Prove Them Wrong

     Very motivational.  A lot of times the voice in my head is the one telling me, "you can't."  You can do it; whatever "it" is.

Henry Ford

     "Whether you think you can or can't... You're right."  Henry Ford.

     Among his many other incredible life achievements, Henry Ford was an author.  He didn't invent the automobile, nor the assembly line, but he saw the two and meshed them together to create an automobile most families could afford.  By industrializing assembly lines, he could pay employees more, and charge less for the finished product all while amassing a fat pocketbook.  He became a person of global interest, and wrote about his life in My Life and Work.  He was also a pacifist, and used his world fame to speak his mind about WWI.  Some of his work (The International Jew) was ill-received, and probably rightfully so, but he wrote his mind.  His work is standard reading in most business schools today.

     We all have the chance to be a "Henry Ford", but imagine what the world would be like if Ford had given in to that negative voice which plagues us all at one point or another saying, "You can't do that because..."?  How many other incredible ideas, inventions, etc. has the world been robbed of because of the, "I can't's"?  Are you a Henry Ford, or just another person who will only accomplish a small percentage of their dreams.  

     Whether you think you can or you can't you're right.  Push for what you want.  Don't let your hopeful inner child die because of the "real world".

The Secret

     The Secret is a motivational book, written by Rhonda Byrne, made into a movie.  I'm sure most of you have at least heard of it.  I was working in Sales when this came out, so naturally it was a hot commodity in my business, and we watched it as soon as it came out, but we were reminded of it just recently.

     We had an upset in our house with my daughter when she didn't get a part in a play which she really wanted.  She was up all night crying about it.  Before her audition, she was being very negative.  The whole time before the audition, my wife kept whispering, "secret, secret, secret" like they do in the movie, and of course my daughter had no idea what she was talking about.  So when she didn't get the part, and my daughter said she knew she wouldn't, my wife decided we needed to watch this with her.  I'm kind of glad I did because even with the corny stuff in the movie, the overall message is very good.

     Basically, the "Secret" is the law of attraction.  If you focus on good stuff, your mind sends out a message to the universe to bring you more good stuff.  If you focus on bad stuff, your mind doesn't know the difference, and sends out a message to bring more bad stuff.  Byrne even goes so far as to relate it to Aladdin and the Genie in the lamp.  All Aladdin had to do is wish and his wish was the all-powerful genie's command.  All we have to do is ask, and truly imagine/believe that we will receive, and the universe will make it happen.

     I'm one of those people that these motivational speakers hate because I don't believe in genies.  However, this tactic actually works, just not in they way they make it seem.  If you focus on something, and truly put it first and foremost in your thoughts, works, and deeds, you'll accomplish that thing.  Even if it takes decades and a thousand failed attempts, you will eventually get it right.  So the law of attraction is true because you make stuff happen by your continued effort.

     The other aspect to this is attitude.  You can have the exact same day (all the ups and downs) and if you look at it with a positive view, it will be a good day vs. if you look at it with a negative view it would be a bad day.  Also, when you are positive, people react to that, and treat you positively (for the most part).  So attitude is everything.  I believe that that is really what makes people successful.  Society is more willing to move for a positive, happy person than for the die-hard cynic.  And all that is not to mention the fact that if you're positive, you will feel more fulfilled even if you aren't as successful as you had dreamed in the beginning.

     I think that this is a great movie to watch, or book to read, regardless of what you want to achieve in life.  It's always good to be reminded how far a positive outlook on life will take you. 

     I give this movie

Self-Motivating

     I got this from Top achievement.  It's a good site to visit if you need a pick-me-up, or direction in life.  It's not author-specific, just motivation for life.

No one can motivate anyone to do anything. All a person can do for another is

provide them with incentives to motivate themselves. Here are ten very effective

strategies to help you get up and get moving toward actualizing your enormous,

untapped potential.

* Be willing to leave your comfort zone. The greatest barrier to achieving your

potential is your comfort zone. Great things happen when you make friends with your discomfort zone.

* Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Wisdom helps us avoid making mistakes and comes from making a million of them.

* Don’t indulge in self-limiting thinking. Think empowering, expansive thoughts.

*Choose to be happy. Happy people are easily motivated. Happiness is your

birthright so don’t settle for anything else.

* Spend at least one hour a day in self-development. Read good books or listen to inspiring tapes. Driving to and from work provides an excellent opportunity to listen to self-improvement tapes.

* Train yourself to finish what you start. So many of us become scattered as we

try to accomplish a task. Finish one task before you begin another.

* Live fully in the present moment. When you live in the past or the future you

aren’t able to make things happen in the present.

* Commit yourself to joy. C.S. Lewis once said, “Joy is the serious business of

heaven.”

* Never quit when you experience a setback or frustration. Success could be just

around the corner.

* Dare to dream big dreams. If there is anything to the law of expectation then we are moving in the direction of our dreams, goals and expectations.

The real tragedy in life is not in how much we suffer, but rather in how much we

miss, so don’t miss a thing.

Charles Dubois once said, “We must be prepared, at any moment, to sacrifice who we are for who we are capable of becoming.”