What did you say when someone asked you what your definition of success is? Was it some amount of money, or some stature in life?

I learned early on to look at results. If stuff works, take notes. If it doesn’t, move on.

When you see the results of “most” people, you see that their definition of success isn’t correct. If it were, people would be healthier and happier. But sadly they’re not.

Andrew Carnegie passed on to Napoleon Hill that success came from having a definiteness of purpose. I talked about that recently.  And when Earl Nightingale spoke with Napoleon Hill, he learned that but as you know from reading Think and Grow Rich, you have to do some thinking for yourself.

Nightingale spent years refining his definition of success.  And Bob Proctor, who worked for Earl Nightingale, share with me, through the Success Puzzle series, that Nightingale’s definition for success came down to these words:

Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.

And that definition has stood the test of time.  Because when implemented, it works – you see results.  It is in perfect harmony with the laws of the universe.

When I break those words down, I know that progressive is not jerky.  It’s smooth and building, modern, better than before.

Realization is awareness, figure it out, knowledge, intelligence, able to make better decision.

Worthy is not petty, you leave with more than you came, profitable, worth taking on, beneficial to many.

Ideal.  James Allen, from As A Man Thinketh, said it’s an idea you have fallen in love with.  It’s perfect for the time and opportunity.

Did you know that everything you need for success is already here.  The scientists will tell you that energy can neither be destroyed or created.  It’s here around and among us.  We have to become aware of that abundance that is already here.  It’s just waiting for you to accept it.

It’s the mind of God – what He already put in place.

We’re all aware of the two parts of our mind… consciousness and subconsciousness.  Our conscious is elevated higher than animals.  We are self-conscious.

Success involves raising consciousness higher toward Divine consciousness.  We want to get closer to our Creator.

How can we do that?

We do it through our thoughts.

Our conscious mind is the part that thinks, reasons.  We interpret all the senses with the conscious mind. We can accept or reject things here.  When we do, those thoughts determine eventually the results in your life.

In other words, what you are thinking right now will bring about what will happen in the future.

As you repeatedly accept stuff, it gets imprinted on the subconscious.  And when it does, it becomes part of your paradigm, part of your personality, the habits you do.

The subconscious is in every cell in our body.  It’s our emotional mind.  It’s the part of us that is a part of the whole universe.

There is only one mind.

We are each individual expressions of the mind, the universal mind.

Proper attitude is necessary for success.  Attitude is the composite of your thoughts, feelings and actions. Know that things are always flowing into your mind – energy.  You choose your thoughts and those choices respond in feelings in your subconscious, which cause actions.

Your thoughts cause actions which alter your conditions, circumstances and environment.  This is the result you want to change.

New thoughts – or you blocking unwanted thoughts – will give you new feelings, causing new actions and new results.

We receive input to our conscious mind through our senses, but also through vibrations.  We are able to decide to accept these things into our lives or to reject them.  When we accept them, they become an emotional part of us, which causes actions.

This is in harmony with the universe.

We give energy to some thoughts or pictures in our minds now, and later things are manifested in our lives.

I welcome your thoughts.

Quick tip for the day – pay yourself first. Read that and you’re done here, basically.

When I look back at my experience in the Amazon, there wasn’t many times animals would stuff things away for eating later. And the reason for that is because things go bad there, rot, pretty fast. So no opportunity for storing anything. Because of the abundance of food, and the tropic weather, animals don’t have to do that, though a few do.

But almost everywhere else you look in nature, it stores up something to use later. Even plants do this so they can survive when times get rough.

One thing Indians do along the Amazon, which made my parents crazy, was that the men and boys eat first. Women and children last. This was their culture, and for great reason – the men and boys protected the women and children. So here, they “paid themselves first.”

This is another “habit” you have to develop. Not something that will come automatically. And the best way to do it is to automatically have something come out of your paycheck. If you do it right, you won’t miss it and you’ll build a good nest egg.

I read to my kids the classic book, the Richest Man in Babylon, and even had an audio cassette with the book acted out. It was powerful and they still remember it 20 years later. Author George Classon made the point – Pay Yourself First.

And take advantage of the tax deferral here. Because of high and even multiple tax rates, money that you save or invest without being taxed accumulates at a rate of 30% to 40% faster than taxed money.

Self-made millionaires, according to Dr. Thomas Stanley, author of The Millionaire Next Door, are almost obsessive about accumulating their funds in assets like real estate, self owned businesses and equities that increase in value without triggering tax liabilities.

Put away 10%. It’s a start. Graduate to 15%. And then watch how your financial life will benefit and change!

I am flabbergasted at the news.  CNN reporting some guy took the lives of his family and then himself because he couldn’t find work.  First, I think where our priorities are nowadays.  And then I think the guy could have possibly been mentally ill from any number of things.  There is enough toxin around us to affect our minds.  That, along with influence from media, friends, global events; it’s enough to give you the creeps that this could have happened.

And yet, I know it’s not the end of it.

Listen, people – life is precious – and even if you’re down to your last penny, know that there is someone somewhere who cares about your life.  My first thought would be to go to a local church – seek help from a pastor.

You can let this external drain on your mind drag you down to despair if you want to.  And you can also not buy into the fact that the world is going to h*ll in a hand basket.  It’s a choice.  Maybe you’re too attached to stuff to make it an easy choice.  I don’t expect you to be like Job in the Bible.  And believe me, this ain’t nothin’ like that was.

Still, at first glace, these are trying times.  My word to you is that you can get through this and it can be better than you think by simply believing you are going to be OK.  It is not as horrible as you may think and certainly, these cyclical things come and go.

Here are five tips that will help you make it:

1. Stay away from negative people.  This includes people who you get bad vibes from.
2. Pray.  Ask God to guide you through this time.  He will.
3. Begin a gratitude and abundance journal.  Each night write down what happened that day that you could either be thankful for, or that was abundance!
4. Become the world’s best money steward.  Be frugal and celebrate at your frugalness.
5. Set goals weekly to where you want to be in 6 months.

Take that and really do it.  Rewrite those items and then do them.  You will be SO surprised when you can actually see how things work.

Talk soon,
Dave