Choices upon choices. Decisions upon decisions. What to wear, where and what to eat, what course should we take or not, whether we work or not. And so on. There are too many choices.

When making choices, sometimes we say we have no choice, and even making the right choices seems rational or irrational and sometimes emotional.  Even picking up numbers in the lottery, we are making choices, but the odds of winning is 1 in a million. Some will gamble and will flip the coin. 

The main actor of the scene is the mind, should it play the right role, or will it play dumb and not make any decision.  Your core belief also plays a major role in it. That is why it is important that you have a sound mind, when making a decision or choice.

This are some tips on how to make choices:

1. Set up parameters. What are parameters, it is putting the variables, to come out with the result. For example, I wanted a pair of pants, what color, how long, how wide, what was the occasion. These are examples of parameters. Make the parameters to your standard, not others. When you set the standard it has to be in your favor as you are doing it. You will be blamed anyway if you chose the wrong one.
2. Considering the other side of the coin. Play the role, if you have chosen the other side, what will be your outcome or reactions. Being the devil’s advocate as to get the pros and cons of the situation.
3. Know all the facts. If you are well-informed and knowing the information will help make rational decisions.
4. No regrets. Don’t fear the consequences as no matter what the result of the choice you made, you have to stand by it.
5. Consider what your emotions are. Emotions can be tough in making decisions, especially if you let go of what is close to you. Don’t let your emotions determine your choices.
6. Too many options are dangerous. Limit them to at least 2 or 3 or even 4, so it won’t make your decisions difficult. Like I said, if you want to win a lottery, your choices are one in a million. Don’t take that odds, but if you insist, at least you know your chances!
7. Go what your heart is telling you. The heart will never lie! It is your subconscious mind, which dictates your core belief. 

Either right or wrong, you made a choice, even you say you don’t have a choice. Just be confident and whatever the result is, you have to tell yourself you made the right decision or choice.

Have you wondered sometimes that you are an automatic pilot and your habit kicks in without thinking?  And then you take notice, you are doing it again the next day? Or you are doing what others are doing, as you don’t think otherwise.  You are in the prison of your mind, where the world is dictating who you want to be.  For example, your parents sent you through school, and finished, have a stable job and then get married, raise a family, same as your parents.  But little that you know you are just repeating what your parents have done, and there is nothing wrong with that. Which in the perfect world, that is the normal way to live life.

These are several reason that you are in prison of your mind;

First, you are being put in prison by putting negative thoughts in your mind.  All the negativity and pessimism is entering in your mind before the positivity.  All the what if scenarios, keep you from moving forward regardless of your circumstances.

Second is always feeling bad for other people without knowing where they are coming from and how they got there.  You instantly judge someone because of their looks.

Third, doing a routine the same time over and over without exerting any effort.  Your habits become normal to you and very familiar.

Fourth is when you allow yourself to be hurt all the time, without fighting back and changing how you respond to adversity.

Fifth is when you are alone in your room and thinking of good things, but still on the same boat, over and over for the last years.

Sixth is when you are told what to do, as your opinion is less than others, so it won’t matter.

These are the following prison breaks of your mind you can follow:

1. Change your mental vocabulary.  By adding and subtracting the words in your mind will allow you to have an intellectual mindset.  
2. Taking control of your thoughts by only allowing positive thoughts to come in, and accepting in your subconscious mind that you are loved by you, and you only allow positivity to run your life, putting new ideas will keep you on your toes, as it develops.
3. Break free from bad habits and replace them with good habits.  Adopting new good habits takes time, but for sure rewarding.
4. You are to project what you want to become a year, three or five years from now.  And think today as if you are already there. The mind is powerful enough that it commands that body to be healed even when it is hurting.
5. Always celebrate even when you think you are losing.  All trials and tribulations in your life are bound to prison you, and you can’t celebrate.  You can say to me, how can I celebrate when I’m already losing. By celebrating you are changing your atmosphere and surrounding yourself with good ideas and solutions to break free from it.  Like the scripture says, all things work together for good.  Have the mindset that it will work out.

You are free indeed if you want to, but it’s your choice. You have the freedom and authority by choosing the right path. You have to unlock the key of your prison daily, as when you go to sleep and wake up, it needs to be renewed again.  Because this body is just following what the mind says.  It is very important that you take control of it daily, of course with a renewed mind.  Never look at your difficulties, always change and unlock the gate of opportunity and possibilities.

You are free if you want to set your mind free. No one can free your mind except you! I want to challenge you today, do you have bad habits that you want to get rid off? Now think of it, and then think of it as if you are already free, start with your daily affirmation and tell yourself I don’t want to ______ and I will ____ starting today!

Moving forward is what we want, but the question is how and where?  It seems like moving forward has many definitions. To some, moving to a new house, breaking old habits, having new relationships, or you want to be alone, make more money, or even work out and lose that excess fat, to look good for yourself.  All of these are some of the motivations that trigger moving forward.  But have you asked yourself, what does it really mean moving forward? Continuing where you left off and moving forward, or leaving the old you and coming into a new you?

There are a lot of questions lingering in your mind about how to move forward.  But let me give you some advice to start with, how can it be corrected. Because leaving the past behind is good, and how about correcting the old, before moving forward.

Correcting yourself is putting it right and marking the errors.  Having to put yourself in order before anything else is the first and right thing to do.  The best thing is while you are alive, you have the chance to correct things.

Here are some advice how to correct you:

1. Place yourself in a place with no pride and non-egocentric approach and have a peaceful conversation with yourself.
2. Look at yourself and make a check list of pros and cons of who you are. How do you act when you are by yourself and then others?
3. Keep those cons, the negative you and look at the things you need corrections, you don’t need to be biased, we are talking about yourself.
4. Put them in order, prioritize them according to what you can change now, from simple to hard corrections.  This way you can celebrate your small wins!
5. Evaluate and educate yourself in learning how to correct them.  Like asking people for advice, a mentor or a coach, or even going to the seminars.
6. Apply what you learn and transform them into habits.  Making it a habit becomes natural and second nature to you.

By correcting yourself, moving forward will give you a sense of accomplishment this coming year! Are you ready to move and be corrected? Remember you are a famer and successful too!

Have you done something, like playing basketball, you can’t make it to the hoop? Get frustrated no matter how you do it? And later quit? 

Determination in its own definition is about firmness of purpose and controlling the outcome.  It  is an important quality you must possess in achieving your goals, it is when you have a strong determination towards your goals, that’s when you will be willing  to push forward towards your goal no matter what challenges you face whether internally or externally.

Anything is possible with determination, power of persistence, or will power. If one can develop a mind that is positive, optimistic and always looking at the bright side, which are all in the mindset, you will always excel in any challenges you face.  These are the examples of how determination is activated.  Even if motivation is not there, determination can also be activated.

1. Working under pressure and your back is against the wall.  When you are in quandary, under pressure, you just have to do what the world says to you, but little that you know, you can always reflect on your actions, to make sure there are no reactions after you have done what you are supposed to do.

2. You’ve got nothing to lose, as if it’s the end of the world, and the end of your rope.  Sometimes we even think there is no choice.  What you need to do is remove the obstacles and convert them into challenges, you can always make it out.

3. When you want something bad, it doesn’t matter what it takes, how long, how far and what it costs. Wanting eagerly that you can’t sleep or eat, because you want it so bad.  You will do anything and everything to get it.

4. Under the gun! When you have to do it, even though you don’t like it, as if someone is pointing a gun at you.  Sometimes, in life, we don’t have a choice, because we have to go to trial.  Whether we like it or not, you are going to be tested. So just thrive and strive and do the best you can and let God do the rest.

5. Setting your goal and  expectations too high.  People tend to give up when they can’t get to their goal, when they have done all the things they can.

The secret to determination and persistence is DON’T QUIT!  Once you quit, you throw in the towel and accept defeat. Never accept defeat, keep on keeping on.  All good and great things in life are never easy and it is difficult, that is why it is called success!

How to have determination:

1. Faith – having faith in God is the key to get there. Every success story in the bible is about having faith in God, when all else fails. God will be the one to give you strength and wisdom in order to fulfill it.
2. Look towards the result – always look at the finish line. The journey is beautiful, but the end result will keep you going.
3. Understand your abilities and strength – you need to know your abilities and the possibilities.
4. Work smart not hard – Some people say, you have to work both, or just work hard, believe me working smart is the only way as you won’t waste time in working hard.
5. Be committed – this department is now hard to inject into peoples mind. They will do it first, then while there, they lose their interest and do something else. Always focus on the task at hand.

The bottom line is, you have to use your will power. When you pray, Thy will be done, His will must be done and your power must be used in order for His will be done on earth. So you are in partnership with God! He already made you power as He says, greater things shall you do.  His Will, Your Power!

If you work hard on your job, does your job love you, to the extent it will take care of you? I hope it does. But if not, work hard on you, dress yourself up to look good for yourself, not for others.

Part of developing yourself is making sure you are dress for the occasion. This means your environment has to be clear in every clutter you might have. Learning is good, but if your environment, while learning is more encouraging and motivational, it will help you to achieve the desired goal.

First is to love yourself. I always say, you can’t give what you don’t have. You can’t love others, if you don’t even know how to love yourself. Loving yourself is, self-love, is a human basic necessities to positive or negative connotations through pride. But it’s up to you how you will love yourself, either pride of being humble or something else. Having a high self-esteem and self-confidence of your well being is important to loving yourself. The Bible says, Love others as thyself. So how can you love others if you don’t know how to love yourself.

It’s like flying on a plane, the stewardess would say, place your oxygen mask first, before the child. You need to take care of your needs first, believe me I learned that lesson the hard way. Hard enough to put myself in trouble in the end, I’m the one in trouble, and that person don’t even appreciate what you have done for them, in the end.

Second, let’s start with your mouth, whatever comes out of our mouth will determine how you live. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. People will know if you have knowledge and wisdom. If you can edify, encourage or discourage them, or just words they don’t want to hear. The tongue can curse or bless, it can cause death or life. You need to guard your heart, as all the issues of life flows from it. In order to keep your mouth to speak, whatever that it needs to utter, train your mind what to receive. Your mental vocabulary needs to flushed out, that is not good, and keep the ones that are.

Third, check your attitude towards others. In every action there is a reaction. Do unto others, as what you want to done unto you. That is the royal law. Do not expect anything back, when you do something good to people. Don’t even brag of what you’ve done for them, as that’s giving glory to yourself. But when they praise you, be quick to give the credit where the credit is due, God! Let Him, get the glory, but when He does, believe me, you can never go wrong.

Fourth is the way you walk. It is how you present your self to others. I sometimes say, you are what you wear. Let’s say, you are a gym instructor, and you have a beer belly fat, what will your student think about you? You don’t present yourself, you just woke up, not even brushing your teeth, or comb your hair. How far is your nose to your mouth? Not far right? But you don’t smell it, but others in the whole room can. Make sure you present yourself in order. Work out, exercise, eat healthy, meditate or do something that will make you look good for yourself.

Fifth, dealing with others. Part of developing yourself, is letting others to see, what you become. Let others take notice, of how you grow, by doing all four steps. Let other be your mirror, other than yourself. Some will tell you nice things, some don’t. But at the end of the day, you need to receive them as positive and creative criticism. Even those negative things, said about you. Always strive for perfection, as you know who you please, God. Having a personal relationship with Him is an awesome feeling, and while you are being develop, you will always have a good audience.

This simple guide in personal development, will give you insights on how you take yourself seriously.

Whatever man sow, he shall reap. The main lesson on this message is very simple, you do good you shall reap good, do bad, of course, you reap bad. Assess yourself, are you going to be the source of good or bad?

The simplest way to put it, it’s just plain life. In this game of life, you have to make the choice, are you going to lay your cards down or hold it. Sometimes, you would think life is unfair, but do you know, you are talking about yourself, you are unfair. How do you treat yourself with challenges and failure? Do you look at yourself failure or a winner? It’s all about the positive or negative attitude that you bring out in you. What you should always look, is the positive, good attitude towards the result. How are you dealing with the result, means, what’s about to come from you.

It’s like a chess board, you are the player not the board. Making decisions, build a relationship, earning a living or doing business is all about the right moves. You have to have a right mind set. You need to operate from the unseen world to the seen world. The next move you do, has to be planned ahead of your opponent. On the other side, you are playing against, you. The negative you, the oppressor you. Are you going to allow it? Have the highest value before, during and after the game.

By observing and learning the rules of life, you play with precision, with whatever move against you. As long you are abiding by it, no need to think about the opposing side, as the rules will keep the other side in check anyways. Just focus on your own game, let the rules align every one that’s in it. The rules is part of the game, they are place for the player to abide, and the referee will penalize you, if you play wrong. You can never play, with no rules in life.

The game of life is played, three dimensional, past, present and future. The present is, what will be your next move. But if you set your mind in the fourth dimensional thinking, it will make a huge difference. Fourth dimensional is the wisdom from God. Set your mind it the fourth dimensional, it will be more transformational, and victorious. You will be fighting from victory, and end with victory. Regardless of the result.

Look for mentors, to guide and give you tips, as they have already gone through many obstacles. Mentors are like your coach, they know what is good and the right moves, when you face adversity. And they will tell you when, and how to charge and evaluate the situation. Start looking for mentor if you don’t have one. There is always the best coach out there to teach you.

When evaluating your next move, make sure to have analyzed and have the habit of thinking over the situation, before putting the game plan to action. Remember, it is only you and you alone in this game. Never let anyone affect or inflict you. In making consistent and persistent decisions will give you wisdom that elevates you from your opponent. Always take charge, even when you think you are loosing. Remember you are a winner not a whiner. Let me remind you, your opponent is also you.

There are games of life online you can play, it represents death and life. They talk about infinite life, as can have unlimited life. I wish it is the same in real life, but the life we live in, has only one chance in this world. The game of life is now called game of chance. Choose the game where you can win, meaning it’s not a chance, but it’s a for sure win. You have to be driven with passion and gratitude. Appreciate what you accumulate. The pawns that you take from chess board are small wins. Celebrate every little wins.

When they say, you are out of the game, or you are not in the game, they are saying you are not living your life. You procrastinate or lazy, going with the flow. Don’t submit and surrender before the game begins, you already lost. You are here with purpose and to win. You have to have, a winning attitude. There is no other player like you. Just win!

It’s all about your attitude and self-discipline. It reflects your behavior towards your game. The winning attitude and self-discipline is the position of a proper response to any moves the opponent does. It deals with psychological construct which adheres to emotional and character of a person. A winning attitude will always place your mindset with the state of calmness and peace.

Play the game right!

What is comfort zone anyways? In it’s own definition, is a psychological state, in which things feel familiar to a person, and they are at ease and in control of their own environment, experiencing low levels of anxiety and stress. In this zone, a steady level of performance is possible. If you look at it closely, it’s the level of repeating it self without any effect on your mindset, not changing the wave length pattern of your mind.

The mind is the playing field of life, it has to be fought and never surrender, always fighting. But if you decide you don’t want to fight anymore, then you lose the battle. That’s when you would be place in the bench, and ask yourself, what happened, rather than you make things happen. Getting out of your comfort zone means, you are the 2% that make things happen.

There are several ways to get out of your comfort zone and get into growing zone:

1. Change your daily routine by adopting new good habits. Adding good habits will make your daily attitude changing and evolving.
2. Exercise your mind by changing your mentality. For example you are thinking of getting things in order, but you procrastinate, now is the time to think you can.
3. Change your attitude towards yourself by being honest to yourself. There are several ways the attitude can affect your environment and experience.
4. Learn something new and discover the things you never knew before.
5. Be fearless not fearful. Having to always try a new venture is a risk. Fear is the first thing you have to conquer and defeat. Stop overthinking and lay a trap for yourself. Work with your fear to your advantage. Use that as your safety net, that will catch you and try it again.
6. Take inch by inch at a time as it is hard when you just woke or trying to wake up in reality.
7. Surround yourself with good positive people. With the company of people that can uplift you, with cheerful and encouraging words.
8. Enjoy the ride, wether it’s bumpy or smooth. Take the leap of faith. While in the growing zone, don’t stress for changes and expect the results right away. Faith in God is very important as He is your friend, that gives you strength. He will be the one to guide you in every step of the way.
9. Focus on you. The power of focusing on what is important, is you. Don’t look at anything or anyone else, it will just going to deter and unfocus on what is important.
10. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. It is never easy when you move. Just the word “move” alone is a big word. Having to be in one place to another. While you are being transitioned, expect turbulence and a rough ride.

Being afraid of changes is a challenging proposition for others. They are afraid to change things around them, as we have a saying, if it ain’t broken don’t fix it. But we are talking about your life. Your life evolves and changing, whether you like it or not, right before your eyes.

You can be in the comfort zone, but miss the opportunity, that can get you, to your destination. Are you going to do something about it? Or let your life control you. Don’t allow life control you. You control it. Don’t be comfortable, but be comfortable being uncomfortable.

How do you see yourself 3, 5 or 10 years from now? The for sure answer is, you will definitely arrive. But still the real question is, what kind of result did you become?

Here are the steps that you can take to develop yourself.

Step one, Learn. You need to increase your knowledge by reading books, listen to audio books, watching videos, and picking up ideas from other people. All of this can, expand your knowledge. This will expand your understanding and your skills.

Step two, Action. you have to act on what you have learned. Learning is useless if you don’t know how to act on it. You need to put it, into action. Without practicing what you have learned, you will just be called book smart. In anything that you have learned, either serving, computer, construction, relationship guru, financial consultant, are needing action. By putting it in action, you can learn what to adjust, what works and does not work.

Step three, become good and expert at it. There is a saying, jack of all trades, master of none. You don’t want to be the person knowing it all, but don’t master one. Make sure you’ll master at least one and become good at it.

Step four, your attitude and discipline must be in the right place. Achieve good attitude by changing your mindset and environment. You need to have an environment that will encourage you, and build you up. Develop a self discipline and control over everything that you do.

Step five, learn to relax and enjoy the moment. There is a saying, two steps forward, and one step back. You don’t need to keep moving forward all the time. Sometimes, you need a break, find that moment where you can rest. A well rested person is well constructive and able to build person. The person who keeps going, and hard on himself and others, will not get there as planned. Get your mind off the track for a bit, until you are reconditioned. You have to know how to balance your life. Don’t try to over work and over board. Relax!

Formula for Personal Development

PD = (learn+action) x (attitude+discipline) / relaxation

All this steps, equates into lifestyle. You need to know how to live life to it’s fullest, by having a lifestyle. You need to know how to enjoy your success. The things you have learned and applied are part of personal development. But you have to make a decision, do I want to change and be serious? It’s your choice.

They say jumping from 100 foot high is too risky, wait until you just realize doing nothing is also risky. Doing nothing, you might ask? You can be sleeping and an airplane crashed into your home, a bug bites you with poison while you are asleep, that’s unintentional risk.

So why not take a risk that has value. Going to school by walking, driving, or being dropped off to learn something, is a risk. Risk is define as an exposure to danger. When you have life, you are in danger, you are at risk. In financial terms, when you invest your money, you are taking a risk, but the result you like is to gain something. So risking is for gaining.

Procrastination and pessimism is a disease, that is preventing to see the good side of life. Those people think, taking risk is only for people investing in something, but little that you know, they are wasting their valuable time. They are taking risk by just being negative. They always try to figure out, the what if, but never get to move, even they see the good results. They say to themselves, it’s a good idea, but I’ll do it later. They always look for faults, and delight in it, and not act on it. People that don’t take risk are always poor and will only live their life to nothing.

The only solution and answer to taking risk, is living life to the fullest with value. What does that mean? It means taking a step, where you value everything that you do, by renewing your mind every day. Don’t look at things the way they are, look at things how valuable they are. The Bible says as a man thinketh, so is he. You are what you think you are. You ought to drive that body, to the state of taking risk, with value, by thinking and growing in knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Those are the essential needs and driving force of your life.

Waking up in the morning, you usually have a habit, of looking at your cellphone as if you missed a message or call. Why not start that moment to smile, and thank God, that you get to live for another day, and it’s another life to take risk and celebrate. Just sit and meditate for a minute or two. Make that body to rest to get ready for the world that day.

To build a good life, is to take risks that has building value. Yourself worth is your networth. You have to ask your self, did I accomplished something today that has gain my knowledge. Always keep a mental inventory and keep track of your gains and loses. This way you will gain understanding, so the next time, you’ll know exactly how to deal with it, that’s wisdom.

The process of risk taking, is you have to be careful of your thought process, as it has to be well planned. Risk factor has to be in place. The risk factor can also be defined as, determining variable with conditions in between, equals the result. So, if you place good idea, plus working smart, not hard, equals success. That’s your sample equation for risk factor. That is why, it is best you calculate, before getting into something, big or small. Good life requires good factoring.

Risk is to be taken seriously. But risk, needs to be fun and exciting. So take a risk!

In everything we accomplish and achieve, especially when it is good or great, we want others to see it and brag about it. But when it is failure or not in anyway standards, we tend to hide it under the rug, for people not to see it. Why do we value what others have to say about our accomplishments? And why is there a grading system, that you have to follow the world rules and not yours?

Validation is usually attached to self pride and feeling somewhat important when you accomplish something. You want an instant gratification and have it posted on your Facebook wall for people to click like and share. But if it’s failure or negative results, no way in the world you wish for people to know. In the society we live in, we want others to take notice what we achieve or accomplish, rather than being humble. Try to post your screw ups, and see what will they say about you.

Accomplishment and achievement is something that has been reached successfully. Both are the act of reaching your goal, with the degree of motivation and strength. Accomplishment is attached to acquired knowledge and during the process with application, wisdom is applied, then the result is accomplishment achieved.

Achievement motivation is defined as meeting realistic goals. It is targeted and pointed to, a result driven, thrive and strive. It has a distinct approach where you intend to finish what you started.

What you fail to realize is, it is self validation or self stamp of approval, when you want others to take notice of it. It is important that you stay humble and down to earth individual. Never take your own accomplishments and brag about it.

And most importantly the validation comes from God. When God validated your work, it always a standing ovation and never a failure in His eyes.

Anybody and I mean everybody wants to be validated, up-to the smallest accomplishment they have done. Take God as your audience and make Him the judge, before asking others to be the judge. Never ask anyone else as, you might get rejected and you won’t continue what you are doing. Just celebrate the small wins you have, and continue about doing it.

Always keep in mind, we are not to meant be accepted by everyone and especially those negative people that has something negative to say. They have nothing else better to do, than to keep judging others, sometimes it’s their full time job. Little that you know, they have accomplished nothing for themselves. Always focus on your own self, rather than comparing and looking at the other side of the fence.

Now let’s get to the bottom line, if God validated your accomplishment, that means, it has to be, for His glory, and believe me it is always approved and no evaluation needed. Everything that you do, has to be for His glory, no matter what. Even those failures, are also being seen by God. How do we deal with it? By our own might or by His might, strength and power. When you pass or fail, He is the only one to validate and approve. If you want validation, look up and have God be the validator, not man, not you.