The Difference is Attitude

I’ve been staring at a blank screen for the last 30 minutes now without having any idea what to write about today. Well actually, that’s not true. I haven’t had any idea what to blog about for the last few days. My last post was kind of a last minute kind of thing and I wrote it because I hadn’t written anything in a while. Now I’m still struggling with the same problem and I’ve decided to just write whatever that crosses my mind.

The last few years of my life haven’t been that easy. People who have known me for a while now know that some of the toughest times in my life have been the last few years. Although my life hasn’t exactly gotten easier, I’m feeling more positive about it. Looking back at how I was over the last few years, and the last month or so, I guess the biggest difference has been my attitude.

I’ve always been someone who goes with the flow of things. I accept whatever that happens around me and just do whatever that needs to be done to adapt to that situation. Instead of taking initiative to get ahead in life, I react to whatever that happens in my life.

Recently I’ve discovered that this isn’t very productive. This attitude always ensures that you’re one step behind life. You’re reacting to whatever that goes on in your life instead of trying to take control of your life and lead it the way you want it to go.

Over the last few months, I’ve changed my attitude. Instead of just simply reacting to the things going on around me, I’m taking more initiative. I’m pointing my life in the direction I want it to go. Although there are still times when I will react to what goes on in my life, but I’m more focused and more driven.

I guess what I’m getting at is that as your attitude changes; your life becomes more focused. Attitude is one of the critical ingredients in the result you obtain in life. It is the determining factor in your success or failure. Attitude is a combination of your thinking, your emotions, your way of viewing events and circumstances around you and also your perspective.

Many times, we face problems that seem to us as insurmountable or we face circumstances that seem to be beyond our control. There are certain facts in life that cannot be changed. But our attitude can overcome those facts. Spud Webb was born short, but he had an attitude that he wasn’t going to let his stature determine how far he went. He won the dunk contest for the National Basketball Association (NBA).

If you want an attitude that improves the quality of your life and enables you to achieve your dreams, then you must work for it, work at it and work on it. You can’t just sit back and wait for it to happen. You need to make a decision to have a positive attitude. You have to realize that you might not be able to control the things that happen around you or to you, but you can control the things that happen in you.

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING. SO MAKE THE DECISION TO HAVE A GOOD, POSITIVE AND PRODUCTIVE ATTITUDE.

4 reasons why people do not reach their potential

This was extracted from an article by John Maxwell in Success Magazine.

CHOICES

Choices that we make throughout the day that will change our lives. The reason we are where we are is because of the choices you make. The choices that we make every day will change our lives. If we’re not in that place where we can make a difference, if we’re not in the place where we are open up to opportunity, we’re going to miss that opportunity.

So it all comes back to awareness. We need to be aware of the choices we make and we need to be aware of the opportunities. It’s not an over analysis, it’s just being aware of what we are doing every day. Is it taking us towards our dreams or is it counterproductive? Are we stuck in ego where we’re missing 2 or 3 days, where we are just living our life and not moving forward?

So start looking at our choices

SHORTCUTS

A lot of people want to take shortcuts in life. They want to go out and build a business without fully understanding the whole process of achieving their dreams. People do not reach their potential because they have no idea it will take so long. No matter what your goals in life are, we need to stop “microwaving” our ideas to achieve our goals. Instead you need to let it simmer and sautéed.

A lot of people don’t reach their potential because they have a time issue and they want to shortcut the process. Furthermore, shortcuts don’t pay off in the long run. We have to let things to happen. We continually need to progress and we’re pushing and pushing. We don’t allow things to happen. Have patience. All things are difficult before it becomes easier.

There is no shortcut

COST

There is a cost associated with success and many people fail to pay the price with their demands. Every time we come to a crossroad in our lives there is a trade off. We have to give up something important in our life to achieve something more worthwhile.

“Human nature tempts us to stay where we are comfortable; we try to find a plateau of resting place where we have comfortable stress and adequate finances, where we have comfortable associations with people without intimidation of meeting new people and entering strange situations. Of course, all of us need to plateau for a time. We climb and then we plateau for a time for assimilation. But once we have assimilated what we have learned, we then climb again. Many times, our challenges in life are not in understanding, they are in doing”. – Fred Smith

“When a man has put a limit on what he will do, he has put a limit on what he can do.” – Charles Schwab

There is a cost associated with success. And that is the reason why they fail to reach their potential. They’re afraid to expend that cost. What are we paying in time and investment in reaching our goals?

Start finding out what is needed to take us to the next plateau.

PROBLEMS

Most of the time we fail to reach our potential is because of problems are holding us back. There is a difference between problem spotting and problem solving. Most organisations and individuals can spot problems, but what holds us back is problem solving. Find a way to solve that problem.

It’s time to make decisions in your life. It’s time to get the education. It’s time to get the strength of presence. These are the reasons why WE haven’t reached your potential.

PUT THE ENERGY IN THERE, AND PUT THE IDEAS IN THERE AND STOP HOLDING BACK. YOU KNOW WHAT IT’S GOING TO TAKE AND UNDERSTAND, IT’S GOING TO TAKE SOME TIME. STOP HOLDING BACK

“Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.”
- Ernest Hemingway

Sometimes I ask myself, how do I want to be remembered? What would people say about me at my funeral? How would people, my family and friends especially, describe me in the obituaries? True it sounds a bit morbid. I mean basically what I try to do is imagine my own funeral and my own obituary. But at certain points in my life, I find it to be quite an interesting exercise.

The first time I tried this exercise, I was asked to write my own eulogy. I met this man while I was studying in the UK. I was attending the University of Bath and this man, Ken Johnston, picked me up while I was trying to hitch a ride to campus. He was in his 60’s and was working as a writer for the local Rugby club. He wrote and organized the contents for the program booklet which is distributed at all home games.

We started to talk and I discovered that he was single and lived alone in a small apartment just outside of town. He asked me if I could use some extra money as he needed a hand at his apartment from time to time. He was too old to do too much extraneous physical activity and keeping his apartment dust free was too much for him. Since I was a student who could always use some extra money, I said yes.

One weekend, I was over at his place cleaning up his study, I found a lot of newspaper clippings. They were articles written by him about various topics published in the local paper. Apparently, he was quite a celebrity. He used to have a column in the local papers where people would write to him about their problems and he would suggest some solutions. The articles covered everything from changing lives to managing finances.

That was when he told me about his eulogy. He told me he was in the army during World War II stationed in France. He was young and he was very scared, so he started to write his own eulogy. He discovered that what he wanted to do in life was to help as many people as he could, and have people remember him for his contributions towards their lives.

And that was what he did. Immediately after the war, he returned to Bath and joined a lot of organizations which were dedicated towards helping the unfortunate, the poor, single mothers who lost their husbands in the war, the homeless, orphans and many others. He made it his personal quest to help as many people as possible. Only in his old age did he stop physically helping people and that was when he started to write in the local papers.

After I read some of the articles he wrote, I asked some of my friends who were active in charitable organizations about Ken. All of them knew who Ken was and all of them had a deep respect for him and what he did to help unfortunate people regardless of their background, race or religion.

After I left the UK, I didn’t really keep in touch with Ken. He wasn’t that tech savvy so he didn’t have an email address. I got a Christmas card from him back in 1995 and he sent me a congratulatory letter when I got married in 1996. I received news from one of my former colleagues that he passed away not long after my wedding.

I guess when I think about it again, Ken was probably my first mentor. He was the one that instilled the desire to help people not matter what the circumstances were. It was an honour to know him.

I remember this one Sunday evening after I finished cleaning out his store room, we sat down to dinner and he pulled out this piece of paper, nicely typed. I read it and realized it was his eulogy. He told me that he hoped that was the way people would remember him and he hoped that was what someone would say at his funeral. I hope someone was kind enough to read it at his funeral.

So, imagine yourself in spirit, witnessing your own funeral and you hear all these people, family and friends pouring their hearts out telling people how much you’ve affected their lives. People from all different walks of life come up and say that you’ve changed their lives forever.

Are you pursuing success?

We spend a large part of our lives trying to find success. For years we work 8 to 10 hours a day (Sometimes more) and 5 days a week (Sometimes more too) in our pursuit of success. But what is it that we are actually pursuing? Do we have goals attached to that success or are we simply pursuing success just for the sake of being successful.

I have often asked my friends the question “what is it that they want out of life?” The most common answer is that they want to be successful. Successful is such a relative term so I sometimes follow this answer with another question. Sometimes I get a more definite answer but most of the times they just say that they want to be successful.

Try asking ourselves, why am I doing this? Why am I pursuing success? These might be simple questions but a lot of people can’t answer these questions. They pursue success just for the sake of being successful. In doing this, they have created for themselves an unsubstantial goal. And when they find success, they will find that they have wasted a lifetime of effort.

So try doing this. Redefine what the word success means to you by setting a goal. Take 10 minutes out of your day, ideally in the morning when you wake up and when your mind is clear. Spend some time evaluating what the meaning of success is to you. Then once you have an idea of what success means to you, what goals you want to achieve, write it down. Then try to identify a path, a plan of action that will lead you to that success.

If you’re already on the right path, then good, if not, seek the path that will bring you the success. Then identify the people that can help you achieve that success. Set a time limit, when do you want to achieve those goals? Identify the obstacles you might face in achieving those goals and finally, ask yourself what’s in it for you. So, take some time to assess the following:

1. Identify a goal
2. Set a time limit
3. Identify the obstacles
4. Identify the people that you need to work with
5. Identify a plan of action
6. And then answer the qestion “What’s in it for me?”

Dream of Success

"IF YOU CAN DREAM IT, THEN YOU CAN ACHIEVE IT. YOU CAN HAVE ANYTHING IN LIFE YOU WANT IF YOU HELP ENOUGH PEOPLE GET WHAT THEY WANT"
- Zig Ziglar

That is one of my favourite quotes. You can find it on my Facebook profile.

I’ve come across a lot of people who doubt that quote by Zig Ziglar. In my case, I was told from the very beginning of my childhood that my dreams cannot be achieved.

I wasn’t really an outstanding student. More like just above average. I spent too much time playing sports and didn’t focus on my studies. I guess when it came to studying and my academic life, I wasn’t competitive enough.

So, my parents and some of my teachers, whenever they looked at my exam results, would tell me that if I had grand ideas for my future, to forget it. They always kept telling me that if I didn’t focus more on my studies, I’d end up working for someone. Slaving it out for 5 days a week and I wouldn’t go very far in my career.

I always hated that. I always hated it when someone told me that I couldn’t achieve my dreams. My dreams weren’t that difficult. I just wanted to have the freedom to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I wanted to have a beach house where I could go on weekends and spend quality time with my family or alone with a good book. On weekdays, I wanted the freedom to be able to sit around the house, watch television or play computer games, go out and have lunch at nice restaurants, hang out with friends in the evening.

That’s all that I wanted. It sounds like a lot to ask for but when you analyze it closely, all that I wanted was time freedom

So everyone was telling me that it was impossible to achieve. And I moderated my dreams. I decided that I had to have a dream which was a bit more realistic to achieve. My dream became the average dream, a wife, 3 kids, a house in the suburbs, and a reasonably priced sedan to move around in. That became my dream.

That was until I started to read biographies. The good thing about reading biographies is that most of them are success stories of the ordinary man battling against the odds and coming out on top. I read a lot of biographies over the last few year and the main thing I concluded, was that dreams can come true.

I’ve spoken before about the likes of Rudy Ruettiger and Charles Lindbergh. These aren’t the only 2. Time and time again you will find that people who have great dreams find that they can achieve their dreams. So if they can, why not me? And why not you?

Another quote from Zig Ziglar:

“You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.”

DREAM. HAVE BIG DREAMS AND COMMIT YOURSELF TO ACHIEVING THOSE DREAMS AND YOU WILL FIND THAT DREAMS DO COME TRUE

The Power of Visualization

I went out for dinner with a couple of friends the other night and one of my friends started to talk about her experience going to the Jamiroquai concert which was held in conjunction with the Formula 1 Grand Prix held at the Sepang International Circuit recently.

So as we were heading for dinner, this friend started mentioning about the power of visualization. She mentioned that as she was heading out to Sepang, she spoke to a couple of her friends who were to meet her at the concert venue. They had decided to park elsewhere and take a shuttle to the concert venue because they thought it would be hard to find a parking space nearer to the venue, as the parking lot would be full of cars parked by spectators of the Formula 1 race.

My friend decided to try her luck. While driving towards the concert venue, she started to visualize an empty parking space near the main entrance. All along the way she visualized that she would be able to park as near as possible to the concert venue.

Lo and behold, by the time she got to the concert venue, the Formula 1 race spectators were already leaving the circuit as the race had already ended. She found a parking space next to the main entrance.

A lot of people would say that she was lucky and that it was a coincidence that she managed to find a parking space so near to the concert venue. These people probably have never heard of the “Law of Attraction” and the “Power of Visualization”.

LAW OF ATTRACTION

Basically what the Law of Attraction states is that if you want something bad enough, the universe (or in the case of religion, God) will send people, events and circumstances that will assist you in achieving what you want. You don’t really have to look far for an example.

I’m very sure somewhere along the way, in your life, there has been a moment where you want something really, really bad. Maybe you just lost your mobile phone and your really needed a new one. Or maybe your computer or laptop was acting up and you needed a new one. Or maybe there was a time when your car broke down and you needed a lift to get to work.

Somewhere along the way, you will find that there were people who gave you a helping hand, or something happened that helped you out of a tight spot. That is the Law of Attraction working for you. When you want something bad enough, the universe will work its way to make sure you get it. But that doesn’t mean that if you want something bad enough, you can just sit back and wait for it to come to you. You still have to work for it.

POWER OF VISUALIZATION

The power of visualization is tied very closely to the Law of Attraction. If you can visualize what it is that you want badly, it adds to the intensity of your desire. It gives it more purpose and it defines the thing that you want and gives it more focus. It makes it easier for the Law of Attraction to work.

Some people might say that this is all nonsense and that you will get what you want only if you work hard enough. That is true to a certain extent. But have you noticed that even when you work hard, there are times you still don’t get what you want?

Now try to visualize your life in 5 years time. How do you want to live your life? Where do you want to live? What car do you want to have? Try to visualize this every day and see if it comes true.

Take action now

THIS IS A TRUE STORY

I have an uncle who retired from his job a few years back. He was a very successful person in his career. He graduated from a university in the United States and came back to work in an investment bank here in Kuala Lumpur. He was with the investment bank for quite a long time. He rose in rank from being an officer to being senior manager before he left the bank. He left the bank 3 years before his reached the age of 55, compulsory retirement age. After he left the bank, he joined a public listed company as a Director of the company.

All throughout his career, he had saved money for retirement. He saved money in a bank and also his Employee Contribution Fund. He also had some investments, both in property and stocks and shares. I don’t really know how much his total savings and investments were, but since he worked throughout his entire adult life, enjoying increasing salaries every year, I assume he managed to save quite a substantial amount.

When he became a director in the public listed company, he started to pick up Golf. He started to love the game. He would spend a lot of time during weekends playing golf, teaching his kids to play as well. He was planning to spend a lot of time on the greens after he retired. He also started to spend a lot more quality time with his children, all of which were still in their teens as he married quite late.

At the age of 55, he retired. Like he planned, he started spending quality time with his children and he also started to play golf on a daily basis. A year into his retirement, he decided to start a new business. I spoke to him at this point and asked him why he wanted to start a new business.

He told me that his eldest son, who at that time was only 17, had a few years left to go before he was earning an income on his own. So in the mean time, my uncle still had to support his family and the expenses were piling up. The house and cars were fully paid for, but he still had to pay his children’s college tuition in the future. All these were slowly eating into his savings. So he thought he should do something before it became too late.

The business he started a year after retirement failed. He didn’t have the experience to run his own business and eventually it collapsed. He still had some savings left so he started another business. That one failed too. 4 years after his retirement, he was on the verge of being broke. So he decided to try a different approach. He decided to drive a taxi for a living.

He is currently driving a taxi around Kuala Lumpur to feed his children and to send his kids to college. He’s still got a long way to go as his youngest son is still in primary school.

THE MORAL OF THE STORY

Only 5% of people will be financially independent when they hit the age of 65. Some of you might think that you probably wouldn’t be around at that age might have to think otherwise. The average life expectancy for men is now 76 years old and for women, it is 78 years old. So, how many of you would be financially independent for that 11 or 13 years?

My uncle spent 30 years of his life in the corporate world, not just as a clerk or an executive, but a senior member of management. 6 years after retirement, he has to drive a taxi to support his family. Unless you are in the 5% who will be financially free after the age of 65, or you work as a government servant where you have a pension for life,

THEN I SUGGEST YOU TAKE ACTION NOW

That is unless you want to gamble and hope you end up in the 5% group. Me, personally, I don’t like the odds. So what choices do you have? This is one:

http://www.passiveresources.com/azlanzahari

Live Life

The last post concludes the “7 Keys to Success”. It sounds easy doesn’t it? In fact it is. Of course you will face challenges along the way. There will be people who will doubt you, not just your friends but sometimes even your family. It will be tough. But as long as you’re committed to your goals, you have the passion, determination, persistence, you’re willing to listen to advice and you have faith, then you will succeed.

A lot of people I know go around telling people that they are just ordinary. There’s nothing special about them. That, they’re just like everyone else. I try to tell them that they’re wrong. They’re different. They’re unique. To prove that point, just look at your thumb print. You are the only person who has that thumbprint. In fact, you are the only person who will ever have that thumbprint. So, you are unique.

And this uniqueness is not only limited to your physical being. It also extends towards your purpose in life. You are on this earth to achieve something significant in life. That is your true purpose, your true calling. Do not make the mistake of thinking that life has no purpose for you. You are here only once. So make it memorable, make it fascinating, make it adventurous, make it fun, but most importantly, make it a successful life.

LIVE THE LIFE THAT YOU WERE BORN TO LIVE

Be Passionate

What is the deepest desire of your heart? Is it a great rewarding job? Or maybe it is to have freedom from financial constraints? Or maybe for some it is to be able to give back to the community or the environment? What is it that you desire the most out of life?

PASSION. The 7^th and final key to success. Deep within your heart, there is a desire, the pursuit of something, and object or a career, which would bring you all the happiness, success and fulfilment that you really want. To find your passion, all you have to do is to identify your own unique purpose in life. Sounds easy doesn’t it? It is.

You can achieve whatever you want in life, be the person who you always wanted to be and do the things you’ve always wanted to do. It sounds a bit too much, too bold, but all this is achievable. The question is why aren’t we all living this dream life?

Well apart from the obvious, which is we’ve been told since we were kids that it is impossible for us to live our dream life, the other reason would be, as Abraham Maslow called it, looking after our physiological and social needs. It’s probably what our parents and grandparents went through. They went through life with very little opportunities. Their lives were consumed with the whole business of “making a living”. For most of them, they were never concerned about their own “higher needs”.

Some people today are already in pursuit of their higher needs. They have already started to achieve the basic human need of respect, recognition and responsibility. For them, it means pursuing an interesting career rather than just a job. But for most of us, there is still an inner emptiness. Quite often, they realize this when they have reached the peak of their careers. They get to the top, and realize that they are still unsatisfied, there is still a feeling of emptiness within themselves, they are not HAPPY. As Steven Covey put it, they climbed the ladder of success and when they got to the top, they realized they were climbing the wrong wall.

To achieve success, you must be bold enough to go even higher, achieve what Maslow calls “self actualization”. Becoming the person you were meant to be and living the life you were meant to live. For this, you need PASSION.

So,

COMMITMENT, AN OPEN MIND, PERSISTENCE, FLEXIBILITY, FAITH, THANKFULNESS AND PASSION

These are the KEYS TO SUCCESS.

Be Thankful

I love writing. I’m not really a good writer. Although I have written a book, a coffee table book and it has been published, I’m not really that great. I think that was more a case of either the publisher published the book, or miss a deadline and get condemned by their client. So, I’m not really that good. I guess in Malay, we call it “syok sendiri”. I love writing about anything. Doesn’t really matter what the subject is. Thus, the reason for this blog. This blog isn’t just an avenue to promote myself (Once again, the “syok sendiri” part). It’s also therapeutic. I get to say whatever I want. Anyway, all this isn't really relevant.

Back to the topic at hand. Not to worry, we’re almost done with the e-book “7 Keys to Success”. After this, there’s only just one more piece to the puzzle and then you can go on your way to achieving your dreams (that is if you decide to take my advice and give the 7 keys a try).

The sixth key to success is probably the most under rated one of all 7. But I believe it is the most important one. A lot of us go through life thinking that we deserve everything that we have. We worked hard to get to where we are now and that everything we have now or anything we get in the future is all the result of our hard work. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But, in most cases, we forget to be thankful. We forget that somewhere along the way, we’ve had help from time to time, people, events and circumstances have come to our aid to help us get on our way.

So, this is the 6^th key to success, THANKFULNESS. I remember a time when I used to look at my life, my past and where I was at that moment in time and think, I deserved better. I’d spend a whole lot of time just complaining about the way my life was and never be THANKFUL about what I had. I never really saw the fact that even though I wasn’t financially successful, nor was I successful in my career, there were a lot of other things that I should have been thankful for.

I guess like me, a lot of other people don’t see the relevance of being THANKFUL as a key towards success. Those of you who follow the “Laws of Attraction” would say that this is one of the most important aspects of the “Laws of Attraction”. It is the key to unlocking your ability to attract the people, events and circumstances that will put you on the path towards success.

But a lot of people will be very sceptical. How does being THANKFUL affect your ability to be successful? 2 Psychologists, Mccullogh and Emmons, decided to put this theory to a test. In their study, 3 groups of people were asked to keep a journal. The first group kept a journal of their daily lives, everything that happened to them during the day. The second group was asked to record anything that was unpleasant that had happened to them throughout the day. While the third group, was asked to keep records of all the things they were thankful for throughout the day, a GRATITUDE JOURNAL.

The results of this study were pretty amazing. Those that kept the GRATITUDE JOURNAL were found to have experienced high levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, optimism and energy. They experienced less depression and stress and were more likely to help other people. They also exercised more regularly and were making amazing progress towards achieving their goals. So let this sink in for a while:

• A Grateful Heart Cannot Be Cynical
• Gratitude Is Fundamental In Maintaining An Optimistic Outlook
• The Exercise Of Thankfulness Activates The Law Of Attraction

So, I guess I should start here. I’d like to thank God for the life I’ve had. Although it has been a challenging life, I have learned a lot from it and I look forward to the challenges in store for me in the future. I’d like to thank my parents and my family. If It wasn’t for my parents, I wouldn’t be here right now. And to the members of my family, thank you for being there for me when I needed it. I’d also like to thank my friends. They know who they are. Thanks for sticking around. There are a whole lot of other things that I should be thankful for, but that would be for my GRATITUDE JOURNAL.

COMMITMENT, AN OPEN MIND, PERSISTENCE, FLEXIBILITY, FAITH, THANKFULNESS

The Power of Faith

As a kid growing up, you are constantly pestered with the question “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I got this question from almost everyone. Teachers, parents, relatives, parents’ friend, basically everyone I came into contact with between the ages of 6 till I was 15. Almost every kid is faced with this question. How did you answer this question?

I know a lot of my friends answered with the most obvious and most prestigious occupations. There were those who dreamed of being pilots, doctors, actors, singers, football stars and a whole lot of other dreams. But let me tell you this, 80% of those kids would grow up and settle for something less than their dreams. Their experiences in life ground them down and those dreams were eventually put away. They still have those dreams somewhere deep down in their hearts, but they now believe those dreams are not achievable.

From childhood, we will be conditioned by a lot of people about what is supposedly good for us. First our parents will work on us telling us that our dreams are just that, dreams. Then, come our teachers who will tell us that in life, we need a job, a trade or a career and that life had very few opportunities to achieve your dream. Then, our friends will finish it off by asking us what’s wrong with being a sales person, or a secretary, or a brick layer. Gradually, our beliefs about the world would change. We would no longer believe that our dreams could come true.

But, let’s look at the story of Masaru Emoto, a scientist who freezes water and takes photographs. After conducting many experiments, he found that water which was frozen when offered a prayer, would form better, more perfect crystals than water that was cursed before freezing. Now this is a sign of how the power of FAITH can impact our physical reality.

It does sound a bit bizarre. There really shouldn’t be any significant difference, but the difference is there for you to see. If FAITH can do this to water, imagine what it could do to us. We are after all 75% water.

That’s why you need FAITH, a deep down belief that regardless of the evidence, of whatever other people may say about your dreams, all the negative conditioning, you need to believe that your dreams are achievable.

HAVE FAITH IN YOUR DREAMS AND HAVE FAITH IN YOURSELF

Have

COMMITMENT, AN OPEN MIND, PERSISTENCE, FLEXIBILTY AND FAITH

And you will be on your way to fulfilling your dreams.

Be Flexible....

I have no idea what happened, but somehow my blog posts don’t tally. Before I post anything new, I will usually type it out in Microsoft Word first before I copy over to blogger. Then I’d save the word document using the same number as the blog post number in blogger. I’ve probably missed a number because now, this post is post number 47 while in the list of Word documents I’ve saved, it’s only number 46.

Anyway, that’s not the point of this post. The point of this post, as in the last few posts is the “7 Keys to Success”. I’ve started to receive some positive comments about the previous posts. And this is quite encouraging. It shows that there are a lot of people out there who have some great dreams about their lives, some are already on their way to achieving their dreams, while others are still searching for the right path.

Just to recap what I’ve said so far. To be successful, start with a dream, then commit yourself to achieving that dream, then, the universe will help you to achieve those dreams. Be open to whatever the universe gives you. Next, be persistent as persistency will be your friend in your journey towards achieving your dreams. Persistency will help you pick yourself up when times are bad and keep you going towards your destiny.

Someone once said “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” What this means is that if you keep doing the same thing over and over again, then you keep getting the same result over and over again. So if you want to achieve your dreams, then be flexible. Choose a path on your journey towards your dream, but if that doesn’t work, look for another path. If you stick to the same path and it doesn’t work, you will always end up with the same result, disappointment.

So, FLEXIBILITY is the next key to achieving your dreams. You need to notice what is working and what isn’t working. If something isn’t working, then you need to have the FLEXIBILITY to adopt another strategy or change the way you are doing things. Brainstorm different approaches and continually monitor the outcome of your strategies. By doing this on a continuous basis, you will eventually find something that works and then, you will be unstoppable.

One of the best stories which illustrates this point is that of Kevin Keegan. Kevin wanted to be a professional footballer. But everyone told him he wouldn’t make it. He was too small, he wasn’t strong enough and neither was he very talented. But he didn’t give up. He couldn’t do anything about his height so instead, he worked on his physique until he built a strong and powerful frame, and also his ball skills.

He eventually signed up with Scunthorpe United in 1967 and turned pro a year later. In 1971 he moved to Liverpool and his professional footballing career took off. With Liverpool, he won the 1974 FA Cup, the UEFA Cup in 1973 and 1976, the European Cup in 1977, and the English League in 1973 and 1976 – 77. He was capped 63 times for England between 1972 till 1982. He was twice awarded the European Footballer of the Year n 1978 and 1979. He achieved all this by being flexible in his approach.

So, if you want to be successful in whatever chosen field, you must work for it, and you have to be flexible in your approach. You’ll find that different approaches will bring different results. Use the approach that works best for you in achieving your dreams

COMMITMENT, OPEN-MINDED, PERSISTENT, FLEXIBLE

Try and try again...

I’ve been staring at this blank page for a while now. The last few days it feels as if my mind has gone blank. I’ve continued writing post to my blog here, but it’s mainly come from the e-book “7 Keys to Success”. I haven’t really come up with anything original. I’ll probably find something to write about soon. As for now, I’m just going to continue writing about this book.

As I said before, if you want to be successful, you must have a dream. Don’t limit your dream. “Dream the impossible dream”. Then commit yourself to achieving that dream. Open your mind to the universe. The universe will assist you in achieving your dreams. You will attract people, events and circumstances that will help you to achieve that dream.

Next, you have to be PERSISTENT. Persistence is what drives you towards your success. It is the element which prevents you from being discouraged by the events of the past in fulfilling your dreams. Imagine that your dream and committing to it is like a journey, a journey towards the fulfilment of your dream. The PERSISTENCE is the engine that will take you on your journey.

A story in the book illustrates this point.

A man walked up to a Guru asking the Guru “Which way is success?” The Guru didn’t say anything but just pointed in one direction. The man, dreaming of quick and easy success headed out in the direction the Guru was pointing at. Soon there was a loud splat and the man came back, bloodied and tattered. Thinking he might have misinterpreted the message, the man asked the Guru again, “Which way is success?” The Guru silently pointed in the same direction.

The man walked off again in that direction, and this time, the splat was deafening. Once again the man came back all bloodied and broken, his impatience showing on his face.

He yelled at the Guru, “I asked you which way is success and you pointed in that direction. All I got was splatted. No more of this pointing, tell me, which way is success?” Only then did the Guru answer, “Success is that way, just a little further on than splat.”

No matter how big your goals are, you can get there is you keep your destination in mind, and continually take actions that will drive you towards your goal. When you encounter an obstacle, which you inevitable will, persistence determines what you will do, whether you give up or you continue on your journey. Persistence is what will get you back on your feet, dust yourself down and ready to continue your journey towards success. PERSISTENCE will get you past SPLAT.

Open Yourself

"Getting what you want is only a problem if you have nowhere to go next. Dreaming is a lifetime occupation."
- Rudy Ruettiger

I admit, I didn’t do much over the weekend. I spent most of the weekend either sitting in front of my laptop playing scrabble or going out to watch football. By the way, the Man United vs Liverpool game was simply awesome. Playing at Old Trafford and having to come from behind shows a lot of character.

Anyway, before I digress to far from the topic of this post, I’d better get started on what I really wanted to write about. As I mentioned earlier, the subject of the next few posts would be about the book “7 Keys to Success”. I’ve already mentioned about the first key to success which is COMMITMENT, in my last post. The second key to success is to be OPEN-MINDED.

This is the part that talks about the “Law of Attraction”. The “Law of Attraction” basically states that once you have a dream, you are committed towards achieving the dream, then the universe (or in the context of religion, God) will assist you in achieving your dreams. You will attract people, events and circumstances which will help in the manifestation of your dreams. This is what the e-book means by being OPEN-MINDED, you need to e ready to accept whatever the universe has in store for you.

Once again, to illustrate this point, I’m going to use the same example that was used in the e-book, the story of Rudy Ruettiger. Rudy Ruettiger was born in 1948 in Jolliet, Illinois, into a working class family of steel mill workers. Upon graduating from high school, he worked in the local steel mill before and after joining the navy.

Rudy had a dream. He wanted to play for the Fighting Irish, the University of Notre Dame’s football team. He was by no means a gifted student, neither was he a talented footballer. But he dreamt of playing for the Fighting Irish none the less. After losing his closest friend in an industrial accident, Rudy decided he couldn’t waste any more time. He set out for the University of Notre Dame to fulfil his dreams.

He enrolled into Holy Cross Junior College in South Bend. To support himself while studying, he worked as a Groundskeeper at the University of Notre Dame’s Knute Rockne Stadium. During his time at Holy Cross, he discovered he had a mild case of dyslexia which could have contributed to his struggles in his academic life. He worked around this disorder and received good grades while he was at Holy Cross.

It took Rudy three semesters before he was admitted into Notre Dame as a transfer student. He almost didn’t make it. Notre Dame does not accept seniors as transfer students. He then won a position on the scout team, the team which the varsity team would run their plays. He worked hard for 2 years, never missing a single practice session and always ready for the team. Throughout the 2 years, he won the respect of the coaches, the players and the fans.

In the final home game of his senior year, Coach Dan Devine asked Rudy to suit up for the game. He was sent in for the last play of the game and he sacked the Georgia Tech quarterback. Rudy was carried off the field on the shoulders of players and fans. No player has ever been carried off the field in triumph at Notre Dame Stadium before Rudy and none since.

That is an example od the “Law of Attraction” at work. Rudy had a dream, and he committed himself to achieving that dream. The universe assisted by sending people, events and circumstances which helped him achieve that dream. The story of Rudy Ruettiger was made into a movie in 1993 starring Sean Austin.

So, have a dream, a glorious dream. Then commit yourself towards achieving that dream, then be prepared and accept the people, events and circumstances that will help you achieve those dreams.

Dream, the impossible dream...

“Nothing happens, unless first a dream”. Those were the words of Carl Sandberg, an American historian, novelist and poet. Most of us don’t realize the truth behind his statement. But if you look at everything that has been achieved since the creation of mankind, every advancement, every major breakthrough and every achievement, all resulted from having a dream.

But having a dream is not enough. You will never be successful if all you do is dream. If you just only dream but you do not take action, then your dreams stand no chance. That’s all they will be, just dreams. We Malays call this type of dream “angan-angan Mat Jenin”.

So, I guess the main question is, how do you make your dreams come true? How do you achieve success in whatever that you are doing? I read this book called “7 Steps to Success” and this book highlighted the key points in achieving success and your dreams. Reading the book, it all sounds quite simple, which it is actually. Just that it also involves a lot of hard work. But at the end of it, all the hard work would be worth it.

In order for you to succeed, you first must have a dream. If you think closely about it, everything that exists in our physical reality is the product of our mental vision. In essence, everything is created twice, the first in our mind, and then, in reality. So, in order for you to succeed, you must have dreams. And here’s the catch, dream big dreams. Aim for the sky.

So once you’ve got your dreams (put it down on paper if you have to), the first step to achieving your dreams is to commit to those dreams.

COMMITMENT

Let me illustrate this point in the form of a story. The story of Charles Lindbergh (Took this from the book). Charles Lindbergh was an aviator, a pilot. He had a dream to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean all the way to Paris. Nowadays, that wouldn’t be much of an achievement. But back in the 1920’s, it was unheard of.

Once he imagined of being the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, he committed himself to that dream. He completely committed himself to achieving this dream, even though there were a lot of doubters and negative opinions about his dream.

When he failed to purchase the only single engine aircraft that according to his calculations would help him achieve his dream, he didn’t give up. He designed and built his own aircraft. When he didn’t have the money to finance the building of the aircraft and the entire journey, he got a group of St. Louis businessmen to sponsor him and his dream. That’s why his airplane is called “The Spirit Of St. Louis”.

“The Spirit of St Louis” landed in Paris in May 1927. Charles Lindbergh had achieved his dream of becoming the first pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. He had achieved his dream.

So, if you want to be successful, you must have a dream. And once you have that dream, you must commit to it. COMMITMENT is the first step to realizing your dreams and having a successful life.

How to start living your life....

As I mentioned in the last post, I was going to write about this self- improvement book that I read yesterday. Once again, let me remind you of the title of the book which is “7 Keys to Success”. I read this book yesterday while I was going through this extremely lazy mood. I didn’t really do anything productive yesterday because of this mood, but as the day went on, this book has helped me to realize one thing, that THIS BUSINESS IS FOR ME.

Like I said, whenever I get into these lazy moods, it usually takes me about 3 days to snap out of it. But yesterday, as the day grew on, my mood began to change. I was starting to get excited. And while I was reading this book, I started to figure out why. I was getting excited because I was going to meet a prospect yesterday and present the business opportunity to him.

So, coming back to the book I was reading, it was actually the introduction that caught my attention.

“When I was quite young, someone told me, if you want be really successful, find out what God wants to you to do with your life and then dedicate yourself to achieving it”.

That was the opening statement. At first, I didn’t realize the truth behind this statement. But as I kept on reading, it started to dawn on me, this statement is true.

Let me put it into a different perspective, mine. To me, to know what God wants you to do is quite simple. Find out what it is that you love doing the most. That’s what I did. I looked into myself (not for the first time), and tried to figure out what is it that I liked doing the most. Which part of my adult life did I have the most fun?

And I found it. After I graduated, I was elected into a Student Union post at the University I studied at, the University of Bath in the UK. Part of the responsibilities of this post was to look after the welfare of students. We had a Welfare Officer (another elected post) but my job as Treasurer was to assist her in her welfare programs. I was also supposed to assist other departments in their programs for the benefit of students. And I had lots of fun. I loved doing it.

So after a while, I realized that what I enjoyed about the job wasn’t so much the job itself, but helping people. I derived a different kind of satisfaction whenever a student or a fellow student union officer would come to me with their problems and I managed to help them out. It was fun. The best part, you can see their appreciation on their faces.

But when I came back to Malaysia, like everyone else, I joined the rat race. And bit by bit, i started to forget that I enjoyed doing it. That’s what the rat race does to you. It eats your very essence. Sooner or later you lose sight of your life. Some people were made for that, but not me.

Anyway, the whole point of this post is actually to say this, if you want to be successful, find something you enjoy doing. If you haven’t found it, then look for it that is if you want to be successful both in your career and life.

“It is time for you to fulfil your dream - whatever that may be. That is why you are here on the planet right now. By finding and fulfilling your own unique purpose in life you will be living your life to the full.”

So, my message is, “LIVE LIFE TO THE FULL.”

P/s: If you want a copy of this book, then just send me an email

I finally realized it...

First say to yourself what you would be;
and then do what you have to do.
Epictetus

There are times when I get into this lazy mood and I feel like not doing anything. I guess everybody gets them. You just feel like you don’t want to do anything at all. You wake up feeling like you want to go back to bed. You’ve got to literally force yourself into the shower, get ready and make that long 1 hour drive to work. Then once you reach the office, you switch on the computer, and you feel as if you can’t think. Your mind is blank and you end up staring at a blank screen for about an hour. Eventually, you force yourself to do something, anything, as long as it can be construed as work.

Today was one such day. The difference is, when I woke up this morning and I felt like I wanted to go back to bed, I did. I didn’t have to force myself to shower, get ready or drive to work (I haven’t driven to work in a long time). I didn’t have to do all that. I love this business. I get to do it anytime I want to.

But that’s not the point of this story anyway. So moving on, whenever I get into one of these lazy moods, it would normally take me three days to recover from it. For 3 days, I’d be sitting around without doing anything much, watching TV, eat and sleep. It would take something or someone really, really special to break me out of this mood.

But ever since I started this business, I’ve noticed something different. You see, today I was in a lazy mood since this morning. I woke up at 7.30, and immediately went back to be. Woke up again at 9.30, and even though I was online, I wasn’t doing anything productive for most of the day. I was supposed to set up an appointment with a prospect for this afternoon, which I eventually did at lunch time. I didn’t do much else.

Like I said, under normal circumstances, I would be in this kind of mood for 3 days or more. But just as I was about to go out to meet the prospect that I had arranged to meet earlier on, I saw this message in my inbox from one of my social networking sites. The sender, wanted to know more about the business. So I replied by telling him a few things on the product and I ended the message by giving him my Yahoo Messenger Id.

Next thing I knew, he added me on Yahoo Messenger and started to ask more about the business. He wanted to find out about the compensation plan, which I didn’t have time to explain because of the appointment I already had made (But I promised to email him the plan). As I signed out of Yahoo Messenger, I noticed that my mood had brightened up a bit.

The prospect that I was supposed to meet arrived late. As I was sitting there waiting for him to arrive, I realized that I was starting to get excited. I started to realize that I was excited about the prospect of presenting the business opportunity to someone. I was then that I realized that this business is definitely for me. I used to have some doubts about that. But now, no more doubts. Let me say that again, THIS BUSINESS IS DEFINITELY FOR ME.

Now, I guess you must be wondering why this is important. I’ll explain all this in my next post. You see, the whole morning while I was in my lazy mood, I decided to at least try and do 1 thing that was productive. So I downloaded an e-book from the internet (I was too lazy to read a proper book. E-books are usually shorter and I could finish them within a couple of hours). I found this interesting book entitled “7 Steps to Success”. Now some of you might be going “Not another self help book”. But this book I would say is a bit of an inspiration. All would be explained in my next post.

Research...

Since I’ve returned to the network marketing and internet marketing arena, I’ve been bombarded by a very large amount of emails promoting a program or a product. I’ve tried to get in touch with some of the people that promote these programs or products just to find out a little bit more about them. Not the product or the program, the individual.

Sometimes it amazes me to find out the reasons behind their decision to join the program. Especially here in Malaysia, I find that a lot of people join a program because the person that recruited them, or people above this person has made money in the program. I find that most of the reasons given to me about why a person joined a particular program have nothing to do with the business. These people were not making a business decision, but more of an emotional decision.

Let me put this argument into a different perspective. If you wanted to set up a conventional business, the first thing you would do is RESEARCH. You have to:

1. Research the product, is it a good, high quality product,
2. Research the market, do you have competitors and if you do, what is your advantage over them?
3. Research the consumer or end user, who are they and why are they buying the product and why should they buy from you.
4. Research the returns, find out what is your breakeven point.
5. Research the company selling the product. How long have they been in business. Try to find out if any complaints have been filed against them or any negative comments or press coverage.

These are just some of the more important points. There are a lot of other points you need to research, but these are the more important ones.

The same goes for network marketing and internet marketing. Research the product and the company before you join. The program might offer you a superb compensation plan but what is the product like?

Before I decided to join 4Life Research, I did a lot of research. I wanted to know how good is the product, is it as effective as they claim. Do people know about the product and if they do, what are their opinions about the product. Do they have any competition which of course the answer to that is that they don’t. What about the company, 4Life Research. Have there been any complaints filed against them. Have they had any negative comments or negative press coverage?

Do the research. Take your time to make a decision. Don't just join any program that looks good or looks like it pays well. Research the program. I see a lot of phrases like "join and you make money", "no need to recruit" or "making money in your sleep". All these phrases are coined to make the program or the business look easy. IT'S NOT EASY.

If you want to build a long term sustainable business where you can earn an income for a long time, then do the research. As for me, I don't want to have to start my business all over gain in a couple of years time just because I could "make money in my sleep". I would rather work hard now, and as the business grows, the work load becomed lighter and lighter.

The main reason I joined this business, 4Life Research is because of the product and the company. I could have joined any other company, but none could beat 4Life Research in terms of the uniqueness of the product and the compensation plan. I wanted a business that is sustainable in the long term. Like I said, I don't want to have to start over again in a couple of years time.

I could tell people how great 4Life Research is and how good the product is, but then I would prefer you to do your own research. Only then you would appreciate how much of an opportunity this is. But if you are too busy to do your own research, you can always sign up at my website and I’ll be happy to tell you why this is such a great opportunity.

FIND OUT WHY THIS IS SUCH A GREAT OPPORTUNITY

Going to deeper waters...

"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything."
- Vincent van Gogh

I got another email from CrossingTheGoal this morning and found it to be more interesting reading. So once again, since I haven’t got a clue what to write today, I thought I might as well rewrite the email and post it to my blog.

The gist of the email is about taking risks in life. You see, most of us live our lives in shallow waters. We go through life just staying in the shallow part of the waters, not having to take risks and eventually, our lives become a daily routine of monotonous activities. We live our lives in a state of boredom and we become content with the direction of our lives.

I remember when we were kids, our teachers and parents would ask us, what do we want to be when we grew up. I know for most guys, their favourite was to become a pilot or an engineer or a doctor (I remember 1 kid in my class said he wanted to be Superman). But as we grew up, like our bodies and our beliefs, our dreams changed too. Some dreamt of being millionaires (I looked this up in Tagged. You’d be surprised at how many people listed “To become a Millionaire” as their dream). Others dreamt of having a comfortable life and a great family.

Most of us started our careers with these kind of dreams. But as time goes by, some of us realize that we will never achieve these dreams if we’re working for other people. So, these few, will break away from the norm, move to deeper waters, where the risk is great but the rewards are justified. It takes a lot of courage to move to deeper waters and face the challenges and the perils thrown at them. Some will not survive. But if you are determined enough, and you work hard enough, you will get through those challenges. You will find that dreams can come true.

I’ve taken up this calling. I’ve decided to move to deeper waters. The path I’ve chosen might not be the path others would choose, but each must follow his own path. If you work hard enough, you are determined enough and you are passionate about your chosen path, then greatness awaits you.

This is my path.

The Story of the Donkey that Fell Down A Hole....

A difficult time can be more readily endured if we retain the conviction that our existence holds a purpose - a cause to pursue, a person to love, a goal to achieve
- John Maxwell

I received this story in my email inbox this morning from CrossingTheGoal. I find it quite interesting and I feel it applies to everyone especially me considering my circumstances and the business that I’m in. Read it, it might apply to you too.

“Once there was a donkey that fell in to an old empty well. The farmer, who owns the donkey, looked at the beast and tried to figure how to get it out of there. Having thought of nothing to get the donkey out of the well, he decided to simply bury his donkey alive!

So the farmer called his neighbors to shovel dirt into the well. At first the donkey got frightened and panicked. After some time the beast realized that if he shakes the dirt of his back, the ground under him gets higher.

He continued to shake the dirt off and step up until the well was full. I will leave to your imagination what the donkey did to the farmer and his neighbourrs when he got out of the well.

Many times we feel life is throwing dirt at us. Problems seem to hit us at all directions. Even when you feel everything is OK, suddenly dirt smacks you in the face.

Sometimes you can even feel the bitterness of the dirt! There are others who not only feel that dirt is being thrown at them, but feel that they are being buried alive. Their problems seem pile to up from one to the next, until their problems are bigger than they are. They feel like all the world’s trash is being poured out on to them.

But we can use this dirt. We can use life’s problems and troubles to produce strength, wisdom, perseverance, patience and other virtues in us that will help us succeed in life. The dirt thrown at you can be use to increase your stature, your being.

We should imitate the donkey. Instead of giving up and letting himself be buried, he shook the dirt of off him. We too should learn to shake our problems and step on it. And like the donkey we will get out of the hole we are in.

St. Thomas Aquinas describes wisdom as the view from the hill top. We can raise our hilltops with whatever life gives or throws at us. The good, bad and even the most painful experiences can be an opportunity for us to grow in wisdom and virtues.

With much dirt under your feet, you have a better view in life. And you will see that the view is awesome up there."

Overcoming Fear

The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one.
- Elbert Hubbard

Emotion affects people in very different ways. All the different types of emotions can be either good for a person or bad for them. The reaction depends a lot on 2 things, the individual concerned and the circumstances under which the emotion was provoked.

Love, Hate, Courage, Fear, Satisfaction, Displeasure and all other emotions will affect us one way or another. Some people will be spurred by love, inspired by it and others will be more relaxed. Some people will express their outrage in anger, others will be withdrawn and hide their true feelings. We all react differently.

Fear, has always been a powerful emotion. They say that in face of fear, people can work miracles. In one case, I heard about, a mother lifted a car on her own fearing for the safety of her child. It is a powerful emotion and in being such a powerful emotion, it is also a dangerous one.

Everyone has something that they fear. I have never met a person who is fearless. When you listen or read about famous legends, warriors from the past, they are described as being fearless. But those great warriors still encountered fear, maybe not on the battlefield, but other in aspects of their lives.

I know some people who have a fear rejection. I myself used to have a fear of rejection. I would be apprehensive when talking to a woman because I was afraid of being rejected. I would wait and wait and wait before I would make a move, but then that would usually be too late. Even when meeting new people, I would not say much to that person because I was afraid that he or she might reject me as a friend. I’ve lived with this fear for a long time.

But now, I’ve overcome that fear. I never thought that by joining the 4Life Research business, I’d be able to overcome this fear. I’ve noticed that everybody who attends the training sessions will find their characters improve in 2 very important areas. Confidence and Fear. I’ve watched my friends’ confidence increase as the weeks go by and their fear reduced. They now have a more confident aura and they face the challenges of building this business head on.

As for me, I never lacked confidence. But I still had my fears. After 2 full months in this business and going through all the training session, I am tackling my fear of rejection and I’m coming out on top. Now, I’ve developed a new attitude. I no longer care if a person rejects me. It is their loss. I know who I am and what I am capable of. If someone were to reject me, they should feel sorry for themselves and not me as I have confidence in myself.

This business has helped me overcome my biggest fear. The FEAR OF REJECTION. What can it do for you?

The great blessings of mankind are within us, and within our reach; but we shut our eyes, and, like people in the dark, we fall foul upon the very thing we search for, without finding it.
- Seneca

I had a lot of fun on Saturday night. I went to Istana Budaya to watch the M. Nasir concert, Alam Muzik. I’ve seen M. Nasir perform twice before and I more or less knew what to expect. To me, M. Nasir is probably one of the best performers on the local music scene. In fact he’s better than a lot of the international acts I’ve seen.

I’ve always admired M. Nasir. I’m a fan of his music, especially the ones he sings himself. He’s always managed to mix the traditional elements of Malay music well with elements of modern music resulting in timeless pieces. He’s one of the few local singers and songwriters who has stuck to his roots and promoted the elements of traditional Malay music.

As always, his live shows have always bordered on the theatrical. He tries to ensure that the fans have a great time by instilling his own personal values and his sentiments in his performance. Last night’s performance had a more charitable note in it with the inclusion of a song which he wrote about the conflict in Gaza. Although he wrote the song back in the year 2000, it still applies to the situation in Gaza today.

One of the things I noticed about his performance is that he enjoys doing it. He enjoys performing, singing, and song writing. He is probably the most successful singer songwriter on the local music scene and you can see by the way he performs, the way he smiles whenever he talks to the audience, the way he closes his eyes when he sings and he hears the music, you can see that he loves what he does.

A lot of people I know forget the importance of loving what they are doing. They go through their daily routines, just skimming on the surface without actually enjoying or caring about what they do. They will never succeed. They might advance in their station or they might earn more every year, but they will never be truly successful.

Love what you do. Enjoy it. When you love what you do, you will find that life is much easier, and happier. Life becomes more meaningful and success will follow soon after. I’m new at my new business, but as the days go by, I find that I’m enjoying it more and more. It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed my job and I believe that if you enjoy your job, if you love what you’re doing, life will be more satisfying.

I love what I do. Check it out. You might love it too.