Category Archives: Personal Development

Set backs don’t have to define you

I like to start out my day by reading something motivational or watching a positive video on YouTube. One YouTube channel I subscribe to is Eric Worre’s. Eric describes himself as a network marketing pro and offers positive advice for others that choose this profession.

Today Eric’s video was about not letting drama define you. We all experience set backs in our life and they are bound to have a negative effect (or is it affect, I can never remember) on our life. The trick is to not let the negative event and the drama surrounding it get in the way of living the life want for ourselves, and deserve.

We all know those people that have let some drama define them. I remember a work associate that went through a divorce. He went from being a positive, fun person, to being all about how his wife betrayed him, stabbed him in the back, etc. It seemed that every conversation became about how he was a victim. He let the drama surrounding the breakup of his marriage define him. He became Larry the divorced guy.

As Eric says we can become the victim or the victor, it is how we decide to let the drama influence us. I know it isn’t always easy to forgive, and move on. In fact a lot of times we like to feel sorry for ourselves and want others pity/attention, but it does us no good.

We only have this one life and it is too short to let drama rule it. Take a good look at your life and identify one drama that you are clinging on to. It is in the past, there is nothing you can do about it except learn from the experience and be a better person.

Hope you found this useful. Peace.

Feeling stuck again

Reality…
My business, a specialty pet store is barely breaking even. And I’m not getting paid for my time. The network marketing business I started almost a year ago is growing slowly, but not growing nearly fast enough.

Both of these are no one’s fault but my own. I’ve made a lot of mistakes and perhaps lost my focus at times. No, that isn’t true. I lose focus all the time.

I don’t really know how to grow the pet store without more capital, and even then I’m not really sure what the best thing would be to do with the capital if I had it. My best idea right now is to keep it going and hope to build my customer base over the next year. Maybe then I’ll have enough cash flow to grow the biz.

So maybe the network marketing could be a better business if I had more time to spend on it. But the store demands too much time and energy. So i’m stuck. Or am I?

Started watching some YouTube videos by some network marketing pros offering their advice, wisdom etc. All part of my ‘self development’ study. And the reality is starting to hit home.

What is the reality? The reality is this, the problem is me. Yes, that’s right, I am not focusing on taking the correct action. I procrastinate, make excuses, complain and blame my circumstance. But the only person I can change is myself. The only circumstances I can control are the circumstances I can control. Not even sure that last sentence makes any sense.

So what is my point? I need to keep working on me. I hope to log my progress here and maybe I’ll get some advice, or maybe my experience will help someone else.

onward and upward.

Opportunity shies away from need

Recently I was listening to a YouTube video of legendary success coach Jim Rohn presentation and he said that “opportunity shies away from need, but opportunity is attracted by talent.”

Opportunity shies away from need

I think the point is that the more you NEED something, the opportunity to fill that need is unlikely to arrive. The opportunity arrives when you put in the work needed to create the appropriate talent. So if you need a job or promotion or even that big sale, you won’t get it if you don’t work on yourself and develop the talent that will bring about the opportunity.

We are all selling something. If you are an employee, you’re selling your time and skills. If you need a better income, a “living wage,” you should determine what talents your employer, or potential employer, wants to buy. Then work on your skill set and bring the talent that attracts the better salary, position, and opportunity.

Another, similar quote: “Life responds to those who deserve it, not those who need it.”

What do you’re thoughts?

One of the dumbest things I’ve even done

In 2011 I got this crazy idea to turn a hobby into a business. I had “gotten into” reptiles, mostly leopard geckos, was breeding them an trying to sell them at reptile shows. In truth I had only been doing this since 2008 and really didn’t have a lot of experience.
Prior to this dumb decision I had spent years getting a doctorate in biology. struggled with getting a career off the ground , crashed and burned. Tried to reinvent myself several times but lacked the passion and motivation to succeed at anything.
Reptiles really got me excited. It was like being a kid again where my true passion was animals; probably why I went into biology. But a part of me wants to be an entrepreneur. I am always looking at life’s little problems and saying “here’s how that could be done better”.
Anyway, back to 2011. I spent a Sunday in May selling a few geckos that I had bred and my wife said “maybe you should open a small store”.
For the next few weeks I researched the idea and discussed it with a few people that said they thought I should…

Now, three years later, I have a store. I have spend more than twice what I originally thought I would, haven’t had one profitable month, hardly have any time off, and am starting to hate my life again.
To be fair, store finally seems to be turning around in spite of my poor management. I’m not sure it will ever pay me for my time much less my investment and am trying to figure out if it is even worth the effort anymore.
On the positive side, I have gained some experience running a retail business, for what that is worth.
Guess I’m feeling like time is running out for reinventing myself yet again. I know people older than me, I’m 53, have started successful careers so anything is possible.

You’re All Mental

That’s right, you are mental. You are what you think.

Our thoughts control our choices, beliefs, and actions. These become habits and affect our lives in every way. Many times our actions reinforce these thoughts and a feedback loop is generated.

We are all just the result of our thoughts; we are mental.

The interesting thing is that even though our choices are determined by our thoughts, we can choose what we think. It isn’t always easy, but we can control our lives by choosing to think differently.

Many books have been written on this subject. Check out “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill, “As A Man Thinketh” by James Allen or Earl Nightingale’s recording “The Strangest Secret in the World” these are all free on the internet, Amazon, YouTube, etc.

Poverty is a Lifestyle Choice

Why are some people poor and others wealthy? Is it genetics? Circumstance? Destiny? Or is poverty a lifestyle choice?

First, there is no such thing as destiny. Everyone has the ability to change the direction of their own life given enough motivation and effort.

Genetics seems to be a possibility because poor parents seem to breed poor children who perpetuate the poverty lifestyle for multiple generations. But there are countless examples of people that were born in poverty and rose up to attain vast sums of wealth and abundance. Wealth does run in families, at least for several generations. But this can be explained away and does not have a genetic basis.

Circumstance? Well there are certainly obstacles in everyone’s life that prevent us from moving up the economic ladder. A child born to a poor, uneducated mother in Africa has a much harder time than a suburban middle class child born in America. So, yes, circumstance does play a role. But circumstances can be overcome and shouldn’t be excuses to live a life of poverty.

Poverty by choice. We are what we choose to be. The choices may not be easy and may require great personal sacrifice, but ultimately individuals choose the life they live. Most poor people, especially in a land of great opportunity, fail to make the best choices and therefore remain ‘trapped’ in poverty. They didn’t take full advantage of getting an education (which in given for free). They chose to watch TV instead of reading a book. They chose not to look for a better job.

The list of bad choices is long and I don’t need to list them all. Just look back on your life so far and you will find many examples of bad choices, at least I know that is true for me.

So what does one do if he/she has made many bad choices and finds himself/herself living a life that is less than abundant? Start making better choices! Read a book; there are more self-help, personal development books than any one person could possibly read. Stop hanging out with the losers in your life. Start visualizing the abundant life you want. Choose to start making better choices!

The amazing thing about abundance is that it is infinite. Start choosing to make more of it yours. What is your lifestyle choice?

It’s a New Day!

It is a new day! It always is.

Everyday you get to start all over again; you can’t change the past you can only change your life starting NOW. Do you want your future to be different from your past? If you answer “No” than just keep doing what you have been doing, it is easy.

If you want a better future for yourself, those you love or the world, you need to start doing the things that will make it better.

Let’s get up and start our new lives together. Starting today!