April 2016 - Rex Sikes' Daily Inspiration and Gratitude

Don't Buy Into The Myth Of Self Sabotage!

“There is no such thing as self sabotage. The brain only does what it learns to do. Some one labeled this activity as sabotage but it truly isn’t. It is a blessing not a curse. It just doesn’t seem like one at times.

Welcome to Part 12 of The Secret To Success And Happiness Few Know And Won’t Tell You. The series continues and this post continues from the previous two. Part 13 tomorrow. Let’s go!

Believe me you want the brain to do what it does the way it does it. It has learned to do all sorts of wonderful things. Positive beneficial things and useless and negative things. The brain learns!

Success Is Not The Key To Happiness …

The brain is a learning machine designed to keep you alive. It takes care of your survival. It creates neural pathways and then runs those neural pathways thus establishing habits so you don’t have to relearn everything again and again.

Those habits are what it learned to do. When you want to change one your brain goes into survival mode. Not full fledged fight or flight necessarily, but for some people the feelings may be intense.

It opposes the change because what it is doing IS what it learned to do. It continues to assert the old habits while you are attempting to add in the new. Because of this conflict you or someone else labels it self-sabotage. Nothing could be further from the truth.

… Happiness Is The Key To Success

It is not trying to sabotage you. It is trying to keep you successfully doing what you have always done. The issue is NOW you have decided what you learned long ago doesn’t serve you and you want to change. YOU are changing the way things worked.

In order to make changes you now want, you need to do the very same things you did when you originally learned the programming you now don’t want. You need to condition your brain in the same fashion as your earlier conditioning but with positive updates.

How? By repetition and powerful emotion. Early on you were influenced by others, and by their emotions as well as your own. They gave you suggestions day in and day out. They didn’t consider them suggestions they just talked to you and in front of you.

The Capacity To Learn Is A Gift

You listened, you heard, you heard them over and over and you adopted them. Sometimes, because you were emotional and sometimes because they were. You took on their ways of viewing and approaching the world. We all did it similarly.

Many messages we got were how tough things are, how hard we must work, that some people are lucky while others aren’t etc. We got a variety of self-limiting messages that resulted in our beliefs and attitudes about ourselves and the world.

Some people believe lies.

If you think, ‘I am stupid’, ‘I am not good enough’, I am too fat’, ‘I am useless’, ‘I can’t do it’, ‘I always screw things up’, ‘I am not worthy’, ‘I have to work harder’, ‘The economy prevents me from getting ahead’, ‘If only my parents had taught me better’, ‘I’m not educated’.

The Ability To Learn Is A Skill

Those sample thoughts are all lies. Yet, many people believe them. Why? because they adopted them while growing up. None of them necessarily are true or accurate but they will limit you if you accept them as true. You don’t have to believe them but you do.

That is the conditioning. It is not the mind trying to sabotage you. You could just as easily with just as much or little effort believe, ‘I can do anything I learn to do’, ‘I am capable’, I am worthy’, I am smart’, ‘Nothing can prevent me from reaching my dreams’.

But most people don’t. Why? Because they weren’t conditioned to believe this way growing up. The brain can learn either belief, it doesn’t care or judge. It just accepts them as is. Most people are stuck, not because they have to be, but because they believe the wrong beliefs.

The Willingness To Learn Is A Choice

They believe lies about themselves. They accepted them as gospel and they do nothing about it. They don’t like it necessarily and it may be uncomfortable but they believe that is who they are. They don’t realize they have a choice, UNTIL they realize they have a choice.

Here is the thing. All beliefs are lies. Positive or negative. The question is which do you choose to believe? They are either supportive or unsupportive. Which do you choose to believe? It is your choice.

This is how we go through life. We are born, get conditioned, accept that conditioning, have some experiences that verify that conditioning and lock it in. The Reticular Activating System (RAS) part of the brain is designed to do that. It finds matches.

Believing In Yourself Is The First Key To Success

Its job, beyond helping us survive, is to find a match. You say, ‘I am stupid’ and your brain goes ‘right you are’! ‘AND HERE IS WHY’ and provides you examples of screw-ups and incidents from your past and present that verify it. It looks for examples to prove you right.

Had you said, ‘I am marvelous’ your brain would look for those matches and find them just as readily. Even now you and I can say either and get matches. Most people get more of one type than they other because that is what they are most used to looking for.

Sad isn’t it. We want to change and it seems our own system prevents us. It doesn’t do it for nefarious reasons it does that for our protection and for keeping us consistent. We know who we are, what we believe and value. We will even argue about it.

It Is What We Think We Know That Keeps Us From Learning

We will fight to prove we are stupid, if we say it, and fight to prove we aren’t if someone else calls us that. Well, usually, sometimes we may agree. The point is we don’t have to believe any of these limiting beliefs we just do out of habit. We can be free of them if we choose.

Here is what it comes down to. After years of living with limitations we decide we want to change these. We know if we don’t change we will always do what we always did and continue to get the same old results we have been getting. Right? Unless we change.

That is what the brain is designed to do. To continue to get you the same results again and again reliably. You want it that way. You don’t want to walk through the door one day and into the wall the next. You want to get the same results day and night.

If You Are Not Willing To Learn No One Can Help You

NOW you want different results. So you make up your conscious mind to change. You want to lose weight or gain weight. Stop eating certain foods or begin trying new ones. You want to change your attitude. You want to feel better. You want more money.

Whatever it is you have decided you will change it. You may or may not think it will be hard to change, but sadly, most people go into it thinking it is going to be tough. It doesn’t have to be, but it is BECAUSE old habits die hard. Precisely, what you want. Remember?

You don’t want them to die off easily or the new ones wouldn’t stick either. You want it to be tough in actuality you just don’t want it to be tough for you. Am I right or am I right? You prefer it easy, yes? I understand. So do I.

If You Are Determined To Learn No One Can Stop You

In order for it to be easier you know it may take some time but you should think, ‘I can do this. It will be easy. Easy or not I will do this’. If you think it will be easy, while it may be difficult, it will be easier than if you think, ‘oh my god this is soooooo hard’. Get it? Read it again.

Your mind set determines how you go through or endure anything. Mindset, your attitude, determines 99.9% of your success and how you feel while attaining it. You want to learn to feel good no matter what. It is easier to change when you are feeling good.

If, when you begin to make the change the old habits rear up and you get upset, screw up, drop off, and decide, ‘It is too hard to change, I will never do it.’ You most probably won’t. That is a defeatist attitude for certain. Can’t throw in the towel and expect success.

Winners Have Simply Formed The Habit Of Doing Things …

If you think, ‘I want to do it but I keep sabotaging myself’ that is as wrong to do as if you punched yourself hard in the face. You are labeling protective, survival processes your brain engages in to insure your success as sabotage. You are insulting your very self.

You are putting up additional opposition to your own ability to learn and grow. Instead of saying,’my brain is wonderful and keeps me alive and consistent’, you are saying ‘my brain is screwing with me. It sabotages me and prevents me’. Your emotions are conflicted.

Your thoughts are negative. You are not helping yourself. You are making excuses for not continuing and blaming yourself at the same time. Some people LOVE LOVE LOVE to blame themselves. They say things like ‘You don’t understand I sabotage myself!’

… Losers Never Do – Be Diligent And Win

‘You don’t understand I am chemically addicted’. ‘You don’t understand…’ as if their problems are the most significant ones in the world. No one has problems they do. They wear these as a badge of honor. They are proud they are unable. They suffer so.

They are good people and guess what? They learned to be that way. They learned to defend their unwillingness to change and blame it on anything and everything. They learned to feel good about feeling bad. It is habit for them. Yes, they can change it. Of course they can.

Tomorrow I’ll share how to change that. I give you some pointers in how you can eliminate self-sabotage for good. So be sure to read the next blog. Share too if you know people who could benefit. In the meantime, learn to be grateful for how you work. You work perfectly even when you don’t like the results you get. Love yourself.

Change Is The Result Of All True Learning

You can learn to change and get different results. So hang in there. But make it easy on yourself by loving yourself and appreciating how you already work. You change easier and more readily through acknowledgement and validation than through negativity and pain. Be grateful and celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

How will you make each moment marvelous today?

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Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

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How To Overcome Failure And Maximize Your Success

“We grow stronger the more we are challenged. Our minds grow stronger the more we use them just as our muscles do. Both atrophy when not used for lengths of time. Use it or lose it is how it is. We must challenge ourselves and grow through opposition.

Welcome to Part 11 of The Secret To Success And Happiness Few Know And Won’t Tell You. The series continues and this post continues from yesterday. I hope you found the first 10 parts valuable. Ready, let’s go. Part 12 tomorrow.

We must grow mentally and physically, emotionally and spiritually. Whenever you begin to change anything, a belief, a behavior, an old habit, all of your old chronic past habitual conditioning and programming rears up. You feel resistance.

Failure Is A Part Of Life – If You Don’t Fail You Don’t Learn …

Some call it paradigms. Our old conditioning is doing what it is supposed to do. Those who don’t know any better call it self-sabotage. You never self-sabotage yourself! You do what you were trained to do! In order to change you have to change your training.

The instant you begin your new training you encounter the old patterns and programs asserting themselves. That is because that is what you previously learned to do. Until you learn the new way it will feel difficult. The old way will continue to exert its influence.

For awhile, it will be difficult. Soon enough, with routine practice and dedicated application, you will overcome the old conditioning and the new conditioning will take hold. You will make the changes you want. Once the new way takes hold it will be just as reliable.

… If You Don’t Learn You Don’t Change

Believe me you want it to be like this! You don’t want the old to give way too easily. If it did you’d be screwing things up every other week. You want the things you learn to be difficult to change for consistency. The brain is smarter than we think.

People who don’t know any better call this process self-sabotage, as if a part of you is trying to thwart your progress. It isn’t! It is remaining your loyal and faithful friend by resisting the new ways. It is preserving what you previously learned to do.

It attempts to keep you consistent. It is a blessing not a curse! Even if what you learned, way back then, was unwanted and not your choice, you learned it and have operated from it. Your brain didn’t care if it was positive or negative, that isn’t its job to decide.

Failure Is Part Of Success – Don’t Worry About Failure …

Its job is to learn and carry out whatever it is programmed to do. To be reliable so you don’t have to keep relearning it every day. It builds reliable pathways to follow. It creates habits. This is WHY habits are difficult to break at first. This is why it seems difficult to change.

BUT it only seems that way. Change can be easier or harder depending on your mental mindset about it. AND GUESS WHAT? Your mindset is habitual too. How you view change is how you learned to view it at another previous time. AHHHHH get it?

This is why changing your mindset and learning to control your thinking is SO CRITICAL because it is habitual too. If it doesn’t support you how you want it to then you must change it. It will keep doing what it always did until you change it. Understand?

… Worry About The Chances You Miss When You Don’t Try

These things are locked in BUT not permanently. Well, they are permanent if we never bother to try to change them. Once we begin the process we encounter all the old thinking, feeling and behaving and that is what we need to overcome.

Inertia is the principle of physics that maintains that a body at rest tends to remain at rest until a larger force acts on it. OR a body in motion tends to remain in motion unless a larger force acts on it. This is why it is difficult to push a car down the road from park.

It is also why it is difficult to stop a car with your hands once it is moving down a hillside. Momentum takes over and you just have to get out of the way at a certain point. We can understand these for our personal changes. When we do it makes things simpler.

Success In Life Simply Comes When You Refuse To Give Up

Beginning a change means overcoming the tendency to remain at rest, or stay the same. Our brains try to keep us consistent. It seems to take effort and it does but it gets easier the more we do it and the longer we do it for. Easier and easier. Still, we have to start it all.

We have to start it and keep it going until momentum takes over. Once we get to that tipping point it is ‘all down hill from there’. Change becomes easier and picks up speed. We can feel the shifting. Until we get there though we have to push through it.

This is true of our mental condition and controlling out thoughts and feelings as well as our skills and behaviors. Changing for success in 99.9% a mental game. Get your head on right and the rest follows. Most people never get the mind game understood and that sucks.

In Order To Succeed We Must First Believe We Can

They don’t get good results because their mind’s don’t serve them as they would like. They put their attention not on changing their thinking but on what is wrong with others, the economy, the environment. They blame others and the world for their ‘failures’.

So they never learn nor change. They can, and maybe someday they will, when ready, but for now they maintain their status quo. They can’t see it yet, and that is okay. When they are ready the teacher will appear. The real teacher is oneself. AND mentors are beneficial.

Changing your mind means overriding the old programming. You can do that. Bit by bit, over time, by repeating exercises and processes that help you do that. Affirmations, Directed Questions™, Visualization, using vision boards all help you change your thoughts.

I Can – I Will – End Of Story

Consistent application of new thought is how you change. Focusing on the positive most of the time is how you change. The first great step is in awareness. Become aware of whether you are mostly positive or mostly negative most of the time. AND be more positive.

Accept and welcome the process. Celebrate the fact that you learn things and adapt. Celebrate that your brain and mind serve you in a variety of ways. Failure leads to success when you apply feedback as an athlete does. Awareness is the starting place and it is required.

Examine your defeat and losses. Once at the bottom the only way to move is up. Those who have achieved great things and great wealth have often done it on the back of great loss and hardship, equal in difficulty as their good fortune is good.

The Key To Success Is To Begin Before You Are Ready

You only fail when you quit the pursuit. Once you stop it is over. As long as you continue you are not failing. Everyone who has ever succeeded in anything has met with challenges. Some seemed insurmountable at the time.

Those who continued on in spite of the hardship, made it through and reaped a reward. Those who did not lost out. What gives the person who continues the edge. What do you think it is? Their mindset, of course? What else could it or would it be?

They control their thinking and do it in spite of the difficulty or the odds. They do it in spite of not feeling like it. They do it anyway. In order to do that they must think it first. They do not let their thoughts or their thinking prevent them. Others will but not these.

Winners Never Quit And Quitters Never Win

Thomas Edison tried over 10,000 times before he found the right combination of materials that produced a working lightbulb. What if he had stopped after 3 tries as most people might do? We all still might be reading by gas or oil lamps.

The Wright Brothers continued attempting to fly until they actually did. What might have happened or how long would it have taken if they threw in the towel? There are countless examples of people overcoming difficulty and pushing through to ultimate success.

R. U. Darby, who Napoleon Hill references, had a wealthy gold mine that dried up. Dig and dig he did but to know avail. He tossed in the towel, sold the mine and gave up. The gentleman who purchased the mine, hired a consultant who determined that gold was still there.

Fall Seven Times – Get Up Eight

They dug 3 feet from where Darby left of and struck the richest gold vein making the new owner instantly very wealthy. Darby lost a fortune. Fortunately, for him, by his own admission, he stated it was probably the best thing that ever happened to him.

He learned from his mistake and vowed to never let anything stop him again. He went into the insurance business and he learned he would not take no for an answer. He became a wealthy millionaire salesman as a result and he attributed this to missing gold by 3 feet.

If we learn from our mistakes; if we learn from obstacles and our challenges and what appears to be defeat we will learn things of incredible value. These can be positively life changing. Our challenges are our blessings too. We just don’t view them that way.

What Defines Us Is How Well We Rise After Falling

We can. Challenges contain opportunity. Your mindset, your attitude, your beliefs will determine what you see as a blessing or a problem. It will determine whether you think you can or you think you can’t accomplish something. You mindset determines if you try.

The saddest thing you can do is throw in the towel and give up. The saddest thing is to not take control of the one thing YOU can control, you mind. Learn to control it. Make it work for you. Learn from your mistakes. Find the good and the positive in everything.

When you do you will begin to change more and more easily. The momentum takes on a life of its own. As you find things to enjoy and opportunities to take advantage of, as you feel grateful you discover more. Your brain actually opens up. Enjoy it! Celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

What will you do today to make it marvelous?

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Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

The Secret Successful People Know About Failure That You Don't

“Successful people aren’t always successful their first time out. You know that of course, right? They may spend years working on their dreams with no apparent success in sight. More over they may face incredibly difficult odds and challenges. Many lose everything first.

Welcome to Part 10 of The Secret To Success And Happiness Few Know And Won’t Tell You. We continue on today. I hope you found the first 9 parts valuable. Ready, let’s go. Part 11 tomorrow.

A successful pro batter in baseball strikes out far more than gets hits. In fact the difference in averages between one paid the big, big bucks and one not isn’t that great. If you think about it the highest scoring batter fails to connect with the ball far more often than not.

The same is true of basketball players and making baskets. The attempts far exceed scores made.They frequently miss. What sets these pro athletes apart from others, perhaps you and me? Why are they failing so often but still winning and getting paid very well?

Success Is Not Final – Failure Is Not Fatal …

One thing that makes the difference is they understand that in order to hit the target you have to try a lot. The know they will miss more than they hit and they accept that. It doesn’t prevent them from trying. They continue to press on. They keep the faith. They work it.

If they quit after their first miss, after their attempts went south, they would fail. Because they continue on they make adjustments to their behaviors and skill set, they continue to work on getting better and better. They improve. They know they must to compete.

They don’t count the times missed, they don’t focus on the ‘failures’ they record the successes. They understand swinging and missing is a large part of hitting the ball. Shooting at and missing the basket is a huge part of putting the ball in. It doesn’t stop them at all to miss.

… It Is The Courage To Continue That Counts

There is no such thing as failure. Either they did what they attempted to do or they didn’t. They don’t get bent out of shape about it. They keep their mind in check, they keep their attitude in check because they understand something most of us don’t.

Sports is a mental game. Most of winning is dependent on what goes on inside the athlete’s mind. Focus, concentration, not getting psyched out, but maybe psyching out an opponent, attention, shutting out distractions is a major part of their skills in doing.

It is the mental game that leads the physical prowess. Imagine trying to make a basket, hit a run, kick a field goal with millions watching, thousands cheering or booing, knowing the pressure is on. Are you up for that? Some people are and some aren’t?

Success In Life Comes When You Simply Refuse To Give Up

What the pro does inside their mind gives them the edge. Imagine training for four years to compete for seconds in the Olympics. You get a couple attempts, usually, and an average or best score entered in competition. Most who go to the Olympics fail to medal.

There is no such thing as failure to these dedicated people. There is only feedback. They either hit the mark or they don’t. If they don’t they examine what they need to adjust and improve to hit it the next attempt. If they miss again, they adjust for the next attempt.

Some go back after missing and dedicate another four years to improving so they can repeat the process again with the goal of medalling up next time. They commit and learn from their mistakes but they don’t throw in the towel. Well, some may.

Have Goals So Strong Obstacles Failure Loss Act As Motivation

Those who do quit, they fail. They stopped after missing the mark. The last thing they did before quitting was to miss. Those who try again never fail. Temporarily, they may experience defeat, but only temporarily. They use it as feedback to continue to improve,

You and I face challenges and obstacles, small and large, each day. If you learn from your each of your difficulties you will continue to move forward. You gain valuable information on how to improve and move forward. With that information you can possibly succeed.

Napoleon Hill pointed out that within each adversity, each challenge, each struggle or disappointment, there are the seeds of equivalent opportunity. You have to know to look for them or you will miss them. If you seek and you will find. Learn from difficulties.

Never Let Success Go To Your Head …

You can learn from difficulties the same way athletes learn from their challenges. If you adopt the athlete mindset you can become a winner much more easily. You must learn to control your thoughts and feelings and to continue on no matter how daunting it seems.

With the correct attitude, and by making the proper adjustments, you can move forward toward success. With the right mind set you won’t stop at failure but are open to begin seeing it as a stepping stone toward eventual success. All success begins in the mind.

When you look back on your life, or back on difficult times, temporary defeats and attempts to excel, you can more easily connect the dots. You see how or why you ended up as you did from the decisions you made. You can notice your part in it all.

… Never Let Failure Go To Your Heart

Your are responsible for all of it. Once you realize that all of your attempts, hit or miss, you are responsible for, the game changes. You don’t blame others, or conditions or circumstances, you seek to improve what you do so you are better the next time.

I enjoy listening to pros talk about how they won or lost a match or a game, and what they need to do to be better the next time. Listen, if you haven’t. It is all on them and what they can do to improve. Listen, pay attention, the pro mindset is what we need to win!

Never worry about making mistakes. Mistakes are a part of it, just as misses are, as long as you learn from them. Some people try so hard to avoid making mistakes that they don’t do anything. They freeze. They are afraid they will do something wrong.

Failure Is Success In Progress

Something wrong can always be corrected. It is far better to do it and correct it and learn from it and move forward than to not progress at all because of fear. It sucks being frozen. When you are stuck you are not moving in any direction. That is what stuck means.

Enough for today. We will continue tomorrow. Hopefully, I have provided you with some important food for thought but don’t miss tomorrow. You will want to read on! Meanwhile, make it a point to examine your thinking and your experience. Look for the good.

Look for the positive. Look for what you do well that you can enhance. Realize you have an opportunity to improve and excel. You can update and upgrade. Eliminate the bugs and faulty programming and beginning living as you want to. Find those things to appreciate.

Success Is The Sum Of Small Efforts Repeated Day In And Day Out

Look into what you appreciate about you, others and the world. Bask it in. Feel the positive emotions. After all, the point of life is to feel wonderful. Logic is fine but feel delight and feel joy. Become enthused with your ability to make changes positively. Have fun and celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Take charge today and be happy!

If you like these posts please subscribe. If you think these posts would help others please share them. Help Spread the word.

Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

This Is Why You Aren't Creating Success And Happiness Right Now

“Imagine for a moment there is a god that created you. This god told you ‘I have given you everything you need to be healthy, wealthy, happy, successful in all ways. You will have love, possessions, your wildest dreams because within you is an incredible power’.

Welcome to Part 9 of The Secret To Success And Happiness Few Know And Won’t Tell You. We continue on today. I hope you found the first 8 parts valuable. Ready, let’s go. Part 10 tomorrow.

Imagine this god sat you down looked you in the eyes and told you this to your face. This is god speaking to you! What do you do? You look god back in the face and say ‘bull shit’ and get up and walk away. You mutter to yourself ‘how ridiculous’ the old guy is.

You think to yourself ‘if only that were true’ but you continue to tell yourself it is not. What I just described may not be too far off from the actual truth. I don’t know if god created you or sat you down, but within you is something incredibly unique and powerful.

The Power Is Within You

Most people miss it. They miss the proper use of it. The point of the power is to enjoy all of life right here, right now and beyond. But they don’t. They use it to create worry, fear and anxiety. They use the power to live in lack, and struggle and wish it were different.

Why do you suppose people do that? If you do that, why do you? Many do. I have. What is it that goes on inside us? Well, for the most part we weren’t brought up being told we were powerful and unique and could enjoy right here and right now and beyond delightfully.

We were brought up told and believing life was hard. We probably weren’t good enough or smart enough to amount to much. Some people got it all while others had to make due with little. Life isn’t fair. Work hard, save money, retire and hope you have a good life.

Don’t Be Afraid To Give Yourself Everything You Wanted In Life

Perhaps, you didn’t get any of those messages? Perhaps, you got different ones. Regardless, if you aren’t living the life you truly want right now, it is for some reason. If you look outside yourself you will miss it altogether. If you blames circumstances or others you miss.

You have to look within. You must understand that most people sacrifice right now for a hope of a better future. They want things different then because they don’t like it now. They want to trade now in for a better time down the road. This is the problem.

NOW is all you have. It is what you got. It is what IS. There is no future yet. If you don’t like right now and want to escape it, what thoughts are you presently thinking? Are you thinking, ‘this is wonderful and glorious’ or are you thinking ‘this sucks’? Well?

Be Here Now

Most likely, a variation on the latter. As long as you think those thoughts you will end up with more of the same. What you continue to create is the same suck lifestyle. Own up to this. If your thoughts about NOW are negative you are creating more negativity.

Yes, you are hoping for something positive and better but you are doing the same old thing again and again hoping for a different result. Do you get it? In order for THEN to be wonderful you must find the wonderfulness in NOW! Recreate how wonderful now is!

You may think, how absurd. Go ahead, remain the same. Isn’t that what you have done all along. I sure did. I always thought it was someone else’s fault, not mine. I always thought the present sucked but the future would be different. Then whined when it wasn’t.

Believe In The Power Within You

Until I did that over and over again enough, until I had enough, I perpetuated the cycle of less than glorious shit in my life. TIME for a change I thought! NOW WHAT? Focus on making it better. Concentrate and believe that I can do it. You know what?

That is a decent start. I had to learn I was responsible for all of my results. I had to focus on something other than what sucked. A major mind shift in direction for sure. I had to keep my attention on the new direction and not get sucked back into the old way.

AND it worked. As I progressed I discovered their was still a very subtle layer of discontent. I wasn’t progressing fast enough, I wasn’t leaving the old life behind quick enough. That bothered me. When was the brand new upgraded life going to kick in. Anytime Universe!

Realize The Power Within You – Trust The Power Within You

Kick it into high gear god. C’mon now. I am waiting. THEN it occurred to me that I was not content. I was not happy where I was. I was assuming I was happy because I was actually, in fact, changing and better off than before, but not truly happy. I was stuck.

If I was truly happy it wouldn’t matter. I would be happy. I’d be thrilled with where I was and what I was doing. It would all be good. I’d be excited, enthused, eager and delighted. I wouldn’t be hoping that anytime now there would be a breakthrough.

THAT was the breakthrough. Gratitude, celebration, appreciation love NOW, embrace it, enjoy it, be thankful for each and every little part of it. Be grateful for each challenge, each blessing each moment. Live fully alive in now and delight in the present. Herein is magic.

Can You See The Miracle You Are

When you totally accept everything with delight you create more of the same. Your thoughts are ‘wow this is incredible’ and you create and attract more of the same. Your neurology, your spirit, your emotions, your body, your mind opens up to everything you missed.

You may not think so. Even now reading these words you may agree or not. When the student is ready the master appears. Your inner self will present when you are ready, if not at this time. Know this: You look at what you have always looked at in habitual ways.

You look at now as you always have. Your circumstances you see from you past conditioning. You are thinking old thoughts about your present. You need to change this to see what is there you have been missing all along. You have missed much I guarantee it.

I’m Pointing At The Moon – Don’t Look At My Fingers …

You don’t see what IS THERE because you ‘know’ what is there. Do you understand this distinction? You are blinded to the things you miss because you have habitually looked at other things. Your focus has been elsewhere. NOW you need to shift your focus.

We miss so much wanting to be somewhere else. This is what it means to ‘stop and smell the roses’. It means STOP for goodness sake, stop. STOP STOP STOP! Smell the roses they are right here, right now. Fall into it fully! Don’t go anywhere else in your head.

It is all here right now. EVERY SINGLE THING you need to make an incredible difference in your life, to have the present and future you want IS WITHIN YOU RIGHT NOW! You may have to birth it, to develop it, to master it, but you already have everything needed.

… Look At The Moon

No matter what is going on right now you are doing one of two things. You are either supporting things as they are by the attention and energy you give it. Or you are not. You are either contributing to it on an ongoing basis or you are pulling energy away from it.

If things, right now, suck for you, what are you doing? Are you supporting it or putting energy elsewhere? Obviously, if they suck YOU ARE supporting it. It can’t be any other way. This is important. Your energy flows where your attention goes.

If you are focused on the problems, issues, the lack, the struggle you get more of the same. If you are quietly discontent hoping and praying for a better day, you don’t get more of the better day, you get more of the discontent. This IS HOW it works. DO you get it?

You Have Been Using The Power All Along To Get What You Got

STOP! Take the energy you use to support what you don’t want and put it into gratitude. Be genuinely thankful, appreciative. Love every second of your life and you will withdraw energy from that which sucks and you will be putting it into positive wonderful moments.

Your life will transform. Sure there will be times you want to whine and complain and focus on the old lifestyle. That is habit, that is your old programming and chronic conditioning. Understand that for what it is and keep you attention on what is right and what is good.

Life will upgrade quickly as you do. You can find yourself moving from one marvelous moment to another. Focus on how wonderful everything is right now and you will bring about more of the same. Each moment going forward is filled gloriously.

Have You Used The Power Wisely – If Not – Start Now

When god speaks maybe you should listen. You have everything you need to live a glorious life within you right now. Be willing to. If you aren’t willing well, that is your decision. But if you are willing a whole new world of possibility will open up for you. Live, love, laugh more. Enjoy and delight and celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Be happy today for no reason at all. Just be happy!

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Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

Why You Must Learn Patience For Happiness And Success

“You seem to be doing everything correct but it just isn’t happening fast enough, right? You have worked hard but you aren’t seeing the results you expected. Maybe you are wondering if you ever will.

Welcome to Part 8 of The Secret To Success And Happiness Few Know And Won’t Tell You. We continue on today. I hope you found the first 7 parts valuable. Ready, let’s go. Part 9 tomorrow.

Change can happen in an instant. IT CAN and it does. Most often it requires some time. How much time you might wonder? That is a great question, but useless. How much time does anything require?

Almost everything requires some time. Even microwaving your beverage takes time. It takes an apple tree, to grow from seed to a fruit bearing tree, a good amount of time. Learn to wait well.

Patience Is Not The Ability To Wait …

Change and personal development take some time. Illumination can occur in an instant. You suddenly, ‘get it’, it gels and all comes together. You have a ‘satori’ moment of enlightenment. An ‘aha’!

Instantaneous! Then living from that new awareness and perfecting it requires time. The skills you learn from this blog, many of them, only take a few minutes to learn. Maybe, five minutes at most.

Still, it can take a lifetime to master them. ‘Getting it’, that moment when everything comes together is an exciting moment. Living it can be joyous too. Now you are living the process and that takes time.

… Patience Is How You Act While Waiting

That means you are back living in ‘real’ time. Be patient. Be patient with yourself; be patient in your struggles; be patient with the changes occurring, they will, in time; be patient with others; and life.

Learn to be patient and accept what is. If you ‘got it’ then nurture the awareness and learn to accept and enjoy the process. Time passes more quickly when you are having fun, if you hadn’t noticed.

The more you enjoy all of the journey the more there is to enjoy. Your neurology opens up and you discover more bliss, you allow for more insights and ‘satori’ moments. You get so much more in return.

It Takes 6 Months To Build A Rolls Royce …

More time presents you with the opportunity to gain experience; to repeat successes and learn what works. From challenges you learn to develop your talents and abilities so that they grow strong.

Just as your muscles grow stronger from opposition and rest so does your ability to be in charge of your own mind. That after all is the goal, take back possession of your own mind so it serves you!

When you mind serves you, instead of it, you discover that all things truly do work together for good. So you are more relaxed while you create and make good things happen. You enjoy all of it. ALL of it.

… It Takes 13 Hours To Build A Toyota

Lighten yourself up. Stop carrying a load of concern about when and if. Give that a rest. Drop it altogether. If you planted seeds the seeds will grow, you will get, eventually, the bountiful harvest. Trust!

There is nothing like trust or faith. It means you hold to it even when there is no visible presence of it. You believe in the invisible. Don’t be mistaken, it isn’t trust in someone or something else. It is in you.

You trust that what is planted will come to fruition. It is your mindset and your attitude. Just as forgiveness isn’t about the person you forgive but about you letting go of the hurt or injustice for self.

Faith Is Taking The First Step When You Can’t See The Entire Way

Faith is for and about you. It is part of being able to control your thoughts and determine what you will think, instead of being plagued by random thoughts and thoughts of doubt and worry.

You decide what to think and feel. Your thinking and feeling becomes deliberate and intentional. As you learn this your life and results will increase positively in so many incredible ways.

It will delight you and surprise you. Ultimately, you will get used to it and it will become your ‘new normal’. You will live from more joy and positivity. You will have up-leveled yourself and your life.

Have Patience All Things Are Difficult Before They Are Easy

Pretty darn cool, if you ask me. You can attract fish using certain bait but you can’t make them bite. You just have to relax and let it happen. Let go of the result and enjoy the process. Relaxxxxxx.

If you dropped your line in the water that is all you can do. Take the analogy and realize if you have done your groundwork and planted seeds you will get back the kind of fruit from the seeds you planted.

If you plant corn you get corn. If you plant nightshade, a poison, you get nightshade. Whatever you plant determines what you get back. It will come about in the length of time it takes to manifest.

Just Because Something Doesn’t Seem To Be Happening Now …

A farmer knows when to plant, when to wait, when to add extra nourishment because environmental conditions change, and when to harvest. The farmer knows you can’t force anything.

Have faith. Trust and be patient. Your efforts will pay off. Enjoy the process. Gratitude is so important because you discover what there is right now to enjoy and appreciate. You can never be too grateful.

Continue with your daily diligence. Continue to gain mastery over your thinking and feeling. Remember, some things require a lifetime to master. Great artists are always improving their artistic talents.

… Doesn’t Mean It Never Will – It Will – Be Patient

They don’t get good and stop improving they continue as long as they live to master their art. The seek to grow and change and evolve. The same applies to learning how to change and transform.

The same applies to health, creating wealth and having happy and loving relationships. You don’t ‘do something’ once and then it is all taken care of. You live a healthy lifestyle in order to remain healthy.

You continue to invest and manage your money to remain wealthy. You continue to improve communication and loving behaviors to have long lasting satisfying relationships with family and lovers.

All Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

Keep heading in the same direction. Keep progressing you will get there. Trust it will happen and enjoy everything along the way. Make it a point to be completely involved and not miss any good thing.

You put your order in with the cosmic waitstaff now wait positively and patient. How you wait is important. How you wait is who you are. Spend your time productively. Enjoy all of life while waiting.

Don’t force. Allow. Do a little each day. Small repetitive action is quite powerful and can bring about great permanent change. Value what you do. Manage how you think and feel. Love life, be grateful and you will find more success and happiness coming your way. Smile more and have fun. Celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Be happy today for no reason at all. Just be happy!

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Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

Why Change Seems So Difficult And What You Can Do About It

“Have you found it difficult to make personal or professional changes? Have you struggled to try to change habits? Have you come to the conclusion that making changes is hard?

Welcome to Part 7 of The Secret To Success And Happiness Few Know And Won’t Tell You. We continue on today. I hope you found the first 6 parts valuable. Ready, let’s go. Part 8 tomorrow.

Perhaps, your attempted to get ‘The Secret’ or the ‘Law of Attraction’ to work but you are not satisfied. Have you found it difficult for you but know others for whom it is easy?

Guess what? If it is easy for some it could and should be easy for all. Change does not have to be hard. It does not have to be difficult. It can be anything. Anything at all. Change can be easy.

Standing Is Harder Than Moving

Change can be easy, fun, exciting, smooth and relaxing or it can be tough, terrifying, and require you stick it out for the long haul. Making changes can be and is all things.

You may not want to hear this. Whether change is difficult or easy is completely up to you and nothing else! Your mindset, your attitude, your beliefs determine what it is like and how you will go through it.

It can be all things! Just know that. You aren’t failing if it is tough. You are simply approaching it as you have learned to do. There is nothing wrong in that. Nothing at all. You learned it was tough.

If You Don’t Like Something Change It

You accepted that for whatever reason, most likely, very early on. Since then, perhaps you have tried and quit, or maybe you avoid having to change much all together. Anything is possible.

If that is the case, the good news is, change can be easy and fun! You can learn to enjoy it too. However, if learning anything new for you is tough and you don’t like it that is what you first must work on.

Learn to like learning. If you don’t like learning new things, eating new foods, learning new games, communicating better with your partner or family, then you should start there.

That will be the subject of another post at another time.

Change is just whatever it is. Your reaction to it is makes all the difference in the world. Easy or hard it is up to what you think and believe it will be. Expectations shape situations and behaviors.

If You Can’t Change It Change Your Attitude

If you think it will be too hard you are apt to quit. If you think it will be a snap you are likely to proceed without a issue. Your attitude determines what it will be like for you. It always has. IT always has!

If it is tough you need to change your attitude and beliefs about change. The good news is that you can do this. Will it be easy or tough? GUESS WHAT? That is up to you? Get it? DO you GET IT?

You make up your world. You decide what it will be like and how you go through it. You determine whether you attract good things or less than glorious things. It is always up to you! It always has been!

If Life Were Just Easy Where Would All The Adventures Be

It is cyclic. If you think it will be tough it will be thus proving you are right and it is tough. Next attempt you get more of the same. You can break the cycle BUT it may be tough at first. Get it? DO you?

You really need to understand this. AT first it may seem tough. That is what is familiar to you. That is your habitual way of going about things. That is what you have been getting. Get it?

To change it DO something else. Take smaller steps or bites. Do some thing you find enjoyable, easy to do and continue to do, first. Find a partner. Get someone who inspires you to go on.

Drop By Drop The Tub Gets Filled

If you always do what you always did you always get what you always got. Vary it, shake it up, add some fun into the mix. Do anything else that brings enjoyment and optimism to the process.

Decide to be gentle with yourself NO MATTER WHAT. If there are some things that are difficult resign yourself to that being okay for now and understand that will get easier as you move forward.

Think positive about it. Force yourself if you must or have fun chanting out loud positive mantras and affirmations that support you in this. Visualize yourself easily making and adopting change.

You Must Become The Master Of Your Own Thoughts

You can control your thoughts and that is your first most important step. Learn that this is possible. You can control your thoughts and your feelings. You can think and feel predominantly wonderful.

How you think and feel determines how you act and your thoughts, feelings and actions determine the results you get. These three factors determine how you handle life circumstances.

Life is whatever it is. How you respond to it is up to how you learned to in the first place. Everything you do is pretty much the result of what you learned from early age on. It is your conditioning. Habits.

I Can’t Change The Direction Of The Wind …

Because you learned it, you can unlearn it or learn to change it to serve you better. It doesn’t matter whether you remember learning it or not. You can learn most anything at all. You really, truly can!

You can teach an old dog new tricks. It seems harder because the old dog has been doing the old way for a long time and is comfortable with it even if the old dog doesn’t like it. Even if it causes pain.

We opt for the familiar and the comfortable most of the time. It is easier even when we don’t like it. It is usually only when we get really fed up that we then decide to change and be different.

… But I Can Adjust My Sails To Reach My Destination

Still, the old dog can learn new ways. Be loving, patient, understanding, forgiving and accepting and the old dog will do just fine. Treat the old dog with respect and it will learn new ways.

You can dictate how you handle circumstances and not be the victim of them. It is all up to you. The first order of change is controlling your thoughts instead of being a victim of them. This is a must do!

Once you gain mastery over your thinking process everything else tends to fall in line. Life still is what it is but your ability to respond resourcefully grows immeasurably. Seek mental control.

Have Patience All Things Are Difficult Before They Become Easy

Change becomes easier and more fun when you are in charge of your attitude and mindset. Life does as well. Circumstances fall under your control much more than the other way around.

Understand this next important concept well. Understand it and own it. If everything is easy you will never learn to be tough when necessary. There are times that require you to be firm and strong.

There are times when you must be steel willed and persist no matter what. These times, though hard, don’t have to be a problem. Your attitude determines whether these are mountains or mole hills.

Life Doesn’t Become Easier We Become Stronger

If everything were always easy and it was never tough you might throw in the towel when faced with challenge. You wouldn’t know what to do or how to do it. Skill comes from doing.

By having different forms and sizes of obstacles with differing degrees of difficulty you grow stronger and better equipped to handle anything. Welcome tough times too.

Welcome challenges and you become a victor over them. Life at times is thrilling and ecstatic and delicious, other times not so much. Whatever you get is what is, accept it, celebrate it and keep growing.

The Educated Person Has Learned How To Learn And Change

Discover you can be the master of your fate and the captain of your soul. It begins by taking charge of your thinking. Even if you have never done it before you can succeed at this. Develop certainty.

Even if you tried and failed numerous times, you can succeed if you make it manageable from the beginning. Do little things first. Little things can bring about great change in ways that will surprise you.

Make it a point to be grateful. Find the silver lining, discover the good hidden in the not so good. This a an important ability you want to acquire. You acquire it only by repeatedly doing it correctly.

Simple Joys Make The Greatest Memories

There is always something you can find, though it may be well hidden, so you might have to dig, but DO dig for it! Master being thankful for where you are and what you have right now.

You will go further faster. Learn to enjoy and delight in all things and you will change beyond belief. The little things add up to great big things SO celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

How delighted will you be today?

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Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

One Big Reason Why People Keep Failing

“Some things are tried and true. Sometimes, when you bake a cake you should just follow the recipe. Pioneers have blazed the trails for you to follow in their footsteps you don’t need to blaze another one.

Welcome to Part 6 of The Secret To Success And Happiness Few Know And Won’t Tell You. We continue on today. I hope you found the first 5 parts valuable. Ready, let’s go. Part 7 tomorrow.

Sometimes, it is easiest to take the path of least resistance. Learn from the models who began where you are and have attained what you want because they know the pathway to that success. Listen.

Stop trying to reinvent the wheel. Follow in the successful footsteps of others. Actually do what they tell you and take their advice. Listen and learn. Do and learn. Be glad if you have a successful mentor.

Learn To Listen Then Listen To Learn

It never fails to amaze me, especially in Hollywood. Someone will ask a famous writer or director to give them feedback on their script. ‘Please help me, tell me what I should do. What do you think?’

Instead of taking it, implementing it, and then coming back, thereby showing the mentor they could take advice, and that they are people of action and value the mentor’s input and time.

They say thanks and do nothing. They join the ranks of all those who ask and do nothing. Is it any wonder why ‘the big wigs’ get wary of helping others at times. They know few will do what they say.

Listen – Learn – Grow

The reason so many people fail is they don’t implement what already is proven to work. They try to do it their way. They want the faster route. They think they will find a short cut. They want it easier.

They will attempt to do it their way. I can’t tell you how many times I have been with someone who was asked ‘what should I do’ and when told, they respond with, ‘yeah, I think I’ll do it my way’.

Yup, they try to do it their way. They don’t listen or follow advice. They don’t listen or read instructions. They get some new fangled thingamajig and don’t look at the manuel to put it together.

Mentors Are Here To Guide Us To Their Best Knowledge

Are you one of these? Listen, Napoleon Hill modeled 520 of the most successful people on the planet in his day. Countless thousands have gone on to success following his discovered formula ever since.

It is as applicable today as it was then. However, some people who have never yet succeeded think THEY know what to do. They don’t and haven’t succeed. Thousands of others, read the book, and have.

However, most people never will. They just won’t do it. They will try it their way and give up. That is another part of why people don’t succeed, is they don’t follow through to completion. They quit.

Improve Your Life One Lesson At A Time

They do a little bit. If it gets tough or confusing they abandon it. They dabble they don’t actually do. They flit from one thing to another trying many things. They don’t commit to a plan of action that works.

To succeed you must be clear about what you specifically want to accomplish. You must feel passionate enough about it to keep going and not let anything stop you. You have to cross the finish line.

Of all the people who begin the race not everyone crosses that finish line. More than that won’t even enter the race. You have to start, you have to work smart, you have to follow through and complete it.

Winners Never Quit – Quitters Never Win

When it comes to success you must be headstrong in the right way. Being obstinate about doing what is tried and true, just because you feel like you want to, isn’t very wise. BUT go ahead if you must.

To succeed remain steadfast. See it through to the end. Be willing to listen to those who got there before you. If they started out as you have. If you have nothing, nor did they when they began, listen!

Chances are they know something you can benefit from. They blazed the trail. You know how you tell the pioneers from those who come later? The pioneers are face down with arrows in their backs.

You May See Me Struggle But You Will Never See Me Quit

They led the way through most of the hardship and they know the pitfalls. They know what might and might not work. Pay attention and learn. Don’t be gullible or stupid about it but listen up!

Remember, success leaves clues. Sometimes, just sometimes, the advice being given is worth more than its weight in gold. One idea at the right time can transform your entire life. Be open minded.

Study, learn and grow. To know and not to do is not to know. Information or knowledge is only power when it is correctly applied. Otherwise, it is interesting but not transformative.

To See Further – Stand On The Shoulders Of Giants

So stop spinning your wheels. Do what works. Apply it and keep applying it until you succeed. You will if you stick with it. It may or may not come easy but you must keep at it if you want to win.

Learn from mistakes. Celebrate and embrace all opportunity to grow and develop. Challenges make us stronger and wiser if we examine and learn from them. If you don’t, they just suck.

Inside ever challenge is the seed of opportunity but you must find it. Learn to learn. Learn to control your thoughts and feelings. Learn to take right action and get the results you intend to get. Act with intention.

Cultivate The Habit Of Being Grateful

Be grateful for the opportunities presented to you and that you can pursue your dreams. Many others can’t or don’t realize they can simply based on where they live in the world. If you can, then stop whining and start celebrating everything!” Rex Sikes

I wonder how many different ways you can feel delighted today?

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Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

Why You Keep Missing Opportunities And How To Correct That

“Have you ever felt you were ready but opportunity just passed you by? Someone else booked the gig, got the job, had something nice seemingly land in their lap, but not you. Do you know why that might be? There is an answer and today we’ll look into it.

Welcome to Part 5 of The Secret To Success And Happiness Few Know And Won’t Tell You. We continue on today. I hope you found the first 4 parts valuable. Ready, let’s go. Part 6 tomorrow.

Opportunity abounds. There are plenty all around us but frequently we miss them. Why do you suppose that is? Perhaps, the truth comes in the statement, ‘when the student is ready the teacher appears’. The same thing could be said about opportunity.

Opportunity abounds but is often disguised, at times, literally and at other times because you don’t know what to look for. Either way you could be missing out. Certainly, you’d want to change that.

Opportunities Are Closer Thank Your Think

Napoleon Hill shared a fascinating story in his first book ‘The Laws Of Success’. It was a rainy day in Pittsburgh, one afternoon when a woman walked into a department store. You know how clerks can be. Either too helpful or not helpful enough.

Most of the clerks looked at the woman and decided she was not a shopper so they busied themselves with straightening shelves and racks. You might have thought as much too about her. She rambled the store aimlessly with no apparent particular purpose.

One young salesman, however, approached the woman. She told him she was not there to buy anything. She was merely looking, since it was raining hard outside. He assured her that was fine. She was welcome in the store and he engaged her in conversation.

Luck Is Where Preparation And Opportunity Meet

As the rain let up he escorted her to the door, helped raise her umbrella and sent her off. Before leaving she asked for his calling card. Time went by and the incident was forgotten by the young salesman. One day he was called into the office and shown a letter.

It was from a woman who wanted a salesman to accompany her to Scotland to take orders for furnishing a mansion. The ultimate order was for an enormous sum. It was from the woman he was nice to. It was from the richest man in the world, Andrew Carnegie’s, mother.

It resulted in the young man advancing his career handsomely. Hill pointed out the salesman benefited greatly, but might not have, except for the fact that he took the time and was ‘courteous to an old lady who did not look like a ready sale’. No one else had.

The Pessimist Sees Difficulty In The Midst Of Every Opportunity…

Opportunity isn’t always apparent. You make your own by how you move through and act in the world. If you are genuinely nice you attract nice opportunity. THEN the opportunity presents itself, BUT it won’t happen if you try to make the opportunity.

Discovering opportunity works similarly to this. You buy something new, such as a new car. Suddenly, you notice that car everywhere. It happened to me in the last year. I see my model of the car multiple times a day. Prior to my purchase I was only casually aware of them.

Our brain has an area called the Reticular Activating System (RAS). One of its jobs is to find matches in the real world for our internal beliefs and attitudes. It’s why we ‘suddenly’ notice the other cars. Our brain is alerted to what we would otherwise not attend to.

…The Optimist Sees Opportunity In The Midst Of Every Difficulty

This is why some say we ‘attract’ our good fortune, that like things are drawn towards us. It is better stated, as the young salesman discovered, we create our own good fortune by our attitude and our actions. He didn’t prosper by meditating in his room, he acted nicely.

There isn’t anything wrong with meditation. I encourage it, practice it and teach it. Creation is an active process. So is attraction. If you want people attracted to you think and do those things that more readily result in that. Be nice first and others can respond in kind.

The people who experience the most good fortune and luck are not those who typically sit and wait for it to drop in their lap. They go first. They add value to others, they cooperate, work as a team, they are friendly and they are go-getters. They are pleasant to be around.

You Create Your Own Opportunity

A positive attitude gets you further faster than a negative one. If you focus on what isn’t working, what is wrong and negative you get what you focus on. If you focus on the competition and how they outdistance you, you will get back more of the same. Stop that.

You make your own breaks! In order to get ahead, focus on what you can positively do. Focus on solutions. Be genuinely nice and pleasant to be with. Be thoughtful and considerate of others. Maintain a positive ‘can do’ disposition. Be happy and grateful. Enjoy life!

If you aren’t already these things the good news is you can be. That is what this blog is about. I’ve spent decades assisting others to live their dreams. It starts with learning how to run your brain and mind so that it serves you and works for you they way it is intended to.

This Is The Beginning Of Anything You Want

You can transform yourself from less successful to more successful; From not so nice to pretty darn nice; From pessimist to optimist. It is all based on what you think about. What you think about most of the time is what you become and what you end up creating.

What you focus on and think about determines how you feel and behave. You results stem from those feelings and your actions. If you don’t like your current results, if you aren’t getting what you want, you can make positive changes to turn that around. It is simple.

Your current results are based on your previous thinking which stems from your early childhood conditioning. You are operating mostly on old outdated programs and old, chronic, negative thinking patterns and habits. It’s time for a positive working update!

A Simple Hello Could Lead To A Million Things

It is easy and it also requires effort. You will be changing old habits you have had for awhile BUT you can do it if you give yourself the chance to change. Anything is possible when you learn how. An easy first step is look for things to appreciate. Be grateful. Find them now.

Around you in your present life. No matter how few or how many. Take a daily inventory. This is an excellent way to begin. Read through these blog pages there are many suggestions because that is what this blog is about. Learn to be the you YOU want to be.

Fill your mind with positive, inspiring material some each day. Read a page or a chapter from a good inspirational book. I really like ‘Laws of Success’ and ‘Think And Grow Rich’ among others. Start now and soon you will notice a significant change occurring in you.

Every Experience Is An Opportunity To Learn And Grow

Have fun. Explore, and enjoy all of life’s little blessings. You find can find opportunity everywhere once you open yourself up to it. The best way to do that is to celebrate and enjoy more of life right now, this instant. So delight, have fun, enjoy others and celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

What will you do with this marvelous new day?

If you like these posts please subscribe. If you think these posts would help others please share them. Help Spread the word.

Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

The Reason Why 95% Of People Fail To Get What They Want

“Going after and getting what you want requires tenacity. If getting rich was always easy far more people would be rich. Whether you want success in your career, book more gigs, get an ideal job, have more romance and love in your life, be happier or buy that new home, it requires effort.

Welcome to Part 4 of The Secret To Success And Happiness Few Know And Won’t Tell You. We continue on today. I hope you found the first 3 parts valuable. Ready, let’s go. Part 5 tomorrow.

Success in all areas of your life, health, wealth, love, success, prosperity begins first in your mind. You must have the right mindset, attitude and beliefs. You must know you are capable of having what you want even when you aren’t exactly sure how to go about getting it. The results you are after first begin within you.

This Life Of Yours Is 100% Your Responsibility

You must know what you want. It must be worth it to you. You must be passionate about it and obsessed with getting it. It can’t be merely a passing fancy or you won’t last long in going for it. See it as having already happened in your mind. Affirm your ability to get it. Feel you can do it and perform the positive actions to get it.

Keep on working at it. Revise your plan. Overcome and learn from obstacles and challenges until you arrive. Never give up if it is something you must have. Keep the faith always. This is the way you get what you want. You do not get it wishing and hoping for things to be different. You make it happen. You bring it about. Effort required.

You are always creating everything in your life. Your success and your failure. Your fun moments and your boredom. You never escape not creating what IS at any moment. Your response and your thoughts determine your feelings and your actions. Your mindset determines whether something is good or not good.

Accept Responsibility For Your Thoughts And Actions

You can’t escape this. I even suggest, if you are willing to, explore how what I just said isn’t true. Everything in your world, whether you enjoy it or not is up to you. Without your conscious participation none of it would exist as you know it. While this notion could be very abstract I simply mean you always determine the quality of your life.

Why do 95% not get what they want? Because they come up with excuses and reasons why they are not responsible for the outcomes and results they get. They will blame the world, god, others, the weather, the financial climate, themselves, their past upbringing, and anything else for why they can’t succeed as they want to.

The will consistently try to use these excuses and the stories they make up and tell again and again to explain why things are against them and it isn’t their fault. They have all the reasons, even great reasons why they should have but couldn’t get ahead. Their mindset isn’t supporting their success. It is inhibiting their success.

Be Accountable For The Results You Get

You won’t succeed attributing your failures to others or things outside yourself. You must marshall your inner and outer resources and align them to go after, and continue to go after, what you want when the going gets tough. Your thoughts and attitude determine how far you will travel. Attitude is everything!

Your inner world must be rich with reasons why you succeed, why you can succeed and why you will continue to succeed. It must not be filled with junk logic and stories of how the world prevents you from reaching your goals. EVEN if that WERE true it wouldn’t help you be or do or get what you want. Negativity doesn’t serve you.

Listen to coffee klatch conversation and you will hear the blames, the stories, the excuses, all the reasons why IT didn’t happen. IT never happens YOU make it happen. Listen, don’t try to change the person telling the stories it is up to them to learn and change themselves. Don’t argue with them, allow them to be who they are.

Take Ownership Of Your Mistakes

When we want to change and bring new things about; we want to think more positively or create new habits to replace old ones, when WE are making internal changes, these kind of stories and excuses can come up. They’re part of our early conditioning. We learned them from others and made them our own.

We grew up being told things; we heard others discussing problems; we had our own experiences which we learned from. We soon realized we may get in trouble if we don’t present the proper reason or excuse for our actions. We grew up learning to attribute certain things to ourselves and other things to others or the environment.

Much of our self attributions are negative. We blame ourselves for being stupid, weak, incapable and other negative things. We are afraid we won’t amount to anything or aren’t worthy. Perhaps, we feel we always have bad luck. That is the old negative chronic mental conditioning rearing its head when we blame ourselves or others.

Once You Take Responsibility For Everything In Your Life…

We blame ourselves, our parents, our teachers, our education or lack of it, the money we had or didn’t in early life, our home environment. Heck, we blame everything. As long as we blame we won’t accomplish because we are too busy finding all the reasons and excuses why we can’t and why we won’t. This is a given.

This is law. I’m not sure it is written anywhere, or if I just made up that it is law but figure it our for yourself. If all of your mental energies are focused on why something is wrong and can’t happen what is the likelihood it will? If you are preoccupied with YOUR personal story about what sucks what is RIGHT that you will find?

Not much right that is certain. In order to get what you want it helps if you take charge and shoulder that responsibility. If you get it or not own up to it. Then, if you wish to continue after it, you do what else you can do to potentially bring it about. When you take responsibility you put yourself in the position of power and control.

… You Can Transform Anything In Your Life

When you blame and excuse and tell all the reasons why you are unable you are a victim. If not in the real sense, you are in the mental sense. You live and think as a victim does, you have no control, no power, no ability to self-determine your present and future moments. Do you want to live without power or self-control?

Don’t look back on the past to make future changes unless your past supports you in that endeavor. Look to your successes to be more successful and not your failures or reasons why things didn’t work out for you before. Put on a positive, productive and powerful mindset and keep it on. That will help you to succeed.

You are not guaranteed success just by having a positive attitude all by itself. It is the beginning step you must have and must keep all the while in order to succeed. It is almost certainly guaranteed that you will not succeed maintaining a negative attitude. You won’t even begin to take action if you don’t think and feel it is possible.

You Are Responsible For Your Own Happiness

Why do 95% fail to reach their goals and dreams. Because they believe bullshit. They believe lies and stories they have been told and they keep telling for a long time. It is self deception. When we tell others our stories it is an attempt to save face and explain how circumstances, not ourselves, prevented us.

If you want to succeed. Get real. Stop the BS. Own up. Shoulder the responsibility, uncomfortable as it may first seem to be, but do it. Be responsible and accountable for your thoughts, feelings, actions and the results you get. Be honest. Be clear about it. Gear up your mind for success. Take control of it. Then success is much more likely.

When your mindset and attitude is right you feel right. When you feel right you do more of those positive actions that help you in your quest. You continue on despite the difficulty. Why? Because YOU are responsible IF you want to get the results. Others aren’t going to do your work for you. Get it? Own your changes! Own your actions!

Make Changes Or Make Excuses It Is Your Choice

Own the results you get favorable or not! Then you are a leader. You lead yourself. You are a commander. You determine what you want and you go after it. Others, if you are wise, can help in the spirit of friendly co-operation. You can assist others in similar fashion. Being in charge of yourself doesn’t put you in charge of others.

It can make you more attractive to others, Others may wish to help you because you are a person of passion, self determination, and inner strength. You are a positive force that others can recognize and respond to. Birds of a feather flock together. You can find yourself aligning with other powerful people to get things done.

So no more excuses. Find you inner champion. Take responsibility for all of your life. If you want more love be more loving. If you want better health engage in healthy practices. Be the change you want to become. Find the good in you and everywhere else. Find the reasons why it is possible, the solutions, and move forward. Look for all the reasons to be grateful right now and celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Have a great day!

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Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

Why You Don't Make The Changes You Want To

“What keeps most people the same? Why don’t they change? Even when they want to they don’t. What about you? Have you wanted to make changes but didn’t because you found it difficult? Why is that?

Welcome to Part 3 of The Secret To Success And Happiness Few Know And Won’t Tell You. We continue on today. I hope you found the 1st and 2nd parts valuable. Ready, let’s go. Part 4 tomorrow.

The answers may surprise you. At the same time you may think, ‘but of course, that makes perfect sense.’ So, why don’t people change? What is it that keeps them the same even when they want to?

Life Begins At The End Of Your Comfort Zone

Comfort. People like comfort. If nothing is pressing them they will remain as is. They want to be comfortable. Isn’t that true? Don’t you prefer it? I do. I like it when things are comfortable and easy.

That is one reason. The second reason is discomfort. People hate being uncomfortable and will do anything to remain in comfort. Change means discomfort. So they avoid changing.

When the discomfort becomes intolerable THEN people will decide to change because they want to comfortable again. Comfort like inertia takes a lot of effort to get people to move, out of it.

Comfort Zones Are Expanded Through Discomfort

Discomfort is what they want to avoid so they remain the same instead of leaving their comfort zone. They will continue until it becomes too uncomfortable to remain the same. Notice the cycle.

Change means you will be uncomfortable. This is normal. All growth means to stretch, to expand, to move beyond. We even say there is such a thing as growing pains. Discomfort is part of life.

All growth is growth outside your comfort zone. If you attempt new behaviors, change beliefs, create a new schedule or take a different route to work you leave the comfort behind.

The Secret: Be Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

It seems foreign and unfamiliar. You long for the old ways when you feel pain or discomfort. It was easier the old way. Simpler and more comfortable. The new way is too hard. What do you do? You quit.

The old way wasn’t easier you wanted to change. You just didn’t prepare for the changes you’d be making. You didn’t get your head on right. So you stopped and went back to your comfort zone.

Yup, that is what we tend to do. We quit. We give in, resist change and remain the same because we hate being uncomfortable for any amount of time. We really do. In order to change we have to face it.

You Can Never Be Happy If You’re Afraid To Be Uncomfortable

The way to move forward is to realize it won’t always be cushy. It is not going to be comfortable, especially at first, as you learn new things. Eventually, yes, you will get comfortable with the new ways.

BUT not at first. You might as well know this and accept it so you can work with it. If you want your life to change you will have to change some things in your life. You’ll have to change what you think and do.

You need to do some things you won’t like doing. If you know going into it there are some challenges, at least you won’t be surprised. You can determine to see it through no matter what. Stick with it!

The Magic Happens Outside Your Comfort Zone

Accept it. Understand that in order to grow you will have to leave your comfort zone. It may not be easy, you may want to stop or to flee but you have to push through it. That is just how it is.

Don’t be afraid of it, accept it. Most of life is about making the unfamiliar familiar. We grow accustomed, establish habit and routine. We get comfortable over time with new things.

Then we convince ourselves that the new way should always remain the same. It doesn’t and won’t. There will always be obstacles and challenges. It is called LIFE. The apple cart gets tipped over.

Your Only Limitations Are The Ones You Think You Have

If we want to develop new thought and behavioral habits we will be uncomfortable from time to time. Not all the time but sometimes. That is how it will be. Can you accept that? It is easier if you can.

When you purchase a new pair of shoes they are uncomfortable at first. Perhaps, too tight or they rub. They are brand new but they don’t fit right, yet. They will but you have to break them in.

You wear them a little bit at a time so they break in without hurting your feet. You wear them. They stretch. You get more used to them. Eventually,the new ones become more comfortable for you.

Live As If You Were Going To Die Tomorrow…

That is how it works. When you exercise your muscles get sore. They burn. They downright hurt. You may not like it but if you keep going you develop a tolerance for it.

You accept it as part of developing muscles even if you don’t like it. Muscles grow by breaking the tissue down and then nourishing the tissue and replenishing it. It grows by break down and build up.

I had a friend who enjoyed the hurt because he knew his muscles were growing larger. His exercise was paying off. He took the pain as a signal he was making progress. It is all your frame of mind.

… Learn As If You Were Going To Live Forever

When you plant a seed, the seed germinates and breaks through it’s outer shell. Without tremendous effort the seed would not grow into the plant it is destined to become.

When you are uncomfortable you are at the boundary edges of your being. Your beliefs, and values are challenged. It is not at all comfortable.

T. Harv Eker has said, ‘Comfort is the kiss of death to success. If you are comfortable you will never be successful. BUT if you are successful there is a good chance you will be comfortable.’

Everything You Have Ever Wanted Is Outside Your Comfort Zone

Do you get it? It begins with your mindset. If you want to change know that you will be uncomfortable from time to time, or for a while. Develop your mindset and you can make do it.

Make the important changes you want to and then follow through. Don’t allow yourself to talk yourself out of it because it feels to hard. Control your thoughts, what you say to yourself and out loud.

Stick with it even when it is uncomfortable and you will be pushing through the tough times. They will give way. You don’t need to always be coddled and comfortable. Persist and push through.

Change Is From The Inside Out

Women push through the pain of childbirth and many want to do it again. Some right away. You can do nearly anything if you give yourself credit that you can.

95% of the people will never do this. They will give up, give in, find some excuse or reason to quit. When the going gets tough most people cave. Only the toughest get going and keep going to the end.

Believe in yourself and be willing to change. Then continue on the path until you arrive. Commit. Be grateful you have the opportunity. Even while it is difficult be grateful. Celebrate everything!” Rex Sikes

Have a fabulous day!

If you like these posts please subscribe. If you think these posts would help others please share them. Help Spread the word.

Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

Rex Sikes' Daily Inspiration and Gratitude

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