Browse Inspiration

Fly fishing may be one of the truest forms of self expression. It has the ability to build character and resolve. It is definitely not the fastest or easiest way to get fish. If speed is what you desire your local grocery store can accomplish that with a mere request. No, fly fishing is something altogether different. I think Howell Raines said it best ‘fly fishing is to fishing as ballet is to walking.’ I would argue that there are few skills that someone could learn as

I’ve provided a lovely collection of quotes about mother that are great for putting in a card or letter to let her know how much you love and appreciate her. Let your mother know you care, not just on her birthday or Mother’s Day, but for any old reason. "My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical educatio I received from her."rn~ George Washington

One of the main reasons why numerous people tend to stagnate in their development and growth as conscious human beings, is because they have a fear of taking responsibility for themselves. Most individuals are afraid of not having what it takes. This fear, can sometimes be embedded into peoples psyche because of how they were raised as children. In today's society, many people have just been given everything they've ever wanted, without ever having to work hard to earn it. O

To show grace isn't about being kind now and then. Grace transcends little prayers at dinner and women named Grace. Grace isn't always about moving your body gracefully; it's a much higher calling. To be able to show grace fully is a tall order. Look for ways to shine your grace toward others and inspire them to do the same. Passing on grace makes the world a better more elevated place to live.

If you are a manager or business leader searching for a way to get the most from your business, you might be wondering where you should turn for answers. No matter the industry in which you work, keeping your team motivated and inspired to perform well at all times is one of the most critical leadership skills you can learn. An inspired team will get much more work done each day and will look forward to future projects. When the members of your team come to work with smiles o

It does not matter whether you are a fan of the sport or not, there are great lessons in the game of life that can be learned from this sport. Below are some of the top inspirational quotes about football, spoken from some of the greatest coaches and players in football. Let’s learn about the game of life from the sport of football! 1. Football is like life -- it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority. ~ Vince Lombardi

Your friend or family member is graduating soon. Choose from one of these graduation quotes to share your heart-felt feelings about their accomplishment. They are great for putting into their graduation card or a letter! "There is a good reason they call these ceremonies "commencement exercises." Graduation is not the end; it's the beginning." rn~ Orrin Hatch "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. You are the guy who'll decide where to go."rn~ Dr. Seuss

Today I wish to talk about a topic that was instrumental to me in developing MakeGirlfriends.com, and one that is creating much debate among all age groups. Cyber friendships compared to Traditional friendships.

If you study the most successful and respected people in the world, you’ll find they all share a similar trait; they accept nothing but the best in everything they do. They expect the best from their employees, their friends, their family, and even themselves. Why do you suppose that is? Are ...

“Weak minds lead to weak actions. A strong, disciplined mind, which anyone can cultivate though daily practice, can achieve miracles. If you want to live life to the fullest, care for your thoughts as you would your most prized possessions. Work hard to remove all inner turbulence. The rewards will be abundant.” ~ Robin Sharma from The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari rnReminds me of James Allen’s *brilliant* essay “As a Man Thinketh” (see Note) where he says: “As the ph

First, be proud of every attempt you make to become a better you. Remember, no matter how successful you become, you will never be satisfied if you are not able to accept who you are and where you come from. Do not be ashamed! I came from a single parent home, a world of very humble ...

Do you remember some of your beautiful childhood memories? Do you remember the joy you felt all the times you played with your friends? Do you remember how fast you used to become angry, and how fast you forgot what you were angry about? OK, one more… Do you remember how happy you were when you ate candy? When we were kids, being happy came easy. What about now? Are you happy? As children we could have answered this question without hesitation. What happened to us?

Syntax describes the structure of a language and how it is used to communicate. The importance of Syntax when we communicate is absolute (whether we are talking to ourselves OR someone else). In this brief article I want to share: • ‘How’ syntax can change the meaning of a sentence • ‘Why’ this is important • And how to best create a positive message In these two sentences for example notice how a change in syntax completely alters the meaning: “The dog bit John.” “John bit the dog.”

I decided to write this article as I was nearing the last few days of one of my Success Summits and was receiving many emails and inquiries regarding future guest presenter options. I regularly feature top experts and best selling authors on my transformative Your Path to Success Summit series. Sometimes I work with experts who have never participated in a virtual event. I thought I would share information with you on how to be a great telesummit guest.

There is a new mentality in the industrialized world which I call the microwave mentality. It is a result of the information age and will only grow with industrialization. I call it the microwave mentality.

There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit.nn “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.nn “We’ll see,” the farmer replied.nn The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses.nn “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.nn “We’ll see,” replied the old man.nn The following

One thing middle age has done for me is make me more aware of who I really am and how I respond to life. I can wish I was wired differently, I can somewhat adapt my personality to my environment, and I can’t use my personality as an excuse for bad behavior, but I am coming to terms with how God made me. He made me an Introvert. In recent years I have come to terms with how the public side of me behaves in an extremely extroverted world. On Sundays, because I know and love our

One of the greatest milestones in my life came about the day that I stumbled upon the following citation by Tony Robbins, “Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.” When it is well understood and assimilated, this one sentence contains an entire philosophy. It can become a life’s purpose, a source of motivation and a guiding light to achievement and self-actualization.

Ending a long term relationship can be devastating, destructive and depressing but… there is light at the end of the tunnel. Having experienced at first hand a 21 year marriage blast apart with a hurricane force, I know that the effect is, to put it mildly, earth-stopping. If you’ve ever experienced being hung, drawn and quartered and then tried to put your self together again into some sort of presentable and functioning human being you’ll know exactly what I mean!

How many times have emotional outbursts destroyed a life or career? Our emotions can either work for us or against us depending on how we handle them. Gaining control of your emotions is a practice which requires maturity and experience. We have to learn to recognize the emotions which seek to propel us into action and respond accordingly rather than to react as they tell us which is often not good. We can’t prevent emotions but we can choose to not allow them to cause us to perform negative behaviors.

"I think I can. I think I can." Those are the immortal words of the Little Engine That Could, the train locomotive from the children's story who against all odds pulled his heavy load over the mountain. Those words were his affirmation to himself that pushed him to keep trying until he finally succeeded. That's all fine and dandy for a children's story. The real question we must ask now is, Do affirmations always work? The answer is yes, so long as certain “criteria” have

For the purpose of this article let me give you my definition of situational stress. Situational stress is the stress associated with being near or around a particular person, place, or thing. There will always be a negative event associated with this type of stress. One example for me was an event which happened when I was a karate student. One night we were doing a running jump kick into a punching bag and I kicked up instead of into the bag. This caused me to have a terrible fall which was extremely painful.

The 4 Keys to goal attainment are: creating an inspired vision; developing a well-organized map; moving through actions steps while intrinsically motivated; and celebrating your success which sets up future success.

As an entrepreneur, there are things you must do in order to accomplish your goals so you can have the kind of business and life you have dreamed of having. From managing a team to handling clients - and everything in between - it can be easy to lose complete control of your day. We all have the same 24 hours available each day; it’s how we chose to use those 24 hours that’s makes the difference. Meetings, client services, and a To-Do List a mile long are frequent daily task

Looking back at those turbulent times in my life, I learned that success is a process in which a person must go through and complete a series of actions, changes and phases to produce success and the results wanted in life.

Focus on what inspires you all day every day! It feels good, it radiates good, and it brings you to new levels of success! Filling up on motivational and inspirational thoughts and staying far away from negative thoughts can completely reshape your day, especially if you start as soon as you wake up! They keep your spirits high and help you maintain a ‘can do’ attitude. Furthermore, placing these famous one-liners somewhere that you spend plenty of time looking (like your

I just want to take this time and opportunity to write this article to the friend that I have never seen. One thing about life is that we can live for all of our life and think that we don’t have any friends but regardless of who you are you do have one friend that you have not seen. Thank you so much for protecting me over the years, even when I didn’t know that you were there. I am still standing here today only because you have been there for me. Now I trust you more because you have brought me through so much. I have learned to trust you with all things that pertain to my life.

In today’s online world of business, a great free offer is a big key to success. Long gone are the days where people could put up a newsletter opt in box and get subscribers. Now, you need a free downloadable product that people can gain access to immediately. The offer not only needs to be free, it needs to be great. Your free offer should delight and amaze. You should over-deliver. I know I feel frustrated when I get a free offer and it is a mediocre product. I am unlikely to stay subscribed or enroll in programs when the free offer is not impressive.

Afraid? Being afraid is normal, and if you are human just as I am then you feel fear from time to time. Feeling fear is not always a bad thing since fear can be healthy or unhealthy. A healthy fear is an emotion that warns us about upcoming dangers, preventing us from making mistakes. A healthy ...

Unhappy, unkind, evil and selfish people love those who love them. Do we only love those who love us? What is the required difference? We are to love those who do not love us, who do not know us, who do not conform to our ideals. We are to reach, to stretch, to bloom toward and into the lives and hearts of those who are called 'unlovable'. This is usually a difficult requirement for most of us.

I was talking with someone the other day who was telling me how upset he was because he had to wake up 10 minutes earlier in the morning. He told me that the line at the coffee shop (Tim Hortons) was getting longer and longer and he couldn't afford to arrive late at work anymore... It's funny because this person is actually using two of the 6 secrets of success that I teach my members (check out my site for more information www.cheerstothegoodlife.com) and he doesn't even rea

If you have found a great mentor (either a paid coaching relationship or a volunteer), consider yourself blessed. You have a unique opportunity to tap into that person’s wisdom , possibly develop a lifelong bond, and make a quantum leap in your life. People usually volunteer to mentor people because they want to give back and/ or they really believe in their mentees’ potential/vision. A paid mentoring relationship can be equally or even more beneficial because you generally have your mentor’s undivided attention during paid sessions.

“It’s none of your business what anyone thinks of you”, Love Who You are With Pride! A bold statement I know but a very true statement. A statement that I have begun to truly live my life by, because why would it be your business what anyone else thinks of you? We spend our whole lives worrying about what others think. It affects our whole reality from what we wear to what we say and even sometimes what we choose to do with our lives in regards to education or even empl

Have you ever had the desire to inspire? That feeling that you wanted other people to look to you and feel their hearts getting warmer and their decisions to make the most of their lives clearer? We have probably all heard of people or met others who seem to elevate us by the way they approach life. They may have overcome the greatest odds to reach the top of their field or they may have managed to do only “normal” things like running a marathon or learning to read or wri

The question is, what has awakened in you because of this crisis? Does hope beat in your chest when you think of your future? Do you feel the sweet promise of tomorrow pulsing in you? Does everything you've taken for granted come sharply to clarity? Do you see your value? Do you feel the relevancy of your life? You now have the opportunity to become reacquainted with what makes you feel, as the numb shroud of your harried life falls away. Can you feel your passion? Can you begin to trace its origin?

When it comes to love we all tend to do what comes naturally, we go along with it. We then attempt to love others without knowing how to love ourselves. I’ve personally learned about self-love through my own mistakes. Those mistakes have helped me identify some common patterns we tend to ...

When you do nothing, you feel overwhelmed and powerless. But when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better.” Unknown Last year, when my sister-in-law came to visit from Los Angeles, my little one missed a few days of fifth grade. While missing a few days of fifth grade is hardly the end of the world, he did have a feeling of being overwhelmed when he was trying to make up the work that he had missed. So what is the best way to help your child when they are feeling overwhelmed?r

span style="font-weight: bold;">Online Auctions Penny auction websites are growing every day.People are fond of bidding and winning items by bidding.But as traffic increase in these websites it becomes harder to win bids.To win your desired items on online penny auction websites one need a better strategy with simplified logic. One with a better plan on bidding will have less change of wasting bids. After many research on many bidding websites here are some useful tips to win

The music starts bumping. The lights are flashing. My dancers strut their way on stage and I start singing to a packed crowd of 1,000 club-goers at the SoHo dance club in Los Angeles. Was it a fun, awesome, powerful experience?! Actually, no. Instead of feeling the exhilaration of the moment on one of my first big performances as a solo music artist, I spent those 3 minutes completely in my head. As I sung my groovy song on auto-pilot, I scanned the room and had these random thoughts consuming my attention: Wow what a big crowd! They all look Asian. I hope they don’t boo us.

“Words, once they are printed, have a life of their own.” –Carol Burnett From Graffiti to Great Literature, All Writing is Important to Someone! “The power of the pen has not diminished. It is an age-old way to escape, pour out emotions, play with ideas, give meaning to the world and also entertain. ALL writing is important and the power of the pen will stay strong until the end.” THE PEN IS MORE POWERFUL THAN THE SWORD WHAT you write can have far-reaching consequences. Article Title: “The Pen is Mightier (More Powerful) Than The Sword”r

Thanksgiving Holiday in America is about giving thanks, it all began when Native Americans helped the Pilgrims survived by teaching them how to fish, grow corn, and live off of the land. The Natives gave the Pilgrims a wealth of knowledge. What have you given lately? Many people get together on this day to give thanks for all the things they have received. Yet, if you are truly thankful you have a desire to share your wealth with others. It’s not about money, food or clothing, thanksgiving is about “GIVING,” not receiving.

Breath helps in all things. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is a great way to connect in the moment. You can follow the breath on its journey through your body, see it entering your nose down your throat into your belly deep in your lungs feeding your body the stuff of life, nourishing you, healing you. Watch is leave taking with it all the stress, disease and fear with it. There is a yogic technique of placing the tongue tip of the tongue to the top ridge of the mouth as you breath in and out of your nose brings immediate calming relief.r

Living an Exciting Expectant Life Your Exceptional Importance in This World We can choose to live into our joys or under our sorrows. We can decide what is best for us. Our health, our well-being and total life wellness depends on the decisions we make. Our careers are directed by our choices, our words and our actions.

There are two ways that we can look at problem solving. There is the way that we would like to use to solve the problem and there is the way that we must use if we ever hope of solving it. That is particularly true when we find that the world is not turning the way that we would like.

It is always an honor when I am asked to speak at graduation time. The opportunity to share my thoughts of encouragement as I look into the eyes of tomorrow’s champions is exhilarating, to say the least. Here is a summary of my message to this year’s crop of graduating seniors: “As you turn the page on the next chapter of your life, I’d like to offer you three powerful words of advice.

Check out these amazing quotes on fear. See what famous people and even the Bible has to say about fear. 1. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." rn~ Franklin D. Roosevelt Fear is such a debilitating emotion, if left unchecked. It robs us of our ambition and hope. It renders our mind ineffective and saps us of our strength. Franklin D. Roosevelt is right, there is only one thing to fear and that is fear. 2. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."rn~ Bible – 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJB)

Live your life. Switch off. Unplug. Experience things. This was the advice I read the other day from a writer. I think about it every day. I look around during my commute to work in a crowded train and I see strangers with their heads down, plugged in. Smart phones, e-readers, iPods, tablets, a whole world of personal entertainment at hand. In reality, what I see is consumers, people using, addicts. I am not a Buddhist monk meditating in the carriage though. I listen to music

Why is that we have two ears and one mouth? Quite an interesting phenomena, isn't it? It's definitely something to ponder. I'm sure there is some really good scientific reason for it, but I can only tell you what I was told when I was growing up: God gave us two ears and one mouth so that we could listen twice as much as we speak. r

You have $100 in your bank account, your rent is past due, your creditors are calling, your business is dwindling and to top it all off, someone sideswiped your car and now it won’t start. And some self-help guru out there is telling you to look beyond appearances and know that you have ...

What does it mean to be a conscious human being? This isn’t exactly the opposite of being unconscious as in BAM! - someone knocks you out - but almost. The best parallel I can think of is kids - such oblivious little mortals. They will step on your foot without knowing it, butt in front of you ...

Do you want to have a multitude of friends? If you don’t the only reason is that you haven’t invested the amount of time that you need to. It doesn’t matter how you look. Whether you are attractive or not or how big or small that you are not things that add to or detract from the equation. Have you ever known someone who was not good looking at all but had a multitude of friends? The only thing that made that person popular was the fact that they invested their time in the making of friends. The bible says that he who has a multitude of friends must show himself friendly.

This is an article that I can write with some authority because I have been there and done that. I used to have a serious anger management problem. It was so serious that it encompassed all areas of my life and had serious negative effects on my friendships. This problem was not natural and not normal but as with all people who have an anger management problem I felt in every case that the anger was justified. I would get angry at perceived indiscretions of other people. Most of the time the indiscretions were real, some times they were imagined.

Some Thoughts and Quotes on the word IMPOSSIBLE The next time someone tells you something is impossible, just Smile, nod your head and move on. In your mind you can thank them for the motivation to prove their statement wrong. After al who mare they and HOW do they know for certain that whatever in question is in fact “impossible”. The real fact is 99% of the time they are not qualified to make that statement. In fact every day on this earth people are proven wrong and things get done that were supposedly “impossible”. So again people can choose to think what they want to think.

Trends in Children Literature In a recently published statement, president of Scholastic Book Clubs, Judy Newman, notes that the company's policy is focused on understanding and forecasting future development trends in the field of children's literature. It is this basis that allows the firm to occupy a leading position as a publisher and to offer topical news to its readers.rnThanks to the mentioned service, kids can find almost any book that corresponds to their preferences

Whenever you dig Indian History, you will always find one prominent personality. He is none other than Father of India i.e. Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi delivered non-competitive services to the nation that none other can ever do. His entire history is derived within his autobiography "My Experiments with Truth". If you have read the book, you will learn numerous lessons from his life. SO, here are 5 life lessons that you can learn from Gandhi. You are the outc

We take care of our children. We take care of our spouses. We take care of our pets. We take care of our parents. Why don’t we take care of ourselves with the same energy, and passion, as we do for others??? It sounds so easy in theory to turn our attention inward, but in practical application most of us fail miserably at it. We find time for everyone, and everything else, but not for ourselves.

Are you ready... rn ...to step into your greatness? One of the characteristics of Greatness is listening to the wisdom within you above and beyond the “shoulds” and the voices outside of you. Your inner wisdom speaks to you as an idea, impulse or inspiration. It speaks to you in every moment providing answers to your questions, direction and guidance. It is always present. The ultimate wisdom within is an inner knowing that says “yes, this is just right” or “no, thi

Tips to Overcoming Anxiety Anxiety can rob us of much of the pleasure that life entitles us to. In most cases it can be helped by combining a few changes in your daily routine. Anxiety can be handled like any sickness or disease although I wouldn’t classify it as a mental illness. There are times however when it should be considered a mental illness but most times it depends on the situation. Prolonged anxiety or stress can lead to long term health and mental illness problems.

We are all familiar with the phrase, faith moves mountains. In the Webster dictionary faith is define as: strong belief in something, esp. without proof. To nonbelievers it is nothing but mere superstition or the wishes of unintelligent minds. However, to true believers faith can simply be ...

When a new recruit joins the military he must first undergo through intense training. This is usually physically challenging pushing the young ones to perform on a level they are not accustomed to. It is no walk in the park; it can be exhausting physically and mentally. At times the youngsters ...

I am not here to tell my life story, explain all the mistakes I have made (which have been many), or to drag on and on about everything I have been diagnosed with. I am simply here to tell how I overcame the hurt, the pain, the addiction, and everything else that has, in the past, been put on me by others and put on me by myself. I have been run through the mill by men, friends, drugs, alcohol, and even some of my family, but most of all by ME. I was a product of the decisions (the good and the bad) that I made. Hello, my name is Keli, and I'm an overcomer. I was raised in church.

Nature abhors a vacuum. And so it is with our lives. Everyone is busy—everyone. Ask any retired people you know, and they’ll tell you they don’t know where the time goes. Their life is full. And they’re retired. You can’t put any more into a full cup. And when our lives are filled to the brim, there’s no room for anything else to come in. As our lives become more and more frenetic, we often become stressed, our health suffers, we have less fun, and we feel more an

Believe in your dreams was the encouragement all over Disney World. What a great message to share with the visitors enjoying a fun family vacation! It was a great addition to the excitement of witnessing how the world of fairytales unraveled right before our eyes. Funny thing, but I believe that ...

I am struck this week by the realization (again) of how often people do the same things over and over again even if they are not getting a desired result. If you do the same thing? What will you get? The same results. Remember that saying about the definition of insanity- Doing the same things, but expecting different results? I even catch myself doing this sometimes- whether its trying to get my son to keep his room clean or something business related.

The biggest hindrance that most of us face in not achieving our goals and objectives is that we don’t act aggressively enough to accomplish them. I used to think that if God is on my side every accomplishment would be easy. There is nothing further from the truth and I have learned better now. I have missed out on many opportunities in life and many accomplishments because I would falter at the first sign of difficulty and figure that since there were so many problems I must be doing the wrong thing.

Hi there, A while back when I was getting ready to launch my book 'How To Change Your Life One Day At A Time' I decided to create a street video to help promote it. I had only one question that I wanted to ask of many complete strangers. I wanted to document how different people would answer the same question, based on their own lives and circumstances.

Mom, can I borrow the car? Dad, can I have some money for the movies? Honey, what's for dinner? Life is full of wanting things from people and trying to get people to do things for us. That just seems to be the way things are these days. And many of the things that we need or want are necessary, but a lot of them are not. Doesn't it feel good when you can give those things to someone? The car . . . The money . . . A good meal . . . It really does feel good to be able to provide. It can feel pretty lousy if you cannot. r

1. I have numerous choices in my life beyond mere survival. 2. I have a right to discover and know my Child Within. 3. I have a right to grieve over what I didn’t get that I needed or what I got that I didn’t need or want. 4. I have a right to follow my own values and standards. 5. I have a right to recognize and accept my own value system as appropriate. 6. I have a right to say no to anything when I feel I am not ready, it is unsafe or violates my values. 7. I have a right

I’ve provided a wonderful collection of quotes about Dad that are great for putting in a card or letter to let him know how much you love and appreciate him. Let your father know you care, not just on his birthday or Father’s Day, but for any old reason. "Fathers are angels sent from heaven."rn~ Author Unknown "My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me."rn~ Jim Valvano "The greatest gift I ever had came from God; I call him Dad!"rn~ Author Unknown "One father is more than a hundred Schoolmasters."

Our destiny is written before us in the stars...***** Astrologically, we now have gathered our harvests & we are entering a time to review those seeds that germinated well & those that maybe need to be let go off before they bring down the rest of our well nurtured crops. Astrologically speaking, Mercury turns retrograde on 7th of September & stays that way until 29th, this will help us greatly in reviewing our crops all over September as Mercury normally goes into storm a few days prior & after (storm is where it appears to speed up & become chaotic). Most people groan when they fin

It is inevitable that you are going to find yourself in situations where you just won't be on the same side as other people. It's just a part of life. If we all agreed, that would make for an interesting situation, but try as you may, it just is not going to happen. The problem becomes when we find ourselves in those situations where we disagree with others. How do we handle it? What do we say? How should we express ourselves? These are all very good questions. r

The brain is a muscle which needs to be nourished just like the rest of the body. The brain needs nutrition and oxygen just like the rest of the human body. If the cells are not fed they will atrophy and die. When we exercise the rest of the body the heart pumps blood to the entire body including the brain. The blood flowing to the brain feeds the brain with oxygen and nutrients while it removes waste products. This is vitally important to brain function and is an overlooked aspect of brain condition.

My first book "Grading the Teacher" took four years to write. It was published by Penguin Books in 1996-and became a best-seller! Over time, for several reasons which I will describe in a later post, I developed the idea for a “Mining Your Resources” series I believed would be beneficial to individual readers as well as to workshop facilitators. So …why did I decide to self-publish the four-volume series instead of approaching traditional publishers? MY 10 REASONS: 1. CONTROLr

The happiest people ever - can include you or it can describe someone else you heard about someplace. The person standing next to you could be extremely happy. I want to be known as happy. Through struggles and tragedy I am promised that God only wants good for me. I believe it's a choice to learn and know happiness. There may be degrees of happiness some days. Sometimes I seem more or less happy but generally we must decide to be happy and grateful; just do it. We may not happy about a situation or a sadness but in spite of it all, we can live happy lives.

Some people are effective listeners and some are not. The difference between being a good listener and a bad one lies in the way that you interact with the speaker. A good listener is intimate with the speaker in that he or she listens on a whole different level. An average listener will hear with the ears but a great listener listens with the entire soul.

The true leader is the one who is more self motivated out of the group. If you can’t motivate yourself there is no way that you will be able to motivate subordinates. Sometimes the leader motivates by actions rather than words. When you look at the leader on athletic teams you will note that they are normally the best athletes on the team. They are the ones who will whip the team up to meet a challenge on the playing field.

Have you ever felt the pressures and expectations of keeping up with today’s latest lifestyle and trends? Yes? Okay, fess up. How many of us have an Apple product in our house? iPod, iPhone, iPad, Mac computer, etc.? I do. I received an iPod from a vendor a few months ago, and it is still sitting in the package on my dresser. Now, some of you might say that it’s a waste for me to not use it right now. I mean, I could download 100’s of songs and listen to them while I go on my daily walk. But, if I did, I could be missing out on something more important than an iPod or iTunes.

"...Inner happiness actually is the fuel for success" Dr, John Hagelin You might feel like you are doing and thinking the right things- maybe you have a goal poster, affirmations, a strong vision, and you are action oriented- but you have some goals that seem to remain elusive. There are a few things you can consider- one is that the joy and happiness needs to be in place first- two is that you may have a limiting belief in play (I am not worthy, I don't deserve this, etc),and three - you may need to expand your capacity to receive.

A dear friend sent me a story recently that, though quite inspiring, could easily have been imagined. After doing a little research, I found that it did indeed happen on May 20, 2001 during the commencement exercises at Washington Community High School in Washington, Illinois.