Great, you want to be a Master. But how do you achieve mastery? There's a big difference between authentic knowing and mastery, what is that difference, how do you bridge the gap? As with all the other steps, willingness to invest yet more effort is one secret of success in this last step to ... Views: 1541
Are you internally motivated? The Cherokee Indians say that everybody is, not just the self-motivated! They know that you have both a black wolf and a white wolf giving you internal motivation.
Are you Self-Motivated?
The self-motivated decide on their own goals and then pursue them. They ... Views: 1698
Australian journalist Julian Assange believes he's the subject of a witch-hunt by the USA. Assange fears that submitting to the controversial Arrest Warrant issued by the fourth and latest Swedish prosecutor will lead to him being illegally extradited to America. He has been granted asylum by ... Views: 1811
Dinner with a New Date
Without being too obvious, I'd successfully checked out my suspicions. My brand new strategy had worked and my inner smile was vast!
I was enjoying dinner with a new date and she seemed to be listening politely. But was she more interested in talking rather than ... Views: 1548
Stop Confusing the Issue with the Facts
"It doesn't matter what you say, I've made up my mind and I'm not going to change it." Such self-sabotage is widespread, you've probably seen it often.
Everybody likes to be right. But when the need to be right is exacerbated by the dislike of change, ... Views: 1764
As an adult, are you responsible for the circumstances of your life? Or someone else?
It's comforting to believe that someone else is responsible, but is it true? Other people and situations have had some influence, large or small, but you are responsible. Why? Because you did whatever you ... Views: 1533
Having chosen your most important question, see the previous articles in this series, there are some crucial related questions for you to answer.
Actions have Consequences
Are you prepared to pay the price? Your actions will provide the answer in due course, yet to ensure your future has ... Views: 1723
There's a great divide between theory and practice. You get information from outside, and mental investigation enables you to understand it. But authentic knowing is far more than just understanding. The next step to mastery is to get your own experience, the energy you put into practice makes ... Views: 1589
Disappointed is not the word for it! Not at what his email contained, but at what it didn’t say.
Charles was a new friend, we'd met on a personal development course. He was American, I'm English Canadian, and we’d connected.
He told me he was a real estate investor. “I do it both for ... Views: 2482
The only thing that stops a spree shooter is a bullet. The sooner he gets that bullet, the less innocents and vulnerable children he gets to slaughter.
How long does Emergency Response Take?
The police do a difficult job, often in very difficult circumstances. David Thweatt, Superintendent ... Views: 1657
You disagree. Yet this exploration has found that there's nothing wrong in disagreeing with others, disagreement is entirely natural as well as very common. Although disagreements may be inevitable, understanding that they are not inherently irresolvable will change your life. The good news is ... Views: 1593
What do you actually know? is the age-old question of philosophers and statesmen. A good answer, but not the only answer, is that you know what you have learned and experienced in the past.
How can you know if you haven't learnt it, or remembered that experience? Which implies your mind only ... Views: 1570
Has America declared War on Assange and WikiLeaks?
The disclosures by Australian journalist Julian Assange and WikiLeaks have clearly upset America. Yet the right to expose shameful US government secrets is protected by the First Amendment's rights to free speech and press freedom.
As ... Views: 2475
Conventional Knowledge
The previous articles in this Personal Power series discussed some differences between the logic of the outer world and the intuition of the inner world. You've seen how something can be both right as well as wrong, rather than either right or wrong.
This resembles the ... Views: 1650
The effort you put into overcoming your self sabotage increases your personal power. If you allow the self sabotage mechanism to win, you feed it - which improves its inner strength and decreases yours. So whenever you just know you should do something, that's a great opportunity to increase ... Views: 1593
The value of goals, of knowing where you're going, was discussed in article #5 in this Change my Life series. And most people start by wondering what they should do, what should they change.
Change is vital because unless you make a change in your life, nothing will change in your life. You ... Views: 1835
Do Guns Kill - or Protect?
If guns are responsible for killing people, then spoons are responsible for making people fat, and beds are responsible for women becoming pregnant.
Such fallacious thinking may be behind fundamentalist Muslims insisting their women are covered from head to foot, ... Views: 1735
The simplistic answer to the Sandy Hook massacre is obvious: Just make all guns illegal. But is any law 100% effective?
Criminals don't obey the law. The UK experience from banning guns - the UK is now the violent crime capital of Europe according to the European Commission (see previous ... Views: 1725
How do you Make Up your Mind?
How do you make up your mind? Do you think things though for yourself? Or do you look at the person suggesting an idea, and ask yourself how well-known or how famous they are? Do you assume that their success in acting, or singing, or whatever makes them an instant ... Views: 1571
You saw that there are four important questions which you can ask yourself as you make a decision. Those questions, from the first in this Most Important Question series, are:
Do I feel like doing it?
Do I want to do it?
Is it me?
Do I want the results that doing it will bring?
Which ... Views: 1702
Self-defense is a basic right.* If someone attacks you, you have the right to defend yourself. Yet strict gun control regulations interfere with that right because ordinary citizens abide by the law while criminals acquire guns illegally. That leaves honest people at a distinct disadvantage - ... Views: 1947
Do Only What Works
To achieve the results you want, you need to do what works and not to do what doesn't work. And it's your job to ascertain which is which! Once you know the difference you'll be more effective in achieving your goals.
When you have experience in a field, it's natural to ... Views: 1636
Do you understand the information you've been given, or are you just informed about it? There's a crucial difference between being informed about something - just knowing about it - and understanding it.
Do you Just Have the Information?
When you've just received some information from ... Views: 1536
Thoughts can be seen as one of two types. Thoughts that just appear, random ones you haven't chosen to think. And thoughts that you choose to think. The first are generally far more numerous.
Normal thinking - random thoughts - bring the regular consequences which people experience much of ... Views: 1850
You always have a choice, they say. And they are right, you do have a choice, always! But not the one you think you have.
Some people look at their possible responses, asking themselves how to react in the situation; should they do this, or that, or the other? Do you ever wonder how it will ... Views: 1652
Where do thoughts come from? Do you have control over what you think? Sometimes, yes, but not always. Thoughts can just spin round and round, ignoring your screams of enough! Some seem to arrive from nowhere, and some thoughts come from your beliefs.
Change your Perspective
What are beliefs? ... Views: 1765
Does Banning guns solve the problem?
Does banning guns work to eliminate people's violence. The UK experience is instructive. Now Britain enforces a near-total ban on guns, the Telegraph reports that: "The United Kingdom is the violent crime capital of Europe and has one of the highest rates of ... Views: 1800
Along with most everyone, you want to be more successful. Yet success means different things to different people. The old adage suggests success is fame and fortune, and fame can indeed be seen as success.
It's even been speculated that the man who vandalised Michelangelo's Pietà statue in ... Views: 1778
Is your word to be trusted? How much of the time can your promises be relied on?
Perhaps your answer depend on who you make the promise to. For many people, giving your word to another person is more important than a commitment they make to themselves. They value the way other people see ... Views: 1946
You are right does not necessarily mean the person arguing is wrong! It just means they see things from another perspective!
Each person's context is different, because their parents, education, religious upbringing, and experiences are different. Along with their acceptance of social ... Views: 1736
This Personal Power series has explored some crucial distinctions. You've seen how personal power grows rather than being increased from outside. That gaining experience is a big secret of success. Just knowing about something won't change your life. The lasting benefit you gain by investing ... Views: 1553
The citizens of the USA - and of every country - need the Second Amendment's rights to protect themselves from rape and pillage by both government agents and common criminals. But who do you need more protection against? Which can inflict the most damage? Lone individuals or an out-of-control ... Views: 1612
Embracing change can be difficult. Along with everyone else, you like being right and you think that change means you must have been wrong.
Are You Wrong?
But is this true? Are the only choices right and wrong? What is an improvement, becoming more right? Recognize the secret of success - ... Views: 1091
Yet more strategies to improve your state and overcome a bad mood.
Inspire a Good Mood in Another
It only takes one person to initiate a bad mood which can then affect everyone around them. A single determined person may also inspire a good mood in others. You can change your life by ... Views: 1576
Do you have complete control over your mood?
You like to think you're a positive person, yet some days do you find that you're just in a bad mood? My mother used to call this getting out of bed on the wrong side. Now I don't know that the side of the bed has anything to do with it, but bad ... Views: 1550
Do you want to improve the results you achieve? Better understanding of your subconscious motivation is crucial to reduce self-sabotage and change your life. The ability to make effective decisions makes a big difference!
How to make effective decisions
How do you make decisions with the ... Views: 1771
Politicians benefit by pretending life is unfair
Life is not fair! complain envious citizens when they see someone with more than they have.
Life should be fair! says the politician, and I can fix the problem. Elect me and I'll ensure the law is changed to make it fair. There are many ... Views: 1820
What are the different steps to mastery? How do you become a Master?
Each step is different, yet they all require your time and energy, which is good news. Your efforts are not wasted - nature wastes nothing - they all increase your inner power.
The Five Steps to Mastery
The five steps to ... Views: 1563
Along with other liberals, President Obama believes that more stringent gun laws will make it more difficult for criminals to obtain firearms. Although banning guns does make it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to own them, their beliefs just ignore reality: Criminals don't get their guns ... Views: 1571
Making the right choices is a crucial secret of success in life. But how do you make the decisions you make?
How do You Make your Choices?
Some people muddle through without a viable strategy to give them the results they want. Then they're surprised when those results don't show up in their ... Views: 1365
Do What Works, and Don't Do what Doesn't Work is easily comprehended and provides enormous guidance. But it doesn't tell you what to do, that's where you come in. You need to make that decision.
Your job is to ascertain what works, and what doesn't work for you. Which means the secret of ... Views: 1521
Your Approach to Life
What's your approach to life? Do you first ensure that something is plausible? Are you generally gullible, cynical or skeptical?
You can be gullible, say yes and accept something without question. You can be cynical, say no and reject it without checking it out. Or you ... Views: 1621
The USA is not alone in facing this problem of mentally deranged individuals and criminals. Both Britain and Australia suffered mass shootings in the 1980s and 1990s, despite their already stringent gun laws. Both countries nevertheless decided that even stricter gun control was the most ... Views: 2405
You don't need me to tell you how stressful life can be. You experience stressful situations while attempting to navigate new relationships and learn new routines at home and work. It helps to understand how to reduce stress in the four stages of becoming competent as change your life by ... Views: 4751
Why are their Results so Different?
"What makes the difference in the results they achieve?" asked the instructor. She'd told us to assume two identically trained and equally capable lawyers have set up shop in opposite corners of the same town's main intersection. The woman lawyer has a ... Views: 1961
Government Failure? Or Government Oppression?
Citizens all across the world are increasingly recognizing the problem of government failure. Many governments are increasingly incompetent at that most fundamental of tasks: protecting their citizens from harm. From Tunisia in North Africa to Syria ... Views: 1777
Respond and responsible have the same Latin root [re 'again', spondere 'to promise']. You can respond when you take responsibility. This is a decision that you are accountable for your circumstances, which doesn't mean you're to blame.
Be Responsible
Without taking responsibility, you ... Views: 3298
The first article explained how Portia Nelson's outstanding poem, Autobiography in Five Short Chapters, identifies some of the difficulties to overcoming challenges in life, which she calls holes in the sidewalk.
Each situation you encounter can help you gain the inner power to overcome ... Views: 1419
As you saw previously in this Inner Motivation series, everybody has both a negative and a positive side to their character. The Cherokee Indians say you have a black wolf strenuously promoting the negative, and your white wolf gently advocating the positive. Following the black wolf has arduous ... Views: 1436
Stop Digging!
Not doing what doesn't work is a fundamental secret of success. This focus on effectiveness is behind the simple aphorism: If you're in a hole, then the first thing to do is to stop digging.
This is the natural law that many politicians in many countries just ignore, they run ... Views: 1553