Posted 2/26/2006 by Josh Hinds

Playing the Quantum Field
By Brenda Anderson

Have you ever experienced a sudden breakthrough? You know that feeling—when what you picture in your head actually happens, and you want to pinch yourself because you can’t believe it’s real? Or you have a moment of clarity, and your biggest problem suddenly disappears? Whether you knew it or not, you were playing in the quantum field, the universal force that connects everything and everyone.

You have far more power than you realize. Think of the quantum field as a cosmic QVC Shopping Network: Your thoughts place the order and the field delivers it. Instead of working harder to achieve your goals, your choices and thoughts can become the beacons that attract what you want and the answers find you.

Ten specific energetic choices, from "black hole" (low energy) to "breakthrough" (high energy), make up your Energy Spectrum. This range of energy options governs your daily decisions and the results they create.

Let’s say you are having an argument with your spouse. Stop and notice where you are on the Energy Spectrum. Moving from emotion to observation will instantly connect you with the transformative power of the field and produces a result vastly different than you anticipated when the argument began.

Instead of going down a familiar low-energy path, thinking, He’s not hearing me or He’s not paying attention, notice that there’s a pattern when you argue with your spouse. Moving from emotion to observation leads to emotional mastery and will help you fulfill your dreams and desires. When you stop repeating familiar patterns, you can overcome unproductive, addictive habits.

If you’d like more tangible visualizations of playing in the quantum field, begin by embracing the idea of multiple realities. Put simply, in every situation, your thoughts have the power to create the reality you want. Don’t get locked into just one of them.

For example, when someone does not return your call, you probably jump to a single conclusion (He’s not interested; She’s mad at me; They’re too busy to make time for me). Instead, imagine at least one more possibility (Their voicemail isn’t working; They have a hectic schedule). The act of opening up to other possible realities enables you to consciously tap the potential of the field.

Here’s an example of how I’ve applied this concept, with a memorable result:

On a business trip last year, I arrived in Beijing after an extremely long flight and felt exhausted. I went to the hotel gym to exercise and wake up and noticed two men who didn’t fit in at all. The stiff, serious way they carried themselves seemed out of place.

After my workout, I immediately went into a dinner, where someone mentioned that former President Bill Clinton was staying at our hotel.
“Oh, I’d love to meet him!” I said.
“Yeah, right,” my colleagues responded. “He’s protected so much, you don’t have a chance.”

I believed I had more than a chance if I carefully chose my reality. One of the low-energy realities I noticed that evening was a head trip that sounded like, I’m tired and I want to go to bed. Another was, I look like hell. I’m not fit to meet a president. I knew that low-energy choices like these can become a magnet for my worst fears instead of my biggest dreams. So, I suspended judgment on myself, lightened up, and chose a reality that had far higher energy.

As we left the dinner and my colleagues turned toward their rooms, I headed in the other direction.
“Where are you going?” the others shouted after me.
“To meet President Clinton,” I replied.
They all laughed and said good night.

I walked down the hallway and came upon a ballroom. I didn’t realize it just then, but President Clinton was inside, wrapping up a speech. The mystery men from the gym exited the ballroom and moved toward the elevators. I realized then that they were Secret Service agents and knew the president would follow. As I waited, I kept choosing the reality that I would meet him.

Sure enough, when he emerged, he looked around and made eye contact with me, probably because I was one of few Americans in the room and at least six inches taller than everyone else. He moved through the crowd and came over. The Secret Service agents took our photo and kept other people from interrupting us. We talked for a few minutes.

You can imagine my delight the next morning when I greeted my colleagues with, “Guess who I met last night?”

When you play the field, anything is possible. Understanding which reality you’re in helps you recalibrate and make a more powerful choice, which allows you to get out of a comfort zone or to break a lifelong pattern.

Every day, we are bombarded by low-energy, fear-based messages, which many people are lulled into thinking is the only reality. You don’t need to live this way anymore. Playing the quantum field is a new way of life that’s powerful and practical and will turn your view of “how it is” upside down and inside out. Now that you’ve glimpsed what’s possible, won’t you please come out and play?
___________
Brenda Anderson is the author of Playing the Field: How Changing Your Choices Can Change Your Life (New World Library, March 2006)

** Based on the book Playing the Quantum Field: How Changing Your Choices Can Change Your Life © 2006 by Brenda Anderson. Printed with permission of New World Library, Novato, CA. www.newworldlibrary.com or 800-972-6657 ext. 52.

Posted 2/23/2006 by Josh Hinds

Louise L. Hay and Leo Buscaglia -- Inducted to the Motivational Speakers Hall Of Fame

I'm happy to announce we've just added Dr. Leo Buscaglia and Louise L. Hay to our Motivational Speakers Hall Of Fame. I hope you will take a moment to learn more about these inspiring individuals.

-- To your success, Josh Hinds :-)

Posted 2/21/2006 by Josh Hinds

Becoming More Creative
by John Baldoni

1. Keep an open mind. (Sometimes creative thoughts come when you are at your busiest.)

2. Think sideways and upside down. (Assume different perpsectives - your competitor's, your employer's, your customer's.)

3. Brainstorm with colleagues.

4. Look to combine one, two or three ideas into one terrific idea.

5. Let thoughts ruminate in your brain overnight. (John Cleese, the gifted comedian, practices this technique.)

6. Trust your instincts. If the ideas do not come right away, walk away and begin doing something else (You never know where the next great idea will come from.)

(c) John Baldoni - All rights reserved
___________
John Baldoni is a leadership communications consultant who works with Fortune 500 companies as well as non-profits including the University of Michigan. He is a frequent keynote and workshop speaker as well as the author of several books on leadership. Readers are welcome to visit his leadership resource website at www.johnbaldoni.com

Posted 2/19/2006 by Josh Hinds

Here's a quick note to say we just added two new articles to our Success Articles Library from Motivational Speaker and author Zig Ziglar -- they are: "On Personality" and "On Doing Well". If you're not familiar with Mr. Zig Ziglar you can learn more about him at our Motivational Speakers Hall Of Fame.

-- Here's to your success, Josh Hinds

Posted 2/18/2006 by Josh Hinds

Finding Your Identity: 8 Essential Questions
By Larry Ackerman
Author of The Identity Code

The idea that you are at liberty to pick whatever path in life you want is the unspoken agony of the modern person. Call it the myth of personal freedom.

This popular, but misguided, belief ignores the fact that life has order, and that that order bears heavily upon your choices, on what makes sense to do with the time you have. The good news is that, although you can’t be anything you want, you have more potential than you know.

The order I am speaking about is contained in a code, your identity code. Much like our genetic code, our identity code is born into each of us, providing a complete map of how we as human beings are designed to function – of how we are supposed to live – when we are living according to who we truly are.

Crack your identity code and the contours of your life will shift. You will not only come out stronger, you will come out larger. Larger in heart, larger in influence. You will find the right friends. You will marry smarter. You will discover the right line of work, or field of study, and place to practice it. You may even live longer. You will understand the why of your own life.

Your identity code is found in the answers to eight questions:

Who am I?

What makes me special?

Is there a pattern to my life?

Where am I going?

What is my gift?

Who can I trust?

What is my message?

Will my life be rich?

How do you discover your own "identity story?" You must answer each of the 8 questions in turn. Here are what three of these questions ask you to do and an example of how different people did – or didn’t – answer that question for themselves.

To answer the question, Who am I?, define yourself as separate from all others. In simple terms, before you can know who you are, you must first know who you are not. What you seek in separation is independence – the ability to think and act on your own and in your own best interests, despite what others may expect of you.

One of my closest friends in graduate school, Brian, was a star marathoner. He could beat nearly everyone else in our informal roadrunners club by at least 10 minutes, consistently. After graduate school, Brian held a number of increasingly important positions in a large, international public relations firm. Later, he became press secretary to one of the most colorful congressmen in Washington. These posts shared one thing in common: they required serving others, a skill my friend had mastered. Brian had made a career out of pleasing others, always more than himself.

I sense that Brian’s need to make other people happy began long before I ever met him.

Now, when I think about Brian running marathons, I don’t imagine him running toward the finish line. Instead, I imagine him running away – from what, I do not know. My good friend never achieved the distance he needed to figure out who he was, separate from those he served.

To answer the question, What is my gift?, follow the signs of joy. Within each of us is an overarching drive, which cries out to be developed and exercised. Call it a gift, a purpose, or a passion. It is that irrepressible need we have that captures our imagination and urges us forward. It is something we are compelled to do, simply because of who we are. Your identity is your gift to the world.

Diane is a flight attendant. As I learned soon after meeting her, Diane chose not to have children. Why she made this choice remains a mystery to me to this day, but that isn’t the point. Ironically, she and her husband wound up living on a street that is loaded with kids, from infants to teenagers. And she welcomes them all.

When my friend isn’t up in the air, she’s digging in the earth; Diane loves gardening. In the past few years, Diane has transformed her modest yard into a beautiful garden. She has managed to cultivate raw, unassuming patches of dirt into small islands that boil over with organic art.

Diane’s smile is never broader than when she is guiding people through her garden. In time, I have come to understand that what blooms in my friend’s yard is more than plants. Figuratively speaking, it is her very seed. The way I look at it, my friend’s instinctive, maternal need – her basic need to give – had found its natural expression.

To answer the question, What is my message?, declare yourself on the strength of your gift. At some point in your life, when your identity is clear, it will be time to stand up and be counted. At that moment, fear of rejection by others no longer matters. What does matter is letting the world know who you are. It is a moment of true liberation.

Chloe, mother, wife and good friend to many, struggled for years with her love of photography. She wanted more than anything to express this love to the world in no uncertain terms. But her drive was dampened by her fear that she’d be seen as an imposter, a fear she had carried with her for years, born of the fact that she wasn’t truly a "professional.."

Chloe gradually took on more and more photo assignments, some paid, others didn’t, but she didn’t care. Not long ago, Chloe’s work was highlighted, along with five other photographers, in a major exhibit in her home town, just outside of New York City. The welcome table in the exhibit hall held stacks of business cards for each of the exhibitors. What I remember most was that, at the end of the exhibit, few of Chloe’s cards remained. My friend had found the courage to let the world know what she stood for and, in turn, had gained the recognition she deserved.

Living according to your identity doesn’t happen automatically. How our lives unfold isn’t predetermined. Identity isn’t a form of fatalism, where, no matter what you do, your life is destined to turn out a certain way. It is the opposite. It is up to each of us to learn who we are and, then, to act upon this knowledge in ways that enable us to realize the potential our identities hold.
___________
Larry Ackerman is a leading authority on organized and personal identity. As group director for the international identity- and brand-consulting firm Siegel & Gale, Ackerman is widely regarded as the pioneer in the field of identity-based management. His many and diverse clients include Alcoa, Maytag, Fidelity Investments, the Dow Chemical Company, Ernst & Young, Norsk Hydro, Interbrew, and Boise Cascade. His first book, Identity is Destiny, set forth a revolutionary view of the nature of identity and its fundamental impact on organizational and leadership development. Find out more about his new book The Identity Code at TheIdentityCode.com

Posted 2/16/2006 by Josh Hinds

Motivational Quotes To Think About ...

The Following quotes are from Seminars On DVD -- be sure to visit their site where you'll find a host of other valuable success resources.

"Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers." --- Tony Robbins

"Your brain has more than 100 billion cells, each connected to at least 20,000 other cells. The possible combinations are greater than the number of molecules in the known universe." -- Brian Tracy

"Refuse to compromise what you know to be right for anyone or anything." -- Brian Tracy

"If you envy successful people, you create a negative force field of attraction that repels you from ever doing the things that you need to do to be successful. If you admire successful people, you create a positive force field of attraction that draws you toward becoming more and more like the kinds of people that you want to be like." -- Brian Tracy

"Being on par in terms of price and quality only gets you into the game. Service wins the game." -- Tony Alessandra

"Read an hour every day in your chosen field. This works out to about one book per week, 50 books per year, and will guarantee your success." -- Brian Tracy

"Whenever anything bad happens, always say to yourself, "Something better is coming ." This causes you to look for the good in every situation." -- Michael Jeffreys

"To believe in the things you can see and touch is no belief at all. But to believe in the unseen is both a triumph and a blessing." -- Bob Proctor

"Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life." -- Leo Buscaglia

"You never lose by loving. You always lose by holding back." -- Barbara DeAngelis

"Using the power of decision gives you the capacity to get past any excuse to change any and every part of your life in an instant". -- Tony Robbins

** Visit Seminars On DVD for even more motivational and success resources... All the best, Josh Hinds :-)

Posted 2/14/2006 by Josh Hinds

Three Ways To Kick That Old New Year's Resolutions Habit
By Rebecca Fine

A friend of mine who works out at a fairly small gym says she and the other regulars are amused to see the annual onslaught of New-Year's-resolution-fueled new members. Every January, she says, it's impossible to find a parking space anywhere near the gym.

But she and her colleagues just laugh it off. After all, they say, by mid-February there'll be plenty of spaces.

That's the way it seems to go for most people. (Have you noticed?) ;-)

And it's been this way for eons -- for at least four thousand years anyway. The ancient Babylonians are the first recorded celebrators of the new year and the first we know of to make resolutions -- and, it's probably safe to assume, break at least some of them.

Of course, for the Babylonians, the new year began at the planting season, not in the month of January (which didn't exist then because the Gregorian calendar we use now didn't come into being until many centuries later). They believed that what you did on that first day would have an effect on your entire year.

But while our most commonly adopted resolutions today have to do with losing pounds, quitting smoking, or giving up procrastination, the ancient Babylonians apparently most often resolved to return borrowed farming equipment. (I'm not kidding. You could look it up -- I did. But don't ask me how historians know this stuff!)

These days, the people who study and keep track of these sorts of things say that by March, only about 63% of the people who made resolutions are still making an effort to follow through. Go a few more months and the figure plummets to about 20%.

So does this mean that making resolutions is just an exercise in futility?

Well, it can be, but doesn't have to be. The problem may lie more in HOW and WHY we make them than with the idea itself.

There's value, of course, in stopping to take stock of our lives and paying attention to what we want (or have said we want). Did we do what we said we'd do? How do our results measure up to our original intentions? And the arrival of a new year is a logical and obvious time to do this.

But I'd like to suggest to you that unless you have a great track record of holding true to your New Year's resolutions this year would be a great time to let go of that old process and try something a bit different.

Remember the famous definition of insanity -- Doing the same thing over and over and hoping for different results? Can't happen.

Mr. Wattles points it out, too: "It is a natural law that like causes always produce like effects."

With all this in mind, let's look at three ways we can turn the old, insane resolution-setting process on its ear ...

1st. Start from a place of power

Most of us have a tendency to view the "taking stock" process as an opportunity to beat ourselves up and find fault with everything we have not accomplished.

Well, enough of that garbage.

This year, give yourself some credit for what you have accomplished! Make a list, and don't fall into the trap of thinking anything is too small to be significant. In one way or another, in one area or another (and likely in many), you've come a long, long way.

Acknowledge yourself. Congratulate yourself. Even reward yourself. Be grateful! Think about what feels good to you instead of what doesn't because then you are focusing on what you want instead of the lack of it (and what you think about you are "impressing" on the Formless).

So, yeah, some things fell through the cracks. Take a look at that, too, without the drama. Re-evaluate those things. Maybe you didn't follow through because they weren't really all that important to you after all. Or maybe your inner self realized that you simply weren't yet ready to take any action that would be truly useful. Then let the past go and move on.

Think of all the experiences you've had and the good you've gained from each (even the ones that didn't feel so good at first).

Think of all the good of every kind that you've enjoyed.

How about the love you've given and received? The happiness you've experienced and helped create for others?

Marcus Aurelius said, "Take full account of what excellencies you possess, and in gratitude remember how you would hanker after them, if you had them not."

Good for you, my friend. You possess many "excellencies." Congratulations on your year of accomplishment and growth! And "bon voyage" on your coming year of adventure.

2nd. Give up the all-or-nothing, only-perfection-will-do approach.

It's doomed from the start. And it's a major form of scarcity thinking. ("This isn't enough. There isn't enough. I'm not enough." Or, "This isn't good enough. I'm not good enough.")

If that just gave you a kick in the stomach because you're a "perfectionist," well, good.

Truth is, if you think that you are, it's proof that you're not.

What you really are is an IMperfectionist because you're looking at everything trying to find what's not perfect about it. And especially in yourself. You're putting your focus on that, so that sense of what's lacking is what you're impressing on the Formless Substance.

Look, you can't "break" a resolution by "messing up" just once or even a bunch of times. Whenever you notice you've gotten a bit off-course (and you can always tell simply by paying attention to how you feel), then get back on-track by shifting your thoughts over to something that feels good -- like the having of something you want.

The Apollo 11 rocket which landed people on the moon for the first time back in 1969 was off-course 97% of the time. In other words, it was only ON-course a tiny 3% of its journey. And yet that rocket managed to hit its target and accomplish its mission.

Keep it simple: Pay attention. Correct your course. Continue feeling good.

No need to be perfect. No need to get bent out of shape when you're not, because, in fact, that negative feeling shows that you're heading away from what you desire. (And remember: You are enough. You are way more than merely "enough." You have access to "all the mind there is.")

3rd. Follow Mr. Wattles' advice to be "clear and specific."

Lots of people come up with lengthy laundry lists of of vague, wishy-washy "resolutions" with no real "oomph" in them. Often we don't even really care about them at all. They're just fashionable or what we think we "should" care about, or based on what we think other people expect of us. (Meanwhile, those other people aren't thinking about us at all; they're too busy wondering what other people are thinking about them!)

What do I mean? You know, "resolutions" like this:

I'll lose this extra weight.
I'll be a better ____ (parent/son/daughter/friend/spouse), etc.
I'll clear my card debt.

Unclear statements like this can never engender any real enthusiasm. As a matter of fact, they're far more likely to cause you to feel bad rather than good because they all focus on something that's missing rather than on what's truly desired.

So the disappointing results we harvest later on should come as no surprise.

This year, how about taking some time (if you haven't done so already) to sit alone quietly and reflect on what it is you truly want to be, do, and have in your life?

Play with the idea, focus your energy of attention on it until it's clear and sharp and big enough to be exciting to you, until you feel wonderful just thinking about it. (It doesn't matter at all what anyone else might think of it.)

Remember the man in The Science of Getting Rich who after achieving some initial success realized that he hadn't asked enough? Remember what he did then?

"He went through the house in which he lived, and planned all the improvements he would like to make in it. He mentally added a bay window here and a room there until it was complete in his mind as his ideal home, and then he planned its furnishings."

Nothing vague, hazy, or so-so there. He got clear about what he truly wanted -- what he felt real enthusiasm for -- a mental picture complete in every detail.

"Holding the whole picture in his mind, he began living in the certain way and moving toward what he wanted -- and he owns the house now and is rebuilding it after the form of his mental image. And now, with still larger faith, he is going on to get greater things."

Nothing vague about his results either!

It seems he followed Mr. Wattles' advice to think about what he desired in a way that let him "enter at once into the full enjoyment" of that desire.

So there you have it, my friend. If you're going to make a resolution for this year, why not do it in a way that's enjoyable, builds faith and self-esteem, and actually points you in the direction of success? That means choosing to think about what feels good to you and letting go of what doesn't. (And while you're at it, you might as well go ahead and give back all that borrowed farm equipment you've been meaning to return ...) :-)
___________
Rebecca Fine is the founder of The Science of Getting Rich Network where you can download your free copy of the amazing 1910 forgotten classic, The Science of Getting Rich by clicking here.
(c) Certain Way Productions.

Posted 2/12/2006 by Josh Hinds

John Maxwell - Motivational Speakers Hall of Fame
I'm happy to announce that Motivational speaker and author, John Maxwell has been added to our Motivational Speakers Hall Of Fame. He has authored a number of inspiring books including: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.

Posted 2/04/2006 by Josh Hinds

Dale Carnegie -- Motivational Speakers Hall Of Fame

We've just added Dale Carnegie to the Motivational Speakers Hall Of Fame. Mr. Carnegie was a lecturer / motivational speaker as well as the author of many personal development books including "How to Win Friends and Influence People". I hope you'll take a moment to visit our Motivational speakers hall of fame and learn more about Mr. Dale Carnegie.

Posted 2/03/2006 by Josh Hinds

The following is an excerpt from the book: How to Get Anyone to Do Anything
by R. Philip Hanes

So you're faced with a challenge. Start solving it by giving it a positive name: call it an opportunity. Next, make it as simple as you can by breaking it into small pieces. Arrange the pieces in the order you wish to address them and then address them one at a time.

Often it helps to look at the situation in different ways:

* Can you turn it upside down or inside out?
* Can you diminish or enlarge it?
* Could the sequence of its parts be reversed or reordered?
* Can you brainstorm about the situation with others?

Embroidered on a pillow on the couch in my office is the title of a speech I once heard: "Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly." If you have a dilemma or a challenge to work with, don't wait around until boredom sets in and you put it aside or someone else takes away and runs with it.

GET MOVING! No matter what, take that first step. And correct mistakes as you go along. If you had the whole solution before you started, you wouldn't have the problem in the first place. A few setbacks along the way are insignificant compared to the total failure of not solving the problem itself.

The Japanese have a useful technique called kaizen -- take one small step at a time, but keep moving forward. When obstacles appear, meet them head on or go over, under, or around them. There is usually a way.

Several year ago, a warehouse belonging to one of the largest manufacturers of blue jeans in the United States flooded, causing considerable damage to the color of the denim. Transforming disaster into opportunity, the manufacturer advertised their new item as "distressed denims." And they're still selling, although today the company has figured out how to replicate the mottled appearance without flooding their warehouses.

Look for what's good about your problem.
Many years ago I read an article in Reader's Digest about the history of American advertising. Included was an account of two salmon fishermen who built a cannery in Alaska so that they could earn a living while pursuing their favorite sport. But the local salmon species had white flesh, and the fishermen were having a tough time marketing it. Instead of giving up, they dealt with the problem head on and promoted their brand as "salmon that won't turn pink in the can." Of course, today such a claim would be illegal. Too bad! Folks today just can't take a joke.

Try to make lemonade out of a lemon.
In 1978, when Winston-Salem's Contributions Council (which sets the calendar for major civic fund-raising projects) rejected the bid of the North Carolina School of the Arts to raise $6 million for a performing arts center, I went to Washington D.C. and collected a little more than half that sum in federal grants, then got permission to complete the funding locally.

Find another route to your goal.
When various members of the Wilson family turned aside my efforts to purchase the 9,000-acre side of Mount Mitchell I went back year after year after year for twelve years, until I persuaded them to sell it to our trout fishing club.

Persistence!
In short, if you believe you have a good idea, go for it, don't wait, move! Jump in as though it was meant to be, and then stick with it in spite of the obstacles. Certain projects that begin on an impulse may take years to complete.

* The most efficient committees consist of three people, two of whom are absent. *

For fifty years, I joined one committee after another, the aim of each being the attempted revitalization of downtown Winston-Salem. All my suggestions were ignored, so in 2000 I decided to go it alone and hired my able partner Chris Griffith. In a little over two and a half years, we have supported a bevy of new restaurants, cafés, bars, art galleries and performance spaces -- sidewalk dining and a vibrant arts district -- the perfect confluence of art and commerce.

And we did it with only the assistance of money loaned at low interest to enterprises that no bank would even consider. Much of what we accomplished was based on my four-day experience in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district in 1968. This model demonstrated to me that it is young people -- with dreams and determination and guts -- that will renew a city. The old folks in expensive suits who head for the suburbs in expensive cars at 5 P.M. will not.

Believe in your intuition.

(excerpted from the book How to Get Anyone to Do Anything)

Copyright © 2006 R. Philip Hanes
____________
R. Philip Hanes is the former CEO of Hanes Companies and has served on the boards of more than fifty national, state, and local arts agencies. He has received three presidential appointments, three honorary university degrees, and twenty-four arts awards. He lives with his wife, Charlotte, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where they continue to serve their community and country.
Visit www.rphanes.com for more info.

Posted 2/01/2006 by Josh Hinds

Focus On Ideas
by Vic Johnson
(excerpted from Day by Day with James Allen)

"No person can be confronted with a difficulty which he has not the strength to meet and subdue… Every difficulty can be overcome if rightly dealt with; anxiety is, therefore, unnecessary. The task which cannot be overcome ceases to be a difficulty and becomes an impossibility… and there is only one way of dealing with an impossibility - namely to submit to it." - Byways of Blessedness

Most people who read these articles probably think that I write them for others. The truth is, I write them for me. I need them as much or more than the folks I write for.

Several days ago when I started this I was confronted with a difficulty that I allowed to fill me with a great deal of anxiety. It's not a new difficulty or even a totally unexpected one. But I was faced with a decision that will have long-term ramifications. One of those kind of decisions that we'd rather not make - one of those decisions that makes you want to pull the covers up over your head in the morning.

James Allen's words are so incredibly penetrating on this subject because he's basically saying that there's no problem that we should be anxious about. We can either solve it or it's impossible to solve. Kind of reminds you of the Serenity Prayer doesn't it? "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and the Wisdom to know the difference."

I once heard Rita Davenport give some great advice on handling most of the problems in our life: "If money can fix it, it's not a problem." Well that's great, you say, but I don't have the money to fix it, so I've got a problem. Wrong thinking. Because the truth is you're only one idea away from obtaining whatever amount of money you might need. So instead of focusing on the money you don't have (which will almost surely result in you attracting more lack into you life), focus on ideas, ideas, ideas.

There's also another great reason not to be anxious about the difficulty you're facing today - it contains a lesson. And once you master it, you will be much stronger and wiser. My long-time hero, Emmet Fox, wrote, "It is the Law that any difficulties that can come to you at any time, no matter what they are, must be exactly what you need most at the moment, to enable you to take the next step forward by overcoming them. The only real misfortune, the only real tragedy, comes when we suffer without learning the lesson."

And that's worth thinking about.

Vic Johnson
____________
Vic Johnson speaker and founder of a host of personal development websites. Grab your complimentary copy of "As A Man Thinketh" by James Allen, a timeless success classic.