The Power of Words

Everything and every one around us, without being aware of it, have been programming us. Unfortunately, most of it was the wrong kind of programming – and we took it to heart. Year after year, word-by-word, our life scripts were etched. We began to live out the picture of ourselves we had created in our minds. How successful you will be at anything is inexorably tied to the beliefs about yourself that you stored in your subconscious mind. You will become what you think about most of the time. Your success or failure in anything, large or small, will depend on your programming – what you accept from others, and what you say when you talk to yourself. The subconscious mind simply believes what you tell it most of the time.

It is those hidden programs that are often the strongest of all. These are the programs that determine our self-esteem, our self-confidence, our attitudes, our beliefs, and most of our actions. The result is that the sum total of our programs, whatever they are positive or negative influences or controls almost everything about us. When we understand this mechanism we begin to understand “why some people are successful and some other not.”

What adults tell us as children has an incredibly important affect on us. It forms almost everything that we come to believe about ourselves. Here is an example, a young Michael who at the age of six often visited the elderly gentleman next door for afternoon chats, was safely out of sight but within hearing distance at the top of the stair one evening, ready for bed, when the neighbor stopped by, little Michael overheard the old man tell his mother that Mike was very creative, and he knew that Mike would grow up to do things that were creative.

Today, decades later, Mike Vance has been Dean of Walt Disney University, and more recently, through his personal consulting and his work with major corporations and organizations throughout the world, has gone on to become perhaps the premier creativity trainer in the world today! Little Michael, by accident, overheard one small ‘program’ about himself, and little Michael believed it.

The more we believe about something, the more we will accept other ideas which are similar. The more files we have in our mental filling cabinets, which tell us something about ourselves, the more we will attract and accept other thoughts and ideas which support and prove what is already stored in our files. The more you think about yourself in a certain way, the more you will think about yourself in that same certain way! The more you think about anything in a certain way, the more you will believe that that is how it really is.

Much of the programming which each of us received was the wrong kind; that as much as seventy-seven percent or more of everything that is recorded and stored in our subconscious minds is counterproductive and works against us. I know people who are failing so completely in their lives that it looks as though nearly all of their programs are self-defeating ones. But there were people who had learned how to not only survive, but also excel, in spite of their negative programming. You may recognize some of these examples uninformed parents have told their children:

“You’re just not good at that.”
“You room is always a mess.”
“You’ll never be an artist.”
“You’re lazy.”
Etc., etc., etc.
And some children are being told the most assuredly destructive words:
“You’ll never amount to anything.”

In doing so, by using words which program the child in the wrong way, parents unwittingly direct the child in the wrong way, they unwittingly help the child create a self-identity which believes that what they are saying is “the truth” – the parents create a picture portrait of how the child sees himself or herself inside, and eventually become.

By the time most of us reach adulthood, we are so conditioned to think in a certain way that our pattern of self-talk becomes a habit. It is fixed. And for most, it remains that way. How we look at life, what we believe about ourselves, how we view anything, and what we do about it, gets filtered through our perceptions.

Not only do our own programs reflect the programs of the people who raised us, but we also often continue to get more of the same kind of input from the selection of people we choose to spend our time with. Unless we become consciously aware of the programs we have now, we tend to duplicate more of the same. It is only when we become aware of the programs we’ve got and where they’ve been coming from that we can take the first step toward doing something about them. We can then begin to get the right programs for a change, instead of continuing to get more of the wrong ones.

How many of us talk to ourselves? What is it that we often say? Are our internal dialogues uplifting? We typically play the same mental “tapes” day in and day out without considering either the quality of the messages or the impact they have on our attitudes. While most self-talk is either unconscious or goes unnoticed, some self-talk was glaringly obvious and clearly self-defeating. When we’re aware of our own self-talk and are determined to improve it, we almost never say things that are negative or self-defeating.

Most of the people who use negative self-talk are not aware of what they are saying. And few, if any of them, are aware of the power of the programming – the negative programming – they are giving to themselves. Be aware, anything you tell yourself about yourself becomes a directive to your subconscious mind. Any time you make a statement about yourself that is negative you are directing your subconscious mind to make sure you become the person you just described negatively. Explore your past to uncover unconscious self-defeating habits that sabotage your life and change any negative pattern that are getting in your way.

Examples of self-defeating self-talks:
Nothing ever goes right for me.
I’m so clumsy.
I’m just no good.
I’m too shy.
I’m just no good at math.
I never seem to get anyplace on time.
And the list goes on and on.

We must be careful what we notice, talk about, or give our attention to, because that is what we are identifying with, and that is what we will bring into our lives. Programmed with the wrong information, you cannot possibly be as successful as you would like to be. The subconscious mind will do anything possible you tell it to do if you tell it often enough and strongly enough. If you tell it the wrong thing about yourself, that is what it will accept and act upon. We end up becoming the result of what we say to ourselves most of the time.

A typical example of this programming is our own self-accepted beliefs about our personal financial capabilities – or limitations. Unless we change the program we gave to ourselves, the one that told us we can’t seem to earn enough money, our subconscious will successfully accomplish its programmed task of keeping us earning less than we would like.

True abundant on all levels of life comes as a result of developing a prosperous consciousness. Consciousness is the result of ideas held in mind. Open your mind to receive. Affirm:

“Wealth flows to me in avalanches of abundance.”

Be sincere and mean it, and your subconscious mind will respond. When you daily declare that you are receiving, your words make a believer out of your subconscious mind which then starts working with you to help make it so. We talk about the power of words. It is important to put into verbal form only those statements that you really want to see manifest in your life.

The more simple and to the point your self-talk is, the better it works. If you have a goal, no matter what it is, give yourself detailed instructions that tell you exactly what you want. And then stand back and get out of the way. Your expectations are about to happen.

The limit of our income is set by our own internal beliefs. If you want to earn more, you have to start by seeing yourself as worthy, deserving, capable, and willing – and by directing yourself to do so.

Many people often have been conditioned to expect less than the best and to settle for less than the best in life, thereby settling for and living in limitation. Part of this conditioning goes back to the erroneous belief about the nature of God and man, and their relationship. If you believe that man is a sinner and thereby limited in everyway; then, of course, you have been conditioned to settle for less than the best in life. You didn’t dare to claim anything more! An affirmation that has worked miracles for many people is

“Life is tremendous and I am so richly blessed. Today and everyday I expect the best. Everything I do turns into good for myself and others. Wonderful things are happening to me now. ”

Your consciousness (thoughts and feelings) is the result of the ideas you have held in your mind. You can change your consciousness by changing the ideas you are holding in your mind to mentally and emotionally. When you start to create a new picture about yourself being worth more, your subconscious mind will help you find a way to go about earning it.

As we develop a prosperous consciousness, set our goals, write down our plans, we enter the fertile fields of life with seeds (ideas), knowledge, commitment, and a determined effort. It is our intense, disciplined activity that makes us flourish. The unique combination of desire, planning, effort and perseverance will always work its magic. Happiness is a by-product of what you do. The happiest people I know are those who are busily working toward specific objectives. As we accomplished our plans, we are freed from being slaves to a material existence, we are freed from all earthly and material care, so that we have the time to grow spiritually and help our fellowman.

Positive thoughts, prayer, and meditation have a positive impact on our health and well-being. The more you fill your mind with positive self-talk, the less room there will be available for negative talk. Our thoughts create our reality. Thought is the cause and manifestation is the effect. What we think is what we become. We control with our minds most everything in our lives, including our health, career, personal relationship, and our future. Whatever you put into your mind – in one way or another – is what you will get back out – in one way or another.

The step that most directly controls our success or failure is our behavior – what we do or do not do. This step involves even the simplest level of behavior. As an example, if you like your job, do the right thing at the right time, and keep at it, there is a good chance that your job will do well for you. If, on the other hand, you do not like your work and do things which work against you on the job, it won’t work well for you.

How you manage yourself, what you do, how you act, each and every moment, every words you speak and action you take, or do not take, will determine how well anything in your life works for you. But why we do what we do? Why do we not do the things we know we should, and so often say and do things that we know we should not? Why do we ever do anything that works against us instead of always doing exactly that which works for us? Is it because we don’t know any better? No. We usually know what’s right and what’s wrong. The reason we don’t heed even our own advice is because of something else which affects, directs, influences, or controls all of our actions. That something that makes us do what we do is our feelings.

Every action we take is first filtered through our feelings. How we feel about something will always determine or affect what we do and how well we do it. If we feel good or positive about something, we will behave more positively about it. Our feelings will directly influence our actions. How you feel about your job, your mate, your family, you finance, your health, yourself, and other people around you, will determine how you behave in each of these areas. If your feelings are positive and productive, your actions will work for you instead of against you. Your feelings are created, controlled, determined, or influenced by your attitude.

Whatever attitude we have about anything will affect how we feel about it, which in turn determines how we’ll act about it and that in turn determines whether or not we will do well. Attitude is the little thing that makes a big difference. In life the difference between success and failure is often only an inch or two. The story of life proves that it is often the little things that spell the differences between triumph and tragedy, success and failure, victory and defeat.

Over 20 years ago Dave Anderson and Jim Murphy had started to work for the railroad on the same day. One of Dave’s new associates half jokingly and half seriously asked him why he was still working out in the hot sun and Jim Murphy had gotten to be the president of the railroad. Rather wistfully Dave explained, “twenty-three years ago I went to work for $1.75 an hour and Jim Murphy went to work for the railroad.” This is the little thing that makes a big difference. If you work only for salary, you will get one, but it will probably be small. If you work for the betterment of the company you represent, not only will you get a bigger salary, but also you will get personal satisfaction as well as respect from your colleagues. Your contribution to your company will be infinitely greater which means that your personal and professional rewards will also be greater.

In order to possess the kind of feelings which work for us, we’ve got to have the right attitudes to start with. Our attitudes are created, controlled, or influenced entirely by our beliefs. We have all made and will continue to make decisions based upon what we believe is valuable. What we believe about anything will determine our attitudes about it, create our feelings, direct our actions, and in each instance, help us to do well or poorly, succeed or fail.

Since whatever you believe about yourself will end up affecting what you do, you can be sure that if you believe that you are not socially successful as you would like to be, your beliefs about yourself will turn out to be correct – whether it was true or not.

All social behavior is conditioned. No one is born popular and socially adept. Every social grace, skill, and comfort level that we have, successful or unsuccessful, is based on what we believe about ourselves. If you tell yourselves you cannot, what can the only outcome be? Your mind will act as though they are true if you believe them.

Our beliefs are created and directed entirely by our programming. Our conditioning from the day we were born, has created, reinforced, and nearly permanently cemented most of what we believe about ourselves and what we believe about most of what goes on around us, whether the programming was right or wrong.

All of our counter-productive beliefs and choices are the results of years of accumulating misinformation. Much of the information we have gathered has resulted in erroneous conclusions about life that can actually block the achievement of our goals. The only way to eliminate these mental barriers is to review, refine and revise our personal philosophy.
We have simply been around the wrong sources and gathered up the wrong information. The decisions we are making are not wrong based on the information we have; it is the information we have that is causing us to make wrong decisions.

It is our programming that sets up our beliefs and the chain of reactions begin. What we believe determine our attitudes, our attitudes affect our feelings, our feelings determine our actions, and our actions create results. The only way to change our thinking habits is to input new information. Unless we change what we know but wrong, we will continue to believe, decide and act in manner that is contrary to our best interests. Getting the information that success and happiness require – and getting it accurately – is essential. Otherwise we will inevitably drift into ignorance. As long as a person doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, he doesn’t grow. Inward achievement includes brushing aside all our old internal enemies or wrong beliefs as we advance.

Just making a decision to never again think negatively, and for the rest of our lives think positively, it may work for a time but can’t last indefinitely because the mental program which was already set up in our subconscious minds is the old kind of programming – the kind that is programmed to disbelieve new information which does not agree with the information already stored in the subconscious mind.

Negative programming dragging us down or holding us back. Whatever means we choose to make the change, unless we first begin to change our old programming – the years of conditioning that keeps us doing it the old way, the likely outcome is that what we want to accomplish will not work or will not last. Without constant attention and effect, even the most exciting success ideas run their course and eventually end up on our list of good ideas. It takes more than an hour or two to override the old programming and replace it with new.

Our false beliefs can be dissolved in our subconscious mind by repetition of truth in our conscious mind. We override the old while we are creating the new. A drop of clear water that persistently falls into a bottle of dirty water will eventually show the bottle to be full of clear water. Repetition is the key. Continue to repeat this statement:

“I am very special and intelligent. I like who I am and I feel good about myself. I am full of life. I like life and I’m glad to be alive. I think good thoughts and my mind makes things work right for me.”

When you follow the new program path again and again – and stop using the old program entirely – the old program will, in time, lose its strength and die out.

The subconscious mind will believe anything you tell it if you tell it long enough and strongly enough. The repetition of the same chant, incantation, an affirmation leads to belief, and once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen. It is only one way by which we can achieve prosperity. It is to take charge of our mind. It is creating the condition in our mind that makes the result inevitable. Affirm,

“My good is flowing to me now, ceaselessly, tirelessly, joyously, and copiously.” And Infinite’ riches will flow into your receptive open mind.

“Day by day I am prospering spiritually, mentally, and financially. I am open and receptive to new ideas; therefore I am successful; very successful; very, very successful. Wealth is flowing to me freely, joyously, endlessly, and ceaselessly. The law of increase is working for me now.”

Repetition is the fundamental rhythm of all progress, the cadence of the universe. It’s the constant and determined effort that breaks down all resistance, sweeps away all obstacles. It’s the repeated autosuggestions that make you believe and to be impressed upon your subconscious mind. I saw offices where there hung on wall such slogans as:

“We do the impossible – any place, any time.”
“Be a self-starter – don’t wait to be cranked. Do it now!”

These slogans serve as constant reminder and as a series of suggesting forces that reach the executives’ subconscious mind. The executives use them to excite their imagination and to inspire them.

Plan the right kind of seed in your mind and habitually feed it with strong affirmative slogans. It will grow into a mighty force. The slogans are for the purpose of helping you to focus sharply your desire picture on the screen of your subconscious mind, as well as enable you to shut off and keep out all distracting thoughts. These repetitive words and phrases said silently or aloud are merely methods of convincing the subconscious mind, for autosuggestion, no matter what form it is. The repetition will be the means of driving the suggestion deeply and firmly into the subconscious mind.

Whatever thoughts you have programmed into yourself or have allowed others to program into you, are affecting, directing, or controlling everything about you. Many people become confused and frustrated because they allow themselves to be influenced by negative thoughts of others. Repetition of negative thoughts (bad news from radio, television, newspaper and internet) will discourage even the most powerful spirit if continued long enough, and unless your mind is closed against them and you counteract them by constantly thinking and radiating positive thoughts, you will sooner or later find yourself sunk.

The subconscious mind is extremely receptive and it can be convinced of the propositions you present to it, whether they are true or false, positive or negative; once they are rooted in the subconscious mind, it goes to work with all of its faculties and energies to materialize them, to make them real in life. The subconscious will accept and carry out whatever it is powerfully instructed to do and will respond to the thoughts that are strongest in us. We must keep our mind filled with positive thoughts so that their strong vibrations will ward off all negative and destructive thoughts that might come from the outside.

Social voices are very influential. It let us know what we “ought to do,” whether it makes sense or not. We seldom sit down and think about the effect of those “external influence” in our lives. Have you ever considered how many things you do because you felt obligated to do them?

Whatever we know it or not we are all victims of suggestion through the never ending suggestive thoughts that come to us from all sides, in many cases almost to the point of being hypnotized. A mass hypnosis is seen around us in every human activity. Everything around us nudges, demands, or persuades. We are met with a torrent of influences, most of which we are not even aware, not even knowing they are leading our ship astray. Just as it is the thoughts, ideas, demands, and influences of others which have controlled and directed most of our lives in the past, it is the personal control of our minds which now gives us the chance to direct our own future for ourselves.

If we are not aware of what causing our success or failure, we end up at the mercy of chance. Life is not a matter of luck or fortune. We are not playing our lives out at a gaming table. If we live our lives up to chance, chances are, we’ll fail.

Setting goals is one of the most important means to achieving them. Setting goals and working at reaching them is the shortest way to becoming healthy, wealthy, and wise. A person with clear, specific goal is like a ship with a rudder, sailing straight and true to its destination. Goal may not be the only reason for success, but no success is possible without goal. Worthy goals are essential to true and lasting self-fulfillment.

When was the last time you spent seriously talking about your goals long enough to get a clear picture in your mind about what you really want and how you can go about getting it? In any situation, ask yourself this question, “What do I really want?” Sometimes you have to ask yourself that same question several times, thinking it through before you finally start to figure out what it is you really want.

We are what and where we are because we first imagine it. In designing a better future we begin with an idea about how the future will be. Over a period of time we refine and perfect the vision. The more clearly we see the vision of the future, the more we are able take advantage from its inspiration. This inspiration find its way into our conversation, our energy level, our relationships and our attitude. Before long, our every thought, decision and activity are all working in harmony to bring into existence what we have mentally concluded about the future.

Imagination is a much stronger force than will-power; when the two are in conflict, the imagination always wins. Let’s say you are an inveterate smoker of good cigars and decide to break yourself of the habit. You greet your teeth, shove out your chin, and solemnly declare that you are going to use your will-power to break yourself of the habit. Then suddenly comes the idea of the taste of a good cigar, its aroma and its soothing effects – the imagination goes to work and the resolution to break the habit goes out the window.

When a magnifying glass properly focused, it will gather the light from the sun and concentrate it, so that the heat will burn a hole in the object upon which the rays are focused. It must be held steady before the heat power developed. So it is with the holding the image or the mental picture on your object of desire. Focused thought will penetrate to the deepest depth of the subconscious mind. And your subconscious mind will work on its own way for you to materialize your goal or desire. You will receive assistance from the most unexpected sources. You will find that useful ideas for the accomplishment of your project will come at most unexpected times.

When you set a goal, you set positive forces in motion, forces that are so strong they can often overcome all obstacles. When you set the goal, you make it real. When we see the results our goals create, it’s easy to think there is some magical force within them, giving them strength. So much so that some goals almost seem to have a life of their own. It’s as though when you write them down and visualize them coming true, you breath life into them and they become real. It’s as if you are being compelled to draw together all of you creative energies, all of your best choices, all of your hidden resources and guided by some unseen forces to achieve the most positive possible outcome.

The goals which are the easiest to write down and the ones we look forward to working on are the goals we invariably want the most. And the goals we want the most and put our energies into are the goals we surely reach.

When you define what you want and write out a plan, you almost always end up with a wiser course to follow – when you set a goal, in the right way, you have a plan. You know exactly where you’re going and you’ve got a better way to get there. When we set goals we begin to call on our internal sense of direction, the compass that was designed to show us the path. We begin to feel a sense of purpose – a sense of rightness. We get the feeling that our lives is on tract and that we’re finally headed in the right direction.

We can only make the best choices if we have a clear picture of what we want. When we define our goals, we define what we want – we see the picture and it’s clear. We know what to do next. When we know exactly what we want and what to do each day, we naturally begin to make better choices - the right choices. Goals give you clarity. Clarity helps you make good choices. With goals you know where you’re going and what you have to do to get there. Instead of living your life based on the whims of others, you live a life based on your own best choices. The important thing is to review our goals on a regular schedule and to remember that it’s the list of obstacles which will always tell us what actions steps we need to take to reach the goal.

It is unlikely that you can find any earthly goal that is final goal. All of them are steps to something else. And it is from this understanding that we can see why people who are good at setting goals seem to be so successful overall. They’re constantly growing in area after area of their lives. They are moving forward, goal after goal, success after success. To them, it’s not just one or two big goals that count. Each goal they set is a step to something else.

When you set clearly defined goals, you are putting your unconscious choices on notice. You are saying, “This is what I want. This is exactly where I’m going. This is what I want you to do for me.” What happens next is “a call to action” of the mind. Like a missile that has been programmed to seek out its target, this computer-like goal seeking facility of the subconscious mind silently and untiringly works to reach the goal that you set. You end up taking action, moving past obstacles, fine-tuning your direction, step after step, choice after choice, until the goal is met. The choices you met are guided and directed by the objective of the goal that you set. It’s no wonder that when we set goals it seems like miraculous things start to happen for us.

Everything that occurs in our lives does so because of what we mentally create to happen. Most of what seems to happen to you, happens because of you – something you created, directed, influenced, or allowed to happen. The thoughts and feelings we allow ourselves to have today are crucial, for they are contributing to our future. What our future holds will simply be a mirror image of our current philosophy and attitude about life.

Through the law of cause and effect, when we improve ourselves, the things we would like to have in our lives follow naturally. Improve who you are, and by that same law, you will improve your life. The more successful you become inside, the more successes you will automatically create on the outside.

Silent self-talk includes anything and everything you think about yourself or anything else around you. It is that subtle shift in our attitude from ever again looking at things in a negative way to looking at everything in a more positive, productive way that will open the door to success and happiness in life. The measure of mental health is the disposition to find good everywhere. The alchemist is one who learns the secret of turning every situation into gold, who learn how to make every situation serve him. We will use every experience to strengthen us and not weaken us.

We make hundreds of comments or statements in any given day. It might not seem all that important to phrase each of the many things you say each day in some positive way. But consider that each of those statements is a directive to your subconscious mind. Then add up those comments and statements over a week, a month, or a year. They add up to tens of thousands of minor but very important subconscious self-directives. They have a whole lot to do with what we accomplish, how we feel, and what we become.

The easiest way to determine which of the people around you are the real winners at life and which are not, is to listen to their self-speak – what they say when they talk about anything. Winners use self-speak to build an attitude that produces winning results. When positive self-talk becomes a habit, so do the successes which the positive self-talk creates.

The person who expects the best and a promise of good things to come lives a life that attracts achievement and encourages fulfillment. The most successful and complete people I know all understand that we ourselves create almost all of what happens to us. We by our own words and thoughts invite in either the good or the bad. We are the ones doing the inviting. Why is what we expect an important point? Because it is our individual beliefs about our own future that write the script we rehearse each day. It is self-evident that what we expect most, we create. What we expect most is best seen in the pictures we create with our own words – our self-talk.

During your conversations with yourself, ask yourself questions like these: “Is there anything that I think might be holding me back from really being my best?”

One of the secrets to doing well, living a good and fulfilling life, and living up to your best each day would be to expect what you want to get. Make sure your own words and thoughts reflect what you expect. Talk only about the things you want to see live and grow. Keep moving in the direction of your dreams. Keep your thoughts centered in the ideas of sufficiency, abundance and well-being.

You are born to achieve, to release your inner power, to fulfill your uniqueness. People who have highest self-esteem are always the most confidant, self-assured, and successful in anything they undertake. Why not synchronize ourselves with the divine flow and affirm:

“I see myself experiencing great success, for I am born to win.”

It is not that by voicing these words you make something happen. But through the consciousness implied in the words, you begin to will the means to the realization of the end. This kind of affirmation is a daily or a weekly thing, not a yearly thing. This is a time for getting in touch and staying in touch with who you really are and what you want. It’s a time for making sure you know exactly where you’re going and exactly the kind of attitude you need to get there.

Give to yourself an advantage. Talk to yourself about your work and the people you work with in a way which makes your work work for you – and it will. You can decide to be happy with yourself and your job or you can decide to go home every night complaining about the things you don’t like.

What do you suppose is the single most important difference between a happy, motivated employee and one for whom nothing ever works out right? It is entirely dependent on each of employee’s attitudes and feelings – both of which are entirely dependent on the individual’s personal determination to view his or her work in a healthy, positive perspective – or not.

If you ever find yourself falling into the habit of finding fault with, complaining about, criticizing, or resenting your job, step aside and look. There are others who have it far worse; some of them would love to have the opportunity which you now have. Your job or your occupation does a lot more than pay the bills. It gives you the opportunity to excel, to expect the best of yourself and to put that expectation into practice. Your success or failure will depend on what you think, what you tell yourself most. Expect the best and tell yourself the best. If you do, there is a good chance that it is what you will get. Start your day with this affirmation:

“ I feel terrific! Everyday is the best day of the year! I like life and I am full of life. I feel good about myself. I really am a very special person. I like who I am and I’m glad to be alive and going for it!”

Even two or three minutes of that kind of rousing internal motivation can get you started on the right foot, facing the day, looking forward to it, and get you moving and believing in a way that can change an average day into an exceptional day. And it works!

For any self-improvement concept to be successful, it has to be simple. It has to be easy to use. If it isn’t simple, it won’t work because our desires to improve ourselves competes with the time we spend working, taking care of our families, and taking care of the rest of our needs. It competes with the energy we consume doing everything necessary just to keep our lives in some reasonable order. Sometimes, most days for some of us, there is just no energy left. We are so busy taking care of first things first that we have no time, energy, or thought left to take care of the one thing that could make all of the other things work better. Therefore when it comes to finding a way to improve yourself, if it isn’t simple, it won’t work. Only simplicity works. Simplicity has a big power.

Never begin the day until it is finished on paper. Learn how to separate the majors and the minors. If you do that, you are in control of your life. If you don’t life controls you. Something will master and something will serve. Either you run the day or the day runs you; either you run the business or the business runs you. A lot of people don’t do well simply because they major in minor things.

If you are in management: All of us are managers of one kind or another. Effective management always begins with successful self-management. We can be a graduate student of management and never attain the essential skills of managing others if we do not first master the management of ourselves. True leaders have their own selves firmly in control. They are in command of their actions, their feelings, their attitudes, and their thoughts. He who gains victory over other men is strong; but he who gains a victory over himself is all-powerful. Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.

The better the attitude the better the results in almost everything we do. Because attitude affects our feelings and feelings affect what we do and how well we do it. Having a good attitude can be the deciding factor in our success or failure. The right attitude gives us that important edge. Developing the right mental attitude is important because every attitude we have directly affects how we feel about everything around us and what we do about it. Without the right attitude we will never have the key that unlocks the treasure chest of happiness and success we so badly want and deserve.

Our attitudes propel us toward our victories or bog us down in defeat. They are the footholds beneath us in every step we take. They are what others see most of the personality within us; they describe us and define us; they project the image we present to the world around us.

Don’t expect to change someone else’s attitude with “a carrot or stick” by using incentives, lectures, punishment, complaints, or flattery. Changing attitudes don’t work that way. Telling someone, “You need to change your attitude,” has never done any good at all. In fact, just saying that to someone can have the wrong effect because it is a negative programming and it will work against the individual instead of for him or her. It re-conforms his or her programmed belief that all the bad things he or she already thinks about him- or herself is true. In fact, it is precisely when a person’s attitude is “down” that it is the hardest for that person to figure out any way to change it.

Our attitudes are determined by our beliefs. Programming creates beliefs, beliefs create attitudes, attitudes create feelings, feelings determine actions, and actions create results. Every attitude we have, good or bad, is the natural result of the programming that preceded it. If we believe we are less than the best, to us that is the fact. Of course, it isn’t true at all. It’s just true to the person who believes it.

The attitudes you have about yourself create additional important result: the attitudes you have about yourself determine the attitudes you will have about everything else around you. So if you want to change the way you feel about anything else, you have to start first with the attitudes you have about yourself. Believe the very best about yourself, each day, all of the time. In any circumstance, always being sure of attitudes that support you, give you faith, prop you up, and give you the courage and the conviction to live life in its most fulfilling, most positive way.

Little changes in attitudes can make big changes in life. Your attitudes affect all of the important things around you. They affect how you feel about yourself. They affect directly your work, your love ones, your friends and people around you. When your attitudes get better, so does your life.

Circumstances of life by their nature are neither bad nor good. They are neutral. It is we who make things bad or good. How we react to those things in life which we can do nothing about will always be the truest test of our own self-control and our ability to manage our minds and ourselves in a way that keeps us coming out on top and at peace with where we are. That is a part of maturity. That is taking responsibility for ourselves and living it, every day. We can adjust situation by adjusting how we look at them. Our upset can only come from what we think. It can’t be caused by what somebody else thinks. It is something we think that upsetting us. Our thought habits determine the emotional lives we live. Feeling is what we get for thinking the way we do. For an example, if it’s raining we can say to ourselves, “It’s raining today and that’s fine with me. I’m going to have a good day and a little rain can’t stop me.”

Our thought habits determine the emotional lives we live. Feeling is what we get for thinking the way we do. How important are a few casual thoughts? They are more important than we had ever imagined. The more productively we think, the more productively we affect ourselves emotionally and physically. Just the simple act of telling yourself you are going to have a “good day,” as an example, not only helps convince you mentally, it sets off electro-chemical triggers in your brain which affect your mental state, which in turn affects you physiologically, which in turn affect how you think. Instead of saying, “I hate answering machine,” if we are trying to reach someone, we can say, “I’m glad I have the chance to leave a message.”

A friend of mine related the story of her aunt, who for many years, although she did not like to cook, had to do so in order to take care of her large and growing family. Each time her aunt went into kitchen to begin preparing meal, she would say to herself, “This is going to be fun. I’m going to have a good time cooking today.” Later, after the meal was over and the dishes were done, she would say, “That wasn’t so bad!” – and it wasn’t. Something so obvious, so simple, could work so well. It’s because this technique is so simple that it easily escapes our notice. In fact, the most effective techniques were always the simplest and most obvious.

I often hear grievances and resentments from individuals at every level of corporate structure in different kind of corporations. Most of them are expressions of dissatisfaction with things that the individual can do nothing about. It may be company policy, government regulation, or manager’s actions – all of which are a part of normal business life. People with the right mental attitudes would get busy helping the company move ahead so he can have a good place to work and an opportunity to further his career instead of creating a negative spiral.
Don’t waste your mental energy by dwelling in to the petty inconveniences of life. Use that energy for something good. Channel it, control it, and focus it on achieving your goals.

Self-motivation is the motivation which comes from having a sense of purpose, a sense of self-esteem, and self-determination. The amount of motivation you have can make the difference between reaching your goals or failing short. Your motivation effects your position, your income, your determination, and your results. Like your attitude, your motivation affects everything you do. A student who is highly motivated to get good grades will spend more time studying than a student who is motivated only to get by.

All of us need motivation of one kind or another from the moment we arise in the morning to the moment we nod off to sleep at night. The only kind of motivation which we can ever be sure of is the motivation that is created within us – our internal motivation. People who are the most successful at whatever they do are those who are their own best motivator. They stand on their own feet, walk in the direction of their own choosing, and put themselves in charge of their own successes. They have purpose and understand their reason for being. They are those who have conquered themselves. They have won the battle of being in control of who they are and what they choose to do with their lives. They have developed such a mighty sense of self that they had enough left over to give away and live their lives giving to others. They are the true achievers.

Determine the direction of our own future is the most important personal responsibility we will ever have. With a clearly defined goals and action plans in mind we will have a specific sense of direction, and that direction is based upon our earnest, sincere desires. We will have more control over our own lives than we ever have had before. We know what we are doing. We love what we are doing, and believe in what we are doing. We get rid of what is only marginal. We ask ourselves constantly, “What is worth doing and why?” What you determine for yourself, what you conceive and give your attention and energy to will grow into your life and turn your dreams into touchable reality.

THE END