Tag Archives: Success

Is Your Compass Broken?

When I was in Boy Scouts, we had to do a lot of merit badges.

One of the cool ones was compass reading.

Me and a buddy did it when we were camping in the desert.

For part of the exercise, we had to follow a long set of instructions, each of which involved going a certain distance in a certain direction.

It had been set up before, and if we followed the instructions correctly, we would get to the right point eventually.

After five or six turns, and walking carefully, we eventually found the “prize” and got our badge.

Many things that seem mysterious can be explained by science.

The disappearance of Amelia Earhart may be one of these.

A seasoned flier, (first woman to fly across the pacific) one day she just vanished.

One theory is that if her directional compass was only off by a small percent, that would mean missing a crucial refueling point.

Maybe believe she ran out of gas and crashed into the ocean.

An unfortunate example of what happens if you go off course just a little bit.

Most people, though, don’t really have a course.

Imagine if you got on a plane, and all the pilot did was look out the window and hope he recognized certain mountains to find his way.

This may work if you were flying small planes of familiar territory, but if you were flying across the ocean, it would be very foolish.

Sadly, most people live their lives like this.

Not only do they NOT have direction, but they don’t really have a system in place to measure their progress.

It would be like me and my buddy trying to get our merit badge by walking in random directions for random lengths and hoping we’d get something at the end.

Even during the gold rush, people knew they had to keep going west, toward the rising sun.

What about you?

Do you know which direction your life is going?

Do you have a feedback system in place, to measure your progress, and to tell if you are off course or on course?

Even if you don’t, all you’ve got to do is get started.

As you make forward progress, you’ll learn valuable information that will let you know.

And you’ll also learn what skills you might need to keep going forward a lot faster.

The more skills you pick up along the way, the more directions you’ll find that will help you become successful.

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Eliminate Mind Mismatches

The other night I watched that Facebook movie on Netflix.

They had those guys that were on the rowing teams.

Most sports are a combination of skills, strengths, endurance, strategy and teamwork.

But in that kind of competition, teamwork can make or break you.

You can be weaker physically, but if you are “in sync” much more than everybody else, you’ll win.

When I was in high school I had this girlfriend. After the initial excitement wore off, our dates were pretty similar.

“Where do you want to go?”

“I dunno, where do you want to go?”

And we’d end up driving around in circles. Not really circles, but we wouldn’t ever do anything interesting, since we never had much of a plan.

One of the secrets of a good relationship is compatibility. Sure, there’s got to be physical and emotional attraction, but if you aren’t mostly compatible, it’s not going to work.

One thing that can mess up us humans is the idea of a “mismatch.”

We can be mismatched in our jobs, wrong skills at the wrong company. In a relationship. In a major in college. Even choosing a movie to watch. You get about ten minutes in and think, “Hmm. This isn’t for me.”

One of the most common mismatches is our instincts.

They were designed to help us during hunter gatherer times, but they mess us up now.

Like eating.

Back then, it made sense to eat everything in sight whenever you could.

Not so much now.

Back then, everybody was egalitarian. Meaning they all shared the wealth, which in those days was food.

But now, you see some ultra rich person in front of you at the supermarket, on some level it FEELS like they’re “cheating” because they are not sharing with you.

But unless you know HOW they got all their money, you can’t really judge them.

Assuming “cause-effect” relationships were none exist is also a holdover.

Back then, even if you were wrong nine times out of ten, but that one time out of ten kept you alive, assuming cause effect relationships where none existed (loud noises equals danger, for example) kept you alive.

The ancient dudes who wanted to investigate everything in meticulous detail eventually got eaten.

However, there are WAY more variables today than back then.

Not only that, but it’s WAY less dangerous.

So those “cause-effect” relationships we assume are true are FALSE probably 99.99% of the time.

And when they ARE true, we wont’ die. Not even close. Maybe feel some social discomfort.

But our ancient brains haven’t been updated.

Or at least not very much.

The good news is with some consistent and creative imagination, journaling, and VERY SMALL risks on a daily basis, you can retrain your brain to see the world much more accurately, and much more in your favor.

So taking those actions to get you what you want (money, companionship, sex, fame, social status, income, wealth, whatever) will be natural and easy.

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Fearless

How To Practice Thinking

No matter what you’d like to accomplish, you’ll need skills.

If you want to cook a turkey, you’ll need to understand how to operate an oven.

If you want to get a degree, there’s a lot of ideas and information you’ll need to become comfortable with.

Some skills are very specific, some are general.

Some are things that people don’t realize are skills, since we do them naturally.

Communication is an example.

Since most people know how to “talk” and how to have a conversation, it’s really not seen as a skill, more like an inherent ability.

We tend to think some people are “good” at it, while others aren’t so good.

If you met some guy or gal that was really “good” at talking to people and making them feel good about themselves, you’d just think they were “naturals.”

On the other hand, if you saw some guy on the corner playing the violin really proficiently, you’d assume that he simply spent a lot of time practicing.

Of course, ANYTHING that you do can be improved. Talking, walking, persuading, tell jokes.

But for some reason, we don’t associate “practice” with certain things.

One of these is “thinking.”

We just do it automatically. We don’t even “think” about “thinking” as something we can change. We assume it’s something that just “happens.”

But your thoughts are (or can be) under your control. It just takes practice.

After all, you “become” what you “think about” most of the time.

If you are always thinking about scary stuff, and the worst possible thing that can happen, you won’t likely be super outgoing and adventurous.

On the other hand, if are always wondering what cool things you’re about to discover, you may be more likely to try new things, which will get you a lot different results than the first person.

However, when most people try it “change” the way they think, they do it once, maybe twice.

And when it doesn’t “work” they just figure they can’t “do” that.

But what if you tried to juggle ONCE, and determined you just weren’t a juggler?

What if you sat down at the piano ONCE, and tried a song, and then determined you just can’t play the piano?

What if you decided to go jogging for the first time in your life, and could only make it half a kilometer before you got tired out, and concluded that you just weren’t a “jogger”?

Pretty silly, right?

But that’s what people do when they try and “change” their “thinking.”

They try it once, it doesn’t “work” and they figure it’s all nonsense.

But if you PRACTICE thinking “right thoughts” like you’d practice juggling, or playing the piano, or learning a new instrument, you’d slowly get better.

And in six months or so, your thoughts AND your life, would be completely different.

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Mind Persuasion Ebooks

Inoculate Against Letdown Depression

When I was a kid my dad took me bird hunting.

I was pretty excited. Buying the gear was exciting.

Driving to the small motel in the small town was exciting.

Getting up super early and eating breakfast in the 24H diner was exciting.

Driving out to the field to hunt was exciting.

The actual hunting part?

Pretty boring.

We all spread out across a big field.

And then waited.

Despite all our preparation, the most important part of bird hunting is being patient.

If the birds don’t come, you have nothing to shoot at.

All that preparation, excitement, buildup for a pretty lame payoff.

I remember once commenting to my friend after a HUGE dinner party.

She’d spent a couple weeks preparing, worrying, looking up recipes.

But the actual eating part was over in about an hour.

Lots of preparation, but BOOM! It was over.

A lot of things are like this.

Problems develop when you expect the payoff to be TOO BIG and monumental.

As if it’s going to change everything.

When in reality, it’s the preparation, the building that is the best part.

This is why having HUGE goals WAY out there is better than ONLY having a couple of short term ones.

Many people fall into the trap of thinking they “only” need that one “thing” and then FINALLY, everything will somehow “click” into place.

Unfortunately, when (or if) it does “click” into place, it’s only for a little bit.

And if you somehow convince yourself that getting that “thing” is going to solve your problems FOR GOOD, then you might have a lot of “post success letdown.”

Olympic athletes that win gold medals, championship sports teams, even soldiers returning from war or active duty experience this.

They focus on that BIG GOAL so much, that when it happens, they don’t know what to do. Because they’ve focused on that BIG GOAL so much, they didn’t notice that increase in energy, focus, intensity and all other things that are necessary for a fulfilling life along the way.

And when that BIG GOAL is achieved, all that energy that got them there is GONE.

It’s very easy to feel empty after that.

So at the very least, you’ve got have another goal in your back pocket ready to go when that goal in front of you is realized.

OR, make sure to create a MASSIVE ONE that is literally bigger than life.

Bigger than YOUR life.

That way, you’ll always have forward drive, forward momentum, and all of the other good stuff that makes life worth living.

Most people don’t have goals. And those that do tend to have goals that they didn’t choose, but were given to them by others.

It’s your life, and your choice.

Build it YOUR way.

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Mind Persuasion Ebooks

Look Silly For Maximum Success

Isaac Newton once made the remark that he could only do what he’d done because he was standing on the shoulders of giants.

Meaning his scientific discoveries were only as good as those that came before him.

And those that came before him were just as largely based on those that came before them.

The study of human advancement over the centuries is pretty amazing.

Sure, there are plenty of dark spots, but the long trend is generally upward.

Collectively, we seem to have this drive to keep advancing.

I saw a pretty cool video the other day of the first rocket that blasted off, flew around in the upper atmosphere, and then landed, but in the reverse of how took off.

Right back down on the launch pad. Like watching a lift-off in reverse.

For a long time, a few people have been trying to create a business of tourist space flight.

Yeah, it would only be for rich people, but it’s always that way at first.

Long, long time ago, travel by rail was only for rich people.

Now regular folks can fly all over the world.

It’s possible to live your own life like this, but it’s not guaranteed.

It’s all based on the habits you cultivate.

If you have some really big, really specific goals, way out there, and you make it a habit to do SOMETHING on a daily basis, you can build a pretty impressive life.

On the other hand, if you just hope you get there “somehow,” you might get lucky, but then again you might not.

Most people are terrified of risk. Which is why they are afraid to take action.

Many people want some kind of guarantee that what they are trying will eventually pan out.

Unless they are SURE, they don’t budge.

But in reality, they are ignoring the biggest risk of all.

And that is to get to the end of your life, look back, and say, “Wow, what happened?”

The great paradox is that the more consistently you take small risks, they less likely you’ll end up with nothing.

Meaning the most effective way to make sure the BIGGEST risk of all doesn’t happen is to take a bunch of small risks.

Imagine if you were on a golf course. And you could wait and take one HUGE swing, or you could take a lot of little swings.

But you were so embarrassed to look goofy taking a bunch of little swings, you waited until the last moment to take that one big swing.

If the ball goes in the hole, you’d look pretty good. But if your ball flies off into the lake, well, game over.

But if you take small shots, ten or fifteen yards apiece, you’d almost be guaranteed to get into the hole eventually.

Of course, in golf, the number of strokes is important.

But not in life.

In life, it’s the final result that counts.

And all the intermediary results in between.

Small actions daily build up.

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Mind Persuasion Ebooks

The Secret Pizza Crust Strategy

When I was in high school I worked at a pizza place.

It wasn’t a chain, there was only one.

And they made everything fresh. They had this big mixer in the back room they’d use to make the dough.

When we made the pizza crusts, we always started with a big round ball of dough that had been put in a specially controlled fridge so it would rise correctly.

We would first pound the dough, and then actually toss it into the air.

Not for show, but because it was the easiest.

If you took two people, one guy with a ball of dough and a big rolling pin, and another guy who would pound it and then spin it, the pounding spinning guy would win every time.

Not only that, but spinning it made for the perfect crust.

If you rolled it, the thickness would be uniform.

But if you tossed it, the thickest parts would be on the outside.

And as my boss explained to me, the secret of a good pizza was good crust. And that started with good dough.

He had this secret recipe for his dough.

I had to work there a year before they let me make the dough.

Not because it was complicated, but because he wanted to keep his recipe a secret.

He’d spent a lot of time and money trying to fine tune this super delicious dough recipe.

Now, pizzas are pretty simply. You can get them anywhere.

But a really GOOD pizza is hard to find. Almost so good that when you find one, you want to keep it secret.

But here’s the REAL SECRET of that guy’s dough.

Sure, the ingredients themselves, but HOW he found it.

He didn’t learn it in school.

He didn’t look it up on the internet.

He didn’t go to a pizza dough seminar.

He did a lot of trial and error, and a lot of slow, careful experimentation.

Now, that was a long time ago. But I still remember, to this day, how I felt when I was “let in on the secret” of how to make the dough.

It was simple, easy, the ingredients weren’t that mysterious.

Now, if I started my own pizza place, by copying him, would it have been the same?

How would I have advertised it?

A top secret recipe that I stole from my competition?

That probably wouldn’t work very well.

There’s only ONE of every big brand. Sometimes two, but that’s about it.

You can copy others, and hope you get “similar” results.

Or you can get to work on discovering your own secret.

One that NOBODY knows but you.

Will it be easy? No.

Will it take a while? Yes.

Are you guaranteed success? Unfortunately, no.

But the more you continue to SEARCH for and BUILD your secret, the more likely you’ll FIND IT.

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Mind Persuasion Ebooks

How To Become Unstoppable

There are a lot of cool movies about time travel.

The idea of knowing what is going to happen is VERY compelling.

But there’re also plenty of movies of going back in time, because you want to predict what will happen, only to destroy the present.

Ray Bradbury wrote a story about that. It’s been turned into all kinds of movies. Even a Simpson’s episode, where they had a magic toaster that could time travel.

Why is the idea so compelling?

Because EVERY SINGLE HUMAN has this thought:

“Boy, if I knew back then what I know now…”

Of course, this is why they say “hindsight is 20-20.”

Meaning it’s EASY to look back AFTER the fact. When you KNOW all the information.

But the ONLY time humans can KNOW everything is AFTER things happen.

Which necessarily means that BEFORE things happen, we NEVER know everything.

There is ALWAYS risk. ALWAYS.

You mitigate it, you can minimize it, but you can never remove it.

Of course, like anything else, you can go too far.

One of the strange things about us humans is we tend to CREATE what we FEAR the most.

Take some guy who is TERRIFIED of talking to a girl, for example.

He doesn’t want to get rejected.

If he gets rejected, he’ll end up being alone.

So what does he do?

He NEVER approaches any girls.

And he is ALWAYS alone.

Creating EXACTLY what he fears the most.

I’m sure you can think of many examples of this.

It is very common.

How can we get around this seemingly impossible human problem?

One is to simply accept that risk is ALWAYS going to be present. You will ALWAYS make mistakes. Only through consistent practice, doing the same thing over and over, will you get better.

That requires you to be willing to ACCEPT and LEARN from your mistakes.

But there’s another way.

And that is to PRACTICE MENTALLY.

Instead of just charging ahead with NO CLUE what to do, you can practice in your mind.

Take some time VISUALIZING what you want to have happen.

So when you DO take action, your subconscious will already have an idea of what you want.

Making the necessary behaviors seem more natural. More automatic. As if you’ve already DONE them before.

Ask any world class athlete. They BECOME world class athletes because they practice MENTALLY just as often as they practice PHYSICALLY.

You can do the same.

But not just closing your eyes and practicing.

You can be aided by powerful tools.

When you combine your mental practice, with these tools, you will become unstoppable.

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Subliminal Programming