amazon highlights: Success: Why You Fail / Thibaut Meurisse / 2016

As Jim Rohn said “Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job. If you work hard on your job you will make a living, if you work hard on yourself you can make a fortune.” The time to work hard on yourself is NOW!

You Shall Not Mistake «Your Reality» For Reality

A human being always acts and feels and performs in accordance with that he imagines to be true about himself and his environment. Maxwell Maltz, Psycho-cybernetics. Our vision of life is nothing more than a constructed reality. We weren’t born with limitations on what we can or cannot do. Those limitations were artificially created afterwards.

The reason why our subconscious mind is so powerful is because it is a mechanical goal-seeking device. It works through trial and error and will make all the adjustments needed over time until it reaches the goal it was programmed to achieve. The truth is that our mind needs failure!

One reason why many people fail to use the full power of their mind is simply because they forget to apply this trial and error process in order to move forward with their life. In other words, they are afraid to fail and because of that they never make the mistakes that our brain desperately needs in order to achieve our goals. Another critical reason is that they have limiting beliefs—artificial limitations existing only in their mind and created through their interpretation of past events.

Have you ever heard someone tell you to be realistic? Or have you ever told someone to be realistic? Our reality is in fact based on our personal interpretation of the world and what we choose to focus on constantly. Our current reality is not the result of our past experience. It is the result of our personal interpretation of past experiences in addition to specific parts of reality that we choose to focus our attention on. Your reality is not the true reality. you can create a more empowering reality by: Becoming more optimistic Identifying your limiting beliefs and deconstructing them

Do you know what the difference between pessimistic and optimistic people is? It’s simply their focus. Being pessimistic or being optimistic is a choice. Every day we are creating our reality by choosing what to focus on. Negative thoughts are harming your mental health and limiting your potential. They don’t help you get the life you deserve. Now, being optimistic doesn’t mean denying reality! It is a perfectly rational behavior! Actually, any time spent worrying is irrational. Actually, we have a strong bias towards negativity. We are more sensitive to unpleasant events than we are to pleasant events. In the past, it was critical for our survival

Here is what you can do to become more optimistic:

Stop watching TV: Jim Rohn once wisely observed that “Poor people have a big TV. Rich people have a big library.” It manipulates your emotions. It steals your time. It dictates to you what to think. It distorts reality.The truth is that you are not responsible for changing the world, you are only responsible for changing yourself. The more you work on yourself, the more you will be able to influence the world. It prevents you from enjoying quality time with your family or friends.

Spend less time reading/watching the news

Spend less time with negative relatives or remove yourself from them: According to Jim Rohn “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” You’d better choose them wisely.

Start your day by reading inspirational material or watching inspirational videos

Use positive affirmations/visualization daily: Here is what you should consider when using positive affirmations: Use the present tense and not the future tense ("I am" not "I will") Avoid negative forms: don’t say « I’m not shy » but "I'm confident" Repeat the sentence for 5 minutes (use a timer for convenience). Do it every single day without exception for at least a month, and preferably 2 months.

1. Support your affirmations with real life experiences.: Include things you are already confident about, regardless of how small they may be, and say to yourself I’m confident because of _____ and _____. You will find that it works better than simple affirmations.

2. While saying positive affirmations, visualize yourself embodying what you want To be.

3. Add movements and emotions.

4. Learn to reframe any situation by focusing on the positive: Why deny it? In fact, reality in and of itself is neutral. It is your interpretation of it that creates your problems. You are empowering your worst enemy, stop it! Eckhart Tolle wisely advised: “Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it.” Once you have accepted your situation focus on all the positive aspects you can think of.

Remember that no situation has the power to make you miserable without your consent. is not the situation that matters, it is how you choose to react to it. Tip: Instead of seeing problems start seeing “challenges” or “opportunities.” Reframe problems as challenges and failures as learning opportunities and big failure as massive learning opportunities! Your problems are only as big as you want them to be. That’s it! Now do you want larger or smaller problems?

You are the victim only in your own mind. Your reality is defined by your belief system. A belief is simply something that you accept as true, regardless of whether or not it actually is. Your beliefs come from the way you interpreted past events and are the result of: What you have heard (from your parents, your friends, your teachers, the media...) What you have experienced Positively: love from your parents, good results at school... Negatively: trauma (abuse, humiliation, failure...) There are two ways your beliefs were created: Strong emotions Repetition

Your subconscious mind is like big brother. Big brother is quite dumb. Identify your limiting beliefs I would like to...but What limiting beliefs are holding you back? Can you uncover them?

Deconstruct your beliefs: You can always come up with thousands of things you are good enough to do, stop focusing on the few that you find difficult. Look for information that demonstrates your beliefs are false. The basic assumption upon which you should act in your life is: if other people can do it then I can as well.

You shall Not Let Your Thoughts Define Who You Are

You are not your thoughts. We shouldn’t let our thoughts determine who we are. If we constantly react to our negative self-talk sooner or later we will get depressed.

You are not your ego. you don’t need to listen to your negative thoughts. Don’t engage them and don’t give them your attention, with nothing to hold on to you’ll find that they start to disappear.

We can only live in the present. The only thing that exists is now. Every time we think of the past or the future, the thinking occurs in the present—now. Your past does not exist anymore and thus cannot define who you really are unless you think of it in the present. What about your future? Your future is just created through expectations.

Become aware of the thoughts that pop up during the time you spend doing what you are doing. Don’t get caught by your thoughts. Just observe them. Become the witness of what you do. Watch every movement you are doing. Focus your attention on your body. How do you feel in your body while doing your current activity?

Instead of trying to suppress your thoughts or your emotions learn to accept them. The fact that you are having a thought is the reality, but this thought doesn’t have to become your reality. The more you accept your thoughts and stop trying to suppress them, the less power they will have over you.

Replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts:

You Shall Be Clear on the Meaning of Success

Success is not something you pursue, success is something you become. Jim Rohn.

Success is when you work on becoming the best you can become, do what you love and give your best contribution to the world. Ask yourself “How can I serve people while doing what I love?” Think about what you can give, not about what you want to get. As the Bible says “Give and it is all be given unto you.”

What is the meaning of life? Main characteristics of a great life purpose: Timeless, Universal, Inspiring, Transcend your ego-A true life purpose should come from a place of love not fear.

How can I leverage my problems? How can I get paid to do what I love? It is impossible to be very successful if you don’t really love what you do. How can I better serve?

You Shall Be the Creator of Your Life

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

Each time you fail to take responsibility in any area of your life, you give your power away to circumstances and people around you. Taking responsibility is not always easy, because it requires that you tell yourself the truth, that you accept the fact that you may have done something wrong or that you could have done things differently. It is always easier to blame others than to change. Commit yourself to take full responsibility for your life even in situations where you don’t really believe you are responsible. Taking responsibility never means beating yourself up or blaming yourself. Taking responsibility is accepting the reality and realizing you have at least some power to change it. While you are not responsible for this event you are responsible for the way you choose to react to it. The reality is that nobody is coming to save you. Nobody can get married for you and die for you. Don’t live your life by default, create your life! Decide to leave home every morning with a great attitude Influence people by your positive attitude and don't let people influence you with their negative attitude.

Your attitude not your aptitude, will determine your altitude. – Zig Ziglar

what happens to us has very little impact on our happiness level. The only way we can significantly increase our happiness is by changing our thoughts and our actions. Happiness comes from within you not from outside of you. you should choose worthy goals to pursue. Goals should help you become the person you want to be rather than getting things you want to have. Setting ambitious goals is important because during the process that leads up to those goals you grow as a person.

You Shall Set Goals

A goal is a dream with a deadline. Napoleon Hill

Setting goals and writing them down is probably one of the best gifts you can give yourself.

1. It gives direction to your subconscious mind

2. It empowers you:

3. It contributes to building a healthy amount of self-esteem:

4. It changes your present reality:

5. It improves your health:

The very first thing to do when you want to set some goals for yourself is to put them on paper. Your goal should be very clear. Clarity is the key. Find a way to measure your goals because otherwise you cannot be held accountable and cannot track your results. You want a goal that will push you out of your comfort zone and make you feel better once you achieve it. Having a goal is like being on a cruise. You don’t care that much about the destination but you definitely want to enjoy the journey. You have limited willpower so save it as much as possible. Try to create a friendly and supportive environment that will help you achieve your goal.

Share your goals. When talking about your goals, avoid using I will try, I think, maybe or if it goes well. Instead use I will, when I achieve, I know I will or I definitely will. Anticipate all possible ways it can go wrong and create a strategy Avoid putting yourself in difficult situations

When you create list of goals you want to make sure that you cover all the areas in your life. It should include your career, your health, your wealth, your relationships, your hobbies and other areas you can think of. Here are the characteristics of a good list of goals: Covers all areas of your life Goals are all measurable and have a deadline The wording is positive. Don’t use “not” or other negative words but use “I am” or “I will” Check your list every day to keep your goals fresh in your mind and to give a signal to your subconscious mind to focus on these specific goals.

I’m changing the world by helping you achieve your goals