Serve Yourself By Serving Others

How do you receive something you want?  Well, that’s simple.  Give it to someone else.  The best way to achieve happiness, success, love, joy, and affluence is to give those things to others.  That means to give them as often as possible.  You cannot be happy unless you are creating happiness around you.  Your life will be enriched by stopping to think, “Will these actions bring happiness to me and to those around me?”

What is one of the best ways to be successful?  Well, help others achieve success.  Help others with their work and, of course, volunteer when you can.  How do you find true love?  Learn to love those around you.  Stay away from angry, negative, judgmental thoughts.  How do you achieve wealth?  Yes, you guessed it, give money to those in need.  What?  You don’t have any money to give at the moment?  You have plenty to give.  Give kind words to every person you run into.  Offer blessings to everyone you come across.  Pay a compliment to someone that looks like they are having a bad day.  Sometimes our kind words and our thoughts are more valuable gifts than money.  Be charitable with these to everyone around you.

Think of what you want out of life and visualize this please – right now – as a boomerang.  If you throw it out there, it will come right back to you.  So, live life in earnest expectation.  Give everything that you would like to receive.

One last thought of the day.  Teach your children to be givers so that they may have an abundance of success in all aspects of their lives.  Most importantly be a blessing to others so that God may bless you.

Fail Big!

Fail big! Fail a lot! I am serious, folks. If you’re going to fail make the failures incredibly big. Struggle breeds success most times. One thing is for darn sure, most people are not successful without tremendous struggles in their past. Remember, when I say success I do not necessarily mean financial success. Success to me can mean many things. Certainly, it is living out one’s purpose in life.

God has a plan for everyone and everyone has a purpose here. Happiness is based on many things, but I think real happiness cannot be attained without determining and living out one’s purpose in life. Purpose is that one thing that you were placed here on Earth to do. Your purpose is the one thing that you do best. Purpose is not always as clear as it should be and surely not as easy as some people make it sound. After all, it only took me 25 years to realize mine. One thing is for sure, though, it may take years, it may take a lot of time, but God will eventually guide you into your purpose. The struggles that you live through to reach that purpose are only building your character, my friends. Never fret about the struggles. Embrace the struggles as if they are notches on your character belt.

As I write this blog I am thinking of many conversations I have had recently. Many of you have shared with me that I seem as if I love what I do and I do it quite well. You are quite right. I adore what I do. Helping people with their health and wellness is most assuredly not what I personally consider to be work. That being said, the trials and tribulations I lived through were quite severe and extremely difficult, but my faith in God provided me with the strength and courage to continue on the path of my true calling.

How is it that some of us can determine our real purpose? It is usually that thing that you do best, that which you do better than most people, and that which you would do even as a volunteer. Sometimes we miss our real purpose in life because we are embracing other people’s dreams for us. Remember, you can live out your real purpose whether you are a teacher, a plumber, or a cashier. Also, remember that God has placed you in those positions for a reason. I had a lovely conversation with a dear friend on Friday evening. She said something profound that I would like to share with you. We were in the midst of just this very topic and she blurted out, “it is easy to determine what God’s purpose is for your life if your premise is to share God’s love with everyone that comes into your life.” I hope that sounds as profound as it is intended. Think about it, my friends. If every moment of every day we share love and joy with every human being that crosses our path we are truly living out what we have been called to do. When your sheer existence is based on love and joy in your heart it is far easier to determine your true calling wherever you are and whatever you might be doing.  If you are hoping to succeed look at your failures. The greater they are, the closer you are getting. So have faith, persevere, and embrace your dreams.

Discipline, Not Desire Helps Achieve Success

Discipline not desire determines our success.  Faith is crucial to our wellness, in fact faih matters when it comes to all areas of our lives.  None of us are perfect but what we want to strive for is that sincere connection with God.  I was reminded of this last Friday morning when I was chatting with a good friend in a meeting.  I brought up being angry at someone who I felt had done something hurtful.  My friend reminded me that this person is only human and I should forgive him.

I bring this up because it certainly reminded me that I, as most people, have weaknesses such as moments of unforgiveness.  This weekend I thought about how far I have come and how great it is to have such a strong connection to God.  What I also thought about however is that it is very difficult for people to achieve a strong connection to God without recognizing their encumbrances.  The encumbrances that we have hinder our lives and will certainly hinder our connection to God.  Just as my friend on Friday morning pointed out that I should forgive quickly I suggest to all of you, recognize what your encumbrances are.  I advise you to spend some alone time and determine what any of them might be.

Some people suffer with low self-esteem, anger and bitterness, lack of forgiveness, jealousy, fear and anxiety; obviously I can go on and on, there are emotional issues or scars that plague all of us.  They can stem from many, many things; such as a parent telling you that you are not good enough, a sibling hurting your feelings, a teacher telling you that you won’t amount too much and on and on and on.

If we wanted to, I suppose we could all find many reasons to be emotionally crippled, but I suggest that you spend some time by yourself, determine what your issues are, admit them, recognize them and then ask God to help you set them aside.  With the strength of God, believe me you can.  Without His strength you will  be tied to these encumbrances for the rest of your life.  We all have them, some of us more than others.  I can honestly tell you however, when you recognize what they are and where they come from and put them aside forever, the path to success in all areas of your life will be clear.  This is how discipline instead of desire gets you there.

Plan for Success…

Does anyone know where the word strategy comes from?  My hero and my grandfather was a Greek general.  He taught me many things about the military that can be applied to our own personal and professional lives.  For instance, did you know that the American military uses terms like “The 6 P’s for Success”?  What are the 6 P’s for success?  Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.  These 6 words used in the phrase in this way are extremely beneficial when carried on throughout our lives.  Interestingly enough, I have surrounded myself in my life with military men.  My father was in the military, my husband was in the military, and my second in command was in the military.  I am quite sure that they incorporate military terms and strategies in their everyday lives.

Strategy is important and my grandfather, the Greek general (Strategos), taught me to always strategize and to plan.  Let me emphasize – that doesn’t mean to have a Plan B.  I do not believe in having a Plan B.  I believe in having a Plan A and paying close attention to detail (another military term) to ensure that the plan succeeds.  This means that one must have faith and perseverance – in other words – as Winston Churchill said, “Never, never, never, never give up.”  That is not to say that strength and courage keep you on one path and only on one path, but you must have the strength to – and here comes yet another military term – adapt to change quickly.

I grew up with a strong military general in my life and military terms are near and dear to me.  I thought it might be fun and interesting to share them with you.  When we understand military strategy, sometimes – or a lot of the time – we can follow it and see success personally and professionally.  If you are curious or interested, please check out this article on where the word strategy comes from – http://www.easy-strategy.com/strategy-definition.html

Prior planning and strategy is relevant in all of our lives from something as simple as cooking a meal for ourselves to running a marathon.  Or as my friend Wayne Kurtz would probably say, breaking an all-time record for Iron Man.