by Napoleon Hill

Mental attitude is a two-way gate across the path of life which can be swung one way into the path that leads to success and the other way into the road that leads to failure. What a profound thought it is to recognize that the one thing which can bring us success or failure, bless us with peace of mind or curse us with misery all the days of our lives, is simply the privilege of taking possession of our own minds and guiding them to whatever ends we choose, through our mental attitude!

Your mental attitude is the major factor which attracts people to you in a friendly spirit of cooperation, or repels them, according to whether your attitude is positive or negative; and you are the only person who can determine which it shall be.

Your mental attitude is an important factor in the maintenance of sound health. All doctors know that a patient’s mental attitude is vitally important in the cure of physical ailments.

Mental attitude is the warp and the woof of all salesmanship, regardless of what one is selling - merchandise, personal services, sermons, or any other idea or commodity. A person with a negative mind can sell nothing. He may take an order from someone who buys something from him, but no selling was done. Perhaps you have seen this truth demonstrated in many retail stores where the minds of the “sales people” clearly were not directed toward pleasing the customers.
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Ok, I have a 2.5 year old baby girl and a 6.5 year old son. They are constantly telling me what they want. “I want this, daddy! I want that, daddy!” What they don’t realize is that wanting, hoping and wishing for things, just don’t work. It would seem that most adults don’t realize this either, so it inspired this blog post.

When you want, wish or hope for anything, what happens is the universe listens… and you receive the feeling of “wanting, wishing or hoping”… you DON’T actually GET what you are wishing, wanting and hoping for. Instead you get the feeling and experience of wanting.

“So, Travis”, you say… “How are we to manifest our desires then?”

Well, this is tricky… Instead of wanting, wishing and hoping… you DECIDE in advance the outcome you desire. You CHOOSE for things to be. When you focus on your decision and your choices, then the universe and God work in a different way. It combines effort with your subconscious mind to help you FIND the way to make your desire occur.

It is better to give your mind decisions and choices, as it can work FOR you, instead of AGAINST you as it does when you are wanting, wishing and hoping.

Does this make sense?

This is truly “The Secret” to making things happen for you in this life. Decide in advance. Create the pathway and then walk down the pathway you created. Everything starts in the mind as a thought. When we then desire something, instead of wanting, wishing and hoping… you MUST DECIDE IN ADVANCE YOUR OUTCOME. If you remember this, you will be successful beyond your expectations. No Wanting. No Wishing. No Hoping. Just deciding.

It’s that simple. Now all I need to do is to get my kids to understand this principle.

Successfully,

Travis Wright

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We first make our habits, and then our habits make us - John Dryden

I have previously written about how the habit of Exercising Every Day has helped me tremendously. Doing something every day is such a powerful way to form a habit that I thought I would make a list of 24 habits that are worth doing on a daily basis. Note: I have divided these into morning, day and night although some could obviously be under different headings.
The Morning
1. Wake Early: I am a big fan of waking at 5am and spending time working on myself before going to work. I have written more about this habit here.

2. Exercise: when I had the goal of exercising 4 times a week I found it was very easy to tell myself I will exercise tomorrow instead. Setting the expectation of daily exercise removed this as a potential excuse and I have since reaped the benefits of this daily habit.

3. Review or (even better) Rewrite Your Goals: each day I try to get closer to achieving my short, medium and long term goals. Starting the day by reviewing or rewriting my goals means that I have better awareness of them throughout the day. As Robin Sharma says:

With better awareness you can make better choices and when you make better choices, you will see better results.

4. Read and/ or Listen to Motivational Material: in the morning a whole day of endless possibilities lies ahead. I motivate myself to play my best game by reading and listening to inspirational books/ audiobooks.

5. Visualise the Day Ahead: I like to take a few minutes to shut my eyes and visualise what I want happen in the coming day. It’s amazing how often my desires become reality when I do this.

6. Write a “To Do” list: I like to write out a list in my diary of the important tasks I need to do that day. As they are completed I put a line through them. So simple, yet so effective.

7. Check the News Headlines: I think it’s important to have an idea of what is happening in our community and the world. Also if don’t at least check the main stories, I find it is easy to feel left out of conversations throughout the day.

8. Take a Multivitamin: I try to eat a well balanced diet, but taking a multivitamin daily reassures me that I obtaining the proper amount of vitamins and minerals that I need (**Update: see comments).

9. Tidy Up: a cluttered house can lead to a cluttered mind and fuzzy thinking. I find it’s best to stay on top of things by tidying up each day.

10. Take Time to Look Good: it’s a reality of life that people judge us by our appearance. I take a few minutes each morning to ensure I go out into the world looking the best I can.

The Day

11. Put First Things First: Many people have their day controlled by tasks that are urgent , but not necessarily important. Examples include interruptions, some email and some phone calls. The habit of putting first things first is about organising and executing your life around your deepest priorities.

12. Connect with Nature: I find spending time outdoors in nature is great for my sense of wellbeing. I have written about this here.

13. Blog: blogging makes me think and write - two things that I can’t get enough of each day. I have written more about the benefits of blogging here.

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We are always here. In this moment. Now. Each moment is the birth and death of a brief encounter of time. But perhaps it is time that is the myth?

Where ever we are, is actually a whenever we are. All we have is this moment, always. It’s always… RIGHT NOW.

This seems like an obvious statement, however, how often do we really enjoy the moment?

What do you do with Your Right Now’s?

It is an amazing thing to think that we are always in the forever moment of now. Unfortunately, many of us spend most of our time thinking about the past, or worrying about the future… instead of living the now. Being the Now. Right Here, Right Now.

What can we do in to ensure that the moment is spent in the best possible way. How can we maximize the moment?

Past is but a memory. It is the remembrance of moments in time. Nothing more. Only etheric synapses of the brain recalling remembered circumstances. There is nothing for us in yesterday.

“Yesterday’s got nothing for me.” - Axel Rose

I believe that is the first time that Gun’s and Rose’s have been quoted here on Cultivate Greatness. hah. But I feel compelled.

“Yesterdays” - GnR

Yesterday, there was so many things
I was never told
Now that I startin’ to learn
I feel I’m growin’ old

’cause yesterday’s got nothin’ for me
Old pictures that I’ll always see
Time just fades the pages
In my book of memories
Prayers in my pocket
And no hand in destiny
I’ll keep on movin’ along
With no time to planr my feet

’cause yesterday’s got nothing for me
Old pictures that I’ll always see
Some things could be better
If we’d all just let them be

Yesterday’s got nothin’ for me
Yesterday’s got nothin’ for me
Got nothin’ for me

Yesterday there were so many things
I was never shown
Suddenly this time I found
I’m on the streets and I’m all alone

Yesterdays got nothin’ for me
Old pictures that I’ll always see
I ain’t got time to reminisce old novelties

Yesterday’s got nothin’ for me
Yesterday’s got nothin’ for me
Yesterday’s got nothin’ for me
Yesterday

And here as a bonus and to balance out the Guns and Roses reference… here is Noel Gallagher of Oasis playing with Coldplay. Singing “Live Forever”.

Now that you are finished reading this. Enjoy this moment… and leave a comment. And always remember this…

NOW is the Moment of Power

Successfully,

Travis Wright

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