Horner Kevin - Horner’s Corner

Are you a man looking for a fashion statement without going for the overdrive? You can be discreet but upbeat with pocket watches. The women will find you intriguing and very macho each time you fish out your small gold timepiece from your vest pocket.

Macho Fashion Sense

Pocket watches were invented back in the 1500s; these were cumbersome pieces and had to be worn like a necklace. Somebody came up with a better idea and invented gold chains or fobs to be attached to the watch. At that time, wristwatches were deemed feminine so these pocket timepieces were the rage in men's accessories.

These pocket watches were crafted in gold, silver, and platinum and adorned with sapphires, emeralds, and rubies. During this era, gentlemen from wealthy families owned these traditional time pieces that reflected their clout and power. These were valued family heirlooms, passed from the fathers to their eldest sons.

Fortunately, in this generation, the average Joe can buy himself a pocket watch to show he’s got the fashion flair and the savvy. It's also no longer necessary to flex his muscles or show off that he’s got what it takes to be a hunk. Decked in his finery, there would be no opportunity to do that. His option is to try those pocket watches to match the ambience.

Just imagine Brad Pitt in a smashing suit flicking a gold pocket watch open. That will send the girls drooling. You don't have to be a Brad Pitt to catch the girls' interest. Women, who know the value of these watches, will eye you with interest, whether you have one of those open-faced or hunter case time pieces. Be a Wyatt Earp with your new dashing pocket timepiece.

The Different Types of Pocket Watches

If you're shopping for dressy or simple pocket watches, you can find several styles online. There are different designs for different occasions. If you're into sports, try the CX Gear Digital and Analog pocket watches with built-in compass, thermometer, and flashlight.

For a party animal, the CX gear stainless steel, fold-out stand with a bottle opener and screwdriver is just perfect and classy too; for the man who loves the outdoors, the rugged good looks of the CX Gear Luminiscent Hand and Numbers pocket watch should be his companion.

For dressy events, there are the silver and gold pocket watches in various designs to choose from. These may or may not come with a 12" chain. The casual look for everyday use are also crafted in gold and platinum. Even Harry Potter fans can have their own pocket watches.

Collector's Treasures

For collectors, there are more choices with the emergence of non-traditional designs. Or if they want the traditional style, they should watch out for blogs announcing auctions of antique watches of all makes. Flea markets also produce a gem or two of old watches.

If you're thinking of showing up in the next party, dare to be a class apart with a gold or silver pocket watch. You'll have the crowd buzzing and asking you how you got a stunning showpiece. Or re-establish a tradition in your family. Get one of those pocket watches you can proudly pass on to your eldest son. He'll be proud to wear it like a true hunk.

“May my soul bloom in love for all existence.”

Rudolf Steiner

Does this sound familiar?

Paul wanted to change some situations in his life. He wanted to be able to go into a room full of people and feel confident. He wanted to be in a meeting at work and feel comfortable and go for a bigger contracts so he could earn the extra money for his family to live without penny pinching. But something stopped him.

He'd tried hiding from his failings for a long time, but he admitted he'd got to the point where he now hated himself and was beginning to resent his family. He'd tried a confidence workshop, he'd tried reading books, he'd even tried just throwing himself, inauthentically, into situations. But still, those same old nagging feelings kept coming up.

Not Feeling Good Enough

Simply put, Paul didn't feel good enough. One of the hard things about not feeling good enough is that you want to feel good enough. But when you don't feel good enough, feeling good enough is just about the hardest thing to make come about.

It's a bit like money. When you don't have any money, it's hard to crate any. But when you have some, it gets easier to create more. It reminds me of the old saying, 'It's easier to get a job when you have one.'

Whether it's confidence, money a job or something else, it doesn't really matter. I say it doesn't matter, for a good reason.

Whenever an aspect of our life is not moving on, it has a lot to do with our thoughts and feelings. Meantime, life goes on, and while it goes on, it gives us an abundant supply of opportunities to experience the way we think and feel.

But how do we transform how we think and feel when we want to change, but are in that vicious circle of wanting to change but not being able to change?

An Empowering Philosophy

What I have to share with you, I believe, has the power to transform almost any situation we come across. It goes like this:

In life, we are constantly being sent information that is meant to guide us. This information comes as hints: thoughts and feelings - thoughts about the feelings and feelings about the thoughts. Other hints might come to us when someone says something, or when a synchronistic events occurs.

But this information is often overlooked. This is because:

We didn't know that life provided us with empowering information

We're too busy to pay proper attention

We don't know what signs to look for, or

Because acknowledging the signs scares the living daylights out of us

I've been helping Paul build a daily practice that helps him become aware of the information that can empower him. As his skills developed, he's learned to stop the fight between his current existence and the longed for confidence that would transform his life.

I'm teaching Paul something that I developed from my own experience. It's a practice that becomes an enlightening conversation with life, where I act and life sends me an experience that I need, so I can grow as a person and become closer to my desires.

Cutting off the Chains and allowing the Soul to Bloom

Losing the attachment to the needs and desires and having an ongoing conversation with life has been tremendously profitable for me and now for Paul.

Rather than beating himself up for his failings Paul is now listening and acting, acting and listening. As a result, guess what?

Since he's been enjoying life more, there's been an increase in the things he wanted to gain, falling into my lap.

Quick, easy and practical Tips to get you started:

Allow yourself a few minutes quiet time each day to digest your thoughts and feelings on the events of the day. This time is your practice time. Over a few weeks you'll begin to integrate your practice into your daily life.

Be aware that: what you think brings up a corresponding feeling - it will feel, good, bad or neutral. Take note of these feelings as they will be your guide to what you you might do next. On the occasions when something doesn’t feel good, consider what one thing you can do to make it feel a little better.

It is also useful to keep a journal. When you look back you'll see patterns of thought and feelings. This gives you the opportunity to take a closer look at anything you don’t like and want to change.

These tips are just the simple beginnings, so please, do, check out the groups and workshops so I can help you deepen your learning and integrate this idea into you're life, so life becomes easier and more flowing.

Love and good wishes

Neil

Self confidence is an emotional and mental state of mind which responds to our need for self-acceptance and recognition. It's among the oldest and most studied concepts in psychology. It is used to describe a good albeit adequate perception of oneself and one's abilities. Hence, self-confident persons generally have a better knowledge of what they are able to achieve and are more likely to be successful in what they attempt. They are also more likely to accept and learn from their mistakes.

Contrarily, a lack of confidence may deter you from trusting that your actions or decisions will ultimately turn out the way you had planned. It can thus hamper the buildup of executive skills, planning and managerial abilities all of which are basic and mandatory skills in today's business world. The pre-occupation with other people's judgment of your work might also cause you to become too self-critical, which will distract you from things you would have otherwise been totally able to do.

Low self confidence will also have an impact your social life, because people with a low level of self confidence tend to stay in their "comfort zone" and dread the risk of rejection. This is called social phobia and presents a high level of co-morbidity with low self confidence, but also other mental conditions such as depression. People with low self confidence are afraid of being judged by their peers and will avoid talking to new people, which can result in isolation and even lower self confidence. Low self confidence is a vicious circle that is hard to break.

On the other hand, because they believe in their own aptitudes, self-confident persons are able to do what they feel is right and don't expect the approval of their peers. They also trigger confidence: your boss, employees, customers, friends or relatives are more likely to trust you or what you are telling them when you appear self-confident.

Different experiences can contribute to low self confidence. New research indicates that parenting style has a major impact on the development of the self confidence of children. Bodily and emotional abuses during childhood are for example the worse for a person's self confidence, as well as divorce and family conflicts. Overprotective parents may also be a reason for a child's social phobia and hamper the independence that is necessary to develop self confidence. Successes and failures, for example at school or in one's professional life, also play a significant role: losing a job or failing a class are among the several experiences that will have a negative impact your self confidence.

There are nonetheless methods to overcome such bad experiences and gain self confidence. The first step to build self confidence would be to learn to know who you are and what your strengths are. Recognizing that you are allowed not to be perfect and cannot be the best in all that you do will help you gain self confidence. Accepting yourself as you are is the key to building self confidence. But improving self confidence also requires that you start taking risks and giving yourself credit for your accomplishments. This is very simple advice which will help you develop self confidence. You may also find many books which will claim they can help you gain self confidence, however not all of them are reliable.

A lot people suffer from low self confidence or are only able to gain self confidence in one or a few areas of their lives because they constantly look for other people's approval and are afraid that they could fail. A lot of factors, like childhood traumas, can explain why some people cannot enjoy the wholesome life a self confident individual could have. These persons also do not always know how to gain self confidence. However gaining self confidence can now readily and effectively be done with hypnosis and NLP.

As we have seen before low self confidence and social phobia can be caused by bad experiences or unconscious fears which are sometimes hard to overcome with self persuasion only. Confidence hypnosis and NLP on the contrary are able to get to the unconscious part of our brain and change belief systems to boost self confidence. They are effective tools that will help you face your fears and believe in yourself to develop self confidence.

Hypnosis for building confidence has been in use for a few decades and has shown significant results in building self confidence. In a hypnotic state, reaching unconscious thoughts is a lot easier and, through hypnotic suggestion, it is possible to replace your negative thought patterns with positive ones to boost self-confidence.

I lost my water bottle. Change was bound to happen after that.

I know it is really no big deal as it’s just a little thing &ndash but I really liked that water bottle! It fit perfectly in the cup holder of my car, it had an easy to open lid, a spill guard that made it easy to drink out of and it was decorated with some cool stickers that really spoke about me that I’d acquired over the 3 years I had used it. I drink a lot of water and I carried it with me everywhere. My water bottle was very personalized and I was quite attached to it.

Of course it also didn’t help that I only very rarely lose things. I can probably count on one hand the number of significant items I’ve lost in the last 5 years. Though not highly materialistic I am usually quite attentive to my material possessions and do not misplace them often. So I was a little confused and a little disturbed when I realized my water bottle, a very important part of my life, was missing.

Change is an interesting process. Psychologically speaking it goes like this: Pre-contemplation, Contemplation, Determination, Action, and Maintenance. But it’s more than just a process of decision making and taking action. Change is an emotional journey.

PRECONTEMPLATION

At first I kind of stumbled around for a couple of days thinking it would just “show up” somewhere. I back tracked my path since the last time I knew I had it and checked in with the places I had been (at least 6.) One person even had a recollection of seeing it there at some point but it was still nowhere to be found. I pined about it for days! I was struggling with letting go of my attachments to this old water bottle. I was feeling lost, sad, disappointed and, well, thirsty. I was going through an emotional process of understanding and release &ndash not sure whether I could make it and not sure I was willing to accept the loss of the water bottle yet.

CONTEMPLATION

Finally though, after almost 2 weeks, I came to grips with the fact that it was lost and not coming back. Surely I had left it in a coffee shop somewhere and without my name or number on it someone had very likely picked it up and taken it home with them. I realized that holding out hope that the old water bottle would magically reappear was resisting the truth of reality. It was time to accept that I needed a new water bottle. I almost felt like I was grieving the loss of one of my most important possessions. The process of grief is long and challenging as well. Pile that on top of the emotions of change and I felt like I was spinning.

I know this seems like I am making a mountain out of a mole hill but change can be difficult for me &ndash which is ironic given my life and profession. So often my life is a constant vortex of shift and change and evaluation and growth as I navigate my personal and professional world. I am constantly supporting others in the process of change and growth and discovery. I often can’t help but reflect that change into my own life and that’s not even to mention the areas I’m doing my own change and growth work on a continual basis. As a result I work hard at building stability in my life in other ways and sometimes that is accomplished with the little details and the tangible objects. So letting go of the lost water bottle represented a big challenge for me.

DETERMINATION

When I finally accepted that it was time to purchase a new water bottle a very subtle shift occurred for me. I realized that there was an opportunity here. My old water bottle was made of plastic that scientists say have health concerns. I had known this for a while but wasn’t quite ready to let go of it. What I realized was that there was an opportunity to make a new and healthier choice. Not only had I made the decision to accept the change but I’d taken a step up to move forward in the process of change with new ideas, new information and a new sense of ownership.

This was perhaps the most important part of the change process for me. Change can be as simple as making a simple choice between two rather irrelevant options or it can be as complex as shifting behavior patterns or beliefs. In this critical stage of change is an opportunity to make critical shifts. The stage of determination is where we can have the largest impact on our lives. Whenever the opportunity for small change arises we also often have an opportunity to make a large shift in the direction of our choices. Think of it in terms of navigating a plane. At the start of a long flight a directional difference of just a few degrees can result in a final destination hundreds of miles apart!

The ways we choose to engage shift along with change can make the difference between health and happiness in the long run &ndash or not! I chose to make the shift to health and happiness this time.

ACTION

So I did some research and determined what I wanted. A quick trip to the outdoor store and I had exactly what I was looking for &ndash a large, metal, wide-mouthed new water bottle! Emotionally I had reached a place of empowerment. I knew what I wanted and I had acquired it. When I bought the new water bottle I felt really good about the choice I’d made. But my process of accepting change wasn’t over yet.

MAINTENANCE

After just a few days of using the bottle I realized just how clean it was compared to my 3 year old plastic bottle and how much cleaner it was then my other old easy plastic straw water bottle that I used when I was at home. I have been a big water drinker for many years but recently I have had trouble drinking as much water as I was used to largely, I think, due to the taste transfer in the bottles I had been using. So I started using the metal water bottle all the time. Once I switched over my water consumption started to dramatically increase and I felt healthier and more hydrated than I had in months. That was entirely unexpected.

EMOTIONAL SHIFT

A little thing like a different water bottle was affecting my health. A simple choice to switch from a plastic to a metal was having a deep impact on my life. What I began to realize was that while my focus is often on large changes such as healing old relationships, changing my behavior emotional patterns, career shifts, understanding new and powerful differences in using language, etc. I almost never focus on the little details of how my daily life happens. It’s almost as if I’m so acclimated to big change that the little change somehow gets lost in the mix.

The truth for me was that sometimes the most subtle thing in my life can be one of the most important. Maintaining my health is strongly linked to how much water I drink. So although it might seem like something really little it in fact has a huge impact on all of my life. The healthier I am the more active I am. The more active I am the happier I am. The happier I am the more I attract the activities and people I want in my life. So something as simple as how much water I drink could affect my overall happiness if it produced a significant enough change in my body &ndash just like navigating a plane.

Understanding the difference between little and big changes, how challenging or important they were and how they affected me made all the difference. What had seemed like it might be a mountain out of a mole hill was actually a small volcano. Sometimes it is the little things that make for big changes an I had found one of them!

According to the US National Committee for Quality Health Assurance, more than 11 million Americans (about 1 in 20) have major depression. Interestingly, only about half of these are still taking medication six months after being diagnosed. If these wonder drugs are so great, why do so many people stop taking them? Could it be that they are not getting the results they want or people are getting fed up with the unwanted side effects?

As no single antidepressant has been shown to be any more effective than any other, the choice of which drug to prescribe is often based on their different side effects! These often include weight gain, headaches, nausea, stomach pain, loss of libido &ndash and the list goes on.

All forms of depression affect a person's thoughts, actions and physical health, and this is a condition that is experienced by an ever growing number in our society.

Fortunately, today, more and more people are turning to other (healthier and less expensive) options to overcome depression (& other debilitating conditions), including relaxation methods, exercise, enjoying music, reading inspiring books, doing their own research to find out what works for them, counselling, and natural medicine.

The habit of taking pills to make oneself feel better - to have more energy, to relax, and to experience a general feeling of well being &ndash is now a widely accepted, daily habit/ ritual in many Western countries. The downside is that the underlying condition or reason behind the need or desire for drugs does not change or get better as a result of taking pill, and of course all the unwanted side effects. However, there are alternatives, and the good news is that these options come without negative side effects, and are not habit forming!

The Physical Side

While it is true that conditions in our physical bodies sometimes need prescription drugs, (or natural alternatives) to counteract the effects of imbalance which lead to high levels of stress, organic weaknesses, painful muscles, and even disease, it is also true that there is much that we can do to help ourselves and our bodies feel and work better. Much of this is related to the way we think, the daily choices we make, and the emotions that we regularly experience.

Mental & Emotional Health

As humans it is natural to desire the good things life has to offer: vibrant health, energy, good communication with others, a great job, financial abundance, the home, the car, wonderful vacations, and of course the ideal relationship. However it is difficult to be successful and reach our goals when our mind and emotions are out of balance; when we don’t have clear goals, or a system in place to reach those goals once we clarify them.

Taking Back Control

"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do." --Walter Bagehot

The first step in gaining control of one’s life, one’s health &ndash physical, mental and emotional &ndash and one’s destiny is a very simple one... to make the decision to do just that! The good news is that you don’t have to do this on your own; others have trodden the same path, faced the same (or similar) challenges and triumphed; reaching goals they previously thought were only pipe dreams, and living the life they thought was only possible for others&ndash who were more privileged, clever or got the right breaks. And many of these individuals then chose to share the methods they found worked best for them, to inspire and genuinely assist others to achieve a much higher level of happiness and success in their lives &ndash on every level.

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." --Henry David Thoreau

One such person is Genevieve Dawid: international consultant and mentor &ndash to both individuals and blue chip corporations. To achieve the wonderful success that she now enjoys today though, Genevieve first had to overcome far more obstacles than the average person &ndash born with feet both the wrong way round, orphaned at birth, dyslexic (difficulties in correctly reading and interpreting written words) and dyspraxic (severe difficulty performing tasks requiring fine motor skills such as drawing or writing) and diabetic &ndash to name just a few of her challenges.

With a wonderful support system from her adoptive parents, and a true indomitable spirit and inborn highly positive approach to life and all it threw at her, instead of giving up, or resorting to drugs (by far the easier option!) with great persistence, Genevieve overcame her many challenges. Later on she also experienced harassment from some senior executives in response to her dyslexia when working as a consultant in London, the deaths of several close family members, including her own triplets, and the severe depression that followed, which she described “like being down the darkest of holes.” In spite of all this, she always “knew” there was light at the end of the tunnel...

Instead of throwing in the towel she continued to look to the future, learned how to think differently about things, and developed a unique blueprint for going beyond daily obstacles, and most importantly, attracting everything that she wanted to have in life &ndash&ndashboldly following her dreams.

Now she has the luxury lifestyle she previously only dreamed about; including the man, the car, the houses, the vacations...!

If you have a desire for change, but feel you need some direction and inspiration &ndash&ndashfrom someone who is not only highly successful and happy, but truly empathises with your situation; someone who can point you in the right direction and provide tried and tested methods for achieving the lifestyle you really want&ndash&ndashI invite you to have a look at ‘The Achiever’s Journey,’at .theachieversjourney.com

If you are a procrastinator, then you aren’t alone. There are many more people just like you who are waiting for an answer to their problem. When they get an assignment, a job, or a task to perform, they wait until the last possible moment to get it done. These folks lack the motivation to jump on things as soon as they should. It probably started early in school for most people, as they put off assignments so that they could enjoy other things. Little did they know that in their later years, they would still be fighting those old habits that they learned as a child.

Procrastination is just a mental condition that can be cured. It is not something flawed in your chemical makeup. In order to lead a successful life, you need to have some motivation, though. You cannot go through life putting off the important things that you have to do. If you feel like you have no ability to get your work done until the last moment, then you should get some help for your procrastination problem. There are many ways to get over this problem and they all involve making a change in your thinking.

If you need to have a positive change and get some good thoughts flowing through your head, then consider hypnotherapy. As a hypnotherapist, I have treated many people who simply couldn’t get their work done. After going through hypnosis, they were able to do things that they never thought possible. Hypnotherapy is the solution for many problems that you might have thought had no answer. Though the most commonly treated ailments are things like smoking, stress, and alcoholism, any mental block can be treated with hypnosis. You just have to find some way to open yourself up to new habits. New habits start with a change in your mindset.

Hypnotherapy is something that has become much more accepted in recent years as a cure for a bunch of different problems. It’s not just something that you see in the movies. It is a cure for problems when hope seems too far away. If you feel like you will never get over your problems with procrastination, then get some information on hypnosis. You might be surprised at how well it can work for you. If not, then perhaps self hypnosis is something that can help you get over your problem.

If you are like me, you’ve often wished there were 48 hours in a day instead of just 24. There never seems to be enough time to get everything done that you want. Since we just have about 16 hours a day not counting sleep time, it’s important how we use the time we have.

On the average, people waste about 2 hours a day. This is mainly from poor planning. If a person is unorganized, they waste time trying to find things, they miss appointments, they only do one thing at a time when they could be doing two.

Good time management is a major building block to success. Oftentimes, it’s not how much time we spend working but how efficiently we do the work. The key to successful time management is careful planning and setting priorities.Plan your day, your week, and your month in advance. Know when things need to be done. A great way to “buy time” is to multi-task. Do more than one thing at a time. There are many things that do not require concentrated mental effort. These are more easily combined.

“Failing to plan is planning to fail,”

-unknown

Even though I am a big pro football fan, I can’t justify sitting down and spending three hours watching a game. I have to be doing other things while I do it. Thank goodness for instant replay! I’ve found this is a good time to spend icing injuries or some other busy work. I can also record the games and watch them while exercising. I exercise about 30 minutes a day so during the football season I can watch a game during the week without wasting any time doing it.

When you run errands try to do as many as you can on one trip. If you are self-employed, you can combine personal errands that are on the way to a business errand and have the mileage written off as a business expense.

I’ve been fortunate to have been able to work at home for the past ten years. It’s been great because I hate to waste time commuting. If you must commute, you can use the time to listen to audio self-improvement tapes, audio books or anything educational.

If you are a regular exerciser and belong to a gym, think about working out at home. If you lack the space and money for exercise equipment, try traditional body weight exercises. A little research on the Internet can show you websites devoted to this subject. Even though I lifted weights for 20 years, I’ve converted to body weight exercises. I’ve found they feel better and get the same if not better results. Of course, if you go to the gym to socialize or network, that’s okay. You’re doing more than one thing at a time. You can go walking with your wife. That way you’re getting exercise and husband / wife interaction at the same time.

Setting priorities enables you to get the most important things done. Keep you eye on the big picture. Don’t let low priority things bump off the higher priority tasks from your schedule. If you’ve only got so much time, it’s imperative you spend your time doing the things that bring you the most benefit.

“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”

&ndash Goethe

Time is so precious. If you want to be successful in life you need to be spending more time being productive and doing things that are moving you forward. Spending hours a day watching TV, playing computer games, or surfing the Internet is not productive time usage. We all need downtime but you need to determine how much is really necessary. If you use your productive time efficiently then you will have more time to relax and do the fun things.

With so much to do and only so many hours in a day, here are three powerful changes you can make RIGHT NOW to free up time, eliminate distractions and get more done (particularly the things that are important to you) each day.

Close Your Email Program

Yes, I said it. Close your email program. I know this may border on heresy for some of you, but think about it. Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, but email is one area where many of us have become slaves to, "You've got mail!" That phrase, or it's "ding" counterpart can rip us away from just about anything we're doing when we're within earshot of the computer. Unless you're waiting on a specific email to arrive, close your email program and open it only one or two times a day. The USPS only delivers mail to your home once a day, right? So why must you be able to receive email every waking minute of the day? Since when is "just because you can" reason to do something, particularly when it can be such an interruption and fritter away your time without you really noticing?

Let Those Calls Go to Voice Mail

Why is the urge to answer a ringing phone so overwhelming? Maybe for the same reason we say "dial" when few, if any, of us have a telephone with a dial: habit. Combined with Caller ID, voice mail is a powerful, yet grossly underused, tool for reducing interruptions and taking charge of your time.

Yes, I hear those of you who say, "What if it is an emergency?" First let me say I am not suggesting that you let ALL calls go to voice mail, just calls that come in while you are engaged in getting something important done! Having said that, I realize emergencies rarely happen at a convenient time, so create a plan for reaching you with said emergencies. For example, I have "trained" my children to call my cell phone instead of the house phone if there is an emergency. They know they are ONLY allowed to call my cell phone in two situations: when they KNOW I am not home or in an emergency. In effect, my cell phone serves as the "hot line" that is always answered. This, coupled with the fact that I do not make public my cell phone number, allows me to let my calls on the other phones go to voice mail without worry.

Categorize and Prioritize Your To-Do List

For most of us, simply creating a to-do list is not enough. Ticking off items on an arbitrary to-do list might help you get more done each day by helping you stay "on task", but the real question is are you getting the "right" things done each day to create the life you want to live?

Take the time to create a to-do list, yes, but then take it one step further: categorize and prioritize that list! Identify those items that are goal-related - those are important! From this list of goal-related items, create your "Must-Do" list for the day. Do these things; THEN do the rest of the things on your to-do list. This way, at the end of each day, you'll be that much closer to achieving the goals you've set for yourself because they have been the focus and direction of your day.

Let me also suggest that you close the email program and let those calls go to voice mail while you create these lists each day. Without interruptions, you'll need less time to get more done. Planned and enforced distraction-free periods of your day to plan and work will accelerate the speed at which you achieve more, leaving more time for play.

Change is the key to our success and to our financial future. Often in our own lives, however, change is something we fiercely resist. Even when achievement sits on our doorstep, we’re still too comfortable to make an adjustment. The very first place to look for transformation is within. When you take ownership of yourself, your life and your income, you are on your way to harnessing success.

I learned early in my life that if things needed to change, it was up to me to change them.

I have had the great pleasure of working with Jim Rohn, who inspired me to new levels of success and happiness. When I first met Mr. Rohn, I was sitting at a dinner table with ten other people. I grabbed a seat near him and just wanted to listen to his words of wisdom and conversation. When a lull in the conversation arose, I was caught off guard when Mr. Rohn asked me about my goals, dreams and aspirations. In response, I began to talk about many of the roadblocks I had experienced in my pursuit of success. I listed all the reasons why I wasn’t able to achieve my goals and dreams. I let him know who was to blame and insisted none of it was my fault. I thought I had made a pretty good case and then the hammer dropped. Jim looked at me and said, “Kurt, for things to change, you must change, and for things to get better, you must get better.” That brief moment in time changed my life forever. It was then that I realized that everything I wanted in life is on the other side of change, not the other side of excuse. I also realized that no matter the excuse (good or bad), it would not produce results.

If you want to make the same kind of transformation in your life, the first thing you have to do is take an honest look at yourself and where you are. You can’t make changes if you won’t acknowledge what needs to be changed. Where are you starting? What is your current situation? If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be? It is only from honestly assessing where point A is that you can develop a well-defined, well-planned route to point B. Then the next obvious thing to determine is where or at what point B is located. In other words, what exactly are you aiming for? What do you want?

Now is not the time to be timid.

Don’t shortchange yourself because you want to be “careful” or “reasonable” or you don’t want to “rock the boat.” Shoot for the stars! You’ll define the path to get there, but first you have to know what exactly you’re even trying to reach. In other words, you must begin with the end result and then work your way backward. You have to know exactly where you want to go and what you need to change to get there. Sometimes, people are actually afraid of being “too” successful. To be brilliant or amazing might actually be a scary proposition. As success comes into sight, you might feel a lot of responsibility weighing down on you. So, how successful should you be? How healthy should you be? How wealthy should you be? How strong should your relationships be? Consider the following powerful quote from Nelson Mandela:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the World.

There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us."

&ndash 1994 Inaugural Speech

We are unique creatures. In spite of the seeds of greatness that lie within us, we seem to program ourselves to do the least amount possible to get by. That is, we often do only what is necessary to survive. I see this tendency with my students at the local university all the time. Their mentality is: What is the least amount of work I can do to pass this class? They are paying top dollar to get their education yet rarely do you see a student take advantage of all the learning that is at her/his disposal. We see symptoms of the same mental laziness, lack of progress and resistance to change in the workplace, too:

What is the least amount of work I can do to get a paycheck and not get fired? When we are in this lazy mindset, we can’t find happiness, and as a result, our souls start to rust.

The challenge is that we often don’t see the consequences of our behavior fast enough.

Time ticks by, and by the time we’re even aware of how off course we’ve gotten, years have flown by. We live in a society where we want the quick fix, the easy way out.

Unfortunately, however, that is not how life works. If it takes someone five years to gain twenty pounds, why does someone else think he can completely lose it in a couple weeks? Another example is fast food. We know it’s not good for us, and yet hey, nothing bad happened today after I had that super-size order of fries. The consequences of the unhealthy food will take time to manifest, but in the meantime, the instant gratification of a fast and delicious meal now overpowers concerns about the future that, in the moment, seem immaterial. Imagine if every time you ate at a fast food restaurant the consequences were immediate. You took a bite and felt a bulge near your midsection. If that were the case, it wouldn’t take long before you changed your ways.

There are thousands of habits and patterns in our lives that fit the instant gratification scenario. Another example is debt. So what do we do when we’re constantly confronted with such difficult choices: immediate pleasure versus future gain? What do we do about it? You would be very wise to make a habit as soon as possible of analyzing your life on at least a weekly basis. Determine what you want to change now, not after years of reinforcing the wrong habits. The saying goes, “Old habits die hard” and it’s really true.

Stop destructive cycles now before the strands that bind you become impenetrable rope.

Without changing your action, your wishes and hopes will only be whims that never go anywhere. It’s time for you dreams to start to bear fruit!

So, are you ready to welcome change into your life? Good! Remember, as Albert Einstein said, “You can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it.” Once you have recognized the need to change and have embraced the opportunity to change, then you will need to start organizing your plan of action. Think backward. What is the big picture? What are the major phases within that big picture? What are the steps within each phase that will move you from one point to the next? It is worth pointing out here that you must be careful not to let the opinions of others dissuade you. I’m sure you’ve experienced this before&ndashyou’ve gotten yourself all excited and pumped up, you tell someone you really care about all your great plans and they barely listen or care. Or worse, they start pointing out all the reasons why your plan isn’t going to work or why it’s a bad idea. Crash! You can’t remember the last time you felt so deflated.

I’ll admit that it is hard to stay focused and persistent when people spit on your dreams. Fear of failure, fear of what others will think&ndashthese are totally normal feelings. But you can’t let them debilitate you. Napoleon Hill said, “The fear of criticism robs man of his initiative, destroys his power of imagination, limits his individuality and takes away his self-reliance.” You are destined for greatness. Follow your heart not the useless criticism and discouragement of those who have forgotten how to live and dream.

So many people assume that if they don’t try, then they can’t fail. If they don’t try, no one will criticize them either. The tragedy of this mindset is that they will fail by virtue of never having even attempted to succeed. George Shinn once said, “Growth means change and change involves risks, stepping from the known to the unknown.” I have always loved the phrase “jump and the net will appear.” Consider the fact that most of the fears we face in life are not life-and-death matters. And yet, we are so gripped by our fears that it’s almost as though they were life-and-death matters.

The next time you feel yourself paralyzed by fear, stop and honestly assess your feelings.

What is the worst thing that could really happen? Are the possible setbacks really life-or death situations, or are they just opportunities to learn and grow, even if they are sometimes unpleasant or painful? Reflect on the fact that almost all successful people have their stories about where they came from and what they had to go through to achieve success. What’s more, it’s rarely a rosy picture. It might also be worth asking yourself what the worst thing is that could happen if you do nothing. Chances are the consequences might be more severe in the case of inaction versus action. Either way, there is a price to be paid. Do you want regrets or do you want results? We say no to some things because we are saying yes to other things. You just need to be sure you know what hangs in the balance either way. Sometimes it is the realization of the imminent, stark reality hitting us in the face that provides the momentum for change. Whatever the motivator is, just don’t let fear stop you from forging ahead.

Whatever thing you do or whatever business you are running you might be heard about The Law of Attraction. That law simply says that you attract into your life whatever you think about(consciously or sometimes unconsciously). Your dominant thoughts will find a way to manifest. The masters of this law say that if you study how to use it in a good way you'll never need anything in life.

Before I try to explain in details how The Law of Attraction works, who use it and why logically you could use it too, I'd like to explain you that if you want to begin using the Law, you must be able to suspend your disbelief. I mean that if you're pretty sure that the Law of Attraction is just a nice story that is impossible to apply in your life because of this and that.....and hardly will work for you, I can surely tell you that you won’t get anything of it so just don't waste your time and continue to keep your eyes and mind closed. However, if you can suspend your disbelief and try to have "what if...maybe?" attitude, you will discover how things are working for you and for the world under the Law of Attraction.

You might be heard that all in the world is energy even us. And we all work as magnets and we attract different energies ....Ok this you might believe or not it's up to you. I would like to speak about clear examples from our history Einstein, Walt Disney, Bill Gates used the most powerful and potent form of energy known in the universe &ndashthe thought. This mean that whatever is going in your mind is what you are attracting into your life right now. All those famous people discover that the thought has frequencies and send out magnetic energy that attracts. So you become and attract what you think about most and here is the challenge that the thought with the strongest energy can apply to your life and become reality (can become things!).That's why they had such a great success in the things they really believe and put all their energy and thoughts into before even the world believe them.

Most people think about what they don't want to in their life (ok ...I also did it and it's easier)...but by default they attract more of the same. And also if your thought is combined with strong emotion (good or bad) you speed up your process. Have you noticed that those that speak more about illness have it....and those that speak more about positive stuff, prosperity have it. Whatever you are feeling right now is a perfect reflection of what's in process of becoming. Only your persistent thought and emotion can speed up the process when you will see it in the reality. And you set exactly what you are feeling so happy feelings will attract more happy circumstances. Visualizing positively that you have it all that you need and want will make your conscious to believe it and the universe will respond to that energy. Feeling grateful will create more things in your life to be grateful for. It is really that simple but we need to control our thought in every moment and this is the complicate stuff. You can take stepping back and looking in your life from different point to become aware of how you are unconsciously using and have used the Law of Attraction already. Remember the story of your life how you were here than you were there doing this, why you meet this person and what did you think, what happened. I personally was very surprised at the beginning while remembering every moment of my life I found how strong can be the power of the Law of Attraction (of course this law was depending how strong was my thought.)

I know that with the Law of Attraction can raise some tough questions that don't seem to have good answers-things that had happened in our life and we never wanted they've happened by our thoughts. I would say, however, that these problems aren't caused by the Law of Attraction itself but rather by the Law of Attraction as applied to objective reality. This entire reality is your creation. We should feel good about that. Feel grateful for the richness of your world. And then begin creating the reality you truly want by making decisions and holding intentions. Think about what you desire, and withdraw your thoughts from what you don't want. The most natural, easiest way to do this is to pay attention to your emotions. You can make the experiment yourself by thinking about your desires that makes you feel good, and then thinking about what you don't want makes you feel bad. You'll notice that you feel bad when you're thinking about something you don't want. Then you just turn your focus back towards what you do want, and your emotional state will improve rapidly.

Good luck with your life and emotional experience just observe how all is connected with the Law of Attraction.