Think and Grow Rich

There is perhaps no better way to close the year than by offering a short review on the classic self-help book Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill.  This book offers hope to each one of us as it provides simple truths and knowledge that will help any and all of us to maximize our potential and discover success in life.  Though there are many ideas and thoughts shared by the author, I found two strong reoccurring themes in the book that I believe help readers the most.     

First, we must have a definite purpose in life.  If we do not know what we want than it is impossible for us to get it.  Aimlessly wondering through life, simply hoping for good to happen, or willingly accepting whatever comes our way will never get us what we desire in life.  Likewise, just having wishes such as I wish I had a million dollars, isn’t good enough.  A definite purpose in life is much more than a wish—it is clearly knowing what we want and then wanting it so bad that it nearly consumes our life.  Having a true, defined purpose inspires us to develop a plan, take action, and stay with it until our purpose is accomplished. It is something that we must have and we will do anything to get.

Too often people fail to clearly define what they want.  Whether it is because of fear, uncertainty, a lack of faith, indecision, a lack of confidence, or something else, people struggle to nail down or acknowledge what they truly desire.   Again simply hoping, wanting, or wishing for something is not a definite purpose.    Without a definite purpose it is hard to ever achieve great things.  Thus, we must have a purpose for our life and until we do so, we will not obtain the success we’d like.         

Second, we are what we think.  We can control what is in our minds and what is in our minds is what we eventually become.  Too often we dwell on the negative, fill our minds with “junk”, tear ourselves down, create nonexistent walls or barriers, or participate in other destructive habits in our minds.  If we can learn to have good thoughts, positive thoughts, uplifting thoughts, and believe that we can accomplish anything we set out to do, we will achieve much greater success.  In fact the author believes all great things begin in our minds.  If we can have the discipline to fill our minds with only positive things, our chances of success are greatly increased.    

Think and Grow Rich is a great book and I would recommend it to anyone trying to improve themselves.  I truly believe that if we apply the principles found in the book including having a definite purpose in life and controlling our thoughts we will find much greater success in life.  Thanks for another great year!!   

To see how I rated this book click here

The Christmas Leader

It’s that special time of year—the time for giving and receiving—and because of this, for many of us instead of being “the most wonderful time of the year” it becomes the most stressful time of the year.  Today I’d like to address what I classify as a special Christmas leadership trait as it is rarely if ever spoken about however fits perfectly for this time of year and that is being a gracious receiver. 

In our commercialized world it has become common to expect nothing but the best for gifts.  The bigger, shiner, fancier, and more expensive the gift the better.  In fact, many believe this year’s gift must be better than last year’s otherwise it will be brushed aside and rejected.  This type of attitude kills the giving spirit, causes a ton of unneeded stress, and in the end not only hurts the giver of the gift but also the receiver. 

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, as we grow older we lose the ability to receive gifts graciously with the excitement and wonder we had in our childhood.  Instead of being overjoyed by the generosity of a giver we become annoyed and judgmental toward them.  This lack of appreciation and gratitude in our hearts says a lot about us and who we are as a person. 

As we examine ourselves, if we find that we have become less than gracious receivers the key to our success is in simply observing children.  As we watch closely how a young child receives a gift we will notice their eyes light up with excitement, their movements become nearly uncontrollable with anticipation, and a smile of joy beams bright on their face.  It doesn’t matter what the gifts outward appearance may be or even what is on the inside.  When a child receives a gift, it is received and accepted with much appreciation. 

Children seem to recognize and acknowledge with their excitement and innocence that the giver is giving out of love.  Whether it is something they always wanted or not, the young child never appears disappointed.  They always seem to have a way to accept all gifts with gratitude and grace.  

Most gifts are an act of love and kindness.  Thus, receiving a gift is a wonderful opportunity to build, strengthen, and deepen a relationship.  In fact how we react to gifts given to us this time of year can either help or hurt our ability to build meaningful relationships and become effective leaders.  I imagine all of us will receive a gift that we won’t necessarily care for or like but how we react to it is what the person giving the gift will always remember.   

So I ask all of us, will we brush gifts aside, will we thank all givers, will we acknowledge the thought and love behind the gifts we receive rather than focus solely on the quality of it?  This Holiday Season let us remember that simple gifts come from the heart and that being gracious receivers can and will change our outlook on others and on this season.   As we receive gifts graciously, as little children do, we will strengthen our bonds and become more effective leaders.  Let’s strive to always be gracious receivers!  Merry Christmas! 

STRESSED OUT?!

Burntham.com Rewind--Originally posted 2/10/11

In today’s modern world, more than perhaps any other period in time, we are overburden, over bombarded, and over whelmed with things to do. This constant avalanche of items on our to-do-lists causes us unnecessary stress, fatigue, and often feelings of hopelessness which greatly reduces our ability to be effective and productive. In fact, according to some studies, over 1/3 of Americans report living with “extreme stress”. So here are a few ideas to help us relieve the stress, and maximize our potential.

#1 Focus on Today

Too often we worry about yesterday, or tomorrow causing us to fail to focus on today. It is impossible to change yesterdays’ worries. Thus carrying them around day to day is a heavy burden. Equally difficult and unproductive is to dwell on tomorrows’ concerns. The most important day for each of us is today because it is the only day we have some control over. Putting aside the worries of yesterday and tomorrow will allow us to more fully maximize today’s opportunities. If we can learn to live for today, we will experience much more success in life.

#2 Cut the Fat

Too many of us, often without realizing it, waste too much time. Whether watching our favorite TV shows, participating in social networking sites, or simply surfing the internet, too many of us waste our precious time on things that do not matter most to us. Now you may be thinking, this is not me. However, do you know how much time a week you spend watching TV, or cruising the internet? Really, do you know for sure? If not, keep track of it. Time yourself each time you begin watching TV or “facebooking” to see how much time you spend each day. I promise you that most of us will be surprised when we do this exercise. And only by knowing the time we spend on less important items in our life can we effectively determine if and how much fat we can cut. In the end, I believe each of us has some fat to cut that will allow us to better utilize our time and energy on what matters most to us.

#3 What is the Worst that can Happen

For most of us we can get caught up worrying about all the little things that can or may go wrong that really are not that big of deal. In order to overcome this, we must think in worst case scenario. For example, I may stress all day that I won’t have enough time to get the laundry done. Looking at worst case scenario though if I don’t get the laundry done tonight it does mean I won’t get to wear my favorite shirt tomorrow (which is what I’d prefer to do) and instead will have to wear my green one but is that really a big deal? Sure not wearing my favorite shirt may not be ideal but hey, the worst case scenario is something I can handle and live with. Many of us spend our lives worrying about minor items that when truth be told, the worst case scenario is something we can effectively deal with and is not worth stressing over. And in the end, we will realize that even the worst case scenarios happen less often than not.

#4 Prioritize and Plan

Planning and prioritizing is important. We do not have time to do it all. Very few of us have Superman like capabilities thus trying to take on the world is an impossibility. Therefore, prioritizing what is most important to you then doing that first will result in a happier and more satisfying life and will reduce the stress. Additionally, just because something is “urgent” does not mean it is important. For example, I may feel it is urgent that I clean the kitchen because I have guests coming over tonight however though not seemingly urgent I may feel that my daughter is down and that I should probably talk to her. Thus in this situation I may forego my need to clean the kitchen to impress my guests and instead spend some extra time with my daughter which is a higher priority to me.

#5 Be Flexible

Once we’ve come up with a plan we must be flexible. Things are constantly changing and that is part of the fun in life if we learn to embrace it. When you plan, it cannot become so restrictive that again we fail to do what is most important. Having a plan is important and will help us maximize our time and energy however also being flexible when necessary with the plan will help us reduce stress in our lives.

#6 Do the Best you Can

Finally we do not need to try and be perfect but we should try and do the best we can. We will make mistakes. We will be stressed out at times. We will waste time, forget to plan and prioritize, dwell on non-consequential worries, and live in the past or future at times and that is ok. If we can follow these suggestions to the best of our ability however and continuously strive to improve, our stress levels will go down, our feelings of being over-whelmed will lessen, and our satisfaction and success in life will increase.

Disrupting our Lives

I recently was forwarded a video clip that featured a lecturer named Whitney Johnson who I felt had some very interesting perspectives.  Though I was unable to hear the entire lecture one thought seemed very intriguing to me.  The speaker talked about how many of the most successful people in life reach this status because they deliberately disrupt themselves.  Let me explain.

Often we get in ruts or funks and lose interest or an intense desire to be the best we can be at whatever we are doing.  This lecturer challenges us to disrupt ourselves in these moments and do something about it, something different.  Whether that is start a new career, learn a new skill, find a new job, develop a new talent, whatever it might be we have to change our course and “disrupt” our lives. 

Why?  Because without disrupting ourselves we never realize our full potential and we miss out on opportunities we may have otherwise had.  Disruption in our life in a way is self-imposed stress, and hopefully the good kind that pushes us to be better.  Without disruption in our lives we do become complacent, bored, ornery, and feelings of helplessness and diminished value of self-begin to set in.

Now you may being saying to yourself, I have more stress than I can handle as is, and you are asking me to deliberately add more to it! The argument for this is that disrupting ourselves may cause added temporary short-term stress but in the long run, our stress level will decrease and often decrease significantly.  In fact the lecture mentions that not only in times of boredom or lack of interest but also in times of engagement and excitement should we find ways to disrupt ourselves.  Only by doing this can we truly reach our full potential.            

Most of us do not disrupt our lives for many reasons even though often we feel we should.  Perhaps the most common reason is because of fear.  We fear we won’t like our new change in life, or we will lose something we already have.    This fear may be also caused by a possible change in status, income, or peer pressures.  Truly disrupting our lives will make us step out of our comfort zone and may cause us to take on a new position that pays us much less, or force us to walk in new social circles.  These types of disruptions often are what we avoid in life but actually can bring about much good and satisfaction in life.  In fact, the lecturer noted that many individuals who left higher more prestigious jobs in order to take a lower paying job soon found themselves ahead of where they once were. 

In the end purposely disrupting our lives I equate to taking intelligent risks.  Risk takers are nearly always the most successful in life because they dare to be different, they dare to do things most others won’t.  I’ve learned that taking intelligent risks does pay off.  And it nearly always builds self-confidence and increases satisfaction in life along the way. 

So what are we waiting for?!  When the time is right, we need not hesitate, we need to disrupt our lives and find new ways to live a more happy and successful life.