Never Focus on the Money: Focus on Your Higher Purpose and Contribution

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People fail far too often in the working world because they focus too much on the money they earn at their jobs. The money you are paid is generally commensurate with your contribution to something more important, more meaningful, and much larger than yourself. When you focus on what you are doing for the world and the value of this contribution, you become energized. Being energized by your work brings more and better work your way and ultimately leads to greater earnings. The money is a by-product of your contribution to your job. You generally will be paid at a rate matching your contribution to the bigger picture.

What is your particular contribution to the bigger picture? Every job makes a contribution to a bigger picture.

I started delivering papers when I was 10 years old. By the time I was 13, I was getting up at 5:00 every morning to deliver more than 175 papers in a prestigious suburb of Detroit. High-ranking auto executives lived in most of the houses. When I delivered these papers, I found myself energized by the thought I was providing them information they would be using to help run companies that supported the American economy, provided millions of jobs, and gave people access to transportation. In a small way, I realized, in this job I was fulfilling a larger purpose.

Some years later, I took a second job washing dishes in a cafeteria. I motivated myself in this job by thinking if not for my work, hundreds of people each night might go hungry. I was also providing people enjoyment when they sat down for dinner, I was helping families spend more time together, and I was making the world a happier place. This motivated me to do good work, and it made me happy.

Whatever you do, there is a higher purpose to your work, and your job is fulfilling a role that is changing the world and making a contribution. Money is just money. When you focus on the money, you lose track of the importance of the contribution you make. My career advice is to find the importance in your contribution and use this to inspire your job performance.

Don’t focus on money if you want to do well in your job. In the same way a person must focus on his or her relationship in order to have a successful one, a person must focus on his or her work in order to be successful at it. Focus on your job and your performance–nothing else. If you can do this, the money will follow.

It is easy for me to spot people whose eyes are on the money and not the job. These people are in every profession and they never have long-term success. Having a larger purpose is incredibly important, and money is not a larger purpose.

The issue I see with people who always focus on the money is that they are constantly interrupting their work to consider if they are getting the short end of the stick. They are extremely concerned about their compensation relative to others. They wonder whether or not their efforts are being adequately compensated every step of the way. They are overly concerned about the accuracy of each paycheck. Their focus on their work is perpetually distracted by an interest in the money, rather than the job.

If you were an employer, who would you want to have working for you? Someone who is committed and enthusiastic about the job? Or someone who appears to be doing the work just for the money?

Several years ago, I was speaking with a young CIA agent and he told me about a meeting he was getting ready to have with a senior agent. The senior agent told him the person they were going to speak with was very dishonest, untrustworthy, and an all-around bad person. However, the agents would be nice and would treat the target nicely. They would only accomplish their assignment if the target were to see them this way. The senior agent said something to the younger agent he thought so profound he remembered it throughout his career:

“Don’t ever think something or else you will show it.”

Basically, the second you start thinking something, you will begin telegraphing your thoughts. People will begin to pick up on it through nonverbal signals, facial expressions, and body language.

Have you ever had the experience of being able to tell something about someone without speaking to the person? You just get a feeling about something. Who knows how we pick up on it, but we do.

When you are focused on the money, you put your purpose in the job on the back burner in favor of your obsession with how much you are going to make. People easily pick up on this–employers, clients, and others. This is one of the worst things you can do in any job.

At the risk of becoming overly metaphysical, I would like to share a quick side story with you. I was at a dinner once discussing this exact topic of people picking up clues about others through nonverbal communication. The person I was talking with had a background in engineering and the study of energy, and he too was interested in this subject. He told me there is a gland in the brain–the pituitary gland–that for some strange reason has almost the exact same cellular structure as our eyes. He told me he believes people pick up on information using this. He believed this has something to do with how humans pick up signals from the world around them when they are babies.

This may seem like bizarre thinking, but I do believe when people are more concerned with their salary than their work, the people around them pick up on it. You should push any concerns you have about your compensation out of your mind, and focus on your work and your work’s greater purpose. The greater purpose of your work is something that deserves your attention. Regardless of what type of work you do, it has a greater purpose. People will pick up on your passion and will want to work with you.

Every single person I’ve ever known in our company who is outstanding at what he or she does has always focused on the greater purpose of his or her work. Every single attorney I know who is outstanding at his or her job has always focused on the work and not the reward. Get into what you do and realize your higher purpose.

Agree? Disagree? I don’t care, please tell me what you think by commenting below. I give free stuff away every week to the most thoughtful commenters on my site!

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Related posts: Focus on Other Geographic Areas to Get Your Job Search GoingConcentrate on Your ContributionYou Need to Bring a Singular Focus to Everything You DoThe Importance of Productivity, Focus, and MeasurementThe Greater Your Purpose, the Greater the Obstacles You Will FaceThe Focus of the Group You Are in Determines the Kind of Person You BecomeSummary In this article, Harrison explains the importance of realizing the greater purpose in the work you do. One of the greatest causes of failure in the work world is when your focus diverts from your contribution to the money you are earning. You need to understand the larger purpose for which you have been hired. The money you are paid for your job is generally commensurate with your contribution to something more important, more meaningful, and much larger than yourself. The secret to success then will be having a higher purpose to your work and being energized by your work which would ultimately bring more and better work and lead to more money.

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A Simple Guide for a Mindful Digital Life

‘Two thoughts cannot coexist at once: if the clear light of mindfulness is present, there is no room for mental twilight.’ ~ Nyanaponika There

Ever feel like you’re two different people?

You get up in the morning, eat your breakfast, and go to work. You go out with your friends and hang out with your family. Maybe you read a book before going to bed. On the weekends, you try to get out of the house – go for a hike in the woods or visit some relatives. This is the physical you.

Of course, between all these experiences, you also exist online writing emails, browsing the web, updating your blog, and ordering pizza. This is the digital you. Fifteen years ago, the two almost never collided, but today, the digital world has expanded far beyond what we ever thought it would. The digital connects us instantaneously to the physical via maps, apps, and GPS devices. We even manipulate our physical world now to better interface with the digital.

Two worlds that once existed exclusively have serendipitously collided. It’s a wonderful time to be alive.

But what about the spaces and gaps? There are still plenty of opportunities online to hide who you really are in the physical world and vice versa. The two worlds are merging, but only because we’re striving to merge them.

So how do we, as mindful humans, bridge these gaps? How do we:

Connect the dots between our worlds in a way that propels us forward without overwhelming us with technology?Shine a light on who we really are, but protect our identities and right to privacy?Share with the world, but only what’s appropriate for the world to see?

I say the simplest answer is to find the bonds that already exist and focus on them until they define us, ignoring the rest. Here’s how I do that. Take what works for you and leave the rest.

In the quest to bring my own physical and digital worlds together more harmoniously, the first question I have to answer is, “Who do I want to be?”

There’s the argument that you simply are who you are, but I reject that idea. Yes, you are a product of your environment, but as a free being, you get to change your environment if you choose. In the physical world, this is often impossible to do. As a child, you don’t get a choice in where you grow up. For many, this is still the case, even as adults, due to social and economic injustice.

But, in the digital world, you get to decide exactly who to be, where to go, and how to behave. This can be problematic if you try to create an entirely new persona (it’s a dishonest and unsustainable representation of yourself), but when wielded skillfully, it can propel the real you to new heights. Rather than create a whole new you, create the best you. Choose the traits you like about yourself, and exemplify them online. Let the less attractive qualities fall by the wayside. Place yourself in a digital environment that will allow you to flourish.

When I focus on creating an improved digital version of me, I find those qualities actually start to carry over into my physical self.

This is so important for relationships, too. The people you surround yourself with online and offline are who you will end up like. Don’t leave this to chance; be mindful of the friends you keep.

When I decided that I’m going to convey my best self to the digital world, I needed a place to do it from. I needed a digital home – my own little spot on the web that I own.

There are dozens of places like Facebook, About.me, and others that offer a simple way to do this, but I don’t think they’re the best choices for a mindful digital persona because services like this come and go and often have limitations that don’t serve you well. Instead, set up your own very simple website that tells the story of you. Use your real name for the domain or a variation of it if that’s not available. Here are a few people who’ve done this well:

You wouldn’t set up your home in someone else’s space or send people to your neighbors to find out about you in the physical world, so why do it in the digital world? Part of leading a mindful life is understanding that the digital and physical worlds may be different places, but they operate the same way because they’re both run by us.

If you ask, “Why do I need a website if I have no aspirations online?,” my answer is that, if you have aspirations at all, then you have aspirations online. Even if you opt-out of participating in the digital world, your online identity still exists in parallel, you’re just not in charge of it.

Be mindful of the digital world and proactive about creating the best you possible.

The digital world is fast paced. I see new trends come, go, develop, and evolve at a frightening speed, and if I try to follow everything, I get overwhelmed. To keep up with something new, I have to clear space by eliminating something else. A good practice, but if I don’t do it intentionally, I end up abandoning great resources for sure failures. On the other hand, if I dig my heels in and refuse to develop my digital self, I’ll end up old and isolated, frightened by technology.

What we need is a mindful approach to developing our online presence. If my personal website is my digital home, then my social networking profiles on Facebook and Twitter, etc. are my embassies. Embassies exist to maintain relationships with “distant lands” and to act as an outpost for people who want to connect outside my home base, not rule my life by commanding my attention.

Focus on the essential. Cultivate your ties in social networks where it makes sense and is beneficial, but don’t let them become second homes. Having many homes adds clutter to your digital world just as it does in your physical world. Remember: it’s Facebook’s job to serve you, not the other way around.

Just like life in the physical world, digital life is a process, and it’s hard to move forward if I’m being weighed down by things from my past that no longer serve me.

If my house gets too full, I have to get rid of things in order to live comfortably again. If I make too many appointments or double-book myself (I do this more often than I like to admit), I have to kindly cancel a few. These rules are just as true online.

Delete your old social networking profiles. Set yourself free to discover new digital societies.Toss out your old work that’s still online. If you’ve created things on the web that no longer tell the story of who you are or want to be, delete them. Don’t mourn the loss of your creations; celebrate the transition to a new era.Stop visiting news sites and feeding on the latest apocalypse. I threw out my TV two years ago and it was the best decision I ever made. I let my friends tell me what’s going on. It makes them feel like an important part of my day and frees my mind to work on more creative things.Unsubscribe from newsletters. Go through your email and unsubscribe from every newsletter you get.Open your feed reader and delete every blog. If it turns out you miss something, go and add it back.

Get comfortable with shedding your past lives and evolving into new ones. Reinvent yourself on a regular basis and watch your digital and physical worlds collide in a way that only a deliberate and mindful approach could orchestrate.

If you want to go even deeper, here are a few tools I like to use to integrate my physical and digital lives in the simplest ways possible:

1Password: A quick and easy way to organize passwords that keep your physical self safe in the digital worldRescueTime: Works as training wheels to stay focused on what’s important when distractions are everywhereDropBox: One place in the digital world where I can keep everything my physical self needs, no matter where I am.Google Docs: Simplify your workspace and create from anywhereTungle.me: Easily manage appointments for your digital and physical selfGoogle Alerts: Don’t waste time searching the web; let the information come to you

Read more from Tyler at his digital home, Advanced Riskology, or have his thoughts delivered straight to your frontal lobes by subscribing to his newsletter.
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The Little Habits

‘Powerful indeed is the empire of habit.’ ~Publilius Syrus

It’s amazing how big a difference a little thing can make. Starting your day mindfully with some tea, for example, can change your entire day. Clearing your desk will make your work day amazing. A smile from a loved one can mean the world.

And when these little things are repeated daily, and formed into habits, their benefits increase not just by multiples but by exponents.

The little habits can be life-changing.

Everyone’s world-changing little habits will be different, but I’ll share a few of mine, and then some tips for forming them.

I have lots of little habits, but these are a handful of my favorites:

Get-in-the-door ritual. Whenever I get home, the first thing I do is put my stuff away. I have a designated spot for my keys, cash/cards (I don’t use a wallet), phone, and coins. Everything else either gets tossed or put wherever it belongs. If we brought something home like groceries or library books, those get put away, right away. This is an important little ritual because even people who have simplified their homes notice that possessions and junk can build up over time — and that starts with what you bring in. It’s no use simplifying and organizing if it just gets cluttered and disorganized every time you come home.Put clothes away. It’s so simple, but when I take clothes off, they either go in the hamper or I fold them & put them in my drawer or hang them in the closet. Others drape them over chairs or throw them on the floor or bed, and sorting through them later becomes a major chore. By doing it right away, things stay organized and I don’t have to worry about cleaning up later.Wash my bowl. When I finish eating, I wash my dishes by hand, mindfully. No mess to clean up later. Read more.Prepare meals in advance. This is important when I’m trying to stick to an eating plan. Cooking your own meals is the healthiest (and most frugal) choice, but if you have to cook three to six times a day, it’ll get too cumbersome and you’re likely to give up. So I prepare my food in bulk (for 3-6 days in advance), and eat the same meals all week. It’s no harder than cooking smaller meals. I only make food that I adore, so I don’t get bored. It’s super easy to stay on a meal plan this way.Just step out the door. My motto for exercise. Most people have a hard time with motivation to do workouts, but not me. First of all, I only do workouts I love, so I actually look forward to them. But second, I never think about how I don’t feel like doing a workout — because I tell myself that all I have to do is get on my shoes and get out the door. The rest flows naturally.Clear distractions. When I’m ready to do a task, I clear all distractions. Small action, huge difference.Take a walk & reflect. Taking a short walk is such a simple thing to do — you can do it during your lunch break, or take a break when you’ve been working for a couple hours straight. It only needs to be 10-20 minutes. But oh boy, what a world of difference. Not only does the walk relieve stress and clear your head, it gives you an opportunity to reflect on what you’ve been doing, and reflection is one of the most important tools for changing your life.Breathe. When I get stressed, I simply breathe.

I’ve written about habits numerous times before, but here’s an easy guide to forming a little habit:

Do one habit at a time.Make it easy to do.Do it consciously, very consciously at first.Don’t allow any exceptions.Post your progress publicly.Keep doing it, every single day.Enjoy the habit.

Forming a habit can be easy, if you enjoy it, take it slowly, and do it mindfully.

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Are you Relentless in your pursuit of success?

You want to be successful. But what are you prepared to do to create that success? Are you relentless? That is to say, you just keep going when times are tough? There will be difficult times, that you can be assured.

I heard a funny joke a while ago and I think it is relevant to share it with you here. It has a lot to do with the persistence. Here it is:

A duck waddled in a bar and the barman said: "do you have a wheat?"

The bartender was quite taken aback by a talking duck but said: "No."

The duck asked again: "Got a wheat?"

The bartender again replied in the negative.

So, the duck asked again: "Got a wheat?"

Now got the bartender angry. "No. We don't have a wheat and if you ask me again I'll nail your invoice to the bar.

The duck blinked then said: "you've got nails?"

The bartender rolled his eyes and cried: "No. We have not all nails! "

The duck blinked again and said: "do you have a wheat?"

I know it's a stupid joke only demonstrate my point. In many ways, you should have the persistence of the duck.

Have you ever witnessed a child want something? They ever mining waste? They are single minded in what they want and will tell you and over again. "I want ... I want to... I want ... " Often they get what they want, because it is easier to submit for a parent than the relentless requests resist. Most children are like this.

Somewhere along the way from child to adult we lose our tenacity. Maybe it's the "conditioning" we received by consistently told "no!" Maybe we just lazy.

Some people refuse to accept defeat. Maybe they are also those who refuse to give their child-like tenacity. These people are not co-incidentally, the performers in life. They will not be stopped. They find a way through, around, above and below obstacles.

Obstacles will always be presented to you, how you deal with them will determine your level of success.

Is relentless can bring you success. Only eight children.

This article comes with reprint rights no changes are made and the resource box below together.

About the author: Gary Simpson is the author of eight books on a wide range of issues such as self-esteem, confirmations, self defense, finance and many more. His articles appear on the Web. Gary's e-mail address is budo@iinet.net.au. Click here to go to his Motivation & self esteem for success Web site where you are receiving can "Zenspirational Thoughts" plus an instant free copy of his critically acclaimed, life-changing e-book "The Power of Choice."

Finding a Job in a Down Market

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I made a video recently called “Job Search Secrets for a Recession,” which discussed the best way to locate a position during a recession. In my experience, the best way to find a job is and always has been to approach the widest variety of employers possible.

There is another aspect to finding a job in a down economy, however, which is even more important: your own psyche. The psychological aspect of finding a job is what slows most people down in their search. People get depressed and stop taking action. This is not the right way to find a job. Finding a job requires a specific state of mind.

When you get hired, someone is spending money to give you a job. People need to be inspired to spend money.  The person who gets hired is the one who is able to inspire the employer (whether it is for a government job, sales job, education job, or otherwise). To be an effective job seeker, you need to put yourself in the right state of mind to get hired. This means constantly thinking of all that is possible and, specifically, what you yourself can achieve.

You must bring a lot of enthusiasm to your work, and you should picture and present yourself as being successful.

One of the best books I’ve read on this subject is Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich. This book makes very clear the true power our mind has over the circumstances of our lives. You need to think and aim high in order to rise above and overcome the obstacles in front of you.

If you are employed and are dissatisfied with your current job, giving in to negativity is one of the worst things you can do. When employers are faced with a bad job market, the first thing they do is differentiate the people who like being on the job from those who do not.

Employers tend to keep the people who have good attitudes and get rid of the people with bad ones. My career advice is that a positive attitude can be your best asset. In order to find that positivity, each day you should ask yourself what you are grateful for and concentrate on the answer.

Agree? Disagree? I don’t care, please tell me what you think by commenting below. I give free stuff away every week to the most thoughtful commenters on my site!

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Related posts: The Effect of a Weakening Economy on the Job MarketThe Job Search Market in a Bad EconomyFinding Jobs Through ContactsUpgrade Your Career and Life by Finding Work to Be DoneThe Importance of Finding and Creating DemandThe Graduate, Andrew Carnegie, and Finding Positive Economic CurrentsSummary In this article, Harrison talks about the state of mind as being one of the best methods to deal with a job search during a recession. It is important to understand that depression, anxiety, and other such states of mind slow down or curb action being taken. You need to be enthusiastic, positive, aim to rise above obstacles, and to believe that the mind has the true power to decide your future.

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Monk Mind: How to Increase Your Focus

I confess to being as prone to the distractions of the Internet as anyone else: I will start reading about something that interests me and disappear down the rabbit hole for hours (even days) at a time.

But my ability to focus on a single task has dramatically improved, and that one habit has changed my life.

While a few years ago I couldn’t sit down to work on something without quickly switching to email or one of my favorite Internet forums or sites, today I can sit down and write. I can clear away distractions, when I set my mind to it, and do one thing. And that changes everything: you lose yourself in that task, become so immersed that you pour everything you have into the work, and it becomes a meditative, transformative experience. Your happiness increases, stress goes down, and work improves.

I know that lots of people have trouble focusing one one task for very long, and so I thought I’d share a few things that have worked for me.

There is no one way to find focus, but what works for me is to clear everything away and create a little space of tranquil focus. Some tips for doing that:

Close the browser and your email program. If you need to work in the browser then make sure no tabs or windows are open other than the one you absolutely need.Turn off all notifications. Trying to focus while something is notifying you of an incoming email or tweet or Facebook update is impossible.Turn off the Internet. Shut off your connection, unplug your router, or best yet, go to a place where the is no Internet (yes, those still exist). This is the absolute best way to find focus.Close all programs and windows other than what you need for this one task.Have a very important task to do. Not just “check email” but “write chapter in my novel” or “write that kick-ass blog post I’ve been planning” or “write that new Android app”.Clear your desk. No need to spend all day on this — shove everything in a drawer or put it in a box to be sorted later. Don’t fiddle with this now. In fact, don’t fiddle with anything — don’t worry about the perfect setup or perfect notebook for writing or the perfect anything.Plug in the headphones. If you have people around who might distract you, wearing headphones and playing some good, peaceful music is perfect.Use a simple program. For writing, I like plain text editors (TextEdit, TextWrangler) or writing programs that block everything out (OmmWriter, WriteRoom). No distractions.

Once you have this environment (and you shouldn’t spend more than a few minutes setting it up), get going on your task. Do nothing but that one task. Don’t switch to another task. Having trouble doing that? Read on.

If you can’t focus on one task for very long, don’t worry. That’s normal. Our brains have been trained by technology and society to switch tasks often.

One way we’ve been trained is that switching to check email or blog updates or Facebook/Twitter is rewarding — we are rewarded with a little nugget of satisfaction in that someone has sent us a message (social validation!) or we have something new and interesting to read (shiny and bright!). Switching tasks becomes a positive feedback cycle that is hard to beat by single-tasking.

The way to beat that is to set up a positive feedback cycle for focusing. Here’s how:

Start small. You only need to focus for one minute at first. Clear everything away, pick your one important task, and just do it for one minute without switching. This is hard to do in the beginning but if you consciously focus on focusing, you can do it. It’s just a minute.Reward yourself. The reward for focusing for one minute can be one minute (or 30 seconds) of checking whatever you want. Email, Facebook, whatever. Or get up and take a one-minute walk. Stretch, drink some water, massage your neck, enjoy your small victory. Empires are created with small victories.Repeat. Keep doing one minute focus, one minute reward (or 1 minute to 30 seconds if you like) for about half an hour (15 of each). You’re done. Repeat that later in the day. Rejoice in how much work you got done! And notice how you’ve set up a positive feedback cycle for focusing.Increase in small steps. Tomorrow, make it two minutes on, one minute off. Repeat that for 30 minutes, do it later in the day too. Feel free to go wild and do three focus sessions in a day if you like, but it’s not necessary.Keep taking baby steps. I think you can see the pattern by now. Make it three minutes on, one minute off on the third day, then 4:1, then 5:1. When you get to 10 minutes, be crazy and take a 2 minute break. When you get to 20 minutes, take a 3 minute break. At 30 minutes of focus, you’ve earned a 5 minute break. And once you’re at 30 minutes, you can stay there. No need to become a monk.

Set up a positive feedback cycle for single-tasking focus and you’ll reverse the years of training your mind has gotten to switch tasks. You’ll get more important work done, and it won’t seem hard. You’ll find that focus becomes a form of meditation. It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing, and you can thank me by sending me a craft beer from your hometown.

Or buy my book on this topic — called focus — and I’ll use the money to buy myself a beer.

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Plan for Success–Not Failure

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When I was younger, there was a restaurant on Telegraph Road in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, that used to offer people a percentage off the price of their meals equal to a person’s age, on the person’s birthday each year. So, on your 25th birthday, for instance, you would get a 25% discount on your meal. On your 50th birthday, you would get a 50% discount on your meal.

Not surprisingly, this particular restaurant was extremely popular with older people on their birthdays. In fact, elderly people came from all over town on their birthdays each year. I don’t mean to be crass, but it sort of felt like eating in a nursing home. There would be wheelchairs, walkers, and so forth scattered all over the dining room and in line. The hostesses in the restaurant always had to speak loudly to people when they came in. Sometimes the elderly people would doze off at their tables. The place was always packed. My father used to take me to the restaurant occasionally, and every evening I was ever there, the restaurant was quite crowded with elderly people who were celebrating their birthdays.

One time we visited my grandmother the day after her birthday and she declared that she had been to this restaurant with several friends the evening before to celebrate her birthday, and that she had gotten a massive discount on her dinner, since she was so old. Because the restaurant kept giving discounts that increased the older a person got, it made getting older a little more fun.

“I wonder if they would actually give you money back when you are 101, or if the meal is just free on your 100th birthday?” I asked her.

“I will let you know when I turn 101,” she said. She was quite serious, and after making this statement, she went about her business.

While my grandmother did not live to be 101, she lived well into her 90s and I remember being very impressed with her when she said she “would let me know.” She had shown great spirit and made it clear that she was making plans to live, rather than making plans to die, as many elderly people do. She was in her late 80s when she said this to me, and I knew that she had every intention of moving forward into her 90s with ease and vigor. My grandmother was out and about every day, working outside of the house and being quite active with friends, going places, and doing things. She enjoyed life and she planned on continuing to do so.

I would like to contrast my grandmother with some other people I have known throughout the years. I have known people who retired and then died within a year or two. The husband of a woman I know had worked for General Motors in an auto plant. He retired at the age of 65. Up until the time he retired, he had been very responsible, someone most people would look up to. After he retired, though, he became very depressed and felt like he had no purpose, as if his life were over. He sat on the roof of their small house in Warren, Michigan, drinking at least a case of beer a day for around nine months, and soon he was dead. He died, I think, because he had planned to die.

I have known numerous people throughout their lives that say things like:

I’m washed up.No one likes me.I could never do that.That is not something I could do.I am not good at that sort of thing.I am going to fail.I am going to die by the time I am 35.My mother got that disease and I am probably going to get it too.

When people make statements like this, they are essentially “planning to fail” or planning for some other negative outcome. When you plan to fail, you are putting yourself in a place wherein success is unlikely, if not impossible. It is as simple as that. When you plan to succeed, your odds of succeeding are far greater.

When you are getting ready to move into a new house, you will typically make all sorts of preparations for the house before you even move in.

You may know that you are going to need a bed for an extra bedroom you now have. You may know that you are going to need sheets for the bed.You may know that you are going to need a chair in a certain area where there is empty space.You may know that rooms need to be repainted.You may know that the house needs a new dishwasher.You may know that you are going to need drapes in certain rooms.

Whenever I have seen a couple getting ready to buy a new house, most of the time they go out and start looking for all of these things weeks before they even move into the new house. Why? Because they are planning. They are not living in the house yet; however, they believe they soon will be, so they start making plans for their new life.

Have you ever gone and test-driven a car you were interested in? The only times I ever test-drove cars was before I could afford the cars I was test-driving. I went out and test-drove the most ridiculous cars I could find. Then I started planning and doing what I needed to in order to purchase one of them. Seriously planning to achieve or obtain something makes all the difference. When I was growing up, the people I primarily saw driving my dream car back then, a Porsche 911, were old men. When I was in my early 20s I went and test-drove one. The cars were around $70,000 at the time. I decided that I would own one in a few years, and within a few short years, I ended up buying the exact same model I had test-driven. I did this before I even had a full-time job. I simply planned on having the car, and then I made it happen.

A car is just a piece of metal, though, and it has little to do with who you are. A house is just a structure. Houses and cars are material things. The most important concept is your self-concept, who you are and who you are going to become. Are you planning to succeed in your life and to reach your full potential, or are you planning to fail?

You need to plan your life and your career around succeeding. Instead of making plans to fail, to be average and so forth, make plans to succeed and to be the absolute best at everything you can possibly be.

If you are not living up to your potential, start making plans to fully realize that potential.If you are having financial problems, start making plans to become rich.If you are having relationship problems, start making plans to have a great relationship.If you are sick, start making plans to be well.If you are depressed, start making plans to be happy.

The most important thing you can do for yourself is to consistently plan to be happy and not sad. Successful and not unsuccessful. Satisfied and fulfilled, not unfulfilled. Alive and not dead.

It is just as easy to make plans to succeed as it is to make plans to fail, but it is a lot more fun and rewarding. You need to do everything you can to ensure that you are planning for the best things in your life, instead of planning for the worst things.

Several years ago, I purchased a lot of very expensive exercise equipment. I was not in good shape at the time. I could not really afford the exercise equipment at the time either, and it was a bit of a financial stretch for me. Why did I buy all of this equipment? I purchased it because I was planning on becoming healthy and fit. Moreover, I knew that there was no way that I would let all of this expensive equipment sit around without being used. Because the equipment was there, I used it, and this has made a major difference in the quality of my life.

I am not saying you need to run out and purchase exercise equipment in order to be healthy or happy. This was just something that worked for me. What you should definitely do, though, is make your own plans to be healthy. Planning to be healthy and to be well is something that can make a giant difference in your life and career.

Have you had negative things happen to you? Have you heard people say negative things about you? Do not allow these things to take hold of you and determine who you are, and what you think you are capable of achieving. Instead, you need to think forward and think of positive, inspiring things. Plan for being the person you want to be, not the person others may have called you, for reasons having more to do with them than you. You should never agree with those negative voices. Only agree with positive voices. Plan for health, success, and happiness.

What would have happened to the people below if they had simply given up and had not planned for great things in their lives?

The vice president of Columbia Pictures told this actor that he was never going to make it in the business. The actor? - Harrison Ford

His first book was rejected by 12 publishing houses and 16 agents. – John Grisham

A band was turned down by a recording company that said, “We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out” – The recording company was talking about The Beatles.

This person was told by his father that he would amount to nothing, and that he would be a disgrace to himself and his family. – Charles Darwin

This man was told by a music teacher, “As a composer he is hopeless.” – Beethoven

This vocalist was told that “He couldn’t sing at all.” – Enrico Caruso

This visionary was fired from a newspaper because he “lacked imagination and had no original ideas” – Walt Disney

This author was told by publishers that “anthologies don’t sell” and that the book was “too positive.” The book was rejected a total of 140 times. The book? Chicken Soup for the Soul. It now has 65 different titles and has sold more than 80 million copies all over the world.

This young man was told by a teacher he was “too stupid to learn anything.” – Thomas Edison

This man failed the sixth grade. – Winston Churchill

He wasn’t able to speak until he was almost 4 years old, and his teachers said he would “never amount to much.” – Albert Einstein

This man did poorly in school and failed at running the family farm. – Isaac Newton

This person was not allowed to wait on customers in the store where he worked, because “he didn’t have enough sense.” – F. W. Woolworth

This person was cut from the high school basketball team, went home, locked himself in his room, and cried. – Michael Jordan

Producers told her she was “unattractive” and could not act. - Marilyn Monroe

This book was rejected 18 times before it was published. It then sold more than a million copies the first year. The book was Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach.

This woman auditioned for All My Children and got rejected – Julia Roberts

This author received 30 rejections and he threw this book in the trash. Luckily his wife fished it out of the refuse and encouraged her husband to resubmit the manuscript. The book was Carrie – the author was Stephen King
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1163465/inspirational_stories_of_famous_failures_pg2_pg2.html?cat=9

I have heard different versions of stories like this many, many times. These sorts of stories are inspirational because they show that success often has more to do with planning to achieve something great, than simply trying once, then giving up after listening to others’ negative opinions. Nothing is more important than having incredible faith in what we can achieve, and then preparing to do great things.

Maybe you have failed at certain things before. Plan to succeed the next time. Maybe your family members have a history of getting some horrible disease when they reach a certain age. Plan to be the one who does not get the disease.

Whatever it is, the best possible thing you can do is plan for the very best outcome.

Agree? Disagree? I don’t care, please tell me what you think by commenting below. I give free stuff away every week to the most thoughtful commenters on my site!

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Related posts: How You Handle Chaos Will Determine Your Success Or FailureYou Always Need a Backup PlanOnce You Achieve Success, Savor and Enjoy It to the FullestHappy Meals and BonusesPush Yourself Outside Your Comfort ZoneVitamins, Oprah, and the Importance of Taking Action Right AwaySummary In this article Harrison discusses how it is important to consistently plan to be happy and not sad. Success often has more to do with planning to achieve something great, than simply trying once, then giving up after listening to others’ negative opinions. Nothing is more important than having incredible faith in what we can achieve, and then preparing to do great things. Maybe you have failed at certain things before. Plan to succeed the next time. Maybe your family members have a history of getting some horrible disease when they reach a certain age. Plan to be the one who does not get the disease. Never agree with negative voices that come from others – focus and think about positive and inspiring things. Whatever it is, the best possible thing you can do is plan for the very best outcome.

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