We have heard so many stories of people who were born with all
kinds of handicaps and despite all the odds stacked against them,
they managed to create a life most others can only dream about.
Yet, many, despite being born with all the money, advantages,
resources and opportunities choose to make nothing of themselves.
In fact, many of them end up destroying their lives.
Here are some examples.
Oprah Winfrey - Street urchin to talk show host extraordinary
What would you say of a child who was born to a single 13-year-old
mother who was struggling to survive on the streets? What would you
say if I told you that this child became the victim of multiple
physical and sexual abuses before the age of thirteen herself? She
later became pregnant and gave birth to a still-born baby.
She often got into trouble with the law before the age of fifteen.
You wouldn't bet too much hope on her future would you? What if I
told you that this person was Oprah Winfrey, one of the richest and
most successful women in the United States? And she is an
Afro-American as well.
Superman to Paraplegic...and now an Inspiration to all
Now, think of Christopher Reeve. Many of us remember Reeves as
invincible Superman. He not only had super strength but super
powers, he could literally fly. More than that, Christopher Reeve
had the fantastic physique to make the role he played to super
stardom, magical and believable.
Then, in 1994, a tragic horse riding accident left Reeve paralyzed
from the neck down for life! Initially, the meaning he attached to
the accident was that his life was over and that he would be a
burden to everyone.
Utterly depressed Reeve wanted his doctors to take him off life
support and allow him to die. It was his wife who asked him to give
himself (and his family) two years. If, at the end of the two
years, he felt the same way, they would find a way to let him go.
But as Reeve's rehabilitation began, surrounded by his very loving
and supportive family and friends, he started to attach a totally
different meaning to his disability. He began to see that he
(because of his fame) could become an inspiration and symbol to all
those who are suffering from various disabilities, and who have
lost hope.
The meaning he gave to his experience put him in a resourceful state.
As he continued to bear his massive disability stoically and
improve, bit by bit, he started to write what went to become a
best-selling book called 'Nothing is Impossible'.
Though imprisoned in his body, Reeve gave hundreds of moving
speeches and inspiring seminars; he even directed a movie and won
an academy award.
Millions around the world have been inspired by Reeve indomitable
spirit and he has raised millions through the Christopher Reeve
foundation.
Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope
Heard of Terry Fox, Canadian marathon runner? Well, at 18 Terry was
diagnosed with cancer and had to have his right leg amputated.
Most people would see this as a tragedy and never, in their
wildest dreams, would they see themselves running. Not Terry Fox.
This courageous man decided that he would use this experience to
raise money for cancer research and make a difference to all cancer
sufferers. So, despite having only one leg, Terry started to run
across Canada to raise a million dollars.
Sadly, half way through his journey, Terry contracted another
cancer, this time in his lungs. He was forced to stop his run and
died on June 28, 1981. However, because of the inspiration that his
courage had created, he raised over US$24 million for his cause.
Today, over $330 million has been raised around the world through
the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope.
In all of our lives, there will always come a time when things seem
unfair, that no matter how hard we work for something, we did not
get what we believed we deserved. It may even be a terrible tragedy.
Many people allow events such as these to destroy their
self-esteem, their faith and belief about themselves and the
essential goodness of others.
They allow these events to cripple them forever in taking action.
But there are always others who use what appeared to be negative
events/happenings to grow stronger, wiser and more powerful.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
The Rainbow in Every Dark Cloud
This is known as the law of polarity.
For every north, there is a south. For every outside, there is an
inside, for every crisis, there is an opportunity and for every
heads, there is a tails. For every concave, there is a convex.
For everything that comes to an end, something new begins.
The meaning we choose to attach to an experience is the meaning we
create. When we interpret an experience as negative or bad, we will
get into a miserable state, take lousy actions (even inaction is a
form of lousy action) and produce negative results.
At the same time, when we interpret an experience as positive, we
get into resourceful states, take positive action, and eventually
create positive results.
This can be summarized in a formula that goes Event + Response =
Outcome. This wonderful formula is given by Jack Canfield
(Co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul).
Many people believe that it is the events around us that shape our
outcomes. They believe that people who are happier and more
successful just happen to experience better events in their lives?
You and I both know that this is totally untrue. It is not the
things that happen to us, but rather how we choose to respond to
happenings and external circumstances that ultimately shape our
outcomes.
As you well know, we cannot control every single thing that happens
to us, but we can control how we choose to respond to it.
For example, if you go sailing, you cannot control where the wind
is going to blow. You can complain and blame the wind all you want
but it is not going to be of any use.
However, you can control how you maneuver the sails, and that will
control the outcome of your boat's direction.
We have heard so many stories of people who were born with all
kinds of handicaps and despite all the odds stacked against them,
they managed to create a life most others can only dream about.
What we must understand is that all meaning is context dependant.
In other words, there is no meaning in life except the meaning we
choose to give it.
When we look at things (an experience, an incident, an event) from
one perspective, it may seem totally bad. However, when we change
the way we look at the same thing, i.e. from a different context,
the meaning completely changes.
It could become totally powerful for you.
You can also see that any experience in life carries with it
multiple meanings. Anything is life has the potential to be either
good/positive or bad/negative.
It depends on your perspective, the frame in which you are seeing
it from.
People who succeed and live fulfilling and enriching lives don't
experience better events, they just re-present things and respond
in a much more powerful way.
For every north, there is a south. For every outside, there is an
inside, for every crisis, there is an opportunity and for every
heads, there is a tails. For every concave, there is a convex.
For everything that comes to an end, something new begins.
The meaning we choose to attach to an experience is the meaning we
create. When we interpret an experience as negative or bad, we will
get into a miserable state, take lousy actions (even inaction is a
form of lousy action) and produce negative results.
At the same time, when we interpret an experience as positive, we
get into resourceful states, take positive action, and eventually
create positive results.
This can be summarized in a formula that goes Event + Response =
Outcome. This wonderful formula is given by Jack Canfield
(Co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul).
Many people believe that it is the events around us that shape our
outcomes. They believe that people who are happier and more
successful just happen to experience better events in their lives?
You and I both know that this is totally untrue. It is not the
things that happen to us, but rather how we choose to respond to
happenings and external circumstances that ultimately shape our
outcomes.
As you well know, we cannot control every single thing that happens
to us, but we can control how we choose to respond to it.
For example, if you go sailing, you cannot control where the wind
is going to blow. You can complain and blame the wind all you want
but it is not going to be of any use.
However, you can control how you maneuver the sails, and that will
control the outcome of your boat's direction.
We have heard so many stories of people who were born with all
kinds of handicaps and despite all the odds stacked against them,
they managed to create a life most others can only dream about.
What we must understand is that all meaning is context dependant.
In other words, there is no meaning in life except the meaning we
choose to give it.
When we look at things (an experience, an incident, an event) from
one perspective, it may seem totally bad. However, when we change
the way we look at the same thing, i.e. from a different context,
the meaning completely changes.
It could become totally powerful for you.
You can also see that any experience in life carries with it
multiple meanings. Anything is life has the potential to be either
good/positive or bad/negative.
It depends on your perspective, the frame in which you are seeing
it from.
People who succeed and live fulfilling and enriching lives don't
experience better events, they just re-present things and respond
in a much more powerful way.
Millionaire Habit 1: Always Exceed Expectations
Those people who always exceed expectations are known as Value
creators and they end up as the rich and wealthy of our society. If
they are paid $3,000, they will work as if they are being paid
$20,000.
If they are expected to generate $10,000 worth of profits, they
will create $30,000 worth of value! They are called value creators
because they create value for companies.
It is through their efforts, that the company makes more and more
profits every year. As a result, their income is not considered an
expense to the company, but a great investment.
Even in periods of downturns, when everyone else is getting
retrenched and pay cuts, they get pay increases, bonuses and stock
options.
The company knows that for every dollar they invest in them, they
will return triple the value. These people are the high flyers who
get promoted super fast and get their incomes doubling and tripling
in a few years.
In the past, income was based mainly on seniority and loyalty. The
longer you stayed, the more you were valued. In today's world,
income is based entirely on the amount of value you can create.
It is not uncommon to see people who are much younger, with a lot
less experience directing businesses and earning lots more than
senior workers who have been with the company a lot longer.
Value creators are indispensable assets to their company! They are
very hard to replace. And that is why companies will pay them more
and more and offer them partnerships to retain them.
Value creators are never out of a good job. They are usually head
hunted by other companies all the time, the head hunters offering
to double their income if they join them.
This habit does not just apply to employees, it applies to anyone
from sports stars to business owners.
When Michael Jordan was interviewed and asked how he became the
world's greatest basketball player, he replied, "I expect more from
myself than anyone would ever expect from me!"
When my coach expects me to train three times a week, I would train
five times. When my coach expects me to score 15 points for each
game, I would score 36 points! That is why I am the best in the
world".
Do more than anyone expects of you and you will find the river of
success flow like an never-rending stream into your life. Cultivate
this habit now and you will start to see results immediately.
creators and they end up as the rich and wealthy of our society. If
they are paid $3,000, they will work as if they are being paid
$20,000.
If they are expected to generate $10,000 worth of profits, they
will create $30,000 worth of value! They are called value creators
because they create value for companies.
It is through their efforts, that the company makes more and more
profits every year. As a result, their income is not considered an
expense to the company, but a great investment.
Even in periods of downturns, when everyone else is getting
retrenched and pay cuts, they get pay increases, bonuses and stock
options.
The company knows that for every dollar they invest in them, they
will return triple the value. These people are the high flyers who
get promoted super fast and get their incomes doubling and tripling
in a few years.
In the past, income was based mainly on seniority and loyalty. The
longer you stayed, the more you were valued. In today's world,
income is based entirely on the amount of value you can create.
It is not uncommon to see people who are much younger, with a lot
less experience directing businesses and earning lots more than
senior workers who have been with the company a lot longer.
Value creators are indispensable assets to their company! They are
very hard to replace. And that is why companies will pay them more
and more and offer them partnerships to retain them.
Value creators are never out of a good job. They are usually head
hunted by other companies all the time, the head hunters offering
to double their income if they join them.
This habit does not just apply to employees, it applies to anyone
from sports stars to business owners.
When Michael Jordan was interviewed and asked how he became the
world's greatest basketball player, he replied, "I expect more from
myself than anyone would ever expect from me!"
When my coach expects me to train three times a week, I would train
five times. When my coach expects me to score 15 points for each
game, I would score 36 points! That is why I am the best in the
world".
Do more than anyone expects of you and you will find the river of
success flow like an never-rending stream into your life. Cultivate
this habit now and you will start to see results immediately.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
SWEAT
S = Set up your goal
W = Work Ethnic
E = Encouragement
A = Accept things that you can't change
T = Tenacity
W = Work Ethnic
E = Encouragement
A = Accept things that you can't change
T = Tenacity
Save Your Self Time Energy Money (SYSTEM)
When you have a system, it saves you time, energy, and money. If you don't have a system. it almost impossible to succeed.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Spend Your Time Differently
The fact is that you cannot save time. You can only spend time differently. You can only rellocate time away from lower-value activitites toward higher-value actives. Instead of trying to do more things, you should do fewer things but things of higher value.
Another way to simplify your life is to reengineer your activities. That means you look for ways to reduce, condense, and consolidate the steps in a particular business process. You delegate everything you can to others who can do them as well as you. You outsource all business activities that can be done by other companies. You eliminate all low-value, no-value activitites that consume time but contribute little. You look for ways to conolidate several tasks into one job and do it all at once.
Another way to simplify your life is to reengineer your activities. That means you look for ways to reduce, condense, and consolidate the steps in a particular business process. You delegate everything you can to others who can do them as well as you. You outsource all business activities that can be done by other companies. You eliminate all low-value, no-value activitites that consume time but contribute little. You look for ways to conolidate several tasks into one job and do it all at once.
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