Your Fears Are Wrong

We all have fears. Some of these fears are real, but often, they are simply imagined fears that have no real basis. The problem is that often unreal fears stop us from doing the things we really want to do.

Here an example. The average taxpayer is consumed with the fear of an audit. It’s a fear that rules much of our lives, especially around tax time. But do you know your real chance of being audited are only about 9 out of 1000. So, why do we worry so about being audited? Probably because of an even bigger fear – the fear of being audited and the government finding out that we have somehow cheated and we’ll end up in jail. Well, the chances of that happening to you is about 1.6 out of 100,000. Continue reading

Making Hard Decisions Are The Best

It’s human nature to try and avoid making hard decisions, but I say the toughest ones are some of the best moments in life. Every time I’ve ever had to make a hard decision, I’ve always chosen the most difficult path. And these moments have become some of the most important and best turning points in my life. They made my life far richer than I could ever have dreamed, and were responsible for quantum jumps in my self confidence and inner security.

So, now I look for those hard decision – in fact, I’m eager to take them on. They don’t come around very often, but when they do, try to appreciate them for the opportunities they can offer. The problem with though decisions is that your intellect – as well as your friends and hired expert – will always caution you to go one way, while your heart tells you to pick another way. These decisions are usually choices between money and an idea or project that you believe in – even changing your career or spending your vacation building houses for the poor. Trust your heart – that’s what it’s there for.

Plan For The Worst

Maybe it was my upbringing, but I’ve always expected and planned for the worst. It has been a great motivation for trying to do exactly what I’ve really wanted to do with my life, and not necessarily sticking to the “safe bets” in life.

In the early days of my business, I would sit in front of my telephone and try to get up the nerve to make calls and ask perfect strangers to toss some work my way. I wondered why it was so difficult to make each call – what was I afraid of? Then I’d ask myself, “What’s the worst thing that can happen if I make this call? Will the person reach through the wires, grab me by the throat and start squeezing?” Continue reading

Control Your Life Or Someone Else Will

You can play the good sailor and float through life, being pulled here and there by others who will use you to fulfill their own dreams. Or you can decide what YOUR dreams are, and start figuring out what YOU must do to make them come true. Try being the master of your own destiny by exercising some control over what you work at in life. Later, when you look upon your accomplishments with pride, you will be glad that you exerted yourself.

How To Build Self Esteem

Behavioral scientists say you will never let yourself have more health, happiness, or success than you feel you deserve. Wow! This means that right this minute you are attracting what you feel worthy of having. Chew on that awhile! So the common denominator for getting all the good stuff in life – health, wealth, good relationships, and even longevity – is self-esteem.

Self-esteem fluctuates over time. You and I are constantly measuring ourselves against our past successes and achievements. If there is a discrepancy between what we’re already done and what we still want to do, or if we don’t continue to achieve our goals, then our self-esteem may falter. Happily, if we learn to talk lovingly to ourselves and surround ourselves with people who truly love and support us, their words and acts of encouragement eventually will sink into our brains and boost our self-esteem. Continue reading

How To Forgive Yourself

Forgiveness is not for the person who offended you but it is for you. Often, in our anger toward another, we come to realize that the person we most need to forgive is ourselves. It is much harder mentally forgiving yourself than on anyone else.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean you have to deny what happened. You certainly don’t have to condone or forget the wrong. Rather, forgiveness is choosing to stop your vengeance from diminishing you by continuing to drag you down to someone else’s level. Continue reading

Please Yourself

So many of us grow up with the statement of self sacrifice and putting others first, that we don’t know where to draw the line in our own lives. This may sound like heretical Me Generation propaganda, but it is true. Just because you help yourself doesn’t mean you forget everyone else – you just put yourself in the pictures, too.

I believe ion helping others, but I also know there are times when trying to please others hurts you and indirectly them, in the long run. It is like a boomerang. You have to throw it, it won’t throw itself. You have to be the nicest to yourself first in order to be nice to others. If I am not happy in what I am doing, I cannot be joyful and helpful to others around me. Continue reading

Bigger Is Not Always Better

Most of us grew up believing that in business, the larger your company grew, the better for all concerned. It still seems to be the prevailing sentiment among the business community, despite thousands of examples of companies that have grown too fast, too soon – then failed. When I first desk in a one bedroom apartment. I was overjoyed when my business grew to over 30 employees in just three years. It was great for my ego, I found, but bad for my soul. Continue reading

Nobody Cares If You Fail

I used think that if I failed at something, I would be left walking around with a big, red F stamped my forehead. Everybody would be whispering behind my back, and I had be the laughing stock of the city.

But the first time a business of mine failed, I found most people didn’t really care. Even my family stopped talking about it after a relatively short period of time. This taught me that most people are so wrapped up in their own lives, they really don’t have time to worry about anyone else trial and tribulations. There’s no room left on their emotional disk for much less than what they are struggling with each day. Continue reading

Loved Ones Can Be Your Worst Enemy

People who love you can be the biggest obstacles from pursuing your dream. They want to protect you from failure, and not incidentally, protect themselves.

They will warn you that starting a small business is too risky. “Don’t you know that three out of four businesses fail?” Or, “You can’t quit your job, what about your pension, what about our health insurance?” Continue reading