As someone immersed in personal and professional development for many years, I've heard it said many times that we use only a fraction of the brain-power available, we have much more potential than we actually use and we are all being far less than we truly are.
I know that to be true, because every single person I have ever met, no matter what their level, has been able to continue to expand, learn and grow in any direction... if they chose to. Any "diminishing returns" or "genetic ceilings" or other limits have been self-imposed within the confines of social consensus. A consensual paradigm of reality anchored in mass perception and belief. In other words: ILLUSIONS.
I have never met, heard of, or read about, anyone ever reaching their absolute highest potential. EVER.
And you can argue that as much as you want, I don't believe we actually have ANY limits to what we can become and achieve.
Many fast cars have a device called a "governor" which sets an artificial speed limit that the vehicle can't exceed. From what I've been able to learn over the years, our predominant thoughts and beliefs act as the "governor" on our potential. They "set the bar" on what we can become and achieve. As soon as someone rises to a higher level of consciousness, a higher perception, and their belief in themselves rises...they can do greater things than what they could do before. No exceptions. Who we become is always limited by what we believe or allow ourselves to become.
So many times, "experts" have set the bar on the "limits" of human potential and were disproved by someone who either were certain it wasn't true and set out to proove them wrong, or simply did it because they didn't know it couldn't be done.
One of the most renowned examples in sports is the story of Roger Bannister and the 4 minute mile. In 1954 most experts said it was physiologically impossible, that the human body could never handle it and that a human heart would explode from the pressure. All the scientific information at the time "prooved" that humans could not and would never be physically able to run a mile in under 4 minutes. Roger broke that barrier by running a mile in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds, and many other athletes have run sub-4 minute miles since.
It was the same with the belief that climbing Mount Everest without supplementary oxygen to breathe was impossible and to even try to was said to be absolute "lunacy". In 1978, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler did just that, and completely shocked the medical and mountain climbing community with their success. Since then, several others have succeeded in climbing the world's highest peaks without using supplementary oxygen.
In business, there's the well-known stories of Henry Ford, Walt Disney, A.L. Williams, Ray Kroc, Mary Kay Ash, Sam Walton, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and many more. These people all broke records and did things that many experts would have considered absolutely impossible.
There are many more of these stories about overcoming odds and breaking records in sports, exploding into tremendous success in business, miraculous healings in medicine and every other subject out there. Just read the biographies of the greatest people and organizations in history and you will have all the evidence you need. The common thread seems to be around having a clear vision of what they wanted to be or accomplish, making a decision, and going for it until it was done. No matter what stood in the way or how long it took.
Oh, and they didn't listen to the people who told them it couldn't be done.
Since we're coming to Christmas and the end of the year, why not take some time this holiday season to look back over the past year, be genuinely grateful for all the experiences, and make some decisions about 2010? As Robin Sharma says it, what would make your 2010 the best year ever?
Have you ever put any serious thought into a question like that before? It could change your life forever. Or how about:
Do you know how far you can actually go here, in this lifetime? What your true potential is?
I say we don't really have any limits, so it all depends on what you feel is your destiny here on earth... and on how far you want to travel on your journey and what you truly desire to be and do.
No one can tell you what you can or cannot be or do. No matter how "expert" they are, or how "proven" something is. Hey, just because it's never been done before doesn't mean it never will. It just means no one has yet. Might be up to you. There is still much we do not fully understand.
As far as I can tell, if you truly desire something, there is always a way. All limits are illusions. You just have to get yourself to the consciousness you need to see it.
So here's an exercise you can use to help you along:
Take a deep breath... then another, ... and another. As many as needed.
Feel very, very calm and relaxed throughout your entire body.
Now, look deep inside yourself... go as deep as you can... to the place where there is no sound.
Just breathe...
Listen to the silence carefully... here you will find your answer.
Here you will know who you can truly become.
You will also know what you must do now to move forward.
...
What you do with it is up to you.
...
Good luck, and have a very merry Christmas.
CHB
Copyright © Charles Begin
If you would like to reprint these articles or pictures in part or in whole, please include my site (www.CharlesBegin.com) so that others know where they came from and the copyright is respected. Other than that, feel free to share... and thank you for reading!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
What's Alignment?
Just doing a lot of reading and learning lately (even more than usual!) and I am having a few epiphanies.
You know how you sometimes have to read something or hear it more than once to actually "get" it?
Well that's what I've been experiencing quite a bit with some of the material I've been studying. One concept in particular, being in vibrational alignment with what you really want, has started to really sink in for me. It's funny because I've read about it quite a bit and taught it to others successfully. I've also been able to attract quite a few wonderful things in my life as a result. Things like friends, money, businesses, books, courses, health, trips, cars... but it always felt like I would focus and try and work hard on it and try again and nothing was happening... and then later, after having completely stopped thinking about it... it appears.
Ever happen to you before?
Well, being aligned is what's really going on. When you're 100% in alignment (vibrationally) with what you want, and that means no more doubts or resistance, or that you're 100% certain that it is yours... then it is. The trick is gettting yourself to be 100% in alignment.
And that's what I'll discuss next time.
CHB
Copyright © Charles Begin
If you would like to reprint these articles or pictures in part or in whole, please include my site (www.CharlesBegin.com) so that others know where they came from and the copyright is respected. Other than that, feel free to share... and thank you for reading!
You know how you sometimes have to read something or hear it more than once to actually "get" it?
Well that's what I've been experiencing quite a bit with some of the material I've been studying. One concept in particular, being in vibrational alignment with what you really want, has started to really sink in for me. It's funny because I've read about it quite a bit and taught it to others successfully. I've also been able to attract quite a few wonderful things in my life as a result. Things like friends, money, businesses, books, courses, health, trips, cars... but it always felt like I would focus and try and work hard on it and try again and nothing was happening... and then later, after having completely stopped thinking about it... it appears.
Ever happen to you before?
Well, being aligned is what's really going on. When you're 100% in alignment (vibrationally) with what you want, and that means no more doubts or resistance, or that you're 100% certain that it is yours... then it is. The trick is gettting yourself to be 100% in alignment.
And that's what I'll discuss next time.
CHB
Copyright © Charles Begin
If you would like to reprint these articles or pictures in part or in whole, please include my site (www.CharlesBegin.com) so that others know where they came from and the copyright is respected. Other than that, feel free to share... and thank you for reading!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Can You Tell A Story?
Have you ever had ideas in your head that you tried to explain to someone else... and they didn't get what you were trying to say?
Yeah...
I was just doing some thinking over the last few weeks on that subject. With our business we are constantly talking to people and helping them better understand what their current financial situation is, as well as clarifying what their goals are for the future. Then we discuss ways to bridge the gap and help them implement the chosen concepts and strategies to get them to their goals and dreams.
So, figure out where you are right now, decide where you want to be, and use the proper strategies to get you there. Sounds pretty simple right? And it is, as long as things are clearly defined and explained.
Therein lies the challenge.
Many have never taken the time to really define what they want out of life. They have never really thought about the type of person they would like to be, or what financial independance means to them, or who they want around them as friends and what they want to experience or accomplish in their lifetime. Most have only a vague idea of these things, having mostly thought about the kind car or big screen tv they want. This is good, but its only scratching the surface. You have to think about the kind of person or people you will be spending your life with, and what that life will consist of.
When you have a vision for what you want your life to be like, and you've taken the time to clearly define it, that vision is what's going to inspire you to do the things that are uncomfortable or that scare you even, but are necessary to your success.
It's essentially all about the story that you tell yourself.
For instance, I am reading "The Story Factor: inspiration, influence, and persuation through the art of storytelling" by Annette Simmons and embedded into the front cover is this short little story:
A man came upon a construction site where three people were working. He asked the first, what are you doing? and the man answered, I am laying bricks. He asked the second, what are you doing? and the man answered, I am building a wall. He walked up to the third man, who was humming a tune as he worked and asked, what are you doing? and the man stood up and smiled and said, I am building a cathedral.
The story you tell yourself, and the story you tell others, will have an enormous impact on how much you enjoy your life, and how much people enjoy being around you. Even if, superficially, it looks like everyone is doing pretty much the same thing for now. Over time, slight changes in attitude or activity will cause enourmous differences in the life that people live.
Think of it this way: which one of the three bricklayers do you think will go further in life?
Who would YOU rather work with? The first one who simply sees his job as laying bricks and thinking very short-term to the next coffee break or lunch? the second one who is building a wall and can maybe look forward to the weekend or his upcoming summer vacation with the family? Or the third man who sees his work in building a cathedral, who probably imagines the finished cathedral in his mind and can talk to you about it for hours, how people will gather here in large crowds to worship and sing in heavenly voices and how their work will be admired and adored for centuries to come...
All three are doing basically the same work. All three are NOT telling the same story.
To relate it to what I was explaining before, in our line of work, we have to sit down with individuals and families who have all sorts of goals and dreams. For most, the challenge is to bring their dreams to life, so that they feel inspired. Otherwise we can suggest the greatest plan or strategy in the world and they will feel nothing. It will just be a bunch of facts and figures that go into the already inundaded reservoir of information that everyone has in their brains.
Yes, we do need facts...and we need stories to bring those facts to life. Hence the popularity of books, movies, biographies, myths, legends...
Stories don't have to be long or complex either, they can just be a different way to explain things. Like a mother who, instead of telling a child to eat her vegetables, tells her that the nutrition in the vegetables will help her body grow healthy and beautiful. That's the true lesson she wants to get accross anyway, right? Painting a vivid picture for someone is a better way to convey to them the ideas you have in mind.
It's all about the vision that it inspires. The clearer the better.
A good story will inspire a vision that will continue to play itself over and over again in the minds of those who hear it, and help them move more confidently in the direction of their dreams.
What story can you use or develop to inspire yourself?
What stories can you use to help inspire others?
What feeling do you want to convey?
Whoever tells the best stories wins.
CHB
Copyright © Charles Begin
If you would like to reprint these articles or pictures in part or in whole, please include my site (www.CharlesBegin.com) so that others know where they came from and the copyright is respected. Other than that, feel free to share... and thank you for reading!
Yeah...
I was just doing some thinking over the last few weeks on that subject. With our business we are constantly talking to people and helping them better understand what their current financial situation is, as well as clarifying what their goals are for the future. Then we discuss ways to bridge the gap and help them implement the chosen concepts and strategies to get them to their goals and dreams.
So, figure out where you are right now, decide where you want to be, and use the proper strategies to get you there. Sounds pretty simple right? And it is, as long as things are clearly defined and explained.
Therein lies the challenge.
Many have never taken the time to really define what they want out of life. They have never really thought about the type of person they would like to be, or what financial independance means to them, or who they want around them as friends and what they want to experience or accomplish in their lifetime. Most have only a vague idea of these things, having mostly thought about the kind car or big screen tv they want. This is good, but its only scratching the surface. You have to think about the kind of person or people you will be spending your life with, and what that life will consist of.
When you have a vision for what you want your life to be like, and you've taken the time to clearly define it, that vision is what's going to inspire you to do the things that are uncomfortable or that scare you even, but are necessary to your success.
It's essentially all about the story that you tell yourself.
For instance, I am reading "The Story Factor: inspiration, influence, and persuation through the art of storytelling" by Annette Simmons and embedded into the front cover is this short little story:
A man came upon a construction site where three people were working. He asked the first, what are you doing? and the man answered, I am laying bricks. He asked the second, what are you doing? and the man answered, I am building a wall. He walked up to the third man, who was humming a tune as he worked and asked, what are you doing? and the man stood up and smiled and said, I am building a cathedral.
The story you tell yourself, and the story you tell others, will have an enormous impact on how much you enjoy your life, and how much people enjoy being around you. Even if, superficially, it looks like everyone is doing pretty much the same thing for now. Over time, slight changes in attitude or activity will cause enourmous differences in the life that people live.
Think of it this way: which one of the three bricklayers do you think will go further in life?
Who would YOU rather work with? The first one who simply sees his job as laying bricks and thinking very short-term to the next coffee break or lunch? the second one who is building a wall and can maybe look forward to the weekend or his upcoming summer vacation with the family? Or the third man who sees his work in building a cathedral, who probably imagines the finished cathedral in his mind and can talk to you about it for hours, how people will gather here in large crowds to worship and sing in heavenly voices and how their work will be admired and adored for centuries to come...
All three are doing basically the same work. All three are NOT telling the same story.
To relate it to what I was explaining before, in our line of work, we have to sit down with individuals and families who have all sorts of goals and dreams. For most, the challenge is to bring their dreams to life, so that they feel inspired. Otherwise we can suggest the greatest plan or strategy in the world and they will feel nothing. It will just be a bunch of facts and figures that go into the already inundaded reservoir of information that everyone has in their brains.
Yes, we do need facts...and we need stories to bring those facts to life. Hence the popularity of books, movies, biographies, myths, legends...
Stories don't have to be long or complex either, they can just be a different way to explain things. Like a mother who, instead of telling a child to eat her vegetables, tells her that the nutrition in the vegetables will help her body grow healthy and beautiful. That's the true lesson she wants to get accross anyway, right? Painting a vivid picture for someone is a better way to convey to them the ideas you have in mind.
It's all about the vision that it inspires. The clearer the better.
A good story will inspire a vision that will continue to play itself over and over again in the minds of those who hear it, and help them move more confidently in the direction of their dreams.
What story can you use or develop to inspire yourself?
What stories can you use to help inspire others?
What feeling do you want to convey?
Whoever tells the best stories wins.
CHB
Copyright © Charles Begin
If you would like to reprint these articles or pictures in part or in whole, please include my site (www.CharlesBegin.com) so that others know where they came from and the copyright is respected. Other than that, feel free to share... and thank you for reading!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Gain Higher Comfort
Where is the current direction of your life going to take you in the next few years?
What if you live to be 100 years old (more and more people do), when looking back, what will you be able to say you accomplished?
What kind of person will others say you were/are?
I know that these are challenging questions to answer, and I also know that once you DO answer them you may find yourself wanting to change your present course of living.
But don't take my word for it, test it out for yourself. Take a moment, right now if you can, and ask yourself the three questions above. Then come back here. It's OK, I'll wait. :)
...
Did you do it? If not, do it now.
...
Ok, if you did, the rest of this will be much more useful.
You may, or may not, have been pleased with the answer you got from yourself about the direction of your life. If everything is on track to get you to where you want to be by age 100, then keep learning and progressing as you are already doing.
If, on the other hand, things are not looking as bright as you'd hoped, fear not. The first step in changing something is in realising that there is a change to be made. Now you know. The second step is to figure out exactly what you want out of your life and what you can do next to get moving in a direction more aligned with your goals and dreams.
In other words: CLARITY
I've been going through many changes and improvements in my business over the last few months, most of which have demanded uncomfortable changes in my own person and mindset, and I consistently seem to find that the changes come about only after I have managed to clarify what I want the END RESULT to be like.
To go from thinking and behaving like an employee to thinking and behaving like a true business owner takes coaching, practice, focus and a little bit of time too. Going from a certain body weight to a significantly larger and more muscular frame takes training, discipline, focus and time. You have to be able to imagine yourself as that new person and believe that that's who you are becoming. The more clarity you have in regard to your VISION of who you want to be and what you want to accomplish, the easier it becomes to make the transition.
It's all about comfort.
You're probably comfortable right now with the way your life is. Otherwise you would want to change. Or the discomfort you feel about where you are just isn't great enough to force you to do something about it yet. Once it becomes too uncomfortable, you will get up off the couch and do something to make changes. Then, when you do change, if you're comfortable there, you stop trying to improve. You only get going when you realise that you really want more.
The gap between where you are and where you want to be is the discomfort you feel. The more you focus on it, the more you feel it. Those who give up on their dreams don't look or think about them anymore because it's painful to do so.
The trick is, get comfortable at the higher level.
What does that mean?
It means that the more you imagine yourself being the person you want to become and living the life that you want to live... the more comfortable you will become thinking of yourself as that person. And the more comfortable you become at the higher level... the more uncomfortable you will be where you are now because you feel you should be living a much GREATER life! The one you constantly imagine yourself living!
And since your unconscious/subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between a thought that you imagine or a memory that you have actually lived, anything you imagine becomes "real" and the life you live in your mind will be accepted as what is "normal" for you.
Once your clear vision is accepted as what's "normal" for you then you will feel much more freedom in moving yourself forward towards what you are now comfortable imagining as true and the resistance you once felt blocking you will now be behind you to prevent you from going backwards. Just like all the champions, you do have to be un-comfortable with where you are first. Then you can get yourself going through thoses stages of discomfort and pain to higher and higher levels, where the true comfort you desire awaits you. The trick to living well is to enjoy every moment of the process and the journey while you are going through those growing pains. To smile and laugh your way to the top!
I hope all of this wasn't too confusing... if you just want the basics, here they are:
Develop a clear vision of the end result you desire (the clearer the better), get really comfortable with that vision by imagining yourself in it every day and move forward by following the hints and inspiration you get every day. If you can focus on your clear vision every single day and act quickly on the inspired ideas and suggestions you get, there is no reason why the true essence of whatever you most desire cannot be achieved given time.
So what's your vision?
CHB
P.S. That's a pic of me with bodybuilder Johnnie Jackson. I'm still way off the mark but moving forward with a clear vision and having lots of fun at the same time!
Copyright © Charles Begin
If you would like to reprint these articles or pictures in part or in whole, please include my site (www.CharlesBegin.com) so that others know where they came from and the copyright is respected. Other than that, feel free to share... and thank you for reading!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
10,000 Hours to Mastery
Once upon a time, I was a gymnast.I was very dedicated to the sport, and never missed a practice. I also practiced at home in my time off because I enjoyed it and always wanted to master any new techniques I learned.
As a result, I have about a dozen gold medals on a shelf at home. I don't know what the other medals looked like.
Then I got bored with it, as many of my friends left, and I quit the sport.
It was fun, and I was good at it (better than most).
So how do you get good at something? You practice, right? You do it.
Exactly.
Why was I better at it than the other boys I competed with?
I practiced more.
It was fun for me so I did it all the time. I loved the challenge. Once my friends left and I had no one to compete with it wasn't fun anymore.
There was no reason to practice, but I still did a few of the exercises because I liked them. Now, I'm even better than I was for a few of them (like handstands).
Now, when some people see me do them, they tell me that they could never do that. They say that I am so talented and am so lucky to have been born with these gifts.
I wasn't born with any special ability to do these things. Have you ever seen a baby do a backflip or a handstand pushup? Of course not. Most can't even walk.
So how do they learn to walk? Practice.
We are all born without skills. Any skill we have has come from the practice of that skill.
If you don't have a serious physical or psychological handicap, you can achieve anything you set your mind to do. And even if you DO have some kind of condition, more often than not, with a little bit of research you can probably find someone somewhere who achieved success despite that condition.
No matter what excuse anyone uses to try to explain their lack of success in any area (hormones, genetics, social environment, not having the right shoes, not being born with the right muscles or brain, etc...) there is only one way that anyone gets good at something. They practice.
You can look at this two ways:
1. You hate it because your own failure to achieve a certain goal cannot be blamed on anything other than yourself, and you wouldn't want anyone to think that you're lazy or undisciplined. Hey, you're probably just not inspired yet (but don't use that as an excuse, inspire yourself).
2. You love it because you realise that it means that if you practice enough, you will become good at anything you try. You could even become great...or extraordinary.
According to research done by Dr. Daniel Levitin, no matter what activity or skill is being developed, it takes about 10,000 hours of focused practice to reach mastery. Or about 3 hours daily for 10 years.
So every "overnight success" that we hear about on the news actually took about 10,000 hours behind the scenes.
Here's how you could break it down (according to David Seah):
- "at 1 hour ... you know some basics
- at 10 hours ... you have a pretty good grasp of the basics
- at 100 hours ... you are fairly expert
- at 1000 hours ... you are an experienced expert
- at 10000 hours ... you are a master"
If you practice 6 hours every day, you will achieve mastery in about 5 years, and if you practice 9 hours per day you will be a master in 2.5 years. AND if you practice 12 hours per day, mastery is yours in 1 year and 3 months.
Wow.
That's when you ask yourself how dedicated you truly are to becoming the greatest that you can be. There ARE 24 hours in a day after all. We all have the same amount of time. We simply choose to do different things. If you practice a little, you'll improve a little. Practice more, you'll improve more. Pretty simple, right? It all comes down to the basics.
What will you do with your time?
What skill can YOU practice?
How far do you want to go?
What are you willing to do to get there?
Go over these questions again, in depth, and figure out what you will do.
Get inspired (use what inspires you).
Do it.
For true mastery and true lasting success, there are no shortcuts. If you don't put in the time and the practice, any success you achieve will have no strong foundation and will not last.
Build it right, build it strong, build it to last forever (that's big thinking!).
Do it.
CHB
Copyright © Charles Begin
If you would like to reprint these articles or pictures in part or in whole, please include my site (www.CharlesBegin.com) so that others know where they came from and the copyright is respected. Other than that, feel free to share... and thank you for reading!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Lead the Pack
Over the weekend I was at my parents' farm, helping them get some of their things ready for the auction they are having in a few weeks. Just before lunch we were watching a little bit of television and found a TV show called "Dog Whisperer" on the National Geographic channel. Having raised and trained German Shepards when with my parents when I was younger, I turned it on and watched the stories unfold.
There were all kinds of scenarios with problem dogs and helpless owners who didn't know what else to do.
You know what was funny? Cesar Millan (the dog whisperer) made a great point throughout: once you teach the owners to act with calm confidence and take the position of pack leader, most behavioural problems were resolved.
The dogs simply were lacking in strong leadership.
Once they had strong leadership, there was no more confusion, insecurity and chaos on their end and the aggression, agitation and unwanted behaviours were much easier to eliminate.
Kind of like with humans eh?
When we lack strong leadership, people are insecure, confused and go in all kinds of directions, fighting with everyone and causing all kinds of problems.
WITH strong leadership, there is a definite direction and purpose to living and all the insecurity and confusion falls away.
Who is your strong leader?
Are you confidently leading others from your position in life as well?
Learn from the best leaders around you and from some of the best books or courses on leadership (like John Maxwell's)... or from the Dog Whisperer.
Then go out there and lead the pack.
CHB
Copyright © Charles Begin
If you would like to reprint these articles or pictures in part or in whole, please include my site (www.CharlesBegin.com) so that others know where they came from and the copyright is respected. Other than that, feel free to share... and thank you for reading!
There were all kinds of scenarios with problem dogs and helpless owners who didn't know what else to do.
You know what was funny? Cesar Millan (the dog whisperer) made a great point throughout: once you teach the owners to act with calm confidence and take the position of pack leader, most behavioural problems were resolved.
The dogs simply were lacking in strong leadership.
Once they had strong leadership, there was no more confusion, insecurity and chaos on their end and the aggression, agitation and unwanted behaviours were much easier to eliminate.
Kind of like with humans eh?
When we lack strong leadership, people are insecure, confused and go in all kinds of directions, fighting with everyone and causing all kinds of problems.
WITH strong leadership, there is a definite direction and purpose to living and all the insecurity and confusion falls away.
Who is your strong leader?
Are you confidently leading others from your position in life as well?
Learn from the best leaders around you and from some of the best books or courses on leadership (like John Maxwell's)... or from the Dog Whisperer.
Then go out there and lead the pack.
CHB
Copyright © Charles Begin
If you would like to reprint these articles or pictures in part or in whole, please include my site (www.CharlesBegin.com) so that others know where they came from and the copyright is respected. Other than that, feel free to share... and thank you for reading!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
What's In Your Control?
Has anyone ever had the experience that as soon as you make a big decision in your life, all of a sudden everything seems to turn to crap?
Yeah...
Not completely, but it definitely seemed that way on the surface right...
When going through changes in your life, especially major changes, you will have to go through transition periods where everything seems to be even MORE messed up than it was before. It's like cleaning the garage (or your room). If it's pretty messy in there and you want to clean it up, the first thing you need to do is empty an area to sort through it. Like dumping everything out of an old box or drawer onto the ground. That makes it even messier. Then, you sort through it and toss out what you no longer use or need or want. Right? Some people try to clean the entire room all at once and then it takes weeks to get it all back in order. Anyway, that happens internally as well.
A few weeks ago, I was on fire. Business was hot, my team was building and growing and moving forward quickly. I went to convention in LA and was inspired and enflammed even more than before with a desire and resolve to do whatever it took to get to where I wanted to be. Nothing was ever going to stop me ever again...
Now, things had slowed to a crawl because I was away for a week and many things came up in the lives of those around me, so that at first everything looked like just a trickle compared to the previous months' activity.
Not fun.
So what did I do to get through this plateau and on to the next level?
Well, we have a saying around here. It's this: there are only two things you can control, your attitude and your activity. You can't control what others think or do, or the circumstances around you. All you can control is you. And that's all you need to control.
So I looked at my attitude. What was I focused on? What were the dominant thoughts in my mind? I noticed that they were telling me to take a step back to clear my mind, take some time to read and learn more, and re-focus my energies. A really important shift is happening inside of me, going from someone who's been an employee and part-time entrepreneur for so long into being a full-time business owner and builder. It can be done smoothly as long as you realise that you cannot do what you did as an employee and make it as a business owner. You must become a business owner and builder in your mind first, start thinking like one, before the reality around you shifts too. And always change your negative thoughts into positive thoughts, no matter what happens, because negative thoughts will suck the enthusiasm out of you and put you on a downward spiral.
You WILL have negative thoughts, guaranteed, and many things WILL go wrong. As long as you realise this you won't be so surprised. From there, you can then change the directions of your thoughts into a constantly more positive perspective of the situation.
You might be sick to your stomach of people who are positive, but it's a very important lesson to learn. The difference here is that you want to be more than thinking positively. You want positive ACTION as well.
That's the second part you can control, "your activity".
So I looked at mine. What was I doing? Was I doing the necessary activities to move my business forward? Was I making the calls, the contacts, doing the necessary follow-ups and paperwork? On the whole it seemed like I was, but was I doing enough? Could I do more? Yes I could. Was I stepping out of my comfort zone into new territory to push me to learn and grow? Hmm...
Asking myself those questions helped me to pin-point a few areas to focus on, and what I needed to do to improve both my attitude and my activity in regards to the changes I was implementing in my life.
After about two weeks of this, I'm almost back to where I was in terms of having lots on the go and feeling amazing as I see my goals move a little bit closer each day.
I'm also a lot wiser in terms of learning to BE the person I need to be to bring into my life the success I dream about.
Could you apply this concept of "attitude and activity" in your life?
CHB
Copyright © Charles Begin
If you would like to reprint these articles or pictures in part or in whole, please include my site (www.CharlesBegin.com) so that others know where they came from and the copyright is respected. Other than that, feel free to share... and thank you for reading!
Yeah...
Not completely, but it definitely seemed that way on the surface right...
When going through changes in your life, especially major changes, you will have to go through transition periods where everything seems to be even MORE messed up than it was before. It's like cleaning the garage (or your room). If it's pretty messy in there and you want to clean it up, the first thing you need to do is empty an area to sort through it. Like dumping everything out of an old box or drawer onto the ground. That makes it even messier. Then, you sort through it and toss out what you no longer use or need or want. Right? Some people try to clean the entire room all at once and then it takes weeks to get it all back in order. Anyway, that happens internally as well.
A few weeks ago, I was on fire. Business was hot, my team was building and growing and moving forward quickly. I went to convention in LA and was inspired and enflammed even more than before with a desire and resolve to do whatever it took to get to where I wanted to be. Nothing was ever going to stop me ever again...
Now, things had slowed to a crawl because I was away for a week and many things came up in the lives of those around me, so that at first everything looked like just a trickle compared to the previous months' activity.
Not fun.
So what did I do to get through this plateau and on to the next level?
Well, we have a saying around here. It's this: there are only two things you can control, your attitude and your activity. You can't control what others think or do, or the circumstances around you. All you can control is you. And that's all you need to control.
So I looked at my attitude. What was I focused on? What were the dominant thoughts in my mind? I noticed that they were telling me to take a step back to clear my mind, take some time to read and learn more, and re-focus my energies. A really important shift is happening inside of me, going from someone who's been an employee and part-time entrepreneur for so long into being a full-time business owner and builder. It can be done smoothly as long as you realise that you cannot do what you did as an employee and make it as a business owner. You must become a business owner and builder in your mind first, start thinking like one, before the reality around you shifts too. And always change your negative thoughts into positive thoughts, no matter what happens, because negative thoughts will suck the enthusiasm out of you and put you on a downward spiral.
You WILL have negative thoughts, guaranteed, and many things WILL go wrong. As long as you realise this you won't be so surprised. From there, you can then change the directions of your thoughts into a constantly more positive perspective of the situation.
You might be sick to your stomach of people who are positive, but it's a very important lesson to learn. The difference here is that you want to be more than thinking positively. You want positive ACTION as well.
That's the second part you can control, "your activity".
So I looked at mine. What was I doing? Was I doing the necessary activities to move my business forward? Was I making the calls, the contacts, doing the necessary follow-ups and paperwork? On the whole it seemed like I was, but was I doing enough? Could I do more? Yes I could. Was I stepping out of my comfort zone into new territory to push me to learn and grow? Hmm...
Asking myself those questions helped me to pin-point a few areas to focus on, and what I needed to do to improve both my attitude and my activity in regards to the changes I was implementing in my life.
After about two weeks of this, I'm almost back to where I was in terms of having lots on the go and feeling amazing as I see my goals move a little bit closer each day.
I'm also a lot wiser in terms of learning to BE the person I need to be to bring into my life the success I dream about.
Could you apply this concept of "attitude and activity" in your life?
CHB
Copyright © Charles Begin
If you would like to reprint these articles or pictures in part or in whole, please include my site (www.CharlesBegin.com) so that others know where they came from and the copyright is respected. Other than that, feel free to share... and thank you for reading!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
A Giant's Perspective
"If Arnold Schwarzenegger, Oprah Winfrey or Lance Armstrong got into this business, who would bet against them reaching the top? Nobody right! Why? Because a bet against a champion is a bad bet."
- Steve Siebold
Those are the words Mental Toughness expert and author Steve Siebold started with when he adressed a convention of 12,000 independant financial coaches in Los Angeles, CA last week.
Mr. Siebold then went on to some of the characteristics and underlying beliefs that make up the mind of a champion.
Most of what he talked about, I had heard many times before. I had even tried to implement some of it to change my own mindset, with varying degrees of success. Sometimes though, we just need to be in a different state of mind to really get it, or to hear it said or demonstrated in a different way by someone else.
Whatever the case may be, that morning in a gigantic conference room in downtown L.A., I felt like I GOT IT!
It was the second day of a four day convention and I was ready to go home (I'm glad I stayed because we had awesome speakers the rest of the week but at the time, that session blew me away). That's all I needed! That was it! From now on, all I had to do was read, study, and integrate what I learned from my new book "177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class" to change my beliefs and thinking from middle-class thinking to those of a world-class champion consciousness.
Anyone remember a time in their life where they thought they had found the answer that could completely transform your life?
Yeah, me too.
And I was right pretty much every time.
All of those things I learned and kept learning would completely transform my life if I could really become a student of the principles and really apply them and integrate them until they became a natural part of who I am.
It's tough, but I know that if I focus, take it one day at a time, and give my efforts time to compound instead of expecting it all to change overnight... I will succeed.
Take exercise for example. I developed a passion for becoming my best physically in my early teens, and only now, almost a decade and a half and thousands of dollars in books, DVD's, CD's, classes, and in-the-field-training and competing later, am I finding myself training consistently and gaining momentum in the direction I want to be heading in.
That may sound like a long time, and it is, because my total growth could probably have been accomplished in about 2 years if I had been moving in a straight line. Instead, I found myself taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back, followed by 3 steps forward... moving forward, then sliding back... making progress, then seemingly regressing or hitting a plateau that won't allow me through... stagnating... kinda frustrating sometimes.
But that's just the way life is.
And you would never learn everything you needed to learn to become the person you really want to become if you hadn't gone through all of those experiences before.
The question is, are you ready and willing to learn and grow no matter how uncomfortable or afraid you might feel in the process? Are you willing to learn how the champions think and be coachable enough to actually make the changes to become one yourself and stick to them? Even if they don't pay off for you right away?
I've made a decision for myself:
I not only have a burning desire to become the greatest at something in this world and be recognized for it, I want to be more than a champion, I want to be a Giant, in my domain.
Am I one now? No, not even close.
Am I willing to learn and practice and do whatever it takes (ethically and legally) to become one of the Giants of this world? Yes.
Those who know me personally or professionally will see the transformation take place over time. It will not happen overnight but it will happen... because I will never quit... I will continue until it is done. I will never settle for anything less than being the greatest that I can be.
That's my promise.
Do YOU have something you want to achieve?
Are YOU ready and willing to make such a promise to yourself?
This is your life we are talking about.
I choose to LIVE!
Do you?
Copyright © Charles Begin
If you would like to reprint these articles or pictures in part or in whole, please include my site (www.CharlesBegin.com) so that others know where they came from and the copyright is respected. Other than that, feel free to share... and thank you for reading!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
B-R-E-A-T-H-E
Take a deep breath.
Take another DEEEEP breath.
Breathe deeply.
Again.
Breathe even deeper.
Feel the healing oxygen entering your lungs and being pumped by your heart to every cell in your body.
Know the carbon dioxide and other toxins are pumped from your cells to your lungs and exhaled with every breath.
Deep breathing is one of the greatest de-toxifiers of all time.
And it's free.
Breathe deeply and your eyes, skin and hair will begin to glow brighter.
You will also let go of all the toxic thoughts in your mind.
Freedom from fear and wonderful health can be found in the practice of the most essential act of life.
Try it now.
Blow ALL the air out of your lungs... and even more... good.
Now allow the air to re-enter your lungs.
And do it one more time, and just notice how deeply and easily you breathe.
Congratulations, you just did a basic meditation.
Enjoy.
CHB
Copyright © Charles Begin
If you would like to reprint these articles or pictures in part or in whole, please include my site (www.CharlesBegin.com) so that others know where they came from and the copyright is respected. Other than that, feel free to share... and thank you for reading!
Take another DEEEEP breath.
Breathe deeply.
Again.
Breathe even deeper.
Feel the healing oxygen entering your lungs and being pumped by your heart to every cell in your body.
Know the carbon dioxide and other toxins are pumped from your cells to your lungs and exhaled with every breath.
Deep breathing is one of the greatest de-toxifiers of all time.
And it's free.
Breathe deeply and your eyes, skin and hair will begin to glow brighter.
You will also let go of all the toxic thoughts in your mind.
Freedom from fear and wonderful health can be found in the practice of the most essential act of life.
Try it now.
Blow ALL the air out of your lungs... and even more... good.
Now allow the air to re-enter your lungs.
And do it one more time, and just notice how deeply and easily you breathe.
Congratulations, you just did a basic meditation.
Enjoy.
CHB
Copyright © Charles Begin
If you would like to reprint these articles or pictures in part or in whole, please include my site (www.CharlesBegin.com) so that others know where they came from and the copyright is respected. Other than that, feel free to share... and thank you for reading!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Potentially Powerful Questions
I have a few pretty powerful questions to ask you.
Here's the first one:
If you could give up everything in your life in exchange for one thing/experience/achievement... (or if you could sell your soul for one thing) what would it be?
Think about it.
What is it that you desire more than anything else?
And what are you willing to do for it?
Or here's another one:
If you knew that your eventual success was guaranteed, what would you set out to do?
What would you do if you knew that you could not fail?
The answers to these questions can give you insight into what you are truly capable of achieving, as well as how much more you might be capable of doing to get there...
Ponder these questions for a bit and see what you come up with.
CHB
Copyright © Charles Begin
If you would like to reprint these articles or pictures in part or in whole, please include my site (www.CharlesBegin.com) so that others know where they came from and the copyright is respected. Other than that, feel free to share... and thank you for reading!
Here's the first one:
If you could give up everything in your life in exchange for one thing/experience/achievement... (or if you could sell your soul for one thing) what would it be?
Think about it.
What is it that you desire more than anything else?
And what are you willing to do for it?
Or here's another one:
If you knew that your eventual success was guaranteed, what would you set out to do?
What would you do if you knew that you could not fail?
The answers to these questions can give you insight into what you are truly capable of achieving, as well as how much more you might be capable of doing to get there...
Ponder these questions for a bit and see what you come up with.
CHB
Copyright © Charles Begin
If you would like to reprint these articles or pictures in part or in whole, please include my site (www.CharlesBegin.com) so that others know where they came from and the copyright is respected. Other than that, feel free to share... and thank you for reading!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
What's Your Vision?
We all go through times when things don't work out exactly how we would like them to, right?So what can you do?
Well, you can do what most people do, which is whine and complain and get angry or frustrated at the world and everyone and everything who didn't do what you decided they should do to make you happy, or... you can focus on your vision.
What do I mean by that?
If you have been reading my articles, or any of the multitude of similar materials out there, you will know all about the primordial importance of having a powerful VISION for your life. A vision, or set of goals, allows you to move forward confidently in the direction of your dreams. As the best-selling book of all time affirms, without vision the people perish.
Those of us without a true Definiteness of Purpose, as explained in Think and Grow Rich (the greatest wealth-building guide of all time), find ourselves wandering aimlessly through life and wondering why things aren't working out better than they are. Well, it's because we have no plan. And, as Napoleon Bonaparte once stated: those who fail to plan, plan to fail.
Now, it does NOT mean that those who DO plan have everything fall into place. No. It simply means that without some type of plan, some type of goal or direction (even one as simple as "being happy") most will be tossed and trampled by life according to whatever circumstances they find themselves born into and the people that they are constantly in contact with.
What all of this means is that if you do not set a direction and goal for your life (a Vision), you will be destined to re-create the same type of life as the people that you spend the most time with.
"You become what you think about." - Earl Nightingale, The Strangest Secret, 1956
If you spend most of your time with people who complain about life and how they never get anything and everyone who has something is a crook, those thoughts will be in your mind as well by default and your life will look a lot like their life.
If you want a better life, think better thoughts. Those better thoughts will lead to better actions and better results. The Universe will also respond to the better vibration of your being (as everything, from sound to light to material things, are all vibrating energy).
With the Universe on your side, you can achieve anything you truly desire.
The easiest way to get started is to first figure out what you truly want out your life (by the way, this is YOUR life, so make the time to really think about this), then find out who are the people that are already living the way you want to live, or close to it, and find out how they do it.
You can do this by reading their books, DVD's, Audio programs and learning from them any way you can, but the greatest way, if possible, is to be in their presence. If you want a better life, get better friends.
Harsh but true.
If the people you are with now are not willing to improve their own life, you must make a decision to surround yourself with people who do.
Find them and spend time with them if you can. Learn everything you can, especially how they think.
In time, you will start to think more like them, talk more like them, act more like them and get more of the same type of results that they have.
Does that make sense?
You become what you think about most.
When things get tough, there is only one solution that will have you moving out of that rut that you are in and making progress towards the achievement of your dreams.
Ask yourself this: What's my Vision?
Constantly bring your vision to the forefront of your mind so that you keep reminding yourself WHY? you are doing what you are doing.
As long as your VISION is clear and powerful, it will push you through anger, frustration and fear into the glory of living your dreams a little bit more... all the time.
So when things don't work out: Focus on your vision.
When things fall apart: Focus on your vision.
When something unexpected happens: Focus on your vision.
When things go well: Focus on your vision.
ect.
In time, your vision may expand as you realise that you can achieve even more than you initiallly thought possible. Allow it. Let it expand. In time you might get a glimpse of greater light through the trees and see your relatively dim existance as possibly getting a little, or a lot, brighter.
Go for it.
As your mind expands, your vision expands and who you believe you can become expands.
You become what you think about most.
Think about something great. More and more...
Have a great new year.
CHB
Copyright © Charles Begin
If you would like to reprint these articles or pictures in part or in whole, please include my site (www.CharlesBegin.com) so that others know where they came from and the copyright is respected. Other than that, feel free to share... and thank you for reading!
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