Eliminate worry and start living… HAVE FAITH!

I’m shocked at how many people choose to live in a state of worry and doubt. This produces stress, causes illness and ruins opportunities for ‘success’. Stop worry and doubt NOW! Instead, HAVE FAITH!

Have FAITH! As a letter written to the Hebrews stated 2000 years ago,  “faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.” Note the keywords ASSURANCE and CONVICTION. Get rid of doubt. Shun uncertainty. This is the REAL ‘secret’.

Have FAITH in God. I KNOW He exists. I have conversations with him regularly throughout every day of my life. Unlike friends, employers, clients, even extended family, HE has NEVER let me down or gone back on a promise.

Have FAITH in yourself. Over the past half century, I’ve met ‘captains of industry’ and top performers in hundreds of fields. They posses incredible FAITH in themselves, their abilities and WORK HARD, applying all their abilities and passions to their careers.

Have FAITH in the organisation employing you. If you cannot believe with conviction in your organisation, it’s time to move on! You are no good to it or to yourself. If you DO have FAITH in your organisation, you will naturally work harder, longer, more effectively and be an inspiration to others.

FAITH is a MUST have, MUST use, MUST live-by tool for success. Stop worrying and doubting. Have FAITH!

Smile maker: Englich words and their daffynishons.

Avoidable: A bullfighter’s goal.
Baloney: Your shin.
Burglarize: What burglars see with.
Counterfeiters: Workmen remodeling kitchens.
Defeat: Under de-knees.
eclipse: English on-line barber shop.
Heroes: Fisherman in a boat with no motor.
Misty: Tiger Woods creating a divot.
Selfish: Wet market. Also sells meat.
Subdued: Navy guy in submarine.

Got comments or questions about “Have Faith”?  Just leave your comments here.

End Entitlement

Nothing is more frustrating than people who think they are entitled… to anything and often everything. Thoughts and statements like, “I’m a citizen so the government OWES me.” “I’m their son/daughter so my parents OWE me.” “I work here so the company / organisation OWES me.” Fertilizer!

Nobody owes anyone anything unless there was a signed agreement to that effect. Without such an agreement, there is no obligation.

Unfortunately, there is a pervasive belief in society that governments and employers owe people a living, a certain standard of living or that parents owe a regular allowance, paycheck or support to adult children. Not true. People in their 20s can quit a job they ‘don’t like’ and are allowed by parents to go home and play video games, living there rent free. Who owes them such a living? No one! Parents provide for their children until they are old enough to make it on their own… then they should be ON THEIR OWN… to grow up and mature.

Workers who surf the Net or are constantly texting family and friends on company time believe they work hard so the company owes them that time. Untrue! Show me where any employment contract says you can take company assets (you) and squander them.

A religious leader caught in the act of adultery told his counsellor, “I did everything for God and my people. I just did this ONE THING for ME.” Another more famous example, Tiger Woods in his ‘admission’ said “I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled.” In both cases, there is no such entitlement!

Alternatives:

Responsibility. Standing up for what you have a legal right to and demand your rights be preserved. Beyond that, take personal responsibility for all your actions and consequences.

Parents: Demand your children over age 21 take responsibility for all their actions. Make them pay rent and earn a living if not in school. (you can always gift it back to them when they buy their own place.)

Students: Learn all you can and challenge every idea shared that does not sound or feel right. Do NOT let phones or games get in the way of your education or relationships. WORK while going to school and learn the responsibility which comes from earning your pocket money and school fees.

Employers: Make your policies clear on personal email, texting, phone calls and surfing and enforce them. In Singapore, Human Resource Magazine reported the average worker in Singapore skives 1 hour and 35 minutes a day with personal matters. That is 6 weeks of lost productivity… STOLEN, every year… PER employee.

Employees: Be responsible, work hard, get your work done by the agreed upon quitting time and GO HOME. Shut off work calls and be with your family. (unless of course you agreed to take calls 24/7)

Citizens: Demonstrate responsibility to the government by not just complaining, but getting involved at the grassroots level and help bring about change. Make suggestions and back your ideas with supported evidence.

I know some of this may sound ‘radical’ and ‘contra-culture’. No apology from me. Just because society led by social norms, television and permissiveness pervading our society says something is ‘okay’, does not mean it is right or even the best way to function. The current belief of entitlement is wrong and harmful for society. I believe we are better than that. I believe we must earn what we get in this world and give our fair due. No one owes anything they did not agree to nor should they expect what was not promised.

Smile maker: What do you think?
In our teens and 20s, we care so much about what others think about us.
When in our 30s, we stop caring what others think about us.
In our 40s we simply wonder what they were thinking about us
In our 50s, we finally discover, no one was thinking about us at all!
Got comments or questions?  Just leave your comments here.

Do you control your mobile phone and MP3 player or do they control you?

I was reading Jeff Davidson’s blog a couple of weeks ago and he shared a New York Times article on how people could no longer appreciate each other’s company and even at a wedding dinner, were texting constantly instead of enjoying the meal, the wine and chatting with the other guests.

On the plane last month from MPLS to Tokyo, I sat next to a top Amway leader who told me her son went to a ‘silent rave’. I asked her what it was. She said, “They all gather for a party to dance but there is no music. Each person listens to their own iPod music and they dance by themselves in a group.” No partners. No music in common. No FEELING the pulse of the music as a group. No cheering and clapping at the end of an awesome song. Just the need to gather but doing it all alone. Sorry… I find that bizarre!

As studies have shown how cellphone use impairs driving the same as having 2.5 drinks of alcohol. Bluetooth does not make a difference. Governments need to impose fines equal to drink driving for cellphone use in cars.  This would make the roads safer.

Companies sell ‘cellbusters’ which block the signals of cellphones for up to 50 meters which should be installed in theaters and fine dining restaurants but laws and cellbusters don’t stop people’s bad habits, they just make it easier for the FEW of us who prefer the silence or going to a movie and watching the screen instead of a hundred tiny glowing squares in front of us.

A big shift: RARELY now do people talk on their phones in my seminars. But many start texting. Mentally, they have left to another world. They are mentally going back to the office and lose connection with the seminar. What a waste.

Are your electronic devices controlling you and your life? Have you lost the ability to start a conversation with a stranger, maintain an interesting dialogue with your friends or sit and chat with your family for a full day WITHOUT feeling the need to text or call someone else?

10% of those under the age of 25 have electronic addition according to recent studies.

I do own a cellphone but do not even know the number. I cannot get email on it. I pay $18 for a SIM card with a fixed 18 minutes and it lasts me for 3 months or more. Some days (maybe 3 in a row?) I don’t even turn it on. Have lunch with me or attend a 2-day seminar by me and you have my undivided attention as does my wife and our children when I’m with them.  I might lose $50k worth of business a year (estimate) because of this approach to my business and my life but I believe the life and lifestyle is worth it. Can YOU say the same or are you ADDICTED to your phone and MP3 player?

SUGGESTION: Switch off mobile phones and MP3 players for one full day a week. Benefit: You will improve relationships and get more done. If you miss it too much and NEED it… maybe you are already addicted!

Got comments or questions?  Just leave your comments here.

Smile Maker for the week: You KNOW the food at a restaurant is bad when…
Customer:  Waiter… this food tastes awful. I want to talk to the manager.
Waiter:  Sorry sir… he’s out to lunch.