This young man was born without arms and legs (no limbs), yet he does not consider himself a “handicapped” person. Quite the contrary, he has spent his life conquering his challenges and is now a well sought after motivational speaker.

His key secret is not what you may think it is.
How could Nick possibly turn such an apparent tragedy around in such a way that he is honestly living life to the full and making a huge difference in thousands of other lives?

Perhaps you may say that it is his faith. This is a very valid answer. With God on our side there really is NOTHING that cannot be conquered. And Nick does have a strong faith. But when we look around we find thousands of others who profess the same faith, but yet are not living their lives to the full. Why?

The key difference is perspective. It is all in the way you look at things. It is what you FOCUS on. In fact it is what you CHOOSE to focus on that counts and makes the difference.

Wayne Dyer is quoted as stating:

When you change the way you look at things, what you are looking at will change.

That is a powerful statement right? And Nick’s life definitely proclaims this quote to be true! It is obvious that he is focused on living life to the full! He has chosen life when so many others may have chosen death.

If anyone had a reason to feel sorry for himself, it might have been Nick, But no he is out motivating others!

If anyone had a reason to be angry and resentful at God and at life, it might have been Nick, But no he is out traveling and proclaiming the goodness of God and his love for life!

If anyone had a reason to withdraw from life, it might have been Nick. But no, he is more involved in experiencing and enjoying so many aspects of life than most young men of his age who have few challenges in life.

Why did Nick not follow the easy way? Because he is focused on overcoming and winning in life, and he is doing just that.

It is a question of perspective. What is your focus life today? Are you focused on what is working in your life, on the annoying little (or not so little) details?

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Inadequacy is actually a disguise of fear. Fear destroys dreams.

Here is something to consider:
Have you noticed that there are two major forces operating in this world? If you have ever watched a detective movie or something like Charlie’s Angels, The Mentalist, Law and Order and the like, I am sure you have noticed what the main plot is right?

These movies are always about the good against the bad right? In fact most movies in some way or another carry this underlying plot. Why?

Because the drama of life itself is about the good against the bad.

While I am sure that you probably don’t have the kind of enemies after you that you see in the movies, there IS someone (or something if you like) after you who may in fact be worse than these other enemies.

His goal? To steal your dream and totally destroy your life.

Why? Because the enemy hates your dream.

Why? Because when fulfilled your dream will make a difference in people’s lives. It will add to the good in this world.

The enemy’s objective in this world is to destroy not to build.

The enemy’s most potent weapon:
The most potent weapon the enemy has against you and me is a simple four letter word – FEAR. It may only be a four letter word, but it a VERY powerful weapon.

Disguises
This emotion comes in so many disguises that it is often difficult to recognize what is really behind what is happening to you. One of the most subtle yet powerful disguises that fear comes to you and me in is the disguise of inadequacy.

Lets take a look at inadequacy – what exactly is it?
Let’s suppose you are asked to do something you don’t feel you are good at doing. On top of that you are going to do this in front of someone who is an expert at this very task. Now how do you feel?

Reluctant? Worried? Nervous? Actually if you really dig into your emotions you would have to admit that you have some degree (or a lot) of fear about doing this right?

Now this thing you have been asked to do could open a door to push you onto the road to fulfill your dreams. The only thing is you don’t know this yet. Because of your nervousness, all you can see is that you are so worried that perhaps you will end up rejecting this invitation.

Unbeknown to you, you have just closed a door to achieving your aspirations. You were tricked into closing the door by this four letter word – FEAR.

Fear has just been able to destroy your dream.

Do you see how subtle and clever this enemy is? Yes he is out to steal your dream.

So how can you outwit him?

1. Make a decision that you ARE going to fulfill your dreams no matter what.
2. Make a decision that you are going to say YES to every new opportunity, UNLESS it goes against your core values or would take you in the opposite direction to your dream.
3. Focus on your dream every day.
4. Write down at least ONE affirmation every day that will help you to focus on achieving your dream.
   Repeat this affirmation throughout the day. This will help you to strengthen your faith in your God given ability to achieve your dream.
5. Focus ONLY on faith building words every day. Make a decision that you are not going to allow your mind to stray to doubts and fears.
6. Write down one thing every day that you can do to take you one step closer to your dream.
7. Go out and do it.

I know that you can do this because:

P.S. Fear also comes in so many other disguises – Look for next Wednesday’s article where I will be exposing another one of fear’s camouflages.

P.P.S. – So sorry – this next article is actually being published 2 weeks from today (Here it is). The Winter Olympics resulted in many great stories about Olympic champions and I just HAD to write about Apolo Ohno’s story.

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P.S. Listen to some fear demolishing positive mp3s and mp4s. Download them free here

Molly Gordon describes fear as:
Fantasy Expectations Appearing Real

Negative expectations are those “little critters” that you have archived in your mind and now they are waiting to magnify any present challenge you may face.

Remember, we considered a scenario that illustrates just how negative expectations are built in a previous article.

So what is the difference between negative expectations and fear? They certainly work very closely together. In fact I would call them “twins”, perhaps even identical twins.

Both are learned and developed.
Of course it is normal to have “natural fears”. These protect us from danger. You would never put your finger on a hot element or cross the road when there are cars close by right? (Well, you might have had to learn that fire is hot when you were little

But there are many more fears that do not protect you, but rather they hinder your growth and steal your dreams. You learned and developed these fears across the years too and now they are trying to destroy you.

In fact these fears were learned and developed in the very same way as negative expectations were developed. They are based on decisions that you made when something negative happened in the past.

For example: Let’s suppose you encountered a negative experience with a woman school teacher. It was so bad that you decided that all women teachers act out of their emotions and consequently are always unreasonable.

So now, you unconsciously expect ALL women teachers to act this way AND so you fear women teachers.

Is this a true scenario? You bet it is (and no I am not picking on women teachers of course). In fact I have encountered this very scenario in my interactions with teens and young adults.

So fear is a result of a decision and it is developed.

Every time there is an opportunity to face the area of fear and you make the same decision as always: “this is to be feared, I don’t want to deal with it” you are strengthening that fear in your mind.

So how can you get rid of fear? It takes a committed. decisive decision which is followed through on a daily basis.

First: The decision.
You decide, I do not have to fear this any more and I will not.

Second: The commitment.
I do not allow myself to fall back into fear in this area. My commitment is to myself.

Every time there is opportunity to allow fear to control me, I decide against it once again, and I act.

How do I act? I do the opposite of what the fear would want me to do.

Third: The daily action.
How can I be sure I will have the strength to follow these two previous steps? By building my faith muscle every day.

How can I build my faith muscle you may ask?

• By spending time in the Bible and in self development every day. I read, listen to and/or watch motivational and inspiration teachings every day.
• By writing down what I learn every day.
• By writing down how what I learn applies to my life.
• By going out and DOING what I learned.

Are you DOING THIS?

I believe you are because:

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You might have decided you want to lose weight or perhaps simply live healthier. In order to achieve this goal you will need to make some very definite adjustments to your present life style. They may be small adjustments or they may be major disruptions. This will depend on how drastic a change you need to make and just how determined you are to achieve your goal.

You might have decided you want to change your thoughts because you understand that this will change your life. This is going to take some focused discipline and determination.

Whatever firm decision of deliberate personal change you make, know this:

You have just made a declaration of war!

As you act on your decision you will find yourself needing to move out of your comfort zone. Your life needs to change and change is not something that most human beings REALLY like. Change can be a threat to your sense of security, even when you know that the change is necessary.

• You know you need to break out of your present lifestyle patterns in order to reach your dreams.
• You know that your present lifestyle patterns are actually destroying your dreams.
• You know that you really don’t want to still be where you are now in 5 or 10 years time.

The three enemies that will try to stop you:

• You will still find your inner self putting up a fight.
• You will probably find some naysayers around you critising or scoffing at your effort.
• There is a universal enemy out doing his best to pull everyone down to destruction.

We find Jesus talking about this in John 10:10 (International Version) “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”.

This enemy is behind those negative thoughts, the negative words you hear and speak and anything else that is lanzed at you with the intention of destroying your dreams, your health and your life.

Are you prepared for war?

So what will it take to evict the enemy and win this war?

1. A Definite decision.
You will need to make a your decision a definite one, no “maybes” or let’s see how I go. You need to decide once and for all: “This is what I want, this is what it will take to get there and this is what I am going to do”.

2. Determination and Discipline
It will take determination and discipline to change your diet, stop destructive habits and change your thinking patterns. Your resolution to change will include a decision that you are going to do what it takes and push against old habits.

3. Defined action plan.
To reach any destination, you need a map. If you are familiar with the area you are moving towards, this map may already in your mind. If you are moving into territory unknown to you, then you will carry a map to consult.

Create a written plan. Then break your plan down into a daily “to do list”. This plan will include one area of your thought life that you are focusing on making positive. It may be an area that you have spoken and thought many negative words about in the past. Now, you are focusing on turning this around.

Your map (plan) will focus on your destination. Your destination is success. You are planning to overcome all negative influences in your life and reach your success goals.

Always focus on your destination (your final goal). This will make it easier to exercise the determination and discipline you need evict any enemy you encounter as your move towards achieving your goal.

And don’t forget, you DO have the power to evict the enemy in your life  (if you choose to use it) because: