_{What I learned from 2009}

The year 2009 was exciting and rewarding, even though somewhat challenging. I learned a lot – so much in fact, it is very hard to put it all in a few lines.  So I will just give a few points which I will carry over in 2010.  Here are a few ideas, listed as “Do’s” and “Don’t” for you to ponder and implement as well.

Do’s

1. Invest in yourself. Take personal development courses to further your growth. It may be the most valuable asset you build.  It would be crazy not to do this, given that you generate your own future.
2. Have faith, be patient, be strong, keep focused, be ready. “Between your dream and its fulfillment you’ll be tested”.
3. Give what’s wanted and requested rather than giving your pet issue or what you think someone needs. This is the secret to practically all successful business endeavors.
4. See and speak the positive. With the space you have around you, fill it with the things you want rather than the things you don’t want
5. Make more money than you spend. You never know when you will need to reconcile your affairs, and you want to be ahead rather than behind in the game.

Don’ts

1. Don’t listen to bullshit or buy it. Trust your instincts. Question all those who call themselves masters.  Do their professional peers agree they are.
2. Don’t let people coach you if they don’t have experience and success in that area. If you want to play tennis, get a tennis pro with the most experience in tennis, not a cyclist.
3. Don’t give up just because you are challenged or because something is tough. Don’t be cynical; give life a chance again and again.
4. Don’t be too reasonable about your dreams. Being too reasonable can lead to mediocrity.
5. Welcome life’s many opportunities, but say YES and commit to only those you are willing to complete. It’s OK to say NO. Making too many commitments is to be committed to none.  Incompletes lead to unfinished business and baggage you don’t need.

More power to you in the year 2010, ahead.  And remember your point of power is in the here and now.  For more details on living positively, powerfully, and heroically click here to order The ANSWER To Absolutely Everything DVD and you’ll get several  FREE CDs to choose from. And don’t forget to check out my newest CD: The Game of Life and How To Win It.  Blessings to you, and share this blog memo with friends and family.

“The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul.”

^{~ G. K. Chesterton}

“There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in the summer and the youngest in the fall.

When they had all gone and returned, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent and twisted. The second son said it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed; he said that it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful it as the most graceful things he’d ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment. They began to argue and fight amongst themselves over who was right and who was wrong.

Then the man explained to his sons that none of them were wrong, yet none were right either because they had each only seen one season of the tree’s life. He told them you cannot judge a tree or a person by only one season. That the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy and love that comes from that life can only be measured when all the seasons are up.”

How can any of us judge another when we only see one aspect of that person? When we only see some of what is there but not all of it? How can we judge our own selves as a success or failure when all the seasons have not yet played themselves out in our lives?

If we give up when it’s winter, we will miss the promise of spring, the beauty of summer and the fulfillment of fall.

“Don’t ever let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don’t judge life by one difficult season. We must persevere through the difficult patches for better times are sure to come.

Live simply
Love generously
Care deeply
Speak kindly”

Trust that everything that enters your life is there to support you to evolve spiritually.

“Happiness keeps you sweet
Trials keep you strong
Sorrows keep you human
Failures keep you humble
Success keeps you growing”

As you embark on a New Year, may you create a new soul with the lessons you have learned and a hope for dreams yet to be fulfilled. And may it be a happy one.

Portions of this article were written by an unknown author.

Posted by my friend,  Martha Borst

_{by Terry Tillman}

2010!!! Wow! We’ve already heading into the first week of another new year. Wasn’t it only last year that we were reading about all the fear-based Y2K concerns forecasting the impending year 2000 “Millennium bug”? Was that a decade ago?

When Greg asked me to post a little article here my knee-jerk reaction was, “I’m too busy, I don’t have time…” And that’s the reason why I agreed to write this. I tell others to do the thing you don’t want to do if you want to be free, and grow and learn. Move into the resistance, rather than away back to the safe, familiar, comfortable habitual behaviors. So, let’s see what shows up here…

The transition from December to January, one year to the next, the old to the new is a time when many of us review and resolve. With good intentions we acknowledge where we fell short in the past and voice good intentions, goals and objectives for the coming 12 months.

Sometime during the first week of each year my wife and I sit down together, away from any distractions and go through what’s become an annual “ritual”-we go through a process to complete the year just finished and voice intentions for the coming 12 months (There’s nothing sacred about 12 months. That’s an arbitrary time period, so we could be talking about 6 months, or two years).

This is an important time of the year, because I know that where I look is where I go. I create my reality by what I focus upon. And I’m now committing a major part of my next focus. I’m beginning an action that will determine my experience and results for the next period.

COMPLETION, AGREEMENTS & SAYING “NO”
Our first step is to acknowledge what we’re grateful for. We write this down. It’s usually four or five pages for each of us. I’ve made it a habit to look at what I have, do or am to be grateful for, daily. The end of the year list is a summary, and claiming, a receiving and acknowledging.

With an attitude of gratitude I’m automatically abundant. I have the experience of abundance and I will never need to endure the loss of any one thing (You might want to read that again).

Every agreement or promise I make and every action I’ve started that is not complete requires a little piece of my consciousness and energy, usually unconsciously. So a next step in our process is to reclaim some of that energy. We list incompletions and decide what we intend to do to complete them. We eliminate or re-chose and re-commit. Often it’s as simple as declaring completion–Just saying “It’s done”, or “I’m not going to do that .”

Much of the stress experienced in business and personal lives is the result of over committing-agreeing to do more than can be done well, thoroughly, enjoyably and in a balanced manner in the time allotted. I’ve found that if I want to have less stress, I need to learn when to say “no”. Be more selective in my choices and agreements.

If I want movement and change, if I want to start something new, I need to stop something. That means saying, “Yes” to one activity is saying “No” to others.

For example, last week I looked around my office and home and noticed that I had three books and four magazines open. I have been in the process of reading them-a couple of them I started several months, or more, ago. Those are incompletions, and broken agreements with myself (I’ll get to that in a minute). I know that I pay a big price for broken agreements, and lose energy and focus when my environment is filled with incompletes.

So what can I do? I closed two of the books and put them back on the bookshelf. I tossed a couple of the magazines in the trash, and I closed the others. Done. Complete! Energy reclaimed.  Later I can choose again to read them. If I want. For now I’m choosing something else. I’m always amazed at how much better I feel after simple acts such as those. I begin to feel more in charge, more of the author(ity) in my life.

Some completions may take a little more effort and time. Some I can renegotiate (with myself, or someone else if they are involved). Basically I’m reviewing my past choices and bringing them into the present and making a new choice. Sometimes that may be the same one as in the past; sometimes it’s altogether new. After all, in some ways I’m hopefully a different person, with different information at this moment than when I originally made the choice. What would I chose now?

When I reviewed my incompletions last week I found very few projects and activities that I wanted to cancel, or say no to. That’s good news to me. That means I’m on course and have kept pretty current and present.

I did however clarify or remember what my agreements and commitments are. That’s been very helpful to me already. A couple days ago the managing director of a company I’m an advisor to and investor in asked me to get more involved in a particular operational challenge the company was having. That would have entailed more work and time commitment. With the recall of what I originally agreed to fresh in my mind, and remembering what I’m best at and enjoy, it was easy to say “no”, thank you. In the past I might have been afraid I’d upset the client, spark disapproval, be judged, or even lose the contract (and money). However, I’ve learned that the price I pay for not being true to myself, and making my choices from the inside out, is even greater.

Often in seminars I will ask the group, “Who would like greater self-esteem?  More confidence? Greater self-trust? Better relationships? More energy? Consistently, in every country (94 so far) and every seminar, around 95% of the hands are raised.  And then we launch into a two-hour lecturette and process.

We probably don’t have the space for all that here, so I’ll just give the bottom line–THE KEY to experiencing all of these rewards is basically, KEEP YOUR AGREEMENTS!  Do what you say you are going to do.

Or, alternatively, if you are experiencing low self-esteem, lack of trust, low confidence, deteriorating relationships, low energy… look to your agreements. Chances are you’re overcommiting and/or not keeping them.

And, the reason we’re looking at this now, at the beginning of 2010, is that this is the time of the year when people make resolutions–This year I’m going to lose weight, start an exercise program, play and laugh more, risk more, travel to…, relax and pause more (work hard, rest often), take that speed reading class, spend more time with my children, write a book, eat healthier food, learn a new language… These are all agreements with our selves. And if we don’t keep them, we automatically suffer the consequences called low self-esteem, lack of trust, low confidence, deteriorating relationships, low energy. Automatically.

A part of our conscious doesn’t register if we broke the agreement just a little or a lot, or if it was a big agreement or a little one. It is binary, Yes or no? Did you do what you said you’d do or not? Did you keep your word? The process is unconscious, internally, and the consequences are automatic, whether we keep the agreement or break it. So, what to do?

TIPS TO ASSIST IN KEEPING AGREEMENTS:

1. Write down your agreements and promises. I have an agreement with myself that if it’s not written down I haven’t agreed to it. I also have a list in my Palm Pilot (soon to be transferred to my new iPhone) called, “Pretty good idea, someday maybe”. I’m curious, and active. I daily discover many things I’d like to jump into or learn more about. Some of those I don’t want to forget, so they go in my Someday Maybe list. It’s a great list, and I review it periodically. Every once in awhile I actually commit to something on the list. My best selling book was on this list for three years before I committed to writing it.
2. Learn to say “No”. You have that right, and I’d say responsibility. It’s part of being true to yourself and taking care of yourself and following your heart. I have a stress reduction seminar designed around learning to say no. It’s important, and it’s something a majority has difficulty with.
3. Renegotiate. We make agreements with the information, abilities, knowledge, skills and feelings we have at the time. As we get involved in whatever is the activity and process we gain more information, skill, knowledge and ability and thus at any future moment, if we were to make that choice again it may well be a different or modified choice. We have the right to renegotiate. To change.
4. Make agreements important. If I realize how important they are, and the consequences for breaking them and the rewards for keeping them, I find it easy to realize how important they are. And if I get they are important I will keep them

This has gotten long. I thought I was going to discourse about intentions and methods, focusing on what rather than how and on setting goals, and how those are different from Purpose, Mission, Dreams, Visions. Some other time…

Thanks Greg for asking me to do this. I’m already closer to where I want to be than when I began : )

Written on Christmas Eve in the year 1513 by Fra Giovanni. As beautiful as it is timeless, but then…truth is eternal. While it is titled: “A Letter to the Most Illustrious the Contessina Allagia degli Aldobrandeschi,” Most simply refer to it as “A Letter to a Friend.”

You may be interested in this blog about growing up with Michael Jackson and all the Jackson Kids, written by my nephew, Milbert Brown.  Click Here to visit his blog.

- Ray

2300 Jackson Street _{By Milbert Brown}

Quickly I ran out to play, under the puffy white clouds that hung neatly in the clear sky—a few miles from Lake Michigan waves.

Keeping watch was Mama, hawking me as I anxiously waited to get dirty with Joe and Katie Jackson’s kids.

My squeals of delight punctuated the summer air as I played for hours with the large family that lived across the street. Their petite home rested on the street named in honor of U.S. President Andrew Jackson in Gary, Indiana. It was only a short rock glide from my great-Aunt Esther’s house.

Tall and shapely, she was my favorite. She had cocoa skin and an empowering voice that vacillated between the conversation of royalty and the ferociousness of a bobcat during heated debates.

If there were even a hint that she was losing an argument, she would simply end it with “it’s a long story.” Her rich oral fables brought comfort to neighbors and guests, who were welcome to sigh, laugh and lie about the activities of the day.

Indelibly etched in my heart are Esther’s narratives with feelings that reflect the aspirations and hopes shared by my working-class family, the Jacksons, and thousands of others in Gary.

The house she shared with her husband, Turner, was where I grew, learned about life and witnessed the tumultuous rise of the world’s most famous musical family, the Jackson Five-my childhood playmates.

I was very young when I played with Michael—so all that remains are flashes of memory, largely obscured by the mist of time. We were only old as recharged car batteries-about 2 or 3 years old.

Years before Michael, the boy who would be King, whose talent engulfed the world and forever altering the course of musical history—-his grandfather, Samuel Jackson was a morning fixture sipping black coffee in Aunt Esther’s kitchen.

When the Jackson brothers were still performing on the “chitlin’ circuit,” they often played at Sonny’s Den, a neighborhood juke joint on 12th and Grant Street. I lived about a block away, but I was still too young to even walk pass the spot.

The emotions from those long-ago days at 2300 Jackson Street have unearthed stories of my family’s relationship with the Jackson family.

The eldest Jackson, Rebbie, and my older cousin, Faye often practiced jump-rope routines on the warm neighborhood sidewalk.

One evening, Jackie Jackson or “Jackie Boy” as he was called back then, was caught drinking gin by his Mama, Katie. Jeffery, Esther’s son was usually with Jackie Boy during his episodes of backyard mischief.

My Uncle Ike’s love interest was Michael’s aunt, Lula Jackson. Their relationship produced a baby boy, Wendell, who is my cousin—and “The King of Pop’s first cousin.

Many years have gone by since those times at Aunt Esther’s. But, I will always treasure the moments on Jackson Street and our family’s enduring love. Most of all, I hold close the memories of wrestling in the grass with the Jackson kids.

Milbert O. Brown, Jr., a Gary, Indiana native, is the online editor of “The Brown Report” and a freelance writer-photographer based in the Baltimore-Washington, DC corridor. 2009 Copyright by Milbert O. Brown, Jr.

Click Here to visit original blog.

First realization: If you want to get lots of results be a Great Inviter! Invite a LOT!

The more people you invite, the greater the chances are you will have a full house, or have the results you desire. Invite a lot, but do a proper invitation that works.

Use the ANOLOGY of INVITING TO A PARTY. You need to think about “who” you want at your party to have it work. You need to be clear you really want them there, and make it clear to them, without forcing them.

1. CLEAR INTENTION — TO GET THE RESULT

Get clear that you want to pack the house, get the results.

2. HEARTFELT — COMMUNICATION FROM THE HEART

So the invitation is not a casual invite but it is sincere. Don’t say “stop by if you can.” Say “I REALLY WANT you here with me and for me/us, because it means a hell of a lot to me/us!”

3. PRIDE – TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Let them in on your experience. Tell your own story with pride! Show them what it was like for YOU, so they might see how it can also be for THEM. Don’t keep yourself a secret; don’t cheat them.

4. “SHOW & TELL”

Tell them DETAILS. Like a party, tell them the who, what, where, when, how, why…

Who else will be there…What it’s about and what to wear…Where it will be held…When it is and when it starts…How to get there and how to be there to fit the occasion… Why you doing it, why it is important, and why them (your POWERFUL WHY).

5. WILLING TO HEAR “NO” – to get the authentic “YES”!

Give them space. Don’t twist their arm and force them. They need to feel free, and need wiggle room. A “yes” is not authentic unless there was room for “no”, and they chose on their own, voluntarily.

To get your own copy of THE ANSWER To Absolutely Everything, click here.

Your impact in the world is in direct proportion to your insight, imagination, and commitment in action. There is no one more destined for success than you. Many people feel that they do not have as much of a gift as others. But that, most often, is not the case (if ever at all). Your normal gifts and talents can create as much of an awesome impact as anyone else. Many people think that the strongest, brightest, and most beautiful will out-achieve the averagely endowed person. But there are an untold number of success stories born from those who use their imagination to see what others don’t see, who seize opportunities as they come into view, who throw their passion into whatever they start, and who discipline themselves to follow through. I’d say that these are qualities that can make men and women go from a zero to a hero in anything they undertake. Imagination, opportunity, passion, and discipline can create miracles by average people where the exceptionally “gifted” may procrastinate their talents away and lead lives that never quite got used. You have what it takes, so it is a matter of getting rid of your waiting and to start acting. You never achieve if you do not start. Begin what you believe and dream and don’t stop until you find your stride, and let the rest of the details unfold as you go. Your next miracle can start now.