Phew! Times sure does fly when...

It's been a very busy week and half. I'm an Information Technology engineer by day and so I've been deeply buried in meetings and engineering issues. I've mention this here before and I'll repeat again since it is part of my thoughts for today, but while I'm and IT engineer by day...I'm aspire to be a motivator and inspirer BY LIFE. Now this statement goes much deeper than can be expressed here because of all the elements of character and belief that I must build and maintain along my path.

What I'm really getting at here is: Who Are We?

How many of us are caught away by the many things that catch us by day and distract us from the dreams we carry inside us by life? Do we define ourselves by the daily victories and defeats we encounter? Or do we define ourselves by a greater sense of calling and vision compelling us to become greater than who we are now?

I know this challenge all too well. The challenge of tending to the daily tasks of living while maintaining and inspired and positive attitude that keeps me thinking about believing and seeing the best that life has to offer and being willing to pursue it -- no matter what.

My question to you is, "Who are you, really?" Think about it that for moment? How well do you know yourself and your capabilities? You see, if you are defining yourself by your daily duties that do not advance your greater goals that I would submit to you that you are NOT who you think you are and you may NOT know yourself as well as you think you do.

You see, we are not always what we do. We fail, we error, we do get it wrong along the way. But you are not a failure! However, absent an awesome dream and vision of becoming someone great and leaving your mark on this world, you are likely to think of yourself as a failure. Why? Because there is nothing else. No mark to press towards, no prize to capture, no mountain to climb, no challenge for personal life change. Nothing to hope for and run to.

Perhaps are in one life role of any sort and yet you are aching to express that person you see deep down inside. Perhaps you are measuring your value and defining who you are by this certain role that brings little to no satisfaction in your life. If this is your situation then I ask you again: WHO ARE YOU?

Who Are You Not, That You Must Become?

We spend time doing a couple of things in this area of defining who we are. We spend a great deal of time defining ourselves by the actions we take on a daily a basis or we define ourselves by the roles we play which do not express our real selves. Now each of us has to start someone and most of us start along this lines in some form or variation thereof.

Defining actions are critical because what do over time establishes our character. The challenge here is that we may be drifting and living our lives on auto pilot and find ourselves taking actions that do not reflect our true potential. To overcome this we have to take control and predefine our lives in powerfully compelling ways. Ways that cause us to stretch out of the bad habits and mundane actions that keep us from living our best lives now.

We also must break out of roles that keep us unhappy and unfulfilled as well. Just because it's been that way, doesn't mean it will always be that way. That is a loser's limp cliche' for those folks who either won't take a chance on change or won't take a chance to change their lives. But not you, right? :-)

My follow on question to us all is now after asking Who Are We?...I now ask, Who Are We Not, That We Must Become?. What attributes, characteristics, attitudes, etc do I need to develop in order to reach for my next level of success? Am I living up that challenge to change and evolve?

The Challenges With Changing and Becoming Something Other Than...

Some of us struggle with that image of the "changed us" inside because we don't think we can change, we don't think we are qualified for the change, we don't think others will except us if we change.

Friend, your personal happiness is at stake here! Does it really make sense to live small so that others can remain comfortable with you? I would think not! You happiness and success in your own responsibility and not that of others. The general masses or crowds are unhappy, critical and judgmental. You'll never truly find happiness keeping others comfortable while keep your dreams under wraps. Now I'm not being negative and just being truthful. There are many, many great, loving and helpful people out there but you have to be willing the breathe the rare air of achievement and happiness that comes by living out loud and live at your brightest no matter others say and believe about you.

There are two kinds of people the world doesn't like...those that fail and those that succeed. I forgot where I heard that but that is a powerful point to make. Don't live in the middle. Risk failure and go on to succeed magnificently!

You Gotta Get Free!

I challenge you today to start developing plan to live your dreams out loud. Commit to live life in full expression no matter how earth shattering it my be for other that "thought" they knew you and expected you to "behave" in a certain way. NO!

You cannot possible expect to satisfy everyone. Each one has a differing opinion. Diversity makes the world go around but it's killer for men pleasers! You don't have to look back on your past without hope of a better future. You can declare a new you and new future right now! See and believe and you can have it. You have to have a "I'm Free To Be Me!" mentality. Nothing will satisfy you like living without limitations on who you can become and choosing to live in pursuit of becoming more than you are today.

Isn't it time you accepted that challenge to change and become something other than what you were expected to do or become? Isn't it time you live YOUR real life out loud? Isn't it time that you decided to pursue your highest potential for the greater good? Isn't it time that you start making a place in the world for yourself? Isn't it time that you declared who you are? Isn't it time for you to leave your mark and isn't it time for you to start taking the time to change your life and live your dreams?

I think so. Who are you? Who are you not that you now must become?

© 2005 T. L. Pakii Pierce - Upgrade Your Mind
The Mindset Motivator
"Think Well & Finish Strong!"
Daily Success Motivation and Positive Thinking for Powerful Life Change

October 19, 2005 in Positive Thinking | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack

R. I. P. Normally a terminal acronym located and an innumerable amount of graveyard headstones. R. I. P. stands for Rest In Peace.

Today I want us to rethink this acronym and apply to our lives as a reminder of who we can literally RIP our dreams of success out of the hands of hands of disappointment, complacency and fear.

How many of us have performed a eulogy and put to rest fantastic dreams and goals that for one reason or another we felt were no longer attainable. We will never have peace in our live as long as our biggest dreams are R. I. P. Yes, we can have some level of safety and satisfaction but we will never have that "settled" peace that is associated with people who know for a certainty that they are doing what they were put here to do in life.

I don't know about you but I know that my heart aches for the great things imagine everyday I wake up. Sometimes I move from dread and fear to ecstasy and unbreakable and unshakeable excitement and courage! It just plain crazy sometimes the range of emotions the swirl around inside me because of what I "see" in my future and what I desire to step out and do today!

I also know the heart ache associated with pushing down my dreams because of fear of failure and the fear of success. I've struggled with complacency and discipline. I've been frustrated by failure and lack of confidence. I've played is safe. And was during these times that I was most miserable inside. I struggled most when I wasn't daring the face my future and when I wasn't challenging my greatness to come forward. Oh I've had dark days just like everyone else. I said Rest In Peace to dreams and goals on many occasions. But I could never really stop the hunger for pursuing something really great with my life.

There were times when I stopped dreaming and got caught up with just surviving. You know, paying bills, slave to the 9 to 5, always looking forward to the weekend so that I could just rest from the rat race. Yet, I had this aching inside for something more, something better, something more challenging and satisfying. I was grumpy and found it hard to enjoy everyday life because I wasn't living the life I imagined and I wasn't pursuing my sense of purpose.

RIP Yourself A New One

I had to change. Instead of getting ripped a new one as the saying goes, by being at the whim of the winds of the changes that life brings I decided to RIP myself a new one instead. I had to Renovate, Innovate, and Pursue a path of my own choosing. I had to resurrect dreams and goals lost through hope and action towards and brighter future.

You must realize that the moment you decide that you will live and not die, is the moment that you truly begin to live. Some of us have erected and R.I.P headstone over our lives and we aren't in the grave yet! My friend if you aren't in the ground yet, you've got no business erected and headstone over a grave that you aren't in. That job should be left to those who remain after you are gone.

Until then, you MUST LIVE!

What a tragedy to die before we've truly lived. What a tragedy to die yet while we still live!

I'm talking about renewed hope for bigger and better living right now. I'm talking about the reclaiming of dreams lost and promises broken. You are not a lost cause and your cause isn't lost either.

Decide to today that you discover and recover new life today.

Start RIP-ing!

Here are a few quick tips to getting started. Instead of resting in peace...

1. Renovate the activity in your life. You must restore new life and vigor to your daily activity. You do this by rebuilding purpose in what you do each day. Why are you doing what you do? What is the value in it? What satisfaction do you find in what you do? What matters most to you and what you do you really see yourself adding the most value to yourself, your loved and the world?

Bottom line here is that you have reset your goals and dream bigger and better than before. You must will it!. Don't wait until you feel like it or until you situation looks most favorable or until the sun, moon and stars line up or until...well, I hope you get my point here. To revive and rebuild positive success motivation and thinking you must know the what and the why each waking moment of your life.

Pick up your dreams and go for it! No one is going to help you until you first help yourself. When you believe, others become believers and unbelievers fall in the face of your determination and will.

2. Innovate your approach to reaching your goals and making your dreams come true. Out with the old in with new. You have to be willing to change and be willing to let go of old thinking and old ways of doing things. Innovation is doing something in a new way and as I like to say rethinking what already is so that you can get a fresh approach.

How about innovating your very persona? Why not? Why not speak in a new way, think in a new way and dress in a new way? Do you think that if you did this that you would indeed reach your goals and dreams in a new way as well? I say this because sometimes we approach our goals in the 3rd person and there is a disconnect there. We may see that dream and goal as attainable...by someone else. You must become the goal. You must become the dream. It is what you become in the pursuit of the dream that is most important. So think about the transformation in you that will result as your reach for your dreams and become one with your purpose. Do something and do something differently or in a new way. Innovate and change!

3. Pursue your dream. Live your purpose. The power to do comes in doing!. Your vision has all the supply you need. Once you start pursuing your dream you will have the fulfillment of all the promises, provision, power and protection necessary to finish your journey and to Finish Strong! There is no need to fear. There is only the need for courage and action. You can do this! We can do this!

Think well and finish strong!

© 2005 T. L. Pakii Pierce - Upgrade Your Mind
The Mindset Motivator
"Think Well & Finish Strong!"
Daily Success Motivation and Positive Thinking for Powerful Life Change

October 11, 2005 in Positive Thinking | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Goals, goals and more goals. We all should have them but few of us exploit them. To set a goal is to leverage your unlimited potential. With a sliver of intent and a wink of direction you can unlock momentum and success motivation unlike you've ever experienced before. When we think of goals mostly we think of getting something. However, with all of the getting let us understand this...the goal of getting anything is to become something more than you are today.

More Than Are
What am I getting at by that last statement? Well, in order to have more and remain happy you must become more than you are. There are plenty of examples of those who have increased their getting without and increase in peace and happiness. Why? Because there hasn't been an increase in their personal development. To truly sustain increase in your life and to accumulate more with ease you have to become more than you are on the inside.

Don't embrace the getting for getting sake. Establish who you are and who you want to become along with your goal setting and getting. The most powerful goals are goals that will challenge your very ideas of who you and who you can become. The most powerful goals require you to force a change in your identity in order to achieve success. It isn't too difficult to getting a lot of stuff without giving a lot of ourselves in the process. Yet, to best goals of life changing goals. They are goals that change our lives first and which enable use to change the lives of those we care about most.

You are more than you are now and you must recognize that. Don't neglect to feed that deep hunger to become more and not just get more. The getting is so much better when we are thinking and acting bigger than we did yesterday as we work to build bigger tomorrows by living our dreams today!

Your Future Is Now!
Yesterday is gone and tomorrow never really comes. All you really have is Today and Now. I caution you not to make haste because you think the time is late for you. Haste makes waste indeed. There is a lot of pressure these days to do it now, get it now and become it now. Yes, now is the time...but you must act from self-directed purposes and not pressure from popular culture.

Many engage in some form of escapism through music, movies and videos which allows them to avoid the real decisions they need to make about their own lives instead of longing after the glamorous life of others. The message of popular media these days is that to be more you must have more in order to be happy. The reverse is actually true, that is to have more you must be more in order experience happiness. This is the road that requires that work.

To be more you must embrace yourself and your life right now. You must recognize that you are where you are right now because of your own thinking and your own actions up to this point. Recognize that you got you here and it is you that can get you to where you want and need to be. Your future is indeed now when you are ready to be responsible for your own life and establish your mission for getting by requiring yourself to become more than you are today.

The Great Challenge
Your challenge is within and a great challenge it is indeed! You must contend with issues of self before you can contend successfully with the issue of life. You cannot medicate your lack of self-development through vice or virtue. Ultimately you have to come face to face with your true self in order to become great. We all have life experiences that are as unique as our fingerprints. Your path is your own and your contributions will be unlike anyone elses. Believe in yourself and in your unique ability to build and uniquely bigger life than you have up to this point. You are not limited by your past. You are only limited by you ability to think and envision a better future for yourself. Your present resources are not a indicator of what you can acquire.

You see, what you do or how you act determines your success. Your acting is what leads to your getting. But what you think determines your happiness. Your thought life is the seat of your greatness and the key to becoming more than you are today. When you change your thinking you will change your life. Set goals. Aspire to get as much from life as you can. Alway seek to become more than you are along the way and continuously ask yourself..."What is my goal in getting?"

What is your goal of getting?

© 2005 T. L. Pakii Pierce - Upgrade Your Mind
The Mindset Motivator
"Think Well & Finish Strong!"
Daily Success Motivation and Positive Thinking for Powerful Life Change

June 28, 2005 in Positive Thinking | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Your attitude determines your flight path in life. Throughout our entire lives we are always positioning ourselves by perspective. How we see things makes all the difference in our world and thus the world at-large around us. No man or woman can effect change in the world around them without first having attained some level of perspective about his or herself.

perspective: the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance.

How we perceive our relationship to ourselves and the world around us plus our perceived relative importance is a key success factor in creating lasting change, maintaining successful motivation and keeping our thinking positive.

So, one of our daily objectives is to obtain a proper perspective about ourselves. The truth of the matter is that nothing else matters before what we think. It doesn't matter what the world does to you. It's what you think. It doesn't matter what the world says about you. It's what you think. It doesn't matter what you have or don't have. It's what you think. Nothing else matters before what you think.

Why...?
Why do we have E! True Hollywood Stories filled with people who seemed to have it all only to have experienced self-destructive behavior that brought their careers to a halt and sometimes their lives to an end?

Why do we have success stories of many people who pulled themselves from poverty, sickness and all manner of challenges and disadvantage to beat the odds and experience their greatest success goals?

We have these examples because it is what we think that makes the difference in everything. If you don't think you are successful and your thoughts are filled with fear and insecurity than no matter what level of success you are fortunate to experience, you will never be happy or satisfied. You will constantly seek approval and vice from external sources while never fully being able to come into the truth that you alone are enough and deserving of the best in life.

When your thoughts are focused on your true value and you have positive belief about who you are and your relationship to the world, you build unstoppable confidence and power. It doesn't matter what you lack and what you seem to face...you will constantly think from self acceptance and possibility. Where your environment may scream at you daily about your lack of resources or where others may scream at you about your lack of ability, your inner voice and thoughts will scream at you about your unlimited potential to live and live big!

Inspect and Connect
It is a good idea to take regular time out for good thinking. I recommend that you examine your inner life and put your perspective under a microscope. Start with hard thinking about the type of thinking you are doing. You need to especially look at your self-talk.

How do you routinely view the things around you and how do you routinely view your relationship to those things and to yourself? This is an exercise in determining what you really think. Who cares what everyone else thinks about you. Don't ask anyone else either. You may not like what you hear. There is certainly a time for that kind of feedback but it is normally beneficial to those who have a strong sense of self and/or a strong sense for change (and are humble enough to receive and act on hard truths).

You need to inspect your perspective and then connect with your best thinking about yourself and your relationship to the world around you. When you change your mind, it is just a matter of time before you begin to see whole life transformation. We are all always a single thought away from the change we desire. We are one idea away from our next breakthrough. Good and positive thinking are critical to your continued success because it is the difference that makes the biggest difference for your long term happiness..

If you think you suck then a million dollars will not make you happy. You will be a millionaire who thinks he or she sucks. If you think that you are valuable and that you have a contribution to make than you will feel big inside no matter how much or how little resources you may have at any given time. Your thinking makes the difference.

Thinking isn't always easy and is said to be some the hardest work one can do and which is why it is said that so few people engage in good thinking. But if you are willing to rethink your own thinking and design a perspective that supports your goals (you do decide your perspective by the way) you will not only obtain the thinking that makes the difference for you, but you always experience the change in yourself that is the biggest difference to your success or failure...the belief that you will succeed.

© 2005 T. L. Pakii Pierce - Upgrade Your Mind
The Mindset Motivator
"Think Well & Finish Strong!"
Daily Success Motivation and Positive Thinking for Powerful Life Change

June 13, 2005 in Positive Thinking | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Finding Your Path To Prosperity
Prosperity is balanced well-being throughout your life and the fastest way to creating and growing prosperity throughout your life is to pursue your highest call, live according to your highest values and live with passion.

Prosperity is a lifelong journey that you grow overtime as you grow as a person. Thinking positive is the best kick start around. From your first dollar, your first breath and your first words of the day believe that you are rich beyond measure, you have health to sustain your journey and your words speak of faith and confidence in your present and future. It starts with that first thought. What you think determines what you see, hear say towards your own prosperity and success. Motivation is sustained through vision and hope. Nourish your dreams with good thinking, good words and good action.

The great thing about finding your prosperity is that your prosperity is unleashed through discovery. You aren't here to get it all and have it all at one time and in one lump sum. You have to discover your purpose and pursue your highest good and your prosperity is invariably attached to your mission in life.

Consider this: Life is lived in layers. As you journey from stage to stage in pursuit of doing good and living your best life, you grow your inward self and enlarge your capacity to live big outwardly. We all have the tools to create out own wealth. Examples of this would be our unique view of the world, our capacity to learn and grow, our natural talents and our learned skills. As we tune into the things that make us happy, give us energy and fulfills our sense of purpose we will find prosperity to be our traveling companion both providing use with supply enough to enjoy the best of life and allowing us to give the best of what we have to others as good stewards over our growing good fortune.

There is no cookie cutter process to the road that will take you exactly to your place of purpose or path to prosperity. Your journey will be unique and interesting. Yet, there are a few steps you can take that can provide a firm footing for you as you launch towards on your journey of discovery and towards unleashing your portion of prosperity.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you seek to find your path to prosperity::

Having Enough (Abundance Instead of Scarcity)
For starters you have to resist envy and greed and discontentment. In order to start your journey well you have to be focused on the undiscovered journey ahead of you. You cannot do this if you are busy looking at what others have and wishing you had the same or feeling like you deserve to have the same without any effort on your part to qualify for it.

Realize that you are enough to get started. Know that you lack nothing to start on your path. Understand how magnificently gifted you are and that you have what it takes. This requires positive, visionary thinking. You have to see it all when you see nothing. That is your starting challenge...to believe that your end will be greater than your beginning. It is believing that provision is the companion of vision and so life will supply you along your journey with what you need.

Give thanks for what you have and then start your journey with an attitude of gratitude and excitement for discovery.

Trusting God
Trust God. Whether you refer to God as the Universe, Higher Power, Providence or Divinity. 95% of North Americans believe in a higher power who is referenced in many different ways. Trusting that there is guiding power over your life looking after your decisions and guiding along the proper path sets a good foundation for faith and hope in a better future.

If you are thinking really big enough, you're are going to need some type of higher power belief just to even consider the possibilities are possible for you! It can be overwhelming thinking about all that you might need to accomplish your dreams. Trust that your higher power will supply you with what you need in due season to cross over to each new level of success and prosperity. Have faith and believe in the impossible. Believe in the greater good and believe that you will be rewarded and taken care of for your faith, hope and action.

Strength & Courage
It takes literal strength and acts of courage to create prosperity. In the face of the undiscovered, you have to exercise courage by being willing to step into the unknown. It takes courage to step out of your comfort zone and it takes courage to change who you are to become so much more. In becoming so much more you can create so much more prosperity for yourself and others.

Without strength you cannot fulfill your commitment to be courageous. Weakness is just a state of mind. You can start at any point in life no matter how far down you might think you are. It only takes a little strength to get your life on course for change. With each action to take, you get stronger and stronger. Your conviction grows, actions become more consistent and courage distills hope in the form of accomplishments that prove that you will indeed change and that you will indeed make it.

At the end of the day, you will need to act. With each act, you condition yourself for discovery, change and transformation along your journey. Strength and Courage are required to fulfill your dreams and realize prosperity. It's where the rubber meets the road.

Make Your Way
Realize that you must make your own way in the world. Strength and Courage are necessary but you need the will to succeed and prosper. Choose to chart your own course and embrace personal discovery. You will need to look forward to learning along your journey and live willfully. Be your own person instead following the safety of the crowd. Make your way to your self-styled personal best and self-determined goals. Live your life out loud and live as big and bold as you can.

Rise Early and Believe
Believe that each new day is going to be better than yesterday. Believe that there is a conspiracy of goodness in operation against you and that no matter what it looks like at any given moment, that all things will work together for your good. Rise early or in other words, don't delay! Act with precision and immediacy to unleash increasing levels of prosperity, discover something new, and transform yourself along your journey.

Seek Wisdom and Understanding
Never, ever stop learning. Stay humble and keep a childlike curiosity about the world around you. Demonstrate authority and leadership while keeping a servants attitude towards your fellow man while remaining open to learning of the best that life has to offer you in what ever form learning comes to you. Also pursue learning. Believe that your higher power has set learning before you at all times as prerequisite to real positive change and stay vigilant towards learning that unlocks the next level of success for you.

Seek models of success and apply them to your life. No need to reinvent he wheel. Realize success is not an accident. Success is predictable. It is the result of specific actions, systems, principles and methods. Learn from those who have accomplished what you desire to accomplish. Get their wisdom and grow your understanding by applying what you learn to your own life.

Never feel that you know it all and mentor others with the knowledge and experience you gain in order to reinforce your own understanding and to give back out of your good fortune, wealth and prosperity. Your learning is your only real limit. You can learn anything and become anything you want. Live your highest thoughts. Transform your life into something magnificent.

Live big and prosper!

© 2005 T. L. Pakii Pierce - Upgrade Your Mind
The Mindset Motivator
"Think Well & Finish Strong!"
Daily Success Motivation and Positive Thinking for Powerful Life Change

June 8, 2005 in Positive Thinking | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Websters defines prosperity as condition of being successful or thriving; especially economic well-being.Success is defined as having a favorable or desired outcome. The attainment of wealth, favor or eminence.

Prosperity is traditionally interpreted as having money and lots of it. However, money is really a result of prosperity. Prosperity is truly the condition of being successful or thriving. Not everyone defines prosperity as having a lot of money although money can be an important part of ones prosperity and it should be a part of any plan for prosperity.

Satisfying prosperity is a sense of well-being and balance throughout your whole life. While nothing is perfect at all times, we feel strongest and healthiest when we have clarity, vision, purpose and passion and we are actively engaged creating a big life of our own choosing.

It's very easy to look at the prosperity of others with wishful thinking, envy or downright despair. We should never look upon someone else's prosperity wishing we could have what they have. Envy grows from bad place, a dark place where fear and scarcity lives. Witnessing the prosperity of others can be a source of despair when our own confidence and ability to succeed is called into question. How so?

Where's My Prosperity? What About Me?!
Well, sometimes we may find ourselves asking "What about me?" We we seem to struggle and toil without results and then look over at someone else who seems to succeed with ease...it can get us wondering to ourselves "Hey, whats the deal?".

Where we can sometimes stumble in this regard however is in how we frame the "what about me" question. Instead of positive thinking, we ask this question from a place of entitlement. We may sometimes compare our looks, aptitude and ability to others while thinking we are just as deserving or more so.

You have to realize that life owes you nothing but is willing to give you all things. You are only deserving of similar or surpassing the prosperity others when you are willing to stake your claim for what you want to achieve, then reaching for it and making life happen for yourself. All things are available but your challenge is the become and grow into the person it is going to take to attain the prosperity that you seek. Now don't confuse entitlement with worth. You are invaluable and deserving of all of life's pleasures and abundance.

You see, entitlement stems from a desire for free admission. It is the desire for wealth and prosperity because you think you are just as deserving as someone else. It is prideful and rooted in fear and poor self-esteem. On the other had, when you feel that you are worthy of success and you have a sense of purpose to be the best you can be in an effort to create wealth for posterity and service, you are positioning yourself for positive achievement and prosperity. Prosperity and wealth will be just a matter of time for you as you rephrase the question "What about me?" to mean that you too can prosper like your neighbor by living your personal dreams and fulfilling your own life's purpose.

It is better to be inspired by the prosperity of others because it is a testament, benchmark and example of what is possible for you and what is available to you. And the sky is the limit. You can decide to go farther if you like but avoid envy and instead get energized and inspired by the prosperity of those around you.

In Part 2 of this article I will share my thoughts on what steps you can take to find your own path to prosperity.

© 2005 T. L. Pakii Pierce - Upgrade Your Mind
The Mindset Motivator
"Think Well & Finish Strong!"
Daily Success Motivation and Positive Thinking for Powerful Life Change

June 7, 2005 in Positive Thinking | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Well, it's been a long week for me and I'm finally back in the saddle. I've been out of pocket and offline for the better part of 7 days or so due to a few unexpected events on the home and business fronts. I still here and will be back to regular publishing this week. Thanks for your continued support!

© 2005 T. L. Pakii Pierce - Upgrade Your Mind
The Mindset Motivator
"Think Well & Finish Strong!"
Daily Success Motivation and Positive Thinking for Powerful Life Change

June 4, 2005 in Positive Thinking | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Patience Is Needed
Patience is a virtue. Indeed! One of the greatest temptations of our times is to finish quick, win it all now and win everything. Surely our technologically advanced times has indeed accelerated the rate of response and execution times for all manner of efforts and endeavors. Success and change happens in rapid fashion these days...or so it would seem. There are advantages to these advancements yet we all more have need of patience. We are constantly bombarded with now messages all the time. It seems that winning it all now and winning it instantly is fashionable.

There is many offerings for the quick fix that seduce people into avoiding their real issues and working on their real selves for real success motivation and positive thinking resulting in real winning. We are encouraged to create instant change whether we are told that buying that new car will make us feel better, getting cosmetic surgery or winning the instant lottery. We are told the spend to fix it or gamble on the instant win to fix it.

Either way and all things in between, the result is one of focusing on external solutions that can be implemented now as a solution to something that developed overtime. Now some solutions like cosmetic surgery or buying a new car aren't necessarily quick fixes but more often than they are indeed feel good solutions that don't create real change. They are most useful by people who live from the inside out and they become a fleeting experience from those seeking to use them as a way to medicate what is wrong with them from the outside in.

You will find that you must wait for the win to manifest. Temporary fixes are just temporary fixes. Nothing worth having comes easy. The real work of change will always come from the inside out. We must divert our attention away from the sexy and intoxicating messages that try to persuade us that by changing our physical and material presence first, we are creating the instant change and happiness we desire. It's a big fat lie.

It doesn't have to be hard to achieve your success motivation goals but achievement does require effort and patience. Your current situation did not develop overnight and your win will not manifest overnight. The power to change can be instantaneous but the manifestation of change will take a season to manifest. Your real change is inside and it takes faith and patience for lasting success and enduring character to develop.

Circumstances Occur Overtime, So Does Winning
Often we reach critical mass in a area that needs to be changed and we want immediate relief from our situation. For example, we may find ourselves facing a mountain of bills and debt that have fallen behind because we've made a habit of spending more than we earn. This is a situation that has developed over time and we when finally have tired of fighting bill collectors and the stress of finding ways to meet late payments we just want out. And we want out now! Don't be tempted to wait for your ship to come in (If you didn't send a ship out then a ship ain't coming) by hitting the lottery or some other quick and instant relief.

In order to change that situation we would need to develop a spending plan and a debt reduction plan that will allow us to get financially healthy again and that will take some time. The challenge is in the waiting. We must embrace the mental and emotional maturity of patience to reap the rewards and wins of change. I want you to be encourage on your journey to achieve your goals and change your life. Your challenge is to continue to take action in the face of little to now change realizing that each step is building up to a win that creates a series win. This builds real change and builds character. Have a plan and have faith in your plan to change. Stop what you were doing to hurt yourself and do what you have to do to right yourself.

Realize that your journey is just that...a journey. Your life change consists of a series of actions and experiences that take you from point to point, growth to growth and win to win. When we find ourselves in a crisis and are seeking a way of escape we must realize that our situation is usually the result of a series of actions conducted by us over a period of time. Escaping is not the solution. Planning to win and then waiting patiently while taking real action is the real solution. This is the option the builds characters and add wisdom and dimension to your personal success.

Finish Strong
You don't want quick fixes or cheap wins. You want a win that is rooted in real change. That is, change backed up by real effort that involved a clear plan of action, the commitment to follow through and the patience to endure until your success goals have been achieved. Don't give in or give up too quickly. Don't fall for win now messages that promise instant relief. To really win in the now is to change your mind about the life you are living and choosing to pursue your dreams with faith, patience and perseverance.

Time is on your side not against you. One thing that you can do now and do instantly is start! Time is indeed on your side but you do need to start now and allow your development, change and success to occur. Be patience. Don't give up. Don't measure your success by the message of others or the results of others. Finish Strong rather than trying to finish first or finish now.

May 22, 2005 in Positive Thinking | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

"Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get." --Hayden

It has been said that we have really succeeded in life when all we actually want is what we really need. In pursuing the "things" of life there is always the question of needs versus wants. On you trek your way towards success you should think carefully about want you want and whether what you want is really a fulfillment of what you need.

You see the secret to fulfillment is contentment and satisfaction. Why is it that most people define success as the accumulation of or getting of more stuff? Because the culture defines success as having more and more and more. The deception is that more is never enough as this very conditioning of getting more makes it so. In other words if you train yourself to believe that you need to get more and more in order to be successful, happiness will always elude because there is always more to get and you will never ever be able to get it all.

Please understand that. You will never get it all. There will always be someone who has more than you. There is someone with more looks than you, more body than you, more money than you, more business than you and more "stuff" than you. So what is the answer to pursuing more of what you want when wanting more can never be enough?

Are You Full and Filled?
The answer is to first realize that the pursuit of more will actually never be enough! The pursuit of more is really negative thinking disguised as positive thinking and the pursuit of more is also mistaken for healthy success motivation. The problem with this conditioning is that a huge emphasis on the external trappings of life is promoted above improving the internal quality of life. If you do not improve your inward perceptions of yourself and your surroundings you will never find happiness. Instead of contentment you will produce resentment because of what you don't have and because of what you see that others do have. You will never become full and filled of the goodness of life. You will become and empty shell of a person who's only building character through constant consumption of things instead of contribution and human value.

You see it isn't how much you have, it is about how much you can enjoy and give. It is plain old satisfaction in action. Is the pursuit of "things" wrong? Of course not. It is the motive behind the pursuit of things. When you can enjoy what you have right where you are you can express joy and share happiness with others because you are settled and at rest about your life. But more importantly you will be able to really enjoy the "more" of life you are able to get. You are happy with your life and where you are going. The pursuit of things then really becomes the desire for provision and the enjoyment of the "things" life has to offer.

There is nothing wrong with cars, homes and clothes when you recognize that they are to be enjoyed from a place of contentment and satisfaction. You have to realize that these things are not the source of happiness. YOU ARE! Success, money or fame will only amplify who you really are. If you are unhappy or insecure and you pursue success to fill that void, your success will only make you more unhappy and insecure. You will never have enough things to make you happy and secure inside and you will never be enough to enjoy your success when you work from the outside in.

Become More Full and Filled From The Inside
It is very easy to want what you can't have and reject what is readily available to you. Some things that are readily available to you are peace, joy, charity and benevolence. These intangible and priceless gifts will support you on the "inside" and that is what really counts in order to win in life. Ben Franklin said "Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it...The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one."

Again, I'm not against more money or stuff. I'm for balanced pursuit of abundance. Substance and fortunes ebb and flow all throughout life. A life built on the quality and quantity of things is a life most unstable and unhappy. After the money, cars and homes you will still be alone with yourself. In the midnight hour when you are all alone with your own thoughts, will and emotions...What matters most? What do you really want?

I would bet that the one thing you need most is satisfaction. You need to feel that sense of contentment and that life is enough and that you are enough in that very moment. Abundance is a blessing when it isn't solely the means of what you want. Abundance is a blessing when it is the result of who you are.

So, as you set your goals and pursue success realize that your journey will be challenging with up and downs and that you should never seek to find happiness in the pursuit of getting more. Happiness will elude you in this way and you will never be full and filled. You should find satisfaction and fulfillment in becoming more of who you need to be for success and in exercising greater satisfaction in what you have...Because getting more is never enough.

© 2005 T. L. Pakii Pierce - Upgrade Your Mind
The Mindset Motivator
"Think Well & Finish Strong!"
Daily Success Motivation and Positive Thinking for Powerful Life Change

May 16, 2005 in Positive Thinking | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack

"Growth itself contains the germ of happiness" -- Pearl S Buck

"Happiness is not pleasure, it is victory" -- Zig Ziglar

"Happiness consists in activity. It is a running stream, not a stagnant pool" -- John Mason Good

Happiness is an activity that is born of activity. Happiness is just the milestone. It is cultivated and nurtured along the mile to the stone! Having accomplished a worthy goal and one which touches on your highest values and is consistent with your most deeply held beliefs creates happiness. To continue to grow and engage challenges is the feel more alive than ever and we experience the heights of happiness we are engaged in challenges and feel a sense of purpose in what we are doing.

I've heard happiness described as feeling good about yourself, your relationships and your accomplishments. I'd say that is a pretty good description in my book as well. We are actively growing within ourselves and we are nurturing healthy relationships as well as experiencing success motivation and accomplishments that move us closer to our dreams we are experience "happiness".

Now I don't think happiness is sole dependent upon circumstance. Positive thinking contributes to consistent happiness especially when things are so perfect in our circumstances. In those moments that Attitude of Gratitude can significant bolster out outlook for continued good outcomes. Being grateful for the goodness in our lives helps maintain happiness.

There is so much in our society the directly or indirectly pressures us consciously or unconsciously to be ungrateful and unsatisfied with who we are and what we have. Yes, you should want more and you deserve more. But that desire should not be driven from the need to feel that you become more when you get enough. Bah! You are more than enough already. You only need develop yourself and become who you need to be. What I'm talking about is feelings of inadequacy. Don't fall into that trap. It will rob you on your happiness.

When you spend all day comparing yourself against perfect bodies, perfect lives, big money, fame, fortune and the list goes on, you are only engaging an exercise in discontent. Be thankful and be grateful. Happiness increases through meaning activity. Do what makes you happy. Get going with getting happy. Don't wait for it to come to you. It's already there. Unlock your own happiness. Don't rely on someone else or some-thing else to make you happy. Your happiness is only one thought and one decision away from becoming reality.

© 2005 T. L. Pakii Pierce - Upgrade Your Mind
The Mindset Motivator
"Think Well & Finish Strong!"
Daily Success Motivation and Positive Thinking for Powerful Life Change

May 9, 2005 in Positive Thinking | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack