On April 14 1865 two men made decisions to walk into a bar.  One wanted to just have a drink because he was bored and the other needed a drink because he wanted to calm his nerves.The bored man just wanted an escape.  He just wanted a break from his thankless job.  The other man knew he had a job to do but wanted to kill time.  He was working with others and they had planned on a certain time to fulfill their obligations.  While the bored man continued to drink and talk with patrons the other man paid his tab and left.

We need to understand that what ever we do and say today is the direct result of what we have thought about for the last five or ten years. It is a result of the books, magazines, T.V. Shows, radio programs, mp3’s, and websites that we have spent time feeding to our mind. The seeds planted deep in our souls are where our words and deeds come from. If those seeds are planted in a fertile field they will grow to their full potential. But if those seeds are planted in bad soil they will drag us down and we will never see our God-given potential.

In the bible we are told to think on the good things of life. Philippians 4:8 says, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” When we think about the best things we see our God-given purpose lived out in our lives. But when we switch those things around, when we begin to think about things that are false, poor, wrong, dirty, hateful, unworthy, bad, and blaming. We can literally destroy ourselves beginning with our mind first.

You are the master of your mind. You are the gate-keeper of the information that flows in and what thoughts are developed. By analyzing every thought and by governing what you put in your mind you can quite literally make a conscious decision about your thoughts. You can decide what you think about . Once you decide what you are going to think about you will begin to move in the direction of your thoughts.

So What Happens? What happens when we begin to see some small success then poof we are back doing the old job we swore we would never do again? When we snatch defeat out of the jaws of success it means that we have started thinking about why we can’t do something. We begin to see all the reasons not to make the phone call or not to write what needs to be written, or do what need to be done.

How do we stop the bad thinking?

Start reading and turn off the T.V. Find good books and immerse yourself in them. Buy Success videos to watch when you are working with the T.V. on or buy cds or mp3s to use if you have the ability to use them instead of your T.V.

Get motivated. Listening to the right things and reading the right books will help you get and stay motivated. Get away from negative friends. If they do not believe in what you are doing then you don’t need to be around them. You know more people than you think and those people who may be on the fringe of your friend list may be the people who you need to be around.

Think about what you are saying to yourself. Really ask the better questions. Don’t ask, “Why do I always fail,” ask “How can I succeed at this” or, “What do I need to do to succeed.” You have everything in you to succeed at what you are meant to do. Don’t give up and you won’t fail.

One of the best times for me to get things done is when I am alone on a personal retreat.  I usually take one day every three to four months and go away to think, dream, plan, and write.  I get a hotel room either here in Jacksonville, or close by so I do not have the stress of driving far.  This time away helps me get out of my familiar surroundings and open up my mind for new ideas.

So how do you do this?

1. Plan ahead.  Know where you are going.  Like I said I go on short trips for my get aways.   If you are going somewhere unfamiliar then make sure you have driving directions before you leave.  Get your hotel reservations made in advance.  I use La Quinta Inn’s and no I am not getting paid to write this.  From my experience La Quinta has some of the lowest rates and best hotels at least around here.  $45 per night a lot of time.

2. Set your agenda.  What do you want to get done?  By asking yourself this question and writing out what you want to do you will get more done than if you just show up.  My writing agenda looks like this.

• Arrive and relax – first thirty minutes.
• research – thirty minutes to one hour
• break 15 minute
• write thirty minutes to one hour
• supper and unwind one to two hours
• read or listen to something motivational 30 minutes (this usually spurs and idea or two)
• write thirty minutes to one hour or until tired.  ( I am a night person so I do more at night.  If you are a morning person get rest now and start writing more in the morning)

3. Don’t turn on the TV.  I have turned the TV around before if I thought I was going to try to watch it.  If nothing else unplug it so you are not tempted.  If you turn it on you will get nothing done.

4. Take what you want to drink with you. This may sound simple or just to picky, but if you take bottled water or soda with you will not have to leave the room to go looking for a vending machine if you get thirsty in the middle of what you are doing.  I even take snacks and sometimes sandwich stuff so I can stay secluded as long as I want. Besides, it will save you some money.

5.  Don’t go down rabbit holes. By this I mean don’t follow every link on the internet when you are researching.  I can waste a couple of good hours just following links to every affiliate program squeeze page around.  Just make a conscious effort to stay on topic and not to get lost looking for the next big thing.

While this is an easy list, it is also one that many of you know you have left off one of these things and wasted and entire evening or lost your train of thought never to get back that one good idea.  Plan ahead, stay focused, and accomplish everything you need to.

When I quote the title for Rick Pitino’s book, Success Is a Choice I can get anything from agreement to heated debate.  In our culture today mediocrity is the norm.  We are told every day by the news that we don’t have to strive for anything better because it is not our fault we are in the condition we are in.  It is the democrats, republicans, Christians, gays, big government, stock market, boss, virus, coworker, spouse, police, lawyers, credit card companies, Wall Street, Wal-Mart, guy next door, public schools, home schoolers, psychiatrist… You get my point?  It is OK to blame anyone we choose; except ourselves.  You make a choice to settle for mediocrity.  Yes I understand there are circumstances like complete handicaps, but if you think about it most handicap people strive for success more than non-handicap people.  The Paralympics, and the Special Olympics are a testament to the success of the handicap community.  They refuse to settle for mediocrity.  They could use their handicap and say, “I can’t because I’m not able”, but they don’t.  Do you?  Do you say, “I Can’t?”  do you make excuses for not giving it your all each and every day?  Stop making excuses and start doing what you sere called to do.  If you can hear, use your hands, and read just a little, you can succeed in your own way.

Make new friends.  “But I like my friends.”  Are your friends encourages, do they build you up, do they dream about success with you?  If they don’t then you need to get around people who do.  Find people that are doing what you want to do then start hanging out with them to find out how they do it.  If your current friends are always pessimistic then you need to get around positive people.  If everyone you know are negative then buy some books and cd’s of positive people.  Burn the cd’s into mp3′s and carry them around on a mp3 player.  Listen to positive talk as much as you can.  This will begin to penetrate your thoughts, and soon you will begin to see a difference. three great resources are:The Power Of Positive Thinking The, The Magic of Thinking Big, and Think on These Things: Meditations for Leaders. Fill your mind with the positive images in these three resources and you will see a difference in your attitude and how you think about your world.

Take time to think.  “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, your right,” Henry Ford. Think about what you loved to do as a child, think about what you would do if money were no object, think about what you look forward to retirement to do.  These things will give you insight to your calling in life.  I believe every person was created for a reason.  My wife knew from the time she was eight years old what she wanted to be and spent every waking hour thinking about that and did everything required to accomplish that goal. 

Don’t get hung up on money.  You don’t have to be rich to be successful.  What you have to do is what you were designed to do.  When you do this all the money you need will come.