Success means...

For most people, success means possession of wealth, prestige or status. By these criteria alone, the majority of us would not qualify. Yet the truth is that success is really a subjective perception. In other words, it is all in the mind. If one thinks one is successful, that perception is valid by one's own reckoning.

The fact is that no-one is perfect and no-one can do everything well. It is sufficient that each one of us does our best. Within the individual limitations or constraints that each one of us finds ourselves; and to the extent of our knowledge, capabilities and skills; when we do our best, we have indeed achieved success.

This approach is what I like to call success thinking supported by appropriate actions. It combines positive thinking with reality, and espouses practical methods of achieving success in a progressive, comfortable way. So there is no hype, no magic formula, and no instant solutions.

There is real work involved to achieve individual success targets whether these be lofty ambitions or something as simple as cooking a good meal. No matter what the goal, everything has to begin with the right thinking because this is a prerequisite to the right behaviors and actions to actually bring about the right outcomes.

The exciting thing about the human potential is that we can all continue to learn to be better in our chosen activities. This allows us all to achieve increasing levels of success as our thinking improves and our actions help us go beyond original targets and set higher ones.

I hope these reflections can encourage those who may be struggling in their lives to believe that solutions exist for all problems and that these can be discovered with the right thinking and mindset. The solutions then point to actions that must be taken. If we follow this path with our best efforts, we can be sure that we can achieve the success we have defined for ourselves.

Gerard Wong and his wife run a website focusing on success thinking and actions. It is dedicated to stimulate and encourage the development of practical and creative thinking strategies that can lead to personal success as defined by the individual. If you find this article interesting, please visit the website http://www.thesuccessmind.com and get a free ebook when you subscribe to their newsletter.

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Make Peace now..

The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself he becomes wise. ~Alden Nowlan

Are regrets, bad memories, or losses keeping you from enjoying each new day? Is the past keeping you from moving into the future with hope and anticipation?

I recently heard a man say that it was not until he made peace with his past that he truly began to live. It changed his life so drastically that everyone noticed there was something different about him. It was not until 20 years after losing his father that he began to grieve the loss for the first time. He finally allowed himself to face his past with all the anger and pain. There was so much that he missed out on. There were lost opportunities and things that would never be, so many regrets, poor choices, and bad experiences that would affect the rest of his life.

This man went through a process of acceptance and forgiveness. He felt the pain. He felt the anger. He mourned what was and could have been. And then, he released it. He made peace with his past, and he was ready to move on with his life. Suddenly, new opportunities before him became exciting. He began to fully appreciate what he had, the people in his life, and what he had become. He began to hope for a better and brighter future. He was ready to give more of himself to others. And he began to enjoy his life more and more.

For the first time since he could remember, he felt free-free of burdens from the past, free of unresolved pain, free of bitterness and self-pity. He was free indeed! He was free to enjoy his life, his family, and all that he had like never before. The past would no longer steal his joy and hope. It could not hold him back, and it was not going to keep him down any longer.

Is your past keeping you from fully enjoying your life? Sometimes we do not stop and think about it. Just like the man described above, we might have regrets, unresolved pain, sorrow, anger, or unforgiveness. These things keep us bound to the past. The past does not have to negatively influence our future. We can release it as we face it, deal with the emotions, come to accept what was and now is, and forgive our past.

Human motivations

Human motivation is fascinating. One moment the mind could be down and deflated, but when one meets a great positive source, suddenly, the same mind could just wake up and be something drastically different!

People have wondered what brings people to the top, so experts say it is all about human motivations. Successful life coaches like Andrew Carnegie are superb motivators. Great football coaches like SAF or AW are excellent motivators who have few peers in their circle. With motivation, an ordinary player can play at a higher level, while a talented play er without motivation is a dead cog. Same thing happens in workplace. A company full of motivated workers with a common vision forms an important ingredient for success.

Marie Callas that when individuals undergo mental turmoil, encounter negative situations, or problems in life, the mental turmoil makes some individuals want to visit a psychic or an astrologer to get some good predictions on the months ahead. Well, God helps those who help themselves.

Motivation may not be permanent. To keep the lamp of motivation burning it is vital that we read some thing inspiring and motivating everyday to set the spiritual tone for the day. With motivation, no sane people can be labelled as useless.

Positive Affirmations

Marie Callas says that by practising positive affirmations, it may have a drastic impact in your life. Doing so has certainly made a bit of differences in my life. When I started to use positive affirmations in my life I started by visualising what I want to have and I used positive affirmation to communicate my goals to the subconscious mind.

If you were to ask me how it works this would be very hard to say but I can say it does work if you apply action to your positive affirmations.

Here is a video on positive affirmations which I found at at youtube. You can use them or modify it for your own use.

Our siamese twin - Ego

Humbleness is always one of my virtues in my view and I am thinking is it because of my background (I come from a poor family) that makes me humble. Strictly speaking, I have yet seen something who comes from a rich background and who are able to mix with us well. My aim is to be well off one day and I wonder when that happens, will I change due to stronger ego? Is ego proportional to wealth?

Seen commonly in TV shows where a poor guy suddenly has that superiority complex when successes comes to him. Marie Callas reminds that on the path to reach higher spiritual path, one must be able to put down one's ego in order to reach a higher spiritual level. I wonder if I can do that at times..

What is EGO actually?

Essentially EGO equals your self-image and it is the you who you think you are.

Take a simple example. If your friend calls you a stupid person for believing in that story, you get displeased, aren't you. Why? Because it's a challenge to your self-image and your ego tells you you are not stupid, so you get unhappy!

Hence, Marie Callas is smart enough to say EGO is your Siamese Twins that is constantly drawing your attention, chiding you, making fun of you and ultimately, making you to perceive yourself to be better than someone else.

So is EGO bad?

I feel a bit is ego is beneficial to the self-esteem but too much of it will ruin you socially and spiritually. People will begin to steer clear of you and those who are around you are only with you because they have some benefits to gain off you.

Marie Callas says the only way is to disallow your ego from hitting the roof is to stop feeding it with more nourishment. I will remember her wise teaching.

Beautiful sight

I am currently relaxing here..

..all thanks to Marie Callas.
Malaysia does have some beautiful beaches in the world. I love this place and its feel.

The path of truth

Everyone wants wealth, health and happiness but unfortunately few people actually accomplish it. To most people these three sought after liberties are only a dream never to be realized. The world seems to be spinning out of control. There are chaos, wars, famine, bad weather, earthquakes, escalating living costs, moral issues, corrupt governments, religious fanatism, and loss of hope. The outlook seems extremely bleak. I read somewhere that world is ending in 2012. Another of those prophetic predictions again?

Do you still think there is hope? Perhaps there is.....The time has come to know truth.

Let us, dive into the deep waters of our own nature and its connection with life. Life filled with happiness and peace., and if the windows of heaven were to open, blessings would pour out so abundantly there would not be enough room to receive them. Wouldn't it be wonderful?

People would begin to talk, think and act in the confidence that there were a Higher Being providing for them on their life's journey. Just think of a world where everyone's actions were expressions of truths that demonstrated peace, health, happiness and harmony.

We also discover there is consciousness, a subconscious mind and a material body. In man's self-conscious mind is the power of realization. Man is an instrument of perception where ideas are born and reality is the result.

The self-knowing mind of man expresses itself in every thought, deed or act, and this is truly the only guarantee of individuality.