September 12, 2010

Think BIG: Make it happen in Business and in Life

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Think Big: Make It Happen in Business and Life

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“Was there ever a time when you didn’t think big enough?”

“I don’t think so. I always had big plans, even when I was very young. I would build skyscrapers with my building blocks.”

Very few things in America and even in the world are more synonymous with wealth, extravagance and success than the name Donald Trump. Not only is this the name of a man who has not once, but twice risen from the recesses of the unknown to become a cultural and financial icon, but it is also a world renowned brand name. The Trump title attached to anything, be it a building, a golf course or a fashion line carries one clear inescapable meaning: Money.

Donal Trump was born in 1946 and attended the Wharton school at the University of Pennsylvania graduating in 1968. He subsequently went to work from his father, Fred Christ Trump and the Trump Organization, “learning the ropes”, so to speak, of real estate all over Brooklyn, Queens and Staten island.
In 1971 Trump moved to Manhattan and rightly saw opportunity surrounding him. He took advantage of the times and circumstances and succeeded in the remodeling of the old Commodore hotel reopening it as the Grand Hyatt.  This was his first big, successful real estate venture.
His fame, success and legacy grew exponentially all through the 1980′s.

In the 1990′s “The Donald” was plagued by personal and financial strife. He filed for corporate bankruptcy and nearly became personally bankrupt as well. He had extra-marital affairs and as a result he and his first wife, Ivana Trump, were divorced.

By the end of the 1990′s and into the new millenia Trump has crawled out of the hole in which he found himself and largely rebuilt his empire and his image. In fact, he is more famous today than ever before with the success of his Reality Television show The Apprentice in which Trump is the Host and Executive producer. He reportedly is paid 3 million dollars per episode, making him one of the highest paid television personalities in the world.

Think Big: Make It Happen in Business and Life is Donald Trumps answer to The Secret. This book is not so much about money, but rather it is about the attitude, lifestyle and mind-set one needs in order to succeed. Some of the things addressed in the book by Trump and his co-author Bill Zanker are:

  • PASSION PASSION PASSION!
  • CREATING LUCK
  • BIG MO! Momentum and how to get it and keep it.
  • REVENGE
  • THINK BIG AND KICK ASS

Whether you like Donald Trump or not, there is no arguing with the mans success. He is absolutely a success. So, when he decides to be candid and talk, it would behoove you to listen. It is also interesting to read Trumps take on himself and the hype that constantly surrounds him. He is largely in touch with his own weakness and is surprisingly self aware. Personally, although the book itself is not the most intellectually engaging piece of literature I have picked up in sometime, it has real merit. It is written in a very straight forward no frills style which is refreshing within the often ludicrous category of “Self Help”. Trump largely keeps it real and uses examples from his own life to illustrate points.
What I will take away from the book more than anything else is the chapter regarding Momentum and his attitude about studying and becoming an absolute expert in your field of interest. He makes it clear that once you have momentum, after the hours and days and weeks, months, years you spent developing that forward motion, it is CRITICAL that you never lose it. It’s twice as hard to get momentum back once you have lost it. Always keep the pressure on.

Aside from that, the concept of “THINKING BIG” rings true with me. An oversimplification yes, but still weighty are the following words:

Its better to aim for the Stars and hit a Stump, than to aim for a stump and hit nothing.

Correct. Trump seems to agree. In addition, although not clearly stated in the book, what I sensed is that according to Trump and Zanker, because most people do not think big, there are openings for anyone to get through if you have the intestinal fortitude to take the big chances and make the big decisions.

My conclusion is that, if you are looking for a book that will help motivate you to work hard and stay focused on your Goals and perhaps even propel you to make your Goals more grandiose this is the book for you. No nonsense. No mystical universal truths. Just common sense advice from a guy who knows what he is talking about.

4 out of 5 stars.

Think Big: Make it happen in Business and Life,
by Donald Trump and Bill Zanker.

 

March 25, 2010

Failure is a choice?

Posted by gaijinass under NLP, Report | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |
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In life, generally, there is no real prize for being second place.

In the world, the real world, it breaks down in what I call 80/20.

80% of you, that’s 80% of the of everyone you know, essentially looks at themselves as a failure. They never took that big shot. They never went for it. When they did go and test themselves and failed, they just shrug their shoulders:

“Oh well, I tried.”
“Oh well, I gave it my best shot.”
“This just isn’t in me…”

Frankly speaking, that’s crap.

The only thing, the ONLY thing that separates that 80% of normal, average “would-a, could-a, should-a” folks from that top 20% of DOERS and HOT SHOTS are four little letters.

W I L L

Thats right, WILL.

The WILL to try, and the WILL to change.
People that succeed, most of them don’t do it the first time out. They fail. However, after this failure they look up and think of why they failed, they analyze their mistakes and then take the necessary steps to correct those mistakes and crush their weak points.

What I am telling you is that FAILURE IS A CHOICE.

Start Changing right Now

I have spent my life, literally my life traveling the World and looking for answers, whether I knew it or not. I am only 31 years of age but I have done so much up to this point, when I sit down and reflect on the ebbs and flows of my life or try to imagine my story being written I have to laugh, literally, out loud,  because:

If I did write my story, complete and in its entirety NOBODY WOULD BELIEVE IT! It’s actually been that insane at times.

The other amazing fact is that I’m not even close to being finished. I love self discovery and self growth. About a month ago, for reasons I am not quite sure of yet (although I have a basic idea) I decided it was time again to start my next evolution. I was pouring over the journals I keep and considering options and through various routes I found myself making a list of the behaviors that I dislike about myself.

These were mostly silly, small points that are a nuisance when isolated yet when brought together can cause more serious trouble for me. Working together these bad habits can equal the potential failure of a goal or goals I am currently working on.

Let me give you an example.

  • going to the local convenience store in the evening to get a drink, a snack or something like that.
  • not cooking my big meals because it is a hassle, even though when I cook its dramatically more delicious than most places I go out to eat at! ; )
  • shopping at the bigger supermarket instead of the discount market just because they have more pre-made ready to eat type of dishes and just  a lot of stuff.

Now, take a look at these. None of these are OMINOUS, end of the WORLD type of  bad habits, unless of course… I get shanked at the convenience store by an angry 12 year old at 1 in the morning or, I fall off the escalator in the super market while trying to look up someone skirt (a Behavior I am COMPLETELY FINE WITH!)….so whats the problem?

Well, if one of my Goals now is to save 150,000 yen per month, and it is, and I spend lets say 1,000 yen per day at the 7/11 buying a couple beers and some peanuts, then I’m spending an extra 1000 yen at the bento shop getting my lunch or dinner and then when I make my bi-weekly super market trips I’m spending an extra 3,000 per trip at the big super market just because they have more CRAP I don’t need….that comes out to about an extra 80,000 a month.  If I am cooking at home and shopping discount, I have calculated my total food expenditure, not including going to eat with friends etc, because I’d do that regardless, once or twice a week, if I cook at home or not, is only 30,000 yen.  That means I am spending…oh sorry…WASTING about 50,000 yen per month, or 500USD per month, literally just wasting it on crap, laziness and MOST IMPORTANTLY, BAD HABITS.

What are BAD HABITS?
Your parents taught you about “Bad habits” but what they didn’t bother to teach you (much at all),  is the definition of a “Bad Habit”.
Well I am going to fix that now.

Bad habits are just patterns of behavior that are not conducive to success in your life.

THATS IT.

Having said that, now remember that: BAD HABITS ARE JUST PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR.

So…what are we?

WE ARE HUMANS, WE ARE PEOPLE
People are not things. You are not a NOUN.  Get that stupid concept out of your head.
What you ARE is a very complex and ever shifting PROCESS. Thats it. You are a collection of process’ that continually evolve, shift and move. If you think about this you will realize its true.
Now, this is the first and most basic concept of NLP or Neuro-linguistic programming
All your processes and shifting etc are what produce what you consider to be YOUR REALITY. Everyone’s reality is completely unique and there is no way for anyone else to understand yours. This reality you live in is part of the reason you have patterns, positive and negative. Your patterns both negative and positive are triggered by things. Once you understand that you can change things.

For example:

  • In the evenings, while I am online, reading or watching a Movie, I have a pattern that involves eating. I got this pattern from my father and it is a comfort mechanism.  When that certain time in the evening comes, regardless of whether I SHOULD be hungry or not, I feel like I want to eat, because that time on the clock and those activities ie; watching a movie, reading, etc have all been neurologically linked to that by years of defective behaviors that started when I was very young.
  • Another example, not my own but very feasible.  A man works all day at the office. He comes home tired and unhappy.  He sees his wife’s face when he comes in the house. The next day he comes home tired and unhappy and sees his wife’s face, again. next week the same, the next month the same. Pretty soon, ANYTIME HE LOOKS AT HIS WIFE’S FACE he begins to feel TIRED AND UNHAPPY because her face has been neurologically linked to those emotions.

GOT THE MESSAGE NOW?

So much of what you are doing that is self-destructive etc are just bad patterns.  The good news is this: It’s frankly, quite easy to change these. I have been doing it to great success.  What you do is called a “PATTERN INTERRUPT”.

Try to think of your behaviors are records, LPs.  You put them on the turntable and they play. Now, if you were to SCRATCH that record, it couldn’t play, it would be interrupted, and you’d have to change the record.

With NLP, you can do that.  Interrupt the record, interrupt your negative patterns.

First however, before we take the next step together, what you should do is make a list of your “Bad Habits.”

Sit down, think about your LIFE GOALS, break them down.  Now, look at your patterns of behaviour and find the ones that are NOT CONDUCIVE to your success.  Make a long list, even small ones are ok. Being able to IDENTIFY your weak points is what can turn you into a member of that successful 20%!

FAILURE IS A CHOICE!

Keep that list and check back here because I will post the next article about the easy, ten minute exercise you can do to CHANGE YOUR BAD HABITS.

 

December 21, 2009

New Year’s Resolution pt1: How to Choose a resolution.

Posted by gaijinass under How To | Tags: , , , , , |
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How to choose your New Year’s Resolution

2010.

Can you believe it?  I mean, it’s right around the corner.  2009 passed in the blink of an eye. Really.  I cannot recall another year of my life that moved so quickly.  It is almost disconcerting.

However, with a new year knocking on our collective door’s we are again given a wonderful opportunity to sit back, focus and take a long, deep look at our current state of affairs and decide what we might want to change.

Enter: The New Year’s Resolution.

I am sure that even reading those words can for a few of you, elicit feelings of excitement and a healthy, fun sort of anticipation while for the rest of us, all it manages to elicit are a series of melancholic sigh’s.

Let’s face it…most people drop the ball when it comes to sticking with or accomplishing New Year’s Resolutions and there are a few good reasons for this. I have had my fair share of failures in this department (1984: learn to fly, 1987: become an actual Ninja, 1989: own a grappling hook, 1991: Record my own rap album, 1995-2009: save money)  Hey, no excuses here.  Failure is just that, failure, but with some proper prior planning we can all tip the odds in our favor in regards to the completion or realization of our New Year’s goals.

In order to choose the best Resolution, you have to set a goal and in order to set a goal you have to ask some questions…here we go….Oh and it might help if you get out a piece of paper and write all this down, you will need it later.  Few things crystallize a concept like writing about it.

In your life, what are a some things that you would really like to change?

Go ahead and make a list, however long you like.  Just write. Write out all the things that you want to change in your life. For some people this will be a very long list, for others it might be naturally more concise, either way, just write.

OK, now look at your list, think deeply about your motivation’s for each one of the things you listed, and if any of the motivations you have come from other people, not from you, then cross that thing off your list.

This can be a little confusing but its necessary. For example, if you are a social drinker, this means you have a few drinks on the weekends when you go out with friends, you are responsible and havent had any booze related problems since that weekend in Tijuana after graduation, but, your husband/wife/mom/brother/G.F./insert whoever, dislikes that you have those drinks sometimes, so you are considering quitting in order to make them happy…nope. Cross that one right off the list.
It is essential that your motivations for Change come from deep within yourself. Without that deep personal well-spring of want and desire, you won’t succeed.

So if you think about drinking, and you realize that you actually have a problem with alcohol and that quitting or at least moderating your intake could really improve your quality of life, then keep it on the list.

Just remember, anything that you don’t really care about get’s crossed off.

Look at the list, are these goals all SPECIFIC? If not, scratch it off.

The following are really wonderful but useless for us here:

I want to heal the world!

I just wanna… give peace a chance!

I want to broaden my horizons.

I want to bring about a vibrant renaissance in 2010.

I want to save the whales.

Like I said…great Ideas but they are not Specific so scratch them off.

If you have found now that you have nothing left on your list, go back and re-word some of your goals.  for example “Broaden your horizons” could mean that you want to A) Travel to Europe on a 2 week Vacation going to a series of museums and culture hot spots or B) You will read 25 books this year.

Something like that. Be SPECIFIC.

Back to the list.  Are these goals things that you can MEASURE?

Making certain that your goals are measurable is a big deal and it will help a lot in insuring that you succeed.

“I wanna lose weight.” No-wrong.

“I wanna lose 25 pound’s” Yes-Correct.

Why? Because you can get on the scale. You can check your weight daily. You can Measure it. Same with saving money and a lot of other things.

MEASURABLE.

The list, ok, whatever is left, if this something you can actually DO?

“I want to save 850,000 dollars by april”

Somehow…I think that this is, at least for most of us, simply not going to happen.  This is not an Attainable goal.

Whatever you want to do it has to be something that you CAN ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISH.  If you have your doubt’s, recruit the advice of someone who has done something similar to what you are trying to do. Ask them if your goals or projections seem Attainable.  If what you have on that little list is not attainable, go back and try again.

Ok…so that is it for now.

Using the guidelines above you should be able to lock down and clearly identify one or two candidates for your New Year’s Resolution.  You can take your time and think about which one you want most.

Tomorrow I will be back on with more information about how we can design a plan to help us ACHIEVE our Goals for 2010.

Don’t lose your list!

Till Tomorrow….

 

November 4, 2009

Fortune Telling: Numerology

Posted by gaijinass under Fortune telling, How To, Numerology | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |
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numerology-avatar

Numerology: The first step

Numerology is defined as  “any of many systems, traditions or beliefs in a mystical or esoteric relationship between numbers and physical objects or living things.“

Another way to define Numerology is to call it simply a system of divination and yet another way would be to say its a personal growth system that enables you to better understand and manage yourself.

A look inside of you

Living life without an understanding of your own strengths and weakness makes no sense. You can only play to your strengths if you know what they are and you can only work to improve your weak points if you can identify them. This is the first and most basic function of Numerology.  In the realm of fortune telling and astral awareness and even self improvement there are so many systems and “Guru’s” it can be mind boggling.  Numerology is a numerical system based on concepts and ideas that have existed for thousands of year’s.  Systems are plentiful and it can be confusing.  For example there is the ancient Pythagorean system started by Pythagoras himself in Greece in the 6th century B.C. There is also Kabbalah, the Jewish system,  and the Indian system Vedas.  Chinese systems are often abandoned for the more immediate fix given by Fung Shui or using the I-Ching….but this can be confusing and even, dangerous.

You would not move into a house that has no foundation would you?  Jumping to a quick answer system without having a clear and broad understanding of yourself is the same thing and it can easily lead to personal, financial or emotional ruin.

The particular system I have learned in Japan is set up to not only show what your current personality is but also why it is like that and how you developed. Once you understand these points you can consciously work to change and shift components around in your life, to make yourself more complete, productive and happy.  Once you have aligned yourself properly and made adjustments you can begin to cultivate and collect personal energy within your own body and mind. Later you can even collect and absorb energy from other people to help increase the power of your vibrations.

Once your own personal energy is emitting a high enough vibration, then you can consider moving forward and using powerful tool’s such as the I-Ching or Astral Projection to enhance your life and chances of success.

Colors and Numbers
numerology-avatar

Although the basic system is very simple as you will see below, the ability to give someone an accurate reading takes a fair amount of practice, patience, understanding and sensitivity.  Anyone can calculate the numbers and find the correct colors or vibrations but knowing what to do with that information is something very different.  In addition, if your present energy level is low it is unlikely you will get anything from a self performed reading.  In fact you might even project your current negative vibrations into the reading and come away with some ideas or impressions that are just false.

For these reasons I recommend that you use the following information only as a way for you to educate yourself a bit and determine if you would like to go further with this. In your own reading keep the atmosphere light and fun. Do not take it too seriously and just enjoy learning a bit about this fascinating and powerful system.

The first step…

First write down your birth date. For today’s demonstration I am going to use U.S. President Barrack Obama’s birth date.

1961 August 04

Then we make this all numbers.

1961 08 04

Next we make this an equation.  In this system, 9′s equal 0′s so you ignore them.

First we calculate the year.

1 + 6 + 1= 8

Next we calculate the month and day together.

8+4= 12 (we further break this down) 1+2=3

Now you combine these two in order to ascertain the third number in the sequence.

8 + 3=11 (break it down) 1 + 1= 2

So President Obama’s numbers are 832.

Finding the Numbers meaning

Once you have found your numbers then it is time for you to start to analyze what these numbers might mean.  In the system, every number corresponds to a color and these colors correspond largely to your aura and vibrations.

The next step is to simply match colors with the appropriate numbers.

Please keep in mind these VERY broad strokes. It would take me a very long time to compile all the information I have about these Vibrations in a blog and it would be a waste of time with out you completely understanding some concepts that most people simply cannot grasp unless they FEEL them first. So just let these be very open guidelines for right now.

  1. WHITE- Someone that NEEDS goals. A very thorough person and enjoys the process of achievement.  Sensitive and has a sense about art and style. Usually a bit of a Clean freak and attracted to education.
  2. RED- An Independent person, overly Sensitive and has trouble cooperating or helping the team, This person is a doer but is also very jealous and concerned with their position in any situation.
  3. ORANGE- Like Red, a Doer, Realistic and enjoys Change.
  4. YELLOW-Intuitive and often artistic. Big hearted and either very good or horribly bad at human relations.   This person is a Big Winner or a Huge loser. Its never in the middle.
  5. GREEN- These people crave stability. They judge things on past experiences and they are considerate. Often they can quickly become Mentally fatigued. They are good line workers as they don’t often complain or search for something better.  Intellectually they follow the crowd.
  6. LIGHT BLUE (Sky blue) These people are very dexterous OR insanely clumsy. They have a lot of scattered information in their heads and can talk about almost anything without really being and authority on any single subject.  They are social and have lots of different friends due to their mild and pleasant nature.  However they are often getting caught up in other peoples business and troubles.
  7. BLUE- Stubborn.  Overly developed sense of responsibility can lead to feelings of guilt regarding things that actually are not their fault.  Generally they think their own opinions are more important than the actual facts. They take pride in their work.  They can become obsessive about things they are interested in.
  8. PURPLE- These are the bossy types. They have a very strong presence or charisma and they like to stand out and be different.Often they are entertainers or politicians.  They have a gift for analyzing things.  Often they are liked well by the opposite sex much more than by their own sex.
  9. GOLD- Like Purple people Gold people can analyze a situation but are often indecisive.  They have trouble saying NO when asked for help.  They have a real power to create something or destroy something be it a project, a relationship or a life.

A basic reading of President Obama

OK we know that his numbers are 832.

8-Purple

3-Orange

2-Red.

He is an adult so the first number, or the 8 is his primary day to day personality.  And that means he is bossy. He has big charisma and presence and people listen to him. He is also, as we all know, The President of the United states, so the politician point, yeah Purple fits this man.

We skip now to the third number. This was his personality as a child and it helped to form his personality today.  That is Red. He was an independent child. and he was bright.  He had a a lot of pride and this pushed him to succeed and develop.  He probably had some trouble cooperating so he learned to convince people to do what he thought was best.  Although these days his personality is very purple this Red still is in there working behind the scenes.

Finally the second color of  the system is what someone is using to make choices in day to day life.  Obama is Orange.  This means he can act and act decisively.   He also can see ahead and anticipate the tides of change, he has foresight. He is full of ideas and is realistic and WANTS Change to come. He likes Change and thrives off the motion created by it.

This sounds a lot like the President Obama I have seen thus far.  What do you think?

In closing

As I mentioned earlier, take your time and have fun with the readings you are doing on your own. Be playful and just treat it like a game.  It takes a lot of experience and practice and the tutelage of a genuine Numerologist to enable one to accurately use this system.

If you have questions about the system or about your reading you can feel free to leave a comment and I will surely reply.  If it is private simply say so and I will email you directly.

Thank you and remember….You are in control of your life.

 

P:S: This system makes ANY cold reading incredibly easy.  Good luck.

If you like this then, you should check out more from the “Myths of Japan” series:

drugs gay marriage okinawa myth
Drugs in Japan Myth Japan’s Gay culture Divorce a Japanese Tradition The American Occupation of Okinawa Myths of Japan
 

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