I often use Mind Mapping to create goals for each area I use to categorize them. I write the goals and then decide on the time span for each one. I may wish to achieve some in less than 90 days, others may be longer term goals. I usually have more than 21 goals at this point so I pick the three most important from each category and these become my 90 day goals. I keep a note of the other goals, and these will usually become integrated into my weekly goal setting session.

If you want to know why I use mind mapping to help me create and achieve goals I will direct you to Chuck Frey who can explain it best. Here is a link to his excellent summary:

10 reasons why mind mapping software should be the foundation of your personal productivity system.

I use three different mind mapping programs, based on where I am at and what I am working on. The first is Xmind, and you can find it here. I have been using the free version for some time and find it very helpful. It is what I used to create the Hub Picture over at JohnWeir.me. Xmind is also what I use to open mind maps made with iThoughts.

iThoughts is a very easy to use app for the iPhone when I am on the go and need to see something visually. At close to $8 it still is a great bargain for the features and usability.

The most complete, and customizable program I use is Personal Brain. The website explains it best.

“It starts with a single Thought and grows more powerful as you use it. Think of it as a living mind map with unlimited space for everything you want, are learning or need to remember. Each idea can grow and evolve with all related Thoughts instead of being separated in folders or lists. Use PersonalBrain to manage specific projects or as an "everything in your life manager" to get the big picture on your ideas and find the right information in seconds.”

Personal Brain goes way beyond other mind mapping programs I have seen for a reasonable cost.

I encourage you to try Mind Mapping for yourself and see what you can do with it.

What is the image that comes to mind when we think of the ideal national leader? Someone who has a grasp of the issues, who can see the big picture. Someone who is strong and courageous, who can hold his own in the arena of international affairs in times of war and peace. Someone who has a vision for the future and the ability to make it happen. Someone who, through his words and actions, can inspire and galvanize his people.

But in the old testament we find an altogether different measure of leadership. As the Jewish people approach the Promised Land, God appoints Joshua as the successor to Moses. And what is his qualification for leadership? That he is attuned to the spirit of each and every individual Jew.

The commentators explain that this is the overriding quality required of a leader. It is not enough for a leader to have grand schemes and plans. It is not enough for a leader to deliver soul-stirring addresses to the people. A leader must be able to relate to his people on every level. He must be sensitive to their needs and aspiration. He must empathize with their pain and joy. A true leader cannot stand off in the distance. He must be thoroughly attuned to the most minor requirements of his people in order to lead effectively. For a true leader, there are no little things.

A revolutionary general was trying to revive the fighting spirit of his trapped and starving guerillas. “If we can fight our way out of this corner,” he announced, “I will issue a large bonus to each man. You will have enough money to buy all the bread and meat and fruits and vegetables you need to recover your strength.”

The guerillas responded to the promise. They fought like tigers and were able to break out and get away. As soon as they got to safer territory, the general, true to his word, awarded each man his bonus. The next day, the one of the general’s aides stormed into his tent.

“Sir, a whole group of the men took their bonus money and wasted it!”
“Indeed?” said the general. “And what did they do?”
“Instead of buying food to rebuild their strength,” the aide said furiously, “they spent all their money on tiny tins of caviar!”

The general stroked his chin thoughtfully for a few moments.

“Thank you for telling me this,” he said to his aide. “It is important information. This caviar must have been very important to them if they would spend all their money on it even when they are starving and exhausted. Apparently, the men need occasional splurges of luxury to help them deal with the tensions of battle. I will make sure to provide it for them in the future.”

In our own lives, as we seek to grow spiritually, we must never lose sight of the physical needs of those around us. A great sage once said, “My spiritual need is to serve the physical needs of others.” There is profound spiritual fulfillment in bringing comfort and happiness to other people, even on the physical level. But in order to do so, we must be extremely sensitive and attuned, for as people are different from each other so are their needs.

Rabbi Reich is on the faculty of the Ohr Somayach Tanenbaum Education Center.

Here is a great video from Jon Acuff about following your dreams. Be sure and pick up his book. This is a non compensated endorsement because his book is awesome.

The Character of Success
by Dr. Napoleon Hill

A part of this philosophy is that adversity is good for us! The person who really ought to be pitied is the one who grows up with a "silver spoon" in his mouth, with a rich dad and no responsibilities! It’s a safe bet that such a person will never be a very strong competitor of the individual who has had to fight hard for every foot of ground that he or she has covered.

No, it is not wealth that makes a person—it is character, persistence and a strong determination to be of service to the world! You might as well understand now that your real success will be measured and determined by the quantity and quality of service that you render the world! There is no guesswork, no luck or chance about this. It’s according to nature’s own laws.

You may be wealthy, but that isn’t success! You may have a splendid education, but that isn’t success either. You may have wealthy parents, but neither is that success, for you must remember that wealth is an evasive thing which sometimes takes wings and flies away.

The only real, permanent and worthwhile success is represented by the character you are building!

And remember that you are building some sort of a character all the time. The chances are about ten to one that if you are devoting some of your time to self-improvement, developing self-confidence and self-control, you are building a character that will be an asset to you in years to come.

Character is built slowly, step by step. Your every thought and every act goes into it. Character is the crystallization of the things you do, the words you speak and the thoughts you think! If you think about worthwhile things, you are pretty much apt to be a worthwhile person.

You can be pretty much what you want to be if your will keep your mind on the one thing you want to be long enough. Remember, I said if you try hard enough—not if you wish hard enough.

We should never complain if success does not come easily. If it did, we might not recognize it when it arrived! I have no complaint to register against fate for taking me over the pathway of hard experience. I have no kick to register against the world for the rough manner in which it has used me. An easy time in life doesn’t seem to leave the proper temper in the metal. No one wants to cash a check on the Easy-Time Bank. The world is afraid of it.

The world is waiting for men and women who are seeking the opportunity to render real service—the kind of service that lightens the burdens of our neighbors; the kind of service that makes the world a better place to live in; the kind of service that ninety-five people out of a hundred to not render because they do not understand it. Shakespeare was right when he said, "our only sin is that of ignorance."

Source: Excerpted from the 1919 issue of Hill’s Golden Rule Magazine as appearing in the Think and Grow Rich Newsletter, July 1993, Volume 5, Number 10, pg. 7.

Another clip from Victor Antonio. Don’t listen to dream killers, and a great definition of stupid people.

Great short video with Richard Branson:

There comes a time in life when it’s time to let go of all the pointless drama and the people who create it and surround yourself with people who make you laugh so hard you forget about the bad and focus solely on the good. -Author Unknown

Do you often engage with people who take pleasure in espousing crazy talk, negativity or living in the past? Or do you share your time with people who are mostly positive, supportive and creative? If you are surrounded by the former, I recommend you start letting go of those people and look for those who will lift you up, inspire and motivate you. If today is the last day of your life who do you want to spend it with?

You have nothing to  gain by allowing people to hang around who are toxic, living in the past, disinterested in self growth … OR … whom have little interest in supporting you as you improve, grow and change?

It does not happen overnight, but start today by distancing yourself, making yourself a little less available, and work on making changes to your life. After all, you never know when your last day of life will be.

As Christians we know our final destiny, we are on our way to heaven if we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. So Satan has no hold over where we spend our eternity but he does want us to be ineffective here on earth. We are the hands and feet of Jesus on this earth and if he can make us ineffective in this role he is happy. Satan cannot read our minds but he knows our weaknesses and will subtly drop thoughts that are lies into our minds that we believe to be the truth. We would not believe blatant lies, but they are subtle and we believe them and act on them.

Ephesians 6:12 says “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.”

There is a spiritual battle on the go. Acknowledge that Satan, who is the Father of all lies, wants you to believe that you are worthless. He drops in these thoughts of you being worthless etc. These thoughts do not come from our loving heavenly Father. Satan gains power when you believe the lie of being worthless, as you will act accordingly.

Peter 5:8 says “Be self-controlled, and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.”
A lion always targets the weak in a herd because the weak are easy prey. Likewise Satan knows our weaknesses and he is looking for easy prey. “Stand firm in the faith”  Keep connected to other Christians, studying the Word so that you learn the truth.

2 Corinthians 10:3 “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Our weapons are the Word of God and this is why it is so important to know the Word of God and to know Scripture as this contains the Truth. Holding your own thoughts in higher regard to that of God is “a pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God” and is a sin.

Romans 12:2 says “do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

In other words replace the thinking that the world has given you to what scripture says. You renew your mind with scripture, with what God says. If what you believe does not line up with the Word of God you are believing a lie and the only way of knowing what lines up with the Word is studying what it says in the Word. When you believe that you are unlovable just remember whose description of yourself you believe. It is a lie and does not come from our heavenly Father. You won’t find that kind of description of yourself in the Bible. When someone doesn’t like you brush it off with the knowledge of how important you are to God and how deeply he loves you.

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to believe scripture and fill your mind with scripture as it is with the Word of God that you ward off the enemy’s darts. Write out scripture verses and stick them around your house until they become part of your thinking. If you are bombarded with negative thoughts, get yourself a Walkman and listen to upbeat choruses that contain the Word of God. It”s often better to hear these than some of your own thoughts!

God wants you to have the freedom that He can give and He can use all situations for our good. In Luke 22:31 Jesus said to Peter “Simon Simon, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

This verse had personal significance for me because I knew that if my loving Heavenly Father was allowing me to go through this process of being sifted, it must be for the purpose of having something better in the end – He did. When I had “turned back” I did “strengthen my brothers” through “overcoming depression” groups that I ran. We are often able to help others through what we have learnt in our own difficult times.

Also, always remember how much God loves you. You are in the palm of His hand. Isaiah 43:1-3 reads “Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have summoned you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. You are precious and honoured in my sight."
I find it quite awesome that the creator of the universe cares for each one of us, cares for all the details of our loves and that He knows you and me by name.

I recently was asked about what does it really take to make it. My advice in part is… get up early, work late. Get up the next day and do it again. Keep doing it, even after the profits start to roll in. Smile at Challenges. Curse at Idleness. Be true to your dream. Don’t stop until you achieve it. Then dream another dream. And work to achieve that. PASS ON YOUR VALUES. NOT JUST YOUR ASSETS. Give your family a better life. And the world a better life too. Leave no statues. Leave signs of significance.  You know who you are, and I salute you

Les Brown: Look for an Open Door

Most of us spend so much time talking, grieving and being angry about the closed door in our lives, we don’t see the open door. Les Brown, legendary human-potential expert, says our trials and disappointments can take us all to a door of discovery and greatness. Brown shows you how to:

1. Be Thankful. It’s easy to think about what is missing and ignore what you have. When you develop an attitude of gratitude, you begin to view things from that positive light and start working toward making something happen. Giving up is not an option you can entertain.
2. Be Thoughtful. When things go wrong, don’t go with them. As you look at yourself, you have to harness your will, you have to be grounded, you have to pause and you have to go within. Begin to clear your head and give yourself permission to accept the reality that is happening. And then turn the page and start working toward where you will go from there.
3. Be Active. Matt Jones, one of my speakers, wrote a book with the message: If you’re going through hell, don’t stop. Keep moving. Start with small steps and build from there. When you are not active and you’re not engaging in life, you have a tendency to worry and regret and to engage in less-than-useful emotions. It’s very important that you start moving and working and doing things that can give you some headway. The more active you are, the less chance you have of becoming depressed, angry and immobilized with fear.
4. Be Connected. Many times, people fail because they can’t see the picture when they are in the frame. They think there is no way out. These are people who are disconnected and feel isolated and desperate. But interacting with others provides a number of benefits, including helping us find new paths and new ideas to explore.
5. Be Patient. Don’t expect instant results. Plug away carefully and consistently, and keep the mindset that things are going to get better even though you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. We are living in a microwave society where we want instant results. But it’s not that kind of party. Patience and a spirit of expectation and trust will help you work to reach your goals and dreams.

Les Brown is SUCCESS magazine’s “Legends” feature story this month. Full story at SUCCESS.com.

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