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A positive attitude is the great differentiator between those that achieve and get what they want from life and those that don’t.

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The choice to have a positive attitude, no matter what situation you find yourself in, will make all the difference in the world.

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It is easy to have a positive attitude when things are going the way you want them to go. It is when things are not going so smoothly, when there is adversity in your life, that a positive attitude makes the greatest difference. A positive attitude in times of adversity has the power to inspire others, to move mountains, and to change the course of history.

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People who are positive through difficult times think differently than those that get down during hard times. They see the light at the end of tunnel and focus their attention on that light.

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My positive attitude, even when I have been in a negative situation, has allowed me to reach for something more, something of value and greater meaning. It has enabled me to be open to new ideas and to be creative in my response to the challenges that have been presented to me.

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When you know a truth, live it! The truth can set you free. Use the truth to make a difference in the world. Focus on what is possible. Move toward what you are called to do. Follow your instincts and intuition, for this is where the truth hides.

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It is an individual and unique experience that you are living. When you make searching for the truth a priority you come closer to living your purpose in life.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Think about this. Behind every overnight success is 20 years of hard and, in some cases, torturous work. No one achieves success without some level of sacrifice, effort, determination and persistence. You have everything you need inside of you to achieve whatever success you can imagine. You are no different than the person who owns a car dealership, develops land, creates a franchise, or invents the next big product line. You can do anything you set your mind to. What do you want to create for yourself?

“To dream anything you want to dream, that is the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do, that is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits, that’s the courage to succeed.” Bernard Edmunds

One thing very successful people have in common is that they focus positive energy on the expectation of success. When they go out into the world each and everyday they expect success no matter how small that may be. They focus their energy on the ideal outcomes they desire from a meeting before entering that meeting. They think positively about how their ideas will be received and embraced. They know that if they focus positive energy on the expectation of succeeding that it will bring them that much closer to realizing success.

The power of focusing on positive outcomes in life cannot be underestimated. When you project positive energy on something you want to create for yourself or the world you are one great big step closer to making that goal a reality. Successful people will visualize in their minds the ideal outcomes they are looking for, allowing those outcomes to become real in their imagination.

“Our imagination is the only limit to what we can hope to have in the future.”

Charles Kettering

For example, if you want to win a bass tournament like The Elite Series Sooner Run held on Grand Lake, you will come one step closer to winning by imagining where the bass are going to be caught, the casts, the smells, the feelings and catching the big one. Imagine being on the stage with the winning weight, being handed the trophy and the oversized check, the applause from the crowd and the celebration that follows. When your imagination makes this so real that when you come back to reality you are not sure if it was real or not, you are on your way to winning the tournament. Athletes have used this technique for centuries. Whatever success you want to achieve, visualize it in your mind and imagine it being real over and over and over again. Eventually it will become a reality.

The other thing successful people have in common is that they know when they don’t succeed, which will happen more often than not, they will not give up and they will continue to keep the positive energy flowing. They look for the lessons they can learn from their failures and then apply those lessons when they try for it again. This is not always easy. The falls of life can be hard, but this is where the possibility of success and giving up takes place. They get themselves back up and dust themselves off with an attitude of “keep on keeping on.”

“Nothing can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genus will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the work is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” Calvin Coolidge

You have read it before in What Box? and you will continue to read it: “We all have a purpose in life.” Many successful people have discovered and embraced their purpose in life as a way to gain continued and growing success. There is quite possibly nothing more important in your life than focusing on understanding and living your life’s purpose which will make it easier for you to focus on the positive through what you may perceive as negative experiences. As a result, you will find that will become easier for you to expect success in whatever you do and your ability to stretch and take risks in life will enable your successes to grow and increase the older and wiser you get.

Next time you are looking towards creating success in your life go ahead and imagine what that success looks like before it takes place. Focus all your energy on the outcomes being real before they are imagining the success over and over again. Place your intentions on living your purpose and never ever give up. You can do it!

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Taking walks in the woods, listening to the wind singing its songs through the leaves, or just sitting on a rock taking in all the life that surrounds you has a very pleasant way of connecting you to something greater than yourself.

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Being in touch with nature helps us to be more relaxed, to make better decisions, and to embrace and act upon our unique and creative talents.

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Clouds inspire us to use our imagination and tap that creative side of ourselves that sits idle when we focus too much of our energy on the man made world and not on nature.

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Awakening to nature has allowed me to understand what it means to be present in the moment, what it means to let go of the past and the future, and allows me to focus on the power of just being.

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Nature is the doorway to understanding ourselves along with our role-in-the-whole. This door is always open for those with open hearts.

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Nature is one of our greatest gifts, which has the ability to teach each of us about our unlimited potential and ourselves.

Let me know what you think.

Remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create for yourself.

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Embracing change is one of the greatest challenges we face as humans. Change is accelerating at an ever increasing pace and if we do not learn to embrace, or at a minimum accept, the changes taking place globally we will in all likelihood wake up one day and say to ourselves, “Was I sleeping? How did we get so far behind?”

Many of us are so caught up in our own lives that we are blinded by the realities of what is taking place outside our daily activities. We get so focused on ourselves that we lose sight of the bigger picture. Because of this self-centered focus many of us are unable to see the changes going on outside ourselves, changes that can have direct or indirect influence on our lives.

Nothing stays the same and if we are going to be a relevant as a community we need to collectively wake up to our changing world and figure out how we can be a part of these changes.

Our challenge is not to forget how we got to where we are and remember that to be relevant we must continually reinvent ourselves. We cannot live life in a bubble thinking that we can remain the same.

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Victor Frankl

When we think outside-of-the-box and look beyond what we know learning takes place and we increase our chances of being relevant players in our increasingly changing world.

Instant gratification is a growing phenomenon and it is preventing us from seeing how we contribute to a positive or negative future for the generations ahead.

Now more than ever the world needs for us to take a “long view,” a view that allows us to look toward the kind of future we want to create for our descendants. The decisions we are making today have the ability to create a positive impact on the future or our decisions have the ability to have a potentially negative impact.

When you allow your mind to imagine future scenarios as they connect to past events and current activities you will start to link and form new ideas and creative and innovative scenarios.

“Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights.” Pauline R. Kezer

Today we need to be thinking about the future we are creating. This means that we will have to take calculated risks, think beyond our comfort zone, out-of-the-box, and collaborate with others.

With the pace of change accelerating and the desire for instant gratification growing, it becomes imperative to think out ahead into the future so we can make the best decisions today, decisions that will have a positive impact on the future.

When you are open to letting your imagination wander, enabling connections to be made, new and powerful solutions become possible.

We need to get serious about expanding and exercising our creativity as individuals and a nation. This means thinking differently about how we go about interacting, relating, and doing business with the world and ourselves.

“They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.” Confucius

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Some people may have more resources, some may have less, and some may have none. Nothing changes the truth that we all have the capacity to achieve great things if we desire and are willing to work hard enough to make our dreams come true. You can do and create anything you can image if you put your mind to it and believe in yourself.

“People become quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves, they have the first secret of success.”
Norman Vincent Peale

What is it that holds many of us back from doing and achieving the things we want in life? Is it because we are scared to fail? Is it because the goal is perceived to be too much work? Is it because we don’t believe we can do it? Or perhaps we are scared of success?

This can be on of the trickiest parts of life’s success. When we are young we are all told “NO” a lot, “You can’t do that,” or the ever-popular “It will never work.” This kind of messaging is pounded into our brains so much that many of us start believing in our heart of hearts that we can’t do what we know we CAN do. As adults we perpetuate this undermining messaging, telling others that they can’t do something, all because of our programming as children. Following this negative and unproductive line of reasoning for yourself will only result in achieving far fewer meaningful accomplishments in your life than if you choose to live a life of “I CAN do anything!”

“Life begins as a quest of the child for the man and ends as a journey by the man to rediscover the child.” Lauren van der Post

Believe in yourself and you will be unstoppable!

The challenge is to find the courage not to be influenced by the naysayers and believe deep down inside that you can accomplish anything no matter what people might say.

What if the Wright Brothers had listened to all the people who said, “You’ll never be able to fly.” Instead, they chose to believe they could. When you are able to believe that you can do anything, it does not mean that your life will result in instant accomplishments. Success comes in small steps, in small accomplishments that eventually add up to big accomplishments, big successes. It is said that every overnight success takes 20 years. The Wright Brothers had to work very hard and experiment many, many times along the journey to human flight. They never ever gave up and continued believing they could and would fly. Just like the Wright Brothers you have everything you need inside of you to reach your dreams. It is never too late to start.

“Every achiever that I have ever met says, my life turned around when I began to believe in me.” Robert H. Schuler

In so many cases people believe that they will not succeed even before they start something. What a travesty. Instead, create a mindset of expecting success even before you start. All achievers, no matter what their game, start with the expectations that they are going to succeed. Achievers say, “I want to do this and that I CAN do this,” not “I would like to do this, but I don’t think I can.”

What do you think about yourself and your abilities?

Say you CAN and you WILL. Say you CAN’T and you WON’T. This is a universal truth we can’t hide from.

Try this. Next week become a Possibilitarian and say YES to those things that the week before you said NO to. Say “I CAN do this”, “We CAN do this” and see what happens.

You CAN and WILL do what you think you CAN.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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If only playing the real game of life was as easy as the board game. How do you play the game of life?

“Life’s not always fair. Sometimes you can get a splinter even sliding down a rainbow.” Cherralea Morgen

Growing up I was never taught how to play the game of life. In fact, I have rebelled against buying into this game and instead created my own rules. I have experienced this game as unhealthy and full of low integrity people serving themselves before others. By creating my own game on the sidelines of the larger game, a kind of ghost in the machine, I have been able to excel with an “out-of-the-box” way of life that has served me well. At least, that is what I have thought. I have been proud to be an example of someone who has not played the game and been able to succeed in life against all odds.

Looking back on my childhood I can see that everything I needed to learn about playing the game could have been learned from my time in the sandbox. We had to share the toys that were available to us. Collaboration was necessary for those in the sandbox to get along and create something. When a bully would take a toy or your sandwich you had to decide to fight or flee. The interactions that took place in the sandbox are a great place to reflect upon how to play the game. What happens between childhood and adulthood that we loose these lessons?

“As we struggle to make sense of things, life looks on in repose.” Author Unknown

As I have become more motivated and focused on sharing the power of What Box? and have been consciously living it, it has become clear that I not only have to start playing the game but embracing playing the game. This is a major challenge. How does one step into the box, yet remain out-of-the-box and keep their sanity? Sounds like one of those wise sage questions that have no answer doesn’t it?

How odd, that to support people, organizations, communities and corporations to think more out-of-the-box you have to step into the box and play the game. This is the way it is and to create a meaningful impact in people’s lives it is critical to become a champ at playing the game. I have been in awe and at the same time in contempt of people who can play the game with great ease.

How can we learn to play the game even better and still remain unique?

“Life is not a final. It’s daily pop quizzes.” Author Unknown

I don’t even know how to fully enter the game. Is there a starting point? Did I miss it and now am I in the middle somewhere on the game board? How do I catch up? What are the rules and who created them? Is there more than one game? Is there a get out of jail free card? Do I get to pass Go and collect $200?

I believe the challenge is to stay conscious of the fact that we are all playing a game, while staying true to our values and mission in life. It’s kind of like standing next to yourself watching and reminding yourself not to take it too seriously and have fun while playing. Aren’t games supposed to be fun?

Like so many things in life and written in What Box? it takes tremendous practice to achieve the desired results. I have a feeling this one is going to take the rest of my life to figure out. I guess we all have to figure it out for ourselves.

“To live remains an art which everyone must learn, and which no one can teach.” Havelock Ellis

Playing the game is part of life. We can embrace it or repel it. Which will you choose?

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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The blocks that hold you back have been created over a lifetime. Like you, I continue to be challenged by my own blocks and obstacles holding me back which, in all likelihood, will be there for the rest of my life.

Unfortunately there is no silver bullet or magic formula that will help you to think and be more creative. Instead, you have to constantly practice putting yourself in environments that enable creative impulses and thinking to grow. Here are some effective tools I have found that when used and practiced on a regular basis have helped me to be more creative. I believe they will be helpful to you as well.

Keep a Positive Attitude
To reinforce a creative attitude within you, begin by stating out loud this simple statement, “I am a creative person!” It is that simple. Say it over and over again. For the rest of this week make this one of the first things you say when you wake up in the morning and one of the last things you say before you go to bed. By affirming your own creative talents you will minimize your negative self-doubts and build a more positive mind-set. Research and experiments have proven that the mere suggestion that a person is an original thinker improves his or her creative abilities. Begin to think of yourself as more creative. Begin thinking of yourself as a creative person. If you think you are creative you are.

“Make your optimism come true.” Author Unknown

Take Time to Relax
This is not always an easy one to achieve in our hectic lives. Here is the thing. When you take the time to relax you are working within your own natural flow of creativity. A relaxed mind is an essential characteristic of a creative mind. Being physically tense or mentally uptight has a crippling effect on our natural creative talents. If you are trying to hard to solve a problem, in all reality you are moving farther away from identifying a solution. Creative ideas must be allowed to emerge naturally. They cannot be forced. Removing rigidness and moving into a mind-set of greater flexibility is an important piece to being more creative. To be more creative stay loose and let go of human based time constraints.

“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.” Carl Sandberg

Suspend Judgment . . . at Least for a While
Ideas and creative thinking are very delicate. Just one criticism or negative thought can inhibit creative thinking. When you hear yourself say to someone, “That’s a good idea, but . . .” you are inhibiting his or her creativity and worse yet, your own. When you say to yourself or others, “That is no good or that will never work . . .” you are guilty of judging too soon. Try this instead. Give your imagination the “Green Light” and let the ideas flow. Later there will be plenty of time to judge and evaluate the ideas that have been created.

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality.” Albert Einstein

Open Your Doors of Perception
A creative attitude is a questioning and searching state of mind. Questioning is one of our great gifts and a basic foundation in the creative process. To be creative it is important to be sensitive to problems and their implications. While your judgment may be temporarily suspended, your analytical abilities are not. Creativity requires the ability to analyze problems and break them down into manageable components.

To achieve a stronger creative attitude, open up all of your senses. Strive for a state of heightened awareness which is more in tune with your natural abilities. This kind of fluid state of mind increases your perceptions making you sharper and more responsive. Plug into your senses and you will be able to maximize your creative powers.

“Originality is simply a fresh pair of eyes.” Woodrow Wilson

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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