Being proactive is the first step to personal mastery.

"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to be start to be great."

-Zig Zagler 

Being proactive means you no longer chalk up past failures of lack of achievement to your family background or personal circumstances. Being proactive means that you no longer cry over spilt milk and complaint about the hand this world has dealt you.You must exercise your proactivity muscles to develop the mindset of a true champion. You must see yourself as a little god on this earth, one who has all the qualities required for great success and a burning desire to achieve it.  If you have such dreams, you will indeed find a way to achieve them. Gandhi, Ford, Lincoln, Bell, Kennedy and Salk all did and so can you. 

 

All highly successful people are proactive. They view setbacks and failures as lessons and see mistakes as wonderful opportunities to grow. They have come to understand that pain is a teacher and there are no negative events in life, only outcomes which you can choose to view in a positive light if you wish. Study any rose and its stem. Some will see it as a rosebush with a few little thorns along the way. Others might see it as a thornbush with a little rose at the end. The object to study is the same, what is different is your interpretation. Once you develop the essential habit of thinking effectively, a new reality will unfold. When you begin to realize that you hold in your mind infinite power to shape your destiny, wonderful things start to happen. More than likely, you are only using 25% of your mind incredible potential, at best. What about the rest? Are you really willing to waste the billions of brain cells that you have been given and the marvel we call the human body on a life of mediocrity? In the twinkling of an eye, this very second you can transform your life. Make the decision and the commitment to be the very best you can be. Being the proactive means you shape the circumstances and they do not shape you. You have the choice of interpreting any event that has happened in the past or that will unfold in the future according to your wishes. For example, if someone is particularly insulting to you, you have a choice as to how you interpret the event. The average person becomes angry and repeatedly asks himself why someone would do this-pushing himself into a negative, fully unproductive state. The person who has developed proactivity appreciates that he has the power to interpret the event in a manner to empower him. As Eleanor Roosevelt said: “no one can hurt you without your consent.” Gandhi put it another way:”they cannot take our self-respect if we do not give it to them.” The key is the interpretation of the action and to choose to see the event as one that will help you grow. 

Being proactive means that you can live a blissful existence, seeing the good in all events unfolding on the beautiful canopy of life. There is no such thing as an unpleasant experience. Every experience has the potential to improve an element of your character or to present a challenge to you which may lift you to a higher level spiritually, physically, mentally and professionally. True winners see problems as great opportunities. Where other fail, they thrive. See blue sky above every rain storm-it is there. Proactivity is the first step to personal mastery. It is really nothing more than self-control. And self-control, like all essential mastery qualities, can be developed through patient and consistent perseverance and regular conditioning. Once you make the choice to run these muscles on a daily basis, you will take control of your life and awaken the true potential that now slumbers deep within you.

You are responsible for everything that happens to you in your life.

“Everyone knows that weeds eat out the life of the garden and of the productive fields. The gardener and the farmer alike each has to keep the weeding process alive. It’s like that in the building and developing of character. No one knows our faults and tendencies better than we do ourselves, so that it is up to each of us to keep the weeds out, and to keep all growth vigorous and fruitful.”

-George Matthew Adams 

Before you can ever hope to change your circumstances, you must first improve yourself. If you want to lead a company, learn to lead yourself first. If you want to manage a family or a team, learn to manage yourself first. Self-mastery is the DNA of life mastery. The surface of your thoughts is your character. All of the thoughts which dominate your mind, come together like the wires of a powerful cable to create your character. If you have weak thoughts, you will most certainly have a weak character. Be a strongly disciplined thinker and your are assured of a strong, unstoppable character. A character rich with integrity, courage and trustworthiness is the bedrock of lifelong success. 

You are responsible for everything that happens to you in your life. You can make your existence a shining example of personal and professional excellence or you can make your life miserable. You can choose a nirvana or a nightmare. The key is to realize that you have power to see problems as challenges and to take any action required to have what you want. The quality of your life is determined by your interpretation of what happens to you. 

Remember, it is not the snake bite that kills but the venom which circulates afterwards that is fatal. Do not let the snakebite of another person release any venom inside of you. You can control its entry and you are responsible for every thought in your mind. You can make every day an extraordinary celebration once you control the thoughts you allow into your mental garden every second of every minute of every day. Your mind is like any of the other muscles of the body: you must use it or “lose it”. Not only must you use it, but if you do not push it and challenge it daily, it will grow weaker. If you are not going forward, you are going backward. 

Keep in mind one thing that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step and you must start off small if you want to achieve big results.

To breathe properly is to live properly

"When the breath wanders, the mind is unsteady, but when the breath is still, so is the mind still." Ancient Yoga principle. 

Take food or water out of your life and you can live for days. Take away breath and you will die a quick death. Breathing is essential to living. Learn to breathe properly and you will not only develop the skill of changing your state of mind, you will dramatically enhance your energy levels. Good breathing practice fully oxygenates the body and charges up every one of your cells to fuel your activities and keep you in a state of high vitality. Good breathing practices will unleash the vitality that now lies inside you waiting to be released. Elite athletes do deep breathing exercises to fully relax and achieve peak performance at an important event. If you want to live longer, be happier and think stronger, learn to breathe properly and practice the following exercises regularly. 

Breath and Hold

This technique, which will dramatically increase your energy after only a couple of weeks of steady use, is simple to practice and can be done anywhere. It is also one of the best exercise to improve your concentration if you are weak in this key area. 

The essence of the exercise is to inhale to a count of two, hold your breath for a count of eight and exhale fully to count of four. To aid you in your counting, you may use walking steps: walk for two steps while inhaling fresh air deep into your lungs, hold for eight steps and exhale strongly for four more footsteps. You will soon notice the difference in your energy level and overall health levels. 

Alternate Nostril Breathing. 

This is a thousand year old technique used to boost the energy levels and to produce a wide array of lasting benefits to the mind, body and spirit. After practicing it, you will feel a mild feeling of euphoria. 

Sit in a quiet area with your feet crossed and back straight. At all times, your mouth should remain closed. Place your right thumb over your right nostril and inhale to the count of two through your left nostril. Close your eyes when you do this and imagine a giant balloon expanding in your tummy when you take the inhalation. Now hold for the standard eight count and, at the same time, cover your left nostril with your right pinky (little finger). Next, exhale to the count of four through your right nostril. Next, your inhalation will be through the right nostril, hold and exhale through the left (your thumb is now on the right nostril). Practice this alternate nostril breathing for five minutes every morning and the benefits will come fast. 

The Pump. 

This is a quick energy booster which you may use before a big presentation or meeting. Simply sit down and place your hands over your belly as if your were cupping a balloon. Now push/pump in your stomach at the belly button area and exhale strongly through your nose at the same time. Then, inhale through your nose and push the belly outward. Repeat the process twenty times, speeding up as you grow more comfortable. 

Green Fog Breathing.

This a technique developed by the world-class martial artists of the Orient to place themselves into a state of serenity and elevated calmness before competition. The first principle of good breathing practice is to breathe with all of your lungs and not just from the top portion of them. Proper breathing occurs when you are using the top and bottom of the lungs, as you do naturally when you sleep. 

Now lay down on your back in a place of quiet and shut your eyes. Repeat aloud the following phrase slowly, “I am serene, strong and focused.” Then, while you inhale, visualize the air as deep green fog entering your body through your nostrils, moving slowly into the depths of your abdomen. The green fog then moves through the limbs and throughout the body. Next, when the calming green fog has travelled through the body relaxing every muscle, exhale it along with any tensions that may have accumulated.  Keep doing this deep breathing exercise for 5 to 20 minutes daily for immediate calmness and internal peace. Deep breathing can change the state of your mind and the state of your life. 

The above breathing exercises reflect the very best breathing conditioners for the mind, body and spirit. You can take your general health to a far higher level simply by applying these techniques and you will surely reap huge gains and carry out all important tasks with improved vigor and enthusiasm. With the greater energy reserve deep breathing generates, you can do more, achieve more and transform your world from the commonplace to ideal.

You are what you eat

                    In our society, a great plague is our lack of energy. 

You are what you eat. By transforming your diet, you can dramatically reshape your body, moods, energy levels and overall vitality. It is believed that mental clarity and mental toughness are directly related to the nature of one’s diet. You just need to follow a strictly natural diet. A pure diet is one based on living foods-those created by the natural interaction of the sun, air, soil and water. The pure diet emphasizes fruits and their juices, vegetables and grains. By making changing to your diet to ensure that these Mega-foods form at least 70% of your diet, you will take the first step to ensuring physical mastery and a vital life. Here are some of the proven benefits you will receive when you start to eat living foods regularly rather than dead foods. 

1.      A significant increase in your energy and stamina. 
2.      Enhanced concentration and creativity. 
3.      Decreased obesity, loss of body fat. 
4.      Enhanced complexion, skin tone and vitality. 
5.      Lower sleep requirements. 
6.      Less digestive difficulties. 
7.      Improved alertness and mental agility, memory benefits. 
8.      A longer life. 
9.      A greater sense of harmony with Nature. 
10.  General health excellence.

A diet rich in vegetables, grains and fruits is truly what nature intended for us to have. Compare how you feel after eating a steak for a meal, with the way you feel after eating fresh salad. Natural foods such as fruits are easily digested, leaving the energy available for more productive pursuits like achieving your dreams and becoming the very best that you can be. One need only look at the most powerful animals on the planet. The elephant, rhino and gorilla (which has thirty times a man’s strength) all survive on vegetables or fruits. Energy is the first fundamental of life excellence for without an abundance of it you are like a rocket without fuel. For peak energy, it is important that you eat according to the natural cycles which occur in your body. They are as follows: 

1.   The Welcoming cycle Noon – 8 p.m. (Mega-foods such as fruits taken in and digested)
2. The Absorption cycle 8 p.m.-4 a.m. ( the foods are used)
3. The Removal cycle 4 a.m. –noon (foods are eliminated)

By recognizing these natural body cycles and eating in a way to allow each cycle to be most effective, you will release your tremendous energy reserves and see more vibrant health than ever before. The key is to ensure that toxins are flushed out of the body and the body remains pure inside. In a recent study in Finland, researchers learned that 38% of the new vegetarians studied reported that they felt less fatigued and more alert after only seven months. So, start eating more ethnic foods and you will finally be able to have the fun you always wanted to have and, ultimately, live the life you have always wanted to live!