Motivation Articles, Essays, Tips and Advice

Look at any person, past or present, who achieved truly great things. People you know. Behind their accomplishments you will undoubtedly find a passion and love for what they do.

That deep emotion can only be aroused by a compelling purpose…

…an idea about what their life is to stand for.

So few people ever take even a few minutes and think about their purpose. Hardly anyone ever asks himself or herself, “What am I here for?” I never asked myself that question until October 1996.

In building the largest business of its type in the world, I became a slave to it. Building that business was not my purpose. So I asked myself, “What would I really love to do if I didn’t have to work to make a living?” The answer allowed me to be able to talk to tens of thousands of people every day.

And I love doing it…

Here’s a great story about being led by a great purpose:

Back in the late 70’s three white Canadians, two men and a woman, met and got to know a black teenage boy at a series of conferences held in New York City. They saw that he was very smart and enthusiastic, but were amazed that he couldn’t even read. The school systems passed him through without regard to his future. His parents were both alcoholics. They couldn’t run their own lives, let alone raise a family.

These three warm and loving people were skilled at buying and selling real estate, so they earned a very good living.

They also had a lot of free time.

Something in their hearts made them want to help this boy succeed in life.

He had the mind and the desire, but no guidance. They were heartbroken with the thought that he could wind up in prison, like his brother.

With the blessing of the boy’s parents, they brought him to live with them, where they home-schooled him so that he might be able to go to college…

Soon after his arrival, at a used book sale, he bought his first book, “The Sixteenth Round,” about a boxer named Rubin Carter, a former number one boxing contender, who had been unjustly accused and convicted of murder in 1966.

Being exposed to this story, the Canadians and the boy let a great mission guide them. They moved from Toronto to New Jersey to help Rubin win another trial, and went about trying to uncover new evidence that would prove his innocence. They had tremendous opposition to the gathering of their facts, but their determination and belief in Rubin’s innocence kept them on course.

In 1988, through their persistence, and with the facts finally on the table, Rubin “Hurricane” Carter became a free man for the first time in twenty-two years.

Many had come before them in the fight to free Rubin. But only they had stuck it out to the end.

These three wonderful examples of love, passion and purpose helped Lesra Martin, the Brooklyn teenager, to ultimately gain a Masters Degree in Law. And together, those four people helped give Rubin Carter his life back.

Now I have some questions for you…

What could you achieve if you put in one tenth of the effort and energy they exercised to achieve your own outcomes?

What does your life mean now? What will it have meant years from now?

You don’t have to free the world.

You don’t have to stop world hunger.

But unless you have a larger purpose in life and a larger purpose for today, you’re open to all kinds of fears, worries… about small stuff. It’s too easy to get depressed about stuff that doesn’t mean anything in the big picture.

As Richard Carlson says, “It’s all small stuff.”

So start out small.

Make it your purpose to stay away from the refrigerator for the last 3 of your waking hours; to eat one raw vegetable today; to smoke one less cigarette today than yesterday; to send those e-mails; to make the call; to set a goal that will stretch you just a little bit.

And celebrate when you achieve it. Feel good about it. Then tomorrow do it again… Make your days blocks of time where you’re achieving 5-10 mini goals. And make sure you give yourself the credit you deserve. This will create tremendous momentum. Soon, you’ll look forward to each day with an enthusiasm you thought couldn’t possibly exist in you.

Lesra Martin couldn’t read before he went to Canada…

Little by little he learned and built upon his knowledge. He was encouraged to keep learning. The little he learned each day built up and allowed him to read a single book. He then changed the course of many people’s lives.

You can do the same.

What’s today going to mean for you?
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What if you had the same minute-by-minute thoughts as the super successful? Mike Brescia has developed the ultimate mental conditioning programs that can help anyone wipe out intense fears and enjoy huge successes in all areas of life. Learn more about these powerful programs here.

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Having spent 20 years living a life of poverty and desperation, including 13 years in federal and state prisons, and now living a life of nearly incomprehensible prosperity, I have learned that long-term suffering is a choice – our mindset will determine whether our suffering remains a temporary or permanent condition.

Now before complete apoplexy sets in and you begin shouting at your computer about all the people who have innocently suffered at the hands of others, let me explain the kind of suffering to which I refer.

I am writing about chronic, long-term suffering that is an unnecessary state of anxiety, fear and/or dissatisfaction about some event, condition or circumstance of our life. There are those who suffer real physical or psychological pain, and this is not intended to minimize their condition.

There is a distinction between the natural and immediate short-term suffering following a catastrophic event in our life and unnecessary long-term suffering.

When a loved one dies, for example, the temporary suffering associated with our grief is a natural process. Additionally, natural short-term anxiety and fear may result from losing a job, experiencing a personal financial crisis or going through a divorce.

Our immediate short-term suffering is normal and actually serves a purpose as the psychological discomfort prompts us to take action to eliminate the anxiety and fear by finding a new job, rebuilding our financial security or finding a new mate (or learning to be happy without one).

But chronic long-term suffering is dangerous and counterproductive. It can result in a diminished quality of life, loss of happiness, energy and productivity and in severe cases, even suicide. My sister, for example, could never move beyond painful events of her life and resorted to killing herself in 2004. Having contemplated suicide myself, I know how suffering can overwhelm us and make happiness seem unattainable.

But eliminating unnecessary long-term suffering is critical to achieve happiness, productivity and prosperity. My 20 year journey of overcoming prison, poverty and addiction has taught me how to transcend long-term suffering and show others how to build amazing lives.

My turning point was June 10, 1996. At the time I was in federal custody awaiting trial on multiple federal indictments. I was a three-time loser, high school drop-out and had spent my entire adult life lying and stealing. I had also abandoned my infant son.

All that began to change on a fateful day in 1996, when a guard told me to call home. I made the call and learned that my father had died. Following my father’s death the regret of a wasted life crushed me, and I realized he went to his grave knowing me as a thief and a liar. He had hoped I would be so much more.

I began suffering the pain of a wasted life, abandoning my son and the seven years of additional prison time that awaited me.  But a question remained: would my suffering linger as it had for twenty years or would I do something new to make my suffering a temporary condition?

I decided to make a change.

Through studying the works of Stephen R. Covey, Anthony Robbins, Wayne Dyer and Napoleon Hill I learned that “Thoughts are Things” and as Emerson said, “We become what we think about all day long.” I learned that the nature of my thoughts dictated the quality of my life, and I could change my circumstances and emotional state by changing my thoughts.

Therefore, I decided to try an experiment. I had nothing to lose.

I wrote out what an amazing life for me would look like, and I resolved to focus only on the things in life I desired. I resolved to act in a manner consistent with the things I wanted, and I took responsibility for the quality of my life.

I realized that the mind is fertile soil and will grow whatever we plant and nurture within it.

I learned that it’s nearly impossible to focus on success and prosperity and create failure and misery. I learned that I had created a desperate, pathetic life by fearing a desperate, pathetic life. My thoughts had become my life.

I stayed focused on creating an amazing life and within a short time my psychological suffering began to diminish despite the fact that my physical reality had not changed. The only thing that changed was my thoughts. But when I changed the way I thought, I changed the way I felt.

And when I changed the way I felt I changed the way I acted. And when I changed the way I acted I begin to see new and better results in my life. I learned that positive thoughts and visualizations tend to create positive results.

As I took actions consistent with my visualizations, the opportunities and resources I needed to change my life appeared. Eventually all the wonderful things I imagined alone in my prison cell manifested themselves in my life. Today I have an amazing life of happiness and prosperity.

I have developed a simple four step process which will create a mindset for happiness and prosperity, so others can experience the success and life transformation I have enjoyed.

And as my story demonstrates, a positive mindset can diminish suffering related to unwanted circumstances in our life even before our physical circumstances change; moreover, by implementing this process, we create a mindset that will eventually lead to changing the circumstances that fuel our suffering.

I call this process The Upside of F.E.A.R.™

Step 1: Get FOCUSED on the things in life you want… not on the things you don’t want. Your thoughts (good or bad; negative or positive) will attract things. Bottom line: Identify at least five things in life you desire and five things you desire to be.

Step 2: Get EMOTIONALLY anchored to the things in life you desire by writing them down, reading them and experiencing the emotions of what it will be like when those things are a reality. Every morning for seven years I read my list of dreams, visualized them and allowed myself to experience the emotions as if my dreams had already come true.

Step 3: Take ACTION consistent with the things you desire. If you want to build a successful business, for example, you can’t spend your days watching mindless television. Success requires that your actions be consistent with your desires.

Step 4: Take RESPONSIBILITY for your responses to whatever life throws at you. The reality is bad things happen to good people. Your success in life will depend far more on how you respond to life’s challenges than the challenges themselves.

By restructuring the framework within which our mind conducts its daily activities, we can create a positive mindset that is capable of diminishing our psychological suffering related to anxiety, fear and/or dissatisfaction about some event, condition or circumstance of our life.

Incredibly, this process can begin to minimize our suffering even before our physical circumstances change. Furthermore, the new framework of Focus, Emotional anchoring, Action and Responsibility will help create the amazing life you deserve and desire.
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To learn more about Weldon Long, visit WeldonLong.com

-What do you think of the ideas shared in the previous article? Is there anything you would like to share on this topic?

Being starts with simply being that which you would like to become. Once you mediate and hold the belief within yourself that you are what you would like to be, you start becoming that very thing, from the inside out!

Embodying what you would like to become transforms you. You already hold the traits within you that you would like to become.

In fact, it wouldn’t be possible to envision this new “person” you would like to be if you weren’t actually able to achieve that very vision. Allow yourself to feel it. And allow yourself to believe it.

Action Step:

Sit down for a few minutes in the week ahead and make a list of everything you would like to be and do. Then, over the next few days, for each item on your list, take a few minutes and sit with each thought.

Meditate on how you would feel being that person in that very place, having turned that vision into reality. Don’t let any negative thought patterns or incredulous talk (i.e. “you can’t possibly be that!”) force you to back down from envisioning this person you want to be. Just be still and let that thought warm you.

As I always say, what warms you the most is what you most resonate with. Focus on what you resonate with. Then, as you hone in on that person you wish to be, ask yourself what practice or trait you can consciously incorporate that further embodies this “future person” into your reality today.

Yours in Success,
Mark Victor Hansen
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Mark Victor Hansen is the co-author of the wildly successful Chicken Soup For The Soul series of books. For over 30 years, Mark Victor Hansen has focused solely on helping people in all walks of life reshape their personal vision of what’s possible for themselves. Visit the Mark Victor Hansen website.

-What do you think of the ideas shared above? If you tried the exercise suggested what ideas did you come up with?

It just drives me crazy to see people that are supposed to be busy doing something, but they’re hiding out. Yeah, I’m like a former smoker who can’t stand the smell anymore.

What I mean is I was the biggest procrastinator you’ve ever met, in my early years. I’d spend an hour trying to get out of half an hour’s work. What a circus. My parents, teachers and employers weren’t very amused. TV was big in my life.

What a shame. What an incredible limiter of life.

Today, I have a pact with myself. If I see a task that has to be done, I do it then, schedule it, or delegate it and make sure I follow up with the delegate.

Life has a way of loading more stuff on you as your responsibilities grow, so it’s important now to become time wise.

Next month, or next year, when your skill at using time effectively is evaluated… or when you need to get something done fast, you’ll have developed your ability and you’ll succeed. You’ll be rewarded.

Isn’t it amazing how, after a week or a month in preparation of a deadline, you’re still working on it minutes before it’s due? Why is that? Poor planning… “Killing” time, hiding out.

If some thing you have planned is going to take a Herculean effort and may take a team, put the time into planning and delegating. Don’t you feel like a dog when you’re hiding from a task? I know I did. I just felt like a criminal.

Want to feel like you deserve an award?

Want to feel like a hero?

Want to be admired by everyone?

Then watch yourself and how you use your time. If you catch yourself sitting around watching TV, shooting the bull or reading unimportant magazines or newspaper articles, stop immediately and do something that will make one of your ambitions come true. That is what all effective people do.

You’ll enjoy yourself once you get started… That’s the toughest part.

A year from now, you’ll be a year older. Will you be any wiser? What are you here for exactly anyhow? What’s your purpose? If you don’t know, go to amazon.com, BN or borders.com and search for a book about developing a mission. Stephen Covey is a great person to read.

What if you’re 80 years old? A mission can add a bunch of enjoyable years to your life. Why are you sticking around? Be productive.

The man across the street from us is 84 years old and his lawn looks like Disney World. It’s his passion. Get a degree. You’ve got the time. Be honest with yourself.

I learned an interesting technique a long time ago…

I talk to myself like I’m an advisor… to myself.

I tell me what to do, given the facts and situation. This way I can be less of a wimp when it comes to making tough choices with my time. Instead of immediately thinking I can’t do a particular thing, I hear that voice that sounds like me but is much tougher than a person would normally be with themselves. Kind of like a drill sergeant in your own head.

All I can tell you is that it works. I rarely hear “I don’t know…” for long before the sergeant comes in with, “It’ll only take a minute. Get it done and you won’t have to worry about it later.” It always makes sense, so I do it just to shut me up!!

No matter what you may believe, you were born with tremendous ability. Use your own brain. It can help you do so many things that you can’t imagine. You’re not weak. You’re strong.

You’re not stupid. In many areas, you’ve got genius capabilities. Pull it out of you. You are worth it.
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What if you had the same minute-by-minute thoughts as the super successful? Mike Brescia has developed the ultimate mental conditioning programs that can help anyone wipe out intense fears and enjoy huge successes in all areas of life. Learn more about these powerful programs here.

-How well do you guard your time? What are some things you can do starting now (or close to now as possible) to make better use of your time?

Have you ever faced that obstacle and immediately thought, “There’s no way I’ll ever finish this”?  What about the days when you’ve stood at the starting line for that foot race and thought, “There’s no way I can beat these guys”:  Perhaps you’ve had a great idea and immediately thought, “I’m never going to have the money to do this”!

It’s often easier to take the path of least resistance and throw in the towel, rather than search for the sunshine in opportunity and ‘go for it’.  I’ll admit it takes far more effort to stand your ground and go the distance, but the rewards are far more incredible than never having faced a challenge:  Never having stood your ground and squared up to challenges.  In that action, you find the bigger the obstacle, the far greater is the reward at the end.

There’s no shame in not winning.  In fact, there’s no shame in not doing anything at all.  That is of course unless you know you could and should have done something and didn’t:  You had wonderful opportunities but instead chose to sit on the sideline and watch the world pass you by.

No-one can make you do anything:  No-one can let you feel shame or disappointment.  Those are emotional tags we hang on ourselves when we finally understand the impact of our actions and inactions on ourselves and through the extension, those who are in our lives and look to us for guidance, support, encouragement and assistance.  In letting others down, we must first realise we are letting ourselves down and therefore, building barriers to prosperity in our lives.

When you fill your heart and mind with those negative statements, you are in effect destroying any real desire you have of embracing success and prosperity in your life.  It’s the signal to your subconscious that your life really is not worthwhile and you resign yourself to being ordinary.

I was once asked to attend an audition for the role of a homeless man in a television series.  I set about wandering the city, checking out the many homeless people whom I had never previously observed.  It didn’t really give me an insight, so I decided to play an undercover role of my own.  Without telling my family or friends, I spent five days living as a homeless person, wandering the city, sleeping out and begging for money.

I found it simultaneously challenging, frightening, exhilarating, sickening and heart-wrenching.  I was spat on, screamed at, physically assaulted and humiliated, but the experience has stayed with me for a lifetime.  The stories I heard from the people on the ground form the basis of a television series proposal I’m currently writing.

I didn’t end up getting the role and while I was initially angry, I understood there was a greater purpose to my actions.  Those thoughts freed me up and formed the catalyst I needed and rather than scream and rant and rave about how useless the whole exercise was, I quietly congratulated myself on the achievement.

It’s never about what happens in life, but what you do in respect to the challenges faced.  There will always be obstacles to overcome and if you choose to wallow in self pity and refuse to seize the opportunity to challenge yourself and put your game of life into overtime, you will never know how it feels to prevail over adversity and you can’t understand the exhilaration of achievement.

The sweetest success is savoured when you have your back to the wall and believe that all opportunities have passed you by.

If you choose to say ‘never’ and allow it to become a constant in your vocabulary, there will be no just reward for stepping off the plate and having a swing at life.
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Dubbed ‘The Success Wizard’ by clients and friends, Kieran is an International Specialist Success Coach, & Motivational Speaker. His programs are assisting individuals and corporations worldwide, to connect with and harness the incredible power of the human spirit, where true inspiration and courage often lie dormant. Visit Kieran at OurGlobalDestiny.com

-What are some key lessons you got from reading the ideas above?

1) Persistence - Persistence is the fuel that gets done what needs to be done everyday. Persistence comes to us from two sources; either from passion or from persistence itself.

The motivation from persistence itself shows up when you are driven to continue to grow and learn and reach higher on the days when the motivation has waned.

One way to ensure that you are focused everyday is to simply change your philosophy of how you view the day itself. Most of us begin our day with a things to do list. What may prove to be more effective is to create a daily TTWGD list. This stand for; THINGS THAT WILL GET DONE! This simple change of philosophy will create the mindset to complete ALL activities on your list everyday.

The activities you plan for each day should be viewed exactly as you do appointments with clients or management or family or friends. You would likely never consider not showing up for an appointment with another person. Keep every appointment you make, especially those with yourself. Developing this mindset will drive the persistence necessary to have a good day everyday.

2) TGIF? For most the battle cry goes out every Friday. Think of how much weight and anticipation and happiness is related to Fridays. Of course it spells the beginning of the weekend; for many a reprieve from the workweek and a time of rest and recharging.

The stunning reality is that life is so short and time moves quickly for us all that we lose focus on so many other precious days. Consider this: we are given exactly the same number of Mondays, as we are Fridays.

Looking back one day from our end of life perspective I wonder what we would give to go back to some of those Mondays we tossed aside and wring every ounce of life from them we could. Live in the moment. Cherish everyday and live with a sense of curiosity of what every day can bring.

3) Elite Performers - To have what the masters have, do what the masters do. It is easy to sit back and watch the great success of others and then wonder why it is not happening for us. Many times the focus, dedication and work ethic is greatly overlooked.

Through the media we tend to take in only snapshots of situations including examples of success. We are lead to believe that it happened for them in the blink of an eye with little or no effort.

If you strive to emulate the success of others, take the time to study what they did, the effort it took and the sacrifices they made to rise to where they are today. Mirror the effort and reap the reward.

4) Building relationships - Today is the day when everything is possible. One of the most powerful affects you can have on your career and personal life is through the connections you make and the relationships you build.

The key to building relationships and to securing clients comes through making others feel like they matter. Take the time to focus on what others are saying and what they are asking.

Listening and responding to what others care about will let them know they matter. Everyone wants to matter, and when you make that your prime intention with others they will appreciate your caring and respond in kind.

5) Health is the key to growth - Jim Rohn once said, “You can’t do well if you don’t feel well.” Having the energy, vitality and strength everyday requires more than just the mental commitment to succeed. Having the physical energy to carry out your daily tasks to reach your goal is overlooked more and more in today’s frenetic world.

Stress continues to play a major role in both mental and physical health and too often the most basic remedy for us all is overlooked. Through proper diet, exercise and meditation we all have the tools at our disposal for optimal health. You have no doubt heard the saying, “Your body is your temple.”

Take the time and think about this carefully for a moment. It’s true. How well are you treating your temple? What fuel are you putting into it everyday and how often are you giving it the exercise it needs or the stress reducing affects of meditation?

Health is the great equalizer. When we have it, it goes unnoticed. When we lose it there is nothing to equal its value. Make certain to include a health regiment into your daily plan. Few areas of personal growth will offer the payoff that tending to your body and mind will.
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Randy Taylor is an expert in the area of personal growth and leadership. Through his own personal experiences he has developed a dynamic new leadership philosophy and written a book of the same name called “Life Before Can’t”. Visit Randy at TaylorMadeLeadership.com

-Do you have any ideas you’d like to share on this topic?

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