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Positive
In every life there is plenty of time and energy available for magnificent success and achievement. Yet too often that energy is wasted on unproductive, negative pursuits.
The next time you feel yourself becoming negative, stop and consider what would happen if you applied that negative energy in a positive direction. Imagine what would happen if you simply turned it around, and put it to work for you instead of against you.
A car that is traveling 70 miles per hour toward the north can be easily stopped, turned around and heading 70 miles per hour toward the south. In the same way, you can control your own personal energy to that it moves you toward your goals and dreams rather than away from them.
Instead of bitterly complaining, transform your complaints into useful and productive suggestions. Instead of being envious, transform that envy into positive admiration. Rather than wasting your time with worry, make use of your time with action. Instead of getting destructively angry, become creatively determined.
The energy is already there, ready for you to use. Just imagine what can happen when you make sure it flows in a positive direction.
make your way steadily there.
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Climb Higher
Everyone is always climbing the ladder of success and achievement. The problem is, most people are climbing down just as much, if not more, than they are climbing up.
A ladder does not care whether you use it to climb up or down, yet it will only go so far in either direction. If you leave the ladder where it is, you can only climb so far up, and then you must turn around and climb back down.
To keep climbing higher, you're going to have to move the ladder. You'll need to pull it up when you've climbed its length, and place its base at the level where its top used to be. That means venturing into new and unknown territory, taking some risks, and moving out of your comfort zone. It means learning new skills, setting more ambitious goals, and building upon your previous accomplishments.
It takes a little more effort to pull the ladder up behind you after you've climbed it, to keep building upon what you've already done. Sure, it would be easier to climb back down and do the same thing again, but where would that get you? Once you've climbed up the ladder of success, set the ladder higher, and climb it again. With a little more effort, you can turn the ups and downs into ups and ups, and continue moving ever higher.
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Sweet Success
Stop for a moment and consider the priorities you've set for your life. Then ask yourself -- what are you doing about them? In your heart and in your mind you carry around certain priorities, things that are truly important to you. Are these all-important things also being reflected in your time and in your actions? When the reality of your life is in conflict with your most deeply held values and priorities, then nothing is going to work very well. How can you expect to be successful at achieving those things you don't truly even want to achieve?
Put more of your time, more of your thoughts, and more of your efforts where your heart is. The achievements which truly matter are the achievements that have real meaning and substance for you. If you blindly follow the world's shallow, superficial definition of success you'll find yourself becoming shallow and superficial as well. Is that what you really want?
Honor and respect that very real feeling you have that life can be so much more than merely getting by. Commit the time, the attention, the substance of your life to your most sacred beliefs and your most compelling vision of what life can be. Live the best of your priorities in each moment, and the success you achieve will be sweet indeed.
Marilyn L. Ali
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