The Fringe Benefits of Failure – By J K Rowling

Posted by John Lee

AS a woman whose incredible talent as a storyteller brought us the wondrous tales of Harry Potter, JK Rowling might appear to be someone who leads a magical life.

Author JK Rowling delivering her Harvard Commencement Address

And the great wealth and acclaim that she's deservedly amassed, courtesy of the hugely popular series of books has surely brought a certain contentment.

Yet here is someone who has suffered her fair share of hardship, living in poverty for a proportion of her adult life.

And in the video below – a recording of her Harvard Commencement Address in 2008 – the renowned British author tells her inspiring story.

She talks of her own 'epic failure' and the effects that it had, the invaluable lessons that she gained in terms of her own inner strength, plus the inevitabilty of failure in everyone's life.

She also examines the huge power of the imagination – not only to create and transform, but to empathise with the lives, fears and struggles of others.

And there are harrowing, yet heart-warming stories of her time as a young woman, working for Amnesty International in London.

Whether you're a Harry Potter fan or not, there are some invaluable lessons to be learned, here, about the benefits of failure, the need to connect with others and the value of friendship.

Take a look. Click on the link below to go to the original recording.

http://youtu.be/wHGqp8lz36c

Why Not Make 'Boring', 'Brilliant'?

With thanks to internet marketer, Carl Ashton A great video of a prank played using what appears to be an automobile 'Sat Nav'. So funny, you can't help but smile! Take a look! Hope you enjoy it and have a fantastic weekend!

Post by Carl Ashton.

Trusting The Universe

With Gabrielle Bernstein

In this short but very insightful video, Gabrielle Bernstein, of Spirit Junkie TV, talks about the importance of learning to trust the Universe by taking time to get to know and then listen to our Inner Guidance, or, as she calls it, our 'ing,'.

This way, we develop a sense of trust in that guidance, knowing that the Universe cares for us and 'has our back'. Life becomes so much easier when we know that everything happens for our good and we allow ourselves to follow our guidance and flow with that knowledge. Take a look.....

If I Had My Child To Raise Again Movie

If I Had My Child To Raise Again Movie: We're excited to share with you a short inspirational movie based on the highly acclaimed poem "If I Had My Child to Raise Over Again" by Diana Loomans. We often say children grow up in a flash - that before you know it, they turn from grinning toddlers to insolent teenagers. Perhaps it isn't about the speed in which they grow, it's about how present we are able to be in each and every moment of their lives. It's about how we cherish the time we spend with them. Take just 3 minutes now to watch this short movie. Sit back, turn up your speakers and enjoy!

Don’t Die With Your Music Still Inside Of You

A brief story of two sisters with a long awaited dream – By Victoria Phelps

IT was a Sunday afternoon and my sister Hollie and I got cozy on the sofa to watch Dr Wayne Dyer’s movie ‘The Shift’. We were both snuggled and enjoying the inspiration.

Soon into the film, Wayne began telling the story of a Russian guy who, on his death-bed, was reflecting back on his life and questioned if maybe he had got his whole life wrong.  

This story had an impact on Wayne, so he wrote a note to himself which said ‘Wayne, don’t die with your music still inside of you’.

I took a deep breath as these words echoed – they pulled on my heart and instantly my eyes filled with tears, I paused, wondering what may be going through my sister’s mind.

I turned to look at her and she sat with her head in her hands.

Dr Wayne Dyer didn’t mean ‘music’ as literal, of course, he was referring to not dying with his dreams, passions and purpose, still inside of him. However, for my sister, it was literal.

Ten years previous, Hollie had been asked to sing at a private event for His Royal Highness Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales. She performed for him acoustically and with a band. 

After he'd left, one of the organizers came to Hollie and said that Prince Charles had said: “The young lady Hollie Barrie has a fantastic talent and somebody needs to discover her”.

Since that day, his words have rung in Hollie’s ears.

And every day since she has dreamed and longed to be ‘discovered’ and have her songs heard at an international level. After ten years of chasing this dream, it still hadn’t yet been fulfilled as Hollie had hoped.

Once we had finished watching the DVD, Hollie and I chatted about our journey and our frustrations and I promised my little sister that I would help her all that I could.

I’ve always loved a success story – how someone with nothing more than a dream and determination has created all of their desires – and I wanted this for my sister as much as she did.

Of course I had no idea how I was going to help, as we had already been pursuing this dream for some years but in my heart I believed that any dream is possible.

The very next day after watching the Shift DVD, and promising my sister that I would help her, I set to work by reading up on success and I came across a document which introduced the idea of creating your dreams and your ideal life by acting from inspiration and working with the universal laws.

I’d never heard of this concept before. Up until this point the advice for getting what you want had always been ‘do more than anyone else’, ‘work harder than everyone else’, ‘look after yourself first, get in there before they do’.

And yet this document was suggesting that you create your ideal life from inspiration, energy, beliefs, thoughts and feelings.

I delved into this further, studying at a certified level on subjects such as self-esteem and the universal laws. 

Self-esteem deals with everything, from our grades at school to happiness, personal relationships and our annual income.

Our self-image, self-love, self-value and self-worth create our self-esteem and they will each contribute to creating our dreams or not, because they determine our level of confidence, personal power and self-belief. 

Understanding the universal laws is understanding how to work with life’s magic to turn your wishes into reality.

It’s having an awareness that everything is energy, it’s getting clear on your true purpose and it’s living and acting from inspiration rather than motivation.

Everything I learned I shared with my sister, each day doing something to increase her self-esteem and take inspired action.

It wasn’t an overnight transition. It takes time to switch from acting out of inspiration instead of motivation but a little encouragement and support each day has been key to staying focused and listening to the heart’s desire.

After a few months, Hollie was closer to living her dreams than she had been in the previous ten years.

She was approached by a successful manager who wanted to represent her – they then signed contracts with one of the top entertainment agents who represent some of the biggest artists around the world and she began to perform more regularly.

As her confidence grew and her music was being heard, producers were agreeing to work with her for free as they wanted to be part of the vision. She began to blossom as she spent more time in the studio creating songs with other musicians.

From a young age my parents drilled into my sisters and me the importance of enjoying life and following your dreams.

Sometimes I would go to the recording studio with Hollie and it was fabulous to see her excited and enjoying herself and it would make me come alive also. 

Not because I have any ambition to become a singer myself (I certainly wasn’t blessed with any talent in that area) but because there is something very empowering and contagious about being in the presence of someone who spends their time doing what they love and fulfilling their purpose. 

It’s been so wonderful to see Hollie’s dream unfold. As she became better at listening to her heart’s desire, her vision began to change as to how she wanted to fulfill her purpose as a singer.

When you work from inspiration you enter into a new level of creativity. Hollie’s writing skills evolved and songs started to flow out of her.

She was constructing and producing songs with ease and soon her first album was complete, and she became contracted to write songs for other artists, TV and films.

That’s the thing with creating your life and dreams out of inspiration, your dreams come to be bigger and more beautiful than you can ever imagine.

If you’re ready to see your dreams unfold – whether that be to fulfill your purpose, start a business, create financial freedom, travel the world or to just be happy – Victoria Phelps would recommend that you first become mindful of your thoughts because what we think, we become.

For every happy and successful person, you will always find a mind abundant with empowering thoughts. 

What you think will determine your destiny, so make sure that your thoughts support the dream you dream. www.TheDailyPowerThought.com

Article source: http://tiny.cc/InsightOfDay

 

How To Get Your Head Right In Tough Times

By Douglas R Kruger

WHETHER it's worldwide recession or just a momentary bump in your industry, tough times test character. They test bank accounts too. But they are finite, and you can get through them. You just need a survival plan.

The most important implement in overcoming trying stretches is your own mindset. Here are 7 suggestions for getting your head right in tough times:

1. Start by Recognizing it. Denial is death. When the numbers start to dwindle, you cannot simply pretend it away. Your starting point is to acknowledge that you're facing a difficult stretch and to resolve to do something about it. Start with the declaration: "It's a rough patch, but I'll get through this and come out stronger!"

2. Don't Blame the Jeans. The dieter who blames the jeans is in trouble. But the one who owns the butt will get it right, and it's the same for you. You can expend all of your energy bewailing your scenario, blaming the economy, the industry, the old government, the new government, China and the crew of the Starship Enterprise. But ultimately, these outside forces don't care how mistreated you feel. Blaming the jeans won't fix the butt.

It's like the sales team who spend the first six months of the year moaning about targets being too high. When they finally get around to accepting that the targets are what they are, and that they have to do something about it, it's already too late. But the early starter is well on his way to meeting his goals.

3. Choose Doing Over Stewing. You can think your way into a black hole. Or you can think of creative solutions. Your brain is entirely your own to manage and employ. When times are tough, the worst thing you can do is to let it wallow. Instead, choose to get angry enough to do something about your situation. The more time you spend doing, the less you have for available for stewing.

Draw up to-do lists for actions that you can take. When the despair tries to press its way in, keep it at bay with a bout of relentless action.

4. Expand when others contract. When times are tough, most people contract. They practice Recession-Think. Recession-Think is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It goes like this: "No one's buying. So I won't try to sell." Recession-Think is based on rumour more than experience. Practitioners of Recession-Think haven't tested the notion that people are not buying. They have simply bought into popular dialogue. And they allow it to cause their energy to shrink.

The person who ignores the gloom and goes out and sells anyway will prosper, even in tough times. Their philosophy is: "Times are tough / I must do more!" They have the same information, but they have reached a different conclusion. They are expanding. Make sure your inner energy is an expanding starburst, not an imploding black hole.

5. Go and be where the energy is. There are always people who are prospering in your industry; even during tough times. You need to go and be among them. Now more than ever, you need ideas, inspiration and positive reinforcement. Go to the conventions, and soak up two incredibly important nutrients: useful ideas and positive energy. Sometimes the connections alone can be worth business. But you'll never make them unless you go there.

6. Speak vision in stories. You need your team to keep fighting, and fighting harder than ever. You won't achieve this with micro-managing or doom-saying. Quite the contrary: during tough times, you need to be the motivational speaker, and they need to see that you mean it. You have to internalize the possibilities, then turn them into picture-stories for your staff. Create highly specific stories about how things can be on the far side of this hiccup. Keep telling your stories, and keep guiding your team toward the goal.

7. Focus on the top-line. Panicked business-owners tend to focus on saving every penny. They get hung up on the cost of paper-clips. It's a tremendous misuse of their energy and focus. Yes, you should keep an eye on the bottom-line, but it should only be an incidental one. You should use the greatest part of your energy and time on increasing the top line. You need income. There is very little sense in expending 90% of your energy trying to hold on to an insufficient amount of money. The main thrust of your energy should go to generating more money.

Select what you can control and determine what you can't. Put massive drive into money-generating behavior, and don't allow your nay-saying mind to worry about the rest. Fight for the thing that matters to you; it can be done, and remember that difficult times are finite.

Finally, don't forget to look at the stars from time to time. This is not a metaphor. Every now and then, you need to stare up at the heavens and feel incredibly small. Be removed from your worries for a moment and remember the wonder of life. There's something good for you, just around the corner. Just keep your head in gear. You'll make it!

Douglas Kruger is a professional speaker, trainer and author of the '50 Ways' series of books. His most booked keynote speeches are: The Rules of Hamster-Thinking, The Big Bum Theory, and How To Position Yourself As an Expert. See him in action or read more of his articles at: http://www.douglaskruger.co.za. Email him at: kruger@compute.co.za or follow him on Linked In or Twitter: @douglaskruger

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Douglas_R_Kruger

The Happiness Factor, with Deremiah *CPE

Posted by John Lee, with thanks to the Mind Movies team

I have to confess I'd never heard of Deremiah *CPE, when the video below - featuring an interview conducted  by Natalie Ledwell - dropped into my inbox.

But with a surname like his, I figured it must be worth a look. And it certainly was.

The ever-inspiring Deremiah *CPE

Within the recording, the US author and inspirational speaker talks eloquently and enthusiastically about
the nature of happiness.

He comments on how many of us achieve it only quite fleetingly in our everyday existence and why this is so.

He explains the need for an 'undertone' of happiness, regardless of what's happening in your life, and how this can be achieved.

He also talks about his own battles with depression and thoughts of suicide, brought about by homelessness, and how a specific event turned everything around.

There's a link, too, to Deremiah's Facebook page, where you can find out more about his life and work.

Take a look. It's well worth it. Simply click on the link below to be taken to the original video:

http://tiny.cc/19cu4w

Rise Above Your Circumstances

By Mohnish M Nair

HAVE you been in that phase of life where everything around you seems so wrong? Many times, in the rush of life we tend to lose track of our progress and end up where we never imagined ourselves to be. The early years start with a lot of zest, dreams and goals and as we pursue our dreams we may sometimes get carried away and fail to notice the direction of our progress.

A deviation of a few inches from our chosen path may lead us miles away from our destination. I feel many of us today have somewhere lost the way in pursuit of the goals. Ambition is a double-edged sword - it can make us if we channel it with discipline and it can break us if we allow it to go to our heads. Many have lost the enthusiasm and cheerfulness they once possessed. Many have become cynical about themselves and the world around them and there are many who have given up.

If you feel that your life looks like one train wreck and you feel lost and sad about yourself and the way your life has turned out to be..... breathe, there is hope. Don't become all judgemental about the way you conducted your life. Life isn't over yet. Your story isn't over until you breathe your last and it takes just one moment to change your life upside down, trust me, I have experienced this time and again.

Every time I feel that I have screwed up and there is no hope, I go back to my dreams, I revisit my old self, I analyze the reason why I am where I am and then I thank god for giving me the power to introspect. Self introspection is a privilege and a blessing. There are many who find themselves ill-equipped to do so. People like to be in a place where they see others and circumstances as the cause of all the tribulations in their life.

They readily blame their friends, family, outsiders for their situation and this is a self-defeating tendency. Nobody but you has the control over your life and if you have allowed others to control your life, it's your fault - stop blaming them. Take charge and decide to change things for the better.

You must stop whining, complaining, comparing and envying those around you. I strongly believe that each one of us is sent on this planet in the form of a human for some specific reason. We are here for a cause; we must utilize this limited time with complete enthusiasm, honesty, gratitude and perseverance.

I have a philosophy where I believe we are born as humans after thousands of births as reptiles, crawling creatures and pests. For having overcome a multitude of troubles, god gives us the gift of being born as human as a souvenir for our hard work. We must cherish and value this gift and make the best use of whatever it is that is left of it.

You can get back on track by doing the following things:

1. Find out where you went wrong and become aware of it. Remember to engrain "your" mistakes into your mind so that the next time you tend to do it, you become alert before hand.

2. Forgive yourself for your mistakes. You must first unburden yourself of the guilt of not doing what you were supposed to do. Emptying your soul makes way for fresh exuberance.

3. Be grateful for what you have. Gratitude has magnetic powers that can heal and attract. It can help you become aware about your strengths and also attract opportunities from the available resources.

4. Write down fresh goals with deadlines. Things that you must achieve before you die. Break it down into short term - 1 to 3 years, mid term - 5 years and long term - 10 plus years.

5. Make a detailed action plan to achieve those goals. Take one goal at a time. Don't make your action plan too overwhelming and demanding. Neither should you make it so easy that it doesn't disrupt your comfort zone. You must be motivated to follow the action plan at the same time. It must also take account of your weaknesses.

6. Take help from people who can help you stick to your plans. Take help from those who can help you achieve your goals faster. Don't try to be the Lone Ranger.

7. Visually surround yourself with your goals and written action plan in the form of motivational charts, vision boards, mobile/computer wallpapers, self-affirmations and meditation-cum-workouts that can help you stay focused and remind you throughout the day.

8. STICK TO YOUR GOALS NO MATTER WHAT! Stay disciplined - it's the most difficult part, but consistency is the key to grand success. A consistently flowing stream has the power to erode a mountain.

9. The key to achieving goals is to mix consistent action with unidirectional focus. For this you must train your mind and body on a daily basis to remain enthused. You must take time everyday to plan, meditate and reprogram your mind to overcome negative thoughts and incidents.

10. Introspect and keep upgrading yourself. Keep learning new things that will help you achieve your goals faster. Be ready to make course corrections if needed and above all stay cheerful irrespective of the circumstances.

Remember, as much as we have the right to dream, we also have the responsibility to fulfill and achieve those dreams, irrespective of the hurdles, challenges and problems.

The pursuit of dreams isn't easy, no one said it would be, but it is those who succumb to their weaknesses and fall prey to self-pity that bring shame to the humankind.

Rise and let your inner strengths shine through the darkness of pain and anguish. Let your dreams light up your life and inspire many others to chase their dreams. Become an icon of victory and not a victim of self-defeat.

This article is written by Mohnish Nair. Mohnish is a business coach specialized in small and medium size enterprise coaching in India.

A young, dynamic motivational speaker, creative designer and a strategic coach, Mohnish has helped hundreds of business owners transform their world creatively.

That's Mohnish's motto in life, to transform the world creatively. Contact Mohnish by visiting his blogsite - http://www.mapledreamsindia.com or write to him at mapledreams22@yahoo.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mohnish_M_Nair

'The Science of Happiness - If You're Happy and You Know It' - By Soulpancake

Posted by John Lee

THE more successful you are, the happier you are. Right? Or is it, 'The happier you are, the more successful you are'?

It's probably a question many people could argue about all day long. Maybe it simply depends on your outlook on life and your personal circumstances?

Which comes first? Happiness or success?

Well never fear, because the team at Soulpancake are here to help.

In the characteristically bright, fun video below, they examine precisely this question.

The video features two groups of people, one of which is rewarded to raise their level of happiness.

Each group is then set a task, requiring a little lateral thinking, to see which copes best.

OK, it's maybe not the most scientific of experiments. But the results are rather pleasing. And as you would expect from Soulpancake, there's plenty of warmth and humor.

As for the outcome, well, you'll just have to take a look.....

http://youtu.be/IkMHZ7mchVo

The 6 Levels of the Subconscious Mind

The Inspiration Show Episode # 223 6 Levels of the Subconscious Mind

A fascinating interview, conducted by Mind Movies' Natalie Ledwell on the power of hypnosis and its ability to bring positive change to a person's life. As someone who's used self-hypnosis for a number of years, I highly recommend that you take a look.

Simply click on the link immediately above to be taken to the original recording. I hope you enjoy it.

Mind Movies' Natalie Ledwell

The Happy Cynic - By Joe Vitale

The Happy Cynic

INTERESTING blog post by Dr Joe Vitale, looking at cynicism, negativity and the 'Smiling Pessimist'. Written with his usually liveliness and flair, it's anything but downbeat and well worth a look.
Click on 'The Happy Cynic' immediately above to be taken to his blog.

 

Star of 'The Secret', author and speaker, Dr Joe Vitale