Taking Responsibility

In today's podcast I share with you the things that a particular negative person I deal with at least once a week spurts out of his negative mouth! (Don't you just love people like this?)

Here's the thing - we all deal with people like this from time to time, right? What do YOU do about it? How do YOU handle it? (I'd love to hear from you on this - just shoot me an e-mail at mike@futureyouuniversity.com )

On this particular Tuesday Mr. Negative (as I will refer to him from now on) was spouting about how the government is to blame for everything and "if" this and "if" that.... hmmmm, I'm thinking he hasn't read the chapter on "Old Man 'If'" in Napoleon Hill's book, huh? ;)

Among other things in his negative rant he made the comment about someone making $40, 000 being poor. Now, folks, let's get some perspective on this statement and look at some actual facts about this part of the world. This comment is being made about the same county as I live in the state of Arkansas. Official statistics show that the estimated median household income in 2007 in this county was $26,316 and overall, in the state of Arkansas in 2007 it was $38,134.

YOU do the math! It's pretty obvious that Mr. Negative has no idea what he is talking about! Does this surprise you? It shouldn't! Negative people love to spout off thoughts, ideas and even "statistics" that have no basis in fact at all. Don't be fooled by them or take what they say as something of any value whatsoever!

When you look at the facts, a person making $40,000 in this little county in Arkansas is WAY ahead of others in this county and even a little further ahead than most others in the state as a whole! But, for negative people, facts don't matter! All that matters is the EXCUSE!

And, this is what was happening with Mr. Negative - excuses! He was making excuses as to why he (I assume he was talking about himself) couldn't ever get ahead even thought the fact is that he is far better off than most around here.

I'll be sharing some more from Mr. Negative in the next few days, but for today, this is enough for me to make the point for today's podcast and blog. Again, STOP making excuses and START making your move!

All of us can point to difficult times in our lives, right? All of us can find situations that DO make things tough in our lives - but what then? What do you do? What do I do?

Give in? Give up?

Yes, sometimes, things are out of our control but there are also many things that we have caused to happen in our own lives and we must suffer through the results.

WHAT WILL YOU DO?

Isn't it time we took responsibility for our own lives, for our own mistakes and yes, even for those circumstances beyond our control - isn't it time we took the responsibility to "fix" it?

Right at the end of today's podcast I shared with the listeners some really unbelievable financial figures that I and my family went through during a very tough time in our lives. Take a listen to it. I will be going over that in more detail for tomorrow's podcast just simply to help you know that, yes, I, too, have been through it.

Today is YOUR day! Take responsibility for it and refuse to hand that responsibility over to any one else!

You can do it! You MUST do it!

So yes...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

ATTACKING the Fear of Poverty

The fear of poverty can rob one of their very soul. What do I mean by that? Let me explain by sharing with you this excerpt from chapter 15 ("How To Outwit the Six Ghosts of Fear") in Napoleon Hill's classic, "Think & Grow Rich" :

"This fear paralyzes the faculty of reason, destroys the faculty of imagination, kills off self-reliance, undermines enthusiasm, discourages initiative, leads to uncertainty of purpose, encourages procrastination, wipes out enthusiasm, and makes self-control an impossibility.

It takes the charm from one's personality, destroys the possibility of accurate thinking, diverts concentration of effort, it masters persistence, turns the willpower into nothingness, destroys ambition, beclouds the memory, and invites failure in the heart, discourages friendship and invites disaster in a hundred forms, leads to sleeplessness, misery, and unhappiness - and all this despite the obvious truth that we live in a world of over-abundance of everything the heart could desire, with nothing standing between us and our desires, excepting lack of definite purpose."

WOW! If you've ever experienced "poverty" then you, too, can look at that list and almost get the shivers - because it is TRUE! That's why I began today's article with the statement that "poverty can rob one of their very soul".

Yes, I know that, perhaps, this shouldn't be the case - BUT IT IS! Yes, I know (and Mr. Hill acknowledges this as well) that there are things of far greater value than money. However, you take a man's job away from him and you take a piece of him as well! When a man cannot provide for his family (yes, I understand this to be true of women as well - but I speak from a man's perspective) he feels worthless and ashamed. All of the "blessings" that surround him every day (such as a loving wife and/or wonderful family, etc.) are lost in the clouds of depression and despair.

I KNOW - I'VE BEEN THERE!

So, here's the key - the only way to attack a foe is to know it's name and where it lives! And that is what we (Mr. Hill and myself) are going to do as we ATTACK this FEAR of POVERTY!

Know (and take heart in) this: This fear of poverty is but a mindset! It's true! The fear of poverty - notice, we are not talking about poverty itself...just the FEAR of poverty - can cause one to panic and freeze when they should be pushing forward boldly. But the MINDSET, when fueled by the negative information coming over the news, says it's best to "play it safe" and "stay put", thus causing us to cease any forward movement and momentum.

WE CAN CONQUER THE FEAR OF POVERTY - IF you are willing to follow along. IF you are willing to crawl out of your hole and, with our (Mr. Hill and myself) help, make progress toward a better future.

As we IDENTIFY and ATTACK this fear, in tomorrows podcast and article we will IDENTIFY some of the CHARACTERISTICS or TRAITS of this fear of poverty so that we can help YOU determine if it has crept into your life!

Join us then as we continue this POWERFUL discussion!

And, until then - and as always....

"Make it an AWESOME Day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

Swim in the POSITIVE Stream! (Thankful Thursday)

Wow, don't you just LOVE Napoleon Hill's book, "Think & Grow Rich"? If you're not reading, you MUST read it!

Do whatever you need to do to read this book! Go to the library and check it out for free - but don't mark in it - then you'll have to buy it! You can go to my website (http://www.FutureYouUniversity.com) and click on my "links" tab and get it for free (just pay the shipping and handling) and mark it all you want. Because, believe me, you will WANT to underline and make notes in this amazing book!

At the conclusion of chapter 9 on the POWER of the Mastermind Group we find a discussion of "the stream of Power". Basically put, Mr. Hill compares the flow of money (and life in general) to a stream. Just like all streams, you can go upstream or you can go downstream. And, just like all streams, going UP stream requires a bit of effort while going DOWN stream requires none at all.

Here's the kicker - he talks about the side of POSITIVE POWER being the side that will take you upstream and to success while the NEGATIVE POWER side will take you down to poverty. Poverty requires no special talents, skills or effort. Poverty is greedy and is bold and willing to take you at a moments notice.

However, wealth is shy and has to be attracted, coaxed and then it takes effort to "maintain" if you will. And, as was mentioned in this chapter, some people spend time in both sides of the stream. As a matter of fact, I venture to say that ANY successful person has spent time in the NEGATIVE side of the stream as well as the POSITIVE side. Again, we see them in the positive side and think that they have always been there --- which is simply not true!

The question is - what will YOU do? Take the "easy" way DOWN the stream or will you WORK and put EFFORT into this task so that you can advance UP the positive side of the stream?

It is totally up to you. No one can do it for you. Mr. Hill can throw you the lifeline through the wise words in this book. I can share this information with you through this blog and my podcasts, but only YOU can take hold of that lifeline and DO something with it.

Will you? If not, WHY NOT?

And, if so - WHY NOT NOW?

Why? Because your FUTURE is NOW!

Remember that and, as always...

"Make it an AWESOME Day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike