Speaking the right words into your life is your first step towards training your brain for success. This is the way you can create the right mindset that will lead you to the freedom and abundance in life that you are seeking. You will have a Mindset For Living!

Actually you are retraining your brain for success. Your brain was trained in a lot of negative thinking from birth because of all of the negative words that you grew up listening to (Check out the book “Champions Are Born, Losers Are Made”). Now it is time to reverse that!

Day 1 – Today’s affirmation is:

I am committed to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to be a Why Warrior Champion 1000%. John Di Lemme

There are two keywords here in this affirmation:

Commitment and Why Warrior Champion – the latter is actually a “long tailed keyword”

1. Commitment
One of the key characteristics that is found in EVERY successful man or woman is commitment.

Everyone who has arrived at the fulfillment of their dreams and goals in life were totally committed to their dream.

I can’t imagine a person becoming a success who doesn’t give this game of life everything he’s got. Walter Cronkite.

2. Why Warrior Champion
What in the world is a why warrior champion?

A why warrior champion is one who has discovered his or her purpose in life (their “why”) and is committed to fighting for it’s achievement.

A warrior fights to defend AND to advance.

A Why Warrior Champion fights to defend his or her WHY and advance towards achieving it.

A Champion ALWAYS fights to win!

You can read more about discovering your purpose in life on this blog under the category “Life Purpose”

Also you can pick up a GREAT CD Find Your Why right here (aff link). You will not listen to this one just once, in fact you will probably wear it out.

And don’t forget:

Resource:
210 Day Lifestyle Freedom Club Affirmation Challenge, then click on the menu at the top “Affirmation Challenge”.

Day 2 – Faithful Dreamer

Photo Credit for Medals in Slide

• If you believe that success is not for you, it is very unlikely you will succeed.On the other hand, if you believe that you CAN succeed, then you will.
• What you believe to be true is the foundation of your mindset. Mindset is what motivates you and me and me to do what we do in life.

It takes time and effort to train your mind to stay focused on the positive things in life. But it is well worth making the effort to do everything you can to learn how to focus on the things that will bring you success.

What is your definition of success?

You define your own success. You will have your own goals, passions and vision of things you want to achieve in life. Success does not necessarily mean you have to be a millionaire.

There are really two very important things that will define success for you.

1. Your main goal in life will be to achieve the deepest desire you find your heart wanting to achieve in life. This will be your main purpose for living (or your WHY as John Di Lemme so aptly teaches).
2. Once you are on the path to fulfilling your main goal, you will enjoy everything you do even when things get tough and you have to work hard.This is because you are working with a purpose. When have a real purpose for what you are doing you hardly notice any difficulties that come your way.

   Once you are doing the things you enjoy you have already reached a great measure of success in your life. You will find yourself enjoying everything you do.

Here is a suggested checklist to prepare for success!
Write down your answers to these questions in your notebook or journal:

• Have you defined your purpose in life?
• What does success mean to YOU?
• Do you have your goals written down?
• Can you visualize yourself enjoying success?
• Do you have a plan of action for each day?
• Does your plan of action include time for self development?
• Does your plan of action include activities to help train your brain for success?
• Are you surrounding yourself with people who are successful?

I am sure you could add many items to this list. I would love to hear your suggestions in the comments below.

You will find many posts on this site that I trust will help you to create a strong Mindset For Living.

I invite you to spend some time checking out the categories on this site that attract your interest. And above all, please always remember:

He kept His eyes on the goal!

(Now this is not an article about doctrine. Here I am simply taking the example of how One Man was able to endure such extraordinary circumstances in order to reach His final goal).

What was His goal? The joy set before Him (the resurrection).

The point is that He was able to continue His course without being tripped up by the obstacle of the cross BECAUSE His eyes were firmly fixed on the finish line.

So how does this help you and me? After all we were talking about the Son of God right? Yes we were, BUT remember that although He was God, He had subjected Himself to the weakness of the human body which left Him with the same advantages and disadvantages as you and me. (You can find that in Philippians 2:8).

So here are three mindsets that the man Jesus had which kept Him from being tripped up by a very BIG obstacle. If you and I learn to develop these same mindsets, we also can run our race without being tripped up by any obstacles that may cross our path.

1. His focus was on the finish line which was the joy set before Him.
Do you have a goal in life? I am sure you have many of them. Hopefully all of these goals will lead towards one big purpose. Your main purpose in life could be something like:

• I plan on leaving a great heritage for my family.
• I plan on leaving a mark on this world in the area of family relationships (or whatever area your focus or expertise may be).
• I plan on helping to advance local foundations dedicated to the education of our children.
• I plan on ….. (you fill in the gaps).

All of your short term goals will lead towards your main life’s purpose or passion. Of course some of your short term goals may be hobby related or may seem not to have anything to do with your main purpose.

However every goal you achieve will make you a better person and so will positively affect your main purpose in life.

Every achievement brings the taste of success, and this brings confidence, enthusiasm and the knowledge that you CAN do it!

Now you have your finish line fully in your focus, no matter what obstacle may cross your path it will not trip you up. Why? Because your focus is on your goal. This object of your focus is bigger than any obstacle.

The size of any problem in life is affected by how you perceive it. This is directly related to your focus.

2. He did not allow distractions.
If you did check out Hebrews 12:2, you will find that Jesus literally despised the shame of the cross. He was not going to be distracted from His final goal by focusing on any difficulty or even humiliation on the way.

When I read these verses, I visualize the following scene. An athlete is running a race with his eye on the finish line. A wasp suddenly comes swooping down to distract him. (Who likes to be stung by a wasp).

He brushes it off as if it were just a fly. It is a simple distraction not worth taking note of because his eye is fixed on the finish line.

How big are your obstacles?
Is your focus on the problem at hand or is it fixed on your goal?

Your success in overcoming will depend on your focus.

3. His focus was fixed on reaching the finish line and receiving the prize.
Do you want to reach your prize? I am sure you do.

How can you be sure you will reach your finish line?
Keep all hindrances that may cross your path in the right perspective.

How? By making sure you have your focus fixed on your goals.

If you do this, you have a great chance of reaching your finish line and receiving your prize.

With this in mind, here are some tips to help you MAKE 2009 be your best year yet! These are things that I have done (and some I am still in the process of doing).

This is a great exercise to do on January 1st, and will help to set the course for a great year!

First print out this page, and the following two articles from this blog:

Your Passion in Life

Discovering Life’s Purpose

Now you need to find a quiet moment and a quiet place (away from the computer and Twitter!). This may be dificult at this time of the year if you have family and friends visiting, but I am sure you will be able to find at least 15-20 minutes at some time of the day. If not, don’t fret, this is not Cinderella here (i.e. if you have to wait til January 2nd to find the time, it will still work!).

Don’t forget to take a good old notepad and pen or pencil with you to your quiet place (yes pens and pencils do still exist in this digital world

Closing Chapter 2008!

Before thinking about new goals for 2009, take a moment to reflect on 2008. Perhaps it was a good year for you, perhaps not. But the key is:

• What did you achieve?

• Are you closer now to your life’s goals than you were at the end of 2007? (Not sure of your life’s goals? The two articles you printed out may help you to discover these).
• If you are not closer, why? If you discover that you have lost your vision or it has dimmed, this is a good time to refocus and get back on track.

  It is also a good time to tweak your life’s goals and vision. Was you vision too small? Too dim? Too vague before?

  Adjustments are ok, as long as you are following YOUR heart. (That’s why we are doing this away from all the noise and influence of our friends and family).

• Are there some things in 2008 you regret? This is a time to forgive the people involved, forgive yourself, close the chapter and be free to open chapter 2009!
• Are there some achievements you are glad about in 2008? Great, but don’t camp there! There is more to do, more to achieve. Your achievements of 2008 are building blocks for greater things.

Ok, ready to close chapter 2008?

Getting Started on Chapter 2009

Let’s get started on our goals for 2009.

There are 3 main things we are going to bear in mind while looking at your plan for 2009:

1. It has to line up with your life vision and passion.

2. It has to include a balance for all areas of your life. You, your mental, spiritual and physical health, your family, your business achievements, your leisure time and any other achievements you plan on doing are all equally important.
3. Life can always throw us some curves, so there needs to be some flexibility in our projects.

Here is an outline of some things you might want to write down for 2009. The following items are just ideas to help you get your inspiration flowing:

What do I want for myself?

• Excellent health, I take care of my health so I will be more careful with what I eat, avoid processed foods. I will also make sure I get adequate rest and exercise more.
• Be more alive spiritually, so I will take some time (or more time) every day to read the Bible and fellowship with God .
• Open up new areas of my mind, so I will read 1-3 books a month, learn a new language or start something new like working on brain teasers.
• Spend more time enjoying life, so I will make sure I get to take time to enjoy some bicycle riding, or sports, take up a new hobby and make new friends.

My goals for my family are:

• Spend more time with them doing active things together where there is more interaction (not watching just TV together)
• Involve them more in my business so they will feel a part of this area of my life too.
• Take time to explore new things together (such as learning a new language together, learning about other cultures and countries together, learning a new sport together)

My goals to reach out to others are:

• Join a voluntary organization to help support the community.
• Start supporting new organizations such as perhaps sponsoring a child, supporting St Judes Children’s Hospital, giving to organizations providing clean water where there is none available.
• Take an interest in a needy family and look for ways to help them.
• “Adopt” a teenager and be their mentor.

My business goals are:
I plan on having my business fully support me by ………. (set a challenging but realistic date here).

To do this I will: (This could include things like:)

• Write at least 3 posts a week for my blog (or it might be 1 a day – whatever is a challenge for you, yet attainable within your time schedule)
• Write at least 3-5 articles a week.
• Learn a new area of business (perhaps more about SEO, or traffic, or website building etc)
• Find some new partners to master mind with.
• Find a mentor to guide me.
• Have a daily plan and make sure I keep on track.

Well these are some things that will guide you to create your own plans for 2009, so that you can MAKE 2009 your best year yet!

This is a great book to work through for the New Year (yes it is not really one to simply sit down and read, it is one to study and make notes on). It will help you move up to the new heights you plan for 2009!

Success Principles:

How To Get From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be.

Jack Cranfield Co-author of the Chicken Soup For The Soul series, went from being a school teacher to holding a Guinness world record for having seven books simultaneously on The New York Times® Best Sellers list.

This book contains 64 principles, each principle a chapter that challenges the reader to take practical and positive action to risk creating their lives exactly as they want them.

Some principles are better known (such as “Take 100% responsibility for your life”) while others are inventive (such as “Become an Inverse Paranoid”).

All are well worth studying, considering and acting on as they can only enrich your life and help you get to where you want to be.

Recommended reading: 10 Simple Tips for Making (New Year’s) Resolutions Stick

Pastor Favour really caught my attention when he wrote his post “The Cure For Poverty”, where he states that poverty is not about money but rather it is spiritual.

He makes several statements such as:

“Poverty is much deeper than the absence of cash. As a matter of fact, the chronic lack of money is just one of the various manifestations of poverty.”

“The cure for poverty lies in the liberalizing of the soul through life-transforming and energizing spiritual enlightenment.”

(Picture shows Pastor WD Favour deliver a lecture at Success Academy, Nigeria)

Now it may be easier for those of us in the “Western World” to make such declarations (at least in the eyes of the more impoverished countries of this planet. They tend to think that we don’t suffer or have challenges of any kind of poverty in the Western World. Of course we do, but we also have to admit that it is worse in countries such as Africa).

But let’s remember that the above statements were written by a man who was brought up in Nigeria, has faced what could be termed as “real poverty” and has conquered it!

I invited Pastor Favour to give his testimony for the readers of Mindset For Living and he responded by suggesting I interview him on this blog.

I thought that was a great idea, so read on to learn how a great man of God (yes he is a pastor AND a believer) has proved that you are stopped by circumstances only if you WANT to be!

Pastor Favour, can you share a little about your childhood? What were the conditions you lived in?

I grew up in a little village called Odumara, in the South Eastern Nigerian State of Imo.

Life back then was simple and less complicated. There was no electricity anywhere; everyone had to trek or cycle several kilometres to the villages’s central market to collect drinking water.

I have memories of forage through the forests of the village for fire wood – we didn’t even have a kerosene stove. Lol.

What kinds of struggles did you and your family go through?

As our family grew larger and we moved into the city, things became harder; or I think, I became old enough to feel the pains of the situation.

My parents were both educated at the University of Nigeria and were Civil Servants. They were also very faithful Christians. But the cost of taking care of six children and several extended family members was more than their meagre salaries could afford. So we practically had to feed from hand to mouth.

In spite of my parents tremendous efforts and sacrifices – which resulted in huge mountains of debt – we often had to go without meals and rarely had adequate nourishments.

My parents high ethical and moral principles, plus their abiding faith in the goodness of God, provided the inner strength and hope that sustained us from day to day and year to year.

Everyone in the family had to make sacrifices. We had to endure lots of strenous hours and days in the farm, and other forms of deprivations. One of my most painful memories was the period I had to hawk bread on the streets of our neighbourhood just to make ends meet for our family.

Do you remember what thoughts went through your mind when you were young?

Yeah. I had thoughts like, “Why are we poor?” “Will this ever end? Would we ever be in a situation where we would never have to worry about where our next meal was going to come from? How long are we going to be like this?”

And these thoughts often made me very angry, and sad.

How did those thoughts influence your life.

Those thoughts simply made me hate poverty. I resolved never to be poor and never to be in financial debt to anybody. I also resolved that I was going to fight poverty in my life, in my family, and in my nation.

How did you come to the conclusions about poverty that you so clearly express on your post “The Cure For Poverty”?

I understand poverty. I also understand why people are poor.

The simple reason I do is because I experienced it in my own life and family. I observed it first hand in the lives of most of the people I grew up with.

Beyond these reasons, however, is that in my quest to eliminate it from my personal life and family – which involved lots of studies, prayers, meditations, and counseling with the poor – I learnt volumes about its nature and why masses of people fall into it.

What made you realize that you too could pursue success!

My greatest inspiration for success are my parents. They never gave in to their circumstances. They are Christians ad believed in God’s promises. They always taught us that there was a better future and that we could become anything we wanted to be. They believed in the power of books.

My dad began to build a library for me even before I was 10 years old! At that age I read about great Christian entrepreneurs like Kenneth Hagin, Oral Roberts, Pat Robertson, and so on. Though he often lacked the resources to afford good food and clothes for us, he never failed to buy me a good biography every now and then!

As a little boy, I loved stories, but I preferred those stories about entrepreneurs and how they did it I think that’s the primary reason I have this passion for success today. Before I was a teenager, I had formed my own opinion about faith; I considered faith to be the ability to take risks. That definition has stuck with me till date.

Someone from Kenya heard me talking about if you change your mindset you can be successful at anything you want. I know this can be a difficult concept to grasp when you sunk into difficult circumstances.

They said to me: “Its all right for you, you can say things like that, you live in the Western World. You need to come and see what how we live in Kenya” What would you say to them?

First of all, I’d say that I understand that thinking. In fact, most poor people in poor nations share that mindset.

One aspect of poverty I’ll never ignore is the fact that the poor are often the victims of poor decisions and judgements made by previous generations, as well as those made by poor leadership.

You see, when your ancestors make poor quality decisions and choices, they create a negative climate that infirms not just your external environment, but also your mental processes.

Remember that the principal thing you inherit from your culture is a way of thinking – a mindset.

So, I would agree with the Kenyan, and any other person for that matter who would say so.

But then, that’s exactly the point, as I would point out to such people – poverty is a mindset! Change the mindset, and you change the condition.

Do you have any challenges to share with our readers?

I understand the negative consequences of poverty too well. However, I believe that the cure for poverty is not in any type of condescending charity from rich nations; such charity is often manipulative with long-term injurious consequences for the poor.

Besides, it’s most likely to be hijacked by corrupt leadership thereby robbing the poor of its intended benefits. My efforts are deliberately geared towards challenging the poor to take responsibility over their fate, empowering their mental processes with adequate mind food, and inspiring them to make the right choices regardless of the cost.

My primary targets are the young men and women with whom I believe I have greater chances for mental transformation. This is why we set up the Success Academy Nigeria where principles of success, entrepreneuring, personal leadership, and wealth creation are taught with dedication.

My prayer and hope is that the Lord will crown our efforts with His own success and glory.

So, the conclusion is:

• It does not matter where you were born.
• It does not matter if you were poor or rich as a child
• It does not matter if you were told you could or you couldn’t do something
• It does not matter where you are right now
• It does not matter that the world is talking about recession

What matters is, if you change your MINDSET today, be assured:

You can follow Pastor Favour on twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/wdfavour

and you will find me here:
http://www.twitter.com/kiwichamp

Check out Pastor WD Favour’s post Victims of an Illusion

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