An individual with competence will take what they learn and utilize it to improve their life.

A joyous individual will consider every incident, experience and so forth in life as something they may learn from;

as well this individual won’t allow the bad to weigh him or her down.

The individual will take the bad; see new light and continue to learn from his or her errors.

Part of the reason for that I suppose is that it’s going to be different for everyone – at least in the detail, but perhaps in general there are things we all want.

We all want to be loved, for example. (Don’t try and hide, I know you do too!). We all want to feel safe and secure, and we all need that spice of life – variety, don’t we?

But the bottom line is, we feel we’re living positively when we feel we’re getting somewhere. And in order to feel that, we have to have an idea where we think we want to get to, right? Just getting by doesn’t feed the soul. Paying the bills may be necessary, but it won’t warm the heart.

Today, in case you’ve lost the knack, dare to dream. Where do you want to be in a year’s time? In five or ten? And before you dismiss this with thoughts of “it’s for others, but not for me,” remember that old Chinese proverb: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” And, I would add, often with a simple step too.

What single, simple step could you take today that would start your odyssey? It needn’t be expensive or expansive, just personal and definite.

And who knows, once you’ve taken it, tomorrow you may find it so much easier to take the second.

Whatever vocation you have chosen for yourself, one of the main goals we all have is to earn an income.

To some people, income is more important than it is to others. The bottom line is that we all need an income to survive in the world today and our desire for material wealth is a healthy desire to have.

However, we have to remember, at all times, that the amount of money we earn will always come in direct proportion to the quality and quantity of useful service we provide.

Make sure that you can get your heart into your work. Make sure that you care about the people who are on the receiving end of whatever it is you produce.

The higher the quality and usefulness, the more value you are creating. And with more value creation will naturally follow a greater income… either directly through your business or indirectly through the positive reputation and future projects you are assigned with.

What a terrible question! No sooner are you asked it, but your brain starts searching for answers. “It must be ‘cos I’m stupid,” or something of that ilk.

The trouble is, we often grow up asking ourselves questions like that all the time. That’s not going to make you feel too good about yourself, is it?

Try this. To see the powerful effect questions can have, give them as gifts today. Whenever you’re in conversation with anyone, focus on asking them at least one question which will get them to feel good about themselves. For instance, you could ask, “What was one of the most magical things that ever happened to you?”

Wow! What a question! As soon as you do that, their brain starts sifting through all the magical things that ever happened to them, and they’ll feel terrific. Or try, “Remember the last time you felt really safe and loved?”

Just watch people light up as you do this. Think of all the gifts you can give today just by asking people questions that knock them into a positive or powerful state.

Then, tonight, before you go to bed, remember to ask yourself, “What were some of the things I did today that I feel really great about?” Chances are, you’ll fall asleep before you’ve finished the list!

The trouble is we are so used to feeling down day after day. Most people seem to exist in a semi depressed state, and it has become the norm to moan about our lives. Maybe you don’t have enough money and the bills keep pouring in through the letter box. Every time you look at your bank statement or open a bill, you feel more anxious or depressed about not having enough money. You don’t believe that it’s possible for you to have more money and don’t think you have the skills to become wealthy so you believe that you will always struggle financially. By thinking this way, you are cutting yourself off from ever becoming wealthy. You will be giving out negatively charged emotional thought vibrations which will attract more bills and debt to you and keep money away.

The idea that we have to think positively, and focus instead on thoughts and abundance seems alien to us- after all, how can we possibly feel positive when we are struggling to put food on the table? Changing your whole thought patterns is not easy, but with a little practice it can be done- and the rewards are immeasurable. It’s a little like learning to drive- During your first few lessons it seems so complicated you feel you will never get the hang of it. After a few weeks, however, you are going through the motions of driving almost automatically. It just takes time, practice and patience!

One good tip is to state your intentions in smaller steps. For example, if you state an intention to earn $1,000,000, whilst it could be attainable, your subconscious may not be able to comprehend this amount if you are currently earning, say, $15,000. Your beliefs may not think that this is possible and you may be subconsciously pushing this goal away as you will not believe that you can achieve it.

So take smaller steps. You can probably imagine earning, say, $30,000- this will feel much more achievable and you are likely to be able to imagine earning this amount. Once you are earning $30,000, it will be easier for you to imagine and believe that you can earn $75,000 so this will be your next intention. Your beliefs will change as you move up towards your original goal and help you to believe that you can attain it.

Similarly, to someone who weighs 400lbs, stating an intention to weigh 120lbs may seem impossible to them, especially if they have been heavy for years and have tried every diet program out there.

But the idea of weighing 50lb less may be more believable to them, and so their first intention may be to weigh 350lbs.

Once they have achieved this, they can set their next intention to weigh 300lbs- as the weight is lost slowly, their beliefs that they cannot attain a healthy weight for their height and build will gradually change.

I love this quote.

Have you noticed the same thing in your life when it comes to confidence? I mean, we all want to feel as confident as possible… as often as possible. But confidence can be elusive.

Initiative breeds confidence. When you start taking big bold actions, and lots of them, you start to gain an unseen “momentum”. As you gain feedback from the actions, you will be inspired to take even more actions.

Your confidence grows because you are in sort of a “hyper-learning” mode. The more initiative you have, the more confidence you will create.

What are 3 big areas in your life where you can exercise your initiative and make something happen?

Ultimately, the goal here is to understand how they think so that you can emulate the same kind of thinking in your life. I’m not saying you are trying to be like the person because we are all unique and we need to celebrate our uniqueness. Rather, I am suggesting that you figure out the intangibles that made this person so admirable to begin with and incorporate those intangibles into your own behaviour.

Some people view life as a set of choices with varying degrees of risk. They then make choices based on risk mitigation rather than potential gains.

The truth of the matter is, if you want to make the most of your life and really experience everything you truly desire, you have no choice but to RISK.

This means taking risks despite fear. Taking risks despite being uncomfortable. If the end goal is important enough, the uncomfortable risk can be handled and managed.

BUT you must find the end goal that is worthy of this sort of undertaking.

Use today to focus on those powerful goals and the powerful (and likely “risky”) actions that you can be taking to advance towards those goals.

Focus on the win and accept the risk as the price you pay for the dream. Will it be worth it? You better believe it.