Success
We’re getting to the crux of what you want to know; how to be successful. Yes? By now you know that Happiness is the core of Success. And you must know that Success is the progressive realization of a worthwhile goal. Success is not measured in dollars and cents. Success is measured in:
Love
Happiness
Peace of mind
Good Health
Good Friends
Loving Family
Spiritual Oneness with God.
Bust most of all, success is measured in kindness
Money follows success.
Let’s continue to explore the depths of what you may understand as Success. In this chapter, we will move to the deeper understanding and meaning of Success.
Monthly Affirmation: I have a positive mental attitude, therefore I am a success.
Continued Success
All great men have followed one success, with another, and another. Thomas Edison did not stop when he invented the talking machine (record player). Next, he invented the light bulb. It did not work with his first try; it came on after 3000 failures. Edison said, “I now know 3000 ways a light bulb won’t work.” Did he quit? No, thank goodness, or I would be writing this in the dark.” Edison patented over an additional 300 inventions.
Edison used to go fishing with his friends, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone. One day, Edison’s wife asked her husband what he and his friends did while fishing. They had no hooks and no bait. Edison’s reply was, “We’re just fishing for ideas.”
The more the mind does, the more it can do. Ideas are released energy. You can do more and better work than you ever have done before with this released energy. You can know more than you know now. You know from your own experience that under proper mental conditions of joy or enthusiasm, you can do three or four times the work without fatigue than you could ordinarily do with this released energy.
Tiredness is more boredom than actual physical fatigue. You can work almost indefinitely when the work is a pleasure. One of the most famous and most reproduced poems, The Victor, by C.W. Longnecker, starts out by saying:
“If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don’t;”
If you like to win, but think you can’t, it’s almost certain you won’t.
The poem ends by saying:
“Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man. But, sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.”
The key word throughout this message is THINK.
It all begins in a person’s mind and thinking capacity. Success begins with a person’s will; it’s all in the state of mind.
Today’s Exercise: Use your mind, it’s free
Today’s Affirmation: I have a positive mental attitude, therefore I am a success.
Points to Ponder: Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man; but sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.
Genius
You were born a genius and slowly life convinced you that you were something a lot less. As far as I know, God does not make mistakes. Your body might not be perfect but your mind is. Have you ever wondered why a 2-year-old can learn any language you teach it in just a few short months? Have you ever seen a six-year-old on a skateboard doing impossible maneuvers?
Right now, you have the creative genius to be a millionaire. Hard to believe, isn’t it? Ask yourself these questions: Do I have enough intelligence and ability to invent the “Pet Rock”? Somebody did and made millions. How about the Frisbee, do you know how that was invented? Some workers in a pie factory were bored during their lunch hour so they started throwing and catching empty pie plates in the parking lot. A motorist passing by said to himself, "That looks like fun." He patented the idea and he too made millions.
Do you know how the hula-hoop craze got started? A hardware storeowner made the first ones out of plastic, and put them in his store window with a price tag of a dollar. Nobody bought any so he lowered the price to fifty cents. Still, no one bought any. Finally, he lowered it to twenty-five cents. There were still no takers. One day, a 5-year-old boy was staring at it in the window. The little boy asked, “How does it work?” The man in an effort to get rid of the kid said, “Look, if I give you one will you go away?” The kid said, “Yeah.” The man took the hoop out of the window, walked outside, and handed it to the boy. The boy was so excited he couldn’t wait to try it. He put it around his waist and started gyrating. The hoop was flying around his little waist. Within minutes, a crowd of kids gathered around and they all wanted one. The storeowner quickly changed the twenty-five cents on the sign to two dollars and fifty cents. He couldn’t produce them fast enough, for every kid in town had to have one. You see, sometimes Genius’ need a good kick in the rear to get started.
Today’s Exercise: See the possibility in everything, and then everything is possible.
Today’s Affirmation: I have a positive mental attitude, therefore I am a success.
Points to Ponder: As far as I know, God does not make mistakes.
How to Become a Genius
Human beings are God’s concept of mortality. Human beings maintain their position of supremacy over all the other creatures here on Earth. Human beings possess the most powerful endowment of mind and the ability to think; dream; reason, and succeed and to master all others, because human beings have the ability to create. The highest form of creation, regardless of art, life, or intelligence is genius. Wing Field-Stratford said, “Genius is natural to man (human beings) and in no way more mysterious than any other faculty of the mind.” It may be defined as subconscious activity functioning rightly. Genius is now and always has been human beings allowing God to show itself in our world.
How do we become a genius? We become a genius by being born. God sends us naked, bald, and helpless into this world; yet, we carry the keys to the universe. We can’t talk, but we can think and we have unlimited love. We have just come from infinity into this finite world. What’s the first thing we do? We cry, we cry with all our might. We have left God, so we think, but God has not left us. He gave us a mind, actually, three minds: He gave us a Conscious Mind, so that we may choose between good and bad; love and hatred, and success and failure. He gave us a Subconscious Mind, which operates all of our bodily functions without us worrying about them. He also gave us his Universal Superconscious Mind, in which he communicates with our Subconscious Mind every second of every day.
The so-called geniuses, through history, simply chose to communicate with God and then go one step further. A genius is then, is to believe it, dream it, and go forth and PUT IT INTO ACTION. I’ve said this many times in this book, “God did not give you the ability to dream it, without the ability to achieve it.”
Today’s Exercise: Put the book down and declare that you are a genius. Go forth and put into action that dream you keep having.
Today’s Affirmation: I have a positive mental attitude, therefore I am a success.
Points to Ponder: How do we become a genius? We become a genius by being born.
Leaders and Followers
Unfortunately, some people master the power of the Subconscious mind in some area and totally ignore it in other areas of their life. Some gain great wealth only to fail miserably in relationships with their family and loved ones. Others, have a great family life, but are always sick. Others, are healthy and strong, but never seem to make any money. Only in a small portion of their life are they leaders and the rest of their life they are part of that large majority who know not how to control their destiny. This power of the subconscious must work in all aspects of your life before you can find Success and Happiness.
Jesus said, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” Power used the wrong way can destroy us. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Look at the dictators such as Hitler, Sadam Hussein, and Castro. They are all men whose power and ideas made so many people suffer and die. This is not what we are striving for.
When you discover the center of consciousness, abundance and achievement will fill your life and you will truly understand that this achievement was not accomplished by your ego, the physical I, but by the power of the Universal Subconscious Mind. The Universal Subconscious Mind is that part of you that is true spirit; that part of you that will never die. That is the connection you share with God. Success comes from positive thinking, which comes from spiritual courage. Spiritual courage comes when you discover the eternal father that dwells within your soul. No dream is too high; no task to great, for you will see that you must go about your father’s business. This life is not a test to see if you will go to Heaven or Hell. This life is much more. This is your chance to fulfill God’s wishes here on earth. It is up to you to do what your feel your purpose here is all about. Success and Happiness is your destiny. It starts with love and kindness; then throw in some faith and your whole world will change.
Today’s Exercise: Let go of your ego. Let go and let God.
Today’s Affirmation: I have a positive mental attitude, therefore I am a success.
Points to Ponder: Success comes from positive thinking, which comes from spiritual courage.
Listen to Yourself
Make a continuous effort to listen more carefully to your inner insights; that little voice that speaks to us above the noise of the crowd. This voice is your private hotline to God. It may come as thought; a daydream, or a sign on a building. You may have dismissed this voice as insignificant; too outrageous, or just hopeful thinking, but if these thoughts seem to persist particularly if they relate to new activities and challenges, then they are not there by accident.
Those tenacious thoughts that won’t go away should be taken seriously. They are thoughts of an all-knowing, infinite creator who is saying to you, “Why do you keep ignoring the genius that I have created in you? Why do you keep settling for less, when I have great plans for you? You have a unique gift to offer this world, and I have made you unique in the entire history of mankind.”
David Hawkins writes in the book Power vs. Force, “From our studies it appears that the alignment of one’s goals and values with high energy attractions is more closely associated with genius than anything else.” Be a lover of life. Refuse to have thoughts of bigotry; hatred; anxiety; anger, and most important, judgment.
Trust yourself. As a piece of God, your genius will sprout forward and blossom as the springtime flowers. Start with judgment. We are so quick to judge other people because they do not think, act, or talk like us. We want to try to live their lives for them. We see only those things that are different and classify them as being wrong. Look for the genius in others. Pay attention to the greatness you observe in as many people as possible. If at first you don’t see it, then look harder. You cannot see the genius in others if you cannot see the genius in yourself. Simplify your life and rid yourself of complications, meaningless rules, must do’s, have to’s, and so on. By un-complicating your life and removing the nitpicky little details that keep you in constant disharmony, you will open the channel that connects you to the greatest source in the universe.
Today’s Exercise: Take twenty or thirty minutes in complete silence and meditate.
Today’s Affirmation: I have a positive mental attitude, therefore I am a success.
Points to Ponder: If at first you don’t see it, then look harder. You cannot see the genius in others if you cannot see the genius in yourself.
Hard Work vs. Easy Work
There is no such thing as hard work and easy work. There is only distasteful work and enjoyable work. What some people consider to be hard work, others consider a hobby. To some digging a ditch may seem degrading but to an archeologist it may be considered a lifelong dream. If you want to make your work easy, then enjoy it. If you can’t enjoy it then stop doing what you are doing and do something you enjoy. People get hung up on jobs. They say this is a good job or bad one. There is no such thing everything is either good or bad by comparison. It is you doing the comparison. So if it’s bad by comparison to something else you might be doing, then to be happy and successful you need to stop doing what you consider a bad job.
When I got out of the army, I got a job with the post office as a letter carrier. My mother was excited. She grew up during the depression and the only people she knew who had steady jobs worked for the government. Well, it was a good job for about five years. Then, one day when I was about twenty-eight years old, I was sorting the mail when I glanced at the fellow on my left. He was about thirty-five years old but he looked fifty. Then I looked to my right and the fellow there was about forty-five but he looked like he was sixty. I thought to myself, Oh, my God, this is what I’m going to look like in ten or twenty year? They were no further ahead in life than I was. I took the handful mail that I was sorting and threw it straight up in the air and declared as loud as I could, “I quit!.” My cousin, who was a few years younger than I, was in the next row. He came running over and said, “You can’t quit. What will you do?” I thought for a half of a second and said, “I’m going to be a salesman.” He looked at me with a look I’ll never forget; it was a look of admiration. Now, I’ve never regretted that decision. A few months later, my cousin did the same thing, which was really something because his father (my uncle) was postmaster of the branch we were working in. My cousin never regretted quitting either. He now owns a string of body shops, and has done quite well. He told me he never would have had the courage, if I hadn’t done it first. The moral of the story is don’t waste a minute doing something you hate.
Today’s Exercise: Find a way to love your job; if not find a new job and career.
Today’s Affirmation: I have a positive mental attitude, therefore I am a success.
Points to Ponder: What some people consider to be hard work, others consider a hobby.
Follow Your Dreams
There is no such thing a good job or a bad job. There is only work you hate or work you love. If you want easy work, find work you love to do and do it. Too many people are wasting their lives because they do not enjoy their work. The father, who forces his son to go to the same college he went to and become a doctor like him, can’t figure out why his son won’t speak to him. The mother, who tries to make her daughter a starlet because she never made it, is stunned when her daughter overdoses on drugs.
You were not born an attorney, a movie star, or a miner, you were born to follow your dream not someone else’s. It takes courage to follow your dreams.
I get a kick out of some of the movies you see about a small town. There is always some teenager or a young person who can’t wait to get out of town because there’s nothing there, yet, these people are totally unprepared to be a success anywhere. It is not the place or the time that determines success, it’s the person. Some of the richest men and women in America come from a small town and quite a few have made their fortune in these towns.
Success starts now where you are and at what you are doing. As you grow opportunities will present themselves. One of my definitions of success is: To be totally prepared to recognize and capitalize on an opportunity when it presents itself.
Today’s Exercise: Start preparing. Look at everything as an opportunity; the best ones come disguised as problems.
Today’s Affirmation: I have a positive mental attitude, therefore I am a success.
Points to Ponder: It takes courage to follow your dreams.
Cause & Effect
When you change the way you look at things the things you look at change. I’ve used this phrase several times in this book and you may be wondering why I’ve repeated it so much. Because we need to change the way we interpret history, the Bible, religion, Heaven, Hell, and every other great mystery.
You may be familiar with the saying, “As ye sow, so shall you reap.” If you are looking at it from a religious stance, where everything is determined by whether you go to Heaven or Hell, this might be interpreted to mean that the moral, ethical, and lawful misconduct of human beings would be punished in the hereafter.
Suppose we look at this familiar saying from the spiritual viewpoint. It is said that we are part of God and there is no Hell, then the saying would mean that a positive thought sowed in the Subconscious Mind would reap abundance and happiness.
Whether this thought is moral or immoral, ethical or unethical, has nothing whatever to do with the inexorable process involved for the seed having been planted must grow and grow it will into a physical reality. The choice becomes yours. How do you want to look at it?
The Subconscious Mind is a garden and like a garden on Earth knows only to reproduce the seeds that are sowed; if you plant a carrot seed, a cucumber will not grow. The garden of your Subconscious Mind knows only to create reality from the seeds of your thoughts. Every word you utter, every thought you have is either plantings abundance or planting weeds. What do you want to reap from your garden? Success and Happiness? Or failure and misery? It’s your choice.
Today’s Exercise: Control your thinking; your thoughts are previews of things to come.
Today’s Affirmation: I have a positive mental attitude, therefore I am a success.
Points to Ponder: The subconscious mind is a garden and like a garden on Earth, knows only to reproduce the seeds that are sowed. If you plant a carrot seed, a cucumber will not grow.
Are You a Coward?
Before you answer the above question, let’s define the word coward.
1. Afraid, are you afraid to take chances?
2. Scared, do you panic when you are asked to give a speech?
3. Yellow, do you sit in the back of the room?
4. Chicken, do you let someone else take the lead?
5. Jellyfish, do you blend into the mob?
Now what’s your answer? If you could silently, quietly, and clearly peer into the hearts of the sad failures in life, if you could learn the secret of men and women who merely go through the motions, who make up the masses of humanity that have complained their way through life, then you would discover the tale of fear; cringing; hesitating; shrinking, and mental cowardice.
It is a tragedy. It is the life history of a well-meaning soul seeking higher levels of Success and Happiness but bound and handcuffed to that ever present “Oh, I better not; I don’t think it will work, or I tried it before and it can’t be done.” Instead of a life of health; happiness, and financial ease, they sink into oblivion, only to rise up and tell you that it cannot be done. They hear “Who do you think you are? There is no way you can do that!”
The race for Success and Happiness requires men and women who dare to be great. In order to dare to be great you must go through four stages to be mentally tough.
1. I wish for success.
Wishing is simply having the craving.
2. I desire success.
Desire is having the passion for success.
3. I am resolved upon my success.
Resolved is the determination to overcome all obstacles.
4. I demand and insist that I become successful.
Demand is a “full speed ahead, damned the torpedoes” attitude.
If you are to go all the way with me, you must have an open mind.
Today’s Exercise: Open your mind. Go through the four steps, then either put the book away or turn the page.
Today’s Affirmation: I have a positive mental attitude, therefore I am a success.
Points to Ponder: The race for Success and Happiness requires men and women who dare to be great.
Think Big
The greatest successes have always come to those who have taken the biggest risks. I don’t mean trying to do the impossible or putting all your eggs in one basket. A risk taker is not a gambler. They are the people who risk being embarrassed and go against the proverbial crowd. A risk taker is a person who gets up in the morning with the excitement and conviction that today will be the best day they ever had. A risk taker says, “Yes I will do this or that,” and then goes out and does it even though they were scared or not quite ready.
I told a salesman to do something one day and he replied, “I’ll try.” I said “No, don’t try; Do.” Trying is a whole lot of noise and energy with very little results. Results are how we measure success. Big results equal big success.
Have you heard of the singer or actor who became an overnight success after twenty years of learning their trade? It really makes me laugh when people ask me how I got to be successful. They don’t believe me when I tell them I just never gave up. I swear, for most of my life, if there were two ways to do something, the right way and the wrong way, ninety-nine out of one hundred times I’d do the wrong way first even after I read the directions.
Today’s Exercise: Don’t try…Do.
Today’s Affirmation: I have a positive mental attitude, therefore I am a success.
Points to Ponder: Trying is a whole lot of noise and energy with very little results.
Success
Success is a never-ending vision in the mind of every human being. Some people see themselves surrounded by large homes, new cars, yachts, servants, trips abroad, and plenty of leisure time to enjoy themselves. “How do I get these things?,” is the cry of humanity. Humanity answers back, “Money.” Humanity sets up with the battle cry; “I need to make more money.” More money becomes an obsession and with this false premise, our “Friend” is scarcely able to obtain enough to pay his or her normal bills. Our “Friend” then comes to the conclusion that he/she is unlucky, that the world is against them, or they are not in the right place at the right time. Success then becomes an unreachable quest. Old habits kick in and our “Friend” stops dreaming as well as stops any concerted effort to make success a reality.
Our “Friend” then becomes bitter, ready and able to knock anyone who thinks they can rise above the crowd. On and on goes the struggle. Our media perpetuates the scam by showing reality shows where one person wins a million dollars by cheating, backstabbing, or just beating out the other contestants. Our “Friend’s” failure is then justified. It’s always the other guy who gets all the breaks. Besides, didn’t his parents and teachers tell him he wouldn’t amount to anything when he was six years old?
Success is life, one day at a time. Success is never quitting. Success is faith. Success is our birthright. How dare we be a failure? How dare we take this wonderful life that God has bestowed on us and turn it into a flop. HOW DARE WE.
Today’s Exercise: Don’t listen to the crowd, listen to your heart.
Today’s Affirmation: I have a positive mental attitude, therefore I am a success.
Points to Ponder: How dare we be a failure? How dare we take this wonderful life that God has bestowed on us and turn it into a flop? How dare we.
Social Success
Boy, I could write a whole book on how I failed at being a social success. Put me at a cocktail party and I become a wallflower. You would find me standing in the corner eating carrot sticks. If we weren’t talking about business, I didn’t know what to say.
I was at a business meeting last week and the speaker was Boaz Rauchwerger, who showed us how to have a meaningful conversation. I wish I had known his technique fifty years ago. I could have used it when I was dating.
If you’re bashful or not much of a conversationalist, as I was, follow this outline when meeting a stranger, or talking to a fellow employee or any circumstance where you feel out of place.
Secret – Let the other person do all the talking, you control the questions.
Question #1: I’m just curious, where are you from originally? (In Florida, few people are originally from here.)
Question # 2: (If not from here) What brought you here? (If from here) Have you lived here all your life?
Question #3: Do you have a family? (Get names and ages)
Question #4: What do you do?
Question #5: What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Most people like talking about their roots and their history. Once you get someone to start talking with easy questions, they’ll usually find it easy to keep talking.
It’s better to be a good listener than a good talker. People will think you’re interesting and smart even though you haven’t really said anything.