HOW TO LIVE AND WORK WITH PASSION

" I truly believe we can ALL create and enthuse magic into
'so-called humdrum little lives'. You don't just have to be
the choreorapher, or the conductor of your life script -
rather paint your life as the masterpiece it could (one day)
be. There is a rich tapestry of talent in every human soul,
that flows through the spirit of God. So don't spend your
days stringing and tuning your instrument; start making and
playing your unique tunes of music right now."
- Craig Lock

Success doesn't come to you. You go get it."
- Marva Collins

Your life purpose is what gets you up in the morning.
Conquering fear.

"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood."
- Marie Curie

The key to conquering fear is to master belief.
Like belief, fear can be either empowering or limiting. How it serves
you or undermines your efforts is up to you.
Face and accept the challenge of the unknown.

Your thoughts create your reality. Your thoughts create your feelings.
Simply replace that disempowering thought with a positive, more
empowering one. A negative thought can not be present in your
consciousness at the same time as a positive one.

*
1. COURAGE: It's a decision of will. Courage follows action. Action +
faith fills us with courage. Courage means heart and being on purpose.

2. ATTITUDE:

Attitude is the switch that turns on everything else. Our attitude we
have with other people is the greatest influence on their thoughts and
feelings.
Have a great day and live with passion.

3. EXPECTATION: EXPECT success - you deserve it...

then you'll get it.

4. Ask empowering questions:
"What's great about this?"
"What can I learn from this?"
"What needs to change to make this happen?"

It's not the circumstances of our lives that determine our success,
it's how we react and respond to these situations.
ie. our ATTITUDES

N.B: "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
- Eleanor Roosevelt

Positive attitudes create positive results - people buy your attitude.

5. It is CHOICE, not chance, that determines our destiny.
Live each day as if it were your last with passion and excellence.

6. FOCUS
When you master the ability to focus on anything, you will master that
thing itself.
Focus your thoughts and master your mind.

Focus your emotions and master your heart.
Focus your creative attention and master your imagination.
Your mind is the key. We all have awesome creative power, when we
focus our minds, like heat-seeking misiles.
Focus attention on the task at hand.

Retrain your consciousness, your imagination and creative intelligence
to generate your goals and desires. Focus is simply a matter of
practice.

Thoughts are something you have, not what you ARE.
You are not your mind.
Focus and shape your mind.

7.COMMITMENT (and PERSISTENCE)

"Until one is committed, there is always hesitancy, the chance to draw
back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiave (and
creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills
countless ideas and splendid plans. The moment one definitely commits
oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help
one, that would never otherwise have ocurred. A whole stream of events
issues from the decision, raising in ones favour all manner of
unforseen incidents and meetings, which no man could have dreamt would
have come his way."
- JW Von Goethe

Commitment is when you know
To what are you committed?
Nothing happens without commitment.
Say WILL HAPPEN, no matter what
It's doing what you said you'd do - whether you feel like it or not.
Leverage brings power.
Since the only way to fail is to give up, if you persist and do not
give up, you WILL succeed.

Commitment is what makes the difference.
Commitment requires focus.
Positive beliefs.
A positive attitude.
Commitment

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not, nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with
talent. Genius will not, unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not, the wold is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
- Calvin Coolidge

8. A strong DESIRE ("burning")
Ignore what a man desires and you ignore the very source of his power.
- Walter Lippman

Abraham Lincoln:
"If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are
his friend."

The mind is like a parachute; it's of no use unless it's open.

"It is not the critic who counts - not the man who points out how
the strong man stumbled, or where the doer could have done better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the
arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood. Who
strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who
knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends
himself in a worthy cause...Who, at the least knows, in the end
the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he
fails, at least fails while doing so greatly, so that his place
shall never be with those cold and timid souls, who know neither
victory nor defeat."
- inspiring words from President Theodore Roosevelt

9. Setting meaningful GOALS
The purpose of goals is to focus our attention. The mind will not
reach towards achievement, until it has clear objectives. The magic
begins when we set goals. It is then that the switch is turned on, the
current begins to flow, and the power to accomplish becomes a
reality."
- from 'The Best of Success', compiled by Wynn Davis

10. DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE

If you don't know where you're going, you might end up someplace else.
Goals have power - a life of their own.
They unleash our creativity.
We are human beings, not human doings
What things do I value most in my life
What have I always wanted to do, but was afraid to try?

"The greatest power a person possesses is the power to CHOOSE."
- J. Martin Kobe
We are all in possesion to shape our destinies, moment by moment, with choice.

Fear kills creativity and imagination.
When we conquer our fears, the whole world opens up in front of us.

"Success doesn't come to you. You go get it."
- Marva Collins

Don't focus on what you don't have, ie. lack. Have a sense of
gratitude about what you DO have in life. So count your daily
blessings.

And finally...
and most importantly,
N.B: Try to live your life with absolute integrity...
because once you lose your integrity, you've lost everything!
"This above all...to thine own self be true." *

Craig Lock ("Incorrigible Encourager/People-builder, Information and
Inspiration Distributor")
http://www.craiglockbooks.com
http://www.craiglock.com

* Thanks dearest mom for repeating those words to me (and hopefully
instilling in me) when I was young.

P.S: Thank you sincerely, Peter for sharing your insight, words
of wisdom and especially inspiration in encouraging me to follow
my dreams along my "untrodden path" with passion and persistence.
I WILL UNTIL.

Craig

"Every man has his own destiny; the only imperative is to follow
it, no matter where it leads him."
- Henry Miller

"The task ahead of you can always be overcome by the power within
you...and the seemingly difficult path ahead of you is never as
steep with the great spirit that is within you."
- Craig Lock

"Our talents are our gifts from God... but what we do with them
are our gifts TO God."

"When I let go of what (and who) I think I am, I become all that I can
be... and am capable of being."
- Craig Lock (as adapted and inspired from Lao Tzu)

"Success to others may be apparent in what you DO; but
significance, meaning and purpose lies, then reveals itself
in what you ARE and BECOME down the 'river of life' - how
and the spirit with which you face, then overcome the daily
obstacles, the frequent trials and tribulations along the
often rocky path-way of life's magical and mysterious
journey.
Light your path brightly."

"Do not follow the well-beaten track of others towards success -
like the rainbow, it is often an illusion always just beyond
our reach. Make your own path and let your spirit blaze a
brilliant trail towards the pot of gold, the prize for the
gift - one that is uniquely you and YOUR successful journey
down the mysterious and magical river of life."

The various books that Craig 'felt inspired to write' are available
at: http://www.soulful-writer.com and
http://www.craiglock.com/books.html

* Hard-copies and e-books, fiction and nonfiction: self help, novels,
travel, humour, writing, inspiration and money management

Uplifting, encouraging and empowering people through the power of
words and thought energy. Change YOUR world and you change THE world."