Getting stronger

Have you ever seen someone with great muscles?

We tend to idolize their beauty, sure we tell people around us that it doesn't look nice but deep inside we wish we had those great muscles.

The one thing we often don't come to understand is that the person with muscles was once weak.  They put in work day-in and day-out, lifted weights and ate the proper foods so their body could be shaped that way.

The main point I'm trying to get across is they were once weak, through hard work they got to a point of beauty and strength that is now admired.

Every master was once a disaster.

I love that quote, I'm not sure who said it but I do know that to achieve top levels in life, you need to be weak before you can strengthen.  If you feel weak and powerless at this point in your life and you feel you can never achieve a point of success you are right!  You will only be weak till you take the first step to get stronger in whatever you choose to do.  You must work harder than the rest to be noticed and get what you want.

If you feel weak and powerless think of that person with muscles, they had to start by lifting five pounds before they could lift one hundred pounds.  Flex your mental muscles to get yourself started on what you want to become, then do it day-in and day-out.


Stay motivated
Shane C.

Sabotaging success

Here a few scenarios I would like you to read, then ask yourself if you are guilty of committing any of them.

-Are you trying to lose weight but when you feel stressed you enjoy your favorite comfort foods to bring on pleasure?

-Do you have an early morning workout, but because you love watching late night TV your to tired to train in the morning?

-Do you have a full day ahead of you that requires all your focus but you stay out all night with friends only to wake up with a fuzzy head and an upset stomach?

Are you a sad depressed person with the goal of happiness, yet when you feel down you shut the world out?

These are some common things that sabotage success.  Instead of feeling a little uncomfortable getting closer towards your goal, you choose the easy pleasures to escape the uneasy feeling that comes with what you are striving for.
Deep down you know you know these behaviors hurt your progress because you always regret doing them shortly after.  The reason we all do this is we love pleasure, and we want it NOW!  When you really think about it why would you ever want to hold out on pleasure.

A behavior that brings on instant pleasure is fine if it happens once or twice a month, it becomes more of a problem when it happens 1-2 times a week. Think about if your on a weight loss program and 2-3 times a week you eat sweets because you had a rough day at work, unfortunately this will not match up with your weight loss goal.

So what do we do about it?
Step number one is know exactly what behaviors are keeping you from success.  Sit down and write out anything you kick yourself in the butt for doing more than you would like to do.
Refuse to get to angry with yourself, just know it's become a habit and that you must stop doing it to achieve success.

How do we stop doing a habit? 
We replace it with a healthier habit, something that will preoccupy our mind and be more constructive such as:
Exercise
New hobbies
Reading
Find positive people to discuss your goals with (like minded people)
etc...

New constructive activities will turn into habits that will become pleasurable when done often.  Like your bad habits they are learned behaviors, you will learn to do them often when you stay consistent.

Write down what stressful things in your life lead you to do bad things. 
When you understand what triggers your destructive behaviors, it will become much easier to to understand why you seek instant pleasures that hold you back.

The road to success is not easy, it's a long road.  The rewards and pleasures you will enjoy once your big goals are achieved are what you have been dreaming of.  Keep up a positive attitude, knowing you can do anything you put your mind towards.  Obstacles are meant to be overcome, they are not there to stop you.

Stay motivated
Shane C.

Do what others won't

The key to being a little better than the rest, is to do what the rest are to lazy to do.

This goes for everything in life such as personality, work, relationships and even what you choose to learn. Anything that will lead to something positive in life will be worth working towards.
The majority of people know exactly what they should be doing but choose to put it off for another time.

What is the best use of my time?
Always ask yourself this question?  And the key time to ask yourself this is when you find yourself being lazy.  When you figure out the best use of your time, take a small step towards what should be done.

Have a list.
Always have a list of the most important tasks that need to be done.  This list can be small chores to do daily or it can be a larger list that requires many small steps to complete.

Knowing your working towards greatness.

Always keep this in mind when your questioning if something is worth doing.  "While I'm doing something constructive, someone is being lazy."  Always know deep inside that are being proactive while "the rest" or "your competition" is at rest.

Success is not an easy journey, this is why so many people want to attain it. Success will only be rewarded to the ones who work towards it. 

Stay motivated
Shane C.

Life beliefs

Today, the topic I'll discuss is beliefs.  We all have them and they either get us ahead, but mostly they hold us back from our potential.  It's the reason why we are not getting to where we would like to be in our lives financially, emotionally, etc...  Always question your beliefs and how you've come to believe them.
In my life, I've told myself over the years I was changing my beliefs. If I told myself my sales goal was to be a certain amount of sales per month I would do everything I could try and get to that goal, except look at my beliefs. So I would write down my goal and tell myself daily I was going to reach a certain amount of sales per month. Something funny was happening though, I wasn't getting where I needed to be. I could never seem to improve on my past goals, I could see no improvement. It was a pattern, I would start off like a rocket only to go back to my old ways.
Then out of the blue, I figured out what the problem was. I was trying to get to my goal, yet my series of beliefs did not match up with my new goals.
 I had a certain set of beliefs on the following topics in my life that did not meet my goal in a positive way.
1.Self image
2.Customers
3. Products 
4.Economy
5.My industry

These are topics I must keep positive and healthy to reach my sales goals. If I have strong positive beliefs about everything except my customers guess what, no amount of wishing, visualizing or "laws of attraction" will get me closer to my goals.

Every single belief you have has you exactly were you are today. You behave, act and do things according to your beliefs. So here is what I'd like you to do, examine you beliefs and learn how you came to believe them.  Is it only an assumption?  Maybe your belief is bulit from people telling you over and over that something is the way it is.
In my industry I work with people who have the following beliefs:

-The economy is no good in this city anymore.
-Our customers don't have much money.
-Nobody wants to buy this.
-It's raining so business will be bad.
-We can't compete with the prices from up the street.

I always love showing people I'm working with that what they tend to believe is not true.  It doesn't matter which part of the country I'm in, many sales people have the exact same beliefs. When I can motivate and prove to people that their belief systems are totally fictional and only based on negative thinking they slowly change and get more excited, more competitive and their moods tends to improve. A belief can be changed in a year or as little as an hour.

Here is your call to action for today:

1. Examine strong beliefs starting in your career or business. Now ask yourself where did they come from?

2. Are your beliefs based on an assumption, something you've heard as a child or are they 100% factual.

3. Make the realization everything you believe makes you act, behave and do every move you make.

You have the power to change the bad beliefs in your life.
Stay motivated
Shane C.

D'uh! Winning!

A success is a success, whether it's something small or something huge.

The key to having a winning attitude in life is to experience successful situations in life.  The more small successes you experience, the more they will lead to bigger successes.
Think of how great it feels when:

You find an amazing parking spot.
You get the kids to do their chores.
You get a work project done before a deadline.
You get the best seat in a movie theater.
You make a meal the whole family loves.
You had a great workout.

These are all ways you succeed in life, there are a thousands more experiences you have daily that point to success.  You need to recognize the small successes and take note how good they make you feel, this is why a journal is so crucial in life.

Think right now of a period in your life that you consider a success.  Go ahead I'll wait....

How did you feel mentally?  Was it like you were on top of the world?

That's the feeling I want you to have when you feel you cannot accomplish something.  You must stop and think of a successful period in your life, whether big or small and take that confident feeling you had and make it present in the face of doubt.

This is the key to changing your doubtful feelings into actions that will make you grow and succeed.  Soon your mind will have created a habit that leads you from one success to the next.  Winning is a good feeling and the more you feel this, the more you gravitate towards it.  If you presently feel negative and down most of the time, your mind has the habit of feeling that way, so think success.

You will never know till you start doing it with at least one of your fears,.  Go ahead and start, you deserve a better quality of life.

Stay motivated
Shane C

10 Steps that are sure to hold you back.

Every single day it seems like we always hear what we should do to succeed in any situation.  Then we take that information and do the total opposite.
Well, I'm going to give you a small list of what to do if you want to be held back in life and NEVER succeed.  I'll use some reverse psychology, this way if you read how to fail you will do the exact opposite.  I hope!

Here's what you should do to never get ahead.

 Think your way is the only way to do things
You should know what's right, you've tried every other way and nothing works.  Just keep going the way you are.

Always be close minded to new ideas
People have no idea what they are talking about.  These new ideas are not proven, and if they are it takes to much time.

Always talk how everything is wrong
I could do so much better than the people who are controlling that company. 

When thinking of what you'd like in life, quickly tell yourself you could never do that
I can never have nice things, I don't come from money

Never read anything other than newspapers and look at pictures in magazines
Who has time to read books?

Always make sure that any ideas you get are only kept in your head.  Writing them down is pointless
If I write anything down, someone will see it and think I'm crazy.  Plus, I'll remember, I remember everything.

Why learn anything about your profession, your a natural
Everything comes to me naturally, and why would I learn anything the boss is a jerk.  They're never going to promote me.

Always be right.
Just because I am...duh!

Never ask questions
If I ask any questions people will think I'm dumb.  And I don't want to bother anyone.

Blame all short comings on your parents
My parents were poor, so they never taught me how to be good with anything.

This concludes my list.  So if you want to stay back in life, just waiting for great things to happened to you, make sure to follow the rules above.


Stay motivated
Shane C.

The journey

What is your destination?

Have you ever decided you wanted to head up to a beautiful cottage up in the mountains or deep in the woods?  If you answered "Yes!", then you know what needed to be done.  You needed directions to get to your destination and then you had to follow them.

When it comes to life, we should look at it like it's a road trip up to the cottage.  Know exactly where you are headed, and follow the directions on how to get there.  Unfortunately, we are not taught that we need a vision or a goal to strive for in life.  Most people travel around day to day not knowing exactly where they are headed in life. Their main vision is to make it Monday to Friday so they can have Saturday off and Sunday to complain about starting the week all over again.

This is how life should be lead, get a great picture in your head then figure out the direction on how to get there in life. Some visions are just getting to 5pm so we can watch T.V. Then some are bigger! Being a business owner, travelling around the world and others want to cure the sick. The person whom you become on the way towards reaching your goal will be the most rewarding part of the journey. This is where personal development comes in, reading and listening to ideas and methods on how to change your thinking and daily habits will help you take the steps that get you further in life.

There's a quote that says:
 "You can't solve problems with the same level of thinking as when you created them"-Einstein

The more you learn daily, the more you will stimulate your creativity.  Creativity is the primer that activates your mind to take action towards your goals, always seek new methods and ideas.  Ask many questions along the way.

Today or sometime later this week, search for what your major goal is.  Learn the first few steps to get there, and finally go towards that goal.
The more stops you make along the way, the slower your progress will be. There will be so many distractions along the way but it's how badly you want to get to that destination in life that determines the speed to which your reach your goal or vision.
Next time your sitting on the couch watching T.V. ask yourself "Am I getting closer to where I want to go?"
Of course you will have days where you sleep, eats junk food and waste a whole day. As long as you can admit it to yourself, and get yourself going the very next day you'll be alright.  Learning to beat the habit of procrastination can be the biggest accomplishment you make in life.

Success is a journey and not a destination, so always strive to do your best.  The rest of the world like to do things 3/4 of the way then they stop.  Not you, you will go all the way.
Stay motivated
Shane C.

Wasting time?

Are you always busy doing the wrong thing?

There is a principle called the 80-20 rule, the basics of this rule is that 20% of what is done yields 80% of the success you will see.

And this brings me to one one my biggest frustrations in the workplace.  My biggest frustration is when I observe employees spending to much time doing the wrong tasks expecting big results.

This principle goes for any aspect of your life, family, career, health and finance.  There will be 20% of what needs to be done that will bring larger results than any other task.  You may ask:
"How do I know what those tasks are?"
The answer is, it's the tasks that are more difficult to do.  The majority of people do what is easy, this is why the majority of people complain that things are unfair.  If you put your focus on doing the more difficult tasks that YOU KNOW should be done, it will be key to your success.

So getting back to the workplace, if you focus on spending several hours doing a task that is bringing no success to the company you work for, you are wasting your time.  It doesn't mean that task should not be done, it simply means take less time doing it.  It all comes down to priority, spend your time focusing on what needs to be done and spend less time on what you think should be done.

If you don't know what needs to be done you either have not listened to what is important or you can always ask. 


Stay motivated
Shane C.

Shane's happy list

I want you to know life is going to be alright.....
 
When you sit down and watch something really funny like your favorite show or movie, the laughs are the best part.  I enjoy something a little different, it's telling people about what I saw.  You know what I'm talking about, you've done it too were you quote your favorite parts of the movie. And you get super bonus points if your friend quotes and acts out the parts with you.
This is because our minds are these huge warehouses full of memories.  Sometimes, like a photo album, we need to pull it off the shelf to check out some of life's best snap shots.

I want you to come up with a list of ten things that always bring a smile to your face no matter what happens.  Make it a promise list that if your ever feeling a little down you can look at this list a smile or bust out laughing.

I'm away from home quit a bit and sometimes I can get a little lonely. I have a list and I'm going to share it with you:

1. Seeing my family when I get back
2.  Watching my puppy freak out the second I walk in the door
3.  A joke I heard Dane Cook tell about sneezing...I crack up writing that one.
4.  Getting into trouble with my cousins growing up
5.  Monkeys (see even the word is funny)

6.  A few Seinfeld quotes. "HELLLOOOOO!" The talking belly button episode
7.  Phil, from the show "Modern Family"- I just have this feeling I have some of his dumb qualities
8.  Watching AMERICA'S FUNNIEST VIDEOS with the kids
9.  Thinking of times when I laughed so hard I drooled
10. The safe feeling you get when you get back on the streets of your neighbourhood after being away from home.

When I look at this list I feel happy, I smile and laugh and know life is good.

So I dare you to come up with a list of your own.  Put in writing at the top that you must feel good when you look at this list.  Because you know that even though things may seem bad...There are things that are really good in life.

Stay motivated
Shane C.

The right place to look

Imagine you are getting ready to go out for the evening to a dinner with friends that you haven't seen in awhile.  When you get ready to leave and you pick up your car keys... BAM!... the lights go out, total power failure in your home.
This startles you and you drop your keys.  You bend down in the dark swooping your hands back and forth only to hit your keys sending them further into the darkness.  You look for a few more minutes only to get fed up and stand up.

When you stand up, you look out to the street and notice the street lights are on.  Hmmm! You get a fantastic idea at this point, you run outside directly under the street light fall to your knees and start looking for your keys in the street.  Your neighbor comes walking along and calls your name asking: "What are you doing?".  You explain you lost your keys so you need to find them.  Your neighbor being the good person he is, offers to help you look for your keys and for many hours both of you look for the keys in the street.
At this point the story is over..

You may be wondering why would two idiots would be looking outside for a set of keys that were lost inside? You laugh, but we do this all the time.  When we have a problem on the inside of ourselves, we feel it's best to look everywhere else on the outside to get the answers.

We turn to friends, family, fortune tellers, etc.... To look for the answers why we may be feeling the way we do.  This is why if people, work, traffic are getting on our last nerve we feel everything else should change around us, we refuse to accept that we may be the problem.

You must start looking at everything inside of you such as:
Your will power
Your beliefs
Your perceptions
Your emotions
Your attitude

This is the answer to change.  Once you change the way you do things, the people and situations around you will take on totally new roles in your life.

Stay motivated
Shane C.

I wish I could take credit for the story about losing the keys but I do give thanks to Dr Wayne Dyer for providing me with it.

Get out of the dumps!

Are you fed up?  Are you depressed?  Are you always down in the dumps?  Do you sometimes get extremely happy only to bring yourself down thinking about a situation in your life from your past, present or future?

If this is happening in your life it's because you associate yourself to a time or situation in your life.

Let's look at people around you:

Do you know someone is has had a health issue or an injury for quite sometime?  Do they always talk about the illness or injury in most of their conversations?

Do you have someone in your life who always seems to be dieting, yet can't lose weight?  Have you noticed all they do is talk about their weight challenges?

Do you have someone in your life who always complains they're broke?  As soon as they get money it's spent.

This issue comes from associating themselves with the "issues" that plague their lives.  I say "they", but I could be saying "you".

You may not realize that you are associating yourself with negative things in your life, I do it sometimes without even realizing it myself.  The more you are aware of the behaviour you are doing the easier it is to correct.

Here is how the process can be corrected

1.Figure out what in your life is bringing you down to a negative place, whether a person, a past experience, a health issue, etc....

2.Separate yourself from that "issue" in your life by becoming an observer and not a victim in your mind.  This means you are not that "issue" so stop making it the dominating factor that runs your life.

3.Learn to observe when your thoughts go towards this negative "issue" in your life.  You may want to carry a notebook and a pen to document this.

4.Learn to now have focus on what you want in life, without using the "issue" in your statements.

example:
say- I am feeling healthy and I am living life to the fullest.

stop saying- As soon as I start feeling better, I will take care of my body.

It's time to make your mind aware that you are making a change.  You do this by staying focused only on what you want.  When your mind goes to that dark place, say to yourself: "There I go again thinking about it..", then immediately switch your focus.  It may take a few tries, but you will get it eventually if you stick with it...I promise.

What did you learn today?

That you are not run by a person, situation, failure from your past, etc.... You are run by your thoughts and emotions and you have the power to change, almost instantly in some cases.

Stay motivated
Shane C.

Next big break

Have you been waiting for your next big break?

When you get an opportunity in life to shine, also known as a "Big break", it's something we tend to over prepare for and spend way to much time over analysing.  We feel anxiety, can't sleep and worry about when our time finally arrives.  We no longer need to feel this way if we live life in a totally different way.

Starting tomorrow, every single day for the rest of your life you should be acting in a way that would be as if you are getting your next big break in life.  Start treating everybody you come in contact with as if they could give you one million dollars for doing a great job.

What the reason?
The reason is because the world notices everything you do, whether you realize it or not.  You should be treating your work, family life and your free time to act in a way that if the right people we're watching that they could change your life for the better.  People around us judge us on our words, actions and personality.  How would you like to be thought of?

Everyday is a new chance to succeed, this type of thinking can make your life so much more interesting. It can get you revved up in the morning when you open your eyes.

Lead a more interesting life.  Get ready for your next performance, because everyday you have the option to choose if you will have a good performance or a poor performance, the choice is yours.

"Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Weak men wait for opportunities; strong men make them".-Orison Sweet Marden

Stay motivated
Shane C.

Too old?

Today's blog is going to be quite short but it deals with any individual that believes they are to old to kick start there lives again.

Here are two names, examine their careers. When you and I may have thought their lives were not going to get anymore exciting life took a turn for the better, resurrecting them into super stardom.

Regis Philbin
Betty White

Stay motivated
Shane C

Learn to feel like it.

Would you rather finish something that is easy or start something that is difficult?

The simple things in life are easy to attain.  Anything that will transform you into a success will be a little more difficult to achieve, this is why only the strong and disciplined enjoy the finer things in life.
The majority of people always put off the harder things for another time.  Another time is simply another way of saying "When I feel like it."
Guess what?  We generally only feel like doing what we already enjoy in life and that's the things we do over and over again. If we only do what we presently know, we cannot grow no matter how hard we try.
How do we beat this vicious cycle that seems to plague us?
The first thing we must do is actually realize we must do what you don't feel like doing first.  Get focused on the task that needs to be done and simply get started.  Let's use reading a book as an example.
You've heard there is a 450 page book that will help you in your career by teaching you a skill you do not presently know.  It's going to be a difficult process to read this book but it will pay off in the end.  Let's break it up into smaller steps.

STEP 1
Go buy the book that can help you.
STEP 2
Read the description on the front and back of the book.  Just look at it and get to know it by flipping through the pages.
STEP 3
Read one or two pages.
STEP 4 
Read a chapter
STEP 5
Read another

The next thing you know, you will want to read more and more because you will have built up more focus and wanting to finish the book will be your primary aim.

Always know the big picture of what needs to be done, then break things down into tasks that are simple and easy to do.  You will never know how much you want to do something until you give it a fair chance.

The example I gave using the book is only a small task you may face.  Bigger tasks in your life such as running a marathon, losing weight or going for a promotion take a lot more discipline. Always remember to take a small step daily. If you decide to take a day off you will fall off track, nothing kills progress more than taking a day off before a new habits is formed, even then it's a dangerous thing to do towards progress. 
Keep going, truly effective people do things even when they don't want to.
Sure, there will be days that you won't want to do the task at hand but you must do it to get ahead of the game.

Can you imagine an athlete getting ready for the Olympics wanting to take a couple of days off weeks before the Olympics simply because they did not want to train or eat right?  The truth is, while the athlete rests and gets lazy their opponents are actually training, and will get a better advantage.

This goes for you too. When you are resting someone more disciplined and focused is doing what you don't feel like doing and will get head of you while you whine that life isn't fair.

Some keys to getting things done:

1. Be clear on what the big goal is at all times.
2. Begin by taking simple small steps towards your goal.
3. Keep a schedule of when and how you should do things.- Always set time aside.
4. Finish what you start.

If you are wanting to achieve higher standards of living do what the rest are putting off until tomorrow.  Do it today, that way you will not need to do it tomorrow.

Stay motivated
Shane C.

The key to transformation

Have you forgotten the most imporatant people in your journey towards the top?

We often want to transform to be the best in our careers, relationships, health and even in our hobbies.  In our journey towards becoming the best, we can sometimes forget that others need to help us get to the top because it cannot be done alone. 

There are over a billion people in this world that can help us become great. No matter how good you get in what you choose to do, the people that you come in contact with are the ones that give you the opportunities and chances to excel.  If you shut out the outside world and only focus on yourself, you can only get so far.  The outside world is full of key people that can be your stepping stones on our way towards success.

Every great achievement that we strive for we must first learn how we can serve others:

If we want to get healthy we must learn how to stop making ourself and others sick.
If we want to become wealthy we must learn how to give.
If you want to become the best in customer service you must learn how to serve your customers.
If you want to become amazing in sales you must learn how to meet someones needs so they want to buy from you.

Opening yourself up to others is key to showing people you respect them and you are willing to help them.  Nobody cares what you can do, they only care what you can do for them. Everybody around you wants the exact same as you do.

The most successful people in this world are into Philanthropy, they understand the power of serving others.  Opening up doors to others opens doors for you.
Please do yourself a favor, serve people as much as you can without saying "When is it my turn?  I help but nobody helps me".  The world does not work this way, don't ask me why, there are some things we just aren't meant to understand.

Here are some key things to reach the top:

-Be clear on what you want
-Learn what needs to be done
-Do it
-Help people along the way

Today's action:
Getting someone to smile:
Go out on the street and wait for someone to smile, but only focus on yourself.  You could be waiting awhile.
To speeds up the process, single out someone and smile at them you are sure they will smile back at you.  As you will see, you will need to help someone to get what you want.

Stay motivated
Shane C.

List of excuses

There are a few things that are certain in life, and excuses are right up there with taxes!

Everybody has excuses  that they give into no matter who you talk to. All that excuses do is hold us back from achieving the joys and success that life has to offer. 

Here are some common excuses:

I'm to busy...
It takes much to long....
I'm not smart enough I didn't go to school for....
I don't deserve it..
No one wants to help me...
It's not fair...
I'm always to tired...
I'm not strong enough to go through that...
That's not something I'd ever try...
I can't afford....

How many times have you heard or given these excuses?  We repeat it so many time that we start to believe the excuses we give ourselves, when in reality there is no truth only perception.
As human beings we are capable of so much, we are so strong and we don't even realize it. 
There is one thing that does hold us back, and that is simply our own self.

You are correct to argue that in the moment you may not be able to afford something or right at the moment something is not fair.  But if you truly want something with all your might you will get it.  Your mind seeks what it looks for.  If you constantly look why you can't do something you will get much of the same.

Now switch that thinking and look for what you want, and add a little time.  It will allow your mind to seek out solutions for the things it wants.  It happens all the time, all it requires is focus mixed with emotion and you will get the things you desire.

This is the difference between success and no success.  The people you look up to have learned to focus on what they want.  Some get it quicker than others and this is because their desire is so strong. 
So learn to replace the excuses why you can't do something with reasons why you can, and your whole life will change for the better.

Stay motivated
Shane C.

Change your life with a pen.

If I told you that you could change your entire life for the better would you believe me?

Where you are in life is the result of an accumulation of your own beliefs. You see, the way we do things or the way we don't do things is all based upon whether we believe we can do it or that we cannot do it.  All major life choices, big and small are based on this.
Really think about that for a few minutes....
Of course you have built up some habits and routines that you don't like to break from for the simple reason that you believe any other way is either the wrong way or even worse an uncomfortable way.  The truth is, this is simple a myth in your way of thinking.

Let me use my favorite subject as an example- Weight loss

Sally and Molly decide they are going to go on a diet and join a gym so they can both look great in their bikinis once summer arrives.  They both start off great they eat right, workout with great intensity until the day Molly decides she needs a week off because she says that she does not want her new lifestyle to change her entire families routines and it would be too difficult to prepare different foods for the family.  So Molly gives up entirely and keep gaining weight and remains unhealthy.

Sally on the other hand decides she will continue because she says it will be a whole new life filled with a new wardrobe, new friends and a better attitude towards life.  So she keeps up with the gym and good eating and as result loses 45 lbs.  Sally gets a promotion due to her new outlook on life and is now trying things she's never done before.  Sally loves life.

As you can see two people will have two different outcomes simply by what they believe.  All our beliefs are influenced by outside sources such as TV and other medias constantly in our face and also by the people close in our lives who tell us their beliefs over and over again.  Eventually we repeat this to ourselves so much we begin to believe what we once thought to be false.

What is the solution?

The solution is so simple, the only catch is it takes a bit of discipline. 

1. Be clear on exactly what area of your life you want to change. (Write it down)
2. Make a list of the beliefs you have about that area of your life.
3. Now write down the complete opposite belief of what you presently think.
If you think- I can never make a sale to this person no matter how hard I try.
Change it to- I can sell anything to this person with ease.

If you think- Losing weight is so hard I always have a hard time.
Change it to- Every week I will feel amazing and I'm on my way to a new and better body.

The great thing about this is you can do it with ANY BELIEF you have, all you must do is think the total opposite of what you believe.  Now having said this, it isn't an overnight thing.  It took you months and years of convincing yourself you believed your present beliefs.  But I will teach you how to SPEED UP THE PROCESS. 

All you do is repeat the new belief to yourself several times a day.  The best times are upon waking and right before bed.  This will ensure to implant it deep in the subconscious mind.  Then one day without realizing it you will be doing actions towards your new beliefs without even realizing it.  It's simply amazing!!!

Here is where you may be saying "Yeah, but these new beliefs aren't even true."  That's ok, your present thinking isn't true either but you believe it, right.  ;-)

So now you are ready to change your life, it's free, it takes a little discipline and a reexamination of the way you look at things in your life.
Stay motivated
Shane C.

Are you a true leader?

How do you define a truly good leader?

Most of us tend to think of a leader as a "boss" or a "leader of a nation"  and we rarely think that we could become a fantastic leader in our careers or any aspects of our lives that may require leadership.  The truth is, you may feel that you need to become a control driven out of your mind manic that seem to lead so any things in your day-to-day living.  This is a myth, good leaders are the opposite.
We must come to realize that a truly effective leader leads themselves before they can even attempt to effectively lead others.
A leader does not need to lead a team of 10 or more people to become successful.

Here are some qualities of a truly great leader:
1. Tact- The ability to know what is appropriate, tasteful and aesthetically pleasing.
2. Patience- Knowing things take time to be perfected.
3. Persistence- Not quitting at the first sign of resistance.
4. Self Confidence- Being comfortable with ones self.
5. Psychology- Having knowledge of how the human mind functions and human behaviors.
6. Adaptability- Being able to go with the flow with the least amount of annoyance.

If you happen to be one of the few who are in a leadership position, you may look at this and feel you excel at a few of these and still feel you are a fantastic leader, but what do the people who follow you think of your actions?  This is the true test.

For the effective leader to create harmony with the people they lead they must first be willing to lead themselves to understand how the team should be treated and led.

If no one is leading the leader, the whole team can crash as quickly as the leader crashes.  The leader must always be on a quest to improve him or herself so the team that is led can improve.  The better the developments in the leaders life are, the better the team will do.

Be a leader not a follower!!

Stay motivated
Shane C.