set a major goal that is attainable but have a longer term view of it. Your major mission in life becomes your moral compass, helping you make the right choices along the way. If you only think of the near term, your habits, friends, output and choices will show.

The Feeling of Achievement

One of my decisions this year is to get used to the taste of victory. I want to get used to the idea of winning. I want to get used to the idea of being a super achiever. It is a self perpetuating state. The more you think of yourself as a winner, the more likely you are to succeed.

Positive thinking alone will not make you win your battles, but it does a lot more for your success than negative thinking ever can. So how do you develop the feeling of achievement? The answer lies with the goals you set for yourself.

If you set goals that are almost impossible to achieve, then chances are that you will not achieve them. The biggest man was once a baby. Start with baby goals and grow with them. Get used to the little league before jumping into the small league. Learn to spell before you write your novel.

Celebrate each victory no matter how small. When you set a specific, measurable goal, and you reach it, take a moment to celebrate. Take a moment to reflect on what made you succeed. As you do that over and over, you will grow in confidence and ability. You will establish a pattern of winning that will be difficult to break.

Life Work Balance

Do you have an insatiable desire for wealth that is detrimental to your values and relationships? Taking business and success too seriously can lead to stress and emotional turmoil that can ruin everything else.

Since launching this blog, I have written on a wide array of topics ranging from Personal Branding, to Emotional Mastery to Relationships and Getting Rich. I have tried to inspire you and me to find balance instead of chasing success in only one aspect of life. How would you like to gain the whole world and lose your soul? How would you feel if you became the richest man in your city and lose you family?

Take regular breaks from work or business. It helps create a healthy work / life balance. You can spend time with your family and friends when taking breaks from work.

Take a piece of piece of paper and set your goals in all aspects of your life. Re-evaluate your quest for success and decide if you are paying a fair price. Is your job worth your family life? Is your night out worth your school grades? Is a little grass worth your career?

Finding the One

Find the one goal that makes you happy. Put in the requisite time and effort to attain that goal. Going on with life without a major goal is like setting out to sea without a destination in mind.

The major goal for this blog, this year, is to create a community of positive minded people. I want to provide a personal development platform and an environment for people to share their experiences. I am still working behind the scenes to put the building blocks in place. It is a goal that has consumed me and will continue to until it turns out into reality.

What is your major goal in life? What are you trying to achieve this year or in your life? Take time to really understand yourself and where you want to go. You are the captain of your universe and you owe it to yourself to get direction. Nobody can tell you what your major goal should be. Look within and you will find it. When you find your goal, give it your very best.

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Polygamous Goals Setting

Many people rushed to remove the speck in South African president, Jacob Zuma’s eye (regarding his polygamy), before removing the logs in their own eyes. Why? Introspection is harder than analyzing other people’s affairs.

As we move along with the Goals Series of articles, I want to zoom in on the question of monogamy vs. polygamy of goals. (Valentine’s love is still in the air).

What are the perils of marring many goals? Why does the grass seem greener on the other side of your goal? Is it that hard to be faithful to your major goal in life? How sweet is that forbidden fruit called distractions? Why do we keep falling in and out of love with our goals?

Many people spread themselves too thin. They never stay fixated on something long enough to see it blossom. It is easier to be turned on by the next shiny goal than to pursue a boring goal to its logical conclusion.

Flirting with a new goal is irresistibly exhilarating. It takes us to new highs, gives us goose bumps and makes our minds spin. It is easy to stay up at night thinking of a new goal. It is easy to be passionately infatuated with fresh goals. New goals open the world of possibilities and do wonders for the heart.

Then something happens. The reality of our relationship with that goal sinks in. The excitement is replaced by mundane activities. The honeymoon comes to a crashing halt.

At first there is the desire to rekindle the passion, but that is quickly replaced by the temptation to try something new. Why not seek out yet another goal on the side? Why not juggle a couple of goals incase one does not work out? Subconsciously, we ask, “What is wrong with polygamy?”

Lack of focus is a major cause of infertility of goals. Jumping from one bed of ideas to another is bad karma. It may seem fun and safe at first but it causes nothing but pain and under-performance in the long run.

Enhancing Your Relationship with Goals

If you have been in and out of relationships you know that there is a cost of switching. You either end up hurting yourself, your partner or wasting time… or all of the above. It is the same with goals. Switching from one goal to another comes at a price. It gets expensive as far as time is concerned. It hurts your output and your confidence. Flipping from one goal to another turns out to be a recipe for mediocrity.

Polygamy of goals would work best if you had more than 24 hours a day. It is better to have one sweet goal and give it all the loving that it needs. Spend time with your lovely goal. Dedicate yourself to your goal. Commit to your goal and stick around to see it bear fruits.

Relationships take time and work. Do not starve your goals of attention, time and sheer hard work. Continuously enhance your performance and drive deeper into your goals. Many people never get close to their potential because they swim on the shallow end. They are afraid of the deep end of their desires.

Learn to show love to your goals. One of the best ways of showing love is to learn to listen. Learn all you can about your goal and get real intimate with the details. Go out of your way to make the baby steps of achievements. It is the small things that count. Little by little you will get to do big things.

Sometimes you may feel uninspired to love your goals. In moments like those, seek the advice of goals counselors. Zig Ziglar once said “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily!” Look for ways to stay attracted to your goals daily. Retrace your steps to that which attracted you in the first place. You may need a coach, an inspiring blogger or a good friend to remind you daily that your love for your goal is not in vain. Do what you need to do to stay in love with your goal.

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We were on a stretch of road called Mombasa Road heading to Nairobi city centre. There had been many reported car-jackings around that road so other motorists were too scared to come to our aid.

Imagine this; a bunch of rough looking dudes, looking like gangstas, trying to flag down scared motorists for a lift to the nearest garage or service station. It was an effort in futility.

Someone suggested that we were scaring them coz of the sheer numbers. So we decided that some of us should hide, and have only one of us to try to flag down the speeding motorists. But even thugs had figured that one out. In fact some were way ahead of us. They were reported to have been using pregnant looking women with kids to flag down their prey. Looking back, in the light of the crime rate at the time, we were not in a position to be trusted. We were the epitome of Nairobbery.

Lets Talk About Trust, Baby…

Trust is stronger than love. No matter how much you love someone, if you cannot trust that person, it is hard for that love to bear fruits. It is hard to do business with people you do not trust. It is hard to communicate with people you cannot trust. Lack of trust destroys friendships faster than a snake’s venom.

It takes years to build trust. It is a slow process; just like nature. Trust does not grow as fast as the beans in Jack and the bean stalk.

It is the small things that you do to build trust that count. Small cumulative words and actions allow trust to thrive. You cannot impose trust. You cannot dictate trust. But you can help create an environment for it to flourish.

Trust is so important for success yet many people never really pause to think about creating a “trust strategy”. How do you gain and maintain the trust of the key people you need, to get ahead in life? How do you know whom to trust? How do you use the trust bestowed upon you responsibly? How can you piggyback on someone else’s trust?

A Unity of Purpose

There is a Swahili proverb that says “Mpanda ngazi na mshuka ngazi hawashikani mkono”. It is loosely translated as “someone heading North and someone heading South cannot hold hands”.

It is easier to trust someone after you know their goals. It is easier to trust a person if your goals and theirs are in harmony, and not in direct conflict. This applies to all spheres of life. An employee whose burning ambition is to create a competing business is not worth being on your payroll. A consultant who cares more about his fees than helping his client solve problems is not the best candidate for the job.

Pay special attention to what motivates the people you interact with. Pay attention to what makes them happy. What do they ultimately want? Do not ignore the link between goals and trust.

Positioning Yourself for Trust

People will use your goals in life to judge you, whether you know it or not. Whether you want it or not; it will happen. When setting your goals, add trust to the mix.

Allow me to refer to an earlier blog post I wrote last year. It was entitled – What is Personal Branding from Within? In that post, I applied a Bob Marley song to Personal Branding. I wrote “The truth outs. The truth about who you really are eventually comes out. You can fool some people sometimes, you can fool some people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. The best way to enhance your personal brand is to change your internals; your thoughts, your emotions, your habits and your character”.

Who you really are eventually comes out. The best way to inspire trust is to be happy in your own skin. Be happy with the person you really are. Develop an unshakable character and habits.

Before you can seek to be trusted by others, you must be someone worthy of trust. People break others people’s trust not because they are bad people, but because of conflicting goals.

It pays to know what you want in life. You are less likely to hurt others if you know what you want and communicate it clearly, and in good time. If you have to fake who you are, then you will break someone’s trust eventually.

There is no shame in walking away from people or situations if they do not align with your objectives. Position yourself with people that accept you just as you are instead of camouflaging your real self. It is good for you and them in the long run.

Cultivating Trustworthiness

The little things that you do day in day out are the vital trust deposits into your trust bank. Unfortunately, that bank is a little strange. The numerous small deposits over time can only sustain one withdrawal. It is possible to erode 10 years worth of trust deposits with one withdrawal. Don’t prick the balloon of trust.

Reliability is the long haul trick to solid trust. Learn to keep the small promises. When you say you are going to do something, do your best to make sure that it is done.

Not everyone will trust you. It is hard for Osama and Obama to trust the same guy. Decide whose camp you want to be in. Work on building trust with the right people. Misdirected trust efforts are futile.

Summary

People will trust you more if they know that your goals are not in direct conflict with theirs. Make small baby steps to build trust with the people who matter. Trust can be built over the years but destroyed overnight. Gourd it ferociously when you get it.

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I did a degree in Marketing so I got to hear the word customer more than people doing courses such as Engineering, Medicine etc. I learned a great deal about customer relationships management, customer acquisition, customer retention, customer service etc. But it was still a limited view on the concept of “customers”.

Most people think of customers as someone who purchases goods and services from a vendor. Those are customers, yes, but there is more to it.

Defining Your Customers

Your customers are the people who help you make a living. Your customers are the people you have to satisfy to get ahead in life. If you are employed, your boss is your customer. If you are a politician, your voters are your customers.

Many people fail to achieve their true potential because they do not clearly define who their customers are. Who do you need to deliver value to for you to profit? Who do you need to please for you to make a fortune?

One of the mistakes that many small businesses make is to try and please everybody. You have to take your time and define, identify clearly, who you have to serve. Think carefully how you want to allocate your resources such as time, money, emotional engagement etc.

Do not spread yourself too thin. Laser target your efforts to those who matter. You can please everyone else in the next life time.

Amplifying Customer Satisfaction

Once you have identified whom it is that you need to please to get ahead, get to work. Find out what they need and over-deliver. Do not make promises you cannot keep. Commit to over delivering on your promises. Satisfaction is the difference between the promise and performance. The higher your promise is; the lower the satisfaction.

Don’t be boring. Boring is when you deliver exactly as you are expected to. Find interesting ways to wow! your customers. Turning up to work on time is expected, doing more than your call of duty to improve your company’s bottom line is amazing. Gravitate towards being amazing.

Learn the art of subtle bragging. When you do something great, don’t hide it. Make sure your customer knows about it. I learned this one as a little kid. My parents were my customers. Whenever they wanted something done, I did it and subtly let them know “who did it”. It worked like a charm. It still does, even with other customers I get in life.

Your customers needs evolve. Do not stagnate. Change with the times. Survey your customers from time to time to find out what tickles their fancy. Be on the forefront of knowing when your customers are unhappy. You will make mistakes from time to time, when you do, be prompt to apologize and make up for it.

The customer is always right. Learn to see things from their perspective. Learn to put yourself in their shoes. Feel their pain. Solve their pain. Be of great service to your customers. They will love you for it.

Lastly, learn to automate your customer satisfaction. Customer needs are ever changing and the quicker you learn to make your work easier, the better it will be for you in the long term. Have systems in place to please your customer, whoever he or she may be.

For example, as a blogger, I have automated the blog subscription. Anyone who wants to get a daily dose of inspiration only needs to subscribe at the top of the site. The blog is then delivered via email without me lifting a finger (after posting it on the site).

Find ways of satisfying your customers without breaking your back. It is more sustainable that way. Set specific, measurable goals for pleasing your customers.

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Acting as Jake Sully in the 2009 film Avatar, Sam Worthington has immortalized himself here in Perth and beyond.

And who would have thought that movie writer and director, James Cameron would break his own box office record (Titanic)? At the time of this writing, Avatar is the highest grossing movie in history (Over $US2.2 Billion!).

I won’t be the spoiler for those who have not seen the movie. Go watch it.

Pimp My Ride

A few years ago I was addicted to a TV show called “Pimp My Ride”. Each episode consisted of taking a car in a poor condition and restoring it, as well as customizing it. I personally know a few people who would benefit from such a makeover.

Last night I had a dream. I dreamt up of a new “Blog show”. Let us call it “Pimp My Avatar”. The show will be starring a carefully selected Success Makeover Experts team.

This team will be responsible for challenging your thinking and inspiring you to be the best you can be. What is an Avatar? An Avatar is a representation of an idea. The idea can be you as a husband (or wife); you as a business owner; you as a student; you as a sports man… it is up to you.

Now let us think about it. What if the “Pimp My Avatar” team worked on you today? What would they change? How would they transform you? How would the customize you? What would they get rid off in your life? What would they say about your current state?

You are about to be PIMPED UP!

Focus – What Do You Want To Be?

A good Avatar does not try to do everything. It is not a generality but a specific success story. What do you want to be? Do you want to be a better leader? Do you want to be a good student? Do you want to be the perfect relationship partner? Whatever your heart desires, you can be it. Make no mistake about it.

What are your current dominating thoughts? Are you a positive person or is your mind clouded in negative thoughts? Take out a piece of paper and write down what you think about mainly. What dominates your Avatar?

Changing what you focus on has the magical power of transforming your Avatar. Many people waste time and energy because of lack of focus. They do a little bit of this and a little bit of that. They spread themselves too thin.

Dig deeper into what you want to achieve in. If it is a relationship, give it more time. If it is a job, do your best. Do one thing and do it well. See it to its logical conclusion.

Grow – Get More Powerful

The more you use your Avatar, the more powerful it becomes. In computer games, the more you play and jump hurdles, the more powerful your Avatar becomes. You only grow if you do something. Sitting on your laurels only makes you stagnate.

Visualize in your mind where you want to go and how you plan to get there. Remember there can be no progress without action.

Don’t just take action for the sake of taking action. Take well calculated steps to take you to where you want to be. Remember the most important part of a journey is to pick the right direction. Don’t head to Cape Town if you want to get to Cairo.

Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Learn from your mistakes. Be careful not to make the same mistake twice though.

As you become stronger, hang around other stronger people. Do not compete with amateurs when you go pro. Do not lift the small weights when you can do more. Stretch yourself. Find people and situations that make you stretch. Do not get into a comfort zone. Be a powerful Avatar.

Presentation – Sell the Sizzle, not the Steak

The “Pimp My Avatar” team loves this part. This is where they make you look good. What good does it do for you to be a strong, focused Avatar if everyone thinks you suck?

The “Pimp My Avatar” team will first tell you to work on your communication skills. The messages you send out to others through your verbal and non-verbal communication define how they look at you.

Think ahead of time what image you want to project. Choose your words carefully. The words that come out of your mouth will be your Avatar’s image. Don’t speak like an old shoe.

Be careful about what you write down and speak to others. Words, once let out never come back. You cannot swallow back your words even with the most sincere apology.

The next task is to work on your association. Birds of a feather flock together. The people you hang out with will be a reflection of your Avatar’s character. An Avatar that scratches with turkeys is not an eagle in my books (and in many people’s books).

The “Pimp My Avatar” team will also spend time working on your personal grooming. You will feel like a million bucks once they give you a few handy tips. It takes only 3 seconds for you to make a first impression. And because you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression; make sure your Avatar looks good!

Work On Your Weak Areas

Just like the old cars in Pimp My Ride TV show, we all have defects. There is nothing wrong with that… that’s just the way life is. If we were all perfect, the world would be a boring place (and I would be out of job).

The “Pimp My Avatar” team has this little worksheet called “Habits”. They believe we are creatures of habits. They will help you identify your habits.

What bad habits would you like to eliminate? Do you tell “creative” truths? Are you always late for meetings? Do you forget to keep in touch with loved ones? Are you loud and a vexation to the spirit?

One by one, cast your bad habits to a bottomless pit or the deep blue ocean.

Work On Your Strengths

The able team at “Pimp My Avatar” knows that we at times give ourselves more credit than we deserve. It is not so easy to be a jack of all trades.

The team may seem mean spirited, but they are only trying to help you. They will gently advise you to go slow on things you don’t naturally excel in. They will tell you that even Michael Jordan tried his hand in Baseball but decided to go back to Basketball. It was not like he was bad at it anyway; it just was not his core strength.

Identify your key strengths and work on those. If you are not good with numbers, hire an accountant. If you are not good with gardening work, hire a gardener. Decide what your core strengths are and let others do the rest. Shine at what you do best. Let others shine in what they do best.

Journal Your Journey

The “Pimp My Avatar” team will insist that you record your success journey. A success journal is something that will guide you over the years and tell you how far you have come. Who knows, one day you may want to write a book to tell the world about how you became such a big, successful Avatar.

We tell ourselves that we shall remember all that is happening today. But over time the memories fade.

When you are eliminating habits, write your down how you feel. Why are you stopping smoking? What challenges are you experiencing? Why are you trying to improve your writing skills? How are you going about it?

Write your journal for you own consumption. Even if nobody ever reads it, it will serve the purpose of crystallizing your ideas, thoughts and help you in making sound judgment now and in the future.

Establish Your Feedback Loop

The “Pimp My Avatar” will finally insist that you have people to keep you in check. Do not surround yourself with “yes-men”. Have a friend (or a few friends) who will always be honest with you and tell you when you go wrong.

I once heard that a certain rich man had someone whose work was to whisper to him the words “You are only human”, after a delegation of praise singers had been to see him.

Musicians sometimes lose touch with their true fans and get surrounded by flatterers. By the time they realize it, they have lost touch with their base and their records are not selling as they used to.

Have a trusted mentor who will guide you and give you feedback on how your Avatar is coming along. Have a couple of admirers and cheerleaders that will lift your spirits up, but be wary of flattery. An ancient Greek philosopher once said “Flattery is like friendship in show, but not in fruit”. Get feedback that will bear fruits.

Final Thought….

To succeed in life you have to be clear on what you want. Focus on the right things. You become what you think about. Fill your mind with positive thoughts of achievement.

Remember to get out of your comfort zone. Work on your strengths and weaknesses. Present yourself well through your grooming, communication and association. Record your success journey and maintain touch with people who will give you honest feedback.

You are now an officially pimped up Avatar!

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1 – Build a Strong Foundation

Whether you are building a business, a relationship or a career, you need to set the right foundation. Spare a thought for the kind of foundation you are sitting on in your success journey.

Life is not a straight line; there will be bumps, traffic jams, roadblocks etc on your success journey. The weather may not always be what was predicted. Your best bet is to invest in a strong foundation.

In a relationship for example, investing in building trust, communication and problem solving skills is good insurance for tough times. Without a strong foundation, a relationship will be challenged by changing circumstances or external pressures.

In business, invest in building a solid product and good customer relations. Listen to your customers and develop richer relationships with them. This will not only help you be more profitable but insulate you from increased competition.

In Mathew 7:24-27 (New International Version), Jesus said “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Are your goals this year indicative of a wise man (or woman) or are you building your success on sand?

2 – Make Hay While the Sun Shines

I stumbled upon this idea last year…if you look around; you will notice that it is true. Those who succeed in life are those who harness the power of delayed gratification. Delayed gratification is the ability to wait in order to obtain something that one wants.

When a drug addict or an alcoholic wants something, they do all they can to get it right away. Their timeline is between now and a few hours. On the other hand, a medical student is willing to wait for seven years to become a doctor. Successful people look further into the future. Whether it is a business or a relationship, they are willing to put in the work now for rewards that may take years to realize.

There is a time for everything; a time to plant and a time to harvest. Do what you have to do now even if your pay off may be somewhere down the line. Set goals that allow you to stockpile now incase of tough times ahead.

The best time to fix a leaking roof is when the sun is shining. Do not wait for the rains to pound before looking for a fix. Doing it in good time will save you both time and money.

Joseph in the Bible interpreted Pharaohs dream (Genesis 41:28-31, New International Version), “It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.  Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe”

Are you in good physical health now? Do you have a job? Do you have blessings in areas of your life today? Maybe you have seven years of this and seven years of ravaging famine ahead. Ok, that is a gloomy way to look at it. But am sure you get my point don’t yah?

I have recently opened a new bank account that I intend to start an automatic saving/investment plan. This is something that I have been postponing for a long time. Every month I will automatically deposit a percentage of my earnings into that account. Is there something you can do in your life to be a good custodian of blessings in good times?

3 – The Only Thing to Fear is Fear Itself

Franklin D. Roosevelt said in his first inauguration speech “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance”.

If you want to advance in life this year you have to shun fear like a plague. Fear paralyzes action. Fear is the devil incarnate.

Fear is that little voice telling you that you cannot do it. Fear is that friend that makes you doubt yourself. Fear is what will make you sink to the depths of mediocrity.

In Matthew 14: 25-31 (New International Version), Peter walked on water before he let doubt creep in, then he started sinking.

During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. don’t be afraid.”

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

Have faith in yourself and in your abilities. Develop your self esteem and self confidence. They will help you achieve more of your goals. Fearing that you might fail will precipitate failure. The more you allow self defeating thoughts into your mind, the more likely they are to become true. How much more would you achieve in life if you were not afraid?

4 – Attitude Determines Altitude

Zig Ziglar said “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude”.

The kind of attitude you bring to your work, business, relationship, health will determine how far you go. Consciously work on your attitude.

5 – Use It or Lose It

The final lesson today is very important. It is a parable by Jesus about using our talents. Purpose it in your heart to use your God given talents to succeed in life. Set goals that will stretch your potential.

Let us look at Matthew 25:14-30 (New International Version).

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.  To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“The man with two bags of gold also came.’Master’,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came.’Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

‘Take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For those who have will be given more and they will have abundance. As for those who do not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Mark those words: “For those who have will be given more and they will have abundance. As for those who do not have, even what they have will be taken from them”. Before you complain that the rich get richer, think about what you have been blessed with. Are you using it to its true potential?

Summary

This is a blog post that I should have written months ago. I will personally revisit it severally in the course of this year. We can all apply these lessons to help us achieve more of our goals.

Remember to build yourself a strong foundation. Shun the desire for instant gratification, have a positive attitude towards life and shun fear. Use your talents and blessings to get ahead in life.

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Some people claim that setting new years resolutions is useless; they say that they tried it for a few years and it did not work for them.

2009 Resolutions

I have always set new years resolutions but always achieved less than I set out to achieve. But I achieve more than I would if I did not set them. The same would be true for companies that set annual goals. They may fail to achieve their goals, but they fare better than they would if they did not have any goals or guiding principles.

For example, in 2009 I set a goal of publishing 300 blog posts.  I was however only able to publish 185 blog posts. A part of me felt really bad that I did not hit the target. But I also realized that had I not set that goal, it is likely that I would have published less than 100.

It was my first year of blogging and I learned a great deal. My only regret is that after I realized that I had very few days to go to keep my promise of 300 posts, I froze. I could not get myself to write anymore.

There are no unrealistic goals, just unrealistic timelines. What I should have done is to adjust my timelines instead of being paralyzed into inaction.

Up the point I launched the blog, I had been making a living on the Internet for 7 years anonymously. I wanted to give back to the people who had unknowingly supported me over the years. On top of that, I wanted to connect with people and document my success and challenges.

Looking back, my 2009 goals were easy to achieve, yet I did not achieve all of them. This year, I am going to up the ante and for good reason. I always achieve just over half of my goals. What if I set out bigger goals? Would you prefer a full rabbit or half a goat?

2010 Resolutions

If 2009 was the year of coming out of the woodwork on the Internet, 2010 will be the year of PPP. In high school, we had a club called “People, Places and Plants (PPP)” from which I will draw a lot of inspiration this year.

The People

I am very lucky to be blessed with a great loving family. My sister and two brothers are with me here in Perth. We speak almost daily but see each other about twice a month. I will endeavor to spend more time with them, and keep in touch more with my family in Kenya.

If you are just joining us, please read a series of blog posts I wrote about people and relationships.

If I could sum up my plans and hopes for 2010, I would put it in one word “RELATIONSHIPS”. I am going to enhance my existing friendships, develop new friendships, business relationships and intimate relationships.

I have never consciously earmarked an entire year as my relationships year. Everything I do this year will be geared towards developing relationships. I will learn all there is about people, and develop relationships with them.

My writing, marketing and programming skills will come in handy as I develop community sites that will help people connect on this blog. I will learn to listen more and better maintain friendships than I have done in the past.

I have a huge list of goals and ideas for 2010 and 90% of them will make me a social animal. Maybe I should focus more on business but stuff that. I want relationships. I want to get intimate. I want to get deep. I want to help people connect. To inspire people and to make people feel better. I want to have a positive impact on the lives of people I interact with. I want to be a friend in need, a friend in deed.

In my previous lifetime, I had once developed software for relationship marketing online. 2010 sounds like a good year to revive that project.

Most of the relationships I will have in 2010 will be “long distance”. This blog has helped me reach out to people in 5 continents and I will continue enhancing those friendships electronically.

I realize that I have more in common with people across the world than some of my next door neighbors. But there is nothing that beats the physical presence of a friend. For this reason, I will be logging out of my computer more often to meet up with friends here in Perth. Perth has been home to me for 12 years and without a doubt, some of my best friends are within the metro area of Perth.

2010 will be one big party for me; hanging out with one friend today, and the next one tomorrow. I will be going to a friend’s party today, and inviting friends over at my place the next week. Am ready to meet and mingle. I have never been this open to new possibilities.

In short, 2010 I will spend 90% of my time and efforts pursuing relationships. Me reckons I will have a blast. I will keep you posted.

The Places

Try spending 12 years in the most isolated city in the world and you will feel the itch to move around. That is exactly how I feel right now. Perth is a beautiful city, but it is the most isolated city in the world. A whopping 2692 km from the nearest city of Adelaide.

Leaving home at the age of 18 to travel 8,902 km from Nairobi to Perth was a major turning point in my life. Everything was so new. The culture was foreign, the way of life was different. But over time, Perth has become home for me. However, I am now extremely curious about what lies across the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Being in Australia has given me the opportunity to travel to a few Asian countries but I have never been to Europe or America. This year, I want to travel or live in one or both of those continents. My initial destination is likely to be Europe because I can visit many countries in a short time. I would love to explore the differences in history and culture that Europe has to offer. I plan to visit over 100 countries by 2015 and this is the year that I will start to seriously tick off my destinations list.

The travel bug has hit me and I am itching to fly away.

I will tie my travel with self improvement and relationships. I have met and will continue to meet people on this blog and elsewhere on the Internet, and hopefully meet them in person in Europe and America. It will be a great year to be exposed to more cultures, more people and develop intimate relationships with a whole new group of friends.

This year, I will officially become a global citizen. If there was a world passport, I would be on the application queue right now.

We have a saying in the Kikuyu tribe of Kenya that says “mundu utaumagaraga augaga no nyina urugaga”. It means that he who does not travel (not exposed) only thinks of his mum as the best chef in the world.

2010 will be my year of pushing the horizon literally. I want to meet all the other “chefs” so I can better compare. I will not settle for less just because that is what I am familiar with.

The Plants

Everyone is talking about climate change. Not to be outdone, I will endeavor to familiarize myself with this vital topic, really get familiar. There is a big debate on who is responsible for climate change and global warming, but instead of blame shifting, we should all seek to do something about it.

From my initial research on this topic, I have found that becoming a vegetarian is surprisingly one of the best personal steps we can all take to make a contribution to the environment. I really, really love my steak and it will be hard to saying goodbye to it.

So I will not be turning into a vegetarian overnight . But over time I will make the transition to be a full vegetarian. At first I will add more vegetables to my diet and cut down my meat eating days from 7 to 4. Over time I hope to cut down my meat consumption to nearly zero.

This text from the BBC website better articulates my decision to have less beef and dairy products.

A vegan in a 4×4 can do the climate more good than a meat-eater driving a hybrid car. Food for thought?

Livestock produce more greenhouse gases than all the world’s transport combined, with beef production singled out by a recent UN report as a particular enemy at the gate. Why? Because cattle belch. Methane is a greenhouse gas more than 20 times worse for climate change than CO₂emissions and cattle are full of it. There are 1.5 billion cattle and buffalo worldwide, each producing more greenhouse gas in a day than the average 4×4.
Cutting off beef is a good start but I am blessed with the means to do more. My other contribution to climate change will be to financially support green companies and ventures. I will support tree planting and other environmentally friendly programs. I will also highlight issues to do with the environment on this blog.

Summary

I have publicly written down my goals for 2010 and a private action plan for their achievement. My guiding principle will be to inspire people to be the best they can be. The site will continue to obsess about making a success out of you and me. On that note, I will transform this blog into a community of positive thinkers. Together we shall use the new site as a platform for personal development and building friendships.

On a personal level,  I will be guided by the simple principle of People, Places and Plants (PPP). I be writing about those areas and share my success and challenges with you. I look forward to your continued readership and support as we continue grow and improve.

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Someone once said, “Given a long enough timeline, we shall all be dead”. Life is so temporary. We are on earth for a season, yet for a reason. Why are you here? Have you found your mission yet? Have you found your calling yet? What would your legacy be if you took your last breath tonight?

I always fantasized about dying young when I was younger. I listened to Tupac and Biggie Smalls as they sang about their impending deaths. But death no longer excites me. I don’t get the same kick nowadays when I write my own obituary. Unfortunately, my death is just around the corner.

Knowing that I am only mortal helps me focus on the important things in life. I know I can be re-called to my maker anytime now so I have to make every moment count. Am I freaking you out?

Imagine the shock that Nelson Mandela must have had in 2001 when CNN pre-maturely (wrongly) published his pre-written obituary. CNN pulled down the webpage in 20 minutes but the damage had already been done.

Nelson Mandela was neither the first nor the last person to be pre-maturely declared dead. When Mark Twain was wrongly reported to be dead, this is what he famously said: “The report of my death has been grossly exaggerated”.

I know this a gloomy way to start the year, but stay with me.

When setting your 2010 resolutions (if you have not already done so), please keep in mind that you are only here for a season. Align your resolutions with your true mission in life.

If you found out that you were terminally ill, would you spend more time at the pub? Would you spend more time with your family? Would you travel the world? Would you try to make more money? What would you really do?

Find out what really matters and only do that. Your time is limited.

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6. People love stories

I experienced the power of stories when I launched this blog. I saw patterns in what people were responding to. The more stories I shared, the more readers would respond. One friend told me that my stories helped to better articulate the problems we all face.

The greatest book of all time (the bible), is a collection of stories. People love stories. We connect and learn better through stories.

Learning the power of stories had a powerful impact on my life and this site’s future direction. I will transform this website to a community of people sharing stories. Each of us has a story.

The new site will also feature stories about people who have made it in life. We shall zoom in on the lives of famous people such us Nelson Mandela, Jim Rohn, Richard Branson etc.

7. Two heads are better than one

I collaborate with a few friends on aspects of running the site. Some times it having someone share with me a new perspective, or a good topic. I also have people encouraging me to keep the fire burning. All in all, I could not have done it without the support of this group of incredible people.

Many people think that they can make it alone. I am here to say that yes you can make progress alone (to some extent). But to really get ahead in life, you need others.

One of the books I partially serialized in 2009 was “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. He had this to say about collaborating with others…

“Economic advantages may be created by any person who surrounds himself with the advice, counsel, and personal cooperation of a group of men who are willing to lend him wholehearted aid, in a spirit of PERFECT HARMONY. This form of cooperative alliance has been the basis of nearly every great fortune. Your understanding of this great truth may definitely determine your financial status.”

Everyone is gifted or experienced in their own area. Knowing how to tap into the unique talents and experiences of people can transform your success from zero to a million and beyond.

There is a limit of how far a website can grow when it is based on the thoughts and ideas of one man. Transforming this site into a community will hopefully, increase its reach and impact.

8. I don’t know it all

2009 exposed me to the $US14 Billion Personal Development industry. I thought I knew it all but the more I researched, the more I realized just how little I knew.

It is like when someone goes to university for the first time, they feel “clever” at first, but as they dig deeper, and specialize, they realize just how huge the human body of really knowledge is.

For this reason, I am going to dedicate 2010 to learning and bringing to your attention, resources and ideas from others better than me. Together we shall study successful people, apply their tried and tested success principles and ideas; instead of re-inventing the wheel.

We shall study the work of people like Robert Kiyosaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad), Stephen Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective Habits) and many more.

9. I know enough to make a difference

I was humbled by my discovery that a lot of people are better than me. Many are better than I can ever hope to become. However, my unique experiences, lessons, ideas and actions can still make a difference.

My writing style, experiences, skills and passion touches a particular audience. Your experiences, skills and passion will touch a different group of people. If we can all come together to a personal development melting pot, we can learn from each other, help each other grow and avoid repeating mistakes that each of us has already made.

I will use my contacts, marketing and programming skills to bring together many of us on one website. That I can do. That I will do.

I may not be the world expert on personal development, but my unique talents, passion, and experiences will form the backbone of a community of friends inspiring friends.

10. Networking is Magical

It is good to have one or two contacts. But the more contacts you have the more likely you are to find a contact to meet your needs.

Your needs may vary from getting a new job, having someone to meet you in a new city, or someone to make you laugh.

The people you surround yourself with determine your destiny. How much you earn is likely to be the average of your closest 5 friends. Your hobbies, activities and thoughts are all influenced by people around you. The bible says “show me your friends, and I will tell you what kind of person you are”.

2009 allowed me to network, to make new friends from around the world. I saw the power of surrounding myself with positive people even when they are miles away from me.

2010 is going to be an even bigger year for me as far as networking goes. The more positive friends you have on speed dial, the more likely you are to be positive.

As you can see, my 2009 lessons all seem to point to the need of reaching out to people, developing better relationships, and collectively getting ahead. I am really looking forward to launching this community.

When is this community going live? We are not too far off, but I will not give an ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) as yet. When the time comes, I hope you will be part of the group of positive friends who will join the site, get to know each other and share experiences.

Thank you.

P/s – I would love to hear your comments, and ideas that you would like incorporated in the new community site.

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Many of my dear readers have asked me why I stopped writing on a daily basis like I used to. I have no valid reason but a million excuses. It was partially because of laziness, loss of focus,  and an identity crisis. Wow! Now that is off my chest, let us get on with the lessons I learned in 2009.

1)   Give and it will come back to you

I grew up hearing my parents tell me about giving. I heard about the need for giving at our church, as the offering basket did the rounds. But I also heard from friends that we live in a society with “each for himself and God for us all”.

Through sharing my ideas on this blog; inspiring my friends and strangers alike, I was able to attract good things in my life. I was able to meet great friends, make more money and live a richer life. The more I shared, the more I got back in return.

I also noticed  that people and businesses that gave more value succeed more. The bible says “Give and it will come back to you”. We all have spiritual accounts that we deposit into through our acts of giving. The more you deposit the more you can withdraw.

You may think that keeping your money to yourself in times of hardship is the wisest thing. On the contrary, giving opens the floodgates of heaven.

I am just a regular guy not a trained Dr Phil. But I shared the little I knew and it opened the floodgates of blessings that I have attracted to my life.

Be a generous soul in 2010. Giving creates an prosperous mindset. What do you think would happen to your life if you felt rich, abundant, blessed, gifted and prosperous?

2)   Thoughts are Physical

I serialized a couple of books on this blog last year. One of the books was a timeless classic by James Allen. It features the following quote;

“Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armoury of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and man is their maker and master.”

Many people (including me), have the habit of letting random thoughts through our minds. We fail to control our thoughts and consciously inject positive ideas.

I learned in 2009 that whatever thought I let in my mind  comes to pass. I will be more vigilant with my thoughts and my words. Because as surely as the sun rises, they come to pass.

3)   Kaizen Opens Doors

I literally stumbled on the concept of Kaizen a few years ago.

Kaizen is the process of reaching your goals in life by harnessing the amazing power of baby steps. It is a simple concept imported from Japan, that can transform your life if you apply it.

If you improved your life by 10% every month, you will not just have 120% better results at the end of the year. The small gradual improvements will compound to give you amazing results.

Kaizen will open doors that would otherwise have remained closed. Whether you want to improve your career, your business, your relationship or your concentration, you can do it through kaizen.

Do not wait for perfection, have a bias for action. Start with small gradual improvements and you will be amazed at the momentum you will gain over time.

When I started blogging, my name was hardly listed in the search engines. With every incremental blog post, I was able to get my site into the search engine databases and attract readers from around the world.

In addition, every blog post helped me improve as a writer and as a person. Small steady steps paid off for me and they can for your life too.

4)   The Art of Personal Branding

A good personal brand increases your perceived value and makes people pay a premium to be associated with you. They may not necessarily pay you money, but they will give you the attention, trust, remembrance, forgiveness and opportunities.

A strong personal brand enables you to be confident in your own abilities and as a person. It helps you become influential in many spheres of life and opens up a world of opportunities.

I learned how to build a personal brand online almost from scratch. Although I had been making a living on the internet for 7 years by the time I started writing on this site, I had been doing so anonymously. So this was new to me.

Personal branding does not happen overnight. Personal branding is about how others view you, not how you view yourself or want to think that others view you. Having said that, you can influence how people perceive you, through your words, actions and habits.

Creating a blog is a fantastic way of enhancing your personal brand online. I wrote about 20 articles on the topic of personal branding, including one on how to use blogging for your personal branding efforts.

5)   Ideas are not worth much

I can spend the rest of my life writing on this blog. I can spend all day researching and coming up with ideas to inspire you. You can spend all day reading and re-reading my blog posts. But if you do not take action, it is all in vain.

This blog was once an idea, but it is only when I put in the hours, to research and to write, that I was able to connect with you and other readers. I am guilty of coming up with ideas in the past that never saw the light of day. I have purposed it in my heart to do more (actions). It is better to implement half your ideas than generate double the ideas without acting on them.

Do you have ideas for doing this or that but never really done it? Take a step of faith in 2010 and keep the excuses at bay. Have a bias for action in the implementation of your ideas.

Summary

2009 was a great year for me. I am grateful for having you as a visitor to my blog and hope to connect with you more in 2010. Please be on the lookout for part two of this article in the next few days. Part two will tell you what really got into me in 2009 and what is in store for 2010.

Other articles you may enjoy :

1. What I Learned Through Blogging in 2009 – Part Two Today we continue looking at my lessons in 2009...
2. How to use Blogging for Personal Branding I always wondered why people  try to convert others...
3. 10 Steps to Personal Branding Success Today’s blog post walks you through 10 simple steps...
4. Thanks a Million 2009 Very soon writing New Year’s resolutions will be back...
5. Personal Branding for Rich Men Most of my theories on personal branding would not...
6. The Value of Consistency “In essence, if we want to direct our lives,...

In January 2009, I set out on a journey of self improvement. I purposed it in my heart to change the trajectory of my life. At that point, my life was in shambles. There were riots in my mind and heart. I needed to quell the uprising within me. The only way to drive out the negative demons was to invite positive angels. It is not easy to change one’s life but I did it; through the grace of God, the power of positive thinking, and the support of friends.

I decided to start this blog with the aim of inspiring my friends to be the best they can be. I realized that the quickest way to grow is by sharing. The genesis of a bumper harvest is sowing the right seeds. The bible says “give, it will come back to you, in good measure, pressed and well shaken”. So I decided to give, and give. I shared my life, my ideas, my pain and my lessons in life. And within a few months, I started seeing amazing results in my life.

My life started improving considerably when I started this blog. I met amazing people who inspired me in many ways.

A few months ago I started asking myself some serious questions.

What if this blog was a community instead of a blog? What if all those anonymous readers were involved in deep conversations with each other?  What if I could come to this blog and learn from the readers instead of me pulling my hairs thinking of what to share?

There is a limit as to how much one person can do in blogging. I want to leave a mark in the lives of more people but my time, experience, knowledge and perspectives are limited. I now ask myself, if only the people who have shared their stories with me in private can share with each other on this website. It would be a good place to hang out, to learn from each other, and to grow as a group and as individuals.

I want to sincerely thank all the people who have supported me this year. I wanted to touch the lives of people but you ended up touching mine. I wanted to inspire you but you ended up inspiring me. You are amazing, you are fabulous. Thanks a million and may God bless you. This blog would not have been what it is without the support and encouragement. I say a big THANK YOU! and hope to work with you closely in 2010 as we build a community of positive thinkers and doers.

I reserve special thanks for Nyomi Graef for the encouragement and helping me brainstorm on the first 20 topics that formed the basis of this blog. I want to thank Paula for the consistent commenting, encouragement and support. I want to thank Mwangi for getting me to take action and just do it (launch blog). I want to thank Philip for the countless hours of editing. A big thank you goes to Joy for believing in me and constant inspiration. To Kibe Gitau I say thank you for your encouragement, and I wish you a successful 2010 and beyond. And finally a big thank you to my Facebook friends for the support, and passing word out about the blog.

To the people listed below, I want to say a big thank you for your positive messages, giving me a reason to write, and a reason to build the community site that I am working on for 2010. May the light shine in your lives, and may success be yours for generations.

Abdullatif Manjothi

Abiodun oluwaseun

Afolabi Albert

aileen veleci

aisha

akams

Alen

Alen Wekesa

alfred

alice ngalla

alicia

Allan inc.

allan lucumay

amakay

amelia mwendwa

Amo

Amos

andrew muasya

Andrew Njuguna

andrson

Anes Mohamed

Angeey

angeline

Ann Kibunja

Anne

Anthony

Antony Mbugua

Antony Mbugua Ngari

ANTONY NGARI

Aoll

Arsento

Atef

Atieno,South Korea

Austine viera

ayo FADUMIYE

babu

Ben Gathogo

Ben k.

Benn

Benn Rono

bestgirls.com.ua

Bikundo

Billy Ombima

Birech

Bob Bong

Bob Skilnik

Bonnie

Boston Gym

boyfulani

BRENDA NJERI

Brenda Njeru

Bunmi

carol

Carol Achieng Otieno

CAROLYN

Cate

Catherine

Cathy Nyawira

cecilia kabura

Cee

Charity

Charity G

Charles

charles oloo

Charles Simba

chegepreneur

Chike Ibe

Chris Perry

christine magati

christine pamba

Ciru Mansur

Colin

Cornelius

damaris

Dan Gicharu

Dan kavole

Dan Mahiri

Dan Schawbel

DANIEL

Daniel ‘Jeshi-X’ Ngari

Daniel Gicharu

Daniel Ngari

DANN KIMANI

Daudi

David Hamilton

David Kamau

David M

Deer

Dennis Muchiri

Diana

dickson mwangangi

Doba

Dobah

dorcas

Downunderhater

Edu

eimong

Elly

Emile

Emily A.

Eric M

Eric muema Kiilu

ERICAH KIPTOO

essie

Esther

Esther Kinene

Eston

Eva Kamiri

Evah

Fahreen

Faiza

felicia

Felix

ford sink

fred michori

Fred Nyakundi

funmi fasunloye

Gabriel

Gabriel Kemboi

Gabriel Olofu

Gathoni Kimuyu

George

George Mutale

Georgia Atieno

Gicharu

Giny-D

gitau

Gladys

Gladys Maina

gloriathomas

Goals / Resolutions

Godfrey.C.Osakwe

GOOD WORK

Gorata

grace

Harry

Hildah

Humphrey Mburu

i.ali

Ibe Arua

Ibrahim

Ifects

ij

Ikechukwu Anthony Nwaodu

Iman

Iman Ali

Irene

IRENE KORIR

Irene Y

irungu

irungu wagura

Jacinta Wambui

jackie

Jafeni

jafeni karanja

James Adolwa

James Court

James Gitau

james karuku

James Muriuki

james mwendwa kivuva

Jamez

Jamleck

jane

jane wangari

janet

janet mutuku

Jazz

jbw

Jedz

jemimah

Jeri

Jesse Obukhor

Job kungu

Joe and Wanda

Joe Gichuki

JOEY W.

John

john kaburi

John Makau

john mwangi

John Onyango Rare

John Rare

John Tedesco

Joram

Joseh

Joseph

Joseph Karuga

Josephine Macharia

Joses

Joses Loltome

Josphine njeri

Joy

Joy. kehinde

JOYCE

JT

Jude A

Jude A.

Judy

juliana mburu

Juliet

june

justyna daniel-akpan

kachwanya

kadani

Kageniii

kahora

kaibs

kainvestor

kamama

Kamau Warui

kami

kami wa nyina wa macua

Kanai

Kanja Paul

karanja

karanja kamotho

Karen

karuga

KAY

Ken

Ken Mwangi

Kennedy Kamau

KenyaLuv

Kepher

Kevin Kute

kibe gitau

kim anointted

Kimaku

Kip

kiplangat

Kristjan-Olari Leping

Kuria Steve

kybs

lawrence jonga

Leila

Lilian B K

Linda

Linda K. Mugo

Linda Obilo

Linet Kerubo

Lisa

Liz

lloyd kikunzu

lorna

louise nyaboke

lucie

Lucy Mundia

lucynd

Lydia

Lydia Muriithi

lynne

lynnette

Lyre

m. mwangi

m.ali

m.mwangi

Macharia

Manciny NeeMoh Migwi

Mandi

Marcel Masaga

Maria

Martha

Martin Muchira

Martin W

Marto

Mary

mavis

max

Mayoress

mel

Meli

mercy

Mia

Michael

michael m g

MICHAEL MURITHI

Michael Mwaniki

michelle m

mike

mike kamanu

millionaires of genesis

Milly

Miriam Ruff

Moboh

molara

Molly

Morris

Moses Kimani

Moses Waruiru

Motivational

Mukonyo

Mumbi

munga

munysara

Muthoka

Mutuma Timothy

MWALIMU

mwangangi

Mwangi

Mwangi – the Displaced African

Myrna A. Niedo

Nancy

NANCY KARIUKI

Narasha

Natalee Bangkok Hotels

Natty Dread

natural sleep aids

Ndiang’ui

Ndiku

ndugi

nelie

nellie

Nelly

Nelson

Nganga

nganga wa karuku

Ngige Benson

nich

Nicholas Kimani

Nick Tumbo

Nimo

Nisa

Njau

njeri

Noha

Nwaodu Anthony Ikechukwu

Nya

nyayiemi

Nyomi

Nyomi Graef

Obamayowa

onesmus makori

Pam

Parto

Patricia Kanja

PATRICK

Patrick Odhiambo

patrick okumu m.

Paul Gitonga

PAUL NGO’NG’A

Paula

Paula May

Pauline Mwaniki

Perminus

Peter Mburu

Peter Nduati

Peter Ngunyi

Phases

Philip D.W.N

philip w

Philip w.n.

phoebe

Prince Miyake

Prince Sioni

QUEEN-ANNE BALOGUN

racheal wangari Njeru

Rachel

Rachel Akinyi

RaiulBaztepo

Rajab

Rebecca Munga

regina

Renee M

Renee Mburu

reu

reuben

reuben lagat

Richard Ollor

Richardinah

Robert Echa

Robert Wilkins

Rofem

ronald

Ronald Earl Wilsher

ronald n.ngugy

rosemary njeri

Roy

rubby

saeed

sally

salome

Sam

Scimmo

SHADRACK

Shiroh

Shiru

shomyz

simon

simon  kanoga

simon kanoga

simon wachira

SK Usman

slimjess

Sophie

stan

Steve

Steve Kybs

steve nick

Steve Njau (Kybs)

Sublimity

Sulaiman

Sumi Akumu Assumpter

susan

Susannah

sush

symo

Tamaku

tghttxhosy

thaka

Thuo

Tj

Tola

Tom

Tom Kabau

Tom Miller

Tommy Adebayo

Toni

tony

tony ngari

victor

Victoria Zillah

victoria zilllah

Vikky

vivianne nancee

wamahium

Wanja

Wanjiru

WeddingChecklist

william

Wilson Odhiambo

Winnie

Woji Christian C.

xtine

Xtine Dida

Yomi Oloko

Yvonne Ndunge

Zippy

P/s: If you have not had the chance to read all the blog posts, please take your time to read them and share them with friends. I would love to hear from you. Merry Christmas and Happy 2010!!

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Like in the post yesterday, I am still setting up the stage for future articles that will form the basis of this blog. The purpose of this blog is to inspire you to be the best you can be. To help you think of ways to reach your true potential. To succeed in life, you need a tried and tested way of getting there.

Revealed: My blueprint for success:

1. It is all in the mind.
2. Bias for Action.
3. Oh Baby Steps.
4. Change Habits.
5. Track your  Progress.
6. Build on your Success.

1. It is all in the mind.

Even the Great Wall of China was once an idea. If you can think it, then you can do it or be it. You have to think in vivid terms what it is that you want to succeed in. Do you want to be in the first 11 of your soccer team? Do you want to shed 10 pounds? Do you want to graduate with honors? Whatever your goal is, you have to visualize it and believe that you can make it.

Mental preparation is the most important part of the blueprint. You are going to encounter bumps and hills on the road to success.  The last thing you want is to add to the obstacles through self sabotage. At your core, you must believe that what you want to achieve is congruent with your beliefs, otherwise you will sabotage yourself.

Once you have it clear in your mind that you really want the goal e.g to shed 10 pounds, then write it down on a piece of paper.  Write down your goal and read it aloud and create an action plan. Translate your desire for that goal into a practical series of doable tasks.

2. Bias for Action.

I am a computer programmer. One of the problems that we programmers have is that we tend to over analyze and think of the most creative ways of solving a particular problem. This comes at the expense of writing the software. We call it analysis paralysis.

Don’t spend a disproportionate amount of time and effort analyzing how to solve your problem or how to get to your goal. Instead, have a bias for action. Borrow from our friends at Nike – “Just Do It!”.

Every step you make towards your goal (action), will give you more confidence and lessons, even if you fail. Like this blog for example. I spent so much time last year thinking of what kind of features to have, what kind of community to cultivate etc. Those were just delaying tactics, I later realized. That is why this year, I decide to just do it. It may not be perfect, but at least it is out there, touching the lives of a few people.

3. Oh Baby Steps.

For many years I used to start lofty projects with big goals but never really got to  the finishing line. Why? I always wanted to hit it big. I got bored with the details. But as I grew older and wiser, I realized that it is the small baby steps that  count.

When does a baby give up trying to walk? When does a baby’s parent say to the baby… “Hey little, you have tried too many times. Give it up!”. Almost never. You must have that same tenacity of learning how to make those baby steps. Once you start making small practical steps towards your goal, you will feel better and be more likely to succeed.

Even great super achievers like Tiger Woods have to make those small baby steps every day to stay at the top of their game. Plan your game, have a bias for action and remember to make baby steps towards your goals every day.

4. Change Habits.

We are creatures of habit. There is no way you are going to achieve different results if you keep doing things in the same old fashioned way. Say for example you wanted to save up to buy a house. If you were not tracking your expenses or saving money, then you need to change that.

To achieve any goal in life, you need to change some habits. Think of the goal you want to achieve, and decide what habits would keep you from achieving that.  Then change those habits.

I have recently had a great interest in healthy living. If you want to improve your health and fitness level, you may have to change some habits e.g how much food you eat, what you drink, what type of foods tickle your fancy or how much exercise you do.

5. Track your Progress.

When you set out to achieve a particular goal, you must have check points and milestones to track how you are doing. With our earlier example of shedding 10 pounds, if you gave yourself 10 weeks to get to your goal, then you can set a goal of losing say 1 pound per week. Then weigh yourself every week to see if you are on track. No point waiting for 10 weeks to find out whether or not you got to your goal.

It is important that you set yourself realistic yet challenging deadlines for your goals. If you don’t meet your milestones, analyze why you missed the deadline, and make necessary amends.  Writing your goals helps in the tracking and accountability.

6. Build on your Success.

Once you reach your goals, you should look back on how far you have come. Be truly thankful, count your blessings and then move on to bigger things. Yes, it is like chasing the wind, but success feeds on success. Don’t rest on your laurels.

Say if your goal was to make a million dollars. Once you get to you goals, don’t shoot yourself. Do something with that money. Make other goals, that capitalize on the fact that you now have your million.

Even for goals that are not monetary, you can always build on your successes. Say your goal was to attract to your life the perfect life partner. Getting him or her to your life should not be the end. You should set goals on how to improve your relationship and live in harmony.

With time, as you have more successes under your belt, you will be surprised by the momentum they will build in terms of improving your self confidence and you level of satisfaction.

Summary

Success does not just happen. You must first purpose it in your mind, resolve to achieve and create an action plan. You should always have a bias for action and make steady baby steps towards the achievement of your goals.

Succeeding in life calls for a change in habits. As you walk through the journey towards success, remember to change your habits and keep track of your success along the way.  Once you succeed, remember to turn that success to your next success.

All the best in your goals. Your comments are most welcome.

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We previously talked about what success means, and how to create a blueprint for your success. I truly believe that your success or failure is all in the mind. If you really need success and purpose it in your mind then you will succeed. But you need to be hungry for it.

A story is told of a shy young man who wanted to succeed. He saw an older man from his home town fishing. He mustered some courage and approached the highly successful old man and asked, “What is the secret to your success?”. Without saying as much as a word to the young man, the old man grabbed him and pushed him down into the lake.

The young man struggled to free himself, but the old man was strong and held him down. After a few minutes of a shockingly fierce struggle the old man pulled out the young from the water. The young man was belligerent and held the old man by the neck. “Why were were you trying to kill me?”, he asked.

The old man looked at the young man straight into his eyes and said “You see how much you wanted to breath while under the water. If you shall desire success with such intensity, then my son success shall be right there waiting for you.

Success begins with the mind. All you need is to set realistic goals, with appropriate time lines and have a big enough “WHY”.  Have you heard of the Australian movie Rabbit Proof Fence? The film tells the stoy of two Aboriginal girls as they trek/walk for nine weeks along 1,500 miles (2,400 km) of the Australian rabbit-proof fence to return to their home. They had a big enough “WHY” for walking such a lengthy distance. They were running away from prison to their native community.  I am sure we would not be friends for long if I told you to walk with me for mere 100 kilometers “to get to know each other“.

If you don’t have a big enough reason for doing something, chances are you will not do it. I want to inspire you to succeed. To awaken the giant within you. What is your goal in life? What do you want to achieve by the end of this year? Do you have a specific goal that you want to get to within the next 30 days?

You have to visualize that which you want, in the most vivid terms possible. The road to success is not paved with gold. Like all good things in life, success comes at a price. Be willing to pay the price, through preparation, burning desire, and perseverance.

To succeed, you need to take action. To take action, you need to have a reason. A quick and easy way of making yourself desire success is to use the carrot and  stick method. Let us say for example that your goal is to get a  job straight after college. This is how you might apply the carrot and  stick method to drive you to action.

Carrot Way

• Think of the money you will earn.
• Think of the nice holiday you will be able to afford.
• Think of the boost in confidence and opportunities.

Stick Way

• Think of the pile of bills that need to be paid.
• Think of the gaps in your curriculum vitae (resume) that you will create if you stay out of the job market for long.
• Think of the missed opportunities for advancement.
• Think of the shame in failing to answer to the question “What do you do?”

Carrot and stick (also “carrot or stick”) is  idiom hat refers to a policy of offering a combination of rewards and punishment to induce behavior. It may derive from methods used for training mules and other animals by drawing them forward with rewards (the “carrot”) and driving them forward with punishment (the “stick”)

Whatever you goals are, you can apply the carrot and  stick method to build that fire within you. The fire that will ignite you into action and help you get to your goals.

Summary

How much do you want to succeed? You need to have a ravenous desire to succeed. Without that desire, it is hard to take action and overcome obstacles on the road to success.

Most of the obstacles to your success will be mental. Things like fear and self sabotage. Create in your mind a big enough “why” you want to succeed, and the journey to your success will become easier. All the best my friend. May success be upon you.

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[This is the final part of the serialization of the book "As a Man Thinketh" By James Allen]

A man becomes calm in the measure that he understands himself as a thought evolved being, for such knowledge necessitates the understanding of others as the result of thought, and as he develops a right understanding, and sees more and more clearly the internal relations of things by the action of cause and effect he ceases to fuss and fume and worry and grieve, and remains poised, steadfast, serene.

The calm man, having learned how to govern himself, knows how to adapt himself to others; and they, in turn, reverence his spiritual strength, and feel that they can learn of him and rely upon him. The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Even the ordinary trader will find his business prosperity increase as he develops a greater self-control and equanimity, for people will always prefer to deal with a man whose demeanour is strongly equable.

The strong, calm man is always loved and revered. He is like a shade-giving tree in a thirsty land, or a sheltering rock in a storm. “Who does not love a tranquil heart, a sweet-tempered, balanced life? It does not matter whether it rains or shines, or what changes come to those possessing these blessings, for they are always sweet, serene, and calm. That exquisite poise of character, which we call serenity is the last lesson of culture, the fruitage of the soul. It is precious as wisdom, more to be desired than gold—yea, than even fine gold. How insignificant mere money seeking looks in comparison with a serene life—a life that dwells in the ocean of Truth, beneath the waves, beyond the reach of tempests, in the Eternal Calm!

“How many people we know who sour their lives, who ruin all that is sweet and beautiful by explosive tempers, who destroy their poise of character, and make bad blood! It is a question whether the great majority of people do not ruin their lives and mar their happiness by lack of self-control. How few people we meet in life who are well balanced, who have that exquisite poise which is characteristic of the finished character!

Yes, humanity surges with uncontrolled passion, is tumultuous with ungoverned grief, is blown about by anxiety and doubt only the wise man, only he whose thoughts are controlled and purified, makes the winds and the storms of the soul obey him.

Tempest-tossed souls, wherever ye may be, under whatsoever conditions ye may live, know this: In the ocean of life the isles of Blessedness are smiling, and the sunny shore of your ideal awaits your coming. Keep your hand firmly upon the helm of thought. In the bark of your soul reclines the commanding Master; He does but sleep: wake Him. Self-control is strength; Right Thought is mastery; Calmness is power. Say unto your heart, “Peace, be still!”

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[This blog post is part of the serialization of the book "As a Man Thinketh" by James Allen]

Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage, these are the makers of the after-world, the architects of heaven. The world is beautiful because they have lived; without them, labouring humanity would perish.

He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will one day realize it. Columbus cherished a vision of another world, and he discovered it; Copernicus fostered the vision of a multiplicity of worlds and a wider universe, and he revealed it; Buddha beheld the vision of a spiritual world of stainless beauty and perfect peace, and he entered into it.

Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all, heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.

To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to, achieve. Shall man’s basest desires receive the fullest measure of gratification, and his purest aspirations starve for lack of sustenance? Such is not the Law: such a condition of things can never obtain: “ask and receive.”

Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your Ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.

The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.

Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you but perceive an Ideal and strive to reach it. You cannot travel within and stand still without. Here is a youth hard pressed by poverty and labour; confined long hours in an unhealthy workshop; unschooled, and lacking all the arts of refinement. But he dreams of better things; he thinks of intelligence, of refinement, of grace and beauty. He conceives of, mentally builds up, an ideal condition of life; the vision of a wider liberty and a larger scope takes possession of him; unrest urges him to action, and he utilizes all his spare time and means, small though they are, to the development of his latent powers and resources. Very soon so altered has his mind become that the workshop can no longer hold him. It has become so out of harmony with his mentality that it falls out of his life as a garment is cast aside, and, with the growth of opportunities, which fit the scope of his expanding powers, he passes out of it forever. Years later we see this youth as a full-grown man. We find him a master of certain forces of the mind, which he wields with worldwide influence and almost unequalled power. In his hands he holds the cords of gigantic responsibilities; he speaks, and lo, lives are changed; men and women hang upon his words and remould their characters, and, sunlike, he becomes the fixed and luminous centre round which innumerable destinies revolve. He has realized the Vision of his youth. He has become one with his Ideal.

And you, too, youthful reader, will realize the Vision (not the idle wish) of your heart, be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both, for you will always gravitate toward that which you, secretly, most love. Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your own thoughts; you will receive that which you earn; no more, no less. Whatever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your Vision, your Ideal. You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration: in the beautiful words of Stanton Kirkham Davis, “You may be keeping accounts, and presently you shall walk out of the door that for so long has seemed to you the barrier of your ideals, and shall find yourself before an audience—the pen still behind your ear, the ink stains on your fingers and then and there shall pour out the torrent of your inspiration. You may be driving sheep, and you shall wander to the city-bucolic and open-mouthed; shall wander under the intrepid guidance of the spirit into the studio of the master, and after a time he shall say, ‘I have nothing more to teach you.’ And now you have become the master, who did so recently dream of great things while driving sheep. You shall lay down the saw and the plane to take upon yourself the regeneration of the world.”

The thoughtless, the ignorant, and the indolent, seeing only the apparent effects of things and not the things themselves, talk of luck, of fortune, and chance. Seeing a man grow rich, they say, “How lucky he is!” Observing another become intellectual, they exclaim, “How highly favoured he is!” And noting the saintly character and wide influence of another, they remark, “How chance aids him at every turn!” They do not see the trials and failures and struggles which these men have voluntarily encountered in order to gain their experience; have no knowledge of the sacrifices they have made, of the undaunted efforts they have put forth, of the faith they have exercised, that they might overcome the apparently insurmountable, and realize the Vision of their heart. They do not know the darkness and the heartaches; they only see the light and joy, and call it “luck”. They do not see the long and arduous journey, but only behold the pleasant goal, and call it “good fortune,” do not understand the process, but only perceive the result, and call it chance.

In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Chance is not. Gifts, powers, material, intellectual, and spiritual possessions are the fruits of effort; they are thoughts completed, objects accomplished, visions realized.

The Vision that you glorify in your mind, the Ideal that you enthrone in your heart—this you will build your life by, this you will become.

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A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing to be helped, and even then the weak man must become strong of himself; he must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition.

It has been usual for men to think and to say, “Many men are slaves because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor.” Now, however, there is amongst an increasing few a tendency to reverse this judgment, and to say, “One man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise the slaves.”

The truth is that oppressor and slave are co-operators in ignorance, and, while seeming to afflict each other, are in reality afflicting themselves. A perfect Knowledge perceives the action of law in the weakness of the oppressed and the misapplied power of the oppressor; a perfect Love, seeing the suffering, which both states entail, condemns neither; a perfect Compassion embraces both oppressor and oppressed.

He who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish thoughts, belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed. He is free.

A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He can only remain weak, and abject, and miserable by refusing to lift up his thoughts.

Before a man can achieve anything, even in worldly things, he must lift his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence. He may not, in order to succeed, give up all animality and selfishness, by any means; but a portion of it must, at least, be sacrificed. A man whose first thought is bestial indulgence could neither think clearly nor plan methodically; he could not find and develop his latent resources, and would fail in any undertaking. Not having commenced to manfully control his thoughts, he is not in a position to control affairs and to adopt serious responsibilities. He is not fit to act independently and stand alone. But he is limited only by the thoughts, which he chooses.

There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice, and a man’s worldly success will be in the measure that he sacrifices his confused animal thoughts, and fixes his mind on the development of his plans, and the strengthening of his resolution and self-reliance. And the higher he lifts his thoughts, the more manly, upright, and righteous he becomes, the greater will be his success, the more blessed and enduring will be his achievements.

The universe does not favour the greedy, the dishonest, the vicious, although on the mere surface it may sometimes appear to do so; it helps the honest, the magnanimous, the virtuous. All the great Teachers of the ages have declared this in varying forms, and to prove and know it a man has but to persist in making himself more and more virtuous by lifting up his thoughts.

Intellectual achievements are the result of thought consecrated to the search for knowledge, or for the beautiful and true in life and nature. Such achievements may be sometimes connected with vanity and ambition, but they are not the outcome of those characteristics; they are the natural outgrowth of long and arduous effort, and of pure and unselfish thoughts.

Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations. He who lives constantly in the conception of noble and lofty thoughts, who dwells upon all that is pure and unselfish, will, as surely as the sun reaches its zenith and the moon its full, become wise and noble in character, and rise into a position of influence and blessedness.

Achievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of effort, the diadem of thought. By the aid of self-control, resolution, purity, righteousness, and well-directed thought a man ascends; by the aid of animality, indolence, impurity, corruption, and confusion of thought a man descends.

A man may rise to high success in the world, and even to lofty altitudes in the spiritual realm, and again descend into weakness and wretchedness by allowing arrogant, selfish, and corrupt thoughts to take possession of him.

Victories attained by right thought can only be maintained by watchfulness. Many give way when success is assured, and rapidly fall back into failure.

All achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or spiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought, are governed by the same law and are of the same method; the only difference lies in the object of attainment.

He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.

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They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to petty worries, fears, troubles, and self-pityings, all of which are indications of weakness, which lead, just as surely as deliberately planned sins (though by a different route), to failure, unhappiness, and loss, for weakness cannot persist in a power evolving universe.

A man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set out to accomplish it. He should make this purpose the centralizing point of his thoughts. It may take the form of a spiritual ideal, or it may be a worldly object, according to his nature at the time being; but whichever it is, he should steadily focus his thought-forces upon the object, which he has set before him. He should make this purpose his supreme duty, and should devote himself to its attainment, not allowing his thoughts to wander away into ephemeral fancies, longings, and imaginings. This is the royal road to self-control and true concentration of thought. Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose (as he necessarily must until weakness is overcome), the strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting-point for future power and triumph.

Those who are not prepared for the apprehension of a great purpose should fix the thoughts upon the faultless performance of their duty, no matter how insignificant their task may appear. Only in this way can the thoughts be gathered and focussed, and resolution and energy be developed, which being done, there is nothing which may not be accomplished.

The weakest soul, knowing its own weakness, and believing this truth ‘that strength can only be developed by effort and practice, will, thus believing, at once begin to exert itself, and, adding effort to effort, patience to patience, and strength to strength, will never cease to develop, and will at last grow divinely strong.

As the physically weak man can make himself strong by careful and patient training, so the man of weak thoughts can make them strong by exercising himself in right thinking.

To put away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment; who make all conditions serve them, and who think strongly, attempt fearlessly, and accomplish masterfully.

Having conceived of his purpose, a man should mentally mark out a straight pathway to its achievement, looking neither to the right nor the left. Doubts and fears should be rigorously excluded; they are disintegrating elements, which break up the straight line of effort, rendering it crooked, ineffectual, useless. Thoughts of doubt and fear never accomplished anything, and never can. They always lead to failure. Purpose, energy, power to do, and all strong thoughts cease when doubt and fear creep in.

The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do. Doubt and fear are the great enemies of knowledge, and he who encourages them, who does not slay them. thwarts himself at every step.

He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure. His every, thought is allied with power, and all difficulties are bravely met and wisely overcome. His purposes are seasonably planted, and they bloom and bring forth fruit, which does not fall prematurely to the ground.

Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force: he who knows this is ready to become something higher and stronger than a mere bundle of wavering thoughts and fluctuating sensations; he who does this has become the conscious and intelligent wielder of his mental powers.

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Disease and health, like circumstances, are rooted in thought. Sickly thoughts will express themselves through a sickly body. Thoughts of fear have been known to kill a man as speedily as a bullet, and they are continually killing thousands of people just as surely though less rapidly. The people who live in fear of disease are the people who get it. Anxiety quickly demoralizes the whole body, and lays it open to the, entrance of disease; while impure thoughts, even if not physically indulged, will soon shatter the nervous system.

Strong, pure, and happy thoughts build up the body in vigour and grace. The body is a delicate and plastic instrument, which responds readily to the thoughts by which it is impressed, and habits of thought will produce their own effects, good or bad, upon it.

Men will continue to have impure and poisoned blood, so long as they propagate unclean thoughts. Out of a clean heart comes a clean life and a clean body. Out of a defiled mind proceeds a defiled life and a corrupt body. Thought is the fount of action, life, and manifestation; make the fountain pure, and all will be pure.

Change of diet will not help a man who will not change his thoughts. When a man makes his thoughts pure, he no longer desires impure food.

Clean thoughts make clean habits. The so-called saint who does not wash his body is not a saint. He who has strengthened and purified his thoughts does not need to consider the malevolent microbe.

If you would protect your body, guard your mind. If you would renew your body, beautify your mind. Thoughts of malice, envy, disappointment, despondency, rob the body of its health and grace. A sour face does not come by chance; it is made by sour thoughts. Wrinkles that mar are drawn by folly, passion, and pride.

I know a woman of ninety-six who has the bright, innocent face of a girl. I know a man well under middle age whose face is drawn into inharmonious contours. The one is the result of a sweet and sunny disposition; the other is the outcome of passion and discontent.

As you cannot have a sweet and wholesome abode unless you admit the air and sunshine freely into your rooms, so a strong body and a bright, happy, or serene countenance can only result from the free admittance into the mind of thoughts of joy and goodwill and serenity.

On the faces of the aged there are wrinkles made by sympathy, others by strong and pure thought, and others are carved by passion: who cannot distinguish them? With those who have lived righteously, age is calm, peaceful, and softly mellowed, like the setting sun. I have recently seen a philosopher on his deathbed. He was not old except in years. He died as sweetly and peacefully as he had lived.

There is no physician like cheerful thought for dissipating the ills of the body; there is no comforter to compare with goodwill for dispersing the shadows of grief and sorrow. To live continually in thoughts of ill will, cynicism, suspicion, and envy, is to be confined in a self made prison-hole. But to think well of all, to be cheerful with all, to patiently learn to find the good in all—such unselfish thoughts are the very portals of heaven; and to dwell day by day in thoughts of peace toward every creature will bring abounding peace to their possessor.

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