Marcel Legros - Play the Game of Life

Just as they use “trailers” to advertise a blockbuster movie, you should create a vision of your success and “preview” it on a daily basis. Having a vision that reflects your goal and visualizing it happening on a daily basis, is one of the most powerful success tools you can have. Make your own movie trailer now, by imagining you achieving your goals and dreams, and setting time aside to “go to the movies” every day. You will feel energized, your mood will improve and you will find yourself accepting your own academy award.

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Learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable, as Dr. Rob Gilbert says. He says you need to go through uncomfortable things, to get the payoff and be comfortable. Things like exercise, cold calling in sales, etc, are all uncomfortable, but they lead to payoffs down the line. Try to find some immediate payoff in being uncomfortable, in order to help you stay motivated during your periods of discomfort.

So view your discomfort as a good thing, you are on your way to the payoff.

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Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian readers!

Have you ever noticed how traditional family recipes, especially comfort food, are the most unhealthy, yet the most satisfying? I don’t think anyone should eat cream sauces, sausage, cheese, and five kinds of snacks every day, but life just wouldn’t be the same without a few days of indulgence every year.

I learned to cook from spending a lot of time in the kitchen with my mother and grandmothers. You learn a lot about your family’s history and heritage from the food you cook. Of any skill a person can learn in life, being able to cook a delicious meal for family and friends is probably the most useful and satisfying. You can take this skill with you wherever you go, and the need for a good meal is universal.

We live in a hurried world full of schedules, deadlines and problems; taking time to eat, share company, and talk, is just what we need when life is crazy. So, indulge yourself from time to time. Give thanks to your family for unhealthy comfort food. Give thanks for the time to enjoy it. Give thanks that you have someone to enjoy it with.

For the guys: Think cooking isn’t manly enough for you? Women love it when you cook an amazing meal for them. Anyone can go to a florist and drop some money on a bouquet of flowers. Not everyone will take the time to cook a mouth-watering dinner for their sweetheart. It goes a long way at the dinner table and later on, in the bedroom!

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I like what Ed Agresta says about the difference between humans and animals. He advises us to make sure you are doing the things that make humans different from the other creatures that live on this earth. As humans, we can laugh, yet many people don’t. As humans we know our days are limited, yet many people don’t seem to live life with that in mind. Lastly we can change our future, if we change our goals, and how many people earth do that?

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Most alcoholics seek recovery only when their addiction has taken them to a place where there is no other choice, except to face extreme suffering or death. In recovery circles, that point of realizing just how bad things have become is referred to as ‘hitting bottom.’

All alcoholics use alcohol to cover up deep emotional pain. We use it to hide from daily stress and to forget about our lies, failures, or pain. Hitting bottom occurs when the pain caused by drinking is much more powerful than the pain we’re trying to cover up by our drinking. For most hopeless drinkers, hitting rock bottom is essential for recovery. Extreme suffering is a powerful healer, transforming misery into wisdom, happiness, and health. Most alcoholics and addicts enter a recovery program with a willingness to ‘do whatever it takes’ to get well again. Those feelings are sincere, but unfortunately, short-lived. Once the pain and suffering fades from memory, your willingness to stay sober quickly fades. If you’re an addict or alcoholic, you need constant reminders of how bad things were before recovery, and how good it is now you’re sober. If you keep the memory of your own suffering fresh in your mind, your chances for permanent sobriety are very good!

You can’t save up sobriety any more than you can save up sleep. One bad day and all you’ve worked for is erased immediately. It would be nice if we could bank our sobriety and our sleep, but we can’t, so we have to do certain things to stay sober.

* Stay healthy. This seems overly simplistic, but important. Sleep when you’re tired, eat when you’re hungry, talk with supportive friends when you’re lonely. In our previous life as alcoholics, we likely ignored all these basic human needs. It takes practice to regain basic healthy habits. A lot of relapses occur when we are in a weakened state of mind. Take care of yourself and you won’t find yourself in this position.
* Stop lying. It’s easy to stop telling big lies but not easy to spot all the little ones we tell every day. Lying or omitting the truth is relapse behaviour. If you’re doing something you don’t want someone else to find out about, you’re acting in a dishonest way. You must be thorough in spotting your dishonesty if you want to stay sober.
* Stay connected to your support system. Go to AA meetings regularly and stay in touch with others in recovery. Every time a recovering alcoholic relapses, the first sign of trouble is a reluctance to go to a meeting. If you don’t feel like going to a meeting, that’s exactly when you need to go.
* Service work. There is nothing more rewarding and powerful than to helping another person with the same problems. Over time, you become someone all the newcomers look up to for advice and support. If you feel strong enough in your own recovery, become a sponsor and extend the help that was previously given to you. Every effort you put into your program, you receive back ten-fold.
* Develop a strong spiritual base. You don’t have to be Christian to follow the program of AA. That idea kept me from getting help for many years, but I’ve found it to be completely false. I’ve met people who adopted a plant or nature as their higher power. It’s not difficult to believe in a power greater than yourself. Nature, time, gravity, love, and faith all hold incredible power much greater than myself. It makes no difference what you believe in as long as you stand for something. Everyone is motivated by their ideal. Align your thoughts and actions with your ideal - that’s having a spiritual foundation.

Your old thought patterns led you into addiction and despair, so you must work every day to change your thinking first. Living sober is a great way of life - enjoy your adventure!

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Get comfortable with money. Believe it or not, most of us are not comfortable with money. At some level, many of us believe that having money means we did something wrong, we cheated someone, or at any rate, we don’t deserve it. As you might imagine, this results in us not having much money. So if you want more money, start getting comfortable with having money. Start thinking of exactly how much money you would want and write that number down. Then really get creative and start thinking of ways you might get that much money. Then visualize how you would feel having all that money and analyze what kinds of thoughts that brings up. Take the negative thoughts that come up and really look at them to see how true they are. Each day visualize yourself having that money and how you think and feel about it, and keep working on making yourself comfortable with having the money.

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There are two traits common to all of the greatest and most successful people in history; burning desire, and faith.

It makes no difference whether the desire is to become a billionaire, publish book, be an amazing parent, or receive a university degree. What matters is that you have a deep emotional need. Your desire must be stronger than your fear of failure or you won’t even take the first step.

* What 5 things matter most to you?
* If you could have or do anything, what would it be?
* If you won $10 million, what would you do?
* If you only had 1 month to live, what would you do?

Ask yourself these questions and don’t discount your dreams as mere fantasy - they’re your dreams! List them all, even if some of them seem far-fetched or impossible. Pinpoint the dream that appeals to you most and think about what is required to accomplish that dream. Even if you don’t know how to accomplish it, assume there is a solution. Remove the words “can’t” and “impossible” from your vocabulary.

Mahatma Gandhi dreamed of a free India, independent from British rule. He dreamed of religious tolerance, truth and non-violence. He had no material wealth or social position, but he had a dream and a burning desire to make it happen. If he had dismissed his dream as mere fantasy or wishful thinking, India might still be languishing under colonial rule. Instead, he focused all his energy and galvanized the entire Indian population into action. Two hundred million people believed in him because he had an unshakeable faith that his dreams were possible.

Nothing is Impossible

Faith is misunderstood. It isn’t wishing or hoping something will happen. Faith means you know something is true or possible, even when solid proof isn’t apparent. It comes from within yourself and it’s available to anyone. Faith is a universal power that transforms a burning emotional desire into a reality. If you want something badly enough and believe that you can do it, there is nothing you can’t accomplish in your life. There is no one that can stop you from achieving your dreams except your own fears, doubt, and insecurities.

Talk Yourself Into It

You can willfully develop faith by taming and training your mind. Write down your goals, and speak them out loud to yourself as if you’ve already accomplished them. Give yourself permission to say things like ,”I’m a genius. I’m very wealthy. I have a healthy mind and body. I love my work. I love my family. I am a great human being.” Take 30 seconds every day to repeat these things to yourself. It isn’t egotistical, selfish, or wishful thinking. You’re creating a positive mental habit of thinking like a successful person. Positive self-talk is the easiest and most important step to building self-confidence and faith in your dreams.

Your thoughts are just as real as physical things. Whatever you think about will become a reality, one way or another. If you think negatively and tell yourself “people are stupid,” stupid people usually appear and make your day miserable - almost like magic. Treat your mind like your physical body - feed it healthy thoughts and it will become fit and serve you well. Develop unshakeable faith and begin creating what you think about. Try it for a few days and I guarantee you’ll begin to see evidence of this truth everywhere.

One word of warning: Before you follow your dreams, look very closely at your intent. Love and compassion have the power to enrich your life and everyone you touch, while hate and negativity always backfires. Negative desires and emotions will materialize just as positive ones will, so choose your goals carefully. There is no such thing as bad luck, only bad intent.

Now why are those stupid people following me?

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Having an agenda, is given a bad name, but in fact it is a great thing. Having an agenda, means you have thought out goals, and are taking action to make it happen. You are taking the events that come along in the course of a day, and reacting to them in light of your goals and objectives. But in order to have an agenda, you need to know what your goals and objectives are, so take some time to establish these, then go out into the world with an agenda and you will be on your way to the top.

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Most of us have a strange concept of wealth. We aren’t taught properly in school how to manage money even though it’s crucial to our success. Parents often teach that money isn’t important or denounce it as ‘the root of all evil.’ They watch celebrities on tv and say, “Wow! Wouldn’t it be great to have millions and live like that?” We’re taught to place no value on money, but to desperately wish for the lifestyle it affords. What a horrible irony.

Creating wealth is first achieved by changing your attitude about it.

* Money isn’t evil.
* You can create incredible riches if you educate yourself about finance. Strive towards making money work for you, instead of having to always work for money.

How Long Can You Survive If You Lost Your Job Tomorrow?

Don’t confuse wealth with earnings, possessions or flashy appearances. Wealth is measured in time, not dollars. If you stopped working today, how many weeks, months, or years can you cover all your living expenses? If the answer is “forever,” then you’re wealthy.
Assets and Liabilities

I learned a lot about assets and liabilities from Robert T. Kiyosaki’s book, “Rich Dad, Poor Dad.” It’s deadly simple:

* Assets earn money even when you aren’t physically there, working for it.
* Liabilities cost you money - usually in the form of monthly payments.

The problem is, we think our possessions are assets, when they are actually liabilities. Do you realize your home isn’t an asset, but your single greatest liability? Until you pay it off, your home is only an asset to the bank. The word ‘mortgage’ comes from the French, loosely meaning “contract until death,” or “death pledge.” No wonder most of us are in debt our whole lives!

Always work towards building your assets and cutting your liabilities. Only purchase a luxury if you are sure your assets can pay for it. Do your assets pay for your lifestyle or is the bank getting fabulously rich at your expense?

If You’re In Debt, Here is Your Escape Route…

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Want to be happy?

Maybe you should stop concentrating on making money quite so much. I am not against money, far from it, but the latest research on happiness, had some real surprises. One of the biggest findings was that after we have satisfied our basic needs money wise, there is no correlation between increased happiness and increased wealth. Medium income people are as happy as high income people.

So if your goal is money, go for it, but if your goal is happiness, you may want to relook at you plan to get there and see if you can’t take a different route, given this new information.

Edward W. Smith brings the One Minute Motivators to you. Mr. Smith is the author of Sixty Seconds To Success, the Producer/Host of the Bright Moment cable TV show, is President of The Bright Moment Seminars, and a motivational speaker.

If you like the One Minute Motivators, you will love Sixty Seconds To Success. Click and invest $13.95 to move your life ahead.

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