Who is in your life?

How do they deal with adversity? Do they complain about little insignificant things throughout the day that won't matter tomorrow?

Who are these people?
Answer: They may be some of the people in your life

Don't allow others to poison your possibilities. If you want to know who you really are or the person you will become then take a look at the people around you. These people have an enormous influence in your life. Do these people help you overcome your daily fears of (public speaking, other's opinions, etc...) do they encourage you, do they help you get over a difficult time or do they help you wallow in self pity?

It is ok to be friends with everyone. But just have an understanding that those people you hang around with the most will have the biggest effect in your life regardless if it is positive or negative.

If you want to make a change in your life, find those people who already have made changes in their lives. Get yourself in an atmosphere that is inspiring and motivating. How? By surrounding yourself with those who are.

“We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere."

Quote of the month: "Fear is an illusion; you think something is standing in your way but nothing is really there." ~Michael Jordan

The 3 D's

"In order to be successful, you have to fail at something today." ~Coach Mike Tully

Do you live by the 3 F's? Some people get Frozen by their Fear of Failure. These people play it safe and stay in their comfort zone. When we play it safe we don't go for anything. This creates boredom.

It's better to go all out and Fail than to play it safe and win. Failing brings you one step closer to the dream you wish to achieve. How? Live by the 3 D's.

Determination- attitude, the will to achieve it
Desire- consistent craving for it
Daring- courage to take action

"We must be willing to fail and to appreciate the truth that often, Life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived." ~M. Scott Peck

Quote of the month: "Happiness is not the absence of conflict but the ability to cope with it."

Success Loves Speed

Sometimes in life things are just as simple as 2+2=4. Some say, "Yea easy for you to say." But you must think it in order to do it. So let me give you one of the easiest formulas for Success.

Ideas + Massive Action = Success

Ideas + Delayed Action= Possible Success

“Success loves speed. The shorter the duration between the time you get an idea to the time you take massive action toward it the more successful you will be.”
~Ed Agresta

Quote of the month: "A true friend is someone who thinks they are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~Bernard Meltzer

Input in your mind Determines your output in life

A special Hello to Angelica and Christina Constantino, who have inspired today's blog.

There are some people that just bring out the best in you. Do you know why? It's because of what they have put into your mind. The people who are most inspiring are the ones who help you on your journey through life, without telling you how to get there. These people might be spreading compassion, pride, determination? Others may radiate fear, doubt, discouragement. The longer you hang around someone the stronger the influence they have on you. Whatever you put into your brain will eventually come out. The following creed has been given to me by a 3rd and 4th grade girl:

Knowledge in the mind
I'm smart because I always learn something good everyday.

Honesty in the Heart
I'm perfect because I never make mistakes knowingly.

Strength in the body
I like myself because I always take action to make things happen.

Happiness
I'm happy I am me who always chooses to be happy.

Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.
~Albert Schweitzer

Quote of the month: "A true friend is someone who thinks they are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~Bernard Meltzer

Worth the struggle!

Did you struggle today?

Did you know that Geese fly in a "V" formation? This is so they can fly higher and faster. It allows all the geese to face adversity and build strength. They all work together. The lead goose has the hardest job because it takes the brunt of the headwinds. The last goose has the easiest position. However, the geese rotate around and take turns at all the different positions, so they can all face adversity by being the lead goose.

Small challenges create small muscles, while big challenges create big muscles.
We all need challenges in order to grow.

"Adversity challenges and pushes us to accelerate the development of our greatest potential."
~Art Mortell

Quote of the month: "Most of life's failures are those people who didn't realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

The Mountain of Adversity

How do you expect to get anywhere in life without going through the struggle to get there?

3 Levels of Adversity (Mountain)
Quitters- Abandon the climb. "It's too hard. Look how high it is."

Campers- Start a difficult task and don't finish. They start climbing up the mountain and as it gets difficult they just camp out. This becomes their home. Living in mediocrity.

Climbers- Keep moving in spite of obstacles. Are willing to face adversity and keep climbing. Climbers grow from their challenges and realize that adversity builds Emotional Intelligence (EQ).

Campers see change as a problem and Climbers see change as an opportunity.

"Success is not a destination; it is a journey." ~Willie Jolley

Quote of the month: "Most of life's failures are those people who didn't realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

How to Kick FFUD Out?

FFUD
Fear
Frustration
Uncertainty
Doubt
Gotta have Faith!

Faith means to have Confidence and Trust in something.

Faith sees the invisible,
Believes the incredible and
Receives the impossible.
(Given to me by The Sweet Shannon Ashe)

"Faith will mold and make you. FFUD will bust and break you"

FFUD~ Ed Agresta

Quote of the month: "Most of life's failures are those people who didn't realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

Is IQ overrated as a contributor toward success?

Are you a genius?
Well Ted Kacynski is. His IQ is off the charts. However he lacked social skills and couldn't handle the pressures of life and eventually became the "Unabomber".

See, our IQ will take us places, but how long we last there will depend on how high our EQ and AQ are.

The key ingredients to success!
What is your EQ? That's right, your Emotional Intelligence- ability to work and empathize with others, control impulses and have high self esteem. People with a high Emotional Intelligence tend to excel in life, relationships, jobs, school and life's everyday challenges. IQ will help you get the job, but your Emotional Intelligence (EQ) will help you excel in it.

Now your determination of success is AQ- Which is how you handle Adversity. Building up your Emotional Intelligence, will depend on how you handle your Adversities = how successful you are.

"When Adversity jumps in the way of success, how well you handle it will determine if you're standing on top of the mountain or looking up from the bottom."

Quote of the month: "Most of life's failures are those people who didn't realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

Discover your "why."

Accomplish your Goals!
Stop thinking about it and start doing it. If we spent more time doing and less time thinking about it, imagine all the goals we would've achieved.

Randy was in desperate need of losing weight. No matter what the doctors told him, he still did not lose weight, until a tragedy struck his family. Randy's young daughter was going to die unless she received a kidney. Randy gave up his kidney, but the doctors refused it because he was too overweight. Randy then did the unthinkable. He lost 100 lbs. in 8 months and saved his daughter's life. Randy said, "It was easy because I had a tremendous incentive to save my daughter's life."
~Oprah Winfrey Show

"If you have a big enough "why," you'll always discover the "how."
~ Dr. Gilbert

Quote of the month: "Most of life's failures are those people who didn't realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

What do you want?

Do you spend most of the day thinking about all the things you want in life?

"Money won't make you happy. But everyone wants to find out for themselves."
~Zig Ziglar

"It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got."

"Why should God give us anymore if we don't appreciate what we already have."

Quote of the month: "Most of life's failures are those people who didn't realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

What are you doing with your shots in life?

Dedicated to a basketball athlete, who is one of the most Composed players and person that I know, Bobbi Aker.

The Greatest Hockey Player of all time once said, "The only shot you miss is the one you don't take" ~ Wayne Gretzky

Being afraid to make a mistake is the worst mistake, you can make.

Life is full of shot opportunities. Sometimes you make 'em and sometimes you miss 'em. If you miss,
SO WHAT! Take Another Shot.

"While those hesitate because they feel inferior, others are busy making mistakes and becoming superior."

Quote of the month: "Most of life's failures are those people who didn't realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

Whose life will you touch today?

Dedicated to a person who brings energy and enlightenment when she walks into a room, Lorraine Ferro.

"You are fulfilling a life exactly as you are and exactly as you are needed because you're willing and open to follow your heart! That is so rare, and with your help, those qualities will be much more visible in many more people, because your path includes lighting up the whole world!"
~ written to someone in a birthday card

The world needs us and it is our job to find out HOW?

"Your gift is wrapped in the box of desire."

Quote of the month: "Most of life's failures are those people who didn't realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

Has someone told you NO?

When someone tells you NO, it's only temporary, until you find a way to get them to say yes. Find your way around your circumstances. NO should push you where you need to go.

This woman divorced her husband, after spending years of being physically abused. This singer tried to get a record contract, but was told NO by numerous companies because she was washed up. But if you want something bad enough, then the word NO is only a small bump in the road. So she went to Europe and recorded a song called "Let's Stay Together". She then came back to America and recorded an album called "What's Love got to do with it". She is now one of the all time highest grossing concert artists of all time.
-Tina Turner

"Your Greatest Rejection is your Greatest Direction."
~Joel Osteen

Quote of the month: "Most of life's failures are those people who didn't realize how close they were to success when they gave up"

Do you get frozen by the fear of failure?

Dedicated to a Professor whose motivational style, has touched many students at Montclair State University, Lisa Sargese.

understand that the brain resists change; takes time to get your system to effectively change for the better

Positive Failing
1) Results may not come as fast as you would like= SO WHAT
2) Keep putting in the effort until "Breakdowns become Breakthroughs"
3) How do you know you're pushing yourself hard enough? When you are making mistakes
4) Don't stop until successes outnumbers mistakes

"Some people throw a chlorine tablet in a swamp and expect a swimming pool to appear."
~Lisa Sargese

"When you find the energy for total nonstop effort, by giving your best no matter what the circumstances are, then you are acting as if it were impossible to fail."

Quote of the month: "Most of life's failures, are those people who didn't realize, how close they were to success when they gave up"

Get in the wheel barrow!

A tight rope walker walked across the Niagara Falls while thousands of fans looked on. After jumping and jogging across the rope, he did something even more amazing that would stun the crowd. He put a wheel barrow on the rope and put his dog in it. Then his son and eventually his wife. He took all of them across to the other side and back. While signing autographs, he was approached by an ecstatic fan. The fan asked "can you go across there one more time so I can get a picture (as the wind started to pick up)." The tight rope walker asked him, "Do you believe that I can walk across with the wind blowing?" The fan replied, "There is no doubt in mind that you can." The tight rope walker then said, "O.k. then get in the wheel barrow," as the fan then walked away.

Are we walking with a belief system that has not been tested.

"Once you conceive it in your mind, you must believe it in your heart."

Quote of the month: "Most of life's failures, are those people who didn't realize, how close they were to success when they gave up."

Do others dictate your mood?

Isn't it nice to receive great compliments? Doesn't it make you feel great about who you are? But are we constantly relying on others to lift our spirits? If so then are we allowing others to pull us down? We might be giving power over our emotions to others, putting us on this wild roller coaster ride of emotions. - Compliments bring us up and insults brings us down -

It is time that we start taking charge of our lives.
How?

Don't allow others' poor character to infect your own.
"I am already happy with who I am and there is nothing anyone can do to change that."

Quote of the month: "Most of life's failures are those people who didn't realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

Are you a gazelle or a lion?

Dedicated to the most inspiring teenager Andy Hernandez. Every morning Andy wakes up he is always ready to face what God has in store for him today.

Did you know, if you listen or watch something positive in the first twenty minutes of your day, you're productivity has a chance of doubling.

Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up,
And knows that it must run faster than the fastest lion, Or it will be eaten.
Also every morning in Africa a lion wakes up,
And knows that it must outrun the slowest gazelle, Or it will starve to death.
It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle...
When the sun comes up you'd better be running.

"What will you be thankful for tomorrow that you will do today."

Last Quote of the month: "Don't allow the pains of the past to poison your future. Where you're going is more important than where you've been."

What does your future hold?

Your future is happening right now. So stop trying to figure everything out.

I have only just a minute, Only sixty seconds in it
Forced upon me, can't refuse it,
Didn't seek it, Didn't choose it
But it's up to me to use it
I must suffer if I lose it
Give account if I abuse it
Just a tiny little minute
But an eternity is in it!
-Dr. Benjamin Mays

Quote of the month: "Don't allow the pains of the past to poison your future. Where you're going is more important than where you've been."

Lets Procrastinate!

Dedicated to a person who always finishes what he starts.
A Hard Worker- Jimmy Deakyne

There is only one thing, you are allowed to procrastinate.

"Procrastinate Procrastination" ~Dr. Gilbert

Quote of the month: "Don't allow the pains of the past to poison your future. Where you're going is more important than where you've been."

What if they saved your life?

Let's take a positivity test.
Just for today I want you to wright down every time you point the finger at someone else and then jot down how many times we lift someone's spirits. What would your ratio be? (you may hit me back tonight with your answer).

How would you treat someone if they saved your life?
So how is the finger pointing going? Are there some people in this world who would have to save our lives, to get our respect?

"If we would feel sorrowful over their non existence tomorrow then it's time to make peace with them today."

Reminder: "God has already forgiven those who have done wrong to us. Why haven't you? "

Quote of the month: "Don't let the pains of the past poison your future. Where you're going is more important than where you've been."