Success University 02 (Nov 08 - Jan 09)

[iam802]

.....something that you have after you overcome failure.

[millionairemind]

what is "success" ?

I like Earl Nightingale's version best.

"SUCCESS IS A PROGRESSIVE REALIZATION OF A WORTHY IDEAL."

I consider the CEO of a large Fortune 500 company (or ex-CEO like Jack W.) just as successful as the housewife who devotes all her time to bring up her kids who are well mannered and socially well adjusted.

A cleaner who takes pride in his job is more successful than an engineer who grumbles all day about his.

[winston]

There is thought and there is Thought Form, and there is Manifestation.

Manifestation is always in the eye of the beholder. So this time-space-reality that everyone is perceiving is nothing more than
vibrational interpretation.

So the Thought Form of that which is man was set forth from Broader Perspective, and has continued to evolve by the experience of those who were having the experience here on the planet. And what you actually see as man or human is vibrational interpretation.

Now, did man come from ape? No, man was a different idea. So how does the idea of evolution occur? And we say, because the idea of each species was set forth, and as the experience of the species is lived, the idea expands. So the expansion is happening from the Leading Edge place, and is supported from the Source Energy that flows everywhere the idea goes.

Excerpted from a workshop in Billings, MT on Saturday, June 21st, 2003

All Is Well

[kennynah]

802/MM :

nice ones...tx... i have no definitive answer to my own question, what is "success"?....

[winston]

Don't Ever Be Lost By Paul Alexander Wood

I'm not talking about being in the woods and not knowing your way out, although it could be used as an analogy. What I mean here is don't ever be without a road map of where it is you are going or where you want to get to, if you don't have that then you are lost and when you're lost it is very easy to drift or become a drifter, and the unfortunate thing about drifting is that it almost always leads to a place called nowhere.

It is always important to be focused on what you want, but if you are not yet sure of what that is then it is just as important to be focused on something, even if it is not for the long term.

And it may be that you will never ever know what you want to do with your life, this is OK as there are probably many interesting people that never knew what they wanted to do with their lives. But that doesn't mean you shouldn’t have focus in your life.

For example, if you know you don't want to work for somebody else but you know you want to become a musician, then always stay focused on the 'becoming a musician’ part, and don't dwell on the fact that you are not focused on working for somebody else.

Another problem with ‘being lost’ is thinking too much, which in itself can be like walking in a maze, going around in circles and never finding the exit, it really is no fun at all, especially when you add some extra negativity into the mix.

There are ways to think that can lead to creativity and new ideas, there is also a way of thinking that can lead to very dark alleys and huge roadblocks, which is the kind of thinking I am talking about here, a type of thinking that is best avoided.

If you do start to think negatively then a good thing to do is to start focusing on things that you do have in your life. We almost always have more than we know in our lives, even if we think sometimes that we don't and occasionally get lost in our own thoughts.

But getting back to being lost, you should always know what you want, even if it is an extra $200 a month to help with the bills, reminding yourself of this will always be better than saying ‘I don’t know what I want’.

If you have an idea of something you want to do in the short term but perhaps not in the long term, stick with it, being focused in the short term will probably stimulate more ideas than admitting you are lost and don't know what to do. When you have an idea of something to do, it is best to follow your instincts and go with it. Even if it is not what you want to be doing in 5 years, it may well shed light on something that you would like to be doing in the future.

If you start to become passionate about doing something and follow it through, then this act alone may bring along its own rewards.

"It sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities but its own talents."

If you are lost in your life and not sure what you want then something will always be better than nothing. Choose something and focus on it fully, don't do it half hearted. Ask yourself what it is you want to happen from your new activity, set some goals and outcomes, for example remind yourself of what you want to happen in 3 months or 6 months time and make sure you get it, don't stop until you achieve it.

Get involved in something, don't be a drifter who is just letting life pass them by, go out, get busy, be somebody and start making something happen in your life.

[winston]

What Do You Stand For? by Mike Brescia

"The within is ceaselessly becoming the without. From the state of a man's heart doth proceed the conditions of his life; his thoughts blossom into deeds, and his deeds bear the fruitage of character and destiny."
-James Allen (Author-"As a Man Thinketh")

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Today's Empowering Question
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"What do I want people to say about me after I'm gone -- and even while I'm still here?"

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Today's Fast Session
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I don't watch a lot of television. Watching other people live their fake lives is a tremendous waste of a real one, in my opinion.

I do, however, watch movies that have great lessons in them, like 'Rocky,' 'Rudy,' and 'Mr. Holland's Opus.' Stuff like that.

I first saw 'It's A Wonderful Life' in 1990. I cried a lot. It was then that I knew I wanted to be like George Bailey. I compared my life to his, and they didn't even remotely resemble one another.

I thought: If I die right now, how many people will really care? Have I done much for anyone beside myself?

It was then that I stepped up on the self-help books and tapes and seminars. I tend not to do things in small ways, so I became a sort of a fanatic. I figure that if you really want to become more, you have to learn how.

You can't give what you don't have, after all.

This is part of the path that led me to being able to talk to you every day.

Now, in your life, what is it that you'd like to stand for? Books like 'As a Man Thinketh' by James Allen teach about the power of thoughts. You see, we all are exactly what we think. It's no accident that we end up where we are in life.

I know, there are lots of situations like chance meetings, freak accidents, who your parents and family are, etc. that push us in certain directions. There's no refuting that circumstances play a significant part in what your history will ultimately be.

But regardless of what has happened to detour you, you still decide where you'll go and whom you become from where you currently are. Even if you are a world famous actor, business or political leader, or a successful professional in some other field (and there are many of all of those that read this letter every week), what is it that you want to stand for during this life?

I know a lot of people talk about actors that support this and that thing, and it makes them "sick." But think about it. Anyone who is absent of certain challenges (and it's challenges that make life worth living), feels empty. So they go looking for them. They don't want the meaning of their lives to be just the characters they played. That's not gratifying.

Only by helping other people and feeling a sense of purpose will you truly be happy during your time here.

Pick up whatever books you can, watch inspiring movies, listen to successful people.

Find some activities that make you feel alive.

If you're depressed every day, if you're filled with anxiety and panic, if you start things and don't finish them, then examine your thoughts. Are they all "self" centered? If that is what you hear when you listen to that little voice inside your head, you must set some goals. You absolutely have to find some purpose.

And for Heaven's sake, do just one thing at a time. Don't buy 10 books and try to read them all at once. This is not one more thing to get panicky about. Just get "other people" centered.

Start doing something for someone else beside yourself.

It really is that simple.

Don't look for the answer.

You're reading it now. Help someone else. Every hour. That could mean just doing your job as well as you can this hour. If you do, you're helping lots of people. Isn't that right?

You're helping your customers, your employer, co-workers, vendors, all those people's families and the service providers who serve all of them.

You see, you can't help someone else without having a tremendous effect on potentially thousands of others.

You can't possibly focus on being useful to the people around you without feeling incredible joy and satisfaction with yourself.

Is this starting to make sense yet? Good.

Think about whom you can help now. And if it's indirect, think about all the people whose lives will be impacted if you simply take your job a little more seriously.

I think you're about to have a few "Aha's."

[millionairemind]

Brian Tracy - Inspirational Words of Wisdom..

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[millionairemind]

Self-Acceptance vs. Personal Growth
April 16th, 2006 by Steve Pavlina

How do you balance self-acceptance vs. the drive to grow and improve yourself? On the one hand, it’s a good idea to accept yourself for who you are… faults and all, right? But on the other hand, isn’t it also a good idea to set goals and aim for something even better than what you already experience now? How do you resolve this conflict?

Is compromise really the best solution?

I believe most people simply compromise. They don’t fully accept themselves as they are, but nor are they fully comitted to lifelong growth. I think that’s a lame solution though. Why not have both? Why not fully accept yourself as you are and also be totally committed to lifelong growth? Can’t you enjoy both? Is there a way around this apparent conflict?

I often receive feedback, both publicly and privately, that suggests that because I’m so openly committed to personal growth (which should be obvious to anyone who spends more than a few minutes perusing this site), that therefore I must not like and accept who I am right now. It’s assumed that since I keep pushing myself to grow in new ways that I must be sacrificing the self-acceptance side.

The linear mindset

Why does there seem to be a conflict between self-acceptance and growth anyway? I think the conflict is actually a result of a particular mindset. I’ll refer to it as the linear mindset.

The linear mindset says that your life is like a point moving down a line segment. Your life is a journey through time. The end points represent your birth and death. The points behind you are your past. The points ahead of you are your future. And your present moment is a little dot on that timeline, slowly inching its way towards your death.

Every point on your life line can also be said to have a certain quality. You can look at any point on the line and measure your instantaneous state at that point. On any particular day of your life (past, present, or future), you can pose questions like: Where do I live? What’s my job? What’s my net worth? Who are my friends? What’s my relationship status? How much do I weigh?

Self-acceptance vs. personal growth

Within this paradigm it’s only natural that the conflict between self-acceptance and growth should arise. Once you start labeling some points of your life as being of “higher” or “lower” quality than others, then you have the means to compare any point to any other. How does your life today compare with your life five years ago? Are you richer? Happier? Healthier?

Now you have to decide how much you want to push things to improve in quality as you progress through life. You can accept your current position as adequate and opt to simply maintain it, or you can strive to achieve something greater. You can also adopt the belief that your life is largely out of your control, in which case your best bet would be to learn to accept whatever outcomes you experience, regardless of how you might rate their level of quality.

The more you accept where you are, the less motivation there is to grow. And the more you push yourself to grow, the less satisfaction you derive from your current position. You might end up oscillating back and forth along this spectrum, sometimes being very complacent and other times being very driven.

Limitations of the linear mindset

The linear mindset is very common, especially in the Western world. We love to measure things and assign them grades and ratings. Which car is the most fuel-efficient this year? Is company X more profitable than it was last year? How fit and healthy am I?

And that mindset certainly has value, especially in business. I’m not suggesting that it’s an inherently undesirable paradigm.

However, there are areas where this model works, and there are areas where it doesn’t. And one of those areas where it doesn’t work so well is your self-image.

Trying to apply the linear mindset to your self-image creates the conflict between self-acceptance and growth. Instead of merely measuring various aspects of your life and noting how they change over time, you identify with them. I am richer than I was last year. I am more depressed than I used to be. I went from being a telemarketer to being a sales manager.

When you identify with the positional aspects of your life, you pull your ego into the picture. Your sense of self then becomes dependent on your particular position.

If you primarily think about life in terms of hitting new highs, such as better health, greater net worth, or a more anal job title, then what happens when you experience a setback in your position, maybe even a big one like being charged with a felony?

We all experience setbacks. It’s only a matter of time. If your self-esteem is based on your position, then you’ll suffer greatly when your position declines. What would it do to your self-esteem if you lost all your money? What if you gained 50 lbs? What if your life mate dumped you? If you lose your position, will you lose your sense of self?

Even more problematic than a real loss is worrying about the possibility of a loss in advance. You may hold yourself back because you fear becoming too dependent on a certain position. If you stay low, you don’t have far to fall when things go bad. Gaining a few pounds over the holidays isn’t as painful when you’re already 50 lbs overweight. Going broke isn’t so terrible when you only have $1000 to your name vs. if you’re a multi-millionaire. And how much worse can your relationship situation get if it’s already lousy (or nonexistent)?

Perhaps by setting up camp in mediocre land and staying far away from super-achiever, you’re protecting your ego from inevitable setbacks. You know that even the most successful people in the world experience setbacks, so why would you risk subjecting yourself to such dramatic highs and lows? What goes up must come down, right?

The underlying problem is that by rooting your sense of self in something that will fluctuate, like the current position of any measurable part of your life, you’re going to suffer in one way or another. Either you’ll push yourself to achieve, achieve, achieve, and then suffer emotionally when things take a turn for the worse, or you’ll become attached to outcomes to an unhealthy degree, such that you may sacrifice your ethics to maintain your position. Or you’ll settle for much less than you’re capable of achieving and probably give yourself regular beatings for being too lazy and for over-procrastinating – you’ll always be haunted by the knowledge that you could be doing better. Or lastly you may decide to withdraw from society in order to escape/transcend this whole punishing process; but still your contribution is far below your potential.

Beyond the linear mindset

This whole situation is basically win-lose, isn’t it? You have to compromise somewhere. You can’t play the positional growth game full out and still accept and enjoy every moment along the way, right?

Or can you?

Let me suggest an alternative paradigm.

Instead of rooting your sense of self in your position, which is changeable, what would happen if you rooted your sense of self in something permanent and unchangeable? Stop identifying yourself with any form of positional status, and pick something invulnerable instead… like a pure concept that nothing in this world can touch. Examples include unconditional love, service to humanity, faith in a higher power, compassion, nonviolence, and so on.

I’m certainly not the first person to suggest something like this. Stephen Covey wrote about this in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He refers to it as true north.

When you root yourself in unchangeable ”true north” principles, you may still measure the various metrics of your life and notice how they change over time, but you won’t make them part of your identity. Hence, you keep your self-esteem separate from your particular circumstances.

This isn’t easy to do. Covey himself has admitted how difficult it is for him personally. But you don’t have to be perfect to get results from this paradigm. Even a small move in this direction will reduce the conflict between self-acceptance and growth. Essentially you’ll gain the best of both worlds.

Separating position from identity

By rooting yourself in the permanent, your position detaches from your identity. This makes it possible to unconditionally accept yourself as you are while still courageously playing the positional growth game, regardless of the outcome. Self-acceptance and growth are no longer in conflict because now they don’t apply to the same thing. You’ve separated your identity (self-acceptance) from your position (growth).

Covey’s true north principles are based on effectiveness. Mine are based on fulfillment, so they’re slightly different, but there’s certainly a lot of overlap between them. For example, one of my principles is service to the highest good of all. This is close to Covey’s principle of thinking win-win. Either version of this principle is independent of position. You can be homeless and forgotten, or you can be rich and famous, and you can still do your best to serve the highest good of all and to think win-win. These principles do not depend on circumstances; circumstances only affect the manner in which you’d apply them.

Detaching ego from outcomes

If I were to look at a snapshot of my life right now, I’d rate it as excellent in terms of its positional (i.e. growth-related) aspects. Last week three of my articles were featured on the popular list on del.icio.us (one of them in the #1 spot), two were picked up by reddit, two got digg‘d, one got fark‘d, one got furl‘d, and one got spurl‘d. I received 320,000 visitors and 664,000 page views that week, and I topped my one-day Adsense record too ($330.69 on April 12). On Thursday I did a magazine interview, on Friday I did a nationally syndicated radio interview, and on Saturday I joined the Las Vegas National Speakers Association and went to my first meeting (Lou Heckler was the guest speaker). Later today my family and I will enjoy an Easter picnic in the park with some friends, and I’ll spend the rest of the day having fun and relaxing. Positionally everything is wonderful. Lots of higher highs.

But if I let my self-esteem and my identity get too wrapped up in these external outcomes, I’ll be setting myself up for ultimate failure. When the pendulum swings the other way, and of course it eventually will, I’ll get frustrated with my less than stellar performance. And from there it’s a slippery slope into the realm of ego-driven attachment to outcomes. What will happen when my traffic or income takes a nosedive at some point? I’ll either resist accepting my present situation, or I’ll withdraw into a shell and settle for mediocrity for a while, or I’ll put on a fake front and pull an Enron. None of those are good solutions.

The solution is upstream… to keep identity and position as separate as possible. I find that a couple practices help a lot with this: journaling and meditation. I’ve been doing both for many years, and these practices help me keep my internal compass aligned with true north principles that aren’t going to change within my lifetime. I keep my sense of self rooted in permanent concepts like service, awareness, and peace. Those concepts don’t change, so my deepest sense of self remains fairly fixed. That makes it easier to fully accept who I am in every moment. But on the positional side, I’m still able to enjoy the pursuit of positional growth and play full out without settling for underachievement.

If I stray from these practices for too long (more than a few weeks), I gradually fall out of alignment with true north. I eventually get sucked back into the prevailing social climate that loves to identify people with their positions. For example, while I was doing my polyphasic sleep experiment, some people started identifying me with polyphasic sleep. And that’s OK until they start becoming too attached to that person-position pairing. Positions are always temporary, so it’s best not to become overly attached to them… whether in yourself or others. It would have been problematic if I fell into the trap of letting my ego become overly attached to my position as a polyphasic sleeper. The ego resists positional changes it perceives as negative — it doesn’t like to be wrong. So I might have clung to polyphasic sleep even when it didn’t serve me as well as monophasic sleep.

Have you fallen into any person-position pairing in your own life? Do you derive your sense of self from things that are changeable and vulnerable, such as your income, your job title, your relationships, or any other form of status? How much energy are you investing in defending those positions out of fear?

When you loosen your attachment to positions, you don’t have to defend them. I disliked when people started giving me labels like “the internet king of polyphasic sleep” (not my words)… because if you’re a king, then you’ve got a kingdom to defend. People like to attack kings simply because of their position as kings. I’d rather not be perceived as a king of anything positional, since I don’t want to spend my time defending temporary positions that are eventually going to crumble anyway. Trying to defend your position as if it were the real you is a losing battle. None of the positional aspects of your life are going to endure, so it’s best not to become too attached to them. Enjoy them while they last, but don’t seek your self in them.

When you root your self in something permanent, then your sense of self is effectively untouchable. Your position can be attacked, and you can still defend it if you like, but you won’t feel irrationally compelled to defend it out of fear. You won’t feel you’re being personally attacked when your position becomes vulnerable.

Enjoying inner peace

What I’m really getting at here is inner peace. When you keep your sense of self away from third-dimensional positions, your position can rollercoaster all over the place, and you can still be at peace on the inside no matter what happens. You don’t have to withdraw and be totally passive. You can enjoy being an ambitious overachiever and set and achieve goals like a maniac — and have a great time doing it. But meanwhile you don’t seek your identity in those fluctuating outcomes.

If you find yourself succumbing to the ego-position trap, add some practices to your life like meditation, journaling, time with kids, time in nature, and so on. This will help you reconnect with what’s most sacred to you (your own version of true north principles) and keep your identity separate from your position. Then you can experience drive without attachment, ambition without ego, and peace without passivity.

[winston]

5 Simple Steps to Staying Focused on Your Goals by By Bob Cox

About eight years ago, I started noticing that other people seemed to be having more fun than I was. And I realized that if I wanted more fun in my life, it was up to me to do something about it.

One thing I did to introduce more fun into my life was to take up golf. I felt it was a natural fit for me. I love the outdoors, I enjoy watching golf on TV, and I consider myself a natural athlete.

If you know me at all, you know I don't believe in half measures. I applied the same vigor to this new hobby as I apply to my business goals. My action plan included scheduling and taking golf lessons, keeping a journal of swing tips, and buying almost every training aid as soon as I saw it promoted on The Golf Channel.

In the end... after more than 100 golf lessons and with 400+ pages of golf notes and a closet full of training aids... my scores have definitely improved. I don't think they'll ever be as good as I would like - still, embarking on my "learn to play golf" goal has yielded many benefits: a mountain of fun memories, new friends, and great experiences. Golf remains an enjoyable challenge.

I'm not telling you this to try to convince you to take up golf. But I do want to encourage you to take action on whatever goals you have set for yourself. Acquiring any kind of knowledge is worthwhile. Yet, that knowledge is absolutely worthless unless you use it to develop a plan, take action, and channel that action into success.

A good approach is to use the following formula:

1. Dedicate 25 percent of your allotted time to studying.

2. Dedicate 25 percent of your allotted time to observing.

3. Dedicate 50 percent of your allotted time to DOING!

And I think you'll find that the DOING part of the formula is integral to the studying and observing.

In my case, it was easy to assign 50 percent of my time to DOING by taking golf lessons, practicing my swing on the driving range, and practicing chips and putts around the greens. But if I hadn't dedicated the other half of my time to making notes, thinking and visualizing my game, and observing proper course management, I wouldn't have gotten much better.

All three elements linked together. I needed all three to be successful. It will be the same for you and the goals you set for yourself.

When you are dedicating yourself to achieving a specific goal, you must promise yourself to use the time you've blocked off for it ONLY for working toward that goal. Avoid mental and physical distractions. If, for example, you start thinking about your job, family, friends, or the party you're hosting next weekend during the block of time you've scheduled for learning golf, you're stealing time from your goal.

It's easy to let your mind wander away from what you should be focused on doing. In fact, studies have shown that the mind wanders every chance it gets. This has probably happened to you many times. For instance, you could be reading an important financial report and suddenly find yourself thinking about an unpleasant encounter you had earlier in the day.

What to do? Take charge of your brain. After all, it is YOUR brain!

Here are five techniques I have used to get my mind back on track whenever I find it wandering away from the task at hand:

* Check your emotions.

If I'm stewing about something unrelated to what I'm supposed to be working on, I remind myself that "emotions have no cash value." And I refocus.

* Let it go.

If I've done my part and the ball is now in someone else's court, I remind myself that there's nothing I can do about it at the moment. And I refocus.

* Take a breather.

To refresh my mind, I take a quick break. Even stopping to get a glass of juice helps me refocus my attention where it should be.

* Keep a notepad handy.

If the distracting thought that pops into my head could be useful - maybe an idea for a solution to a client's problem - I write myself a note and refocus. That way, I know I won't forget that idea. I'll get back to it later, AFTER I've finished what I'm doing.

* Reschedule.
When I'm tired my mind tends to wander even more. In that case, unless I am on a tight deadline, I reschedule what I'm working on.

It is far more productive to stay focused on the work you are doing WHILE you are doing it. Although studies suggest that 30 to 40 percent of the time most people don't really think about what they're doing, YOU can be different. It takes practice and willingness to discipline yourself to be "in the here and now." But it is worth it.

[winston]

You Gotta Love It by Bob Tschannen-Moran

Since a few readers took exception to last week's Provision, asserting that it was a rather obvious endorsement of our new President-elect, Barack Obama, I thought I would start this Provision with a rather obvious endorsement of his challenger, Senator John McCain.

My wife and I have been on the road this week, in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, meeting with clients and prospective clients of LifeTrek Coaching International. Thanks to the magic of satellite radio in our rental car, we've had the privilege of listening to far more radio stations for far longer periods of time than we usually get in our hometown of Williamsburg, VA. It's been fun to listen to so many stations from around the world. You gotta love it.

For a time we were listening to the BBC as they were taking calls from around the world about the significance of Obama's election. I will not forget the call that came in from Nigeria. "What was the best part of the US election?" asked the radio interviewer. Now I would not have been surprised to hear this man sing the praises of Barack Obama. But that is not what we got. Not at all.

Without pausing for an instant, this man responded, "John McCain's concession speech. That is what we need to learn how to do, here in Africa. In Africa, after an election, the loser is immediately announcing plans to undermine, destabilize, and even kill his victorious opponent. But that's not we got from America. John McCain showed us the way of real democracy. He was a true leader. To so quickly congratulate his opponent and to pledge his willingness to cooperate in the government was an outstanding example. We must learn to follow in his footsteps."

You gotta love it. "Country First" was, indeed, the guiding light of John McCain. And everyone around the world is celebrating the news. I was struck by one editorial that called into question the concern that Barack Obama was elected President just because of his race, as if that were a bad thing. Never in the history of the world, this editorial remarked, has a nation peaceably turned over the reins of power to one of its most historically oppressed minorities. America is, once again, leading the way when it comes to the evolution of the human race. You gotta love it.

Celebrate the Best. This orientation is where it begins and ends. No matter what is going on, there is always something worth celebrating. We just have to notice. "The optimist," it's been said, "looks at the glass and calls it half full. The pessimist looks at the glass and calls it half empty. The appreciative person looks at the glass and calls it beautiful."

Think of all the things we can notice about that glass! We can notice its shimmer, its shape, its feel, its arrangement, its color, its design, it convenience, its utility, its location, and its value to mention only ten. There are literally no end to the things we can appreciate about any situation. You gotta love it.

The same thing is true, of course, about the things we can depreciate. There is no end to the things we can complain about and it is often easier to notice these things. That's because pain and problems have a way of getting our attention. When we break a bone it hurts and we cry out until the bone is set, the healing begins, and the pain subsides. When we lose a file it distresses us and we search around until the file is found or recreated and the work continues.

It's easy, in every painful or problematic situation, to start whining about what's gone wrong. We blame ourselves or others, adding insult to injury. We pile on with the "could-a, would-a, should-a" rap until we fall prey to the downward spiral. What we depreciate, depreciates until we have sucked all the value, all the potential, and all the energy right out of the system.

To Bring Out the Best. Fortunately, the opposite is equally true. What we appreciate, appreciates. By noticing the things that are beautiful, noble, true, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious, and good, we lean into the upward spiral of realizing our full potential and becoming the best we can possibly be. It may take discipline to pay attention to those things in the face of adversity, but it's never impossible.

That's the hope of every coach, consultant, and change process. We want people to catch the wind of new life and new creation, whether our task is in the marketplace or in the open space of human development. When we were in New Jersey this past week, we were facilitating a two-day, off-site meeting for a pharmaceutical communications agency. As the process went on, and people began connecting with their best experiences, values, and wishes, I was struck by the energy they unleashed and the language they were using.

"We want to be refreshing," was a recurrent theme. "By being refreshing to each other and to our clients we will achieve more than if we simply bear down and grind out the work." The CEO summed it up this way: "I want us to be a blessing."

That's not typical language when it comes to the business world, but that's what happens when we connect the dots between the best of the past and our dreams for the future. We radiate possibility. When we notice and celebrate the good stuff we generate both the desire and the design to get even more of the good stuff in life and work. I know it sounds simple, but I've seen the dynamic over and over again. And it amazes me every time.

So let that be a lesson to us all. "You gotta love it" is more than just an expression. It's a way of looking at the world and going through life. The more we find to love about situations the more refreshed and refreshing we will be.