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A plan to read is a plan to succeed

Photo by Brittney Weng on Unsplash

Reading is empowerment of a soul

In an earlier session, we learned that reading is a means of empowerment which provides us with countless ideas to develop a successful attitude and a successful mind. I wonder how many readers sat down and created a plan and then acted upon their plan.

Buy a book…don’t borrow one or expect one for free

To the ones who bought their books and read them – congratulations, you must have experienced a new world of ideas that gave you strength, wisdom, and motivation to change your inner and ultimately, your outer world. How can you possible put a price upon what you gain from the written word? Since I strongly believe (as well as others) that reading is a critical step to success, here’s yet another opportunity for me to climb back onto the soap box and write about the virtues of reading. 

Emotions lead to a sacred connection

The physical act of reading connects our inner self with our outer self and as a result, wondrous things manifest in this meeting between the two. As our eyes pour over the written text, our brain processes what we see and transfers those written words into emotions. We know that emotions are our sacred connection between the Source and our Self which guide creation in our lives. As such, these deep felt emotions are the impetus to change our thoughts and we then change our behaviors which then change our results.

Support your favorite author while you invest in your Self at the same time

I strongly encourage you to go out and buy the books written by your favorite authors rather than borrow them from a friend. Before you close your mind to this suggestion, consider what you are conveying to the universe when you borrow rather than buy that self-help book or novel. If you do not invest in your Self with your money, there is the perception that you are unable to do so. Hence, this is poverty thinking, thoughts of want, lack, and scarcity surround your decision and you can only receive more back of the same from our benevolent Creator. These thoughts are disempowering. 

Does borrowing a book lead to empowerment or entitlement?

Now, think about the opposite for a moment. What is the difference between borrowing and buying that printed marvel? When you use your money to buy the books that will change your life, you do so with thoughts of abundance, joy, and gratitude which can only result in returning the same back into your life. These thoughts are empowering.

Buying a book is a WIN WIN situation

And as you invest in your future, you are providing compensation for the writer who wrote their ideas and experiences down to help you and others to have a better life. In this case, both win. And let’s not forget the physical presence of a hundred or a thousand books on your book shelve. You are quite literally surrounded by wisdom and experience that you cannot ever experience in many lives and they are all at your very fingertips.

Books shape our future and our friends

In the end, it is the people we meet and the books we read that shape our future. When we embrace the written word we receive lasting changes which create a new life of wonder and excitement. So, don’t wait to create, create your plan to read now.

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Don’t let the ‘Right Now’ dilemma take control of your future

Photo by Eduardo Olszewski on Unsplash

Time is provided equally amongst the rich and poor, young and old, and educated or uneducated

It makes no difference if you are the richest or the poorest person, the happiest or the saddest person, or the most grateful or least grateful person walking on this earth, there is no getting away from the fact that we all have the same amount of time each day. While we all are given an identical amount of this precious commodity, it’s what we think about time that differentiates successful from unsuccessful people.

Time is not an evil roadblock to success…in reality, it is an ally and not an excuse to forfeit your dreams and goals

As you talk with your friends, most likely many express the fact that they have unfulfilled dreams and that TIME is the major factor that prevents them from achieving their dreams. They rationalize that TIME is the evil that builds roadblocks to their goals. As a result, as they think so they say and so they do:

I want to start an on-line business, however, ‘Right Now’ I work every week-end.

I really want to take my family on that special vacation, but, ‘Right Now’ I don’t have any spare time.

Time is malleable…it can and does accommodate the required hours to achieve your success

As these people think, and rightly so, they are creating and receiving all the conditions and circumstances to make their goals impossible to reach. They simply don’t realize that they are pushing their goals and their dreams farther away with their thoughts, words, and actions. What these same people do not understand is that time is elastic…it seems to accommodate what we want to get accomplished no matter what. Time is malleable IF we don’t believe in ill-thought up excuses.   

Singer-songwriter Harry Chapin believed most don’t take the risks required to achieve their success

The late singer-songwriter Harry Chapin believed that we should make the most of the time we have on this earth without any excuses. In an interview not long before his unfortunate death, he mentioned that many people go through life never taking any of the little risks. And since they shy away from the little risks, they miss the biggest risk of all – they haven’t tried everything they wanted and they find out that they have not lived a full life.        

Get out of bed a few minutes early every day and use that time to pursue your goals

If you want to write a book and work full-time and on week-ends as well, get up a half hour earlier each day and write a few pages. From my own experience, I wrote Voice of the Sage over several months by grabbing the short time I had before going to work and finishing my breakfast.

Set big goals and set the time to move towards your goals

After starting my day working on my goal, I was excited for hours; it was empowering. If you want to earn an on-line degree, sacrifice a set amount of time before dinner or bedtime to complete your assignments. I earned my PhD working full-time and writing a number of books by stealing an hour here and a half hour there.  

Manage your time efficiently to receive the dreams and goals you envision in your life

Like I managed to do, make the most of those few minutes that just slip away from you in your day-to-day living. And, over a few weeks or possibly months, you will see amazing results and have made progress to your goal even though you were never given any more time during your day. That’s how my twenty-plus books were completed…by taking a few minutes here and a few minutes there.