I am glad that I discover my purpose. No, it should be the other way round, the purpose found me. When I walked on the streets, took the bus or the train, I felt a sting to my heart. Because there are so many who don’t know what their purpose is. There are so many who are living someone else’s lives. There are many who lives in someone else’s environment without realizing it.

Many were blinded since young. They were blinded by TV commercials that tells them they must live in a certain way. In school, many were told by teachers, parents or media to only choose certain professions. Upon growing up, many were told by the government in how to live their lives.

Many were brought up conforming to someone else’s expectation. If you continue to live someone else’s life, then where is your life?

Finding that purpose in your life, doing what you are meant to do is the greatest joy you can experience. How can you discover your purpose in this world? How can you find out why you are here in this world for?

Get rid of these two words. NO CHOICE. These two words are the culprit to many who are trapped. “Why don’t you just change to a better job?” NO CHOICE! “Why don’t you just leave this abusive man?” NO CHOICE! “Why don’t you just do something to change your situation?” NO CHOICE!

You definitely have a choice. When you start to believe strongly that you have a choice in your life, and you are willing to take charge of your life, your purpose will be shown to you.

Many were closed in their mind, not believing that they can have that choice. Purpose will not be shown to a close mind. When you are willing to break away from all the conformation, you will be liberated. You can feel a sense of freedom falling upon you.

Be open minded. Be willing to take charge of your life even though it may seem crazy to make certain decision at times. A guy sold all his assets and move to a mountain for 8 months because purpose came to him. In the end he became a famous musician who won the Grammy award.

At times you’ll be face with strange decision just to go with your purpose. It’s your choice. Follow your purpose or follow someone else’s live.

Talking about focusing seems so easy, yet it’s not easy to accomplish. If it is, you will see more successful people around the world.

When you are fully focus onto a task, all your energy will be on this task. With that 100% focus, your brain creates a wave-length that taps into the Universe. This wave-length attracts whatever that’s out there in the Universe to support you in accomplishing your task.

Say when you are focusing on increasing your income by 100%. You can attract team members to support you. Or opportunities that make you more money. Sometimes, it may not come in a way you expect, but be open to where it comes from. It may not happened according to your plans, but make necessary adjustment by looking at the bigger picture.

Also, when you are focusing fully onto a task, your body will move with it. It will want to take action to complete it. Your body will want to make that phone call, close that sale, change a strategy etc.

When you are thinking of that particular prospect long enough, your hand will pick up that phone to do a follow up sales. Your focus will drive your body to act.

Some people got stuck because they focus on the fear. Focusing on the fear, creates more fear. Instead focusing on the act itself. By focusing on the act hard enough, it drives you to act on it.

If your workload is overwhelming for you to focus on one thing, you may want to write them down.

Write down tasks that you need to complete every morning. Then tackle them one by one. Cancel them once you complete one task. By canceling, you feel good about it, thus will want to complete more tasks.

Feel free to add on your ways of focusing in this post. I am happy to learn from you as well.

On the other hand, there is this little voice in me, the voice of doubt that speaks to me. “Who are you to speak to 5000 people?” Does it happened to you? A voice telling you that you can’t do it, questioning you.

I know exactly that this is the self doubt in me that wants to stop me from growing. It wants me to be safe, staying in my comfort zone. Everyone of us has this voice of doubt. All it want to do is to keep you safe from danger and pain. It is good to be out of danger, but sacrificial of wealth and growth is required.

However, I love risk. It makes my life exciting and adventurous. I know I have to grow to reach so that one day I can speak to 5000 people. To grow requires me to step on the edge.

Imagine you stepping at the edge. Looking down, you see an endless fall. You can turn around and walk away, going back to your shell. Or you can take one step to make a jump to experience the feeling of free fall, and at the end of the fall you’ll find a paradise.

Yes, you will always find a paradise.

For 7 years, after starting my business, I’ve always been on the edge, getting myself uncomfortable. And I always find a paradise.

There is mediocrity in this world, too much of them. And Mediocre can only charge at what other mediocre is charging. But a master can charge 2 times, 5 times or even 10 times that amount.

I walked past a training centre having a road show yesterday. As a trainer and businessman, the inquisitive nature brought me to the booth. I wanted to see what courses they are offering at what kind of prices, and their business model.

The price is $200 for a 2 days course. We charged 10 times that amount. From that price, I can gauged the quality of the course. I’ve been to some of this kind of courses, so I have some idea of what is going on in the course.

In order for them to make $20,000 they have to work very hard. Say a class of 20, so 1 class they make $4,000. They have to run 5 times to make $20,000. For our company we just need to conduct it once to make the same amount.

That’s because the way we conduct our program is very different from the rest of the training companies. And our trainers have gain a level of mastery in the industries.

On the other hand, mastery can never be achieved. Mastery is a journey not a destination. When you thought you achieved a new level of competency, you’ll realize there is room for improvement very soon.

Life is about improving and improving, getting better and better at what you do. The purpose of gaining mastery is not to feed your ego, but to feed your soul. Always check back on your feeling. Do you feel at peace with yourself? I admit there are times Ego got the better of me. Fortunately the spirit in me continues to warn me about feeding my ego too much.

Continue to gain mastery, continue to improve. The better you get, the more people you can serve.
]]> http://www.inspiration-junction.com/2010/01/24/gaining-mastery/feed/ 0 http://www.inspiration-junction.com/2010/01/10/breaking-up-your-goals/ http://www.inspiration-junction.com/2010/01/10/breaking-up-your-goals/#comments Mon, 11 Jan 2010 03:06:00 +0000 skyjoe76 http://www.inspiration-junction.com/?p=153

New year, new goals. How many of you set out to achieve some goals in 2010? Actually only 10% of the people set goals. But if you are reading this, you are probably one of the 10%.

In this 10% who set goals, there are only a handful who achieved them. Why is that so? When one set goals, don’t they want to achieve them? Why is it many didn’t achieve what they set out to do?

Overwhelm By The Goals
To achieve your goals there is a need to step out of comfort zone. It’s something not everyone likes to do because we don’t like to feel uncomfortable. Some realize that they have to get very uncomfortable to achieve their goals.

For example someone who sets a goal to achieve an 50% increment in income has to get really uncomfortable. In his normal job, most likely he couldn’t achieve that, so he will have to start a part-time business. He has to do something very differently. He has to learn new skills, more tasks is waiting for him, take up more of his time. With many new challenges awaiting, many are unwilling to move out of their comfort zone.

Beaten By Life

Some moved out of their comfort zone. They started strong with lots of zest and enthusiasm. However along the way life threw them a curve ball. They couldn’t manage it, beaten by it, decided to move back to their comfort zone.

Some of my friends are in this category. They move out of their comfort zone with the optimistic of generating good money with their new businesses. But life keeps throwing punches at them, wanting to knock them out. Eventually they allow to be knocked out, moving back and accepting what life offers them.

There must be an easier way to achieve your goals. And there is an easier way. My recent distinction in achieving goals is to break your goals up. There’s a saying, how do you eat an elephant? Taking small bites.

I’m blessed with opportunities to grow in the new year. Which means I’m blessed with lots of task to complete. Take for example one of my goal this year is to write a new book. I announced to my good friends that I’m going to complete Chapter 1 of the book within a month.

It can be easy and difficult at the same time. If I would have leave it till the last week of the month, it will be difficult. Well, I didn’t leave it till the last week. I started writing the moment I announced it publicly. The plan is to write 1.5 pages daily, so by 20 days I have a chapter.

This makes it so much easier. Rather than forcing myself to write 6-7 pages at a go, I just have to write 1-2 pages a day, which is achievable.

Now I apply it to all my tasks. Set a deadline, then break it up to daily task. In this way, not only it will be easier to achieve your goals, it will also build your confidence. Because if you keep on your task daily, you know that you are moving forward in achieving your goals. By doing so, your spirit will feel good.

Break down your goals to daily task, or even hourly if need to. You can have a higher chance to achieve your goals by breaking them down. Use this method on one of your simple goals, give it a shot and observe the result.

First we have to definite what is happiness? By the definition in the dictionary, happiness means showing or feeling pleasure or contentment. Happiness is a feeling, an emotion. From that feeling of happiness, you will show it in your physical form; like a smile or huge laughter.

The most usual way of achieving happiness is to own material possessions. By the way we purchased material possession, it seems that the more material possessions we own, the happier we are. Is that true?

Your answer will probably be “NO”. Most likely, 99% of us will say “NO” too. But ask yourself, really ask yourself, why do you want to chase after newer products, better cars, bigger house?

When I got my first BMW, I felt great! It was an amazing feeling. It was the feeling of pleasure – happiness. One month later, that feeling subsided. No longer I felt excitement, pleasure and contentment when I drove that car.

But I want to have that feeling. I want to feel great! By the 2nd month, I was thinking which will be my next car. Does it mean that the current car is hopeless? No, it’s still functional, fulfilling it duty of moving me around. Why do I want to change it? It got nothing to do with the car or the car advertisements. Something in me changed.

I’m searching for the feeling of pleasure and contentment. Purchasing new things got me those feelings. But once the feeling subside, I have to buy new things have that feeling again. This doesn’t happen to me only, this happen to 99% of the population.

To make matter worse, all the advertisers are making you think that way. Having a Mercedes Benz makes you feel different from the rest, feels pleasure, feels satisfied. So we are brought up thinking by having more, we are happier.

Now, that’s a lie. A big fat lie that we believe. Some of you may say that you don’t buy into this lie. But look at your action. The wardrobe is full yet you are adding new clothes into it. The shoe shelf is packed, yet you continue your conquest of new shoes. We bought into this lie consciously or unconsciously.

This is never going to end unless you have the awareness. The awareness of creating the feeling of pleasure and contentment from within.

I was observing my nephew who is one year old smiling and laughing without any external help. He can be walking unstably, talking to himself and yelling in joy. He can be coming into my room, looking at me and smile.

A baby knows where to find happiness. You were baby once, so you know where to find happiness. It’s inside of you. All the feelings that you are looking for are inside of you. Over the years of education, all those feelings was buried.

Start by saying thank you for being alive. Your life itself is a happiness. There are many at the mortuary who are willing to exchange place with you.

You do not have to wait till you achieve your goals or purchase some dream house to be happy.
What if you can’t achieve it? Does it means you can never be happy? In actual fact, you can be happy, right now!

Look around you, look at all the things that you own. Aren’t they a blessing already? When you start looking at those blessings, you can feel the feeling of pleasure and contentment. Isn’t that happiness?

Happiness is always in you. It’s always inside, deep within. The moment you find happiness in you, that’s the moment you stop becoming a slave to material possessions.

The intention of having this blog was to inspire humanity, adding values to people’s life. This intention is also the purpose of my life. Though I am not deviant from this purpose, (by conducting Youth Success Boot Camp & promoting Money and You Program) I admit I was not giving justice to this blog. And now I promise to write more frequently here.

Since we are coming to the end of the year. You may want to slow down during this festive season to reflect how have your life been in the year 2009.

Slowing down to reflect can give you a whole new perspective of your life. It give you clarity of who you are, what have you done; it probably humanize you.

Reflecting upon the beginning of the year and now, those mistakes you made, the goals you achieved, who have you become, what have changed. You probably can find glimpses of the 2009 experiences.

We are traveling at high speed in our daily life. Everything is moving so fast since January. Working hard, completing tasks, meeting deadlines, fire-fighting, job hopping.

To make matter worse, the economy crisis at its lowest point filled our life with uncertainties and insecurities. Some are worried about their job, some have no job.

Let’s just slow down to look at our lives for the past one year. You may want to do this before you reflect back. Step out of your body, look at your past as a third party observing all incident, challenges, successes.

Few things is going to happen when you become an observer.

1. Problems become smaller. When you step out to observe instead of being in the problems, they become insignificant compared to your whole life. The problem is just taking up a small part in your life. And I learned a new phase recently, “This too will pass.”

2. Gain insights. Reflecting all the incidents helps you see the bigger picture in life. Your daily life consists of good and bad things, and most of the time you remembered the bad things that happened. But when you look at the bigger picture, you may see those bad things may turn out to be good now. When you see yourself improved, those bad things may be that turning point, that moment to make you stronger.

3. In touch with yourself. Reflecting helps to get in touch with yourself. Feel your feelings. Our daily lives are so busy that we forgot to feel. Slowing down is a great way to feel that peace and love within us. It helps us remember that we are human being.

4. In touch with others. This is a great opportunity to find out whom we had missed in this one year. Who are the great friends that we lost or forgot? Is it time to get connected with them again? The wonderful thing about human is to get connected with people around us.

5. Clarity for the future. This helps us set pace of the next year plan. New resolution to achieve. Anyone without a resolution or goal is blind, like a ship in the ocean without direction, floating aimlessly. Slowing down gets us to think forward. How to go forward?

Take sometime off to do a reflection. It can be 2 hours, 4 hours or a day. The most important thing in this process is it humanize you.

We use these attachments to build our self esteem. Like some lady likes to have branded handbags or men want to drive bigger car. Or you may have heard of people who tends to mentioned that they are associated with some groups or organization. All these create a belonging, identification or attachment to something for the person.

If we look at it this way, that means the things that we possess and the groups that we belong to shaped our identity. The things you own determine who you are, is it true? Or is it the other way round – who you are determine the things you own.

How about this – take away all your possession, now who are you? Without your car, your house, your group, who is this person? Do you still have that level of confidence without all those possession?

Most use possession to form their identity and build their self esteem. This comes from advertisement that we are exposed to daily. Advertisements show us that if we own those products, we will find ourselves. Therefore many build their self esteem based on the possession they have. Once it was taken away from them, they lose all their self esteem and confidence.

I know of women who will never walk out of the house without make-up. What are they trying to hide actually?

If I were to strip off all my possession, who am I? I am searching, what about you?

There is nothing wrong with it. Really, it is alright to rest a little when the body needs it. The thing is if this is your style of operation, this is called ECY – EMOTION CONTROLS YOU. Your emotion gets you to move in a certain way. Most of the time, non-successful people operate in this mode.

When non-successful people feels moody, they stop taking action that can bring them towards success. When things get tough, they feel struggle, they give up on success.

There is a common behaviour of non-successful people. Waking up in the morning feeling lousy, they called for sick leave, not wanting to work, not wanting to pursue success. Their behaviour is easily predicted because of their emotion.

Successful people have a opposite mode of operation. Theirs is YCE – YOU CONTROL EMOTION. Successful people have struggles too. They too were knocked down flat to the ground, but they behave differently. They have emotions too, but they do not allow that emotion to control their action. They are able to control that emotion, turn that emotion around so that it works for them.

Some successful people faces trouble waking up in the morning too. They do feel lousy at times, but they are able to switch this negative emotion into a positive one very quickly and move on.

Why there’s a need to turn that emotion around?

Simply because EMOTIONS DRIVES MOTION. Your emotion determines your action and behaviour. If you feel upset about someone, you will not treat him too well, wouldn’t you?

And how do we turn that emotion around? Very simple – by our thoughts. THOUGHTS DETERMINES EMOTION.

Think about your first love now. How do you feel now? Of course you can feel anything. But it comes from that thought of your first love.

Non-successful people struggles to take action because they first think of negative outcomes or thoughts. Then they feel negative emotions, therefore resulting in no action at all.

If someone wake up in the morning feeling lousy, and having the thought that he’s so tired, he doesn’t get enough rest, most likely he will continue his sleep.

On the other hand, same person wake up one morning feeling lousy, having the thought that he’s tired, he doesn’t get enough rest. He quickly thought of the tasks he needs to complete, the success he wants to achieve, he’ll probably kick himself out of bed.

It all start from the THOUGHT. With that thought, you can control your emotion instead of letting your emotion controls you. As the old saying, “you become what you think”. If you want to feel motivated, think motivated.

You may want to learn about more about this concept and how emotion determine or limit your success with the Pattern of Excellence Home Study Course.
Or you can get the E-book Master Your Mind Design Your Destiny.

It seems like we are destined to fall in stages of our life. It hurt like hell, but it strengthen us. We learned what not to do next time so as to avoid the pain. That’s how we grow. Recently, I read in a book that discussed falling:

If You Didn’t Fall
You Didn’t Get Any Better
If You Are Going To Get Better
You Have To Push Yourself
If You Push Yourself
You Are Going To Fall

Isn’t this so true? Whenever we are going to move on to the next stage, to become better, we fall. We learn from the falling, becoming better after the fall. Thomas Edison fell a thousand times before he invented light bulb. He became better after each fall, he learned what didn’t work after each fall.

No matter how hard the fall is, you will be able to pick yourself up. But some decides to remain fallen and beaten. They decide to give in to the fall, never ever rise again. It’s not about the fall, it’s what you do after the fall. Successful people probably fell many more times but they always pick themselves up.

President Lincoln is one of the greatest failure in human history before he became President. He lost his wife, mind, business and money. He lost many times in election, and the final one, he was made the President of United States. He never give in to those falls. Probably those falls made him a better person which resulted in being one of the better Presidents in America history.

The sad thing is I’ve seen many friends giving in to the fall. They decided to stay in the comfort zone, not wanting to fall again. They seems to have forgotten that successful people stand up from the fall, never give in to what life presented to them.

Falling is only a process towards success. Without falling, one would never know how sweet success is. And if you are down under now, you have a choice. Remain there or rise, your choice!