by Brian on October 7, 2009
Good day my fellow readers. How are you doing today. I hope all is well with you today. So what are you doing right now to change the world? Has someone ever asked you such a question? If they have, then congratulations. You have some cool friends!
So I ask once again. What are you doing to change the world? Some people may reply that it is impossible for one person to change the world or the world doesn’t want to be changed or no one can change the world!!! But I’ll ask still one more time. What are you doing to change the world?
I was looking at this movie recently called Pay it Forward and you will see the trailer for it at the bottom of this post and it asks the question what are we doing to change the world?
So how can we change the world? How can I a mere human being living in a small Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago change the world? Well I can change the world by ‘paying it forward.’ Now what do I mean by that statement?
Well every human being has two needs that I will like to share today and I must give credit to my mentor John Maxwell for this. We have the need :-
- For help and
- To help
That’s right. No one is so gifted that they can do everything and no one is so ‘ungifted’ that they can’t do anything!!! We all need help and we all should desire to help others.
A simple act of kindness on your part is your way of paying it forward; it’s your way of returning the help you got from someone else. By using your gifts and talents and opportunities that come your way each day to help someone who cannot help themselves that is your way of changing the world.
If you do one good thing each day for one person you would have played a part in changing 365 people in this world and if they in turn touch someone else who then touches others we all be playing a massive part in changing the world.
The world is calling for you, the world needs you and it wants what you can offer to it to make it a better place. So once again, what are you doing to change the world?
by Brian on October 5, 2009
The Secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda- John Maxwell
Okay in today’s post I will like to talk to you on the importance of ‘Today’. Dr. John Maxwell wrote a book called Today Matters and if you do not have a copy of that book I strongly recommend that you get it because he shares a lot of wisdom you can apply in your daily life in order to achieve success tomorrow.
You see if we want to achieve success tomorrow, we need to take action today because what we do today is what will determine what happens tomorrow. Someone once said that yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery but today is a gift which is why we call it the present! So what are you doing with ‘Today’.
Are you using it wisely or just going with the flow? Just allowing time to just fly by and take its course on its own. We need to use today wisely. Anyone who wants to achieve anything tomorrow will have to use the days before the tomorrow to achieve the results. We look at those Olympic Athletes that take the stage every 4 years and when we see a Usain Bolt or other great athlete, we wonder how they got so strong.
It’s all because they took advantage of today!! For years upon years they have been training and practising each day for the olympics and they had to make each day count in order to become as good as they are. That’s why they become so great. It’s not because of talent or ability but it’s because of dedication to a cause that needs to be prepared for each and every day and they needed to make each day count. We see the glory but we don’t know the story!!!
If someone takes an axe and just strikes it 5 times each day on a tree, it will eventually fall down. The day that it falls down is not the greatest day but it was the combination of striking the tree 5 times each day that cause it to tumble down!!
So my question to you is what are you doing with ‘Today’. Are you using it wisely? Remember that Today Matters and if you want to be successful start taking action today and each day after that and in due season your ‘harvest time’ will appear and everyone will be asking themselves how did you get to become so great and you will just simply reply that ‘Today Matters’!!!
by Brian on September 29, 2009
Are you the type of person who has lots of ideas? Sometimes hundreds, sometimes thousands? I am sure you have had a lot. Maybe you just read a book or listened to your favorite motivational speaker and he shared some good ideas!! What did you do with all of these ideas? I am sure that you are like most people who do nothing with their ideas?
So what do you do with all these ideas? How many do you actually use? How many ideas have you thrown away in the air that could have probably made your life so much better if you had used them? How many ‘aha’ moments have you had in your life that you failed to utilize.
The great psychologist Alfred Adler once said ‘I am grateful for the idea that have used me.’ It was one idea that changed the course of this man’s life!!! A study was done among successful people and what they found in common with all of them is that they used a concept which is now known as Speed of Implementation.
I heard of this concept from my mentor Eben Pagan. What this simply means is that successful people have a habit of whenever they get an idea, they do not question whether it’s a good idea or not, whether it will work or not, whether people will accept it or not. They simply implement it right away so they can get feedback as to whether to continue to use the idea, whether to tweak it or whether to throw the idea away.
You need to develop this concept called the Speed of Implementation. Let’s say for example you are trying to gain some energy in your life cause you tend to feel tired a lot and someone tells you to try drinking more water and see if that makes a difference. Why not implement it right away and see if you feel a bit better. Don’t argue as to why you cannot drink more water, or whether this concept is too old it will never work. Just drink some more water and see how you feel.
You need to get all of those ideas out of your head and start taking action on them. This is the best way to make use of your ideas. If you’re in business and you have an idea on how to get more customers then try it out and see what happens. Marketers call this testing. You need to test your ideas to see whether they will bear fruit or not.
Doing nothing with your ideas is robbing you from tremendous success and learning experiences. Next time you get an idea write it down somewhere and see how quickly you can implement it. It’s called the Speed of Implementation. Try it out and let me know what you learn in this process.
That’s the best way to make the best use of your ideas!!!
by Brian on September 27, 2009
In this video Charlie Tremendous Jones talks about why it is important that you work to get what you want instead of getting the ‘free lunch’. He shares a very entertaining story of how he made his son work for money and grow into a better person at the same time!!!
by Brian on September 22, 2009
Ok now that is one extremely serious question that everyone needs to answer at some point in their life. How many people just go through life without even pondering this question? How many people work in jobs that they hate because they never took the time to ponder this question carefully!!!
So what do you really want from life? Have you ever thought about this question before? Tony Robbins says that the quality of your life is determined by the quality of the questions that you ask yourself and this is one extremely important question you need to ask yourself.
You see most people tend to sell themselves short and start to settle for less than they deserve because they never took the time to decide what they want from life. Most people are married to the wrong spouse, they work in the wrong job, they do the wrong things, they just have no idea what they want in life because they never took the time to find out what they want.
Mark Twain said that ‘I can help anyone get what they want. The problem is I can’t seem to find anyone who can tell me what they want.’ That is a good quote from the legendary writer. What do you really want in life? When we were younger we knew what we wanted to become when we grew up. Now that we have grown up we begin to rationalize as to why we could never be these things and we lose the little dreamer that we had inside of us when we were children.
You need to learn to decide what you want from life and go after these things. Decide the kind of mate you want then go and get her. Most marriages are failing because people are willing to settle for anyone and not the one they deserve. Some may marry a rich person for their money and then wonder why they aren’t feeling fulfilled in their marriage!!!
Some people go after jobs because they hear it pays well and then when they finally get it, they are ready to quit cause they do not feel fulfilled in their jobs. My advice to you who are reading this right now, is to take tomorrow off and begin to ponder what you want in your life. What kind of job, what kind of skills, what kind of mate, what kind of car etc do you want from this life.
After doing this you need to ask yourself another important question. That question is -Who do I need to be to get all of these things? Because in order to get things you never had, you have to become someone you’ve never been!!! Then begin to work to become such a person. It will not happen overnight but step by step, day by day, skill by skill, habit by habit you will begin to move further towards the things you want from life and not the things you are willing to settle for in life.
So I leave you with the same question. What do you want from life!!!
by Brian on September 19, 2009
Don’t look to become a person of success, look instead to become a person of Value! – Albert Einstein
Now isn’t that one awesome quote. I have to admit that it is one of the best there is and no better person to say it than the brilliant Scientist Albert Einstein!!!
So what do you understand by that quote? Everyone talks about being successful and wanting to be described as a success but he is focusing on creating value!! Now how does this apply to your life?
Are you adding value to the people around you or taking away from them? Are you an addition or a subtraction in people’s lives?
So what does it mean to add value to someone’s lives? How can you do this? Do you need to have a million dollars, become a skilled athlete or be a famous person in order to add value to other people? Off course not!!!
To become a person of value look for ways each day in which you can help a certain someone!! You see an old woman coming to your church but she is struggling to make it up the flight of stairs. Why not lend her a hand? That’s creating value!!!
You’re in a job and your boss asks you to do something that is not in your job description but you willingly do it. Now that is adding value to your boss and I am sure that when the issue of promotion comes up, your boss will remember that you added value to the workplace!!!
Some employees hate the thought of doing something that is not in their job description and they refuse to do such duties. These are the same employees who always gets bypassed when it comes to promotion and they are quick to blame external things and not look at the person in the mirror and blame them!!!
My friends, the world is crying out for you to make a difference!! A simple hello, a simple smile may look like small things but they sure add a lot of value to the person who receives it!! The little things in life are indeed the big things!!
As you get up each day ask yourself how can I add value to someone this day!!! Let this become a habit and pretty soon you will be the person that people celebrate and not tolerate. You will be the one people consider to be a success and by adding value to other people you are indeed working your way to being a person of success as well because the person that adds value will not remain in the same position all of their life but will go on to great and mightier things!!!
Someone once said ‘I shall go this way but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show for any human being let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it for I shalt not pass this way again!!!’
The whole purpose of this blog is to add value to the readers who I hope will share these messages to add value to other people as well!
If this has added value to you share it with other people as well. Take care my friends!!!
by Brian on September 15, 2009
Ok today I have a really serious post that I want to talk about. It is on the concept of love. How do you know when someone really loves you? I am not talking about boyfriend-girlfriend love. I am talking love of each other in general because many people do say they love you but when put to the test they sure fail the love test.
Now tell me what exactly is love? How do you know if someone really loves you? When I look at society today I see an absense of real love!!! Everyone says they love you, they are your best friend but at the times when you need them most they betray that love!!!
I am a Christian and I live by that standard but I see a lot of people in churches and other religious institutions who fail the love test when put to the test. Now what exactly is this love test I am talking about???
I am talking about the ability to love someone unconditionally!!! If I call you friend then I should love you ‘no matter what’!!! What do I mean by that statement?
Let me give you some examples to illustrate the point. If I am your parent and you are my child and you are an A Student and you continue to do well in school and I am always boasting in you and letting you know how much I love you etc. What happens if your grades begin to drop? Do I stop loving you? For some parents that is the impression they give their children?
If I am a church member and the whole of our faith is centered around love, how do I react to a fellow church member who gets caught in sin. Do I stop loving them and calling them my brother? If I do then my whole religion was in vain and I am a fake!!!
You need to love the child whether they are passing their exams or not, whether they are on drugs or not, whatever the reason I believe Love that is Unconditional will conquer everything else. Ancient wisdom says to hate sin but love the sinner!!!
I will really like to hear your comments on this post!! What is real love and is it demonstrated today and most importantly do you demonstrate it!!!
by Brian on September 11, 2009
Have you ever heard such a saying? ‘Your attitude determines your altitude?‘ That is so true and if we are willing to take that saying seriously it will help us a whole lot to move even further in our life and achieve greater things than we have ever achieved!!!
There are lots of things that we do not have control over but we do have control over our response to those things. I remember watching the FIFA World Cup 2006 final between Italy and France and we saw a perfect example of attitude being displayed. One Italian seemed to insult one of the French and then the Frenchman headbutted the Italian causing himself to be sent off the game and possibly costing his side the World Cup. What makes it bad is that this Frenchman was a Legend in the game of Football and this was his last game and this is how he will be remembered!!!
I am sure that you have witnessed many times in your life how attitude determines altitude. Someone once said that it’s not what happens to us that is important but what we do or how we respond to what happens to us that makes all the difference!!!
One man says ‘I am not giving any money to that bum cause he probably has a lot of other money that he begged for throughout the day,’ while another man freely gives him the money knowing that he has done a good turn for that day.
To be successful you need to have a success attitude and to be unsuccessful you need a negative attitude. One person goes to a job and says ‘I hate the boss, I hate the people, I hate the work, it all stinks!!!’ while another person says that even though they may not like the way the boss operates they have money coming in each month, they live close to their workplace, they get a pension plan etc.
The same situation but different attitudes. Your attitude determines your altitude!!! I want to encourage you to work on your attitude. The greatest part of our happiness depends not on our positions but our dispositions!!!
by Brian on September 7, 2009
Are you the type of person who is afraid of being different? Are you the type who is to scared to differ from the crowd. Are you afraid of what people may say if you try to go after your goal and fail. One of the fundamental keys to success and happiness is to be different.
It’s really true. Someone once said that the opposite of courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. People behaving like everyone else. To really make it in this life you have to accept that you will need to be different than the majority of people you interact with.
Your habits need to be different, your thoughts, your attitude, your personality; they all need to be different than the majority of people around you. Most people are too scared to go after their dreams because they are afraid of what people may say if they fail to achieve their dream. One thing I can guarantee you is that if you do not go after your dream, your dream will not go after you.
You do not achieve success by luck. You achieve success by hard work. While most of the people are sleeping, you are awake going after your dream, while most people are on their cell phones gosipping, you are on your cell phone looking for new clients, while most people are watching ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’ you are building a million dollar business.
You need to learn to accept that you need to learn to accept that you need to be different. When you are different, you will live a different lifestyle than people who want to be like the crowd. If you look at all successful people in the past, they were different than the majority of people in their time.
My advise to you today is to learn to appreciate the differences you may have with other people and show the people that by being different, you are making a difference in your life, their lives and in the world at large. DO NOT BE AFRAID TO BE DIFFERENT!!!
by Brian on September 5, 2009
In Part 1 we talked about what a journal is and why it is important that you use one to glean information that you got during the day.
Theodore Roosevelt said “The only man who makes no mistakes is the man who never does anything. Do not be afraid of mistakes providing you do not make the same mistake twice.”
Now when you keep a journal you can be wise like Roosevelt and avoid making the same mistake twice. Many times we make mistakes and we fail to learn from them. If we had kept a journal we would have been able to learn from our past mistakes.
Another way for us to use a journal is for when we are reading a book or listening to a motivational tape or hearing a speech or something like that. I actually have one of those 5 in 1 notebooks from Papermate as a journal. You can choose your own type of book for a journal. I’ll just share how I use mine in this post.
I divided up my journal into 5 different categories and whenever I read or get something pertaining to that category I jot it in there. The 5 categories I have are Motivational, Spiritual, Health, Relational, Ideas. I usually try to fit in the things that I gather into one of these categories.
Many times we read a book and then forget everything we read. This is why you should keep a journal and record everything. I highly recommend you get a copy of Jim Rohn’s How to use a journal.
Make sure that at least once a week you go through all that you learnt over the previous week and try to make it a habit to do this weekly. By doing this continuously you show the world that you are indeed a very serious student and you really want to make a difference in your own life.
So what are you waiting on. Get out there and Start Journalling!!!
