Most of our internal programming is the result of how we were raised. We inherit many of the values of our parents, not from the bloodline, but from their examples as our primary role models for life.
If you were raised to believe that “money is the root of all evil,” and that the only way rich people get rich is to step on the little guy, and that money does not buy happiness—then you have been programmed to believe that money represents greed and leads to misery. On the other hand, if you were raised to believe that the more money you earn, the more opportunities you have to help others, or that the money you receive is a direct result of your level of contribution to the marketplace and the community, then you will have a very different association with money. As Abraham Lincoln said, “You cannot help the poor by becoming one of them.”
A key attitude that has served me well is that of positive resiliency. You learn to look for the good in life and in people, and you develop the belief that if you are a good person and do what needs to be done good things will come your way. This is a very powerful and effective attitude of life.
By looking for the good, you see more good. Seems simple, but how many people do you know of who seem to revel in pointing out what is wrong with everyone else in the world? How hard is that? Just regurgitate the news to your friends and you will automatically recount the days’ most negative events.
As a quick aside, the story about the poor family who died in the crash today on the news is not news it’s exploitation. Death is part of life and people die everyday. The cause of death ranges from natural to horrific, but that is the nature of life and is not news. I have not read a newspaper in years and I seldom watch the news on TV. By keeping the awful events that happen each day out of my mind, my thinking is clearer and my optimism higher. Some people say that I have my head in the sand. I say they area sticking their head in the s***.
Part of this process is to not just analyze your patterns of thoughts and beliefs, but also your environment. The Law of Attraction, as I believe it to be says that you will attract people into your life who are like you in many ways. They have the same interests, but more so they have the same beliefs and outlook on life. Positive people don’t hang around negative people. Why would they?
As you start to pursue success and overcome the self-doubts and negative programming that has mired you for so long, you may find, over time, that you have less in common with your friends. While you pursue success with a sense of growing excitement, your friends may simply be treading water in their life. I do not mean to sound cold, but the gap in your attitudes and approaches to life may continue to widen between you and your friends over time. While you’re working on a project to improve your life, they are watching the news to find people in worse situations than themselves.
They may tell you that your success mentality is unrealistic. The truth is, they may resent the courage you are showing in going for it.
I am not saying that you should dump your friends in favor of more successful ones. Good friends are way too rare to take for granted like that. I am saying that your relationships will be tested. If you are serious about success, then your days of going out with the boys or watching mindless television are over. You will have to ask yourself constantly, “What is the best use of my time right now?” Rarely will the answer include pointless socializing or watchingAmerican Idolon TV.
Success is the result of an accumulation of thousands of small decisions over an extended period of time. I say “small decisions” because they are more powerful than the large ones. You can usually change a big decision and change it if it was a bad one. You cannot change the effects of the thousand decisions you will make every week. They add up in a big way. Each decision takes you either closer to your goal or it slows down the process.
