Archive for March 2009
Belief in yourself
I’ve been verbed! At a recent meeting, Nigel Wathen of
www.sjpp.co.uk told the assembled gathering that he’d been
“Anned” (thank goodnes my name isn’t Roger 
). Becoming
a verb isn’t something I set out to do but I’m not
complaining!
If the first action in achieving success is deciding what you want (your major definite purpose and all consuming goal) and creating a plan to get it, this also involves ‘starting with the end in mind’.
Victoria Beckham famously said that she wanted to be “more famous than Persil” and she got her desire. Lots of people have become more famous than Persil but that was a side product of what they really wanted.
If you can’t decide on your major definite purpose or all consuming goal then starting with the end in mind may help.
I recently spoke to Richard McCormack of www.rjmltd.com who told me that when he started his business it was with the idea of selling it. He has a definite end in mind and is working towards it. Do you?
What comes after that is your belief that you can get it. The old saying “whether you think you can or you think you can’t – you’ll prove yourself right” is absolutely true. Our thoughts are so powerful that they influence everything we do.
You can read below (March 17th) about the number of people who achieved success against all the odds, just because they believed they could do it.
Do you believe you can get what you want? If not, what are the thoughts that are holding you back? The first step to working on a lack of self belief or self confidence is to acknowledge that you have them. The good news is that self-confidence really can be learned and built on. All other things being equal, self-confidence is often the single ingredient that distinguishes a successful person from someone less successful.
Action Plans:
1. Decide on your definite major purpose or all consuming goal. What is the end result going to be?
2. Write down your goal and read it aloud twice a day. Imagine that you have already achieved it. (See post below from March 16th)
3. Do you believe you can get what you want? If not, find out what is stopping you and work on it.
Come to our event on 22nd April to do some practical work towards achieving success.
Posted in Steps to Success Events | 
Tags: Achieving Success, Belief That, Definite Purpose, Desire, End Result, Mccormack, Odds, Persil, Self Belief, Self Confidence, Sjpp, Victoria Beckham, Wathen | 
1 Comment »
Ada Lovelace Day
I’m stepping aside from talking about Mastermind groups today to celebrate
Ada Lovelace Day
This remarkable woman was a skilled mathematician who is widely acknowledged to be the first person (not the first woman, the first PERSON!) to write computer programmes. In 1843 she wrote programmes that would have run on Charles Babbage’s ‘Analytical Engine’ the first programmable computer which unfortunately never got built. Ada even predicted that, one day, computers could be used to compose music.
Writer and software consultant Suw Charman-Anderson, who organised Ada Lovelace Day, explains: ‘Women’s contributions often go unacknowledged, their innovations seldom mentioned, their faces rarely recognised. We want you to tell the world about these unsung heroines.’
Amen to that!
More about Ada Lovelace Day | Complete list of all the ALD blog posts so far | Finding Ada on Twitter | The ALD pledge at PledgeBank | ALD at the Science Museum | Picture from Wikipedia
Posted in Inspiration | Tags: Ada Lovelace, Ald, Analytical Engine, Charles Babbage, Charman, Day Computers, First Person, First Woman, Innovations, Mastermind Groups, Mathematician, Music Writer, Pledge, Programmable Computer, Remarkable Woman, Science Museum, Software Consultant, Twitter, Unsung Heroines, Wikipedia | 1 Comment »
How do you decide what you want?
If desire is the starting point of all achievement,
the first obstacle that many people face is
acknowledging that they have a burning desire or a
Definite Major Purpose in life.
There are lots of reasons for this: the most common is that as soon as you have the thought about what you want , another part of you will simultaneously be telling you that it is impossible or that it is a selfish goal or an unworthy one.
For as long as you do battle with yourself you will find it hard to decide on a Definite Major Purpose and will never really believe that you can have what you want.
What are your beliefs about getting what you want? Can you be honest with yourself? Do you really believe you can have what you want or do you believe that you shouldn’t want it?
If you COULD have whatever you wanted, without hard work, suffering, sacrifice or consequences, what would it be?
Posted in Inspiration | Tags: Burning Desire, Consequences, Obstacle, Purpose In Life, Sacrifice, Suffering | No Comments »
Desire is the Starting Point
Simon Scott's Burning Desire
The first lesson in Napoleon Hill’s 13 proven steps to riches is that Desire is the starting point of all achievement. He also said this:
You must have a definite major purpose – do you want money, fame, power, contentment, personality, peace of mind, happiness or something else?
You must know what you want, what you will give to get it and a definite plan and time by which you will get it.
All earned riches have their beginning in an idea.
Opportunity often comes in a different form to the one we might have been expecting.
When one is truly ready for a thing it puts in an appearance.
Disappointments and difficulties do not turn aside true desire.
Posted in Inspiration | Tags: Appearance, Burning Desire, Contentment, Definite Plan, Disappointments, Fame, Happiness, Money, Napoleon, Napoleon Hill, Peace Of Mind, Personality, Simon Scott, True Desire | 2 Comments »
Who would you add to this list?
To win big stakes in this changing world, we can
look to the spirit of the great dreamers who
have given the world so much:
Columbus dreamed of an unknown continent
and staked his life on discovering it.
Copernicus dreamed of a multiplicity or worlds and revealed them.
Thomas Edison, a ‘tramp’ telegraph operator, dreamed of a lamp that would operate by electricity and despite more than 10,000 failures made it a reality.
Lincoln dreamed of freedom for slaves and despite fierce opposition put his dream into action.
The Wright brothers dreamed of a flying machine and took off not knowing how they would land.
Marconi dreamed of harnessing the intangible forces of the ether and when he discovered the principle his ‘friends’ had him taken into custody and committed to a psychiatric hospital.
Charles Dickens was pasting labels on blacking pots and failed innumerable times before his writing was acknowledged.
Hellen Keller became deaf, dumb and blind shortly after birth but as well as helping to create sign language, was outspoken in her opposition to war, campaigned for women’s sufferage, workers rights and socialism.
Robert Burns was illiterate and a drunkard, Beethoven was deaf and Milton was blind but their dreams were translated into action and communicated in spectacular ways.
Who would you add to this list as an example of great dreamers who took action and made the world a better place?
Posted in Inspiration | Tags: Beethoven, Charles Dickens, Continent, Copernicus, Dream Into Action, Dreamers, Drunkard, Innumerable Times, Intangible Forces, Multiplicity, Pots, Psychiatric Hospital, Robert Burns, Sign Language, Slaves, Socialism, Telegraph Operator, Thomas Edison, Tramp, Wright Brothers | No Comments »
Six definite, practical steps to aquire riches
Writing at the end of The Great Depression in 1937,
Napoleon Hill stated (my paraphrasing) “Never has there
been so great an opportunity for practical dreamers as
now exists. The economic collapse has reduced all men,
substantially, to the same level. A new race is about to be
run. The real leaders of the world have always been men
who harnessed and put into practical use the intangible, unseen forces of unborn opportunity.. Every great leader, from the dawn of civilization was a dreamer – a practical dreamer with a definite purpose and a burning desire to turn dreams into reality. Tolerance and an open mind are practical necessities of the dreamer of today, there is a vast business, financial and industrial world to be remoulded and redirected along new and better lines.
Every human being who reaches the age of understanding of the PURPOSE OF MONEY, (i.e. as a means of exchange) wishes for it. The method by which this DESIRE is translated into its financial equivalent consists of six definite, practical steps:
1. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. It is not sufficient to say ‘plenty’ – you must be definite.
2. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire. (There is no such thing as something for nothing)
3. Establish a definite idea of when you intend to posses the money you desire.
4. Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and, whether you are ready or not, begin at once to put this plan into action.
5. Write a clear, concise statement which says: The amount of money you intend to aquire, the time limit for its acquisition, what you intend to give in return and the plan by which you will aquire it.
6. Read this statement out ALOUD twice daily, just before going to bed and on getting up. As you read, see and feel and believe yourself already in possession of the money.
Posted in Inspiration | Tags: Amount Of Money, Burning Desire, Concise Statement, Dawn Of Civilization, Definite Idea, Definite Plan, Definite Purpose, Dreamer, Dreamers, Economic Collapse, End Of The Great Depression, Financial Equivalent, Great Depression, Leaders Of The World, Napoleon, Napoleon Hill, Necessities, Possession, Time Limit, Unseen Forces | No Comments »
Missed opportunities
Edwin C Barnes was a penniless salesman who had a
DESIRE to go into partnership with the inventor
Thomas Edison.
More than that – his DEFINITE MAJOR PURPOSE was
to be Edison’s associate.
He had the chance to be one of Edison’s salesmen but that wasn’t what he wanted. He waited until the opportunity came and Edison’s other salesmen decided that they couldn’t sell the latest invention – a dictating machine.
When his opportunity came, it was in a different form and in a different way to what Barnes was expecting.
Barnes showed Edison that he could market and distribute the machine in partnership with Edison and made a fortune.
Barnes knew what he wanted and had the determination to stand by his desire. Opportunity has a habit of slipping in the back door and can sometimes come disguised as misfortune or temporary defeat. Perhaps that is why opportunities are sometimes not recognised and missed.
(My version of a story from Napoleon Hill, Think & Grow Rich)
Posted in Inspiration | Tags: Amp, Back Door, Barnes, Desire, Dictating Machine, Edwin C, Fortune, Habit, Inventor Thomas Edison, Latest Invention, Misfortune, Napoleon, Napoleon Hill, Partnership, Salesmen | No Comments »
Napoleon Hill
The Maker of Millionaires, Napoleon Hill said:
“Neglecting to broaden their view has kept some
people doing one thing all their lives.”
Nothing wrong with that if the one thing you’re
doing is what you are passionate about, fills you
with deep satisfaction, a sense of achievement
and, if you need it, gives you a great income.
If its not – why are you still doing it? Can you answer this question?
What do you want most?
Is it Money, Fame, Power, Contentment, Personality, Peace of Mind or Happiness?
Posted in Inspiration | Tags: Contentment, Fame, Happiness, Millionaires, Money, Napoleon, Napoleon Hill, Peace Of Mind, Personality, Satisfaction | No Comments »
