This week I want to express my thoughts and prayers for those of you who are either from the hurricane affected New Orleans/Mississippi/Georgia areas or have friends and family who are. Words cannot express the trauma that so many have felt.

It is encouraging to see so many people from around the world, everyone from individuals here in the states to other countries, sharing their resources to help those in need. That is the brightest light of the human spirit - to help those in need with a generous heart, expecting nothing in return. Please join me in keeping those who have been affected by this natural disaster as well as the many relief workers who have made their way to the area and the many people and cities nationwide that are helping with relocation, in your prayers.

You Are Made for Success!
Chris Widener

In This Issue.......

1. Charting Your Course to Success Article
2. Made for Success Quote and Commentary
3. The Last Word...
4. Chris Widener Special Event Offer
5. Booking Chris to Speak - Special Offer!
6. More Information

1. Charting Your Course to Success Article

Courage That Changes Your Life by Chris Widener

"The scars you acquire while exercising courage will never make you feel inferior." -- D.A. Battista

"Courage is a special kind of knowledge: the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared." -- David Ben-Gurion

"Courage is fear that has said its prayers." -- Dorothy Bernard


Courage. It is a word that conjures up images of great and dramatic actions. And yet I realize that we all have the opportunity to be courageous every day, in small and large ways. And it is when we choose to be courageous that we change our lives and the lives of those around us.

Can you name anything of any significance that did not emanate from some sort of courageous decision? I can't. Think of the changes that we have experienced in the last few decades and trace them back to their initial decision. Chances are, someone exhibited courage.

So what is courage? It is simply acting on what we know we should do, regardless of any fear we may have. It is the choice to disregard worry. It is the choice to do right, to pursue our dreams, to be successful people, to lead the way for others.

Courage changes lives. Yes, it changes lives.

First, the day you begin to stare down your fears and worries, and instead act courageously, your life will change. You will be set free to fly like you never have before. You will accomplish things you once only dreamed of. You will experience things you thought were only for others - the courageous ones. You will realize that your fears were baseless and just paper tigers, a mirage. You will begin to live your dreams. You will become a person of character!

You will also change the lives of others. Simply put, courageous people pull others along with them. Everybody benefits from courageous people. I have a friend who I admire greatly. A little over a year ago he decided to leave a lucrative career and pursue a dream. All obstacles were thrown his way. The day he left his company, he found out that his wife had cancer. He went into a great deal of debt to finance his dream. He raised millions of dollars, putting his name and reputation on the line. He acted courageously. A year later, he has over fifty employees and growing monthly. Those employees are reaping the benefit of his courage! And his wife, who beat cancer, is acting courageously with him!

Here are some quick tips for acting courageously:

Know what you want. Courage is about choice. If you are to act courageously, you need to know what the right choice is. Be clear about your dream and vision.

Do not worry. I heard recently that worry is the wrong use of the imagination. That is perhaps the best definition I have ever heard. Worry is just thinking about all of the bad possibilities, isn't it? Well, courage is just thinking about all the great possibilities and then acting upon them!

Do your homework. It helps to get the facts. It helps because then you can make an informed decision that will put your heart and mind to rest. There will probably be a downside but we understand it, choose alternatives, and act decisively instead of those.

Act. There is no substitute for the first step. Do you know what you want? Have you thought of the possibilities? Have you done your homework? Then what are you waiting for? The next step is to take the first step, and ACT!

Chris Widener



2. Made for Success Quote and Commentary

"Life is a grindstone. But whether it grinds us down or polishes us up depends on us." -- L. Thomas Holdcraft

Chris' Commentary:
Everything that happens to you today will give you the choice on how to perceive it and how to respond. And it doesn't matter whether what happens to you would generally be considered good or bad. It simply doesn't matter. If something "bad" happens to us we can still choose to see it as something that is polishing us up to make our lives more beautiful. This is one of the tremendous realities of being human. We have the God-given ability to choose our attitudes and our outlooks. We can let things get us down and depressed or we can choose to let them move us in the right direction.

Action Point: As you go about your day, try to be conscious of how you are responding to circumstances. Choose to see the good in everything. This will make you feel a lot happier and will ultimately take you to new heights!



3. The Last Word...

Build Your Team with a Teleconference!

I have to say that one of the truly fun parts of what I do for a living is being a guest on teleconference calls. Today's technology is great in that you can now put people from all over the world onto a telephone bridge line and do seminars or team building events - all while everyone sits in the comfort of their own home or office! No traveling. No airports. No high gas prices. No hotel stays. Just pick up the phone and away you go.

I have been a guest on teleconferences for years, but have done a few recently that have been really exciting. I was on a call last week with about 100 people from an organization, and we had people from all over: Boston, LA, New York, Florida, and Puerto Rico, just to name a few places people had dialed in from.

And the REALLY great part is that I get to do my Winning With Influence seminar in one, two or three parts (the teleconference last week was the first of a three part series). Also when I do my "live" keynote via the conference call format, something unique I can offer is a question and answer session right there, and everybody gets to listen in. So not only do you get the information, you get to ask questions right then!

In fact, I did the second call last night and received this email from the conference call leader right after we completed the call:

"Hi Chris, WOW! Thanks for leading another incredible call! I am SO glad that you are able and willing to address our team. I have gotten so many positive comments! The person who spoke up right at the end, Rob is my coach and he could hardly call me fast enough to tell me how impressed he was. He specifically liked that you put it into simple, practical terms with examples for ease of understanding. He pulled out several things that he really liked and will likely quote on a regular basis.

Thanks again for incredible insights and thoughts to ponder for the evening. Thank you for sharing your gifts with my team. It is my goal to do what you do-- motivate others on a large scale." -- Tanya

Many of you have teams you already do conference calls with, and I would love to talk with you about joining you for one or more of them. If you are interested, just shoot me an email to speaker@chriswidener.com and we can talk about making it happen!

Just another unique, fun way to get powerful, life-impacting information out there in a tangible and effective way! -- CW

 

4. Chris Widener Special Event Offer

5. Booking Chris to Speak - Special Offer!

6. More Information

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