Napoleon Hill – “Think and Grow Rich” #1 Definiteness Of Purpose
This is a rare video of Napoleon Hill talking about the classic “Think and Grow Rich.” In this video, he explains his concept of definiteness of purpose.
~ Linda-Ann Stewart
Let The Real You Shine Through, Part 2
by Linda-Ann Stewart
If you shut yourself down by hiding your light, you block the flow of Universal good to you, as well as reduce the availability of your inner resources and creativity. You’re more concerned with your anxiety than you are with what’s going on with the other person. When you close yourself off, you’ve prejudged how others are going to perceive you. Don’t make their decision for them. Trust in yourself, and you might be surprised at how you’re accepted.
The best thing you can do for yourself, and for everyone else, is to be at ease with yourself and don’t try to hide your light. Be present with the people you’re with, accepting them for who they are. They may not be able to return the acceptance, but that’s their problem. When you let your light out into the world, you build your self-esteem. It shows that you value, or esteem, yourself, your opinions, talents and abilities.
When you are authentic, you encourage people who are timid to be more authentic, too. Marianne Williamson in “A Return to Love” says, “And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” When you’re courageous and choose to be yourself, you’re giving others the message that it’s okay to be free, too.
When Grace’s self-esteem grew and she began to stand up to Hallie, the friendship ended. Grace realized that Hallie hadn’t been a friend for a long time. Although sad, Grace was relieved that she no longer had to keep herself hidden away. Allowing yourself to be authentic means that those who can’t accept you will move on to find others they can bully.
It’s safe for you to be authentic now. You’re in a different place in your life, and have accumulated knowledge, wisdom and resources that you didn’t have when you were younger. When you let your light out, you give others the opportunity to appreciate you and you’re more open to be able to appreciate them. You’re also a model for others to be authentic. As you honor yourself in this way, you’re better able to access your creativity. It allows you to be more successful in every area of your life.
Affirmation
I give myself permission to be authentic. In so doing, I open my mind and heart to more Universal good to come to me. I value my opinions, talents and abilities. It’s now safe for me to be myself and I know that I can handle any challenge that comes my way. I accept myself and others and know that I’m good enough.
Read Part 1 of Let The Real You Shine Through.
Copyright 2013 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved
Let The Real You Shine Through, Part 1
by Linda-Ann Stewart
As they were growing up, Grace’s friend Hallie put her down at every opportunity, undermined her successes, and accused Grace of “Feeling she was better than everyone else.” To try to reduce Hallie’s resentment, Grace stopped sharing the goals she achieved and her accomplishments.
In essence, she hid her authenticity to make Hallie feel less threatened. It didn’t work. Hallie could still see Grace’s light, and did her best to extinguish it. Nothing Grace did could have made her friend feel better about herself or eliminate her attacks.
When you’re authentic and let your inner light shine, it’s going to make some people uncomfortable. They’re insecure within themselves and they resent that you aren’t insecure, too. Creative and sensitive people pick up on that and try to deflect or reduce it by minimizing their achievements or becoming invisible.
Understand that nothing that you do, or don’t do, is going to remedy their anxiety. It’s an issue within them that they’ve focused onto you. You’re not responsible for their pain, for healing it, for making them feel comfortable with themselves or with you. There’s no reason for you to cater to their insecurities to try to make them treat you better.
When you close off your light, you do so out of fear. You’re judging yourself by old standards that don’t mean anything anymore. As a result, you condemn yourself and hide to avoid retribution. You’re simply reacting to old messages that have been installed in your mind. Your fear comes from filtering your current situation through outgrown situations from the past.
By not breaking free from your fear, you’re telling yourself that you don’t feel confident in handling the challenges of your life. However, those ideas came from a time and place that’s long gone. You no longer have to abandon yourself to stay safe. Now you can accept your power and authority.
Read Part 2 of Let The Real You Shine Through.
Copyright 2013 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved
Time To Make Fun A Priority
Recently, Jeff and I set aside a day for fun in nearby Prescott, AZ. It’s a mile-high town in the mountains that offers more services, events and shopping than our local valley.
First, we went to see “Rise of the Guardians,” a wonderful animated movie about the Earth guardians of St. Nick, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman. Jack Frost is added to the guardians in response to a threat from the Boogey Man, who thrives on fear. The Guardians must protect children from losing faith, or else fear takes over.
It’s a great metaphor for what we all deal with – belief and fear. During a climax, a child in the audience said, “No.” It showed how enthralling the action was. At the end of the movie, people applauded, which I don’t hear very often after a motion picture.
After the movie, we went to see the world’s largest Gingerbread Village at Prescott Resort and Conference Center.
There were over 100 gingerbread houses, castles, buildings and even an amusement park.
Local individuals, schools and businesses create these structures for this display.
From there we did some shopping. Then, after dark, we drove through the Valley of Lights display.
These are millions of lights in over 30 static and animated displays of the 12 Days of Christmas, candles, poinsettias, Santa, elves, the outline of an old west town, and many more.
We had a full day. It reinforced the idea that every so often, we need to take a day off to just have fun. If we don’t, our creativity dries up and we tend to feel stuck. It’s just as important to take time away from work as it is to be productive.
When we step away and change the rhythm, we fill the well of our resources, creativity and energy. We need to remember that, and make it a priority in the year to come.
Business Is About Making Life Better
Business isn’t just about the bottom line and making money. It’s about making life better, for everyone: owners, investors, employees, customers and society at large. Business is about people, not inanimate objects. Unfortunately, the prevailing attitude is that everyone is there to serve the business instead of the way it should be, the business serving society.
The business community’s philosophy of considering everyone just a cog on a wheel, whose purpose is to provide them with more money, has cost them. In Northern Arizona, most service and retail businesses refuse to allow their employees federally required lunches or breaks. Because of that, and their cavalier treatment of employees, their staff has no loyalty to them. When a business isn’t loyal to its employees, the employees return the same level of loyalty.
Many businesses drive away their best employees, and don’t invest in them or support them which would let them serve better. The mindset of “bottom lining” is a short sighted idea. It means that business puts on blinders that keep them from seeing other opportunities.
A local restaurant that had good food was sold. The new owners bought cheaper ingredients and the quality and taste of the food suffered. As a result, sales declined and the restaurant closed its doors. When business focuses only on today, and doesn’t take a long view of their future, it constricts the ability of the business to grow.
Finally, businesses are beginning to recognize that the lack of value they provide affects their bottom line. In the article “We Need To Stop Maximizing Profit and Start Maximizing Value” at businessinsider.com, the author addresses this issue.
Since the 1970’s, businesses have been focused on the bottom line. This has increased profits, but the quality of products and services and workers incomes have decreased. That means fewer consumer dollars are spent to grow business. It also means that the business isn’t investing in its own company.
“Maximizing profits” will eventually cause the house of cards to fall. More money is spent to train a revolving door of workers because there’s no reason for them to stick around.
Business needs to create more value for the community, and value its workers, for it to thrive. It’s in a business’ own interest to realize that business is not about products or making money. It’s about people and making life better.
If I find it hard to clearly visualize my goal, does that mean it won’t manifest?
Question: If I find it hard to clearly visualize my goal, does that mean it won’t manifest?
Answer: The term “visualization” or “imagery” tends to mislead people. So many people tell me that “I can’t visualize.” But visualization doesn’t necessarily mean mentally seeing something in glorious technicolor and surround sound. Most of us don’t have that kind of spontaneous imagination.
We all have a dominant style of imagining. Some people are very visual, like artists. Some are auditory, hearing ideas, like musicians. Others’ are sensory, feeling and sensing something going on. We all have all of the senses in our imagination to some extent.
For instance, describe an apple. What does it look like, how does it smell, how does it feel, how does it taste, how does it sound when you bite into it, how do your teeth feel when you bite into it? Being able to describe that apple is visualization. With practice, we can strengthen the other senses to make our mental visualization more powerful and it’s a good idea to do the practice.
However, being able to mentally see a goal isn’t necessary to manifesting it. If you can imagine yourself having it, how it feels to have it, and keep that feeling at the forefront of your mind and no other thought denies or negates it, then you’ll likely manifest it.
There are some other tips, such as being specific, making sure you’re not deciding ‘how’ it has to happen (let your creative mind figure that out), take any steps towards it that you know to take, etc. Write out what would be in your life with this goal. That also is “visualizing,” because you’re using your imagination to create the vision of it.
Copyright 2003, 2012 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved
Practice For Success
To succeed, you have to break old habit patterns and establish new ones. As you change your mental attitude toward your goal, you’re left with an empty shell of the old one. By succeeding on each small step towards your goal, you create a habit of success.
How To Make And Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions, Part 2
by Linda-Ann Stewart
First, as you might do every year, write down all the things that you want to change in your life. But this time, prioritize them. Decide which are the most important, then select one of these to concentrate on. By focusing on one area at a time, you will be able to improve your chances of success.
Once you’ve chosen which area you want to concentrate on, write down all the steps you need to take to fulfill that goal. For instance, suppose Sam decides he wants to get healthy. To do so, he chooses to quit smoking, eliminate caffeine, sugar, and alcohol, to stop partying, get enough sleep every night, lose weight, start exercising, and eat right. He can’t do all of these at the same time, or his subconscious will rebel. Therefore, he decides which facet he wants to tackle first.
Break your goal down into reasonable steps. Don’t try to change the world in one week. As you accomplish one component, move onto the next one. It may actually take a couple of years to achieve your whole list, but in a couple of years you’ll be so much healthier than you are now.
Once you have your first element chosen, you can now decide on what physical actions to take every day. Taking physical action helps to convince the subconscious that you mean business, and shows commitment to the process.
Visualize yourself acting out your objective. As you imagine yourself living your goal, this gives your subconscious mind the direction it needs. It must follow your envisioning. Mentally rehearse each day, identifying with your new ideal, feeling how good it is to have accomplished your aim.
Write a short positive statement in the present tense that embodies your resolution. Use this affirmation in your visualization to reinforce it. Say the declaration aloud one hundred times a day. Print it on index cards and place them where you see them often. This keeps you focused on your goal and begins to impregnate your subconscious with what it is that you want. Trust that your subconscious is making deep level changes, and knows the best way to help you to transform.
By following these directions, you will be able to successfully make and keep your New Year’s resolutions. You have all the power within you to create a wonderful new life for yourself. Don’t be afraid to use it.
Copyright 2001, 2012 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved
How To Make And Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions, Part 1
by Linda-Ann Stewart
I used to make a list of New Year’s resolutions, such as: lose weight, exercise, organize my desk, eat better, etc., etc., and so forth. However, within a day I’d broken at least half of them. The rest were blown by the end of the week. Since I felt like a failure, I just stopped making them. I figured why should I put myself through the frustration?
It’s too bad, because resolutions are a positive way to improve your life and change old habit patterns. Starting a new year with the intention of establishing a healthier life helps us to wipe the slate clean, to write a better script. We begin with great hopes, only to get sucked back into the familiar rut. Why is it that so many times we fail to attain our list of resolutions?
Think about this. What if your partner brought you a long list of things they wanted you to do immediately? For example, they wanted you to move all the furniture in the house, change the landscaping, paint the house, completely redecorate within a week? You’d groan, crumble and look for the closest hole to hide in. The same is true of your subconscious mind.
Your subconscious mind processes and stores everything you’ve ever seen, done, heard, thought, or experienced. All of this information mixes together to give you the life you now have.
If you resolve to completely recondition yourself within a month, your inner mind falters. “Too much!” it screams, and then proceeds to get you so involved in life that you forget all that silly stuff. An excessive amount of change at any one time overwhelms your subconscious. However, there are some things you can do to maximize your success with New Year’s resolutions.
Copyright 2001, 2012 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved
Attitude Makes All The Difference – By the Amazing Zig Ziglar
The amazing motivational speaker and thought leader, Zig Ziglar, passed away this week at 86 years of age. He taught millions about the fundamentals of sales, success and how attitude makes all the difference. He didn’t even begin his career as a motivational speaker until he was in his 40’s.
As a speaker, he encouraged others to believe in themselves. Ziglar emphasized that a positive attitude must be followed up by action before success could be achieved. To listen to his inspiring podcasts, visit http://zigziglar.libsyn.com/
In this video, he tells the story of a woman who complained about her job, changed her attitude about it, and changed her life.