Knowledge fueled by emotion equals action. Action is the ingredient that ensures results. Only action can cause reaction. Further, only positive action can cause positive reaction.

Action. The whole world loves to watch those who make things happen, and it rewards them for causing waves of productive enterprise.

I stress this because today I see many people who are really sold on affirmations. And yet there is a famous saying that “Faith without action serves no useful purpose.” How true!

I have nothing against affirmations as a tool to create action. Repeated to reinforce a disciplined plan, affirmations can help create wonderful results.

But there is also a very thin line between faith and folly. You see - affirmations without action can be the beginnings of self-delusion. And for your well-being there is little worse than self-delusion.

The man who dreams of wealth and yet walks daily toward certain financial disaster and the woman who wishes for happiness and yet thinks thoughts and commits acts that lead her toward certain despair are both victims of the false hope which affirmations without action can manufacture. Why? Because words soothe and, like a narcotic, they lull us into a state of complacency. Remember this: TO MAKE PROGRESS YOU MUST ACTUALLY GET STARTED!

The key is to take a step today. Whatever the project, start TODAY. Start clearing out a drawer of your newly organized desk … today. Start setting your first goal… today. Start listening to motivational cassettes … today. Start a sensible weight-reduction plan … today. Start calling on one tough customer a day … today. Start putting money in your new “investment for fortune” account … today. Write a long-overdue letter … today. ANYONE CAN! Even an uninspired person can start reading inspiring books.

Get some momentum going on your new commitment for the good life. See how many activities you can pile on your new commitment to the better life. Go all out! Break away from the downward pull of gravity. Start your thrusters going. Prove to yourself that the waiting is over and the hoping is past — that faith and action have now taken charge.

It’s a new day, a new beginning for your new life. With discipline you will be amazed at how much progress you’ll be able to make. What have you got to lose except the guilt and fear of the past?

Now, I offer you this challenge: See how many things you can start and continue in this — the first day of your new beginning

“A Person is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the creature of outside conditions.” - As A Man Thinketh

One of the great weaknesses of our society today is the growing attitude of victimization. Many people claim themselves to be victims of some outside force. “I had to file bankruptcy because of my ex-wife…”, “If my company hadn’t laid me off…”, “If that driver hadn’t pulled out in front of me…”

When we are victims of circumstances, or as James Allen says, a “creature of outside conditions”, we have no power. We have given over the power in our life to the circumstances. The longer we give power to our circumstances the worse or circumstances become.

In his book, “Above Life´s Turmoil”, Allen writes, “You imagine your circumstances as being separate from yourself, but they are intimately related to your thought world. Nothing appears without an adequate cause.”

To get control of our circumstances we must first acknowledge personal responsibility for being where we are. That was the hardest part for me because the “victim” in all of us doesn’t want to take that responsibility.

When we take the responsibility we must then take control of our thoughts. And, yes, in the beginning that can be hard. It seems sometimes that it’s our nature to first think negatively. But that’s just because it’s the habit we’ve developed. And like any habit, it can be changed by replacing it with the habit of thinking the right way.

One of my favorite teachers, Emmet Fox, writes: “You are not happy because you are well. You are well because you are happy. You are not depressed because trouble has come to you, but trouble has come because you were depressed. You can change your thoughts and feelings, and then the outer things will change to correspond, and indeed there is no other way of working.”

And that’s worth thinking about.

William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli were two of the fiercest political rivals of the 19th century. Their epic battles for control of the British Empire were marked by intense animosity that spilled over from the public arena into their personal lives. Ambitious, powerful, and politically astute, both men were spirited competitors and masterful politicians.

Though each man achieved impressive accomplishments for Britain, the quality that separated them as leaders was their approach to people. The difference is best illustrated by the account of a young woman who dined with the men on consecutive nights. When asked about her impression of the rival statesmen, she said, “When I left the dining room after sitting next to Mr. Gladstone, I thought he was the cleverest man in England. But after sitting next to Mr. Disraeli, I thought I was the cleverest woman in England.”

What distinguished Disraeli from Gladstone was charisma. Disraeli possessed a personal charm sorely lacking in the leadership style of his rival. His personal appeal attracted friends and created favorable impressions among acquaintances. Throughout his career, Disraeli’s charisma gave him an edge over Gladstone.

UNDERSTANDING CHARISMA
Of all leadership attributes, charisma is perhaps the least understood.
At first glance, charisma appears to be an invisible energy or magnetism. There’s no denying its presence, but it’s hard to put a finger on its source. Some mistakenly believe charisma is a birth trait— embedded in certain personalities, but completely absent in others.

I believe charisma is both explainable and learnable. I also believe charisma helps to boost a leader’s influence. That’s why I included it in my book, The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. In this lesson, I’d like to examine the causes of charisma and teach you how to increase the charisma you display as a leader.

THE QUALITIES OF A CHARISMATIC LEADER
Charisma is defined as, “The ability to inspire enthusiasm, interest, or affection in others by means of personal charm or influence.” Leaders who have this special ability share four things in common:

1) They Love Life

Leaders who attract a following are passionate about life. They are celebrators, not complainers. They’re characterized by joy and warmth.
They’re energetic and radiant in an infectious way.

Look no further than the smile to illustrate the power of charisma. When people see a smile, they respond with a smile. If you’re skeptical, try it. Smile at cashiers, waiters, co-workers, etc. You’ll find your smile earns a reciprocate smile almost every time. We are hardwired to take on the energy of those around us. Leaders who love life have charisma because they fill the room with positive energy.

2) They Value the Potential in People

To become an attractive leader, expect the best from your people. I describe this behavior as “putting a 10 on everyone’s head.” Leaders see people, not as they are, but as they could be. From this vantage point, they help others to build a bridge from the present to a preferred future.

Benjamin Disraeli understood and practiced this concept, and it was one of the secrets to his charisma. He once said, “The greatest good you can do for another is not to share your riches but to reveal to him his own.” When you invest in people and lift them toward their potential, they will love you for it.

3) They Give Hope

People have an inner longing to improve their future and their fortunes.
Charismatic leaders connect with people by painting tomorrow brighter than today. To them, the future is full of amazing opportunities and unrealized dreams.

Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “Leaders are dealers in hope.” They infuse optimism into the culture around them, and they boost morale. While attentive to the current reality, they do not resign themselves to present circumstance.

4) They Share Themselves

Leaders with charisma add value to people by sharing wisdom, resources, and even special occasions. They embrace the power of inclusion, inviting others to join them for learning experiences, brainstorming sessions, or simply a cup of coffee. Such leaders embrace team spirit and value togetherness. As a result, charismatic leaders are not lonely at the top.

When it comes to charisma, the bottom line is other mindedness. For leaders, the greatest satisfaction is found by serving. They find great pleasure celebrating the successes of those around them, and the victory they enjoy the most is a team triumph.

SUMMARY
In closing, charisma has substance. It’s not manipulative energy or a magical gift endowed upon select personalities. Rather, it’s an attractive blend of learnable qualities.

Furthermore, charisma compounds a leader’s influence. Without it, leaders have trouble inspiring passion and energizing their teams. With it, leaders draw out the best in their people, give the best of themselves, and find the greatest fulfillment.

In order to have day, there must be night. In order to have cold, we must have hot. In order to have good, we must have bad.

This is one of the deepest lessons a human being can ever learn, and yet how many people truly understand it?

How many people continue to suppress, deny, and resist the negative… And continually strive for positive-positive-positive?

How many individuals believe PURELY in one side of life… And REFUSE to let in the other?

Let me explain the meaning behind a symbol I bet you know only too well…

Most people know it as the “Yin-Yang” symbol, but it’s actual name is the taijitu.

Apart from looking a “bit Eastern,” have you ever wondered what this symbol really means?

It represents the concept of “Yin and Yang”, which is ultimately the idea that everything arises in duality… and that you shouldn’t resist the opposite, because it will always be there.

Look at the symbol.

The Yin (predominantly black segment) and the Yang (mainly white) are co-dependant. They cannot exist without each other. They do not exclude each other.

In fact, they support each other.

And look at the coloured dots within each. This represents the idea that part of yin is in yang, and part of yang is in yin. It represents a seed, a reminder that there is always trace of one within the other.

In bad, there is a trace of good. In masculine, there exists some feminine. In black, there exists some white. In the dark sky, there exist bright stars.

It reminds us that the potential for change is always present.

Even in cold, there is a potential for hot!

The two dualities are often closer than you think.

So the next time you find yourself trying to resist anything in life, step back and ask yourself whether you’re really embracing the entire duality.

And if you’re not… Consider it.

While most people spend most of their lives struggling to earn a living, a much smaller number seem to have everything going their way. Instead of just earning a living, the smaller group is busily working at building and enjoying a fortune. Everything just seems to work out for them. And here sits the much larger group, wondering how life can be so unfair, so complicated and unjust. What’s the major difference between the little group with so much and the larger group with so little?

Despite all of the factors that affect our lives - like the kind of parents we have, the schools we attended, the part of the country we grew up in - none has as much potential power for affecting our futures as our ability to dream.

Dreams are a projection of the kind of life you want to lead. Dreams can drive you. Dreams can make you skip over obstacles. When you allow your dreams to pull you, they unleash a creative force that can overpower any obstacle in your path. To unleash this power, though, your dreams must be well defined. A fuzzy future has little pulling power. Well-defined dreams are not fuzzy. Wishes are fuzzy. To really achieve your dreams, to really have your future plans pull you forward, your dreams must be vivid.

If you’ve ever hiked a fourteen thousand-foot peak in the Rocky Mountains, one thought has surely come to mind “How did the settlers of this country do it?” How did they get from the East Coast to the West Coast? Carrying one day’s supply of food and water is hard enough. Can you imagine hauling all of your worldly goods with you… mile after mile, day after day, month after month? These people had big dreams. They had ambition. They didn’t focus on the hardship of getting up the mountain.

In their minds, they were already on the other side – their bodies just hadn’t gotten them there yet! Despite all of their pains and struggles, all of the births and deaths along the way, those who made it to the other side had a single vision: to reach the land of continuous sunshine and extraordinary wealth. To start over where anything and everything was possible. Their dreams were stronger than the obstacles in their way.

You’ve got to be a dreamer. You’ve got to envision the future. You’ve got to see California while you’re climbing fourteen thousand-foot peaks. You’ve got to see the finish line while you’re running the race. You’ve got to hear the cheers when you’re in the middle of a monster project. And you’ve got to be willing to put yourself through the paces of doing the uncomfortable until it becomes comfortable and until you realize your dreams.

PLANNING

I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change.

If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they may have planned for you? Not much.

The reason why most people face the future with apprehension instead of anticipation is because they don’t have it well designed.

The guy says, “When you work where I work, by the time you get home, it’s late. You’ve got to have a bite to eat, watch a little TV, relax and get to bed. You can’t sit up half the night planning, planning, planning.” And he’s the same guy who is behind on his car payment!

A good way to think of leadership is the process of freeing your team members to do the best work they possibly can. I have followed NBA basketball coach Phil Jackson’s career.

Like Phil Jackson who moved from the record setting Chicago Bulls to the Los Angeles Lakers. Jackson says his principal task is creating an environment in which his players can flourish. In communicating with his championship teams, Jackson convinced them that they had the talent to win championships, and that the main goal of the coach was going to be freeing them to use that talent.

Today’s business team members, say they want, more than anything else, the autonomy to do their jobs without the boss’s interference. In the new century, it’s already clear that the CEOs of our best-run companies believe that the more power leaders have, the less they should use.

The job of the team leader is to set a mission, decide upon a strategic direction, achieve the necessary cooperation, delegate authority — and then let people innovate. To do that we all could take a hint from the late football coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant. Before his retirement as one of the leading coaches in college football history at Alabama, Bryant observed:

The key to authentic leadership is to listen to your followers, and then open the door for them to lead themselves. The secret is empowerment. The main incentive is genuine caring and recognition.

The five most important words a leader can speak are: “I am proud of you.”
The four most important are: “What is your opinion?”
The three most important are: “If you please.”
The two most important are: “Thank You.”
And the most important single word of all is: “You!”

His name was Jason Dunham and he was a corporal in the US Marines. The story picks up with Jason as he was talking with the men in his unit. They wondered whether a person could jump on a grenade and survive by putting it under their helmet. Deep down they all most likely knew that it wouldn’t work – yet on the streets of Baghdad soon all topics of conversation can become quickly exhausted, and hypothetical solutions to real life problems can pass the time.

Unfortunately for Jason Dunham, the circumstance that he had hypothesized about arrived just a few weeks later. However, fortunately for his unit Corporal Jason Dunham was there. In this life and death scenario there is no time to think. There is only time for fight or flight. Jason chose fight and performed above and beyond the call of duty. He threw his helmet and body over the grenade and gave his life for his friends. Jason was nominated for The Congressional Medal of Honor. He was twenty years old.

Your stance on political matters or world issues is irrelevant in this scenario. Jason did not do this for you, he did not do it for the people of Baghdad, he didn’t do it for the US Government or a politician. He did it for the men beside him – period.

To give your life for your friends the greatest thing one person can do for another. It is also one of the rarest acts of civilization.

In 1981, shots rang out as bullets screamed through the air to pierce the flesh of the fortieth President of The United States. No sooner had the gun powder been ignited than Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy stood up as straight as a board and extended his arms to make himself a large barrier between John Hinckley and President Reagan. While others ran for cover agent McCarthy stood looking directly as his potential death with firm resolve. Tim was shot square in the chest and believe it or not that was exactly his goal. As he positioned himself spread eagle to take a bullet for a man, an office and a nation others cowered in trembling fear. Because of amazing grace agent McCarthy survived.

What causes men and women to lay down their lives for another? It takes a lot. First and foremost it takes a realization that life isn’t about you. It is about making a difference, making an impact and it is about giving.

Jason Dunham and Tim McCarthy were able to respond the way they did because:

• They decided how they were going to respond long before the event occurred.
• They were not selfish people – the farthest you could be from selfish as a matter of fact.
• They realized that life was not about them it was about making a difference – it was about others.

I hope with all my heart you are never placed in a situation where you have to choose between your life and those around you. Yet, everyday you are in situations where you have to make choices. You must decide right now how you will respond.

The lesson to extract from the lives of Corporal Dunham and Agent McCarthy is that of an overall attitude on life. That attitude simply put is that it is better to give than receive. It is honorable to view the lives and well being of others above yourself. If we can take any pearl of wisdom from the extraordinary lives and attitudes of these two men it is that making an impact on the world is not always about recognition, power, money or personal gain. Sometimes the greatest success is one who gives himself up so others can succeed. That is the mark of the ultimate high achiever.

Decide today how you will respond in your moments of crisis - whether it is financial, personal or life and death. As you make your plan your actions, remember the selfless lessons of Corporal Dunham and Agent McCarthy.

Here’s a question for you: Can you think of a successful relationship without mutual trust?

Break that trust and you break the relationship. Subvert it and it’s almost impossible to put together again. Creating a long-term relationship takes two or more people – whether they’re executives, representatives of labor and management, or husband and wife – who are grounded in and operating on the same non-situational honesty.

The central secret of good communication is bringing the other person over to your side by satisfying one of every person’s most fundamental emotional needs: Make him or her feel valued. With rare exceptions, people who feel valued – who are allowed to feel important in the sense that they are recognized – answer with openness, cooperation and reciprocated respect. If you want respect, be respectable. If you want to be loved, be loveable. If you want to be trusted, be trustworthy. If you want a life-long relationship, listen openly to the other person’s needs. Much more than trying to accumulate money and power, leaders in the new era will acquire good will by helping their associates, customers, neighbors, and loved ones to win. Instead of what can you do for me, we need to embrace the new stewardship role of what can I do for you.

Action Idea – At the beginning of each workday, do something special for someone you work with or provide a service for. At the end of each day, say or do something positive for a family member or friend.

JumpstartWhen you begin to feel angry or upset, acknowledge the fact that you own your emotions. When you reprimand someone or express your unhappiness, do it privately and try to do so after the urge to fight or defend has subsided. The best way to get your feelings across is when you can speak in a normal voice, without all the warlike body language. Do speak your mind, but criticize the behavior without attacking the other person. When you speak about your anger or dissatisfaction, say, “I feel angry when I see that happening,” instead of saying, “You make me angry when you do that.” Only you can make you angry, by your reactions to events. When you are upset, go for a walk, or exercise, to release the sudden build-up of adrenaline in your system. And remember, there is no such thing as winning an argument. There is only winning an agreement. Don’t engage in “all or nothing” management. If things don’t work out exactly the way you had planned them, salvage a good situation. Be willing to compromise on a solution, but never compromise your integrity!

Take responsibility for your emotions this week.

The Safari Called Life Check-off List:

• Learn from those who have gone before
• Travel lightly; no extra baggage
• Be prepared and expect the unexpected
• The more you learn the less you fear
• Slow down, watch and listen
• Respect your environment
• Leave your ego behind
• Anticipate, innovate and make do
• Be optimistic; tomorrow did not exist before
• Collect memories instead of souvenirs
• Enjoy the journey
• Celebrate all life, not just your own

When you have the energy to fuel your passion, success is sure to follow.  The 1-2 punch of energy and passion is the key to success in life.  In order to be successful in any endeavor you will need to overcome much discouragement, frustration and failure, and the key to rising above these things is energy and passion.  That is why I always say that “Energy is the fuel to ignite passion and passion is the engine of success!”

In the movie Cinderella Man, Russell Crowe plays a down and out boxer that makes a dramatic comeback.  The backdrop to this movie is the great depression and previous to the great depression Crowe’s character, Jimmy Braddock was a champion boxer that lost his way.  After his comeback a reporter asks him, “You have lost before, what’s the difference this time?”  Jimmy Braddock then answers, “I know what I’m fighting for.”  The reporter follows up with, “And what’s that?” and Jimmy comes back with what I feel is the most memorable and inspiring line in the whole movie, he simply says, “Milk.”  That says it all; now he knew why he was fighting.  He was fighting to feed his kids. He was able to look defeat straight in the face and say, “Okay, one more round.”  He was able to overcome failure because he had the energy and passion to achieve his goal of putting milk on the table.  I feel this is the story of America.  A spirited passion for a worthy goal that will let nothing stand in her way.  “Okay, let’s go one more round” was the unspoken mantra for generations of Americans and what has made America the greatest country in the world.  

The 1–2 punch of energy and passion is the key to success in your career as well as your life.  People can feel your energy and passion.  Our job is to “sell” people on what we know will help them and you can’t do that by being lethargic. 

Many years ago when I got started in sales, I didn’t know how to sell but I was passionate and energetic.  One of my first clients told me that as my skill increases it is natural for my passion to wane.  He told me the key to my success will lie in my passion and if I can combine an infectious passion with proven sales skills, I will always be a top producing sales person.  Was he right!  Isn’t that what Mr. Ziglar has been teaching us for years? If we present our message with an infectious passion and conviction combined with a high level of energy, it will speak volumes to our prospects and “sell” them on taking action by using the best person in town…YOU! 

Put the 1-2 punch of energy and passion to work in your life so you can live the life of your dreams! 

The Hebrew term for gratitude is hikarat hatov, which means, literally, “recognizing the good.” Practicing gratitude means recognizing the good that is already yours.

If you’ve lost your job, but you still have your family and health, you have something to be grateful for.

If you can’t move around except in a wheelchair but your mind is as sharp as ever, you have something to be grateful for.

If you’ve broken a string on your violin, and you still have three more, you have something to be grateful for.

When you open up to the trait of gratitude, you see clearly and accurately how much good there is in your life.

When you open up to the trait of gratitude, you see clearly and accurately how much good there is in your life. Gratitude affirms. Those things you are lacking are still there, and in reaching for gratitude no one is saying you ought to put on rose-colored glasses to obscure those shortcomings. But most of us tend to focus so heavily on the deficiencies in our lives that we barely perceive the good that counterbalances them.

There is no limit to what we don’t have and if that is where we put our focus, then our lives will inevitably be filled with endless dissatisfaction. This is the ethos that lies behind the great biblical proverb, “Who is rich? Those who rejoice in their own lot” (Pirkei Avot 4:1).

When you live charged with gratitude, you will give thanks for anything or anyone who has benefited you, whether they meant to or not. Imagine a prayer of thanks springing to your lips when the driver in the car next to you lets you merge without protest, or when the water flows from the tap, or the food is adequate?

When gratitude is this well established, it is a sign of a heart that has been made right and whole. Gratitude can’t coexist with arrogance, resentment, and selfishness. The Hasidic teacher Rebbe Nachman of Breslov writes, “Gratitude rejoices with her sister joy and is always ready to light a candle and have a party. Gratitude doesn’t much like the old cronies of boredom, despair and taking life for granted.”

To what and whom should we feel thankful? In the Torah, when Moses brought the plagues onto Egypt, he wasn’t the one who initiated turning the Nile River into blood and bringing frogs from the river. His brother Aaron invoked those plagues. The medieval commentator Rashi explains that since the river had protected Moses when he was an infant, he could not start a plague against it. God was teaching Moses a powerful lesson in gratitude: we can open in gratitude even to inanimate objects.

Whenever Rabbi Menachem Mendel, the Kotzker Rebbe, replaced a pair of worn out shoes, he would neatly wrap up the old ones in newspaper before placing them in the trash, and he would declare, “How can I simply toss away such a fine pair of shoes that have served me so well these past years!?” I felt the same way when I gave away my 1984 Honda that had ferried me so reliably for 18 years.

The Mussar teacher Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian (1872 - 1970) was once talking to a student after prayers, and at the same time was folding up his tallis [prayer shawl]. The tallis was large and he had to rest it on a bench to fold it. After he had finished the folding, Reb Elyah noticed that the bench was dusty, and so he headed out to fetch a towel to wipe it off. The student to whom he was speaking realized what Reb Elyah was doing and ran to get the towel for him. Reb Elyah held up his hand. “No! No! I must clean it myself, for I must show my gratitude to the bench upon which I folded my tallis¹.”

If we can be grateful to rivers, shoes, cars, and benches, which help us involuntarily, how much more so to human beings who have free will and who help us consciously out of the goodness of their hearts? Or to the mysterious source out of which our lives have come? When Leah, wife of the patriarch Jacob, had her fourth child, she named him “Yehudah,” which means, “I am grateful,” to reflect her gratitude to God for the gift of another son. The name Yehudah is the source of the Hebrew name of the Jewish people (Yehudim), revealing the very direct tie between Judaism and gratitude.

Gratitude opens the heart and that’s why it provides a fine orientation equally to the inanimate, human and divine dimensions of the world.

A simple and effective way to practice gratitude is by making giving thanks part of your everyday life. For example, it is an established Jewish practice to recite 100 such blessings a day. The term for “blessing” in Hebrew is bracha, which comes from the same root as the Hebrew word for “knee.” When you say a blessing, it is as if you have bent your knee in an act of gratitude. The habit of saying blessings can remind you to be thankful when you hit a green light, or the salad is fresh, or the garden is getting the rain it needs, or your child came home from school as usual.

Can you see how such a practice might slowly but insistently change your orientation to the world and your life?

By Dr. Alan Morinis