Persistence

By Les Brown

I believe there are three kinds of people.

There are winners, who know what they want and understand their potential and the possibilities. They take life on.
Next are losers, who don't have a clue as to who they are. They allow circumstances to shape their lives and their self-image.

I believe there is a third group as well. This consists of potential winners whose lives are just slightly
out of alignment.
I call them wayward winners.
It may be that they just need to learn how to be real winners. Perhaps they've hit a bump or two that has knocked them off course and they are temporarily befuddled. A failed relationship, a lost job, financial problems, unformed goals, a lack of parental support, illness, many things can send us off course temporarily.

Wayward winners are not lost souls; they just need some tweaking and coaching and nudging to get
them back on course. A map might be nice.
Many of these wayward winners are easily identifiable because they are always searching.

Right now, there are many wayward winners out there braving rain, sleet and snow because they too
still believe that they have untapped talents. They attend motivational seminars and listen to
inspirational tapes and they plunge onward, believing that sooner or later they will find their way
again.

Other wayward winners have temporarily given up. They are damaged and disoriented, their
confidence badly eroded. They tend to drift through life numbly.
The friends and relatives and loved ones of wayward winners see that they are out of sync and wonder why they can't be satisfied, why they don't settle down.
They wonder how people who have such obvious abilities and great potential can be so disoriented and unsure.

It is difficult for others to understand the rawness of a broken heart or the aching emptiness of an unguided spirit.
You and I know.
We have been there.

Wayward winners know that there are possibilities out there, but too often they feel locked out from them. Some are afraid to risk anymore because of I know now that as difficult as it may be for you wayward winners to do, it is necessary to continue to test yourselves. Even though you have been hurt before, it is the only way to grow. We all have the capacity to change, to lead meaningful and productive lives by awakening our consciousness.

You know there are going to be tough times as you go about changing your life, so brace yourself and you will be able to handle them.
When you get into your seat on an airplane, what is the first thing they tell you to do? Fasten your seat belt. Brace yourself for the turbulence.

When you decide to move your life to the next level of accomplishment, you must fasten your mental and spiritual seat belts because it is going to be a while before you reach that comfortable level again.
You will reach it, but you must endure the turbulence of change in order to grow.

Try this technique to help you through the difficult times of change and growth.

Find four reasons why you cannot succumb to your fears and your troubles.

Find those deep sources of motivation that can lift you out of the turbulence and above the clouds.

It is in these rocky early moments of bringing change to your life that you discover who you are. In the prosperous times, you build what is in your pocket.
In the tough times, you strengthen what is in your heart. And that is
when you gain insight into yourself, insight that leads to self-mastery and an expansion of your consciousness as a life-force in both your personal and professional lives.

You must change your life because,
             for example:

You have not yet tapped the talents given you.


You want to leave something more for your children.


You want to live life rather than letting life live you.


You want to do what makes YOU happy.

The Golden Rule of networking

By Bob Burg

The Golden Rule of networking is simply this... All things being equal, people will do business with and refer business to those people they know, like and trust.

That's it. 

That is what it's all about, and our goal is to develop new relationships with people on an everyday basis and develop those relationships to a point that those people feel so good about us, they know us.

They like us. They trust us. They want to see us succeed. They want to help us find new business. They want to hopefully be a part of our business if that is apropos, but they definitely want to be a part of our lives, which means they will go out of their way to help us succeed through referrals.

So what we want to do is - we want to develop personal walking ambassadors. See, we know that it has been documented that the average person knows about 250 people. Thus every time you meet someone new on any given day for any given reason, and are able to cultivate and develop that relationship with one person to the point that one person feels so good about you - they know you, like you, trust you, want to see you succeed, want to help you find new business, want to be a part of your business if that is apropos, but definitely want to be a part of your life.

Every time we do that with one new person, we've actually just increased our personal sphere of influence by about 250 people every single time.

Do this with enough new people on a consistent basis and before long, you will absolutely have an amazing, enormous, humongous sphere of influence.

Now we are going to talk about one aspect of that over the next three minutes, really, and that is - some questions we can ask that will immediately cause this person to gravitate towards us and want to know more about us and want to have a relationship with us.

If we use these next few questions we are going to talk about, you will see that the amount of people that you can quickly win over to your side just multiplied greatly, exponentially.

Now when we are in a conversation with somebody, and throughout my Endless Referrals system, I talk about basically three things - how to find the right people, how to meet the right people and how to win them over.

We are just going to talk about one three-minute aspect and that is asking some open-ended questions with someone once you get to the point where you've met them and this could be anywhere whether it's one on one, in a group, what have you.

You see, what we know we want to do is invest 99.9 percent of the conversation with that person asking that person questions about themselves and their business.

We all know that, right?
Because the people we find most interesting are the people who seem most interested in us.

No, really! How many times have you been in a conversation with somebody who let you do all the talking, and you came away from that conversation saying to yourself, "Wow! What a fascinating conversationalist that person is."

And see, we have all done that, so I like to ask questions I call "feel good questions".

Feel good questions are simply questions that are designed to make that person feel good about themselves, about the conversation and most importantly, about you.

Now I have ten of these questions in my arsenal, but the good news is you will never have time to ask all ten, so you don't have to worry about that.

In fact, it would be almost intrusive to that person if you did, but you'll usually have time to ask two or three.

Okay, first question. The first feel good question is, "Dave, how did you get started in the widget business, whatever that person does?" Say, "How did you get started in the real estate business?" Or, "Mary, how did you get started in the oil exploration business?" Or, "Steve, how did you get started as a professional printing representative?"

I call that the movie of the week question because doesn't everybody want to tell their story?

Doesn't everybody want to be the movie of the week in somebody else's mind and have you focus all your attention on him or her? And see somebody in this audience might be saying, "Well, Bob, that's not me. I don't like to be the focal point of anyone's attention? I don't like to talk about myself?"

And my response to you would be that I know that's true with you, but everybody else in the world wants to talk about him or herself, so just go with it.

Go with that principle.

The second question I will usually ask is, "What do you enjoy most about what you do?"

See that is a feel good question. It is a feel good question that elicits a feel good response. We are taught to immediately find that person's pain, so we can cure that pain with our perfect product or service or opportunity, but see the rapport hasn't yet been established.

They are not ready to tell you all about their life's mistakes, so let's, instead of finding their pain, find their joy. "What do you enjoy most about what you do?"

It is quite the opposite from the negative feel bad question like saying to the person, "Tommy, what do you just hate most about what you do?

And while we're at it, how about the wretched excuse for a life you live?"

Not going to have the results we want, so we ask, "What do you enjoy most about what you do?"

Now after we've asked a couple of these questions, we've developed kind of a rapport and the person feels good about us.

Now we are going to ask what I call, and we are going to have to end with because we are running out of time I think, and it's what I call the one key question. Now this is not even one of the ten feel good questions.

This is a question that is only asked after you've gotten the initial rapport established, and here is what I call the one key question that will set you apart from everyone else.

And that is this, "Gary or Susan, how can I know if somebody I am talking to would be a good prospect for you?" "Mary that is really fascinating what you do. How can I know if somebody I am talking to would be a good prospect for you?" "Dave, how can I know if somebody I'm talking to would be a good prospect for you?"

What have we done when we've asked that question? We've done, I think, two things. One is we've said to this person, "I am interested in you first." We are being "you" oriented instead of what most people are being "I" oriented, and they really want to know, "What can you do for me?"

Now they may not come right out and say that, but isn't that what they are really implying when they hand the person ten business cards and say, "Keep one for yourself, and give nine to your closest friends." But we're not doing that. We're taking interest in them.

The other thing we are doing is we are getting that person to help us to help them.

The subtlety of Language

By Jim Rohn

I have found that sometimes the subtle difference in our attitude, which of course can 

make a major difference in our future, can be as simple as the language we use.

The difference in even how you talk to yourself or others. Consciously making a decision 

to quit saying what you don't want and to start saying what you do want.

I call that faith.

Believing the best, hoping for the best and moving toward the best.

A few examples could be, instead of saying, "What if somebody doesn't respond" you 

start saying, "What if they do respond?" Instead of saying, "What if someone says 

no?" You say, "What if they say yes?" Instead of "What if they start and quit?" say, 

"What if they start and stay?" or "What if it doesn't work out?" You say, "What if it 

does work out?" and the list goes on and on.

I found that when you start thinking and saying what you really want then your mind 

automatically shifts and pulls you in that direction. And sometimes it can be that 

simple, just a little twist in vocabulary that illustrates your attitude and philosophy.

Our language can also affect how others perform and behave around us.

A teenager says to a parent, "I need $10."

And if the parents learn to say, "No comprende. That kind of language doesn't work here. We've got plenty of money, but that's not how you get $10."

Then you teach your teenager how to ask, "How can I earn $10?"

That is the magic of words. There is plenty of money here. There is money for 

everybody, but you just have to learn the magic words to get it. For everything you 

could possibly want. If you just learn the philosophy. How could I earn $10?

Because you can't go to the soil and say, "Give me a harvest."

You know the soil smiles and says, "Who is this clown that brings me his need and brings me no seed." And if you said to the soil, "I've got this seed and if I planted it, would you work while I sleep?" 

And the soil says, "No problem. Give me the seed. Go to sleep and I'll be working 

while you're sleeping."

If you just understand these simple principles, teaching them to a teenager (or adult) 

is sometimes just a matter of language. It's like an investment account instead of a 

savings account.

Simple language, but so important.

It is easy to stumble through almost a lifetime and not learn some of these simplicities. Then you have to put up with all the lack and all the challenges that don't work out simply from not reading the book, not listening to the tape, not sitting in the class, not studying your language 

and not being willing to search so you can then find.

But here is the great news. You can start this process anytime.

For me it was at age 25. At 25 I'm broke. Six years later I'm a millionaire. Somebody says, "What kind of revolution, what kind of change, what kind of thinking, what kind of magic had to happen? Was it you?"

And I say, "No. Any person, any six years, 36 to 42, 50 to 56. 

Whatever six years; whatever few years you go on an intensive, accelerated personal 

development curve, learning curve, application curve, and learning the disciplines.

Now, it might not take the same amount of time, but I'm telling you the same changes and the same rewards in some different fashion are available for those who pay that six year price. And you might find that whether it's in the beginning to help get you started, or in the middle to keep you on track, that your language can have a great impact on your attitude, actions and results.

39 Points handbook for a happy family

Health: 
1.       Drink plenty of water.
2.       Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3.       Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4.       Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
5.       Make time to practice meditation, yoga, and prayer.
6.       Play more games.
7.       Read more books this year than you did last year.
8.       Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9.       Sleep for 7 hours.
10.    Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk, smile. 

Personality: 
11.    Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12.    Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13.    Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14.    Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15.    Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16.    Dream more while you are awake.
17.    Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18.    Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19.    Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20.    Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21.    No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22.    Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of thecurriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23.    Smile and laugh more.
24.    You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree. 

Society: 
25.    Call your family often.
26.    Each day give something good to others.
27.    Forgive everyone for everything.
28.    Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29.    Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30.    What other people think of you is none of your business.
31.    Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch. 

Life: 
32.    Do the right thing!
33.    Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34.    GOD heals everything.
35.    However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36.    No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37.    The best is yet to come.
38.    When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39.    Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Why do Chinese survive? And then thrive

Why do Chinese people work so hard to succeed in life? 

Here is the plain truth.

 

#1. There are over 1 billion of us on this earth. We are like photostat copies of each other. You get rid of one, 5 magically appears (like ballot boxes). Yes, it is scary, especially for us. We acknowledge that we are replaceable, thus we are not particularly 'special'. If you think you are smart, there are a few thousand more people smarter than you. If you think you are strong, there are a few thousand people stronger than you.

 

#2. We have been crawling all over this earth for far more centuries that most civilizations. Our DNA is designed for survival. We are like cockroaches. Put us anywhere on earth and we will make a colony and thrive. We survive on anything around us and make the best of it. Some keep migrating but others will stay and multiply.

 

#3. NOBODY cares if we succeed as individuals or not. But our families take pride in knowing we have succeeded. Yes, some will fail. We take nothing for granted. We don't expect privileges to fall on our laps. No one owes us anything.

 

#4. We know we have nothing to lose if we try to succeed. Thus, we have no fear trying. That is why Chinese are addicted to gambling. We thrive on taking risks. All or nothing.

 

#5. From young we are taught to count every cent. What we take for granted like money management, I have found out recently, is not something other cultures practice at home with their children. It surprised me. But truth is not all societies or cultures teach their young this set of skills because it is rude to them. Yes, most of us can count because we are forced to and the logic of money is pounded into us from the beginning of time (when mama tells us how much she has spent on our milk and diapers)

 

#6. We acknowledge life cycles. We accept that wealth in a family stays for three generations (urban myth?). Thus, every 4th generation will have to work from scratch. I.e. first generation earns the money from scratch, second generation spends the money on education, third generation gets spoiled and wastes all the inheritance. Then we are back to square one. Some families hang on to their wealth a little longer than most.

 

#7. It is our culture to push our next generation to do better than the last. Be smarter. Be stronger. Be faster. Be more righteous. Be more pious. Be more innovative. Be more creative. Be richer. Be everything that you can be in this lifetime. Be KIASU.

 

#8. Our society judges us by our achievements...and we have no choice but to do something worthwhile because Chinese New Year comes around every year and Chinese relatives have no qualms about asking you straight in your face - how much are you making? When was your last promotion? How big is your office? What car do you drive? Where do you stay? You have boyfriend? You have girlfriend? When are you getting married? When are you having children? When is the next child? When you getting a boy? Got maid yet? Does your company send you overseas? etc etc etc. It NEVER ENDS...so, we can't stop chasing the illusive train - we are damned to a materialistic society. If you are not Chinese, consider yourself lucky!

 

#9. We have been taught from young - if you have two hands, two feet, two eyes, and a mouth, what are you doing with it? People with no hands can do better than you (and the OKU artists do put us to shame)

 

#10. Ironically, the Chinese also believe in giving back to save their wretched materialistic souls. Balance is needed. The more their children succeed in life, the more our parents will give back to society (not for profit) as gratitude for the good fortune bestowed on their children. Yes. That is true. And that is why our society progresses forward in all conditions.

 

Nobody pities us. We accept that.

No one owes us anything. We know that.

There are too many of us for charity to reach all of us. We acknowledge that.

But that does not stop us from making a better life. This lifetime.

Opportunity is as we make of it.

So, pardon us if we feel obliged to make a better place for ourselves in this country we call home. It is in our DNA to progress forward for a more comfortable life.

 

But if history were to be our teacher, look around this globe.

Every country has a Chinatown (seriously) but how many government/countries are 'taken' over by the Chinese people. 

Don't be afraid of us overwhelming your majority, we are not looking to conquer. 

If we have moved away from China and Chinese governed countries, we are NOT looking for another country to administer. 

Our representatives are only there to look after our collective welfare. They are duty bound. We prefer to blend in and enjoy the fruits of our labor. 

We enjoy the company of like minded people of all races. After all, we are only passing through a small period in the history of time...so, use our skills and we can all progress forward together.

Speech by the CEO of Coke

Imagine Life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air.

You name them – work, family, health, friends and spirit…and you are keeping all of them in the air.

You will soon understand that work is like a rubber ball.

If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – family, health, friends and spirit – are made of glass.

If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered.

They will never be the same. 

You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.

How?

Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others.

It is because we are different that each of us is special.

Don't set your goals by what other people deem important.

Only you know what is best for you.

Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart.

Cling to them as they would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.

Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future.

By living your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life.

Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect.

It is this fragile thread that binds us together.

Don't shut love out of your life by saying it’s impossible to find time.

The quickest way to receive love is to give, the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly, and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been, but also where you are going.

Don't forget a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.

Don't be afraid to learn.

Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily.

Don't use time or words carelessly.

Neither can be retrieved.