Be Persistent

Bill FitzPatrick - Founder of the "American Success Institute".

Action Principle No.46>> Be Persistent, Modern life can make you soft. The status quo may become comfortably familiar. You can actually begin to believe that you are doing all that you can, or that doing more isn't worth the effort. Challenge yourself. You must start the positive momentum in your life and then you've got to stick with it day to day.

You don't need someone else to tell you not to smoke. If today, you smoked a pack, tomorrow smoke 18. The next day, 17. Improve. If you haven't read a book recently, read one. If you don't exercise, take a walk around the block. If you're shy, say to five new people: "Good morning!"

You know yourself. You know what improvement you need. You don't need anyone to tell you not to jump from a fifty-story building, so why would you need someone to tell you not to do drugs, to exercise more, eat a sensible diet, talk to your kids, or compliment your employees? You know what to do.

Keep going. No one can say that you failed until you do. Keep taking small steps forward your goal. Challenge the you who is content with yesterday's accomplishments. Take a deep breath. Changes that last a lifetime begin in a moment. With persistence, only time stands between you and your goal.

Admit Your Weaknesses

Dr. Ron Jenson - Author of "Make a Life, Not just a Living".

Admit Your Weaknesses, Admit shortcomings to yourself, to others (in the appropriate context), and to God as you know him. Just learn to admit them. Denial exacerbates the problem.

Everyone develops what I call a "box" sense of maturity. We believe that if we live according to a certain socially acceptable "box," then we are accepted and can rise in position or respectability. All of us have certain peer groups that establish the limits of acceptable and unacceptable dres and behavior. Those limits put us in a box. When we measure ourselves against this "box," our focus becomes our external lifestyle, not our internal growth. Consequently, we stop addressing or even being aware of our weaknesses.

I remember once sitting down with a friend who was struggling with worry. I said to him, "What's your greatest problem?" He said, "Money."

I looked at him and laughed. I said, "You're kidding."

"No. Why do you say I'm kidding?"

"In my view, money's not your biggest problem."
"Then what is my biggest problem?"

"It's worry."

He paled. This man worked with a group of people who didn't think worry was acceptable behavior. He said, rather frantically, "Worry? I don't worry. You're wrong. You've got to be wrong!"

"Everybody knows you worry," I said. "Your wife knows you worry. I know you worry. Anyone who meets you for five minutes knows you worry. Your stomach knows you worry. You have an ulcer. Of course you worry! What you need to hear is that it's okay - yes, okay to worry. You're not a bad person because you worry. You just don't realize that you don't need to worry."

It's okay to be impatient sometimes. It's okay if we say things we shouldn't say sometimes. I'm not glad to be full of flaws. But I recognize - and so should you - that everyone is struggling with something, and it's okay to admin it. In fact, the first principle in growth is to say, "I am helpless. I really mean am weak and I need help."

Most of us are great con artists. We pretend to be someone we're really not, and we end up playing a game all our lives. Paul Tournier said, "We can conceal our persons behind a protective barrier. We let it be seen only through the bars. We display certain of its aspects. Others we carefully hide."

Be Disciplined, Not Lazy

Dr. Ron Jenson - Author of "Make a Life, Not just a Living".

Be Disciplined, Not Lazy, We begin to make things happen when we become disciplined. We don't accomplish anything in this life without self-discipline. Richard Shelley Taylor, in his book "The Disciplined Life", defines self-discipline this way: "The ability to regulate conduct by principle and judgment rather than impulse, desire, high pressure, or social custom." You see, discipline is the ability to consciously control your circumstances. It is the ability to control your life - to put first things first.

Now here's a question for you. Are there habits in your life that were acceptable when you were a child but aren't acceptable now? Are you still struggling with giving in to impulse?

Everyone struggles with one or more of three areas: pride, sensualism, and greed. Pride, which has its place, is unhealthy when it is stimulated by self-absorption. Sensualism is being preoccupied with sensual fulfillment - food, sex, sound, thrill-seeking. (Many commercials and advertisements today are geared toward sensualism.) Greed involves people just wanting more for more's sake, or being covetous, that is, wanting what belongs to someone else. This creates a generation of people who live on plastic. They are preoccupied with their credit cards and can't stop spending.

I can relate to pride, sensualism, and greed. Yet my major point of struggle is in the area of the senses. Whether the struggle involves not wanting to exercise or wanting to eat too much or watching too much TV, it all centers on sensual gratification.

Consider your own life: What do you really desire? What makes you salivate the quickest? For me it's donuts. I like donuts. There was a place near my home in Philadelphia called the Donuttery. Whenever I go within a mile of the Donuttery, I visualized a hot cinnamon roll with butter cascading down the sides. I could smell it. I could see it. I could taste it. And like Pavlov's dog, I started to salivate and even froth just thinking about that cinnamon rol. In a very real sense, I was looking for a sensual gratification - and the words of Richard Shelley Taylor burned in my gut: "Self-discipline is basically the ability to subordinate."

If you're going to become a person who makes things happen - if you really want to be a difference-maker - then you need to become disciplined. You need to put a coach, a governor over your thoughts and actions. You need to become patterned in your life.

Develop Your Special Talent

Bill FitzPatrick - Founder of the "American Success Institute".

Action Principle No.45>> Develop Your Special Talent, You were born with a special talent. It may be to sing, write, teach, paint, mentor, preach, defend or befriend. You have something special to offer the world, something you can do better than 10,000 others. You must keep learning and trying new things to find your special talent. The world needs your gift. Be aware that even a special talent can go stale if you don't keep using and honing it. Endeavor to keep your talents and all your skills up to date.

An advantage isn't an advantage unless you use it. Find ways to use your advantages to set and reach your goals. Likewise, you should recognize and then try to minimize the impact of your limitations. Remember that not all advantages are transferable. Just because you are talented in one area doesn't mean that you will be talented at everything you try. The successful real estate investor can easily lose her money opening a restaurant. Stick to your advantages and don't stray from them without reasoned justification.

Christmas in Philippines

Christmas in Philippines

Christmas countdown, Let's celebrate together with our loveones and feel the goodness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Love is the most precious gift that we can give to everybody. Merry Christmas to all!