ve to say and do it. This reminds me of a story told in Chicken Soup for the Soul. One night a group of nomads were preparing for the evening when suddenly they were surrounded by great light. They knew they were in the presence of celestial beings. With great anticipation they awaited a heavenly message of great importance that they knew must be especially for them. Finally the voice spoke. "Gather as many pebbles and you can and put them in your saddle bags. Travel a day’s journey and tomorrow night you will find you are glad that you listened and took action." After having departed, the nomad shared their disappointment and anger with each other. They had expected a revelation of great universal truth that would enable them to create wealth, health and purpose for the world. But instead they were given a menial task that made no sense to them at all. However the memory of the brilliance of their visitor caused each of them to pick up a few pebbles and deposit them in their saddlebags while voicing their displeasure.

While some only picked up a few pebbles, others did as they were advised and filled their pockets until they overflowed. They traveled a day's journey, and that night while making camp, they reached into their saddlebags and discovered every pebble they had gathered had become a nugget of gold. They were glad they had their nuggets. Those who gathered only a few pebbles were sad that they had not gathered more pebbles. Those who truly believed and filled their pockets were overjoyed themselves for their good fortune. Your wealth, success and happiness are right there, under your nose. Listen to successful people around you and implement the information in these CD's and do the workbook and change your life.

Let me finish with one quick story. This young man and this young lady were falling in love and they decided one beautiful Saturday afternoon to go out in the country and have a picnic. So they packed a lunch and he borrowed his father's con

You need to understand that as you program your mind and ask yourself do you accept negative suggestions in your mind and when people say, "Well I can't" or "That's too hard" or "I'll fail" or "Why try" and "Nobody cares", makes a huge difference on how your mind works and your subconscious mind, if your telling yourself that you can't do it and when you have that voice that I call the internal heckler, that heckler inside you that tells you that you can't do it. It is important that you take that voice and turn the volume down and change it around to where "I can do it" and "I'm going to win" "there's plenty for everybody." It is going to make a difference and that is the important thing because your subconscious mind will accept what you program. It will never argue with you, you don't need to put any obstacles in front of it. The bottom line is that you are what you think about. You have the power to choose. Control your thoughts.

When you give you subconscious mind a problem or a challenge to solve, the best time, I have found, is before I fall asleep to think about and many times those ideas will come to me during the next day or while I sleep. The subconscious mind is always working on it. Understand very important though is that your subconscious mind does not respond to force. It responds to belief and acceptance. You need to let it happen and understand how to harness that energy because as you study successful people, successful CEO's, multi millionaires they’re following their gut they’re following their intuition and that is their subconscious mind. It is one of the power tools of the ultra prosperous. Napoleon Hill actually calls it autosuggestion or self-suggestion that it needs to reach your subconscious mind. He relates your subconscious mind to a garden. Are letting weeds grow? Are you letting desirable crops grow are you neglecting your garden?

Now let's spend some time on self-discipline. Now we've heard that self-discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment. Studies show that willpower is actually like a muscle. The more you exercise it, the more you use it, the stronger you get it. Let me give you a study. This study was done with college students. They put them in front of a table with a bowl of radishes and a bowl of chocolate. Half the students were told to restrain from eating the chocolate and to eat the radishes and the other half were able to eat the chocolates. Then they are asked to complete a puzzle. Now this puzzle was impossible to solve but they wanted to see how long they would work at it before they gave up. Now the ones that used their self-control and their willpower and their self-disciple not to eat the chocolate and eat the radishes, gave up much sooner. Those that were able to each the chocolate and not exercise their will power, worked at it much longer.

So when you are ready to make a choice there are three "R's" that you need to think about. Reflect about the issue, obstacle or challenge that you are having. Research your options, ask other people, and then react. Go out there and do it, change your life and reach exponential success. Because as you look as procrastination and the things you are avoiding and the habits in your life, you have to realize that your life right now is an accumulation of the choices, habits and decisions that you've made. Your habits will determine your future and your success. Many times when we look at our eating habits, our exercise habits, or failure to save money, the challenge is many times we don't see the results or the consequences of those actions until twenty thirty years down the road.

Here is the key; you can't change your habits you need to replace your habits. If you have a bad habit of watching too much TV, replace it with reading and listening to motivation tapes. If you have a bad habit of eating, you can replace it with exercise or something more productive. So take a look at your habits and create an action plan to replace those habits with more productive habits. I'm excited for you as you go down this path of exponential success. What I want you to do is give yourself permission to win. You can with this game, you can become what you want to become but give yourself permission, program your mind, look at your habits and find your purpose in life. Many of you already know your passion, your purpose in life. What you need to do change yourself and to change the world. If you don't know don't panic. It is like sculpting, a little bit at a time. You'll get there. Find your purpose and align that with your natural ability. Another question you can ask yourself is "What do you want it to say in your Eulogy?" Or you can write a statement of purpose, but figure it out. Live your life with purpose. When you find that purpose it will increase your confidence.

One of the great exercises you can do is actually make a victory list, things you've accomplished in the past when you've had that courage and confidence to succeed. You know it has been said everyone is born unique, but most of us die copies. As Victor Franco said in Man's Search for Meaning, I think the meaning of our existence is not invented but rather detected." That is what I want for you. Detect your purpose in life. What do you want to be, what do you want to accomplish? Get on the road to exponential success and you'll see a big difference in what you are able to accomplish and your happiness and your willingness and your ability to change the world. Understand what Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Take the first step in faith; you don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." Part of that faith is believing without seeing and knowing you are able to accomplish this, and seeing your future. So get committed, keep the promises you make to yourself and others. Work on that willpower. Watch the words you use. Don't say I'll try, or I could, I hope, I might, I wish. Say I will, I can. Program your mind for success. As Vince Lombardy says, "The quality of your life will be determined by the depth of your commitment to excellence, more than any other factor." So what are you committed to, really committed to? What are you willing to sacrifice to achieve that? Make sure the commitments we make in a moment of excitement have the sustaining motivation to take us to the next level. Your commitment needs to be stronger than your moods. I'll repeat that, make your commitments, what you want to accomplish, where you want to go, stronger than your day-to-day moods. You'll have bad days; you'll feel like not doing the things you know you need to do. Find the commitment, find the courage and do it. The wealth, the success, the relationships, the teams, the mentors you need are around you. Find them, look for them and be careful you don't fall into the acres of diamond syndrome.

I hope you've all heard the story of the acres of diamonds. It all goes back to 1870 when Russell Conwell heard this legend about this prosperous Persian farmer Alehafed. He had heard great stories about diamonds and the mountains and distant seas and that you could dig and become very very wealthy, so what Alehafed did, was desert his own fruitful farm to search for immense wealth and mythical diamond fields. He searched far and wide he roamed he became footsore and weary and spend all of his wealth. His use and his youth and his wealth disappeared. He died far from home, old disillusioned and poor. Not long afterward acres of fabulous diamonds were found on Alphabet’s own land. Right under his nose. It is important to understand that your diamonds are not if faraway mountains or distant seas, they are in your own back yard if you will dig for them. They are close. The people you need, the contacts you need to have, the skills you need to have are right there. Look and you will find them.

Find successful people around you, those that have reached exponential success. Listen to what they have to say and do it. This reminds me of a story told in Chicken Soup for the Soul. One night a group of nomads were preparing for the evening when suddenly they were surrounded by great light. They knew they were in the presence of celestial beings. With great anticipation they awaited a heavenly message of great importance that they knew must be especially for them. Finally the voice spoke. "Gather as many pebbles and you can and put them in your saddle bags. Travel a day’s journey and tomorrow night you will find you are glad that you listened and took action." After having departed, the nomad shared their disappointment and anger with each other. They had expected a revelation of great universal truth that would enable them to create wealth, health and purpose for the world. But instead they were given a menial task that made no sense to them at all. However the memory of the brilliance of their visitor caused each of them to pick up a few pebbles and deposit them in their saddlebags while voicing their displeasure.

While some only picked up a few pebbles, others did as they were advised and filled their pockets until they overflowed. They traveled a day's journey, and that night while making camp, they reached into their saddlebags and discovered every pebble they had gathered had become a nugget of gold. They were glad they had their nuggets. Those who gathered only a few pebbles were sad that they had not gathered more pebbles. Those who truly believed and filled their pockets were overjoyed themselves for their good fortune. Your wealth, success and happiness are right there, under your nose. Listen to successful people around you and implement the information in these CD's and do the workbook and change your life.

Let me finish with one quick story. This young man and this young lady were falling in love and they decided one beautiful Saturday afternoon to go out in the country and have a picnic. So they packed a lunch and he borrowed his father's con

between goals and accomplishment. Studies show that willpower is actually like a muscle. The more you exercise it, the more you use it, the stronger you get it. Let me give you a study. This study was done with college students. They put them in front of a table with a bowl of radishes and a bowl of chocolate. Half the students were told to restrain from eating the chocolate and to eat the radishes and the other half were able to eat the chocolates. Then they are asked to complete a puzzle. Now this puzzle was impossible to solve but they wanted to see how long they would work at it before they gave up. Now the ones that used their self-control and their willpower and their self-disciple not to eat the chocolate and eat the radishes, gave up much sooner. Those that were able to each the chocolate and not exercise their will power, worked at it much longer.

So when you are ready to make a choice there are three "R's" that you need to think about. Reflect about the issue, obstacle or challenge that you are having. Research your options, ask other people, and then react. Go out there and do it, change your life and reach exponential success. Because as you look as procrastination and the things you are avoiding and the habits in your life, you have to realize that your life right now is an accumulation of the choices, habits and decisions that you've made. Your habits will determine your future and your success. Many times when we look at our eating habits, our exercise habits, or failure to save money, the challenge is many times we don't see the results or the consequences of those actions until twenty thirty years down the road.

Here is the key; you can't change your habits you need to replace your habits. If you have a bad habit of watching too much TV, replace it with reading and listening to motivation tapes. If you have a bad habit of eating, you can replace it with exercise or something more productive. So take a look at your habits and create an action plan to replace those habits with more productive habits. I'm excited for you as you go down this path of exponential success. What I want you to do is give yourself permission to win. You can with this game, you can become what you want to become but give yourself permission, program your mind, look at your habits and find your purpose in life. Many of you already know your passion, your purpose in life. What you need to do change yourself and to change the world. If you don't know don't panic. It is like sculpting, a little bit at a time. You'll get there. Find your purpose and align that with your natural ability. Another question you can ask yourself is "What do you want it to say in your Eulogy?" Or you can write a statement of purpose, but figure it out. Live your life with purpose. When you find that purpose it will increase your confidence.

One of the great exercises you can do is actually make a victory list, things you've accomplished in the past when you've had that courage and confidence to succeed. You know it has been said everyone is born unique, but most of us die copies. As Victor Franco said in Man's Search for Meaning, I think the meaning of our existence is not invented but rather detected." That is what I want for you. Detect your purpose in life. What do you want to be, what do you want to accomplish? Get on the road to exponential success and you'll see a big difference in what you are able to accomplish and your happiness and your willingness and your ability to change the world. Understand what Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Take the first step in faith; you don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." Part of that faith is believing without seeing and knowing you are able to accomplish this, and seeing your future. So get committed, keep the promises you make to yourself and others. Work on that willpower. Watch the words you use. Don't say I'll try, or I could, I hope, I might, I wish. Say I will, I can. Program your mind for success. As Vince Lombardy says, "The quality of your life will be determined by the depth of your commitment to excellence, more than any other factor." So what are you committed to, really committed to? What are you willing to sacrifice to achieve that? Make sure the commitments we make in a moment of excitement have the sustaining motivation to take us to the next level. Your commitment needs to be stronger than your moods. I'll repeat that, make your commitments, what you want to accomplish, where you want to go, stronger than your day-to-day moods. You'll have bad days; you'll feel like not doing the things you know you need to do. Find the commitment, find the courage and do it. The wealth, the success, the relationships, the teams, the mentors you need are around you. Find them, look for them and be careful you don't fall into the acres of diamond syndrome.

I hope you've all heard the story of the acres of diamonds. It all goes back to 1870 when Russell Conwell heard this legend about this prosperous Persian farmer Alehafed. He had heard great stories about diamonds and the mountains and distant seas and that you could dig and become very very wealthy, so what Alehafed did, was desert his own fruitful farm to search for immense wealth and mythical diamond fields. He searched far and wide he roamed he became footsore and weary and spend all of his wealth. His use and his youth and his wealth disappeared. He died far from home, old disillusioned and poor. Not long afterward acres of fabulous diamonds were found on Alphabet’s own land. Right under his nose. It is important to understand that your diamonds are not if faraway mountains or distant seas, they are in your own back yard if you will dig for them. They are close. The people you need, the contacts you need to have, the skills you need to have are right there. Look and you will find them.

Find successful people around you, those that have reached exponential success. Listen to what they have to say and do it. This reminds me of a story told in Chicken Soup for the Soul. One night a group of nomads were preparing for the evening when suddenly they were surrounded by great light. They knew they were in the presence of celestial beings. With great anticipation they awaited a heavenly message of great importance that they knew must be especially for them. Finally the voice spoke. "Gather as many pebbles and you can and put them in your saddle bags. Travel a day’s journey and tomorrow night you will find you are glad that you listened and took action." After having departed, the nomad shared their disappointment and anger with each other. They had expected a revelation of great universal truth that would enable them to create wealth, health and purpose for the world. But instead they were given a menial task that made no sense to them at all. However the memory of the brilliance of their visitor caused each of them to pick up a few pebbles and deposit them in their saddlebags while voicing their displeasure.

While some only picked up a few pebbles, others did as they were advised and filled their pockets until they overflowed. They traveled a day's journey, and that night while making camp, they reached into their saddlebags and discovered every pebble they had gathered had become a nugget of gold. They were glad they had their nuggets. Those who gathered only a few pebbles were sad that they had not gathered more pebbles. Those who truly believed and filled their pockets were overjoyed themselves for their good fortune. Your wealth, success and happiness are right there, under your nose. Listen to successful people around you and implement the information in these CD's and do the workbook and change your life.

Let me finish with one quick story. This young man and this young lady were falling in love and they decided one beautiful Saturday afternoon to go out in the country and have a picnic. So they packed a lunch and he borrowed his father's con

plan to replace those habits with more productive habits. I'm excited for you as you go down this path of exponential success. What I want you to do is give yourself permission to win. You can with this game, you can become what you want to become but give yourself permission, program your mind, look at your habits and find your purpose in life. Many of you already know your passion, your purpose in life. What you need to do change yourself and to change the world. If you don't know don't panic. It is like sculpting, a little bit at a time. You'll get there. Find your purpose and align that with your natural ability. Another question you can ask yourself is "What do you want it to say in your Eulogy?" Or you can write a statement of purpose, but figure it out. Live your life with purpose. When you find that purpose it will increase your confidence.

One of the great exercises you can do is actually make a victory list, things you've accomplished in the past when you've had that courage and confidence to succeed. You know it has been said everyone is born unique, but most of us die copies. As Victor Franco said in Man's Search for Meaning, I think the meaning of our existence is not invented but rather detected." That is what I want for you. Detect your purpose in life. What do you want to be, what do you want to accomplish? Get on the road to exponential success and you'll see a big difference in what you are able to accomplish and your happiness and your willingness and your ability to change the world. Understand what Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Take the first step in faith; you don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." Part of that faith is believing without seeing and knowing you are able to accomplish this, and seeing your future. So get committed, keep the promises you make to yourself and others. Work on that willpower. Watch the words you use. Don't say I'll try, or I could, I hope, I might, I wish. Say I will, I can. Program your mind for success. As Vince Lombardy says, "The quality of your life will be determined by the depth of your commitment to excellence, more than any other factor." So what are you committed to, really committed to? What are you willing to sacrifice to achieve that? Make sure the commitments we make in a moment of excitement have the sustaining motivation to take us to the next level. Your commitment needs to be stronger than your moods. I'll repeat that, make your commitments, what you want to accomplish, where you want to go, stronger than your day-to-day moods. You'll have bad days; you'll feel like not doing the things you know you need to do. Find the commitment, find the courage and do it. The wealth, the success, the relationships, the teams, the mentors you need are around you. Find them, look for them and be careful you don't fall into the acres of diamond syndrome.

I hope you've all heard the story of the acres of diamonds. It all goes back to 1870 when Russell Conwell heard this legend about this prosperous Persian farmer Alehafed. He had heard great stories about diamonds and the mountains and distant seas and that you could dig and become very very wealthy, so what Alehafed did, was desert his own fruitful farm to search for immense wealth and mythical diamond fields. He searched far and wide he roamed he became footsore and weary and spend all of his wealth. His use and his youth and his wealth disappeared. He died far from home, old disillusioned and poor. Not long afterward acres of fabulous diamonds were found on Alphabet’s own land. Right under his nose. It is important to understand that your diamonds are not if faraway mountains or distant seas, they are in your own back yard if you will dig for them. They are close. The people you need, the contacts you need to have, the skills you need to have are right there. Look and you will find them.

Find successful people around you, those that have reached exponential success. Listen to what they have to say and do it. This reminds me of a story told in Chicken Soup for the Soul. One night a group of nomads were preparing for the evening when suddenly they were surrounded by great light. They knew they were in the presence of celestial beings. With great anticipation they awaited a heavenly message of great importance that they knew must be especially for them. Finally the voice spoke. "Gather as many pebbles and you can and put them in your saddle bags. Travel a day’s journey and tomorrow night you will find you are glad that you listened and took action." After having departed, the nomad shared their disappointment and anger with each other. They had expected a revelation of great universal truth that would enable them to create wealth, health and purpose for the world. But instead they were given a menial task that made no sense to them at all. However the memory of the brilliance of their visitor caused each of them to pick up a few pebbles and deposit them in their saddlebags while voicing their displeasure.

While some only picked up a few pebbles, others did as they were advised and filled their pockets until they overflowed. They traveled a day's journey, and that night while making camp, they reached into their saddlebags and discovered every pebble they had gathered had become a nugget of gold. They were glad they had their nuggets. Those who gathered only a few pebbles were sad that they had not gathered more pebbles. Those who truly believed and filled their pockets were overjoyed themselves for their good fortune. Your wealth, success and happiness are right there, under your nose. Listen to successful people around you and implement the information in these CD's and do the workbook and change your life.

Let me finish with one quick story. This young man and this young lady were falling in love and they decided one beautiful Saturday afternoon to go out in the country and have a picnic. So they packed a lunch and he borrowed his father's con

mind for success. As Vince Lombardy says, "The quality of your life will be determined by the depth of your commitment to excellence, more than any other factor." So what are you committed to, really committed to? What are you willing to sacrifice to achieve that? Make sure the commitments we make in a moment of excitement have the sustaining motivation to take us to the next level. Your commitment needs to be stronger than your moods. I'll repeat that, make your commitments, what you want to accomplish, where you want to go, stronger than your day-to-day moods. You'll have bad days; you'll feel like not doing the things you know you need to do. Find the commitment, find the courage and do it. The wealth, the success, the relationships, the teams, the mentors you need are around you. Find them, look for them and be careful you don't fall into the acres of diamond syndrome.

I hope you've all heard the story of the acres of diamonds. It all goes back to 1870 when Russell Conwell heard this legend about this prosperous Persian farmer Alehafed. He had heard great stories about diamonds and the mountains and distant seas and that you could dig and become very very wealthy, so what Alehafed did, was desert his own fruitful farm to search for immense wealth and mythical diamond fields. He searched far and wide he roamed he became footsore and weary and spend all of his wealth. His use and his youth and his wealth disappeared. He died far from home, old disillusioned and poor. Not long afterward acres of fabulous diamonds were found on Alphabet’s own land. Right under his nose. It is important to understand that your diamonds are not if faraway mountains or distant seas, they are in your own back yard if you will dig for them. They are close. The people you need, the contacts you need to have, the skills you need to have are right there. Look and you will find them.

Find successful people around you, those that have reached exponential success. Listen to what they have to say and do it. This reminds me of a story told in Chicken Soup for the Soul. One night a group of nomads were preparing for the evening when suddenly they were surrounded by great light. They knew they were in the presence of celestial beings. With great anticipation they awaited a heavenly message of great importance that they knew must be especially for them. Finally the voice spoke. "Gather as many pebbles and you can and put them in your saddle bags. Travel a day’s journey and tomorrow night you will find you are glad that you listened and took action." After having departed, the nomad shared their disappointment and anger with each other. They had expected a revelation of great universal truth that would enable them to create wealth, health and purpose for the world. But instead they were given a menial task that made no sense to them at all. However the memory of the brilliance of their visitor caused each of them to pick up a few pebbles and deposit them in their saddlebags while voicing their displeasure.

While some only picked up a few pebbles, others did as they were advised and filled their pockets until they overflowed. They traveled a day's journey, and that night while making camp, they reached into their saddlebags and discovered every pebble they had gathered had become a nugget of gold. They were glad they had their nuggets. Those who gathered only a few pebbles were sad that they had not gathered more pebbles. Those who truly believed and filled their pockets were overjoyed themselves for their good fortune. Your wealth, success and happiness are right there, under your nose. Listen to successful people around you and implement the information in these CD's and do the workbook and change your life.

Let me finish with one quick story. This young man and this young lady were falling in love and they decided one beautiful Saturday afternoon to go out in the country and have a picnic. So they packed a lunch and he borrowed his father's con

ve to say and do it. This reminds me of a story told in Chicken Soup for the Soul. One night a group of nomads were preparing for the evening when suddenly they were surrounded by great light. They knew they were in the presence of celestial beings. With great anticipation they awaited a heavenly message of great importance that they knew must be especially for them. Finally the voice spoke. "Gather as many pebbles and you can and put them in your saddle bags. Travel a day’s journey and tomorrow night you will find you are glad that you listened and took action." After having departed, the nomad shared their disappointment and anger with each other. They had expected a revelation of great universal truth that would enable them to create wealth, health and purpose for the world. But instead they were given a menial task that made no sense to them at all. However the memory of the brilliance of their visitor caused each of them to pick up a few pebbles and deposit them in their saddlebags while voicing their displeasure.

While some only picked up a few pebbles, others did as they were advised and filled their pockets until they overflowed. They traveled a day's journey, and that night while making camp, they reached into their saddlebags and discovered every pebble they had gathered had become a nugget of gold. They were glad they had their nuggets. Those who gathered only a few pebbles were sad that they had not gathered more pebbles. Those who truly believed and filled their pockets were overjoyed themselves for their good fortune. Your wealth, success and happiness are right there, under your nose. Listen to successful people around you and implement the information in these CD's and do the workbook and change your life.

Let me finish with one quick story. This young man and this young lady were falling in love and they decided one beautiful Saturday afternoon to go out in the country and have a picnic. So they packed a lunch and he borrowed his father's convertible car and they drove out in the country they had a wonderful time together, they had really fallen in love. It was time to go home and so they everything away and started driving back and his girlfriend had allergies that were really starting to bother her and she needed a drink of water. So he pulled over to get her a drink and opened the trunk and realized all the liquid has spilled out, there was no liquid to drink. She was in a bad way. So he got the cups out and got his girlfriend and they walked over to an old abandoned farm and he noticed that in front of this farm was one of those old fashioned pumps that you pump up and down, up and down. He was going to take care of her. So she sat down and he started pumping, five minutes had passed and beads of perspiration were developing on his forehead. Ten minutes had passed and his muscles were starting to ache and he was ready to give up. And his girlfriend says, "No, no, no don't give, don't give up. The water could be right there. Please keep pumping." Now guys remember what it is like to be in love that, you'll do anything. So he kept pumping another five minutes, another ten minutes. His arms were killing him and he was starting to sweat all over without notice without fan fair, without any type of alarm, cold refreshing water came gushing out. They filled up their cups; they quenched their thirst and were able to go back to town.

I tell you this story because I don't know the date, the time, the circumstances that you'll become exponentially successful, but this I can guarantee. You learn the skills. You practice smart persistence. You find great mentors, and the day and time will come when you keep pumping even if it hurts even if it's hot. The waters of exponential success will come gushing out. You'll see your success, you'll see happiness and you will be able to achieve your greatest dreams. Go for it, do it and become exponentially successful.

Now lets dig a little deeper into this race we call exponential success. This is not a sprint, it is a marathon, you won't see spectacular overnight, you'll see results, but it happens a little bit at a time. And so the question is, how do you define success? Society has their definition, your neighbor has their definition, but how do you? What is success to you? The challenge is as you get caught up in society and we use society's definition of success and that might not matter to you. It doesn’t matter what your parents or neighbors think, success to you could mean living off $200 living in a cabin in the middle of Alaska living off the land. That's find if that's what it is. Think about it; write it down, you need to know your own personal definition of success.

Life is a great game. If you look at life as a game, you could either spend your time training and willing, or spend your time in the bleachers of life waiting, watching and wishing around the field. And of course telling everybody on the field what they should and should not do. The bottom line is you're in charge of your life and your mindset. It is your decision. We could make excuses and rationalize all day long wearing out on the field, but to win the game you have to be on the field. It's just that little extra effort that makes such a difference. For example, Peter Vidmare and Olympian. Gold medalist is gymnastics. Anyway, he won a gold metal a couple Olympics in men’s gymnastics and when he was training and this is important to understand. He would train hard and he had a lot of persistence and he had some talent, but realized that most of the people around him had more talent than he had. That they just had more natural talents. He decided to stay a half-hour longer in the gym than anybody else. So once the last person left, he would spend just that little extra half hour to train. Even though people had more natural talent, that extra half hour that is what he attributed his gold metal to that little extra effort.

The biggest obstacle with people is fear. Now does everyone have fears? We do. Now here is the interesting thing. A little baby that is a week old, just born only has two fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. Some people like to take the word fear and spell it out, like false expectations appearing real, some say it is forget everything and run. I think it is frozen energy actions required. So the challenge is that we've learned these fears, and so if we can learn them we can unlearn them. It is a challenge, we have on of the big fears that Napoleon Hill even talks about is the fear of criticism. Why do we care so much what people think? Social acceptance? We want to be accepted? Esteem acceptance and praise is one of our deepest cravings. I've done seminars all over the country and as you speak to people, 50-60 people come up and say “thank you, that was great, I appreciate it.” But there is always that one person that has something negative to say, so the ratio is 50:1 but what is on my mind? That one person. What about the other 50? For example a dance instructor was teaching a lady who always wanted to dance and had saved up her money and on her first lesson, the dance instructor said, "Man, you dance like a hippo." What happens to that lady? Does she ever try it again? She is gone.

When in reality, if you look at some of the famous musicians, they've had instructors say that to them, but they didn't listen to them, but the majority of people do listen to them, they have this fear of criticism, they want to be accepted. Fear is one of those things that we really need to take a look at. If you take a plank and put it on the ground and walk across it, there is no fear, but all the sudden, if you put it up on a 20 story building, and you have to walk across this plank between two buildings, it is the same thing, you know you can do it, but you still feel the fear. For example, public speaking, is that a big fear among people? Why? It is a learned fear, where did we learn it? At school? Somebody laughed and what did we think? They are laughing at us.

I teach students and one of the courses I teach at the University is Public Speaking and one of the first things we have to deal with is the fear in getting out and doing it. In fact, one of the funny things that Jerry Seinfeld says is that one of the biggest fears is public speaking and public speaking is a greater fear than dying. And so he says people at the funeral would rather be in the casket than giving the Eulogy. It doesn't make a lot of sense. We have to look at one of the triggers of your fears. Where do they come from? Whether it's spiders or snakes or monsters under the bed. That is the thing. I'm not talking major psychosis or major fear, I'm just talking about minor fears that we have to get over and one of the biggest things they talk about of course is looking fear in the face. Getting out there and doing it. Have you ever had an experience where you were so scared to do something and then you went and did it and what was the first thing you thought of? That's right, that it wasn't so bad. We spend all this time worrying about it and the most important thing is to identify that trigger and understand where that fear comes from and get past them.

Like again, the fear of criticism, when you look at the fear of criticism, Napoleon Hill says it robs man of initiative, destroys his power of imagination, limits his individuality takes away his self reliance and does damage in 100 other ways. He talks about that it causes lack of initiative and lack of ambition. It is a great enemy, you need to identify that you have and get over it. Does anyone have a fear of getting on the phone? How about fear of rejection? They did studies with children who were deathly afraid of dogs. What they would do is they would actually have the kids watch other children play with dogs. That was enough to cure the fear 99% of the time to see other people doing it will get yourself out t