Mine 2 Shine

        Day-31- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428 List Your Problems “A problem well stated is a problem half solved,” said Charles Kettering. There is something very special that happens when you take out a piece of paper and list every single one of your problems on it. It is very much like the peaceful feeling you get after telling your best friend about something that has been troubling you for weeks. A weight somehow falls from your shoulders. You feel lighter, calmer and freer. I have discovered that while our minds can be our best friends, they can also be our worst enemies. If you keep thinking about your problems, pretty soon you will find you think about little else. The mind is a strange creature in this regard: the things you want it to remember it forgets, but all those things you want it to forget, it remembers. I have people coming to my seminars who tell m...

        Day-29- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428 Get Behind People’s Eyeballs One of the deepest of all the human hungers is the need to be understood, cherished and honored. Yet, in the fast – paced days we live in, too many people believe that listening involves nothing more than waiting for the other person to stop talking. And to make matters worse, while that person is speaking, we are all too often using that time to formulate our own response, rather than empathizing with the point being made. Taking the time to truly understand another’s point of view shows that you value what he has to say and care about him as a person. When you start “getting behind the eyeballs” of the person who is speaking and try to see the world from his perspective, you will connect with him deeply and build high – trust relationships that last. We have two ears and one mouth for a reason: to listen twice as much as we speak. A...

      Day-29- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428 Create a Love Account Mother Teresa once said, “There are no great acts. There are only small acts done with great love.” What small acts done with great love.” What small acts can you do today to deepen the bonds between you and the people you value the most? What random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty can you offer to someone in an effort to make his or her day just a little better? The irony of being more compassionate is that the very act of giving to others make you feel better as well. To practice being more loving, create a love account. Each day, make a few deposits in this very special reserve by doing something small to add joy to the life of someone around you. Buying your partner fresh cut flowers for no reason at all, sending your best friend a copy of your favorite book or taking the time to tell your children in no uncertain terms how you feel about ...

          Day-28- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428 Always Carry a Book with You According to U.S. News & World Report , over the course of your lifetime, you will spend eight months opening junk mail, two years unsuccessfully returning phone calls and five years standing in line. Given this startling fact, one of the simplest yet smartest time management strategies you can follow is to never go anywhere without a book under your arm. While others waiting in line are complaining, you will be growing and feeding your mind a rich diet of ideas found in great books. “So long as you live, keep learning how to live,” noted the Roman philosopher Seneca. Yet most people never read more than a handful of books after they complete their formal schooling. In these times of rapid change, ideas are the commodity of success. All it takes is one idea from the right book to reshape your character or to transform your relationships o...

  Day-27- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428 Write Thank – You Notes The things that are easy to do are also the things that are easy not to do. The more the pace of our lives speed up, the greater the impact the simple gestures of life will have on those most deserving of them. And near the very top of my list of simple gestures that have profound consequences is the lost art of writing thank – you notes. Everyone loves getting mail – it’s a fact of human nature. We all have a deep – seated need to feel important. I truly love receiving letters from people who have read my books and used the lessons within them to make positive changes in their lives. Few things excite me as much as receiving a bag full of mail from men and women who have attended one of my seminars and seen their careers take off and their personal lives improve. And knowing how much joy I feel when I receive mail from others, I try my best to respond to every letter that co...

  Day-26- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428 Focus on the Worthy A while ago a FedEx package arrived at my office. Inside was an envelope with a gold seal placed on the fold and my name carefully written on the front. I quickly opened it and began to read the letter within. It was from the CEO of a major corporation who had picked up my book Leadership Wisdom from the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari at an airport while on his way to a business meeting in Europe. He said he was a lifelong student of leadership and was intrigued by the title, which had brought a smile to his face. This executive had been under tremendous pressure as a result of the overwhelming demands placed on him and was hoping to learn some ways to improve his leadership effectiveness so that he could spend more time on the things that really mattered, both in his business life and in his personal world. In his letter, he wrote: As I read your story abou...

          Day-25- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428 Bless Your Money If you ever get to London, England, visit Foyle’s, which is among the oldest bookstores in the city. I have found more gems by browsing along its dusty shelves than in any other bookshop I have visited around the world. Being a dedicated student of self – help literature myself, I generally gravitate to that section in the store. I always look for a little – known work that will offer me a few new insights on the art of living and help me improve the quality of my own life. And in Foyle’s, I always find one. A few years back, I found a book entitled Bring Out the Magic in Your Mind . It was written almost thirty years ago by a man named Al Koran, who was then known as “the Finest Mental Magician in the World.” In a chapter entitled “The Secret of Wealth” he writes the following: “When you send your money out, remember always t...

    Day-18- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428 Learn from a Good Movie I love going to the movies whenever I can. Often, I take my young daughter Bianca and my son Colby with me and, while munching on popcorn, we enjoy the latest animated film that is heating up the box office. We always walk out with smiles on our faces along with a whole new characters we can pretend to be in our daily play sessions. When I am on the road for a speaking tour, I still try to find a few hours at the end of the day to slip into a theater in whatever city I may be in and watch a good movie. I find that films not only relax me but they serve to transport me to a different world and inspire me to keep thinking about the endless possibilities life holds. I guess movies bring out the dreamer in me. Recently, I saw an Italian movie called Life Is Beautiful . Though it was subtitled, it kept me riveted fro nearly three hours and moved me like no film I have seen ...

          Day-23- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428 Live a Life On being asked about the ups and downs of his career, movie star Kevin Costner responded with these words, “I’m living a life.” I found this reply to be profound. Rather than spending his days judging the events and experiences of his life as either good or bad, he adopted a neutral stance and simply decided to accept them for what they are: a natural part of the path he is on. We all travel different roads to our ultimate destinations. For some of us, the path is rockier than for others. But no one reaches the end without facing some form of adversity. So rather fight it, why not accept it as the way of life? Why not detach yourself from the outcomes and simply experience every circumstance that enters your life to the fullest? Feel the pain and savor the happiness. If you have never visited the valleys, the view from the mountaintop is not as br...

      Day-22- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428 I’ll make you this promise: on your deathbed, in the twilight of your life, it will not be all the risks you took that you will regret the most. Rather, what will fill your heart with the greatest amount of regret and sadness will be all those risks that you did not take, all those opportunities you did not seize and all those fears you did not face. Remember that on the other side of fear lies freedom. And stay focused on the timeless success principle that says: “life is nothing more that a game of numbers – the more risks you take, the more rewards you will  receive.” Or in the words of Sophocles, “Fortune is not on the side of the faint – hearted.” To live your life to the fullest, start taking more risks and doing the things you fear. Get good at being uncomfortable and stop walking the path of least resistance. Sure, there is a greater c...

          Day-21- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428 Spend a day without your watch Last fall, I did something I have not done for many years: I left my watch at home and spent an entire day without looking at the time. Rather than living by the clock and planning everything I was going to do that day, I simply lived for the moment and did whatever I felt like doing. I became a true human being rather than merely a human doing. Early in the morning, I went for a walk deep in the woods, one of my favorite things to do. With me, I carried an old paperback copy of Walden by the social philosopher Henry David Thoreau, a book I have come to love. After finding a beautiful place to sit and read, I experienced one of those moments of synchronicity where something perfect happens at just the right time. For me it was randomly opening the book and finding the following paragraph in front of me:   I went to the woods because I...

          Day-20- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428 According to one study, the average four – year – old laughs three hundred times a day while the average adult laughs about fifteen times a day. With all the obligations, stresses and activities that till our days, we have forgotten how to laugh. Daily laughter has been shown to elevate our moods, promote creativity and give us more energy. Comedian Steve Martin reportedly laughs for five minutes in front of the mirror every morning to get his creative juices flowing and to start his day on a high note (try it – it works). Laughter therapy has even been used to cure illnesses and heal those with serious ailments. As William James, the father of modern psychology, observed, “We don’t laugh because we are happy. We are happy because we laugh.” A friend of mine, always known for his wise ways, made it his new year’s resolution one year to laugh more. Every few weeks, he w...

          Day-19- 101 day Reading Challenge- a Mine2Shine initiative-9789186428 During the life leadership seminars I give, I often ask the participants this question: “Who would agree with me that we learn the most form our most difficult experiences?” Inevitably, nearly every hand in the room goes up. Given this, I often wonder why we, as human beings, spend so much of our lives focusing on the negative aspects of our most difficult experiences rather than seeing them for what they truly are: our greatest teachers. You would not have the wisdom and knowledge you now possess were it not for the setbacks you have faxed, the mistakes you have made and the suffering you have endured. Once and for all, come to realize that   pain is a teacher and failure is the highway to success. You cannot learn how to play the guitar without hitting a few wrong notes and you will never learn how to s...