No Limit Success

More on Knowing Yourself

Almost everything we know about business, life and success comes from people that have not achieved significant results in their own lives. Think about it. We devote hours every week to reading or listening to the opinion of newspaper or magazine writers, television personalities or pundits and radio talk show hosts. If we really want to change we need to find someone who has what we want, then listen to them and learn what they did.

Next time you are looking for some recreational reading or listening, visit the Leaders Are Readers section of my Financial Intelligence page and buy one of the recommended books. If you would rather not read, buy the audio version and listen to it in your car or backyard.

The "media" exists to sell us toothpaste (or whatever). It is in their best interests for you to believe that whichever product is advertised with their content is the one product you need to be truly happy. And many times that product is available "right now, for a limited time, as part of this special promotion, at 10% off". Scarcity.

Over and over we hear there are limited quantities of "clean air", "fresh water", "this recommended stock", "good places to live", "perfect places to vacation", "jobs to hold", "the best education". Our fears of not having are exploited. Our brains are washed until we can't do anything with them. "It isn't safe to go outside" says the news report, so stay in and watch our latest movie of the week.

In fact, there is no limit to the wealth available in the world. We live in an abundant world with a scarcity mentality. Harvey S. Dent Jr., in his book The Next Great Bubble Boom: How to Profit from the Greatest Boom in History, 2005-2009, writes that there will be more millionaires created during this period then ever before. The biggest opportunity in the history of the world is right now.

One of the keys to success is recognizing there is abundance, and knowing yourself. You know that your inside world affects the outside world, you get what you expect. There is no limit to the success you can expect.

Knowing your purpose will attract success. No money flows to no purpose. Money flows to purpose. Know yourself to know your purpose.

Now, here is what I wanted to share in this posting...

You have a gift it is known as your Unique Ability (UA). This is a talent you have serves you best in life. Everyone else knows it about you, but you don't recognize it as something unique. Your UA is valuable because people will pay you for that gift that makes you special.

Not knowing what your unique ability is means you are unconsciously competent (UC) with that gift. You use it without conscious thought or effort. Uncovering your self knowledge of that gift will let you pursue paths in your life where you can leverage your UA to benefit your life.

There are also things you do now know. Facts, skills and knowledge that you could leverage if you only knew about it. These things form the areas in which you are Unconsciously Incompetent (UI). Not only don't you know how to apply the thing, you aren't even aware it exists.

This is where you need to be (or become) open to change. Your friends, mentor or coach can help you fix yourself and become conscious about things you don't know about. You will move to being Consciously Incompetent (CI). That is when you have a choice to make, either quit or change. Fish or cut bait. You are aware of what you don't know.

I think you know what the next stage is. Mastering the new thing (fact, skill or knowledge) makes you Consciously Competent (CC). Finding your unique ability makes you consciously competent about it. This is the goal you are aiming for.

There are three facets in applying your self knowledge to your actions. Your IQ, your EQ and your CQ.

Your IQ is well known to most people. Even if you do not know the exact measurement of your intelligence, you have heard the term used many times. Your lifetime IQ is usually fixed by the age of 14. It is vital for you to recognize that your IQ score does not control your destiny. There are many examples of people with average or below average IQ scores experiencing a life that is successful by whatever measurements you care to employ. By the same token, people with a high IQ score do not automatically succeed.

You EQ is your emotional intelligence. In times of high emotion you actually "lose" your intelligence!

Think of a time when you were in a heated discussion or argument with someone. Once the period of peak emotion passed, and your heart returned to a normal pace, your mind starts bombarding you with positions you should have taken, examples you should have used and ideas that would have crushed your opposition. If only those thoughts had been generated during the "fight". Unfortunately, as our emotions rose, our ability to access intelligent thoughts decreased.

The good news is that you can learn to control how your peak emotional states affect you.

How we deal with our strengths and weaknesses has a major impact on our success. We are often told "work on your weaknesses". We see far better results when we build stronger strengths. Identify your unique ability, and then work on improvements! Why depend on a strong weakness? Concentrate on your best ability, and find others that can provide strength in your weak areas.

Your CG, cognitive intelligence is how you think about things, how you approach a project.

Let's say you are starting out on a project to build your dream home. What do you do first? Where do you focus? This is defined by your cognitive intelligence.

Some would do research on other homes. Some would just purchase a house and plan to renovate. Others would prepare detailed designs. Some would concentrate on the decor inside the house. No approach is right or wrong, but each person decides on their own path.

All of the aspects of thought discussed above are at a level beneath the subconscious mind. We are not aware of the processes taking place. Our subconscious only lets through the thoughts that we are focused on. "The inner world (of thoughts and reactions) and the outer world (of circumstances and situations) are connected to each other."

Once you know yourself and how you fit into the world, you have a cornerstone for your success. Next you can work on how others fit in.

posted by Paul Maclauchlan @ 7:35 PM 0 comments

Six Laws of the Human Mind

I have learnt that our lack of success is generally not due to our having a skills problem. Most of us can learn the skills needed to perform a task. What we have is a mind set problem. Our minds wander, drift and lose focus on what is important.

In beginning to understand yourself, it is vital that you master an understanding of the six laws that govern the human mind. These are how they were explained to me...

Law #1. Thoughts are real forces.

And actions are required to give effect to those forces. Thinking is not enough, your thoughts must stir you to action. Use the techniques of Self-Talk (Shad Helmstetter: What To Say When You Talk To Yourself) to retrain and manage your subconscious mind. Prepare a list of affirmations that you repeat to yourself every day. By putting your affirmations into your subconscious, and casting them into the universe, your thoughts will manifest in reality.

Sample affirmations:

• I'm happy, healthy, wealthy and wise
• I'm a money magnet

Self-Talk is a powerful technique for changing your habits and creating power in your mind. I will write a more detailed article about Self-Talk in the near future.

Law #2. The mind is a sending and receiving station for thoughts.

You attract what your thoughts are about. Consider the superstitions, sayings, generalizations and trite observations you make every day.

• Friday the 13th is unlucky
• I have a bad memory
• I'm never on time
• No one can do that
• Everybody thinks that is a bad idea

Whenever you give voice to these ideas, your subconscious mind listens to you and believes it. It tells your conscious mind, "Hey, you can't remember names"... and you don't even try. You've attracted the condition of having a bad memory by convincing yourself it is true.

You could just have easily told yourself (over time) that you have an excellent memory and you never forget a name. And that too would be true.

Here's an exercise. When you catch yourself or someone else giving a voice to the negative or making a generalization, tell yourself or them "If you say so!" Because Mondays are only bad if you say they are. Black cats are only unlucky if you say they are. You hate your job or career because you say you do.

Replace those statements that are not serving you with positive affirmations:

• Today is another great day
• I love getting a good start to the week on Monday morning

Law #3. The Law of Attraction: Thoughts that are emotionalized become magnetized and attract similar and like thoughts.

You succeed at tasks because you are emotionalized to exert the effort required to complete them. You want to choose positive thoughts. Create and use affirmations that stir emotions within yourself. These emotions must be powerful enough to force you to stay the course when your complicated life tries to interfere with your focus.

Think of a magnifying glass setting fire to a leaf. In order to succeed there has to be sunlight (a force) and the glass must be held in focus and be unwavering.

For success, make yourself a focused, steady magnifying glass instead of a wandering generality.

Law #4. The Law of Control: We are forever experiencing thoughts. We have the ability to entertain or dismiss the thought.

Thoughts are constantly racing through your mind at about 1,500 words a minute. We are always thinking about everything.

As you read these words many different thoughts are appearing in your head. I'm thirsty. What time is it? What's for dinner? I can't remember names. What was that about black cats?

You can increase your focus by not entertaining thoughts that distract you from your task. Stop the voices if they are not serving your purpose. As Bill Shakespeare had Lady Macbeth say in the Scottish play, in a totally different context, "Out damn spot!"

Law #5. The Law of Insertion: We have the power and ability to insert a specific thought into our mind at any time.

Isn't that powerful? If our inner voice says "It's another gloomy Monday", Law #4 says we can dismiss that thought from our mind and Law #5 says we can replace it with another thought, such as "I love getting a good start to the week on Monday morning!"

If you say so!

Law #6. The Law of Connection: The inner world (of thoughts and reactions) and the outer world (of circumstances and situations) are connected to each other.

Did you have a good day or a bad day? Either way, it is all made up. Whichever one you proclaim, your subconscious will by affected by your choice and you will notice either good or bad things.

You hear an ambulance (situation) and you make up a story in your mind (thought). "There must have been a big accident." "Someone must be very sick or injured." In your mind you are concerned or worried (reaction). "A woman is having a baby." In your mind you are pleased and hopeful for new life (reaction). The stories are all made up, and they are real to our minds.

The quality of your life is directly proportional to the thoughts you allow. If your thoughts are good your life will be good. You can make up anything and turn any situation or event to good or bad.

Neat stuff, eh? Your own belief will generate the power you need to succeed. What an awesome thing to know. What an incredible tool to have in your belt when you are facing life.

You can be arrogant about how your life will be:

• I am lucky
• Everything I touch turns to gold
• I am a success
• It is prosperous to be in business with me
• I am...

A final affirmation for you to use:

"My personal vibration determines the situations and circumstances that happen to me, my thoughts and beliefs determine my personal vibration."

posted by Paul Maclauchlan @ 11:38 PM 2 comments

Many Forced to Retire Early | Chicago Tribune

This article appeared May 15 2006 in the Los Angeles Times and on the Chicago Tribune web site. The answer for many employees is to create multiple streams of income for themselves. Many believe in the advice they were given when they were young, "Get a good education, get a good job and work hard so you can enjoy your retirement."

It just isn't true!

I encourage you to read the following article and take a hard look at what you can expect from your job or career in the next five years. If you thinkk you can tell exactly where you will be in 2011 and what you will be earning, join the No Limit Success mailing list.

You need to see what I am doing to protect my family from future job loss or pension cutbacks. This is no sales pitch, I am sharing information you need to know.

Excerpts from the article by Jonathan Peterson:

Many Forced to Retire Early
Despite the increasing financial pressure to stay employed, nearly half of U.S. workers leave before they plan to, a survey indicates.

American workers, who face growing financial pressure to stay in the workforce, are far more likely to be forced into an early retirement than many expect, according to a study being released today.

Four out of 10 retired workers left their jobs sooner than they had planned, usually because of health problems or the loss of employment, according to the report by McKinsey & Co., which was based on a national survey of 3,086 people.

The survey also found that 45% of people who are currently employed planned to keep working past age 65. But among the retirees polled, only 13% said they had done so.

The findings raise fresh concerns about Americans' ability to afford a comfortable retirement. With more companies abandoning or freezing their pensions, many people say they plan to work longer to build up their nest eggs.

The reality "is quite sobering," said David Hunt, a senior partner at McKinsey. "Our research clearly shows that many people — and more than a few public policymakers — who are betting on simply working longer to compensate for a lack of current savings are setting themselves up for a rude awakening and a significantly poorer standard of living in retirement than they had expected."

...

[story of a man laid off at 60] "... the jobs I applied for I didn't get. My feeling was it was because of age."

Marsh estimates that his pension is less than half what it would have been had he remained longer in the job. To boost his income, he signed up for Social Security earlier than planned, further scaling down his retirement pay. Eventually, he and his wife took in an elderly boarder for whom his wife cares to make ends meet. "It's been difficult," he said.

...

... workers face the need to maintain their careers to set aside money for retirement. "I think we're seeing the realization on the part of people that they ought to extend their work life longer than in the past," she said.

It is a realization brought on by the changing landscape for retirement security. Many employers no longer provide traditional pensions with guaranteed monthly payments. Instead, they offer 401(k) savings plans, and it's up to the workers to salt away enough money to last them in old age.

...

"This kind of information," Rother said, "is clearly not what the boomers expect."

posted by Paul Maclauchlan @ 5:05 PM 0 comments

Quotes on "Know yourself"

"I have learned so much from people I never knew, who wrote to me in books."
-- Orrin Woodward

As far back as I can remember, I have collected stories and quotes. One liners, parables and anecdotes. Funny, witty, absurd, inspirational and wise. I'd like to share with you some wisdom from others on the subject of knowing yourself.

"Watch your thoughts, they become your words.
Watch your words, they become your actions.
Watch your actions, they become your habits.
Watch your habits, they become your character.
Your character is your destiny." -- Dan Tocchini

"As a man thinks, so is he." -- Proverbs 23, verse 7

"You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him discover what’s within himself." -- Galileo

"If you are good you may need to re-think to become great." -- Dan Tocchini

"The biggest challenge to excellence is being good at something, because to move from good to great requires your willingness to re-think everything you’ve done that got you to be good. In fact, the very thing that got you where you are might be the very thing that stops you from going where you say you want to be." -- Dan Tocchini

"There, but for me, go I." –- Orrin Woodward

"The chains of our habits are too light to feel until they are too heavy to be broken." –- Warren Buffett

"Where you are is where you want to be because that validates your choices."
-- Dan Tocchini

"Our imagination is more powerful than knowledge." -- Albert Einstein

"Acting against character will change your character" -- Casey Combden

"You don't walk away from negative, you run away from negative"


Have an excellent day!

posted by Paul Maclauchlan @ 10:24 AM 2 comments

Learners will inherit the Earth

"In times of change learners inherit the earth while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to work in a world that no longer exists." - Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)

You can't stop growing yourself. Personal and Professional development are not options.

A recent study estimated that in 2002, there was 800MB of recorded information created for every person on the planet. That would be about a 30 foot (10 meter) shelf of books for each of us. Did you read your 30 feet of books that year? I don't have any more recent statistics, but I know the number for 2006 will be larger. 2002 was estimated to be 30% larger than 1999.

Are you enrolled in a learning program? You will be if you want to succeed.

posted by Paul Maclauchlan @ 11:09 PM 1 comments

Know yourself

A basic principle of success is self-knowledge. Your mind creates your reality.

Have you ever said, "I don't like Mondays!"? I say, that is something you have made up. Mondays do not have a particular personality, at least they don't until you make one up for them. I say, any day that ends in a "y" is a good one. And guess what, they are!

If we expect something, our minds make it true. When we say "I'm having a bad day", then every bad thing that happens is noted and remembered. Then we can think back and recall perfectly all the horrible things that happened to us. Blessings are forgotten or dismissed and we have a sour taste in our mouth, and our head.

What we carry in our minds defines our lives, and our future.

You become what you think about every day

When I first heard this, I thought "Exactly!" If every day we think of ourselves as people that are worth $X thousands per year, buried in debt and helpless to ever change our situation... then that is what we become. We believe what we tell ourselves and create that reality in our lives.

So now what? Can we change? Of course we can! Becoming aware of this principle gives us the power to do something about it. But we can't change overnight. We need to know that we can change and the direction we need to go.

If we leave Winnipeg for Vancouver, but wake up one morning in Montreal... are we forever lost and doomed to failure? Not at all! We recognize our failure, pick ourselves up off the road and point our car west. Every kilometer in the right direction is a positive one.

In order to learn to think correctly, we need to get a number of things sorted out. Let's start with something that will have an immediate, positive impact on our outlook on life and they way we interact with others.

Focus on the good

A Yiddish folk tale:







You see, you find what you want to find. Your brain contains a Reticular Activating System (RAS) that processes sensory data and determines which information is worthy of notice.

Ronald Bailey described it as “[The reticular formation] alerts the brain to incoming information from the senses, and from the centers of thought, memory and feeling. More than that, it adjudicates the relative importance of that information. . . In a way the RAS is like a vigilant secretary, sorting out the trivia from the incoming messages.”

You may have noticed that when you are considering making a major purchase (a new house or a car), you start to notice a lot of references to houses or cars. You see more ads for the item you are seeking, you hear people discussing them, newspapers, magazines and television shows are focusing on the item you are interested in. That is your RAS making your mind aware of environmental information relating to something you consider important.

When you finally decide to buy that yellow SmartCar, all you see on the road are yellow SmartCars. It isn't that they weren't there before, your mind just didn't think it was important enough to tell you!

So focus on the good, lock out negative thoughts. Your RAS will reward you by supressing the effect of negative things and bringing positive messages to your mind.

"Hi, how are you?" "I'm excellent!"

Tell someone how much you value them as a friend, employee, co-worker.


Finally, here's the dirty little secret about focusing on the good... even if you don't believe it will make a difference, it will.

If you are reading this and your mind is full of "what load of pig feathers!" and "what shade or rose-coloured glasses is this guy wearing?" I dare you to prove me wrong. But you need to be honest with yourself.

For 21 straight days you need to always tell people you are excellent... even if you really feel like the last coffee grounds at the bottom of your mug. Focus on the good, eliminate the negative. Let me know if people treat you differently. Let me know if you find yourself having to try less hard to supress those negative thoughts. Let me know if you feel better.

My story... after I had been making a conscious effort to focus on the good for about 60 days, I met up with a woman I used to work with. We were both participating in a project for our children's school. After our working together for an hour or so, she turned to me and said, "Aren't you relentlessly positive!" To which I replied, "Yes, I am, thank you."

I leave you with a quote from Catherine Pulsifer:

posted by Paul Maclauchlan @ 11:39 PM 1 comments

Welcome to the No Limit Success blog

The planet earth is abundant in many things, but our minds tend to think in terms of scarcity. I embrace the abundance and encourage you to do the same. Achieve the best and attain No Limit Success!

What is your unprecedented future? How will you recognize it? Are you even capable of visualizing it? There is a path to self-knowledge, I will provide some stepping stones for guidance.

How is your financial intelligence? What is your FIQ? How can you be financially secure if you haven't determined what that means for you? Do you have multiple streams of income? Think about money the same way as people that don't need it.

Personal development is the key, lifelong learning is the system.

Let's have a No Limit life!

posted by Paul Maclauchlan @ 9:12 PM 0 comments