Daily Gratitude: “Most real failures are due to limitations which men set up in their own minds.”

The key here is “real” in front of failure. We could also talk about perceived failures and I think they are due to unreasonable expectations which humans set for themselves.

I think Napoleon Hill is talking about actually failing at something. And he’s saying that we have limits on our talents and abilities already decided in our minds. “I’m not good enough to x,y,z” or the “you’ll never make it very far in life” message parents or teachers install in our brains like an app. My father told me I’d never be any good with money. So do you think I can even balance my checkbook or make a budget? heck no. That’s a limitation that my brain has as part of its operating system.

When someone does something that hits up against that limitation (limiting belief), their brain says “OK, we’ve done all we can. We have to stop now.” And it just stops even when the thing/project isn’t completed. Then it’s a failure and you know what? The brain sees that “failure” and strengthens the neural circuit grooves and so the next time that person tries the same or something similar, the exact same thing happens. Failure.

This is why we need to examine our core beliefs and identify the ones that are limiting. Then we need to replace the limiting ones with the expanding ones. Visualization and affirmations help with that too.

Examine your past to see things that have been REAL failures and see if you can see this pattern there.

Daily Gratitude: “You can get to where you want to be from wherever you are-but you must stop spending so much time noticing and talking about what you do not like about where you are.”

This is key. You bring to you things that vibrate at a similar frequency to that which you’re giving off. It’s the Law of Attraction. And yes, I know you’re going to cite all those situations where everyone says “opposites attract” and although the most obvious characteristics in that pair may seem opposite, I bet you that the deepest qualities are the same. Maybe one’s an introvert and the other a full blown extrovert. If you look underneath they most likely both believe in the right and need to take care of and seek what feeds their souls.

When we talk about where we are now if it’s not where we want to be and if we complain that we don’t have all we want, we’re putting out vibrations of lack and even of scarcity. We ask “why me” and bemoan that it isn’t what you really want. All this does is bring more of the same into your life. So you complain more.

The universe doesn’t understand you don’t want more. It just knows you’re talking about something an awful lot so you must want more of it.

Instead you should dream about and talk about all that you want and do so in a positive way not a “poor me” way. Why do you think that little kids who want to be stars or be Olympians pursue nothing but that from their youth on. They live, breathe, eat and drink their desires. They see no way that it won’t come true.

We should adopt these little kids attitudes every day of our lives.

We also have to think, talk and act like this in every aspect of our lives. If you are “up” and positive in your career choice, but complain about (and complaining can be internal too) your health or your relationship or your home, etc., that will negate all you’re doing on the positive front.

How long can you go without talking about AND thinking about things you don’t want or don’t have?

Daily Gratitude: “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”

I still have some trouble with this but i have come so far via this concept.

Or perhaps that is just what I did 6 years ago when I started studying IFS (Internal Family Systems). I knew I wasn’t happy…and had never been happy but like so many, i just assumed that was part of life.

With IFS i learned to accept myself but more importantly, I began to understand why I was like that. Then I learned that I could do something about it that would actually be successful – work with my parts.

Now I guess I can accept myself as I am because I know where it all comes from. And because of that I can grow.

You have to examine yourself, your values and beliefs, your characteristics and qualities. Then you must decide what you’re happy with and what you want to change. When you really want to change, it’s like pursuing any other goal. You find a way.

Do you want to change something about your life?