Jeg overraskes over den tiltagende mængde af bøger, rapporter, videoer, kurser, workshops etc. der påstår de har nøglen til det "lykkelige liv", uden selv at leve et liv i overenstemmelse med deres "forkyndelse"… andet selvfølgelig end i det glossy marketingsmateriale der omgiver produkterne…

Det er muligt at "det ykkelige liv" i denne tid, er ligeså let at sælge som nybagt brød i en flygtningelejr i den tredje verden, men come on… Vi bliver sgu da nødt til at hæve niveauet højere end parametret "kan det sælges" som det eneste…?

For hvordan kan man vide at noget er rigtigt, hvis man kun har læst om det eller opdaget det – men stadig ikke selv har gjort det???

Edit – got the audiosnippet from Viddler -

“Now, here’s the second law that changed my life forever in network marketing. I learned the law of sowing and reaping. And in the law of sowing and reaping is also the story of the law of averages.

Jot this down…the story of the sower. It comes from the Bible. I am amateur on the Bible, but this is such a useful story. Here’s what the story says, and take notes, because the drama’s in the details.

The sower was ambitious. Evidently, he was ambitious. When you read the whole story you’ll conclude yes, this was an ambitious sower.

Here was number two. He had excellent seed. The sower who sowed the seed had excellent seed. And the excellent seed could be an excellent opportunity, an excellent product, an excellent story.

So we’ve got an ambitious sower with excellent seed. But now here are the rest of the details of the story. For your information, for the drama of your life, so you can understand things better, learning some of this is how I got rich by age 31.

The sower goes out to sow the seed, but the first part of the seed falls by the wayside and the birds get it. So jot this down. The birds are going to get some of the seed. The birds are going to get some of the seed.

Now you say, “Mr. Rohn, what does that mean?”

Well, I invite John to come to a meeting. He said he’d be there Tuesday night. Tuesday night I show up. John isn’t there. I say, “I wonder why John didn’t make it.”

Now I know the answer. The birds! The birds! John had this great idea of coming to the meeting to look at an opportunity, and somebody stole it and said, “You’re not going to go see network marketing.” And he says, “Well, maybe not.”

So have you jotted that down now? The birds are going to get some.

Now when the birds get some, you’ve got two options. Number one is to chase birds. You say, “Well, let me get hold of the person who talked him out of coming to the meeting. I’ll tear him a new page.” I wouldn’t do this. Here’s what happens if you go chasing birds. You leave the field. If you go chasing birds now, you leave the field. Which is going to distract from your future, not add? So you can’t chase birds and try to straighten this stuff out.

Here’s what it is. It’s just one of those things, and here’s the best comment when things are a little disappointing.

“Isn’t that interesting?”

You just have to say, “I thought sure he would be there. He promised me. He promised me! But I know it was the birds.” And you just have to say, “Isn’t that interesting?”

Now here’s the rest of the story.

The sower kept on sowing. See, that was the secret to his success. He kept on sowing. And if you keep sowing, you can sow more than the birds can get because there aren’t enough birds. If you keep sowing, there are some birds but there’s not enough, because the Law of Averages will work for you.

My mentor taught me, “You know, Mr. Rohn, there are only nine or ten real nasty miserable people in the whole world. Now you know they move around a lot and you’re liable to bump into one once in awhile, but when you bump into one you say ‘There’s only 9 more like you–I can handle that–in the whole world?’”

Now here’s what else it says. The sower now keeps sowing the seed. Now the seed falls, the story says, on rocky ground where the soil is shallow. And the rocky ground where the soil is shallow is not of your making, because you had excellent seed and you were an ambitious sower.

So the rocky ground where the soil is shallow is not of your making. But here what it says happened. This time, the little seed that falls in the ground starts to grow and the little plant starts to grow. But the first hot day, it withers and dies. Not an easy thing to watch.

I finally get John started. Sure enough, three or four days later somebody says “Boo!” and he’s gone–doesn’t show up at the second meeting. And I say, “I thought sure John would last a week.”

What happened? Jot this down. The hot weather is going to get some. And this is not of your making. Here’s what you must say when that happens. “Isn’t that interesting?”

What can you do? The answer is nothing.

You say, “Well, I’m going to try to change this!” I wouldn’t take that class. You know, the sun comes up in the east and somebody says, “Why is that?” I wouldn’t spend much time on that. Just let that happen. Don’t go for this why, why, why stuff. I’m giving you the answers here. The answer is in the structure and in the consequences and is in the deal. The answer is in the deal. Anything beyond that is not worth studying.

You say, “Well, how come some just last a little while?” I wouldn’t sign up for that class. Here’s the answer: Some don’t stay. You just have to jot that down. And when some leave you say, “That’s one of those that don’t stay.”

Now, you know what category to put them in, and you can’t solve this now. It’s like rearranging the seasons. You can’t fool with that. All you can do is cooperate with the way things are set up. I didn’t set it up.

You say, “Well, it shouldn’t be this way.” Well, when you get your own planet you can rearrange this whole deal, but on this planet you’re a guest. You’ve got to take it as it comes.

Now, here is the secret to the ambitious sower with good seed. It said he kept on sowing.

Now, here’s what he had to do to keep on sowing. He had to discipline his disappointment. This is a key phrase now to use for the rest of your life. You must learn to discipline your disappointment. Because you didn’t set up the set up, and some are not going to stay, and that is not of your making.

Now, if you made gross errors and you ran them off, see that’d be different. Now you’re responsible for that. But if it’s in the normal course of things, this is the way things are.

Now, here’s what it says. The sower keeps on sowing. Now it says the seed falls on thorny ground. And somebody says, “Well, how much of this do you have to go through?”

Well, hang on. It’s not the end of the story now. Now the little seed falls on thorny ground and now the little plant starts to grow again but as the little plant starts to grow, the thorns choke it to death and it dies. So jot this down. The thorns are going to get some. And that’s not of your making.

And what are these thorns? The story even called these little thorns little cares, little distractions, little something’s. Who knows what all they are.

I said, “John, we had a meeting last night. You weren’t here.” And John says, “Well, I can’t make every meeting.” I say, “Why not? You’re part-time.” He said, “Well, the screen door came off the hinges and you can’t just let your house fall apart. You’ve got to take some time and fix things up.” And I can hear the thorns growing. He said, “Some extra trash had piled up in the garage. You can’t let mountains of trash take over. You’ve got to keep your trash hauled out.”

People who let little things cheat them out of big opportunities. People who let little things cheat them out of big opportunities, and you feel almost helpless. What could I do about that? And that’s nothing. And you say, “Well, why is this?”

I’m asking you not to sign up for that class. Don’t sign up for these, “Why is this?” classes. It’s just the way it is–like winter following fall and spring following winter. So have you got that? The thorns are going to get some.

But now here’s the good news. Let’s read the rest of the story now quickly. The sower now keeps on sowing the seed. Keeps on sharing the story. Keeps on giving an invitation. Yes the invitation can be more powerful for me as it was one year later than it was the first month, because now I’m saying I’m making twice as much money part time as I’m making on my full-time job.

Yes, the story can be more powerful, but the Law of Averages is still going to work.

But now here’s what the story says. Finally the seed falls on good ground. Finally the seed falls on good ground. Now put this in parentheses. It always will, if you keep sowing. If you share a good idea long enough, it will fall on good people.

But now here’s the rest of that story. Some of the good ground did 30%. And some of the good ground did 60%. And some of the good ground did 100%.

You say, “Well, why the difference in numbers?” I wouldn’t sign up for that class! Have I said that often enough now? Don’t register for that class. It’s just the way it is.

Now I tried to get the 30’s to do 60. Found out it was more than I could handle.

I used to say, “I’ll make them successful if it kills me.” I almost died. No, you can’t do that.

Here’s what you do. Let the 30’s do 30 to the best of their ability and keep doing 30, because that’s how they build their lifestyle and get what they want out of life. And let the 60’s do 60. And let the 100’s do 100.

Now how can you get some to do 100%? You’ve got to go through all these experiences and you’ve got to talk to all these people.

I see Acai berry adds all over almost every goddamn page on the internet lately…. somebody please make it stop!!! The “I got shredded in four weeks” comes in so many variants it blows my mind…do people actually buy into this utter nonsense? How can it be worth for anyone, to steal other peoples time and life from them to make a buck on fake products like that… Yes I know, I know… the money, the green stuff…. but… how the heck can the people who come up with these schemes sleep well at night???

This night I even got a link from someone I didn’t know on facebook saying “Hey Thomas, this article changed my life…” which pointed to a site totally similarly to Fox News… Just the url was e-foxnews.com… everything else on the site linked right back to the real foxnews.com site… so if you didn’t pay attention you would actually believe you were on the right Fox website and therefore might believe what was written… is that even legal? Anyways here’s what I wrote back in anger – http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasfinn/4468518064/ – I do hope I got the message across….. I am so tired of people wasting other peoples time, with information leading them nowhere… I understand that people are suffering, and that there’s a lot of hurt going on, with the state of the health in our western countries… but by god… that doesn’t mean you should take advantage of those suffering, making them buy shitty products and buy into another lie…

The other day I overheard a 30+ kilo overweight lady in a store saying to her girlfriend, “I only need to get that “wii fit”, that’ll sort out my weight issue for me”…How do anyone become so delusional? And though I do think that working out with your Wii three times a week, is better than doing nothing, I have a hard time believing it is really helping anyone getting the body they are dreaming of…. I could be wrong but I have yet to see anyone make a dramatic bodytransformation with the “Wii Fit” alone…

I know most people are always looking for the easy way out, and that is probably how it will always be… I just can’t understand the rationale and the mindset that goes with knowingly cheating people to believe a lie…

On a side note, I have nothing against Acai Berries – they might even be good for you for all I know… I’m just so tired of the “change your life/diet/relationship/parenting/dog/house in four weeks” rhetoric deluding people into thinking there’s a quick fix…
The only “quickfix” I know of are the “Get Shredded” diet, the V-diet and for those who have made a real commitment to themselves the “Fighter Diet”… and to say those are an easy quickfix would probably stand as the understatement of the century ninety years from now…

If someone REALLY knows Acai berries makes you loose 25 kilos in four weeks getting you completely shredded up and adding some muscle too in that timeframe – I am of course as always interested to hear about it. But until there’s solid repeatedly tested proof, I do not believe in a quickfix… If that was really all it took, I would suggest “The Biggest Loser” gave it to all contestants and the competition could be over in a month or so…

So there you have it… it past midnight here so I better get some sleep! :) I hope the rant didn’t scare you. If it offended you, so be it… please enlighten me as to why if it did!

For me – I know we are all born equally creative beings and are meant to expand and stretch ourselves to our fullest – there is just no question about it in my mind. I look at plants, trees and animals as expressions of that same creative force as we humans are made up off – and no tree settles, it grows as high and wide as it can bearing as much fruit as it can, growing strong for the winters, blossoms fully in the summer – same with animals, they run as fast as they can, grow as strong as they can, sharpening their senses, develop every fiber in their bodies on the sole purpose they are here for – they don’t have the ‘settle’ mechanism installed in them like we have developed. Either they grow or they die – there is no status quo. And they actually will die once they can’t grow anymore – mother nature consumes them soon after.

In our day and age we have developed a system, where we (humans) can survive (but not thrive) even though we stop growing our bodies, minds and spirits… and in the last decades even found a way to sedate ourselves with drugs, alcohol, tobacco and all kinds of junk until the point where we’re sleepwalking around like the living dead, in jobs we only do because of the pay – hoping it will bring a (false) sense of security…. while what it mostly does, is keep us locked down into a negative spiral. Deluding ourselves into believing, we can buy our way out with the money we earn… Until one day we either get fed up wit having the fear holding us back and break free – or get really sick, because we accept living with the limitation the fear puts upon our ability to express, what something inside feels we are really here for….After that we slowly wither away, as the spirit can not use us for it’s greater purpose anymore… Yes, I do believe there is a purpose bigger than what we as individuals form for ourselves, but that is another thread…

There is no question either for me, that what what said earlier is true – 90% or probably more are just pure ego based nonsense dressed as fear holding us back from claiming what is rightfully ours to take! And I know from first hand experience that we can move through it, and use it to our advantage as someone posted earlier – it can be learned and mastered like anything else. You just got to do more work on yourself, than you do on your job!

As for the metaphor with inhaling in water – I don’t think you can say fear is like water. You will die from inhaling water – you can never die from moving through your mental fear – there are two things that can happen if you do – either the fear is still there and then you probably haven’t REALLY confronted it. But if you choose to do so, the fear will most likely dissolve itself! Still uncertain? Ask any martial art expert engaging in full contact. At sometime or another, he was probably too afraid of getting hit by his opponent to engage in it – but he probably isn’t fearful in the same way today. If he was, my guess would be you couldn’t do the full contact things, he would have to to earn his rank… He may still have a tinging feeling in his body, but it is not fear – probably more like excitement – have you noticed by the way how close those two sensations are? Sometimes we too early mistake one for another… But my guess would be, that he has moved beyond his initial fear, and learned to control it in that given situation. Now there may be other situations in life where fear shows up at your doorstep, but they can be mastered just like that one… Just need to train yourself! And if you see clearly, you know you can dissolve it when you have done it once – or maybe twice for the slow learners… :)

So every time it shows up you know it’s just means “time to work” and dance with it, instead of giving in to it!

Don’t settle!
Don’t tiptoe in security till you die!
Live full out,
Express your true gift and
Give everything you’ve got on the things you dedicate yourself to!
Learn to see yourself clearly,
Get proper advice from somebody who can “see you”,
Find somebody who masters what you want to do already,
Take trainings,
Find a peergroup you can join with likeminded people
Choose wisely

- but all the while -

Shine with Everything You’ve Got –
Make the World come Alive by Being the True You!

Now does this text say something about me and my personality type – you bet it does! And you are more than welcome to read between the lines and tell me what you see, as I have no fear in that regard… maybe you see something I don’t, and we would all benefit from that! Not claiming to be anything or anyone – just telling you how the world is to me! Sleep tight and remember – there as here is just a dream – so why make it a nightmare, if you really can choose yourself….??? :)

I remember hearing these kinds of warnings from my mother when I was about 19 years old. We were out walking in the woods, and I told her about my future plans for my life. At the time I wanted to live from playing and producing music – a dream that felt very real and very attainable from my perspective. Her immediate reaction was, “No, I think you should wait until you’re in your mid-thirties – then you will have more life experiences to share from… ” A year later I had funded and recorded eight tracks to take my music career to the next level…Always being the one who wanted to work with identity, feelings, expression, energy, colors, sensations and changing the world for the better and more beautiful she still called me up one year later, after I had moved to Copenhagen and all – she then asked me, if I would consider a trainee job in a bank in my small hometown… (Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with working in a bank if that is what you’re dreaming of – but it obviously just wasn’t my dream! If you had only seen my haircut and bootcut leather pants at the time, you would have known without speaking to me!)

I was 22 then and had a clear insight at that moment when I hung up the phone… She was scared for me.. scared that I might not “make it” – whatever that meant to her… scared that I might “run into trouble”, scared I wasn’t “successful” – scared of a lot of things, which in the end, would really have nothing to do with me… and she was acting just like many parents all over the world do… trying to influence their kids to take the safe path!

In this story my beloved mother is just a metaphor, for the voices we allow to hijack our attention. I have family, friends and acquaintances with all kinds of voices, when asked about advice -

Some want it to be perfect from start, others don’t want to see you fail, others are afraid about your competence, some are afraid you will ruin your image, some think you need a perfect well thought out and well planed strategy, some think you lack the strength to find your way through, some don’t think you know enough – some, no matter where you are will never consider you ready to take the next step. And it get’s even worse – because even though their advice wasn’t your starting point or general idea, you may begin to believe what they say, more than you believe in yourself.

I tend to think that the voices we hear on the outside, only reflects the messages from voices on the inside – and sometimes we start believing some of those scary voices, more than we believe some of the others… and by continually listening and believing them, we can end up paralyzed and immobilized… in total belief that what those voices once said, is now the only reality available to us… BUT IT’S NOT!

I’m here to tell you that no matter how it seems, there are always more options available to everyone of us. I’m here to tell you to keep moving toward your dreams – there will never come a time where things will never be perfect, timing will never be perfect, partners will never be perfect, money will never be perfect, strength will be perfect, knowledge will be perfect – perfect is an abstraction we can aim for but never have from the beginning. What will get you towards “perfect” is actually taking the next step – or the leap – into some unknown territory.

What will force you to grow – if you keep your heart open – both in action, wisdom and contribution to the world – is taking steps. Maybe you take a wrong step – so what? You correct the step and take one again… and again, and again. That was how you learned to walk by the way! We screw up along the way, that’s part of the process called learning – and life! Accept it and move on!

So instead of listening to the voices trying to scare you off, challenge yourself to become more, to develop more skills, to develop more character, to develop more strength, to develop more honesty and charisma, wealth and all the stuff you find good and beautiful in the world!

You build “new muscles” by going to the gym – NOT if you sit around at home thinking about which gym is better, what kind of exercises work better, where the best trainers are, what the others will think of you or if you should wear black or blue shorts to your new trainers… you build new muscle by going there, picking the weight up and train hard consistently for an extended period.

Likewise with your dreams – you work towards them everyday – even if you can only take the smallest of steps! Don’t get scared when people around you say, what you want to do can’t be done – what do they know? Listen – it’s way too easy to stop somebody from going after their dream and worst – it doesn’t take any courage to do! Don’t listen to the haters – consider them the real loosers in this game!

Don’t let it be you being stopped! Just because you know some people who are scared from going after their dream – telling you YOU can’t! Don’t necessarily believe what they say!

Beethoven once said to his primary violinist when he complained it was to hard to play a piece, “what do I care about your pitiful earthly matters, when divine spirit is flowing and speaking through me!?”

It has some truth to it – Beethoven could hear it played inside his head, that’s why he wrote it like that! Because the violinist couldn’t play it he had a hard time believing it could be played. It could – just took some more practice and today many violin players and a whole planet is enriched by this piece!

Likewise for yourself – you can’t expect the people around you, to be able to see what you can. You have to find that inner strength, push through and show it to them!

Most people live by the equation “When I see it, I’ll believe it”…. For yourself you HAVE to turn that one around, if you want to go anywhere. Make it sound a little bit more like “I see it, when I believe it!” – because that is the law of manifestation. Everything we as a species here have accomplished we have seen twice – first in the mind, and then afterwards in the physical world!

As we can’t look into the minds of each other we have to develop the strength and skill to communicate our ideas to others until they understand them and can see the same as ourselves. And that is one of the main traits a “leader” must have no matter who he leads – even if he only leads himself. Being able to see what others yet can’t – and first and foremost influence himself to go after that. Then influence the rest of us to follow suit.

Take these two advices from a friend -

• Learn to influence yourself, to continuously go where you most want to go in life.
• Don’t surround yourself with people who say you can’t do something.

What we can do, is unimaginable beforehand to most people.

To most people it’s not about what “we can do” but what we “are willing to do”… remember if you don’t “exercise” much you get tired easily, and you are left to push with your “will”. That is the experience many are left with. In my experience pushing with you “will” is like lighting a match, compared to drawing from the energy of “inspiration towards a dream” – inspiration it will light up as a burning oilfield besides that puny match!

So in the future when somebody tries to put you down, instead of getting angry or believing in their doomsday talk, thank them for testing your faith, courage and determination. Then leave them in the dust, while you continue to go after your dream knowing you are listening to your own true voice instead of a little scared one! Remember – the greatest revenge to the haters and nay-sayers is massive success !

Believe in your dream and go out there and make it so – no one else will do it for you!

“A group of frogs were traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs saw how deep the pit was, they told the two frogs that they were as good as dead. The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit with all their might. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead. Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?” The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.”

This story teaches two lessons:

1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.

2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them.

Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path. The power of words… it is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in difficult times. Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another.

This blog has primarily up until today been a long list of links to interesting videoclips, audio clips and articles by world renowned teachers, authors, speakers, products and services related to personal leadership/truth/success.

I have serviced a project for a client in recent months – soon to be revealed – that have inspired me to take a turn with this blog, and start sharing my own internal dialogue, opinions, lessons, challenges, views and so forth instead of keep posting links pointing to others who have done so.

Maybe you can use these text as inspiration, motivation, laughing, disagreeing, swearing, grinding (teeth) or print out and use as toilet paper – your choice – however if you find anything worth commenting on please do, I like the expansion of interested dialogue.

Enjoy the weekend!

Thomas

Free of fear, free of judgement, free of everything except what wants to express.

I didn’t know the writer beforeband but Ueland argues that anyone can write well once the imagination is freed from self-consciousness, anxiety and fear of failure.

It rings so true to me, and as she postulates in the book, I think you can translate the “writing” into any creative endeavor you might have . even as a metaphor for your entire life.

Buy it here from Amazon

I think it’s the bargain of the year, compared to what you can gain from it – especially if you have already found you’re a creative spirit longing to express but maybe have a hard time embracing or understanding your gift.