To Robert Brink and Jodi Brandon for the masterful editing, to Lindsay Brady for the ongoing perception of success, to Stephanie Chandler for tirelessly working the cosmos, to Kathy for more than I can say, to Jim Brannigan for the representation, to Fred Knipe for the music on New Year's Eve, to Ron Fry for Career Press, to Karen Wolf for the international distribution, to Nathaniel Branden for the psychology, to Colin Wilson for the philosophy, to Arnold Schwarzenegger for a day to remember, to Rett Nichols for the tension plan, to Graham Walsh for the Tavern on the Green, to Terry Hill for the century's first real mystery novel, to Cindy Chandler for the salvation, to Ed and Jeanne for the Wrigley Mansion, to John Shade for the fire, to Scott Richardson for the ideas, to Ann Coulter for the wake up calls, to Steven Forbes Hardison for coaching and friendship beyond the earthly norm, and to Dr. Deepak Chopra for unconcealing the creative intelligence that holds us all together.
[...]... part of living a life of self-motivation is having something to wake up for in the morning—something that you are "up to" in life so that you will stay hungry The vision can be created right now—better now than later You can always change it if you want, but don't live a moment longer without one Watch what being hungry to live that vision does to your ability to motivate yourself 3 Tell yourself a true... long time, all by yourself, sit quietly, absolutely alone Completely relax Don't allow the television or music to be on Just be with yourself Watch for what happens Feel your sense of belonging to the silence Observe insights starting to appear Observe your relationship with yourself starting to get better and softer and more comfortable Sitting quietly allows your true dream life to give you hints... available, you can use your time on the road to educate and motivate yourself at the same time When we use our time in the car to simply listen to hip-hop or to curse traffic, we are undermining our own frame of mind Moreover, by listening to tabloid-type "news" programs for too long a period of time, we actually get a distorted view of life News programs today have one goal: to shock or sadden the... benefits of creatively planning your life is that it allows you to simplify You can weed out, delegate, and eliminate all activities that don't contribute to your projected goals Another effective way to simplify your life is to combine your tasks Combining allows you to achieve two or more objectives at once For example, as I plan my day today, I notice that I need to shop for my family after work... you need to stay motivated Start by finding out what it does to your mood and energy to laugh, to sing, to dance, to walk, to run, to hug someone, or to get something done Then support your experiments by telling yourself that you're not interested in doing anything that isn't fun If you can't immediately see the fun in something, find a way to create it Once you have made a task fun, you have solved... buttons." Six months to a year later, you can rent the movie and get the same inspired feeling Most movies that inspire us are even better the second time around page_33 Page 34 You have much more control over your environment than you realize You can begin programming yourself consciously to be more and more focused and motivated Get to know your control panel and learn how to push your own buttons... Kill your television My brother used to own a T-shirt store and one of the most popular shirts for sale said, "Kill Your Television." I bought that T-shirt with the picture of a TV being blown up It still makes people nervous to look at it when I wear it today You can actually change your life by turning off your television Maybe just one evening a week, to start with What would happen if you stopped... support the changes in your life page_45 Page 46 There will be friends who don't They will be jealous and afraid every time you make a change They will see your new motivation as a condemnation of their own lack of it In subtle ways, they will bring you back down to who you used to be Beware of friends and family who do this They know not what they do The people you spend time with will change your life in...Then she asked me to mentally invite the people in my life who were important to me to visit my bedside, one at a time As I visualized each friend and relative coming in to visit me, I had to speak to them out loud I had to say to them what I wanted them to know as I was dying As I spoke to each person, I could feel my voice breaking Somehow I couldn't... ourselves will always give us motivating ideas if we stay with the process long enough The best way to truly understand the world is to remove yourself from it Psychic entropy—the seesaw mood swing between boredom and anxiety—occurs when you allow yourself to become confused by massive input By being perpetually busy, glued to your cell phone, out in page_49 Page 50 the world all day with no time to reflect,