Sep
10
2007
NEVER MIND WHAT OTHERS DIDN’T DO. IT’S WHAT YOU DO THAT COUNTS. If you depend upon others for your success, you are doomed to a life of failure and despair. It is a sad fact of life that few people consistently deliver what they promise. Instead of lamenting what someone else should have done to help you, focus on what you can do to help yourself. The best plan of action is one that provides opportunities for others to benefit if they wish to work with you toward the accomplishment of your goals but that does not depend upon these people for success.-Napoleon Hill
We have already established on this website the importance of action and not just optimism. But now lets deal with whether or not your are a captain of your ship. Napoleon Hill used to decry the idle mind. A non-active mind, one not actively working towards the achievement of a goal is sad. We are noble men, not sad creatures, but happy men living from one goal to another raising people up around us along the way.
One does not have to go backwards to help people, one does not have to sink to bring people up. One can be in control and in the process of achieving worthwhile goals allow others to share in this achievement.
The next goal you write down (you should be thinking on paper) make a separate accounting of how you can provide opportunities for those who might be interested in helping out. Just make sure you are not dependent on these people, they are just invited to come along for the ride. Be self-reliant, do something for yourself all the while providing opportunities for others. Engage the world, you may be the captain of the ship but if you reach the destination without passengers, you are leaving behind very precious cargo.
Suggestion : Go to the Napoleon Hill Foundation and sign up for their daily email. Get some good emails!
Aug
30
2007
“The pessimist resembles a man who observes with fear and sadness that his wall calendar . . grows thinner with each day. On the other hand, a person who attacks the problems of life actively is like a man who removes each successive leaf from his calendar and files it away neatly and carefully, after having first jotted down a few diary notes on the page.” Viktor E. Frankl (Creator of logotherapy , Nazi concentration camp survivor)
Each day is unique. One must banish fear from every aspect of his life so that each day can be actualized to its full potential. Once you start actualizing things in your life, the satisfaction you receive from this will help to give you the strength to banish some of your insecurities. Maybe you hesitated to talk to that attractive woman sitting next to you at the sushi bar when you really wanted to or failed to make a decisive decision when it was needed or appeased someone rather than be true to yourself thinking it isn’t a big deal. All three are essentially the same thing. Don’t hide in a world of your own creation because when you do, that world will not be one that mixes well with the real world. Each insecurity, each thing you wish you could do, but hesitate to do, has a solution. Often these solutions are just a matter of learning a new skill which you can find resources for.
Activism not optimism (and certainly not pessimism) is the order of everyday!! A saint in his own world does nothing for the world, and an average frustrated chump in his own world is pathetic. Step up and Be the man!!
Required Reading: 
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl We all live trying to find meaning in our lives, what we don’t realize often enough is that there are those that have come before us who have experienced things that can help us on this path. Don’t wait, read this book!