Quotes from Jordan Belfort (The Wolf of Wall Street)

Motivational speaker & sales coach Jordan Belfort is the real Wolf of Wall Street. His life as owner of penny stock brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont was made into a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese. Here are some of Jordan Belfort's unforgettable quotes for success.

“The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can't achieve it.” 

“When you live your life by poor standards, you inflict damage on everyone who crosses your path, especially those you love.” 

“Act as if! Act as if you're a wealthy man, rich already, and then you'll surely become rich. Act as if you have unmatched confidence and then people will surely have confidence in you. Act as if you have unmatched experience and then people will follow your advice. And act as if you are already a tremendous success, and as sure as I stand here today - you will become successful.” 

“Winners use words that say ‘must’ and ‘will’.”

“If you give people a good enough ‘why’, they will always figure out the ‘how’.”

“No matter what happened to you in your past, you are not your past, you are the resources and the capabilities you glean from it. And that is the basis for all change.” 

“The easiest way to make money is -create something of such value that everybody wants and go out and give and create value, the money comes automatically.”

“If you want to be rich, never give up. People tend to give up. If you have persistence, you will come out ahead of most people. More importantly, you will learn. When you do something, you might fail. But that’s not because you’re a failure. It’s because you have not learnt enough. Do it differently each time. One day, you will do it right. Failure is your friend.” 

Attending to the Little Things

Stephen Covey writes about the importance of little acts of kindness in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Here is the excerpt from the book:

The little kindness and courtesies are so important. Small discourtesies, little unkindnesses, little forms of disrespect make large withdrawals. In relationships, the little things are the big things.

I remember an evening I spent with two of my sons some years ago. It was an organized father and son outing, complete with gymnastics, wrestling matches, hot dogs, orangeade, and a movie -- the works.

In the middle of the movie, Sean, who was then four years old, fell asleep in his seat. His older brother, Stephen, who was six, stayed awake, and we watched the rest of the movie together. When it was over, I picked Sean up in my arms, carried him out to the car and laid him in the back seat. It was very cold that night, so I took off my coat and gently arranged it over and around him. 

When we arrived home, I quickly carried Sear in and tucked him into bed. After Stephen put on his "jammies' and brushed his teeth, I lay next to him to talk about the night out together. 

"How'd you like it, Stephen?"
"Fine," he answered.
"Did you have fun?"
"Yes."
"What did you like most?"
"I don't know. The trampoline , I guess."
"That was quite a thing, wasn't it -- doing those somersaults and tricks in the air like that?"

There wasn't much response on his part. I found myself making conversation. I wondered why Stephen wouldn't open up more. He usually did when exciting things happened. I was a little disappointed. I sensed something was wrong; he had been so quiet on the way home and getting ready for bed.

Suddenly Stephen turned over on his side, facing the wall. I wondered why and lifted myself up just enough to see his eyes welling up with tears.

"What's wrong, honey? What is it?"

He turned back, and I could sense he was feeling some embarrassment for the tears and his quivering lips and chin.

"Daddy, if I were cold, would you put your coat around me, too?"

Of all the events of that special night out together, the most important was a little act of kindness -- a momentary, unconscious showing of love to his little brother.

What a powerful, personal lesson that experience was to me then and is even now. People are very tender, very sensitive inside. I don't believe age or experience makes much difference. Inside, even within the most toughened  and calloused exteriors, are the tender feelings and emotions of the heart.

High Achievers and "Rushing Sickness"

Dan Kennedy, in his book No Rules: 21 Giant Lies About Success How to Make it Happen, discusses how all high achievers live their life fast:

If you want to insist that "haste makes waste", you'll be forced to acknowledge that achievers accept or ignore the waste and make haste anyway. In the book Profiles of Power and Success, Dr. Gene Landrum notes that the superachievers studied all were afflicted with a kind of "rushing sickness." They ate, talked, drove, even slept fast. Napoleon graduated from college in half the normal time. Walt Disney went on periods of prolonged, fast-paced working binges broken up by periods of complete collapse, and slept on the couch at his office nearly half his adult life because he resented the time wasted commuting. At age nineteen, Picasso was turning out a new painting each day. He was warned by art dealers that he would ruin the market for his work. (They were wrong).

Impatience and intolerance for anything impeding their progress characterized every supersuccessful man and woman featured in this extraordinary book, which I recommend highly. As I think about it, the most successful people I've ever worked with -- and there have been plenty of them -- have exhibited both these characteristics in great abundance.

Those who are constantly harping at you to slow down and take it easy probably do not understand what makes you tick, what gives you fulfillment, in life, or what it is necessary to succeed in the environment you operate in. While those with "the rushing sickness" do admittedly pay a price for their achievements, this is also their key to high achievement. Further, success-oriented urgency does not necessarily have to create waste or require sacrifice of quality. Most people work slower than need be.

Always Be Positive

Art Williams, the former owner of AL Williams Insurance (Primerica), believes that positive thinking is the key to success in business, education, anything you can mention. The following excerpt is from his book All You Can Do Is All You Can Do:

It's not for sale. You don't inherit it. Nobody else can give it to you. You can't go to college and get it. But it is the chief weapon in your arsenal for combating society's failure messages and your own internal enemy. 

It's a positive winning attitude. 

I believe you can do 99 percent of the things right but not possess a positive winning attitude, and you will fail.

Folks, the difference between being great and being average and ordinary is such a thin thing it's almost too scary to talk about. A positive winning attitude is one of those "little edges" that mean the difference between winning and losing. 

I believe that if you possess a winning attitude and learn to make it work for you in your business and your life, you'll win. I'll go even further. I believe a positive winning attitude is the difference between being good and being great. 

An Eagle or a Chicken?

Norman Vincent Peale wants you to refuse to believe there are things you cannot do. This excerpt is from his book, You Can If You Think You Can.

Ever hear the parable about the eagle who thought it was a chicken?

One day, so the store goes, an adventurous young boy climbed high in the mountains near his father's chicken farm and found an eagle's nest. He took an egg out of the nest, brought it back to the farm, and put in with the chicken eggs under a setting hen. The hen sat on the eggs until they hatched and out came a little eaglet along with the chicks. The eaglet was raised among the chickens and never knew it was anything else than a chicken. For a while it was content and lived a normal chicken's life.

But as it began to grow there were strange stirrings within. Every once in a while it would think, "There must be more to me than a chicken!" But it never did anything about it until one day a tremendous eagle flew over the chicken yard. The eaglet felt strange new strength in its wings. It became aware of an enormous heartbeat in its breast. And as it watched the eagle, the thought came, "I'm like that. A chicken yard is not for me. I want to climb to the sky and perch on mountain crags."

It had never flown, but the power and instinct were within. It spread its wings and was lifted to the top of a low hill. Exhilarated, it flew to a higher hilltop and finally on into the blue to the summit of a high mountain peak. It had discovered its great self. 

Remember that nobody can be you as efficiently as you can. But you must discover your truly great self. For then you will know that you can, because you will have learned to think that you can. You will have found yourself. So, to complete our little parable, what do you say we stop being a chicken and be the eagle that is within us! it can be exciting, too!

But of course, someone may say, "That's a pretty parable. But after all, I'm neither a chicken nor an eagle. I'm a human being. Just an ordinary one, at that, and I never expect to do anything much with myself." Perhaps that is just the trouble; you never expect to do anything much with yourself. It is a fact, a very serious fact, that we peg ourselves at just about the level of our self-expectations.

Refuse right now to believe there are things you cannot do. Some of the greatest things in this world have been accomplished by men and women who never knew what they couldn't do. So, not knowing, they just went right ahead and did it.

Disdain all Disbelief

Wayne Dyer writes in his book Real Magic that you must send scarcity out of your mind. Here is an excerpt:


Work out a system with your mind that allows you to imagine yourself living a prosperous life, with all the material things that are necessary. Send scarcity out of our mind and reduce to have those kinds of thoughts. When an old habitual scarcity thought begins to enter your consciousness, simply say, "Next!" That's right, simply say to yourself, "next," and it will remind you that the old thought is now finished, and you are entering a new prosperous thought process. Using "next" as a magic work will remind you to get on with the magic of believing, rather than the anguish of doubt. Commit to paper precisely what you would like to have appear in your physical life. Be seeing it and reading it repeatedly you will plant that thought more firmly in your mind and you will begin to manifest that which you are imaging. I use this writing technique often, and I place the affirmation in a place that forces me to constantly read the words of the miracle I am in the process of manifesting.

Problems vs. Opportunities

Be grateful for your problems. We all frequently deal with people who complain about the trials and tribulations of their daily lives. Life seems to be one big problem for them. I would like to take a common-sense, realistic approach and address this mind-set. If there were no "problems" on your job, then your employer would hire a much less capable person than you to do the routine things that don't require much thought. In the business world, those who are able to solve complex problems are the ones who have the most value to the employer.

Many times the problems or challenges we face force us to grow and become more capable. The runner who trains for the mile run in the Olympics by running downhill will have no chance of winning the medal. The runner who trains by running uphill is far more likely to develop the speed, mental toughness and endurance which it takes to win the medal.

The best thing that ever happened to boxer Gene Tunney was that he broke both of his hands in the ring. His manager felt that he could never again punch hard enough to be the heavyweight champion. Instead, Tunney decided that he would become a scientific boxer and win the title as a boxer, not a slugger. Boxing historians will tell you that he developed into one of the best boxers who ever fought. They also will tell you that as a puncher, he would not have had a chance against Jack Dempsey, who was considered by many to be the hardest hitter in heavyweight history. Tunney would never have been champion had he not had the problem of his broken hands.

Message: The next time you encounter a difficult climb, obstacle, "problem," you should smile and say, "Here's my chance to grow." Develop that kind of an attitude and I will SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

Check out Zig's audio book How to Get What You Want -- Zig Ziglar presented live during one of his electrifying public seminars

Quotes by Mark Victor Hansen

Mark Victor Hansen is the author of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living Your Dreams

"I think the great livers, the people who are fully self-actualizing and alive, are the great givers."

"Big goals get big results. No goals gets no results or somebody else's results."

"Ideas attract money, time, talents, skills, energy and other complementary ideas that will bring them into reality."

"One of my goals is to inspire people to be all that they can be and, hopefully, be a good example and teach some useful, interesting principles. Perhaps I can be the key that turns on the engine in their life, and then they can take their car where they want."

"We've got the most prosperous culture in human history and we've also got the biggest spiritual hole in human history. People are saying, "I can't fill the hole with money. I can't fill it with alcohol, or drugs, or sex, so what do I need to fill it with?"

"Every individual’s purpose in tithing is to open up his/her awareness of universal laws. Tithing opens you, to you. You are an unlimited individual, deprived of a fuller, richer life partly because of lack of the tithing experience and expression in life."

"Perhaps my most important goal is to create a million millionaires."

"As a tither you automatically become solution-oriented rather than problem-oriented."

"Miracles never cease to amaze me. I expect them, but their consistent arrival is always delightful to experience."

Quotes by Jack Canfield

Jack Canfield is an American motivational speaker and author. He is best known as the co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series.

“Don't worry about failures, worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try.”

“Most everything that you want is just outside your comfort zone.”

“Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty."

“Keep in mind that part of growing up is dealing with difficult issues, and the benefits can be great if you have the courage to ask for help. Human beings are not designed to go through life alone. No one has to bear the burden of tough times all by themselves.”

“Each day is an adventure in discovering the meaning of life. It is each little thing that you do that day - whether it be spending time with your friends, running in a cross-country meet or just simply staring at the crashing ocean- that holds the key to discovering the meaning of life. I would rather be out enjoying these things than pondering them. We may never really discover the meaning of life, but the knowledge we gain in our quest to discover it is truly more valuable. ”

“The true task of spiritual life is not found in faraway places or unusual states of consciousness. It is here in the present. It asks of us a welcoming spirit to greet all that life presents to us with a wise, respectful, and kindly heart. We can bow to both beauty and suffering, to our entanglements and confusion, to our fears and to the injustices of the world. Honoring the truth in this way is the path to freedom.”

“Everything you want is on the other side of fear.”

“You don't have to get it perfect, you just have to get it going. Babies don't walk the first time they try, but eventually they get it right”

“Our job is not to figure out the 'how'. The 'how' will show up out of the commitment and believe in the 'what."

“And so I wait. I wait for time to heal the pain and raise me to me feet once again - so that I can start a new path, my own path, the one that will make me whole again.”

“Everything you want is out there waiting for you to ask. Everything you want also wants you. But you have to take action to get it.”

“Keep in mind that part of growing up is dealing with difficult issues, and the benefits can be great if you have the courage to ask for help. Human beings are not designed to go through life alone. No one has to bear the burden of tough times all by themselves.”

“People who ask confidently get more than those who are hesitant and uncertain. When you've figured out what you want to ask for, do it with certainty, boldness and confidence.”

“There are essentially two things that will make you wise -- the books you read and the people you meet.”

_____________________________

Jack Canfield's Book, Key to Living the Law of Attraction, is a simple "how to guide" for using the Law of Attraction to create the life you desire. He clearly explains not only what you need to know, but what you need to do in order to attract what you want in your life. 

Quotes by Zig Ziglar

“Rich people have small TVs and big libraries, and poor people have small libraries and big TVs.”

“Many marriages would be better if the husband and wife clearly understood that they're on the same side.”

“You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”

“The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want most for what you want right now.”

“A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could.”

“You are what you are and you are where you are because of what has gone into your mind. You change what you are and you change where you are by changing what goes into your mind.”

“If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.”

“Failure is an event not a person.”

“Success is the doing, not the getting; in the trying, not the triumph. Success is a personal standard, reaching for the highest that is in us, becoming all that we can be. If we do our best, we are a success.”

“The greatest of all mistakes is to do nothing because you think you can only do a little.”

“Optimists are those who go after Moby dick in a row boat with a bucket of tarter sauce.”

“Some people find fault like there is a reward for it."

“Duty makes us do things well, but love makes us do them beautifully.”

“The most important persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity.”

“Make failure your teacher, not your undertaker.”

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”

“Everybody says they want to be free. Take the train off the tracks and it’s free-but it can’t go anywhere.”

“If you learn from defeat, you haven't really lost.”

“If God would have wanted us to live in a permissive society He would have given us Ten Suggestions and not Ten Commandments.” 

“Ask yourself a question: Is my attitude worth catching?”

“If standard of living is your major objective, quality of life almost never improves, but if quality of life is your number one objective, your standard of living almost always improves.”

“People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing--that's why we recommend it daily.”

“When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal; you do not change your decision to get there.” 

“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.”

“Among the things you can give and still keep are your word, a smile, and a grateful heart.”

“There are no traffic jams on the extra mile.”

Make a Total Commitment

Art Williams, the former owner of AL Williams and Primerica, writes about making a total commitment in his book All You Can Do Is All You Can Do. He talks about one of the great national sales directors of AL Williams. Here is an excerpt:

Total commitment helps you maintain a positive attitude. It's amazing how you're able to turn problems into possibilities when you eliminate the option of giving up. If you're committed to win, no matter what, you'll have a totally different outlook on your life and your business. The only recourse to dealing with negatives is to turn them into positives.

Paula Smith, one of our great national sales directors, was a college professor with tow or three degrees in Georgia. After teaching for several years, Paula was burned out and frustrated. She was in her mid-thirties and had never married, but she had an adopted son. Paula decided she wanted out of education and into the business world. It would be more exciting, a change, and she could make more money than she could as a teacher.

Paula's uncle heard that she was going to leave teaching and told her to call me before she did anything else. When he explained that AL Williams sold term life insurance and investments, she said, "Well, teaching might be bad, but it isn't that bad! There's no way I'm going to sell insurance!'

In spite of her protests, Paula agreed to see me, just to please her uncle. To make a long story short, Paula decided to take a leave of absence from teaching and go to work with us. The first eight or nine months were hard for her. At the end of ten months, she came to see me. In two months, her leave of absence would be up, and she had to go back to teaching or resign her position. She told me how much she loved the company and how badly she wanted to stay, but she just couldn't face losing her teaching job. What if something went wrong? What if she couldn't make enough money? How could she give up the security of that job for a job that paid commissions?

That was the problem. As long as Paula knew she had something to go back to, she could avoid making a total commitment to AL Williams. She wasn't really giving it all she had. She had no intensity. She liked what she was doing, but she wasn't excited about what she was doing. Paula wasn't "turned on," intense and positive like you have to be to win.

I didn't hear from Paula for four or five weeks. Then one day, she called. She said, "Art, I haven't been able to sleep. I've had that security blanket in my mind, but you know what? I can't go back and teach. That's what I wanted to leave. I'm scared to death, but I'm going to do it. I don't know where and I don't know how or why, but I know that I'm supposed to be somebody."

Paula resigned her teaching job, picked up her son, and moved to Augusta, Georgia. Three months later, she was paid more in a single month than she had ever been paid before in a year. Three months after that, she did so well that she was promoted to regional vice president. Now, Paula's one of the top leaders in the company.

Total commitment. Until Paula burned her bridges and said, "Here is where I'm going to take my stand. Here is where I'm going to do something special," she did badly. But the minute she decided to go for it, her whole life changed. She couldn't afford to "play" at AL Williams any longer. She had to make it or break it, and there was no going back. When Paula made a total commitment to what she was doing, things started to fall into place.

The Truth About Failure

Art Williams, the former owner of AL Williams and Primerica, writes about failure in his book All You Can Do is All You Can Do. Here is an excerpt:

So many people have such a fear of failure that they never do anything. that keeps them from experiencing failure, but it sure does limit their success, too. If you have a goal of doing great things, you're bound to have failures somewhere along that path.

I've been in this business a long time, and I still mess up every week. It used to be every day, but I got better! Everybody loses every now and then. Look at the Super Bowl. Those are two best teams in the nation. But one of them has to lose. No matter what your level in business, sometimes you're going to have a setback.

The important thing to remember is that failure is only the end if you let it be. If one failure causes you to give up, you have really lost. Bob Miller, a great friend of mine in the business, has a saying that I love. I guess I'd call it an unwritten law.

"Failure is the halfway mark on the road to success."

It's a good thought. Failure is just one stage you'll go through on your way to the top. Everybody who's ever been a winner has experienced it at one time or another. In his book, The Renewal Factor, Robert Waterman refers to failure as a "mind-set" rather than an absolute, and he refers to a study showing that great leaders never used the word failure. instead, they used words like mistake and glitch. They simply never viewed themselves as having failed. We could all take a lesson from that. Failure is never the end of the road...unless we give up.

** Get All You Can Is All You Can Do by Art Williams
** Check out the AL Williams Story in the book Coach 

Quotes by Stephen Covey

Stephen Covey is the author of the best-selling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Other books he has written include First Things First, Principle-Centered Leadership, and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families.

“But until a person can say deeply and honestly, "I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday," that person cannot say, "I choose otherwise.”

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

“We are free to choose our actions, . . . but we are not free to choose the consequences of these actions.”

“Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.”

“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.”

“The way we see the problem is the problem.”

“There are three constants in life... Change, Choice and Principles.”

“You can't talk your way out of a problem you behaved your way into!”

“Live, love, laugh, leave a legacy.”

“Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic."

“Words are like eggs dropped from great heights. You could no more call them back then ignore the mess they left when they fell.”

“Without involvement, there is no commitment. Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it, underline it. No involvement, no commitment.”

“Independent will is our capacity to act. It gives us the power to transcend our paradigms, to swim upstream, to rewrite our scripts, to act based on principle rather than reacting based on emotion or circumstance.”

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

“I teach people how to treat me by what I will allow.”

“It's not what happens to us, but our response to what happens to us that hurts us.”

“To know and not to do is really not to know.”

“If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster.”

“People can't live with change if there's not a changeless core inside them.”

“Happiness, like unhappiness, is a proactive choice.”

“Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”

“The ability to subordinate an impulse to a value is the essence of the proactive person.”

“Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out."

“To touch the soul of another human being is to walk on holy ground.”

Quotes by Les Brown

Les Brown is the author of the successful books, "Live Your Dreams" and "It's Not Over Until You Win". He was also the host of The Les Brown Show, a nationally syndicated daily television talk show which focused on solutions and not on problems.

“Other people's opinion of you does not have to become your reality.” 

“If you take responsibility for yourself you will develop a hunger to accomplish your dreams."

“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.”

“I will heighten my life by helping others heighten theirs."

“The greatest revenge is massive success.”

“Just because Fate doesn't deal you the right cards, it doesn't mean you should give up. It just means you have to play the cards you get to their maximum potential.”

“Forgive yourself for your faults and your mistakes and move on.”

“A friend who is far away is sometimes much nearer than one who is at hand.”

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.”

“You don't have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be great.”

“Life has no limitations, except the ones you make.”

“Live out of your imagination instead of out of your memory.”

“Perfection does not exist -- you can always do better and you can always grow.”

“No one rises to low expectations.”

“Align yourself with people that you can learn from, people who want more out of life, people who are stretching and searching and seeking some higher ground in life.”

Quotes by Ken Blanchard

Ken Blanchard's best-selling book, The One Minute Manager, has sold more than 9 million copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 25 languages. Ken Blanchard is a welcome guest and featured speaker at many corporate meetings and seminars.

"The best minute you spend is the one you invest in people."

"Humility does not mean you think less of yourself. It means you think of yourself less." 

“There is a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in something, you do it only when it's convenient. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”

“None of us is as smart as all of us.”

“There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results.”

“If you don't blow your own horn, someone else will use it as a spittoon.”

"Servant leadership is easy for people with high self-esteem. Such people have no problem giving credit to others. They have no problem listening to other people for ideas. They have no problem in building other people up."

“Unexpressed good thoughts aren't worth squat!”

“The best way to teach people is by telling a story”

“The key to successful leadership is influence, not authority.”

“Feedback is the breakfast of champions”

“Everyone knows that not all change is good or even necessary. But in a world that is constantly changing, it is to our advantage to learn how to adapt and enjoy something better.”

"People who produce good results feel good about themselves."

"The first principle of ethical power is Purpose. By purpose, I don't mean your objective or intention-something toward which you are always striving. Purpose is something bigger. It is the picture you have of yourself-the kind of person you want to be or the kind of life you want to lead."

Replacing Fears

Dr. Wayne Dyer believes we should replace our fears by bringing faith to the presence of doubt, and move love in where you felt separated from your source. He further explains in this excerpt from his book, There’s a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem:

Fear has the effect of changing the body through a chemical process. It also changes the external world as well. For instance, Mother Teresa addressed the fears of the sick and homeless. She told a friend of mine who asked what he could do for her, “Get up at four a.m., and go out onto the streets of Phoenix, and find someone who is living there who believes he is alone,and convince him that he is not.”

Those who live in squalor, and have lost their way, who are ravaged by addictions and feelings of hopelessness, believe they are alone. They have seemingly lost their soul and need to find a spiritual base. That base is love, which is the only permanent power in the universe. It is the central ingredient in healing and in all harmony. Recognize and realize the power of love and its dominion over all things, and you and others will be restored to a fearless place. Make a list of all your problems and see if you find one that is not rooted in fear that you are separate from spirit.

The next time you feel yourself experiencing fear, think of your yourself as a part of this perfect love and watch what happens inside of you where the fear was residing. The love will supplant that fear. This is the beginning of bringing faith to the presence of doubt. The simple inner recognition of your ability in any moment to move love in where you felt separated from your source.

I have used this technique when I have been in a space of strong disagreement with my wife. Right in the middle of feeling exasperated while defending my position, as she works equally hard at defending her own. I have been able to stop and realize that the feeling of hurt comes from a kind of fear that I am all alone in this dispute. In a brief second I can dispel that fear and get my ego out of the way by inviting love onto the scene. I have a knowing that I am never alone and that love will cast out fear and resolve feelings of hurt. Saint Francis beckons us to know, where there is doubt let there be faith to dissolve the doubt.

Enthusiasm is Good Medicine

Wrong thinking can result in illnesses according to Dr. Norman Vincent Peale as explained in this excerpt from his book Enthusiasm Makes the Difference:

Dr. Paul Tournier, a celebrated European psychiatrist, in his book The Healing of Persons develops the thesis that wrong thinking can have physically devastating effects. He says, “Most illnesses do not, as is generally thought, come like a bolt out of the blue. The ground is prepared for years, through faulty diet, intemperance, overwork, and moral conflicts, slowly eroding the subject’s vitality. When at last the illness suddenly shows itself, it would be a most superficial medicine, which treated it without going back to its remote causes.” Quoting a fellow doctor, Dr. Tournier adds: “Man does not die. He kills himself.”

A patient was sent to our clinic at Marble Collegiate Church by an upstate physician, who said, “This man is actually killing himself by abnormal depression. I know of no medication that can heal him. Give him some fresh enthusiasm for living or he may die.” Fortunately we were able to help the man to take the “medicine” of enthusiasm, and he not only lived but overcame his depression.

Dr. Tournier points out that “every act of physical, psychological or moral disobedience of God’s purpose is an act of wrong living and has its inevitable consequences.” Many doctors whose technique is that of treating the patient, rather than the disease, and who are perhaps not so religiously oriented as is Dr. Tournier, nevertheless subscribe to this doctor’s conclusions as to the effect of hate, evil, gloom, and depression on mankind.

One doctor, for example, who states that he never attends church services or uses any religious terms, told of one patient who died of “grudgitis.” He defined this as “a deep sickening hatred so virulent in nature that toward the end his breath became unbelievably foul, the body organs seeming to deteriorate at once.” Then he added, using a quotation with which I was surprised to know he was familiar, “The wages of sin is death.”

The Seasons of Life

Jim Rohn says that a major challenge faced by us all is that we must learn to experience the changing of life’s cycles without being changed by them, to make a constant and conscious effort to improve ourselves in the face of changing circumstances. 

In past years, as I traveled around the country and world lecturing, one of the most frequently asked questions was about what I expect to happen over the next 6–12 months and-or even years. Well, I’m no expert, but I can share with you my thoughts. Whether it is preparing for the next few months or the next several years, I still believe there are overriding principals that we should follow and be led by. So I’d like to devote my message this week and next to my view of the period of history we’re in now and how it relates to words I wrote almost 30 years ago in my book, The Seasons of Life. Forgive me in advance if I sound a bit philosophical, but as you know by now, I do believe your philosophy is critical to your life’s success.

Life is about constant, predictable patterns of change. For the 6,000 years of recorded history, as humans have entered this world, received parental instruction, classroom instruction, and gathered the experience of life, many have set for themselves ambitious goals and dreamed lofty dreams. As the wheel of life continues its constant turning, all human emotions appear, disappear, and appear once again.

A major challenge faced by us all is that we must learn to experience the changing of life’s cycles without being changed by them, to make a constant and conscious effort to improve ourselves in the face of changing circumstances.

That is why I believe in the power and value of attitude. As I read, ponder and speculate about people, their deeds and their destiny, I become more deeply convinced that it is our natural destiny to grow, to succeed, to prosper and to find happiness while we are here.

By our attitude, we decide to read or not to read. By our attitude, we decide to try or to give up. By our attitude, we blame ourselves for our failure or we blame others. Our attitude determines whether we tell the truth or lie, act or procrastinate, advance or recede, and by our own attitude, we, and we alone, actually decide whether to succeed or fail.

How incredibly unique that a God who would create the complex and immense universe would create the human race, and give to those humans the free choice that would permit them to select their own achievement or their own destruction.

This strange but all-knowing God gave to us a delicately balanced sphere called Earth. On it, he placed the intelligent human, who would either develop it or destroy it. How terribly fascinating that a God would leave both projects—Earth as well as humans—unfinished! Across the rivers and streams, he built no bridges; he left the pictures unpainted, the songs unsung, the books unwritten and space unexplored. For the accomplishment of those things, God created the unfinished human who, within his heart and mind, had the capacity to do all these things and more, depending upon his own choice.

Attitude determines choice, and choice determines results. All that we are and all that we can become has indeed been left unto us. For as long as you continue to draw breath, you have the chance to complete the work in and for the Earth and for yourself that God has begun for you. In the cycles and seasons of life, attitude is everything!

So let’s begin our discussion of the four seasons. I’ll start by making two comments. First, life and business are like the changing seasons. That’s one of the best ways to illustrate life: It’s like the seasons that change. Second, you cannot change the seasons, but you can change yourself.

Now, with those two key phrases in mind, let’s look at what I consider to be the first major lesson in life to learn, and that is how to handle the winters. They come regularly, right after autumn. Some are long, some are short, some are difficult, some are easy, but they always come right after autumn. That is never going to change.

There are all kinds of winters—the “winter” when you can’t figure it out, the “winter” when everything seems to go haywire. There are economic winters, social winters and personal winters.

Wintertime can bring disappointment, and disappointment is common to all of us. So you must learn how to handle the winters. You must learn how to handle difficulty; it always comes after opportunity. You must learn to handle recessions; they come right after expansions. That isn’t going to change.

The big question is, What do you do about winters? You can’t get rid of January simply by tearing it off the calendar. But here is what you can do: You can get stronger; you can get wiser; and you can get better. Remember that trio of words: stronger, wiser, better. The winters won’t change, but you can.

Before I understood this, I used to wish it were summer when it was winter. When things were difficult, I used to wish they were easy. I didn’t know any better. Then Mr. Shoaff gave me the answer from a part of his very unique philosophy when he said, “Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better. Don’t wish for fewer problems; wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenge; wish for more wisdom.

Next is spring. Fortunately, following the turbulence of winter comes the season of activity and opportunity called springtime. It is the season for entering the fertile fields of life with seed, knowledge, commitment, and a determined effort.

However, the mere arrival of spring is no sign that things are going to look good in the fall. You must do something with the spring. In fact, everyone has to get good at one of two things: planting in the spring or begging in the fall. Take advantage of the day and the opportunities that spring can bring.

It is the promise of spring that as we sow, so shall we also reap. Faith further provides to us an irrevocable law decreed in heaven which assures that for every disciplined human effort we will receive a multiple reward. For each cup planted, a bushel reaped, for every good idea given to another, many shall be given to us in return. For every demonstrated act of faith, a multiplicity of rewards; and for every act of love given, a life of love in return.

Just remember it is a natural characteristic of springtime to present itself ever so briefly, or to lull us into inactivity with its bounteous beauty. Do not pause too long to soak in the aroma of the blossoming flowers, lest you awaken to find springtime gone with your seed still in your sack.

With the intelligence, wisdom, and freedom of choice given to us as humans exercise the discipline to plant in spite of the rocks, weeds, or other obstacles before us. The rocks, weeds, and thorns of the world cannot destroy all your seeds if you plant massively enough and intelligently enough. My suggestion is to choose action, not rest. Choose truth, not fantasy. Choose a smile, not a frown. Choose love, not animosity. Choose the good in life in all things, and choose the opportunity as well as the chance to work when springtime smiles on your life.

Spring shows us that life is truly a constant beginning, a constant opportunity, a constant springtime. We need only to learn to look once again at life as we did as children, letting fascination and curiosity give us welcome cause to look for the miraculous hidden among the common.

Get busy quickly on your springs, your opportunities. There are just a handful of springs that have been handed to each of us. Life is brief, even at its longest. Whatever you are going to do with your life, get at it. Don’t just let the seasons pass by.

The third major lesson in life to learn: how to nourish and protect your crops all summer. Sure enough, as soon as you’ve planted, the busy bugs and noxious weeds are out to take things over. Here is the next bit of truth: they will take it, unless you prevent it.

There are two key phrases to consider with the third major lesson. The first is “all good will be attacked.” Don’t press me for a reason. I was not in on some of the early decisions, so I don’t know why. I just know that it’s true. Let reality be your best beginning. Every garden will be invaded.

The second phrase is “all values must be defended.” Social values, political values, friendship values, business values—all must be defended. Every garden must be tended all summer. If you don’t develop this skill, you’ll never wind up with anything of value.

But for those who make diligent efforts to plant, protect, and preserve there are not enough birds, bugs, or other obstacles to destroy all the efforts of last spring.

Now, the fourth season is fall, the time of harvesting the fruits of our springtime labor. Fall also presents us with our fourth major lesson to learn in life, and that is to learn how to reap in the fall without apology if you have done well and without complaint if you have not.

For nothing is more exciting than a bounteous crop, and nothing more dreadful than a barren field in the fall. We must remember that in all areas of the human existence, what we put into this world, we get back from it. It is nature’s way of evening the score. So regardless of the results, take full responsibility for your crop. One of the highest forms of human maturity is accepting full responsibility for our lives.

Which brings me back to the beginning of our discussion. We must remember that life is constantly recycling itself. Much of life is about the balancing of two opposites; like the positive and negative charge on a battery. Life’s balancing of opposites totally surrounds our lives; man/woman, day/night, good/evil, life/death, water/land, summer/winter, recession/expansion, joy/sorrow, etc.

Yes, I believe we will have major changes, but I also believe we will continue to have just one winter, spring, summer and fall each year. Much of our success will lie in our ability and philosophy to plant in the springtime of opportunity. To weed and cultivate in the testing time of summer, to harvest without apology and-or complaint in the season of fall, and to get stronger, wiser, better in the transition and learning times of winter.


The following message was reproduced with permission from Jim Rohn’s Weekly E-zine. To subscribe, go to www.JimRohn.com.

Achieving Success By Expecting Success

Zig Ziglar believes that when you expect success….you will achieve it. Make sure to visit Ziglar.com for more motivational wisdom. Here is Zig’s advice:

When you plan and prepare carefully, you can legitimately expect to have success in your efforts. When you recognize and develop the winning qualities that you were born with, the winner you were born to be emerges. When you plan and prepare to make a sale, for example, you can legitimately expect to make a sale. Although not all your expectations are going to come to pass, you give yourself an infinitely better chance of succeeding by taking the proper steps.

Regardless of your goal–losing weight, making more sales, furthering your education, earning a promotion, saving money for a new home or an exotic vacation–you can expect to achieve your goal if you plan and prepare for it.

Also understand that the path from where you are to where you want to be is not always smooth and straight. The reason for the twists and bumps is simple, and it has nothing to do with you. It has more to do with the fact that not everyone is as interested in your success as you are. Some people may accidentally hinder your efforts; others who are in competition with you and have little or no integrity may try to sabotage your efforts.

Keep in mind, though, that when you hit those roadblocks your character, commitment, and attitude are the determining factors in your success… Carefully review your plan of action, seek wise counsel, and be particularly careful to feed your mind good information. An optimistic, positive mind is far more likely to come up with creative solutions than a mind that dwells on setbacks and difficulties.

Bottom line: expect success and you can achieve it!