Archives for September 2019

An inner wisdom will guide your ways if only you pause to listen.  ––the Wealthy Gardener

The inner voice is waiting to guide us if only we ask good questions and stay attuned to our feelings during our days.

Socrates claimed to listen to an Attendant Force. In his mind he was guided by a Spirit presence. But his Attendant Force didn’t lead him by passion. Rather, he believed it spoke through negative emotions.

In other words, his Attendant Force guided him not by what felt right, but rather what felt wrong.

It’s an insight for those who feel lost, who feel like they can’t figure out what to do with their lives, and who are trying to find their passion.

What feels wrong to you?

What will you regret (what feels wrong) if you don’t do it, see it, or try it? The answer, when it comes, and most importantly when it stays, is commonly the inner voice. We can be guided by regret avoidance.

“We all have an inner teacher,” expressed Dean Ornish, “an inner guide, an inner voice that speaks very clearly but usually not very loudly. That information can be drowned out by the chatter of the mind and the pressure of day-to-day events. But if we quiet down the mind, we can begin to hear what we’re not paying attention to. We can find out what’s right for us.” And we can find out what’s wrong for us.

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AMAZON: Look inside the Book

I’ve got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom.  ––Thomas Carlyle.

“There is no such thing as work-life balance,” said Alain De Botton. “Everything worth fighting for unbalances your life.”

Why do we honor the athlete, the medical student, or the exhausted mother of three who lives an unbalanced life? And then we vilify the full commitment that comes with an ambition for wealth?

I’ve always had an ambition for wealth that I never defended to anyone except my family. Behind closed doors, however, my wife and kids were told that I wanted wealth to provide and protect them.

I explained my financial fears, my future challenges, and my desire to pay for their college tuitions. I hoped they’d be the first generation in our family tree to graduate from college without debt.

Wealth was a practical way to provide this blessing for them. I was willing to sacrifice for them. I was willing to work in my free time.

“If your energy is as boundless as your ambition,” said Dr. Joyce Brothers, “total commitment may be a way of life you should seriously consider.” Everything worth fighting for unbalances your life.

My children graduated college without debt, and their tuition was paid for by my free hours. It’s the blessing of an unbalanced life.

We pay the price of an extraordinary life, or we pay the regrets of an average life. An extraordinary life requires a sacrifice of our leisure hours, but an ordinary life requires a sacrifice of our cherished dreams.

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AMAZON: Look inside the Book

It’s a lot easier to stick to familiar routines than to face uncertainty.  ––the Wealthy Gardener

When we’re certain, we’re not learning. When we’re unsure, we’re in a place of possibilities. We crave security, but we need uncertainty.

It takes a big person to step forward into the unknown.

Deepak Chopra has a chapter worth reading about the wisdom of uncertainty in his classic book, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.

“I thought security was my friend and uncertainty my enemy,” Chopra wrote in a recent blog. “If only I knew then, as I know now, that there is wisdom in uncertainty. It opens a door to the unknown, and only from the unknown can life be renewed constantly.”

I hate uncertainty. Absolutely and innately, I loathe insecurity.

I recall a scene from Indiana Jones where the character closes his eyes, musters his strength, and steps off a cliff. Instead of falling to his doom, however, Indie’s foot lands on an invisible bridge.

Behind the defining moments of our lives, we will surely look back at a decision when we once took a risk and walked directly into uncertainty. We chose to accept whatever trials we had to endure, and we were willing to bet on ourselves to handle the adversity.

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AMAZON: Look inside the Book

There is only one success — to be able to spend your life in your own way.  ––Christopher Morley

When we operate in an environment that is most fitted to our unique individuality, we feel intrinsically rewarded. When we feel like a square peg in a round hole, we are unmotivated and tired all day.

Suitable work is more sustainable. It is where we belong.  It is where we can thrive. Seek the work that provides a sense of fulfillment.

“Be true to one’s self, follow not every impulse, but find out who one is,” advised Earl Nightingale. “Discover a combination of interests and powers, and find through experiment and thought the course of life to fulfill those interests and powers most completely.”

If after many years you find work to be a dull chore, it is your duty to find new work. It is your obligation to slay your excuses.

You will not win in work unsuited to your true self. Ask yourself if you want to be the best in your field? Do you want to master it?

If you don’t want to be the best in your field, you’re in the wrong field. Change your environment. Move yourself. You’re not a tree!

W. Clement Stone said, “When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it.” Suitable work is a requirement for winning big!

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AMAZON: Look inside the Book

It is in suffering that the real battle of success is won or lost. ––the Wealthy Gardener

“Suffering, failure, loneliness, sorrow, discouragement, and death will be part of your journey,” Brennan Manning reminds us.

Life can be hard––it will be extremely hard at times––and these hardships can either destroy our hopes or grow our character.

It all depends on how we respond to suffering. We can drink and gain a temporary reprieve from it. We can watch television, or distract ourselves in a million other ways. We can keep moving like the ants.

Or we can sit in suffering. We can seek the lesson that our internal struggle is trying to teach us. We can confront our troubled souls.

“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit,” claimed Napoleon Hill.

We gain these benefits when we spend time in solitude.

We grow through suffering, but only if we sit in it. The lesson of suffering goes unheeded by the masses who keep moving like ants.

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet,” said Helen Keller. “Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”

Tough times never last, but tough people do.

It is in suffering that the real battle of success is won or lost.

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AMAZON: Look inside the Book