When a person chooses poorly, they are, in effect, choosing the bad consequences that come bundled with their decision.

Quite often the easiest choice is the decision that is based on an emotional bias, rather than intellectual reasoning. Take a moment and think about all the bad decisions you have made in your life. Think about the wrong turns, the bad relationships, the money mismanaged and misspent. Is it not true that the great majority of all the poor decisions that you made were based on emotion?

In such situations, people always declare they’re following their heart, but if you look carefully, you’ll see they’re really being swept away by their emotions. The problem with such decisions is that they always produce consequences. When a person chooses poorly, they are, in effect, choosing the bad consequences that come bundled with their decision.

There is no “happily ever after.” Real life always continues and the story never ends.

We all get one life and this is it. There is no “happily ever after.” Real life always continues and the story never ends. There never is a place in any life where all struggle stops and happiness is a perpetual state. Sometimes there are seasons of respite from struggle, but those are usually all too brief, and shortly a new trial arises. Those who believe in “someday” define success as some mystical point in time when all problems disappear and they finally have enough. They tell themselves that they don’t want to be rich. Not really. They just want enough. But what they haven’t learned is that “enough” is a relative term and is always changing. It never stays the same, so that what seems enough to you today, will not seem enough tomorrow.

There is always someone else who has a better relationship, job, or lifestyle. “Enough” is an illusion. Even so, there are those who would cling to a “someday” that will never arrive. They pathetically waste their enormous potential by remaining dormant, waiting for a mirage. They sincerely believe that “someday” will come and their lives will be changed. But it does not matter that they are sincere, because they are sincerely wrong. The strength of one’s conviction does not turn a lie into the truth.

Throw away the notion that things will get better and “it will turn out all right” without your doing anything to change the situation or yourself. Shed the belief that good things will happen to you just because you waited for them. “Someday” will only betray and disappoint you.


Learn more about author Charles Marshall at www.charlesmarshall.net
 

Rather than focusing on what is wrong, focus on what is right.

By far, most people perform better if they are surrounded by people who believe in them rather than by people who are constantly pointing out their faults. Rather than focusing on what is wrong, focus on what is right.

Remember that there is a tremendous difference in believing in a person and believing in a person’s abilities. It is important to communicate to those around you that, beyond any present difficulties they may be experiencing, you see the value of who they are now and the potential of what they can become. Practicing an attitude of belief in other people will certainly not change the whole world, but it will certainly improve yours.

Believe in your world. If you are even slightly prone to negative beliefs, you must strenuously and vigorously expel all such thinking from your life. Not believing the best about the world in which you live will affect your life in the same way that not believing the best of people will—your negative attitude will shadow your thinking and cause you to miss opportunities.  

Inundate yourself with encouragement, in both the materials that you read and the people with whom you associate.

www.charlesmarshall.net for more information on Charles Marshall.
 

Do not think of success as the realization of a level of material or emotional gain, but as progress.

Fairy-tale thinking, its symptoms are fantasizing, irrational expectations, inactivity, and misplaced effort. It always results in frustration, confusion, anger, hopelessness, and ultimately, a wasted life.

Fairy-tale thinking is the philosophical belief that someday, without doing anything, something wonderful is going to happen that will allow us to live happily ever after.

The first step toward recovery is for the victim to realize that real life is not a fairy tale. The world just does not work that way. Real life isn’t the achievement of one big objective and then retiring to live “happily ever after.” Fairy-tale thinkers will always resist this truth because they think of success as a destination.

Fairy-tale thinkers often build their definition of success on such vague concepts as happiness or wealth. Such intangible terms have relative meanings and are thus elusive and unattainable. When your life’s goal is to be happy or rich, you will always feel defeated and frustrated because you are aiming for a shifting mirage that changes based on perspective, mood, and socioeconomic status. The real-world truth is that success is not a dollar amount nor a relationship. Success is not the attainment of a thing or an enviable position. Nor is it recognition or a life of ease. Think of success, rather, in terms of becoming.  Do not think of success as the realization of a level of material or emotional gain, but as progress. 

Visit www.charlesmarshall.net for more information on Keynote Speaker Charles Marshall.

The Power of Failure. The mastery of this power is one of the principle differences between the successful and the mediocre.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t like failing. No winner does. But people who are successful in their careers, relationships, and business ventures recognize failure for what it is: A stern tutor who raps your knuckles with a ruler until you learn your lesson and get it right.

The mediocre of this world seek to avoid failure at all costs. They would rather do anything than suffer the heartache, embarrassment, and grief of falling on their face. They point to others’ failure as proof of their wisdom in choosing not to venture.

Take a minute or two to think about these questions and jot down the answers to them:

• At what project or relationship have you utterly failed?

• What is your attitude about that failure?

• Do you condemn yourself for blowing it, or do you congratulate yourself for having the courage to try?

• What lessons did you learn from your failure that will help keep you from repeating that same mistake in the future?

• Have you taken steps to implement those lessons?

To not embrace failure as a necessary step in your success journey, is to doom yourself as a slave to mediocrity.  I dare you to attempt something today that is decidedly out of your comfort zone. And if you fail in your attempt, learn the lesson, and try it again.

www.charlesmarshall.net for more information on Humerous Motivational Speaker Charles Marshall.

It only takes 4 steps to become a hero in your community.

No one makes it to the top on their own. It’s impossible to name anyone who has been successful on their own. Heroes aren’t celebrities, movie stars, or professional athletes. In real life, real heroes are people who make a difference with their lives by investing in the lives of those around them. So how does that happen? Do you need to magically morph into Florence Nightingale or Mother Teresa to make a difference in the world? No, it really only takes 4 steps to become a hero in your community.

     1] Choose—Realize that everything in a life is a choice. If you see someone investing in the lives of others in your community, it’s not because that person woke up as a better person than the rest of us. It is because that individual saw a need and chose to do something about it.

     2] Think—Get a plan. It might take research. It might mean talking to a few people. But if you’re going to effectively influence the lives of people around you, you need to make intelligent, well-informed decisions about how to do so. Much damage has been done in this world by well-meaning people without a clue.

     3] Act—The difference between a good intention and a good deed is only an action. One of the central concepts in my book Shattering the Glass Slipper, is: Instead of waiting for your ship to come in, grab a hammer and build a boat! There are those who talk and those that do! Which are you?

     4] Believe—Communicate positivity to the people on your team. Sometimes I will have people object to this point, essentially saying, “But Charles, the people on my team are idiots! Do you want me to lie to them?!”

       I have two responses to that point.

     A] My father once told me that if you think it’s everyone else in the world with the problem, you are probably the one with the problem.
     B] I’m not asking you to tell anyone anything that’s not true. I’m simply asking you to communicate to those around them that you believe that they have what it takes to overcome the challenges they have before them.

What will you do today that supports those on your team? What word of encouragement, belief, or empowerment will you inject into the world of those around you?

www.charlesmarshall.net

Put one foot in front of the other until you have conquered.

Deep within you, buried far down in your soul, is an iron will, a piece of steel that you can access anytime you reach deep enough. It will lend you the strength to persist until you are victorious. 

Harden your will. Strengthen your resolve. Put one foot in front of the other until you have conquered.

Courage Yes, it can be defined as the hero jumping into the fray against overwhelming odds, but more often it’s the widowed mother working two jobs to care for her children. It’s the foster-parents caring for children from troubled homes. It’s the student putting herself through school by working part-time jobs. It’s the couple attending counseling for years to mend a troubled marriage. It’s a policeman patrolling his beat day after day. It’s the entrepreneur working eighty- or ninety-hour weeks for years in order to provide for his family.

Courage is never the absence of fear, but doing one’s duty in the face of fear marching on resolutely,persisting in one's responsibility, without regard to one's own well-being.

Learn more about Humerous Motivational Speaker Charles Marshall at www.charlesmarshall.net.

It is guaranteed that you will not be successful if you do not believe in yourself.

If you believe in yourself, that is certainly no guarantee that you will achieve success. You may still need to develop your skills, you may need more education, or you may need more experience. But it is guaranteed that you will not be successful if you do not believe in yourself.

If you don’t believe you can, you’re right. One of the first and most important factors in the principle of belief is that people always tend to believe that which is easiest to believe. It’s emotionally easier to believe that the perfect mate exists out there somewhere than to work on the marriage you are in now. It is easier to believe that the reason your business is failing is because the economy is bad or because you got a bad break. It is easier to believe life has been unfair than to take responsibility and admit fault.

People who are successful employ the Power of Mind and the Power of Choice to discern the truth about their situation without regard to emotion.

Creative problem solvers always look for Option X.

You can’t expect the first appearance of an idea to be the best. It’s just not practical.
In addition to producing ideas, you should also develop the discipline of using your creativity to solve problems.  

For example, you are given an option of choosing the answers A, B, C, or D. But consider this — what if the A, B, C, or D answers weren’t the best options? On the tests you were given in school, the answers most likely were the best options, but real life rarely operates in the same manner.    

Creative problem solvers always look for Option X. If the A, B, C, and D options don’t suit them, they look for the invisible option that will.  Creative problem solvers firmly believe that: 1] There is ALWAYS another way to do it, and 2] Every problem has a solution. In creative problem solving, it is essential to accept and believe these two postulates, because if you don’t believe in the existence of something, you won’t look for it.

To learn more about humerous motivational speaker Charles Marshall visit www.charlesmarshall.net.

Remember, success is not a destination or a one-time event. It is an evolution and development.

When you start to think about what you want, it is imperative that you write it down. But write it down in pencil. As you get older, what you want changes. Even so, don’t let that keep you from writing down what you want now. 



Remember, success is not a destination or a one-time event. It is an evolution and development.
As you begin the process of writing down your desires, you will find you have different desires for different areas of your life—some spiritual, some financial, some family-oriented, and some physical. You will want to make different lists for each of these categories and refer to them often. They will serve as great motivation to you as you work toward them.

Don’t let the fact that you don’t know how to achieve these desires prohibit you from writing them down.  The purpose of this task is not to create the means to get you there, but to help you decide where “there” is.    

Get more information on humerous motivational speaker Charles Marshall at www.charlesmarshall.net !!

What is it that you want out of life?

After you have determined your purpose, you must determine your desires. What is it that you want out of life? Be honest. Forget right and wrong answers. So often people answer this question with what they think sounds best or what they feel they should answer or even what they think other people would want them to answer.

The question is, what do you want? Do you want children? Then say so. Do you want to be rich? Then be honest with yourself, but be careful to be specific. Instead of saying you want to be rich, define what it is you want.

• Not, “I want to be rich,” but, “I want to retire when I’m __ years old with a monthly income of $______.”
• Not, “I want a wife,” but, “I want a faithful companion and soulmate with whom I can share my life.”
• Not, “I want to help people,” but, “I want to help inner-city children by teaching them to read.”    

It truly is an amazing fact that most people do not know what they want. The world is filled with fairy-tale thinkers who are fifty- or sixty-years old who still don’t know what they want out of life—people who are caught in an endless pattern of indecision simply because they have never engaged in the discipline of focused thought on the subject.

www.charlesmarshall.net for more information!

The saying “better an imperfect plan today, than a perfect plan tomorrow,” is absolutely true.

Most of the people around you just let life happen to them. They go through a maze of circumstances and react to each of them in turn, but rarely ever construct their lives so that they are pointed in a specific direction. In short, they don’t have a plan.

So what is a plan? A plan is simply a map to take you from where you are now to where you want to be. Imagine that you want to go to another city. Would you just start walking in a direction and hope it was the right one? No, you would study a map and plot a course that led to your destination. Similarly, when you make your plan, you will need to recall your mental picture and then begin seeking the steps needed to take you there. 

Be sure not to wait for the perfect plan. It doesn’t exist. The saying “better an imperfect plan today, than a perfect plan tomorrow,” is absolutely true. Therefore, it is important that the plan you choose be malleable. If, after giving your plan a fair trail, you find that it is not working, change the plan or get another one! Don’t become emotionally attached to it. A plan is only a road map. It is not the destination. 
Learn more about Charles at http://www.charlesmarshall.net/about-charles.htm!!

Knowing your purpose is crucial when making your goals and building your plan.

If a goal is your destination, and a plan is the map that will lead you there, then purpose is the reason you are taking the journey in the first place. Knowing your purpose is crucial when making your goals and building your plan. Not paying attention to your purpose is not paying attention to your destination. If you don’t know why you want to go someplace, then you have greatly increased your chances of not liking it once you arrive.    

The journey to discovering your purpose is almost as important as knowing what your purpose is, because it will cause you to reach deeper within and look closer at yourself than you ever have before. It will change the person that you are by digging a deeper foundation for the person you are to become.    Be careful to realize that the of question of one’s purpose cannot, and will not, be answered overnight, in a few weeks, or even a few months. Avoid accepting the first idea that pops into your head. Also avoid looking for a grandiose reason such as being placed here to bring enlightenment to the world or a flimsy reason such as being placed here to be the best singer. For most people, the answer is much simpler and much more profound.

All of your plans, every decision you make, every opportunity you evaluate, will be subject to this one, overriding paradigm. If, as time goes by, you find that you have to alter your perception of what your purpose is, don’t worry. It is usually a sign of growth. Very few people start with one idea of their purpose and end with the same. Embrace, rather than reject, the evolution of your concept of your purpose.

Check out www.charlesmarshall.net!

Instead of waiting for your ship to come in, grab a hammer and build a boat.

Too many people live their lives based on the fairy-tale notion that their ship will one day arrive. As if the only question were when the ship would arrive, not if it would arrive at all, they wait, doing little or nothing but marking time their whole lives. But there is another alternative for the one who gets tired of waiting, and that option is to grab a hammer! 

That’s right. Instead of waiting for your ship to come in, grab a hammer and build a boat. Why not take a chance and start doing something? Why not start working on a plan to take you to your destination? If, by some miracle, your ship does somehow come in after you build your boat, then you will have both the ship and a boat. If your ship never arrives, then you have a boat and won’t get surprised by any unexpected floods.

 The person who is determined to build his own boat has a completely different attitude. He goes and finds the money to start the business. He seeks to improve himself, believing that water seeks its own level, and realizes that if he wants a good life partner, he must first be a good prospective life partner. He realizes that job security is an illusion and the biggest rewards in life are not found sitting on the bench, but getting in the game.

Visit Charles' site at www.charlesmarshall.net!!

While aptitude is extremely important, the foundation of all success rests in belief.

While aptitude is extremely important, the foundation of all success rests in belief. This is so because there will be times when it seems no one else believes in you. In those times, you will still need to believe in yourself, no matter what external circumstances are telling you.

If you do not believe that you are worthy of respect, others will follow suit and treat you accordingly. If you demand respect, not by arrogance or insolence, but by a confident attitude in forwarding your agenda, others will adjust their opinion about you correspondingly.

Be sure not to confuse belief with conceit and arrogance. They are really just forms of insecurity which attempt to disguise themselves in bravado. Arrogant people are rude and seek to bolster their own sagging confidence by demeaning others. Conversely, self-belief is a humble, deep-seated conviction of worth that allows recognition of one’s own shortcomings.

It is a confidence that retains an openness to constructive criticism. True self-belief and confidence allow for appreciation of another’s accomplishment and worth without feeling threatened.

Want more information on speaker Charles Marshall? Visit http://charlesmarshall.net/about-charles.htm!

Motivational Blog- A plan is only a road map. It is not the destination.

A plan is only a road map. It is not the destination. As important as the plan itself is the action of writing it down. If your plan isn’t written down, then you don’t have a plan; you have an idea.

A written plan is there to guide you, to show you your progress, to let you know what elements of your strategy are working and which ones need to be modified.

Begin with where you are now and write down the steps you need to take you where you want to go. (If you are not sure what those are, then you will need to do some research.) Make the steps as small and detailed as possible so you have a clear idea of what tasks you must perform. Making the steps small also allows you to clearly mark your progress as you edge your way toward you dream.

The principle benefit of writing down your plan is that you are no longer attempting to achieve the impossible or chase a dream. Instead, you are checking off a to-do list that just happens to take you to success. Think of writing down your plan as the first step of transforming your nontangible idea into a tangible reality.

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Motivational Blog- Stop thinking in terms of success versus failure, but rather as progress versus stagnation.

There is no one destination called success. There is no one point of arrival, but many steps that lead to more growth, challenge, and victory.

If one were to draw a line on a chart representing the journey of any successful person, it would never be a straight line rising from poverty to wealth, from loneliness to relationship, from obscurity to fame. It would always be a series of victories followed by successive failures, resembling more a stairway than a straight incline.

Once again, there is no unalterable state of happiness and wealth where you may arrive and expect to dwell for the rest of your life. Therefore, when you find yourself in a position of poverty or dissatisfaction, do not automatically classify yourself as a failure. It might very well be that you are in one of the many necessary stages of growth on the way to your next victory. Only he is a failure who has surrendered to an existence of mediocrity and subservience.

Do not think of success as the realization of a level of material or emotional gain, but as progress. Stop thinking in terms of success versus failure, but rather as progress versus stagnation. Are you moving (in the right direction) or are you stagnate? Are you taking steps, however small, or have you given up?


For more on Charles Marshall visit www.charlesmarshall.net!!