Share in the Abundance, Which Ebbs and Flows all Around Us

I very often get asked by people, why I write an article every day, in which I aspire to add inspiration to as many people’s lives as possible and freely share my take on personal development. They cannot understand how I can give so freely to others and ask nothing in return. My answer is always very simple, we live in an abundant universe and the more we are willing to share and give to others. The more open we are to receive ourselves.

Imagine standing with your hands clasped tightly against your chest, where you are attempting to cling onto everything you know and possess, so that no one can get any of it. Those clasped or closed hands can only hang on to what you have; it is very difficult for them to open so they can gather anything more. Contrast that picture with someone, who stands with open hands, freely sharing everything they know and possess, with others. Yes those open hands do give away plenty. But they are open and welcoming, inviting so much more into their experience.

I believe that the secret to creating a life of meaning and living a fulfilling experience, where you constantly grow, expand and share your abundance with others, is to strive to be a person of value, rather than a person, who possesses trinkets and a vast fortune. There is an incredible quote written by Albert Einstein, which epitomises this concept. “Try not to become a man of success but rather become a man of value” The more value I am able to add to the lives of others, the more value, love and grace flows into my life. Every act of kindness you are able to bestow on people around you, will not only fill the receiver with joy and happiness, but will allow you to feel good too.

When you are no longer self-focused and you consistently think abundant thoughts, in which you are outward looking and you actively look for ways to help and grow the people around you. It is almost magical, how many people around you do exactly the same for you. What you think about, you bring about. When you are thinking positive, good, sharing thoughts and you are in a modality of always looking to improve the lives of the people around you, exactly that will be reflected back at you. I am most certainly not suggesting that you give to others, with a deep rooted expectation that you will get something in return. The very thinking, which goes with that selfish motivation, will have you thinking thoughts and acting in ways, which will interrupt the flow of abundance into your experience.

Imagine what a wonderful, abundant world we would inhabit, if everyone gave freely of themselves and only wanted the best for everyone around them. Imagine if we all wanted to be people of value, or rather people, who add real value to our world. This planet would be incredible. Start to play you role today, no matter how small and strive to add some value to someone in your environment. As you strive to be a person of value, in every facet of your life, career, financial, spiritual, family, social, etc, you may give away more than you are accustomed to at first. However it is my deep rooted belief that if you have an abundant mind-set and you give freely without the expectation of ever receiving anything in return, where you strive to give as much value to those around you as possible, you will see buckets of success and abundance flow into your life.  

Accepting that there is abundance all around you and becoming a value adder, is not a part time shift that you need to make. It must become your new way of thinking and acting from this moment on. When all of us become value adders and we have open hearts, hands and heads, where we share freely, we invite happiness and abundance into our lives too.

http://www.andrewhorton.co.za

Real winners never cross the line, they Keep Moving the Goal Posts

Whenever I watch the athletes being interviewed, before the Olympic Games I can quickly tell who the winners and who the participants will be. The most reliable way of doing this is by simply listening, to their answers, during sports interviews. Those that say “I am just glad to be here” are not going to be wearing the champion’s rings, when the games are over. They have achieved their goals before the games even started.

As you move through the different phases in your life and you get to achieve your goals. You have to continually set more, new and ambitious ones, which will constantly stretch and challenge you. Real great, long term, sustainable success is the result of not only setting and achieving big goals, but is about constantly getting and creating new goals along the way. Super achievement is not about “goal setting”, it is the result of a constant hunger, for consistent growth, in other words, you must be a new goal getter.

Vision and success is a direction, never a destination. The secret to living a life of meaning and fulfilment is to know that, yes, we must achieve a few milestones along our journey towards the success, we have envisioned. But they are merely milestones, not the reason we started the journey in the first place. A young man may set a goal to mow 100 people’s lawns during his summer vacation, so that he can buy an old jalopy to impress his girlfriend. Once he has earned sufficient money and actually bought the car, the real lesson and purpose of setting the goal in the first place, was never to impress his girlfriend. It was to learn the crucial lesson of solid work habits and experiencing the joy of setting and achieving a goal.

Accumulating sufficient money to actually buy the car is of course a wonderful reason to celebrate. He has after all reached a really fantastic milestone on his journey toward meaning and fulfilment. The secret to sustain this success and to keep moving in the direction of the success he desires, is to immediately set an even more ambitious goal, which will keep stretching him and moving him down the path of growing and becoming. Remember that “As you become more, you will constantly keep attracting more”.

The lessons learned by the young boy, that setting goals, applying daily discipline and hard work to anything, he wants to achieve, will result in a desirable outcome. Has most certainly allowed him to grow expand and become more. As the universal law say, “As you become more, so you will attract more” This young man has thus started his sustainable success journey through life. To live a life of meaning and fulfilment and where he can achieve true success. He must keep moving the goal posts and keep setting and getting more and more ambitious goals as he reaches each milestone.

There are so many companies, which were really amazing blue-chip companies at one time, but have faded into just memories today. Companies like Studebaker, W.T Grant and Triumph Motor cycles. These companies had a goal of reaching the top, which they did, but they allowed themselves to falter, because, they never moved the goal posts and expanded their game. I am sure that you have seen it happen to people around you. The sales guru, who topped the charts for years and then overnight, everything just falls apart and they tumble off the no. one slot, all the way to the bottom. Tiger Woods is a perfect example of this. Yes there was infidelity and too many women involved in his life to count, but the real reason he fell from the number one slot and is finding it difficult to get back on top, has nothing to do with infidelity. It has everything to do with reaching the pinnacle of success and then not moving the goal posts.

As you set and achieve goals, always stretch yourself, by setting more and more ambitious ones. Never allow yourself to lose your way and think you have reached your destination. Don’t lose your hunger, desire and your need to keep growing, innovating and expanding. It is extremely unlikely that you will ever exceed your own expectations. So dare to dream big, set big hairy audacious goals and as you get close to crossing the line and achieving any goal you have set, keep moving the goals posts and becoming more.

http://www.andrewhorton.co.za