The good that Paul writes about is a commitment of life to the sovereign will of God. It is complete trust in God. It is a conviction that cannot be blurred even by the reality of human suffering.

Unfortunately, unlike Paul, many of us do not trust God as our sovereign Lord. We spend so much of our time and energies running around trying to reason things out and only running into dead end streets. We have enormous difficulty understanding and accepting the obvious spiritual truth that being good does not mean only good things will happen to you. We think being “good” as it were, should exempt us from troubles and when it befalls us, we frantically search for hidden meanings. It is because we cannot find satisfying answers that a multitude of us are quite willing to toss our faith and God aside and spend the rest of our lives groping helplessly in the dark.

I have witnessed, and I am sure you have too, individuals crack under the strain of personal tragedy. We have all observed the aftermath of accidents and other unexpected deaths which claimed the life of one member of a family and functionally end the lives of five others. Because of some illness, or injury or rejection or disappointment or death, I have seen people undergo radical personality transformations. They were unable to reason out their circumstance. Their faith was shallow and predicated on reason.

If God is on the throne, then we can live confident that all things are working out for our good. If God is on the throne, we will see a good that goes beyond our finite understanding. This is what faith is. Faith is most clearly demonstrated when bad things happen. But we have trouble relying on God and trusting His sovereignty. We want to know everything. We want to know what we can’t know and keep ourselves confused and pessimistic. Seneca expressed this tendency well when he said,

“We fail to know what is necessary, because we utilize our time studying unnecessary things; we do not know what is good for us because we are consumed in studying only what injures us.”

We can struggle to ascertain all the answers and it will always be an exercise in futility for “who can know the mind of God?” Paul made it clear in 1 Corinthians 13:12; “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

The life of faith covers every single situation. Our endeavor to explain everything, establishing our own sense of well-being, will only throw all of life out of kilter. The affirmation comes at the point that we trust the sovereign God who created us, sustains us and offers us salvation through His incarnation and redemption in the person of Jesus Christ. For Christians, all things do work together for our good. We do need to be very advanced in years to look back and see how things we thought were so disastrous, worked out to a be a greater blessing than we could have ever hoped for.

Now, we must note the fact that according to Paul, things work together for the good only to those who love Him. If we love and trust and accept God; if we are convinced that God is the all–wise, all–loving Father, then we can accept and manage any difficulty that comes our way, regardless of how trying it may be. Epictetus once wrote:

Have courage to look up to God and to say, “deal with me Lord as you will. I am yours. I flinch from nothing so long as you think it is for my good. Lord, lead me where you will; put on me what you will; I will love and defend thee always before men.”

And Paul added another attachment to his assertion; things work together for the good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. The called are not merely those who receive an invitation, but they accept it, were born from above and know from experience the love of God.

When bad things happen, the faith that had been idle while good things happened, kicks in. When the road gets rough and the hills become hard to climb – faith; when we must walk through the valley of the shadow of death – faith; when our world crumbles around us and we cannot see any way out of the mess – faith; When we hear of tragedies visited upon the innocents – faith. When we cannot understand the why’s – faith.

Christians understand that the Bible does not state or even intimate that we will not suffer. Jesus’ life is our example life and His was a life of suffering. What the Bible does make clear is the promises of God. God has promised to be with us in our suffering and struggles. God has promised victory over temporal suffering in eternity. And that, my friends, is the key to understanding the reality of God’s promise that all things do work together for good. God is present with us. He is in our every circumstance.

God takes the pain, the hurt, the difficulty and walks with us through them – transforming our whole perspective on life. The essence of a surrendered life is the knowledge, the confidence, the faith that all things do work together for good in God’s eternal plan to those who love Him; to those who are called according to His purpose.

When bad things happen – FAITH!

Some of us love it, some of us hate it. Regardless, clothes shopping can be an expensive venture, and without proper planning and the careful consideration of certain factors, it can well turn into an exercise in futility, resulting in wasted time and money. To make your clothing budget stretch as far as possible, consider a few of these points before making your shopping list.

Probably the most important thing to consider when purchasing your wardrobe is to find pieces that work for you. A warehouse job does not dictate a three-piece suit, just as an office job does not dictate work boots or gloves. Since you spend 1/3 of your day at work and sometimes more, it’s important to have practical items in your closet that work for your job.

Make sure you try things on and buy the size that is right for you. You might be required to go down a size for some clothing lines, and up for others. Pay attention to the way it looks and the way it fits, not what the sizing tag says. Proper fitting clothes help you look better, and feel better as a result. They’ll also last longer if there are no stressed seams or are the correct length.

Build your wardrobe around basic elements. Suits and separates can form the foundation of a great working wardrobe. Single and double-breasted long-sleeved blazers with matching skirts for women or pants for men or women are essential basics. Avoid using trendy clothes as building blocks for your wardrobe foundation, because one they become dated, it will cause the rest of your wardrobe to crumble as a result. Purchase basic building pieces in two or three colors that best complement your color and personal style to build your wardrobe. You’ll then be able to mix and match pieces to create various looks quite simply and affordably.

After you’ve obtained the basics in the colors and fit that’s best for you, work on sorting your closet to make your morning routine simple and quick. Organize and categorize your clothing for easy selection and wearing. Hang jackets by sleeve length, color and garment length, or place near coordinating items to make finding a workable outfit easy.

A feeling of fulfillment is something we all seek. Here I would like to address this in a way that many of you already know at some level but which I feel is necessary to highlight.

If we look at the word “fulfillment” itself we find the concept of being “filled full”. I would like to show you that indeed this is literally what it means to be fulfilled.

If you wish, for a moment, think of something that makes you feel happy. Imagine this thing being in your life whenever you desire it. As you do this allow yourself to note how you begin to feel inside of yourself. Also notice where you feel these feelings.

Now if you followed closely I think many of you will likely have felt some or all of the following: feelings of joy, happiness, lightness, inner peace and contentment, buoyancy, and a feeling of expansiveness throughout some or all of your body.

Now, although many of you have likely felt something like this before have you ever stopped to consider what is actually happening here? On reflection I think you will likely agree that you are feeling more alive, more present, feeling more fully, and more fully in your body.

I think that you will likely also agree that this is what you mean by feeling “fulfilled”.

So let’s look at what we’ve just said. To be fulfilled means to feel yourself “fully in your body”! Does this sound strange to you? For instance, if one is feeling fully in one’s body when one is feeling fulfilled then what state are they in when they are not feeling fulfilled?

Well that is an important question because it clearly suggests that one is “not” fully in one’s body when one is not feeling fulfilled. Now I know that many regularly and metaphorically use the expression “you need to get into your body” in daily jargon. Here however I am going to stress the “literal” use of this expression rather than the metaphorical one.

What do I mean by this? Well the feeling of fulfillment which is associated with “feeling fully in one’s body” is actually an experience of one’s spiritual self occupying fully the body that belongs to them. In other words living fully within their body.

The fact that many individuals do not feel fulfilled means that their spiritual self is “not” living fully within their physical body. It’s like they have one foot in this life and one foot somewhere else.

Now I know that many will say that this is a normal and acceptable state to be in. If that is true then why is it that it is accompanied with such an undesirable feeling of unfulfillment? Additionally, why is it that living “fully” within one’s body is associated with a desirable and pleasurable state of fulfillment?

Each of us has far more potential to serve the Highest Cause, and each other, than we ever tap into. Many of us seeking to commit our lives to such service have, even if only briefly, considered leading or joining an established ministry – at least until the responsibilities associated with our real-world concerns reasserted themselves in our thoughts. How can we even begin to commit to a ministry service with all the work we currently do and all the responsibilities we have? Such a choice seems to be reserved for those with no families, no need to work (or a willingness to live in abject poverty for their cause) and none of the other demands on their time that most people have. I was agonizing over the same problems when the following question popped into my head:

Why do I have to join a ministry in order to do the work of a ministry?

I know the sort of things I want to accomplish, and the sort of change I want to affect in the world. Surely, if I put my mind to it, there could be any number of ways to take the sort of daily activities that we all need to attend to – the need to have a career and make a living, have a fulfilling social life and other “worldly concerns” – and rework them so that they accomplish their surface goals (such as getting the dry cleaning collected and the bills paid) while at the same time they are used as a vehicle to further my spiritual goals. In other words, to create a sort of free-ranging, one-woman ministry.

Then I realized that there were already people out there doing just this, famous people like Martin Luther King, Jr., Oprah Winfrey, Jimmy Carter, Maya Angelou and Dr. Patch Adams, as well as the less famous (but just as effective) individuals like the doctors who donate their time and expertise to healing the destitute or victims of war, disaster or crime, or even Joe and Jane Q. Public who dedicate their lives to a certain cause or concept, men and women of the world who used a personal tragedy, success or epiphany in their lives as a turning point in their behavior or as emotional currency to “fund” the creation of something greater than themselves. These people still had to eat and pay rent, still had families and jobs and social lives to attend to, but at the same time, they either did live or are currently living their lives as a full-blown ministry, serving the greater good as much as any organizational ministry under the “disguise” of living their lives to the fullest.

The truth that I have discovered is that each of us, with the right amount of support, creativity and an open mind, can find ways to turn our once normal and mundane lives into living works of spiritual art, not only through the obvious methods such as supporting our favorite causes and contributing our money to charities, but also by modeling the behavior of a spiritual leader, being available to help others at need, taking our own spiritual standards public (and not backing down when others want us to “play along” with unethical or un-loving activities) and taking responsibility to actively pursue the creation of a positive, nurturing environment for everyone.

For example: I am expressing my ministry by working for global change through personal evolution, and I do this not only through coaching, writing and speaking, but also by constantly seeking and finding ways to do good in everyday situations even if they don’t relate to my “career ministry” directly – such as smiling at everyone in order to contribute to and increase the positive attitude of the world around me, collecting aluminum cans on my walks with the dogs (I get a few pennies, non-renewable resources are recycled and the world is a cleaner place) and complimenting others on jobs well done or challenges well met, even if I don’t know those I am speaking to.

[Note: Yes, strangers may be flabbergasted to be complimented for, say, handling a toddler's screaming fit in a loving manner (and those of us who are shy may be just as strained by the exchange!). But it is really the responsibility of each of us to not only complain when we see someone mistreating someone else, behaving in a socially destructive way or creating an atmosphere of intimidation or endangerment for others, but to actively support and encourage those doing the opposite. Praise always reinforces good behavior much better than complaints do. If enough people feel that their efforts to do right are being appreciated and acknowledged, then over time the whole behavior base of the society changes as these people stick with the hard decisions and choices, and pass that ethic down to their children.]
The path to creating your own personal ministry is a matter of a few simple steps:

First, you need to begin work on getting your own house in order. You don’t need to be a perfect person, or even be able to play one on TV. But you do need to be in a position to focus on being the best “you” there is. After all, how far can the ministry get if the minister is kaput?

Second, you need a cause. This could be something as specific as raising money for at risk Latino children in a particular neighborhood, or as broad as creating a pocket of happiness around you wherever you go. It doesn’t matter what it is, just that you have a destination to head toward. “Random acts of kindness” are wonderful, but “targeted acts of will” get more done. (And don’t worry about getting “trapped” by a single idea that you may grow out of. It’s your ministry. If you decide to change horses mid-race then by all means, jump! Staying with a particular cause after you’ve lost your interest can only hamper your activities, and does a disservice to those you’re trying to help.)

Third, you need to contemplate what a ministry dedicated to the work you’ve decided to take on would do, besides the obvious activities. As an example, a ministry devoted to raising money for the blind does just that, but also does community outreach (informing the public, offering related services to the surrounding area and inviting help with their own work), partners with other ministries to initiate and implement broad-based projects and community aid strategies, and otherwise makes itself useful locally and in the bigger picture. As a ministry of one, this will also be your task.

Talk to people about your cause. Make up flyers and post them on corkboards at stores and public laundries. Call in to local radio shows whenever the topic veers reasonably close to your own and weave a “plug” for your cause into your question or comment. Write letters to the editor. Make or buy hats, t-shirts and/or nice, quality pins (available online as ‘metal name tags or badges’) that proclaim your purpose and wear them often in order to pique interest and start conversations. If you have access to a nice residence and wealthy (or even just generous) friends with charitable attitudes, invite them over for elegant full-dress “house parties” where you ask a speaker from the cause you support to give a presentation to the group and then round up donations (let everyone know ahead of time to bring their checkbooks) while your guests shmooze and network with the movers and shakers around town (who, if given enough warning, can usually be rounded up for a good cause and a good dinner). Don’t forget to invite the press, and use this public expression of “see and be seen” as an incentive – donors love to get their pictures in the paper handing out checks to good causes!

Fourth and finally, in the words of Mahatma Gandhi, be the change you wish to see in the world. If you are tired of the violence and me-me-me attitudes of modern life, don’t give in to surges of anger and frustration when someone butts in line ahead of you or wrongs you. If you are sick of all the unnecessary hunger and poverty in the world, don’t take the easy route in your own life by buying cheap merchandise made affordable only through the use of child, or slave, labor – and put down the less expensive brand of coffee that comes cheap through the exploitation of farmers unable to fight for a living wage without facing severe retribution. Walk your talk.

As no one raindrop believes itself responsible for the flood, we are all too easily convinced that our behaviors aren’t a “drop in the bucket” on such issues. But all those drops do add up. If you want proof, consider how many fast food places now have at least one vegetarian sandwich or food product on the menu every day, or how many garment companies now offer third-party inspection of their manufacturing plants and proudly flaunt “Sweatshop Free” stickers and labels. Only a handful of years ago that was wishful thinking. But enough people demanding it, and refusing to lower their standards and take what was offered, turned the tide and changed the world. If you won’t live the life that supports what you advocate, why should you expect anybody else do differently?

IMPORTANT! There is a fine line between devotion to a cause and an obsession. Part of the premise of the ministry of one is that you should seek to create a balanced life. If you become a repetitious, predictable, one-trick-pony stick-in-the-mud (you know what I’m talking about – the bore that everyone always avoids because they know exactly what the conversation will be and that there will be no escape), then your ministry will suffer rather than prosper. We can all bring to mind people who, while no doubt sincere and well-intentioned, did much more harm to their cause than any determined detractor could, simply by being unable to think about, talk about or take into consideration other topics for discussion. Don’t become one of them. Even the greatest religious leaders – Jesus Christ, Buddha, the Pope, Mother Teresa, Gandhi, etc., were able to take a little time off to smile and laugh with friends, family and community. Don’t neglect loved ones, or the other “non-ministerial” facets of your personality or dream life by getting too hung up on the central focus of your ministry. After all, you never know what pathway will lead you to where you need to be next.

By popular request, I thought I would put together this little list of simple things you can do to increase cash flow …sometimes, the most absurd and smallest practices seem to work better than a ritual that you have to make into a big dramatic production. I have tried these ones and they have at one time or another worked for me…

Every time you see a coin on the floor you are to stomp on it and go ‘Money on the floor, money on the door!’ Then pick it up and put it in your wallet.

Always keep a bowl of small change, (foreign or odd coins are best) in a bowl by your front door. Antique or old keys also bring money too.

Buy a jade plant. This is that small dwarf like plant with the big fleshy leaves. Put it by the front door, or in the northeast corner of your home… it also is helpful in the office. Keep the leaves clean and free from dust.

Write a cheque to yourself for the total amount of money you need and the date you need it by …It helps if you use gold pen and make the cheque look as official as possible. It is also good to anoint the cheque with Money Drawing Oil, which can be bought commercially, or if you don’t have that — bergamot, vetivert, cinnamon or orange oil. Then fold the check eight times and put it in a dark place. (This one once worked for me. I needed to make $120.0000 in one year. I made $80,000 and someone lent me another $20.000. So the Universe let me have one hundred thousand of it …I figure my lack of faith accounted for the shortfall.) This is an especially good one to do at New Year’s, on special holidays or your birthday.

Make a money tree. This is done usually at Christmas … but you could do it any time of the year. You find an old tree branch, which looks relatively like the body of a small tree and you actually attach money to it with clothespins. The idea is that whatever you attach is worth ten times as much. For instance if you attach a five dollar bill, it actually represents five hundred dollars. Don’t have any money? You can use monopoly money or even attach green slips of paper with the amounts written on it. I know it sounds nuts, but I have had surprising results with this one.

Short on cash? A quick fix is to buy a head of iceberg lettuce, sprinkle it with olive oil and salt, and eat the whole thing raw. Each time you take a mouthful, you think about all the green you need coming to you. All three ingredients represent security, money and stability.

Keep little pots of rosemary, sage, parsley, thyme and basil at your front door or on windowsill. These herbs are thought to draw money to you… as long as they are kept healthy and alive.
Make a God Box. Find a beautiful box, any size will do…but just make sure you really like the box. Decorate it with images that you really like, and that will represent how serene you will feel once you are out of debt. I made a little gold one and put stars on it. (Actually this is a great project for you if you have kids because the God Box can be used for other requests besides money.) Make a little slit in the top, so it becomes like a suggestion box. If you find yourself in need, you write your request on a piece of paper and drop it in the box. I once did this, and after the end of a year, as I looked at my requests I was amazed at how many of my wishes were taken care of… about ninety percent. I think this works because once you write it on the piece of paper, it causes you to detach from anxiety about the matter or its outcome because you are giving your problem to a higher power to take care of.

Ok, this one is my favorite, because it is just such a joy to do and it always puts me in a great mood. Fill your pockets with all the shiny spare change you have …then, at night, preferably when the Moon is going from its New to Full phase, you sneak out to the playground and hide the coins at the bottom of the slide, under the swing set, in the sandbox…in the wading pool…anywhere where a delighted child might possibly find the coin. Don’t let anyone see you do this. It is supposed to be a secret. This practice plays with the laws of circulating prosperity and somehow, I find, that the child’s surprise and delight somehow becomes your own, in your own life, thanks to the benevolent cosmic law that says that what you put out comes back to you tenfold…a found coin is such a treasure to a small child, maybe the Universe will bring you a treasure as well.

What really binds us to any negative emotional state in which we find ourselves suffering is this: choice.

Freedom from negative behavior and thoughts must begin with your recognition that you are voluntarily serving that which puts your own emotional and spiritual peace at risk. Notice the use of the word voluntarily. You voluntarily choose to serve that which diminishes your own well-being and psycho-spiritual health. When we adopt a negative attitude, we are boxing with ourselves. We are undermining our own emotional health. It is a personal vendetta against ourselves that negates our chances for happiness.

If you want to stop allowing yourself to be sucked down into the quicksand of negativity, there are some things you must do beginning with taking note of how often you disable yourself with your own negative thoughts.

It is important to realize that when we think an adverse thought we bury it even deeper into our consciousness. It is a lot like being in quicksand. If you squirm in it, you will sink deeper. The same is true with negativity, if you keep thinking it (which is tantamount to squirming); it will become more deeply entrenched in your consciousness. In other words, we pave the way for it to become an even stronger actuality in our life. Negative thoughts, words and attitude arouse negative and unhappy moods and actions. When the mind is negative, poisons are released into the spirit, which cause more unhappiness and negativity. Negative thinking is the way to frustration, disappointment, failure and ultimate despair.

I recall a young woman who had given a workshop presentation. When she reviewed the feedback she received from participants, she was stunned that someone had written about how awful she was. The person even utilized a few expletives and emphasized that he would never attend another workshop where she was scheduled to present. She was devastated and vowed to never give another presentation. How unfortunate.

The problem in this scenario is not with the negative feedback the presenter received. Rather, it is with how the presenter chose to interpret it. She had at least five options (probably more). One, ignore it. Two, consider it humorous and dismiss it. Three, accept it as a right of opinion and nothing more. Four, reflect upon her presentation to assess if there were areas that needed improvement. Or, as she apparently did, internalize the negative into her consciousness, thereby setting herself up for defeat and self-pity.

And, in so doing, she is misusing and subverting the only creative power there is; that vital, dynamic substance in us, that God-given power which lies innate in every man, the power to speak it into being. God spoke existence into being.

When you talk negatively about yourself or to yourself, you bring into being that which you speak. Your own self-defeating, negative, pessimistic thinking will make you a self-defeating, negative, pessimistic individual. And, whether you realize it or not, you attract what you think. That is to say, if you think negative, you will attract the universal negative force into your life. If you think self-defeat you will attract all the forces of self defeat.

This is why negative people tend to “hang out” together. They feed on each other’s negativity as it grows within each of them. Suffering with chronic negativity, they distort their spiritual image and become their own victims. They willingly and voluntarily victimize themselves. How sad.

Most people are not aware of how negative they really are. Throughout the course of normal conversation, they bombard themselves with negative talk. Even people who are aware of the power of their words seem to miss some of the most commonly used derogatory comments that are made towards themselves and/or others in the course of normal conversation.

All negative assumptions about our lives are a painful prophecy made up by that deep inner part of us that not only want us to see ourselves as failures but, once having convinced us of it, actually cause the undesired outcome. You see what I mean? These negative assumptions that pop up in us about ourselves, others, the world; that darken our aspirations for a higher, more fulfilling life, are much like the beauty of fire emanating from burning logs in the fireplace. The fire has no power over us unless we voluntarily choose to stick our hand into it.

Spiritually, you loose your sense of connectedness, as you flounder around searching for the answers as to what went wrong, how could it have been done differently? Why did I behave like that? Why did the other party behave like that? What’s wrong with me? All those questions you fling around at no-one in particular vowing never to be hurt, or caught off guard, or to give your trust again, and in so doing you deny your very soul. You infect your spiritual self, that part of you that has always had a higher view of life; that part of you that knows that there is a tomorrow and a future.

Drop the negations. We have no room for this type of foolishness in our lives. Allowing negatives to define your life is an insult to your integrity and dignity as a human being. Negativity is your worst enemy. It is important that you understand this. You must fight against the enemy for you own survival’s sake. You must reject all negative thoughts that would control you. You have no other options. Survivor or victim, the choice is yours.

Take conscious control of your self-talk. The things you say to yourself in your mind, as well as the meaning you attribute to events in your life, combine to create the reality you end up living. Stop seeing the worst in yourself and in everything that happens to you. Stopping negative thinking is vital. It is our thoughts and expectations that shape and produce what we become and the quality of our lives is a direct result of them.

Learn to be comfortable with yourself. That is, accept yourself.

Allow the light of God to remove all the dark and negative conditions from your consciousness. From the wonderful place within, perceive the glory of the all encompassing Energy and your oneness with His living, never-ceasing flow of love in this uplifted consciousness which transcends and obliterates every adversity in the outer world.

The power of thought is man’s greatest gift from God, and it is one of our greatest blessings: the mind and spirit can at any time change its thought. Instead of thinking negative, debilitating thoughts, lift up your mind and think wonderful thoughts. Recall the words of the apostle Paul:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable; if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. Philippians 4:8.

Think of the powers within you. You have the power to not only believe but to choose your beliefs. This glorious power of mental choice, of absolute freedom is your point of connectedness with God’s power. With this power, you can mold and form your every thought, endeavor, and purpose as an individual. And guess what? You can use the potency of your own thoughts to improve every phase of your human condition or you can choose not to use it in this manner.

Whenever you choose negatively, you are denying and burying the elixir of life and joy that is your free gift from the Source of all life and joy. Nothing compares to the great awakening to the power within. You have the power to express yourself in all types of creative ways, and succeed. You also have the power to express yourself in self-defeating ways, and to fail. Change the character of your thoughts. Shift your center of attention, altar your way of thinking about yourself and others.

What are negative thoughts other than self torment? No one else can hear them nor be harmed by them. Remember, what really binds us to any negative emotional state in which we find ourselves suffering is this: choice. Make the choice to drop the negations.

Everybody has bad habits. Everybody. Now granted, some people have less than others and some people’s bad habits are more grating than those of others, but we all have them. What is great is that we don’t have to!

Imagine a life where you couldn’t change? What kind of life would that be? But we can, so let’s!

There are two kinds of bad habits: Those you know you have that others may or may not know about, and those you don’t know you have but everybody else knows you have!

For the sake of everybody involved we ought to get rid of them all, right?

Well Chris, how can I get rid of a bad habit if I don’t know I have it? Simple, but hard. Ask somebody to be brutally honest with you! You might think, “Yeah, but I’ll be embarrassed.” Would you rather everyone talk behind your back? Get up the courage and ask. Ask somebody who loves you and has your best interest in mind. Be gracious and don’t defend your self. Just accept it and work on it.

What about the ones we know about – which are all of them once your good friend tells you the ones you were missing? Those are the tough ones. How do I know they are tough? They must be tough if you know about them and yet you still have them! If they weren’t tough, they would be FORMER bad habits! Got me? Good!

So how do you break a bad habit? How do you give it the boot out of your life? Here are a few things that must be a part of the plan in order to see that stuff gone forever!

1. You must want them to go. That’s right, some people want them to stick around. I have seen dads choose alcohol over their grandchildren. I have seen smokers continue smoking while watching their parents die of emphysema. They don’t want them to go. The first thing is to go deep into the recesses of your heart and ask, “Do I really want to give this up?”

2. You do? Good. Step two: Make up a list of all of the reasons you want to quit your bad habits. Make them positive. Make the list long! Start with the really powerful and dramatic if you need to. Now memorize them. Put them in your mind. You are making connections between stopping the bad behavior with what good things you will get from doing so. If you want to lose weight, then picture yourself slim and looking good in those skinny people clothes! If you want to stop smoking, picture your wife actually kissing you rather than sending you to the bathroom to brush your teeth!

3. Choose. That is right. Once you have the information, this comes down to one thing: It is an act of the will. Choose to do it. Say to yourself throughout the day, “I am choosing to…” Eisenhower rightly said, “The history of free men is written not by chance but by choice, their choice.” It is your choice. You can write your history.

4. Take action! Point four is tricky because there are two philosophies about this. One theory is that you must take massive action. You must go all or nothing. Using the weight loss example, this person would go spend $500 to join a gym, rework their schedule and hit the treadmill everyday for a year. They will get rid of all fat in the house. They go all out! That works for some. Others would burn out on that, feel like failures and be worse off than before. They should start out slow, taking baby steps, but working diligently toward a planned goal. This person would decide to start walking three days a week. They would decide to limit dessert to two nights a week, down from seven. See how this works? Either way is okay as long as you get to the goal eventually. Which one am I? The first two people to email me with the correct guess will win a “Best Test” CD.

5. Tell somebody. This is your accountability partner. Tell them your goal and tell them your plan. Write it down for them and have them ask you on regular intervals about your progress. This will prove invaluable!

6. Recover from failure. Inevitably most people will have setbacks. The key is to have them be setbacks and not turnbacks! Pick yourself up and get going again. Some people may want to lose 30 pounds and after losing fifteen they eat a gallon of ice cream. Then they feel bad and give up. Don’t! Reset your goal for another two weeks and get going again. Chalk it off to experience! Say to yourself, “Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn.”

7. Reward yourself. That’s right. You should regularly congratulate yourself by rewarding yourself with some gift to yourself. Start small with small victories and plan a big one when you are finally and for sure over the habit.

Is it that simple? Most of the time, no. Habits are hard to break. There are so many intangibles that it would be hard to cover them all. But this is a simple and workable plan that will help you make great strides if you apply the principles.

Get going! Give those bad habits a boot! Good luck!

One of the main reasons that may hinder us from reaching our
innermost goals and desires is our inability to be flexible.

This fact may be hard to swallow, but it’s true. We do
everything we can to eliminate any type of suffering in our
lives, yet challenges and pressures can bring out the best
in us.

If you have been burdened by mistakes in the past, learn from
them, forget about them, and move on. Some people tend to
focus on how bad their lives have been due to these mistakes.
As a result, they remained stuck in their miserable lives.

Treat your mistakes as lessons, and apply them as learning
references in your future endeavors.

So what if you invested in a business and you lose a ton of
money? In this situation, some people would remain deeply
discouraged for a long time that their personal lives are
being affected negatively. They can’t eat well and they
just stare at the ceiling all night long, thinking how this
bad incident happened. Furthermore, they would probably vow
not to venture into new opportunities again.

You don’t have to be like them. If you’re afraid to fail,
then you risk all your chances to achieve your goals in life.
Try again; but this time, be more careful and use your past
mistakes as guide maps.

Look at it this way. If you try, at least you get a 50%
chance of getting what you want. But if you did not try
at all, you have absolutely no chance of attaining your
desires in life. It’s a no-brainer.

But when you try, make sure you follow through. I’ve met
so many people who have accepted my proposal to write
reports for me, but most of them would stop right in the
middle of their work and quit. They have the drive to
start, but they lack the motivation to go through all the
difficulties. Yes, this is another fact of life. Those
who persist may have some hell of a time at present, but
they shall have the last laugh.

Let’s fast forward into the future. Let’s say you did try,
you followed through, and you succeeded. Congratulations.
So you became wealthy by reaping the fruits of your labor.
This does not mean you’ll stay in that situation for good.
Problems may rise again, so always be ready to adjust to
the current situation. The only thing permanent in this
world is change.

If you need to sacrifice something for a better cause,
then do it. If you have to miss your favorite show on
TV or if you have to deny your friends’ invitation to go
out on a Saturday night so that you can devote more time
to those activities that will lead you closer to your
goals, so be it.

You may encounter difficulties. You may receive criticisms.
You may even be regarded as being “different” or “strange”
by other people. Don’t let them discourage you. Just
keep on striving, and success will be yours for the taking.

If it is very natural for a person to talk about themselves and their business, how can you be patient and slip a salient point in to solve someone else’s problems?

As noted, patience is a virtue. Without patience we would move at break-neck speed without taking time to reflect on others’ thoughts and words. In order to really understand what they have said, we have to firstly spend time listening, and then we must practice patience before talking ourselves, giving us time to assimilate what was said. And listening patiently means waiting until they have finished talking. It can sometimes be very annoying when a person goes on and on. This person is not likely aware that they are boring those around them, but if you take time to really listen to what they have to say, you may learn something new. The person is not likely aware that they are taking all the air time in the room either. In this situation, it is best to allow them to talk while interjecting a couple of questions now and then.

It may seem like you are egging them on (and in a way you are) but in reality you are practicing patience by allowing them to talk with you, steering them in the direction you would like them to go. Even as they are talking you should be making mental (or written notes) about their topic – especially if it has to do with some business pain that your company can solve for them. Being patient is probably one of the most difficult things to do, but it has its own rewards for the listener. Just think about a time when you waited in line and ended up being the last one served just before the teller closed and they had some left over goodies for you to take. The patience paid off.

So you have asked the questions, spent your time listening to the other person and secretly taken mental notes on the answers. Now it is time to make a decision as to whether there is a possibility of doing business with this person. If so, it is not a simple question of asking for a meeting, and definitely not simply collecting their business card. Everything is timing, and this is about timing the best way to exchange information.

Are you having a difficult time pinpointing what you want out of life? If I were to ask you to tell me EXACTLY what you want out of life, would you be able to do it?

The answer nine times out of ten will be a resounding, “NO!”

Don’t feel bad if you aren’t clear on what you want out of life. The truth of the matter is most people have no idea what they want or what makes them happy.

Why? Because they have spent most of their live making other people happy. Or, they just sort of went with the flow, never taking the time to figure out exactly what they wanted out of life.

It’s funny but we spend days planning our summer vacation. We spend years planning our wedding day (not the part about being married, oftentimes, we don’t bother to even think too much about that—but the wedding day—we have it down pat.) We even plan what we are going to do Friday night.

But the most important thing that should be planned—our life—very rarely, if ever, is planned.

If you find yourself stressed out and/or living below your fullest potential, you have no one else to blame but yourself.

Stop it! Just Stop It!

No more excuses.

If you do not have the health that you desire, or the wealth that you desire, or the career that you desire, or the relationship that you desire, or whatever else you desire—stop making excuses for why you don’t have it—and start making plans to GET IT.

But in order to make plans, you must first know what you want.

You can’t go after something if you don’t know what you are seeking.

The bible tells us, “seek and ye shall find.”

But how do you seek something if you don’t know what you are looking for?

Yeah, you know you want a better life.

Yeah, you know that you are not being fulfilled in someway, but in what ways?

Ever took the time to really think about it?

If not, why not?

BE SPECIFIC!!!

There are awards to being specific.

When you know what you want, God will bring circumstances in your life to fulfill your desires. He will bring people into your life that will help you get to the next level. He will bring situations and ideas to you. He will bring all the help that you need to achieve the thing that you desire.

BUT YOU MUST BE SPECIFIC FIRST!!

Knock and the door shall be opened.

But there are millions of doors. Which one should you knock on?

Do you know?

If you are specific about what you want, you will be led to the correct door that holds the answers to your desires.

Door Number Three, Please!!!

If I led you to a room with millions of doors, would you know which door held the keys to your desires? And, if you opened a door, would you know, right off the bat, if the desires that were behind the door, were indeed your desires?

You would have no way of telling unless you KNOW WHAT YOU WANT AND ARE AS SPECIFIC AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN.

It’s not enough to want a lot of money. A lot of money to one person may not be a lot of money to another person.

If one person spent $2,500 on a pair of shoes; some folks might think they were crazy for spending that amount of money on a pair of shoes. While others might say, “What? You got those shoes for only $2,500? Tell me where you got them. I’m going to get me three pairs?” So stating that you want “a lot” of money is NOT being specific.

Stating that you want to make $250,000 this year is being specific.

Stating that you want to find a job that fulfills your purpose, but not knowing what your purpose is—is not being specific.

But stating that you want to help students who are seniors in high school, make the correct decisions on what to study while they are college, so they could live the best life that they can live—is
specific.

ACTION POINT: Spend sometime this week thinking about the things that you desire in your life. Think about all the things that are important to you and write them down somewhere so you won’t forget them. I’m not telling you to do anything at all that would require you to become physically active and DO something. I’m just asking you to find time to write down the things that you desire or want with your life. Think of EVERYTHING you can think of that would make you the happiest and be as SPECIFIC as you possibly can.

Life is very short and has the tendency to fly by before you know it. It only makes sense to be as happy as you possibly can with the amount of time you have left to live!! In order to do that, you must first know what makes you happy—specifically.