~You are your own "Guiding Light!"~

You Are In Control

You are the guiding light of your own life. No one will ever approach you and proclaim that you are exactly what they have been waiting for. The great celebrities of our time are seldom discovered by someone who is actively looking for stars.

Willie Nelson struggled for three decades in sleazy bars and one-night stands before he was recognized for his talent. Freddy Fender, the country western star, entertained similarly for over a decade until “Before the. Next Teardrop Falls” brought him to public attention.

Before any wealth will ever come your way, you must know exactly who you are and what you want from life. Then work hard to attain these goals.

The film, “You Light Up My Life,” had an incredible scene where a young gi rl had written a song. She stumbled into a recording session complete with a ninety-nine piece orchestra. The fellow in charge said she could pass out her arrangement to the orchestra and they would record her song free of charge. The song needed no rehearsal and was completed in one take.

All this is deeply moving, and maybe it actually did happen in a similar manner, but my twenty years of experience in the recording and music business would never bring me to expect something like this to happen to me. If you wanted milk, would you set up a stool in the middle of the field and wait for the cow to back up to you? I live in the real world and I assure you it isn't going to happen. Give up any belief you may have in lucky charms and horoscopes. There is no magical force that is going to be sending lucky breaks your way while you sit around waiting for good things to happen, opportunities are likely to pass you by.

In our story of the treasure barges floating down the Mississippi River, a person who believes in lucky charms would be content to sit on the bank of the river waiting for things to float up to him. Whenever a great treasure floated up beyond his grasp, he would complain that it was just his bad luck that it didn't float up to the shore for him to claim.

Opportunities are available to all of us every day...

...and it is up to us to prepare ourselves for a piece of the action. The greatest rewards will come to those who want and pursue them.

Great treasure boats are floating down the river every day. It's merely a matter of making the decision to set up an organization that can take advantage of those opportunities.

Many individuals approach me every day informing me of great opportunities. I most often thank these persons for the information but generally do not set out to acquire wealth in these different ways. Instead, I see that one treasure boat in my visions and I work hard to obtain it.

I leave other treasures to those who are willing to set up organizations to capture them, I have my enterprise which is geared up to capture its own treasure boat in due time. Dashing helter-skelter from one piece of debris to another in the great river of life will only tire you out and leave you exhausted, Instead, set your sights, make preparations and as Rocky Balboa said, “Go for it.”

Compulsion

Are you wealth oriented? Do things like balancing your checkbook, looking for bargains in the supermarket- and paying the rent on time have importance to you? If so, you are wealth oriented and could very likely become wealthy. On the other hand, if looking up your daily horoscope, reading the funnies and checking in with Mom every day is a top priority, you are not wealth oriented and should not become involved in obtaining wealth.

Merely wanting material possessions does not make you wealth oriented. Everyone wants wealth. However, few are willing to make the sacrifices required to obtain it.

Your compulsion must go much further than wanting wealth. You must truly desire to serve your fellow man. Any other course of action will result in failure.

I’ve been a small businessman since the age of seventeen. Every day enterprising persons have been coming to me for business advice because they believe I can give them the answers that will make them wealthy.

As a teacher for many years, dedicated to educating individuals, I am aware of almost every method known to man on how to help people learn. Quick solutions and handy slogans, however, do not help individuals obtain wealth. Over the years I've gradually felt compelled to write books that seriously approach the subject.

My desire to see other persons raise their standard of living is the compulsion that drives me to write books and offer seminars. This inner belief in what I'm doing is apparent to all, and the wealth that these activities produce will be provided by my fellow men.

The compulsions that drive you should be just as strong. These feelings should run deep and be based upon your knowledge, skills and experiences. You will serve yourself best when you relate your goals to your survival instincts.

I feel that readers of this book will work harder than before to enrich themselves. Wealth is produced through conservation. Therefore the world will have more givers, who will help to ensure the survival of humankind and the biosphere.

This article is important to me because I feel it will create change in the manner in which millions of persons behave every day. Ultimately the world will be a better place to live.

This kind of strong belief in your own affairs is important. Find a quiet place to think it all out. Draw your own conclusions about who you are and where you are going, and you will stand tall among others for your strong will and determination.

Get Set for Success

You have two options for becoming rich. You can begin your own wealth-oriented plan and lead your team to success, or you can join a team that is headed for a great treasure barge.

When you plan to begin your own enterprise, plan to share the wealth fairly with your team members. Eventually, when great wealth is in your grasp, share it with all. Most often it is a success team that makes great riches possible.

Bread cast upon the water...

...usually returns as cake. If you opt to become a member of a success team, be sure the leader will share the wealth with you.

I have a group of friends. Each of us has his own goals in life, but the river runs deep for all of us. The unspoken feeling is that if anyone of us reaches the top, we will all share in that success.

Barbara Mandrell operates in this manner. When she became fortunate enough to have a weekly TV show, she brought her family into the act and shared the spotlight equally with them all.

Johnny Cash does the same thing. Look around and you will see it happening everywhere.

A school superintendent in my town surrounded himself with his success team. When he received a better offer in a larger metropolis he took his team with him. Great organizations have strong leaders that surround themselves with loyal team members. Like the three musketeers, “It's all for one, and one for a all.”

Our memory is not that great...

The human mind has an incredible ability to forget. Any piece of information not used regularly is soon forgotten. Imagine the wealth of knowledge you would have if you could remember everything you were taught in school years ago. .

Often when I'm cleaning out an old trunk I run across old test papers from college. Most often I can't correctly answer a single question that appears on these tests, yet I knew every answer at the time of the test.

I do remember the “leaky bucket theory,” however, which states that the human mind is like a leaky bucket. We pour information in one side, and it often leaks out the other side just as quickly.

We are products of the fresh information being imprinted upon our brain. Only the useful information will stick with us for more than a short time.

To be a success at any endeavor, it is important that you continually program your mind with useful, vital information. This can be done through reading books and magazines, listening to tape recordings and watching educational and motivational films (and gathering information on the internet).

Associating with successful people will also place you in touch with the information you need. If these people are not readily accessible, you may wish to actively seek them out and arrange a luncheon with them. When you meet them, as meaningful questions about how they arrange their time and what is the secret of their success.

Ask for suggestions about your own plans, and you may find yourself being offered advice that will save years of trial and error. A link to a single successful person could easily be your key that will unlock many doors.

Visualization..

Find time each day to relax and concentrate upon your goals. If a particularly stressful event is disturbing, envision yourself meeting the challenge and receiving the rewards of your efforts.

Speakers and lecturers very often use this technique by imagining the applause and praise that will follow a speech. Suppose that you must make a presentation to your superiors. Imagine that your presentation was powerfully effective, received much praise immediately afterward, and the event raised the opinion of yourself to everyone.

I've heard of golfers who practice mentally during the off-season and return to the green each spring with increased skills. Runners often spend time visualizing the race before competition.

Each day as I prepare for my classes, I visualize myself teaching the class in one manner or another. With a little imagination I can visualize the reactions of individual students.

By mentally preparing and anticipating the events clearly in my mind, I'm able to think through the events that will likely take place before me that day.

Ultimately, I imagine that each student will benefit greatly from the day's experience, that he will feel good about himself and command much respect and admiration for him. Since every teacher is a potential role model for his students, I visually plan my role to be a success every moment of the day.

Whenever I am about to appear on television, I greatly anticipate the event because I can visualize the reaction I will receive from my associates and friends who see the broadcast. I envision good friends patting me on the back the next day and others expressing their congratulations as I meet them.

If I'm promoting a book, I visualize that I am holding a check written by my publisher for thousands of dollars.

We've all had days where we have said we should have stayed in bed. Most often this is because we've failed to visualize what the day's activities would bring.

One terrible thing after another happens to us, and the world seems to crumble around us. This most often occurs when the first event of the day is a failure. One failure begets another.

During my first years of teaching I often had days like this. I soon learned that if I began each day's activities with an assertive positive event the enthusiasm for the rest of the day remained high.

Similarly, the first few moments of each lesson during the day were equally important. I've seen teachers who lost control of their students during the day and left the room in tears. Upon returning, however, almost any teacher is able to reassert himself' to gain positive control of the class.

How is this accomplished? While regaining composure, while out of the room, he visualizes himself as the supreme leader of the class.. He visualizes the weak impression with which he left the room and the strong impression he will make when he returns.

Very often I will like awake at night trying to picture the events that will follow the next day. I visualize the perfect day, moment by moment, and the rewards it will bring. This positive visualization of me often helps to overcome limitations that I have imposed upon myself.

When the next day arrives I find that my visualization from the night before is a self-fulfilling prophecy. I find myself in control of my environment because I have already rehearsed my part the night before. It's a kind of déjà vu. Such visualization places you in control of your life.

Using a role model for yourself can improve your decisions and personality. Choose someone you admire, and imagine how he would handle a similar situation.

Shakespeare once said, “All the world's a stage, and each person will play many parts.”

Borrow from the best...

...and you will eventually become the best. Learn from those you admire, and soon you will be admired. Eventually what is mimicked will become a natural part of you, and no longer will you feel uncomfortable with your new role. You will slowly and imperceptibly gravitate to the person you wish to become.

Part 3 Motivating your Subconscious