God's Delay's Are Not God's Denials.

- quote by Robert Schuller

Let us remember today that just because our life is not exactly the way we want it to look like right now, that does not mean it wont in the future. Sometimes it just means that we are not ready to have something at some particular point in our life. We need to press on. God would not give us the ability to desire something so much without also giving us the means of acquiring it. We must remember that.

We must continue to work on ourselves everyday and have faith. We must believe in ourselves. Don't worry about what anyone else is doing. Other people's opinions about us are none of our business and we should not be concerned with that. Nor should be compare ourselves to anyone else. We are on our own path. Let's stay true to ourselves today and have the faith that we can manifest anything we want to in our lives.

"I have never known a really successful man who deep in his heart did not understand the grind, the discipline it takes to win."

- quote by Vince Lombardi

Let us today remember that we should never forget that self discipline is one of the most important qualities that we can and should develop. Although many external temptations will try to pull us off course, if we work on discipline daily very soon it will just naturally be a part of our character. Self discipline is essential for all areas of our lives: both career and personal. The people with the strongest work ethics are the ones who go the farthest in life.

Another great quote on discipline I've known since high school: "There are two types of pain. The pain of discipline, and the pain of regret." Let us choose today the path of self discipline. If we desire to become a certain type of person or achieve a desired goal or outcome, let's discipline ourselves today to do the work first so we can reap the rewards and achieve our goals and dreams.

Treat your mind like a fertile garden spot.

One of the best analogies that I've ever heard regarding our minds is the one that compares our minds to a garden spot. This was mentioned in Napoleon Hill's book: Think and Grow Rich. Weeds can grow very easily in our gardens if we are not careful. We must consciously spend time in our gardens every day working on it and planting flowers and giving the flowers plenty of nourishment. At the same time, the weeds must be removed. If we pay no attention to our gardens, then weeds will take over and will soon be out of control. At that point, it will take a lot of gardening to get rid of all of the weeds.

Planting good seeds to me means reading good books, exercising, prayer, eating healthy, writing in our journals, learning from mentors, self love, taking care of ourselves, getting proper rest, setting goals and working to achieve them, and constantly learning. Similarly, pulling out the weeds can be compared to eliminating bad habits, watching less or no TV, and getting negative depressed people out of our lives.

Asking if the beginning of receiving. Make sure you don't go to the ocean with a teaspoon. At least take a bucket so the kids won't laugh at you.

- quote by Jim Rohn

Let's not forget today that we live in an abundant universe. There is plenty to go around for everybody. If we desire something, that is good. We also have the capacity to make that thing happen in our lives.
It's never too late to make a change. We must believe that we can create whatever we want to create. Even though things have gone a certain way all of our lives, things can change. People can and do change. And this starts with asking. Figure out what you want and ask for it. My favorite bible passage is "Ask and you shall Receive." So simple, but yet often forgotten.

Good Habits are Hard to Form But Easy To Live With. Bad Habits Are Easy to Form But Hard to Live With. - Brian Tracy

We sometimes forget the mental pain we have to go through when we first establish a new habit. They say it takes 21 days to form a new habit. The easiest thing to do is to go back to our old way of doing things after a few days because that is what is comfortable. But we must stick it out past the initial first few days or first week of uncomfortableness.

I actually have another quote that goes along with the topic of habits. It's from Og Mandino's book: The Greatest Salesman in the World. "I will form good habits and make them my slave." These two quotes we should remember at all times because I believe that successful living is just a matter of choosing ways of living/new habits of behavior and sticking to them no matter what. After we decide what habit we would like to establish, we must then stick to it like our lives depend on it. If we want it badly enough, the habit will stick and we will be more confident and happy. Our serenity level will be higher.

I'm actually going through this right now with my new habit of reading/studying. I love to read and learn, and I have so many good educational/inspirational/self help books I want to read. But sometimes simply sitting down and reading can be challenging because I can get easily distracted. The new habit I am establishing for myself is one hour of reading/studying per day first thing in the morning.

"In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins, not through strength but by perseverance." -- H. Jackson Brown, Author

Never give up on the things that you are trying to accomplish. Don't quit on your dreams. If you truly desire to do something badly enough, you will accomplish it. Sometimes goals and dreams take longer then expected to materialize. I agree that it is easy to get discouraged when things are not exactly the way we want them to be. This is a good indication that we must spend more time and mental energy on our goals. Like the quote says, the stream always wins if we stay persistent. Stay at it.

It is so easy to get distracted. Television, emails, our cell phones all distract us. But we must lock in and stay on point. That is how we will achieve our dreams. Lock in. I sometimes repeat that to myself to get myself focused. I actually got that from Diddy. Lock in on your dream. Lock in on your goals. Lock in on the changes you want to make happen. On the person you want to become. If you get off track, get right back on. We are only on this earth for a very short time.

"Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true." - Leon Suenens, Clergyman

Just a simple quote to keep us going today. Let's make sure today that we are constantly reminding ourselves what we are trying to achieve and what are dreams are today. Even if we can't see exactly how we are going to do it, that is not the most important thing. We must visualize 2 or 3 times a day exactly how we would like our lives to be, and then get rid of everything in our lives that does not look like our vision and our dream. Don't let yourself be distracted.

Turn the TV off. Most of it is negative garbage anyways. Instead, let's choose what information goes into our brain. Focus on your dream instead, and ways of making it a reality. Stop sitting on your ass watching people on TV live out their dreams, when you could get busy working on your own dreams. Make sure your dreams and goals are on paper so you can review them.

Happy Hump Day??

I don't understand this hump day nonsense. I understand the concept. But do people really only want to live for two days per week? How about this radical concept: lets live everyday like its a weekend day. Let's live everyday with the attitude that we are going to live this day to the fullest. I just know that we are only on this earth for a short time so to live for only two days per week is ridiculous. If we hate our jobs and we hate working, then we should make the necessary steps to change our attitude and/or our job/career.

I refuse to live by society's hump day concept. I choose to live everyday passionate about my life, my ambitions, my aspirations. The best is yet to come. Hump day is for average thinkers and average people. Let's strive to be great today.

"You become the people you spend the most time with. Choose your friends wisely."

I'm not quite sure who said this, it has been said several different times by several different people. But this wisdom holds true either way. We become just like the people that we hang around. Put another way, birds of a feather flock together.

We must consciously choose our friends, we can not just settle for the people that are placed in our path. On a regular basis, we must look at the people in our life and analyze whether they are the kind of people that we would like to become. Human beings are very easily influenced and the more you hang around somebody, chances are you are going to become just like them. We must seek out people that we can learn from and that can challenge us, not people who are going nowhere with their lives. Interestingly enough, the people who aren't going anywhere with their lives are always the ones who want to give you advice on how to live your life.

"Integrity is the essence of everything successful.” - Richard Buckminster Fuller

Integrity is one of the principles that I make every effort to live my life by. It is a way of living. This is especially true when dealing with other people. Acting with integrity helps us to feel better about ourselves. It is always better to do the right thing. I respect people more when I know that they are people of quality character and integrity.

"I am committed to living a life of 100% complete integrity." This is a phrase that I try to repeat daily. It is one of my 3x5 notecards that I read on a regular basis. If I'm gonna exist on this earth, I'd rather live in this way then to treat people badly and disrespect people. If I tell someone that I am going to do something, I am going to follow through on that. Integrity means I can be depended on.

Additionally, this is true in regards to the way I treat myself. It means doing the right thing when no one is watching.

Today I am going to do one good deed when no one is watching and I'm not going to tell anyone about it.

What is your serenity level on a scale of 1-10?

This is a question that I ask myself to keep myself on track. It is a good self check. Lately my serenity has been at a 7 or a 7.25 which is fantastic, but there have been times when it has been at like a 5. I like to ask myself my the question "How can I get my serenity level up to an 8?" When we ask ourselves questions like this which is a positive question, our brain will find ways to make this happen. I want to live at a high serenity level on a daily basis (obviously).

What I have discovered is that this goes back to self love and taking care of myself. This includes the little things. Things like keeping my apartment clean and in order, reading, working out, prayer, visualizing my ideal life, treating people right, etc.

"If you're chasing your dream, you're not running fast enough. Run Faster." P Diddy

Ok a lot of people I talk to don't like this guy. But my motto is if somebody is doing better then me, then I can definitely learn from them. I've been watching a lot of motivational youtube videos lately, and one of them is "P Diddy's words of wisdom." This is one of his quotes in that clip and it struck a chord with me. I believe that a person should be constantly moving towards their goals, dreams, and aspirations. However, if that person has been chasing a dream for a long time, then something needs to change. They need to get off their ass and stop making excuses. They need to make a decision about how things are going to be, and live accordingly.
There is great power in making a true decision. Once a decision is made, that's it. It's done.

On a side note, I realize that this is only fourth blog entry since 2008 haha. I'm now recommitting myself to write in this on a regular basis.