Posted 7/16/2006 by Josh Hinds

Advice from Motivational Trainer Jerry Clark...

We've just added two new articles to the Success Articles Library from Motivational trainer, Jerry Clark.

They are:

* The Daily Dozen Disciplines For Massive Success This Year and Beyond
* 17 Words That Changed My Life Forever

-- Here's to your success, Josh Hinds

Posted 7/12/2006 by Josh Hinds

Your Brain is the Greatest Computer Ever Created
By Ron White

Have you ever walked into a room and couldn't remember what you went there for? Have you ever grasped the hand of a potential client and then when the handshake broke, the name seemed to disappear from your memory? Or have you ever left a prospect and as you drove away remembered a key point that you should have shared with them?

Of course you have... we all have. However, I have some great news for you. Your memory is nowhere near as bad as you may think it is. Recently, I was a guest at a radio station in Waco. The disc jockey wrote a 50-digit number on a sheet of paper and told his listening audience and then played a three-minute song for his audience.

As the listeners enjoyed the song I memorized the 50-digit number. When the song was over we went back live on the air and I handed him the paper. I then proceeded to say the number forwards and then I said it backwards. The disc jockey looked at me in utter disbelief and stunned he said, 'Ron... you are incredible!'

I looked him straight in the eye and replied, 'You know... you are right!' I said, 'Jay, the greatest computer ever created does not come from Dell or Gateway. The greatest computer ever created does not sit on the assembly line of a computer factory. Instead, you and I are the greatest computers ever created. And yes... you are right. I am incredible... but so are you.'

The human memory has the ability to hear a 100 digit number or more once and then repeat it forwards and backwards, it has the ability to memorize a Shakespearean play word for word or memorize the stats of every baseball player for the last 100 years, and the human memory has the capability to meet 100 people in 20 minutes and recall every single name!

Now, the question is, are you doing these things? If not, the reason is simply that you have not been trained to. Two thousand years ago a Greek named Simonedes developed a memory method called 'Loci'. With this method, Simonedes numbered locations in his home. He started in the doorway and then logically proceeded around his home. He reviewed these items so many times mentally that if you asked him what was number 25 then he could instantly tell you what piece of furniture that number corresponded to.

These 25 objects were actually mental files for Simonedes. Then if he had a list of items he wanted to recall he would place them mentally on these objects in his home. Let's say that you are a professional who wants to give a speech without notes. Simply turn the key points into pictures and then file them to your 'house files'. When you are called upon to speak simply mentally walk through the house and give your talk without notes.

For example, recently I gave a one hour keynote in Atlanta at a home builders conference. I wrote my speech out the night before. The first thing I wanted to do was talk about the book, 'How to Win Friends and Influence People.' So I visualized the book on my front door and then mentally walked through my house and gave the one hour talk without notes! That can work for you as well.

Anything that you want to recall simply turn it into a picture, place it on your house files and get ready to be amazed! YOU are the greatest computer ever created!
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Written by Ron White. For more information on TSTN (The Success Training Network) and their world-renown faculty of success and achievement thought leaders visit TSTN - The world's only television network dedicated to success and achievement. Get the competitive advantage in life - Subscribe to TSTN!

Posted 7/07/2006 by Josh Hinds

Are You Aware?
By Ellie Drake

Awareness Precedes Action. Common Pitfalls to be Aware of in Business:

Here are some possible resistances along the way, not necessarily for us to avoid and resist, but most importantly to be aware of and know that they are there. Even the most dedicated traveler on this journey, will come across pitfalls.

First pitfall: Obsessive goal orientation ...
Although it is great to set ambitious goals, the best way to reaching them is to cultivate modest expectations along the way, and most importantly to celebrate every small achievement.

Remember every step in this journey is it’s own destination. As an example, when we are climbing a mountain, we must be aware of where the peak is, however if we keep looking at the peak, we might become overwhelmed and enter the state of judgment and analysis.

This by the way, will cause a reverse effect, sometimes making us go backwards. Let’s make sure that we keep our eyes on the path, enjoying every step in this process, understanding that the peak is only a land mark.

By the way, we must also realize that the peak is only a step in the journey from which we choose the next peak. Life is full of peaks for a person who wants to live their potential as a human being. Therefore, we might as well enjoy the process of getting to each of them.

Next pitfall: No goal setting ...
Sometimes as human beings, we tend to refuse to set goals merely because we are carrying the burden of having set them in the past, but not having accomplished them.

We must realize that if we do not accomplish a goal, it’s only because we are human. But as long as we learn from it, and keep on setting healthy step by step goals, we will end up accomplishing a majority of them in the long run.

Those who have succeeded, have also failed. The only difference is that they succeeded more than they failed. Therefore, setting healthy goals along the way can sharpen and empower us. Persistent healthy goal setting will end up being persistent goal getting!

Next pitfall: Little competitiveness ...
A healthy level of competition is essential in business. It provides some spice. It sometimes brings about that extra level of willingness.

It is true that the most important competition should be to compete with ourselves. However, it is important for us not to resist competition especially if we resist it because of not wanting to be disappointed.

This is perhaps another subconscious pattern. So let’s welcome a healthy level of competition understanding that we can be on the right track, but if we don’t move, we might get run over.

Next pitfall: Over competitiveness ...
Competition can provide the spice. However, when the spice becomes the biggest ingredient in the meal, then the player will get sick. A person who thinks about nothing but winning, will end up losing.

The focus should be on one’s purpose, and also enjoying the process. A healthy level of competition is good. An obsession with winning and competing will take us out of the flow. After all, we know by now that the Ego is never in the flow.

Next pitfall: Inconsistency ...
Consistency is the only way to grow. Inconsistency takes energy and time. Being consistent, even on a part time basis, is much more powerful than coming in and out of this flow.

Remember the example of the Rabbit and the Turtle? Sometimes in business, it is better to have a turtle mind set, than that of a Rabbit. I remember to create in my business, I had a rabbit-turtle combo. That means have the mind set of a turtle, with the motor skills of a rabbit. But that is perhaps another Article. One step at a time! Starting with consistent steps.

Next pitfall: Perfectionism ...
For me, being a perfectionist brings about an instant self criticism component. I am glad to say that I have learned to be good to myself. Therefore, I have realized that to let go of perfectionism, means to get out of the way, and perform to the best of my ability in the moment.

This also brings in an understanding that the next level will be more effective, and more efficient than this level. However, the next level will not occur, unless the current level is experienced fully without judgment and attachment. It’s to believe that we can not merely wait till we are good.

We must first do, and then we will be good. I have truly learned that perfectionism is one of the biggest blocks to creativity. I have also learned when I am creative, I accomplish more. When I accomplish more, I feel good. But to be creative, I now know that I must first feel good.

So in this equation, the enzymes that catalyze the reaction are feeling good and being creative. This equals accomplishment. Perfectionism is the stop sign. It is the resistance in the way.

Once again, I want to take the road of least resistance. So in the world of creativity, flow, and accomplishment, perfectionism is not an enzyme. It is a fungus! That should give you a nice mental picture! Ok. Moving right along!

Next pitfall: Plateaus ...
In business, we so often resist plateaus. We feel that if we experience a plateau, then that means that something is not quite right out there with our business or our company.

Although that sometimes can be true, but this definition can end up being one that exhausts and drains us. I have learned in my business to not resist the plateaus, but rather have them be an indication of perhaps an internal modification that might be required.

That means that during a plateau, we could look inside and improve or change something that could allow us to grow. One step toward internal growth can sometimes end up being hundreds of steps toward external growth.

Therefore, one will realize that a plateau can now be embraced rather than resisted. Building a business is so much more fun as well when a thing such as a plateau is looked at differently.
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Written by Ellie Drake. For more information on TSTN (The Success Training Network) and their world-renown faculty of success and achievement thought leaders visit TSTN - The world's only television network dedicated to success and achievement. Get the competitive advantage in life - Subscribe to TSTN!

Posted 7/06/2006 by Josh Hinds

Stay Focused on the Big Picture
By Harvey Mackay

A reader of my column sent me an email recently, thanking me for a column I had written on getting outside the box. She then told me how she had lost focus for a while, but had turned things around. She encouraged me to write a column on staying focused.

I immediately thought of my varsity golfing days at the University of Minnesota many years ago. Back then The Saint Paul Open was one of the top tournaments on the men's professional golf circuit. Prior to the tournament, I had a chance to meet Gary Player when he was taking a lesson from our team coach, Les Bolstad. Later that evening I went to dinner with the world's future #1 player when he was still an unknown.

The following day at The Saint Paul Open, I saw Gary after he teed off the first hole and ran up to him to say hi. I wanted to tell him what a great time I had the night before. His steely eyes remained focused on the fairway ahead and he never broke stride. "Harvey, please don't talk to me. I must concentrate. I will see you when I'm finished."

I remember how devastated I felt, but I learned a valuable lesson on focus. Many years later when he was world famous, my wife, Carol Ann, and I ran into Gary and his wife in South Africa. I reintroduced myself and reminded him of what happened on the golf course. Gary's wife told me, "Don't feel bad. He doesn't even talk to me on the golf course."

That's the focus that it takes to do your best. If you have the ability to focus fully on the task at hand, and shut out everything else, you can accomplish amazing things.

Arnold Palmer, another golfing legend, recalled a tough lesson he learned about focus in Carol Mann's book "The 19th Hole":

"It was the final hole of the 1961 Masters tournament, and I had a one-stroke lead and had just hit a very satisfying tee shot. I felt I was in pretty good shape. As I approached my ball, I saw an old friend standing at the edge of the gallery. He motioned me over, stuck out his hand and said, "Congratulations." I took his hand and shook it, but as soon as I did, I knew I had lost my focus.

On my next two shots, I hit the ball into a sand trap, then put it over the edge of the green. I missed a putt and lost the Masters. You don't forget a mistake like that; you just learn from it and become determined that you will never do that again." Trust me, your friends will understand!

A response Babe Ruth once gave to a reporter sticks in my mind. "How is it," the Babe was asked, "that you always come through in the clutch? How is it you can come up to bat in the bottom of the 9th, in a key game with the score tied, with thousands of fans screaming in the stadium, with millions listening on the radio, the entire game on the line and deliver the game winning hit?" His answer, "I don't know. I just keep my eye on the ball."

In other words… Focus.

How many times have you heard an athlete talk about focus? It's a topic I also hear about frequently in business. The most common complaints?

Too many irons in the fire. Too many projects spinning at one time. Too many interruptions. Too many phone calls. Too many emails. Too many things to do. Too little time.

The late Peter Drucker, management consultant and author, observed, "When you have 186 objectives nothing gets done. I always ask, 'What's the one thing you want to do?' In Mexico they call me Senor Una Cosa." (translation: one thing)

Decide what's most important. Make a list every day or every week and prioritize your activities. Scale back the amount of time you spend on meetings; they can be the biggest time-wasters of all. Learn to delegate, and make sure all members of your team follow through on assigned tasks.

Set aside a specific time of day to return phone calls and emails, and keep distractions to a minimum. In other words, set rules about how others use your time. And if you're not the boss, work with your supervisor to make sure you agree on priorities.

Stay focused as best you can, and don't let things happen to you - not when you can make things happen.

Mackay's Moral: The person who is everywhere is nowhere.

* Brought to you by the faculty of TSTN - The Success Training Network.
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For more information on TSTN and their world-renown faculty of success and achievement thought leaders visit TSTN - The world's only television network dedicated to success and achievement. Get the competitive advantage in life - Subscribe to TSTN!

Posted 7/01/2006 by Josh Hinds

Creation and Intuition Nourishes Intention
By Ellie Drake

Are you allowing yourself to be creative and intuitive? Creation and Intuition nourishes Intention.

Self expression frees our life force to move and therefore this flow of energy allows us to tap into a warm peaceful state of being.

This state might be similar or different for people according to the difference in our creativity. Learning to follow our intuition with creation involves taking chances.

This is the only way to learn not only what works, but also how to learn to trust our instincts whether it is in performing a personal project or connecting with other people.

One of the bigger intuitive moves I have ever made was when I was 15 years old. I remember sitting in a large room at the American Embassy when we were hoping to receive a visa to come to America.

I could hardly speak any English, although I had tried to study English on my own, and had even taken a few classes. But learning a few words is obviously not enough to make a conversation, especially a conversation that would perhaps determine the course of your life.

When our number was called to go to the consulate and be interviewed, I had a sudden intuitive feeling. I remember my Mom was about to bring a translator into our interview area with us when I told her that I wanted to speak to the consulate myself. She looked at me like I had lost my mind.

Intuitive feelings fuel our intention. So when she felt my intention, she agreed although I remember she shook her head all the way to the interview booth as if she had lost her mind to agree with my proposal. But in most cases, loosing our mind is the reason why we hear our intuition.

My intuition inspired me to want to speak to the consulate myself. Had I known that the conversation would be a mostly one way conversation, I might have allowed fear to stop me, by getting back in my mind. It turned out although my answers to the questions that the consulate was asking sounded very similar one after the other, but I guess he must have felt the intention.

My part of the conversation was mostly comprised of two words. "Repeat Please?" But as we have already heard, it’s not only the words, it’s also the music.

Creativity allows us to be more intuitive, and less analytical. Be light, be joyous, make a difference in how another feels by perhaps changing the way you feel.

Creativity is a state of consciousness in which a person aligns their inner energy and vibration with the pure universal energy which is the source of all creativity.

A creative person is not one who has had creativity as a personality trait, or a genetic factor. It also does not mean that a creative person is only an eccentric type of individual who is into arts and music. Although that certainly can be true, but creativity is a source of energy that all who would like to tap into it, have the ability to do so.

Creativity is accelerated when the person is following their passion. This is a more natural state for the person and therefore to tap into creativity in the areas that are more intrinsic, facilitates the connection to and therefore the flow of creative energy and ideas.

For Example, I can be creative in what I am passionate about, which is speaking, much more than I will ever be creative in what is not my passion and therefore not a part of my purpose. For example, being a Chef! I know! It‘s a good excuse!. In other words, I can sing my Song much more naturally than if I were to sing yours.

When creativity flows, we must simply acknowledge that we were open to the flow of it from the universe by expressing gratitude.

Not being aware of this source, and crediting our creativity with our own intellectual capacity simply means that we have credited our ego not the universe! The ego can in turn block the flow of creativity. Therefore, if the universe is to be credited with our experience of creativity, doesn’t that simply mean that creativity is abundantly available for all of us?

Since it is not a personality trait or a genetic factor, doesn’t that mean that we can connect to creativity? To access a state of being creative, is it a calculated science or a connective art? Is it essential to have external circumstances in order, or vital to have internal emotions in harmony?

Creative experiences occur through a shift in paradigm. A shift in paradigm takes place through the evolving of our consciousness. Creativity is a fruit of consciousness.

The source of all consciousness is the universe. Therefore, creativity is an infinite form of energy available to all who will allow it by being in harmony with the universe.

An attitude of gratitude will encourage the flow of creativity. It is neither the genes nor the IQ, it is merely the willingness of one to be open.

Are you open?
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Written by Ellie Drake. For more information on TSTN (The Success Training Network) and their world-renown faculty of success and achievement thought leaders visit TSTN - The world's only television network dedicated to success and achievement. Get the competitive advantage in life - Subscribe to TSTN!