The Success Cycle

Some of you may be familiar with the following process:

I'm ready...set goal...take action...wrong results...nevermind, learn from mistakes, let's do it again...

It's going to work this time...reset goal...reset action...wrong results...erm, maybe the timing is not right...

Blah blah blah...

Alright, last try...reset goal...reset action...still wrong results??? I guess it's just not meant to be...Quit...

A lot have been said about the importance of goal-setting in life, but have you wondered why for most people, goal-setting just seem to fail in delivering success?

In his book "What to Say When You Talk to Yourself", Shad Helmstetter explained about "The Self Management Sequence: The Five Steps That Control Our Success or Failure".

1. Programming creates beliefs.
• We believe what we are programmed (conditioned) to believe.
2. Beliefs create attitudes.
• What we believe about anything will determine our attitudes about it.
3. Attitudes create feelings.
• Your attitudes are the perspectives from which you view life.
• Whatever attitude we have about anything will affect how we feel about it.
4. Feelings determine actions.
• How we feel about something will always determine or affect what we do and how well we do it.
5. Actions create results.
• In most cases, if you do the right thing, you're going to achieve the right results.

If you're still not getting the right results, stop looking or blaming the external factors. Instead, look inside yourself. Look at what sort of programming have you been through. Look at what sort of inputs you have allowed into your conscious mind. Look at what sort of words you have used to say to yourself. Look at your mental picture, is it describing what you really want to see in the physical world, or is it just a wishful thought with lots of brakes applied to it?

If you want to achieve the right results, work on your programming first, and particularly your subconscious mind. Deliberately affirm your goals. Visualize your success everyday. Change the music in your mind, say positive things to yourself.

Try it. It has worked for me.  :)

The Problem with Positive Thinking

If you were to ask people, "Do you believe in positive thinking?"

Most people would say, "Yes."

Some honest souls would say, "I think it's a great idea! It doesn't work for me, but I know it works for other people."

Logically, positive thinking should work for everyone. But if it should, why doesn't it?

In this book "What to Say When You Talk to Yourself", Shad Helmstetter explained why.

Imagine your mind is like an apartment, with old "furniture" (negative thinking) handed down to you from your parents, friends, teachers and everyone else who has helped programmed your subconscious mind.

Now let's say some motivation guru comes to your mental apartment, and offers to help you get rid of all the old "furniture". He starts moving all your old "furniture" outside and store it in your garage.

The next thing you know, you're standing in the middle of your mental apartment, empty and spotless. You look around and say, "Great! I've gotten rid of all my old negative thinking. Now I can be a positive thinker!"

After spending some time in your empty mental apartment, you start wondering what should you be doing. So you go out into the garage and pull out your old trusty chair to sit. Next you'll bring back the table. And so on so forth.

One by one, you will begin to bring your old trusted and time-worn negative thoughts back into your mental apartment!

Why? Because the motivation guru helped you remove the old furniture, but did not give you any new positive thoughts to replace the old negative thoughts.

Therefore, if you want to replace the old negative thoughts with new positive thoughts, you need to give your subconscious mind new inputs by using Self-Talk.

The right kind of Self-Talk is the key to making all the positive thinking work. Without it, for most of us, positive thinking becomes "wishful thinking". And wishful thinking is nothing more than saying to yourself, "I wish I could...but I can't".

Beware of the things that you say to yourself when you're all alone. Your self-talk programs your subconscious mind in ways that you can never imagine.  :)

I Will Live This Day As If It Is My Last...

"I will live this day as if it is my last.

And what shall I do with this last precious day which remains in my keeping? First, I will seal up its container of life so that not one drop spills itself upon the sand. It will waste not a moment mourning yesterday's misfortunes, yesterday's defeats, yesterday's aches of the heart, for why should I throw good after bad?

Can sand flow upward in the hourglass? Will the sun rise where it sets and set where it rises? Can I relive the errors of yesterday and right them? Can I call back yesterday's wounds and make them whole? Can I become younger than yesterday? Can I take back the evil that was spoken, the blows that were struck, the pain that was caused? No. Yesterday is buried forever and I will think of it no more.

I will live this day as if it is my last.

I will avoid with fury the killers of time. Procrastination I will destroy with action; doubt I will bury under faith; fear I will dismember with confidence. Where there are idle mouths I will listen not; where there are idle hands I will linger not; where there are idle bodies I will visit not. Henceforth I know that to court idleness is to steal food, clothing, and warmth from those I love. I am not a thief. I am a man of love and today is my last chance to prove my love and my greatness." ~ Og Mandino

Whatever you wish to accomplish, stop wasting your time, start taking action today!

It could be your last day, thus make every second count.

The Two Pillars of Morality

I was browsing through Youtube in search of something related to "morality", and guess what I've found?

Watch this video to find out more about the Two Pillars of Morality.

Frans de Waal: Moral behavior in animals

"If you ask anyone what is morality based on, these are the two factors that always come out: One is RECIPROCITY and is associated with justice and a sense of fairness; and the other one is EMPAHTY and compassion. Human morality is more than these, but if you remove these two pillars, there would be not much remaining. They are both essential."    ~ Frans de Waal

Reciprocity is basically about the spirit of give and take, and returning favours, which give us a sense of fairness.

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others, and basically has two channels:

• Emotional (body) channel -- you feel sad when you see another person having a sad appearance.
• Cognitive channel -- you feel sad when you adopt the perspective of the person going through a sad experience.

The two areas of empathy are:

• Synchronization -- you start to yawn when you see others yawn.
• Consolation -- you extend your care or concern for someone who's seemingly in pain or suffering.

These researches show that all of us are born with these two very noble traits. Let us preserve and not lose them. Stand up for your morality!