Yesterday on my facebook wall, I posted a status update that said, in short, Steven is looking for 1 person in a particular city(s) to mentor to a certain level of income. Responses flooded in and one in particular stood out, from a young lady who asked, "how does a mentor make a difference?" WOW! This caused me to stop and think for a moment. To me, mentoring is a part of daily life, but this question caused me to remember that for some, the concept of a mentor is be unclear because they have not had the blessing of a true mentoring relationship. While the concept of mentoring is detailed, here are 3 simple, yet powerful things a mentor does.
1. A Mentor Knows The Way-there are two types of leaders in life. My mentor calls them tour guide leaders and travel agent leaders. The difference? If you go to a travel agent today to inquire about a trip to Paris, the travel agent can show you pictures, maybe even take you to a brochure and read the reviews of hotels, excursions online. However, they haven't BEEN THERE. A tour guide leader, however, can tell you exactly where to stay, where to go and what to do because they have lived it. A tour guide leader will suggest you stay at the Hotel George V right off the champs-élysées, to have a louis XIII in the library bar, but not to have breakfast because its overpriced, to attend the 9pm show at Crazy Horse, versus the earlier one, to make sure to stop by Angelina's after touring The Louvre to have the dreamy hot chocloate(make sure to bring extra cash because you'll want to take as much home as you can fit) and perhaps how to find the largest selection of Ferre at the store on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré versus elsewhere. How can one mentor another in an area they haven't traveled? If you're in the ministry, find someone who has built the type of ministry you desire to have. If you're a mom, find someone who's children behave the way you'd like yours too. Offer to take her to lunch. You'll be amazed at what you will learn over a $10 lunch. If its business, find someone who is already where you want to be. Don't be like the average person who seeks advice and counsel from family and friends who don't have what they are desiring. Its like the guy who asks his broke friend what he thinks he should do with his finances. I don't know about you, but I don't want to know what my broke friends do with their money, because I don't want to be broke! However, as the old saying goes, "do what someone does and you'll have what they have." If you desire financial freedom, find someone who is already there and ask for their help. You'll be amazed at their willingness to share.
2. A Mentor Shows The Way-just because one knows the way isn't enough. They must be willing to show the way which involves an investment of time. Generally, you will find the more successful someone happens to be, the more likely they are to give freely of their time and knowledge. However, that isn't always the case. The first step is to find someone who knows the way and then to discover if they're willing to show the way. Personally, this is one of the greatest joys in life. Maybe its because I was blessed with such a giving mentor in Brad Hager, but to me I can't imagine life without rich, meaningful mentoring relationships. ***A word of caution: do NOT ask a mentor to show you the way if you're not willling to implement the advice. The greatest disrepsect one can show to a mentor is a lack f willingness to put the coaching into action. Before you approach a potential mentor, you need to ask a serious question of yourself, "am I TRULY serious about being mentored?" If the answer is maybe, don't approach the mentor. You're better off to save the question for a later time when you know you're ready.
3. A Mentor Goes The Way-A true mentor knows that the journey is never done because the journey itself is the true blessing. Recently, a mentor entered my life named Bill Farley. Mr. F(as I like to call him) has been incredibly successful in business. Having started from scratch, he built a company to $5.5 Billion in sales with over 65,000 employees worldwide. In business, that is almost unbelieveable. In his 60s today, many people in his shoes would sail off into the distance on their yacht, but not Mr. F. Today, he is actively engaged in the mentoring process and the building the business that he calls his greatest masterpiece yet. Now thats inspiring! Anotherwords, Mr. F is a mentor who knows the way, shows the way and is still GOING the way.
We all have the potential to mentor, and we all have the need to be mentored. Whether you are a parent, a pastor or a business leader, remember that a river can not rise above its source. Mentoring is one of the greatest joys that life has to offer, but it also takes commitment.
A quick reminder that if you find the Prosperity Diet a blessing to your life, share it with others and sign up for our free newsletter at www.steventhompson-mentor.com. I'd also be happy to be your friend on Facebook-just send me a request. You'll find me under steven@steventhompsononline.com.
Lastly, maybe a mentoring relationship isn't something you've been privvy too prior to now. I challenge you to open your mind to the idea. The impact can be truly life changing.
For those in Denver and Mexico City I look forward to mentoring with you this week!!!
Stevie Wonder
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Turning temporary defeat into success
Prosperity. Success. Happiness. Inner peace. Philanthropy. Wealth. What do all of these terms have in common? Besides there universal appeal to the majority of us, the other characteristic they have in common is that they are all born from what most people would call failure.
I am convinced that we have become a culture that is so engrained with a fear of failure that the dreams and visions of an entire generation are supressed.
In our quest for the prosperous life that impacts us the most is our lack of understanding of what failure truly is. Here are 3 points to ponder today that if you will internalize, will set you on course to realizing your dreams.
1. Temporary defeat is NOT failure. Contrary to popular belief, failure is NOT permanent. Instead what most of us would consider to be failure is in reality temporary defeat. Failure is not permanent until we decide it so. Many of you have read the blog post where I describe the harsh reality of walking away from a previous business where our partners began operating in unethical ways. We walked away from 8 years of hard work and a 7 figure annual income because we would not compromise our integrity. Alot of onlookers described this business as a failure, but I know differently. You see, after 6 months of reflection and study, my team embarked on a new venture a little over 30 days ago, and it has been the greatest business experience thus far of my career. So much so, that I'm now asking myself the question, "why didn't I do this 2-3 years ago?" I can tell you why. Fear of failure, defeat. What do you know in your heart today that you need to move on from-a job, a relationship, a habit-thats you've been afraid to take action upon? Many times this opens up the opportunity for a new level of satisfaction and happiness. Remember, we have to clean out the garage BEFORE we can put the new car in!
2. Living in a constant fear of failure manifests the fear itself. This is the craziest part of all! Most of you have seen The Secret movie. The law of attraction ladies and gentleman is REAL. That which we fear most we actually attract into our life by our daily habits and actions. I have a friend who is a businessman. He is constantly worried about spending to much money and working to hard in his business. Because of this, he constantly operates right above the mediocre line. He never achieves what he is capable of. People who are much less knowledgeable make much more money than he does. It is really sad to see, because this has been the case his entire life. Remember the words of Henry Van Dyke, "courage is the standing army of the soul which keeps it from conquest, pillage and slavery." Nothing worthwhile will ever be accomplished without RISK of temporary defeat.
2. Temporary defeat is your ally. Everyone of us have experienced the sting of defeat. Beginning at an early age, we learn how it feels to be not be selected for the team, to be turned down by the girl or boy that is the object of our affection, or finding a school subject particuarly hard. I am convinced that our educational system has created a nation that believes that defeat, or failure, is bad. When in reality it is how we learn. Almost everyday, as my 4 year old makes mistakes, has accidents, etc as any 4 year old does, I am quick to explain to her that mistakes, indeed, ARE HOW WE LEARN. I remind her of this time and again, because as a human being, she will be making mistakes and experiencing defeat for the rest of her life. For many of us, we were raised the opposite. To suffer defeat, make a mistake, whatever-we were influenced to believe that it was bad, that perhaps there was something wrong with us. Absolute HOGWASH!!! Parents you have the opportunity to reprogram your children. Remind them today that as they fail, they are learning so they can become stronger the next time. Remember the timeless words of Napoleon Hill, "every failure will teach you a lesson that you need to learn if you will keep your eyes and ears open and be willing to be taught. Every adversity is usually a blessing in disguise. Without reverses and temporary defeat, you would never know the sort of metal of which you are made."
One more comment to those who are parents. The greatest parenting principle is the law of modeling. Our kids do what we do, not what we say. How can we encourage our kids to not allow the fear of failure to run their lives when we allow it to run ours?
To quote Hill again, "a person is half whipped the minute he/she begins to feel sorry themself, or to spin an alibi which which they would explain away their defects." You are created for greatness. You are a PERFECT TEN. Be willing to go for the dream within your heart today, whatever that may be and remember the infamous words of Disraeli who said, "to believe in the heroic makes heroes".
Have an AWESOME day!!!
Steven
P.S. if you enjoy the prosperity diet, you may want to sign up for our newsletter as well. See the site for details: www.steventhompson-mentor.com
Finally, who do you know that needs this message today? Pass it on!
I am convinced that we have become a culture that is so engrained with a fear of failure that the dreams and visions of an entire generation are supressed.
In our quest for the prosperous life that impacts us the most is our lack of understanding of what failure truly is. Here are 3 points to ponder today that if you will internalize, will set you on course to realizing your dreams.
1. Temporary defeat is NOT failure. Contrary to popular belief, failure is NOT permanent. Instead what most of us would consider to be failure is in reality temporary defeat. Failure is not permanent until we decide it so. Many of you have read the blog post where I describe the harsh reality of walking away from a previous business where our partners began operating in unethical ways. We walked away from 8 years of hard work and a 7 figure annual income because we would not compromise our integrity. Alot of onlookers described this business as a failure, but I know differently. You see, after 6 months of reflection and study, my team embarked on a new venture a little over 30 days ago, and it has been the greatest business experience thus far of my career. So much so, that I'm now asking myself the question, "why didn't I do this 2-3 years ago?" I can tell you why. Fear of failure, defeat. What do you know in your heart today that you need to move on from-a job, a relationship, a habit-thats you've been afraid to take action upon? Many times this opens up the opportunity for a new level of satisfaction and happiness. Remember, we have to clean out the garage BEFORE we can put the new car in!
2. Living in a constant fear of failure manifests the fear itself. This is the craziest part of all! Most of you have seen The Secret movie. The law of attraction ladies and gentleman is REAL. That which we fear most we actually attract into our life by our daily habits and actions. I have a friend who is a businessman. He is constantly worried about spending to much money and working to hard in his business. Because of this, he constantly operates right above the mediocre line. He never achieves what he is capable of. People who are much less knowledgeable make much more money than he does. It is really sad to see, because this has been the case his entire life. Remember the words of Henry Van Dyke, "courage is the standing army of the soul which keeps it from conquest, pillage and slavery." Nothing worthwhile will ever be accomplished without RISK of temporary defeat.
2. Temporary defeat is your ally. Everyone of us have experienced the sting of defeat. Beginning at an early age, we learn how it feels to be not be selected for the team, to be turned down by the girl or boy that is the object of our affection, or finding a school subject particuarly hard. I am convinced that our educational system has created a nation that believes that defeat, or failure, is bad. When in reality it is how we learn. Almost everyday, as my 4 year old makes mistakes, has accidents, etc as any 4 year old does, I am quick to explain to her that mistakes, indeed, ARE HOW WE LEARN. I remind her of this time and again, because as a human being, she will be making mistakes and experiencing defeat for the rest of her life. For many of us, we were raised the opposite. To suffer defeat, make a mistake, whatever-we were influenced to believe that it was bad, that perhaps there was something wrong with us. Absolute HOGWASH!!! Parents you have the opportunity to reprogram your children. Remind them today that as they fail, they are learning so they can become stronger the next time. Remember the timeless words of Napoleon Hill, "every failure will teach you a lesson that you need to learn if you will keep your eyes and ears open and be willing to be taught. Every adversity is usually a blessing in disguise. Without reverses and temporary defeat, you would never know the sort of metal of which you are made."
One more comment to those who are parents. The greatest parenting principle is the law of modeling. Our kids do what we do, not what we say. How can we encourage our kids to not allow the fear of failure to run their lives when we allow it to run ours?
To quote Hill again, "a person is half whipped the minute he/she begins to feel sorry themself, or to spin an alibi which which they would explain away their defects." You are created for greatness. You are a PERFECT TEN. Be willing to go for the dream within your heart today, whatever that may be and remember the infamous words of Disraeli who said, "to believe in the heroic makes heroes".
Have an AWESOME day!!!
Steven
P.S. if you enjoy the prosperity diet, you may want to sign up for our newsletter as well. See the site for details: www.steventhompson-mentor.com
Finally, who do you know that needs this message today? Pass it on!
Monday, October 5, 2009
Live in your strength zone
In the world of self help and personal growth today, we’re all told “if you can believe it, you can achieve it”. We hear parents tell their children “set your mind to it and you can do anything”. While the intent on this type of positive reinforcement is good, it is not reality. We all have natural talents and abilities that are God-given. For example, when I was in high school, my sport of choice was football. I was a 3 year starter both-ways (meaning I started on both sides of the ball) and the team captain. I trained hard in the weight room, ate accordingly and devoted a huge amount of my life to the sport, my dream to play at the Division-1 collegiate level. In Memphis, TN where I lived, our cross town rivals were lead by an all-state offensive lineman/linebacker named Tony Williams. Tony and I were the same age and played similar positions, but Tony was a natural born D-1 player. His senior year in high school Tony played at 6’2”, 245, while my playing weight was 6’2”, 230. The difference was Tony didn’t hit the weight room all summer long... He didn’t eat like a horse like I did. He didn’t run the wind sprints and bleachers. Tony was naturally gifted at the game of getting big in a way that I was not. In other words, he had greater structure and the difference was obvious on the field. In our team’s game against one another our senior year, I remember leaving the huddle on the first play and seeing Tony directly across from me as he assumed his middle-linebacker position. I was in awe of his physical presence. He muscles were bulging thru his padded uniform. Even his calf muscles were larger than my thighs! Needless to say, I gave it everything I had from my Center position to block him, and although he didn’t get much in the way of tackles that night; it was obvious who was exhausted and who wasn’t. Fortunately, I didn’t have to bump heads with Tony while playing defense. After graduation, we both choose The University of Memphis as our collegiate and football destinations, Tony on a full-scholarship while I planned to walk on. In college, Tony continued to grow and get better. Four years later, Tony was a whopping 295 pounds defensive lineman and as wide as a truck. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings and went on to a very illustrious career spanning 9 years in the NFL.
While I was a talented player at the high school level, Tony was able to do things at the next two levels that I never would be able to accomplish, no matter how hard I worked. Does this mean that my life isn’t special? Of course not! It simply meant that my natural gift existed in another area. Once I found that arena, which for me turned out to be leadership, sales, marketing and building relationships, I rocketed to the top of my field. Before my 30th birthday I had built a multi-million dollar business and personally earning in excess of $100,000 per month. Now, imagine if I had taken the stance that I was going to make it as a football player and had dogmatically stuck to that decision. Where would I be today? Instead, I decided to adjust my sail and try something different. I found my niche, my strength zone, and my success exploded exponentially.
The question I pose, and challenge to you today, are you living in your strength zone? Or, are you living in someone else’s plan for you? Maybe a plan that you one time thought was right, but it’s just not panning out?
We know the detriments to investing your life into an area that isn’t your lane. The question is, how do you know if you’re in operating where you need to be? As a leader, how do I find my strength zone?
Here are a few questions to ask yourself that can help you find the answers? Take a few minutes to write down the answers to the following:
What can I do that comes easy to me that others find hard to do?
What would I want to work for even if I never got paid?
How can I take what I know and that comes easy to me and help larger numbers of people?
What do others consistently compliment me on? The key word here is consistently
Equally as important is asking the adverse question, what am I NOT good at? Where is my weak zone?
What do I not enjoy doing?
What is harder for me that is easier for others?
What are my negative habits? Are these related to my investing my time in something that is NOT in my strength zone? Sometimes negative habits are the subconscious’ way of telling us we’re not in our lane.
Take a few minutes to privately journal the answers to these questions and be brutally honest. The greatest lie we ever tell is the one we tell to ourselves. Seek a mentor you trust and ask them to review your answers, giving you straight forward feedback.
As a leader, I’ve learned that operating in our strength zone has a HUGE impact on our effectiveness when it comes to reaching our goals. Consider this story as adapted from John Maxwell’s book “Put Your Dream to the Test”
He wanted to be a conductor. However, his style was odd, to say the least. When conducting soft passages, he’d crouch down. When the music called for a crescendo, he’d leap into the air with a shout. One time he jumped to cue a dramatic passage, but the musicians didn’t respond. He’d lost track of his place and jumped too soon. The musicians often looked to the first violinist instead of to him for direction.
His memory was not very good. During a performance, he tried to conduct the orchestra thru a section of music he had instructed them to skip. When they didn’t play the passage, he stopped conducting altogether and shouted, “Stop! Wrong! That will not do! Again! Again!”
He had clumsiness about him. When he conducted for a piano concerto he had written, he tried to do it from the piano while playing and knocked candles off the piano. During another concert, he knocked over one of the choir boys.
The musicians begged him to give up his dream of becoming a great conductor. Finally he did. From then on, Ludwig van Beethoven gave up conducting and focused his attention on composing.
WOW! Can you imagine? What if Beethoven had insisted on staying a conductor? The world would have lost arguably the greatest composer of all time, and Beethoven would have missed out on finding his lane, the zone he was made for.
As a leader, you have been given a dream, a fiery passion inside your heart to do something. Remember the old saying, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” The creator has placed something amazing inside of you. For most people, those limitations aren’t on the outside rather they reside internally. One of my favorite quotes of all time is by George Bernard Shaw, “I’m sick of all the reasonable people: they see all the reasons for doing nothing.” Now that fires me up and gets my juices flowing! One thing I’m determined in my life not to do is lead that life of quiet desperation, of being reasonable. I would say it is time to be a little unreasonable. Let’s just make sure we’re being unreasonable within our strength zone.
Finally, don’t think the strength zone is going to be without fear, trepidation or doubt. As I posted on my Facebook page not long ago,” we must learn to get move outside our comfort zones while residing in the strength zone.” That is when true magic happens.
You are worth it and you deserve it. Find your strength zone, park yourself there, and then get unreasonable and uncomfortable as often as you can! It will be fun to watch what happens and who knows, you just may impact the world.
To your success,Stevie W.
While I was a talented player at the high school level, Tony was able to do things at the next two levels that I never would be able to accomplish, no matter how hard I worked. Does this mean that my life isn’t special? Of course not! It simply meant that my natural gift existed in another area. Once I found that arena, which for me turned out to be leadership, sales, marketing and building relationships, I rocketed to the top of my field. Before my 30th birthday I had built a multi-million dollar business and personally earning in excess of $100,000 per month. Now, imagine if I had taken the stance that I was going to make it as a football player and had dogmatically stuck to that decision. Where would I be today? Instead, I decided to adjust my sail and try something different. I found my niche, my strength zone, and my success exploded exponentially.
The question I pose, and challenge to you today, are you living in your strength zone? Or, are you living in someone else’s plan for you? Maybe a plan that you one time thought was right, but it’s just not panning out?
We know the detriments to investing your life into an area that isn’t your lane. The question is, how do you know if you’re in operating where you need to be? As a leader, how do I find my strength zone?
Here are a few questions to ask yourself that can help you find the answers? Take a few minutes to write down the answers to the following:
What can I do that comes easy to me that others find hard to do?
What would I want to work for even if I never got paid?
How can I take what I know and that comes easy to me and help larger numbers of people?
What do others consistently compliment me on? The key word here is consistently
Equally as important is asking the adverse question, what am I NOT good at? Where is my weak zone?
What do I not enjoy doing?
What is harder for me that is easier for others?
What are my negative habits? Are these related to my investing my time in something that is NOT in my strength zone? Sometimes negative habits are the subconscious’ way of telling us we’re not in our lane.
Take a few minutes to privately journal the answers to these questions and be brutally honest. The greatest lie we ever tell is the one we tell to ourselves. Seek a mentor you trust and ask them to review your answers, giving you straight forward feedback.
As a leader, I’ve learned that operating in our strength zone has a HUGE impact on our effectiveness when it comes to reaching our goals. Consider this story as adapted from John Maxwell’s book “Put Your Dream to the Test”
He wanted to be a conductor. However, his style was odd, to say the least. When conducting soft passages, he’d crouch down. When the music called for a crescendo, he’d leap into the air with a shout. One time he jumped to cue a dramatic passage, but the musicians didn’t respond. He’d lost track of his place and jumped too soon. The musicians often looked to the first violinist instead of to him for direction.
His memory was not very good. During a performance, he tried to conduct the orchestra thru a section of music he had instructed them to skip. When they didn’t play the passage, he stopped conducting altogether and shouted, “Stop! Wrong! That will not do! Again! Again!”
He had clumsiness about him. When he conducted for a piano concerto he had written, he tried to do it from the piano while playing and knocked candles off the piano. During another concert, he knocked over one of the choir boys.
The musicians begged him to give up his dream of becoming a great conductor. Finally he did. From then on, Ludwig van Beethoven gave up conducting and focused his attention on composing.
WOW! Can you imagine? What if Beethoven had insisted on staying a conductor? The world would have lost arguably the greatest composer of all time, and Beethoven would have missed out on finding his lane, the zone he was made for.
As a leader, you have been given a dream, a fiery passion inside your heart to do something. Remember the old saying, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” The creator has placed something amazing inside of you. For most people, those limitations aren’t on the outside rather they reside internally. One of my favorite quotes of all time is by George Bernard Shaw, “I’m sick of all the reasonable people: they see all the reasons for doing nothing.” Now that fires me up and gets my juices flowing! One thing I’m determined in my life not to do is lead that life of quiet desperation, of being reasonable. I would say it is time to be a little unreasonable. Let’s just make sure we’re being unreasonable within our strength zone.
Finally, don’t think the strength zone is going to be without fear, trepidation or doubt. As I posted on my Facebook page not long ago,” we must learn to get move outside our comfort zones while residing in the strength zone.” That is when true magic happens.
You are worth it and you deserve it. Find your strength zone, park yourself there, and then get unreasonable and uncomfortable as often as you can! It will be fun to watch what happens and who knows, you just may impact the world.
To your success,Stevie W.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
What are you living for?
What are you living for?
My mentor asked me this question years ago. Honestly, I had never been asked a question like this. I didn’t really know what to say. Was he referring to a goal? Was it a spiritual question about my faith? I initially said what most people I ask do, things like my family, my Wife, to be a good Christian, etc. He listened patiently for several minutes as I reached for the answer I thought he was looking for. “Steven”, he said, “I asked you what you are living for. What makes you think that is a morality question?” I sat there, stymied. It was at this time that he shared a lesson with me that I have never forgotten.
Being a strong Christian, my mentor would frequently make reference to scripture. He would often joke that “everyone should have a Bible. It will teach you a lot of great stuff, and it’s the best deal in town. You buy one book and they give you 65 free!” He directed me to the story of the rich young ruler in the book of Luke. In the story, the ruler asks Jesus what he needs to do to gain eternal life. Many of us know from Sunday school class, that Jesus tells the ruler to give up all his possessions to the poor and that the answer saddens him because he is a very rich man. It is in this chapter that we find the verse “it is easier for a camel to go thru the eye of a needle than for the rich man to enter Heaven”. This story and this verse are two of the most mis-understood in all of the Bible. Many people have justified poverty because of them. What is often not realized is the verse isn’t talking about money; rather it is talking about money as a commodity, i.e. an ideal. Any other commodity or ideal that one can love could have easily been put in money’s place. The story of Abraham is a great example. Instead of giving up money, Abraham was asked to give up Isaac.
The story of the rich young ruler was actually shared as an offspring from another parable earlier in this same chapter; that of the tax collector and the Pharisee. In this tale, a tax collector (old IRS agent) and a Pharisee (very staunchly religious person) went to the temple to pray. How they pray is very different. For the Pharisee (very staunchly religious person), he prays a very detailed prayer, verbally displaying a long list of good deeds such as tithing, being honest and faithful. The tax collector (old IRS agent) on the other hand doesn’t come to the table with any of this and herein lays the significant difference. Versus praying an eloquent prayer, the tax collector simply lowered his head while pounding his chest and loudly cried out, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” WOW!
Now, be honest. Which one do you think got the answer he was looking for? Was it the lowly IRS guy who goes around taking high taxes from the population for a living? Or was it the very straight, religion abiding good deed doer? Most will say the one doing all the good deeds right (i.e. the Pharisee or the rich young ruler). In today’s terms, this would be similar to the person who serves their community, goes to church every Sunday, volunteers, works hard, coaches little league and serves on their kids PTA board. Obviously, our culture often promotes doing the good deeds and being a “well rounded“ person. I believe we should all strive to live an honest life, work hard, serve our community, etc. That is the reason Angie and I volunteer in our local community and give money. However, my point to you today is there is a large amount of good, hard working people out there that are broke, unhappy, and not living their true God-given potential. You see, in reality, it was the tax collector who was granted his request and NOT the Pharisee or the rich young ruler! In this lies one of the Bible’s greatest lessons that if applied, will create incredible success in your life.
What was the difference? Why did the tax collector get what he wanted and the “good” guys didn’t? Easy. The tax collector had a WHITE HOT BURNING DESIRE and he didn’t share it in a mild manner. Scripture says he literally physically pounded his chest and cried out, like an infant crying to be held in the middle of the night. He wasn’t going to stop until he got what he came for. Single minded focus. No distractions. Nothing else mattered.Here’s my point. What vision do you have burning inside of you? Are you single minded on this purpose? Are you willing to pound your chest and cry out loudly to the heavens to be granted your goal? In other words, are you willing to live for your vision?
This past week, I had the privilege of spending time with one of the most influential persons in my life, Dr. Doug Johnston. Doug is the founder of an organization called ICRD. The reason that Doug has such an impact on me is because Doug is a man who knows what he is living for. He is an expert in national security, foreign policy and diplomacy. Doug walked away from academia at Harvard University to, as he puts it, “leave the think-tank to create a do-tank.” His vision was to create an organization that would go where the U.S. government could not in an attempt to bring peace to some of the hottest areas of conflict around the world and ICRD has been wildly successful. In Sudan, where civil war had killed millions, Doug and ICRD were able to help create peace between Christians and Muslims. Many of us may recall the 21 Koreans that were taken hostage by the Taliban last year. ICRD was directly instrumental through their relationships in helping the hostages to be released. Today, their work continues in Pakistan, Afghanistan and elsewhere. As Americans and parents with children who will inherit our world, we should be thankful for people like Doug Johnston.
How can he accomplish so much so fast? Because Doug understands a principle that the most successful people in the world know. Doug has a BHAP and a BHAG and he is willing to live for it.
What in the world are BHAPs and BHAGs?
BHAP and BHAG stand for Big Hairy Audacious Purpose and Big Hairy Audacious Goal. For me, my BHAP is to educate, inspire and move others to go for and achieve their BHAG. My BHAG is to do it thru training, mentoring and development of leaders around the world. For Doug Johnston its peace and reconciliation. For Martin Luther King it was equal right for African Americans. For Jack Welch it was creating the world’s greatest company (GE). For Lance Armstrong it was becoming the greatest cyclist in history, winning the Tour De France more times than anyone and nothing could stop him…even cancer! When you truly identify your BHAP and BHAG, you will be unstoppable as well.
Aren’t I supposed to have balance in my life in order to be happy?
You tell me. The answer’s in the book. Take a look at the rich, young ruler. We’re talking about a cool guy. He’s the kind of guy any father would gladly see his daughter marry. Not only is he young and very rich, but he has kept all Ten Commandments since his youth. Now that’s pretty impressive. I’m a pretty good guy, but I haven’t kept all Ten Commandments my whole life. Yet when asked to give away his riches he refuses and is very saddened. The point is that all of the deeds didn’t do it for him, and the value he had placed around money stopped him from receiving what he really wanted. You see, balance can be the same as money. If your dream is to own your business, become a millionaire, serve in the mission fields of Africa, start a non-profit, volunteer, whatever it may be if you’re not willing to sacrifice your commodities and ideals it “ain’t gonna happen”! I see it all the time in my business. Someone I’m mentoring tells me they want financial freedom. I coach them on how to make it happen but because they’re not willing to leave the comfort zone of their house, or family, or time in front of the TV it never happens. You may have to do what Jim Rohn calls living in a season of imbalance for a short time. I can promise you, when I was building my business, I didn’t have time off. Yet, this morning when my wife and I took my little one to school, her teacher made a comment at how nice it is that mommy and daddy bring her every day. I am able to do that long term today because I was willing to live for my dream and give up certain things for temporal time periods. I submit to you today the most impactful people the world has ever seen lived very unbalanced lives. Not only that but stop and take a look at the person telling you to live a balanced life. Nine times out of ten they are broke, unhappy and unfulfilled. You have greatness inside of you but you have to bring it out and it will not happen while worrying about balancing. Before too long, balancing becomes as money was to the rich young ruler and it keeps you out of the promise land.
What if I’ve already become successful Steven? Shouldn’t I sit back and enjoy it?
One of my favorite movies is Rocky 3, starring Sylvester Stallone. As a kid my Dad and I would watch all of the Rocky movies. We can all cheer a character like Rocky. He is grass-roots, a true American hero. In Rocky 3, Rocky is riding high, living the good life as the champion. He soaks up every minute while his manager Micky encourages him to stop paying attention to the fact that he’s a champion and to start training. Of course, we know Rocky dismisses this advice as worrisome and goes on to be knocked out by Clubber Lane (Mr. T) in the 2nd round. The movie continues when Rocky’s former rival, Apollo Creed, steps in and tells Rocky to get back that “eye of the tiger.” Rocky succeeds in getting his single-minded focus back again, and even though not a great fighter goes on to pound Clubber Lane and win the title back. You may have had success once. Take a breather, be proud of what you’ve accomplished, thankful for what you have and get back in the game. What we don’t use we lose and besides you’re gifting is not for you, it’s for the rest of the world anyway. Can you imagine if Billy Graham had said in 1970, “Well Ruth, we’ve accomplished a lot in the last 20 years. I think I’ll hang my hat up.” Don’t I have to live for my kids and spouse to be a good family man/woman?
We can’t successfully live for someone else while neglect our own life’s BHAP. I see this most often with parents. I love my two children more than life itself. However, even as a parent, you have something undone within you. We’ve all seen the parent at sporting events who is obviously living their life vicariously through their child. This always backfires. While we all want our children to be successful, just because you’re 30-40-50-60 or beyond, you still have a specific purpose for your life. Besides, how can we expect our kids to live for a purpose if we’re teaching them otherwise? “What parents do in moderation, children do in excess.” Remember the number one way we learn is by observing. Monkey see, monkey do. If you want to see your children become successful, show them someone who knows their purpose and is living for it every day.
In closing, the question I have for you today is, do you desire to make an impact that will be felt for years after you are gone? I know the answer to that, it’s a yes and it should be. You have a specific purpose. Get out your inspiration detector and find out what it is for you that gets your juices flowing. If you’re not sure, talk to friends and loved ones. Ask them what they think your life’s BHAP should be? The BHAP always leads to the BHAG. The biggie to brace yourself for is this: your BHAP must be the same the creator made you for. Take the time to find it. You may have to dig and it may not make itself known instantly but it’s there. Then, get single minded and focused. Make the decision what you are going to live for and then go for it. The road may be tough. It may start with nights and weekends, after work hours. Steve Jobs started Apple in his parent’s garage. I started my business part-time on nights and weekends after long days cleaning other people’s swimming pools 6 days a week. If I can do it, YOU CAN DO IT. What great thing were you made for? Zig Ziglar said it best years ago, “the chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want the most for what you want now.” How many more years have to go by before you decide to start living for the thing that you were made for? How do you know if you’re not living for your life’s BHAP? The number one indicator is a restlessness within your heart. Do you know that feeling? I know I do. 90% of the population doesn’t know their BHAP and won’t live for it. My suggestion to you is to walk away from the 90% and join the 10% who do. I’m going. You and I can walk side by side together. And if you’re unsure, just remember the old Scottish Proverb, “be content while you’re living, for you’re a long time dead.” Remember, all things are possible to him that believes. Don’t grow weary in well doing. I believe in you, now it’s time for you to believe in yourself.
Oh and by the way, lets make sure to connect on the social networks. Send me a friend request and I look forward to getting to know you better. www.facebook.com/stevendthompson, www.twitter.com/mrsteviewonder
Also, I have a great newsletter on increasing the prosperity in your life, click on the signup link on our site www.steventhompson-mentor.com
You are AWESOME!!!
Steven
My mentor asked me this question years ago. Honestly, I had never been asked a question like this. I didn’t really know what to say. Was he referring to a goal? Was it a spiritual question about my faith? I initially said what most people I ask do, things like my family, my Wife, to be a good Christian, etc. He listened patiently for several minutes as I reached for the answer I thought he was looking for. “Steven”, he said, “I asked you what you are living for. What makes you think that is a morality question?” I sat there, stymied. It was at this time that he shared a lesson with me that I have never forgotten.
Being a strong Christian, my mentor would frequently make reference to scripture. He would often joke that “everyone should have a Bible. It will teach you a lot of great stuff, and it’s the best deal in town. You buy one book and they give you 65 free!” He directed me to the story of the rich young ruler in the book of Luke. In the story, the ruler asks Jesus what he needs to do to gain eternal life. Many of us know from Sunday school class, that Jesus tells the ruler to give up all his possessions to the poor and that the answer saddens him because he is a very rich man. It is in this chapter that we find the verse “it is easier for a camel to go thru the eye of a needle than for the rich man to enter Heaven”. This story and this verse are two of the most mis-understood in all of the Bible. Many people have justified poverty because of them. What is often not realized is the verse isn’t talking about money; rather it is talking about money as a commodity, i.e. an ideal. Any other commodity or ideal that one can love could have easily been put in money’s place. The story of Abraham is a great example. Instead of giving up money, Abraham was asked to give up Isaac.
The story of the rich young ruler was actually shared as an offspring from another parable earlier in this same chapter; that of the tax collector and the Pharisee. In this tale, a tax collector (old IRS agent) and a Pharisee (very staunchly religious person) went to the temple to pray. How they pray is very different. For the Pharisee (very staunchly religious person), he prays a very detailed prayer, verbally displaying a long list of good deeds such as tithing, being honest and faithful. The tax collector (old IRS agent) on the other hand doesn’t come to the table with any of this and herein lays the significant difference. Versus praying an eloquent prayer, the tax collector simply lowered his head while pounding his chest and loudly cried out, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” WOW!
Now, be honest. Which one do you think got the answer he was looking for? Was it the lowly IRS guy who goes around taking high taxes from the population for a living? Or was it the very straight, religion abiding good deed doer? Most will say the one doing all the good deeds right (i.e. the Pharisee or the rich young ruler). In today’s terms, this would be similar to the person who serves their community, goes to church every Sunday, volunteers, works hard, coaches little league and serves on their kids PTA board. Obviously, our culture often promotes doing the good deeds and being a “well rounded“ person. I believe we should all strive to live an honest life, work hard, serve our community, etc. That is the reason Angie and I volunteer in our local community and give money. However, my point to you today is there is a large amount of good, hard working people out there that are broke, unhappy, and not living their true God-given potential. You see, in reality, it was the tax collector who was granted his request and NOT the Pharisee or the rich young ruler! In this lies one of the Bible’s greatest lessons that if applied, will create incredible success in your life.
What was the difference? Why did the tax collector get what he wanted and the “good” guys didn’t? Easy. The tax collector had a WHITE HOT BURNING DESIRE and he didn’t share it in a mild manner. Scripture says he literally physically pounded his chest and cried out, like an infant crying to be held in the middle of the night. He wasn’t going to stop until he got what he came for. Single minded focus. No distractions. Nothing else mattered.Here’s my point. What vision do you have burning inside of you? Are you single minded on this purpose? Are you willing to pound your chest and cry out loudly to the heavens to be granted your goal? In other words, are you willing to live for your vision?
This past week, I had the privilege of spending time with one of the most influential persons in my life, Dr. Doug Johnston. Doug is the founder of an organization called ICRD. The reason that Doug has such an impact on me is because Doug is a man who knows what he is living for. He is an expert in national security, foreign policy and diplomacy. Doug walked away from academia at Harvard University to, as he puts it, “leave the think-tank to create a do-tank.” His vision was to create an organization that would go where the U.S. government could not in an attempt to bring peace to some of the hottest areas of conflict around the world and ICRD has been wildly successful. In Sudan, where civil war had killed millions, Doug and ICRD were able to help create peace between Christians and Muslims. Many of us may recall the 21 Koreans that were taken hostage by the Taliban last year. ICRD was directly instrumental through their relationships in helping the hostages to be released. Today, their work continues in Pakistan, Afghanistan and elsewhere. As Americans and parents with children who will inherit our world, we should be thankful for people like Doug Johnston.
How can he accomplish so much so fast? Because Doug understands a principle that the most successful people in the world know. Doug has a BHAP and a BHAG and he is willing to live for it.
What in the world are BHAPs and BHAGs?
BHAP and BHAG stand for Big Hairy Audacious Purpose and Big Hairy Audacious Goal. For me, my BHAP is to educate, inspire and move others to go for and achieve their BHAG. My BHAG is to do it thru training, mentoring and development of leaders around the world. For Doug Johnston its peace and reconciliation. For Martin Luther King it was equal right for African Americans. For Jack Welch it was creating the world’s greatest company (GE). For Lance Armstrong it was becoming the greatest cyclist in history, winning the Tour De France more times than anyone and nothing could stop him…even cancer! When you truly identify your BHAP and BHAG, you will be unstoppable as well.
Aren’t I supposed to have balance in my life in order to be happy?
You tell me. The answer’s in the book. Take a look at the rich, young ruler. We’re talking about a cool guy. He’s the kind of guy any father would gladly see his daughter marry. Not only is he young and very rich, but he has kept all Ten Commandments since his youth. Now that’s pretty impressive. I’m a pretty good guy, but I haven’t kept all Ten Commandments my whole life. Yet when asked to give away his riches he refuses and is very saddened. The point is that all of the deeds didn’t do it for him, and the value he had placed around money stopped him from receiving what he really wanted. You see, balance can be the same as money. If your dream is to own your business, become a millionaire, serve in the mission fields of Africa, start a non-profit, volunteer, whatever it may be if you’re not willing to sacrifice your commodities and ideals it “ain’t gonna happen”! I see it all the time in my business. Someone I’m mentoring tells me they want financial freedom. I coach them on how to make it happen but because they’re not willing to leave the comfort zone of their house, or family, or time in front of the TV it never happens. You may have to do what Jim Rohn calls living in a season of imbalance for a short time. I can promise you, when I was building my business, I didn’t have time off. Yet, this morning when my wife and I took my little one to school, her teacher made a comment at how nice it is that mommy and daddy bring her every day. I am able to do that long term today because I was willing to live for my dream and give up certain things for temporal time periods. I submit to you today the most impactful people the world has ever seen lived very unbalanced lives. Not only that but stop and take a look at the person telling you to live a balanced life. Nine times out of ten they are broke, unhappy and unfulfilled. You have greatness inside of you but you have to bring it out and it will not happen while worrying about balancing. Before too long, balancing becomes as money was to the rich young ruler and it keeps you out of the promise land.
What if I’ve already become successful Steven? Shouldn’t I sit back and enjoy it?
One of my favorite movies is Rocky 3, starring Sylvester Stallone. As a kid my Dad and I would watch all of the Rocky movies. We can all cheer a character like Rocky. He is grass-roots, a true American hero. In Rocky 3, Rocky is riding high, living the good life as the champion. He soaks up every minute while his manager Micky encourages him to stop paying attention to the fact that he’s a champion and to start training. Of course, we know Rocky dismisses this advice as worrisome and goes on to be knocked out by Clubber Lane (Mr. T) in the 2nd round. The movie continues when Rocky’s former rival, Apollo Creed, steps in and tells Rocky to get back that “eye of the tiger.” Rocky succeeds in getting his single-minded focus back again, and even though not a great fighter goes on to pound Clubber Lane and win the title back. You may have had success once. Take a breather, be proud of what you’ve accomplished, thankful for what you have and get back in the game. What we don’t use we lose and besides you’re gifting is not for you, it’s for the rest of the world anyway. Can you imagine if Billy Graham had said in 1970, “Well Ruth, we’ve accomplished a lot in the last 20 years. I think I’ll hang my hat up.” Don’t I have to live for my kids and spouse to be a good family man/woman?
We can’t successfully live for someone else while neglect our own life’s BHAP. I see this most often with parents. I love my two children more than life itself. However, even as a parent, you have something undone within you. We’ve all seen the parent at sporting events who is obviously living their life vicariously through their child. This always backfires. While we all want our children to be successful, just because you’re 30-40-50-60 or beyond, you still have a specific purpose for your life. Besides, how can we expect our kids to live for a purpose if we’re teaching them otherwise? “What parents do in moderation, children do in excess.” Remember the number one way we learn is by observing. Monkey see, monkey do. If you want to see your children become successful, show them someone who knows their purpose and is living for it every day.
In closing, the question I have for you today is, do you desire to make an impact that will be felt for years after you are gone? I know the answer to that, it’s a yes and it should be. You have a specific purpose. Get out your inspiration detector and find out what it is for you that gets your juices flowing. If you’re not sure, talk to friends and loved ones. Ask them what they think your life’s BHAP should be? The BHAP always leads to the BHAG. The biggie to brace yourself for is this: your BHAP must be the same the creator made you for. Take the time to find it. You may have to dig and it may not make itself known instantly but it’s there. Then, get single minded and focused. Make the decision what you are going to live for and then go for it. The road may be tough. It may start with nights and weekends, after work hours. Steve Jobs started Apple in his parent’s garage. I started my business part-time on nights and weekends after long days cleaning other people’s swimming pools 6 days a week. If I can do it, YOU CAN DO IT. What great thing were you made for? Zig Ziglar said it best years ago, “the chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want the most for what you want now.” How many more years have to go by before you decide to start living for the thing that you were made for? How do you know if you’re not living for your life’s BHAP? The number one indicator is a restlessness within your heart. Do you know that feeling? I know I do. 90% of the population doesn’t know their BHAP and won’t live for it. My suggestion to you is to walk away from the 90% and join the 10% who do. I’m going. You and I can walk side by side together. And if you’re unsure, just remember the old Scottish Proverb, “be content while you’re living, for you’re a long time dead.” Remember, all things are possible to him that believes. Don’t grow weary in well doing. I believe in you, now it’s time for you to believe in yourself.
Oh and by the way, lets make sure to connect on the social networks. Send me a friend request and I look forward to getting to know you better. www.facebook.com/stevendthompson, www.twitter.com/mrsteviewonder
Also, I have a great newsletter on increasing the prosperity in your life, click on the signup link on our site www.steventhompson-mentor.com
You are AWESOME!!!
Steven
Sunday, September 6, 2009
4 Keys To Thinking BIG
Happy Labor day all of you amazing people! In our first prosperity diet entry, we talked about the power of thought and why thoughts are more important than things when it comes to living a fulfilled life. Success from achievement is always temporal. The thoughts in our mind are always more important than the things. As it says in the book of Ecclisiastes, “He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver, nor he who loves abundance, with increase.” Attitude gives the winner the unfair advantage. True fulfillment is achieved thru attitude and thinking BIG is the ultimate attitude to enact. Thinking BIG is vital to living fulfilled and creating the success we desire in our lives. This is true whether in a relationship, our jobs & businesses and every other area of our lives. This entry is going to focus on HOW to think BIG, and give 4 key points for doing so.
1. Embrace that success is NOT security:
Success can mean different things to different people but by far the best definition of success is the progressive realization of predetermined, worthwhile goals, stabilized with balance and purified by belief. Notice that nowhere in this definition does it say that success comes from seeking security, taking the easy road or playing it safe. The reality is risk does equal reward. If we are going to achieve our dreams we must choose to leave the comfort zone and choose to reside in the fear zone. The fear zone is where dreams happen. The funny thing about the fear zone is that once you get there, you realize its not that scary! I can remember when I was a kid and my first trip to Six Flags Over Texas. The ride at the time was called the Shockwave and boy was it big to my 8 year old eyes! I wanted to ride it so bad but I was scared. Finally I mustered up enough courage and as we climbed to the first peak of the roller coaster I wanted to jump out and run for home! However, as we flew down the first peak and started climbing again I realized something…this was fun! All of the sudden my whole attitude had changed. Now I couldn’t wait for the next ascent, and I wanted to go higher, faster. Life is like this. Fear is an illusion. My acronym for fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. Just as I was fearful of the roller coaster, we many times feel the same about stepping out to pursue a goal or a dream. Our mind comes up with all the reasons why we can’t do it. You’re to young, you’re to old, you’re not smart enough, who are you to think you could be rich, rich people are bad, that would be irresponsible, play it safe, etc etc etc. If we are ever to come into the true nature of our real self, we must be willing to risk and break through these false barriers. This is the only way we’ll ever achieve anything significant.
2. Feed yourself big thoughts from big thinkers daily: this is what the prosperity diet is all about. Our minds are like soil. What we plant is what grows. If a farmer plants corn, he can expect to reap a harvest of corn. How foolish would it be for a farmer to plant corn then midway through the growing period change his mind and want wheat instead? That would be absolutely ludicrous, right? Well, guess what: your mind is no different. What you plant WILL reap a harvest. For many of us, all we plant is the radio, CNN and our friends or co-workers opinions. The good book says that, “as iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another.” The number one thing you can do to achieve MASSIVE prosperity in your life, more prosperity and good fortune than you’ve ever dreamed possible is to guard your mental soil. I could write all day on this one! This is crucial.
One of the questions I’m often asked by individuals at my seminars is, “how do I do this when noone I know is a big thinker?” My answer is always the same. You can mentor under the greatest minds, the most powerful, the wealthiest men and women of all time. You see, successful people take the time to record their thoughts on paper and in audio form thru books, CDs, blogs, etc. I can remember driving around in my Chevy S-10 pickup truck and cleaning other people’s pools while for hours at a time I had my walkman and headphones going. I was listening to people like Brad Hager, Robert Kiyosaki, Napoleon Hill & John Maxwell. For hours on end I pumped the good stuff in. Before long, I saw myself as a millionaire. I didn’t know where or how, but that was irrelevant. I began to see it in my minds eye and before my 30th birthday, it was reality. Ask yourself this, who is my feeder? You MUST choose who you let feed you. You can’t leave it up to Madison Ave or CNN. The average person does but you are not average. I heard it said this way, “observe the masses and do the opposite!” If you don’t know where else to get it from, stay plugged into the prosperity diet and I can promise….you will get fed.
Fake it until you make it: I can hear your minds talking already. I am not suggesting one should lie about their situation or status. That’s not what I mean at all. You see, so often you hear that seeing is believing. That could not be more wrong.
1. Embrace that success is NOT security:
Success can mean different things to different people but by far the best definition of success is the progressive realization of predetermined, worthwhile goals, stabilized with balance and purified by belief. Notice that nowhere in this definition does it say that success comes from seeking security, taking the easy road or playing it safe. The reality is risk does equal reward. If we are going to achieve our dreams we must choose to leave the comfort zone and choose to reside in the fear zone. The fear zone is where dreams happen. The funny thing about the fear zone is that once you get there, you realize its not that scary! I can remember when I was a kid and my first trip to Six Flags Over Texas. The ride at the time was called the Shockwave and boy was it big to my 8 year old eyes! I wanted to ride it so bad but I was scared. Finally I mustered up enough courage and as we climbed to the first peak of the roller coaster I wanted to jump out and run for home! However, as we flew down the first peak and started climbing again I realized something…this was fun! All of the sudden my whole attitude had changed. Now I couldn’t wait for the next ascent, and I wanted to go higher, faster. Life is like this. Fear is an illusion. My acronym for fear is False Evidence Appearing Real. Just as I was fearful of the roller coaster, we many times feel the same about stepping out to pursue a goal or a dream. Our mind comes up with all the reasons why we can’t do it. You’re to young, you’re to old, you’re not smart enough, who are you to think you could be rich, rich people are bad, that would be irresponsible, play it safe, etc etc etc. If we are ever to come into the true nature of our real self, we must be willing to risk and break through these false barriers. This is the only way we’ll ever achieve anything significant.
2. Feed yourself big thoughts from big thinkers daily: this is what the prosperity diet is all about. Our minds are like soil. What we plant is what grows. If a farmer plants corn, he can expect to reap a harvest of corn. How foolish would it be for a farmer to plant corn then midway through the growing period change his mind and want wheat instead? That would be absolutely ludicrous, right? Well, guess what: your mind is no different. What you plant WILL reap a harvest. For many of us, all we plant is the radio, CNN and our friends or co-workers opinions. The good book says that, “as iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another.” The number one thing you can do to achieve MASSIVE prosperity in your life, more prosperity and good fortune than you’ve ever dreamed possible is to guard your mental soil. I could write all day on this one! This is crucial.
One of the questions I’m often asked by individuals at my seminars is, “how do I do this when noone I know is a big thinker?” My answer is always the same. You can mentor under the greatest minds, the most powerful, the wealthiest men and women of all time. You see, successful people take the time to record their thoughts on paper and in audio form thru books, CDs, blogs, etc. I can remember driving around in my Chevy S-10 pickup truck and cleaning other people’s pools while for hours at a time I had my walkman and headphones going. I was listening to people like Brad Hager, Robert Kiyosaki, Napoleon Hill & John Maxwell. For hours on end I pumped the good stuff in. Before long, I saw myself as a millionaire. I didn’t know where or how, but that was irrelevant. I began to see it in my minds eye and before my 30th birthday, it was reality. Ask yourself this, who is my feeder? You MUST choose who you let feed you. You can’t leave it up to Madison Ave or CNN. The average person does but you are not average. I heard it said this way, “observe the masses and do the opposite!” If you don’t know where else to get it from, stay plugged into the prosperity diet and I can promise….you will get fed.
Fake it until you make it: I can hear your minds talking already. I am not suggesting one should lie about their situation or status. That’s not what I mean at all. You see, so often you hear that seeing is believing. That could not be more wrong.
Believing is seeing
This one point alone will drastically change your life. The reason I went from a pool cleaner to a worldwide entrepreneur running a multi-million dollar business is because I saw it in my minds eye FIRST. I had faith. What is faith? It is absolute belief before the physical manifestation. Jesus taught that faith can literally move mountains. What mountain do you have in your life? Debt? A bad marriage? Sickness? Occupational boredom? The bottom line, regardless of what it is, you can change the situation, but you have to see it in the minds eye FIRST. This is what faking until you make it is all about. Maybe you are in a deteriorating marriage that you want to repair and rebuild. Maybe your partner isn’t trying to help. Perhaps they are as cold as ice. You can still get the love back but it starts with you believing and acting accordingly today, even in the face of terrible situation. The movie Fireproof is a classic example of this as well as The Secret. Although the situation isn’t going to change overnight, the reality is if you will act as if long enough, you will achieve the desired result, everytime. This is why point #2 is so vitally important. You have to be fed if you are going to keep putting out what can be such an exhaustive amount of energy fighting negative momentum. This is true for our relationships as well as our business.
4. Burn The Bridges
This one point alone will drastically change your life. The reason I went from a pool cleaner to a worldwide entrepreneur running a multi-million dollar business is because I saw it in my minds eye FIRST. I had faith. What is faith? It is absolute belief before the physical manifestation. Jesus taught that faith can literally move mountains. What mountain do you have in your life? Debt? A bad marriage? Sickness? Occupational boredom? The bottom line, regardless of what it is, you can change the situation, but you have to see it in the minds eye FIRST. This is what faking until you make it is all about. Maybe you are in a deteriorating marriage that you want to repair and rebuild. Maybe your partner isn’t trying to help. Perhaps they are as cold as ice. You can still get the love back but it starts with you believing and acting accordingly today, even in the face of terrible situation. The movie Fireproof is a classic example of this as well as The Secret. Although the situation isn’t going to change overnight, the reality is if you will act as if long enough, you will achieve the desired result, everytime. This is why point #2 is so vitally important. You have to be fed if you are going to keep putting out what can be such an exhaustive amount of energy fighting negative momentum. This is true for our relationships as well as our business.
4. Burn The Bridges
Everyone that has read the book Think and Grow Rich knows the story of the general who sailed his army to a foreign land. As his men landed on the beach of the enemy the general gathered them around. He described what they were facing, an army 3X as large, with superior weapons and training. At that point, he gave the order for all the ships that had carried them to be burned, starting with his own. He then looked at his men and said, “men you see the ships burning in the sea, we have but one choice, we win or we die”. They won.
This same principle applies to you and I today as it did to this leader hundreds of years ago. It is not until we burn the bridges of retreat that we will ever reach our full potential. As long as the option of retreat is there, we will never accomplish what we dream of. What bridges do you need to burn? What escape route are you leaving open? Once you seek wise counsel, burn it! This will prevent you from quitting later. You see, the will is not strong enough to sustain you in the darkest hour of doubt. I’m reminded of the story of my good friend, Mike Rooney from Phoenix, AZ. Mike attended the University of Notre Dame and loved baseball more than anything else in life. Although a good ball player, Mike wasn’t as gifted and talented as many of the players on the Notre Dame team, yet nothing would stop him from pursuing his dream as he walked onto the Fighting Irish team. After a few days of practice, coach Pat Murphy, who has gone onto win national titles at Arizona State and is regarded as one of the best coaches in baseball, actually called my friend into his office and asked him to quit. Can you imagine! He told Mike there was no chance he would play. It was at this point, Mike had a choice to make. Would he listen to what the coach had to say and give up on his dream, or would he choose to put his dream first, disregard the naysayer(his own coach) and go for it anyway?
Mike chose not to quit, rather to stick it out. Although not a superstar, Mike went onto play four years for the Fighting Irish. The irony is that upon graduation, Coach Murphy invited Mike to join his staff at Arizona State University where Mike enjoyed a successful coaching career and is now the announcer for ASU baseball
Isn’t that amazing. If Mike had listened, he would have missed out on an amazing experience and likely would have lived with regret for life. We are no different than Mike. In order to maximize the potential that we all have inside, we must make our decision and no matter what, refuse to quit.
I love people like Mike Rooney. I can’t get enough of them. I just want to be around them as much as I can and let them rub that attitude all over me.
As you can probably tell already, the prosperity diet is going to challenge you. I am not hear to tell you what you want to hear, because what you want to hear is not going to help propel you to living the realization that I see of you. I see you as an absolute PERFECT TEN. You were made that way. The challenge is that 5 inches between our ears gets in the way and sometimes we truly do need a brainwashing. I’ll leave you with this thought and if the prosperity diet is beneficial to you, share it with your friends. I’d love to connect with you on Facebook or Twitter as well: www.facebook.com/stevendthompson www.twitter.com/mrsteviewonder
"I bargained with life for a penny,
And life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store.
For life is just an employer—
He gives you what you ask;
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.
I worked for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of life,
Life would have willingly paid."
Jessie Bell Rittenhouse
“The greatest tragedy in life, is not so much what men suffer, but rather, what they miss”
Thomas Carlyle
This same principle applies to you and I today as it did to this leader hundreds of years ago. It is not until we burn the bridges of retreat that we will ever reach our full potential. As long as the option of retreat is there, we will never accomplish what we dream of. What bridges do you need to burn? What escape route are you leaving open? Once you seek wise counsel, burn it! This will prevent you from quitting later. You see, the will is not strong enough to sustain you in the darkest hour of doubt. I’m reminded of the story of my good friend, Mike Rooney from Phoenix, AZ. Mike attended the University of Notre Dame and loved baseball more than anything else in life. Although a good ball player, Mike wasn’t as gifted and talented as many of the players on the Notre Dame team, yet nothing would stop him from pursuing his dream as he walked onto the Fighting Irish team. After a few days of practice, coach Pat Murphy, who has gone onto win national titles at Arizona State and is regarded as one of the best coaches in baseball, actually called my friend into his office and asked him to quit. Can you imagine! He told Mike there was no chance he would play. It was at this point, Mike had a choice to make. Would he listen to what the coach had to say and give up on his dream, or would he choose to put his dream first, disregard the naysayer(his own coach) and go for it anyway?
Mike chose not to quit, rather to stick it out. Although not a superstar, Mike went onto play four years for the Fighting Irish. The irony is that upon graduation, Coach Murphy invited Mike to join his staff at Arizona State University where Mike enjoyed a successful coaching career and is now the announcer for ASU baseball
Isn’t that amazing. If Mike had listened, he would have missed out on an amazing experience and likely would have lived with regret for life. We are no different than Mike. In order to maximize the potential that we all have inside, we must make our decision and no matter what, refuse to quit.
I love people like Mike Rooney. I can’t get enough of them. I just want to be around them as much as I can and let them rub that attitude all over me.
As you can probably tell already, the prosperity diet is going to challenge you. I am not hear to tell you what you want to hear, because what you want to hear is not going to help propel you to living the realization that I see of you. I see you as an absolute PERFECT TEN. You were made that way. The challenge is that 5 inches between our ears gets in the way and sometimes we truly do need a brainwashing. I’ll leave you with this thought and if the prosperity diet is beneficial to you, share it with your friends. I’d love to connect with you on Facebook or Twitter as well: www.facebook.com/stevendthompson www.twitter.com/mrsteviewonder
"I bargained with life for a penny,
And life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store.
For life is just an employer—
He gives you what you ask;
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.
I worked for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of life,
Life would have willingly paid."
Jessie Bell Rittenhouse
“The greatest tragedy in life, is not so much what men suffer, but rather, what they miss”
Thomas Carlyle
Friday, September 4, 2009
The POWER of Thought
Hi Friends,
Welcome to the first prosperity diet entry. Early on, my mentor labeled me as “the prodigy of prosperity” because of my ability to create immense financial and personal prosperity in my own life, as well as in the lives of those I mentored. While some can play the piano, others can dribble a basketball or sing a beautiful tune, my talent and ability lies in being able to inspire others to reach for the best in their life. (I can not sing for sure-even my Mom says so!). Seriously, while I am proud as anyone would be to be recognized with such an ability, I am humbled by it as well. I believe we all have a perfect TEN residing inside and that sometimes it just takes someone who is willing to invest in us to draw it out. And that is what the prosperity diet is all about. It is my way to offer to the readers the nuggets that have been instilled in me by some of the greatest, most powerful minds in the world today-my mentors. This wisdom has given me the ability to create the success in my own life that I always dreamed of. I hope the prosperity diet will be a blessing to your life and I believe if you will plug in, you’ll find that it will.
In 1959, author David Schwartz published a book entitled “The Magic of Thinking Big”. I first read this manuscript in 1996 at the age of 21. It, along with Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, rocked my world. Growing up in a loving, but non-prosperity minded family, the philosophies Schwartz and Hill wrote about challenged my paradigms to the core.
Today, I am going to write about the POWER behind our thoughts, in particular the power of GIGANTIC thinking. Hopefully today’s entry will challenge you as Schwartz and Hill did for me 13 years ago. So, here we go…
Not long ago, I was having dinner with my good friend Alin Popescu in D.C. Alin is one of the top Executive Recruiters in the business of finding and placing talent. As we talked over dinner, Alin mentioned something to me that I found astonishing. Approximately 10X more applicants apply for jobs in the $100,000-$150,000 range than do at $250,000 and above. I asked Alin to verify his statement and also why he believed it to be true. “Applicants just don’t believe they would get the jobs, because they feel their previous salary is going to indicate what they will qualify for in the future.” I challenge you to think about this for a second. Does it cost anything to apply? What’s the worst that could happen if it were rejected? Is there a rule that says one should only apply for a small number of jobs or jobs within the salary range they are accustomed too?
The obvious answer is no yet thousands, millions, of job seekers do this everyday.
So often we are trained to be content with where we are or as the little guy. We here “there are to many chiefs and not enough Indians” or we see examples of individuals that have waited entire careers for their chance to reach the top. What I am here to tell you right now is that while this is one strategy for achieving your dreams, to believe it is the only way is hogwash. The size of your bank account as well as your happiness account is based upon the size of your thinking. If there is a vision that burns inside you it is there for a reason. It was placed there by the creator himself. The world tries to tell us that to want more is bad, that there is something wrong with desiring more. We are told to forget our dreams, forget the large home in the gated community, forget that private school for your children, forget the better life. Settle. Be content with what you have. In other words, be resigned. To me, this is the same as lying down and waiting to die.
Who hasn’t heard the statement, “success isn’t worth the price.” So often, well meaning people make it out as if you have to sell your soul, your family life, your conscience, your values to reach the top. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever stopped and looked at the lives of those who tell you this? How does their happiness in life rank on a scale of 1-10? How is their health? How does their bank account look? How are their relationships? You see the reality is, people are many times like crabs in a bucket. Crabs in a bucket will actually pull down one of their 10 legged friends if they start to reach the top and look as if they might escape. Get this: your friends and family will do the same to you. Its not that they don’t love you, many times their intentions are well, but the result is the same. Until we get out of the bucket, we will never reach our potential. Quick note: if you have never read Bruce Wilkinson’s book “The Dream Giver” pick up copy online today.
The reality in the world today is that there are to many Indians and not enough chiefs. Ask any leader, whether in education, business, the church or non-profit. I see it all of the time in my business. Individuals get involved that have tremendous talent and potential. Yet, because of there limiting beliefs, they go always end up where they’ve already been. If they are accustomed to $10,000/month, that is exactly where they land.
My question to you today is, what great thing, dream, desire or goal do you have in your heart? Understand, the longer that dream has been there, the more its an indicator that its divine. Dreams and inspirations that are long term are divine in nature. They are an expression of your true form. Remember, the good book says the creator-whomever you deem that to be-made you in His own image, or likeness. They says the streets in Heaven are paved with Gold. That means if He likes it, there is nothing wrong with you desiring it as well.
Tomorrow we’re going to dive more into HOW we begin to pull these big thoughts, big dreams and big plans into reality. What I challenge you to do today is begin to uncover them. For some of you, you’ll discover there is a little dust to be cleaned off. That’s OK. Your dreams and inspirations never die. Sometimes they just need to be discovered again. Think big and you’ll live big. You’ll live in big happiness. You’ll live in big accomplishment. Big in income. Big in relationships. Big in respect.
Start now, right now, to discover how to make your thinking make magic for you.
Life is to short to be little
Are you thinking big today?
In power,
Stevie W.
Welcome to the first prosperity diet entry. Early on, my mentor labeled me as “the prodigy of prosperity” because of my ability to create immense financial and personal prosperity in my own life, as well as in the lives of those I mentored. While some can play the piano, others can dribble a basketball or sing a beautiful tune, my talent and ability lies in being able to inspire others to reach for the best in their life. (I can not sing for sure-even my Mom says so!). Seriously, while I am proud as anyone would be to be recognized with such an ability, I am humbled by it as well. I believe we all have a perfect TEN residing inside and that sometimes it just takes someone who is willing to invest in us to draw it out. And that is what the prosperity diet is all about. It is my way to offer to the readers the nuggets that have been instilled in me by some of the greatest, most powerful minds in the world today-my mentors. This wisdom has given me the ability to create the success in my own life that I always dreamed of. I hope the prosperity diet will be a blessing to your life and I believe if you will plug in, you’ll find that it will.
In 1959, author David Schwartz published a book entitled “The Magic of Thinking Big”. I first read this manuscript in 1996 at the age of 21. It, along with Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, rocked my world. Growing up in a loving, but non-prosperity minded family, the philosophies Schwartz and Hill wrote about challenged my paradigms to the core.
Today, I am going to write about the POWER behind our thoughts, in particular the power of GIGANTIC thinking. Hopefully today’s entry will challenge you as Schwartz and Hill did for me 13 years ago. So, here we go…
Not long ago, I was having dinner with my good friend Alin Popescu in D.C. Alin is one of the top Executive Recruiters in the business of finding and placing talent. As we talked over dinner, Alin mentioned something to me that I found astonishing. Approximately 10X more applicants apply for jobs in the $100,000-$150,000 range than do at $250,000 and above. I asked Alin to verify his statement and also why he believed it to be true. “Applicants just don’t believe they would get the jobs, because they feel their previous salary is going to indicate what they will qualify for in the future.” I challenge you to think about this for a second. Does it cost anything to apply? What’s the worst that could happen if it were rejected? Is there a rule that says one should only apply for a small number of jobs or jobs within the salary range they are accustomed too?
The obvious answer is no yet thousands, millions, of job seekers do this everyday.
So often we are trained to be content with where we are or as the little guy. We here “there are to many chiefs and not enough Indians” or we see examples of individuals that have waited entire careers for their chance to reach the top. What I am here to tell you right now is that while this is one strategy for achieving your dreams, to believe it is the only way is hogwash. The size of your bank account as well as your happiness account is based upon the size of your thinking. If there is a vision that burns inside you it is there for a reason. It was placed there by the creator himself. The world tries to tell us that to want more is bad, that there is something wrong with desiring more. We are told to forget our dreams, forget the large home in the gated community, forget that private school for your children, forget the better life. Settle. Be content with what you have. In other words, be resigned. To me, this is the same as lying down and waiting to die.
Who hasn’t heard the statement, “success isn’t worth the price.” So often, well meaning people make it out as if you have to sell your soul, your family life, your conscience, your values to reach the top. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever stopped and looked at the lives of those who tell you this? How does their happiness in life rank on a scale of 1-10? How is their health? How does their bank account look? How are their relationships? You see the reality is, people are many times like crabs in a bucket. Crabs in a bucket will actually pull down one of their 10 legged friends if they start to reach the top and look as if they might escape. Get this: your friends and family will do the same to you. Its not that they don’t love you, many times their intentions are well, but the result is the same. Until we get out of the bucket, we will never reach our potential. Quick note: if you have never read Bruce Wilkinson’s book “The Dream Giver” pick up copy online today.
The reality in the world today is that there are to many Indians and not enough chiefs. Ask any leader, whether in education, business, the church or non-profit. I see it all of the time in my business. Individuals get involved that have tremendous talent and potential. Yet, because of there limiting beliefs, they go always end up where they’ve already been. If they are accustomed to $10,000/month, that is exactly where they land.
My question to you today is, what great thing, dream, desire or goal do you have in your heart? Understand, the longer that dream has been there, the more its an indicator that its divine. Dreams and inspirations that are long term are divine in nature. They are an expression of your true form. Remember, the good book says the creator-whomever you deem that to be-made you in His own image, or likeness. They says the streets in Heaven are paved with Gold. That means if He likes it, there is nothing wrong with you desiring it as well.
Tomorrow we’re going to dive more into HOW we begin to pull these big thoughts, big dreams and big plans into reality. What I challenge you to do today is begin to uncover them. For some of you, you’ll discover there is a little dust to be cleaned off. That’s OK. Your dreams and inspirations never die. Sometimes they just need to be discovered again. Think big and you’ll live big. You’ll live in big happiness. You’ll live in big accomplishment. Big in income. Big in relationships. Big in respect.
Start now, right now, to discover how to make your thinking make magic for you.
Life is to short to be little
Are you thinking big today?
In power,
Stevie W.
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