“I think of it this way. You never know what you can accomplish until you actually begin working at it. So go as far as you can in your thinking, do as much as you are able, never let a thought stop you, go beyond where you are, because when you do you will discover that you can think and see and do more than you first thought. You can surprise yourself.

I think it is important to revisit concepts. (some of these I have mentioned in previous blog posts). We must fill our minds and hearts with all the good things we want more of. Repetition leads us to developing skills, abilities and talents whether it is playing golf, swimming, learning a musical instrument or positive thinking. It is necessary to practice again and again what you want to master even when it is frustrating or incredibly challenging. By overcoming difficulties we teach ourselves that nothing stands in our way if we will only keep going.

It is easy and it is hard. There is a saying: ‘When the going gets tough the tough get going’ which is very applicable to mastery in any area of our lives. There are many things that side track us. Our present circumstances may be difficult or life may be crumbling around us and instead of paying attention to what we want to have we pay attention to what we don’t want or don’t have.  We get caught up or distracted with other things enjoyable or not. We get busy. We forget. We lose sight of what is important.

Through it all we CAN move steadily ahead if we only REMEMBER to keep moving, even if it’s just a little bit.

It is important, daily, to have a diet of positive mental gratitude and attitude to make it though each day. Revisit and re-read the thoughts and concepts I’ve shared in this blog. Read books, watch inspirational shows and DVD, listen to inspirational audio. Fill your mind and heart with the best. Surround yourself with positive people, form a Mastermind Group to move forward. (We’ll talk more on this another time). Make your lists of people, situations and things you are grateful for each day. Do this so that you can realize that you deserve the best that life has to offer. Be good to yourself. AND remember this applies to others too be good to them, they deserve the best as well.

Keep in mind and dynamically read or repeat your Definite Chief Purpose night and day. Know what you want and by when. Write it down and review it at least twice a day, morning and night. Visualize yourself having already accomplishing your Definite Chief Purpose. See yourself as already having what it is you want. Know that THIS is your destiny.

Energetically repeat your affirmations and your Directed Questions during the day, repeatedly. The more energetically you say (or shout) these the faster they work. Energy begets energy. It is not mindless repeating but active engagement. It is our emotions that operate the mechanism. When we are incredibly alive or terribly angry we are most powerful. We have all that energy impacting our unconscious. Our feelings are what we use to get our unconscious (servo-mechanism) to work for us.

Keep doing it and believe it. You will – once you make it a habit.

Find ways to add delight to yourself and others. Put a smile on someone else’s face. Help them out. You help yourself AND you help yourself get what you want when you help others get what they want. We are interconnected and networked. Help people and they will help you too.

Gift and surprise yourself today. Take time and be generous and treat yourself well. Little things count! After all, after today, it will not be here any longer, it will only be a memory. Use the days you have to make them what you want them to be. Create more positive memories to enjoy.

Walk, move, skip, dance, do a little physical activity every day that makes you feel great. Shake it up!

Fill your mind and heart and being with positive energy and you will transform yourself in amazing ways.

While I was learning (and believe me I still am) I read and I thought about what I was learning and attempted to put it all into practice.

I have mentioned numerous times that ‘we become what we think about.’ I thought, ‘wow cool, I now have a way to gage what I am thinking through out the day. I can think these thoughts and I will become this way, I will attract this.’ It made a huge difference for me when I embraced this concept. I thought – ‘WOW I can become this’. It was awesome! I filled my mind with positive powerful thoughts and kept my mind on these as much as possible every single moment.

Then I had an epiphany.

I realized (and I still do this over and over again) that I am now what I have already thought about. My present IS a result of my past thinking. My life NOW is a direct result of what I thought before. I had become what I thought about most of the time. It was not some far off nebulous concept, but an immediate here and now realization.

MY life and myself was a direct result of what I had been thinking in my life up to that moment. And even now up to this moment as I write this.

Whether this is true in actuality or not does not matter to me. If it were untrue so what? I discovered a concept, a principle, a practice that has allowed me to transform myself and my world for the better. Everything is in flux. All of this IS a process of becoming. It is always changing it is not static. Therefore, I am still in the process of transforming for the better, nothing is finished. It is becoming better and better along the way.

AT THAT moment, – back then, – when it dawned on me that I was creating the life I experienced all along by the thoughts I was thinking – in that moment – I decided to take responsibility for everything I have and for what I don’t have and all that happens to me.  Up to that moment life was something that happened to me.

I made a new decision. I began to view myself as the creator of myself and my world. (Overtime, I got to confront this decision time and time again and see how valuable and powerful it truly is). Again, I am not saying there may not be outside forces, obviously there are, but in order to gain control for myself, I decided the mental attitude I would adopt.

I began to realize that everything IS a result of my perceptions and my attitudes and that  I make myself happy or miserable regardless of what the outside forces bring. The notion ‘if it is to be it is up to me’ began to make more and more sense.

Life became incredible. I began to live as I had never lived before. Things began to happen and opportunities became visible. It was awesome. At the same time, other things did not seem to change very much. Some things certainly seemed frozen as is.

I looked around me and realized there was still much I didn’t like and did not want. It confused me at first, wasn’t I doing everything right? Wasn’t I already feeling great and much more positive? Weren’t some things really much better? Yes, to all of those. Then, why did some things seem to be stuck?

I recognize that few of us transform suddenly, as in the stories of sudden enlightenment. My enlightenment was definitely coming as a series of insights coupled with challenges or opposition. Things seemed great and then not so great. I wondered at first, what was wrong. Then it hit me again!

If any of that was going to change then I was going to have to make it change by making some changes in and for myself. I had learned that whatever we resist persists so the more we fight against what we don’t want, the more we think about what we don’t want the more we get exactly what we don’t want. That is what I had been doing all my life and here I was doing it again. I encountered difficulty or things I didn’t like I fought them, I resented them. I may even have done them reluctantly or begrudgingly.

There were things in my life I just did not want to do. (there may always be) Things like cleaning, accounting, chores, dealing with difficult people, other drivers, etc. and it occurred to me that if I did these while resenting them or filling myself up with how much I disliked them I was creating more of the same bad energy.

I determined to focus on whatever good feelings or thoughts I could muster about these activities.  Sometimes I found it helped to focus on the end result. The task was done and I could relax or celebrate the fact that it was completed.

At this stage, it occurred to me that whatever better thought I could come up with to replace the negative one, even if it was not the most positive thought I could find, this new one was actually better for me and moved me toward what I ultimately wanted. I found a way to move forward.

I didn’t have to be a cheer leader oozing with positivity for doing these tasks. To start the process off all I had to do was to find thoughts that were slightly more positive than what I started with.

Incremental steps toward where you want to go is far superior to no movement whatsoever or wallowing where you are.

This was another big realization for me.

I could navigate back to the positive (steer back to center) by choosing thoughts that were less negative or slightly more positive that the preceding ones. Yes, it meant I had to do some thinking and feeling, it meant I had to do some choosing instead of letting the thoughts and feelings run rampant over me. It meant I determined what I would think and feel, I would be in charge, I would take control instead of letting them control me as they had been doing all along.

Whew! It was a big realization and one I still continue to have to do. Although the process is much easier and more automated. The bottom line, as I write this. I AIN’T DONE yet, I am a work of art in progress. We all are. What happened for me was that now I began to realize it, recognize it and appreciate it.

I think much of life is learning how to get unhooked. We get captured, hooked by people, things, situations, our reactions all the time. Recognizing we bit the hook and getting off the hook is part of learning to be more aware. The more aware we become the more we notice many things. At first, we may notice our shortcomings, where we get stuck and how we get still get stuck again and again. This is blessing waiting to happen OR a curse. We can either celebrate getting hooked and unhooked or we can hate it and blame ourselves for not evolving fast enough. The latter is not a wise use of our time.

Be gentle and realize we will get caught up and that there are disappointments. How we handle at the time is what we do at the time. SO get over it, get over yourself and get on with positive things. Be gentle, accepting and loving of yourself and you will evolve much faster than criticizing yourself. This is a discovery we each make in our own time.

Moving on:

I am talking about two things here. One is the ability to maintain a positive focus.

Yes, choose powerful positive affirmations and potent questions to direct your mind in dynamic ways. Repeat them to yourself through out the day with energy and enthusiasm. Keep chanting them and holding them day and night in your mind until you actually believe them. See in your mind’s eye, visualize yourself as you want to be. Hold onto these images and enjoy them. Feel great about them. Stay positive, confident, powerful, enthusiastic and feeling marvelous!

BUT when you don’t feel fantastic, when you are faced with some unpleasantness, and to feel ecstatic is too large a leap for you – then you can incrementally nudge yourself in that direction by choosing better thoughts than the less than glorious ones you have. If you can’t get to powerfully positive right from the get go inch your way there.

Don’t stop being positive and wallow in self-pity, negativity or blame yourself, instead, find a way to think and feel a little bit better. Take a break, take a walk, do something! This is an area where using Directed Questions is extremely beneficial. (I have discussed this and other things you can do to alter your feelings positively in previous posts. I invite you to go back and reread).

When you do this you steer yourself back to center. You adjust where you are at mentally and physically in order to get back on track. You move step by step in a more positive direction. Even when you only move slightly in the direction of the more positive you are benefiting yourself. You are deciding on the direction you want to travel and this is a good thing!

Do you get that?

We create our experience. If our experience is to change we must first change ourselves. Once we change ourselves we can change our experience. The little things can make a big difference. So be flexible and appreciate it when you make large positive changes AND small positive changes.

The is other important aspect is choosing your destination. Where do you want to end up? What is your overall goal? What is your passion? What is you must have in life? What do you absolutely want?

This is THE larger question.

You can use all of the above approaches to make your life much more incredible at any time. It is useful and absolutely worth it to do so. You can find your experience definitely positively transformed.

To ramp up your evolution then you must chose you destiny. FIRST. (of course, if you already know yours and are working on it, these methods I discuss are extremely valuable in accelerating your accomplishments).

You must figure out what you want to have more than anything else in life. It can be anything. For some people it may be happiness, for others wealth, for another to have a partner or children, or a career or a big house, or little cottage by the lake or a farm. Whatever it is you must figure out what you want in your life. This is what Napoleon Hill would call a ‘definite chief purpose’. You must determine what yours is.

Why is this important? So that you don’t drift. So that you know where you are headed. Imagine this, you pick a vacation destination and a time when you want to get there. Most people can relate to this. You predetermine where you want to go and when.

Once you know where you want to go you can proceed. You know when you want to get there so it would be wise to determine, also in advance, HOW you want to get there.  How you travel is important. You do want to enjoy it don’t you?

Let’s assume you decide to enjoy it along the way, come what may. Whether you take detours or get sidetracked or lost, whether the going is arduous or easy you decided to enjoy it all and stick with it. You utilize everything I have been sharing to make your travel pleasant and positive.

If you don’t quit traveling you will ultimately get to your destination, either sooner, later or right on time but you will get there. As long as you make it a point to get to the destination no matter what happens and as long as you keep going you DO get there. If you stop and give up anywhere along the way you won’t make it. Certainly, this is easy to understand. You must not quit!

Because you know in your mind where you want to end up, all along the way, you will be able to determine whether you are getting closer or further away. You will know if you are off track and when you need to correct the course of travel to get to your destination.

You will know when you have arrived  because you chose where you wanted to end up from the very beginning. You had a plan you worked the plan and you got the results.

This is why it is important to know what you want in life.

The disclaimer is this:  You can have anything you want as long as it doesn’t harm you or someone else in the process. I won’t go into the reasons for this right now but will save that for another time. At this moment simply find a way to get what you want that helps others get what they want and you will be far, far better off.

When it comes to what you want there is no limit. You can have anything your heart desires. The caveat, as someone once said is, ‘there are no unrealistic goals, only unrealistic deadlines’.

Here are a couple of sticking points some people encounter. I know I have.

Some people never allow themselves to think that they deserve the best. Honestly, you do. You do deserve to have the best of everything, be the best you can be and enjoy all the abundance and wonderful things life has to offer. Some people never get around to accepting that for themselves. They think it is only for other people. It isn’t! It is all for you too.

When can you get it? This is sticking point number two. Some people think they can have anything (and they can) but they think it should be right the instant they think about it. They believe in magic. They don’t understand how these things (these laws) work. If you plant a seed you can expect a crop in the reasonable amount of time it takes to get the crop you planted. If you have never made 5 million dollars you still can. You may not do it this year or next but you can do it and you can have it!

I repeat YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN – if you believe that you can and that you will and then you do what is required to make it happen. That is the truth! When your deadline is realistic then you are more apt to keep going because you haven’t set off in fantasy. You are realistic about what it takes for you to get it in a reasonable amount of time. Keep in mind that if you have never done this before you aren’t an expert in what is reasonable but you may guesstimate.

Could you be surprised and get it tomorrow? OF COURSE! Just realize it is not likely. The realistic time frame is important concept to grasp.

Go for all the gusto you can. Claim all you want (and be willing to share) and you can have it IN time. Once you understand this you are further along the path and actually closer to getting it than you may even realize. Thinking magically tends to keep it away.

To Recap: Determine what you want – what you MUST HAVE. Focus on it. Think Positive about it day and night. Use positive thinking to make your day to day experience wonderful. Keep the faith and keep going after it and do not stop. You ultimately will arrive and arrive well. The tools you are using and the habits you are forming as a result guarantee that you will transform your life for the better regardless of what comes down the pike. It is all about what you learn to do and take the time to master.

In a nutshell here is what you can do.

1. Revisit and re-read the thoughts and concepts I’ve shared in this and my other blog posts. Read books, watch inspirational shows and DVD, listen to inspirational audio. Fill your mind and heart with the best.

2. Surround yourself with positive people, form a Mastermind Group to move forward.

3. Make your lists of people, situations and things you are grateful for each day. Gratitude List.

4. Allow yourself to go after anything positive you want that benefits you and others. Realize you deserve the best that life has to offer as do others. Be good to yourself. Accept and give yourself permission to be and do and have abundantly.

4. Keep your Definite Chief Purpose. Know what you want by when, have it written down and review it at least twice a day, morning and night. Read or state it with passion and enthusiasm. Visualize yourself having already having your Definite Chief Purpose. See yourself already having what it is you want. Know this is your destiny.

5. Energetically repeat (or shout) your affirmations and your Directed Questions during the day, repeatedly. Keep doing it and believe it. You will once you make it a habit.

6. Find ways to add delight to yourself and others. Put a smile on someone else’s face. Help them out.

7. Gift and surprise yourself today. Take time and be generous and treat yourself well. Little things count! After all, after today, it will not be here any longer, it will only be a memory. Use the days you have to make them what you want them to be. Create more positive memories to enjoy.

8. Walk, move, skip, dance, do a little physical activity every day that makes you feel great. Shake it up!

9. Realize you are the creator of your life. Accept responsibility for what you create. Everything beging with thought! Thought precedes action. Whatever we create we first create inside our minds. If we hold it in our heads we can hold it in our hands.

10. Steer back to center whenever you need to. Be in charge of your thoughts, feelings and actions. Live as a victor not a victim.

11. Persist – never quit. Adjust your plans, be flexible, but keep going You will get there.

12. Practice the Golden Rule – this is about the power to think positive not only for yourself but about others. Think the best. Treat others the way you want to be treated well. Do it even if they don’t do it. Do it first! What you put out there you get back. Like attracts like. Make it a practice to only think thoughts and speak words that bless, heal and prosper yourself and others.

DO these and your life will change. Make these a habit and you will get your goals and make your dreams come true. ” Rex SIkes

We continue this topic next time. Enjoy the day!!!

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