The BIG picture is a great place to live. All the good things you used to fancy yourself doing, you are now doing. All the good times you used to dream about having, you are now living. However, it should be duly noted that living the BIG picture doesn't happen by accident. No, you have to make it happen. Are you ready to stop dreaming and start living the life you’ve always imagined?

Remarkably, all it takes to make your grandest dreams come true is consistent focus, steadfast commitment and an unwavering belief in yourself and your abilities. Hey, it’s not as tough as it may sound, but it’s not an easy gig either. In order to make your dreams come true, you must demand the most out of yourself �?every minute of every day. Look, none of us know how many more minutes we’ll get to enjoy in our lifetimes. So why in the world wouldn’t we want to live every moment with all of the purpose, passion and enthusiasm we can muster?

Would you be interested in working fewer hours, leaving more time for family, friends and fun? And still make more money than you do today? It can be done -- and you're the one to do it. When you begin focusing your attention and effort on making every hour of every day count, you'll soon find yourself accomplishing more in less than half the time it used to take.

When you consider the countless hours you needlessly waste or fritter away, you have plenty of room for improvement. We all do. I know, I know, you’ll probably want to tell me about how busy you are all day long. However, busy and efficient are too totally different concepts to a winner.

Untold fortunes have been harvested in the mind only to be laid to waste through inactivity. By systematically finding ways to pick up five minutes here and ten minutes over there, time you used to waste, you can add several more productive hours to your day and get a lot more done in the process. The best part of the deal is that your improved efficiency will leave a lot more “free�?time for you to use as you please.

If someone offered you a way to double your family time while tripling your income, you would probably be asking “where do I sign up?�?You can sign up right here, right now. You simply need to reinvigorate your mind and challenge yourself to find a better, smarter and faster way of doing just about everything you do. You can learn how to make your time "pay" when you start working in a much more efficient manner.

Once you see how much more you can get done and how much less time it takes, nothing less will ever cut it again.

 

Author: Greg Hickman
 

 

A lot of us suffer from a wait problem. We wait on this and we wait on that. We wait over here and wait over there. We wait, wait and wait some more. Unfortunately, all of this waiting won't get us where we want to go. In order to live the lives we've always dreamed about, we've got to focus on losing this unwanted wait.

One key component of using our time more effectively is learning how to become more efficient. However, we do need to make one significant distinction at this juncture. There is a world of difference between being busy and being efficient. In fact, one generally has very little to do with the other.

I had a good friend who was the proverbial "busy bee." You know the type. He was busy, busy, busy all of the time. If you didn't know better, you would have thought he was setting the world on fire with all of his frenetic activity. He was busy over here and busy over there, a seemingly tireless whirlwind of heavy duty action. Yet he never really seemed to accomplish much of anything worthwhile.

It always seemed that when he reached the end of another day of apparently breakneck action, he had little, if anything, to show for all of his effort. Even though he was going nowhere and accomplishing nothing, he appeared to take great pride in the fact that he had worked hard and kept himself busy all day long. Instead of using his time wisely, he was a whirling dervish of inconsequential activity. If he would have only made the effort to work "smart" and be efficient, he could have accomplished a whole lot more in less than half the time.

Another individual I used to work with loved to play the waiting game. He employed a "stop and start" and "stop and start again" approach to his working routine. Whenever he reached a "stopping" point, where he needed something to continue a project he was working on, he would just totally shut down until that something was obtained. For example, if he required a document be forwarded to him from a coworker, he would make the request and then sit and wait for it to be delivered.

Instead of using his time wisely by working on something else in the interim, he seemed perfectly content doing nothing for hours on end. When he got what he needed, he would start again. I bet you can guess what happened a few moments later when he reached another sticking point. That's right, he stopped and started waiting again! Stop and start. Stop and start some more. Come on, enough already! These individuals, like many of us today, desperately needed to get their wait under control.

How about you? Do either of these wait problems sound eerily familiar? Are you having trouble with your wait? If so, don’t despair. You can quickly lose this unwanted wait by using your time wisely �?constantly seeking out a better, faster and smarter way of doing just about everything you do. I heartily encourage you to work smart, take control of your time and accept personal responsibility for making things happen.

By using your time wisely, you will quickly get your wait under control.

Author: Greg Hickman

With another year behind us and a promising new year unfolding before us, it is time to start anew. One way to freshen things up is to take the broom out of the closet and do a little house cleaning. That’s right, we are no longer going to sweep things under the rug, into the corner or behind the furniture. Nope, that is just not going to happen around here any more.

All of the bad stuff that we have allowed to accumulate over the past year and now clutters up our lives is going to be swept away once and for all. We have got to break out that trusty old broom and then start sweeping, sweeping and sweeping some more, until all of the bad stuff is gone.

We need to look under every nook and cranny. If something needs to go, then sweep it away! All of the doubts, worries and indecision you have held back in the past have got to go right now. Sweep, sweep, sweep.

All of the drudgery, depression and hum-drum blahs that have stolen your fire and left you feeling totally empty time and time again have got to go too. Sweep, sweep and sweep some more. Keep sweeping, we want this place clean as a whistle.

How about the obstacles and barriers that have repeatedly impeded your growth and development? Are you kidding me? It’s time to sweep them away too. Anything and everything that needs to be swept out of your life needs to go �?and go right now.

Sweep, sweep and sweep some more.

Once you have finally cleaned up the place and have gotten your "house" in order, don't put that broom away just yet. You need keep sweeping this rubbish away from you each and every day of your life. If you let up, even for one day, this unwanted trash will most assuredly start piling up again.

SWEEP, SWEEP, SWEEP, SWEEP. You need to keep making room for the good things you want in your life by sweeping away the bad stuff you don’t want.

Go ahead and break out that broom right now and start making a clean sweep a daily ritual for the rest of your life.

Author: Greg Hickman
 

Ready, willing and able. How many times have we heard these familiar words? Plenty, to be sure. But what exactly does "being ready, willing and able" really mean? Simply stated, you can accomplish anything you want in life when, not if, you are ready, willing and able to do so.

Each piece of this ready, willing and able equation is essential if you’re going to get where you want to go in life. The first part of the puzzle is the "ready" component. How many of us can honestly say we are completely prepared to take advantage of the ample opportunities that avail themselves to us each and every day? If you are not reaping the benefits of total preparation right now, then you are obviously not ready.

By the way, if you are not ready right now, when will you be? It is critically important that each of us to get ready to do whatever it takes by preparing ourselves mentally, physically and emotionally to do our best and be our best right now.

Even after you have prepared yourself and are ready to go, you still must be "willing" to make it happen. How about it? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to get where you want to go? And don't say you're willing unless you are really ready to back it up with plenty of action right this minute. When there's a white heat passion burning inside you to do whatever it takes, whenever it is needed ... then and only then will you have the willingness necessary to succeed. Anything less just won't get the job done.

Last but certainly not least, you must be "able" to do whatever it takes, whenever it is needed. Are you equal to the task when it comes to turning your dreams into reality? When it comes time for you to either put up or shut up, which will you choose? At that telling moment of truth, then and only then will you find out what you are made of and whether you are really up to the challenge.

Ready, willing and able. Your chances for success diminish appreciably if any of these three critical components are missing in action. On the other hand, when the winner inside you has all three working in perfect harmony, there is no limit on how far you can go, how high you can reach and how much you can accomplish in life.

The life you've longed to live is ready ... when you are.

Author: Greg Hickman
 

 

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First I was dying to finish high school and start college.
And then I was dying to finish college and start working.
Then I was dying to marry and have children.
And then I was dying for my children to grow old enough so I could
go back to work.  But then I was dying to retire. And now, I am dying . . . And suddenly I realized I forgot to live.

 

 

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Goodness Leads To Greatness.
January 3, 2003.

Winning has always been more about goodness than about greatness. Good people make great things happen each and every day. These folks have always been life’s movers and shakers and they always will be.

Every one of us was born with a lot of goodness stored deep inside. Each of us were designed for achievement, engineered for success and blessed with honor and integrity from day one of our existence.

Regardless of what may have happened to us in the past and despite the many heartaches and setbacks we may have suffered to date, we still have what it takes to make our dreams come true. In order to enjoy the best life has to offer, we need to consistently demand the best from ourselves. Hey, don't sweat it, we do not have to reinvent the wheel. Rather, we simply need to re-ignite the spark, rediscover the passion and rekindle our burning desire once again.

We need to take care of the priceless gifts God blessed us with �?our hearts, our minds and our bodies. These precious treasures were all built to last us a lifetime. When working in perfect harmony, they combine to make us the ultimate success machine. However, it must be noted that should we foolishly neglect any of these valuable resources, they can quickly fall into a shameless state of disrepair. If we fail to use these assets wisely, we will needlessly lose them and watch our dreams fade with them as well. We can never allow this to occur.

Instead, why don't you and I choose to use what we’ve been given to its highest capacity? After all, each of these resources gets stronger with daily use. We need to fill our hearts to overflowing with goodness. We need to fill our minds with a potpourri of good thoughts. We need to maintain our bodies in tip top working condition. These priceless assets are ready, willing and able to take us anywhere we have ever dreamed of going.

Whatever you do and wherever you go in life, never forget to take these valuable assets along with you. Your goodness will pave the way to greatness.

 

Author: Greg Hickman
 

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Let's face a few facts about you and the life you live. First of all, you can be whatever you want to be in life. Yes indeed, that is a fact of life. Secondly, you can do whatever it is you want to do in life. No question about it, that is a fact of life too. Thirdly, you can learn anything you need to learn in order to accomplish whatever you wish to accomplish. Without a doubt, it is a fact of life that you do have what it takes.

Some people seem to have a real difficult time facing up to these facts. Since a number of people do not believe they can be, do or have whatever they want out of life, they erroneously trick themselves into believing that these facts are a lot closer to fiction than reality. Therein lies the root of their problem.

Since they do not really believe the good life is a possibility and within their reach, they fall short in their quest to fulfill their potential on earth. They never do the things they always wanted to do and fail to gather the required knowledge to be their very best. Sadly, their refusal to face the facts of life prevents them from living the life they could have, should have and they wished they would have had.

Winners never "if" their way through life. They refuse to say "if I had only done this" or "if I had only done that". Winners know, really know deep down where it counts, that they can definitely do it. There are never any "ifs", "ands" or "buts" about their rendezvous with destiny. They firmly believe that their success is merely a matter of just going out and going for it with everything they have. These top achieving individuals consistently reach and exceed their goals and expectations because they believe in themselves, even when others do not.

How could you or I ever expect to be our best if we didn't really believe we have what it takes to make it? Very simply, we couldn't. Winners get to the top in spite of every obstacle they must hurdle and every adversity they must overcome, because the top is precisely where they have always believed they were going. A winner's wide eyed optimism, turbo charged excitement, full throttle enthusiasm and untiring commitment to excellence paves his or her way straight to the top.

Without question, you too can be counted among the best of the very best. All that is ever required to gain membership into this elite club is for you to accept the fact that you do have what it takes. There’s no question about it, you can indeed have, do and be anything you have ever imagined when you go out and make your dreams come true.

And that’s a fact!

 

Author: Greg Hickman
 
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Have you ever known someone, perhaps a loved one or maybe even yourself, who has experienced and survived a life threatening situation? It is especially enlightening to marvel at how these people who have been granted a second chance now embrace life with every ounce of their energy and relish every moment as if it were their last. Through their brush with adversity, these people have come to realize that life is so very special and now no longer take it for granted as they once did.

There is a lesson to be learned here for each of us. Hopefully it will not require a life threatening experience for you or me to understand what a truly precious gift life is and why we need to make the most out of every moment we are granted on earth. Each of us are afforded a unique opportunity to live a life filled with purpose and passion, where we can achieve our goals, accomplish our objectives and fulfill our destinies every day of our lives. God has blessed us with an irrepressible born to win spirit and it is our duty to responsibly use this winning spirit �?or risk losing it forever.

Each of us bear the awesome responsibility of positively influencing all with whom we come in contact with and leaving an indelible mark in history. There is a powerful force inside each of us that needs to feel the exhilaration of accomplishment and the thrill of achievement on a daily basis. Without exception, every person on earth was put here for a reason.

Each and every one of us possess a number of distinctive gifts and special talents. It is our obligation to determine how we can take the gifts we have been given and put these awesome talents to work, thereby providing us an opportunity to accomplish anything and everything we have ever dreamed of having, being and achieving.

Without a doubt, we have more than enough talent and ability to take us anywhere we have ever dreamed of going. But it’s up to us to tap into this reservoir of wondrous potential.

Yes, you do indeed hold, deep down in our heart and soul, the key that will unlock all of life’s buried treasures. And the sooner you go ahead and unleash the prodigious power of these natural gifts, the better. It’s up to you �?it’s your choice. So why wait or hesitate �?why not choose to make something truly special happen in your life today?

After all, life is way too special to even waste one precious moment, wouldn’t you agree?

Author: Greg Hickman

 Carrots, Eggs or coffee beans

Which one are you? A carrot, an egg or a cup of coffee...??
You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life, and
how things were so hard for her.  She did not know how she was
going to make it, and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and
struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen.  She filled three pots with
water, and placed each on a high fire.   Soon the pots came to
boil.  In the first she  placed carrots, in the second she placed
eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans.

She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners.  She fished the
carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and
placed them  in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it
in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked,  "Tell me, what do you see?"  
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. 
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.
She did and noted that they were soft.
The mother then asked the daughter, to take an egg and break it.
After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. 
Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee.
The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. 
 
The daughter then  asked,"What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same
adversity .. boiling water.  Each reacted differently. The carrot
went in strong,  hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected
to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile.  Its thin outer shell had protected
its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its
inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique,
however.  After they were in the boiling water, they had changed  the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter.  "When adversity knocks on 
your  door, how do you respond?   Are you a carrot, an egg or a
coffee bean?"Think of this: Which am I?  Am I the carrot that seems
strong, but with  pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft, and lose
my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes
with the  heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial
hardship, or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? 
Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter, and tough with
a stiff spirit and hardened heart?  Or am I like the coffee bean?  The bean
actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain.
When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.  If you are like the coffee
bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the
situation around you.  When the hour is the darkest and trials are
their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level?  How do
you handle adversity?

Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?
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Do you remember your younger years when you and your friends played all sorts of fun games all day long? I'm sure you do. If there is one thing children know how to do, they know how to have fun. Have you ever caught yourself observing a playground full of children having tons of fun as they run and jump and bounce all over the place and silently wished you could inject a dose of that childlike enthusiasm and exuberance back into your life once again? Well you can, when you believe you can.

If life is about any one thing, it is about being happy and feeling fulfilled. We can start living the lives we have always dreamed about as soon as we believe we can do it and more importantly, believe we deserve it.

Far too many adults in America have far too little fun and that is indeed a needless shame. If your life could use a little more fun, excitement and happiness (who’s life couldn’t?), you might want to consider playing a little game of "finders keepers."

You need to find the courage to live the life you have always dreamed about. The courage is there, you just need to rediscover it and put it to work for you. You need to once again find the magic that once made your life so very special as a child. These extraordinary, almost mystical powers are still hidden inside of you, you simply need to unleash them once again. You need to find your unique place in life, that distinctive niche that enables you to be your best and do your best. When you begin passionately pursuing those activities that you love to do, you'll find your special niche waiting for you.

There are plenty of good times and good things waiting to happen to you, you just need to open up ... and let them happen. Once you find all of the fun, happiness and excitement life has to offer, you need to make certain that you keep these magical moments close to your heart. Wherever and whenever you find something worth keeping, you need to grab it with every ounce of strength you can muster and then hold on tight and never let it go. Find it and keep it -- what a super strategy for success!

Find something positive ... and keep it. Find something exciting ... and keep it. Find it �?keep it. Find it �?keep it.

You will uncover new opportunities, discover new horizons and have more fun than you ever imagined was possible when you play a little game of finders-keepers every day for the rest of your life.

 

Author: Greg Hickman
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One day, she crossed paths with a monk. He had heard of the crying woman and was very curious as to why she never stopped crying. The old woman explained the source of her sadness. The monk, who was very kind, smiled and said, "You won't need to worry any more because I can show you the way to find happiness."

The old woman became very excited and quickly asked the monk to tell her what to do. He replied that the answer was simple. "You only need to change your perspective," he said. "On sunny days, think not of your elder daughter and her umbrellas, but of your younger daughter finding the warmth to dry her noodles. When the sunlight is brightest, she will be able to make mountains of noodles and her business will prosper. When the rains come, think not of your younger daughter and her noodles, but of the many customers who will come to your elder daughter in order to buy umbrellas. The more forceful the rain, the more she will sell."

The old woman knew the monk was speaking wisdom and did as he said. After a time, her tears became smiles, and her smiles grew as the days progressed. From that day forward, she was known to all as 'the smiling woman.'
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Life is a seemingly never ending string of choices. It seems as soon as you make one choice, another important decision pops up that needs to be made. Day in and day out, you make choice after choice after choice. These choices deal with every aspect of your life, with some of the choices being more important or more urgent than others. While some of the choices are big and others are small, they just keep coming and coming at you from every conceivable angle.

You can choose to do this or choose to do that. You can choose to go here or choose to go there. Just for a moment, think about all the choices you are confronted with daily. Which clothes are you going to wear today? What are you going to eat today? What are you going to do today? These and dozens upon dozens of other choices must be made every single day. Regardless of whether you like it or not, life is all about making choices.

If you fail to make choices when they need to be made, then these choices will be made for you anyway. Let me repeat that. If you fail to make choices when they need to be made, then these choices will be made for you anyway. The choices you make or fail to make will determine the extent of control you have or fail to have over your life’s adventure. Not all that surprisingly, some people regularly neglect to make choices or worse yet, they continue to make wrong choices again and again.

Without a doubt, one of the best choices you can ever make is to stop making bad choices. If you truly want to make your life better, you must begin making the right choices that will influence your life in a positive fashion.

Let’s face the music for a moment. If you continue to make the same choices day after day that you have repeatedly made in the past, how can you possibly expect a different result? The choices you have made or for that matter, have failed to make, have landed you right smack dab where you are today. If you continue to do what you have always done, you will continue to procure the same results. Doesn’t that just make sense? Of course it does.

In order to positively alter your present situation and get your life moving in the right direction, you must make changes and that requires you to make choices. The good news is there has never been a better time to make the choices and changes you need to make than right now.

While change can be very exciting and rewarding, it can also be a little bit nerve racking. In fact, sometimes these changes can be down right frightening. But if you sincerely want to alter your present condition or situation, you must change today!

These are four very powerful words. I didn’t say that you might change nor did I say that you will change somewhere down the road. I simply stated that you must change and change today if you wish to change your present situation.

When you are finally ready to make your life the thrilling adventure it deserves to be, make it subject to change.

 

Author: Greg Hickman
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Your will is an extremely compelling force. A winner holds inside himself or herself a resolute, unrelenting will to win. A winner is known for throwing his or her entire heart and soul into reaching out and achieving his or her individual dreams.

A champion knows only one way to play the game of life and that way is full speed ahead. These power performers staunchly believe that anything (and I do mean anything!) that they can conceive in their minds and believe in their hearts, they can achieve in their lives. Nothing is ever out of reach for the real winners.

While the would-be winners tend to view success as an impossible dream, the real winners see their success as an inevitable reality. They think like winners, they talk like winners, they act like winners and most of all, they see themselves as winners. Therein lies the elusive secret. A winner knows that he or she must first think, talk and act like a success story before he or she will become one.

These top achieving individuals make the most of this "winning edge." They live each and every success in advance �?in their minds. They can literally "see" it, "sense" it and "feel" it before it actually occurs. This sensory rich mental environment, where they see themselves winning over and over again in their minds, lays the all important groundwork for future success. This unique capacity to actually conceive success in advance strengthens and reinforces their ability to believe they can do it in their hearts.

Once the winners have crystallized a clear picture of where they are going in their minds and fervently believe in their hearts that they have what it takes to make it happen, they focus all of their efforts into converting this mental picture into a reality. Winners know, really know deep down where it counts, that they have what it takes to achieve whatever they truly want in life. They possess an unwavering commitment to excellence in everything they think, say or do.

What about you? Are you putting this winning edge to work for you? Are you beginning to see, sense and feel your future successes in advance? If you have not done so already, there’s no time like the present to get started. Take off the blinders and for the first time in a long time see, I want you to feel and see your life just the way you have always dreamed it to be.

The moment you start committing every ounce of your energy into an unshakable belief in yourself and your unique abilities, then anything and everything you have ever imagined becomes possible. When you reach the point when you can say, without question or compromise, that "this is what I will do, I will never go back, I will never retreat," then you have forged the mental toughness to fulfill your destiny on earth.

You should never, ever forget that anything that you commit your heart and soul to is well within your reach. Believe in yourself and dare to live your dream today.

 

Author: Greg Hickman