Start of a New Week

Sundays are special. They are the day equivalent to spring. Things grow in spring, they come back to life, they focus on what is ahead. It is the natural order of things. And so this Sunday, I wish you great preparation, and belief you will achieve whatever you set out for this week; be it simply furthering a project at work, bettering yourself somehow, or taking the time to tell the ones you love, you love them.
Friday will be here soon enough as time moves on without our request or counsel. As you look back towards this day on Friday, will you see success, failure or the monotony of yet another week? Will you see proactive approaches to opportunities which presented themselves or will you see missed opportunities you were too pessimistic, "realist", and reactive to take hold of?
Remember, we all have the same 24 hours a day. What we do with it literally makes us who we are. When you think you don't have "time" to succeed, remember Einstein, Newton, Da Vinci, Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Jesus himself only had the same 24 hours a day we do. What's your excuse? Whatever it is, it truly and literally is nothing more than an "excuse".
There are two titans of self-improvement I look to for inspiration. The first is the ever-quirky, old guy next door type, Zig Ziglar. His gentle personality and comfortingly normal voice draw you in and provide practical, measurable, and actionable advice to help you be the best "you", you can be. In this blog I will at times be referring to his teachings for sure.
The other titan of self improvement, and probably the man who learned more about the difference between the rich and poor is a man named Napoleon Hill. In the early 20th century he was commissioned to spend 20 years of his life studying, interviewing, and observing the very rich and trying to figure out what made them different. His findings were so significant they revolutionized the self-help industry if not "started" it. Even the famous "Secret" program which has been highlighted on shows like Oprah Winfrey comes almost exclusively from Mr. Hill's most epic book, "Think and Grow Rich". Thus I thought I'd share a short quote from his book as you start your week off as a reminder, life gives you what you ask, you just have to ask big. Hopefully you will be willing to copy and print out the words which I'll add after the video and place them on your bathroom mirror and read through this simple poem every morning and evening as you brush your teeth. Good luck this week, I believe in you, believe in yourself:
jv

"I bargained with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store.
For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.
I worked for a menial's hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have willingly paid."                         

        by Napoleon Hill