“Everything flows out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall; the pendulum-swing manifests in everything; the measure of the swing to the right, is the measure of the swing to the left.” – The Kybalion
My friend Jeff Keller, author of Attitude is Everything, wrote an excellent article about negative events that precede big victories. You can read it here…
I recently saw one of the top ranked high school football recruits in the country being interviewed. When the reporter asked him what his favorite movie was he responded with The Lion King (it’s also one of my favorites 🙂 ). The reporter couldn’t believe his answer and mockingly asked him what he saw in this “child’s movie.”
The recruit quickly replied with all of the life lessons he thought the movie portrayed, including being a good example of goal setting. After hearing the recruit’s thorough and passionate explanation, the reporter quickly changed the subject.
The moral of the story is that regardless of who you are, and regardless of what you’re aiming to achieve, there’s always going to be scoffers in your life. What’s important is that you stick to what you believe in, no matter what others may think. As William Shakespeare wrote, “to thine own self be true.”
And as the young man said to the surprised reporter, “Hakuna Matata!”
“Neil Parry arrived at San Jose State University as a non-scholarship football player in 1999. He was a reserve safety and on special teams as a freshman. His life changed on October 14, 2000 when he suffered a compound fracture of his right leg. Nine days later the leg was amputated nine centimeters below his knee. ”
For many people that would be the end of the story, but not so for Neil…
“Thirty-five months and 25 surgeries later, Parry returned to college football as a special teams player for the Spartans. He went on to play in the final eight games of the 2003 season. Parry concluded his football career in the 2004 East-West Shrine Game.”
Proving once again, it’s not what happens to us that counts, it’s how we respond.
Story reported by San Jose State University Athletics
Here’s some excellent wisdom from John Assaraf, author of The Street Kid’s Guide to Having It All:
Things like your weight, your appearance, and the amount of money you make are expressions of a deep-rooted mental image. If you want to make permanent change on the outside, you must first retrain the internal mental images that automatically control your perceptions and behaviors.
You already know that willpower and persistence don’t work long term. That’s because they’re controlled by your conscious mind, which accounts for only 2 to 4 percent of your actions and perceptions. Here’s the good news: You also have an unconscious, “cybernetic trigger” in your brain that works exactly like the thermostat in your home. Just as a thermostat is set to a certain temperature and automatically makes corrections to maintain it, your cybernetic trigger is set to a certain mental image and takes appropriate actions to maintain it.
To make lasting change, you must create a new internal image of your desired goal, then you must condition your brain to see it. If you don’t like your current weight or income, for example, you must break the old patterns and the old conditioning that’s causing them. You must create a new image and reinforce it in your mind. It takes 30 days of everyday practice to retrain your brain and make a permanent change. The good news is that you can’t get a brain hernia if you overdo it! Once a new habit is ingrained in your brain, you’ll behave automatically to maintain that new internal image.
Application of Knowledge
Start with these 3 simple actions every day for the next 30 days:
1. Get absolutely clear on the outcome you want to achieve. Write it down.
2. Replay in your head having already achieved your outcome. See all the benefits. Imagine what you would be doing, who would be impacted, what conversations you would be having, and how you would feel. Spend 5 to 10 minutes fully in this experience every morning upon waking, and again just before bed.
3. Reaffirm the following affirmation as many times as you can daily: “I now have everything I need to accomplish all of my business and personal goals. Abundance is my birthright and I accept it NOW.”
Some people make excuses for their circumstances. Others, like Ryan Belflower, succeed in spite of them.
If you enjoyed the movie Rudy or the movie Radio, this true story of a courageous 18-year-old may move you to tears. Ryan Belflower is not just a special education student, he’s a very special person indeed.