The despair of compare

If there is one word of wisdom I can offer you today it’s this: stop comparing yourself to those around you.

The days of keeping up with the Jones or the Smiths are dead and gone. Stop looking at the other guys car, because if you knew the truth of it all, you’d probably be glad to know that you don’t have to pay his monthly lease bill. I have seen it time and time again – especially in tough economic times – the shedding of top end vehicles and full furnished bungalows because the vehicles and properties were never owned by the occupants in the first place. They were owned by the bank.  So stop comparing yourself with others and their stuff.

The only person you should be comparing yourself with is you and your last week, month or year’s performance.

Here are some questions to prime your personal comparison pump -

How far have you come?
What skills have you added to your resource in that time frame?
How much more money have you saved?
How much bad debt have you reduced?
How many credit cards have you cut up?
What have you produced in the past twelve months?
What new mentors have you added to your circle of influence?
What new friends have you added to your circle of peers?
How many people have you positively influenced?
How much money have you given to charity?
How much time or effort have you volunteered for no charge?
Have you grown as a person?
Are you more in love with your spouse and your children than last year?
But don’t’ spend one minute on a comparison analysis with someone else. It’s a total waste of time.

And as someone once told me, ‘If we all put our problems into a hat and then picked out of it someone else’s problems, we’d all ask for our own back.’

Learn to live in a state of dissatisfied satisfaction. Enjoy today, but continue to dream and hope for a better tomorrow. But whatever you do, don’t waste today worrying about what you could have done yesterday. Learn from yesterday, but don’t stay there. Do better today than you did then, and you will be assured of a better tomorrow.

Make it your focus to only compare your today’s efforts with yesterdays – with a constant mission to improve. This will set you up for some hugely successful tomorrows.

And remember this, that to compare yourself with others will only create one thing – despair. Don’t go there!

Magnify your mind

I love my mind.

Why you may ask? Because no matter how much I put into it, it never explodes. It is a reservoir that is always thirsty for fresh revelation and new insight. It is hungrier than a lion and more voracious than a tiger.

How hungry, you might say, can that be? Well here are the pile of books next to my bed that I’m currently reading or will be reading in the very near future.

I’ve included the titles as well as the authors:

1. The Glorious Koran – Best life manual for toughest machinery (human being) 
2. The Bible – God in collaboration with a few well known authors.
3. Marie Curie and the Discovery of Radium – Ann E. Steinke
4. The Worldy Philosophers – Robert Heilbroner
5. Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity – Robert Cwiklik
6. Shattered Dreams – The Story of Mary Todd Lincoln – David Collins
7. Alexander The Great – Alan Fildes & Joann Fletcher
8. Retire Young, Retire Rich – Robert Kiyosaki
9. The Book of David (subject of the film ‘Shine’) – Beverley Eley
10. Money Secrets of the Rich – John R. Burley
11. Teachings from the Worldly Philosophy – Robert Heilbroner
12. Creating Wealth – Robert G. Allen
13. Multiple Streams of Income – Robert G. Allen
14. The One Minute Millionaire – Mark Victor Hansen & Robert G. Allen

In addition I have a notepad and a pen beside my bed to jot down those thoughts that fly into my head and wake me up at 2.00 am in the morning.

My most precious possession you might ask? My personal library….so let’s explore how you too can magnify or expand your mind.

How many books do I read at once? I generally have two or three going all at once in order to magnify my mind.

I have met many people in my lifetime who declare that ‘I’m not a reader’. Well, I have a cousin who tried to convince me of that fact. And if you would have taken a look at his previous reading track record, all of us, including his teachers, would have agreed that he was not a reader.

But it wasn’t until I hit his hot button and found out that he had a keen interest in reading autobiographies and biographies, that overnight he was transformed from a non-reader into a reader.

Every night, before he goes to sleep, I find him reading. Does he like every book that he picks up to read? No.

The fact is, I’m the same.

You don’t have to read every book you pick up. If it doesn’t hit the spot or the writer is atrocious, or for whatever reason, toss it. But don’t stop there. Search out another book. Find another subject that inspires you and interests you.

READ BOOKS AND YOU WILL REWRITE YOUR LIFE

As a motivational speaker, I can tell you this, that at times the last book I want to read is a motivational book. I live motivation, dream motivation, eat motivation, write motivation 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

So there are times when I need a sabbatical in my reading habits.

So where do I head? I read books on love, others on religion, particularly the Impressionist breed, but even of late have branched out into more modern areas. I read autobiographies and biographies.

I tend to find myself wanting to know the author behind the book, or the artist behind the art or rather the architect behind the architecture.

In fact, there is one famous author, who I personally don’t like his style of writing, but when it came to his autobiography, I loved that. I still haven’t read any of his books, but I learnt an immense amount from reading about his interesting life.

THE SECRET TO MIND MAGNIFICATION:TURN OFF THE TV AND TURN ON TO A BOOK

Here are some guidelines to get you back on track, if you are presently a ‘non reader’.

What should I read?

Define your personal interests and start there. I personally found that motivational books inspired me just over 10 years ago, but since then my tastes have further developed. For every motivational book I read, I probably read four or five other types of books. It’s amazing that from those non-motivational books I always seem to find motivational material that is of benefit to me and others.

How often should I read? Every day.

How long should I read? If it has not been your habit to read in the past, then start with a page a day. Or if the chapters are short, a chapter a day. Develop the success habit of reading daily and the quantity of what you read will gradually increase. Your reading ability will also improve.

Where should I read? Everywhere. When I have an appointment, I always take a book with me.  Some people like to read before they sleep of a night while others like the morning vigil. Find what suits your personality and personal habits through experimentation.

I don’t have money to spend on books? Join your local library. It is there that you will find a tremendous resource. I have of late started to purchase investment books once a month, but always at a discounted price.

Just one other suggestion:

If you still have difficulty reading, there are so many audio programs available where you can listen to books being read to you. There are also a range of services that will provide you with book summaries.

Search the Internet for these services, and whatever you do, you owe it to yourself, and to your ongoing education, to make reading a daily habit as you build your successful life.