You know, with the holiday season upon us, I've been giving some thought to the idea of Giving...

In the pursuit of the life we dream of, this journey we are on for successful living, the focus is usually on figuring out what it is exactly that we want and then setting ourselves on course for going and getting it. This is very important: Know what you want to get for your life and then pursue it.

But there is another aspect of achieving the life you dream of that seems on the surface to actually be counter-productive to getting the life you want, yet is imperative to the successful life. It is giving.

Giving - of yourself, your time, your money, your energy - is something that takes us from simply being successful people in the traditional sense of the term, to being people who lead successful lives.

Giving is what makes us fully human. It is the essence of what we are, people who are here on earth together, not simply people who hope to clamor to the top of the pile in the survival of the fittest. Yes, pursue your life and your success with wild abandon; be responsible for yourself and take ownership of your life, realizing that you cannot be responsible for others, but also allow yourself to become a giving person.

Giving is also what allows us to accomplish things far beyond ourselves; and that is part of what living the life of our dreams is all about, right? Accomplishing great things through ourselves - and others!

During this time of the year, let's all see what we can do to give a little extra; something outside of what we usually do. Whether it's "adopting" a child or family who is in need of help during the holidays, helping an elderly neighbor with their yard work or taking a meal to a sick family; it touches something inside of us all.

P.S. Today's issue is going out to 97,681 subscribers. If you've gained value from what you read in my Ezine, then I would like to thank you in advance for forwarding this issue to friends, family and associates!

In This Issue.......

1. Charting Your Course to Success Article
2. Made for Success Quote and Commentary
3. The Last Word...
4. Can you really get anything you want out of Life? Anything?
5. More Information

1. Charting Your Course to Success Article

Ability, Motivation and Attitude by Chris Widener

"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." Lou Holtz

There are three primary aspects of your life that will determine whether or not you are successful in your endeavors. You will not be successful if you have only one or two. You must have all three working together. Consider them like the three legs of a "stool of success."

Ability – the level at which you are able to actually do things. Your skill level. If you have a high level of skill, that´s good. And the better you get, the better it will be for you. To the degree that you can perform your actions at higher and higher skill levels, the more and more success you will find in your chosen field.

Motivation – the level at which you are able to find "a reason to act." This is the internal drive that you find that enables you to exercise your abilities. To the degree that you can find a way, or ways, to keep yourself motivated, you will see yourself right in the thick of things, carrying out your actions to the best of your abilities and succeeding accordingly.

Attitude – this is the mental state that you have while carrying out your actions to the best of your ability. It is the way you view the world around you and choose to see it, either positively or negatively. To the degree that you can maintain a positive attitude about yourself, others, and the circumstances you find yourself in, you will see yourself achieving greater and greater things.

"But Chris, can't I get away with just two?"

No.

What if you have high skills and motivation but a rotten attitude? People will stay away and hinder your success. What if you have a good attitude and motivation but poor skills? People will like you, maybe even root for you, but go to someone else with the skills they need. What if you have great skills and attitude but no motivation? Well, you'll be sitting on the couch like a lazy slug while the go-getters are out there making your money and achieving your dreams!

No, it takes all three. So let's ask some questions:

Ability: How highly skilled are you? Is your skill level holding you back? How so? What could you achieve if you just took your skills to the next level beyond where they are right now? How would improving your skills improve the bottom line of your success?

Motivation: How motivated are you? Why do you answer that way? What would your spouse or close friends say? Would they say you are as motivated as you say you are? Why or why not? Why do you have the level of motivation that you have? What could you do to find a higher level of motivation? What would happen if you became super motivated for the next period of your life. What great things would happen?

Attitude: Do you have a good attitude or a poor one? How would you rate yourself? What about when things go wrong? Are you more of an optimist or a pessimist? What would happen if you took your attitude to the next level for the next 60 days? What if you just chose to have an incredible attitude? What would be the ramifications?

"The world cares very little about what a man or woman knows; it is what a man or woman is able to do that counts." Booker T. Washington

This is so true. People will judge you on what you accomplish, not what you know or what you talk about. In fact, if you know a lot or talk a lot but do not accomplish anything, people will wonder what happened. So the question is whether or not you will take the actions necessary to deliver on your potential. To do so, you will need to focus in on the three legs of the stool of success: Your ability, your motivation, and your attitude.

Take some time this week to give some serious thought to these three areas. Your success depends on it! And when you have done some reflection – put the conclusions you come to into action!

Chris Widener

Chris has a special offer for his readers this week. Make sure and check it out before the offer expires - go to http://influence.yoursuccessstore.com

2. Made for Success Quote and Commentary

"Man's biggest mistake is to believe that he's working for someone else." -- Nashua Cavalier

Chris' Commentary:
Someone else may pay you, but you work for yourself. Even if you work for a company for your whole life, you are not what that company says about you.
You are not what those outside of that company say about that company. You are who you are because of your character and the excellence you strive for in your skills and interaction with those around you. Unfortunately, you may not get much credit for what you do, but credit is fleeting anyhow. How many people are famous one moment and infamous the next, cast down by the fickleness of popular opinion. The only way to keep yourself from crashing on the rocks, carried on the waves of someone else's opinion of you, is to never surf there anyway.

Action Point: Are you too tied up in what others think of you? Take some time today to get to know yourself. Be honest with yourself. What are your strengths? Can you be proud of those, regardless of what others may say of your weaknesses? Of course you can, and you should!

3. The Last Word...

Are You an Optimist or a Pessimist?

I have been giving some thought lately to optimism and pessimism. Basically, these are attitudes. Attitudes that shape and formulate our entire existence. I mean, have you ever met a happy pessimist? Of course not.

In short, our optimism or pessimism is this:

The way we interpret the past
The way we experience and view the present
The way we imagine the future

Have you given much thought about how your attitude, whether you are an optimist or a pessimist, affects you business, organization or school? Have you thought about how it affects you personally? And what about the team you are a part of?

What is optimism? It is a belief that things in our past were good for us, even if that means they were hard and taught us lessons. It is also the belief that things will be better in the future.

Here are some contrasts between optimism and pessimism and how they affect us:

Optimism breathes life into you each day
Pessimism drains you

Optimism helps you to take needed risks
Pessimism plays it safe and never accomplishes much

Optimism improves those around you
Pessimism drags them down

Optimism inspires people to great heights
Pessimism deflates people to new lows

There is only one way that optimism and pessimism are the same and that is that they are both self-fulfilling. If you are an optimist, you will generally find that good things happen to you. And if you are a pessimist, you will find yourself in the not-so-good situations more often than not.

So can a person just become an optimist? Yes! We can choose to look at the world any way we want to. We can choose to look at the world and think the worst, or we can tell ourselves the good things about each situation. As you find yourself looking at your enterprise, begin to view it through the eyes of an optimist, and you will reap the rewards listed above, and so will the people around you.

There are tremendous benefits to being an optimist, as stated above. But there are some pessimists out there who will say, "But that isn't realistic." I say "Who cares?" If things go awry, at least I have spent my time beforehand enjoying life and not worrying about it. And, being an optimist, I would view the "negative" situation as an opportunity to grow and learn. So I can even look forward to my failures because they will be stepping stones, and learning tools to be applied to my future success.

Have you ever met a successful pessimist? Become an optimist and see your world change before your eyes!

4. Can you really get anything you want out of Life? Anything?

YES, it is possible for you to get anything you want out of life. Anything. But there's just one problem. Usually...
 
Someone else has it, and you have to convince them to give it to you!
 
Here are some examples of what I'm talking about:
 
- If you want to go to college... you have to convince the college admissions officer to let you in by showing that you're a good student.
 
- If you want to get a date or someone to love you... you have to convince that girl (or guy) of your dreams that you can be trusted, and you're worthy of their love and attention.
 
- If you want a raise or a better job... you have to convince your employer to give you one.
 
- If you want to run a business and create wealth... you need to find customers who are willing to buy your products and services.
 
And if you want the deeper and more meaningful things in life... like the trust, respect, praise and admiration of the people around you... loyal friends... security... prestige... popularity... children who adore you... overall success... you know, things you can't buy with money... the fact remains... (to finish reading go to http://influence.yoursuccessstore.com)
 

5. More Information

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