Advice

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.

~Erica Jong

Be entirely tolerant or not at all; follow the good path or the evil one. To stand at the crossroads requires more strength than you possess.

~Heinrich Heine

The weather-cock on the church spire, though made of iron, would soon be broken by the storm-wind if it did not understand the noble art of turning to every wind.

No Ned To Win

No one can win over the man who has no need to win over anyone. And there is no need to win over anyone. To not win is to win. Try it. After enduring and ignoring the complaint of the old nature which frantically insists it must win, you will win. This is a new kind of victory, in which you do not win over people and events, but in which you win over the false belief that you must win. That is complete victory.

Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'

~Brian Tracy

Resistance is a struggle. Is like pushing a cart uphill with no help. We struggle when things don’t go our way. So every time we resist something, we are spending our energy in the wrong way. It is much better –and much easier indeed- to stop resisting what we don’t want and focus on attracting what we do want.

Always focus on embracing the positive rather than resisting the negative. Releasing negative thoughts of resistance will free your energy to use it in a more positive way. You will feel more energetic, more vibrant and more alive when you focus on what you do want versus what you don’t want. Quit the “resistance” patterns and you will start seeing some amazing changes in your life.

"What We Resist, Persists, Accept, And It Just Dissolves"

The most destructive habit - Worry
The greatest joy - Giving
The greatest loss - Loss of self-respect
The most satisfying work - Helping others
The ugliest personality trait - Selfishness
The most endangered species - Dedicated leaders
Our greatest natural resource - Our youth
The greatest “shot in the arm” - Encouragement
The greatest problem to overcome - Fear
The most effective sleeping pill - Peace of mind
The most crippling failure disease - Excuses
The most powerful force in life - Love
The most dangerous pariah - A gossiper
The world’s most incredible computer - The brain
The worst thing to be without - Hope
The deadliest weapon - The tongue
The two most power-filled words - “I Can”
The greatest asset - Faith
The most worthless emotion - Self-pity
The most prized possession - Integrity
The most powerful channel of communication - Prayer
The most beautiful attire - SMILE!

- Anonymous

You must engage the world, accept failure as the true recognition that you are on a mission, learn and go at it again. Do not doubt yourself. You are new everyday of your life, forgive yourself, if you are fortunate to have today, then yesterday’s lessons can allow you to live a whole new life today, filled with strength, optimism, and belief in yourself.

Victim Mentality

Whether we like it or not, history does repeat itself. Markets plummet, nations fight, people argue, management refuses to listen, employees refuse to engage themselves. In families, unspoken expectations abound and spoken expectations are often unmet. All these circumstances educate us to be skeptical students of life. Every day we face the effects of other people’s decisions and can do nothing about them except smile and go on. As we experience these constant torrents, little by little, the surface of our pride and worth is eroded away. We stand the temptation of becoming self-centered and defensive. We develop a victim mentality.

People are often quick to embrace the victim mentality because it removes all blame and responsibility from themselves and places it on something or someone else. We are a victim of circumstance. We are a victim of others’ decisions. “I didn’t decide this. I can’t control it. Why should I have to take the blame for it?” This exemplifies the conversation we have with others or within ourselves as we step into this existence. The danger with following this mental and emotional path is that we express a number of negative things to those around us. Because each person may perceive the same situation differently, we run the chance of showing ourselves as a liar, selfish, unengaged, individualistic, standoffish, arrogant and unconcerned about others in the same situation.

How many times do we jump into the attitude of the victim because either we don’t know about the circumstances that overtake us or we are not able to control their onset? How many times do we excuse ourselves from responsibility, liability and team membership solely because we were not part of the decision making process or were uninformed until the last moment? We have two choices when these circumstances catch us by the neck. We embrace them and work through them or we declare ourselves the victim and excuse ourselves: disgracing ourselves and forcing others to take the lead in addressing the challenge and moving forward. I would suggest that we lose more by victimizing ourselves than of facing the situation in truth and working it through for a resolution. While it’s true that taking the attitude of a victim offers us a false sense of power, control and exemption, we sacrifice our reputation in the same stroke.

http://bryanhurlbut.blogspot.com/2008/10/victim-mentality.html

Traits Of a High Performer

1. They love a challenge and thrive on overcoming obstacles.
2. They realize that real success takes time and that there are no short cuts.
3. They have a plan as well as a back up plan.
4. They realize that there’s no such thing as a “bad day” but rather less better
moments.
5. They have purpose when they wake up in the morning.
6. They invest in themselves (remember the last article “Invest in yourself’?). They spend time and money on their health, physical state and appearance. What good is having wealth without health?
7. They respect the clock, arrive at appointments not on time but rather before
time.
8. They start their day with the right ATTITUDE.
9. They take responsibility, accept criticism and don’t always try and fight back.
10. They realize that the better prepared they, the better chances they have of
achieving success.
11. They realize that the “comfort zone” is a dangerous place to be where progress doesn’t happen.
12. They are not afraid of hard work and don’t work set hours.
13. They do things others don’t like to do (training on rainy days, getting up at 5am to go to gym or work)
14. They are disciplined and goal driven people.
15. They are proactive people. They take action, they make things happen.
16. They have purpose and goals in their training sessions or work projects.
17. They learn to respect their bodies. They plan time to rest, revitalise, take good nutrition and spend time away from their performance arena.
18. They take time out to strengthen their mental side by reading biographies on
successful people or doing meditation for example.
19. They realize that people are either energy givers or energy takers.
20. They plan, prepare and evaluate their own performances.
21. They enjoy the pursuit and journey they are on. They feel privileged to be doing what they do.
22. They don’t waste energy on things that are out of their control.
23. They don’t make excuses.
24. They are not afraid to fail. When they fail they see it as something they have learnt and make changes for the next time.
25. They see opportunity when others see problems.

Do right and fear no man