Napoleon Hill once said...

Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success. - Napoleon Hill, 1883-1970, American Speaker, Motivational Writer, "Think and Grow Rich"

How Do You Attract Opportunity Into Your Life?

Someone recently asked me the question: "How can I have more opportunities come into my life?" Good question, but I think my answer surprised them a bit.

I bypassed the obvious (and necessary) points about hard work, persistence and preparation. They actually were very hard workers. And they had the great attribute of being seekers, they were on the outlook. But I felt maybe they were missing this next and most valuable point - attraction.

I always thought opportunities and success were something you went after, then I found out that I needed to turn it around. Opportunities and success are not something you go after necessarily, but something you attract - by becoming an attractive person.

That's why I teach development of skills. If you can develop your skills, keep refining all the parts of your character and yourself, your health, your relationships, etc. so that you become an attractive person to the marketplace - you'll attract opportunity. Opportunity will probably seek you out. Your reputation will probably precede you and someone will want to do business with you. All of the possibilities are there by working on the philosophy that success is something you attract.

The key is to continue making yourself a more attractive person by the skills you have, the disciplines you have, the personality you've acquired, the character and reputation you have established, the language and speech you use - all of that refinement makes you more attractive to the marketplace.

Personal development - the never-ending chance to improve not only yourself, but also to attract opportunities and affect others.

To Your Success,

Jim Rohn

Be "Gutsy."

Do you know what we used to call you before you leapt into the jungles of time and space, Victorio?

"Gutsy."

Do you know what we call you now?

"An example."

Do you know what we'll call you when you return?

"Teacher."

Tallyho,
The Universe

That's in addition to "Missed," Victorio, (and "Spaghetti Legs").

Visualize and Expect Success

Our studies of high achievers have shown that no matter how different their personalities, work habits, occupations or gender, the people who accomplish great things in life have visualized and expected success all along. They’ve had the ability to vividly picture their achievements and to reassure themselves in the face of long odds that they would come through.

To visualize the person you want most to become, set aside some time this week in which you can create an atmosphere conducive to re-affirming your life dreams. You may want to be near the ocean, or a lake, or in a park, in a garden or in the woods. Or you might just sit quietly by yourself in a comfortable lounge or chair. Get yourself in the mood for visualizing. When the left hemisphere of the brain is quiet and relaxed, the mind is most receptive to creative inputs. To facilitate this you may want to use soothing recorded music, preferably slow and inspiring like Bach, Handel or Vivaldi if you like classical music, or soft, popular instrumentals from epic movies or other mood music.

Once you’re properly relaxed and optimistic, let your mind focus on who you really want to become. Visualize the future in two time frames: five years from now and ten years from now. First, design a day in your life five years from now. Who are you five years from now? Where are you professionally and geographically? On Monday mornings, where do you go?

What are you doing, seeing, feeling and thinking? Who are the people around you? What’s different about your life five years from now?

Next, project ahead ten years from today. Picture a film of your life at that time. Who is watching it with you? What dramatic moments are depicted by that film? What personal triumphs are revealed? What obstacles are courageously overcome?

Don’t be shy! The purpose of this exercise is to load visualized software in your mental computer. Just as a computer must be configured to accept specific materials, your mind must be prepared to accept the reality of your greater success. By introducing positive images of goal achievement, you’re preparing yourself to translate those goals into reality.

I especially like to visualize myself being introduced at a dinner in my honor. Maybe it’s the Coaches’ Hall of Fame! Don’t laugh! It could happen! The emcee comes to the microphone and reads the highlights of my life and adds some insights as to who I really am. What would the emcee be saying about you if such a dinner were held in your honor ten years from now? Devote a page in your journal to describing the things you would want said about you.

This visualization will put you on a path that leads to your future self that you vividly picture today!

—Denis Waitley

Your unending baby steps will be matched...

People who do all they can, with what they've got, from where they are, Victorio, no matter how puny their actions, how tiny their steps, or how futile it may seem, simply have more fun. Way.


Of course, to the uninitiated it doesn't appear that way. To them it appears as if only those taking gigantic leaps, who drive cars with fancy wheels, have loads of friends, perfect bodies, and fly around the world in First Class Sleeper Seats, are having fun. But what they don't realize is that we're often talking about the very same folks, just at different points in their journey.

Coffee, tea, or a brand new Bentley?
The Universe

You see, Victorio, your unending baby steps will be matched by my own, and the next thing you'll know MTV Cribs will be knocking at your door.

Learn to maintain an unwavering focus upon your desired end result

Victorio, the trick is learning to maintain an unwavering focus upon your desired end result, your completed dream, the "finish line," without insisting upon, or even contemplating, its means of attainment, no matter how logical, obvious, or tempting it may seem.


Tallyho,
The Universe

That's all you ever really need to know, Victorio.

100th post

accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble...

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble. ~ Helen Keller

Getting More Done, Faster and Easier

By: Brian Tracy

There are so many demands on your time today that very little of your time is yours to use as you choose. The good news is that you can take far more control over how you use your time at work and in your personal life.

The Starting Point

Time management begins with you making a list of your goals in order of priority. You always work from a list. You then organize each day with a list as well.

Priorities Versus Posteriorities

There is a difference between priorities and posteriorities. In order to get your personal time under control, you must decide very clearly upon your priorities. You must decide on the most important things that you could possible be doing to give yourself the same amount of happiness, satisfaction, and joy in life. But at the same time, you must establish posteriorities as well. Just as priorities are things that you do more of and sooner, posteriorities are things that you do less of and later.

The fact is, your calendar is full. You have no spare time. Your time is extremely valuable. Therefore, for you to do anything new, you will have to stop doing something old. In order to get into something, you will have to get out of something else. In order to pick something up, you will have to put something down. Before you make any new commitment of your time, you must firmly decide what activities you are going to discontinue in your personal life. If you want to spend more time with your family, for example, you must decide what activities you currently engage in that are preventing you from doing so.

Hard Time Pushes Out Soft Time

A key principle of time management says that hard time pushes out soft time. This means that hard time, such as working, will push out soft time, such as the time you spend with your family. So concentrate on working when you are at work so that you can concentrate on your family when you are at home.

Three Questions For Life Balance

There are three key questions that you can ask yourself continually to keep your personal life in balance. The first question is, "What is really important to me?" Whenever you find yourself with too much to do and too little time, stop and ask yourself, "What is it that is really important for me to do in this situation?" Then, make sure that what you are doing is the answer to that question.

Your Highest Value Activities

The second question is, "What are my highest value activities?" In your personal life, this means, "What are the things that I do that give me the greatest pleasure and satisfaction? Of all the things that I could be doing at any one time, what are the things that I could do to add the greatest value to my life?"

The Most Valuable Use of Your Time

And the final question for you to ask over and over again is, "What is the most valuable use of my time right now?" Since you can only do one thing at a time, you must constantly organize your life so that you are doing one thing, the most important thing, at every moment. Personal time management enables you to choose what to do first, what to do second, and what not to do at all. It enables you to organize every aspect of your life so that you can get the greatest joy, happiness, and satisfaction out of everything you do.

Action Exercises

First, look at your calendar, your list of tasks and responsibilities, and decide what you are going to cut back on or stop doing altogether. Second, organize your work so that you work all the time you work. Don't waste time in idle socializing or low value activities. Third, ask yourself continually, "What is the most valuable use of my time, right now?" and whatever your answer, work on that task exclusively until it is complete.

Just one!

Victorio, it only takes one idea, one second in time, one friend, one dream, one leap of faith, to change everything, forever.

Just one!

Yet eternity lies in the palm of your hand.

Hallelujah,
The Universe

Nice odds, Victorio, huh?

The Power of Habit

(This excerpt was taken from Denis Waitley's book The Seeds of Greatness Treasury)

You may know me.
I’m your constant companion.
I’m your greatest helper; I’m your heaviest burden
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am at your command.
Half the tasks you do might as well be turned over to me. I’m able to do them quickly, and I’m able to do them the same every time,
If that’s what you want.

I’m easily managed; all you’ve got to do is be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want it done; after a few lessons I’ll do it automatically.
I am the servant of all great men and women; of course,
I’m the servant of all the failures as well.
I’ve made all the winners who have ever lived.
And, I’ve made all the losers too.

But I work with all the precision of a marvelous computer
With the intelligence of a human being.
You may run me for profit, or you may run me to ruin;
It makes no difference to me.

Take me. Be easy with me, and I will destroy you.
Be firm with me, and I’ll put the world at your feet.
Who am I?

I’m Habit!

-- Denis Waitley

funky, confusing, gray, lonely days were just part of a "system"

What if funky, confusing, gray, lonely days were just part of a "system" that, in turn, created bright, rich, happy, friendly days?


What if they were just meant to give deeper elements of your creativity a rest?

What if they were deliberately crafted holidays, of a sort, devised by your inner psyche to relieve you from the pressure of artificial expectations?

Would you still bemoan them, wonder what's wrong with you, or fear that they'll never end? Or, Victorio, would they kind of tickle you pink?

You party animal, you -
The Universe

I knew "tickle" would get your attention, Victorio.

Four Rules of Time

By: Brian Tracy

There are four rules of time. The first is that time is perishable. This means that it cannot be saved. In fact, time can only be spent. Because time is perishable, the only thing you can do with it is to spend it differently, to reallocate your time away from activities of low value and toward activities of higher value. But once it is gone, it is gone forever.

Time is Indispensable

The second rule of time is that time is indispensable. All work requires time. No matter what it is you want to do in life, even looking out a window or sleeping in for a few extra minutes, it requires a certain amount of time. And according to the 10/90 Rule, the 10% of time that you take to plan your activities carefully in advance will save you 90% of the effort involved in achieving your goals later. The very act of thinking through and planning your work in advance will dramatically reduce the amount of time that it takes you to do the actual job.

The Currency of the Future

The third rule of time is that time is irreplaceable. Nothing else will do, especially in relationships. Time is the only currency that means anything in your relationships with the members of your family, your friends, colleagues, customers and coworkers. Truly effective people give a lot of thought to creating blocks of time that they can then spend, without interruption, with the important people in their lives.

Spell The Word Correctly

There is a question: “How do children spell the word ‘Love?’”

And the answer is “T-I-M-E.” It is the same with your spouse, as well. The important people in your life equate the amount of time that you spend with them, face to face, head to head, knee to knee, with the amount that you actually love them.

Grow Your Relationships

The more time that you spend with another person, especially a member of your family, the deeper grows your understanding and affection for that person. If you get too busy to spend time with your children, you eventually lose contact with them and they go off into their own personal world of school, peers and other activities.

The Key to Goal Achievement

The fourth rule is that time is essential for accomplishment. Every goal you want to achieve, everything you want to accomplish, requires time. In fact, one of the smartest things you ever do, when you set a goal, is to sit down and allocate the exact amount of time that you are going to have to invest to achieve that goal. The failure to do this almost always leaves the goal unaccomplished.

Action Exercises

1. Decide today to redirect and reallocate your time away from low-value tasks and toward high-value activities.

2. Make a plan to spend more time face-to-face with the most important people in your life. The more you think about the use of your time, the better you will become.

Introspection is an amazing tool!

Nope. No one on this end is authorized, or even interested, in telling someone on your end when their thoughts are in conflict. Can you blame us? We'd immediately risk being labeled critical, unsupportive, and misguided. Forget it!

But that's perfectly all right, Victorio, because under the current system everyone eventually discovers truth... either through manifesting so much chaos they're forced to ask the hard questions, or through just plain asking the hard questions from the get-go.

Win-win, sort of.

Love you masses,
The Universe

Victorio, introspection is an amazing tool!

Always speak to the highest

Whenever conferring with another, Victorio, either face to face or across the miles, whether a human being, departed spirit, or sentient tree, always speak to the highest within them.


Makes such a difference.

Amen,
The Universe
 
Yeah, Victorio, as if some trees weren't sentient. Glad you caught that.

Expecting "end results"

Expecting "end results" - such as wealth and abundance, health and harmony, friends and laughter - in broad brush strokes, is part of the secret formula, Victorio, for manifesting the life of your dreams.


Expecting your path to follow a certain route - such as writing a bestseller to accumulate wealth, having a particular someone fall in love with you, or insisting upon this idea, that diet, or the other invention to be your deliverance - is just plain messing with the cursed hows and severely limits my options... (I hate when that happens.)

Cool?
The Universe

Release any expectations you may have of how you think your dreams will come true, Victorio, but by all means, with every fiber of your being, expect that they will, as you busy yourself enjoying who and where you already are.

Gain strength, courage, and confidence

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. - Eleanor Roosevelt

Some people just have big hearts ;o)

Some people just have big hearts, Victorio. And with this gift they're very often able to feel, offer, and show far more love than they receive from those around them. Which, at times, is a heavy load to bear. So today I'd like to remind them, and especially you, that the sun asks not that the moon and planets help brighten each day, but relishes her role as a keeper of the light and a bringer of the dawn. A role much like your own.


Happy weekend, from the Sun and I -
The Universe

Victorio, nice flares lately... showoff.

Expect for the things you want to happen not just hope for it

Victorio, in case you were wondering what might happen next - how this week will unfold, who you will become tomorrow - it all boils down to one thing...

Expectation.

Yours.

Whoohoo,
The Universe

Now, to be crystal clear, Victorio: Expectation that's not followed by action is not expectation... it's just hoping; and hoping has never achieved very much.

Don't be afraid to make mistakes

The greatest mistake a man can ever make is to be afraid of making one.


   ~Elbert Hubbard 1859-1915, American Author, Publisher

The Safari Called Life

by Dr. Denis Waitley

Many of my current keynote presentations to major corporations have focused on my recent experiences in Africa, and how they can be applied to our individual and collective performance in pursuit of excellence and quality of life. I view life as a way of traveling on a mysterious, ever-challenging safari, where the trail is blazed by our daily choices, actions and responses.

There is an oft-repeated cliché I have heard ever since I was a boy: “It’s a jungle out there!” Every television and newspaper headline seems to shout about the perils of existence. Bad news is always the special meal of the day, and because of the media’s increasing preoccupation with what’s wrong in the world, each generation believes it is living in the most difficult time in history. How are we to face our deepening feelings of apprehension and fear during a time of increasing global unrest and insecurity? How can we achieve survival, success and serenity in this savage paradise called life?

What I have learned on my annual pilgrimages to Africa on safari, can be applied to our own daily lives. Life in every environment today is a savage paradise. Savage to the ignorant, uneducated, unskilled, prejudiced and ill-informed. A paradise to those who have learned to adapt to and manage change, remain flexible, unhook prejudices, view failures and mistakes as temporary detours and target corrections, and remain lifelong learners. Our safari guides were comfortable and at ease in the dangerous ecosystem of Africa. We, on the other hand, felt vulnerable, insecure and hesitant. We were the newcomers, the tourists. They were the guides, confident through training and experience.

In my book, Safari to the Soul (which is now available in a newsix-CD audio set), I mention another book that made the same parallel as I had, entitled The Jungle is Neutral, written by Col. F. Spencer Chapman, an officer in the British army during World War II. Col. Chapman survived for four years as a guerilla fighter in Malaysia. Cut off from the outside world, which listed him as “missing, believed killed,” he was isolated deep in the jungle, undergoing ordeals such as few individuals have ever lived to document. He escaped twice from prison camps because, in his own words, “I needed to get back to my assignment!”

When questioned later about his adversaries being expert jungle fighters and the fact that he was up against scorpions, yellow fever, malaria, poisonous snakes, incessant rain, wild tigers, leeches and undergrowth so thick it took four hours to walk a mile, these were Col. Chapman’s observations:

“I had my bouts with most of what you mentioned. Some of it I was prepared for. Some of it I learned on the job. I managed to get around by bicycle, dugout canoe, mostly on foot, and some of the time on my belly crawling through the jungle muck. The jungle provides drinking water, fruit and food, shelter and plenty of places to hide. I also made friends with the tribal chiefs and natives who had lived there all their lives and who taught me coping skills.”

When it was brought to his attention that others who spent only days or weeks in the jungle swore that the jungle is hostile, cruel and vindictive, Col. Chapman answered resolutely:

“To me, the jungle is neutral. It is your knowledge, attitude, skills and habits that see you through. The jungle is what it is. It doesn’t think. It is the backdrop for your journey. Your preparation, training, resourcefulness and dedication are what count.”

On your own safari in pursuit of your professional and personal goals, as you look forward to a new beginning and the climb to a higher level, where you have never journeyed before, remember that acronym called the “KASH-flow” of life.

K is for Knowledge. Invest fully in your lifelong learning. The shelf life of your formal education, with any and all of your degrees, is about 18 months. Every five minutes, there is a new scientific or technological breakthrough that upgrades or makes obsolete what had gone before. Knowledge is the new power and the greatest tool for combating fear and prejudice.

A is for Attitude. Examine your “why,” and compare it with those who are peak-performers in every business. View problems as opportunities to grow, and understand that virtually every successful entrepreneur has been a problem-solver and risk-taker. Taking the calculated risk is what creates security. Seeking security provided by others is the greatest risk to your personal freedom and fulfillment. Your attitude is either the lock on or key to your door of success.

S is for Skills. Attend meetings and conference calls, and take advantage of every opportunity to gain insights and experiences from successful role models and mentors. We learn by observation, imitation and repetition. Model yourself after mentors with proven track records of success, whose character traits and personal lives match their professional accomplishments. Behind every world-class athlete, there is a world-class coach. The same holds true in every business arena. Surround yourself with winning coaches.

H is for Habits. By the inch, success is a cinch. By the yard, it’s hard. Break your major goals down into mini-goals, and stair step your way to the top by establishing a dynamic daily routine that eliminates time-wasting activities and maximizes performance-achieving activities. Remember, the more you train, the more you gain. Habits are like submarines; they run silent and deep. Repetition is the key. Habits grow, over time, from cobwebs into cables to shackle or strengthen our lives. Practice makes permanent. Only perfect practice makes perfect. You don’t break habits; you replace them.

By using the KASH formula, you will increase your cash flow and your productivity, giving you more free time to go on safaris when and where you want. Instead of a tourist, you’ll become a tour guide, with a greater awareness of your environment, courage based on skills and training, and an attitude of confidence to turn every stumbling block you face into a steppingstone to success and fulfillment.

Life is a safari into a savage paradise. The quality of your journey will depend on your preparation, choices and responses. Become a guide instead of a tourist!

Patience is cool

The BIG THING, Victorio, rarely happens when you ask for it, nor does it typically come from who or where you expect. It usually comes a bit later, from someone you didn't even know when you first asked, as a result of some weird turn of events that were impossible to foresee.


So, chill. Be patient. Enjoy the moment. And let your friends, employers, and partners off the hook. Besides, they're going to have enough to deal with when the BIG THING does arrive, if you know what I mean.

Won't be long,

The Universe
 
Patience is cool, Victorio. Really cool.

for every single time you ever fell in love

Thanks, Victorio, for every single time you ever fell in love.

Whether or not it was obvious. Whether or not it lasted. And whether or not you were loved back.

It changed everything.

You changer,
The Universe

Actually, Victorio, you're always loved back....

The 13 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Success

by Brian Tracy

1. The Law of Control: You feel good about yourself to the degree to which you feel that you are in control of you own life.

2. The Law of Responsibility: You are completely responsible for everything you are and fore everything you become and achieve.

3. The Law of Direction: Successful people have a clear sense of purpose and direction in every area of their lives.

4. The Law of Compensation: You are always fully compensated for whatever you do, positive or negative.

5. The Law of Service: Your rewards in life will always be in direct proportion to the value of your service to others.

6. The Law of Applied Effort: All things are amenable to hard work.

7. The Law of Overcompensation: If you always do more than you are paid for, you will always be paid more than you are getting now.

8. The Law of Preparation: Effective performance is preceded by painstaking preparation.

9. The Law of Forced Efficiency: The more things you have to do in a limited period of time, the more you will be forced to work on your most important tasks.

10. The Law of Decision: Every great leap forward in life is preceded by a clear decision and a commitment to action.

11. The Law of Creativity: Every advance in human life begins with an idea in the mind of a single person.

12. The Law of Flexibility: Success is best achieved when you are clear about the goal but flexible about the process of getting there.

13. The Law of Persistence: Your ability to persist in the face of setbacks and disappointments is your measure of your belief in yourself and your ability to succeed.

You can ALWAYS start anew

Now, I have to admit that among inventions, the "Undo" button is right up there with the very greatest of all time, but it'll never compare to the "Do" button, from which worlds are born.
Victorio, this is your chance!

2010, Baby -
The Universe
 
Plus, Victorio, even while some things can't be undone, you can ALWAYS start anew.

Seek out the real YOU then follow Him

Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, "This is the real me," and when you have found that attitude, follow it. - William James (1842-1910)

you're the fruit

I love watching when you walk into a room, Victorio.

How faces light up.

People "inexplicably" feeling better about themselves.

Angels singing Hallelujah.

The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree, huh?

I'm the tree,
The Universe

And you're the fruit, Victorio.

2010 Customized Abundance Advisory and Relativity Alert

2010 Customized Abundance Advisory and Relativity Alert for Victorio Claveria (shhhh...)

Soon, for you Victorio, hundred dollar bills in forgotten blue jean pockets will be as plentiful as singles are in your wallet today. Earning an extra five thousand for lending a hand will only be as challenging as earning five hundred, today. And then, before you can even ask, "Who let the bucks out?!" you'll have as many millions in the bank as there are meters in a mile, popes in the Vatican, and stairways to heaven.

Yet still, you'll be loved most for being a great friend.

That's just how you roll,
The Universe

And every day, Victorio, will feel like Friday... but not just because you're really, really rich.

Your Dream Begins Today

by Les Brown

What will your life be like when you’ve achieved your most deeply held dreams? Let’s take a look at how you can start living your dreams this very day.

Do you have a dream, a vision of the life you wish to live?
How specific is that dream?
How clear is that vision?
How do you intend to reach it?
What obstacles stand in your way?
Are your fears holding you back or are you using them to move you forward?

Your fears can actually lead you to success. Fear is an intense emotion. But that doesn’t mean it has to control you, or even stop you. Fear can prepare you and push you forward just as strongly as it can hold you back. Fear heightens your awareness and increases your physical strength. Fear brings your mind to sharp focus. With all that going for you, does it make sense to just run and hide? Of course not. Fear gets you in shape to take action!

Are you waiting for things to get better before moving ahead? If you’re serious about success, you need to start taking action today. If you’re waiting for things to be perfect, you’ll wait forever and nothing will ever get done.

The way to achieve is to bloom where you’re planted, to do what you can, where you are, with what you have. It’s easy to think up excuses for not taking action. “If only I had more hours in the day. If only I had a better job. If only I could meet the right person.” But excuses won’t bring you anything of value. You’ve got to change your “if only” into an “I will.” “I will make better use of my time. I will work on improving my career. I will create and nurture my relationships.”

Take a chance. Have faith in yourself. Your circumstances will improve when you make the effort to improve them. Start where you are right now. You have everything it takes to reach for whatever you desire. Stop wishing. Use your time, your energy, your thoughts and efforts to make it happen! You’ll be glad you did!

your thoughts become things

If given just one wish for the New Year, Victorio, knowing you could wish for anything at all and that whatever you wished for was GUARANTEED to come true... would you wish for all things to be EXACTLY as they are?

Me too.

We bad,
The Universe

As things are now, Victorio, you've still got forever, your thoughts become things, and not only do most people around you have golden intentions... but they really, really like you.

DREAM BIGGER THIS 2010!!!

I want you to know, Victorio, that I've ordered up another year for you.

Think I'll call it 2010.

I'm going to put most of the same people of 2009 in it, since you all think so much alike. But there'll also be a few new, very cool cats coming to play - give them some time to grow up though.

And I'm going to have things start off pretty much exactly where they left off in 2009, for continuity's sake. Flips folks out too much when I don't.

All in all, 365 more days in paradise... and only one request of you:

DREAM BIGGER.

Coolio?

Let's do this,

The Universe

Bigger than even your awesomely fabulous dream house, Victorio, since that's pretty much in the bag now.