Look In The Mirror, Your Problem And Your Solution is a wonderful  piece written by William E. Bailey. Mr. Bailey is a respected speaker and author, a Horatio Alger Award recipient, founder of a $620 million dollar a year enterprise in the early 70′s and is one of Jim Rohn’s and Les Brown’s most respected mentors. I know you will enjoy this.

One of my favorite people, Winston Churchill, once said, “The truth is incontrovertible.  Malice may attack it and ignorance may deride it, but in the end there it is.”  Now I’ll give you the Bill Bailey hillbilly version.  “You might as well start with the truth, you are going to end with it.”
The words I believe, the words I think, the words I feel, may or may not be true.  The words I experience are true.  Where you are today is the sum total of every experience you have had in your life.  And you had the opportunity to say “yes” or to say “no.”  Whatever good happened to you, you ought to take credit.  And whatever blame happened to you, you get that too. Because you could have said “yes” or said “no.”  Wherever you are is okay, because you are here.  And if everything hadn’t happened exactly the way it did in your life, you would not be here.  You might have not survived.

Your direction is critical.  Because one thing I will assure you of, in your life after seventy years of watching it, It Will Change!  All positions are temporary.  Take a look behind you.  As Shakespeare said, “Straight satisfy yourself as the truth of it.”  And again I’ll remind you.  Whether you like it or not, you look in the mirror, that is your problem and that is your solution.

When I was very young I learned my first lesson in motivation, absence of options will create a very quick and powerful decision.  I was born and raised in the hills of Kentucky, what you all call Appalachia.  We called it just plain poor.

There were eleven kids in the family.  We had six flat acres, the rest of them were on the hills.  We plowed with mules.  I was born in 1930, we didn’t have paved roads until I was 15.  We had electricity when I was 16.  We never had indoor plumbing.  So we were a family, but we walked to church together and we walked back together.  We had a very unusual community feeling.

So one day when I was 15 years old, I was plowing corn.  The last time you plow a field is in August and in August, it’s very hot, it’s very humid.  Well, I was plowing about three o’clock, back in a place called the Dorsey Holler.  And I, like most young people decided I was not going to plow anymore, so I spent about five minutes thinking up a nice lie I was gonna tell my father if he asked.  So I backed up under this big beech tree, sat down, tied the plow lines of the mule up to the plow handles, lit a cigarette.  About that time I heard a voice say, “What in the h__ do you think you are doing?”  And there stood my father looking like a rain cloud about to burst.  I quickly whipped out my best lie and said, “Well, the ground was hard and the mule didn’t want to pull the plow.”  He asked, “Did you hit it?”  I said, “NO.”  He said, “Well son you can hit the mule or I am hitting you.”  I HIT THE MULE!

Here is the next statement for you.  It is a shame that we wait for something outside us to cause us to do what we ought to do ourselves.  Why did I wait for someone to force me to do what I should have been doing?  We should all be truly excited about the rest of our lives because we have the greatest single tool in the world called the human brain.

My first eight years of school were in a two-room schoolhouse.  Woody Craft, a Baptist minister, was our teacher.  Woody taught me something that I will never forget, because he made me an absolute fortune and he gave me the window into an incredible world.  Every Friday, after lunch at one o’clock, he would gather all the two rooms together and he would read books like “Pilgrim’s Progress,” “Call of the Wild,” and “Robinson Crusoe.”  And he read them in voices.  I thought that was incredible.  I thought, “My God what an adventurous world right at my fingertips.”  I learned to love to read.

After I learned to read, I then learned something else to further my reading skills.  Because we were very poor, we used coal-oil lamps.  Kerosene if you will.  And my father did not like to have the lamps burn too long.  When he said to turn that light out, what he wanted to hear was click, the sound of it being turned off.  It was not a debate session.  So I learned to do something that people now teach, speed reading.  Well, I learned to speed read because of my father.  When he’d come home I’d have to cut wood for the stove, help milk the cow and feed the mule, so by the time I got a chance to read, I only had a half an hour left of daylight.  So out of necessity, I learned to look at a paragraph until I absorbed it.  And the funny thing about absorbing it, is it never goes away.  It’s always there.

In the same way, life asks us to absorb; absorb the experiences and the moments.  For example, at times when I have been in the mountains or sailing far out to at sea, poems appear.  Now I cannot write poetry, but over the last twenty years, I have had some come to me.  I don’t question where they come from.  These poems come from a source, I’ll leave it up to you to decide what that source is.  I’ve never tried to make them come.  I can now sum up my philosophy for you in a poem.  As a matter of fact, about five or six years ago, somebody got me to write them down in a book called “Rhythms of Life.”  Up until that time I had never written them down, I had never seen the need to because I keep them in my memory.  One day somebody asked, “Well what if you pass away and they aren’t written down?”  I said, “Well you know, there is no direct evidence I will ever expire, but circumstantially it is fairly strong.  I may in fact do that.”

This one poem sums up my philosophy.  How I have lived ever since I came across the idea that there are no limits on what I can do or what I can be.

So I am going to do the poem for you.  It is called “A Warrior’s Song.”  This poem appeared to me when I was at Beartrap Lake, which is 11,400 feet up on the Eastern slope of the Sierras.  There is about a four acre lake above the tree line.  As I crawled out of a sleeping bag one morning, just as the sun came up over the ridge, it seemed to move through the meadow just like a wave of water.  The wave of light lit the wildflowers and then it hit some snow over on the north side where it doesn’t melt.  And this is what appeared in my mind.

A WARRIOR’S SONG

The sun kisses a mountain top
And glistens on its face of snow,
And slowly climbs into the sky above
And lights the valley below.

For each of us that this day awakes
A miracle takes place.
For once again we walk our earth
And own all upon its face.

And the past regrets and foolish fears
Of yesterday’s cloudy mind,
Are washed away by the light of day
And seem so far behind.

For each of us is reborn each day,
Our life renews again.
And with the help of God we will find a cause
That makes us want to win.

For a man without a goal in life
Is a man already dead.
His mind wanders from place to place,
And he walks with feet of lead.

He has no reason to stretch his mind,
No spirit to stir his soul.
His name is not even in the book,
When destiny calls the roll.

Better to take the wine of life
And drink both deep and long –
Greet each day ’cause you’re here to stay,
And sing your warrior’s song.

For the battle of life is joined, and
You might fight long and true.
For in this strife, it’s the game of your life
And the only loser is you.

Gird up your loins with courage
And answer the trumpets call,
And lose or win, you can say at the end,
This was the greatest of all!

To Your Success,

Herb Hunter, 734-285-6792, hunter645@aol.com

If you are in network marketing or you are interested in pursing a network marketing career please contact me on an incredible opportunity.

Folks we live in a most interesting time. I am the eternal optimist, yet very pragmatic.

The economy is having challenges. Some are having terrible struggles. Some are still making money. A select few are thriving. Is there a reason why these few are thriving? Yes, but the answer why may surprise you.

Are you in enough pain to hear the answer – really hear it? If not, you will want to wait. If you are ready keep reading.

The few are Intentional Creators. No matter what happens, they keep creating. Yes, sometimes it does suck, but they are okay! They know how to use their minds constructively and as a reward receive inspired ideas, impressions and solutions to problems that ignite their passion. While others get stuck in self-doubt, frustration and fear, the few remain in passion driven action and they Intentionally Create success.

The few focus on blessing the lives of others. They are good listeners. They always have time to serve. While others look inward wallowing in their self-pity, the few become partners with a power greater than themselves and conquer new continents of opportunity.

The few are perpetual students always seeking to acquire new ability. With new ability comes new opportunity – sometimes more than they can handle. While others plead to be rescued from their pain, the few reap the rewards of preparation.

I could keep on going. Bottom line: there is a difference in how the few think and then act. If you want to become one of “the few” it is time to get your thoughts measured. It is time to find out what is going on in your head. Are your thoughts supporting your dreams or are they robbing you of a clear vision, passion, time for service and the energy to grow? If you are ready to fuel your passion and desire start taking time to grow. Read every self help book and listen to every motivational CD you can. Grow and expand every day. Spend at least 30 minutes a day reading. Open yourself to what the universe has to offer and be thankful and grateful for everything in your life. Start today!

To your success,

Herb Hunter, 734-285-6792, hunter645@aol.com.

If you are in network marketing or you are interested in pursing a network marketing career please contact me on an incredible opportunity.

Here is a great piece called the four steps to a super attitude written by Brian Tracy. If you enjoy Mr. Tracy’s work you will love this.

DECIDE HOW TO REACT
It is not what happens to you that counts. It is how you react to what happens to you, especially when you have unexpected problems of any kind.

Here are four things you can do to assure that your attitude is the very best it can be, under all circumstances.

FOCUS ON THE FUTURE

First, whatever challenges you face, focus on the future rather than on the past. Instead of worrying about who did what and who is to blame, focus on where you want to be and what you want to do. Get a clear mental image of your ideal successful future, and then take whatever action you can to begin moving in that direction. Get your mind, your thoughts, and your mental images on the future.

THINK ABOUT THE SOLUTION

Second, whenever you’re faced with a difficulty, focus on the solution rather than on the problem. Think and talk about the ideal solution to the obstacle or setback, rather than wasting time rehashing and reflecting on the problem.

Solutions are inherently positive, whereas problems are inherently negative. The instant that you begin thinking in terms of solutions, you become a positive and constructive human being.

LOOK FOR THE GOOD

Third, assume that something good is hidden within each difficulty or challenge. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, a major proponent of positive thinking, once said, “Whenever God wants to give us a gift, he wraps it up in a problem.” The bigger the gift you have coming, the bigger the problem you will receive. But the wonderful thing is that if you look for the gift, you will always find it.

SEEK THE VALUABLE LESSON

Fourth, assume that whatever situation you are facing at the moment is exactly the right situation you need to ultimately be successful. This situation has been sent to you to help you learn something, to help you become better, to help you expand and grow.

DECIDE TO BE POSITIVE

A Positive Mental Attitude is indispensable to your success. You can be as positive as you want to be if you will simply think about the future, focus on the solution and look for the good. If you do what other successful people do, if you use your mind to exert mental control over the situation, you will be positive and cheerful most of the time. And you will reap the benefits enjoyed by all successful people.

ACTION EXERCISES

Here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action:

First, become solution-oriented with every difficulty you face. Make a habit of looking for the answers to your questions, the solutions to your problems.

Second, seek for the valuable lesson in every adversity. Make a list of every idea or insight you can gain from every setback or difficulty.

Third, think on paper. Take some time to write out every detail of the problem, and then take the most logical next step to solve it.
To your success

Herb Hunter, 734-285-6792, hunter645@aol.com

COMING IN FROM THE COLD by Dr. John C. Maxwell

Sir Ernest Shackleton was a great explorer who found himself and his crew in a life-or-death crisis when they had to abandon ship in the icy waters around Antarctica.

It was 1914, and Shackleton’s expedition had planned an unprecedented land crossing of the frozen continent. When the ship got stuck in the ice and sank, the crew began an unscheduled 18-month survival test. They stayed alive as they moved among the drifting ice floes until they eventually found an island, where they established a camp. When their provisions began to run low, Shackleton and several crewmembers boarded one of their salvaged lifeboats and made a daring 800-mile voyage to a whaling station. They returned with a ship, and all 27 men survived the ordeal.

There are two types of people during a crisis – those who freeze and those who focus. Shackleton might have been stranded in one of the coldest places on the planet, but his creativity never froze. Instead, it was critical to the team’s survival.

As I studied Shackleton’s experiences, three principles about leading with creativity during crisis came to mind.

1. Creative activity increases creative ability.

As you become active in creativity, you gain more creative ability. Many people would love to have creative ability, but they’ve never done creative activities. When we freeze, we stop creating. Shackleton practiced “routine” creativity, for himself and for his crew. So when problems presented themselves, he and his crew never gave up on their ability to come up with creative solutions.

2. The rulebook no longer rules.

Everybody wants to give you the rulebook. David Kelley was right when he said, “The most important thing I learned from big companies is that creativity gets stifled when everyone’s got to follow the rules.” And Thomas Edison, probably the greatest inventor ever, would tell people who visited his laboratory that, “There ain’t no rules around here! We’re trying to accomplish something.” Structure and rules serve us well, but legalism can choke our creative spirit to its death.

3. God is the Great Creator.

It doesn’t make sense not to bring God – the Creator of the universe – into the creative process. No matter how much natural talent God has given us, God always can make it greater, better, bigger. That’s why I pray for creativity. And when I pray for creativity, I ask for two things – I ask God to give me an idea or give me an example.

In our fast-paced, competitive marketplace, few resources are more valuable to organizations than creativity. But during a crisis, which is when real leadership either rises or falls, creativity often finds itself swallowed by urgency. Who has time to think outside the box when the box is collapsing around you?

Shackleton, however, saw beyond the problems to the big picture. He recognized creativity’s importance in keeping him and his crew alive and functioning as a team when they had little margin for error in the bitter cold and isolation of Antarctica. More than a skill, creativity was an attitude in his life that enabled him to find solutions to the obstacles they faced. When others would have frozen – literally as well as figuratively, in this case – Shackleton focused creatively on surviving the crisis.

——————————————————————————–

It is by no accident that John Maxwell has come to be known as a leader of leaders and mentor to thousands – his path and his purpose have been a single, straight thread since childhood. From the pulpit to the boardroom, his focus has always been to equip and inspire leaders at all levels.

To your success,
Herb Hunter, 734-285-6792, hunter645@aol.com
If you are in network marketing or you are interested in pursing a network marketing career please contact me on an incredible opportunity.

Less is More….

Less really is more, if you allow it to be and take the time to find out what you can let go of because it is controlling your life. Because of this, more and more people are seeking simplicity – that thing that we all feel like we are missing and want to get back. Instead of clutter and chaos, we want a flow to life where we can feel on top of things, rested and satisfied. Our “solution” is to try to get it all done now so we can rest or have fun later. But “later” never seems to come!

Do you beat yourself up to do more? Do you feel stressed that you are constantly falling behind? Please do not do this to yourself! It is so unhealthy.

When you overbook, you actually get LESS done than if you had undertaken a more modest amount of responsibility. That is because in trying to do too much, your energy depletes to the point that you incapacitate yourself. Pretty soon, you are so fraught with fatigue and frustration that you are slipping up on things you are typically great at – and it is a result of exhaustion and overwhelm. Before you know it, it is another day, with more of the same… the never ending story of your stressed-out life!

Instead of racing around to catch up, stop and take a breath. Recognize that you simply cannot do it all. Acknowledge that when it comes to feeling good, getting things done, and living richly… less really is more! It may seem hard at first to embrace this concept and make it work for you, but as you practice and see it working it will become more and more effective and will eventually become second nature to do.

Once you realize this, you will probably be wondering just how you can create less from the piles of “more” that you have accumulated over the years. The secret is learning how to trim away the excess. Rid yourself of that which does not serve you or help you move closer to your goals and aspirations. Here are some tips to help you get started on “closet cleaning” your life from top to bottom.

Identify what is important to you. What are your values? What do you believe in, and wish to live in support of, through your actions and words, each and every day? The key is to identify what it is that you hold in highest regard, so that you may actively bring these things into your life, instead of the things that you do not want or need.

To your Success,
Herb Hunter, 734-285-6792, hunter645@aol.com
If you are in network marketing or you are interested in pursing a network marketing career please contact me on an incredible opportunity.

The truth shall set you..by James Ray

If you automatically answered “free,” you are probably in the majority. The key distinction that came to me this week is that an important piece is missing from this equation.

What the verse says is, “You shall KNOW the truth and the truth shall set you free.”

More and more I am reminded that there is a big difference between “knowledge” and “knowing.” There is a MAJOR difference between reading a book and “living” the book.

Another common misnomer is that “knowledge is power.” Once again, untrue. Knowledge is nothing more than organized information – organized information will do nothing for you in and of itself. How many know what to do and yet…they don’t do anything with what they know?

Knowledge is an intellectual process – knowing is a spiritual/emotional process. Knowledge comes from acquiring information – knowing comes from ownership.

How can you and I continually move from knowledge to knowing – from education to ownership?

Maybe you, like me, have learned and owned much more since you have been out of school than you ever did in school. Ownership comes from 3 keys:

Study
Application
Repetition
I will make the assumption that as you read this you have at least 20 years or more of life experience. That means you have 20 years or more of programming. For this reason, it will take aggressive and proactive study as the first step to reprogramming your mind for success. But that is just the first step.

Second, after study and acquisition of new information you MUST go out and immediately apply the information into your life. From application comes experience, context and results (ECR). From ECR comes the ability to obtain and reflect upon the information, followed by the ability to condition new actions into new habits. Since this is often the most difficult of the three keys, once again, you absolutely MUST put new information into action within 24 hours or less of exposure (this is the mark of a champion). I am sure you will agree that if the 24-hour step is not engaged, the likelihood of it ever occurring is slim to none.

Third, I suggest that you study and re-study the same material until you own it (I make a practice of reading each book a minimum of 3 times). You will continuously find that each revisit exposes something that you didn’t see before. This is not because the material has changed…but because you have changed.

I often have participants read my book, or come through my “Science of Success Weekend” multiple times (some 4 or more) and without exception they always say, “I got so much more” or “This was better than the last time”. Once again, you see something different because YOU ARE different.

Repetition is the first law of learning and the mother of all skill.

Where in your life do you need to KNOW more truth? Where do you need to utilize the keys of study, application and repetition?

Pick one area, one thing you have been exposed to recently and work on that one thing this week. With this approach you will surely begin to KNOW the truth…and the truth will set your life free!

Commit to WRITING AND LIVING the book of your life, and make your life magnificent.

To your success,

Herb Hunter, 734-285-6792, hunter645@aol.com If you are in network marketing or you are interested in pursing a network marketing career please contact me on an incredible opportunity.

Here is a great article titled, attitude is everything by Paul J Meyer. When you read this work you will understand why Mr. Meyer is one of the greats.

There is power in positive expectancy!
More than any other characteristic, quality, or trait of human personality, an attitude of positive expectancy is the companion of success in every achievement, every worthwhile venture, every upward step in human progress.

William James, the founder of American psychology, said: “The one thing that will guarantee the successful conclusion of a doubtful undertaking is faith in the beginning that you can do it.”

Gaining the Slight Edge!

The slight edge is enough to enable one person to exceed the achievements of others to an almost unbelievable degree. Yet the difference in skill, ability, and intelligence between winners and losers is almost always very small and insignificant. When two people are approximately equal in all other qualities, an attitude of positive expectancy makes the winning difference in their performance.

* The difference between a .250 and .350 batting average is only one hit every ten times at bat! Yet that difference brings huge rewards!
* A one-stroke advantage in a golf tournament can bring about enormous dividends!

Believe in yourself!

* When you believe in yourself, others will believe in you.
* They will put their trust in your ideas
* They will cooperate with you.
* And they will receive the same benefits of this positive expectancy from their own experience.

Believing in yourself and in your work enables you to multiply your efforts and magnify your results.

Develop an Attitude of Positive Expectancy!

An attitude of positive expectancy provides the slight edge not only in athletics but in every area of your life.

Positive expectancy:

Transforms you into a self-starter.
Pushes you to develop your potential.
Inspires you to use your imagination and creativity.
Impels you to take purposeful action.
Produces determination.
Forces you to improve and to change.
Enables you to gain the slight edge!

With positive expectancy, you can surpass your prior levels of success and often achieve a great deal more than others who lack that essential quality. There is magic in positive expectancy!!!

To gain the slight edge and to become even more like your Creator intended you to be, begin now to adopt these beliefs and make them operative in your life:

1. A no-limitations belief in yourself.
You are unique. Your dreams come from the essence of who you really are.
2. A no-limitations belief in the potential of other people.
Helping other people recognize their potential and use it meaningfully provides a rich, fulfilling sense of accomplishment. Always encourage others and be willing to give them an opportunity to prove what they can be and what they can do. Helping others find their slight edge sharpens your own.
3. A no-limitations belief in potentials and possibilities.
* The greatest dreams are yet to be dreamed.
* The most constructive concepts are yet to be formulated.
* The most successful plans are yet to be drawn!

Positive Expectancy Works!

1. It gives you the power of concentration. By focusing all of your thoughts, plans, and actions on the object of your belief, you 1) define your priorities, 2) block out your obstacles, 3) maintain your enthusiasm, and 4) take responsibility for actions necessary to reach your goal.

2. It activates the law of attraction: like attracts like, 1) You attract positive influences and positive situations, and 2) you are drawn to positive results.

3. It works through visualization:
* You can only be what you visualize yourself being.
* You can do only what you visualize yourself doing.
* You can have only what you visualize yourself having.

Develop an attitude of positive expectancy. Mental images act as stimuli to both the conscious and subconscious mind.

When you meet any kind of obstacle or roadblock, try again immediately. Setbacks are supposed to be temporary’, they become permanent failure only if you stop trying.

Refuse to let what anyone says, thinks, or does discourage you! Put into action the power of positive expectancy and proceed and persevere!

The slight edge, bolstered by the power of positive expectancy, empowers you to build a storehouse of accomplished goals.

Take time to record your accomplishments in writing. A written record serves as a source of satisfaction, providing a warm glow of achievement that can sustain you through tough times and serve as a wellspring of encouragement to yourself and to others.

To your success,

Herb Hunter, 734-285-6792, hunter645@aol.com
If you are in network marketing or you are interested in pursing a network marketing career please contact me on an incredible opportunity.

As I share with everyone one of my favorite books of all time is the Science Of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles. This is a excellent article titled The 30 Day Challenge by James Ray on this topic. Here is what Mr. Ray has to say.

One gentleman I consider to be a great mentor (although I have never met him) is Wallace D. Wattles. Wattles wrote a trilogy of books in the late 1800s entitled The Science of Getting Richs, The Science of Well-Being, and The Science of Becoming Excellent. They are ALL outstanding!

If you have read my book The Science of Success, it is probably evident by the title that Wattles has had a strong influence on my thinking.

I have a laminated quote from Wattles that has been sitting on my desk for AT LEAST 2 years. This week I will give you the quote, along with a 30-day challenge.

If you accept the challenge, it must be done first thing in the morning before you start your day. Pick a goal and do EXACTLY what the quote says. Then take action and EXPECT MAGIC to happen in your life.

Here’s the complete challenge:

1. Pick a goal that you want, and truly believe, you can achieve in the next 30 days. Make it specific and clear. Create a “spiritual prototype”/picture of this goal in your mind. Remember, you must be IN the picture — looking through your own eyes.

2. Commit to visualizing your goal first thing in the morning and last thing at night every single day for the next 30 days.

3. As a part of your visualization process (either before or after) read the Wattles quote OUT LOUD every single day for the next thirty days.

4. It must be read FIRST THING in the morning before you begin your day (if you want to read it at night as well — more power to you).

5. This must be read with PASSION. In other words, on a scale of 1-10 you have to be at least at a 20!

6. Follow the instructions of the quote.

Are you ready? Are you committed? Do you have the spiritual prototype of your 30-day goal? Here’s Wattles’:

“There is a thinking substance from which all things are made, and which in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe.
A thought in this substance produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.

I can form things in my thought, and by impressing my thoughts upon formless substance, can cause the thing I think about to be created.

In order to do this, I must pass from the competitive to the creative mind. I must form a clear mental picture of the things I want. And, I must hold this picture in my thoughts with the fixed purpose to get what I want, and the unwavering faith that I will get what I want — closing my mind to all that may tend to shake my purpose, dim my vision, or quench my faith.

I am ready to receive what I want when it comes, and I AM ACTING NOW upon the people and things in my present environment.”

To your success,

Herb Hunter, 734-285-6792, hunter645@aol.com

If you are in network marketing or you are interested in pursing a network marketing career please contact me on an incredible opportunity.

Here is a great article titled Live With An Attitude Of Gratitude by Glen Hopkins. Imagine for a moment one of those nights when you just can’t fall asleep and you have to get up early the next morning for a very important meeting of which you are the keynote speaker. Your alarm clock goes off early in the morning waking you from what little sleep you had. You stumble out of bed, have a quick shower, grab a coffee and some toast, and off you go to fight the traffic on the way to work.
Does that sound like the start of a terrible day? Most would answer ‘yes.’ Few people however, would answer, ‘no.’ These are the people, who are in my opinion blessed with a gift. A gift which determines how they view their life. These people live with ‘an attitude of gratitude.’ For them, the situation described could be worse. Much worse. For example, think of the man who doesn’t have a bed, let alone a roof to over his head. When he is awoken from what little sleep he is able to get, it is by the rain falling on his cold body. He too stumbles to his feet and begins his journey to work in his bare feet. His work is in the field of survival. He searches though garbage cans for scraps of half-rotten food to eat and odd bits of clothes to keep him warm.

The purpose of this example is to illustrate that we all have so much to be grateful for. Even in times when it seems that nothing could be worse, there is always a reason to be grateful. And when you feel a sense of gratitude, you feel a sense of happiness and contentment. My challenge to you today is to learn to look for the good in every situation and live with ‘an attitude of gratitude.’

I assure you, if you were the fellow searching for food in garbage cans you too could find things to be grateful for. You just have to look hard enough and ‘open your eyes’ to what is around you. You have to focus on what’s good in your life, not what’s bad.

“I once was distraught because I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.”
– Unknown

Life works in mysterious ways. Time and time again there have been stories of people who are in a dire strait yet they are found helping others who are experiencing greater turmoil. This is because once you have helped someone in greater need than yourself, you always feel better. You feel better because you have helped another human being, and this forces you to change your mindset from focusing on your problems to focusing on their solutions.

Always focus on the solution, not the problem and live with an attitude of gratitude! Mother Teresa was a primary example of this phenomenon. Her entire life revolved around helping others in need. As a result she experienced a great deal of love and self-satisfaction in her life.

I challenge you now to take a moment to think of five things in your life that you are grateful for today. For example, your friends, your family, your job, your sense of smell, touch, sight, and sound. The list can go on and on. Imagine what your life would be like without these things. Write them down on a piece of paper and really think about the things you are grateful for. You will be amazed at how great you will feel!

——————————————————————————–

Glen Hopkins owns Motivational-Messages.com, your Free resource for daily motivation and inspiration, including quotes, tips, and stories to help you lead a successful life. Visit http://www.motivational-messages.com today!

To your success,
Herb Hunter, 734-285-6792, hunter645@aol.com
If you are in network marketing or you are interested in pursing a network marketing career please contact me on an incredible opportunity.

I always like to bring my readers great information. Here is a article by Mark Victor Hansen I know you will enjoy and benefit from, titled believe it-achieve it. Mark Victor Hansen, co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series, has for more than 25 years, uniquely focused on the vital elements of human behavior that most affect our personal and professional lives and has influenced society’s top leaders and the general public on a global scale.

Great Achievers Believe They Are Great
Muhammad Ali was one of the finest boxers in history. But before he received his acclaim, before his name and face became known around the world, he was just another struggling fighter trying to break into the big time. Perhaps you can remember the day, as I do, when we read the headline on the sports page. There were only three words: “I’m the greatest!”

They were said to the press by a young man named Cassius Clay before his first great match with Sonny Liston. Yes, he’d been great at the Olympics, but he seemed pretentious. At first, the press scoffed at him. But when he won, they took notice. Not only had he won, but he had predicted it. Cassius Clay — who later changed his name to Muhammad Ali — subsequently went on a world tour constantly reiterating his motto, “I’m the greatest!” He also began predicting the round in which he would knock out his opponent. In all but one or two cases, he was right! He affirmed, I dance like a butterfly and I sting like a bee…I’ll knock you out in round three.

How could he do that? Had Muhammad Ali tied into some mysterious force that gave him the power to see into the future? Was there something he understood that we didn’t? The answer is yes!

That mysterious force Ali tapped into is called affirmation. Affirmations are the words you say to yourself or that others say to you that you believe, think about, act on, and that come about.

Understanding Affirmation

Notice that when Ali spoke, he never said, I’m great or I’m almost the greatest or even, Next year I’ll be the greatest. When he said, simply and clearly, I’m the greatest! he was accomplishing three things simultaneously:

First, he was letting his own subconscious know what it had to work with. For the subconscious there is only the present — the eternal present — so he was defining himself right then and there. In effect, he was telling his subconscious what it was supposed to believe in the here and now.

Second, by speaking his affirmation out loud and in front of others, he was putting his subconscious on notice that there was no backing down. He had declared it. Now he had to live up to it.

Third, once he had lived up to what he had said by becoming world champion, he got others to believe it, as well. Thus, when he said he would knock out another fighter in the third round, he made sure that other fighter heard the declaration. It was psychological warfare at its best. When the third round came, the other fighter was waiting to be knocked out. Such was Ali’s strength of affirmation that even his opponents believed it was going to happen. Consequently it did.

While Ali’s boxing skills were indeed significant, even greater were his psychological skills. As with Muhammad Ali, all your triumphs must first be won in the mind before they’re ever attempted in the ring.

The Importance of Not Making Negative Statements

If you keep believing what you’ve been believing, you’ll keep achieving what you’ve been achieving.

An affirmation is a statement of belief. Without it, the subconscious is free to be programmed by others beliefs. Since the subconscious is untrained, we know that it believes whatever happens to be poured into it. If it’s told that it is withdrawn, unsure, self-conscious, inferior, helpless or suffers from low self-esteem, it believes that and acts accordingly.

In other words, negative input from the conscious mind results in negative output from the subconscious mind. Likewise, positive thinking and believing causes positive believing and results.

Believe You Can Do It

Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve. — DR. NAPOLEON HILL

In order to achieve your goals, you’ve got to believe you can do it. Your beliefs determine your actions, and your actions determine your results. If you take substantial right action, you’ll obtain substantial right results.

But consciously believing is the key!

How can you arrive at these positive beliefs? First put your goal in writing. Then visualize the goal. Finally, use affirmations to drive home your belief in your abilities to achieve that goal. Affirmation is the key that unlocks the door to belief.

The truth is, we all tend to believe things that are written down. Another truth is that we all tend to believe something when it’s affirmed. Repeated affirmation lends credibility. When we say it out loud, we always have an audience of at least one — our own subconscious mind. And when our subconscious hears us affirming, it at least gives us the benefit of the doubt. It says, Well, he could be right.

When we affirm in front of someone else, we really put the squeeze on our subconscious. It’s forced to say, Wow, you really did it! You committed yourself. If you don’t follow through, you’ll look the fool and be embarrassed. Now I have to get off my behind and save you on this. I guess I’ll have to go to work!

Can you see the power of affirmation? It forces our subconscious to believe that we really can. What are your goals? What would you like your subconscious mind to begin believing about you? Take some time now to complete these thoughts:

I am going to achieve… I am going to own…
I am going to enjoy… I am going to believe…
I am going to attract… I am going to empower…

How to Affirm

Once we understand the vital importance of affirmations in the achievement of our future greatness and development of our optimal potential, our next question must be: How do we affirm? At first you may want to do it alone until you get the hang of it. Later on, you’ll probably feel comfortable doing it in public.

1. The first thing you must do is stand. Standing brings your full consciousness to attention.

2. Make your statement of affirmation. Make it loud and clear and be sure that your voice isn’t quivering. Furthermore, never say you’ll try to accomplish something. When you say I’m going to try to be the greatest or I’m going to try to be beautiful or I’m going to try to succeed, remember that it doesn’t cost any more to affirm greatness than it does to affirm mediocrity. So why affirm anything less?

Do It Often

The more you affirm, the sooner you’ll put your obedient subconscious mind to work and get results. You must master your mind; don’t let it master you.

What to Affirm

Thus far I’ve talked about how and when to affirm. The next logical step is to ask ourselves, What should I affirm? This is, of course, a personal choice. It really depends on your purpose and your goals.

I suggest that you have a main affirmation that you constantly repeat as well as other affirmations that you use as needed. Go for something that’s simple, positive, succinct and constructive. It should be easy to repeat, so that it becomes like a perpetual continuous-loop tape recording in the mind. It’s a good idea to create your own main self-affirmation that you feel comfortable stating first thing in the morning.

Start by smiling at yourself in the mirror. Say, Good morning. We’re going to have a great day today. Then follow through. Go forward into your day with the knowledge and belief that you are going to produce great results.

Be your own best cheerleader. If you’re impressed with you, the world will be impressed with you.

Affirmations don’t have to be fancy, long or drawn-out. Simplicity is the key. And they should be in the present, not the future tense (remember, the subconscious doesn’t operate in the future, it only understands now).

Your affirmation should be spoken with as much conviction as you can give it. If you find yourself stumbling over the words, start over. A hint here is that if you just can’t make yourself say it, shout it

Affirm Others

When you affirm another human being, you raise his or her self-esteem. It costs nothing to do, yet it pays dividends that are profound. The other person, in turn, will reciprocate, and you will receive bountiful rewards, maybe not directly from the person your affirming.

There are three kinds of affirmations or compliments that we can give to others:

(1) The first is to affirm someone’s physical attributes. This is historically how most men have complimented women. (I always ask: May I pay you a compliment? It allows the receiver to be in a space of accepting it.)

(2) The second way is to affirm mental virtues. These affirmations go to the intellectual giant in our class, to someone who has done well academically or in business. These two ways are generally limited.

(3) We can’t compliment everyone on their mental virtues or their physical attributes; or else we would rightly be accused of being insincere. But there is a third way we can affirm others, and that is for their qualities, their achievements and their actions. Everyone has a set of core qualities and beliefs that they express. They are funny, sincere, courageous, disciplined, well organized, loving, compassionate, dedicated, or persistent. Perhaps they demonstrate high levels of integrity, morality, ethics or honesty. Maybe they are straightforward, a risk taker or someone who cares deeply about animals or children. When we affirm these qualities and beliefs in someone, we are acknowledging them at a core level. This is the deepest and most powerful kind of affirmation you can give another person, and it will come back to you in many positive and often unseen ways.

How can you affirm others? How can you touch others on a core level and affirm their greatness?

Expect Results

Through affirmation — and, of course, writing down our goals and using the power of visualization — we can achieve amazing results. Just how amazing really depends on each of us individually. Affirmations and the other techniques I’ve mentioned allow you to change your beliefs, assumptions and opinions about that most important person — yourself. They allow us to harness those 18 billion brain cells and get them all going in a singular and purposeful direction.

The subconscious is engaged in a process that transforms us. It’s invisible. It doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t take a long time. It just happens. Once you become accustomed to the process and its elementary mechanics, you’ll be able to do it with increasing frequency and facility.

Key #1 Start the change process by setting a goal. Write down your goals, making them as clear as you can — both in your mind and in your written expression of them.

Key #2 Visualize the goal as completed. Use the power of your mind to “see” yourself as the person you want to be.

Key #3 Affirm the desired results. Before you go to sleep, “playback” your series of affirmations: I am lively. I am outgoing. I am friendly. I am poised. I am charming. I am meeting people who are attracted to me. I am lovely.

Repeat these affirmations every night for a month until they become automatic, until you’ve woven them into the fabric of your being.

Soon, they’ll automatically repeat themselves to you throughout the day. By the time this happens, you’ll be far along the path to becoming the person you want to be. Your subconscious will get the message, and it will be reflected in every action you take, producing the desired response and change in yourself and others.

To your success,
Herb Hunter, 734-285-6792, hunter645@aol.com

If you are in network marketing or you are interested in pursing a network marketing career please contact me on an incredible opportunity.