“Life is a grindstone and whether it grinds you down or polishes you
up is for you and you alone to decide.”

“I’ve got a problem.”

The young man had just come to Dr. Norman Vincent Peale on Fifth Avenue in New York City, grabbed him by the lapels and said, “Dr. Peale, please help me. I can’t handle my problems. They’re just too much”.

Dr. Peale said, “Look, I’ve got to give a talk. If you’ll let go of my lapels, I’ll show you a place where there are people with no problems.”

The man said, “If you could do that, I’d give anything to go there”.

Dr. Peale said, “You may not want to go there, once you see the place. It’s just two blocks away”.

They walked up to the Forest Lawn Cemetery and Dr. Peale said, “Look, there are 150,000 people in there. I happen to know that none of them has a problem.”

Problems are a sign of life. If you have a big problem, be thankful for it. It proves you are alive and functioning.

The generally accepted viewpoint of most people, of course, is that problems are bad. Most people feel that the ideal state of things would be problem-free. Therefore, if we have problems, something must be wrong. As a result we end up devoting a large part of our energies to bemoaning our fate. We end up saying to ourselves, “Everything would be great, if only I could just get rid of my problems!”

This post was taken from The Bob Proctor Network site here. If you’d like Bob Proctor to be your daily mentor, you can find out more by clicking here.

Your self image operates on the same basic principles as the thermostat in your house, which controls the temperature in your home. Once the self image is set, your life is on course to produce the physical manifestation of the mental image you hold of yourself.

It is quite common to observe individuals attempting to do something and, at the same time, saying they don’t think they will be successful. However, their sincere desire to win causes them to try. Unfortunately, until they can visualize themselves successfully completing the project, their efforts will be in vain, regardless of how hard they try.

Permit me to suggest that you purchase a copy of Dr. Maxwell Maltz’s classic Psycho-Cybernetics. This book deals with self image – a subject that should be taught in our school system and included in all corporate training programs. Believe me, you can be assured that if it were, school marks and productivity would skyrocket. Millions of people live more fulfilled lives today because of Maltz’s important work in this area.

Psycho-Cybernetics – get a copy. If you already have one, reread it. Your library is incomplete without it.

You guessed it, the word is SUCCESS. What is success? That is a good question. I have read thousands of definitions but I have yet to find a better one than the definition I received from Earl Nightingale close to thirty years ago.

Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.” If you know where you are, you know where you are going, and you are progressively moving your life in the direction of your dream or goal then you are successful. Only 3% of the people you are surrounded by have a clearly defined goal written in a definite statement. Most individuals wander through life dreaming and they go to their grave with their dreams still inside them. Decide what you want. Write it out and get moving. Be successful.

There are people who always play it safe. They never tackle more than they are sure they can handle without effort and risk. Thus they invite neither triumph nor defeat. They never learn the greatness of their mental ability, nor the strength of their endurance. On the contrary, Goal Achievers are potential pathfinders, eagerly in search of a trail to blaze. Make sure your goal is big and interesting enough to really fire up your emotions.

Only you can decide what your goal is going to be. Although another person – your spouse, parent, employer or associate – may offer suggestions, you and only you, can make the final decision. There is no one in the entire world who is capable of setting your goal for you. If they try, and they probably will, do not permit it to happen. You will not commit yourself to someone else’s goal or one you set to please someone else.

Your goal should be something you want, not something you need. There is no inspiration in needs; there is only inspiration in wants. The goal does not have to be logical, in fact, you will probably be much more inspired if it is totally illogical. The road to your goal may be a rough one, therefore it is very important for you to be very emotionally involved with the idea of reaching your goal.

Michelangelo Buonarroti was born over 500 years ago. He was almost 90 years of age when he died, leaving the world with masterpieces which will live forever.

How does one do such work of perfection with lasting beauty?

Perhaps this question can be answered in part, through a story about the time Michelangelo was putting some finishing touches to one of his statues when a friend called. A few days later his friend called again, and when he saw the statue, commented that the sculptor couldn’t have done much to it since he was there last.

Michelangelo raised an eyebrow and replied, “I have retouched this part and polished that. I have softened this feature and brought out this muscle. I have given more expression to this lip and more energy to that limb.”

“Oh yes”, said his friend, “but all these are trifles”.

“Perhaps so”, replied Michelangelo, “but trifles make perfection – and perfection is no trifle”.

What a great lesson for us. Think of the times we skip over the trifles because we know no one will notice the difference. However, when the trifles are all molded together, they spell “perfection”. Although you may never reach perfection, taking care of the trifles will definitely improve the quality of your work and you will be rewarded accordingly.

The other day Randy tossed out a word and asked me if I was familiar with it. Oddly enough I was … it is imagineering. I first became familiar with imagineering many years ago. It came from a program produced by Earl Nightingale on Creative Thinking.

Imagineering is a wonderful way to solve problems, to come up with new ways to sell your product or service; a great concept to assist you in reaching your goals. I’ve often felt if we were really on our toes we would have imagineering as part of the curriculum in school as we do with engineering. Unfortunately, when our youngsters in school get involved with imagineering they frequently become chastised for daydreaming.

Try it. Get off in a quiet place by yourself or with other open-minded individuals. Write out a problem you may want to solve or an objective you would like to accomplish. Then let your imagination run wild. Let it soar – no limit thinking. There are no foolish ideas, there are only ideas. As these ideas come to you jot them down, then go in search of a new idea and jot it down.

You will find imagineering can be fun. It is invigorating. New energies will suddenly fill every fiber of your being. Most of us are stuck in conditioned habitual ways of doing whatever we are doing. Imagineering will prove to be a refreshing change for you.

Ninety-eight out of 100 people who start a new job look around to see how everyone else is doing their job and they follow suit doing the same thing. If you are starting a new job you should look around and ask yourself if any of these people know what they are doing, then possibly go to the boss and ask who are the most effective employees in the company. If you’re going to follow someone, follow them.

Eighty percent of the production that counts is being done by 20% of the people. It necessarily follows that 80% of the money paid to employees is paid to that 20 percentile group.

It is not uncommon in a sales force of 20 or 30 people to have one or two salespeople selling more than all the rest combined. If you’re in sales, find out what those two are doing that is so different. It may be making one extra call per day.

There are millions of golfers and thousands of pros but only a few that play the game like Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. These top performers are not lucky, they’re dedicated.

You were encouraged to be like the other kids when you were young. You have been conditioned to follow the crowd. In many schools, you are even dressed like the other kids.

Well, you’re not a child any longer and you’re not like the other kids. You are unique. That is what makes the Mona Lisa so valuable, there is only one, and there is only one of you. Be yourself … break away from the crowd.

Imagine having Bob Proctor as your personal mentor everyday in 2010!! Would that have a positive impact in your life? Please take a few of minutes to find out how by clicking here.

Emerson wrote that envy was ignorance. He followed that up by saying imitation was suicide. He was correct – our various patterns of thought cause us to differ one from another. To try to be like someone else is a fool’s game, although, I am sure you have caught yourself saying I wish I was like him or her. I suppose that type of imitation is something we all are guilty of at one time or another. No, we cannot be like someone else, nor should we try.

The beautiful truth is that anyone who has a sincere desire to improve their performance in any area of life could use role models as an excellent working tool. I have presently improved my ability to manage my time, speak in public, and sell, as well as a number of other areas, by adopting the personality traits or characteristics of successful men and women I admire.

If you would like to improve the quality of your life, and I am sure you do, look around for a few role models. You can have as many as you choose.

Study their attitudes and behaviors closely. Adopt whatever characteristics you believe would be beneficial to you. Discipline yourself to turn those positive personality traits you admire in others into habits of your own. You will not only become a bigger winner, you will serve as a great role model for others.

Imagine having Bob Proctor as your personal mentor everyday!! Would that have a positive impact in your life? Please take a couple of minutes to find out how by clicking here.

Arnold explains the creative process is “that mental process in which past experiences are combined and recombined, frequently with distortion, in such a fashion that one comes up with new patterns, new configurations, new arrangements, that better solve some human need.”

Whiting clarifies the subject even further by reminding us there is a distinction between creative thinking and original thinking. Original thinking produces ideas which are new, at least to the individual concerned, even though they are not necessarily useful. An original idea that is useful in terms of meeting a human need, is also a creative idea. Thus creative thinking differs from original thinking in that the ideas must be useful in addition to being original.

Another major area of confusion, writes Whiting, in the concept of creativity is the tendency of many people to confuse craftsmanship with creativity. Because a person’s an artist does not necessarily mean the person is a creative artist. The person may be just an excellent craftsman who follows traditional patterns and thus produces nothing original nor creative.

I see a real tragedy here. As a people, we do not seem to realize everyone is creative and very capable of engaging in the creative process. The creative process is not confined to a few select people who have been blessed by some emotional or capricious God.

You and I have the tools. Let’s use them and add a creative dimension to our lives.

Imagine having Bob Proctor as your personal mentor everyday!! Would that have a positive impact in your life? Please take a couple of minutes to find out how by clicking here.

Anyone who has made a study of the great thinkers, the great writers or achievers of history, will know they very rarely agreed on anything when it came to a study of human life. However, there was one point on which they were in complete and unanimous agreement and that one point was, of course, that:

We become what we think about.

What do you think about?

The majority of people you are surrounded by permit their thinking to be controlled by what is happening around them. Their world is in control of them – they are not in control of their world. If you doubt this, pay particular attention to the behavior and conversations of the people you come in contact with today. You will quickly see that these people are reacting to their environment, rather than originating positive, constructive thoughts and then acting upon them.

You and I must realize that our thoughts ultimately control everything we have or do. You are the sum total of your thoughts. By taking charge this very minute, you can guarantee yourself a good day regardless of what happens. Refuse to let unhappy, negative people affect how you see them. Look for and think of what is good. There is good in everyone and everything. These have been just a few thoughts for you to think about today.

Imagine having Bob Proctor as your personal mentor everyday in 2010!! Would that have a positive impact in your life? Please take a couple of minutes to find out how by clicking here.