The Ultimate Investment

When you were younger, you probably had someone you really looked up to.  In some cases, the desire to be like this person was so strong within that it caused you to want to dress like that person, talk like that person, act like that person.  A mental image of being like this person began to seep into your subconscious, and from that point on, you were more like that person in many ways.    Now as an adult, you can use this same type of emulation to help you become what you want.  If you want to be successful in an   >> [Read the rest of the post]

It’s a Saturday morning after a long, hard week.  I’m sitting at my computer debating on whether I should mow the lawn or not.  It’s a hot day, I have lots of other things to do and I’m tired. Of course I know I should mow the lawn.  I just don’t want to.  If I let it go, the yard will look scrubby and I won’t like it.  It will nag at me and sap my enjoyment of the day.  If I gather my energy and just get it done, I know I’ll be happy and satisfied after the work is   >> [Read the rest of the post]

In the pasture at the front of our home there’s a tall, old evergreen tree standing which long ago had been hit by lightning literally splitting it in half.  Rather than die, it held on and grew to a towering height – but in two halves.  It’s an amazing sight and an even more amazing lesson I see every day.  When something devastating happens, you can die, or you can hold on, rise from the ashes and grow.  You may be significantly changed from the way you thought you were meant to be, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still flourish and   >> [Read the rest of the post]

In the mountains where I live there are mostly dirt roads.  When it’s raining and traffic flows ruts are carved into the roads.  When they dry out you can drive down those roads and not have to touch your steering wheel because your wheels will be moving in the ruts. Being in a rut can be good or a bad.  It’s good if you are going down a positive path.  The positive habits you create in your life form a rut that guides you in positive and productive ways without much conscious thought.  It’s like an autopilot steering you to the   >> [Read the rest of the post]

Martha was a divorced mother of three living in poverty.  On and off welfare rolls, she'd recently moved hoping for a new start.  She had interview after interview hoping to find a job, any job, but she was never hired.  Why?  She had all the skills, her health was good, she had a desire to work and she was dependable.  Then she learned something which changed her life.  Something simple, but powerful!  One evening after a long day of fruitless job searching, her daughter asked, “Mommy, how come you’re always frowning?  Are you angry all the time?”  Looking in the mirror,   >> [Read the rest of the post]

In the country of Pazichstanh an artist has a special talent sought after by all within the surrounding countryside.  His ability is to mold clay into head and shoulder busts of the living.  So perfect is his craft, so subtle is his power, it is said he can glimpse into the inner parts of his subject and sculpt an image of what the person has the ability to become.  People flock to him as if to a fortune teller, giving the best news any can imagine; for who would not want to catch a glimpse of their best possible future. Gazing into   >> [Read the rest of the post]

Brainstorming is a simple, effective way to approach problem solving of any kind.  Here’s how it works: First, find a quiet place where you won't be disturbed.  Set aside about an hour.  Take out a clean sheet of paper and write down your problem in detail at the top of the page.  Include the parameters you need to work within, such as how much money you can afford to spend, how much time it can take, what location it has to be within, etc.  Be careful you don't include restrictions which don't legitimately exist.  It will restrict the list of possible   >> [Read the rest of the post]

At my home in the mountains, I have an automatic sprinkler system tied to a new well.  Each evening the water comes on and starts my sprinklers to water my lawn and shrubs and trees. I’ve noted a diminishing water pressure from the pump causing my sprinklers to lose their reach and effectiveness.  As the pressure gradually goes down, one of the heads in each setting stops working well.  Instead of moving around watering a wide area it sits in one place just pathetically spurting.  The problem isn’t with the well or the pump.  The problem is I’m trying to run too   >> [Read the rest of the post]

"Excuses are the tools with which persons with no purpose in view build for themselves great monuments of nothing."  ~Steven Grayhm Going through life, you are conditioned not to think.  You're taught through unpleasant experience that it's safer to conform, to take an easy solution, then prepare with ready excuses if something goes wrong.  Gene worked for a large corporation as it was going through a downturn in a tight economy.  There were cut-backs going all through the company, and everyone was worried about losing their jobs.  One day Gene was talking with his supervisor.  "Whatever you do,” the supervisor said, “create a   >> [Read the rest of the post]

That's right, inherent creativity.  That implies you already are creative, and you are.  When you were young you were very creative.  As you grew older you were taught to conform to social patterns, to color within the lines, that the sky should be blue instead of purple.  You were criticized for being different from what was expected so you suppressed your differences, your creativity, to conform.  Your creativity is still there. Think about when you labored over a problem for a time and then left it to pursue something else.  Then, when you least expected it, the solution to the problem   >> [Read the rest of the post]