Attitude is Everything
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TTITUDE IS EVERYTHING
A wise man once said,
“God gave us the power of choice. We choose to build or destroy. To do good or evil. To be positive or negative and to be a success or a failure.” Since we have complete control over this one thing, then surely it’s our most valuable asset! In a world with so many things beyond your control, what a blessing it is to know that you have complete control over your attitude.
William James, the great Harvard psychologist said,
“The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by changing their attitude.” To me this is without a doubt the most important discovery of our time, because without question the difference between people who live happy and successful lives and those who live with defeat and despair is their attitude. Let’s face it, everyone experiences adversity, disappointments and setbacks. But the little thing that makes the big difference is how you respond. If you respond positively you’ll get good results; if you respond negatively you’ll get bad results.
I love what U.S. Olympic Figure Skating Champion Scott Hamilton said, “The only real disability in life is a bad attitude.” And the good news is a bad attitude is 100% curable. You see, “It’s not the situation that’s important, it’s your attitude about the situation that really counts.” Once you realize that your attitude is more important than anything that happens to you, then nothing can defeat you!
Charles Swindoll wrote this beautiful message about the importance of our attitude:
“The longer I live, the more I realize the
impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than
facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money,
than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other
people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance,
giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company . . . a church .
. . a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day
regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change
our past . . . we cannot change the fact that people will act in a
certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can
do is play on the one string we have and that is our attitude . . . I am
convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react
to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our attitudes
Realize that it’s your attitude, not your abilities, that determine how successful you are in life. In fact, a person with very little talent, but a good attitude, will find more success than an extremely talented person with a bad attitude. A recent study found that 90% of the reason that a person gets a raise or a promotion is because of attitude. So, life is an attitude. Make sure you have a good one and you’ll be sure to have a successful ife.
From the book “100 Secrets to Success”. By Keith Randolph-Lipscomb (You can order here on our blog)
A Powerful Message For the New Year
My friend Keith sent me this today and I wanted to share it with everyone.No matter what kind of a year 2008 was for you, this powerful message entitled “Just for today” will show how to make each day of the new year a good one-“Just for today I will try to live through this day only and not tackle all myproblems at once. I can do something for twelve hours that would appall me if I felt that I had to keep it up for a lifetime.”“Just for today I will be happy.” This assumes to be true whatAbraham Lincoln said, “Most folks are as happy as they make uptheir minds to be.”Just for today I will adjust myself to what is and not try to adjusteverything to my own desires. I will take my “luck” as it comes andfit myself to it.Just for today I will try to strengthen my mind. I will study. I willlearn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will readsomething that requires effort, thought and concentration.Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways: I will do
somebody a good turn and not get found out; if anybody knows of it,
it will not count. I will do at least two things I don’t want to do – just
for exercise. I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt, they
may be hurt, but today I will not show it.
Just for today I will be agreeable. I will look as well as I can,
dress becomingly, keep my voice low, be courteous, criticize not one
bit. I will not try to improve or regulate anybody but myself.
Just for today I will have a program. I may not follow it exactly,
but I will have it. I will save myself from two pests: hurry and
indecision.
Just for today I will have a quiet half hour all to myself and relax.
During this half hour, sometime, I will try to get a better perspective
of my life.
Just for today I will be unafraid. Especially I will not be afraid to
enjoy what is beautiful and to believe that as I give to the world, so
the world will give to me.”I encourage you to read this message regularly and apply it to your life. If you do 2009 could be your best year ever!
Do This. Get Rich!
I read a really cool book awhile back and I just recently pulled it off the shelf again for another go because I felt that I needed a little whack upside the head as far as my mental thinking goes. The book is called “Do This. Get Rich! ” by Jim Britt.
I don’t know if anyone else experiences this but I go through these serious bouts of self-doubt about the decision I have made as to what business direction I have chosen. Just yesterday I worked all day on the computer on trying to make a header graphic for one of my web-sites and at the end of the day I thought I had finally figured out how to create the damn thing and get it saved. Well, I had ordered more memory for the Dell PC that I own to upgrade that. I thought to myself, it can’t be too hard to install this. So I opened up the computer after finding a diagrahm online about how to to do it and installed the new memory chips. Turned the computer on and nothing. No picture on the monitor. The green lights would go on and the computer would start and then it would turn off.
When my husband came home he jumped on it and got on the phone with Dell and they had sent the wrong memory chips! So he proceeded to order the right ones and install the old ones back in and get the computer back online. Now mind you this is the only computer I can use the website building software XSitePro that I use so I kind of needed it.
Now this might sound stupid and girly, but when he was on the phone I started to make dinner and I just started to cry. I just let these tears roll down my face and said nothing. It lasted for about 10 minutes. I was crying because I felt like I had gotten absolutely nothing accomplished that whole day. I had been feeling this way for awhile and I was tired and just felt emotionally crappy. Now luckily I didn’t sit in it and wallow too long. I didn’t beat myself up or cut myself down. I told myself that stuff happens and I would get it done tomorrow.
I read the chapter in Jim Britt’s book this morning that is called “Manage Yourself”. It talks about being in control of every aspect of one’s life. He says that we create our own security through how we manage our actions and through the choices we make. Basically he says that we have all been programmed to believe that security lies outside us ,(which isn’t true). There are definately some days where I feel the path that I have taken, being an entrepreneur and not working for someone else is sooooo hard. I often feel that maybe it would be easier to get a job. Then I have to pick up books like these to get my head on straight.
He says ” Self-management starts by making the conscious choice to become the predominant force in your own life.” This really hit home because then he went on to say that “Victims show up thinking they are under the control of someone else’s choices, playing someone else’s game.”
He also says ” the first step to self-management is get on the playing field and the second is to realize that you are playing chess not checkers- you have endless moves (good to know for analytical people like me.) The third step is being willing to study all possible moves and make the right ones.”
Victims say “I have no choice” ; Winners say “What’s my next move?”
Well I am choosing to be at my computer today saying to myself, “What’s my next move?”
Success means Gettin’ Er Done
Jason Christianson, me, Mike Dillard, & Jim Yaghi
I love Larry the Cable Guy , I think he is a riot! This is not about Larry the Cable Guy , though he is obviously a very successful person. He is doing what he loves and making a lot of people happy and making a lot of money. Pretty cool. One of my business mentors, Mike Dillard, sent out a great e-mail today and I wanted to share it here today. We are part of the Magnetic Sponsoring program which has been instrumental in helping us build one of our income streams. He talks about a secret software that he used to build his empire but more importantly is how he uses it to take action in his business that it is even more important.
Here is an excerpt from his e-mail in his words…
“When I look out across this industry, I see two kinds of people…
Those who have made “execution” a daily habit, and those who have not.
Here’s what I mean by that…
Many close friends and associates have noticed that I’ve acquired one particular trait over the years which has enabled me to achieve some incredible things.
It’s not that I’m smarter than anyone else, or that I’ve had better opportunities, or that I’ve had more money to start with, (which was definately no the case).
They all say it comes down to one thing… “Mike, what makes you different than everyone else out there is that once you have an idea, you actually sit down and do it”.
To be honest, that never really occurred to me, and it made me stop and really think. I just took it for granted that if you have a great idea, you freaking do it right?
But most people don’t. They have an incredible idea and think about doing it. Day’s go by. Weeks go by. Months go by. Before they realize it, they’re still sitting in the same position they were a year before.
I don’t think about things, I do them.
I have an idea, and I execute that idea one little step at a time, each and every day until the project is complete.
Success is not a destination it’s the result of a pattern of habitual behaviors.
That’s why you can take someone who’s had a track record in one field, and move them to another with the expectation that success will be achieved again.
It’s not the job, the business opportunity, the new marketing system, or the product that resulted in their success… It was their daily habits. They were “do-ers”.
Their are successful people and unsuccessful people in every company- all using the same tools, the same websites, and the same system.
The difference is found in their daily habits.
So how can you transistion from a “thinker”, to a “do-er”?”
This is where he talks a little bit about the secret software which is actually “WordPad”, which is also known as NotePad if you are using a pc. If you are a MAC user like myself it is called TextEdit. It’s a little program that opens up to a blank white page and just stares at you with a blinking cursor at the top. If you do a lot of internet marketing , this is the program that you use to write your copy in and then you paste it into your applications. It is just like having a notepad on your desk.
So Mike says it should be our new boss. Every night before we go to bed, we need to write down five tasks that we must complete the following day in order of importance. We can save it with whatever file name we want…
If we do that before we go to bed then our subconscious will have all night to think about it.
The moment we wake up the next day , we will be on task. We already know what our goals are. We are focused , and by starting the day with focus and purpose that’s already laid out, it will allow us to ignore the onslaught of distractions that come with each new morning.
Now I know for a fact that this will help me because I have ADD in a big way and tend to get distracted easily. And I specialize in internet marketing and believe me there is a lot of “noise” to get distracted by.
So here is the challenge he put out. Do this for the next 30 days, starting tonight. 5 tasks to on the list that you must COMPLETE by the next day. The key here , which feel is going to make this easier for me is that these must be actions “tasks” , not goals. I tend to be a “doer” so putting it into that context for me makes it smaller, almost more doable in my head already.
It makes sense because if we do the tasks then the goals will accomplished automatically.
So focus on the tasks that will result in that goal. Let’s do this for the next 30 days , and see if we make progress! I am going to start tonight. I am looking forward to hearing about everyone’s experience.
6 Reasons to Own Gold and Gold Investments
Steve Sjuggerud is a respected financial analyst and also editor for Daily Wealth and a number of other publications that the company Stansberry and Associates publishes.
This was an excerpt from The January 2008 edition of Daily Wealth but I felt it was still valid now.
6 Reasons to Own Gold and Gold Investments
1. It’s super cheap.
Gold is cheap, while stocks are expensive. In January of 1980, both the Dow Industrials and the price of gold were at the same level: 800. Now, nearly 27 years later, the Dow is above 13,000, and gold is above $ 750.
2. Governments will make our money worth less to pay off their record debts
Governments can print money to pay off their debts. But they can’t create gold. The supply of paper money can be infinite. But the supply of gold is extremely limited (they say that the entire gold production in the history of the world could fit on the basketball court at Madison Square Garden). And it’s difficult to extract.
3. Precious metals do well in major international conflicts
The price of gold was fixed during World War I and World War II. But silver, for example, rose by over 100% in both world wars. Gold has risen for the duration of the War on Terrorism. It all comes back to No. 2, above… governments utlimately print money to pay for wars.
4. Gold should do well in extreme bear markets
Silver more than doubled in value from 1932 to 1936 during the Great Depression (the price of gold was fixed by the government). The next long bear market was 1968-1980. Silver rose from around $2 in 1968 to a peak near $50 in 1980.
5. Gold will rise during inflation… and during deflation
Gold is good inflation protection… gold rises as the value of the dollar falls. But what many people don’t understand is that gold will do even better during deflation, as the government lowers interest rates and wildly prints money (creating inflation) to offset that deflation… leading to substantially higher gold prices.
6. Gold lowers risk in your investment portfolio
In the past, gold has tended to do the opposite of stocks: It skyrocketed in the 1970s , when stocks did horribly. Then in the 1980s and 1990s, when stocks soared, gold lost over half its value. Now, in the new millennium, gold has soared while stocks are still near their year 2000 highs. Holding a portion of your portfolio in gold will smooth out your portfolio fluctuations.
You should own some gold, even it it is purely to lower some of your risk in your investment portfolio, as gold and stocks often move in opposite directions. If you’re not here right now, it’s time to make the move.
His recommendation: Buy high-quality graded gold coins, particularly the Saint Gaudens at MS65 grade or higher. Don’t pay more than 200% over the intrinsic value for the MS65…
Can You Afford To Retire ?
Unfortunately national statistics tell us that only 2% of Americans are financially self sufficient when they retire, despite the fact that 85 million people invest in the stock market today. 9 out of 10 Americans must continue working or rely only on social security for their income with the average retiree receiving only $1,200 a month. Most of us are facing an unpleasant retirement scenario unless we change our investment strategy.
The stock market is volatile and unpredictable and is an ineffective and risky way to secure your retirement. Companies like Enron, Broadcom and countless others have cost thousands of investors their life savings and remind us we only have one chance to secure our retirement. We cant’ afford to waste it with under performing investments.
(Go to http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/retirement/world/401k.html to see why the stock-driven retirement system doesn’t work.)
Our retirement specialist helps people secure their retirement by rolling over their existing IRA/retirement accounts out of the unstable stock-market into secured, high yielding investments that provide long-term appreciation and stability that can save you years of time in reaching your financial goals. That is why this could be the most important article you will ever read.
Because having the right investments in your portfolio can mean the difference between financial security and dependence on government support.
In fact , where you invest your money now will determine the quality of your retirement.
Superior Yield and Rock Solid Security
For example, our favorite secured investment has historically enjoyed a 15.82% average rate of return with no market risk . In fact, institutional investors like Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffet’s company) have been investing in this for years as it is the only investment asset that will retain its value and gross profit regardless of how the stock-market performs.
(Go to the upper right of the site and get your free reports on the investment)
Keep More of What You Earn
Did you pay too much in income taxes last year? There is one investment vehicle where the U.S. government will actually allow you to write off up to 90% of your investment from your ordinary income turning a tax liability into a potential income stream that is tax sheltered and could provide you and your family with income for years and even decades.
A Golden Opportunity
Since the dawn of civilization GOLD has been the ultimate hedge against uncertainty. Today there is a gold investment that is selling at a 97% discount to its value!
These investment opportunities are some of Wall Street’s best kept secrets, that you will never hear about from your stock broker or mutual fund manager, but you will be amazed and surprised to learn that these strategies are what the smart money have been using for years for both profit and protection. You have a chance to reposition your retirement/investment assets out of the unstable stock market into secured and tax advantaged investments that offer both long-term appreciation and stability. It could be one of the most important decisions you will ever make.
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