117. Being Human

In every situation, ask yourself "What is the human way to handle this ?" If your solution is causing unnecessary distress then it is not the right answer. Remember too that whoever is under a man's power is also under his protection. This is the responsibility of power.

116. Delayed Gratification

Learn the value of "Later!" Delayed gratification means delaying one good in the present time for the sake of a greater good in the future. Learning to delay your gratification as a child means that you will not become a broken, chaotic adult who is the slave of advertisers, banks and credit card companies.This is one powerful building block in the structure of your life plan and goal setting skills. A good challenge for today for you is to find at least six more equally powerful blocks and put them together to build yourself a pillar of wisdom.

115. Your Life is up to You

You are responsible for how you lead your life. You must take responsibility for your behaviour,thoughts, speech and actions. You cannot talk your way out of situations into which you have behaved yourself. You are not responsible for those things that happen exeternally. Things very often happen through no fault of your own. There are plenty of people who will try to blame you for these. You need to be very clear about which of these things are and are not your responsibility. Keep refining your clarity. Be particularly careful of your speech. Your speech is hugely influential. If you say things to people they very often will act on your words. When speaking, you must first be very clear in your own mind what it is you want to convey. Then formulate it in such a way that there is no ambiguity. Make any important distinctions as clear as possible and explain them in a logical manner. Finally, watch and listen at least twice as much as you speak.

You will be deeply affected by the relationships in your life but you can never blame your problems on anyone else. If, for example you have a problem with the way someone is treating you, it has arisen because you have, in some way, taught that person to treat you in this way.

If you are to succeed, you will encounter many failures on the way. This can be discouraging if you allow it to be. It need not be. You can seek support from those around you. This is one thing but you must not allow yourself to rely on some overly responsible individual to bail you out time and again from spiritual, emotional, financial or relational difficulties. To do so would be extremely unhealthy.

114. On the Popularity of your Work

(Even) if nobody likes your work, you have to go on - for the sake of the work. - Gustav Holst.

113. On writing

Write something every day - even if it is rubbish. Simply take on the projects you love and then let them go. - Debbie Wiseman, Film composer

112. The Habit of Excellence

Excellence is a habit. Practice asking yourself always "How could I have done this better ?"

111. Prioritise Your Committments

Whatever else you do about your promises (snd you should strive to keep them all), the promises you make to yourself take ABSOLUTE precedence over those made to others. "This above all else, to thine own self be true for it follows as night the day that thou cannot then be false to any man." - William Shakespeare.

110. The Role of Questions in the Art of Problem Solving

You will improve your ability to solve problems if you hone your skills at asking questions. Remember the 6 journalist's questions : Who, What, Why, When, Where and How. It is much more clever to ask "Is this the right question?" than to ask "Is this the right answer ?"

For each problem you face ask :

WHO:
hates it
has fun with it
fears it
cares about it
created it
is affected by it
wants to stop it
wants to perpetuate it
benefits from it
can help solve it
can hinder solving it
did stop it
loves it ?

WHY:
did it start
is it important
does it continue
this colour, shape, size design etc.
not leave it
does it not always happen
do people do it
do we need this ?

WHAT:
metaphors from nature/other disciplines can help
further problems willl solving this one cause
prejudice, preconceptions, paradigms affect my decisions here
generally what if...
is the real issue
are the underlying issues
solutions have we not tried
solutions have we tried
is the problem in essence
happens if we solve it
are the unconsidered possibilities ?

WHERE:
have I not looked
have I looked
does it happen
does it not happen
did it begin
does it end
else is this working
are the profits / pay-offs
is the deal
are the materials
are the ideas
are the people
else does this happen ?

WHEN:
can we get started
do we stop
can we expect results
can we get help
must we start
must it be resolved
did it start
does it happen
does it not happen
will the consequences be felt ?


HOW :
does it happen / not happen
can it be changed
can it be minimised / maximised
can we profit from it
can we sell the idea
can it be achieved
can it be prevented
does it affect the enviornment
does it affect me /us
can I know when this has been solved / resolved
does it work
can I view it from an unfamiliar perspective
can I get more objective information

109. Learning and Education Vs School

Leslie Hart found that "Final exams are final indeed." The authority-pleasing, question-suppressing, rule-following approach to education may have served to provide society with assembly-line workers and bureaucrats but it does not do much to prepare us for a new renaissance. Whatever you do, learn to THINK for yourself !

108. Leonardo's Notebook

At all times keep a Leonardo da Vinci type notebook about you to jot down your ideas etc. Keep drawings, notes and mind maps in it. Save them in a special place and you will always have them to refer back to in the future. They will continue to inform your thinking. Remember that your brain will improve with age if you use it properly. "The desire to know is natural to all good men." - Leonardo. Multiple perspectives yield deeper understandings.The creation and use of mind-maps is one of the most valuable tools you will have. Keep up the practice all your life. 

107. Art and the Arts

Throughout your life, always retain your love of the arts. Regularly visit art galleries and study the artists, their lives and their paintings. Likewise, study the theatre and the skills of acting and the craft of the playwright.

106. Meditation

Learn to meditate. Meditation is the cornerstone of the measured life. It is the foundation on which mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health and strength rests. In a world where everything appears to be spinning rapidly out of control, the very least that meditation will do for you is to keep you sane and centred. Meditation is the still centre to the potter's wheel. While you are still young begin the practice of meditating twice a day. This will be very natural to you and will keep your energies from going out of kilter. The Louise Hay You Can Heal Your Life Workbook is a very useful tool for keeping well.

105. Act Immediately

When you act the moment you find out that action is needed, and begin to practice this consciously and regularly, the habit of procrastination dies of starvation and no-one laments its passing.

104. The Law of Increasing Returns

Most people are familiar with the Law of Diminishing Returns. This states that after you reach a certain point in some situations the more you put in to a system, the less you get back. This point is called the point of diminishing returns and once you reach it, it is time to quit. Unlike this, however, the Law of Increasing Returns operates in the opposite fashion. Just as a farmer gains many more grains of wheat for every one sewn, for every service you render, you gain a multiple of that in return. This only works if it is done with the right mental attitude. If you do it unwillingly or resentfully or for your own profit you will gain nothing back. Only true givers gain.

This is another example of the indifferent action at work. If you do something simply because it needs to be done then it is clean and attracts no karmic energy either good or bad. This opens a path in your karma or sanskara, allowing pure consciousness to light your path. In contrast, a good action will attract good sanskara and a bad one will attract the bad. These clutter up the life and can make things difficult for you. Better to look for no reward unless you are working in a formal arrangement for pay.

103. Personal Initiative

Constantly practice going the extra mile. When you unwrap a box, put the paper in the bin before you do anything else. This is taking responsibility and is called personal initiative, a part of your personal power. You don't have to be told what to do when you have this quality.

102. Great Minds

There have been many great minds in the past. Many of them have left behind biographies and auto-biographies. Study these. Learn to think like them. Among these heroes are Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Alan Turing,Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Tony Buzan and Buckminster Fuller.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/turing/
http://www.turing.org.uk/turing/
http://www.turing.org.uk/
http://www.mos.org/leonardo/
http://litemind.com/how-to-think-like-leonardo-da-vinci/
http://www.bfi.org/
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/facts-on-thomas-edison.html
http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/edison.htm
http://www.thinkbuzan.com/ie/?utm_nooverride=1&gclid=CIy-lpHQnaMCFRQ8lAod60SbnQ
http://fi.edu/franklin/inventor/bell.html
http://www.alexandergrahambell.org/
http://www.alberteinstein.info/
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1921/einstein-bio.html

101. Intelligence drives the Universe

The process of making a watch requires a deliberate organised intelligence with a definite plan of action. So does the Universe and everything in it.

100. Selfishness

Impatience with others is a visible expression of selfishness and lack of self discipline. So too is a constant display of defeatism. You do no favours to anyone by harping on your recent misfortunes or those of your distant past.

99. Mental Attitude

You have complete right of control at all times over your mental attitude.Only you have this right. Others may and indeed will try to hijack it on you and try to manipulate you for their own purposes, usually to your great disadvantage.Do not permit this.

98. Budgeting and Time Management

Learn to budget both your time and your money. Make each moment count and lead you towards your objectives - not away from them.

Budget your money as this is the fuel you will use to reach your goals. Make sure you use it to your best advantage.

97. Purpose

Be clear about your purpose(s). Have a definite set of goals and aims. Keep them clearly in view at all times. Do not allow yourself to be deflected from your path.

If you do this you will have :

* Self Confidence
* Self Reliance
* Self Discipline
* Personal Initiative
* Imagination
* Enthusiasm
* Concentrated Effort.

96. Vocabulary

It is vital to amass a large vocabulary. Words are tools. The more words you collect, the more jobs you can do. For the purposes of generating wealth, the greater your business vocabulary, the greater your earning potential. Apart from the clinical, intellectual knowledge of the meaning of your words, it is important that you learn to feel the emotional and physical import of the words that you acquire. Average vocabularies are in the 9,000 word range and this is more than adequate for most purposes (e.g a working knowledge of a foreign language). William Shakespeare is said to have had 30,000. The more words you can acquire, the finer the distinctions you can make. Vocabulary then is a gateway to raising your I.Q.

95. Learning, Meditation, Prarers, Answers

You have within you the greatest Teacher there is, your own Higher Self. This Self is always with you, whether or not you feel it or are aware of it. When we go inside in meditation and ask for guidance, truth, support, love, encouragement or strength, they begin to come to us in the right way.This is not always the way we (our egos) think they should.

94. On Guilt about being Wealthy

Always remember that God loves the rich and the poor equally.

93. Winning Formula

Once you find your winning formula for life work it hard but don't be surprised if some day it stops working for you. Principles are eternal, formulae are not. Not this kind anyway. Things change and what worked well ten years ago may not work today. If this should happen to you, it does not mean that you are a failure or that your formula was wrong, it just means that things have changed. Always recognise the possibility and have plans B,C,D,E and F in place. Remember too that the good is often the enemy of the best and by working blindly to a good formula, you can be missing out on the best one that's right under your nose !

92. True Education

If your true education begins once you leave the formal teaching enviornment then make sure you become a life long learner. Always have some educational project on hand. Keep books and notes in your car, keep tapes and discs with good content with you and be aware of the documentaries of interest to you coming up on t.v. Engage in courses and workshops where appropriate. Be discriminating and pick only the best; design your own curriculum every year. Avoid the trap of becoming a "workshop junkie" attending every "seminar" provided by the strolling players who populate the new age lecture circuit. Only go to the ones you know will be useful.

91. Banish the Fear

Banish forever the fear of making mistakes. Otherwise you will never want to do anything or try anything new and your life will close down to a miserable, narrow band of experience.

90. Intelligence

How do you define Intelligence?

The best working definition I have found so far for intelligence is the ability to make finer and finer distinctions. The moment we can divide a subject in two, we have increased (doubled) our intelligence with respect to that subject. If we keep dividing, our intelligence keeps increasing. This is called Quantum Learning.

89.Liberal Arts Education and Scientific Education.

The value of a liberal arts college education or a scientific education is that they make you think ! They train the mind to think clearly and logically.

88. The Purpose of Your Financial Education - Your Financial I.Q.

Your financial education is a tool box that allows you to convert the maximum possible percentage of the money you earn by working at your profession into capital that will provide you with life-long wealth and security.

The purpose of educating yourself financially is to raise your Financial I.Q.

Financial I.Q. is not about how much money you make but about how much you keep and for how long and how hard it works for you.

You know that your Financial I.Q. is increasing when your money is buying you more freedom, happiness, health, fun and choices in life than before. The reason people say that money is power is that it gives you more choices.

Remember, the more you NEED money, the less power you have. You have power over money - never become a slave to it.

It is a grave mistake too, to ever think of yourself as poor. If you have no money, you are merely broke. Being broke is temporary, being poor is eternal. Remember this because it is a very important distinction.

Never say "I can't afford it." Rather, you should ask yourself "How can I afford it?" This has the effect of forcing your mind to focus on the solution, not the problem an to think for its self. The other way leads the mind to accept the statement and give up trying.

87. Success and what causes it

Success is the result of Good Judgment.
Good Judgment is the result of Experience.
Experience is often the result of Bad Judgment.

This is quite true but don't let it be the excuse for repeated bad judgment. Make sure that you learn from every mistake !

86. True Decisions

The word decision comes from Latin. De = from + cidere = cut. The meaning is to cut oneself off from all other possibilities. Burn your boats. A decision will only be true if it is made in this spirit. When your boats are burned, the only way left to you is forward. When you make a true decision, there is no possibility of failure. This is the difference between being a strong minded leader and being weak minded and ineffectual. Your life is shaped by the decisions you make. All your decisions should be conscious. i.e. you should be fully aware of the things you are comitting to and the consequences involved whenever you take a decision. Make decisions often.

85. Setting Your Standards

If you don't set a baseline standard for what you'll accept in your life, you'll find it easy to slip into attitudes and behaviours for a quality of life that is far below what you deserve. A good place to start is to list all your values and then sort them by priority. E.g. do you value Love more than Friendship or Wealth etc. ?

83. Life is not a Rehersal

Boris Pasternak once said: "Man is born to live and not to prepare to live." The way to do this in practice is to come fully into the present moment and still the mind.

82. Master Your Finances

Know that you deserve financial wellbeing right through your whole life. You deserve an early long and wealthy retirement or a long series of mini retirements. The date on which you retire is a function of the level of Passive Income you achieve - not a function of your age. Once your passive income (derived from your assets and investments, not from your labour) exceeds your expenses, then you can retire. To learn these principles, you need to read all of Robert Kiyosaki's books, visit his website and play as many games of MONOPOLY and CASHFLOW 101 and CASHFLOW 202 as possible. Play them regularly with your Mastermind Group (See Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. http://www.richdad.com/default.aspx, https://www.richdad.com/Richdad/RDBlog/RDBlog.aspx?TopicID=13

81. Engage Fully

Whatever you do, do it fully; do not dabble

80.Heroes

Find good heroes and never lose them or your faith in them. People love to destroy heroes. This is the well-known Irish art of Begrudgery. Do not listen to tales of your hero's human failings. If you lose your heroes and become cynical, you will have nowhere to turn when things get tough. Let your teachers be heroes and your heroes be teachers. Study the lives of great men and women. Draw inspiration from the speeches that have changed the world. Find your own heroes but you may have some of mine : Padraig Pearse, Winston Churchill, Deepak Chopra, Countess Markievicz, Violette Tzabo,Alan Turing, Napoleon Bonaparte, Edward Hopper, Mahatma Gandhi, Catherine de Medici, Leonardo Da Vinci, Buckminster Fuller, Richard Feyneman, Warren Buffett, Anthony Robbins, Paul Golden, Chuck Mellon, Joe Williams, Noel Coward and many more. Here are some links :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es6NIt-Oye8,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkTw3_PmKtc&feature=related, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7OBTiyMoSE, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z8u313eY_c&feature=related, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srSbAazoOr8&feature=related,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHT3phgAurQ, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ9ar3X_u1k

79. Standards

Regularly raise your standards. Change what you demand of yourself. This is the practice of kaizen or C.A.N.I. - constant and never-ending imptovement. By making tiny improvements every day,(1% or less), you will over time make huge changes. It is well worth while.You will also need to change your beliefs in order to support your new standards.

78. Envy Not the Wealth of Others

Do not look into the bank accounts of those others who are richer than you. Do not envy them their wealth. Rather, you should fill your own accounts from your investments and earnings. Keep your financial plan in front of you and keep to it.

77. Optimism

Always be optimistic. No matter how much you learn and know, you will never learn enough to be pessimistic.

76. Decision to be the best you can

Decide here and now, once and for all time, to never again settle for less than you can be. Remember that a true decision cuts you off from all other possibilities. Burn your boats !

75. Pain and Misery are Unnecessary

Pain and Misery are completely unnecessary and finally end for good when you take full charge of your beliefs, feelings and actions.

74. 3 Important Questions to Ask of Yourself

1. How can I take immediate control of my life ?
2. What can I do today, right now, that will make a real difference ?
3. How can I expand, grow and learn and then share that knowledge with others in a meaningful way ?

73. Concentration of Power

Controlled focus is like a laser beam that will cut through anything that seems to be stopping you. A laser beam is a beam of coherent light. i.e. light whose waves are all vibrating at the same frequency and in the same direction of polarisation. Coherence of mind or "joined up thinking" as it is sometimes called allows you to create a project that will do what it is supposed to do and not fall apart before the job is finished.

72. Charity and Bequests

Whoever leaves money in his will to charity is only giving away what no longer belongs to him. It is good to leave money to charity in your will but it is better to give time money and effort to good causes while you are alive.

71. Omission

Every man is guilty of the Good he didn't do!

70. Morality and Religion

All sects are different because they come from men; morality is everywhere the same because it comes from God.

69. Conscience, Buddhi

The safest course for a man in this life is to do nothing against one's own conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear of death. Therefore it is good to refine your conscience, to polish Buddhi.

68. Absurdities and Atrocities

Voltaire was quite right when hw said "Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities." There are many persuasive types out there in religions, cults, political parties and fascist movements. Beware of them - Don't let them mess with your head. Worst of all are the purveyors of crackpot religions. It has been said that man never does evil more cheerfully or more willingly than when he does it in the name of religion.

67. Giving

The more you give away to help provide for the basic needs of all human beings, whoever they may be, the more you will receive in return.

The more you do nothing but expound on how terrible things are, the more nothing comes bac to you by way of an empty feeling of powerlessness.

The choice is always yours. Here is a link to a video about choice : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTUKHMlbYGA

66. Your Purpose in Life

We are all beings in search of purpose. You are here for a reason or series of reasons. Find out what they are and fulfill them

65. Your (and everyone's) Higher Needs

Always look to your higher needs and values. Keep uppermost in your mind your need and quest for :

* Truth
* Beauty
* Justice
* Love
* Peace
* Enlightenment
* Joy

This is a good list of values and it is in a good order. You could do worse than to start off with these. A very useful exercise when making plans for your life (About every 5 years or so) is to list your values and then prioritise them - that is to say for example ask do you value Love more than Beauty or Wealth ? If so put Love as your No. 1 priority. As you get older, these prioities may change a little but the values themselves will be part of who you are. It is good to aspire to these things but not in a selfish way. These are benefits we should wish for all mankind, not just ourselves. We attain them by practicing them and this makes them available for all.

64. Love Thyself

Learn to love yourself, to love who you are. Always be happy in your own company. Remember that those who cannot stand to be alone, usually hate the one they are with. As a good practice seek out solitude for Meditation and Reflection.

63. Sense of Humour (Laughter is the best medicine)

Develop and keep on developing your sense of humour because if you are laughing, you cannot be growing a tumour.

62. Look to this Day

Look to this day.
For it is the very Life of Life
In its brief course
Lie all the verities of your existence,
The glory of action,
The bliss of growth,
The splendour of beauty.
For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision,
But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore to this day.

61. A Good Definition of Discipline

Dr. Wayne Dyer defines discipline as an inner Code of Ethics, something for you to internalise and use in order to be an effective, intelligent, moral no-limit person. It has nothing to do with external "discipline", crime, punishment or criticism of how you yourself or others behave. True discipline always comes from within. To this end, learn to always do what is true to who you are inside rather than going along with what others are doing.