Cultivate GREATNESS | Personal Development

by Gilbert Griffiths

I am extremely grateful for being born in a free country. I get to vote for the person I wish to have as my government representative. Nobody dictates to me what I have to think or do. I choose the work I wish to perform. I have sufficient food to eat and safe water to drink. I get to walk down the street without fear of stepping on a landmine. I have a home of my own that keeps me warm in winter and cool in summer. If I want to engage in sporting activities they are available for me. If I pay my bills on time I have satellite television, Internet and phone service. I can pursue the religion of my choice. I can live anywhere in the country I choose and know that I have medical coverage.
Read the rest of this entry »

by Scott Allen

You can read business advice books, attend seminars, even get a mentor or a business coach, but all that knowledge won’t help you one bit if you don’t act on it. I bet if you think about it a little, you’ll realize that even without listening to another guru, expert or motivator, you already know a thing or two about what you need to be doing to improve your business.

Reading another book or listening to another tape isn’t really going to help because it’s usually not the knowing that’s the challenge, but the doing. We get caught up in our routines and our chaos and forget about what we know we ought to be doing.

Most of us don’t even follow our own best advice.
Read the rest of this entry »

by Travis Wright

John Lennon is one of my all-time favorite musicians. The work the Beatles created in their heyday, is simply amazing. In fact, I gave my first son the middle name, Lennon. So, Im definately a fan. So, when I say that Im taking the Lennon Approach to Creativity, what does this mean?

Well, to me, it was very poignant, while reading one of his biographies, where he stated. “Each day, I look for something to write a song about.” That is how he and McCartney wrote all those songs, as he tried to write something everyday. With 365 days in a year, that is a lot of song potential.
Read the rest of this entry »

By Dr Jill Ammon-Wexler

Lately our everyday reality seems to leave little room for optimism. People around the world are suffering from very real natural and personal crises. Our TV’s and newspapers are packed with sadness and fear.

In times like these it is very important to hold tight to a powerful life success tool – optimism.

Why optimism? Because optimism activates your amygdala (pronounced ahh-mig-da-la) — a very important part of your brain that increases your ability to create positive answers to life’s challenges.
Read the rest of this entry »

For this weeks Carnival, we had several submissions. This edition was delayed a bit, but fortunately, I just got DSL turned on in my new house. And life is good. Thanks for all the submissions folks! I love reading others words of wisdom!

V002

Kevin Chu presents Don’t wait until it hurts posted at Smart Living 4 Smart People.

Michael presents Google Reader: For Those Ahead of the Curve posted at Empowering People Through Information
Read the rest of this entry »

by Travis Wright

Oh, what a tricky task it is, working for someone else while building your business. Yet, most of the time, this is the journey we have to endure. Most of us, unfortunately, don’t have a large inheritance nor born with the proverbial ‘Silver Spoon’. We have to work twice as hard to make our dreams come true. So, how do you do it while working for someone else?

Working for a very large company for forty hours each week, takes a large sum of your time. So does sleep. Factor in that we only have 7 days in a week with each day of only 24 hours, totalling 168 hours. That is not a lot of time. Read the rest of this entry »

by Travis Wright

It’s a new day. The alarm goes off. You get up. You go. You work. You come home. You watch TV. You surf the web. You go to sleep.

Rinse and Repeat.

The monotony of life can lull your mind into listlessness, almost effortlessly, if you allow the disease to permeate your soul. We need to keep and maintain the spice of life. This is essential to life-long happiness and health.
Read the rest of this entry »

Like the “Gold Rush” of the American West, there was once a “Diamond Rush” in South Africa. A landlord in South Africa, who we will refer to as “Ignoramus,” sold his land and joined thousands of people who were romping the country looking for undiscovered diamond mines. The man who bought the land from Ignoramus, who we will refer to as “Explorer” hired a geo-engineer to survey the land. To his surprise and fortune, the land he bought for mere pittance had diamonds of incredible value. Let’s look at how Explorer discovered the wealth of diamonds.

While exploring and surveying his land, Explorer went over to the other side of the lake and saw diamonds strewn all over the land. It wasn’t just a patch, diamonds were strewn over acres of land. See, Ignoramus, never walked over to the other side of the lake to see what riches were on his own land. He never fully surveyed his own “property.” In many ways we are like the Ignoramus of this story. We are always looking outside for diamonds, when there are “acres of diamond,” in our own backyard. We don’t fully examine our own land but instead covet the far and remote land of illusions.
Read the rest of this entry »

I recently had an epiphany. Many may consider it a minor feat, yet for me it feels like a big accomplishment. I did something I didn’t think I could do and I changed my own image of myself. I also learned something that can be applied to most everything in life.

I have never thought of myself as a swimmer. Sure, I took lessons when I was a kid just like everyone else, but I struggled with it. I did not find it easy. I thought everyone else was a better swimmer than me and I did not think I could do it. So I didn’t swim. For years and years I just didn’t even try.
Read the rest of this entry »

Recognize your realm of control, which is YOU. The only person that you have control over is yourself. It is you who decides how to respond to someone else, whether it be happy, angry or indifferent. It is you who decides how to interpret a message and what to do about it. At the same time, all you can do is give another person information. You cannot make them change how they think or feel. Only they can do that. You cannot make them make better choices. It’s up to them.

Pay attention to how you treat significant others. Do you blame, criticize, complain or nag? If so, stop and adopt a policy to always treat significant others with respect and kindness. Blaming, criticizing, complaining and nagging are relationship destroying behaviors. If you want to improve, strengthen and bring out the best in your relationships use the following behaviors instead: listening, supporting, encouraging, respecting, trusting, accepting and negotiating.
Read the rest of this entry »