The Rest of the Story

     We've all heard of that wildly popular book  - "Think and Grow Rich". History is filled with classic rags to riches stories that can help motivate even the most skeptical among us.

    And who hasn't seen or heard of the awesome success achieved by many a popular sports figure. Legend has it that Michael Jordan - perhaps one of the greatest basketball players in recent history - was cut from his high school basketball team. His first attempt to make the team resulted in disappointment.

And then, he used that setback or failure to move on and get better. Much, much better! He practiced alot. Most likely every day. Rumor has it that his Mother had to drag him off the basketball court and into the house for Supper and bedtime.

What can you and I learn from the great Mr Jordan? Always mind your Mother - and never give up! If you want to accomplish anything keep practicing. Keep moving in the direction of your goal. Whether you want to lose 2 pounds or 52 - you can.

    First, you have to decide upon your goal. Then, start taking action towards reaching your target. And keep practicing. Keep taking action - everyday - if you must. Enjoy the journey and savor the thrill of the experience!

If your goal is a big goal - break it down into smaller, more manageable pieces. Want to lose 50 pounds? Set your sights - at first - on losing a single pound or two. Then 2 more. Many a health expert - people much more knowledgeable than me - recommend 2 pounds per week is a healthy and safe weight loss target. So, give yourself some time to drop those 50 pounds. if it takes you half a year - that's great!

The great inventor - Thomas Edison - didn't succeed at crafting his first light bulb until he had found hundreds of ways that didn't quite make it. His goal took time - and lots of setbacks! The great violin masters didn't reach their incredible levels of mastery in a week or even a year. They practiced and practiced some more. Their amazing talent took years to develop.

That famous Subway guy - Jared - took a year or maybe longer to shed his extra pounds. And he kept practicing those 2 simple habits anyone can choose to adopt. He walked - alot. And he watched his calories! Simple choices. He chose to enjoy eating healthy foods and and exercise regularly. Together, these simple habits helped him reach his weight loss goal! 

    Even small changes can bring great success. Think about it - If you consume 100 calories a day more than your body needs, you will gain approximately 10 pounds in a year. So, what if you were to cut your calories - just a little - every day? One less beer. Or perhaps passing on that morning donut. Go for a protein rich egg-white omelet instead.

     You could take that weight off, or keep it off, by doing 30 minutes of moderate exercise daily. Health experts agree - the quickest way to lose weight  and keep it off - is the combination of exercise and diet.

Exercise for Greater Happiness

Health and good humor, noted a famous philosopher,  are to the human body like sunshine is to lush, green  vegetation.


The late Charles A. Dana fairly bubbled over with the enjoyment of his work, and was, up to his last illness, at his office every day. A Cabinet officer once said to him: "Well, Mr. Dana, I don't see how you stand this infernal grind."

"Grind?" said Mr. Dana. "You never were more mistaken. I have nothing but fun."

   "No Way!" was a favorite expression of his; a slang word used to express uncommon pleasure, such as had been afforded by a trip abroad, or by a run to Mexico ( remember when it was actually safe to visit old Mexico? ) , or by the perusal of something especially pleasing in the daily newspaper.

"One of my neighbors is a very ill-tempered man," said Nathan Rothschild. "He tries to vex me, and has built a great place for swine close to my walk. So, when I go out, I hear first, 'Grunt, grunt,' then 'Squeak, squeak.' But this does me no harm. I am always in good humor."

Offended by a pungent article, a gentleman called at the "Tribune" office and inquired for the editor. He was shown into a little seven-by-nine sanctum, where Greeley sat, with his head close down to his paper, scribbling away at a two-forty rate. The angry man began by asking if this was Mr. Greeley. "Yes, sir; what do you want?" said the editor quickly, without once looking up from his paper. The irate visitor then began using his tongue, with no reference to the rules of propriety, good breeding, or reason. Meantime Mr. Greeley continued to write. Page after page was dashed off in the most impetuous style, with no change of features, and without paying the slightest attention to the visitor. Finally, after about twenty minutes of the most impassioned scolding ever poured out in an editor's office, the angry man became disgusted, and abruptly turned to walk out of the room. Then, for the first time, Mr. Greeley quickly looked up, rose from his chair, and, slapping the gentleman familiarly on his shoulder, in a pleasant tone of voice said: "Don't go, friend; sit down, sit down, and free your mind; it will do you good,—you will feel better for it. Besides, it helps me to think what I am to write about. Don't go."

"One good hearty laugh," says Talmage, "is like a bomb-shell exploding in the right place, and spleen and discontent like a gun that kicks over the man shooting it off."

"Every one," says Lubbock, "likes a man who can enjoy a laugh at his own expense,—and justly so, for it shows good humor and good sense. If you laugh at yourself, other people will not laugh at you."

People differ very much in their sense of humor. As some are deaf to certain sounds and blind to certain colors, so there are those who seem deaf and blind to certain pleasures. What makes me laugh until I almost go into convulsions moves them not at all.

Is it not worth while to make an effort to see the funny side of our petty annoyances? How could the two boys but laugh, after they had contended long over the possession of a box found by the wayside, when they agreed to divide its contents, and found nothing in it?

The ability to get on with scolding, irritating people is a great art in doing business. To preserve serenity amid petty trials is a happy gift. Exercise is a great way to help yourself deal with life's inevitable obstacles - in any form. A happy go lucky, even tempered person is always welcomed in a favorable light. Don't let yourself get jaded by those unfortunate souls who fail to see life's blessings.

A sunny temper is also conducive to health. A medical authority of highest repute affirms that "excessive labor, exposure to wet and cold, deprivation of sufficient quantities of necessary and wholesome food, habitual bad   lodging, sloth, and intemperance are all deadly enemies to human life, but they are none of them so bad as violent and ungoverned passions;" that men and women have frequently lived to an advanced age in spite of these; but that instances are very rare in which people of  feisty, bitter tempers live to extreme old age.

Persist and Win

Great men and women don't often find a royal road to their triumph. It is always the old route, by way of  constant effort, focused actions and perseverance. 

All the performances of human art, at which we look with praise and wonder, are instances of the resistless force of perseverance: it is by this that the quarry becomes a pyramid, and that distant countries are united with canals.

If a man was to compare the effect of a single stroke of the pickaxe, or of one impression of the spade, with the general design and last result, he would be overwhelmed by the sense of their disproportion; yet those petty operations, incessantly continued, in time surmount the greatest difficulties, and mountains are leveled, and oceans bounded, by the slender force of human beings.

Barnum began the race of business life barefoot, for at the age of fifteen he was obliged to buy on credit the shoes he wore at his father's funeral. He was a remarkable example of success under difficulties. There was no keeping him down; no opposition daunted him, no obstacles were too great for him to overcome.

Think of a man being ruined at fifty years of age; yes, worse than ruined, for he was heavily in debt besides. Yet on the very day of his downfall he begins to rise again, wringing victory from defeat by his indomitable persistence.

You cannot keep a determined woman or man from success. Place stumbling-blocks in their way and they takes them for stepping-stones, and on them will climb to greatness. Take away his money, and he makes spurs of his poverty to urge him on. Cripple him, and he writes the Waverley Novels. Lock him up in a dungeon, and he composes the immortal "Pilgrim's Progress." Put him in a cradle in a log cabin in the wilderness of America, and in a few years you will find him in the Capitol at the head of the greatest nation on the globe. 

Think and Get Fit

Around a 100 years ago a famous author quipped "What your mind can conceive - you can achieve.". He had studied numerous successful and wealthy people. His findings were published in that widely read motivational work - "Think and Grow Rich".

If you want better health and a better life filled with more energy and even happiness - you really can achieve what you set your sights on!

Success is in the blood. There are men whom fate can never keep down—they march forward in a jaunty manner, and take by divine right the best of everything that the earth affords. But their success is not attained by means of  some political policy. They do not lie in wait, nor scheme, nor fawn, nor seek to adapt their sails to catch the breeze of popular favor. Still, they are ever alert and alive to any good that may come their way, and when it comes they simply appropriate it, and tarrying not, move steadily on.

Good health! Whenever you go out of doors, draw the chin in, carry the crown of the head high, and fill the lungs to the utmost; drink in the sunshine; greet your friends with a smile, and put soul into every hand-clasp.

Do not fear being misunderstood; and never waste a moment thinking about your failures or enemies. Try to fix firmly in your own mind what you would like to do, and then with proper focus and action you will move straight to the goal. Take action. Massive, focused action will lead you to your greatest desires!

Fear is the rock on which we split, and hate the shoal on which many a barque is stranded. When we become fearful, the judgment is as unreliable as the compass of a ship whose hold is full of iron ore; when we hate, we have unshipped the rudder; and if ever we stop to meditate on what the gossips say, we have allowed a hawser to foul the screw.

Keep your mind on the kind of life you want. Think about the type of body and fitness level you would like  and then, as the days go gliding by, you will find yourself unconsciously seizing the opportunities that are required for the fulfillment of your desire, just as the coral insect takes from the running tide the elements that it needs. Picture in your mind the happy, contented, able, earnest, useful person you desire to be, and the thought that you hold is hourly transforming you into that particular individual you so admire.

You must seize every opportunity to act upon your desires - embrace and adopt healthy habits. Exercise every day. Work your body hard and you can see results in a matter of weeks. 

10 Steps to Ward Off Stress

Are you on the skids with stress? Do you ever feel like you’re overwhelmed with problems coming at you from every direction? You can defeat these feelings of helplessness and avoid many stressors altogether! Start by building resilience. Building resilience is not a new fad.

Try these 10 Steps to help you build resilience and avoid or prepare yourself to better handle stress:

1) Build effective, supportive relationships with others. Many people find great benefits from the simple act of serving or helping others who might be less able to help themselves. Volunteer your time and share your talents. You might just be surprised by the benefits derived from helping others!

2) Avoid seeing any crisis as insurmountable. Break the challenge into as many small pieces as you can and tackle each one with all you’ve got. If something isn’t working – change the plan and keep moving!

3) View change as an inevitable part of life. And realize that new opportunities are often just around the corner.

4) Be proactive. Set short term goals to improve yourself or tackle the issue at hand. Move toward your goals. Keep moving and don’t let things just happen to you.

5) When faced with issues or problems, act decisively. Evaluate the facts. Get help if you need it. Prepare a list of your options. Then Take Action! Don’t just go with the flow.

6) In the midst of a crisis (or sometime soon after), ask yourself, Can this change my life for the better in some way? Find the benefit and pursue it! This may not always be easy or even immediately visible. Keep looking! ( If every challenge was easy we’d never learn anything. )

7) Maintain a healthy, positive view of yourself. Exercise regularly and build your self esteem. Celebrate your success and you’ll be improving your ability to withstand adversity.

8) Practice looking towards the positive outcome. Avoid the habit of zeroing in on the worst part about a crisis or adverse experience. Find the silver lining. And the nearly inevitable opportunity to emerge from your present challenge with something positive.

9) During a tough time, practice looking forward to the hoped-for conclusion and resolution. See yourself succeeding. Avoid and dismiss your worst fears. Remember you are what you think most often. Think and focus on success!

10) We saved the best tip for last. Take care of yourself by maintaining your physical and mental health, because this makes it easier to bounce back when adversity strikes. Avoid, as often as possible those foods we all know are unhealthy. Instead try to include a varied and healthy diet of natural foods – fruits and vegetables. Nuts and beans. Have some cold water, wild caught salmon once or twice a week. Eat more spinach. And get some exercise every day! The natural high you’re sure to experience after rigorous exercise is well worth the 20 or 30 minutes you invest.

Believe You Can

It is firmness that makes the gods on our side. —Voltaire.

"There is so much power in faith," says Bulwer, "even when faith is applied but to things human and earthly, that let a man but be firmly persuaded that he is born to do some day, what at the moment seems impossible, and it is fifty to one but what he does it before he dies."

There is about as much chance of idleness and incapacity winning real success, or a high position in life, as there would be in producing a Paradise Lost by shaking up promiscuously the separate words of Webster's Dictionary, and letting them fall at random on the floor. Fortune smiles upon those who roll up their sleeves and put their shoulders to the wheel; upon men who are not afraid of dreary, dry, irksome drudgery, men of nerve and grit who do not turn aside for dirt and detail.

"Is there one whom difficulties dishearten?" asked John Hunter. "He will do little. Is there one who will conquer? That kind of a man never fails."

"Circumstances," says Milton, "have rarely favored famous men. They have fought their way to triumph through all sorts of opposing obstacles."

"We have a half belief," said Emerson, "that the person is possible who can counterpoise all other persons. We believe that there may be a man who is a match for events,—one who never found his match, against whom other men being dashed are broken, one who can give you any odds and beat you."

If losing weight is on your list for this year - or even for this month - believe you can. Take massive action towards your goal. Exercise and eating healthy foods are just the habits you need to achieve better health and fitness. Believe you really can build muscle and enjoy a slimmer, sexier body.

Do the work. Practice these two simple habits and you really can shed those extra pounds. Enjoy life more. You deserve to enjoy yourself. Just do it!

Stand firm, don't flutter. —Franklin.