Success does not just happen; it is the result of the application of laws that have been proven over time. From the days of the Roman Empire, these laws have been shown to work. The key is to understand these laws and to work with them, not against them. One such law is the Law of the Farm.

The Law of The Farm

The Law of the Farm is based on observation of the world around us, namely the ability of a farmer to raise crops. The Law of the Farm says that success comes from the same process that a harvest comes to a farmer. First, as a farmer plows the ground, the person must be readied for success. The weeds of negative thinking must be cleared away, and the person must be fertilized with thoughts of abundance and possibility. Second, the seeds of success must be sown; these are the actions the person does to generate success. Those actions must be tended, supported by positive thinking, just as the farmer tends his crops. Then, when opportunities arise, they must be harvested, just as the farmer must harvest his crop. The harvest must be done at the right time, in the right way. Just as the farmer can lose his crop if he lets it sit in the field, so the person can lose success if he does not take advantage of the opportunities when they arise in the fullness of time.

Preparing the Field

For the farmer to reap a harvest, he cannot simply scatter seeds in a field. The field must be plowed, fertilized, and otherwise prepared before the seed is planted. For some crops, these may take years of preparation; as Stephen Covey points out in his book, “The Eight Habit”, a potato farmer must prepare his field for two years prior to planting. People must be prepared for success the same way. They need to have the weeds of negative thinking cleared away. They must be prepared for the planting by learning the attitude of expectation of success. A person must be fertilized with thoughts of abundance so that the seed has food to grow.

Planting the Seed

The farmer plants the seed of the crop he wishes to harvest. He does not plant corn seed to get a harvest of wheat. So, too, a person must plant the seeds of what he wishes to gain. This is where goal setting comes into the process. The person needs to decide what his goals are, and then create a plan for reaching those goals, so that he can plant the right seed for the desired harvest of success. A person wishing financial success must plant financial seeds, whether these be investments made or skills learned. The person must understand how the seeds being planted will grow to the desired harvest.

Tending the Crops

While the crop is growing, the farmer needs to tend and protect the growing plants. The field needs to be watered, treated to prevent insect infestation, fenced to protect the young plants from animals who would feed on the crop. A person working towards success must also protect his crop. Positive associations are needed to continue the growth of the ideas plants. Negative people and negative ideas must be protected against. Learning about himself and his endeavors (books, classes, further reading) can fertilize the ideas, making them grow stronger and faster. Persistence is needed to weather the storms of depression and impatience which can threaten the crop of success.

Harvesting at the Right Time

The farmer needs to gather in the crop when the time is right. He cannot do it too early, or the crop will not be useful; he cannot do it too late, or the crop will destroy itself in the field. A person working towards success needs to realize when the opportunities arise so that the efforts planted can be realized at the right time. Hesitation can cause the opportunity to rot away; the attempt to reach the absolute maximum can cause the right time to slip by. Act when your subconscious says to act; by listening to the small voice within you, you will know when the harvest time has occurred. The farmer doesn’t wait until the absolute peak ripeness occurs; he harvests the crop just before then, so that the ripeness will occur when the harvest is delivered. So, too, a person needs to act just before the maximum results, so that the results can mature during the act of harvesting. Particularly when it comes to investments, it is better to get 95% of the profit by acting early than to get 80% of the profit by acting too late.

The Most Subtle of the Laws

There are several laws of success, but the Law of the Farm is perhaps the most subtle. Just as a farmer gets better at raising crops as the years go by, so too a person gets better at using this law as he works it. Of all the laws, this one gets better the more you use it.

We are all born with a lot of talent and the ability to reach our full potential and achieve greatness if we choose to.

Mindset is crucial to anyone who wants to succeed in business or in life. It affects your whole thinking, and your thinking determines your actions.

What do the world’s most successful entrepreneurs have in common apart from successful businesses? The answer is, the right mindsets. Mindset together with consistent action is the key to achieving and maintaining momentum.

So, what is mindset? It’s a mental frame that organizes and interprets information in a way that helps one to understand an experience uniquely, and it guides one to take corresponding actions and responses.

The mindset we adopt affects our judgment. Change your mindset and you’ll be able to achieve all your dreams.

So, what’s the right mindset for business growth and why is it so important?

You Subconsciously Influence Those around You

Attitude, whether it’s positive or negative, is contagious. And as a business owner, your employees look up to you and your attitude influences them. So think carefully about the message you send.

Everyone – your employees, customers, investors, and suppliers – will pick up on your attitude. If you’re positive and happy, your customers and staff will be more positive, and they’ll want to do business with you. But if you’re negative, people are less likely to want to work with you.

A Positive Mindset Makes You Feel More in Control

Approaching anything in your company with a positive attitude will make you feel more calm, confident and in control, and this will help you perform better.

To maintain a positive attitude, work your way through setbacks that come up. Have time to rest and disconnect from work. As a business owner, it may be difficult to find the right balance and switch off, but mastering this will help you have a peaceful and focused mind.

Your Business Success Depends on How Much You Grow

Research and educate yourself. Broaden your horizons so that you can be better and more informed about what’s best for you and your business. Always remember that if you’re not growing, you’re only dying, and this isn’t good for your business.

Resilience Will Help You Bounce Back from Setbacks

Running a business isn’t easy. Things don’t always go as planned. There are many challenges, but what’s matters is that you shouldn’t give up no matter what happens.

Building resilience and having a positive mindset will help you overcome setbacks and keep moving forward and remain focused on your goals. Be persistent and don’t let failure prevent you from moving forward.

A Focused Mind Is more Likely to Succeed

If you lack a clear vision of your business, you probably won’t succeed in creating it. A focused mind is fundamental in maintaining the bigger picture and it will help you make the right decisions. It’s easy to get distracted and bogged down by daily tasks, but successful entrepreneurs focus and concentrate on what matters.

This may sound like mathematics to whoever is about to read this article as we say 50% plus 50% equals 100%. Although there is a common saying that when you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. Planning does not only relate to project or business management but to every aspect of our lives. So, whether you are a lecturer, musician, director, journalist or an entrepreneur, you need to plan to become successful in whatever you do or plan to do.

Planning entails detailing out what needs to be done to achieve your goals or objectives, formulating strategies to achieve them, arrange or create the means required, implement, direct and monitor all steps in their proper sequence.

There are many benefits of proper planning. Before going into any profession, you should consider the points described below:

· Planning helps to predict what needs to be done to achieve our desired plans.

· It identifies those risks that could turn to an opportunity or threat to our lives or businesses.

· It helps to determine the financial requirement for future purposes.

Planning for development automatically leads to success as everyone that grows in terms of knowledge, revenue, promotion, is regarded as a success. So if you want to scale up your business or establish a new business line, it is important to plan adequately. After the implementation of your plan, you will need to develop your business to meet customers’ requirements which entails more detailed planning.

Success cannot be achieved without setting planning in place. Some people have failed to get a promotion, achieve a higher level at various offices because they could not plan for what is needed to get to the proposed position.

A football team coach does a lot of planning before selecting final 11-team to be on the field. This includes who will be the goalkeeper, who will be on the substitute list and those who are only qualified to take kick like a penalty, free-kick and so on. Successful CEOs plan in details before choosing who will lead each division like sales, procurement, financing, HR.

Every development is a success whether small or big. While there are various ways you can make 1 + 1 to become 2, there are also various ways you can be successful through planning for development.

1. Networking: You need to belong to the right peers, society and group that can positively add useful meanings to your planning. Working with planners is also a piece of good advice. You will be able to identify who can help you to fill the identified gaps.

2. Education: Even when you decide to hire professionals who can take up the role of planning for your development, you need to have certain knowledge that will guide you during implementation. Through education, you will decide on what skills, techniques, and tools you need to work on. If you are an entrepreneur, you will be able to decide what pricing strategy can be used to gain more revenue.

3. Research: Doing thorough research by finding out previous plans successful people used is a nice way to follow in making a guide. This will help to estimate where and what you need to achieve in the coming years. A good example is a market survey which shows you the past, present and future demands for products or services.

Everybody would really want to master success as soon as possible so as to see its fruitful results immediately. Before you reach success, try first to ponder on these five easy steps and after that begin unlocking the gates towards success. Success that you have long been wanting to have.

1. Accessing the state of success mastery. You already know what this state is, unconsciously. You already had peak experiences and you already experienced flow in your life. In addition to that, you do it naturally. The only problem is that you do it for short periods of time, at certain moments. You usually experience flow when you perform something that is easy and fun for you. NLP has a lot of tools to make this success mindset work for you, whenever you need it. You can use NLP submodalities or NLP anchoring to do that. (common and fairly easy neuro linguistic programming techniques)

2. Inner team building. Abraham Lincoln said: “A house divided cannot stand”. This is a good metaphor to explain that the different parts of yourself are often in conflict one with another. When this happens, you feel inadequate or incongruent. It’s a bit like when you say yes but your body language really says no. There are a lot of neuro linguistic programming techniques to bring harmony and to turn conflict into agreement like the NLP 6-step reframing pattern or the NLP squash.

3. Building beliefs that support success mastery. If you want to have a sustainable success mindset, you need to change your limiting beliefs and build a belief system that will support success. Again, you can apply the NLP yes/no pattern or the NLP belief change process to achieve this success mindset. These are very powerful and easy-to-apply neuro linguistic programming techniques.

4. Begin with mastery. You have accessed your success mastery mindset in step 1. Now you need to bring that feeling in your past and your future. By doing that, you naturally build the mindset: “I always had the success mindset, I have the success mastery mindset now and I always will have the success mindset in my life. That’s just who I am.” You can achieve that through NLP time line therapy or NLP future pacing processes. (more advanced neuro linguistic programming techniques)

5. Live your personal genius. You access your success mastery mindset; you are in harmony with who you are, your beliefs and values. You have transferred that ability to your past and to your future. Now it’s time to live your success mindset.

One of the greatest virtues of all successful people is the ability to endure. Many of you might have learnt this as perseverance but I rather use the word endurance. What’s the difference? Well, perseverance means a constant struggle forwards against opposition, whereas endurance is, well, endurance. With endurance there is no need to struggle forwards. Sometimes it even means moving backwards, away from your goals. This doesn’t mean you give up – you are just waiting for the optimum or most opportune time to take action.

There is a old fable by Chuang Tzu, who was a philosopher in ancient China about 2,200 years ago, which illustrates the magic of endurance. It begins of with a fish called Kun. Now, this fish isn’t just an ordinary fish. It’s thousands of metres long. Kun evolves into Pung, which is a huge bird, thousands of metres wide. Don’t ask me why. To Pung, success means flying southwards over the great sea to the Celestial Pool. Pretty easy task, don’t you think? Nup! First, Pung beats his wings furiously and rises to a height of ninety thousand kilometres. It takes him 6 months to do this. Only then can he begin his journey southwards towards the Celestial Pool with nothing in his way.

A boat cannot float if the water is too shallow. Empty a cup of water on the floor and you can get a straw to float on the water, but the cup will sink. Similarly, if there is not enough wind, it cannot support great wings. Only when the Pung is ninety thousand kilometres high, can the wind support him.

When the cicada heard of this story, he said to the dove, “When I want to climb the elm tree, I fly and try to reach for higher ground. Sometimes I miss and fall to ground, but I slowly and surely make progress. Why does Pung have to travel thousands of kilometres without making any visible progress? The dove agreed: Pung was a fool. And so did every other animal in the kingdom.

So there it is. The fable of Pung. I hope you get the moral of the story because it captures the essence of endurance. If you don’t, read on. I’ve identified two pearls of wisdom in this story:

1. When a person wants to have a short sail around the bay in his sailboat, he’ll have to pack enough food for a few hours. When a person wants to have an epic journey across the Pacific Ocean, he’ll have to pack enough food for a few months. If you are aiming for a great accomplishment in life, you need extensive preparation. This doesn’t just mean gathering enough resources; it also includes waiting for the opportune time for action.

2. When preparing for your epic journey in life, you will criticised. That’s why you need to be true to your conviction and believe that, in the end, you will get what you set out for. And you will. Only then can you brush off the criticisms lightly and endure criticism because you know you are a Pung bird and the others, well, not Pung birds.

That’s it for today.

Happy living,

Kit

In volleyball, the serve is the most critical component of the game. Fail to deliver and a loss is certain, but master the serve and victory is almost undeniable. Whether he/she is a novice or professional athlete, brushing up on the basics of the serve is essential in improving game performance.

•SERVING 101

To deliver a serve effectively, the fundamentals of the overhand serve should be mastered before moving on to more advanced techniques.

1. Body Position – Feet, hips, and shoulders face the desired direction of the serve. If right handed, the left foot should be slightly in front of the right foot.

2. Ball Position – Place the ball in the non-serving hand at chest height. Elbow should be loose with a slight bend.

3. Arm Position – The elbow and hand of the serving arm should be bent at 90° angle, approximately ear height, with hand open, and wrist locked. Elbow should remain at ear level or above throughout the serve to avoid hitting the net.

4. Ball Toss – The most critical element of the serve is the ball toss. It should be 12″-18″ above the server’s head, and positioned in front of the serving shoulder. Keep the motion simple and reach high.

5. Ball Contact – Strike the ball with the heel of the hand through the middle of the ball. Hand should be open and flat, wrist locked, arm extended, and step forward. Follow through the motion, finishing with the striking hand in line with the body. This guarantees maximum velocity and power.

•COMMON MISTAKES

Poor Toss – Consistency is the most critical aspect of the toss. Maintain the same height and position with each toss, aim for one point on the volleyball, and strike with as much force as possible.

Loose Wrist or Hand – Serving wrist and hand should be stiff when striking the ball.

Lack of Confidence – Practice makes perfect, not only in the physical aspect of the game, but in the mental. Attempt to simulate the pressures of the game during practice with various drills.

•DRILLS

Drills are necessary in creating an unwavering serve. Without drills, a reliable performance cannot be achieved. The bottom line is that REPETITION builds muscle memory. Muscle memory leads to CONSISTENCY. Consistency leads to scoring. Consistent scoring equates WINNING.

Beginner Level Serve Drill (Requires 2 Players)

Have one player stand on each side of the court, taking turns serving to one another. Begin at the 10′ line, an adequate point to serve the ball from without overexerting. Gradually progress backwards every 5 serves until eventually arriving behind the baseline. As the skill level improves, begin moving to different areas of the court in order to perfect placement of the serve.

Intermediate Level Serve Drill (Team Drill)

This drill’s purpose is to improve accuracy. Divide team into 2 squads, with 1 on each side of the net. In zone 1 on each side of the net, place a chair. Have 1 player from each squad represented in a chair. The remaining members attempt to place the serve close enough for the individual in the chair to catch the ball in the air. If the ball is caught, the server must run under the net, exchange places with the person in the chair, while that person then joins the team of servers. Continue this sequence, moving the chair to a new zone with the change of persons in the chair.

•STRATEGY

Like any sport, strategy can make or break the outcome of a volleyball game. When executed properly, strategy can build team confidence and momentum. However before ever drafting these tactics, first familiarize the players with the types of serves. Secondly, educate players on the zones of the court. Lastly, understand the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses – the key to an effective offense.

•STRENGTH TRAINING

Volleyball is a physically demanding sport that requires strength, flexibility, and explosive power. In order to prevent injuries and improve overall performance, players should engage in resistance training. This training is vital in preparing athletes for the physical demands experienced during a game. Specific focus should be given to core strength which facilitates balance. Joint flexibility and tendon strength are other areas that require concentration.

The book Rhinoceros Success is an excellent read. The whole book is illustrated true, factual, eye opening stories.

The amazing Authors of this book is Scott Alexander. Mr Alexander authored a set of Rhino books when he was twenty-three years old:Rhino Success, Advanced Rhinocerology and Rhinocerotic Relativity. These three books have sold in an excess of two million copies.

Mr Alexander is now a world wide renowned speaker. He has traveled world wide presenting his unique and humorous philosophy of success and motivation. During his career he has been involved in such diverse business as African Arts, fossils and music.

I was introduced to Mr Alexander at a major function in the year 2000. This book is one hundred twenty two pages packed with great information to guide you to the attitude you will need to succeed in owning your own business. Mr Alexander mixes serious points with hilarious humor to lighten things up.

I read this book in a matter of a few minutes well under an hour or so. By the time I was done, it explained a lot to me about Attitude and how to help others with theirs. As soon as I was done reading it the only thing on my mind was to somehow get myself in front of Mr Alexander to pick his brain even more and of course to sign my book.

Well in the covers of this book Rhinoceros Success you will find out things like: Rhino Training, How to be a Rhino in all aspects of your life and Be prepared for Rhino problems.

In the section Rhino Training you will find that it is all in your MIND. The most important ingredient of being an effective Rhino is your ATTITUDE. By fixing your attitude you will be able to declare that you are a Rhino. There are two sayings you should say to yourself: I am a Rhino!I have a Damn the torpedoes spirit! I am full of energy and can not wait to wake up in the morning to start charging! The second saying goes like this: I am successful owner(your business name) which has earned me a full time income and has helped(the number in your group) to succeed in business and in life. By repeating both of these sayings every morning trains your mind and puts your attitude right for the rest of the day.

In the chapter of How to be a Rhino inn all aspects of your life you will find there are six major areas of your life that will extremely benefit if you take on the Rhino Attitude and they are: Family,Financial,Work or Business, physically, socially and most of all Spiritually. Mr Alexander told us a joke to remind us that your a Rhino all the time not just when you take on special projects. The joke went something like this: “Do you know how to make Rhinos float? Root beer, one scoop of vanilla ice cream and one scoop of Rhino!”

In the last chapter I picked out is Be prepared for Rhino problems. Regardless who you are or how much money you have or do not have you will run into problems. The difference is with the way people handle problems that have a Rhino Attitude. Most problems that would stop other people in there tracks do not even phase a person with a Rhino Attitude. Rhino people attach the problem and do what ever it takes to work threw the problem and solve it and charge forward. As for the aspect of an Internet Marketer or any other business owner problems are a good sign. Problems are a sign of progress and your business is growing and moving forward. So as a Rhino you will have to get really good at solving problems.

In summary: This book is a must for every one’s library of business books. If you are looking to achieve more and have a better balance in all areas of your life this is a must read book to achieve the Rhino Attitude.

Just remember: We are all on a journey to achieve our life goals and dreams. Make sure while you are on that journey you are living life to the fullest and most of all having fun while you are doing it!

written by: Mark Wezyk

Freedomteamleader

Part 6 Goal Setting

Goal Setting is the greatest, most valuable and most useful of all success techniques. There are thousands of good books and internet articles about goal setting, but few about how it works.

The Age of Aquarius has given us the Laws of Quantum Physics. These Laws tell us that there is an infinite ocean of thinking, intelligent energy where everything exists. It is called the Quantum Ocean or Mind of God. It is responsive to your thoughts. What you think about continuously you will receive.

Your goals are written down thoughts. By looking and thinking about then daily, you will pull out of the Quantum Ocean, Mind of God, what you have written down. Decide what you want to succeed at, large or small, write it down, read every night and every morning. They will happen, it is the law.

This technique applies to any goal, large, small, short range, long range, personal, job, hobby or career. Start with selecting small goals that you are sure you can reach with a little time and effort.

If the Laws of Quantum Physics are true and thoughts are things why don’t the majority of people write their thoughts of what they want down on paper?

Napoleon answers that for us. He said, “The most difficult of all tasks, and hence the most rewarding, is the power to decide. It only takes a little power to decide. It takes little power to decide on big things. And deciding on a Goal is a big thing. It affects all our lives.”

Thinking is hard work. Edison said, “Most people will go to any length to avoid the labor of thinking.” What ever you want large of small, material, mental, emotional or spiritual write it down. Plant a seed of attraction in the Quantum Ocean, The Mind of God. Think about it daily and you will get it.

Goethe wrote, “First build a proper goal, that proper goal will make it easy, almost automatic to build a proper you.”

Right now we are all using such a small part of our mind. Think, set goals. Expand your mind. Make pencil (pen) and paper (3 X 5 cards) your best and constant friends.

Writing will force you to think. It has ten times the power of talking. Only by writing down your goal on paper can you harness the power of the Quantum Ocean, the Mind of God, to go to work for you.

Many people hesitate because they don’t realize how nature works. The Laws of Quantum Physics now tell us how it works. Thoughts are things which create your life. Write down what you want. Your problems and desires are more than half solved once you get your message across to the Quantum Ocean, Mind of God.

Writing down goals, plant seeds. It makes it definite and permanent. Write it down and watch. Miracles seem to happen. Outside forces, people, places and events will come to your aide.

We need more to be reminded, than to be informed. Remind yourself daily of what you want.

You don’t have to be brilliant to succeed. You only need to know how things work, and to develop a positive mental attitude and you will get what you think you will get.

One of the main reasons that most people do not achieve their ultimate goals and dreams in life is because they are emotionally and psychologically unequipped to handle the loneliness and isolation that is required to evolve to the next level of success. When friends call and beg you to go out to the movies, get a bite to eat, or hang out at your favorite club you will be forced to decide whether or not spending time with them is the best use of your time, given that you have 2 exams and a research paper due within a week. Most of us will make the wrong decision many times before we do what is ultimately best to achieve our goals.

I am going to tell you a secret. When you are in between stages of evolving to your next level of success, this is when you are most likely to be isolated by family and friends. You are psychologically in a cocoon. Listen carefully so that you will understand what is happening to you. There are many habits from your old lifestyle that you must shed before you can move to the next level. For example, if you frequently partied late into the wee hours of the morning, drank too much alcohol, or were involved with too many sexual partners these habits may prevent you from being able to focus on your academic or career goals with the degree of intensity that is required to be successful.

Like most people, you will struggle initially with the ‘old you’ and the ‘new you’ that is trying to emerge. Instead of declining your friend’s invitations to go and hang out, you will say yes, and wake up the next morning thinking to yourself, “Why the hell did I go out last night?” Now the people who are already where you want to be will not find it appealing to befriend you just yet. These people are serious. They are much further along on their journey to success. They are not interested in people or activities that defer them from accomplishing their goals. When you become one of them psychologically, you will find the door of new friendships opening to welcome you in. It’s not so much that these people are your friends, per say; it’s just that you share the same psyche of interests and experiences and you will be able to relate and discuss issues of importance to each other.

These are some points to ponder when you are trying to maintain friendships on the way to achieving your dreams:

1. True friendships never die, they may appear to fade during periods of significant change–but remember this is a necessary transitional stage in order to give you the space that you need to grow. A true friendship will stand the test of time while you are adjusting to your new role in life. Don’t let any one’s perception of who you should be and how you should act prevent you from making the necessary changes to make your dreams come true.

2. When you reconnect with your old friends, it will never be the same. The friendship will retain the most important roots that will connect you together, such as being able to share your most intimate secrets or playing poker. The love will remain pure, but you will enjoy your time together as well as apart.

3. As women we tell too much of our personal, intimate, private business to other women. We talk about the size and shape of our mate’s penis, how often we have sex, every minute detail of our conversations with our lovers, and how much we hate our bodies within a few days of meeting. I know that as a psychologist, female brains are biologically wired to share secrets and gossip, but in order for us to compete in the business arena, we need to learn to separate our personal lives from our professional lives. Maintaining an emotional distance from others will allow us to get along as acquaintances and business associates much better. I can’t count the times that I should have not exposed my underbelly when trying to fit in or upon meeting a new acquaintance.

4. Loyalty, honesty, trust and favor take time to develop in any relationship and friendship is no exception to the rule. Don’t make the mistake of expecting too much too soon from a friendship. A shared interest in yoga, book club or salsa dancing does not mean that this person should be trusted with a key to your home or know the intimate details of your new romance. When you share personal information with the wrong person, you are giving them ammunition to make achieving your goals more difficult.

5. Be aware of the fact that the interests that make you and your friends–“friends”– also has the potential to make you and your friend mortal enemies. Friends typically find the same type of guy attractive, enjoy the same taste in clothes and have similar career interests or capabilities. Say for example, you and your friend meet the same great guy at the same time, but he chooses your friend over you. They marry, have babies and live happily ever after in la la land. Can you truly be happy for her? If you are truly happy with your life and who you are, you could be happy for your friend; otherwise you may experience feelings of jealousy and insecurity. If you and your friend both apply for graduate school and your friend is accepted and you are rejected, this will have an impact on your friendship.

6. Friends sometimes unintentionally sabotage your success. Some people believe that if you want to lose weight and develop an exercise routine, it is best to buddy with a friend. I personally think that this is huge mistake. If you begin to lose weight and your friend is not losing weight, she may begin to discourage you from exercising by suggesting other activities. If your friend is not doing well in school, they may use creative ways to distract you from studying. Unfortunately, if your friend is having problems maintaining or attracting a loving relationship, she may do and say negative things to undermine your relationship with your mate.

7. Friends can be uncomfortable in the friendship when roles change; if you evolve from being the ugly, dumb or fat friend your friend may feel awkward. If your friend has always been the one who attracts male attention and all of sudden you become the “pretty one” trust me, this change will have an impact on the friendship. If the friendship is true your friend will adjust and your bond will grow even stronger.

8. Be aware of friends who are envious or jealous of your ambition and success. I have found that most people are not consciously aware of there insecurities or motives to destroy you and ultimately the friendship. But remember on your road to success, you will be unintentionally leaving people behind. As you grow and evolve many people will become insecure with the ties that bind their relationship to you. Your friends do not know their role or where they fit into your new life and in many cases this insecurity will cause them to do and say things that will hurt you, in a twisted effort to save the friendship.

9. Don’t be afraid to cut friends and family members loose who can not accept and respect the person that you have now blossomed into. You will find friends from your past who will only want to talk about the good ‘ole days, when you were drunk, broke, broken-hearted and down and out. You will know them because they will frequently say, ‘remember when…’ No matter how much it hurts you must cut people out of your life that refuses to see not just the old you, but the new you. I had an ex-best friend say to me, “Sandy, who do you think you are? You are just a poor black girl from Detroit, with a GED, who thinks she’s somebody. I can’t wait for you to see that you are nobody special and know your place in life.”

10. Your friends, buddies, the people you hang out with or whatever you would like to call them–are the truest reflection of who you are and what you think about yourself. If you surround yourself with people who are untrustworthy this is because you feel you deserve their friendship. You don’t choose your family, but you sure as hell select your friends. Most importantly take a deep, soulful look at yourself. Would you want yourself as a friend? Do you tell secrets that your friends ask you not to tell? Do you flirt with your friend’s husbands or boyfriends? Deep down inside are you jealous of your friend’s success or happiness? You must be a true friend to have a true friend. Know yourself. If you aren’t happy and confident with who you are, you will find it very difficult to find true friendship.

11. An honest, loyal, true friend is a person who is happy with themselves, confident and possesses extremely high self-esteem. People who are living their dreams and being true to their calling make the best friends.

12. Lastly, my brother General George always say, (and I agree with him) people always reveal their knife before they stab you in the back with it. Listen and pay close attention to what your friends say and do. If she is betraying another friend, this is an indicator that she will also betray you. It is very rare that we are surprised at someone’s behavior.

13. Sometimes the universe, life, or God, (whatever concept that resonates with your spirit) will isolate you from other people in order to allow you to focus on your life’s purpose. What may be perceived as jealousy or disagreements are really “spiritual events” that are used to remove social and emotional distractions from your life. In the purest and deepest spiritual sense, it is no one’s fault when relationships dissolve. Your friend can no longer accompany you on your journey to success. They are not destined to go where you are going, but it doesn’t mean that they were never meant to be a part of your life and who you ultimately become as a person. Always remain positive and wish them well.

Success in most personal endeavors, especially striving for school excellence, has much more to do with motivation and good work habits than it does with innate abilities. The vast majority of people certainly have the mental faculties and capacity to learn necessary for success in school. The trick is to use those natural gifts and to use them wisely.

Often, there are self-imposed roadblocks preventing us from the full use of our talents. It may appear sometimes that you’ve felt a certain way, or done a particular thing for what seems like forever. But much of it, maybe most of it, is actually learned behavior. You see, while individual people may have tendencies, what biologists call predispositions, how that tendency is played out in your life depends on what you have learned from experience. Usually, we’ve learned a thought routine so well that our resulting behaviors and feelings seem automatic, triggered into action before we even know it. That’s where hypnosis comes in. Hypnosis is a wonderful, powerful way to add carefully chosen thinking on to your experience. You can re-learn how to think about something, this time with a well-planned goal in mind.

Every hypnosis session requires a script. This simply refers to the dialogue that is spoken in order to induce the state of hypnosis and then make the desired suggestions. Hypnosis scripts can include techniques that range from emphasizing progressive relaxation and descriptive imagery, to story-telling and direct suggestion. The goal of every script is to induce the state of hypnosis and then present ideas called suggestions to be absorbed by the person for a specific outcome.

In the case of successful schooling, the immediate goals really are the development of daily school work habits that are needed that will lead to being a successful student. Fore example, focusing one’s attention on a task or lecture, regularly attending class and taking good notes, completing homework and other assignments, doing a thorough job on required readings, studying for exams, etc., all play important roles in ultimate student achievement. Together, they form the profile of what an excellent student does. Doing those things daily will surely lead to the greater goal of success in school. Therefore, instructing the mind, through the power of hypnosis to do them can be of enormous help.