How To Have Courage (Even When You’re Afraid)

By Patrick Bet-David and http://inspiyr.com/

WHAT is courage, exactly?

Well, according to the dictionary, it’s “the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear or difficulty”.  

Do you have the courage that you need?

 In other words, you have to have it if you want to do something special in your life. It’s a common thread among all the greats.

The Courageous Greats

Throughout history, everyone who achieved the impossible has been courageous. Martin Luther King had it to stand up for equal rights in the 1960s.

Billy Graham had it to take God’s message into totalitarian dictatorships like Communist Russia, Eastern Europe and North Korea.

Ronald Reagan needed it to call the Soviet Union an “Evil Empire” and demand that Gorbachev “tear down this wall.”

Alexander the Great could not have conquered two million square miles of the planet without it.

And let’s face it: we look up to those people who have the guts to venture into the unknown and persevere.

We admire leaders and visionaries – people who have the audacity to do what most people don’t even think is possible.

It’s the feeling that we have when we watch movies like Braveheart, Lean on Me, 300, Men of Honor and Rocky. Human beings admire those who are brave.

But How Do I Get It?

Do some people have more courage than others? The answer is ‘Yes’. But they aren’t just born with it. They develop it.

Just like we strengthen the muscles in our body by putting them to use, you can strengthen your “courage muscle” by putting yourself into situations that require endurance.

The more you use those guts you are born with, the more you develop your “muscle”.

And you’re probably using your muscle more than you think. Here are some things that take guts in everyday life:

* Talking to that guy/girl who you really liked when you were afraid he/she might reject you

* Asking the love of your life to marry you

* Deciding to have kids

* Leaving your job to start something new

* Moving your family to a new state or even a new country

* Sharing your faith with someone

* Sharing your opinion about politics with a group

* Starting your own business

* Deciding to write a book

The enemy of bravery is fear, and despite what you may believe, everyone feels fear sometimes.

The days when you question your capacity to finish what you started, and the days when you don’t know what to do next, that’s fear talking.

The secret to being more courageous than fearful is to anticipate the fear. Know that fear will show its ugly head and consume you with doubt, worry, and negative thoughts.

However, remember that most fear is irrational, and if you stare down the fear right in the face, you will always persevere.

There are two types of people in the world – those who wait and those who do. Those who wait are usually held back by fear, and those who do are brave enough to overcome fear.

If you’re always putting things off and making excuses, you’re always going to be consumed by fear. 

If you’re out there taking chances and putting it on the line despite what others think, you’ll always make it.

The Takeaway

People have come up to me and said, “But Patrick, I don’t have courage like you do”. That’s where they’re wrong. The list above should show you that you have more than you think.

In order for you to take it to the next level, you need to put yourself in situations that take you out of your comfort zone.

We are all born with it.  It is there inside for us to access, but we have to actively reach for it. It is simply is a must for those who want to do the impossible.

Patrick Bet-David is an entrepreneur, author and self-made success who emigrated from war-torn Iran to the U.S. and has made financial literacy his personal crusade.

He is the founder and CEO of People Helping People (PHP), as well as author of Doing The Impossible: The 25 Laws for Doing The Impossible.

This feature was previously published on http://inspiyr.com/

Article source: http://tiny.cc/j0bqby

How To Think Into A Result

By Bob Proctor, Proctor Gallagher Institute

THIS is not a secret…

If you want to change something in your life, you must start with the end in mind.  

Do you think into results? (By freedigitalphotos.net)

 In other words, don’t think about your current circumstances. Instead put your imagination into high gear, and think your way into the conditions you want.

I’m not saying that you ignore your current results. That’s impossible to do.

Look at your present results, but don’t get emotionally involved with them. If you let the current facts control your thoughts, things CANNOT improve.

So take your attention off what’s currently going on, and use your will to focus on what you want.

And then…

Let nature take its course

Andrew Carnegie said…

“Any idea that is held in the mind, that is emphasized, that is either feared or revered, will begin at once to clothe itself in the most convenient and appropriate form available.”

That’s because thinking starts a creative process:

1. Thinking creates an image.

2. The image stirs emotions.

3. Emotions cause action.

4. Action sets up a reaction.

So when you’re thinking about what you want, rather than your current results, the reaction (see Step 4) creates new and improved results.

Then, you can start the process all over again by looking at the new result, adapting to the changes that have occurred, and thinking about what you want next.

That way, your life just keeps getting better and better.

“I’ve tried that already!”

I know…

You’ve tried this before and failed, right?

We all have. Probably many, many times.

However, if you pay close attention to what I’m about to share with you, you’ll know what it will take to finally break through.

Take a look at this…

Here’s the bottom line…

To break out of old patterns and realize a goal that has been eluding you, you must raise your level of awareness. And there are seven levels of awareness or consciousness.

Every person on the planet primarily functions at one of the levels. However, according to where we are in our lives at any given time, we may bounce back and forth between levels.

The goal is to move out of the lower, shallower levels of consciousness to mastery. That’s when you are in control of your life, and you respond to what’s going on rather than reacting to it.

Let’s take a look at the role each level might play in your ability to realize your goals. As I go through each one, see if you can identify which level you function in most of the time.

Level 1: Animalistic

At this level, you are in “fight or flight” mode. You allow your current circumstances, not goals or desires, to dictate your life. You react to whatever is going on around you.

Level 2: Mass

At this level, you follow the crowd rather than doing your own thinking or setting goals. You want to conform rather than be creative.

You don’t consciously choose the things you want. Your paradigm rules at this level.

Level 3: Aspiration

You might follow the crowd for years, but at some point, something in you wants something better – something greater than what you have. You know you are capable of more.

Many people become stuck at this level because their new desires are just wishes until they back them with action.

Level 4: Individual

At this level, you want to express your uniqueness as a human being. You begin to dream. You realize that there is no one like you, and you have unique gifts.

However, every time you start to move forward, the paradigm pulls you back to Level 2.

The desire remains, though, so you keep coming back to it. You get locked into a tug of war with your paradigm, which continues to pull you back.

Level 5: Discipline

Here you realize that the only way to move toward your goal is to give yourself a command and then follow it – regardless of what’s going on around you.

However, as soon as you start to do it, the paradigm starts fighting back. Before long, your resolve starts to dissipate and your discipline turns into a wish. And you’re STUCK again!

You’ve got to train yourself to follow a command to overpower the paradigm. Otherwise, you’ll be destined to keep doing what you’ve been doing and getting what you’ve been getting.

So when your discipline starts to dissipate, you must exclaim, “No way! I’m going to do this and I’m going to do it NOW!”

And then step out and do it. And you keep doing it until the paradigm dies from lack of nourishment.

However, it will work only if the goal is something you really want.

Level 6: Experience

When you apply steadfast discipline and you see the desired results manifest, the experience gained reinforces your awareness of your amazing abilities. And you do more of the same.

Experiential learning is real learning. It becomes unnecessary to gather outside information. At this level, you know that all of the answers that you are looking for can be found within.

Level 7: Mastery

At this level, you respond rather than react. You know how to think properly, and you take the actions that produce your desired results.

You’re no longer controlled by habits that don’t serve you. 

You have learned the laws of the universe, and you understand how the science works. You’ve used your experience to fine-tune your manifestation techniques so you achieve one goal after the other.

Only a small percentage of the population reaches this point; however, we all have the mental faculties and capacity to do so.

The only thing stopping you from being the captain of your ship is…

You.

Keep studying, writing out your goals, and focusing on what you want, and your awareness will increase

At each new level of awareness, the conditions, circumstances and environment will change. As you adapt to the changes, you’ll then be able to see the next step.

You can’t see how to get to the goal from where you are right now. And you don’t need to.

However, every time you take a step ahead, you’ll get new results and then you can see where to go or what to do next.

Right now, a higher side of you is urging you to create. And your paradigm is nagging at you, wanting you to stay the same.

It’s your choice…

In life, we either create or we disintegrate.

Choose well.

To your success,

Bob Proctor

Article source: http://tiny.cc/05lkby

How to Deal with Difficult People – by Brian Tracy

Posted by John Lee of YourBestYouEver.net

IN the world of personal and professional development, few can boast a pedigree or body of work as impressive as Brian Tracy.  

Author, speaker and personal development specialist, Brian Tracy

 With books, seminars, audio and video courses on subjects as diverse as sales training, leadership, public speaking and time management, he’s rightly recognised as one of the world’s finest.

Yet the Canadian-born ‘guru’ – for want of a less sensationalist title – also offers plenty of great insights into much more mundane issues, as this brief video shows.

As the title illustrates, it’s about handling difficult people – the sort of people who raise your blood pressure and make you feel inadequate. The sort of people you may even want to punch!

And in his characteristically simple and down-to-earth fashion, Brian lays out two very easy steps for taking the heat out of the situation and reaching a solution.

Well worth a look. Just click on the link below to go to the original recording:

http://tiny.cc/al1ray

Do You Experience Life As A Burden Or As A Sacred Privilege?

By Margaret Paul, PhD

PETER experiences life as a burden – a sentence to get through that is filled with suffering. Peter trudges through his life, experiencing little joy.

He works hard, makes enough money to feel financially secure enough to take care of his family, and spends little time in connection with others.  

Is YOUR life a burden or a privilege? (Pic by freedigitalphotos.net)

 To Peter, life has no real purpose other than to make money and do the best he can to feel safe.

Peter has no connection with anything greater than himself. He does not believe in God, Spirit or a Higher Power. He believes that when he dies, he disappears forever.

He has no perspective of anything beyond this life. Life, therefore, has little meaning to Peter.

To Todd, life is a sacred privilege.

Todd experiences life as a great journey of the soul. Todd knows that his soul is immortal and is on a never-ending journey to evolve in love.

Todd believes that he chose to come here to this challenging planet to grow in his ability to love in the face of adversity.

To Todd, the purpose of life is to heal any barriers in the way of being loving to himself and with others, and to fully manifest his gifts.

Todd experiences much joy on this journey. He experiences joy in taking care of his body, the house of his soul.

He experiences joy in discovering and loving his soul and in expressing the gifts of his soul. He experiences joy in sharing his love with others and helping others in many different ways.

He experiences deep joy in sharing love with his family.

Todd has the same challenges as Peter. He needs to earn a living and take care of his family. He has the same challenges regarding disappointments and losses.

But, because Todd experiences a greater purpose in his life, he embraces adversity as part of his soul’s journey.

We each have the choice in any given moment to see life as a burden or a sacred privilege. Without a greater spiritual perspective, life is just a burden.

Practicing Inner Bonding on a daily basis, even if you don’t have a strong spiritual connection to begin with, will eventually give you a first-hand experience of the Presence of Spirit.

You don’t have to “believe” to practice Inner Bonding. In fact, I don’t believe in belief!

What each of us needs is personal experience in the Presence of Spirit so that we don't have to rely on belief – we know.

When you know Spirit rather than believe in Spirit, then you know that your soul is immortal and that you are on a soul’s journey.

The wounded self will always try to discredit your direct experiences of Spirit, telling you that you are just making it all up.

The wounded part of all of us is the part that is disconnected from Spirit, even if this part believes in God in the religious sense.

Believing in God and having a direct experience of God are two very different things.

Because the wounded self is always devoted to control rather than to surrender to Spirit, it cannot experience a direct connection with Spirit.

A direct connection occurs only when there is a true intent to learn about loving oneself and others.

You will experience life as a sacred privilege rather than as a burden when you choose to place your loving adult in charge rather than indulge the wounded self with its devotion to control.

With your spiritually-connected loving adult in charge, it’s easier to remember that you are not alone, that you are being guided each moment in your highest good.

And that it is a great privilege to be here on ‘schoolhouse’ Earth and have the opportunity to evolve your soul in love.

Next time you face a challenge, notice how you perceive it and how you feel as a result of your perception.

Notice that if you perceive the difficulty as a victim – “Why is this happening to me?” – you will likely feel angry, depressed or anxious.

If you perceive the difficulty as an opportunity to learn more about loving yourself and others, you will feel grateful and empowered.

Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of eight books, including “Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?” and “Healing Your Aloneness”.

She is the co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding® healing process. Learn Inner Bonding now!

Visit her web site for a FREE Inner Bonding course: http://www.innerbonding.com or email her at margaret@innerbonding.com. Phone sessions available.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8943068

Three simple ways to find happiness..... now!

Posted by John Lee of YourBestYouEver.net

YOU want happiness. And you want it right now. Which is perfectly understandable in today’s faster-than-fast, no-waiting world of immediate results.

We’ve come to expect that everything we desire will manifest almost instantaneously, from a cup of coffee to the man or woman of our dreams.  

Author, speaker and transformational coach, Anil Gupta

 Ironically enough, the one phenomenon we don’t seem able to control or produce on demand is human emotion... and ‘happiness’ in particular.

Just when everything seems to be going swimmingly and we’re feeling pretty damn good, something invariably comes along to upset the apple cart.

Of course, more often than not, that’s because of how we react to the event as we perceive it, rather than any external cause.

So is it is possible to find happiness whenever we want it... right NOW?

According to internationally-renowned author, speaker and transformational coach, Anil Gupta, it most certainly is.

And he explains exactly how in this fascinating video interview conducted by Mind Movies’ Natalie Ledwell.

Among the areas covered by Anil – who has website devoted to the subject at www.immediatehappiness.com – are:

* The importance of awareness

* The need to find the right focus

* What women look for in a relationship, and how men differ

* Three quick, yet very powerful, ways to achieve happiness

The video itself is just 15 minutes long and is well worth a look. Simply click on the link below to be taken to the original recording.

http://goo.gl/K8YTPI

Rules for Getting Organized & Decluttered

With Leo Babauta & zenhabits.net/

WHAT would it take to get your life decluttered and organized?

That might be a tall order for many of us, but the truth is, we could do it in bursts and spurts, using a handful of easy-to-follow rules.

The other day I wrote about the idea of setting rules instead of goals … today I want to share a few ideas for rules to help you get decluttered and organized.  

Time for a spot of declutting?

I know in my life, going from being overwhelmed with clutter to minimalism was a slow but rewarding journey.

And now I feel happy every time I look around and see the lovely space around me.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, I’m here to testify that it’s not impossible, and it just takes some small steps that add up over time.

Here are the rules I suggest – though I don’t suggest adopting them all, and especially not all at once. Try a few out, see how they work for you, then try a few others.

1. Get yourself organized at the start and end of a day. As you start your work day, write down your three Most Important Tasks (MITs).

Write down a handful of other things you’d like to do today as well. Clear your desk, get things in order.

At the end of each day, tidy things up, check off your list, maybe even get things ready for tomorrow.

2. When you get up from your desk, put one thing away. Whenever you get up for a glass of water, to go to the bathroom, to take a break … pick up something off your desk and put it away.

If your desk is clear, look for something nearby.

3. When you’re done eating, wash your bowl. This is self-explanatory. Mindfully wash your dishes instead of leaving them in the sink. If there are other dishes in the sink, wash a few of them too.

4. Wipe down the sink when you use it. Whenever you wash your hands or brush your teeth in the bathroom, wipe down the sink so it’s clean. Do the same in the kitchen sink.

Clear away a few things around the sink too if you can.

5. When you walk through a room, find one thing to put away. If you’re going from your bedroom to the living room, find one thing during that trip to put away.

You don’t have to get stuck in putting everything away, just one thing.

6. When you take off a piece of clothing, put it away. When you shower or change clothes, instead of leaving them on the floor or on a piece of furniture, put the clothes away or in a hamper.

Look for a few other clothes to put away too if there are more lying around.

7. Keep flat surfaces clear. Your tables, counters, desks, floors … keep them clear. If there’s a ton of clutter there now, see the rule below about decluttering on Saturdays.

But if it’s doable, just start clearing whatever is on the floor (except furniture and the like). When you walk by the kitchen counter, look for things other than oft-used appliances to put away.

8. At the end of the work day, file stuff. If you still use papers, file them at the end of the day. If you are all digital, clear your computer desktop and put files where they belong.

9. Deal with an email instead of putting it off. When you open an email, give it the space to deal with it immediately. Read it, reply, take action, or archive it.

Or put it on your to-do list for later if it’s a big task. Don’t just constantly open emails without handling them.

10. Work to only having 3 emails in your inbox. Slowly clear away the hundreds or thousands of emails in your inbox.

Archive or delete them, put a handful in a to-do folder, file others into informational folders, unsubscribe from newsletters.

11. Put non-essential items you want to buy on a 30-day list. Create a 30-day list, and whenever you want to buy something that’s not absolutely essential (other than groceries, cleaning supplies, toiletries), put it on the list with the date you added it.

Then don’t allow yourself to buy anything until it’s been on the list for 30 days. At the end of the 30 days, see if you still want it before buying.

12. Put your clothes in a different closet or box, and only take out what you need. Move all your clothes to a closet in an unused room if you have one, or put them in a box or two.

Only remove the clothes you really need to wear. After a month of doing this, you’ll see what clothes you can consider donating.

13. Declutter on Saturdays. Every Saturday morning, spend an hour or two (or half a day) decluttering one area.

14. One in, two out. When you bring something new in your life (buy something online, get a gift), get rid of two other similar things. For example, if you buy a pair of shoes, donate two other pairs.

In this way, you’ll 1) think more about each thing you buy, and 2) slowly have fewer and fewer possessions.

Eventually you’ll want to switch to a “one in, one out” rule when you think your possessions are at a good level.

15. Limit how many things you have. Consider limiting yourself to 30 pieces of clothing, or 30 books, or something like that.

Get rid of everything else, don’t allow yourself to go beyond the limit. The individual limit you set is up to you, whatever feels slightly uncomfortable is good.

16. At the end of each month, clear out computer clutter. Self-explanatory. Back things up!

17. Every three months, purge. Also self-explanatory. Spend a weekend purging all your unneeded belongings.

Of course, these are just suggested rules … you should modify them to suit your life.

How to Implement the Rules

Now, those are a lot of rules, but I don’t think you should implement them all at once. In fact, I suggest trying one per week. Really focus all week on making that rule happen.

If it goes well, keep it. If not, toss it out. The next week, try another.

Set a reminder on a certain day each week (let’s say Monday) to review how your rule went, and to pick a new rule to try out.

Have a physical, paper note somewhere visible so you’ll remember to do the rule throughout the week.

One at a time, you’ll find the rules that work for you. And one step at a time, your life will slowly become less cluttered, more organized.

And you’ll be set up to make great things happen in the rest of your life.

Articles source: http://tiny.cc/hleh8x

How To Keep Balance In Your Busy Life

By Jan M. Mueller

LIFE is demanding and it’s very easy to feel that life is out of control. But you have a choice. You can bring balance to your life if you make it a priority.

It’s easy to spend all day chasing objectives, only to feel that you’ve accomplished nothing at the end of day. Rebalancing your life is possible.  

Do you need better balance in your life?
(Pic by Arztsamui & freedigitalphotos.net)

A busy life can be meaningful, interesting and invigorating. It can also lead to exhaustion and burn-out if you allow the ‘busy-ness’ to get out of hand.

Try these effective strategies to create & keeping balance in your busy life:

Learn to be more patient. Your life might be more balanced than you realize, but it’s hard to see it if you’re impatient.

A lack of patience makes every situation more challenging. A little patience makes many challenging situations manageable.

Impatience is one way you agitate yourself. You also make yourself less capable in the moment.

Simplify. It’s very easy in today’s world to buy more things than you need and take on more responsibilities than you can manage.

Every extra item and responsibility in your life can create imbalance. Eliminate the superfluous and bring more harmony into your life.

Give your health a priority. When life gets hectic, our first response is to sacrifice ourselves for everyone and everything else. This is a mistake.

Without good health, life becomes very unbalanced.

If you don’t give your health the priority it deserves, your resulting bad health will eventually get your full attention.

Create a schedule that includes downtime. Downtime isn’t just the time that’s left over after your responsibilities are completed. Downtime is something you do on purpose.

Plan for it. Make time for it. Knowing you have a break scheduled in the near future will motivate you to spend your time more effectively.

Get started early. It’s challenging to start the day and common to procrastinate. Time is such a valuable resource.

It’s possible to increase your wealth or to receive more love, but we’re all limited to 24 hours. Once you fall behind, the entire day is out of balance.

Get started on your day with a purpose and the rest will fall into place.

Spend time on the activities that mean the most to you. Your family is likely a priority, but what else do you find meaningful? Hiking? Playing the violin? Reading?

Working isn’t the only priority in life. The more time you’re able to spend on enjoyable activities, the more you’ll enjoy your life.

Spend time on your relationships. This includes – but isn’t limited to – your romantic relationships. Keep up with your friends and extended family too.

It takes time, but you’re probably wasting time on something less meaningful, like television.

Get enough sleep. Do you sleep less than seven hours each night? Even if you’re highly successful, you could be doing even better.

Studies have shown that performance increases for many tasks, both physical and mental, when subjects receive at least seven hours of sleep.

If you don't have time for seven hours, it’s time to re-examine your priorities.

Make yourself your biggest priority. When you take good care of yourself, you can take better care of others. When you’re at your best, your performance at work is at its highest.

It might seem selfish to prioritize your own needs and happiness, but everyone in your life will benefit from this mindset.

Define what having a “balanced life” means to you. Balancing your life will be impossible until you clarify what balance means to you:

* How much time would you spend at work?

* How much time would you spend at home?

* How many leisure hours do you need each week?

* How would you spend those hours?

Create a well-balanced life by choosing your priorities wisely.

Jan Marie Mueller is a certified Positive Mindshift Coach and Life Transformation blogger at ThinkBrilliantly.com.

She’s passionate about providing you with a foundation of ideas that you can both identify with and apply to your daily life.

She loves reaching out to and helping others do what it takes to make the positive changes that can lead to greater happiness, success and self-esteem in life.

She looks forward to helping you, too.

For more information on tips, strategies and resources on creating a life you LOVE, visit http://www.ThinkBrilliantly.com.

While you’re there be sure and get your FREE Inspired Living! Pack filled with motivating affirmations, inspiring images and uplifting quotes for a more positive & inspired life!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9276258